Birthdays and lazy days and random festivals, oh my!

Anyong Hasseo!


All in all, there hasn't been much to report on the Korean front. Working everything out for the film actually doesn't involve me that much, I'll get a call or an email every couple of days, but until we start actual production, it doesn't have much to do with me.

So for the most part, life has been normal and average. I saw the new Star Trek movie (twice) and it was amazing (Both times) but aside from that life's been pretty chill. I'm spending a lot of time with Marion, mostly just relaxing, talking and hanging out. My Friend Whit's sister and brother in law were in town about a week ago and we all went out for some Norae Bang fun.

Last night was my friend Kim's Birthday and after some pizza and drinks we went downtown and ended up first at one of my favorite Korean holes in the wall, the "Egg Bar." I have no idea what the real name of this place is, but they cook an egg for you on the table, thus we've dubbed it such. I always love bringing new people here because it's always a hassle to get them there, they're skeptical to leave the comforts of Speaks and Songs, but once we get them through the door, they love it. It's just a fun place. The ceiling is covered in flowers, the whole place has a blue glow to it, the booze is both delicious and cheap (We drank 8 or 9 pitchers of Fruit soju and as many bottles of the normal stuff, and the total cost per person was six dollars) and Oh my god they treat you like gold! I've mentioned Korean "Service" before but these guys go above and beyond! We got plates of fresh fruit, nuts, freshly cooked seasonsed French Fries! And of course the aforementioned egg. All in all it was a great time.




Today we played it pretty chill. An early afternoon breakfast at a nearby waffle shop led to a trip downtown to explore and go see a movie. In our quest to find new places to spend time and money, we discovered a new cafe, with chocolate milkshakes!!


As you can see, I was happy....


Honestly, the cafe wasn't the best. The milkshake was okay, the coffee, according to Marion, was horrid and while it looked clean it smelled like a week old ashtray, so probably not on the repeat list.


We went and saw "Angels and Demons," Not too bad, If you liked the "Da Vinci Code" you'll enjoy it.


Then came what might have been the best part of my weekend. In walking to get a cab we came across a festival that had taken over main street downtown, to remember the May 18th Massacres and Demonstrations. There were kids with flags, a big Korean band, people dancing! In all honesty I'm not sure how this remembers College students protesting for their democratic rights, but it was fun!





We watched for a bit, and then got brave and jumped in with all the rest. We were involved in something akin to a Conga line, had Makele poured into our mouths by some old man, Danced with Senior citizens and little kids alike and just partied with the people of the city for a solid half an hour, all the while with cameras going off around us all the time.

It was a lot of fun, and while I stand by my earlier words when I said that it's the friends and the little things that make living here great, sometimes it's really a lot of fun to get pulled into someone else's culture with a smile on your face.


That's all for now, G'night guys!


Jamie

On Excellent weekends and the biggest break of my life.

Well I'm back from my latest adventure this one was a trip to Seoul, for the White party that Dan threw for all the the Teach ESL Korea teachers and our friends.

This was the best photo I could find of Dan and I....

Anyways! We had Galbi, Fruit Soju, normal Soju, and a fun night bouncing between bars and restaurants both Korean and foreign and it was a blast all around. Met some new friends both from Gwangju and around, and got closer with some others here.

And I saw Beeker again! Aparently neither of us can find our way through a bus terminal though....

The next day we slept relatively late and were out the door at I think about 11. I spent my day in Itaewon, doing some minor shopping and browsing, it was pretty chill.

And then came the big deal.

I had a meeting at 8 pm with a Movie Producer and the writer and Director of an upcoming project. I've been trying not to get my hopes up because there were a lot of things going against me for this, the biggest being that I don't live in Seoul.

But we hit it off great, chatted for about an hour, and discussed the project backwards and forwards. And when I left that coffee shop, I was cast as the Lead actor in the film.

^__^ ASSAH!!!

It's a 30 minute film about a writer living in Korea and writing about his experiences. What he goes through, the way people act towards him. A "day in the life" kind of thing. So yeah, I'm a Canadian actor, starring in a Korean film with a Korean Director and Producer.... this is going to be fun!

I am still alive, I promise.

