Day 345: Sleep-a-thon

We were all in bed pretty early last night - lights out at about 11:30pm. We were all really exhausted from our full day out skiing, and plus because we had woken up so early on Saturday morning, we were all rather sleep-deprived. I slept like a log that night, and when the wake-up call came at 7:30am again for all of us to get ready for morning skiing, I chose being a lazy bum instead of a ski bum...

Angele and I had kinda been on the fence about waking up really early to go skiing again on Sunday, just cause we were both really out-of-practice and pretty sore from Saturday's alpine adventures. Skiing was a blast on Saturday, but suddenly the idea of pulling myself out of my warm nest to put on some damp heavy ski gear and get up on those crowded slopes again didn't sound as appealing anymore...

Angele, Michael, and I stayed back and the other three went their merry way back to the hill. I think I made the right decision, cause I was *so tired* that I actually slept in until 10:30am! That put me at a full eleven-hour sleep! Wow!! That's the longest sleep I've had in many years actually. I must've been REALLY tired!

And it felt absolutely wonderful. Eventually when Angele and I dragged our asses out of our respective bed nests the three of us just lounged around the floor having breakfast with Mikey and chatting for a while. Being active and energetic is fun, but dammit sure is doing absolutely nothing on a sleepy Sunday morning! And even then we only had like an hour or two and then it was time to go and pick up Nick again to head on back home.

We said goodbye to Sebastian and Bobby, picked up Nick, dropped off all our equipment, and then drove on home back to the city. It was 10 C today and another clear blue sky day. We took the scenic way home cause the traffic on the expressways was pretty bad and had a really nice time in the car. And I actually got home at a half-decent hour too. All in all, a pretty awesome weekend! :-)

Day 344: Supposed Former Skiing Junkie

Another weekend...another road trip!

It's been more than three months since our last road trip, which is far too long if you ask me! And so, to remedy that dire situation, Michael and I went away for the weekend with Nick & Angele (I almost wrote Nick & Jessica there, man I gotta quite watching crap reality shows on TV here!) We decided that a ski trip, actually, sounded like the best idea, and so we did just that.

We woke up bright and early at 6am and before we knew it the four of us were on our way out of the city. I was excited about skiing but a little nervous too. The last time I skiied was when I lived in Thunder Bay, so we're talking 1997 as the most possible recent time. Eight years ago? Wow that's a long time ago! I was a half-decent skiier back in the day but then again I was a teenager then... Here's hoping I don't kill myself on the slopes today!

There's a plethora of ski hill choices here in Korea for us to choose from. Given the fact that approximately 70% of Korea is covered in mountains, it should come as no surprise that there are more than two dozen ski resorts in this tiny country. Phoenix Park was our destination today, but not before picking up some gear first.

About two and a half hours later we arrived at the base of PP, and popped into one of the many rental places first. One of the great things about skiing in Korea is that it's so bloody cheap! For a complete skiing set - ie: skis, boots, poles, a ski jacket, and snow pants, the whole gettup - for *two days* - only cost me about $45! And we had a coupon for the lift tickets so that only set us back about $45 too for a whole day of skiing. Right on!

I was quite nervous as we rode up that gondola up the mountain, but the fresh air and beautiful mountain scenery helped to calm me down a bit. It was an absolutely perfect weekend weather-wise - today's high was around 5 C or so! Well during my first run down the mountain, I quickly realized two things. Firstly, I'm a lot rustier than I thought I would be! And secondly, holy fuck are the ski hills here ever crowded!!!

I really shouldn't be surprised about the latter, cause *everything* in Korea is crowded, but it still made for quite a challenge. Considering my body's poor remembrance of supposed former skiing skills, I would have liked to have focused more on trying to improve, but instead it was a constant battle not to collide with anyone else on the hill. There was only one Bunny Hill at this resort so every frickin' newbie skibee was out on the hill slipping and sliding all over the place. So many times I nearly collided with another skiier or goddamn snowboarder, or more often, actually, was nearly effectively taken out by hurtling out-of-control skiiers/boarders falling down the mountain at Mach 4.

And the line-ups for the chairlift/gondola - Wow! It was far worse than you can possibly imagine, almost as bad as the line-ups to get into Canadian Tire in Thunder Bay on a Saturday morning, or a queue for free Lululemon yoga gear at a new outlet in Vancouver. ;-)

Despite the crowds, I had an amazing day! Skiing was scary but a helluva lot of fun. And it was just so great to be outside the city, out in the fresh air all day long. I was disappointed with my rustiness, but that just gives me another excuse to hit the slopes again sometime soon. I don't know how long the ski season lasts in Korea but I'd like to go a couple more times before spring anyway.

The six of us (Nick & Angele had two other friends who had met us at the resort) spent the night in a fairly cheap Love Motel and we hit the hay not long after dinner. Phew! A day out on the slopes sure can wear out a boy!

Day 343: Open House, Round 2

So today was a day that I had been dreading since September - Open House Day! Oh God!!

Another last fall's disastrous Open House I was really nervous about the next one. Well, for a while anyways. I actually wasn't all that stressed about this one. I've learned SO MUCH about teaching and running a classroom since September, and have felt really confident about my position in my classroom since revamping things a bit, running the ship a bit tighter, holding onto those reigns with a firmer grip. My kids' behaviour has improved a lot since I first began teaching them six months ago, and this time I know what to expect, and what they're looking for. ("They" being the impossible-to-please moms.)

Today I decided to stick just to the meat and potatoes of things, and drop the fun frilly things. The Open House would be reading a book together and then answering some Phonics-based worksheets on material from the story. Korean mothers are not interested in seeing their kids having fun or experiencing a variety of learning methods focusing on several different areas of childhood educational and social development. They want to see their kids learning and demonstrating their two most concerned areas - Phonics and Reading. And so today I gave them exactly that.

I also wanted to show off how much I can control these kids, so we practiced a 'Listen To Teacher' game where they have to stand up, sit down, cover their eyes, their mouth, open your book, close your book, etc. game. The kids listened to every command and the moms seemed to like the little behaviour performance. And I have to say that my kids were amazing the whole class. They all sat still in their chairs, didn't shout out answers but instead raised their hands, and took turns in reading/giving answers without fighting. It was awesome! They were perfect angels!

At the end when the moms left they all smiled and said thank you so that's gotta be a good sign (last open house class they all just left without looking at me or saying anything.) I talked to Cecilia later on in the afternoon and the moms said they 'thought it was okay'. I was a bit disappointed with this so I inquired further. Cecilia elaborated and said that they "were impressed with how well they listened to me, liked how I controlled the lesson, and thought that the kids did great and had learned a lot and could read and write well." Apparently that review equates to being 'just okay' but whatever, I'll take what I can get. I have to keep reminding myself that in Korea no news is good news. If you don't get a swarm of complaints then that means they like you. The parents here do not ever give out praise to the teachers but are awfully quick to phone up and bitch to the Director if there's something they don't like. This is extremely frustrating but just another cultural difference that I have to get used to.

Later on in the day both the School Counsellor and the Director said to all us teachers that the Open House went really well and he bought us pizza for dinner as a reward. I didn't get hauled away into the office like last time so that's also gotta be a good sign! It's easy to be paranoid here about all of that but I refuse to let myself feel that way any more. I know I'm a good teacher and after today's vast improvement in my Open House it's finally been confirmed with the parents and my bosses.

What a good way to end a very busy week! :-)

Day 342: And Then There Were Ten

I've sad to report that I've lost another Parrot. My little Brian is moving to Australia and so today will be his last day at POLY. :-(

I'll certainly miss Brian a lot, even though he was a lot to handle. (Funny how the ones that give you the most trouble end up being the ones you love the most, eh?) I had a lot of behaviour problems with Brian, although never on the scale that Hae Keun or Eugene once were. Brian just preferred socializing with his neighbours over learning, but he was so darn cute it was hard to be mad at him.

And he was a really bright student as well. One of the fastest learners in class and always eager to share answers. He was also a pretty strong reader. He used to sit on my lap and read to me during Reading Class, and would be making these purring-like noises the whole time. He was so cute!!!

And boy did he ever love to dance! If a kid finishes his writing or activity early before class ends they're supposed to go and draw in their sketchbook, but Brian was always like "I don't want sketchbook, Teacher I want dancing!" No surprises here, he was one of the Air Guitar Kings whenever I played 'Jump' and allowed them to get a bit rowdy. And he was the Kickball Champ in gym class too.

*sigh* Brian, I'm going to miss you so much!!! :-(

Day 341: Miracles Do Happen!

