I can't believe I haven't written on this thing for 6 months

I lose. I said that I would regularly update this thing every time I was travelling or living abroad, and how I've failed. So here you are. My first post in 6 months. Last time I wrote on here, I had just landed in South Korea and got hit with the swine. Six months later, I'm swine-free, kimchi-laden, and generally quite satisfied with the way things have turned out for me in Korea. I should upload photos...shitloads of them. I will soon. I promise for realz. But today, I just wanted to post this. It's an email I just sent a friend/acquaintance from couchsurfing. What will he reply? Will he reply? Will my beet money go to waste? It's all on you JD.

Dear JD,

So I bought half a beet today, on a whim. Then I realized I don't really have many recipes that revolve around this peculiar purple vegetable. THEN I had a flashback. Back to spring 2007 when my friend Divya and I were on a road trip around the North Carolina region. I thought of that beet salad you prepared at your friend's potluck. I still remember that beet salad because...well, it was delicious. I'd never tasted beet prepared that way. If you would be so kind as to pass on that recipe, if you still have it, I would be forever grateful.

Fellow vegetable enthusiast,

Zenith

It's just me against the world ooohh oohhh

I am now out in the big bad world. The orientation dormitary was this little haven for all of us since the moment we stepped off the plane. When I was sick (I'm still recovering), the staff brought food right to my room, along with newspapers, magazines etc.

Today, my school's co-teacher (I'll be teaching with a co-teacher in every class) picked me up in a taxi and brought me to my apartment. After showing me around my apartment building, she took me to my school. It was my first time using public transportation in Seoul. It's the little things that mess you up. Like how you can't open the doors here on the bus if you're a passenger. Only the bus driver has the power to do that. My school is super bright. I mean colour-wise. Pink and blue with beige as the background colour. I saw my office space. It's in a room with a number of other teachers. I have an office cubicle! I've always wanted to work in a cubicle. I have my own computer, phone and printer so that'll make lesson planning a whole lot easier...as well as facebook stalking.

Well, I'm at an internet cafe now cause I don't have internet or phone set up at the apartment yet. I feel really lost right now. And I bet all the other teachers feel the same way. We were all together for the past week and a half, and now we've all been scattered all over town. We don't know our way around the city, and we don't have phones or internet. So meeting up will be quite intersting. I had to deal with this in Australia as well, but what is making this even more challenging is the fact that I don't speak the native language of the country. If I get lost in the streets and people don't understand me, I'll have to keep searching till I find someone who speaks English. I'm not complaining though. I signed up for this and this is exactly what I wanted. One of the reasons I like to travel is because I like a good challenge. I think being too comfortable in a particular world/neighbourhood/bubble is a tad dangerous. We're always too comfortable with our own way of doing things. We need to be shaken up more often. These past several days have kept me on my toes and have definitely lifted me out of my comfort zone. And I absolutely love it.

Bring it on Seoul.

It's past boredom now...

date Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 3:02 PM
subject Re: Time of my life
mailed-bygmail.com

Update: Volume II

So turns out I do have the swine flu. But when they were analyzing my saliva/grossness, apparently the result came out a bit sketch. So on a scale of positive to negative, I'm at the very bottom of the positive barrel. I have a very very mild case of the swine flu is what they're telling me. I'm already starting to feel better and if I had it my way, I would be running around causing raucous in the streets of Seoul by tomorrow. But the doctor recommends that I stay in isolation till Thursday. I have to pretty much beg to be let out of my room to check my email. I don't know what I'm going to do in that room alone for another 3 days! Actually, I've started to teach myself Korean from this book they gave me. By Thursday I might be translating crap.

But no worries. I'm on my way to recovery!

Zen

~Living with a defective immune system since 1986.~

From South Korea, with swine flu.

I'm gonna start writing on this thing again. Why? That's right, you guessed it. I'm travelling again! Hurrah! What's been going on in my life since I've landed in South Korea? I'm going to take a different approach. Instead of rewriting stuff I've already written to people in emails, I'm going to copy and paste two emails on here. They will pretty much sum up what I've been going through for the past 3 days.

Warning: The emails below contain swear words. If you've never heard me swear before, prepare yourself.


date Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 9:58 AM
subject: Time of my life
mailed-bygmail.com


Update.