Anyong Hasseo!

I've come to realize that I'm absolute horrid at blogging. Really I suck. So, sorry for that, I'll try to do better. That said that means that this is going to be a rather long winded post, since the last time I wrote here was early March.

So let's get my bearings, kay?

Shark Diving

Mountain Hiking

Slow Walking

Life in Korea

Okay let's get started!

On St. Pat's weekend I went with some friends up to Busan, which is a great city that I absolutely love. With Sandy white beaches, bustling and crowded streets, busy night life, Busan is like Seoul and Gwangju mixed together, huge and cosmopolitan, but still with a friendliness to it. I think if I decide to stay another year I might look at moving there.

The first load of us met at the bus station at 6:30 and made the trek to Busan, we made it without incident and after some gesturing at maps, cell phone dictionaries and charades we convinced the cab driver that we wanted to go to the Aquarium.

We got to Busan's aquarium with some extra time and decided to go for an oh so healthy breakfast of Lotteria. Lotteria is like Korea's answer to McDonald's, but not as good. Which is probably why McDonald's is here to, As you can see, the trip was already starting to wear us out.

In his defence Blair was sick.

After my nutritious brunch of cheese sticks and a chicken sandwich we went for our orientation and class at the aquarium, I won't go into huge details, we watched videos, found out how hard it is to squirm into a wet suit, were taught the basics of scuba diving, and then... we got to go swimming!

So yeah, I swam with Sharks, it was indescribably amazing.

After that we went out for supper, it was delicious, went downtown that night and enjoyed Busans' nightlife, We hit up an Irish Bar (It was St Paddy's weekend) and then a rock and roll bar. The latter was actually closed and re-opened for the four of us that were left, it was pretty cool. The next day Marion, Brad, Joanne and I spent the day exploring Busan's markets, streets and beaches. You know I actually lost my wallet in a cab Saturday night on this trip, and I still think it was one of my best weekends in Korea.

The next big event was my first major Hike in Korea. a bunch of us met at Meudung Mountain and made the climb up, We took one of the shorter routes, only about 10 KM and made it to the top of the mountain in about 2 hours, I think. We also stopped at my first temple in Korea along the way.

Life got a little quieter after that, which is not to say it wasn't fun or interesting, but a little more low key. More on that in a bit.

Last weekend I went with about 44 other foreigners to Shin-Ji Island, for what we found out on the way was a festival. We weren't quite sure what to expect actually but when someone says that they'd like to take pictures of foreigners and will pay for you to go, and feed you, you take them up on the offer.

Well it turns out the Festival was Korea's first Annual "Slow Walking Festival." It was explained to us that Koreans rush through life and they wanted to take a day to "slow down" The immediate reaction of every foreigner was "You people think you need to walk slower!?

We arrived, saw some neat traditional demonstrations as a man painted/mopped a sign for the festival, listened to some speeches and then we hit the beach. What followed was a day of carousing and lounging on the sand and wading in the water. It was a lot of fun. On the way Back we realized that our bus, was a Noreah Bus.

Let me explain:

a Bus is a large vehicle made to transport a large group of people in relative comfort. Which is by the way, much more comfortable in Korea.

A Noreah Bang is private Kareokee room for you and your friends.

a Noreah Bus combines the two.

We sang and danced in the aisle and over seats and made fools of ourselves the whole way home. it was great!

The thing is, and this is something that I've come to realize, is that as cool as all this stuff is, its the friendships that make Korea so great. I've done alot more than I've written about today, But a lot of it is small, but at the same time it's worth every minute spent. Zak summed it up best when we were all on the beach in Shin-Ji, making speeches and he said "Here's to being millions of miles from your home, and still among friends." So from cocktail parties to baseball games, to exploring the parks in the city, Being among this culture and with these people has shown me just how much fun life should be, and it's great!

So from the other side of the world, I'll see you guys later. Life is as good as you make so make it the best! I promise I'll write again soon.

Jamie

A word of advice.

I've got a lot to write about, From hiking mountains to swimming with Sharks. But not tonight.

But I've got one piece of advice, for anyone looking to come over here, or even where ever you are in the world.

