Perverted Toilets of Korea

I wasn't sure if I had posted this one before or not, but just now I came across this pic. I took this with my old cell-phone camera. It was a men's room at a nightclub in Seomyeon, Busan, South Korea. Now, if this picture doesn't scream, "There's something perverted about the male culture and patrons who desire this kinda bathroom"...I don't know what does. This is just plain creepy...and the fact that there is a demand for this...used to at times wish that there were "Foreign Men Only" bathrooms...I might find them to be safe-havens!


Men's Bathroom at a Busan, Korea nightclub!!

Things are Weird in Canada Too!

I used to think that every single day in Korea was a varitable "bizarre buffet." Strange things happen wherever you go...whether it is the screaming taxi driver, drunken man smashing up a shop in the middle of the day, reams of "tight pink shirt" wearing men attempting to act tough or middle aged women elbowing every person they can find....life in Korea was definatley strange (the reason I carried a video camra with me everywhere I went).

Ok...I've come to realize that after 3 months of living back in Canada, that my own country can be quite strange at times as well. I've had several notable "rubber-necking" moments in recent times and I am not just talking about seeing blondes in tight skirts!!!

Let's see...my Top 5 Weird sights in Canada so far....

1. A 6'5" (obviously on meth or crack) man charging through traffic on Rideau Street at 3pm on a weekday afternoon, pounding his fists on stopped cars and punching buses, trucks, etc!

2. A jovial old man, driving along the sidewalk on an "adult-sized" tricycle while wearing a giant sombraro (I shit you not!).

3. A man who was playing with, what appeared to be his own feces, infront of the city's largest shoppingmall, the Rideau Center.

4. People being forced to smoke outside of bars...cause it's illegal to smoke in bars. I actually love this.....they should ban smoking everywhere in the world as far as I'm concerned!!! I'm just not used to "No Smoking in Bars" after so longin Asia...that's why I deemed it as "weird." It's very a very "positive weird" though.....not all weird things are negative!

5. Every friggin Beer Store or LCBO in Ottawa has panhandlers stationed infront. They beg and beg for $$...I'm not used to that! Panhandlers in Korea are much more passive and there are very few. I've often speculated that the gov't in Korea must have some sort of "Panhandler Erradication Program" cause there are so few for such an overpopulated nation. Many a dead panhandler wearing gov't sanctioned cement-booties at the bottom of the Han River I think!

Ok...sorry...don't be angry....don't yell! it's been a long time since I've updated this page. Two reasons. I recently moved to a new apartment in Ottawa and had no internet or furniture for some time. Now I have both. Second...I've been damn lazy. I've often thought about making an entry, but the idea of typing just seemed too taxing...both physically and mentally...I'm lazy.

So...I'm in Ottawa and just finished a one-week math program geared towards teaching the new "math" stream to Ontario primary students. I had the chance to play with lots of colorful little toys known as "math manipulatives", whcih are all the rage in today's elementary school classroom!


Kevin at University of Ottawa...with "manipulatives."

My full-time classes begin next week. I'm quite excited. It's been strange at the same time though getting used to life in a Canadian city. Even with a great bus service, having no car in Canada is a difficult prediciment to be in. Everything is so spread out and nothing ever seems close. In korea, due to the fact that the country is absolutely overpopulated, everything was built ontop of everything else. Supermarkets and shops were never more than a few minutes away on foot. i mayt have been giving myself a case of "black-lung" by living in Korea, but shopping was easy to do.

Of course, there are upsides and downsides to everything. I love the fact that my "one-bedroom" apartment actually has several rooms. I revel in the fact that while I chat on my phone I can wander from room to room. It's a very novel thing after 5 years of living in Asian shoebox-like apartments in Korea. having room to move is truely a wonderful thing!