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FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2002 Hi! I've been back in Canada for a couple of
weeks now and I'm still waiting for Summer to kick in!
With all this cold and rain, I'm afraid I'm becoming
a bit of a sofa-zombie! I will be in Toronto for my BIRTHDAY (May 22) this year. Let's
celebrate together if you're there!
It was a really nice Winter this year. Passed December
in Vietnam, enjoyed Christmas on a boat in beautiful Halong Bay, New Year's in Hanoi, spent time on some islands I had
never seen in Thailand (Koh Samet, Koh Payan), and travelled in India for three months (fantastic).
Now I am in York just relaxing and visiting with the
family including the cutest neice and nephew ever. Eagerly anticipating the coming of Summer. Jai Moon is coming to visit
from Seoul for a while in June. I expect we'll have a look around this part of the country, including Lake Huron, Quebec,
Montreal and Toronto.
Saturday, July 27, 2002
Jai Moon joined me here from Korea in June and we've been up to our noses in being tourists in Ontario and Quebec. We went to Niagara Falls and Toronto in June,
Lake Huron in early July and we just got back to York from a trip around Ottawa and Montreal.
In Montreal my friends RJ and Gilbert hosted us graciously in their new house on the Lachine
Canal in Saint Henri. While there we did alot of walking and biking around, visited islands and museums, shopped, ate
and went out on the town. You can see photos of Montreal in the SUMMER 2002 Gallery.
In Ottawa, we stayed at a fun guest house in the market called Ottawa Backpacker's Inn.
The owner, Martin was a great host. While in Ottawa we toured Parliament, caught the sound and light show and went to museums
and galleries and parks.
Today, we took in the First Nations Pow Wow at the Six Nations Reserve near Caledonia.
Seoul: Saturday, September 28th, 2002
2002: Year of the Mountain!
Hi - Thanks for checking in! I've been in South Korea for almost a week now,
visiting some friends on the way to South Asia. I am staying with Jai Moon and his family in Seoul and
gorging on the Korean food that I have missed so much while in Canada this past Summer!
2002 is the International Year of the Mountain and I am hoping to get a good share of
mountaineering in this Autumn! Jai Moon and I just returned from Soraksan and the coast. We stayed in
a condominium on the beach and at a hotel in the mountains. The whole area has been devastated by recent storms. Trees are
strewn about everywhere and bridges appear to have been ripped out of place and tossed about. Nonetheless, the mountains
were awesome, and we trekked for hours to some amazing peaks!
Next month, I will fly once again to Nepal from Bangkok and
walk to Mount Everest base camp. I expect to end the year either with a trip to Sri
Lanka or a return to South India (or both). Three months in India last Winter was hardly
enough to get a taste of that amazing country! I will be in Seoul taking a course with the British
Council for all of January and February of 2003.
I arrive in Bangkok in the evening October
2nd. My friend Jimmy is helping to open a new resort on Koh Lanta, so I may
head down and check it out before going anywhere else.!
Bangkok: November 15 , 2002
BACK FROM EVEREST!Hi
- Thanks for checking in! Enjoyed a BRILLIANT but brutal walk to Gokyo Ri from Jiri over the last few weeks in
Nepal. The stretch from Jiri to Namche was virtually trekker-free! Seems that travellers are rather put off by the presence
of Maoist rebels in the region. Happy to report that the route is quite safe, although if you go, expect to run into the odd
gernade-carrying revolutionary.
From Namche, walked to the breathtakingly beautiful Gokyo Lake area. After a serious
bout of dysantary, climbed Gokyo peak itself for some stunning views of Everest and environs. After that, took an inspiring
mountain flight from the Lukla airstrip back to Kathmandu.
Arrived today in sweltering Bangkok. Jai Moon flies in from
Seoul this weekend and we will likely find an island to chill out on for a spell. My friend Jimmy is helping put together
a resort on the South of Koh Lanta so we will have to check that out. Any excuse to go to Krabi province is a good one!
Bangkok, December 28: I Passed Christmas in Southern
Thailand where I helped plan and prepare a lavish feast for guests at my friends' new resort on Koh Lanta. It was fun and
brought back great memories of big fat Canadian turkey dinners.
