Sunday, January 31, 2010

Hitting the slopes....hard. On my ass.

So if theres one thing I've noticed its that Koreans love their mountains. The hiking, the picnicking on them, and the skiing. After a week of fighting with websites in all Korean, we were successful in our endeavors!
Taylor told me in October he was would teach me to snowboard (and for those that know me, its something I've always always always wanted to do!) so me, him, Angela, Brad (the same one we picked up in an airport in Vietnam-funny how life works) and Brad's friend Farrah jumped on the free shuttle bus at 6am. This was rough, as the my coworkers and I received some sad news, and were up allll night drinking. Seriously, we had to pull Taylor out of the club at 5:30. It was intense. So we slept on the bus for the few hours, rolled into the resort, bumbled around, had some breakfast, bumbled around some more, before trying to figure out where to rent stuff. We got the name of a cheap place from a friend, but we forgot the number at home. We asked a staff where Canada rental was, and she said we needed to call them. After asking if we could walk (We were told it was easy), she said "well..its kind of hard to get there by walking" Taylor (one of the reasons I love this boy) said Real hard, or Korean hard to get there (She didn't understand). We decided to take our chances and walk anyway. after a slight mishap, 3 minutes later we had made it. Thanks Korea!

We got all the gear (snow pants, snow board, gloves and a lift ticket) for really cheap. We got shuttled up the mountain, and rented lockers, where we ran into other people we knew (Small world in the foreigner community-everybody knows everybody through somebody). Taylor, Brad and I rep'ed team snowboard and immediately went up the lift on the bunny slope. This was the biggest bunny slope I'd ever seen. After some flailing at the top, I was finally able to stand on the board and cruise a little bit, so that was heaps of fun. At one point Taylor was yelling at me after I was yelling about not being able to do it, so I got it, with a lot of help. After lunch, the boys decided to hit the big slopes, and I stayed on the bunny for a few more runs. After one of them I was convinced I had a broken wrist, thats how bad it hurt, but I kept trying, with heaps of lost confidence.
So Unfortunatly, the board won this time, but next time (probably in a few weeks) I'm going to master stopping. And maybe some turning, but I only ask for so much.

Snowboarding and Skiing is a little different here then in the states. First of all, there were a lot of people. A. LOT. Heaps of people, everywhere. It was hard to learn, as everybody was on the ground falling and I had to manuver around them, which usually resulted in me on the ground.
Also, there was no REAL snow. Every other time I've gone skiing, real snow may have been supplemented with fake snow, but this was about an inch and a half of some fake snow, which was not the best conditions, but it was okay.
I did like how much more accessable this was here. A free shuttle takes you to the mountains, and you get to rent and lift tickets and everything for about 50,000 won (read, 45 bucks). Thats a pretty great deal.
Finally, if we were in the states you would have bet dollars to donughts that I would have signed up for a class from a professional who taught me. This is impossible in Korea, as everything would have been in KOREAN. I mean, I bet I could have gotten someone with akward english, and with my akward Korean and with the fact that sometimes you don't need words, it would have worked out. But Taylor was ultra patient, and he got me to stand up and coast on a board, so thanks Tay!

Unfortunatly, my little camera is broken, so no pictures, but never fear, that problem is remedied, just wait.

Hope you had a great weekend
Patience and Faith,
ErinJ

Friday, January 22, 2010

The Sharing House

Herro! So its been a while since I've posted about living, working and my many adventures in South Korea! But last weekend I did manage to wake up earlier than the crack of noon, get my butt out the door and do something cultural, abeit depressing.

My friend Jessica planned this trip, I was just along for the ride with another one of our friends, Adrienne. After meeting before 9 we made our way to a subway stop I've never been to and have since forgotten to meet up with a big group of predominatly girls.

Why girls? lets talk about the sharing house for a second. During WWII the Japanese treated korea really poorly (and as a result, Koreans really dislike Japan). One of the ways of doing this was by installing "comfort houses" around Asia with Korean girls. I won't get into the details just yet, but these soldiers would go into comfort houses to get what everyboy wants. More history and education to come.

