Christmas in Korea

This weekend was great. We had our Gwangyang Secret Santa gift exchange on Thursday night, which was a blast, Dan and I went back to Muju with a few friends for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then I spent Christmas Day with Dan, making yummy food and Skyping with the family!

Now let’s back track, so I can really fill you in.

Like last year, we had a Secret Santa gift exchange. A few weeks ago, we all went to dinner and then to String, where we drew names. It was supposed to be a secret, but a few people traded, others forgot who they had, and still others just hinted at who they had, like Pete. Oh well! So much for the surprise! :) Pete drew my name and so he asked me to go shopping with him because even though we have been friends for about a year and a half, he had no idea what to get me, so that is how the two of us spent last Monday night. Although I gave him crap for not being able to think of anything to get me, I must say it was nice to pick out my present, because those who know Pete know he likes some pretty weird things. Haha It also made Thursday night that much more exciting because I couldn’t wait to actually be given my AWESOME Wolf hat/scarf/mittens combo.

On Thursday some of us went out for Hajeongook, which, if I haven’t mentioned it before, is soooo delicious. It’s a Korean soup dish, known as hangover soup, served in a ceramic hot pot. The broth is delicious, and there are lots of veggies, like onions, cabbage, and garlic, several spices and best of all, lots of pork, still on the bone. It reminds me of home, because it is sort of like stew, and it’s one of very few Korean dishes that isn’t spicy, at least it isn’t at the restaurant we always go to get it at.   

After dinner, we all went to String and played a massive game of Apples to Apples. I think there were about 15 of us playing. After we got bored of this, we decided it was time to pass out presents. Rob gave his gift first and so it went from there until everyone had given and opened their present one at a time. Last year, we all just gave and opened gifts at once, so I liked taking the time to let each person see what they got before moving on. I think it made everything more meaningful, and also funny, depending on who got what.

I took some pictures of that and you can see a few below.

PRESENTS!!!

Kate with her "night vision" light up sunglasses! haha

BEST hat/scarf/mittens EVER!! :D

Ugly.. I mean Christmas Sweater buddies! haha

After the presents were all passed out and opened, we drank and talked and laughed for a while more before Dan and I went home.

Kate and I did not have to work at our usual time on Friday because our school was having a garage sale that evening. At least that’s what they called it. All the kids were told about the “party” a few weeks in advance. They were asked to bring in things they no longer wanted. Then they were given pretend money based on how many stickers they received since last Christmas. They could then use that “money” to buy toys, clothes, books and games from one of the classrooms upstairs, or they could stay downstairs and “pay” to get their face or hand painted or buy some food.

For the Halloween party, Kate and I were on face painting duty, which was a lot of fun. We aren’t sure why, whether we were being punished for Kate’s crappy job on Halloween (Kidding!) or some of the Koreans just wanted to paint because they thought it was fun, or easy. All we know is we did not get to paint like last time. We were put at the kimbop (Korean sushi, sort of) making station and it was tough. We made it for two hours straight and there were several times, especially during the first hour, where kids and their parents had to wait because soooo many people wanted our glorious kimbop!! Haha We made it fun though.

Friday night, Kate, Lizzie, and Iain all needed to get to Suncheon to take the midnight bus to Incheon Airport so we all just chilled at Club Davey (Lizzie and Iain’s apartment) even after Pete left to drive them to Suncheon.  I learned how to play Risk on the Xbox. Weird. Haha. Luckily, I already knew the game setup thanks to a game my younger brothers showed me online called World Wars 2, which I have spent way too much time playing. In fact, I couldn’t remember the name of the game, so I just had to Google Addicting Games’ website to find, and then of course, play the game! Haha

Saturday, Christmas Eve, Dan and I left bright and early, about 7am, in Lizzie and Iain’s car (THANKS AGAIN SOOO MUCH, YOU GUYS!!!) to Muju with Seth, and Julia. We made it up to Muju relatively easily, Thanks to Pete’s GPS,  although Julia and I held onto each other a bit in the back seat! Haha We arrived at Muju Ski School, the name of the rental shop and motel we were staying at. It was too early to check in so we just changed there and left everything else in the car. Then some of the workers dropped us off near the Mansun-base with our gear and we headed towards the ski lift and up our first mountain.