I had a great 1.5 days after I landed here. Lots of fun. Fun teachers, great food, great lectures. Learned a bit of Korean. But since last night everything went down the shitter.

I got sick. And I know it's because I didn't get a lot of sleep before I left for Korea and my journey was very long and it's hot and humid here. So naturally I got sick. Plus I haven't gotten sick since February so this was long overdue. Unfortunately all the symptoms of my cold are identical to symptoms of the swine flu. So Korea has been freaking out about the swine flu and was taking our (the teachers') temperatures twice a day since we've arrived (which was 2 days ago). They've had over 200 cases of the swine flu in the past week. So the nurses and everyone is freaking out about me. They took me to the hospital in an abmulance but coudln't get me checked last night. I was there till 1 in the morning. Now me and my roommate are both kept in rooms by ourselves, separately. We can't go out. The nurses bring food to us. When we go outside we have to wear those white surgical masks over our faces. And the nurses around us wear that too. They're trying to get me tested to make sure it's just a cold/flu and not the swine flu so that I can start participating in the orientation lectures again. I'm missing out on all the orientation lectures and field trips right now. I can't be with any of the other teachers. Just have to sit alone in my room. It really fucking sucks. Especially because I KNOW that I just have a cold. It's not swine flu. But this country has been on high alert for it so I have no choice but to wait until I get the results. It'll take about 3-4 days at least to get the results. I'm so fucking upset right now you have no idea. Fly over here and kick the National Health Security's ass for me please.


Zen


date Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 10:45 AM
subject: Re: Time of my life
mailed-bygmail.com

Thanks Mou. You're always there when I need an encouraging word. They're still examining my saliva at the lab. Apparently it came back negative but not 100% negative. What the hell does that mean?! So basically I could still have swine flu. Except that I know that I don't. I just have a really bad case of the zenith cold. And don't tell me to grow an immune system. I haven't gotten sick since February. Do you know how impressive that is for me? I thought I was practically invincible...until 2 days ago. They've still kept me locked up in my room. Well, right now there's no one in the building cause everyone went to a fieldtrip to a Korean village (I really wanted to go and am so sad that I'm missing it). So because there's no one in the building I've snuck out of my room to check my email in another floor. Hope your application crap is going well. I'll keep you updated on my aids situation...

Z

So long, and thanks for all the visas!

I will be back in my dear hometown in exactly 23 hours. Since I've last written on here I have:

- Left Scotland and headed back down to England
- Explored northern Wales for a few hours
- Met some crazy people on long bus rides
- Arrived in London yet once again
- Met up with a cousin of mine whom I haven't seen in 8 years
- Ate the delicious food he cooked up in no time and listened to all the crazy things that have happened to him the past year and a half, including the story about how he ended up in London
- Acted artsy at the Tate, which came quite naturally
- Met up with a friend from Australia and reminisced

Having covered more of planet Earth during the past 9 weeks, I now find myself feeling more at ease while also feeling restless, feeling cynical yet hopeful, and feeling satiated and thirsty all at the same freakin time. Awkward, no? Not really sure how to explain it better here. So ask me questions if you want to know more about my experiences. I'll just leave it like that. Cause it makes me sound all cryptic and deep. And deep is good.

Until I travel again...or if something exciting happens in Vancouver,

Zen

"Yearning to feel the kiss of sweet Scottish rain"

I'm not yearning to feel the kiss of the sweet Scottish rain. That's just a pretty sounding line from Scotland the Brave . I arrived in Scotland three days ago. Edinburgh is freakin/bloody gorgeous. I'm staying with friends Paul and Olwyn. Their house is right down the street from the Edinburgh castle. Fireworks come out of the castle every night during this festival month. The town is buzzing. There are people from all corners of this earth here right now. This fest is the biggest arts festival in the world. Which equals heaven for me. Let me paint a picture for you so you better understand.

Hundreds of venues. A cappella group from Czech performing in the street, a few yards from a French clown in a French flag leotard. Ballet performances which are not as free. Shakespeare on shuffle. Molière and Ionesco re-imagined in big venues, little venues, black box theatres, fill-in-the-blank-theatres. Art galleries brimmed to the ceilings with...well art. A simultaneous book festival with book readings from authors all over the world...like the author of Fight Club who's in town right now. World renowned stand up comedians cracking jokes till 2 am. Markets selling fair trade products like jam. Mmmmm jam. And mmmmm Ionesco.

