JAMERS et JENNICLES

Our dudes, our buds, our Grahamers:
You two guys are some crazy dudes
With your cars and your bars and your generous 'tudes
It's been sweet, it's been great, it's been 90% grand
But now youze be packin' up yo bags and heading back to Van

You both be leavin here your homies who be missin' you lots
Fashiz: it just won't be the same, not even bipimbap dolsot
Now there's a hole way up in Nowon-gu.
Doo-wa, doo-wa.

So long to coffee, to nor-ay, to street meat and hofs
Well I guess we'll still do them, but we'll be missin you lots
You guys are bombs, um, yeah, the kind that blow up and get louda
Jen the Spark, James the Fuse, and your love is the powda

Alright now yo, uh-huh, why don't you play it Mr. DJ
We have to go to work, but guys we'll see you late today
But we love you dudes, we'll miss you too and if you're ever alone
Please don't hesitate to call cuz yo we still got your phone

This rap is dedicated to our almost departed (Korea-wise) friends, Jamie and Jennica: they helped us get used to this country, introduced us to friends and food, and were there for some wonderful memories. You guys are great and we hope you have a wonderful time settling back in Canada. Raise some chocolate milk for us; we'll raise some cream for you.

THE HAN

That's right, nothing but capital letters will suffice to capture the immensity of the HAN. RiVER. It's largish and longish and brown. Bridges and boats cross the waters and we decided it was time, a few weeks back, to finally brave said waters on a sweet little joy ride.














And thankfully, it was on a day that was absolutely beautiful -we could actually see the mountains in the distance. Such rare treats are precious in this city.

June 12th Special (one month late!)

As it is, I was the one (Hil) who was supposed to get this thing together, but as time went by post-appendicitis, I kept leaving it... sorry to those who've been waiting! So finally, here are our 2-year anniversary shots. I took the liberty of planning the evening on the 11th, and Adrian on the morning of the actual day, as we both had to work late on the 12th. So to start things off, I surprised Adge with a trip down to trendy Apgujeong, where I planned to take us to a cool restaurant that I read about in a magazine. The place was called Samwon Garden, and it's one of the finer places to eat in Seoul. The owner of the restaurant has a daughter who is a pro-golfer (Grace Park) and he slashes the prices in half whenever she wins a game. We weren't so fortunate to get such a deal, but we did have a good time. Afterward we hung out on the grounds, ate Haagen Daas, got some free candy, and then went to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for some cheesecake and sweet drinks. A little excessive on the diet, yes, but we enjoyed every minute of it! Needless to say our anniversary involved food, food, and oh yes, more food. The next day Adrian took me up the mountain by our place after making an amazing breakfast and we sat up in one of our favorite spots and enjoyed the view.

So what, you may ask, has two years of marriage taught us? Um, I think Love your neighbor as yourself. It's wonderful to be able to plan romantic stuff together, as when you're married, you see each other all the time. Sometimes it takes a little extra effort to make things romantic. But it's so worth it!! I don't want to turn this into a bragfest by any means, but I think that for us, we've been blessed to actually grow together over this time and learn how to live under the same roof, with lots of grace for each other in-between. I can be a basketcase... my fam knows that, and Adrian IS a basketcase (ust-j idding-k). ANyways, that being said, Adrian has taught me lots about what it means to love, like the selfless kind of love. I can only say that I've been blessed more than I've ever been by anyone through the love he shows to me, and I hope to live out the same kind of love for him.

Here's a somewhat blurry picture of the restaurant we went to. It was really cool on the inside though. We were served in a hall-like dining area, with many interesting Korean dishes on the side to go with our galbi, which is barbecued pork that you cook on your own grill at the table. Prime meat it was. And a cultural experience to boot.

Our restaurant that we went to had beautiful rock walls with waterfalls outside and little pools with lots of colorful fish in them.

We majorly enjoyed our evening. We even found free cotton candies outside on the grounds!

Ha, ha. On our walk after our din-din, we came to this sign. And many other random sights, as you shall soon see...

Sebas, this one's for you. Adrian with "Wagener".

In Adrian's words, "Possibly the sweetest bicycle in the world." Seen outside the subway station.

As we were walking back to the subway station, I had to adjust my glasses to see if I was seeing things correctly across the street.

On the morning of the 12th, Adrian had a very romantic idea...

We enjoyed a delicious three-course breakfast, compliments of Adrian, in one of our favourite mountain spots. And Adrian was able to find BACON. How we miss the stuff (which in Canada we ate on a much more regular basis). Couldn't have been a nicer morning!

Oh No! What Happened?

And here's Hil taking care of me. This was after the surgery on the first night and Hil was there, watchin' my back. She's the best!

Here are the two kids who taught me some Korean and played cards with me. Although sometimes I couldn't lose them in the halls, they were quite cute and always a source of entertainment.

How could I not heal well with all these dinosaurs around?