"A REAL Dog"

Adam and I walked Dakota and Unnamed yesterday. We decided to go downtown to help them get used to big big crowds and the hustle and bustle of the streets. People were amazed, more at Dakota than anything. He's a big dog, a Husky, so people look and think "A wolf!" Our neighbors children actually had asked if he was a wolf. They're not wrong in this assumption, really, as the Husky is one of the closest breeds TO a wolf, but none the less, it's still funny.

He attracts attention, which is usually negative. People get angry when they see larger dogs. But today we received no negative feedback. (More than likely because there is a younger generation downtown!) People said Hello, they said he was a Beautiful Dog, and they waved. One couple had actually stopped to crouch down, pet him, play with his ears. He just sat there all happily. It was too cute!

Adam and I assumed they were selling dogs, but an older couples with 5 puppies in a cart came down and stopped to look at us, maybe trying to sell the puppies? That was interesting. A car stalked us as well. It slowly followed behind us, hopefully just driving, but I highly doubt it. It was a fun walk, though, people were interested in Kota (and Unnamed!) and stared A LOT, but we had no dog kicking or yelling. :) In fact, a western group walked by and said "A real dog!!!" Yay Korea!

Old Korean Guys and Saving Face

Since I promised something Korean Related, instead of myself and KAPS, etcetc, I decided to post about old men.

So many times since I have been in Korea have I heard terrible things about old Korean men. I've heard they think they're better than everyone else, and will be cruel to you, but I have never personally witnessed that until that man tried to kick my dog and yelled at Adam for letting his dehydrated dog have a drink.

Some older Korean men are perverts, they will stare at your chest like it's a fucking firework display. Once friend of mine had told me that one should not smile when walking your dog, as most of the time, an older Korean man will go out of his way to destroy that happiness.

This isn't to say this is ALL Korean elders, but so far I've witnessed a good majority of it. One friend was filming something about meat markets in Korea, and an old man smacked the camera out of her hand, so she said she kicked him in the shin, which he deserved imho.

I've met some very kind and very nice older Korean men. But I've also witnessed some cruel, cruel men. I'm just more aware of it here, I suppose, as the people are way more open about being cruel. They'll kick your dog, hit it with objects, in public.

My friend however, told me to make a scene. Koreans are big about saving face, unlike most Westerners.

What do I mean by Saving Face? It basically means your dignity and honor. Koreans really dislike Saving Face and will save others from losing face by lying, if need be. As my friend had put it, embarrassment and drawing attention to yourself is a nono in Korea, and could cause you to Lose Face. It's a concept hard for most westerners, as we're not as big on it as they are, I suppose.

Right now though, I don't feel like detailing everything, and I don't really want to talk about Korean stuff. A promise is a promise though, I s'pose.

Dear Typhoon.

Word on the street is that you're going to be coming right over Daegu. Well guess what, loser, no one wants you here. I have plans tomorrow, you know? I have a LIFE. Go back to where you formed or something.

Seriously, though, a Typhoon is heading over us and I'm going to be pissed if it's "bad." I hate bad weather. It doesn't scare me, it annoys me. It's ANNOYING. I don't know if living on the top floor is good or bad either, so I guess we'll see, but if random car parts come flying into my windows, I'm not going to be overjoyed, that's for sure.

On a side note, I've been sick. I don't know what it is, but it sucks, and it's annoying. Hopefully by tomorrow it will all be better. :( Dakota has been good today, so I've been able to lie down and relax for the most part and watch HOUSE. :3

Little Boxes.

So today I decided I wanted to talk about something Korea related. Houses.

