Seoul in a Nutshell. 여기는 서울입니다.

Since this blog is about my work around the world, I though I should at least take some time to mention some things about Seoul and Korea in general (since I've been living here for about 17 months now). I'm sure a lot of people wonder what it's like here and to be honest that question is really hard to answer. I could try telling a million stories, but to be honest, that will only give you a snapshot and the stories fit into a larger context which is not always obvious.

Recently, I came across some YouTube videos taken by foreigners of Korea (mostly Seoul, but I saw some Sokcho in there, and I'm guessing some other places as well) that showed a lot of what I see on a daily basis. Though the videos are stunning and very well put together, I should note, that it is one thing to see the mass of people and concrete in a picture or in a video, but it's a totally different thing to experience. Enjoy the show:







Not everything in the videos are things I have experienced or seen, but it gives a very good impression of my time in Korea.

African Dinner #3

Last weekend (July 18th), my mother hosted a third fundraising dinner on my behalf. The first two had been friends and family, but this one was slightly different. A family friend, Don Theroux, organized the guest list and invited 20 guests who contributed to my efforts. A big thank you goes out to Don who has helped in a great way. Also, as usual, I must thank my mother, Sharon Davidson, who has continued to work very hard to help send me to Africa (even though I know she doesn't really want me to go so far away).

My mom wrote a short report of the night:

We were very fortunate to be able to hold the dinner outside in our garden...there were 20 people in attendance...

We offered a dinner of African Food as well as African Music and Raffle Draws and everyone received a door prize...Everyone was asked to choose an African Name for the evening...we provided names on name tags for the guests...

People were very generous with their donations for Raffle prizes...
The following people participated in the dinner:

• Don Theroux
• Terry Collins
• Cody Collins
• Kelly Moir
• Gus Kantzareks
• Mary Dimitry
• Cyrus Ghamari
• Judy Mason
• Jorge Esqueca
• Larry McConnell
• Sister Regina Brunelle
• Henry Kaszuba
• Livia Kaszuba
• Vera Woronchanka
• Michael Woronchanka
• Vichy Hipson
• Norm Laitila
• Kathleen Bass
• Ann Theroux
• Orville Theroux

My mom also did not work alone and I would like to thank the many people who helped out with this dinner (once again):

• Judy Morley
• Caroline Bonner
• Heather Davidson
• John Davidson

I would also like to thank the people who donated prizes for the raffle:

• Aimee of Aimee's Esthetic Studio, L'Utima Moda
• Jorge and Maria Rodruques of Ercilia's Fine Foods in Hamilton Farmer's Market
• Everton of Blaire Elements in Hamilton Farmer's Market
• Josie Syers of Josie's Flowers in Hamilton Farmer's Market
• Paul Huffman
  
• Bev MacPherson
• Judy Morley
• Caroline Bonner
• Debbie Polkinghorne
• Lorri Eisenberger of Beanermunky in Hamilton Farmer's Market
• Burlington Eagle's Hockey Club
  

All in all we have fundraised almost $4000 towards paying for my program fee and my flight. A big thank you to everyone who has been helping for so far. The generosity of everyone has far exceeded what I thought was possible.

Here are a few pictures from the event:

The Flights are Booked. 비행기로 아프리카에 갈 거예요.

As my departure date approaches (September 27th at 5:45pm), I am getting busier and busier. Not only am I leaving for Africa, but I will also be leaving Korea soon. Last week, I spent a very stressful couple of days trying to figure out all of my travel arrangements. In the end, I finally booked all of my flights for the remainder of the year. It will be a lot of travelling, but I think I can handle it. So this is my itinerary as far as I know right now:

Monday August 31st
Depart Seoul for Tokyo (Asiana Airlines). Switch planes and depart for Toronto (Air Canada).

Sunday September 27th
Depart Toronto for Amsterdam. Switch planes and depart for Dar Es Salaam with a stopover at Kilimanjaro (KLM)

Tuesday November 23rd
Finish volunteering in Tanzania, depart Dar Es Salaam and travel throughout East Africa (Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya - exact itinerary to be determined later).

Saturday December 19th
Depart Nairobi for Paris (Kenya Airways).

Sunday December 20th
Arrive in Paris.

Wednesday December 23rd
Depart Paris for Toronto (Air France)

I have a busy few months ahead of me, but now that the flights are booked, it's starting to seem a bit more real - especially the part about paying for everything. As a side note, for my fundraising, I have used the cost of a flight to and from Dar Es Salaam without the Nairobi/Paris stopovers in calculating how much I need for the trip.

Anyway, now that I'm getting close to meeting all of my deadlines, the next big challenge is to learn to speak Swahili...