When you first get here, You go through phases of invincibility and vulnerability. And honestly, you feel like you can do things without thinking them through. I did a lot of it myself, and I've watched and am watching some of my friends, and not so friends do it now. Honestly we feel like it because for the most part, we get away with it. Either it's not a big enough deal, or everyone ignores the elephant in the room. So here's the advice. You aren't invincible, the choices you make matter, a lot. So please watch your back and don't be an idiot. Because if you do, you'll regret it. I promise. But by then you might be too late.

Night guys.

The things you find.

It's been a little over a week since my last entry. As always I am sorry for the tardiness. Honestly not too much has happened of importance in my life over here in the East. My big news is that last week I played my first open mic at Speakeasy's. I have to admit I was nervous, really really nervous. And I'm not sure why. I mean I've been on stages more times than I can count and I've spent 3 summers now performing on guitar for tourists and travellers from all parts of the world, both as they wandered past and when they came to see whatever our theatre show of the season was. So one would think that I wouldn't be too worried about my first musical venture on a modern stage wouldn't be too stressful, but it's a different animal and before getting on stage I had as many butterflies as the first time I ever performed a monologue on stage. But it was fun, Actually it was a lot of fun. Most of my normal weekend cohorts were there, and the night was even more special as I had a bunch of friends who don't normally mix with the Speakeasy crowd show up to support me. Whit and Linds, Tony and Caroline and Annie all came and were great fun to have in the audience. Of course Lindsay had her camera present and somehow made me look like I knew what I was doing! But like I said, being up there was fun. I made mistakes and flubbed some lyrics, probably missed a chord here or there but it felt fun. I have to admit, I really love being on a stage.

Not much else is new from this past week. I saw Watchmen, and while it does take some small liberties in the end I found it faithful to the source Material and an absolutely excellent and creative movie with hardly a mistep. A word of warning though, Watchmen is Graphic. It has to be really and I never found anything in it, whether it was sex, violence, gore or language to be there simply for the sake of itself, but it deserves its R rating to be sure.

Last thign to write about today is that one thing I enjoy about this country are the things you find by mistake. Yesterday my friend organized a Hash run, and I really wanted take part. Unfortunately I made a mistake on where it was starting and got myself lost. Realizing that I wasn't going to be able to get there in time, I txted an apology to one of the folks running and decided to explore down near the Reservoir, as I hadn't really walked down around here yet. Here's what I found. Have a good day guys and gals! Talk to you later.

J

Just because you've seen it before, doesn't mean you shouldn't look again.

When I was a kid, we didn't take a lot of long distances travels. It's not that we were a poor family, in fact in retrospect I don't think I realized just how "upper class" we actually were. But there were bills to pay, things to buy, especially for that spoiled brat of a kid my family had (read: me) and Dad's job kept him busy. So there weren't that many "Big" trips. That said I have a lot of family in the surrounding provinces, so there were a lot of trips to those places. With the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador (which for you Non-Canadians is only one province), I'm pretty sure I went to all the maritimes provinces once a year until I got to High school. And even then I know I visited Nova Scotia and many parts of New Brunswick every year, probably right up until I got here to the other side of the world. So I saw a lot of the Maritimes, and car rides started getting less interesting until I developed the two great talents of falling asleep in a moving vehicle (this got sketchy when I got my license) and more important to me, reading in a car.

One of those "larger" trips that my family took was to Cape Breton. My father's old stomping grounds. I was only somewhere between 8 and 10 and had already started on my lifelong obsession with swords, sorcery and spacemen. I remember Mom and Dad, Dad especially, being really excited about being able to show me some of my roots and the land my family came from. Unfortunately it didn't work out quite right, as demonstrated by one of my most famous quotes of childhood. We were driving along a winding highway with rolling green mountains on either side, and Mom turns to the back seat, where I'm thoroughly involved in the adventures of Luke Skywalker or some other equally fictitious world, and tells me that I should look out the window for the beautiful view. The conversation went something like this.

Jamie: (Still not looking up from his book) Is it a Mountain Mom?

Mom: ...Yes...

Jamie: Does it have trees, Mom?

Mom: ...Yes..

Jamie: I've seen it before.

