Paradise Found: 동대문 종합시장 (Dongdaemun Market)

I've been to Dongaemun Market a few times since arriving in Seoul. The first time, I didn't really know where to go and stuck to the 'outdoor' areas. Recently, I did a little research looking into where to get beading supplies and found out that Dongdaemun was the place to go.

The shopping complex consists of 4 interconnected buildings (aptly name 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D') spanning an entire square block. The entire market is a crafter's haven. You can find any fabrics, textiles and accessories and much more here. Most importantly, they 5th floor of the entire market is devoted to beads, findings and anything you could possibly ever imagine for making your own jewelry. Needless to say the first time I went, I  nearly died. I was completely under prepared for how overwhelming this shopping experience was going to be. There were so many things, so much selection and an overwhelming number of vendors. I ended up losing sight of what it was I actually needed and left purchasing only enough to get me off the ground.

Throughout the week, I made a list of what I actually needed. I returned to the market yesterday more composed, with a bottle of vitamin water, a baggie of cheerios, my list and nothing but time. I ended up taking my time, finding everything I needed and even a little more. There are certainly deals to be had if you are willing to spend the time to look around. I ended up finding baggies of seed beads for W500 (50 cents for you North Americans) and every 5th bag I bought was free. There are lots of different items you won't find in North American stores. Different varieties of glass beads, pendants and even some metal pieces that I haven't seen anywhere's else (and trust me, I have done A LOT of bead shopping since taking it up as a hobby about 5 years ago). It just astounds me that I have been here for 6 months and had no idea this many beads were sitting right in my own backyard the entire time!

Does this mean the return of my bead shop? Possibly. 

Has it enriched my life? Fully. 

Will I be going back next weekend? Most likely. 

Can you all expect a 'Baby Got Beads' special order as your Christmas gift? Yes. 

I'll leave you with a few photos I snapped at the market yesterday. 

My bead tray - a sauce plate from Daiso.

You can get any beads you could possibly imagine, and more at 동대문.

Lots of bulk strands, at good prices.

The beads just keep on going... forever.

Happy Beading!

Sarah

Mongolia: Where Eastern Europe and Asia meet...

I apologize (again!) for my poor ability to keep track of time. I've been meaning to post this blog for ages, but time (once again) seems to have escaped me now that I don't get home before 7pm on any given day of the week.

Before heading to Mongolia,  I didn't do a lot of research. The trip was largely planned out as I was going with a large group of friends; it was probably one of the most hassle free trips of my lifetime in fact. I don't know what I was expecting when I actually got to Mongolia, but somehow what I was seeing with my own eyes, did not conform to any preformed notions idling around somewhere in the back of my head.

Day1: Beijing airport pretty much summed up all my dislikes about China in a few hours!! When we arrived it was so hazy you couldn't see two feet in front of you. The air was so stifling hot, it felt like you were in a very stinky sauna sitting next to someone with bad B.O. We got ripped off exchanging our currency (typical) and ended up having to get off the airplane not at a gate but on the tarmac, at one of the largest airports in the world, where we were then shuttled to the terminal, no explanation given (typical!). Departing Beijing the antics continued. We waited for another 3 hours in the plane ready to go, with mysterious 'delays' they worked very hard to keep disclosed from us - which at the time was very worrisome! Thanks China.

Beijing - blech. You can barely see the plane taxing the runway in the background. 

Finally, we arrived in Ulaan Bataar. Flying in, it was literally like the city was plopped down in between the mountains in the area. The airport looked like it was simply placed by a hand into the middle of a farmer's field. It was all very surreal. We didn't do a lot our first night, grabbed some beer and some Thai and rested up for the long trip ahead.

On our way into UB

I could seriously write a novel about my week, our play it out day by day, but it would be entirely too long and too boring to read. So I will try to sum it all up now in as few paragraphs as possible.