Jai Moon joined me here after I returned from Everest last month. We went to the North
of Thailand and spent time in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong, Sukothai, Pitsanulok, Lopburi and Aruthaya. In Lopburi, we
caught up with my friend Steve who has been working and living there for years.
Back in Bangkok, we studied at Wat Pho and earned our certification
as Thai Massage therapists. We went South soon after that.
It was fun staying at Last Beach on Koh Lanta. I hadn't been to that island for
five years and WOW has it changed! Actually, All of Southern Thailand seems to suffer from the side effects of crass
mass-tourism. People are shuffled around like herds of sheep with stickers on them indicating which of the hundreds of packed
VIP tourist buses they are destined for.
Jai Moon left for Seoul while I stayed behind on the island to hang out with
my friend Jimmy at Ban Phu Lea fora a while. I will see Jai Moon again when I stay with his family in Seoul
while attending classes at the British Council in late January. I will fly to Korea before January 10th.
2003
Seoul:
January 17 , 2003
AHHHH: SEOUL WINTER AGAIN!
Hi - Thanks for checking in! I am in Seoul now enduring another Korean
Winter. January here means icy snakes that wrap around your neck and try to get at you from any available gap in your multitudes
of layered outerwear. It means a greyness that gets into your mind and spirit. It means blackened ice lining wide streets
of barely-moving, dusty cars.
Fortunately, Winter in Seoul also means steamy public baths that get the chill out of
your bones and hot, thick stews of tofu and meat. It means warm, crowded tents serving up fish and soju, and busy
restaurants with fogged windows and clouds of steam rising from enrgetic tables of red-faced youths. Winter is a time to excuse
yourself from having to even get dressed in the mornings, and to permit yourself an afternoon of doing nothing.
For me, the lazy days are numbered because I begin studies at the British Council
in a week. This course will keep me busy until its conclusion in late February.
I am going today to look at a house on the river that has become available. In the meantime,
I am staying with Jai Moon's family in Ungbong Dong enjoying Mother Moon's cooking and watching cheesy Korean television
with Sister Moon.
Seoul: March 23rd, 2003
STILL JOB HUNTING!
Hi! Thanks for checking in! I am still lingering around Seoul for reasons unknown
to me. I completed my CELTA course at The British Council last month: Something I'd been meaning to do for a while.
It was a lot of work, but it was nice to be busy again. I had been slacking for over a year! I managed to pass with a provisional
grade of A!
Now I am suffering from this horrible impulse to get a job. I was thinking that it was
just a side-effect of the Course but alas - it is persistent. I may take a job working for the Korean government teaching
Korean teachers next month. I'm interviewing for some other work in Seoul as well. Also, I'm looking at a University
position In China for September. For now, I'm teaching in a graduate department at Seoul National University
part time and doing some tutoring. Looking forward to something more stable, though.
I would really like to be in Canada this Summer, though I am not sure exactly when or for how
long.
Spring has come quickly to Seoul. It won't be long until I am zooming alongside
the Han River on my bike and passing Sunday afternoons atop the beautiful peaks that surround this city. I've been still staying with Jai Moon's family just North of the river, but will be moving in
with a friend in Itaewan next week.
2004
Seoul: Friday, May 14, 2004
BACK FROM HOLIDAY!
Hi! Thanks for checking in!
I just got back from ten days in Southern Thailand. What fun!
The bath-like sea provided little relief from the heat and humidity this time of year, however. Nonetheless, I had a wonderful
time and met some great people.
I'm living in Seoul, South Korea. I'm currently working for
a non-profit education center operated by the Univeristy of California at Riverside in conjunction with local government.
I've just signed on for a second year here and will be around Seoul until at least April 2005. I am teaching academic Reading
and Writing here to students who wish to receive U.S. university credits which they can apply to their overseas studies.
The students here are serious and hardworking. They are also
alot of fun; as a writing teacher I get to know students quite well. Lots of interesting characters have passed
through my classes in the past seven sessions!
The center treats its instructors well. I get paid in
U.S. dollars, and I teach two classes a day which leaves my afternoons free to hike and bike around the city. I
love the Summer and am so happy to see the end of a tough Winter this year.