I'm living in this little wonderland. Dreading to go back home and plop back into "real life." School, work, responsibilities have currently been put on the back burner. Like the back burner way down.

Anyway, I should jet. I have to go do Scottish things like wake up and eat porridge by the castle. Sorry this post appears a bit all over the place. It's 7 am so, I'm blaming it on this ungodly hour.

Back in the U of K

I'm back in the United Kingdom! The awkward placing of the @ sign on the British keyboards is already driving me crazy. However, it's also nice to be back in a place where women have more rights and can dress however they want! Just to make up for the last month and a half, I have planned to wear scandalous clothing for the next few days. Not sure now this plan will pan out cause it's probably going to be cold and rainy...knowing this place. I'm heading to Scotland tomorrow to check out the Edinburgh Festival. I am SO flippin excited. You don't even know. My time on the computer is running out! Gotta jet! Toddle doo!

Internet! I've found you again! Post these pictures NOW!

These pictures are old. They were taken way back in June/early July. This first one was taken in the streets of London, in case you didn't figure that out already.

This is my brother drinking in a pub in England. Isn't he only 17 you say? Yup. The bartender wasn't looking.

They have really nice beaches in England. I totally didn't know. I went down south to Poole to visit a friend of mine. It's absolutely gorgeous there.

It's the Middle East! I call this photo "Sunset in Kuwait" Mostly because that's literally what it is.

I call this one "Women wearing burkha on the beach in 50 degrees heat"

Brown times

Holidays rock. You don't know what day of the week it is. You have no idea what day of the month it is. You forget how to spell the word "chore" and you eat things other people cook.

Bangladesh has scooped me up in her monsoon soaked hands and has been cradling me so. All this monsoon cradling in this humid air has left my hair a massive fro. Bangladesh has also been feeding me lots. Steven and I are kind of fat right now. True story. What have we been eating these days (sometimes up to three times a day)?

Mangoes
Fish curry
Jackfruit
Bengali desserts
Lamb curry
Duck curry
[Fill in the blank] curry


God bless people who cook brown food...well.

Dear Air Conditioning,

Thank you for saving my life and the lives of many others who live near the equator. Thank you for making sure I didn't slowly roast in the Kuwaiti heat. I wasn't aware that there were humans beings out there going about their daily businesses in 50 degrees Celsius. I didn't think the Earth would heat up past 45 degrees to be honest. But it does. And I continue to pray for those stray cats in Kuwait walking around in the never-ending sauna.

I want to say I'm ok now, that I won't need you anymore...but I don't want to prematurely make statements that I won't be able to stand by later. You know I arrived in Bangladesh today? It's only 28 degrees here right now. But wait! Don't walk away just yet. That's what I meant earlier. There are a few ifs and buts. It'll stay in the 28 to 35 degree range while I'm here. Now you're thinking "Suck it up Zen. You've done that before." And I have! Australia and all. But unlike Kuwait, which gives you dry heat, it is ridonculously* humid in Bangladesh. My skin sweat-eth. My hair is sticking to my neck. I feel like I'm wearing a turtleneck sweater made of hair.

I exaggerate. Besides the humidity I'm enjoying myself here. I missed Bangladesh SO much and am having such a fun time with my cousins so far. I've only been in the country for 8 hours so I'm sure there's plenty more of this fun in store for me. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't leave just yet. I have you in my room right now and I might call on you from time to time. I realize you won't be there when I head to the small towns and villages though, and I'll forgive you for that.

Hope you're chillin like a villain. Hahaha...chillin. So much wit...so little time...

Sincerely,

Zen (not quite as cool as you)


*Real word. Part of the Zenith Bose Dictionary. Look it up.

Bose family reunite. Which is fine. Except for Steven.

My familia has arrived in England. We have been having a swell time. I missed my brother the last week and a half. Since he's arrived I've forgotten why it was that I missed him. He's already leeching off of me and making me pay for all kinds of stuff. Mints, sandwiches...mints. I'm not sure what the mints are all about.