If I had to describe Mongolia in one word, it would be breathtaking. At every possible second I felt like my eyes were unable to keep up with everything they were trying to observe. The skies were beautiful - between blue with white clouds, to rolling thunder all around us throughout the night and the stars - It's one memory I will never forget. The stars were incredible. Being in the middle of nowhere allowed us an environment with no light pollution. We could literally see the milky way (galaxy) streaking through the sky - it left me in awe and still does to think about it. I saw some of the craziest, longest, brightest, reddest meteors I have and most likely will EVER see in my entire life. You could look up at the sky and see at least 10 meteors in 2 minutes at any given time - on a regular ol' night. I can only imagine the light show they receive when there is an actual meteor shower in their atmosphere.

These blue skies made me quite homesick for Canada. The air temperature was also about the same as what Nova Scotia normally is at this time of year.

Thunder storm skies. Equally as beautiful.

We spent the entire week living in Gers with nomadic families. The hospitality was great and it really helped to enhance the rugged beauty of this country. The food was phenomenal - lots of stick to your ribs hearty meals - pasta, potatoes with meat and veggies, dumplings... ah, I'm making myself hungry just thinking about it.

Gers or 'Yurts'. We stayed in them for the entire trip. Aside from a few which contained spiders, they were pretty cozy. Some of them even had electricity (solar powered of course!)

Mongolian dumpling soup on the first day. It was only a small taste of the food to come. 

We had a rainbow one evening across the field - can this place possibly be any more spectacular?

The Gobi:

The Gobi desert was never really on my 100% 'to do list' radar. Would I recommend it? Absolutely - 100x over, I think it is a place everyone should get to experience in their lifetime. The landscape is incredible and ever changing. The dunes make you feel insignificant and make you realize the true nature of beauty in unexpected places. There was always mountains to any side of us. The desert is a place full of life and a place equally full of death. Drive two minutes and you can pretty much see a full skeleton of a camel or horse beside the dirt path they use as a road.

These camels were just hanging out in the middle of the road.

Rainstorm over the dunes. Proof it rains in the desert!

Touches of a Soviet Era:

This aspect of Mongolia seriously caught me off guard. Again, when I used to think Mongolia, I would always think 'Inner Mongolia' or 'Manchuria' words that for me had strong Chinese connotations. I was surprised driving around Ulaan Bataar our first day. The buildings are very old an many falling apart - peeling paint and plaster. They have a very 'soviet' feel about them and look much like photos I have seen coming from Russia and Ukraine during that era. I was surprised that while there, I felt much more like I should have been in Europe, rather than Asia. We toured a few temple / monastery ruins as well. The temples were ordered destroyed in the 1930's by Stalin himself in an attempt to unite the nation through communism and wipe out traditional Buddhist beliefs of the time. The ruins lay exactly as they were left during that time.It left me with a very eerie feeling, but I think it's important to remember the past rather than to restore it and ruin the ideals that sit behind what was originally in it's place.

The van the other half of our party had to ride in all week.

Tile remnants lay strewn about at monastery ruins.

monastery ruins - probably where an altar once stood.

The People:

I went into Mongolia feeling like they look a lot like Northern Aboriginal Canadians - specifically the Inuit. I left Mongolia feeling like that was the case even more so. I often felt (in rural areas) like I could have been in Northern Canada a lot on this trip. The facial features are nearly identical and culturally, there are many commonalities between them both (including throat singing!). They are probably some of the friendliest, kindest, warmest people I have ever met while traveling and getting to live life alongside them for a week is an experience I will cherish forever.

I want a pet sheep too!

One of the families we stayed with.

Couldn't have asked for better company!

On our final day. :( 

I'll leave you with a few of my personal favorite photos. For all of my photos, and even a couple videos, check out my facebook.