Now, last time I was in Muju, I only made it through one run because my first one took me so long and I didn’t want to make the others wait, so I just sat alone for a while like a creep. :) This time, I was determined to do better than that, but first, I wanted to help Julia, who had never been snowboarding. So when we first got off the ski lift, I dragged my board to the side bank and worked with her on balancing and doing the pendulum motion I struggled with at first. Seth and Dan were busy skiing and snowboarding but they did stop from time to time to give her pointers. After about a half hour or so with Julia, I was itching to get on a board myself and see if I forget everything Dan had taught me last time, or if I could improve. This board had my legs set much farther apart than the one I first learned on, which made it a lot easier to push my body in whatever direction I wanted to go in, but it did a number on my knees.  

I was WAYYYYYY better this time around. I got up on my own almost every single time and I wiped out and fell A LOT less often.  Dan took some videos of me on his camcorder and they are both below, just because I was so stinking proud of myself for doing so much better and having a great attitude about it this time around. :)

Watch me go!! Haha As you see some pro whizz by me... :o

That's really me!! :D

Shortly after my epic first run of the day, a piece of the binding on my board snapped off when Dan was tightening the board to my leg, at least I think that's what it was.. haha This meant (1) I would have to keep the board on until I was finished boarding, or (2) I’d have to call the rental shop and have someone bring me a new board. I have to give a HUGE shout out to Ivy, my co-teacher who brought Dan and me up to Muju last time. I called her at least 8 times Saturday morning first trying to figure out what the shop workers were asking when we first got to the ski school and where I was supposed to meet the guy bringing me a new board. It was an adventure, to say the least, and I was a bit cranky and discouraged by the time I finally got a second board. Let’s just say, there was quite a bit of miscommunication between Ivy, the guy trying to reach me and myself. Anyway, once I got the second board, I was ready to get back out there.

This board was a lot more like the one I used my first time out. The board itself was longer, but my legs were closer together. This one was definitely harder to adjust to using. I found I could keep myself moving more easily on this board, and I could move in more of a surfing motion than a pendulum motion, but this really freaked me out because I was going a lot faster and my body was balancing from side to side instead of forwards and backwards. Plus, I was on my own for this entire run, except at the very beginning, so I got a lot more discouraged, especially when I fell a few times while on the last big hill that was icy and REALLY hard to stand up on. Haha UUUUUGGHHHH!! I was sooo cranky when I got stuck there and I took it all out on Dan. Sorry :( Good thing he’s a good sport! ;) 

 Group shot, before we started for the day

Santa and Julia sitting in the snow.. on purpose.. ha ha ha

After this run, all four of us met up and took another half hour trying to get ahold of the guys in the van to take us back to the ski school. We were having the same miscommunication problems as I did a bit earlier in the day.

After we finally made it back, we got our stuff from the car and checked in to our rooms for the night. Then we went to a BBQ place to get some fried chicken and French fries. After that, we spent the next several hours in our respective rooms napping, showering and watching amazing, I mean terrible, TV. Dan and Seth wanted to go out for midnight skiing so Julia and I hung out in one room and snacked while we watched a CREEPY movie called The Others; I do not recommend it! We ended up passing out pretty early. The guys got back after 2am and then we all just crashed for the night.

You can't really read it, but it says, "BBQ Best Believable Quality"

When we woke up, we headed back to Gwangyang. I went to my place to clean up and get settled. When Dan came back a bit later, we decided to have a Chrismasesque dinner. We made chicken, cut that up and then added it, peas and gravy to stuffing to bake. It was really yummy and the closest thing we were going to get to a real Christmas dinner! While we ate, we watched Elf because I was in a Christmasy mood and we still had some time to kill before Dad and the kids we ready to Skype!

Of course, not everyone was awake right away, first it was just Dad, Michael and Abbie, but the others got up quickly, because if there is ever an easy morning to get up, it is Christmas morning! We Skyped for over two hours! It was so great to see all of my brothers and sisters and chat with Mom and Dad while they drank coffee, opened presents and laughed with/at me. I told Dan I wanted him to Skype with us. Since we were originally supposed to be going home to meet each other’s family, this was the next best thing. He was a great sport about it and he got over the initial awkwardness pretty quickly.

I also woke up at 6am for a quick twenty minute Skype session with my Dad’s family who stopped by the house later that day (home time). I got to chat with my Grandma, Uncle Don, Aunt Karen, and Samantha too!

I have officially lived in Korea for over a year now and I can now say that I’ve spent a Christmas away from home (last Christmas I went home). I must say that this Christmas was pretty great. I was still able to feel like part of my family and take part in all of the fun we have on Christmas day back home. I am incredibly thankful for my family and friends, both here in Korea and at home, who made this Christmas such a good one. I am very lucky girl to have the things I have and the experiences I have and I am so in love with my life!

