Emerging

I met Jun at the gym on a Tuesday night, around 10pm. While sweating my ass off, a Korean guy came up to me and started speaking English, excited as a little boy. You will understand that I am on the spot every single day in Korea, so I don’t really respond positively when a random stranger starts talking to me while I’m covered in sweat, grinning my teeth as I am lifting weights. It’s just me I guess ;)

Nonetheless, he was so thrilled and energetic that I soon let my guard down and we became good friends. That’s about when I started emerging.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been feeling… bleh. Just the crappy weather, raining every day, my neighbors waking me up at 4am and other personal issues made me the crankiest French-Canadian on Jeju Island.

Last Friday night Jun met me in front of City Hall – where I discovered that the painting on the wall represents Samsunghyeol legend, the three Gods who emerged from holes in the ground and procreated with the only three women in Jeju.

We met up with Alicia, Kyle, Lisa and Amanda at GP for some delicious White Russian and the usual chatting. It was really nice. Then we headed to a bowling alley and that was just hilarious.

The night ended up at Led Zepplin, with a deep discussion with Autumn about false pretense and fake friends. The next day, I was painfully nursing my hangover when I heard that two foreigners had hit Jun.

As it turns out, he was leaving the bar and wished two white guys a Happy New Year. Without apparent reason, the guys started a fight. Seriously. That’s what’s wrong with stupid hammered foreigners in any given country. It’s pathetic. I’ve seen it too many times in Seoul, not to mention Thailand. I can’t say that I’m the classiest girl when I’ve had one-too-many drinks, but at least I’m fun!

Sunday morning a couple of friends came over for brunch and it was great! I didn’t expect everyone to show up, but they did and 10 of us fought over pancakes with maple syrup/honey/whipped cream/strawberries, cream cheese and toasts, bacon, fruit, and fresh juice.

Then we rode our scooters to the horse field near Halla mountain and got a glimpse of what winter should look like: snow! It actually felt like March back home, in spring, when it’s getting warmer and the snow is melting. The ground is all wet and slippery. That’s basically what we were so excited about!

Doug was so cute… he said with his Australian accent “did you know you can make a snowball and then roll it in snow and it gets bigger? You can make a snowman with that!” All of us Canadians laughed.

We took a nice walk, threw snowballs at each other, and rode the sleigh downhill. There was a Korean family there too and they seemed to have a blast. I had to leave early to meet up with my Korean friend Shine at a book café. It was a nice day. Lisa came over while I was cooking dinner (pasta with garlic, olive oil, black olives and cheese… miam!) and we chatted for a while.

Yup, it was a good week-end and I felt like I was finally emerging; I’m going to Indonesia in less than a month, and when I get back it’ll almost be summer. Mom and dad will visit, so will Josiane, and before we know it this whole year will be over.

But then again, I had a bite of reality-check with the pain of what seems like a crack in my root-canal treatment, as well as two wisdom teeth coming out and some strange pain in my chest and shoulder. For weeks, my neighbors have been waking me up at 4am and this morning they didn’t stop until 7:30am. I think I’ll be sleeping at Amanda’s tonight.

The truth is, I wonder why I look forward to this year being over. Is it just because of the crappy weather, the commute to work, and my lack of sleep? I’ve got good friends here, and I wonder if my life would be any different (culturally yes, but personally?) if I was back in Quebec.

Ugh. What happened to my plan of being zen? I guess it’s sometimes hard to let it go and just “be”.

Winter blues

Ouch! My head! It’s been raining for 4 days now and, while I enjoy the smell of wet earth, I’m feeling quite tired. There’s something great about rain: no pressure to be happy. When it’s all sunny and clear sky, you can’t be depressed. But when it’s raining, who cares?

Hallim is where I work. It’s a small village about an hour from where I live. I ride the bus every day. Though Jeju is an island, it’s too big to see the ocean from everywhere. But in Hallim, the ocean is right there. This morning the weather was cold, the sky was gray, and it smelled like fish. Salt water and fish. I liked it.

My Korean friend booked my flight to Indonesia this week and I’m really excited! Two full weeks of resting, beaching, sleeping, not working, eating, swimming, discovering, relaxing and celebrating… I love those “ings” ;) 32 more days to go!