So today was a major landmark day for me that I'm really, really excited about! It's definitely a milestone in my own personal history...at least in my own personal *financial* history.

As of today I am officially completely debt-free with all of my credit cards!!!

OH MY GOD!!!

Considering that I've had credit card debt since I immediately got one back when I was 18, I feel pretty damn good about this. I had four credit cards that had, well, significant enough debt on them, but now that's all gone! I paid off the last two today with a major final payment and it felt so fucking amazing to see all four down to ZERO!

I plan on keeping three of the four because credit cards are still handy to have, but plan on using them *very* sparingly from now on. Cash definitely is the way to go! And I actually have the cash flow in my life now that I don't even need the credit cards at all. I'm going to slice up my American Express card cause they're all mother-fuckin evil bastards there and have been very, very mean to me over the years. I won't be using their services any more, that's for sure! I'll take my money and consumption patterns elsewhere, thank you very much!

Now I just have my student loan to tackle... Another big mountain to surmount, but Korea's given me the climbing gear that I lacked for so many years. Hooray for Korea, and hooray for stickin' it to the credit card man and owing absolutely nothing to him! Woohoo! :-)

Day 340: Speeches

Lots of contests going on at work this week. In addition to yesterday's due date for the Returnee kids' Writing Contest, today was the in-class speech competitions for the Gifted & Talented kids (our fancy name for the non-returnee kids.) Every kid has to write an original story and then deliver it in a speech to his/her class. A winner is chosen from each class and then they compete against all the other class winners in the school library (in front of the whole school too!) later on in the week. It was really cool!

I love the power and authority that comes with being a teacher. You mean *I* and I alone get to choose the winner from my class to compete? Cool! (Sometimes I feel like I'm not old enough for this responsibility yet! haha!) I really enjoyed listening to all my kids' stories and hearing the ideas they came up with. I was especially impressed with the creativity that each kid had. No two stories were alike, and many of them had a lesson or moral to learn. Considering that English is the second language of these kids, I think it's pretty darn cool that they can write stories of their own and then read them aloud to their classmates.

Being the judge for my two GT classes and listening to all those speeches brought back many memories of my own speech-giving days. I've always done fairly well with public speaking all my life, I must say. In elementary school I won Second Place in the school in Grade 5 and Third Place in Grade 6. In Grade 8 not only did I read the morning school announcements on the school's PA system (along with Craig and Lisa) but I also co-MC'ed the school's annual talent show that year too. All through high school I always did really well on class presentations. When I got to university I volunteered as an Orientation Ambassador for all the new students and also worked as a university-paid Tour Guide. Later on I became employed with the OA Program and had to speak in front of lecture halls of over 400 students. I also always chose to do an oral presentation instead of an essay in my classes, whenever I was given the chance. And all this with a speech impediment that I've had since birth. I feel pretty proud of what I've been able to accomplish over the years.

Anyways, enough about me, back to my students. I had a hard time choosing my two class winners but in the end I chose Diane from my Level 2 class and Julia from Level 1. They compete on Thursday and I wish them the best of luck. Go kick some ass, girls! :-)

Day 339: Squirrel Fright

We had a Writing Contest at school and each class got a different type of writing assignment. A winner will be picked from each class, and then one from the whole school. They were all due today so I had quite a lot of extra reading to do. I really didn't mind though, in fact I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. My students produced some quality work, and some of the stories were absolutely hilarious.

There's one that was so fucking funny I was honestly laughing and crying at the same time while reading it. My Grade 4's had to write a Personal Narrative and this is the winning entry for that class. Once you read it you'll understand why I just *had* to choose it. Here is the unedited version of "Squirrel Fright" by Julie, the best piece of English work by a Korean student that I've come across yet.


The time I lived in America, I also had a chance to visit Canada, too. We went to Seattle, Boston, Vancouver, and many other wonderful places. But the place I could never forget was Banff. At first, it seemed to be a normal trip. But, it wasn't at all.

It was the day after we arrived at Banff. We were resting in the house we were planning to stay. Mom was in the kitchen, and Dad and Steve, my brother, were watching television at the living room. Then next to them, I was writing something on a piece of paper. Suddenly I got hungry and started looking for food. The only food I found after looking in every bag, were some bread. I started to eat them right away. On the second thought, I remembered seeing squirrels at the garden last night. I headed right toward the door with the bread I had found in my hand.

I couldn't see any squirrels so I started to whistle. Then two squirrels came out of my whistle. So I stopped whistling and gave out my bread to the squirrels. It was okay. Because I was not supposed to give food to wild animals, and there was n one around me. One squirrel sat still and waited for me to give the bread more. But the other squirrel kept jumping. The squirrel that was jumping came closer and closer to me as I kept giving them my bread. I got a bit frightened.

Just then, the squirrel jumped right into my chest where I was holding my bread. I was so suprised and scared, I threw a piece of bread to the squirrel that was sitting, and made the other squirrel that was on my chest let go. Finally, I started to run toward the house where my family were. Even though I ran at full speed, the swift squirrel kept chasing me as I ran. At last, I arrived at the door of the houe our family was staying. The squirrel was a little far away. But the door didn't open. I began screaming. Dad said that the door was opened. It still wouldn't open. I screamed again. Then Mom said, "I locked it." This time I yelled, "Well, then open it!!!" Clunk! The door went opened. I had finally went into the house. I was safe.

After that situation, I started to get scared when I heard about squirrels in Banff. After all, the thing I got was 'squirrel fright'. Thank god, I'm only scared of Banff squirrels. THE END.


That story, I just had to share it with all of my coworkers. They all thought it was absolutely hysterical as well. I think my friend Barb will especially get a kick out of it, considering that she was once attacked by a squirrel herself! Who knew that Canadian squirrels were so dangerous? ;-)

Day 338: Movie Marathon

So I've been on quite the movie marathon since returning to Korea! In the last two weeks I've seen National Treasure (a lot of fun!), The Phantom of the Opera (incredible music and cinematography!), Alexander (bleh!) and today saw Ocean's 12 (kick ass movie!). I guess that isn't *that* many but it's the most amount of movies in a two-week period I've seen in recent memory.

But hey you gotta go with the trend. English movies seem to come in waves here. There'll be nothing at all for months and months and then all of a sudden *SHAZAM!* a whole slew comes out at once. And you really gotta see 'em fast cause they don't stay in the theatres for long at all. Most English films are only here in the theatre for 2-4 weeks and then they're gone. That leaves a very short window of time to see them.

Sometimes they last longer, and sometimes a lot less. Quality films like Whale Rider don't seem to last long at all (was only in the theatre for five days, and we missed it!) whereas shite like If Only (Jennifer Love Hewitt crappy love story) was in the theatre for over two months I swear! Crazy!

The other thing about movies here is that just because you've seen a movie trailer for it, doesn't mean it's actually going to come. I saw a trailer for Dodgeball and was stoked about it coming. And then it never showed! What the...??? Why advertise a film only not to end up playing it all? Strange, I tell ya! The only sure way to know if a movie is coming is to see posters for it on busses, or on the outside sides of movie theatres. And still even then it might not come. I guess the only guaranteed way is if you actually wander into a movie theatre's lobby and see it having tickets for sale at that exact moment. Otherwise you just never know!

Day 337: The Free Ride's Over

Someone once said "there's no such thing as a free lunch." Well you can add on to that one now. It should now be "there's no such thing as a free lunch, or a free cell phone."

Yep, as you can guess, the free ride's over with my once 'magically free!' cell phone. The piper came by to collect the payback shoe that he dropped into my lap. Actually it's more like the party ended and wouldn't start up again until I wiped off the piper's dropped payback shoe, politely handed it back to him, and then paid him off. *sigh*

My cell phone had stopped working one day back in the last week just before Christmas holidays. After six months of free usage (interrupted by having three months of no battery and therefore no cell phone) it suddenly just gave out and stopped working on me. Whoever had been paying that bill all along had finally clued in, I guess, and put an end to my FREEdom. I kept hoping that it would just miraculously come back on again one day, but alas, those futile dreams never came to fruition.

While shopping in Myongdong today Michael finally talked some sense into me and made me realize that the *only* way that baby was gonna come back to life was if I put in a little juice, courtesy of my wallet. Alright alright alright - time to officially accept defeat and go and pay that bill. Well, it turns out the bill was A LOT bigger than I thought it was going to be. It came out to 119,000 Won!!! Ouch!! Turns out that my bill actually hadn't been paid AT ALL since June. Ahhhh....suddenly that all makes sense - no wonder it's so bloody expensive! Well, actually that's only like $140 Cdn for like six months of usage so I guess that isn't too bad if you do the math. Still, it was a big hit to take to the ol' leather money-holder, the same one that gets too much of a workout these days anyways.

