Jumping/Falling from the Sky

Yesterday, Lucas got the opportunity to do something I'm totally jealous of. He did the SkyJump at Woobang Towerland. The SkyJump is a thing where you jump from the tower, connected by lines, drop 123 metres. I wanted to do it. Luc got free tickets from Thunderbirds (his Fooseball connection bar) and went with a couple other MoonKkang'rs. I was sad because I wasn't able to go 1) to take pictures 2) to participate. You have to walk up a nasty hill which of course I can't do, and apparently, the landing part isn't so good (which would have killed my knee). So I told Lucas to get someone to take pictures or I will kill him. You know me, I have to have pictures of everything (thanks for that DAD...) Luckily, the people at Woobang did the whole picture thing for me. He got a folder with two pictures and a certificicate for free (you have to pay lke 20$ for that back home!) AND they emailed the pictures and then some to him. That's awesome, so not I have the opportunity to put them up on the blog.
Today on the walk home I got a glimpse of the process in which Koreans demolish buildings. They use what looks like a crab pinscher. They grab a hold of something and pull. Only, the have a guy standing a couple feet away, underneath, with a garden hose, watering it down so there isn't so much dust. This waterer does not wear a hard helmet, only a truckers cap. There was a storey hanging precariously above him, with a lot of debris falling, yet, no hard hat, just watering to his hearts content. I was sad I didn't have my camera with me, but that was until I spotted someone taking pictures with his camera phone! GENIUS! So I busted that out for everyone can have a look see.

In other news, today, I had my brace changed to the maximum, 120 degrees, and I am no longer using the machine tht bends my knee. I have the doctor bending my knee and PUSHING and PUSHING my knee more. Until there is so much pain I want to be sick. So he does it a little more. fantasic. But yesterday I was at 135 degrees. I'm about 5-10 degrees away from what my other knee is able to do, only a lot more painful. Mom, I got a thingy from the doctor saying what he did to my knee, but he is definately ESL, so it's short, and has bad grammar. But it's the best we're going to get. I sat there for 30 minutes while he attempted to write it, busting out his cell phone a couple times to look up a word in the dictionary.

Quick Update

I think it is official, I am the worst sewer in history. Nana and Mom, you would be ashamed :D I sewed a Canada flag patch onto my new backpack, and yeah, pretty bad.

At physio today, I got my brace adjusted so I can now bend my knee 90 degrees in the brace, but in the physio machine I am at 115 degrees. Slowly coming along.

Luc has been playing the XBox a lot, he's thinking about getting XBox Live, so I don't know if we'll see him again for awhile... :)

Luc and I will be paying for China this week, and picking up our passports with the China Visa. We're ridiculously stoked about going, only three more weeks!!!

Sorry, there really hasn't been much happening lately. On Saturday, we went to see a friend's band play, and they were really good! Went to a Noraebang after than because we were pretty pumped on the music and a couple of the people we were with had never been.

Japan and China

Lucas and I are crazy! Today, we booked our flights to Japan. We're set to go to China and Japan all in a few days. Oh baby. Now we have to figure out where we're staying and such in Japan, but I've got my Lonely Planet bookmarked with various things to see there. We're going to fly to Tokyo Oct 1, and leave from there Oct 5, but in between we'll travel around the area. We are probably going to do a weekend trip later to Fukuoka and Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

So excited...!!!

Rainy Days

Thank you for being the weekend. It has been a long time coming. This whole week I have NOT wanted to be anywhere close to work. There's been many little things lately that have made me not want to be there. The days were going by so slow, I just wanted to lie in bed and rest. I have to be somewhere everyday, so I feel like I have no time for anything. So, hurray, the weekend has finally arrived.

