Greetings from 2009!

2008 has officially departed from us here in Korea, and it's been quite an adventure so far. We just got back from the New Year's celebration at city hall here in Daejeon, and it was quite an event. They ring in the new year in a very literal sense...In the courtyard of City Hall, just beside where they had the stage set up, was a traditional-style building with a 20-FOOT BELL inside that they actually ring when the clock strikes midnight (and then several times afterward). Oh, and did I mention that there were THOUSANDS of people gathered around the area for the party and subsequent fireworks display. We arrived just 5 minutes before midnight, so we didn't get to see much of what was happening onstage, but we were positioned in VERY close vicinity to the fireworks site, which was AWESOME....except for the fact that the remnants of the exploded packages rained down on us as we attempted to take pictures. I'll post some pictures as soon as we get a chance to sort through the shots from the night...we took several hundred that need sorting.

Anyway, I just wanted to pass along a good old Happy New Year to everyone from us, and we pray that your 2009 holds as much adventure as ours promises to (just in your own special way).

Christmas in Korea

We've just finished our first Korean Christmas, and it's been quite the day! Since we didn't really have the option of being able to spend time with our family this year (something about being halfway around the world :P), we decided to do something a little different. As I mentioned before, Christmas pretty much amounts to a shopping holiday here, so rather than sit around all day for family to wake up, we went out exploring the town some more and getting more familiar with our city.

The first stop of the day was Art Espresso, a beautiful little coffee shop owned by Linda, the receptionist at our school. On the walk up from the subway station, I took a moment to try my hand at panoramic photography (and by hand is how I did it, as we don't yet have a tripod). You can check out the image here. When we got there, Shan ordered a green tea latte (which she says is better than anything Second Cup could even dream of making), and I (the non-coffee drinker) had a hot chocolate, which just happened also to be delicious. After a little while, Linda came in (we told her we were coming yesterday and she said she'd be there in the afternoon-we just beat her there!) and the three of us hung out together for awhile, just chatting and sharing muffins. Then Linda graciously gave us a ride back to the subway station (because she figured it was way to far to walk (twice) and she wasn't sure which bus went back down to where we wanted to be).

Next, we tested out some research I had done in my attempts to find a guitar in the city. The word was that one of the major chain stores in Korea called Home Plus had a music section in some of their locations, so we went to check out our local Home Plus store. Unfortunately, we had no success in finding guitars, but we did manage to find Pizza Hut and Skin Food (which is a Korean brand of body products not terribly unlike what you can find at the Body Shop in Canada, only way better, or so I'm told).

The third and final stop on our journey brought us to our local Costco, where we went through the fun of signing up for a membership and then exploring two full floors of pure awesomeness. We didn't actually buy anything today; we just wanted to get our membership and see just what it was like inside a foreign Costco. (For the record, it's got to be one of the easiest stores we've come across to navigate; Costco's standard layout is apparently a worldwide standard, and all of the signage was in Korean and English.)

Then came time to head back home to attempt our own homemade 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal). We had picked up the supplies the night before at the grocery store, and bought all the sauces, but we bought 갈비 (galbi) instead for meat. 삼겹살 is thick strips of pork while 갈비 is thin strips of beef ribs. We figured it would be a great experiment, as we wanted to see how easy it would be to make it at home. It turns out that there's a reason why they put the grill in the middle of the table when you go to restaurants that serve it - running back and forth to the stove with the meat is a little bit tedious :P. Also, just having the lettuce and sauces isn't quite the same as having all of the other fixings to go with it that you get at the restaurant either. Now, it was still delicious and quite filling, but I think we'll go out to a restaurant the next time we get a hankering for 삼겹살.

Not long after we finished eating and getting our pictures from the day put on Facebook, the phone started to ring, and we spent the next several hours talking to the various family and friends who called, and we're still not through everyone we want to talk to! But now it's gotten terribly late, and it's about time to head on to bed.

So many zeroes!

Currency conversion is a funny thing. You see so many zeroes on the money in your pocket and it makes you feel quite rich. But then you do the math, and you realize that you've gotta cross a few of those zeroes off in order to get a semblance of how much you actually have. Either way, though, it's a great thing to know that we now both have steady jobs and regular paychecks, and life is great! Add to that the fact that we are now in possession of a working computer again, and it can't really get much better than this....well, I suppose if we weren't half a world away from our friends and family it'd be even better, but then we wouldn't be in Korea, either. But really, though, since we have our Canadian phone and now that we have a computer again, home feels a whole lot closer again.