So I paid off that bill and instantly she was up awake and purring in my hand again, this time with the artificial life blood of my own money. So much for my amazing free phone! Well, it had been fun while it lasted! ;-)

Day 336: The S2H RMA's!

One of the many advantages of being CEO of your own record company (I'm talking about the internationally-worshipped S2H Records, Inc. of course!) is that you get to host your own award ceremonies every year. That's right, it's the 2005 S2H Records Music Awards!, or the S2H RMA's as they're fondly known in the music industry. And the results are in! After careful contemplation the following songs are this year's winners:

2004 Song Of The Year:

Jump (For My Love) - Girls Aloud

It was really hard to choose this one, as I had so many favourites this year, but in the end it's these five frisky girls from the UK that took home the most coveted trophy in the music industry. Maybe it's the fact that this cover of the 1980's Pointer Sisters hit is as perky and sassy and revved-up as the Girls are, or that it was featured on the soundtrack that everyone fell in love with this year - Love Actually. Or maybe it's because I'm unabashedly biased by sentimentality, and this song was like my own soundtrack this year, from watching the video a million times with the kids at my first school back in Shihung, to roadtrips with my friends across Korea, to watching the Parrots rock out with air guitar to this track, but god I love this song! I will never be able to listen to this song without thinking of my year in Korea. (It's also my own 'dancing-in-my-underwear-while-getting-ready-for-work-a-la-Hugh-Grant' song!)

Best Pop Song:

Obvious - Westlife

With the departure of one of their members, Brian McFadden, and their most recent album, a swing-inspired jazz album entitled '...Please Allow Me To Be Frank' that tanked on the record charts, the fab five from Ireland, the veterans of all boy bands, Westlife, have had a pretty rough year. Until now. Released as the second single from their last pop album, Obvious is a pop ballad like none other this year. About loving someone so much it hurts, and being so close to them and dropping so many clues as to your own burning yearning undying love for them, but not being able to say it in words....(and who can forget the hot video!)...this song is amazing.

Best Rock Song:

This Love - Maroon 5

These boys probably should have won the award for Best New Artist as well, and they would have if it had not been for a bribe from the winner in the form of a promise to be featured in her next video, Maroon 5 have swept the global charts. Their album 'Songs About Jane' has pumped out hit single after hit single. Their lastest effort, 'She Will Be Loved', is currently Mr. S2H's Fave Song Of The Mo. I spent many a night rocking out to 'This Love' in bars across Korea, and everyone always knows all the words. Congratulations, Maroon 5 on the beginning of what's sure to be a very successful rock career.

Best R&B Song:

Superstar - Jamelia

This UK R&B songstress appeared out of nowhere earlier this year with a song that went to Number One in over a dozen countries worldwide. Jamelia's 'Superstar' was a smash hit everywhere, from the ghettoes of Philly to the dance floors of Sydney to the back alley pubs of London to the bedroom of the CEO of the world's biggest records company. Jamelia, you truly are a Superstar now, baby!

Best Musical Duet/Musical Collaboration:

Car Wash - Christina Aguilera with Missy Elliott

The movie 'Shark Tale' may have been no Nemo, but this song more than made up for the movie's fishy flop. Teaming up for the second time (the first was 2001's 'Lady Marmalade') Missy and the Queen of Dirrty herrself took a 1970's disco classic and transformed it into a funky, truly ghetto-fabulous track. Grab your bikinis and your garden hoses ladies and gentlemen, it's time to get sudsy and have a Car Wash!

Best Cover:

My Prerogative - Britney Spears

Releasing her latest single to promote her Greatest Hits album, 'My Prerogative' - a cover of Bobby Brown's 1989 hit - was the perfect choice for Spears. Even though she has announced plans for a temporary hiatus from the spotlight, here's hoping that's a load of crap and that she'll give us what we *really* want - Newlyweds: Kevin & Britney! Hello MTV? Are you working on this???

Best Remix:

Call On Me - Eric Prydz

It took a few listens before I figured out what 1980's song 'Call On Me' sampled to make it so infectiously addictive, but I finally got it down. Who knew that Steven Winwoods' 'Valerie' could have just one line looped over and over in the background to make this song so bloody brilliant! Somewhere in London there is a seventeen-minute-long extended version of this song that I just have to have!

Best New Artist:

Gwen Stefani

Okay so technically she's not a "new" artist, per se, but being on her own and solo is *new* for Gwen! I was saddened when Miss Stefani announced last year that she was taking a break from the boys of No Doubt to put together some work of her own, but after one listen to 'Love.Angel.Music.Baby' there is No Doubt in my mind that Gwen is a girl that kicks major ass! Her first single 'What You Waiting For' almost won for best song of the year, and her solo album is one of the most musically diverse and creative pieces of perfection out there in the record stores. YOU NEED THIS ALBUM!

Best Sophomore Album:

Under My Skin - Avril Lavigne

When Avril's freshman release 'Let Go' finally returned to Earth after churning radio chart-topper after another for most of 2001 and 2002, whispers of 'one album hit wonder' began to arise almost immediately. Well Miss Lavigne, that teen punky angst rocker from Neppanee, Ontario silenced all those critics. 'Under My Skin' has been one of the most commercially successful and critically-acclaimed albums of 2004, churning out hit singles like butter, and is a rockin' album from beginning to end. Could it even be better than 'Let Go'? It just may be...

Best Greatest Hits Album:

Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue

With the coming of the Christmas Consumerism Holiday Season comes the annual massive release of greatest hits compilations. Several artists released noteworthy greatest hits packages this year, including Britney Spears, Shania Twain, and most definitely UK's bad boy Robbie Williams. However, it's the 5'2 wonder from Down Under that blew away the competition with her Ultimate greatest hits collection. Released as a 2-disc package, Kylie not only wins us over with her recent international hits, but reminds us that she was belting out solid gold pop Light Years before 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' became permanately stuck in our heads. Kylie Minogue, in fact, is the only female artist (other than Madonna) to have Number One Hits in the in the 80's, 90's and 00's. This album won't leave you disappointed, I guarantee it.

Best Soundtrack:

Love Actually

Officially released at the very end of 2003 when the movie was released, the Love Actually soundtrack, actually, truly found its success in 2004. Featuring such diverse and talented artists such as Dido, Joni Mitchell, Kelly Clarkson, and of course Girls Aloud, this soundtrack if the perfect year-round companion. Moody, joyful, expressive, hurtful, raw, elated, emotional - this CD has it all. You can't listen to the Love Actually soundtrack without feeling like your own heart is out on your sleeve, bearing itself naked and vulnerable for all the world to see and feel. An album for anyone who has ever been in love, out of love, or caught awkwardly somewhere in the middle.

Day 335: Shock Waves

The earthquake and tsunamis that caused devestation in several Asian countries on Boxing Day may have happened over two weeks ago, thousands of kilometres from where I live (and even from where I was in the Philippines when it struck) but its shockwaves are still felt today. Korea may not have been affected directly, but the disaster sent panic ripples throughout the expat community here.

Thailand is, by far, the single most popular destination for foreign teachers here. On any given holiday there are literally thousands of expat teachers down there on vacation. This past Christmas was certainly no different. I myself had five friends who were down in Thailand when the disaster struck. And everyone here knows *somebody* who was in that country when the ground started shaking and the waves started rolling in. Since returning to Korea, there has been a constant buzz in the air about the disaster. Everyone is checking with everyone else in their social networks to see if anyone knows of anyone who was swept away. It's been an ongoing 'buddy-check' to make sure that everyone made it back, and meanwhile every teacher has been bracing for the expected tragic news that a friend of a friend or whatever didn't make it.

Luckily for me, my five friends were okay, and I haven't heard of a loss yet in my social circles. I'm really thankful for that.

I'd like to take a moment to thank all my family and friends for all the concern you guys had for my safety. When I found out about the quake and tsunamis, to be honest, I never even thought that anyone was going to worry about me. I was just so shocked about it myself, and was so far away that it never even registered that friends and loved ones back home might be worrying about me. Since returning I've had a constant stream of emails from people 'checking in' to see if I'm alright, and many of such sheer joy that I'm okay! Even people that I haven't heard from in over six months have been emailing me! Wow! Thank you everyone so much for all your concern and love. It made me realize how lucky I am to have so many people I care about in my life, and I truly appreciate all your (unnecessary) worrying. Scotty's alright!

