Dralle Drama

David Dralle (aka Dralle Drama) finally called and it was great to see a familiar face. We met up with Dralle & his friend Nick and headed for dinner. We had some pork stew thing and laughed at each other everytime we spoke any Korean. It was funny to see Dralle but not be at Frost valley! After dinner we went to the boys apartment, had a few beers and then headed downtown in Daejeon to some Christmas themed bar called 'The Santa Claus'. Yes I know.... VERY random! It was a pretty sweet bar, with free pool, free fuze-ball, free darts and free X-Box. Oh and all the free popcorn you could eat! I played lots of pool, ate so much popcorn, we drank a few pitchers of beer and we hung out with some of their Korean friends. It was a great night!

[Mr. Dralle himself]

[Bezzies!]

[I'm pretty sure I beat him in pool, several times!]

[Nick & Dralle]

[Shane making friends]

Later that night we headed back to the boys apartment and they serenaded us with a few songs and then I repayed the favor! They had been busking on the street, singing and playing and made a ton of money!! Well done boys! The next day, we had coffee, lunch, a good chat and then headed back to Gwangju on the bus (2 hour bus ride).

Daejeon Zoo FAIL

This weekend we headed to Daejeon to visit DAVID DRALLE from Frost Valley/Tennesse.

When we arrived, alas, our phones would not work, typical. Dave was at the Zoo with his friend Nick, so we decided to head there and hope to spot Dralle, the tall blond boy, who we were sure would stick out like a sore thumb. Plus we were sure he'd call us at some stage that day!

So we headed into the Zoo, didn't spot Dralle, but saw some cool and some dodgy looking animals. They had pictures of Elephants and Giraffes but we didn't see them. Apparently you needed to pay extra to go on an "African Safari" to see the coolest animals.

So why this post is named "Daejeon Zoo FAIL" is because it was a rather strange Zoo. Big and spacious, but with no staff or security floating around. None. Most of the cages, bar the tigers and other cats, you could easily get into. I'm surprised half the animals hadn't escaped, as it looked quite easy for them to do so. PETA would also be all over this Zoo. Lots of the animals had dodgy legs and looked kinda sketchy healthwise. It made me kinda sad :(

If this was an American/European Zoo the cages would have been full of stupid people poking the deer or hugging the bears. Koreans are waaay too trustworthy. We also witnessed alot of older men banging on glass or wire cages to get the animals attention. Isn't that was little kids do? I wanted to knee cap the ignorant old men.

[If any of the animals wanted the escape, it really wasn't that hard]

[This mountain lion was eyeing up an Asian kid for dinner. I secretly wanted him to escape cause I felt sorry for him. Check out those humongous paws. He would have torn that kids face off]

[The Koreans were hand feeding this Camel crackers. There was no security to be seen]

[This guy had no space to hop around :(]

[This is Shane's fave type of Penguin. The Jackass]

[Love this picture. I wanted a go!]

[No comment needed!]

[I think the "Old & FEEBLE people" are supposed to take the ramp & not the stairs. Yet another brilliant Korean sign!]

[I miss horses alot. I guess a lion will have to do]

Then finally.... Dave called! Another post is on the way!

I gotta go to work :(

The Dog & Cat Cafe

So for Valentines Day Shane brought me to The Dog & Cat Cafe in Downtown Gwangju. I have never seen such a bunch of ugly animals in my life, but at the same time they were really cute and loved to lie all over you and chew the buttons off your coat when you weren't looking.
Shane described the place as animal hell. It was pretty hilarious. They were all taken care of but had to wear ridiculous little animal clothing daily. I felt kinda sorry for them. Anyways, we sat at a sweet window seat overlooking the street, drank hazelnut coffee and played with the little feckers till I only had one button on my coat left. Here are some pictures of the "uglies":

[This is the official button eater]

[I'm pretty sure this little boy is having a gender crisis]

[The cats just lay around in their stylish outfits]

[These two pups were having a disagreement]

[The fox pup, he was my fave, I want to steal him]

[Even the kittens are pimped out in highstreet fashion]

[The big bear dog was behind bars, he was too big to be lying on customers]

[He was nay impressed]

[This old dog loved Shane & would growl if any other dog came near him]

[This dog is the stoner of the bunch]

[The lanky dog]

[She owned the Cafe]

[This one didn't move much, he hid under his hat]

[I'm pretty sure she had A.D.D]

Later that day, I forced Shane to watch a terrible chick flick at the cinema, which is always entertaining. There are Korean subtitles on the American movies and the Koreans laugh at random times when nothing funny is said. The cinema is an experience and a half.