Houses here are different then houses in the states. First of all, the houses I have personally seen have all been in alleyways. Alleyways are very common where I live, especially serving as shortcuts for cars to drive down by. (Sometimes it gets quite annoying) But it does come in handy if you want to get somewhere a bit quicker than you might in the states or the UK. In the picture I posted, there is an alley right next to HomePlus which goes down and connects to a series of other alleys. Artsy and I took a Taxi down here before, (and he went a TOTALLY different way than we had both ever witnessed) and he came through the back of THAT alley, where as usually when we come, we just come down the main road (which is in the picture, going left and right) Anyway, the alleyways triple as shortcuts, places to place establishments such as clubs (not like drinking and partying), shops and restaurants, and homes. These homes are usually not viewable, however. Korean homes usually have a high brick wall going all through the alley, with a big gate that you can't see through/past. Next to the gate is a buzzer/intercom where you obviously push the button if you want in. Artsy and I were able to actually "kind of" see past a Korean gate today where were only saw a door with shoes in, but some homes (or apartments, not sure) are a couple of stories high and have a long stairway on the outside.

Korean houses are pretty nifty, and I hope to one day be able to see inside one myself. Until then, I think I'll just keep on trying to inconspicuously look through the cracks or try and look over the wall.

Making Friends Through Animals.

At KAPS, I was recently appointed as someone to help out spread the word about KAPS and hopefully get people rounded together to walk the dogs. Another girl was also assigned this task. We'll name her Artsy and her husband Jamie for the sake of privacy.

Anyway, Artsy and I had recently planned to meet up at KAPS to help out with things. I showed her and Jamie around the cat area, and then we went to the dog shelter to walk some dogs. Adam took 2, a Boston and Shih tzu, Jamie took a Shih tzu, and so did Artsy. I took a Jindo puppy, because he's so mellow and sweet. Anyway, we took them for a walk around the park that I finally know my way to. It's actually really nice, minus the heat and all the people there. I suppose there was some kind of event going on, because there were a lot of older ladies and gentlemen hanging out. Some guy tried to hit my dog, while others tried to pet him. Poor guy looked like he was about to shit himself sometimes. Jamie's dog wanted to "mark his territory" EVERYWHERE, and Adams dog kept breaking loose from it's collar. Needless to say, eventful walk.

After the walk, we wanted to groom a dog since neither of us had ever really done that. There was a little girl there with MATTED fur. I'm talking REALLY matted. We're talking the kind of matted shown in the picture. (Although it's not the dog we were grooming.) Under the poor Maltese's yellow fur, was a beautiful white coat. We spent awhile just trying to cut all the fur off, and it was really sad. It was on its legs, belly, ears, back, neck. We're still planning on coming back and making a project out of sorting her out.

After taking care of that poor doll, we went back to Adam and I's apartment, cleaned up, and went down to Italy&Italy, my favorite restaurant ever. Artsy, obviously, is involved a lot in art, which sounds amazing. I like to draw (when I'm in the mood) and it reminded me of C. Love and how she draws a lot. I was nice that Adam had someone he could "relate" to, with Jamie, and that Artsy and I held a common ground as well. :)

We may adopt an animal soon. Very soon. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. God I love animals and new friends. ^^.

Bruschetta and Pickles.

I don't have many sentimental objects. I have a bracelet my Chinese friend Blanca (check out her blog here) gave me, a bracelet my Nana gave me, a stuffed animal from my dad I've had since I was a baby, a couple of things my mum gave me, and a ring that was my great grandmas. If I was to lose these, I'd feel heartbroken. A story of my life is in each of those objects. The bracelet Blanca gave me was special to me because she became one of my closest friends very fast, I feel like I gained so much cultural understanding from her. The bracelet from my Nana meant so much because it was given to me just before my wedding, and each little charm has a verse on it. The stuffed animal from my dad I've had since I was a baby was one of my favorites and always will be, and reminds me that although my dad didn't live with me growing up, and at times, we didn't have the best relationship, he's always loved me so much. The ring reminds me of where I came from, my roots, my heritage. It's heartbreaking to consider all of these items could be gone from me in a matter of seconds. So I think I'm buying a safe to make sure these items never leave me until I die.

Onto something Korean.... Pickles.