But it's been fun exploring London with the family. It's also been fun being the pro in the group. They were all like "Oh whichever way should we go?" and I was all like "Let me guide you with my almost-local-knowledge of this city" Sarcasm aside, I am freakin awesome at figuring out my way around new cities. Unlike Moumita. Moumita really sucks the bucket. I mean REALLY sucks. I hope she reads this post. But I'm amazing and if you don't believe me, ask my dad. He didn't even try to figure out his way around London cause he had me and I was...well, amazing. Yesterday Steven and I went to catch Avenue Q on Broadway. Good times with puppets who do some R rated stuff. We both know almost all the songs in the musical so we sang along (quietly) and sat at the edge of our seats for all the punchlines.

We've done all the touristy crap that one would want to do in London. And I had already done half of them with Zina anyway so I'm ready to move on. So goodbye London and hello Kuwait. We're boarding our plane to head to the Middle East. Pray that the sun won't roast us. That's all for now. Toodle doo.

This post was supposed to be up 2 days ago.

I was writing this 2 days ago at an internet cafe. I had only paid for an hour. Just before I clicked on "publish post" my hour was up and my computer logged me off. Most annoying indeed. So pretend it's Friday the 27th and I'm in Liverpool...because neither of those things stand true at the moment, as I type away from an internet cafe in London.

Today Rob, Dave, and I were walking around the city centre in Liverpool when we saw this seagull standing in a sea of pigeons. It was walking around bullying all the pigeons and feeling quite good about itself. At one point it picked a pigeon up with its beak! The pigeon was sandwiched in between its beak. I thought the seagull was going to snap the pigeon in half. I shrieked and grabbed Dave's arm in a "do- something-stop-this-bird-bullying-madness" kinda way. The pigeon started flapping its wings and the seagull finally let go. The whole thing lasted only for about 5 seconds or so, but it was the scariest and most scarring 5 seconds of this entire trip. Rob, Dave, and I continued to walk around town, but the rest of the day wasn't the same. We continued on with our day, but with a little less hope, and a little more "WTF WAS THAT??" If you see any birds out there exhibiting this behaviour call 1 800 BIG BIRDS ARE AHOLES.

"Excuse me Mr. local man there, which why to Kmdx!hi? You've never heard of it? You don't say..."

This is why you travel...

(and by you I mean me)

a. To mispronounce street names and look like an asshole.

b. To look at the wrong side of the road and get run over. So far I've been fine but Zina almost got run over twice and almost gave me heart attacks and aneurysms in the process.

c. Eat the "local" food until you get sick of said local food and go back to eating Thai, Indian, or Chinese. Unless you're in Thailand, India, or China. Then you're screwed.

d. To carry heavy crap on your back from trains to buses to trains, all the while feeling your shoulder muscles turn to rock.

e. Mess with your own accent to mess with the locals.

f. Try to copy the locals' accents and get beat up.

g. Pronounce the word about "aboot"

h. Generally lie about Canada.

i. Make fun of the local currency (the size of the coins, the lack of 25 cent coins, the way the Queen looks funny when you hold the bill/coin from a certain angle)

j. Befriend at least one local, preferably a big strong one who can protect you against the other locals who're after you because of the whole "accent" thing.

"Heaven take my soul, and England keep my bones!" (random Shakespeare quote for lack of a better heading)

Hey folks. Sorry I didn't write earlier. I accidentally set the language on my blog account to Korean. It took me forever to figure out that it wasn't just some random computer screw up and that I needed to fix it myself! Anyway, here I am at an internet cafe in a small town called Exeter in the south west of England. Zina and I arrived here by train this morning from London.

London was big. London was pretty. But London was too busy for us most of the time, and could only give us the time of day when we took the time to figure her out. So we said, "Screw you London. We're only spending 4 days here anyway. Tomorrow, it's off to the small towns in the south." Actually, London was a lot of fun. Highlight: we caught some Broadway shows. We got all our tickets on sale but still spent a ridiculous amount of money when you take the conversion into account.

