Happy Birfday

A happy birfday goes out to my beautiful fiance, Dawna. Happy 23rd!

- Gilad

And teaching it is...

So today was my first day on the job at UNICEF and tomorrow will be my last. While on my lunch break today, I found out that I got a teaching job that pays a lot more... with a lot less working time... and VERY close to my house. Oh, and it's also a full-time, permanent position, unlike this six-week contract with UNICEF. It was awkward telling my bosses that I'd have to quit on the same day I started but it went pretty well.

So yea, I'll be teaching students who are ages 18-25 (on average) who come here to learn English. They're from places like Korea, Japan, South America, Europe, etc. My favourite part of this position is that on Fridays I only work from 9-12 which gives me time to tutor students... and unlike Korea, private tutoring is legal over here. I'm also teaching older kids (unlike in Korea), as well as getting complete freedom in two of my four classes. This means that I can center my lesson around my favourite song, a TV show, a political issue, etc. Lots of room for creativity which I'm definitely looking forward to.

The next post will have pictures of the apartment... I swear.

- Gilad

Downtown Life

Part of the allure of living in downtown Toronto is the accessibility of everything. Restaurants, shops, nightlife, daylife... it's all a footstep away. Living in downtown Toronto also opens your eyes to the homeless, crackheads and drunks roaming around. So it was yesterday when Dawna and I were walking our Korean dogs, while wearing our Korean clothes, when we saw an old Korean man get punched in the face by someone who appeared to be intoxicated. This Korean guy I mentioned runs the convenience store right around our apartment with his wife. At around 11pm, we see an angry guy rush out of this convenience store, slamming the door. Not exactly sure why he did that, but the old shop owner guy chased this man out onto the street. A few words were exchanged and the guy punched the old Korean man in the face. Normally, Dawna and I would not get involved (especially in this area), but when it's an old man getting hit in the face, we felt like we needed to. So we sorta yelled, ran across the street to where they were, just in time to see the Korean guy rip the intoxicated man's jacket off... and the guy ran way. So here we are, standing with this old guy making sure he's okay (which he was), as he holds this strange man's jacket all the while looking for his lense that got knocked out of his glasses when he got punched in the face. We decided to call the cops because we felt worried for this old shopkeeper and his wife. We filed our report, the shopkeepers were very thankful, and we felt like we did the right thing. Don't know if they ever found the guy but it was our first encounter with violence down in this area. Can't believe an old man got punched in the face.

Also, on that same walk, we saw a drunk lying down on the road and another drunk passed out on the grass in the park. Who gets drunk on a Monday?

- Gilad

Toronto

Well, I guess we haven't blogged in a while, huh?

So we're back in Toronto now and living in our beautiful apartment right in the middle of downtown Toronto. Man, it's hard finding a job in this part of the country, isn't it? We've been back here since August 19th and its only this Wednesday that I officially start my first day at work although that could all change. Here's the deal... I got a job with UNICEF as a "funds processor" for their trick-or-treat program. The position is only a 6-8 week thing and doesn't pay very well but it's something, right? Will help pay the rent, bills, etc. It's also just a 15-minute subway ride away and about 25 minutes from my door to theirs. Ironically, I also have a chance at a position as an ESL Teacher here in Toronto. The school I'd be teaching at will surely pay better than that UNICEF job and the institute is a 10-minute walk from my apartment. Oh, and it's also a permanent, full-time position. I have to go in tomorrow at 4 and I guess I'll find out then whether or not I got the job. I hope I did.

With regards to Korea... Dawna and I miss it there big time. We're lucky enough to be living in a city like Toronto where we can get any sort of ethnic cuisine and we certainly don't have to travel very far to find any sort of Korean restaurant. The problem is... the Korean food here is not nearly as good as the food in Korea. It's not only the food we miss though. We miss A LOT of our friends, our old hangouts, the makali bar, the mountains, among many other things. We knew we'd miss aspects of Korea but we didn't anticipate missing so much.

Pictures of the apartment will be up soon as well as more frequent updates of our lives here in Toronto. I should also get around to putting up pictures of our trip to Thailand that happened all the way back in July.

- Gilad

What the Blog?

Oh man. So it turns out that we haven't updated this thing in over two weeks. Awful, awful bloggers. Thailand was amazing and I swear that once we're settled in, we'll post those pictures up. Settled in? Why would he say that? Well, it turns out we're leaving Korea tomorrow as our contract is now up. I can't really describe how I'm feeling... but its definitely some kind of mixture including sadness, happiness, excitement, nervousness...

I'm definitely sad to be leaving behind some of the good friends we've made here. We've become VERY close to a lot of the foreign and Korean teachers at our school over the last month. It definitely sucks to be leaving at the peak of the friendship, but as Dawna pointed out, that's usually how it goes. I'm happy to be coming back to Canada and (FINAAAAAAAALLLLLY) seeing my friends and family. I guess we can throw excitement into that as well. Our dogs are coming back with us and I can't wait to show them off.. to have them experience their lives in Canada... and finally.. I'm nervous. I've been gone a year... I have a lot of expectations of what Canada will be like... of what seeing my friends and family will be like. How long will it take to find a job? I'm sure coming home will be amazing and much more (another expectation)... and well, I'm nervous to see how much things have changed since I've left(if at all).

In any case, at this time tomorrow, Dawna and I will be at the airport near Seoul waiting to fly to Toronto. I swear... I SWEAR... that once we get back and we're settled in, we'll tell you more about what went on in Korea over the last two weeks... as well as writing an in-depth review of this whole experience. It's been a crazy year of ups and downs but in the end, a VERY positive experience. That's for sure.

As well, the blog won't stop there. We'll just have to rename it "It's Toronto Now" until we start our next big adventure somewhere. It's official.. we'll be blogging about our lives for the rest of our lives. Excited. I know you are.

See you in Canada!

- Gilad

Waiting in Bangkok

Well, I have another two hours to go before I board my 2am flight here in Bangkok back to Korea. We won't get into town until about 12pm and then it's straight to work. Tomorrow will likely be brutal. In any case, Thailand was great and we should add more details and pictures sometime soon.

- Gilad

Saeng il chuk ha ham ni da

A big thank you goes out to Daphne (and her boyfriend), Kate, Deanna, Patricia, and Hani (teachers from my school) for buying me two birthday cakes and surprising me at the restaurant/bar last night. That was amazing and you guys are amazing people... I'll miss you A LOT. Thanks also to Patrick, Jung, Chris and Adam for showing up... and a big thanks to Dawna for orchestrating this surprise. I was quite impressed... how do you plan a surprise party for someone you live and work with? When did you have the time?

In other news, Thailand tomorrow (after I work today... on, you know, the day I didn't get off.)

- Gilad