Yesterday, I went to the hospital for physio, only to find out it wasn't open because it was a national holiday. People should really tell me these things so I don't spend the money on cabs to get there and back. This was the second time that it happened. Also, yesterday afternoon it was crazy raining. Coming down ridiculously hard. I loved it, and wanted to be out in it, but it started while I was at work. I still haven't had a chance to wear my rainboots, because this year's rainy season did not really come (I'm actually really disappointed, I was looking forward to donning my gumboots and wreaking havoc on the puddles). But then a fun thing happened. The academy above my MoonKkang flooded. Oh yes (4th floor of a 5 storey building), it was flooded. Because of this, water seeped through the walls into MoonKkang. There was a waterfall (no joke) coming down the staircase in the front and back of the building. There was two leakes in the jaeshi (retest) room and there were another two in the hallway. The walls looked like they were crying because of water dripping down them. I was kinda hoping that because of this, the school would be closed for the day, but I was sorely disappointed.

Today, I got the bandage taken off my knee for good, and so I will, for the first time in a long time, be able to shower like a real person. No more bags duct taped to my knee! I'm looking forward to it. Since the staples came out I'm not frankenstein anymore. I'm now Raggedy Ann :D I went around with Lucas today trying to find some Vitamin E oil or even some fancy pants scar reducing cream, but I could find nothing. It's silly how you can't go and buy a small jar of Vitamin E oil.

Lucas and I made it out to the American army base Camp Walker to the travel agent there to give them our passport. We paid for our China Visa today. Next week, we're going to pay the balance owing, and we'll be set to go! I'm so jacked up on excitement. China!!!

Lucas bought an XBox 360 off someone who is leaving here, and he and I have been playing constantly. We got Guitar Hero 2 and 3, with two guitars so that is why I am playing it. I can't figure out the controller for the XBox, so Guitar Hero is all I can muster. But I LOVE that game. For those who don't know, Guitar Hero is a game, where the controller looks like a guitar, and you press buttons and strum according to what is on the screen. It's highly addicting and super fun. Though my fingers and wrist are sore from strumming furiously.

Lazy Sunday

Hey everyone, Erin and I are enjoying a lazy Sunday, and because it’s so lazy I have no excuse not to make a post.

Things have been pretty busy for me lately. Because the kids are out of school, they come to our private academy in the morning to study! They are all very happy to spend their summer vacation in academy (not), but my job is to make it as fun as possible for them. It’s a nice break for me because Moonkkang’s regular curriculum has little room for fun activities, but with the material I have in the morning I get to include all sorts of new entertaining things. It’s tiring and the kids don’t wanna be there, but it is a nice change from what I’ve been teaching for the past 8 months.

Erin has become a lot more mobile since she got those staples out. Her stair climbing time has increased dramatically and we can now cross the street before the crosswalk runs out! Maybe next week she can re-claim her litter box cleaning duties, I have assumed those duties since she went down, and I have to say it’s the worst job in the world. She’s going to physio everyday now (except Sundays), and should be able to bend her knee 10 more degrees everyday, so we are seeing progress. Our goal is go have her well enough to do the Great Wall of China in September, so every time she pushes herself too hard I bring that up.

Those pictures of the family reunion are great! That guy seems like a really great photographer. Mom and Dad do look lonely without their wonderful children there though, maybe Jessica and I can make it into the next family reunion picture. I hope we’re not banished from Nanny and Grandad’s fridge because of it. I can’t believe how old all of the cousins are looking. I guess it has been over a year and a half since I’ve seen them. Are their any boyfriends/girlfriends in the picture for them yet??

I’m watching the Olympics on TV now. Handball just finished and now it’s woman’s weightlifting. It’s a lot less exciting when they’re not covering your country though. I think the Koreans are going to get more medals than us…. Hul, my students won’t let me live it down. As long as we beat Korea in baseball I’ll be happy though, one of my students keeps saying Canadian baseball sucks… well, he says “Canada baseball down,” he’s a fairly low level… but his English isn’t good enough for him to understand me when I say our best players don’t play in the Olympics because they are busy in Major League Baseball.

