Parents CL ---> Jour 1

Camille avec ses amies Coréennes 

Au marché extérieur à Ilsan

À Myeongdong, downtown Seoul

Aldo un jour; Aldo toujours (0:

Le nouveau restaurant préféré de Camille

Le théatre

Coupe Vanier!!

Il est 3AM ici; let's go Rouge & Or!!!! I enjoyed you as my adopted town for 4 years Calgary, but my heart was always loyal to my Laval (0:

Waiting ..

The French parents are almost here !!

We are just as excited as they are (0:  .. I'm even tracking their last flight here! It's a long journey; from Quebec City to Toronto, then Vancouver, and finally; Seoul. They left home at 2am Thursday, and will arrive Friday at 4.15pm.

My mom always does this when we go visit; little surprises needed for everyday. My 2 favorite items?  A very important, fully loaded T-Money Card to use public transit, and noise sticks for the hockey games ahahaha

Finally, the most important drawer in the house;

CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!! <3

Itaewon

Itaewon is the foreigners district. A lot of north-americans live and work here.

A very popular thing here are baseball practice ranges in the most random places. Most of them are built over parking areas.

Yes im wearing a skirt; still super athletic anyway ahahhaha

David

Spicy sauce and City Hall

Yesterday we had a really fun night out!

The food was so spicy; it made me cry..

And here's the view:

Today was a day off for David, so after 2 really good FaceTime sessions with our parents, we jumped on the metro with no particular destination in mind (0:

We ended up at the Seoul City Hall, which is a beautiful area. The building itself has a lot of history, although it has been modified and is visually very artistic. There is a huge food market outside, and we were lucky enough to see the change of guards at the fortress right across from it. We walked around for a bit and found the Cheonggyecheon, a stream running 8.4km throughout the city. 

Now, we are just at our favorite spot to hang out; Paris Baguette! The holiday season is already in full swing in here, as well represented by our snow-angels teas (0:

 

Japan

First trip to japan is under the belt. Flew in Friday, played Saturday and Sunday, flew out Monday so it was a quick one. We had two small earthquakes on Saturday. I was eating diner on the ground floor at the hotel and I could feel it in my feet and the water bottle at the table was shaking. Mikey said it was an earthquake but I thought he was screwing with me. Turns out it was an earthquake. I guess the hotel swayed with it so the guys who were in their rooms ( on the 28th floor ) got a little more action. From my limited travels here I enjoyed it.

They drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is also on the opposite side. First time I have seen that so that was cool. Food was good. Dumplings are way better than Korean dumplings. Bathrooms were nice. Even the public bathrooms had heated seats and bidets ! Had a tub in the hotel so took advantage of that and had a cold tub after game one. It was made for Asians though so it was a tight squeeze for me. 

Solo diner Friday night on the 9th floor of a random building. Was delicious. Pork, rice, miso soup, shredded cabbage, tea and 4jars to mix your own sauce. 

 

Breakfast on game day with my roomie Chan Hui. Me: eggs, pancakes, toast, yogurt, juice, fruit. Channy: rice, broccolli, soup, beans, carrots , juice. Channy is a good roomie. Doesnt speak a lot of english so every trip I pick up a handful of korean words and learns some new english ones. We both have translator apps on our phones if we are really in a pickle though

 

The flags flying at the rink for the mini tourny representing the 4 teams, 2 countries and the league. 

C'est le 17 ici (0:

Bonne fête mom !!

Je t'aime fooOoOooOrt xx

C'est toi la plus belle! J'ai si hâte à dans 5 dodos pour visiter l'Asie avec toi et Papa (0:

En attendant, voici des beaux souvenirs de notre super aventure de filles dans les Canadian Rockies!

auntie ianne & uncle da

Gabriel & Marie-Ann will be parents (0:

We are so excited and we can't wait to meet our you! 

David and I have awesome nicknames for you already; because we don't know if you'll be a girl as pretty as your maman, or a boy as 'tannant' as your papa, I call you Nigglet and David calls you 'Nifflet' ( it's a mix of niece/nephew ) ahahahah 

Fireworks with 1.5million Koreans

In October we went to Seoul to enjoy a firework challenge that saw Canada, France, Japan and Korea battle it out in the sky. We enjoyed a meal with the team's translator Soung-in, and his family, wife Chang-e and son G1 ( that's how he spells it too! ) and an authentic Japanese restaurant downtown Seoul.