After a nausiating bus ride and a worse taxi ride we were somewhere God forgot, but on a decent looking estate (with western style houses whaaaaaat?) We learned eachother's names, and Jess and I felt out of places since eerybody there majored in rape warfare or did a thesis on the comfort house and we just cruised in thanks to the Lonely Planet. We watched a movie about the hamonis (The Korean word for Grandmother; given to these women as a term of endearment). Everybody started to cry (Except for me and Jess-apparently we're cold hearted).

After a few minutes, we went to the coldest museum of my life. It was intenseeeeee. In there though, we learned a lotttt of a subject I've never even heard of. These girls (usually in their teens) would get kidnapped or sold or tricked out of their homes, and then were forced onto compounds where they were raped 50+ times a DAY. If they spoke up, tried to run or where disobedient, they were tortured, raped more or killed in grusesome ways. If they caught and STD they were made an example of and treated in the least healthy ways. They were forced to wash and reuse the condoms of their rapists. Believe it or not, it actually gets more graphic. This may have been the 2nd most disturbing and distressing museum of my life (after Teol Sleng).

After lunch, we went to meet the Hamonis. THis was akward beyond akward. What do you say to a woman whos gone through something you can't even imagine?? Not only that, but they spoke Korean, so the only thing I could really ask is if they liked the snow. But like grandmothers, they seemed pleased just to have the company (since for obvious reasons its impossible for them to have kids), and they were cute old ladies. They really like entertainers, so we sang some pop songs for them and they seemed pleased. They were kind of fun in an akward type of way.

These women are remarkable though. Although out of the over 200,000 women that were forced into these 'comfort houses' only 89 regestered ones remain. Alot were killed in WWII, alot never made it back to Korea, and a lot never came forward out of shame. Most of these women protest outside the Japanese Embassy every Wednesday demanding an apology from Japan, who claims it never happened. They just had their 900th protest recently, so all the power to them! Japan is just waiting until the rest of the 89 die in hopes that it'll go away, which is so sad.

I can't believe this is one of the things in the history of the world that is just glossed over and ignored. Its disguesting, that Japan treated an entire country like this. These girls had no chance at a normal life, they never married because they never wanted a man to even look at them again. They had their hopes and dreams ripped from them at such a young age.

While I wish I had gone when it was less cold, I am glad I went, learned, and got to meet a few of these women before they passed. I sincerly hope that they get the apology they so deserve, or that people learn about their story by whatever means.
Things like this make me really love and be thankful for where and when I was born. I'm not sure why they had to suffer through things like that and I've had the perfect life, but seeing things like this puts everything into perspective.

God Bless,
Patience and Faith,
ErinJ

Monday, January 18, 2010

EP's heart in Phnom Penh (Pt2) and Cambodia wrap up

The Throne room
Eventually, we had to leave the beach and get to the airport in Phnom Penh, but since we had 6-8 hours, we decided to see the Royal temple. Maybe its because we were tired and hot, maybe its because we had already seen Angkor (and thats hard to beat), or maybe its because I had seen some of Europe's landmarks; but I was just unimpressed. IT could have been because everything was in Khmer, and we simply didn't know what was going on; but it was a semi-lame building. IT was a good example of Khmer architecture, but whatever. We rolled in, admired and rolled out, only to wiki it later. THe most famous thing here is the silver pagoda, which is a room with a huge silver floor, but you can only see a tiny portion and the rest is carpet. Its actually an interesting building, and the K.Rouge wanted to prove that they weren't THAT bad so they didn't do any damage (cause that makes everything else okay...) I wish I appreciated it more when I was there, but so is life. Theres only so much sight seeing you can do before you simply do not care. (I'm not overly concerned, I'll be back to Cambo some day)

IN a mirror in the Silver Pagoda room

Cambodia was an eye-opener for me. I've seen poor people before, but never an impovershed country. Most of these people didn't have running water, or electricity, or ever leave the town in which they were born. They don't have enough to eat, but they love it. They love Cambodia, and love their lives knowing that people live so much better than them. I have so much respect for these people, especially people over 35, that lived through the Pol Pot regime. It really made me thankful for being born in America in the late 20th century and not in Cambodia. Although I stand fast on my belief that the world would be a better place if people had the mindset of the normal Cambodian, I'm so glad I'm not one of them. THis trip has made me so Thankful for my life, my experiences, my education, and the rest of it; that it makes everything else seem unimportant. IT also made me realize how much this whole teach in Korea just isn't for me, and volunteering in a 3rd world country (or teaching here) is. After seeing things I only understood by watching the news, I really want to go change the world. And if that means making life easier for a few people, than thats what it is. This is one of 2 trips that have absoultly changed my life (maybe 3.....). I did so much that I thought I would be to scared to do (motorcycles!) and saw so much that I know I'll always remember. So although I was sad to say goodbye to a country that I love, I know I'll be back next year. :)

