Cast away?

There u go. Thailand was amazing. What else could I possibly say? It's always amazing. Life is beautiful.

Sea kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, i got scared of the underworld down in the ocean. Innocent fish swimming right at me and I thought they'd eat me or something. At times, I'd never felt so lonely. I met locals and despised myself for being this metropolitan alien. The usual, you know.

Jumping off a fisherman's boat right in the middle of the ocean, on the other side of the world, 11 hours ahead of Quebec, was pretty cool.

Pollution hit me as soon as I got back to Seoul. So did the impatient Koreans who were pushing my back on the plane. I'm claustrophobic. Thank God I can control myself. Sometimes.

The tsunami pretty much devastated Ko Phi Phi - where I spent most of my time. People lost family members. As this one amazing woman named "nah" said referring to her husband, "him die. him die..."

I feel like i live in a big fat bubble. If I lived in those bamboo houses on the shore it wouldn't be fairer. I still can't figure out the meaning of life. That's all.

Cool video of the fire dude. He's been doing it for 3 months so be indulgent. Same for those drunk Thai women singing the Karaoke.

On vit comme on peut.

I'm happy!

Leaving for Thailand in a few hours and i'm happy.

To life.

Spring in Seoul

Have you ever had so many bills that your money doesn’t fit in your wallet? I actually have such a problem quite often in Korea…

See, the biggest bill you can get here is 10 000 won – which is like 10 dollars. So if you’ve got 300 bucks on you, it means there are 30 bills in your wallet.


That’s what it looked like before I emptied it to buy D&G super sunglasses! 50% off! Sion bought Prada’s and Twyla also got D&G. I love that you can do that here. We make good money, don’t pay rent, sweet deal.

So it’s the week-end and I’m really happy. Right now the flowers are blooming all over Korea and it’s phenomenal. Azaleas are especially beautiful.

Last night we went out to the “luxurious” noraebang (karaoke bar) in hongdae. Look at this!

The concept is very simple: you get a private room with your friends and sing, dance and scream as you like. It’s usually cheap, and this one was 18$/hour for the four of us. Sweet deal.

There was a street festival so the area was very lively. I actually think those artists are really good!

We ended up at Tinpan once again and I’m incredibly thankful that Twyla’s friend is still here because he is a GREAT dancer! We had a really good time and ended up going home at 8AM this morning.

Going to Thailand next week-end and I’m really really really excited! Life is pretty good, I’m really thankful.

Plus I got a basketball today. It so made my day! When you're single, doesn't take much to make you happy!

My butt in Korea

Never have I been so aware of my butt.

Butt-grabbing in Korea is shameless, and a sign of curiosity. I’ve had my hair touched by total strangers on the street (given, you don’t find lots of blond curly hair in Asia), my skin patted and of course I’ve been stared at. But my butt??

On my very first day in Seoul I hopped on the bus and two ajummas (women over 50) slapped my tushi and just laughed their head off! It was like their “dare moment” of the day.

Today one of my housewives students literally put her hand on my butt as the other housewives giggled. She asked “is this sexual harassment if I do this?” Of course I smiled and so she did it again! How am I supposed to react?

I chose to think it’s funny. I know they're not gay r pervert; just curious.

I feel like an alien here, but in a good way. When I got to Korea, I was expecting to be on the other side of the wall. I thought I would experience racism.

As it turns out, it’s reversed racism. Like I said before, being a white girl in Korea is a ticket to heaven!

Yesterday at the gym I got my membership extended 3 weeks for n-o-t-h-i-n-g! On top of that I joined spinning class for only 20 bucks. It think it’s safe to say that I love Yuni :D

Reversed racism also includes the free food, incessant compliments and special treatment. It’s really nice. But sometimes it’s too much.

One of the guys at the organic fruit market by my place yells every time he sees me “hello girlfriend!” and then he turns to the costumers and says “MY girlfriend!” While it was cute the first time, it kinda gets tiring.

Moreover, white girls here are often seen as sexual objects that can fully fulfil men’s desire. Of course it’s not true, but how do you get rid of that image?

Tonight at the jimjilbang (sauna) Twyla and I were asked by a very bad-looking pathetic Korean man if we are Russian. Roughly translated it means "are you hookers?"

Russian women come here as prostitutes because the money is good and Korean men are horny for white chicks. It's one of the biggest insult when you get asked that.

I understand the curiosity of that little Korean girl staring at me because she probably never sees a 5"11 naked white girl. It's just curiosity. Ajummas grabbing my tushi is understandable too. I chose to laugh, but of course I could be mad and insulted.