This week Dan and I are both on vacation and we are taking lazy to a whole new level. We are both looking forward to this weekend, and ringing in the New Year with some of our friends! :) Then next week, we’ll be going up to Seoul to snowboard again!


I hope you all had a great Christmas, and I'll be back in 2012!!! :D

First Time Snowboarding!!

As I said we’d be doing in my last message, Dan and I went snowboarding this past weekend in Muju. I had mentioned to my co-teacher, Ivy, that Dan liked to snowboard and that he would be making me go soon. I asked her a few questions about it earlier this week and then she invited us to go with her, and her niece. We met her husband up there. She picked Dan and me up in front of my apartment building at 6:30am Saturday morning. Fortunately I was in a good mood, and not cranky like I usually am early in the morning. Haha 

She drove as the rest of us napped.  As it got brighter outside, I woke up and looked out the windows. It was snowing- in Korea! This is still amazing to me because I’ve only seen it snow here three other times, once on a mid-December day, very faintly, again on my trip up to Seoul and then coming back to Gwangyang after going home last Christmas. Anyway, this was REAL snow that was actually sticking to the ground and everything! Dan’s and my faces were lit up with joy.  Me, because it was weird seeing it, him...well just because he is weird. :P

As we got closer, it started to look like a country town, and then all of sudden it looked just like all the pictures and movies I’ve seen of “ski” towns. The road was completely cluttered with places to rent and buy gear to ski and snowboard, restaurants, and places to stay the night.

We stopped at a shop to rent gear. Dan was fully prepared and I only needed a board, goggles and padding. All of us already had pants and coats so it only took about 15 minutes here. It was fun seeing Korean girls pick out coats, pants and hats to wear as well as seeing so many of the guys in crazy outfits that I did not know were snowboarding attire. Only in Korea.

We continued on our way; both Ivy and Dan were making little squealing noises in anticipation and excitement! It was adorable and put me slightly at ease.  Then we parked, got our gear and went to change. The dressing rooms were in a building attached to the bathrooms, but you had to go outside to get into the bathroom. It was very warm in there. We took another 20 minutes or so to suit up and make our way to the ski lift. Of the two slopes in the area we were, only one was open by the time we were getting ready to start. Ivy and Dan said it was crowded but I didn’t know the difference and it looked pretty empty to me. As we got closer, Dan stopped and tried to show me a few things to do once I was on the board but then decided it would be easier to just get up there and try.  

Ready for my first ever run!

This is when I started to get nervous. I made him leave me and go for a run without me so I knew he would get some actual snowboarding in and so I could have time to freak out by myself. Haha Those of you who know me know I’m not athletic at all and I haven’t tried a new sport in a very long time so I was kinda freaking out. It only took Dan about 20 minutes to go through the line, get up the mountain on the ski lift and then down the mountain back to me.  He sat with me for a few minutes and then we got in line.

Oh My Gosh!!

I was sooo nervous! Haha Even getting on the ski lift seemed challenging because you have to go on this conveyor belt first and then sit down quickly and hold on to your board, because I clearly did not have that attached to my feet yet. Going up the mountain was nerve racking because it was so cold and I didn’t think we were going up nearly as far as it looked from the bottom. I wasn’t nervous about the height off of the ground we were but farther the distance I was about to go down because I knew it was going to take me FOREVER!! Once we got off the mountain, Dan led me to the left side. I learned that both sides of the mountain are for training. He helped me put my board on and then he put his on. This was before he realized how long this whole learning process was going to take me. :)

He quickly realized that he was going to need to be on his feet to help me get up on mine. So, he unhooked himself from his board, put it off to the side, walked towards me and helped me up to my feet, because I was completely unable to get up on my own at this point. We spent the next half hour or so trying to get me to make pendulum motions down the side of the mountain. This was a very slow process with a lot of cursing and falling but also with a lot of laughing and jokes. Because I was working SO hard, I was nice and toasty warm.  

 One of many falls

After making it down the first slope, I was starting to feel pretty good about it all. Dan was VERY patient with me and encouraging which was exactly what I needed. About halfway down the second slope I was getting a bit discouraged again and needed a break, but I knew Dan was antsy to finally be on his board again so I made him leave me AGAIN to go down the rest of the way and then meet me back there. This took another 20 or so minutes and it gave me a chance to think about the experience thus far and I decided here, all alone sitting in the snow, that I liked it. I was having fun and it wasn’t a cold as I thought it would be!  