Okay, Okay... Pickles aren't Korean, they originated somewhere in Europe (according to Wikianswers.) Anyway, Koreans seem to love Pickles. Adam and I celebrated some money we had run into tonight by going to ItalyItaly. (a nice Italian restaurant) Before we were brought our main course we were given a salad, with some Bruschetta and pickles. Yes, Pickles. Who eats pickles with their Italian food? T_T. I don't like Korean pickles, I find them to be extra sour. But seriously, I think Koreans eat pickles with everything. Every time we go out to eat, we're given a side of pickles. I don't know why, but I guess it's the Korean thing to do. I didn't think anything of it at first, but after being to yet another restaurant where they serve pickles, I'm starting to get a tad confused. Could anyone shine some light on why these Korean restaurants insist on giving you pickle side dishes?

Not like it's that big of a deal, though, Adam seems to love them.

Kitty Cats and Koreans.

Lately, I have ben going down to the animal shelter, KAPS, as much and as long as I can. Most of the time, I spend my time with the cats, as I'm much more of a cat person, and sometimes, I think they need it a lot more. A lot of people like dogs, but not many people like cats as much, and seem to think they're independent enough that they don't need human attention as much as dogs do. I think they need it though, so i enjoy spending my time down there sitting down and stroking them and taking pictures of them. Makes me miss my kitties, though. You can see pictures of these beautiful cats, here. I like to go down to the dog shelter as well, and I've especially taken to a little (Yorkie) mix, who is bubbly and sweet. I take him for a walk around the block and he's as happy as day that he's allowed for a walk. So cute.
About pets, however, we seem to be having some serious issues with Dakota in regards to his behavior. He's chewed up 800-1000 dollars worth of furniture, he's peeing and pooping in the house after he JUST did it outside, and he's been biting us in what seems like an aggressive manner. We're confused, annoyed and stressed. It's been a lot to handle.

On a good note, however, I met my Korean friend, Rose, yesterday, who was a veryyyyy sweet girl. She's 24 (23 in Western culture) and her boyfriend Nick is 30. I'm not going to list their Korean names for the sake of privacy, but, she's a very sweet girl. We (Rose, Myself and Adam) went out to eat, and then coffee, (her treat!) and spent the whole night talking about culture and language. She's a great friend to have, and it's very useful when we don't know how to say something or how to communicate. Made me miss C. Love a lot, though. :( I miss you C. Love!

Chopsticks.

I'm pretty embarrassed about last night. Yesterday, I saw Gay Tailor Guy wearing a BLACK shirt, and I guess it overly excited me, since that's the only color other than that creamy white he usually has on. Adam and I went to a really sweet, cheap restaurant where we obviously, like most Korean restaurants, used chopsticks.

Silly Laura was using them upside down without noticing. I have no idea why I didn't look. Anyway, our server came over, saw, laughed at me LOUDLY, ran off and told her friends, and they got me a fork. I wanted to die.

On the plus side, I've been introduced to my new favorite soda, MILKIS. It actually isn't half bad. I'd compare it to cream soda, thanks to Trombone-Lover helping me discover the taste. I came up with "cream soda with A LOT of ice cream." It's one of those beverages, that, when you first try it, you don't know if you like it or not. It's STILL like that for me, actually, but it's still my favorite.

"New feeling of soda beverage."

Nothing like NEW sugar and corn syrup! :)

Little Children.

I like kids. They're alright for the most part, minus the whiney ones, and I'm not a big baby person either. (Your baby drooling is NOT cute.) Anyway, for the most part, I do like children. I like them when they reach 3+. They can talk, and say cute things, and usually form a sentence. The only person I babytalk to is my foster dog, doing it to a baby seems stupid.

However, this post is about how much I dislike the children right outside the base. I don't personally know these children, but they seem to be suicidal. There. I said it. These little brats are crazy and suicidal. Why? Well, let me tell you...

I guess there is something interesting that goes on RIGHT OUTSIDE the base, because there seems to be quite a few kids there. One day, Adam and I were driving along, going 10mph at most, and he coughs, or looks away for what? two seconds? A little girl on a bike just zooms on right infront of him. No kidding. The girls mother had STOPPED, while this little crazy kid was wanting to get hit my a car. What makes it better is she actually STOPPED infront of the car. Adam stopped just in the nick of time, but, really little girl? You come infront of the car and then STOP? You're like that deer I hit a year a go, that ran out in the road when I was going 5mph, ran back into the grass, waited for me to speed up and ran back out and got hit.