I'm still dumbfounded over the death and devestation. The death toll is just below 169,000 now....that's more than my entire home city. Unimaginable. That quake was unbelievably strong. It was so strong that not only did it cause the North Pole to move about an inch to the southwest (the North Pole!!?? Do you realize how far away that is!!??) but it threw off the Earth's rotation that day in such a way that December 26th, 2004 was actually about half a second shorter than normal. Holy fuck! That kind of power is truly incomprehensible to the human brain.

My friend sent me a link to a rather horrifying website. It contains photos of Banda Aceh, the area in Indonesia that suffered the greatest damage, before and after the tsunamis. It's pretty fucking shocking, let me tell you. Have a look, the photos speak for themselves:

http://homepage.mac.com/demark/tsunami/2.html

Day 334: Froth This!

So I got a package in the mail today...something I was not expecting at all! I had already received my Christmas package from my parents....who could this be from? Why it's from my good friend Alicia in Seattle!!! WOW!

I opened it up and was thrilled to see a coffee maker, complete with two glasses, two spoons, and an electric milk frother! And even better, inside the package was a bag of espresso! Real espresso! And not just any espresso, but organic, shade-grown, fair-trade espresso! Man, it doesn't get any better than this! I LOVE coffee! How did she know? (oh yeah, I worked at a coffee house for four years before coming to Korea!)

It was such a sweet and generous present, and truly one that I was not expecting at all. And what a thoughful gift! The coffee in Korea is absolute shite and I've been missing having good coffee for the last eleven months. The only half-decent coffee that can be found in this country is at Starbucks, and it's bloody expensive! (I can get a full meal at a Korean restaurant for *less* than the cost of a grande mocha here!) Now I can whip up some gourmet caffeine-oriented drinks of my own, thanks to the fabulous Miss Alicia.

A big thank you goes out to Alicia! You rock my world!!! :-)

Day 333: My School Is Cool

This morning was pretty fun. It was Class Photos Day at POLY, and the Parrots were the first up to get photographed. All my kids came dressed up today in nice blank pants and skirts and white shirts, and then we put them in these little mini graduation gowns and caps. Then Cecilia and I stood up next to them on the stage in the library and smiled for the camera. We had what seemed like a million photos of us taken together, and I hope that at least one of them turns out great! (and I hope that I get a copy of this photo too! It'll make for a great memory of my time with the Parrots.)

Little things like this make me realize how cool my school really is. The vast majority of hagwons in Korea don't ever do stuff like this. We get to have Class Photo Day, birthday parties, field trips, Halloween parties and Christmas concerts, all the kids get personalized photo albums when they graduate, we have reading and speaking contests, we have extra tutoring to help the slower students, we get to do all the regular learning school stuff plus gym and computers class, we have a real library full of books that the kids can borrow, we have a school counsellor to help with all the learning and behaviour issues that come up... How awesome is my school!

POLY may work us to the bone but they're such a great place to work. I feel like I'm doing real, actual teaching here with these kids. Most hagwans in Korea you're just "edutating" where neither the teachers nor the management care about the kids' education and just care about the money, but at my job I know the kids are actually learning something from an organized curriculam based on long-term educational planning. I don't mind the work, really, when I see the progress all my kids make. And all those little extras show they really care about the kids too. Pretty cool for an instituation that's actually a business, and not a regular public school or anything!

Day 332: Scotty's Choice

Okay so it wasn't exactly 'Sophie's Choice', but I've been having quite the internal mental debate regarding whether to stay with Preschool or make the switch to Kindergarten. I swear every day I had changed my mind again, constantly flipping back and forth. I tend to take a long time to make major decisions, as I like to thoroughly weigh out all the scenarios and possibilities, and this was definitely one of those times.

But in the end I've decided to stick with Preschool. I was teaching my kids today and realized, yet again, how much I love those little anklebiters. They sure do drive me mad some days, but at the end of it all, I do love my job. I love having total control over my own classroom, my own kids. You create such a bond with your own class, you get to know these kids inside out. Hell, it feels like I'm actually raising these children myself. The amount of change and improvement and growth I've seen in them since I began teaching them six months ago has been astounding. Kids grow up so fast!

And given the fact that all my afternoon classes will change beginning in March, I'll have enough change to keep me stimulated and occupied. Having the 'stability' (if you can even call teaching a dozen crazy wired-up five year olds stable) of Preschool is comforting to me. I've gotten good at it and quite enjoy it. I'm excited over the new batch that will be coming in, and looking forward to creating the ultimate classroom from scratch. I've learned volumes of information on teaching since I began this job, and all my little tricks of the trade will be even easier to apply with a brand new class full of kids completely new to the school. It's gonna be awesome!

Get ready for Scotty Erdman & The Parrots: Season 2! Season Premiere begins March 2nd, 2005. Check your local internet service company for listings! ;-)

Day 331: The Worst Movie Ever

Okay maybe it wasn't the worst movie EVER, but definitely the worst one I've seen all year.

Whatever you do, DO NOT waste your time and money and energy and valuable brain activity on 'Alexander.'
Dear Lord that was a terrible film!! I had heard that it wasn't very good, but I still wanted to see it anyway, thinking that it would be 'just okay' or something. Wow was I ever wrong. It was pretty excrutiating at times, actually.

For one, despite having an amazing cast (including my Cambodian-child-adopting soul mate Angelina Jolie) the characters are not believable. Each of them have a different accent, even though they're all supposed to be Greek. (Angelina had a Russian accent...huh???) Colin Ferrell has the worst dye job ever. And despite the fact that Angelina plays his Mom, and about 20 years go by in the film, she doesn't age a day and looks exactly the same. Wow, who knew they had botox back in 323 BC?

Mainly, the movie is just plain boring. I found myself totally daydreaming all throughout the film cause I was so bored, when suddenly I'd realize where I was and snap back to it, determined to try and keep focus on the film. And the movie goes on FOREVER. Conquest after conquest, long arduous hike over some other unknown mountain chain while leading his disillusioned cranky troops after another, hot air melodramatic pep talk/speech/attempt-at-motivating-the-troops spiel after another.... Seriously, after the second hour I was like "just die already, damn Alexander!"

The movie finally ends and you really just don't care at that point. You're numb and quivering from bad blond hair/bad rhetorical speech Colin Farrell overdose, and angry that you've lost three hours of your life that you just ain't ever gonna get back. I went and saw the movie with my buddy Luke and he was actually quite angry over the film! He disliked it even more than I did. We had a good bitch session about it later over dinner and comfirmed, over and over, that yeah we really did not like that film at all.

So yeah, there's my two cents worth of cinematic review for the season. Don't go see Alexander. Please.

Day 330: The New Apartment

So I got to spend both Friday and Saturday night at Michael's new pad and let me tell you, it's pretty damn awesome! Not only is it brand spanking new (can you hear the smack across the ass?) but it comes fully loaded with all the toys and gadgets a modern man could ever need. Like a washer/dryer combo (soft sheets and jeans that aren't rock hard when you put them on? be still my beating heart!), a dishwasher, and the creme de la creme - a bright shiny bathroom complete with fully-enclosed Western-style shower. Ahhhhhh.....the best things in life *are* free! (okay well technically this isn't free cause Michael still has to pay rent, but it's free for ME!)

Seriously though, the place is gorgeous. It's a loft-style apartment with real hardwood floors, a giant floor-to-ceiling window with a southern exposure, and a really cool 'tree-fort like' sleeping area upstairs. The apartment still does have that new and empty and 'just moved in' feel cause...well...Michael did just move in, but it's awesome. It feels like a Real Adult Home, not some tiny apartment that a foreign teacher is inhabiting for a year.
Lucky boy, that Michael!

We had a really mellow day today. Went to Carrefour to do some domestic shopping for the new pad, and then to Myongdong to do some shopping for us. (I bought two CD's - best of Robbie, and Kylie! Woohoo!) Afterwards we had a nice long coffee talk (insert Mike Myers Coffee Talk Lady voice: "Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island - talk amongst yourselves!) and then met up with Young-Seok, Nick, Angele, and Darryl for dinner. We had a nice meal at Three Alley Pub in Itaewon and then were gonna get together for games and chit chat after, but we were all just too tired. Michael is still struggling with major jetlag since he came back from Iowa and so we all decided just to call it an early night.

Mike crashed and went to sleep but I was wired so I stayed up late reading the new magazines that Michael brought back for me from America (Details, Rolling Stone & Adbusters.) He also brought me back a bunch of other goodies, including a new funky shirt from The Gap, Clinique Happy For Men cologne and bodywash, as well as some t-shirts, my fave conditioner, and three movies - Love Actually, Under The Tuscan, and Coyote Ugly. Guess who's a sucker for romantic comedies? ;-)

Day 329: Bracing For Impact

So it's Friday night and the week flew by in a flash. What a pleasant surprise! I was all ready for a long and arduous week, just cause it's my first one back from holidays and that's usually how it goes.

