You want me to do what?

My question for you is this: Does weird shit happen at home, but I just don't realize it's weird?

Jae Cheol got a phone call today from an old friend he hadn't seen in ages. This friend needed his help, or more specifically, his wife's help. That would be me.

Apparently, the friend is getting married in July. The thing is, his fiance has an ex-boyfriend who just doesn't get it. This guy has, can you believe it, called her! Why did they need my help, you ask. Well, apparently this guy is Chinese, studying in New Zealand, which is where the girl met him. I had to call this guy to explain in English why he could no longer call the girl. I was required to explain that this message had been passed down from the girl's father. The crazy thing is that it had! Yes, that's right, the father had taken Jae Cheol's friend aside to ask him to speak to the ex-boyfriend because he wanted to "protect his family."

So I called the guy and I felt like a rat the entire time I was talking to him. Jae Cheol tried all night to talk some sense into his "friend", especially after he told us that now he doesn't trust his girlfriend and is getting back at her by having a little something on the side!

This is all too much for me. I'm going to go spend some time reading Us Magazine. Celebrity entertainment is going to be a relaxing walk in the park compared to this lunacy.

Garden variety

Plants, plants, plants. I FINALLY bought some plants. I have been meaning to do it for quite some time now, but I just didn't make it a priority. Well, now I've gone and done it. I went to a lovely greenhouse near my school and bought three plants. I've also got my eye on a dozen more . . . and a tree. I love the smell of a greenhouse. It's not so much a smell as perfect air. A house (or tiny bachelor apartment,) is not a home without plants.

From the Botanical Garden Greenhouse in Montreal.

The Finished Product

Yes, that's right, it's very bare. We didn't have much choice as to where to put the furniture due to drafty windows and cable/electricity outlets. Whatever, it's nice because there's lots of space and I don't feel squished and cramped. Now that we've "unpacked" we're probably going to have to move next weekend. Mark my words, . . .

I just finished reading Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw by Will Ferguson. I really enjoyed it. I haven't seen much of Canada and this book has planted the seeds of an idea. It's fun being a tourist in your own country, especially since Canada is bigger than most countries. The best thing about the book is that it tells you the history of the places that the author writes about. That's exactly what I want to know when I'm traveling. I'm just going to stop talking because I'm not very articulate at 9:13pm. It's time to go to bed. Read this book and read too, The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly. It will make you cry. I also bought Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and it is a scary book. The environment's going to hell in a handbasket and this is where we're headed. I couldn't finish it. Too scary.

Any book suggestions? I don't want fluff, I want something intelligent. (This Book Will Change Your Life notwithstanding.)

Found it

A-ha! Mr. I-don't-know-where-it-is-I-didn't-see-it-or-touch-it and I have (finally) unpacked our boxes and decorated (a little bit). It's a wonderful feeling to be able to find all of my stuff but oh my goodness do I have a lot of stuff!

In the process of unpacking etc, we came across our camera cord, surprise, surprise. It "somehow" ended up in a box on the veranda. Here are the long awaited pictures of everything important.



First of all, the ever exciting Dong Jun, 2-year-old extrodinaire!

Then Kumiko and Sung Hyuk who were in Jae Cheol's English class in Canada.

Friends of Jae Cheol's getting married. They didn't know we were back and therefore got a surprised picture of the bride saying, and I quote, "oh, Melanie!"

Just for fun, looking forward to my 31th birthday next year!

(After finding the camera cord, it was then time to look for the actual camera in our newly reorganized apartment. Do you think we could find it? No. Do you think I blamed Jae Cheol? Yes. Do you think it was actually his fault? Not this time. . .)

Random thoughts

In no particular order:

• I love my eyebrows these days
• celebrity news entertainment makes me LAUGH
• we're out of cereal, a point which I only remember when I wake up in the morning so far away from a grocery store
• everything on my computer's in Korean
• I wonder what kind of stuff there is to see and do in Hong Kong for a weekend, . . .

Hayden, glorious Hayden!

I went to visit Melissa, Dong Jin and Hayden yesterday and the baby is absolutely even perfecter in person! Seriously, she's gorgeous, hilarious and smart as a fox. Alas, no camera cord so no pictures.