Standing :)

When Dan met up with me again, I got up and got going quickly and we made it down to the flat part of the mountain. We took off our boards (read: he helped me with mine) and walked to the right side. Once he helped me put my board back on, he walked down the mountain as I rode down. He loved that I was going faster than him, not falling or anything. I did fall pretty badly one time on this part. It KILLED my knees, but I was determined to finish my first ever run standing, so I got back up and didn’t fall again! :)

Yes, that's really me!

After finally making it down once, this took about an hour and a half, we met up with Ivy and the others for some fried chicken. Then they all left me to go back out. I was happy with my one run and there was only another hour and a half before they closed both slopes for a while so I decided to sit and wait while the others went boarding. This way no one had to worry about me, and I didn’t have to rush. Haha 

 Dan and I about to leave Muju after a successful day!

Check out this video of me trying to snowboard! It's pretty entertaining!

Dan and I were originally going to stay the night but I decided I wanted to be back home, especially knowing how sore I was going to be in the morning. I REALLY did not want to sit on a bus for a few hours and then walk to my place the next day. So, we headed home with Ivy, her husband and niece, got home around 7:30, watched Dumb and Dumber and PASSED OUT!! Aren’t we wild?!

All in all, it was a great experience. I got hurt, but I had expected that and it was totally worth it. My “injuries” were ones that could have been avoided. So I’m looking forward to going again, staying the night and making a whole show of it. We are trying to set up a group trip with some friends, but that has proved tough to coordinate with everyone about to go their separate ways on vacations, so hopefully that works out in the next few months. Either way, Dan wants to take me up to Seoul to a place he knows, so that should be fun! Yay!! :)

"Cooking" Kimchi!

So today’s topic: kimchi. For those of you not familiar with Korea and Korean culture, let me introduce you to what is likely the most popular food in the country.

Kimchi is a food made in huge batches through a long, arduous process. You can buy kimchi from a supermarket, a street vendor, or at a restaurant but many people choose to make the spicy side dish themselves.

There are literally hundreds of recipes for kimchi, but the typical one includes a vegetable, lots of water and a variety of spices. Napa cabbage is by far the most popular vegetable used in the dish, but I’ve seen green onions, radishes and cucumbers too. The spices included and the amounts of each vary by recipe but most recipes require: salt, Korean chili powder (which is finely ground, not flakey), green onions, brown onions, garlic, fish sauce, sugar, ginger, sticky rice starch and white radish.

I am going to explain briefly how to make it, but let it be known that I have never made kimchi from beginning to end, and I am certainly not pretending to know all about it. I just wanted to give an overview of the process as I see it since I’ve been here over a year, LOVE the food and recently “helped” the staff at my school make a large batch. If you want to know how to make it yourself, it is very easy to do a quick Goggle search and find a recipe with detailed instructions.  

From what I’ve seen of ajummas (Korean word meaning older women) making kimchi, I know it takes A LOT of effort. You start by washing off the cabbage, or whatever vegetable you are going to use, and then soaking it in huge tubs of water and salt. This helps take the crunchiness out of the cabbage and makes it ready to ferment. I’m not sure how long to leave the cabbage sitting, but it’s at least overnight. Meanwhile, you combine the other ingredients and make a sort of paste out of them.

Once your cabbage is nice and limp, you can rinse it, wring out the water, and then coat each leaf with the spicy paste. You truly cannot be too generous with the paste; seriously- the more, the better.  Once this is done, you roll up the messy cabbage and place it into dark plastic containers with a lid to let the fermenting process occur. This takes at least a few days and then you can put your kimchi into a type of storage container, like a giant kimchi fridge. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like, a fridge containing nothing but kimchi. Many Koreans have these in their homes and they are also a staple in restaurants. These exist as a way to keep kimchi fresh and away from other refrigerated foods so that the kimchi smell does not cling to them.

Kimchi Fridge at my school

As I said above, I am no kimchi expert, but I have witnessed kimchi being made, at random times, in various stages.  Last week, my school decided to whip up a giant batch of the staple delicacy right at school. They took a “field trip” to a garden somewhere nearby to pick cabbage. Then they brought it back to school and had the kids bring it outside to be rinsed off and soaked in tubs outside. The kids thought it was the most exciting thing ever, naturally.  A few days later, last Wednesday, we were all called into the cooking room during some morning classes. All the kids put on their art shirts, to stay clean, and adult size plastic gloves were taped around their wrists. They were each given a tray with some cabbage and sauce to smear it on.  This is the only part of the process I’ve actually helped with, and it was only on two small bundles of cabbage.  Still it was fun, and another experience! Check out a few more pictures from that day below.