After that we got some 'Outback Steakhouse' which just isn't the same as America, my stomach was nay impressed with the random switch to heavy Western food.... naaaay impressed!!!

I'm not a huge Valentines Day fan, but it was a good start to the weekend! The weekends go by too fast here... back to work :(

Konglish

I seriously think my English speaking is deteriorating being here. I talk so much Konglish daily, trying to explain where I want to go or what I want, half in English, half in broken-Korean. I have definitely noticed myself falling over my words, mumbling in-coherently or using excessive body/sign language during normal conversations to native English speakers. Save me from my Korean madness. Even though I have my 'I hate Korea' days now and then, I really feel like I've accepted Korean life, not that I plan on staying here any longer than I have to, but it does have it's perks. One of them is NOT the exchange rate, the Americans think they get skrewed... I get completely fecked on the change over to Euro!!! Better just save my Korean Won so and change it over to some sweet currency that has an equal or better rate of exchange like ummm..... the Australian Dollar? That means that maybe I'd have to go there on my NEXT adventure right? Sounds like a good plan to me!!

So all my Elementary Classes had their final speaking and writing tests last week for the Winter semester. One of the Korean teachers managed to grab a few photos of me & them in action. haha!

[This is me interviewing one of my students James for this speaking test]


[I'm known as 'Lisa Teacher' round these parts :)]

[This is one of my classes doing their written test, these are some of my fave kids, the girl looking at the camera is Kate!]

[Interviewing Rachel, she's a great little artist, she always draws pictures on her essays and writes little notes saying 'Love you Lisa Teacher']

[Tiffany, Nikki & Lisa Teachers]

I'm seriously considering going back to basics and dying my hair back brown while I'm in Asia, I have admitted defeat by Asian highlights. At the rate they keep bleaching me, my hair shall fall out. They do a sketchy job!

Fan Death??

So Fan Death Eh? I heard this mentioned a few times randomly in Korea and thought it was a stupid Korean myth, which it is, but obviously alot more important than I previously thought. I researched Fan Death, it's quite bizarre. From Wikipedia:

Fan death is a South Korean urban legend which states that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can cause the death of those inside. Fans manufactured and sold in Korea are equipped with a timer switch that turns them off after a set number of minutes and the label above which urges users to set the timer when going to sleep with the fan on.

It's obviously an urban legend but the Korean media and esteemed professionals (Scientists & Doctors etc..) say Fan Death causes numerous fatalities yearly.

There are many theories as to why:

• The electric fan chops up all the oxygen in the room, leaving only toxic carbon dioxide to breathe in, causing death.


• If the fan is put directly facing a persons face, it sucks away all their air, causing death.
  
• Fans cause hypothermia in the user, the wind expelling fan results in the lowering of body temperature, causing death.


• The fan creates a vortex, which sucks the oxygen from the enclosed room, creating a vacuum, causing death.

As crazy as all of this sounds, the Korean Government plus the Korean Consumer Protection Board both issued a warning stating "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was amongst Korea's five most common summer accidents or injuries in 2006.

It's hilarious, I can think of several other ways of being killed or injured here in crazy Korea: (not to scare you Mam!)

• Being knocked down by a crazy Korean moped/scooter rider
  
• Being knocked down by a crazy Korean car driver (The traffic lights are legally only a "suggestion" here! Seriously!)


• Eating fish, which turns out to be blow fish/fugu, which has to be made by a specialized Fugu chef, but isn't, therefore it's poisonous and can kill you.


• Getting in a taxi (terrifying), usually the cab drivers are driving, watching TV and talking on the phone at the same time, now that's multi-tasking!


• Catching some disease from coming into contact with raw meat, as Koreans are big into using the same utensils for touching raw meat and then touching everything else. They are also big into sharing dishes between several people, all using your grubby chopsticks. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying!

So yeah, It might seem like I have alot of time on my hands, maybe I do, but I like to think I'm educating myself further with all this non-sense. haha!

I just came back from dinner there, which was rice, kimchi (as always) with a spicy salad, miso soup and a vegetable omlette. The old lady who cooks our food in the staff kitchen knows NO English at all but just told my Korean mate Simon that she thinks I look like a cute little doll. haha! I call her 'Emo' which apparently means Aunt. She loves it. Also I've been screaming "OY" at the kids in my classes to get their attention when they get all hyper, they always giggle but I have thought it's because I'm raising my voice, but I just found out "OY" means "cucumber" in Korean. Great! Typical! I've been shouting "CUCUMBER" to my kids!!

Anyways.... Hopefully you'll see some more posts on my blog soon.
If not... assume fan Death!