It's all about the attitude.

But you don't see me slapping the butt of Chinese women back home!!!

Forced to be gay

I love those morning classes with Korean housewives. We just have some tea and discuss whatever topic comes up. They are adorable, funny and very sweet (when they don’t scare new students away)! Plus, they teach me a lot about Korean culture.

Like this morning. Sue told us this story about a woman who was worried that her son never married. One day, she found out he was gay. Apparently, his boss had “forced” him to become gay.

This story came up after Stella showed up with a baseball cap on (meaning “bad hair day”), telling us that she HAD TO drink last night. She’s a freelance translator for LG and the Chinese clients she’ll be translating for this Friday invited her out for dinner.

In Korea, you can’t say no to that. You can’t refuse a work-related invitation; otherwise it’s seen as rude and could be really bad for business.

But not only do you HAVE TO show up for dinner. You CANNOT refuse a drink. And God knows how wasted those businessmen can get. So you basically drink the whole night long and end up being totally drunk.

Some people have this trick where they hide a bucket under the table and empty their glass when no one’s looking. Stella couldn’t find one I guess…

So anyway, they told me how Korean bosses basically own you and you pretty much have to do whatever they ask you to do. Thus Sue’s story about the gay dude.

I thought it was quite funny because where I come from, you’re born gay; you don’t “become” gay. Maybe in some developing countries people are forced to have sex with people from the same sex for money. But that’s not being gay; it’s sexual slavery!

I found out that Korean mentality towards homosexuality is very conservative. The housewives insisted that public opinion has improved a lot on the matter, but it still seems to be a hell of a ride to be gay in Korea.

Ironically, it’s a very touchy-feely society. Girls hold hands, touch each other and so do boys, who would especially look gay in a foreign country when they’re drunk and hug each other.

Moreover, people see naked bodies every time they go to the sauna. Back home, nakedness is a very private thing… except for nudists and strippers!

Too young to be old... and North Korea

Ain’t got no idea how my friend got up this morning. She’s visiting the DMZ, I’m still dizzy. What a week-end!

Do we need to party so hard in order to have a good time? I’m too old for this now^^

Friday night we had a great time with Kyungah, Rachelle, Twyla and her friend Sion. Christine got us a table at Skyview (41st floor!) for dinner after work. The food was good, great wine, great atmosphere. Except maybe when the opera singer kicked in.


Everyone was tired so we called it a night, right after some delicious ice cream at Cold Stone – where Rachelle totally danced the whole time. It was hilarious!

Saturday we met with Erika, Sion, the hairdressers, Erin and her boyfriend for dinner in Itaewon. Right behind KFC there’s a small alley that goes up. Then turn left, walk to the end and go up the hill. There’s a French restaurant called “Mignon”. Exquisite!

After that we headed to a cool nearby bar called “Bungalow”. You basically sit in swings and the floor is covered with sand. Nothing better than enjoying your cocktail with your feet in the sand! Plus the waitresses have that "exotic" thing going! And there's a hottub on the roof!


As if this wasn’t enough, we ended up in a gay bar. As you probably guessed, the gay society in Seoul is very low-key and/so there are about 2 gay bars in Itaewon. Where are they located? Right on hooker’s hill! Apparently it’s another form of sexual deviance hehe

Back in Montreal my gay friends would take me out dancing. I just love gay bars! Men there know how to dance and it’s such a fun atmosphere! So I was glad to feel that energy, as opposed to everyone drinking their head out at straight bars.

Unsurprisingly, there were more foreigners there than Koreans. Sion made me dance the whole night long and it was phenomenal! I hadn’t had such a great dance partner in a really long time!

We left when the bar closed, and we got home around 6am. We tried staying up until the sunrise in order to catch a ferry to Deokjeokdo, but we totally passed out.

Woke up in the afternoon, had some McCrappy and spent the afternoon by the Han River. I’m lucky it’s close to my place. And it felt nice to just chill out a little.

I showed Sion and Annabella the Korean convenience stores – go to a 7/11, get your beer bottle and sit outside at a picnic table. Much cheaper than going to the bar. We tried some dry octopus and it was disgusting!

Then we tested our strength with the punching and kicking games. Quite fun.

Also found ourselves on the scene of an accident - this motorbike had crashed into this green bicycle... wasn't me!

Finally I took them to the sauna. First experience for them both – totally naked with strangers. Of course men are on one side, girls on the other. We got massaged. The usual way – spanking, hitting, rubbing, I was in pain. The ajumma yelled “Shower! Shower!” and then I came back for the scrubbing. Ouch mama!