Sally, and some other students preparing to make kimchi!

Kate and I

Ready for storage!

As always, thank you for reading! I’m going snowboarding this weekend for the first time EVER so I’ll be sure to get lots of pictures to keep it interesting!

Lizzie's Birthday and a Special Thanksgiving!

Hey Everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, or weekend, if you’re not American! Haha My weekend was pretty great! Dan came down with loads of delicious food, including a turkey and egg nog!! He’s the best :) I’ll get more into that later but first let’s talk about Lizzie!!

Her birthday was on Friday and so naturally, we partied with her at String. Unfortunately, Dan and I cut out pretty early because I had been coming down with a cold and I was starting to lose my voice. Still, the 4 or 5 hours I was out were great! First, Dan, Pete, and I went to dinner at our favorite Korean BBQ restaurant. This was around 7. After getting sufficiently stuffed, Pete thought of decorating String for Lizzie’s birthday. As you can see from the pictures below, it turned out to be a marvelous idea! Haha

Aren't they cute? Haha

We spent the car ride from HomePlus to String blowing up balloons. I don’t know how we didn’t die! There were balloons flying all over the car! Then we spent about an hour preparing String and then waiting for others to arrive. When we got there, only Rock was there. He helped us decorate.  He also spent a lot of time laughing at us; we were all in a funny mood and had way too much fun decorating. We found some thunder-sticks, those plastic blow-up noisemakers, at HomePlus and bought two pairs. Every time someone came in, Dan and Pete would hit those and we’d all shout “Happy Birthday!” to whomever came in.. Once Lizzie finally came in, we gave her a nice big greeting and started the real fun! We had music going, drinks, card games, drinking games, etc, etc. Lots of Gwangyangers and Suncheoners were all out, new and old alike, to celebrate Lizzie’s Day.

Lizzie is the one in the gray hoodie (jumper) with her

back to the camera. They are playing Flip Cup :)

The next morning, Dan headed over to Lizzie and Iain’s aka Club Davey, to start preparing for the feast we had planned for that evening. While he headed over there, I finished getting ready and then ran over to HomePlus(HP) to get some last minute food items we needed. From there, I went straight over to Club Davey and it already smelled so scrumptious inside! Dan had the turkey cooking in a small oven and he was working on corn, mashed potatoes and stuffing while Iain, Pete, and Lizzie played video games. I’d brought some baguette bread that everyone devoured waiting for the meal to be ready. Lizzie and Iain left to play screen golf for her birthday, and while they were gone, Trey, Yonadan, and Fritz came by with cheesecake, drinks, more bread and broccoli. Trey had some cheese so I quickly steamed the broccoli and we melted the cheese on top of that. We hadn’t really thought about dished and cutlery so we ended up having 4 people with plates and the rest ate out of plastic black bowls that come in the freezer section of HP with some prawn soup. Filled with Thanksgiving foods, the bowls reminded me a lot like the meal-in-a-bowl you get from KFC. Lizzie has loads of them which worked out quite well. Also, it was easier for a few people to just prepare dishes and then serve them to the group, so Dan and I made up plates (or bowls) for everyone and handed them out. Luckily, we had JUST enough forks.

 Our own "Thanksgiving" ~ 4 Americans, 2 Brits, an Aussie and a Kiwi

(not counting Ki Nam and Ray who came later)

It was a GLORIOUS feast! We had turkey with soft warm carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn (that was supposed to be creamed… lol Dan), stuffing, bread for dipping, and broccoli with melted cheddar cheese. While we ate, we were watching some show on the Discovery Channel about people’s homes who were haunted. The story was rubbish, yes I just used that word in a sentence, but it was quite entertaining because Iain wanted to flip channels, as he thought it was too scary! After dinner, Lizzie cleaned up, Trey and I napped and the boys started playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Later Ray and then Ki Nam showed up. For dessert we had cheesecake, which was quite good, considering how cakes go in Korea. Their taste quality is nothing like ours, although I think they are a lot cuter.  We also spent too much time playing a game much like guitar hero, but it’s for iphones. Then Dan and I played Speed, Go Fish, and War, all card games. Could someone PLEASE explain how you play War? Dan I had different ways of playing out an actual War (when you each play the same card) and when we tried to work it out with our friends, they all started talking about some other game where you slap the cards… they were no help.