Cheers for now,
Sarah

Mud Puddle

So I finally ventured out of Seoul for what has been dubbed the biggest party of the year. If enjoyed a weekend of sun, mud and beach at Mudfest at Daechon Beach. On Saturday the day started out a little spotty. We were on the beach and it was looking slightly overcast. Before we knew it, we were caught in a torrential downpour that ended up turning our umbrellas inside out. Eventually the sun made a second appearance and decided to stick around for the weekend. We got painted with mud in a variety of colours and spent the rest of the day lazing around the beach taking everything in. I didn't realize how much I actually missed the ocean and swimming until yesterday. Growing up by the sea, I suppose it's one of those things that's built into your character somehow.
On Sunday I woke up nursing a bad, and very spotty sunburn. The intense heat of the sun left me with no hope, and I ended up burning even worse. I'm going to blame it on the solid month of rain we've had in Seoul since mid June. My poor pale skin didn't stand a chance against the blazing hot sun above the yellow sea.
Overall, the weekend was a great time to catch up with friends, get messy and have fun on the beach! I need to make a point to get out of the city more often, there's so much to see out there!
Cheers for now,
Sarah

Stupidest Decision Ever: The Sequel

Have you ever done something so stupid to yourself that your continually repeat "WTF!" "Whhyy are you doing this dumb dumb!" over and over and over and by that time of course it's far too late to stop the hands of time.
The first time I ever really had this feeling was when Gord and I decided to hop in the car for a lovely winter walk (did I mention it was -30c inland on this particular day??) along blomidon beach. Of course, in Kentville, it was cold but bearable without appropriate winter attire. So I went to Blomidon sans hat, mittens or boots (I wore running shoes, yes running shoes - dumb dumb!) I had frostbite on  my hands and feet so badly from everything getting wet (I had to run through 4 foot high snow and ended up cracking some ice and getting my feet soaked again) we had to sit in the car for at least 30 minutes before the numbness ceased enough that I could hold the steering wheel, never-mind feeling the pedals.

So today I got up knowing I planned to venture over to Yongsan E-Mart to check out bikes. I've been renting one along the Han River the last couple of nights and it just seems like it will be cheaper (and a lot more practical) to just buy my own. Then I'm not restricted to a 1 hour ride along the river and I can take it to school, different parks, the grocery store, etc. My apartment was very hot when I woke up this morning so I knew it was going to be a gross day outside. I put on a light skirt sans leggings and ran out the door.

After school, as planned I took a cab over to Yangsan I-Park Mall. I checked out E-mart where they only had kiddie bikes, but I was able to pick up a 12 pack bag of my favorite yogurt! I then ventured into I-Park Mall remembering I had seen bikes there. I found the place with the bikes, found a city-bike I really liked at a reasonable price haggled a bit, got a basket and a lock thrown in and was on my way. I - Park Mall for anyone whose been there is a complete and utter maze. It's dizzying and can leave you completely turned around, upside down and backwards. I found myself outside, carefully brought the bike down a four- story out-door escalator and was so relieved to finally be outside! Little did I know things were just getting started....

I didn't recognize completely where I was in relation to the subway exits outside the mall. The map I had brought was useless so I took my best guess carefully made my way down the road. The sidewalks were packed, I was showing far too much leg so I walked my bike until I finally saw street signs for a bridge! Good news because Bridge = water = han river! I knew if I biked along the Han long enough, I could find the pedestrian under-pass bridge and make my way back to Gangnam on the other side of the river where I live.
If I was in a marathon, I would not only have failed miserably, but I would have been told I was banned for life. The river was quite breezy in a skirt and not only that, but I managed to get a gash on the back of my leg (The size of a toonie!) that was dripping blood everywhere down my leg and the heel of my foot. Such a lovely sight I'm sure! I had my yogurt strapped the the back of the bike, my big tote bag for school taking up the entire basket (and putting the front of the bike horribly off balance!) As I biked my skirt continued to fly up. I'm fairly certain I flashed half the population of Seoul on my ride home. That and I had to bike most of the way with one hand and a very unsteady front end (because of my bag in the basket!)to keep my skirt from flying up any further. To top it all off when I finally got to Sinsa (soooo close to home!) a bird shit on my arm! What are the odds eh? I also forgot to mention that the day still hasn't cooled off. The feels - like temp with the humidity had to be at least 30 this entire time. Several hours later I'm pooped (lets not forget lung infection, sinus infection and a broken rib are all currently still plaguing me!), thirsty with an arm covered in bird shit and a really bloody leg.

