I am happy...

Yesterday I was walking to Samgye for the heck of it and (I found three-mushroom Classico pasta sauce at the Lotte Mart!!! So excited...my Korean garlic-y pasta sauce tastes awful). Anyhoo...so, I was walking in Samgye and, as I often do (because I'm a geek) I was thinking of what to write in the blog. I realized that it was simple: I am happy. I really like Korea, it's interesting, the scenery is beautiful, the weather is good (though I heard Seoul is getting snow right now!...I knew there was a reason for telling my recruiter I wanted to be "as far south as possible"), and the people are friendly. I like my job, I like my coworkers, I like my students. Sure, I miss my friends and family back home (though having things like Skype and Facebook to talk to them definitely helps in that regard) and I still think Canada is THE place for me in the long-term...but I could see myself being here in Korea and being happy for a while.

I am meeting a lot of foreigners and they're awesome...generally we have at least a few things in common and most of them are friendly and easy-going. I have only been here for 12 days, but already I have more offers for get-togethers, shindigs and outings than I can fit in a week...it's a wicked feeling.

Each day, I do a job where I feel appreciated and I feel useful and even almost important (not quite...but close). The same thirst for something new every day that drove me to reporting is being satisfied here while not working 22 hour days and dealing with a crappy blood-sucking company. Every day I walk out my front door and see something new before I return.

For example, yesterday I saw this...mini video game station in the middle of the block...it was super cute haha...maybe 2-3 feet tall, and with a little plastic crate for the mini gamers to sit on :)

Not much else to say right now, except that I'm going to Jinju on the weekend to hang out with a teacher I met my first day here! Jinju is an old city (unlike my planned, built in the '70s surroundings) with a 500-year-old fort and a few other interesting sights...I'm really looking forward to it!

So...instead of rambling on, here are some more pics from the Buddhist temple I went to on Sunday (sorry, only had my cellphone, wasn't expecting to find anything as neat as this):

Inside:

Shrine outside in the middle of the forest (can't wait 'till everything is green instead of brown):

They had hundreds of statues of all sizes on every random rock:

And now for some random stuff....part of the waterfront in Masan (I missed the way the ocean smells and looks!):

Ever wonder where soy sauce comes from? (in Changwon)

Misty mountains over some mini farms on one of my rural walks:

There are tons of "academies" everywhere...most kids, as far as I can tell, go to some sort of afterschool school where they brush up on a few subjects...because of this, you see kids in their school uniforms making their way home at 9-10 p.m....I feel kind of bad for them...anyway...by different people I have been told these are daycares (there are a ton of identical yellow/colourful buildings around) or that they're academies...either way, they look interesting:

Cool building in Masan (with a smokestack behind it...smokestacks are everywhere...I don't think "zoning" is something they bother with much around here):

Okay...well thanks for reading and I'm out for the weekend...I'll update you guys on Monday or Tuesday (on Monday I have 6 classes, including an after-school English club they want me to start, so might be a little hectic) as to how Jinju was. :)

T