When I came back from my holiday to Hong Kong I was totally down in the dumps. Seoul seemed so dirty and gross and boring in comparison, and after having such a blast there I was so not ready to go back to work. Being off on holidays on a fabulous vacation and then going back to working 50 hours a week is certainly an awkward transition, to say the least! I went through a short (but unpleasant) 'I hate Korea, why can't Korea be as cool as Hong Kong, ugh this place is driving me crazy' phase, but luckily it didn't last for long.

So even before my holiday to Boracay I was preparing to go through that again when I got back. I mean come on, you lie on a perfect tropical beach for nine days and then gotta go back to the long hours at work in sub-Siberian Korea, you gotta expect some backlash! I came back to Korea and braced for impact...

...but it never arrived!

For whatever reason, I've experienced no Korea-backlash or post-vacation depression since returning. Sure I whine about the cold, but I'm generally happy to be back at work. And although I'd rather be back on that beach right now (of course), I'm realistic about the whole thing. I had a blast on my holiday, appreciated it for what it was, and am cool with being back here in Korea. And hey Korea still seems pretty darn cool. White sands, sea-green waters, and palm tree-sans it may be, but it's got lots of other great goodies and I'm having fun.

Maybe it's also cause I know that my time at POLY will be coming to an end this year. Now that 2005 has arrived my July 5th departure date seems SO much closer. (even though it's still a full six-months away!) Not that I'm excited to leave POLY, but with what's to follow you can't blame me for being giddy with anticipation. "Project Wanderlust", launching on July 7th*, 2005 will be an amazing and life-changing experience, to say the least! God I can't even imagine how incredible that will be...

So all in all life here is really good. Vacation is over but I've got no major complaints (well, maybe if Mother Nature would warm things up just a bit....?) :-)



*"Project Wanderlust" is an official subsidiary of The S2H World Tour, and its specific launch date is still tentative at this date. Stay tuned for more details soon.

Day 328: Switching Teams

So I'm taking serious consideration into switching teams.

And no I'm not talking about *those* teams (come on silly, I switched from *that* team many moons ago, back on December 12, 1998) I'm talking about switching from Preschool to Kindergarten.

The school year in Korea begins in March, and with that means a whole new schedule for all the teachers, along with the chance to switch what you teach. Since at that same time Sally and Jay will be leaving POLY, there'll be two new vacancies opening up in Kindergarten. And I'm thinking about taking one of them.

I love teaching Preschool, despite all the challenges and exhaustion that it brings. My kids are adorable and I love them to pieces. It's just that Kindergarten is looking kinda attractive these days. It would be a new challenge, something else to add to my resume, and from what I've heard is easier to teach. The kids are older, obviously speak English better, and are well-acclimatized to the Poly educational environment. They know the rules and the routines, and it becomes more 'teaching' and less 'day care'. You get to teach specific subjects (like Reading or Science) to other Kindergarten classes as well. And plus, I'd love the idea of being able to follow some of my Parrots up to the next level and be their teacher again.

The new crop of kids coming in for Preschool in seven weeks will come with their own bonuses and specific challenges. I'll have to start back at square one, with teaching basic rules, how to ask for simple stuff in English, and just getting them used to being in their first school environment ever. Not an easy transition for kids, let me tell you! They're so small when they first come, it's like they're barely out of diapers. Half the kids can't even ask to go to the bathroom at first! However, the idea of having my own class, all to myself again, to train from scratch could be really cool. I could mold these kids to be exactly the way I want them to be (well, as much as a five year old will let you, haha!) and it would be like having my own family all over again.

So I really don't know right now. I keep bouncing back and forth and am currently riding that fence long and hard. I need to make a choice soon as it won't be long before they begin hiring new teachers to fill those positions. Hmmm...I really don't know right now which way I'll go!

Day 327: Pieces Of Home

I got an awesome surprise in the mail today - a belated Christmas package from my family back home!

Actually it wasn't a surprise as I knew it was coming, but nonetheless I was pretty excited when it finally arrived. I waited until I got home to open it, and the contents were pretty awesome. I had two CD's (Shania's Greatest Hits, and the Will & Grace soundtrack), some of my favourite chocolates (Toblerone - a holiday classic if there ever was one for me), some new socks and underwear (so desperately needed), a stack of magazines (my subscription to National Geographic), a cool witty Canadian calendar, some of my fave Happy bodywash, and the treat of all treats, a stack of burned CD mixes that my sister made for me!

I'm a total music junkie, as is my sister Janelle, and we both have an obsession with burning the ultimate mixed CD's. Well she's got one of her own now, and so she burned me *EIGHT* mixed CD's! How awesome is that! I'll have plenty of musical material to keep my humming for a while (and of course, Janelle, you know that this is just going to whet my appetite for even more, eventually! ha!)

It was great to get a package full of pieces of home. Stuff that my family put together just for me, and was touched by them and in their loving presence, made it all the way across the globe in one little cardboard box. It made me feel closer to them just opening it, as cheesy as that sounds. Thank you Mom, Dad, Janelle, Auntie, and the Streys for the great presents! I love all you guys and miss you very much!

Day 326: Tan Opsoyo!

("opsoyo" is Korean for "there is no")

So I've been in Korea about 48 hours and I'm already quickly returning to Skin Status: Albino.

That lovely tan that I lusciously earned while in Boracay has been disappearing faster than you can imagine. And I blame it all on the weather here! It's been so bloody cold since we've returned back to Korea. It's fucking freezing these days! I swear, it was like I walked to school that first morning back and could feel the colour being *sucked* out of my skin with each progressive step in the frigid outdoors.

My redness had actually started to turn a golden brown just before returning home, but now it's almost all gone. Give it a few more days and you'll never even know that I laid on a tropical beach for nine days. I'm guessing that by the time the weekend rolls around all evidence of my experience a la 'Touched By The Tropics' will be completely gone.

*sigh*

Well, it was fun while it lasted!

Day 325: Not So Ghetto Fabulous

It was back to the ol' grind today, and I was actually really excited to see all my kids. They were all eager to tell me about their holidays and had lots of funny, cute stories to share. The one thing I was excited to share with them was to show them my two tattoos. I knew that I would get a reaction from the kids, but I was expecting them to be all hyper and excited over them. Hell, if one of my teachers back home had offered to show me a new tattoo, I would've thought that'd be the coolest thing ever.

So I showed all my kids the ankle chain and that gecko, from my preschoolers to my Grade 5's, and I was met with the same reaction each and every time - confusion, and mild horror! Huh? Come on kids! They're tattoos! Look how cool they are! (and they're not real, anyways!)

It looks like I misjudged another cultural difference. Oops I did it again! Turns out that in Korea the only people who wears tattoos are those who are in gangs, or have been in jail. haha! No wonder I got the reaction I did! That's right kiddies, your Teacher went to jail *and* joined a gang over the Christmas holidays. You know how crazy us weguks can be! haha!

To be honest I was surprised that later in the week I didn't get any nasty phone calls from concerned parents, freaking out that their small innocent child is being taught by a foreign heathen who's gone and gotten himself inked. Looks like I dodged that bullet! (but being in a gang and all, I've gotten really good at avoiding bullets! haha!) :-)

Day 324: A Frozen Welcome

We woke up at 5:30am today, got all our stuff together, and bid farewell to our island home. Our time in Boracay went by way too fast, as all vacations do, and forever this place will be in a special place in my heart. I vowed to return (at least once!) one day again.

So it was back on the long skinny boat, back on the thrilling motorized ghetto tricycle, back on our flying mini-school bus, back in an open-air jeep, and back on the big plane (777 this time) to fly back home to Korea. Our travel home was seamless and easy as pie. It's so nice when travel plans go nice and smoothly!

We landed back in Korea at 5pm and stepped out of the airport and back into the Siberian winter! Isch it was cold!!! Our tanned and supple beach bodies nearly snapped in half upon slamming into the wall of frigid air that was eagerly awaiting us. *sigh* It's only been a couple hours and yet that beautiful White Beach seems so far away already...

We took a cab back to Ilsan and when I got into my apartment it was so cold I swear you could see my breath inside! Bloody hell! I jacked up the heat full blast and waited for the blood to begin flowing again in my frozen veins. Tomorrow is back to work and I'm not totally excited about it, but I'm not dreading it either. I actually kinda miss my kiddies and am eager to hear all about my friends' holidays. I promise to have my pics up online soon so you check em out. Back to working life now for me!

