War?

Things seem to be escalating pretty rapidly this past week since the shelling of Yeoungdeopo Island by North Korea. Both sides have once again begun the war rhetoric threatening "enormous retaliation" if either side provokes the other. There have been incidents before with North Korea like the sinking of the Cheonan Submarine and the shooting of a S.Korean tourist in N.Korea and nothing really happened. This time though it feels a little different, if the North or South were to commit one more provocative action, it feels like it would be the third strike that would set the stage for an all out war.

The US and South Korea are set to stage some kind of military drills this Sunday near Yeoudeungpo Island, the same site North Korea attacked earlier this week. It seems stupid to me to hold those kind of drills so soon after the latest incident. I know North Korea has to be held in check but the South has everything to lose and there must be a better way to resolve this situation than to hold these drills with what seems to be the North's real enemy, the United States.

I don't know what I would do the in event of war breaking out. Seoul would definitely be the first target and I'm pretty sure that I would be in the line of fire. I would forget about trying to get out of Seoul as Im sure the traffic would be much worse than getting out of Seoul for Chuseok (Chuseok - 1hr drive turns into a 6hr drive). I think I would probably head for the emart (emart=korean walmart) near my apartment. Its in the second basement level of a Technomart. I figure id be safe there and I would have everything I need. I really hope cooler heads prevail and nothing happens.

In lighter news, I joined a gym today near my apartment. Its a pretty small one but its really cheap, no down payment, 20,000 Won (18$ cdn) a month. Its smells like my grandma in there (gym is full of old people) but its cool, it close by and inexpensive. I lost a bit of weight while backpacking this summer (thanks India!). Im 176 lbs down from 192 lbs pretrip but I'm still pretty fat by Korean standards. Hoping to drop down to 165 lbs in the next couple of months but I think the bigger goal is trying to stick to at least 3-4 days a week in the gym!

The only christmas picture I had

oh and I'm really missing Canadian Christmas :(
there are very little Christmas decorations except for at Starbucks.
No Santa, No Egg Nog, No Christmas Trees, No Christmas Music, No Christmas lights...but most depressingly NO family and friends
I really wish Korea was a little bit more christmasy...

The Story So Far.....

Ugh! Another bad license picture, should have got it photoshopped kk

 
So I've had a good amount of time to soak in the Korean life. I'm settling in pretty nicely, I got my F4 Visa (Citizenship), moved in to a convenient new place, opened a bank account and got a cell phone. Now I just need to find a job and a girlfriend and I'm all set! I wanted offer up some of what I thought was the good and bad of Seoul, Korea 6 weeks in...

 The Good;

• Service! Korean service is really top notch! While getting a cell phone they gave me a free drink while I had a seat on their comfy couch. Ex.2 Services like internet setup or delivery of a online purchase usually get done the next day and on time.

• Service!! (alt.) The other "service" meaning complimentary or free shit! When ordering food or drinks they will give you free food or side dishes! Who doesnt like free stuff?

• Cheap High Speed Internet! No more waiting a week for a movie to download and No Throttling! Canadian Internet really blows in comparison

•  K-Pop - Its pretty catchy music! Its like having that first breakfast twinkie of the day. It smells good, it looks good, it tastes good and much like a twinkie it give you that sugar rush but... (see below)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGbwL8kSpEk

  

•  Jollypong and Banana Milk. Jollypong tastes exactly like sugarcrisp cereal and its awesome when having it with some banana flavoured milk.

Not So Good;

• Fruit is expensive! I spent 6000Won or $5.50 cdn for 6 mandarin oranges....

• Mosquitoes! Korean mosquitoes are pure evil. They are definitely more blood thirsty and bitey than the Canadian variety. They will bite any exsposed body part. Ive gotten bites on my face, eyelid, ears and the bottom of my foot. They will also annoy you by buzzing in your ear while you sleep.

• 90% of the shops are for female shoppers. I guess its a good thing if your female

• The Truth - Ive had a few korean people call me fat and squeeze my belly. Koreans can be brutally honest.

• K-Pop is also like having that tenth twinkie, it doesnt really give you the nutrition. Theres no substance, its just sugar and flour, You get sick of it after having so many and you dont wanna touch another one for weeks ......but you eventually go back and eat some more

Usually I had enough of Kpop when 'Shinee' comes on

Welcome to My New Blog - 2nd Attempt

Hi, 안녕 and welcome to the first entry in my New Blog!

This is my second attempt at writing a blog. Some of you might remember I tried to keep a blog of my travels but sadly it was only 2 entries long. There were a many factors as to why I failed at my first blogging attempt; no energy, no time, health problems, technical issues but most of all it was laziness. I tried to document every part of my trip and just started to fall behind. There isn't gonna be any of that pressure with this blog, just whenever I have the time and if Ive got something on my mind then Ill write about it.

This blog will be about my life and experience while "In Exile" from my hometown of Toronto, Ontario Canada. I left Canada on June 21,2010 and have so far travelled through ten countries. To have experienced all the tradition and culture of these places, it has definitely given me a renewed sense of appreciation and awareness of all the good that this world has to offer. I'm most grateful to all the people I have met so far. You have added the "color" to all that I have experienced, without you guys it would just be a grey sky and lifeless buildings. I hope to share more experiences, observations and revelations in this blog and want to thank all those who follow along.