I want to throw a big, fat, hysterical, kicking, screaming, crying tantrum. I am so angry and it's all my f*#%ing fault.

Our computer died in Canada but before it did, I "copied" all of our pictures onto a cd. Turns out, I didn't. It didn't happen. The cd and my computer lied. I got nothin'. Nothing.

Hence the tantrum.

F2

I forgot to mention that I got my wife-visa with no hassle. All we did was show up and present the required documents. I got the visa and my ID card ten days later. In two years I will automatically become a landed immigrant. Very exciting.

uh oh, I have an idea, . . .

I've been looking at my pictures from Cambodia and Vietnam recently and I'm getting itchy feet again! (Don't tell my mom!!!!!!!) Update: Mom, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere.

It's true, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Well, not another country that is. We may actually be moving soon. Or at least, that's what I've been led to believe. Jae Cheol and I are currently living in a bachelor apartment again but we've been told that should something bigger become available in the spring, we're going to move then. Well, that IS good, great and wonderful except for the fact that I want to unpack, decorate and make curtains NOW.

When we were in Canada I didn't really decorate cause I knew it was only going to be for a year. I absolutely restrained myself from buying housewares and that wasn't easy because I LOVE buying housewares. It just didn't make sense since I knew we were going to have to come back with all of our stuff packed into baggage restrictions. Well that is no longer the case now and I want to become domestic. I want to buy a comfy chair for reading and put it in the perfect spot. I want to invite people over and serve them delicious drinks or nachos. I want to have a place to put all of my linens and have enough hangers and closet space. The problem is that I'M STILL LIVING OUT OF A FRIGGEN' SUITCASE AND IT'S MAKING ME CRAZY!

I may just go ahead and decorate. TAKE THAT! My sanity's at stake here. And besides, moving from one house to another in the same city only requires putting everything you have into as many boxes as it takes. I can handle that. I won't mind doing it. It's the baggage restrictions and having to carry it all with you at once that's unappealing and will never be repeated, this I vow. (I had to, Jae Cheol made me do it.) Yes, that's right. I will never move all of my stuff from one country to another again! I won't have to, I've discoverd the convenience of international shipping. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh yeah, I still can't find the computer cord so there will be no new pictures at this time.

Lazy arse

I haven't been as inspired to blog since I stopped being forced to sit in front of the computer everyday. Well, that's not true, I wrote something truly funny and inspirational with a picture of the grandfather-baby, but apparently Blogger disapproved and destroyed it. Let's try again.

First update: I turned 30, Yippee.

Jae Cheol and I arrived in Korea on the eve of my 30th b.day. We decided to drink immediately after bringing our giant luggage up to the 4th floor walk up. Apparently we were so excited to be back in Korea that we drank ourselves stupid and my actual birthday was spent in my new apartment's bathroom. Happy Birthday to me.


(Please note the thousands of bottles of soju on the table. I'm surprised I'm not blind!)








Well, I've fully recovered and am really enjoying my new job here in Korea. I took this job because I had a feeling that I would enjoy working here and it's all working out swimmingly. Jeff and Julia are both wonderful teachers and really supportive and fun to work with. I have a key to the school and I sometimes come in early to prepare extra stuff for my classes. It's exactly how I thought it would be. *sigh*

Jae Cheol and I have visited the fam at least every weekend and they are a riot. Well, mostly the baby is a riot. I've nicknamed him "screamy baby". That's because every time I visit, the first time he sees me he screams with delight! There's no better sound than that, let me tell you! I have translated it into: "oh goody, the fun is here!" I will post all of the pictures that I have taken of him when I find the camera-computer cord.

Jae Cheol is currently searching for a job. He's had two interviews and is stressed out like I've never seen him. He is also obsessed with keeping our (bachelor) apartment clean. Everytime I leave the house, the stuff I had gets put away in weird places, (hence not being able to find the camera-computer cord.) I only thank him for his cleaning because I'm afraid he may explode otherwise.

I am definitely happy about my decision to come back to Korea. The job says it all. I miss everybody though and you know who you are. Big kisses!

An Embarrassment of Riches

Since we have been packing and getting ready to move to Korea, we're trying to get rid of everything. The other day some of our old clothes found their way to reception house in Ottawa where new immigrants stay when they first arrive.