All in all, it was a great weekend. As Dan and I walked back to my place, we talked about what we’re thankful for and boy do I have a lot to be thankful for?! Life is so great. I have a job I love. I’m living in South Korea, with awesome friends. I have the most incredible and supportive family whom I love so much. I’m healthy and I’m happy!  

Next weekend brings December, which means I’ll be having a busy month. I teach this whole month, but I get a two week break for the holidays at the end of the month. Plus, we’re having a Secret Santa, like we did last year, among our Gwangyang family. I didn’t blog about it last year, but I definitely will this year. Also, I know Dan really wants me to go snowboarding, so that will be happening sometime soon too, which will surely be terrifying! Yay! :) haha

Until next time, stay safe and warm!

Old Friends, New Friends, and Everything Since

I've been thinking about blogging for the past week or so but I couldn't figure out what to say. Then I remember that my life is awesome and I have tons of things to say, even when there doesn't seem to be a whole lot! :D But seriously- man I use that phrase a lot- since my trip to Daegu a few weeks ago quite a few things have happened! After I got back to Gwangyang, I had three days of classes and then Dan came down that Wednesday. He had a long weekend because of Veteran's Day. I like having him around when my schedule is normal and I still have to work. It's more like we're back home... if I were the breadwinner and he just sat around all day...... maybe I shouldn't like that! haha That weekend was Ben's birthday and some Suncheon and Gwangyang people got him a special present. :)

Yes: these are people I associate myself with :)

In early November, more newbies came to Korea to go through orientation. Ben's birthday weekend was my first time in Suncheon since the new people got moved in. I met quite a few people but hung out with a new couple that seems pretty fun, Ginny and Kevin. After hanging out near the restaurant Ben had his birthday dinner, a lot of us migrated down to the GS25. It's one of the many convenient store chains in Korea and they sell cheap drinks! Actually, the picture above is from right outside the shop.
Some Korean men who were fascinated by the large group of foreigners and wanted to try out their AMAZING English skills approached us, talking about Peppero Day. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Peppero is a delicious biscuit-like stick with either chocolate alone, chocolate with nuts or strawberry cream covering it. They are delightful and you are supposed to give them to people you like on this special day, so a lot of students give them to teachers. I don't have a picture for it but Google "pepero" or "peppero" and you can see what I'm talking about. Anyway, these men went inside GS25 and came out with a few packs or Peppero and gave them to us because now we are friends and like each other, obviously.
After a trip to the bathroom and an awkward moment with a few Korean girls that I did not know spoke English, :o Dan, Trey and I headed to Elvis Bar, where everyone had moved to. Dan and I hung out with our new couple friends and I also got some quality time with Lizzie and Kate. :) It was a good, late night. The next day, Dan and I were lazy, probably watching awesome old school animated Disney movies. Then I walked him to the bus terminal that evening and took this incredible picture I've been meaning to take for a while. It's of a claw machine in the bus terminal.

Look at all of those Angry Birds!! Seriously, I'm not sure which is worse, Japan's love of Hello Kitty, or Korea's love of Angry Birds. They are both pretty intense!

That next week was pretty typical: volunteered Monday night, then watched a zombie show while my boyfriend does the same and we chat about it, yeah we know we're cool, ate Hajeongook Tuesday night, though went to Tom and Tom's, a coffee shop, afterwards. Speaking of: here is a picture of the delicious pig spine soup!

Hajeongook, it is soooo homey, like stew, and DELCIOUS!!!