As Christmas day gets closer, we're trying to figure out just what we want to do with our day off on Thursday. This is going to make for a very new holiday for us, as we get ready to spend our first Christmas completely on our own. The interesting thing about Christmas here is that it's not as big of a holiday in Korea as it is in other parts of the world, so while it is a national holiday, it's pretty much like a shopping holiday in the States - all of the stores are open, and it's just government institutions and schools that are closed. The fact that it's a national holiday at all is testament to the large Christian population in Korea - there's almost literally a church on every street corner here in our part of Daejeon.

The other exciting thing coming up is our winter intensive courses. Starting in the new year, we'll be going into overtime as we run a month of extra-long days. We keep our regular classes, but we add morning classes for any students whose parents sign them up. It'll be really tiring, but really great to be able to have some of our kids every day for the month (especially some of the ones that need a little extra help). It does mean that January will be a very long month, but it'll be very much worth it for the chance to give some of these kids the extra help that they need (and the overtime pay doesn't hurt, either :P). The two ladies in this picture are definitely not part of the group that need extra help - they happen to be two of the smartest students in our school. These are the kind of students that make teaching a pleasure.

I also got a chance to place my very first geocache here in Korea, too. I put the cache together before the computer died, but I had to put its placement on hold until I figured out just how easy the PC방* was to use. Once I learned that, I got the cache into the wild and posted it...and it was first found within two days of being posted. I was quite excited to see my first cache found, and I can't wait to get some more caches placed in town, as the caching is pretty slim here in Daejeon. There's lots elsewhere in Korea - I just have to get to them. (*PC room - essentially an internet cafe, except they're used almost exclusively for gaming...and I'm the 'almost')

All in all, at the moment, life is going swimmingly. We've made it through our first month in Korea, and we've pretty much fallen in love with everything. We came to Korea planning to stay for two years, so that, if we didn't like it here, one year wouldn't seem so long. But, from our experience so far, it definitely doesn't seem unreasonable that signing on for a second year might be a real possibility. So, to all of you out there who are thinking about coming over, please feel free to contact us, and we'll do our best to answer any questions you might have.

Time, Tests and Technology

It's been quite some time since my last post, so I thought I should give a small update.

The last few weeks have been quite hectic. Our brand new computer (which we bought because our old computer died before we left) up and quit on us, and it was not a very happy night at our house that fateful Friday night. As a result, we've been without direct internet access for the last few weeks, but every so often I've been sneaking off to a PC방 near our place to check emails, Facebook and Twitter, but we do SO miss the convenience of having a computer in our apartment.

The fortunate side of this situation is that because our little lappy is still brand new, it's under warranty, which is great....except we have to get it to Tokyo to get it fixed. We'll get it done soon, hopefully, I just want to get our data off of it before I send it (because in setting it up originally, I forgot to do a backup schedule for it...silly me). We'll hopefully be computer-ified again in about a week or so, so our regular updates should be back on schedule soon.

Anyways, on to more exciting news.

As Christmas time approaches, so does test time for our kids, and while I feel a little bad about giving them all tests right before Christmas (since they just got through a huge round of tests at school already), I trust most of them will do well anyway, since they're all so awesome.

Also, after a little confusion and lots of wandering, we found a lovely English church in town, where we've connected with some of the other English teachers in the city (and even found out that two of them are practically our neighbours!). Shannon got a phone number, and we made plans to get together on Friday night, and to our surprise, not only did we get to hang out with the girls Shannon had been talking to, but it also turned out to be a huge gathering of a full dozen of us at a cute little spot right here in Noeun. Two of the folks who came out were actually from Halifax, and two more are still in their first month, like us, so it was quite exciting!

This weekend, we were able to find our way back to church quite easily, now that we've 'mastered' the bus system (which is supposed to be changing very soon - lucky us!), and it only took us an hour to get there by subway and bus. The pastor is a great guy, and everyone's really friendly, so it's quite possible that we'll make this church our home for our stay in Korea. You can check out the website for the church at http://www.welcometodaejeon.org/cic/.