Day 323: Rememberies

New Year's Day! Welcome 2005!

How does the time go by so quickly? I can remember New Year's 2000 like it was a few months ago...and here I am half a decade later...crazy!

The girls had "spa day" today so I went off to get my own pampering. I decided to opt for a beach-side shiatsu massage, which turned out to be one of the best investments of my entire trip. I had an hour and a half massage performed by this blind masseur that was absolutely incredible! He worked by body over from top to bottom and god did it ever feel amazing. I was in a half-daze the whole time, as I was so completely relaxed. Today was our last full day on the island so I thought a lot about the great memories we had made in our visit to Boracay. Here's a list of some Boracay Rememberies:

-all the eye candy covering this island from top to bottom. Seriously, it was ridiculous how many gorgeous people there are here. We kept joking that we must've accidentally stumbled into a reality show or something, as if we unknowingly wandered into 'Temptation Island 4: Babes In Boracay' or something!
-the friendly locals. The Filipinos are easily hands down the friendliest people I've ever met in my life. So warm and genuine, such big smiles, such sincere happiness. And so kind to all the swarms of visitors who visit their little piece of heaven.
-going along with this, how every Filipino addresses you as "sir" or "ma'am" except they pronounce it like "mom"...hehe!
-the FOOD! God I can't remember the last time I ate so well, for such a long stretch. The cuisine here is cheap and utterly delicious. We had something different every night - Mexican, Greek, Thai, Indian, Filipino, Italian, French, German....we're talking major yum factor here. and totally cheap too! The three of us ate huge gourmet meals for less than $20 - altogether!
-breakfast! we had delicious meals every single morning (more like brunch than anything) and for 5 of our mornings there we ate at this amazing French creperie that made the best crepes ever. We even went back in the afternoons for dessert crepes. My personal fave - nutella.
-fruit shakes every day
-drinks at this one bar we went to every night, get a load of its name - Nigi Nigi Nu Noos E Nu Nu Noos.
-pina coladas and mudslides everyday
-swinging in hammocks between palm trees
-the 'Ewoks' Resort Hotel that Katie and I found behind this cliff just past White Beach one night, which was literally a vertical hotel on this hillside that looked and felt like a little Italian village. We snuck in to the private villas and had a drink at the bar!
-talking to this random guy cause he had a 'Be The Reds!' Korean shirt on, and it turns out that he used to teach at my POLY school like six months before I got there! What a small world!!
-the little geckos running around everywhere
-the animals we met and named - Chang The Monkey who was on a chain next to our apartment, T-Bone the bull in the field next to our nipa nut (along with half a dozen noisy roosters) and Alfredo the cat at Nigi Nigi's
-watching the sun set every night into the Sulu Sea
-being able to pick out someone speaking Korean half a kilometre down the path, out of all the languages being spoken all over Boracay. Apparently my ears are atuned to it as much as they are to English?
-hearing Bob Marley, UB40, and the Black Eyed Peas every single day, everywhere you went. The three of us decided that we need to burn a CD when we get back to Korea, so that we can have our own little 'soundtrack' to remember all the theme songs from our trip.

Later on we regrouped and went swimming in the waves - for one last time - just before sundown tonight, and were all feeling quite sad that tomorrow morning we would be flying home. What an amazing time we've had!

Day 322: 2004 Draws To A Close

Spending New Year's Eve on a tropical island is a surreal an experience as any could be. I had to keep reminding myself that it was *December!* No snow, no sub-arctic windchill, no Christmas trees. Instead just sun, sand, and surf. Well, that's fine by me! Why settle for a White Christmas when you can have a White Sand Christmas? Haha! ;-)

For New Year's Eve we splurged and had an 'expensive' dinner at one of the beach-front resorts. For about $20 we had this delicious buffet dinner that had turkey, mashed potatoes, roast beef, grilled fresh tuna, prawns, stuffed crab, exotic veggies and salads, and tropical fruit flan for dessert! Yum!!! And it was right on the beach, surrounded by a hundred candles, mere metres from the crashing surf. And under a perfectly clear starry sky. What more could you ask for?

Addie and I had a few drinks at a few different bars on The Strip after dinner. (Katie had gone home to rest and reflect on her year.) We discovered that there wasn't really 'one big party' anywhere - the party was really just in wandering around all night like everyone else was. We mixed and mingled in a jinglin' beat and had a great time. At about 11:30pm we went down to the beach where most of the people had gathered to hang out. A few minutes later the New Year's Eve fireworks began. And they were amazing! There must've been about six or seven different 'stations' all along the beach that were launching fireworks all at the same time. Picture 3.5 kilometres long of simultaneous fireworks and you can begin to imagine how spectacular it was! No matter where you looked, there was some colourful explosion going off above you. WOW! What an awesome way to ring in 2005!

The show lasted almost a full hour and then when they ended we wandered around some more. We went back to Cocomangas but it became swarmed with teenagers so we quickly left there. We ended up running into a bunch of our new friends that we had met earlier in the week and had drinks with them. There was Peter and Trina from Denmark, Justin from England, and Kathia from Manila. It was so fun and relaxing and just a great chill night - wonderful friendly lively atmosphere everywhere we went. Laughter and lights beneath the palms and happy friends running around in the sand. So cool!

I did a lot of reflecting too about my incredible year. 2004 went by in a blur and was most definitely the adventure of a lifetime. Only six weeks of it was spent in Canada, the rest here in Asia. The S2H World Tour was officially launched on Valentine's Day of this year and turned out to be so much more than I ever could have imagined. The things I've seen and experienced, the joys and the adventures and the challenges and the excitement, all the great people I've been able to meet and the friendships I've formed. Incredible! 2004 pushed my own frontiers and perceptions, and opened my eyes to entire new worlds within our planet. I grew in ways I never thought possible, and have come out such a stronger, more confident, person. Planet Earth has become my playground, and I love it! I was meant for this unusual and exotic lifestyle. I always believed that I was born to take the path less-travelled, to live the life less ordinary. And this certainly is it. I am so lucky to be living out my dreams!

After stimulating conversations and alcoholic libations, contemplative reflections and ponderings of life, socializing and losing myself to uncontrollable laughter, it was finally to turn in the towel and return to bed. 2004 has been truly amazing, and I know that 2005 will be even more of an adventure! I wish all my friends and family the best for this coming year, and hope that all your goals and ambitions are everything you hoped for!

Happy New Year! :-)

Day 318-321: The Life Of A Beach Bum

Okay, so I'm breaking one of the cardinal rules of my blog for the first time ever. I've always written individual entries for *every single day* that I've been here in Korea (well, Asia in general.) Until now....

That week of December 27 - 30 is all just one beautiful perfect blur of laughter, adventures in the sun, soulful relaxation, and making sweet love to that beach every single day! I could honestly not tell you what I did exactly on each day. One surreal day in tropical paradise just blended into another. Days did not matter. Time did not matter. We slept when we were tired. Ate when we were hungry. Moved only when we felt motivated to leave our spot on the beach (and those moments were few and far between.) The whole week long I never once wore a watch, pants, or shoes. It was awesome!

And life as a beach bum was simply amazing. I loved it. Every second. The constant sun and fresh air. The sand perpetually caught in my toes. My dishevelled hair and unshaven face. My lack of clothing and corresponding fantasticly tanned skin. My bare feet. My forever-sunglasses-clad eyes. And my permanent smile. I wore nothing but a bathing suit, or shorts and t-shirt during the evening. I bought really cool colourful necklaces to drap around my neck. I even got two tattoos to signify my connection to the island. (and before you freak out, I should let you know that they were only henna tattoos!) I got a funky chain wrapped around my left ankle, and a five-inch gecko scaling my right calf. In only a matter of days I was completely transformed into an Islander.

And I was seriously addicted to it. It was a lifestyle that I could enjoy for a long, long time. With each passing day I was finding fewer and fewer reasons as to why I should get back on that plane to go home (oh yeah, that money thing!), and was in real and grave danger of becoming a permanent beach bum. Ahhhhh it was heaven!

Although the beach did consume most of our waking hours, we did do a couple cool activities. One day we went on an all-day boat tour that took us on quite an adventure. We went snorkelling on two different reefs, explored some claustophobic sea caves, had a delicious bbq lunch, and even got to hold a monkey! And all for only $10 Cdn! God is the Philippines ever cheap cheap cheap! And fun fun fun! I went jet-skiing another day and had a blast doing that as well. We also went swimming every single day and concluded that there really is nothing quite as pleasurable as floating in tropical turquoise waters under a blue sky next to a white-sand beach!