So is this deserving of stupidest decision ever installment 2? I think so. I mean, who in there right mind buys a bike wearing only a really light, flow-y not quite knee length skirt?? Dumb-dumb.

Lovely fold up city- bike! My new wheels :) 

Cheers for now,
Sarah

Fact or Fiction: You Can Break Bones from Coughing. Answer: Fact! (Unfortunately!!)

So, as you know, my sinuses and I have been at war for far too long (since the middle of March). About 2 weeks ago I got a fourth sinus infection within a 2 month period. Being absolutely tired of antibiotics (not to mention fearful!) I opted for a natural route to get rid of it. Needless to say, I ended up getting it cleared up fairly well (or so I thought). Whilst enduring the last few sinus infections I developed a pain in my left chest.. around my heart/breast. At first I was worried because of the area, then I decided it was pulled muscles. The ENT had told me in mid April when I mentioned the pain that it was from coughing and that if I drank tons of water I would magically aspirate away the post nasal drip and my muscles would heal (Which clearly never happened!).
Since the last two sinus infections, my chest pain has been completely unbearable - to the point I can't sleep and deliberate for 20 minutes how I plan to sit up in bed. I eventually bit the bullet, suck it up and deal with the excruciating pain mostly because of time... I can only lay in bed for so long because even laying down hurts.

For over a week I have been trying to go to a hospital, any hospital that would take me. Thanks to my Korean co-teacher, I got hooked up with an English Hospital with doctors that went to school in the US that were fully bilingual. So finally my appointment arrived today and I was thrilled to finally get all this pain dealt with. She did the usual stethoscope routine, thought she detected something in my lungs and ordered 5.. yes 5 x rays on different parts of my chest and sinuses to make sure. She couldn't figure out by feeling what the tenderness was so she needed the x rays to look further. After my 5 x rays were complete and looked over, the results actually shocked me. I left Canada extremely healthy, no major issues other than the stuffy nose from time to time in the past. Now I can't breathe or move with out pain, but at least I have an answer. I have a lung infection called pleurisy where fluid fills the lining of the lungs where it shouldn't be. She detected it on the stethoscope and had further evidence with the x ray. The other surprise (which explains my excruciating pain in the morning) is actually a broken rib, and not just a fracture, a clear break! I saw it immediately on one of the x rays and apparently for the duration of time and the severity of my cough, its not entirely uncommon to break a rib. The other bad news is my sinuses have basically checked out for life and I will probably need surgery because they aren't draining properly. All of my sinus infections stem back to the first one that never cleared out correctly, leaving the bacteria in my sinuses to keep on attacking whenever any little bug got into my system. It also explains my continued post - nasal drip. As the sinuses try to drain, they slowly leak / drip into my throat, resulting in the continued cough. Lovely. So next time you have a cough or a pain in your chest, take it more seriously than I did and get to a doctor - ASAP. It was a hard lesson for me to learn so far away from home.

The end result of everything I ended up having to deal with issues a lot more serious than a sinus infection, and  I still ended up on antibiotics (more because I have a lung infection now too!). So yeah, I didn't plan on having a hospital visit in Korea, let alone a broken bone, lung and sinuses. I have to go back in a couple weeks for further x rays and checking into my deeper sinus issues (and surgery potential) so I will keep you all posted on that. Just wanted to share, mostly because I'm still in a little bit of shock that so much is wrong... crazy a simple cold can turn into this! :(

Cheers for Now!

Sarah