Today's theme was overdose -- an overdose of coffee, good food and great friends.
I met up with three friends today and despite the miles and time that has separated us, it was as if I had just seen them yesterday. I can't believe it's been four years since I last touched down in Canada but it's been a lot longer than that the last time I've seen some of my friends. Two of the three friends I met up with today, I haven't seen them since my high school days... how crazy is that?! We've been in contact since high school though, don't get me wrong, but it's been via Facebook.
Facebook has been my ticket to being able to stay in touch. It makes the distance between Korea and Canada not feel so far.
Canada has definitely changed since I last was here. The people are still as overly friendly and it's just as cold here as I remember too, perhaps a bit colder actually. They've since dropped the use of a penny and have redesigned their money bills. There's a subway that goes from the airport to the city, iPads they use for ordering food at restaurants and now Timmies serves breakfast sandwiches. High school kids look like they're physically growing up faster than my generation did and they're wearing a lot less too, wow.
The country seems a lot friendlier than I remembered but it's also become a lot more dangerous.
I was at the gym today when I glanced up and noticed that the news was playing on their TV. "Two shot" was what made my ears perk up. I looked around and seemed to be the only one alarmed. I think perhaps Canada might not be becoming more dangerous but that I'm realizing just how much safer Korea is. We don't really have guns in Korea. I mean, we have guns but for the most part they're just for military.
In terms of safety, in Korea I think my biggest fear are those taxi drivers. Taxi drivers in Korea are road hogs and they try to rule the road, well them and city bus drivers. But in terms of violence, guns, gangs, or whatnot, I really don't think I'm uneasy about anything else in Korea. I've had my share of run-ins with a lot of "interesting" people, like drunks and homeless people, but it's never been a situation that I can't handle. I've never really been in a situation where I felt I couldn't defend myself or really needed to defend myself. A drunk walked into my club, I escorted him out. It was as simple as that. I've even have gone as far as to carry a drunk many out of the club actually.
I think being in Canada and having lived in Korea for so long, mixed with now having had stayed away for so long, I'm really seeing some distinct differences between the two countries. I love the people of Canada, all my friends that I grew up with and knew me before I made a name for myself in Korea are here but my business is in Korea where I feel safe and feel I have a place and purpose. Now if only I could mash the two countries together, pick and chose the parts of each country that I love and ditch the stuff I don't like.
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