Thank God I don’t usually drink this much. I can’t believe tomorrow is already Tuesday!

Here's a quick peek of the DMZ... thanks Bella!

Food, stream, spaceship and ABC

First of all I must say that I LOVE my students! Especially the little kids. They are ADORABLE!
Second of all, Seoul is a great city! Last night I took my friend to Chonggyechon, this nice man-made stream downtown Seoul. There, we had Samgyeopsal (fat pork) and a few shots of soju.

Then we headed to the stream, it’s really nice at night with all the lights.

A Korean dude joined us. He’s studying cardiology in Germany and we ended up having a fun night.

You know how you always have to pay for public bathrooms in Paris? And usually they’re dirty and the meeting point of drug addicts?

Well public bathrooms are free in Korea. But there’s one in Gwanghwamun that costs 50 cents I think.

Oh my! It’s like you’re entering a spaceship! In the middle of the sidewalk. It’s the cleanest place on earth, with a lady talking to you in several languages, some classical music coming out of the speakers and a self-cleaning "bidet". Wow!

I’m sad I’ve got to work and so much grading to do, but at least I spend some tome with Annabella and she’s seen quite a lot of things so far. She said she knows Seoul pretty well. It’s fun to look at her pictures and hear the “tourist” stories. Reminds me of my first weeks in Korea. That is, without the throat infection of course ;)

Here's a few of my ABC students. They can be little monsters but don't they look adorable?!

French it!

It’s usually when you have friends come over that you realize how much you love the place you live in because you suddenly become very aware of everything/everyone! Korea is a fantastic culture! And a freakish one too...

Annabella brought saucisson and cheese directly from Spain so I bought wine and we had a “French” night yesterday. It totally feels awesome to speak French.

On the other hand, we only slept 3 hours and it was quite hilarious in my housewives class this morning – our discussion topic was pornography. This is going to be a long day.

April 1st in Seoul

Wow. It totally feels like April’s fool! Except they don't really celebrate it in South Korea. Where does it come from anyway?

Annabella’s plane landed at 8am and I was still passed out in my apartment. Last night Erika and I got our hair done and then we decided to go out. Bad idea. I was tired and had so much stuff to do.

Anyway, we had shabu-shabu for dinner; a really cool Korea typical dish. They bring this broth to your table and you drop in vegetables and meat. When you’re done, you cook rice in there, with a raw egg. Delicious!

We ended up at this great Thai lounge in Hongdae - where we had shisha and way too many drinks. Among others, I got a “Chocolate kiss” and a few “Naked Canadians”. Erika’s ex-boyfriend showed up with some of his friends. It was really cool.

The end of the night was disastrous. Something to do with her ex. Thank God Twyla’s door was open even at 5am and we had a great talk.

I felt terrible for not being at the airport when Bella got here, but I hopped into a cab and we enjoyed a very expensive cab ride back to my place. We napped and then I showed her around Insadong. I bought a really cool tea set!



Having a friend here totally helps me realize I've been in Korea for over 10 months now. And yes, I LOVE Kimchi!! ^^

Work me, Lord

When Twyla left tonight (or this morning) we could hear the rain falling so hard, it sounded like a waterfall. She called me describing how amazing it looked with the rain drops bouncing off the ground as the city lights were reflecting on the water.

And then once again, i recalled acid rain... damn Seoul! I love Korea, but all this pollution is bad. And as for global warming...

Annabella is coming all the way from Madrid in 2 days!!!! How awesome is that?! She'll be staying for 10 days and ever since she's told me she's coming, I've started to realize how much I feel at home here. How much I know about Korean culture. It's amazing!

Tonight we had a girls' night, with my famous shrimp curry and Kyngah's delicious kimchi pancakes. And Sangria. It suddenly hit me that i'm leaving in 2 months. I'm going to miss those people so much.

After Annabella leaves, i'm going to Thailand and i'm really looking forward to this vacation! Then i'll be back in May and i'm leaving four weeks later. Insane.

I HAVE SPENT A YEAR IN SOUTH KOREA!!! France was nothing compared to this!

So here's my big dilemma now: i'm definitely coming back next year, but where should I work? My current school, or at a public school?

My boss came up to me and said they want to keep me so they're willing to let me keep my apartment for free, even though the price will rise. That means keeping that perfect place with flat screen TV, piano, pink couch, AC and all the brand new appliances.

