Disclaimer - I'm okay, but I got nudged by a car...and other comments

So, I have been living in Korea for about 2 years and a bit. In that time, I have managed to avoid coming in contact with a car/motorcycle, but not today. While on my way to work, I was crossing just in front of a cross walk and was pulled back to reality by a car that just wasn't going to stop. She was on the verge of stopping, but didn't quite hit the brake in time and nudged my knee and person a couple of feet. So, my Monday particularly SUCKED!!!!

Mom and dad, I am just fine. Nothing is broken or bruised, it was more a love tap than anything and this is just my way of ranting about it.

My brother on the other hand has had a shi#$*r time than I (trying to keep it PG) - ten stitches in the chin from a puck (image pending). Saw the pic, it's very gross!! A dislocated finger, nail through the thumb due to a nail gun and he cut open his hand.


Those of you who know my brother, while roll your eyes, this is nothing new. My brother is so prone to "accidents" that the nurses and doctors know him on a first name basis at the ER in Orangeville.

So really, my getting nudged by a car is no big deal. Just another day living in dynamic Korea.

Other than that, my day was fairly uneventful. The weekend was a blast. Halloween celebrations began at Gecko's. After margaritas and food, I set off for RMT to meet another group of friends, while the rest of the girls polished of a couple more pitchers of liquid courage.

I arrived at RMT to find it packed by 9:30pm. It was great!! Many people were dressed up. My friends, Carrie was a queen bee and Kristin was a bar fly and getting anyone and everyone to write pick-up lines and pin them onto her. It way hysterical!!

Of course, lots of my teammates were there who had to play hockey at 9am - ouch!! Most of our team did make it and those who didn't had valid excuses that
were not alcohol related.

Pictures of Halloween night.

There were farm animals galore at RMT Saturday night. Clark as a rooster.

Chris the Chicken, dancing the night away.
He managed to escape from Colenel Sanders.
Hopefully someone will send me a copy of that picture.

A very busy Halloween night. People finally left around 5am.
I was home in bed around 3ish - I think ;)

Fraser (cow) and Wayne (worker bee - he he). Both these boys had to take care of their girlfriends the next morning from what I heard. Something about projectile vomit? They had a GREAT Halloween.

Clayton, Cletus and can't remember the other one.
I don't know whether to laugh or shake my head.

Sister Mary who??

Rene - are you sure you're okay to play tomorrow?
He was good to go, but we still lost :(

A one night stand (get it??) and Korean superheroes.
Tae-ha-min-gu!!!
(insert clapping)

Okay, my feet are starting to hurt!

Kristin and I have been trekking all over Beijing. Yesterday we went to the World Museum of Art. They were displaying sculpture from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. Unfortunately, all the information on the sculpture was in Chinese. I knew a lot about the some of the works of art, but it would have been nice to be able to read the info about it.

On an aside note, I have found that museums and malls don't take VISA. I have no idea why and it has been a bit of an inconvenience. What can you do?!?

After the museum, we went to the zoo. This seemed like a good idea even though the Lonely Planet did say it was very prison like. It was what you would expect for a zoo, except that the water in some of the attractions was filthy dirty. As well, after I went to see the tiger's, I wanted to cry. The animals were in these prison-like cells, in a dark lit room. People were taking pictures and the flash from the cameras made the animals seem like they had a permanent twitch. I agree with the Lonely Planet's assessment of this zoo, it does have areas that are very prison-like.

We headed back to the hostel after that and had a shower and dinner and then foot massage. Something to that extent. We have met some great people. Zack and Niki were very helpful during out first shopping expedition. We are going back to the same place on Saturday. As well, I met Tertius and his girlfriend, who her name escapes me at the moment. They were very nice and we had a good chat about their trip and mine and things in general. They taught me this great card game and it was fun to socialize with other people. Then I met Sean from Manchester who is back packing by himself so we hung out for a bit. We both had to get an early start so we finally called it a night.

Today (Friday), we spent the day at the Forbidden City. I really should say in the Forbidden City. It was HUGE!!! We got a audio tour guide and that was helpful, but a lot of it is under construction, which was not factored into that tour. We walked and walked and walked some more. We eventually called it a day and headed for the Temple of Heaven. We saw the Echo Wall and a couple of other places whose names escape me at the moment.

We staggered back to our hostel and showered the filth off ourselves. It's been pretty smoggy here. It's a lot closer to the ground than Seoul. At the moment, I am trying to upload my pics to safe them in 2 places, but it's taking FOREVER. Oh well, I have taken a lot of pictures, of which I will post eventually.

Tomorrow we are going SHOPPING. YAY!!! Right now I need to figure out what to do for dinner. Laters.

I give you good price

Hello All

Kristin and I have arrived safely in Beijing, China. We got to the airport nice and early and had a little scare because their couldn't find my name on the list. But it was because we were checking in so early that the lists weren't up as of yet. So all was sorted out and we were off to China.

We landed a couple of hours later at the Beijing Capital International Airport. They are building 2 HUGH additions at the airport. As we drove along the highway and into the city, we were treated to tree lined highways complete with hugh billboard signs. It is a much nicer drive from the Beijing airport than it is from Incheon in Korea. Another thing worth mentioning is that all the buildings look different, nothing is generic and they make use of a lot of different architectural styles. I will add pictures when I get home (I think...we'll see how many I take).

We went exploring last night to Tiananmen Square and it's crazy busy. We happen to be here during the National Holiday, which is the Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China. So the square was packed last night and all lit up. I managed to get some great pictures.

This morning we went to Mutianyu section that has a cable car, chair lift and toboggan sleds (think intro of sesame street). We did the cable car up and then walked, and walked and walked and then finally arrived at the toboggan sleds that we took down. It was a blast. The stairs and steps were crazy steep. If any of you have been to Mexico and gone to the pyramids and then had to walk down, that's how steep the stairs are on the wall.

It is still the middle of the afternoon here, but it's oh so hot. It's 30 degrees and there are no clouds. It's wonderful, but very hot. I hope you are not all freeze at home ;)

So that is all for now. I will try to post something daily while I am here. It will save for the long-winded post later on. Later we will go exploring for food, that should be interesting. I will let you know what I find, take pictures to prove I have tried something new.