The train ride from London to Exeter was really exciting. I slept through most of it but I was excited cause I never take the train. Not a real train anyway (skytrain...you just got dissed). When we got to Paddington station it was a little Harry Potter-esque. I know nothing about Harry Potter so that last sentence has little merit. But Zina agreed with me and she's a Harry Potter geek. Anyway, tomorrow we're wanting to do that high wire zip course thing at the Haldon National Park. Apparently it's only 10 miles away but no one knows how to get there! We've gone to the train station, the bus station and have asked numerous people on the streets and operators on the phone but have gotten mostly sketch details. We're determined however. It's the main reason we came to Exeter. Anyway, the internet cafe closes in 1 minute so I should go. Wish us luck. I'll write again when I get to Liverpool.

Blogging? I have one?

I can't believe my last post was over a year ago! Well, I'm back. For better or for boring. I have finished packing and everything's a go-go. I felt like posting something up here but now have realized I don't really have much to say. So here are some photos I've taken this past week. The highlights if you will...

Spending the day out in Ladner helping the VanderKuips fix up their new place. Though I'm not really doing a lot of fixing in this photo.



Spending 1 to 8 pm at the Commercial Drive and Main street Car Free Day



Going out for drinks and saying goodbye to friends earlier tonight. This is a truly international bunch, come to think of it. Tanzin (the other brown girl in the pic) and I are the only locals. Besides us, you've got a French, an Aussie, and an English dude. Max, Kris, and Darren, respectively. Friends + pub food = awesome + fat.

Chapel Hill and Wilmington, NC

So the rest of North Carolina went well. After Asheville, we went further instate to this town called Chapel Hill. Smack dab in the middle of the state, it was far away from mountains or any body of water so the weather was hawt and humid. We stayed with this really cool chick, Danielle. First night she invited us to join her and her friends for a vegetarian potluck. The food was delicious. Ever since meeting Divya (who's a vegetarian herself) I've learned to have a greater appreciation for not just vegetables- I always loved veggies- but also veg food such as tofu. And after spending nearly a whole month with her I've tried things I never thought I'd try, such as tofurky, boca burgers, and veg bologna. I know, my father the carnivore would be disappointed in me. But I have to say, I've grown to like these meat alternatives. Shhh don't tell my family. Right, back to my story.

Then that night at Chapel Hill, Div and I went out with a guy named JD who we'd met at the potluck. He took us to a few venues and we heard a few bands amidst trying new wines and beers. For such a small place, Chapel Hill definitely is a hopping place in terms of music. Feist is stopping there on her tour so the place must be cool. The next day Div and I hopped on her dad's benz (I know, we were poor students traveling on a low budget, on a not so low budget car) to a city called Wilmington. Wilmington is by the Atlantic ocean. And one of the reasons Div and I picked this place is because we wanted to spend some time at the beach, and also Div wanted to introduce me to the Atlantic ocean, which I'd never set foot in before. So to the beach we went, and Div has a great photo of me holding my skirt and clenching my teeth as the cold Atlantic water is washing over my feet. We stayed there with this guy name Bobby. We had a great time with him. The word "groovy" was part of his daily vocabulary so I was a big fan of him. He took us to this cute little sushi place that had Japanese anime artwork all over the walls. With sushi he made us try plum wine. A-amazing.

Then we went to a bar and tried some awesome martinis. Mine wasn't so awesome. It was called "Choco cherry cheesecake." How could you go wrong?? You can, then it's mostly cherry based. And then we ended off the night by going to a gay bar and watching a drag show, and then dancing the night away. The next day we drove back to Maryland (to her parent's place) and that's where I've been since. I fly back home tomorrow and get back to "real life." It's been an awesome month. A great break from home, school etc. But I'm ready to head back and do all the things I have to do. Find a second job, start my summer course, and look forward to summer in general. I shall upload some photos on here in a few days. Until then, toodle doo!

North Carolina: Asheville

So Div's family and I have helped her move all her stuff from her college town to her family's home in Maryland. It was a long wonderful drive. Div and I were in one car with her two year old nephew, Alex. He's adorable. I often want to squish him. We came back to Maryland and Div and I hung around for around 5 days. She took me into DC and showed me the White House, US house of Treasury and other important government building s and crap. It was weird to actually stand in front of buildings that I see in the news all the time. We also went to the Museum of Natural History which was fascinating. I am a geek, I am well aware. Alex's 2nd birthday party and Divya's graduation party was this past Saturday which was filled with food, a sponge bob pinata, a moon bounce and a BBQ.