SUMMER IN CANADA 2004
I've
been visiting Canada this Summer and having a great time. I arrived just in time to catch the Caledonia Canada Day Parade with my family. After that, we rented a cottage on the beaches
of Lake Huron, where I, mom and Susan joined my brother and
his family for a Northern retreat. It was fun making sand castles on the beach!
I also met up with some of my students from Seoul
who are in Canada
at the moment. Sujin, Jun Seok and I passed a day wandering around the Harbourfront and eating in Koreatown. The next day,
Jun Seok and I went to Toronto Isand.
Also, I enjoyed some great Ecuadorian food with my high school friend Oksana,
and met up with Niko, a fimmaker friend from my undergraduate days in Montreal.
Oksana is coordinating volunteers for a mission in the East of Toronto, while finishing recording her first CD. Niko
continues to make award-winning short films and videos. Thanks for putting me up Niko! :o)
Recently,
I returned to Toronto and met up with Stephanie, another filmmaker friend
from Montreal days, who's now living in Vancouver. She showed me some parts of a film she's been editing which
features her, myself and Rufus Wainright. It was so strange, because the footage was shot so long ago. We had fun catching
up over Cosmopolitans on Bloor Street.
Tuesday, August 11th. It's hard to believe how quickly
the Summer is passing! This weekend, my friend Tiffany from San Francisco
visited me here with her boyfriend. Susan's father and sister, and my brother and his kids were here Sunday as well.
It was a wild time! Tiff and I stayed up laughing and stargazing in the hot tub until 3am!
The next day, we drove to Toronto
and checked into Sutton Place Hotel. In the evening, we relaxed at the harbor, then took in an improv open-mic comedy
show in Kensington Market. I was reminded of what a great friend and how much fun Tiffany is. I suppose it's my turn
to get to California to see her.
Monday, August 16th. This past weekend, I
stayed at my friend Don's house in Ancaster,
Ontario while his parents were
away. We rode bikes throught the woods, shopped and prepared food, and watched DVDs. On Sunday, we roasted marshmallows
over a fire. It was a pretty laid back couple of days.
Monday, August 23rd
Wednesday was my mom's birthday, and we went for dinner at Mandarin,
a suburban Asian-themed buffet. There I consumed more roast beef than I have ever eaten in one sitting!
Saturday was my neices big 3rd birthday party here in York.
It was a perfect Summer day. The evening was nice, too with a bonfire and night swims by torchlight. That same
night, I headed into Hamilton,
where Tracey had organized a send-off party. Sunday, Oksana and I went to the Dundas Cactus Festival, then to our
high school friends' new house in Beamsville to have lunch with
some high school friends who just got married. After that, we visited a local winery for a taste of the Summer vintages, then
to Toronto.
A final visit with my neice and nephew is in store for tomorrow. Oksana will
stay here on Wedensday and Thursday and takes me to the airport in the evening.
I leave Toronto
August 26th, arriving in Seoul
on the 28th. Let me know if you will be around Toronto
or Montreal in August and we
can hook up! If you are in Seoul...come
to the SAY HELLO, WAVE GOODBYE party for RJ and me on
Saturday the 28th in Banpo-dong!
Seoul: Friday December 3rd, 2004
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Hi! Thanks for checking in!
This last semester has FLOWN by. It's hard to believe Winter vacation starts in two weeks! Just a Christmas
pageant to organize with my Drama class here at GNUCR, then off to warmer weather.
I'll arrive in Bangkok to meet my friend Diana late on the 17th. We'll
hang out in the city for the weekend before going South to Krabi province.
Two weeks of partying, relaxing on a beach, and diving will follow. I'll be in Patong,
and down on my friend Jimmy's resort on Koh Lanta after that.
Back for Winter semester in january but back to Thailand in early February (the 4th?).
Can't live too lavishly though; with a US dollar salary, I get paid less every month as the dollar rapidly
drops in value. Not a good thing.