All in all, though, life is fantastic here. Our school is great, the kids are AWESOME (and hilarious!), the city's getting easier to navigate, we've started making friends, and we've even started learning Korean from the receptionist at our school! I think I've said this a dozen times already, but if you or someone you know is thinking of teaching English in Korea, I absolutely recommend it!

Looking back, I guess this wasn't exactly a small update, but I guess that's okay :)

Ents Attack!

So we were roaming around the neighbourhood today, and came upon the most awesome sight ever! We were walking along, minding our own business, when out of the woodwork (sorry, I know it's a bad pun) came these wooden creatures that we can only describe as Ents (like from the Lord of the Rings). These sculptures are just two of a larger collection along the side of the road in Daejeon, between our apartment and the World Cup Stadium.
This was just one of the interesting things we saw today as we were out exploring our new hometown.

Start teaching Monday!

The days we have been here have been wonderful! From Wednesday to Friday (last week) we have had the chance to sit in on classes...so we are prepared for Monday when we start teaching. The kids seem lovely and the co-workers very kind. We have been blessed with the opportunities to meet people who have experienced this culture and are know passing on their knowledge to us.

Last Friday night we went out with a young couple Jen and Greg and they were kind enough to order our food and tell us what is good from what is bad. So far, I have really enjoyed the food! They took us to a place right by our apartment that had a grill in the middle of the table where we can cook our meats...yummy! You just have to look out for the sparks ;)

On Saturday we went out with Lorie and Laura on adventures to try new foods and shopping (when we get our first pay cheque I know where I am going). I really enjoyed the kimbap and mul mandu! The kimbap is wrapped up in seaweed leaves which you would think would not be good, but it was GREAT and the mul mandu is just like dumplings.....soooo good! Plus, I am very excited that Lorie and Laura are interested in going to the spa....I was worried I would have to go alone. The spas here you get naked in front of everyone....I will have to remember to do some situps before I go :P

Monday we start teaching which we are both excited and nervous about. I feel a bit better since we have sat in on classes. We have our class schdule but they have said it might change over time. I have 100mins classes each day, as well as Darrell but he has some 50mins classes too - they are with the young ones. So far, I have two classes on Monday & Wednesday, three classes on Tuesday & Thursday and four classes on Friday. Darrell has two on Monday, three on Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday, and four on Thursday. Darrell's biggest class has 7 kids and mine has 9. They are quite small and give lots of chances for conversation.

We just ask you continue to pray for us as we try to master the language as well as the culture. We miss you friends and family, but you will come to visit ;) If anyone feels compelled to send us anything from home we would LOVE Uncle Ben's flavoured rice & Lindor Milk chocolates...haha...no pressure. Love you all!

Jet Lag and More

WE MADE IT!!!! I sit writing this at the end of our first full day in Korea, and I'm exhausted as all get out. Supper is sitting on the stove waiting for us, and Shannon's busy decorating the apartment, but it's been a pretty wild trip.
First thing's first: to anyone who's never spent 14 hours on an airplane - try it. You'll never complain about a really long car trip ever again. I'd much rather sit crammed into the back seat of a car on a 14 hour road trip than be stuck on an airplane for that long, and the reason why is simple: in a car, when you make a rest stop, you actually have room to move around when you stretch your legs. On an airplane (especially when you're a big guy like me), stretching your legs involves navigating a very narrow aisle without bumping into people who are inexplicably able to sleep.
Anyway, after the plane ride, we were picked up at the airport by our boss, Mr. Park. He's a lovely man, if a little difficult to understand, as his English is a little broken and we're not fully acclimatized to the Korean accent. He brought us to our apartment (of which we will be posting pictures on facebook) where we started to get settled in and met the girl we're replacing, Jennifer, who is also a very lovely person. She gave us a little overview of what to expect as we get started, and this morning she and her boyfriend Greg showed us around the neighbourhood so we could get an idea of where to go to get things like groceries (and where work was, as well). Then this afternoon, we got to see the inside of the school and sit in on our first classes to get an idea of what we will be doing for the next year. The kids seem awesome and the material is really straightforward (probably thanks to Graeme's TESL class) so I don't think work will be too difficult.
After our first day in Korea, I have a lot of respect for people who come to North America who don't know much (if any) English. We North Americans often have far less patience with culture-shocked tourists than the Korean people do. Everywhere we went, people were very understanding and very kind. It should make the adjustment to foreign life quite a bit easier, but I can't wait until I know more Korean so I can communicate at least enough to show some respect to these people who are so kind.
We would ask for some extra prayer over the next few weeks as we overcome jet lag and culture shock and settle into our jobs all at the same time.