I tried watching Canadian coverage on the CBC website, but people out of Canada aren’t allowed to watch. It’s really hard to find any video of the games on the internet; I guess the Olympic Committee is very good at protecting its media. I saw a little bit of the opening ceremonies on You Tube and it looked spectacular. They are good with fireworks here in Asia.

I hear the Farkel family went to the Cabin for BC day. I wish I could have gone to the Cabin this summer, I think that’s what I miss most about home (aside from the people). You just can’t beat the Cabin in the summer. I will have to go when I get home, but it will be winter and cold. Skating on the lake will be a blast though. When did you guys put the new fridge in? Is it glorious?

Okay, time to eat lunch! I hope I post again soon!

From Frankenstein to Terminator

Frankenstein....
Terminator

What a relief to have the staples taken out. I mean, it wasn't the most comfortable thing ever, to have them removed, but it's good to know things are coming along. I was supposed to get them out on Thursday, but becuase there was no one to take me to the hospital it had to wait until Friday. So I get picked up on Friday, and we're on our way, when we get in a car accident. There is a dangerous intersection by us where people park this way and that and make it so you cannot see a thing. The guy who I was driving with went right through the intersection at the same time a scooter came bombing through. Direct hit. The guy was someone who was already sick, and very weak looking, his skin almost looked green (he had a blood problem I found out). He's okay, just a massive bump on his shin. Luckily we were heading to the hospital, so my driver just piled him into the backseat and took him with us. It's a very different scene, dealing with car crashes in Canada and Korea. I should know. The guy was fine. His scooter was banged up, and my driver's headlight is gone, but thats it.

So, stitches, staples, and splint gone, now I head to physiotherapy. They stick my leg in some machine that bends it back and forth for 30 minutes. Everyday, they will increase the angle that it bends. I have to go everyday. Today they put on some pads (that were first sprayed with water) that sent electric shocks into my knee. I did not like that machine, it hurt a little. It was like getting poked with many needles constantly for 15 minutes. Ugh, not looking forward to more of that tomorrow.

I have a rather large brace on my leg now, that cost 200,000 won. I was originally 250, but my doctor pulled with waegookin (foreigner) needs help card, and I got the money off. Today was the first time I have been able to wear shorts, it's so great. I have worn the same two skirts since this whole incident happened! I showed my kids the brace and they were like, "ooooh Teacher! Terminator! Robocop!" I laughed. See what they show on television here? That and King Kong over and over and over.....

I need to work hard at this physiotherapy thing though. I have this brace on for one month, and one week after it is off, Lucas and I head to China. Today we are going to get out pictures taken so we can apply for our Chinese Visa. So close!

Ice Cream Goodbyes

Luc and Dave love ice cream. How sweet.
I love this shot, it's so classy. Beer and ice cream all in the same hand. He was so happy.
Part of the fire show.

Last night we went to a goodbye for some really good friends that we made. Brielle and Dave are heading out on Thursday. They will be going for a lovely jaunt in Vietnam and other countries before heading back to New York. I managed to suck up the pain in order to go, there was no way I was going to miss the party! We started out with some Sam Gyeop Sal (Korean BBQ, remember dad?) and then went to a bar. The great thing about this bar was Bri brought Baskin Robbins, so we were mowing down on those for awhile. In a couple bars that we've gone to, they have "show drinks". You pay 25-30,000 won, and they put on a 20-30 minute fire show. It's pretty crazy, but after a little while, you want them to hurry it up a little. I'll upload a couple videos to show you crazy Korean bar shows. After that bar, people were heading to a place where I just couldn't go in my state, and my ankle and knee were hurting. I headed out, and Lucas moved on to another goodbye party where he had the opportunity to get free beer if he won at fooseball. I believe he got one free drink and was pretty happy about that. Hopefuly we'll see Bri and Dave one last time if we are able to get tickets to see the new Batman movie. It doesn't come out until Wed here, but has been out back home since the 17th or something! BOO.