Sunday, January 17, 2010

EP's heart in Shinoukville, Cambodia

Fireworks on the beach

The next leg of our journey was beach life in Shinoukville. I'd like to tell you about all the awesome things we did, but really, we laid out on the beach.
Much like that

We did normal beachy activities, ate fresh grilled fish on butterfly chairs in the surf, rode jetskis, rented motorcycles, and generally just hung out. We did a lot of swimming and chilling. I've never been anywhere tropical, but I would imagine it was similar to here. It was beautiful, and so much fun to just relax, hang out with my friends, do a significant amount of drinking and realizing how beautiful life can be sometimes.

New Years Eve was epic! We met up with a bunch of our friends from Bumgye where we went to one of the beach bars. After a signigicant number of Long Island's we decided 'to get our swerve on' and go to one of the popping bars to do some dancing, mingling and general chillage. We eventually decided to go out for pizza, and realized it was the crack of dawn. It was relaxing, crazy, and definitly my favorite new years to date.
So really there isn't a lot to talk about, since its one of those experiences that cannot be duplicated or written about. just one of those fantastic destinations through life.
Patience and Faith,
ErinJ

Bamboo Island

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Ep's Heart in Phnom Penh! (Pt 1 of 2)

S-21
After a six out bus ride (6 hours of honking, terrible roads and crazy Khmer music) we rolled into Phnom Penh (Pronounced Pnom Pen)which is the capital city of Cambodia! We sauntered into a hostel, took showers and napped before rolling out to explore. We got dinner at some place on the river, and enjoyed some palm wine. Well, nobody else liked it. We decided to swing by a market and hang out on the Mekong river banks. I took off my shoes, wiped out into the river and got my beloved Fitflops STOLEN! HEARTBREAK! But Shit happens, what are you going to do? After taking a tuk tuk home after trying to walk, we called it a day and went to bed.
IN the morning my friends, and the people we picked up along the way rolled into the S-21 genocide museum. S-21 was a high school the Khmer Rouge turned into a jail to torture 'enemies' of the regime, along with their families.
I'm not sure if I've ever been more disturbed in all my days. This place was depressing. They left the cells much like how they were found, except added pictures of how they found prisoners. These pictures and the like were graphic. I think one of the worst parts was the rooms of pictures of people that they knew went through the jail (Keep in mind, out of the thousands of people that went into the jail, only 12 came out alive) We spent all morning just looking at pictures and taking in what happened here.

Blood on the floor

If theres ever a place to wonder about humans, and what goes through peoples minds, this is probably one of 2 places to do it (I'm assuming the others are Concentration camps). I came out of this museum rattled. I don't know how this happened to these people for over 4 years without anybody doing anything about it. Its kind of hard to see the point in being angry about my shoes knowing that 30 years ago, people were being slaughtered in these buildings.

Barbed wire to keep prisoners from killing themselves

Patience, Faith and Peace
ErinJ

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

EP's Heart in Siem Reap and Angkor

Ta Prohm!
So I’m going to break up my 9 day holiday into 3 or 4 parts, so you can have a teaser and not read a novel
So we’ll start with the heavy hitters-Angkor WAT! Fast Facts: Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world. It was built in the 1100s and the Cambodians are obsessed. Its on their flags, money, everything. Actaully, Angkor Wat is just one temple, and we went to at least half a dozen (For sanity sake, individual names are not going to be described). Apparently, Angkor was the largest pre-industrial city in the world, and it shows, this badboy was HUGE. We stayed in a swell hostel in Siem Reap, and had to take a Tuk Tuk (Read-a cart pulled by a motorbike) to the temples. We started with the smaller temples, which were impressive in their own rights. The carvings and intricate nature that the Angkor people put into it was outstanding. One of the coolest parts was how the jungle has since incorporated itself into these ruins. I also liked that you could crawl all over the ruins, climb them and the like. It was cool to be part of history in some warped way. We saw heaps of temples the first day, and it was hot. Like, Really hot. The kind of heat that CT only gets once or twice a year hot. And dusty. Sorry if I’m not selling this trip, but that was the truth. We decided to end the day on the sunset temple, which Angela and I rode an elephant to the top of a hill to meet the boys, to watch a sunset that was fairly magnificent.