Anyway, so yesterday Div and I left for the long anticipated road trip to North Carolina. We arrived at NC yesterday. We're starting on the west side of the state and working our way to the east. So right now we're staying in the amazing little town called Asheville. If you ever get the chance to come here, do! It's filled with Art Deco and Victorian architecture. The downtown area has heaps of boutiques, trendy shops, "ethnic" (there's that word again) restaurants, music shops, and artist guilds everywhere. The bohemian lifestyle definitely attracts a person such as me. Much like the neighbourhood I lived in last year in Sydney. Anyway, we're staying with a couple here, Laura and Lindsey and their hospitality has been amazing. They let us tag along with them yesterday with all their friends to cheap martini night, and then told us how to drive to the Pisgah National Forest before we went to bed. So today Div and I got up and headed to the national forest and went on a grueling 14 km hike. We climbed one of the Appalachian Mountains and the view on top was breathtaking. On the way back we stopped at a natural water slide. It's a 60 feet slanted rock that has water rushing down it into a big pool. The water melts from the tops of the mountains so it's freezing! We slid down and when I fell into the pool the rush of cold water woke up every cell on my body. I should upload those photos and put them on here soon. Anyway, tonight we're going out with them again. To- I can't tell you. It's PG 15 so I can't be writing about it here in case you're below that age. Ha. Anyway, tomorrow we're headed to another city in North Carolina called Chapel Hill. I'll keep you updated. Lots of love.

Highlights from my trip so far (part II)

My cousin and I pretending to be hobos in the streets of Queens, NYC



Cedar Point (Ohio). Apparently one of the greatest amusement parks around.



1950s style diners rock my world. Even if they're of the "chain restaurant" type. The red leather booths, oldschool jukeboxes, to the photos up on the walls...



Divya's grad dinner/dance. She wore my clothes and I wore hers. Black and white we were.

Highlights from my trip so far (part I)

The midwest- in a town of 8000

So I left NYC on Sunday for Ohio. I left 10 in the morning on a greyhound and after severel pickup and drop offs (at Syracuse, Buffalo etc) I arrived in Cleveland, Ohio at 10:30 pm. It was a long arse day on the bus. But, I made a new friend so it wasn't a complete waste of time. His name is Ramiz and he was returning to Chicago from Syracuse. He works in construction and moved to Chicago 4 years ago from Bosnia. We sat beside each other from the busride from Buffalo to Cleveland and bonded over topics such as soccer, relationships, the military...you know, the usual. When he heard that I was meeting up with my girlfriend Divya in Ohio and would be travelling with her in June he gave me his business card and told me that I should drag Div along with me to Chicago and we could crash at his and he'd love to show us around. So since Divya has picked me up from Cleveland and brought me to the small town of Oberlin, Ohio at her college campus, I've-

- Explored the town with her, and have gotten an extensive tour of her college campus
- Been accompanying her to 'senior week' events such as 90s themed dance parties, stand up comedy nights, etc
- Watched Spider-man 3 for 3 bucks at the local theatre with Divya and laughed our arses off. We have since decided that an emo superhero is what's been missing in our lives
- Went out to dinner at the local chinese/japanese restaurant. Being from Vancouver, I have high expectations when it comes to sushi. I was a bit hesitant to try sushi in a state that DOESN't border an ocean, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food.
- Have been working daily with Div to plan our roadtrip to North Carolina in June. So far, so good.
- Am getting Divya mentally prepared for graduation -which is in a few days- and am looking forward to seeing all her family again. They are driving up here from DC this Saturday.

The weather has gotten really hot these past few days. It's been 31 degrees during the day! That's Vancouver at its highest during the summer! Divya lives in a co-op housing and her room is on the very top floor so all the heat rises to that level at night and since she leaves for DC every year around this time she never got a fan or an AC. We've been sleeping semi naked and flopping around like fish on dry land trying to find a non sweating position on our mattresses. Anyway, that's all for now. I will upload some photos and post them on here very very soon. Ciao for now!