The second incident was when Adam and I were casually driving a long, yet again, outside the base, when this little girl in some karate attire ran infront of us. She didn't even peek behind the truck parked there. Just ran out. She managed to say "WOAH!!!!" Giggled to her friend, and then run out again. Hello! We just stopped because we thought you were going to get hit, the least you could do is wait for us to pass, since you gave us a heart attack and everything, we might just have to turn around and go to the hospital. Glad your amused. Run along now little karate kid, I really hope those karate skills save you when you run infront of another fucking car.


Urg.

Gay Tailor Guy.

I'm getting people pestering and bothering me about not being online as much. I've been busy. I'm sorry, but I can't help it. I have a foster puppy that requires a lot of attention and a husband that requires just as much. On the bright side, my goal is to keep this updated as much as possible. Right now, honestly, I'm trying to find a schedule for myself. I'm hopefully meeting up with a KAPS volunteer tomorrow and being shown around, so I can start volunteering. Which, I think, would be a great thing for me. :)! I'm hoping to foster, or possibly adopt a dog I've been looking at for awhile, which I think Dakota (or Cootie, as we call him) will need. He likes other animals. :) I feel like I need to get involved in something though. I'm glad I can help out the animals at the shelter! ^^. Gives me something to be proud of.

Moving on,

The title of my blog is "Gay Tailor Guy." I feel like I should shine a light on the man who I see nearly every single day outside Camp Walker. He owns a tailor store about 3 to 5 stores down from the entrance, and stands at his door with his sunglasses on his head, whiteish cream shirt and cool jeans. He doesn't actually, ever wear anything different. (And you really think he would, considering he's a tailor.) But no, not gay tailor guy!

It's hard to tell if people are gay here, anyway. Korean men are quite metro-sexual, as well as uh... touchy. It's not uncommon to see men holding hands, caressing each other, playing with each others hair. To many westerners, this is considered gay. I mean, honestly, what Western man would NOT think it was "gay" if another man came up rubbing his leg and giggling like a girl. Here in Korea? It's just friendly! :) I've heard of this anyway, so it was no surprise to me when I landed here. My husband Adam likes to poke fun at them, jokingly, though. I think it's cute! :)

Somewhere Called Home.

No kids, I'm not dead, I'm very much alive.

Internet access has been hard to get since moving into our home, but we should get internet tomorrow morning! Hopefully!! Then I can finally post my videos and pictures.

Basically, we have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. It's REALLY nice, on the 5th floor, and has a great view. We're fostering a 6 month old Husky who was close to being faced with euthanasia, (irresponsible owners!) and we're settling in nicely. The apartment is nearly all clean, which is a BIG relief, because we've had clothes everywhere and crap laying around for a couple of days. We've been able to buy some appliances and such for our home, which has been super nice, and has taught us a lottt about budgeting.

:) Hope to post my videos soon, though and show people our new home!

We Finally Get Our Home!

Adam and I have been in a hotel since the 22nd, and frankly, we have both really hated it. I feel so relieved. The housing office sent us a message yesterday to tell us that we will be getting our home on the 30th, which is tomorrow. So the plan today is to find out exactly which apartment we will be in, and start packing everything. That means, Adams barracks, the hotel, everything. Frankly kids, that's a lot of shit, and it's going to take a while to pack up everything. It's going to be a bitch. :(


So, the next post will hopefully be about our new apartment! :)

Rain, Rain, Go Away.

It's raining. For some reason, it's put Adam in a terrible mood where he just does not want to do anything. We were going to walk downtown, etc, but he decided the weather wasn't right for that. We'll just go tomorrow, but I bet it will rain then, too.

Last night Adam, Avacado and I went to 'Italy Italy', a restaurant in downtown Daegu, with really good food, (obviously Italian). [Note about picture: I was proud of myself for writing Sprite in Korean!].

After Italy Italy, we went back to Avacado's room and drank... A LOT. 5-8 beers later and I was drunk as hell.

I don't know what's going on tonight, Adam is at the gym and I'm doing laundry, but we might be going back out again today.

