My first few days as a Seoul-ian...

So I'm here YAY I made it alive and well enough to survive the days. I think that going from Swiss mountain air to home and then to the thick humid air in Seoul has messed with my already sick self...my head feels like it might explode, or implode, point is that it hurts and I feel like a zombie and I'm not liking this jet lag. Anyways..I still cannot believe that I am here, its weird and hasn't really hit me yet to be honest. It has only been 3 nights and 2 full days but somehow it feels like forever. I still have no what I'm doing...at school and in general, I don't understand anyone, don't know where I am in relation to anything or anyone else...pretty much I am totally lost and don't know much BUT there is hope for me, with only a few days to prepare for my first teaching experiences and with weeks ahead to mesh into Seoul life I could one day be mistaken for someone who belongs here...I won't speak too soon because I wouldn't want to get ahead of myself but you never know, I could be Korean, or atleast an honourary Korean for the year. Even if I don't reach honourary status I am already loving the fact that I am completely lost in translation...makes things a littler bit more interesting I think ;)
There are a few things that I have observed in my first 3 days in Seoul:

• I am almost glad that I have arrived at the end of the summer because is it ever humid..and I thought the hot weather in Switzerland was toasty enough but this is ridiculous...its humid and sticky and muggy and thick UGH I don't know how I will handle next summer but apparently it was worse and is now becoming fall YAY!
• Everything is small...stores are small, cars are small, buses are small, people are small(I've already been told that I am very tall for a girl), hotel rooms are small...everything just small! I should have already assumed this having been in Tokyo but it still shocks me.
• Apparently there is a Costco here...seriously, not joking and they have peanut butter and many other North American favorites...amazing! But who would have thought that with the space issues here that there would be a Costco!!
• The teachers at my school are beyond nice and welcoming, not that I didn't think they would be but it was still surprising. I have come to terms with the fact that I do not and will not for awhile know what I'm doing but the staff have been amazing with giving me tips and have been very reassuring that it will come eventually...atleast I'm not alone on this little journey.
• I have already been able to navigate myself to and from school using the bus system which is very intense...I have not yet ventured to try the subway but who knows, maybe tonight that will be my goal. I have the next 2 days off to explore the city, find my necessities(coffee shops included) and plan for this weeks classes and I'm already looking forward to it especially coming from camp where I have 0 days off for the past 2.5 weeks.
• Korean BBQ is WAY better in Korea...shocking I know!
• It is WAY more difficult to tell kids apart when their hair is all the same colour..this is a very ignorant statement I realize but I'm serious, hair is a big distinguishing feature for me and now I must rely on actualy personality traits geez :)
• That I brought far too much to fit into my teeny tiny apartment...wait till you see it, it's cute as ever but man is it small!
  

That's all the wit I have for now...tiredness is creeping up on me and I have to shower and get out before I fall asleep. But I'm sure the next few days will bring more stories so until then.

Jane xo

From the Swiss Alps to the Rockies in 3 days

At this very moment, I am sitting in the Vancouver Airport looking out the window at the Canadian Rockies waiting for my connection flight to Seoul. It was only 3 days ago that I was sitting in the Geneva airport looking out onto the Swiss Alps…amazing how scenery changes so quickly. I am about to embark on my latest adventure to South Korea where I will be teaching English to children for one whole year at the Maple Bear Jongno Campus. I have been waiting for this for months and finally it has arrived yet I’m still not sure what I’m feeling. I think that my body has gone into full on numb mode from jet lag and overall exhaustion from the summer so I literally feel like a walking zombie. I am obviously excited, a little nervous and anxious to get there and figure out wtf I am getting myself into but I just can’t show it due to the above mentioned. I guess my behaviour could be normal since the reality is that I am leaving everyone and everything I know for a year to live and work in a country that is totally foreign to me….but the thing is I’m not scared, I’m not worried, I don’t have ay doubts or fears about going but what does worry me is leaving (a feeling that is a littler late considering I’ve already left). Yes I realize that I just spent 2 months away in Switzerland but for me living in Crans Montana is home, its comfortable and is filled with things and people that I know and love so its different and has its own category of being away because when I’m there I don’t miss home home. Korea is a whole new category of being away and it a totally unknown territory for me. Although I consider myself to be independent I truly have no idea how to survive so long without the simple things like my bed, my couch my cat, driving, my family and friends and of course we could get mre detailed and say things like Tim Horton’s, gelato from Bronte, nights at Fly, TND, Stars and Strollers and the drive in, flip cup and beer pong, Big Bear subs, Stoney’s Calabria sandwich’s and the list could go on and on. I guess the bonus of living somewhere new is that I will have news staples in my daily life…I don’t know what they are yet but when I have some I will be sure to post them although I can tell you that Starbucks vanilla chai lattes will stay a constant in my life ☺