I'm actually about to go have it, so that's AWESOME! lol Ok I got way too off track! The rest of the week was filled with work and catching up on all of the super awesome shows I watch. There are so many! Whenever Friday comes, it's a happy day, especially since for the past month, I've been finished at 5:45, a whole 50 minutes earlier than I get to leave on Tuesday's and Thursday's! Needless to say, it's a happy time.
This past Friday was rainy, but I like rain, and even if I didn't nothing was going to bring down my spirit! After work, I packed up then went to the bus terminal to wait for the next bus to Daegu. The bus ride was great. It was a half hour late, like last time, but it was super empty and comfy. I just jammed out to some LMFAO and Lil Wayne the whole way up, and munched on Peppero. Then my beautiful boyfriend (lol) met me with an umbrella and a kiss and we went to our room and I had TACO BELL!!! Two double decker tacos, a bean burrito without onions, and Mountain Dew!!! Ahhhhhhh! As I ate this, we watched King of Queens, the latest show we've started to watch together. Then we were gonna go out but Dan wanted to be lame :p so we stayed in.
Saturday we slept in, got ready for our day and went out to eat at Bennigans. We got enough food for 4 people easily. Dan really wanted me to try this Monty dish that they turned into a massive appetizer, plus we each had our own meal. The leftovers from this served as our "snack" or early dinner. Then we went on post so I could go shopping. I bought some random things I wanted/needed along with a pack of regular Crayola crayons.
Teaching Kindergarten means having a lot of chances to color and the kids, especially in the seven year old class, LOVE crayons and get really excited about the colors. Today (Tuesday) was the first day I used them. I only got to use them in the six year old class but they too thought my new crayons were the coolest thing ever. They all had their own pack of twelve crayons, but my twenty-four pack was apparently so much cooler! It's good to know that kids still get excited about little things, even with all the fun, new technology we have. There I go on a tangent again!
Anyway, while we were out later that night,we got tasty Greek wraps and washed them down with some Vinny Roo's Capri Sun drinks and some wine. :) I also met the new soldier and the guys he was with. One of the guys was already pretty drunk and had hiccups. It was funny. :) We also saw some waygooks (white people) playing Guess Who? as a drinking game. AMAZING!! Oh, here comes another tangent. The Vinny Roo drink I got was the Long Island Iced Tea. I'm sure I've said this on here before, but I got one of those my first week in Daegu and couldn't taste the alcohol because I was already shmamaered, but there was definitely a lot of alcohol in it because I made all the friends I was with try it just to make sure. Ever since then, I've wanted another one just to see. I'm pretty sure there was nothing but alcohol in it. Haha. Because of this, I told Dan we should prolly walk back and on the way, we found GINORMOUS leaves that I had to take pictures of/with!!
Here are a few pics:

HUGE leaves in Daegu! I was NOT kidding!

Sunday we went to Hami Mami's, the same place we went to last time I was in Daegu, and we got take out to take to his room so we could watch The Santa Clause!! Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE family Christmas movies, especially the Santa Clause movies, Jack Frost, and Elf. Needless to say, Dan will become quite familiar with those films in the next month! :D
This brings me to my next topic. Thanksgiving. I have not forgotten about Thanksgiving, there just aren't any awesome movies about it, although we did watch Pocahontas during this month! When I'm back home for Thanksgiving, it's always a great time. I LOVE spending time with my family, whether it's the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents or just my parents and sibilings. I LOVE food so why would I not love a feast of glorious food?!? Clearly, I do. My family usually has turkey for Thanksgiving, and stuffing, which was cooked inside the turkey. We also have delicious rolls, with lots of butter, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole (which I'm not a big fan of but most people love it), yams with yummy marshmallows, the canned jellied cranberries and probably other things I can't think of at the moment. Then once we've all eaten far too much of these delightful foods, it's on to dessert, where we have pumpkin pie, French silk pie (YUM!), apple pie, pecan pie, all with whipped cream and lots of kinds of cookies. It is a perfect day to be a fat kid at heart! :) <3 With Thanksgiving being just two days away, and Dan coming down tomorrow, I'll definitely be posting again soon about our mini Thanksgiving feast, which will be either Thursday, or Saturday!

In the mean time, everyone stay safe and warm! It sure is getting cold out! Also, thank you so much for reading this! I can't belive I have over 1,300 views! That is so encouraging and awesome!!

Food, Food, Food!

So this past weekend I went to Daegu to see Dan so he didn’t have to come here like he always does. I make it sound like I’m being the nice one; but really, I just wanted a lot of decadent Western food, which I got… Oh boy, did I get that!?!

I took the last bus from DongGwangyang (Jumadong), where I live, and got to Daegu around 9:15. The bus was supposed to leave at 6:50, but it didn’t show up until about 7:20. Everyone standing in line waiting for the bus kept checking their watches and phones and shifting their weight from side to side, myself included. This bus had been a bit late before, but no more than ten minutes. Regardless, it’s safe to say that I was a bit annoyed getting onto this bus.

My ill feelings towards the coming journey were made worse as I realized that this bus was a bit smelly and uncomfortable. I didn’t get any sleep on the way up. We took a different route than the usual and we didn’t stop in a rest area, which we have been doing lately, so despite the almost half hour delay, we got to Seobu Bus Terminal in Daegu at about the same time as if we had stopped and taken the other way. I guess that’s a plus, right?