We are also planning on adopting a Golden Retriever sometime next week. :) She is an older dog, and has been in a shelter for awhile, (well, right now she's in foster care), but she's a sweetie, and Adam and I are hoping everything goes through smoothly.

The Scenic Route

Yesterday night was something else.

Adam and I, around 5/6ish decided we were hungry and wanted to go to a "finer" restaurant, so we decided on the Daegu Tower pictured below.



It wasn't a bad restaurant at all, it actually moved on the inside, so as we were eating, we were slowly turning clockwise. Adam and I got to practice our lame Korean when the guy wasn't coming to pick up our card for us to pay. NO, really, it took 20-30 minutes until Adam said "this is for you" (in Korean, of course, which is due to this greatttttt Korean book we have). We got a small steak instead of Robster. Poor Rob.


After the Daegu tower, we went to the Wa Bar (I think that's what it was called.) We ended up trying to park in a small underground parking lot (that would take up to 6 cars.) A man was sitting there, reading the newspaper, saw Adam trying to park and FREAKED OUT and ran outr to where we were. He opened the door for me to get out, and while Adam was parking he was screaming "CRAZY! HE CRAZYYY DRIVER!!!!" Funny, seeing as Adam would be considered a maniac driver in the USA, but here, I think he'd be a "safe" driver. The Wa Bar was nice though, I had a cosmo (3 actually), and Adam had a beer (I'm not a cheap date, Adam told me :P) and then we went off to head home.

That's when the real "fun" began. We ended up getting lost. Adam had no idea where he had, and It's not like I even know how to get off post, so I couldn't be much help. We left at 9:30 for the Military Base, and by 10pm, Adam was freaking out. He called a Katusa, who told Adam to give the phone to some random Korean and he would talk to them. We stopped down an allyway, Adam got out and found a 20something looking guy, who took the phone from him and spoke to the Katusa... Then he ran off with the phone. Adam and I just kind of stood there, hoping he hadn't stolen it, and he eventually came back, and gave Adam back the phone. (No idea, don't ask) We didn't get home until 11:45 though because we ended up still being lost, it sucked.

Today has been a lazy day, though. Besides cleaning, and doing laundry soon, (and making Adam food), I haven't done much. Adams been at work. :( Actually he just got home, he said "Hi". :3. The plan tonight is to go to a nice restaurant and then to his friend Avacados barracks to drink and hang out. :)

BFFL

I'm actually making progress with making friends here, only all of them seem to be Korean. I don't have any problem with that, but sometimes the small language barriers and humor doesn't translate as well as I hoped! The Koreans I have met so far don't understand my sarcasm so well, but I think this just gives me a chance to try and stop being such a bitch.

It's slightly boring at the moment, because I'm not fond of the idea of going anywhere by myself, but when Adam and I get the off post hotel, I think I'll explore more when he is away. Adam and I bought some furniture for our home today, also, which I also have to start taking pictures of, too! We got some groceries, and I picked up this Orange Soda that I absolutely love!

TT I'm very boring at the moment, but no worries, everything will pick up soon! :P

Hello, South Korea.

link to pictures

I'm finally in South Korea. The trip was long, but it was generally painless -- a few mishaps here and there, but nothing serious. It was pretty hard leaving my parents and my best friend behind, I was on the verge of tears, but I kept it in. The plane to Chicago was short, didn't have an issue. In fact, all the airports besides Seoul were easy to navigate. The only issue I had in Seoul was the language barrier, which required me asking "English?" to nearly everybody. An older lady from the same plane I was on actually helped me when I landed in Seoul with my bags. She was so sweet! :) People were generally helpful and curious, there were a couple of rude people, but besides that, everyone was enjoyable. I met a couple of people at the airports also. One girl in LAX and another in Seoul (also going to Daegu), who I was able to become acquainted with. Of course, more happened than described at the airports, but I think those stories are for another time. (Aka: too lazy to type them all out.)

Adam picked me up from the Daegu airport, in his car. The car was a surprise, and it's not a bad car, I just wasn't expecting it. It's proved to be helpful though. Driving here is something I have no desire to do. It's the scariest experience just being in a car here. In fact, I'll probably make a video of it soon. It's terrifying.