But I don't get a raise because, well they're paying for the apartment. And they let me go home for a month and a half. So i would have to be back mid July. And for next year, I would only get a week vacation. As for the rest, it's the usual deal with the plane ticket paid by the school.

HOWEVER, IF I work at a public school, I could spend 3 months home this summer, come back for a year contract that pays more than my school, get PAID sick days and two weeks vacation.

My schedule would be regular, i.e. 9 until 4 instead of 2pm until 8pm at my school. That's cool.

But i'd lose my apartment and I would need to pay to get all my stuff stored. I don't know if my new apartment would be better or worse. I don't know if people at public school woud be awesome or assholes. At least at my school now I get along with the staff and they're not on my back.

At public school I'd have to spend more time at work, but no grading. Right now i'm going insane with grading. Also, what if i'm in a crappy neighborhood? The reason why I love Korea so much is because I feel comfortable here. And my apartment (i know it sounds incredibly shallow) has a lot to do with this.

So what should I do?

I want to spend 3 months home just chillin' with friends and family. Plus a friend of mine is supposed to come from France in August. But I guess he could visit in Korea, that's more exotic! I mean, a month and a half home would be alright, wouldn't it?

I'm confused. And tired. I have so much grading to do. Tomorrow gym and getting my hair done with Erika. Then going out but not too late cauz Annabella's plane lands at 7am Sunday!

Also thinking about buying a new laptop: should I get a mac (performant, no viruses, no bogs but heavy), or that Sony SZ48 (light, performant, lots of space, but runs with stupid Windows)?

Hey you know what? This post is probably the most ridiculous one on earth. Who cares??????????????????????? People are starving and here I am talking about all this. Maybe I should volunteer in developing countries to set my mind straight... none of this matters in the end.

Ever heard Janis Joplin's "Work me, Lord"? Pretty good.

Seriously, get yourselves some Janis, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Massive Attack, get in a jazzy mood with Holliday, Armstrong, Simone and Fitzgerald, sing your soul with Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, even John Lee Hooker!

And you're never wrong with some good old reggae a la Bobby Marley, Peter Tosh, Tiken Jah Fakoly or Jimmy Cliff. Oh! Do you know Louisa Mark's "keeping it like this", or Janet Kay's "Loving you", both delightful reggae love songs.

Or kick in some Eminem and try to sing along. How about Chingy's "right thur"? That's all we sing at work, along with 50 cents' "in that club"... just because, they're catchy tunes ^^

I also recommend watching Chris Rock's one man shows, they're all good. But it's not for puritains...

(acid) rain drops keep falling on my head

The school gave us masks to put on. Yes, those little white masks everyone in America saw Asians wearing at the outburst of SARS in 2003. Apparently those are intended to protect us from air pollution.

A lot of people usually wear them, but now... it's a must because it's:

YELLOW DUST season in Korea!!!

Indeed, China's dirty pollution and dust is blown by the wind and reaches Seoul (which is an hour and a half from the coast). This adds up to the usual pollution making Seoul one of the most polluted cities in the world.

A few days ago the sky was grey, yet the sun looked like a giant ball of fire through clouds of dirt.

About 85% of air polluants are emitted from cars, in a city where traffic jam is never ending.

Ironically enough, the subways system is probably one of the cheapest and most well developed in the world. Moreover, Koreans are very environmentally-friendly, with mandatory recycling and composting everywhere in town including apartment buildings. You get fined if you don't recycle or compost. How cool is that?!

While some people say it's usuless to wear a mask because the particles are so tiny that they get through the fabric, I'm putting mine on. Seriously. I'm sick and tired of speaking like a French whore who smokes 3 packs of cigarettes a day! It burns down my throat!

I don't want to lose my voice again... when I got here, my poor lungs were in shock! After having spent my life in green Quebec and then a year in the moutains of Southern France, all this acid shit was filling my lungs. Man was I sick!

Seoul is a very convenient city and I love it. But when I think of coming back, I keep in mind that people living in such a polluted city are at risk for lung infection, cancer and shortened life expectancy.

Fortunately, most Koreans do exercise a lot and they are generally moutain-lovers so that's gotta be a plus.

But how do you react when you see some of your students with weird red dots and weird heaps of skin all over their body? Whenever I ask about it, they answer "oh teacher, really bad!" but they can't explain.

I was told by my housewives and Korean friends that those are skin diseases caused by air pollution. It's a shame, really. Many Koreans are already obsessed with being skinny and beautiful...

A report published by the Blacksmith Institute says mental retardation can even be an outcome of air pollution!