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TIDAL WAVE UPDATE
I left my friend Dianna and Phuket island just before Christmas and travelled to Koh Phi Phi. I spend
just a day there and got to Koh Lanta, a large island in Krabi province with only basic amenities. Christmas day, I enjoyed
some scuba diving with Jimmy, who works as a dive master there and has a resort in the the South of the island.
That night, I went to bed early in by beachfront bungalow, exhausted.
On the day after Christmas in the morning, I was awakened from sleep by people yelling.
When I walked out into the glaring morning sun, I was not sure what I was looking at. A wall of water
sucking the beach dry and approaching the coast.
It took my friend Jimmy yelling "Brad...RUN!" to get me moving up the hill to high ground as the
first tidal wave plowed into my bungalow and took the restaurant out to sea with it.
I rushed back to the remains of my hut wading through meter-deep water to fish out my passport and
air ticket and whatever else I could save. Voices cried, "another is coming", and I ran back uphill and sprinted for a moving
pick-up truck going up a dusty road, leaping in the back. I realized I had hurt my knee badly, and was in a state of
shock, but otherwise fine.
On a nearby hilltop, a family cooked and offerered us water for two days - we slept on their lawn
- as we awaited word of what had happened. There were at this time about a hundred or a hundred and fifty refugees including
toursits and locals - some badly injured. There was dispair as people searched hopelessly for loved ones, and glee as people
were reuinted. A British man listened intently to the BBC World Service and offerred updates.
Returning days later, we discovered the extent of damage aoujnd the bungalows, and without discussion,
immediately set to cleaning up and rebuilding. There was a lovely atmosphere of community and support.
As news filtered into our remote location, it became clear that we were just a part of a much larger
tragedy.
Nobody at Baan Phu Lea died but at the other beaches and communities on Lanta Island, there were
casualties. Everyone is walking around dazed...and yet there is an air of industrious normalicy to the task at hand.
I lost personal belongings, but am comparatively lucky.
I will stay on here for another week to help locals to rubuild. Then I will try to get to Krabi and
fly to Bangkok on the 31st. The folowing day, I will leave for Seoul via Hanoi, arriving at dawn on the 2nd.
Life can never be the same.
UPDATE 2
December 30th 2004
Now I am in Krabi town in the South of Thailand. I got to the mainland today in a pick-up
truck on the car ferry. At the emergency relief center here I was able to make calls, and confirm some travel arrangements.
I am spending the day shopping to replace some essentials that were swept to sea (like
footwear) and trying to act normal. I fly on Thai air to Bangkok on the 31st at 10:30. | |
Seoul: Monday, May 16, 2005
BIRTHDAY WEEK!
Hi! Thanks for checking in!
Had a nice break in Thailand earlier this month. But SO HOT! Even the locals were remarking on the
extraordinary heat at the end of April. I went to Koh Samui for the first time - it was lovely. Met a local business owner
in Chawang who drove me around for the full tour. It's no wonder the island had been so popular for so long! A nice contrast
to the more laid back islands and beaches I usually frequent in South East Asia.
I'm back at University of California in Seoul now in my third year as an instructor. This
week should bring my first decent paycheck in a while, as my salary is no longer based on the ever-weakening dollar!
Weekends have brought fantastic weather to Seoul, and I've been out biking around the city. Just
this past weekend spent two entire days out and about with Jae Hyung. We rode along the river to the World Cup Stadium
for some picnicing and a good round of frisbee and badminton with Russel yesterday. What a lovely park out there.
This weekend is my BIRTHDAY (May 22),so a quiet dinner on Friday will
be followed by a rooftop barbeque at Russel's on Saturday. If you are in Seoul, please drop by!
York, Canada: Saturday, July 2, 2005
HOME FOR THE SUMMER!
It's 7 in the morning, and I just watched the sunrise over coffee and watermelon from the deck.
I forget just how beautiful it is here in rural Ontario. Coming from my home in Seoul, a city of some 16 million, the
nature is overwhelming.
Last night I was kept awake by squealing racoons that were either mating or killing each other,
I'm not sure which. This is by far preferable to being kept up by drunk ajashees yelling into their phones at 3am
in Seoul!
I've been in Canada for a few days now.