And That conversation pretty much sums up how I felt about the Maritimes. Don't get me wrong here, I LOVE where I'm from. I'm proud to be from New Brunswick, I love the culture I grew up in, I mean I spent my last four summers working in a park that preserved and cherished just that. But at the same time, you get so used to it that you don't bother to look.

So here I am on the other side of the world, and I'm thinking about that mountain. I'm thinking about walking downtown Fredericton on a sunny Saturday afternoon after a trip to the Famer's market, listening to the snare drums of the city guard in Officer's square while I breeze comes off the river. I think of the days wandering through Citadel Hill or Halifax harbor. I remember running through the woods with Matt, or diving off the roof into the snow as a kid. The smell of the ocean or the site of the boats docked, The stars from my backyard. Kitchen parties and diving into the river at the Landing with Luke after hours. God, the Landing. Walking that sleepy little farm village in the nighttime was awe inspiring, the stars reflecting off of Lake Fundy. I walked by all of these things everyday and I thought they were great and beautiful but I never took the time to stop and appreciate them. And now I'm on the other side of the world and I love it, but I miss hearing the snares in the square. I miss seeing the sails on the water and hearing the fiddles and guitars.

My brother Kevan is a musician, and In my early teens he started to make a switch from rock and jazz influenced works, to more celtic, folk rock and definately maritime inspired works. I didn't get it back then, even after I fell in love with Kev's work in my college years, It seemed like just a choice of preference. I get it now.

So this is my advice. Wherever you're from, wherever you're going, take some time with it. Realize how unique and special that it actually is because you might find yourself in a place where it will be a long time before you can see it again.

Just because You've seen it before, doesn't mean you shouldn't take the time to look at it again.

Life in Korea, its still life.

Anyong Hasseo!

Life in Gwangju has become something that I never actually expected, normal. I wake up in the mornings, If I feel ambitious I'll make myself some breakfast (Or maybe go find something in the neighborhood) I might watch some TV or go for a walk. The weather has been warmer lately so I've taken to practicing my guitar and working on some songs in a park nearby, then I'll go to work. After work I'll find or cook supper and either stay in for a quiet night, or get in touch with a friend, normally Chris.

My life here has been full of ups and downs. I've made some new friends, some who have turned out to be not as special as I thought they were, others I'm certain will be a part of my life for the rest of my days. dated new people, unfortunately broken a heart or two, and experienced a lot of new things (though truthfully not as much as I would like to have at this point.) Life is just life right now. But every once in a while it seems to slap you in the face.

The closest thing that I can compare this to, is life shortly after the breakup of a long term relationship. Possibly because I'm still going through this experience right now, but it feels very apt. When you go through that kind of break up, it hurts like hell for a long time, you cry yourself to sleep. You don't want to do anything and you feel like the pain will never go away. But as time goes on you do get better. You figure out how to work your way through your life without that person in your life, You work at being friends, and you start to smile again, things begin to feel normal. But then one night you wake up from a dream, and in that moment between dreaming and waking, you're certain they're there beside you. You feel their weight, smell their hair. You know that person is there because that's where they always will be. And then you roll over and realize that everything has changed.

I bring this up because at this stage of my life overseas, I kind of feel like Canada and I had a really bad break up, and are just getting through it. We had our teary goodbyes, She sent me to sleep with stuffed nose, puffed eyes and wet cheeks and had me waking up ready to be sick. But now I'm okay, I get through my days fairly well and smile a lot. Canada and I talk now and then, we're a little awkward but I'm certain that things will work out well between us, and I've even started dating this new country, Korea, she's a little odd at times, definately does things differently, but I like her, she's fun for a short term country. But every now and then, something will happen. I'll realize I'm the only caucasian on the street, I'll hit a language barrier, or notice a sign. Its normally something insignificant, never the big stuff. Writing all of this out isn't even causing it, but now and then something will click and I promise you, the thought is the exact same, every time.

Oh shit... I'm in Korea.

Wanted to share that with you. My only major news is that I'll be writing an article on DVD Bangs for the "Get in Gwangju" newsletter. Now if I go watch multiple movies in a day, it isn't wasting time, it's research!

Till next time guys!

J