Last weekend was quite fun – Isaac’s band played at “Led Zepplin” and a huge crowd turned in. That’s when I realized one of the benefits of living abroad in an Alien country: we know a lot of people! In a sense, it’s like being a celebrity – a whole lotta lovin’ everywhere you go! And let’s not forget the Koreans as well, who wave at you, touch you, shout “hello! Hello!” (even while you’re driving) and take pictures of you even though they have no idea who you are.

It gets annoying after a while, and that’s why I was very happy to hang out with “my people” last weekend! The night ended in the morning again and the hangover was brutal. But to be fair, I hadn't been out in two weeks, slowly recovering from the holidays oh-too-many celebrations...

A couple of friends also invited me to the movies, which was a big mistake! “Todd Sweeney” (with Johnny Depp) grossed me out with all the blood and violence. It just wasn’t my kind of movie – though the underlying idea is pretty good and Johnny is hot! Laurie and I had popcorn and chocolate… delightful mix I hadn’t enjoyed in a long time! Somehow we're the only ones who enjoy the sweet and salty mix ;)

This week is going by very slowly and I am still plotting the murder of my neighbors upstairs. They still wake me up around 4am and keep going until morning comes. Mr. Lee finally got in touch with them after I caught them red-handed – their door was open at 3:30am and they were moving boxes.

Turns out the lady owns a clothing store and she unpacks her stuff at night to be ready in the morning. Apparently that’s the only time she can do that. So uuuuuugh! What can I do? She said she’ll try to be more quiet – blessing which lasted for a week but now she’s back to being a big fat Korean bitch. I never thought I could hate so bad someone I don’t even know.

On the other hand I’m trying to be zen. The city will never shut up, nor will my neighbors so I just have to learn to live with the noise. I wish I had an actual bubble I could dive in every time I need quiet, but I don’t.

Lisa just got back from Thailand, and so did Gabriel and Danila. They’re all tanned and happy! It’s great to have them back, but I’m just so jealous! I also met new people at the gym and the University so it’s nice to have new people to hang out with. There’s over a hundred foreigners on the island, and we all know each other. But after a while (and that’s just my personality), I need a change of scenery! Meeting new people, going to new places, doing new stuff and getting out of this rot!

It’s funny because there’s a whole bunch of newbies coming in March and everyone on the island can’t wait to meet them! It’s like anyone who’s not in a relationship hopes someone better (than those already living on the island) will come along. I have this mental image of sharks haha

I want to go home so bad! I love Korea, but I need to speak French, see my friends and family, roll over in snow and eat poutine. I want to hold the dog, have dinner with my parents. I want to have a beer with my sister and my brother, and talk until the morning comes. I wanna play guitar with Dave and laugh my head out with Pete! I want to cook with Aurelie and go to a concert! I miss home! Can I handle 7 more months?

Mom and dad are thinking about visiting in June - after my brother's girlfriend gives birth. Josiane also wants to come and see me in the summer. I’ve got friends from Seoul who are definitely coming down in the summer too. I guess everything will be alrite once winter (how can this be winter? It’s raining but not snowing, cold but not freezing) is over.

I did (re)discover some great Jazz musicians - especially

Red Garland

(great pianist!),

Ben Webster

(great saxophonist!),

Diana Krall

(duh! but i'm really digging her style) and of course

Duke Ellington

(piano),

Stan Getz

(saxophone) as well as

Art Tatum

(prodigious pianist, sometimes too fast but simply mind-blowing!)

As for movies, i've watched quite a few in the past weeks:

September

is another great Woody Allen movie (and the jazzy soundtrack is beautiful! I especially love "On a slow boat to China" and "Out of nowhere"), while

Mighty aphrodite

is a really funny Woody Allen movie starring Mira Sorvino.

I also highly recommend

The brave one

, a great movie about a woman who gets robbed and beaten on the street. Her husband dies in the hospital and she becomes a kind of vigilente. With Jodie Foster, who is excellent for the part!

Fracture

is alright: with Anthony Hopkins, good thriller, good setup, good plotline. Ryan Gosling is great and perfect for the role of an arrogant lawyer.

And finally,

The bucket list

with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman is a nice and light movie about two men who meet in the hospital and decide to spend their last days on earth enjoying life. It's cute.

A good documentary about Cuban leader is "Fidel: The untold story". And if you haven't seen "Buena Vista Social Club", you oughta run to the movie store because it's a must. Ruben Gonzales and Ibrahim Ferrer are simply adorable, and the music as well as their story are all groovy/interesting.