Today, Adam and I bought phones. They're cute little flip phones, mine changes color though :3. I'm going to try and make a video/take pictures of it, because it's adorable. I also bought some language books so I can try and communicate easier. I'm surprised Adam actually knows as much of the language as he does. :O.

Now, with the housing situation, it's frustrating. First of all, they had told us we would get an apartment the week I arrived. Turns out we wont. Instead, we have to wait until July 2nd or 6th. This lodge will only hold us until the 27th, so then we have to leave then and find a new local hotel until they can get us the home.

This blog has been a two day process. I've had some jet lag, and I've been busy, so finding time to blog has been daunting. I'll be able to keep up with the more interesting things get, etc. Until then, I need to clean the hotel!

Hmmm.

Ten days until I leave. I've looked at weather reports for the 20th, and it seems like there will be some thunderstorms. Yuck. It has me stressed out, which is the last thing I need. I've also started doing all my laundry today, so I can get them all into my air compression bag, and into a luggage bag, shown below.

Hope this sucker was worth the 20. :)

Laura, World. World, Laura. Now Shake Hands.

I really wanted to blog about two things, but thought I could just incorporate them both together instead of seperately. Travel & Moving.

Obviously, I'm moving to the 3rd largest city in S. Korea, which is more than appeasing for me. I'm much more city orientated (I really hate the term 'country/city girl') than some other people, so Korea is exciting. I live in a place where, if this place was seriously considered a major city, it would be extremely pathetic. It's boring, it's bland and lacking color, and I hate it here. I'm a person who adores change, adores the sound of cars, people, etc.. So leaving here is a dream come true!

As of late, however, on top of Adam and I's possible plan to move to my home country, the United Kingdom, I've also weighed some other possibilities. New Zealand is one I'm particularly fond of. Wellington sounds like a fun city, and France has come up a couple of times in Adam and I's conversations, but he really enjoys the idea of New Zealand, over France. Another country that I have recently become interested in? Sweden. Why Sweden? The fact is, I didn't even think about Sweden until I was perusing Facebook and happened to stumble on somebodies profile with a Swedish name that really caught my attention. I stalked their wall to see if they spoke English, and they didn't, so using Google's Handy Dandy Translator I was able to figure the language out. (Yay, Facebook stalking) So, I've had a fun hour looking around the internet, figuring out the cost of living in Sweden, as well as the culture. The only issue I wonder about is if Adam would take the time out to learn a language.

Adam and I are planning to stay in Korea for a year and a half, and if we really like it, maybe more if possible; but after Korea, (unless we decide we really love it and stay forever, which I doubt because I don't know if Adam would like that) what then? Adam doesn't want to stay in the US, and neither do I... And I love the UK, and I defnately want to be there, but I also want to travel and live in many other countries. Maybe in Africa for awhile to help people there? It's a lot to think about, and a big decision, so I'm keeping all my options open until the time comes to leave Korea.

Going Anon.

I've decided to go Anon (in a way), but not completely. I'm still going to be taking pictures of myself, friends, family, my surroundings, etc, I just wont be posting my friends' real names. "Why?" Because 95% of my traffic comes from my facebook page, which includes family and friends for the most part - - however, the more traffic this blog has, the odder I feel about people knowing my family and friends' names, etc (& believe me, some of my friends have ODD names.) So because I don't want weird people stalking them, I wont post their info. Plus, some of these people have blogs which I know they don't want to be found, either. :) I will however, be posting something at the side for you all to be referenced too.

My husband and I will have our real names in tact though. :) We love stalkers.

To Shine A Light.

Some good news. Adam recieved a call from some Army guy, and we're definitely getting housing the week I arrive. So, that means that the longest we'd stay in a hotel in 4 days, which isn't bad. The not so good news? The lodge on the base is full at the moment, so we may have to find a place off post. Ah well. Just some good news to start off the day at least.

On a side note, when C. Love and I went out the other day, we saw this near the Micky D's.


It looked like they were taking burgers out a trashcan. Odd. Getting ready to go help C. Love run errands today, haven't even slept. :(