Been to the golf course twice already, and will go play a round with mom today. Yesterday, nearby Caledonia celebrated Canada
day with its usual patriotic excess. I enjoyed a barbeque with some of mom and Susan's golf buddies - what a goofy crowd!
Met up with Don on Thursday and we into town for some live jazz. We met up with Richard Guarascia
for a quick hello before he returns to Vancouver today. It was great to see him.
Hoping to connect with lots of old friends this Summer, in addition to playing lots of golf, shopping,
visiting Toronto and Montreal, and generally being lazy around the pool.
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Montreal, Saturday, August 6th, 2005
I have been back in Montreal...the greatest city in the Americas...for
about a week now. Haven't done much of anything really. Been swimming, biking, eating, shopping (as anywhere) with a bit of
dancin' in the streets as well. I've run into a few friends- Ruby (Chris-watched some of his latest work on video), Thomas
Haig - and I've hung out a bit with RJ with whom I am staying. But for the most part it has't been all that wild. Most
friends here are either away for the summer or just long gone.
Heading back to Ontario tomorrow. Plan to get in some more golfing and
lounging before returning to Seoul at the end of the month. Got some birthday parties coming up including my lovely niece
and mom. | | |
Seoul, Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
A RAINY AUTUMN IN SEOUL!
Hi! Thanks for checking in!
I have been back in Seoul since late August
and having a great time. Not so much biking and hiking in all this rain but Fall has been one long string of parties!
Enjoyed an Indonesian dinner party at Sue's house near Hong Dae and a rooftop swaree at Russel's the following weekend. It
was my turn just this past week, so I hosted a dozen or so of my closest friends for a Mexican feast which gradually degenerated
into a dance party and barf-o-rama. It was Chuseok, so everyone went home with a gift and a full belly (except those who left
their dinners along with recycled tequila all over my floor and new sofa). The next day, I was at Jai Moon's for a traditional
Chuseok lunch, and then an all-nighter on the dance floors of Itaewan to close the weekend.
You can see party pictures on my MSN Space at
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Bangkok, Saturday, December 31st, 2005
2006...BRING IT ON!
Well, Banglamphu in Bangkok is starting to stir with anticipation. Tables and chairs are being
wiped down and moved onto Soi Rambuttri, and there is a buzz of anticipation in the air as 2006 creeps up. Every guesthouse and hotel in the area is full to capacity and the excluded drag
their bags through the streets wondering where they will sleep. Most of us here in Bangkok will do little sleeping
tonight. New Years Eve is one of the only nights when the parties go into the morning. I will be starting off here around
Khao San Road but moving down to Silom before long.
I have lots to celebrate personally. 2005 began with that horrid daze of post-tsunami shock and ended with the news
that I've gotten my dream job. In between, I became an investor in KOSPI (which went through the roof in 05!), a golfer
and a licensed driver; I met lots of great new souls and caught up with lots of great old friends; I was dumped and reunited.
Early 2006 will be a thrilling time of change - I will buy a home in Seoul and move across town to Hongik and start a
new job in a Korean University. It's also the year that I face that I'm not a kid anymore and should stop doing harmful
things like smoking and sitting around drinking all evening.
To you, I wish you all the best. May 2006 be a wonderful year for you! I will arrive back in Seoul
via Shanghai on January 2nd. | |
Seoul, Friday January 20th, 2006
2006...LOOKING BRIGHT!
It's been quite a month since arriving back to Seoul from holidays! I've spent most of the
month apartment hunting and preparing materials and documents for Spring Semester at the new job while working overtime at
University of California in Gangnam.
Apparently, Sangsu, the neighborhood near Hongik university is becoming the new Apkujung,
and thus it was a pain in the butt to find a decent house for under 50 million won (50 thousand US). After a few frozen weekends
of hunting, I found a nice little character house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac near Sangsu Station.
No more one room "studios", this place has a separate livingroom and bedroom. I begin lecturing in the Liberal Studies Department
at Hongik University here in Seoul in March.
For now, i am winding down three years of instructing at GNUCR, and am puttering around the apartment packing
and organizing. I will be set up in the new place by late February, so expect a housewarming bash at the end of the month.
Before that, one last hurrah at the Banpo place this weekend.
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