Today it was raining a lot. I liked it, until someone reminded me about acid rain.

I'm trying to go to the gym every day now, hoping it will help me feel better. It actually does, but i'm still sick.

Tonight I joined spinning class, oh my! I've never been so hot!! In fact, the whole room was foggy (i'm not kidding! my hand left a mark on the glass window!) and we were working it to the beat of a wonderful dance remix of "can't keep my eyes off of you".... i love you baby! and if it's quite alright i need you baby...

So what's the deal? We can't reduce gas emission? Come on, years ago we were doing damn fine without them. Now the earth is sick and so are people.

No matter what, I'm wearing my mask!

Just like little Ryan... ^^

Afghanistan: drugs, guns and money

"Afghanistan: Drugs, Guns and Money" is an astonishing documentary about the socio-political landscape in Afghanistan - where opium crop is one of the largest ever.

Afghanistan and its near neighbours still supply around 80 percent of the heroin sold in Western Europe.

Like a cancer, the heroin trade has spread its tentacles through almost every level of society. In Afghanistan there is mass local addiction, local HIV epidemics, an unending cycle of violence and crime, and the corruption of state institutions......

When I first got to Korea, the first thing I noticed in my crappy apartment was this sticker on the obsolete computer - it said:

It's a messed up world but I love it anyway.

Amen.

Gold digger

A lot of you emailed about Hadaka Matsuri… I’m glad you enjoyed the little Japanese tushis ;)

So it’s official: I’m going to Phuket for 8 days at the end of April. I was originally supposed to go to Bali, or Fiji, but the flights don’t go very often and my parochial boss refused to give me Friday off.

Who cares? I’ve been to Thailand during my first year of college and it was blissful!

On a related note, my contract ends on May 30th so I’m coming home for two or three months. I’m really looking forward to it!

I hope I’ll get to see everyone I love! Have a blast at my sister’s with, among others, my brother. If he shows up. Go on a road trip with my best friend. Discover Gaspesie. Kayak and camp with Cedric and Paolo, coming all the way from France.

I’m also thinking about spending a month volunteering in Latin America… building houses or teaching English or something.

As for next year, chances are I’ll be back in South Korea. I love it here. And y’all welcome to visit!

Since I won’t be returning to the hagwon/academy I’m working at now, things will be very different but I like change. Plus I hate a lot of things about my hagwon.

Most of my “white” friends aren’t coming back so I’ll definitely miss our shopping, movie nights, dinners, nights out, etc. I’ll also miss my killer apartment just 5-minute walk from school and the organic food store right on the corner of my building – for the delicious food, but also the guys who give me free stuff ;)

I’ll especially miss my gym, and the “sex and the city”-like habit of Twyla and I chatting all the way through the work out, bitching about work and men ;)

Work is fantastic and I totally LOVE my students! Yesterday in ABC class Paul, a little boy, came up to me and he said “teacher!” I turned around, and he gave me a big wet kiss on the cheek. Then he went on to tell the other kids “my… kiss… teacher!!!” it was so adorable!

Teaching ABC is awesome because you see them progress a lot faster than, say, in higher levels. During break time, my students all write the alphabet on the board, or spell their names, or draw a heart and yell “teacher! I love you!” It’s priceless.

As for teaching TOEFL, it’s really challenging. And those middle school students are sooooooooo self-conscious… every class I have to remind them that they’re at school, not at a funeral!

Anyway, life is great and I am very thankful. Once in a while I’m reminded that I’ve got it real good and I wonder how I could help even things out.

There was this homeless woman near Kyobo, begging for money. What I gave her probably bought her a meal (or boose but I prefer the first option). As I was walking away, I felt awfully guilty. I had just spent 20 bucks on a lonely planet for a trip to Thailand. Is life unfair? Or do we only get what we deserve?

Take a look at those pics from the trip with Youri and Genevieve… I guess we all are, in our very unique way, gold diggers!

White Day!

So I thought i'd definitely be eating black noodles on April 14th but apparently I won't!!

Kids gave me candy, and I was chased down the street by one of the guys working at the organic food store next to my place. He had a big smile as he gave me three lollipops ;)

If you recall, February 14th is Red Day in Korea - when women give chocolate to the man they like.

Then March 14th is White Day - when men give chocolate to the women they like/love.

And finally there's Black Day on April 14th - when people who didn't get any chocolate in Feb and March go to the restaurant and order black noodles (noodles in black beans sauce). It's ironic, sometimes sad, sometimes funny. But it's a way to meet single people.

A cheap dating service if you will...