It was a week that I wished could last forever... *sigh* :-)

Day 317: And The World Stops

We were a bit disappointed to wake up today and see that the weather was overcast, but at least it was still very warm outside - about 30 C. In fact, for our entire trip, the temperature never fluctuated beyond 28 and 32 C. The tropical warmth was glorious!

We spent the day doing a bit of shopping and then getting up close and personal with that beach. Oh that beach, oh how heavenly it is! We found a spot to sit and read and it was complete bliss. We went swimming for the first time and it was glorious! The water is this beautiful sea-green colour that is breath-taking to gaze upon, and sheer heaven to immerse yourself in! The soft white sand continues way out past the beach and the water is nice and warm. God, we couldn't quite get over the fact that we were actually there, in those waters, on that beach, after waiting so long for this trip!

We got showered up in the evening and decided to go and have some dinner. One of the many great things about Boracay is that because it's popular with travellers from all over the world, The Strip is full of all these great international restaurants. No matter what kind of ethnic cuisine you're craving, it can be found here. We decided to give Mexican a try first and so we made our way to Manana Mexican Restaurant.

On the way there we passed a bar that had a TV on with a small crowd of people gathered around it...what was going on in the news that was so exciting? It was then that we found out about the terrible disaster that struck a very large portion of Asia that Boxing Day morning. Seeing images of the complete devestation caused by the tsunamis left us in complete shock. It was horrific beyond anything I've ever seen in my lifetime. A 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia followed by a series of enormous tsunamis sweeping their way across the Indian Ocean. Thousands dead already, with many more bodies sure to be found. I was overcome with grief at seeing all that destruction and death and tragic sadness affecting so many countries all at the same time. It was completely overwhelming. It was like the whole world just stopped spinning.

Although the damage was not anywhere near the Philippines, it was too close for our own comfort. A few months ago, when our travel schedule for Boracay wasn't really working out, we had talked about going to Thailand and Malaysia instead. We even had our names on some plane reservations but decided in the end to do Boracay instead when things worked out in our favour again. Had we bought those tickets, our destination was exactly where the disaster had struck. I can almost guarantee that I would have been in those resorts myself the moment those tsunamis came rolling in. The thought sent a chill down my spine... And then we also realized that we have four coworkers who were down in Thailand at that very moment, with the intent of ending up in Phuket. Had they made it there before the tsunamis struck? Could they be among the hundreds of foreigners killed? We suddenly became very worried for our friends... God I sure hope that Chris, Tim, Mike and Kelly are okay...

The rest of the night was really strange. We had a delicious dinner and a really fun evening partying in bars and clubs, but I felt guilty for having so much fun when so much grieving and dying was going on here in Asia. How thankful I am to be alive and safe and sound. I never take my life for granted, but today especially I felt really fortunate and lucky and blessed. Life truly is incredibly precious and fragile. One event really can change everything. This disaster has truly affected the entire planet, feeling the pain and suffering as one connected, human global community.

We went dancing at Cocomangas which is home to the famous "Still Standing After 15" Shooter Bar. This refers to these 15 shooters they have that if you can drink them and still stay standing, your name goes on the wall and your country's tally gets an extra point. Being of the light-weight weak-stomached nature, I decided to pass on this particular venture. We had a blast dancing to some great music before both Katie and Addie were feeling tired and worn out. We went to sleep and totally crashed as soon as we hit our beds!

Day 316: Welcome To Paradise

4 am came all too soon and it was time to get up and get our asses to the airport. We were all really sleepy yet totally excited for our trip, so we had more than enough energy to get ourselves to that airplane. It was completely fucking freezing outside in Ilsan, but we just kept reassuring ourselves that soon the cold air would be far, far behind us... We arrived at Incheon International Airport just before 6am and it made it through security and immigration and all that without any problems.

It's funny...going through Immigration (even just to the States from Canada) used to scare me, but not any more. I've gone though Immigration in and out of Korea so many times this year already that it's become normal. Wow - I board international flights and jump back and forth between foreign countries and that's become 'normal'?! How awesome is my life! Well, this year alone I've been able to add four new stamps to my passport - Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and now as of today the Philippines.

My excitement officially reached "stratospheric" level when I saw that our plane to Manila was a 747! Call me a geek (cause I am) but I've always wanted to ride a 747 - the largest commercial jetliner in the world! - all my life and now, finally, here was my chance! The four-hour flight to Manila was quick and comfortable and I slept though half of it. Upon landing we prepared to brace ourselves - Manila's Nino Alquino International Airport is notoriously infamous for being one of the world's most mangled and most chaotic airports. Yikes!

We took a step into the jetway and the three of us screeched out in glee when we were met with a *wave* of warm, moist, tropical air! YES!! We have, indeed, arrived in the Tropics!!! The airport turned out to be easier than we thought to navigate, and once again we had no problems with security or immigration. The fact that all our luggage for the trip was strictly carry-on sure helped us out too.

Our next flight to Caticlan (the closest airport to Boracay) was a small domestic flight so we had to take a taxi to the 'Old Domestic Terminal', wherever that was. Our ride there was fun and surreal - a speedy open-aired jeep racing through the crazy streets of crowded, dirty, very-tropical Manila. The ODT was indeed very old and very domestic. Security consisted of only one scan (instead of four like we had before getting on the first plane) and there was maybe like six or seven ticket booths in the whole place! We knew that our plane was going to be small, but it's tiny size was reconfirmed to us when not only our luggage but WE OURSELVES had to be WEIGHED before getting on the plane! That was definitely a first for me!

We had two hours to kill before we finally got on our tiny prop airplane. Wow it was small! We joked that it was like a little POLY school bus with wings! There couldn't have been more than 15 or 20 passengers, tops. I laughed cause in one day I had flown on the largest *and* the smallest airplanes that I've ever been on in my life.
Our noisy flight to Caticlan was scenic as flying at such a low altitude allowed us a some nice views of the sea and inbetween islands.

One hour later we descended - rather unstably - into the thick tropical jungles of Panay Island. Our plane landed on this 'runway' that was this barely paved strip of 'non-jungle' and had weeds growing out of it. Steep green hills full of lush thick tropical vegetation threatened to consume the runway at any given moment. I felt like I was landing in Jurassic Park or something! The airport 'terminal' consisted of a two-room decrepit (sp?) shack next to the runway. Wow! We retrieved our luggage (certainly no baggage carousel here!) and went to find out how to get to the ferry terminal to find a boat to take us to Boracay.

Our transportation to the ferry terminal was another experience in itself! A few minutes later we found ourselves riding on this motorized tricycle flying along these dirt roads filled with pot-holes past naked dirty children running around and chickens and goats and other farm life here and there. The town was all these little run-down shacks, with cars that looked like they haven't been run since the 1950's! Wow - we have certainly arrived in rural Philippines - and this definitely feels like a developing country. (Toto, we ain't in Kansas anymore!)

Finally, our last mode of transportation for the day - a short ferry-ride to Boracay. The ferry turned out to be this long, skinny, wooden boat - about twice as wide and four times as long as a canoe - with these bamboo poles on each side for stabilization. To get on the boat, we had to cross this skinny wooden gang-plank that was just slapped on down between the boat and dock - not the most stable structure! The seas were a bit rough so the plank was totally moving all over the place with the waves, and yet we had to navigate across the ten foot span with all our giant bags. I was okay with it and so was Katie, but Addie *hates* being suspended over water and was totally freaking out. We made it on the boat okay and cruised on towards Boracay.

Our arrival in Boracay was right out of a tropical paradise movie. There is no dock on Boracay. The boat literally just cruises up onto the beach and you jump off - right into the surf- and that is your arrival. Your first steps onto Boracay are out of the waves (hello wet pants!) and onto that perfect beautiful white sand. Boracay's famous White Beach is almost too surrealy perfect to describe. It is about 3.5 km. long and is the purest, whitest, softest, finest, sand that you can imagine. It's like a beach full of baby powder or talcum powder or something! I've never ever felt such soft sand on my feet. Giant swaying palm trees, interspersed with hammocks and beach chairs, line the beach, and behind those trees is what we came to call 'The Strip.'

'The Strip' is about 2 km. of restaurants and bars and resorts and bungalows and shops and scuba centres and discos and markets and everything else that you'd want - and expect - to find on what is commonly accepted as The World's Most Perfect Tropical Island. Boracay wins that title hands down. It was bloody fuckin' beautiful, is what is was I tell ya!!!