A classmate of Jae Cheol's who is a Burmese refugee has kept in contact with the reception house and they call him anytime there is a new arrival from Burma. Last night he came to our house with a new arrival who had been in Canada for 40 days. Apparently he and 19 members of his family came to Canada after living in a refugee camp on the Thai border for over 10 years. He is 27 years old and is married with three little kids. We were able to give him some kitchen things and a tv.

When they left, I cried. It was the most humbling experience of my life. I wanted to do more. I have never felt so guilty in my life about the privileges that I was born to. I have never been hungry. I have never had to fear for my safety or that of my family. I have never had to flee from my home. I don't know exactly what this family has been through, I only know that they were very happy to take what we could give them, however embarrassingly meager, mismatched and used they were.

I heard a radio program about two women in Ottawa who pick up gently used furniture and distribute it to newly arrived immigrants. They make pickups every Wednesday night by appointment. They can be contacted via email at helpingwithfurniture(at)hotmail.com. If you live in Ottawa, maybe you'll one day be in a position to contact these ladies and donate something.

Now that I'm ready to go back to work in Korea, I'm wondering whether or not it would be possible to squeeze a little sun and surf in somewhere. It's absolutely not going to happen, but one can always dream, (while checking out airfares when one should be filing, . . . )

I did it! I got a job! I'm employed in Korea! I'm ecstatic!

Well, finally. I chose a job with a school owned by an American man and his Korean wife. It sounds really exciting and I think I'll probably be able to be really creative in my classes. It also sounds like it's going to be a lot of work. The thing is though, that doesn't bother me. I'm excited about it. I'm going to be in cut and paste HEAVEN!!!!!! Crafternoon, anyone? I already have plans for a Christmas craft day before the Christmas long weekend. Jet lag, schmet-schmag, let me at the students!!!!!!!! I will be singing a totally different tune in a couple of months, naturally, but for the moment, I'm so excited!

Ai-go (for lack of an appropriate swear word)

I seem to have no problem getting interviews. And during the interviews, the recruiters seem impressed. The problem is the recruiters are usually in Seoul and the schools are in Ulsan. Then there's a delay between, "I'd like to offer you the job" and them getting back to me with contracts and instructions for visas etc. Either that or they suffer trama to the brain right after talking to me. I hate to say that this is typical for Korea, but for goodness sake! I honestly have to do it all myself! I recently had an email from an idiot, (recruiter) telling me that if I didn't come to Korea with an E2 visa, I wouldn't be reimbursed for my plane ticket. Well obviously, but I cannot give myself an E2 visa, stupid arse. The school has to start the ball rolling and give me an offer, send me a contract to sign, etc. It's really getting frustrating.

I AM going to have to do everything myself, as usual. What I've decided to do, is get an F2 or spouse visa to avoid stupidity. Well, that's a great idea in theory, but now the problem is finding the information on what's required for an F2 visa. I don't think anyone knows! It's not available anywhere.

Now, I know what you're thinking; the information must be there in Korean and you just can't find it Melanie, because you don't speak Korean. HA! If only it was as simple as that.

I asked Jae Cheol to call the embassy to get the information. They told him they would call back in 20 minutes. After 30 minutes went by with no call, he called them to ask. He was told to call back in another 30 minutes! When he finally spoke to someone who seemed to have some sort of clue, he didn't seem to sure of himself. Jae Cheol would ask if pictures were required, for example and the guy would say something like, "oh yes, you're right, you should bring pictures". This happened more than once. Apparently I also need a bank statement and a record of employment! Yeah, cause that's relevant as to whether or not I'm married to a Korean!

As a result of all this lunacy, I bought a giant bottle of stress formula B vitamins last night. I don't know if they're going to do the trick though, when you're dealing with people like the genius that called last night at midnight!!!!!! "Tell her to check her email" was the message he left with poor sleeping Ji Hye, who lives in the living room. The only problem is, HE DIDN'T SEND ONE! Come on, people!!!! Let's get it together! We can do this!

Tonight I'm going to stop by the LCBO, pick up some lovely dark rum, have a sleep-over at Theresa and Josh's house and all will be right by morning. *sigh*

Another baby comb-over because it's funny and cute at the same time. I love this baby, I want to gobble him up!