The boarding has begun for Air Canada flight 63 to Seoul AH which means its time to go. I will spend the next 11 hours similar to how I spent my last 4…watching movies to distract myself from the fact that although I am beyond tired I still cannot sleep on planes! UGH if I make it there still standing it will be a true accomplishment in my books. Wish me luck and send me good vibes for my first few days on the other side of the world. I’m not quite sure when I will be able to post again because I don’t yet know the internet situation but expect something within the next few days and I’m sure I will have some stories to tell.

Love Love Love
Jane xo

ISCM vs. Swine Flu round 2

So here is the latest in the iSCM swine flu situation:

• The flu continues to spread around camp and this time its hit the staff. There are about 5, probably more since it increases everyday, who have it or are suspected and are therefore quarantined just like the campers. There are about 20-30 campers who are in the infirmery and in buildings off camp isolated from the rest of the kids in attempts to keep it controled but obviously its not going so well.
• I have had to move out of my apartment at Bouleaux ie. right next to camp and over to Cite Joie which is about a 15 minute walk. I`ve always wanted to live there so I was really excited about living somewhere new but the sucky part was having to pack and unpack on tuesday and then tonight I will be packing again to leave on sunday UGH oh well, totally worth it. Everyone living in Bouleaux and even in Crans Leman(the head counselors) have had to move places to make room for the sickies.
• All of ISCM is on quarantine which means that for the next few dasy we cannot bring the campers on excursions or into town where there are alot of people because we`ve been told by the health department that we are at risk :S Soooo we are a little confined to our property a little which is giving our head counselors and specialists on assignment heart attacks because they have to plan for all these extra days when we need activities...its a little chaotic to say the least.
• Finally, I am sick and have been all week. Every day its something else and I feel like my body is just shutting down on me due to exhaustion. Thankfully I`m heading home so I can sleep for 2 days cause I need it big time. But every day I check my temperature and pray that I don`t get swine flu and am stuck here....so keep your fingers crossed for me :)

2 more days till I`m back in Canada woohooo its crazy and bittersweet for me but exciting.

Until next time,
Jane xo

Swine Flu has struck ISCM duh duh duhhhhhhh

Sooooooo I never really took this whole swine flu thing seriously because I'm very much the person who isn't scared of getting sick and who thinks that if it's far away then it won't affect me. Well ISCM brings in campers from all over Europe, Russia, Australia, the Middle East and the Americas and despite my own ignorance it was only a matter of time before I came into contact with this epidemic just out of sheer karma. Camp has been taking major precautions and doing what they could to avoid this but third session hit and all of a sudden the epidemic came on full force. We have many campers in our infirmary and staying in various places away from the rest of campers to make sure that their syptoms don't affect everyone else but every day there are new cases and were loses people fast. There are at least 10 with the symptoms...all senior campers at first but now today a junior camper is thought to have the same flu symptoms. We've had to inform parents of what's happening so when I say we're losing people, I mean it. Many campers from all sections have had to leave within the past few days and I'm sure it will continue as parents start to freak out. It's very unfortuante because many of these campers were having a great time at camp and we're only finishing the first week...we think that by the end of this week we will have about half the camp still around and half will be gone. The staff are all healthy which is amazing but we're slowly losing kids and therefore jobs, soon the directors will be paying us to hang by the pool. Some groups have already started to mesh together because some counsellors have been left with 3 or 4 campers compared to 8. We're really hoping that it doesn't go much further then this but it's really hard to say when there's no total prevention from it so we just have to wait and see what happens. I have been sick for the past few days but I think its just exhaustion with the end of the session and my time at ISCM coming up and although I'm never sick and don't worry about it, I do find myself checking my temperature just to be sure. Send healthy vibes over this way because we need them!!!!!
I'll keep everyone updated on the latest as it happens...just like 680 News!!!!
Until then,
jane xox

Oh Swiss Land...