We found the place where we were staying - Frendz Resort. Frendz Resort is sorta tucked away in the back but is a real gem and a real bargain. It's this small collection of Filipino style nipa huts that are these simple yet cozy wood and reed(?) beachy bungalows. Our nipa nut was rather basic - two floors, four small beds, and a bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower (no hot water) - but really all that we needed. And for only $13 a night each, who can complain!

We changed and made our way down to the beach to watch the sun go down. Sailboats and the little skinny transport boats plied the waters as the crimson and orange sun sunk slowly beneath the calm waters of the Sulu Sea. It was heaven! We cruised The Strip and found a restaurant serving special Christmas Dinner. We ate there and dined on delicious turkey with potatoes and cranberries, veggies and rice, wine and cake - and enjoyed a few of the Happy Hour cocktails as well. It was a great dinner and we spent the rest of the evening wandering around The Strip before heading to bed fairly early. It had been a very long day - filled with just about every conceivable form of transport known to man (a taxi, a 747, a jeep, a tiny prop-plane, a motorized tricycle, and an elongated suped-up canoe with a motor - and we were definitely ready for sleep!

What an amazing - and very unusual - way to spend Christmas Day! What an adventure! Welcome to paradise!

Day 315: Christmas Eve

I can't believe that tonight is Christmas Eve!

This week has just flown by in a whirlwind (thank god!) and it was over before we knew it. It sure as hell was a damn busy and action-packed week, but I'm just thankful that time didn't drag on.... The three of us leave tomorrow morning - bright and very fucking early - for Boracay, and our giddier than humanly possible for this trip. We still had to work a full day today, but it was an easy one. A fairly relaxed morning and test day again all afternoon. Sweet!

After work me and the girls had a trip packing/gift exchange party. Addie and I got each other same gift which is pretty darn funny (we both really really wanted these way cool mugs from Starbucks) and Katie's gonna make T-shirts for us with an inside joke on it that will be very fun.

I spent the rest of the evening going over all my checklists and making sure that nothing was going to be forgotten behind. I called my parents to wish them an early Merry Christmas before I take off for the Tropics, and then tried to go to bed at a half-decent hour. I gotta get up at FOUR AM tomorrow and man that's gonna be rough, but I'm sure I'll be running high on adrenaline and excitement.

Peace out to all, and Happy Christmas Eve! :-)

Day 314: The Big Day

Lights, Camera, Action!

"Good morning! My name is Scott-Teacher, and today I have the pleasure of being your host for the 2004 Poly Preschool Christmas Concert!"

Today was The Big Day, the day that we've been prepping and pushing and preparing and practicing for weeks now, all in anticipation of this one cosmic theatrical climax! Surprisingly I was less nervous today, and in the end I had nothing to be nervous about.

The show went off like clockwork! Everything was smooth and on time, all the classes were ready, and the kids absolutely adorable in their little Christmas outfits up on stage. The Parrots class was #3 outta 5 and they did a fantastic job. They were sooooo cute up there, in their little white shirts and black pants, with the boys wearing red and green ties while the girls had little red and green bows on, and all the kids had these festive tinsel bracelets.... And they sang and danced their little hearts out....some of them were shy but overall they were amazing. I couldn't have been any more proud! I felt like I was a parent and all these kids were my own! Aww shucks, I'm getting all teary-eyed now! ;-)

After the singing a few kids were some classes did individual performances, and they were really cute as well. A couple gave speeches or sang songs, two played violin, others did Taekwondo, and two of my kids did shows too. David put on a magic show that was cuter than cute could be, and little Isabelle, who was too nervous and cried the first time she tried to go on stage by herself, told the Snow White story complete with little songs in the middle of the story that her mom had made up for her. It was so cute!!!

It was such a huge relief to have that finished and over with, and all the bosses said I did a good job which is GREAT for me to hear. Wow, so much work for just one little hour and a half show! God almighty I'm so ready for a vacation! Thankfully the afternoon was test day which means I just sit and babysit while they write, and I was really appreciative of that. Only two more days to go baby!!!

Day 313: A Shot At Redemption

Another crazy day!

This morning was practically all practice day for the Preschoolers. All Practice! All Morning! This Christmas concert is a Big Deal for the school. All the moms come out to watch and since this is the kids' first year of school, this is the first big POLY function for all these parents. It helps to set/affirm/make good impressions with parents and makes the school look really good if all goes well.

It's also really important that I do a great job as well. After my now infamous Great Open House Day Disaster this show is my chance to truly redeem myself for all these parents. Not only with I be able to show off my fun and addictive personality while I host the show, but if my kids do well, then it will prove to these scrutinizing moms that I'm a good teacher as well. (Hey who cares if your kid can read and write and spell all thanks to me, but can he dance *and* sing a Christmas carol? seems to be the issue of real - and in my eyes a little ill-placed - importance, I've been told.)

So I had the kids singing Jingle Bells and Jingle Bell Rock over and over, while Cecilia - the official choreographer of the Parrotrs - had them going over the dance a million times. The pressure's on kids, and your 'other mommy and daddy' (ie: Cecilia and I) want/need you to do well! Go break a leg!

And oh yeah, only three days until the take-off for Boracay begins...

Day 312: Man On A Mission

Today was pretty mellow at school actually, but I had a busy evening afterwards. Tonight was 'Get All Your Christmas Shopping and Preparations For Boracay Finished' Night, and I had a lot on my plate. I hit LaFesta as a Man On A Mission. With list in hand I strategically hit the mall, carefully targeting each store in a fashion that would not induce backtracking later on. I was quite the whirlwind and managed to get a lot done, including purchasing Addie's present even though she was shopping *with me!* Go me!

We're doing Secret Santa at work this week as well so I needed to pick up a gift for that too. I decided that a gift certicate to the movies would be a good, safe choice and so I headed on over to the cinema in the mall. I ran into Tim in the lobby there and we ended up having quite the adventure trying to get these gift certificates.

The girl at the ticket counter told us that they only sell tickets in groups of 10 (what the...?) and that was definitely out of the 15,000 Won price range for the Secret Santa. Well on the way out we saw a sign (in Korean) that looked like "Couples Packages" were available, and this seemed like exactly what we were looking for. Well we inquired about this with the Guest Services desk and were immediately directed to the Manager. He seemed to be rather confused by our request, and upon pointing out the sign to him, we were quickly ushered into the....back staff area of the theatre!??

Following this was a good fifteen minutes of humorous confusion as the Manager and some other Suit ran around the back office looking through drawers, filing cabinets, safes, everything for what I imagined was the stack of gift certificates. Tim and I were seated at this desk surrounded by other Korean employees who were busy crunching numbers. This was strange! It was like we were the first people ever to ask about getting these certificates, and if we weren't, do all customers get brought back to the 'behind the scenes' of the theatre?

A few phone calls were made (who were they phoning? The theatre's head office in Seoul or something to seek clearance from a higher authority?) and a few minutes later a Korean usher boy showed up. He spoke English and helped us to translate what we were wanting to buy. All seemed to be on the right track but man it took a long time! Another 15 minutes for so went by until we were finally presented with the certificates! What a hassle for all those staff!

Christmas/Boracay shopping was finished shortly after that, and Addie and I celebrated our productive evening with a coffee at Starbucks. And hey, only four more days left! Woohoo!

Day 311: Ai Carumba!

Talk about a stressful day! Actually, let me rephrase that... Talk about a stressful week beginning with a very stressful day! Not only was today a day of observations by head-honchos from the top of the POLY chain, but today was rehearsal day for the Preschool Christmas Concert! Ai Carumba!

I was nervous as hell for the rehearsal. I'm the MC of the show and wanted things to go smoothly. It would be the first time performing in front of an audience for all the kids, and really, at age five, you just never know what to expect when you get twelve of them up on stage to sing!

The rehearsal actually went not too bad... Some of the kids were really nervous and didn't really sing, but the Parrots came off looking pretty good. There's always some slight competition between the five Preschool classes in the sense that the behaviour and quality of performance reflects the abilities of the teacher, so everyone wants to do a good job. But all was well and now it's just more practice until the real deal on Thursday.

The afternoon observations went well too - whew! Two head-honchos came to watch one class for every teacher and Murphy's Law I got the Bitchy Bastard Head Honcho who's reputation of being unbelievably nasty and picky far precedes him.... Luckily things went well in that class too. All my kids are sweet little angels in G2-1 and they practically teach themselves. I never heard any direct comments afterwards, but apparently the two guys left POLY at the end of the day with nothing but good things to say about all the teachers. Yah for us!

And only five more days left... ;-)