Sunset on the mountain

[Insert shenanigans and tomfoolery]

Sunrise, Sunrise

The Next morning we woke up crazy early. Like 430 early. I can’t remember the last time I saw 430 from that side of the day. We picked up our friend Brad, and rolled onto Angkor. Keep in mind its still dark, and we stumble out to where we believe we’ll be able to see the sunrise from, but who knows. It started getting really busy, really quick, and after a few camera issues, the sun started coming out. Imagine seeing the biggest religious building for the first time slowly, as the suns coming out. Its an experience I’ll never be able to duplicate, but I don’t know if I’d want to. It was amazing. We then spend the morning wandering the long, empty halls of Angkor Wat. Taking pictures, asking questions, trying to figure out how these people lived, what it was like to have such a kingdom, admiring the art and really getting lost in the history of it all and the wonder that is life. This place was huge, and really neat to lurk.

Playing in the hallways!

Entrance to Angkor Thom

After Breakfast we head to Angkor Thom, another Heavy hitter! This place was a sprawling beast of a temple. We started at the Bayon, which had 216 heads just staring at you. It was bizarre! We moved on and crawled on different parts of it until we saw the most dangerous temple of them all! So Taylor and I put on our game faces and climbed that sucker and fortunately, made it up to the tip top. It may have been the scariest experience of my life, but was great fun at the end, and an adventure. We then played around on the temple walls, taking pictures of the wall of lepers and the elephant gates.

Faces of The Bayon

Then came my favorite temple: Ta Prohm. This temple was epic, and was a really swell example of how the jungle just grows over these ruins like they may as well not exist. This temple is famous since its in a few movies, but it was really cool to see. The trees were just coming out of windows and were growing through the temple. It was amazing to see something so old, and something that must have been so amazing in its day be incoporated as part of the jungle. We also ran into a new friend here, and life was swell. We lurked, saw some temple and all in all, it was an amazing experince
Team with Tomb Raider tree.

The next day we went further out to Batrai Srie to see some of the carvings. This temple was much, much smaller, but the art here was outstanding. We had to bribe police to get here, and it was my first time riding on a motorcycle (Thanks Ben!)

My favorite from the temple
Sorry this petered out, but its a lot to write about!
I honestly hope that all of you make it out to the Angkor area at some point in your lives

Coming Soon: EP's heart in Phenom Penh
Patience and Faith,
ErinJ

Disclaimer: Check out eptheexpat.smugmug.com for the full picture experience.

Taylor, Angela and I in Angkor WAT

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy New Year!

So this weary traveler probably wont 'be up for too much longer, but I did want to get a solid post in before nap time!
This year was easily the best yet, and I should have known that by how it started. Stumbling, or should I say slipping through Toronto as the Team '09 superunit. Playing my last UC game in the ROgers center. Then the blur that was spring semster, between parties and studying there was really just a whole lot of fun, with house and Bidwell nights. Then there was graduation and all the ruckus that came with it. Bonfires and the like, all right.
After graduation was one of the funnest times of my life, New Zealand, and where I decided I wanted to travel and NOT work at UHC. There I went bungy jumping, white water rafting, zorbing, drinking, and all sorts of really awesome stuff. Over the summer I got pretty tight with my cousin and worked UHC before deciding to move to Korea, one of the biggest decisions of my life. In Korea I've learned so much about myself, seen so much and done so much that was different and exciting. I'm not the biggest fan of Korea, but I do love living abroad. I've met so many solid people who I adore! This year ended with a bang, after touring through Cambodia, seeing the amazing temples at angkor, leanring about what people can do to eachother at S-21 and ending it at a beach with my Korean friends, with thousands of fireworks and heaps of cheap booze, this year proves its going to be so much better than the last :)
Love you all!

On the next edition of EP's heart in seoul: Ep's Heart in Cambodia!