What I LOVE about Switzerland & ISCM:
1) That its ok to eat chocolate for breakfast ie. Nutella...We have little packages of nutella in the morning just like we would have peanut butter at home. My favorite breakfast treat is nutella on banana mmmm.
2) I love waking up every morning to go out onto my balcony and see the beautiful Swiss Alps right infront of me. The weather changes so often here that it isn't always clear but knowing that I have the option of seeing this wonder still amazes me even though this is my third year. I think I actually appreciate the view much more throughout the years.
3) There is only one place in the world where only knowing 2 languages makes you feel irrelevant its at ISCM. I met two 9 year old girls yesterday who spoke 5 languages each (greek, russian, french, spanish and english) so I say to myself WOW I need to step it up and learn another language or two to even compare. There are many staff members and campers who have very unique backgrounds and will be born in France but grew up in America and are now living in Switzerland or Finland and have amazing adventures under their belt....it makes me jealous and want to be a nomad for the rest of my life knowing that there are so many people just like me all in one wonderful place.
4) Switzerland is a very chill country...it's not very Americanized and there isn't often any traffic or even very many people for that matter when you go to the bigger cities. In the main cities you will always find a McDonald's and Starbucks but other then that are hard pressed to see anything else that is similar to home...maybe a Nike store but that's about it. It's pretty amazing to be so seperated from all the clutter and the rush of big cities...it really makes you go outside your comfort zone (although I will admit that I've had McDonald's twice since I've been here...don't judge!) ISCM and Crans Montana are such little bubbles and we are so out of the loop it's crazy...the only channels we really get are music channels and then CNN for news so you can imagine how strange it is to not know what's happening in the world or at home.

What I miss about home:
1) Diet Pepsi....Europe loves Coca Light and I hate Coca Light so I've had to suck it up and drink it anyways. On a rare occasion a store will have Pepsi Light and I get way too excited....just like when I see a Starbucks here (I have only seen 2...one in Geneva and one in Lausanne)...but right now I have a delicious bottle of Pepsi Light in my fridge which makes me happy for now but I can't wait to be back home(for 2 days) and inhale as much Diet Pepsi as humanly possible.
2) Ethnic food....Crans Montana has a small selection of ethnic food including Chinese, Lebanese (which is yummy) and Thai(also yummy) but its REALLY expensive. I miss my O Sushi or Funky Thai when I can pay $10 and get a full lunch meal but here its atleast $25 for pad thai :( to me this is craziness!! There are far too many pizza and fondue places here but I'm not really complaining because they are delicious.
3) After bar food....I mean we go out to the bars quite a bit and when we all leave and go to our seperate living spaces ALL I want is a Wendy's or McDonald's or maybe even a pita...I mean its not too much to ask right! I would even settle for a kebab which they do have here but they aren't even open late enough. I realize that not eating after the bar is probably much better for me but sometimes to sober up that's all you need and I have to settle for papryka chips, croissants, pasta, bread and cheese which I don't really mind either.
4) There's a reason Switzerland is a neutral country and used as a holding place for money...everything is so damn expensive here. Y0u know you're rich when you have a swiss bank account because seriously, its just ridiculous. It's impossible to buy anything cheap...cheap doesn't exist here but I guess it makes me not shop which is a good thing since my suitcase was already overweight on the way over so I don't even want to talk about how much it will weigh on the way back.

My life in pictures continued...(last one for now)

1: Ruth, Laura, Jon and I at overnight (soon to be together again for Junior staff 3rd session)
2: Amadeus our local bar
3: My roomies the Steph's :)
4: Carlan, Valeria and I outside Ama
5: The view from Christoph's flat
6: Yogging photography (taking photos while jogging...please see the movie Yes Man if you don't know what I'm talking about)

My life in pictures continued...

1: Christy and I at the Plaine Mort glacier
2: SG9 my wonderful group during photography with Krik
3: Unforgettable 2009 our summer motto and Livestrong
4: Caffe Latte...my summer obsession
5: Half our senior section on excursion to Montreux

My life in pictures

1: Steph, Taryn and I on our way to the 80's party. YAY Taryn was here!!
2: a beautiful sunset over the mountains during Quest
3: Taking a break on our walk to Amadeus to lie down in the streets
4: Our 2009 staff photo
5: Brian and I in Geneva

HAPPY SWISS DAY EVERYONE!!!

TO ANYONE WHO IS SWISS AND EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT HAVE A WONDERFUL AUGUST 1ST!!!!

AND FOR THOSE AT HOME...ENJOY THE LOOOONG WEEKEND