Vladimir POUTINE

Dear general public,

As a foreigner/traveller, please do not ask if I am an American. There are several other countries inhabited by pasty freckled caucasian white women. Assume I am...from anywhere else. America is not the best first assumption. I've memorized the polite way of saying "I am Canadian" in Korean. "Na nuen Canada saram ee yae yo". Please let me practice this wonderful sentence.

Best regards,
Stephanie



I went to Busan with Denise last weekend. It was a long weekend in Korea so the train availability coming home was limited. We spent about 24 hours there. I went there with my parents in March, but bronchitis left me bed-ridden and I didn't get to see the city. But now that I've been, I don't need to go back. I felt totally ostracized, more than normal. Children were afraid to sit next to me on the subway. Their mothers would pull their arms towards the empty seat next to me, but they would not sit down. There was a giant Christian festival at the beach, so it was loud and crowded.

One of the HIGHLIGHTS of the weekend was going to the APEC building, but not for the obvious reason. The APEC summit was held there in 2005 and all the biggity-bigs were there, but APEC schmAPEC. There was a picture of Vlad Putin and Paul Martin wearing their complimentary Korean "hanboks", the traditional outfit. The BEST part of this whole thing, and so far one of the best things I have ever witnessed, is that when a Korean says Putin, it sounds like POUTINE.

Denise and I had high dining expectations for the weekend, Busan being a fishing mecca, however we were blessed with one of the worst meals I have had in my entire life. We went to a Turkish restaurant. I love trying new foods so I was excited. They used ketchup as a "garnish" along with re-heated frozen zig-zag fries. The mystery meat was flavourless and overcooked.

The whole weekend vacation was topped off with an open-mouth-eater/chewer on the train on the way home. You know "that guy" who eats by smacking his lips and pushing his food part way out of his mouth while he eats it? Well he was sitting across from me on the train and I saw every form that food takes after a human has chewed it, meanwhile listening to it too. Then once back in Seoul on the subway ride home, I was fortunate enough to watch a passed out business man pick his nose and then wipe the aftermath onto the cloth seat of the subway.The next day, Monday, I didn't even leave the house.

Whatever, it has been one of those weeks. I did just get home form Denise's house. Dale, my other travel buddy, was there and we drank some beer and the night was a preview of our travels throughout Nepal in September. We act like siblings, insulting each other and being stupid, talking about inappropriate things. Its kind of like Martin family dinners and it makes me feel really happy.