Then, along with 1.5 other Koreans, we sat down by the river and enjoyed the 2hours show. Needless to say; it was amazing!!

I think David had a seizure or something.. ??! Ahahahah a

Pepero Day

Pepero Day is an observance in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day. It is named after the Korean snack Pepero and held on November 11. I went to Myeong-dong on that day and it was packed!! lots of stores were having amazing deal and I certainly took advantage of it (0: who can resist $5 tops or $60 100% cashmere sweaters?! Well.. Not me. 

One for me / One for my mom (0:

The original purpose of the Pepero Day was to exchange peperos with each other in hopes of becoming taller and thinner. Anahaha that certainly very korean to wish for length and slenderness!! Those are cookie sticks covered in chocolate or any sweet deliciousness, and they are the official candies of that day because the date '11/11' looks like cookie sticks to Koreans.

The current purpose is to exchange peperos to show affection for friends and loved-ones; so we bought some (0: They are absolutely delicious so I'm not sure how this is supposed to keep you thin?

Myeong-dong

Myeong-dong is the most amazing shopping area!! All those brand name stores right beside tables after tables of anything and everything !! 

I love spending the day there, even if its not for shopping. You can sit at a restaurant and just people watch for hours (0:

David and I found the best curry restaurant right in the heart of Myeong-dong and let's say that next time; we ll be sharing a meal ahahaha

Before/After

'Teacher'

For the past 2 months, I have been tutoring the smartest, more adorable teenager; Jisun! She is planning on taking her SAT in French in about 1 year from now, so every Sunday I go to her family home and help her with her French. Her family is very gracious and they feed me the best korean snacks every chance they get ahahahah She calls me 'teacher' and to this day, it still cracks me up (0:

Today was a beautiful fall day; 10celcius at 9am.

The sidewalk was filled with theses gigantic leaves!! (My feet are 6 1/2)

Our neighbourhood

We live in the Ilsan neighbourhood, located in the Goyang area, and we are about 25km from downtown Seoul.. although with all the traffic it takes up to 1h to drive there. I love taking the metro, and while that's not super fast either, I much prefer the convenience of public transportation.

Our building is in 'Lafesta', which can be describe as a very small Las Vegas strip (0:  There is a lot of lights and activity, usually 24/7. It's a great melting pot of different cultures, where you can find expensive designers handbags right beside the imitation ones. We love to eat at this awesome Indian restaurant, have great Korean BBQ.. Or if we feel like a taste of home, there are a lot of American restaurants. I feel very lucky that we live in Lafesta, as its always entertaining ( there is always a festival of some sort ), and it's so convenient! Yes, the lights shine through our bedroom windows all night.. But that's a small price to pay for a fantastic location (0: 

Western Dom, an outside mall beside Lafesta. 

Our building to the left.

We live on the 4th floor, but 4 is unlucky and sounds like the word 'death'. Therefore; we live on the 'F' floor.

Lake Park is the largest artificial lake in Asia, and right in our backyard! Our apartment building is right beside it and I like to go there everyday. The park has both a 5km walking path and a 4.7km bike path. There are over 100 different kinds of wild flowers, a forest with more than 200,000 trees, and a healthy population of red-crowned cranes. 

 

Flags from every nation are floating in the park, between Lafesta and Western Dom

The road between Lake park and our apartment. There is something to be said about korean roads; I have yet to see any that's less than 2 lanes large, unless it in an older part of a city. Most roads are 3 to 5 lanes wide.

Chuncheon

A few weeks ago, High1 played a few games in Chuncheon, a town located in the mountains of South Korea. I loved it there! The hotel we stayed at is located on a hill, and while David was relaxing before the game, I was able to go hike and explore the town (0:

Driving from Ilsan to Chuncheon

View from the room

There was a wedding!

Exploring Chuncheon

Hike ( found a Temple halfway up )

Game time! ( loving the outside gym at the hotel ahahaha )