I Wish it Was a Joke...

I forgot to mention something that I did about a month ago which I have been trying to forget. I went with a group of foreigners for live octopus at a local restaurant and will never do it again! It was like a scene from a horror movie when the "thing" starts to attack the humans. They take an octopus out of the tank and chop it up quickly and then put some sesame oil over it and bring the platter to your table. The pieces are STILL MOVING.....hand to God. You have to fight them off of the plate as the tentacles cling very tightly to the ceramic dish. Then, when you eat it you have to chew it very hard to kill it so that it doesn't kill you by suffocating you on the way down. One girl had a little bit of a scare that was pure comedy for all of us nearby. The woman who runs the restaurant decided to bring a bowl of two octopus(es/i??????) to our table which then decided to crawl out of the bowl and onto the floor! The tentacle on the right of the picture was headed directly for my leg but was too slow since I shot up and over to the corner of the room faster than anyone. I waited an extremely long time trying to work up the nerve to eat the octopus. Finally, I broke after about 30 mins and ate a barely-wriggling piece that was maybe only an inch long; an inch more than I needed, I say. The lady at the restaurant was amazing and actually reached into the tank and pulled out an arm and bit about 6 inches off and devoured it in front of us as we were leaving. Crazy lady. Crazy tradition. This nation is so absurd sometimes.

mmmmmmmmud!

This weekend was the Mud Festival in Daecheon Beach (Boryeong), South Korea. The festival attracts thousands of foreigners every year and lasts for about a week. Basically it is an excuse to drink yourself silly and to paint yourself in mud. I didn't disappoint. Some pics are attached---it is what it sounds like. I have a few more that are stuck on my camera (these are stolen from other people). Despite our motel being 8 kilometers from the festival area, the day was a good time. And as my new FREE button says, "I Love Mud."

Holy banana, Batman!!

This is a quick post to inform you of a major change in my life that I thought would never come.REally, you're not gonna believe it. I know you're all expecting major changes but this one is a doozie. Like, seriously, I'm not sure you'll be able to handle it. Really, I think you need to brace yourselves. Deep breaths, everyone.










REady???









I now eat (edit: LOVE) bananas!!! Why, I'm a regular banana FEIND!!! [FRIENDS: insert your lewd humor here, you sick b&*^%$es. FAMILY: ignore this comment altogether].

Yes, I now love bananas. The banana has been my nemesis since I was a wee babe but the kindy snack that I dole out every day has turned me to the dark side and I am now a banana-eater. Relax, mother, I'm now getting my potassium. Aren't you proud? Took me long enough, eh??!!!

My Bad...

Hello, all! My apologies for being MIA for quite so long. I recently celebrated my four month anniversary in Korea which most definitely feels surreal. Happy belated Canada Day, Canada! I bought some fireworks and a $5 disposable bbq and a lot of cheap beer to have a little impromptu celebration with some coworkers Saturday night but we got rained out. I went to the foreigner bar that night and danced to some Bryan Adams with a bunch of Canucks in compensation. Perhaps we'll crack out the "fireworkers" for July 4th since there are so many flaming yanks here.

In other news, I finally got my pictures off of my camera so I have some shots of one of my classes as well as a ton of shots from Busan (a port city in the South East of Korea where you can take a ferry to Japan---which I will be doing next month). The pics will follow and I will eventually put more on my Flickr site, too.

I have recently lost a lot of hours (I think work was trying to make my schedule less chaotic) but now I am missing the overtime and am panicing that I am spending all of my cash and will save nothing for clearing my credit cards. It doesn't matter how much I'm making, money burns gaping holes in my pockets.

The "rainy season" has also begun here. Basically it's supposed to rain a lot for the next few weeks. It's not been really rainy so far but it is humid as f*&% and my usual "baby soft, lifeless hair" has turned into a nappy fro. At least I'm not sweating my boobies off.......yEt. I'm am dreading August. I am still trying to get over my second cold since in Korea but can't seem to shake the sore throat that keeps surprising me every other day.

July has a bunch of holidays for us teachers and a lot of time off from kindergarten (which I primarily teach) which means that it will be easy but I also will be spending more and making less. I'm going to Tokyo for five days in July with an American (well sorta two days travel and three FULL days in Tokyo). I am looking forward to trying some GOOD sushi (Koreans seem to take everything good from other countries and ruin it like in putting mayo in a sushi roll..."kimbap" as the koreans call it). I'm also jonesing for some edamame and some tempura so I will be extremely happy to have some of that. I'm taking a hydrofoil ferry over from Busan, South Korea. It's a about a three and a half hour journey which should be interesting. All-in-all I'm spending the same amount of money as a direct flight would cost but this way has more character. Plus I'm a sucker for ferry boats as McDreamy would say. I am hoping to take lots of pics there and will let you know how it goes.

Since the birth of baby Owen I've actually felt that I am missing out on major events back home. While I wish that I could be there, I wouldn't change my situation. Keep on keepin' on Canada and update me as regularly as you like. Oh, and I was uber-pleased to discover that I can get french onion soup at the TGI Fridays here which made me think of Canada. You would not believe how much I just miss a grilled chicken salad and TGIs is the only place that serves a whole chicken breast instead of gristly little bits of marinated chicken! I also went to Outback and devoured some ribs on Saturday...I've been treating myself far too much but it was a definite spirit-boost. What a glutton I am!