Dreaming of blue skies

It hasn't stopped raining in Ottawa in about a thousand years. It's really beginning to get on my nerves, as well as into my shoes. It's getting to the point where I don't even remember what a sunny, blue sky looks like. Once, last week on a morning when it wasn't raining, I went outside and felt like something strange was happening. It took me a while to realise that the strange thing was the absence of rain.

Job search continues, as does stress.

What was I thinking?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Who in their right mind would move for just one year???? It's the most ridiculous thing to do! Actually, wait a minute, no it's not, the MOST ridiculous thing to do is to move to another country with specific luggage restrictions and no prospect of apartment or job. Yes, that's the MOST ridiculous thing, by far.



I think this whole fiasco is going to end up shortening my lifespan somewhat. Look at Snoopy, (my little brother named him when he was ten, okay?) Snoops is 14 or so, and he looks fantastic. I think his secret must be that he's never really even left the house.

I HATE moving!

Golden Boy

Have you ever met anyone who seems to do things effortlessly? You know the person that I'm talking about, the one who can wear white shirts for longer than 4 minutes without spilling stuff on them. The one who looks cute in hats. The one who people make special exceptions for, even when they shouldn't. Well, I am married to that person! I love him, but I'm jealous as hell!

I have sort of a superiority complex. I can't help it, I'm the oldest child. Since birth, I have always secretly enjoyed being the smartest, the tallest, the strongest, etc. And it has always galled me when I'm not. In those situations, I would be forced to snap out of my lethargy and make an effort in order to compete. No fun, you say? Well, you're right, but these things usually pass. Then I met Jae Cheol.

He's clever, he's smart, he's open minded and he's inquisitive. In my family, we love learning and figuring things out and finding solutions. It's what we do. Since we've been in Canada, Jae Cheol's had the chance to spend lots of time with my family and he really fits in well. Now he's turned into a superstar.

I'll give you an example:

We are currently trying to sublet our apartment to avoid paying for the month of December when we're moving to Korea. I have been on the phone daily to the landlord, the super, potential subletters. I placed an add on the internet, I've made arrangements for people to come take a look, I've asked all of our neighbors in the building.

Jae Cheol found our subletter on Saturday!

A friend of his dropped by and brought another guy with him. This other guy ended up taking the apartment. It was as simple as, "do you want to move in next month?" "yes, I do"

How does he do it? The man has the friggin golden touch! And he's cute, too!

Kids - I don't have any of my own but I see 'em everywhere

This is a picture of my nephew Dong Jun, who I haven't seen since December of last year. Since the last time I saw him, he has learned to walk, started speaking and decided to style his hair in a baby comb-over. Yes, he is a fashion icon as you can see by the picture of him below, sporting his new line: grandfather wear for babies.

This picture is a few months old. When I finally see him next month in Korea, I expect he will be wearing tweed, smoking a pipe and walking around with his hands clasped behind his back. I can't wait to see him again because I think that I'll really enjoy being an aunt.

There's another baby on the scene these days, who I haven't even had the chance to meet yet. Her name is Hayden Violet Lee and apparently she is "the perfectest" baby on the planet. I'm thinking of setting her up with Dong Jun. I'm trying to steal pictures from Melissa's blog, but I don't know how so you're going to have to go there to see her. She really is sweet, I can't believe how cute she is. It almost makes me want to have a baby, almost.

This is Melissa's blog http://www.koreangoldfish.blogspot.com/ I love at it about four times a day because she's so pretty and because I'm at work and I can.

The calm before the land of the morning calm

Well, here we go again! Korea, or as I lovingly used to refer to it; the land that logic forgot!

I got an email today from my potential employer saying that they're going to pay me more since I won't be living in the housing that they provide. WHOA EVERYBODY!!!!! SLOW DOWN JUST A MINUTE! That's not what I said. I said that since I'm arriving at least two weeks earlier than when my contract would begin, I'll be able to stay with family for that amount of time. That's what I said!

Let's get a few things clear here: we won't in fact be staying with the fam at all, for the simple reason that it will make Jae Cheol loose his mind! Love the fam, love them a lot - CAN'T LIVE WITH THEM! Especially since we've been hosting a cousin since August. We need time to ourselves and also a place we can designate as a pants-free environment.