The World According to Keri

Typical spring side-walk on Yeoi-Do

I ended up going alone cause my friend Sulhae had to work. But that was okay... Saturday night I met up with my friends Jason and Erin and we went out for a few drinks and some dancing in one of the foreigner districts of the city (Itaewon). I really enjoyed hanging out with the two of them... I've never actually spent time with them alone, but they're both really nice and cool people to chat with.

The interesting thing about hanging out in a foreigner district is that it made me feel pretty uncomfortable. It's like you're not in Korea... but your not back home either. It's this strange middle-ground and for some reason you feel so much more aware of yourself and self-conscious. Strange that one would feel this way being surrounded by other non-Asian people. You would think one would feel less self-conscious since there is more of a 'blending into your surroundings' effect. Maybe it's because when I'm surrounded by Koreans, for the most part everyone is looking at me with curiosity and generally positive thoughts. But when it's fellow foreigners looking at me, I know it's for a different reason... more like being judged or 'checked-out'. After spending time in Itaewon, I'm a little bit afraid of the reverse culture shock that awaits me back in Canada. I had never thought about feeling uncomfortable in my own country before... interesting... and a little scary.

The next day I was off on my own in the big city and headed first for Yeoi-Do. I ended up spending about 4 or 5 hours there just walking around the island and playing with my camera. Good times. It was a beautiful day actually - The weather was quite warm and there was an inspiring combination of sunshine and ominous dark clouds that never actually brought rain.

Have a look at my "Complete Photo Gallery" link to see my little collection.

Many other people were taking photos that day too... but they were Korean, so their photography style is just a little different from mine. I think I must have looked more out-of-place than usual taking pictures of actual flowers and scenery without a person posing in the foreground. Silly Koreans and their posing. :)

Gotta love the standard camera phone self-portrait.

I actually laughed outloud here. I don't think anyone was really looking at the flowers... just fighting for spots in front of them so they could take pictures of themselves and their families. (Notice the same girl with the hat posing with another pot of flowers)

Anyhow, it was a great day. I finished it off with a stop at a massive electronics market where I picked up a relatively inexpensive mp3 player. It's nothing special, but it can hold a couple of hours of songs and it's got an armband so I can listen while running. It has helped me soooo much with getting back into running. I love it!

Soooo, since then I've basically been hanging out in Chuncheon and running/exercising as much as possible. A short stint of sinus-blockage threw me off course for about 5 days, but the running is progressing nicely. There is a bicycle path along the river and lake that is easily accessible from my house and is very nice to run along when the air isn't full of dust. I actually had a running partner a couple of times which was a nice change too. The first time, we went about 8km at a very slow pace and I thought I could kick his ass at running. The next time, I was just recovering from the cold and he had been running 1hr/day for the last 5 days and he kicked my ass pretty badly. Bastard. I am determined to be better than him.

As for future plans, I recently learned that I have 3 long weekends in May so I'll be exploring the country a bit. This weekend I'm going to Seoul again for a big Lotus Lantern Festival that is part of Buddha's birthday celebrations. I'm gonna make a paper lantern and maybe even be in the foreigner part of the big parade! hehe. Sulhae's coming with me, but to be in the foreigner events she needs to be a foreigner, so... she will be Sonya Pakovski from Russia for the weekend. hehe. Good times.

As for future future plans, I'm working out the details of extending my contract until February of next year. Then I'll probably travel for a couple of months and head back to Canada around the beginning of May. Only another year to go! :p

Oh, and in other news: Ben and Lisa will be returning to Chuncheon for 4 months starting May 3rd! Yay!! I have more friends again! Let the crazy party nights resume! (not sure I can handle it)