Packing...sort of....

So the time has officially come for us to be on our way. Our tickets arrived by email this morning, and we're leaving from the Halifax International Airport at a ridiculously early hour Monday morning. We're leaving Moncton around midnight Sunday night, and so the time is well past due for us to begin packing our lives up into four suitcases and two carry-ons. As I write this, Shannon is beginning to put clothes into suitcases (plus sorting shoes and such), and we've been debating for quite some time about what to take with us.

Interestingly enough (and probably not so wisely), my biggest concern has been how I'm going to get my pirate hat into a bag without causing damage to it or taking up too much space. Sad, though, is the fact that I can't take my guitars with me. I'll be taking some of my smaller instruments with me, but those won't take the place of a good old fashioned guitar. Fortunately, though, after looking at some ads on Craigslist Korea, I feel comforted to know that I can get a really decent guitar for a really reasonable price.

All in all, I feel remarkably calm about the whole thing, even though we're moving halfway around the world into a brand new culture and a brand new job, with a whole new world of adventure coming our way. I suspect the calm is the result of nervousness balancing out my excitement, but somewhere deep inside my brain I still don't quite think it's real.

This will likely be the last post from this half of the world, so please pray for us over the next few days as we pack, travel, and get settled into our new home. Even just getting groceries is going to be an all new experience, not to mention getting around a brand new city in a brand new country and starting a brand new job.

So, when next you hear from us, we'll be half a world away!

Still here, but...

Well, we're still in Canada, but we finally have news. We got the word just a little while ago that we would be leaving the second week of November so we would be there before or contact leaves on the 14th. Jen has been very helpful in playing the go-between for us and our boss, so we've really appreciated being able to keep in touch with her.
While it's a little bit of a shame that we're leaving so much later than we had hoped, it's good that we new know approximately when it will be so we can actually begin to prepare and not have to worry about scenarios like waking up to an email saying we have 12 hours to pack up our lives and move halfway around the world. this way we get a little time to be thoughtful about how and what we pack, and a little more time with friends and family before we go.

Good to Go!!!

At long last, we are done ALL the paperwork needed to leave for Korea! Our passports arrived from the Korean Consulate this morning and we've emailed our boss in Korea, so now it's just a matter of him booking our plane tickets and getting to the airport.
It's been a long and (almost unnecessarily) complicated road, but here we are on the cusp of a new adventure, and from here we'll try to update as regularly as possible so you can all read about our adventures in Korea over the next year (or so).
Because neither of us are terribly consistent at updating our blog yet, you can get more up-to-the-minute updates by following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/neverdar where I tend to post several times per day.
As always, we welcome your prayers and encouragement as we embark on this journey.

The wonders of Canada Post...

Ever sent someone a letter and wondered if it ever got there? How about forms for government documents? Just recently Shan and I had to renew our medicare cards, and after a very long wait, they arrived last week.
We haven't been nearly so fortunate with our paperwork for Korea. We sent all of our necessary documentation for our visas to Korea more than two weeks ago and it hadn't yet arrived at the school where we're going to be teaching. So, after being reminded that expresspost provides a tracking number, I checked today as to where in the world our paperwork might be.
As it turns out, it arrived in Korea a week ago (exactly when the expresspost quote said it should be there), but has been on hold at the post office for the last week for whatever reason.
I've since emailed our contact at the school with the information and the tracking number, and hopefully we'll be on our way soon.

The wonders of paperwork...

It's amazing how time-consuming paperwork can be, and how a little detail missed can hold up the process quite significantly.
We've been working on paperwork to be able to go to Korea for what seems like a long time now, and the reason it's taking so long is that we've been waiting for Shan's new passport to arrive (as it turns out, you need a new passport when you get married and change your name, and we only just found this out three weeks ago).
The good thing is, though, that once it arrives, things should go quite smoothly and we should be on our way to our new home in Daejeon within a couple weeks.
Our biggest prayer request at this point is that everything will go smoothly once Shan's passport arrives, and that we'll be able to head on over as soon as possible (not that we don't love you all, of course!)