Dan, being the incredible guy that he is, met me at the bus station, even though I’ve been there plenty of times and am comfortable enough getting a taxi in that city (only because a lot more taxi drivers understand my accent and can speak English, guess that’s what happens in a city with an Army base). Anyway, he met me near the street with a smile, hug and kiss, and then we jumped in a taxi and headed to our favorite love motel. I’m pretty sure I’ve never described what this is on here, so Mom and Dad, if you’re reading this, just skip to the next paragraph.  A love motel is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a cheap room you can get to stay the night.. or a few hours, depending on what your plans are. Despite its meaning, it is still a great way to travel cheaply and have a decent room in a good part of town. It’s also incredibly close to wear Dan lives and where I can shop and get Taco Bell (but we’ll get to that part).

Once we got to our motel, Tokyu Motel, we went upstairs so Dan could put my bag down ;) and so I could eat the delicious albeit a bit cool Mexican Pizza Dan got me from Taco Bell before he went to wait for my bus. He really is the best! Then, when I needed more food, because obviously anyone would after that, LOL, he took me to Caliente, a bar with amazing Mexican food. We split a meat burrito but really I ate half and he had ONE BITE of his half.. lame! I washed all this down with a yummy lime mojito, but I must admit: I much prefer the regular mojito. He had a few Jack and Cokes. Let me point out that at first he just ordered a coke, but then I made fun of him, so he upgraded.

After I was finished, we walked downtown and stopped at Vinny Roo’s, which has the alcoholic Capri Suns I love sooooo very very much!  For 5,000 Won, just under $5, you can get a delicious drink that comes in a pouch just like a Capri Sun juice drink, except it’s clear and not silvery. The guy there is lots of fun and he has all sorts of drinks you already know along with a bunch of fun, scary and crazy sounding ones. When I first went to Daegu back in April, Dan took a bunch of us here and we LOVED it. They were all obsessed with some gross cherry flavored drink called "Sex with an Alligator", while I preferred a sweet blue drink called a "Starburst", but the Long Island and Kahula Milk drinks he has are also delish. I definitely want to try more of those!

After that we went in for the night, because we are such exciting people. Dan had me bring my laptop so we could watch some shows together. We do that during the week too. You call it lame. I call it awesome. Lol Practice for when he’s gone? I think so. We watched White Collar that night if I remember correctly, which I probably don’t. lol

Saturday, we woke up after noon. It was almost 1pm. Haha Don’t ask me how we slept in that late. We went to bed pretty early. It must have been the combo of the a/c and the light blocking curtains. Anyway, after we woke up and got ready to head out for the day, we decided to eat some breakfast food, Western style. We both got biscuits and gravy because we don’t care about our bodies or if we live to see our kids turn 5 years old. Haha Dan also got what he calls "dippy” eggs, but the rest of us normal people call them "yokey” eggs, toasts, bacon and hash browns. I got French toast with banana in the middle. It was pretty yummy and it served as a breakfast/snack for Dan and me Sunday, since I got full way too quickly. After breakfast, we walked into Camp Walker and went to Dan’s room where we laid in bed, stuffed, not wanting to move, and watched a few more episodes of White Collar. Then when we left his barracks, I stopped to smell a bit of home. On our walk back to our room the night before, I kept seeing these HUGE maple leaves and I really wanted to take pictures with them, but of course my camera was in the room! Lame sauce! But I saw more of these massive leaves and loved all the autumn smells that I don’t get in Gwangyang but that I miss from home.

 Then we went to the PX, the Post Exchange, so I could grab a few necessities that Korea just simply does not offer, after that we headed to the camp's golf courses clubhouse for a WONDERFUL Westerner dinner of fish and chips.  I loved every single bite. Seriously. Ask Dan. That meal was wondrous. I’d been craving fish and chips since before I went home and needed more!!   

We WERE going to go out again that night but we just decided to get a bottle of cheap wine from 7/11 and some chocolate and stayed in and watched "The Walking Dead" which is a Zombie show that Dan loves. Romantic, right? Haha Though I must admit I have gotten pretty into it... he claims “a victory for all men.” His words. Not mine. :) We stayed up until the wine kicked in and made us too sleepy to function, so about 2 am Sunday morning.

Thirty minutes prior to having to check out Sunday morning, Dan and I wake up and decide to finally get moving.   We left the hotel and went to his room, which is about a 15 minute walk from the room we were staying in. When we got to his room we heated up the leftover banana French toast that we had from earlier in the weekend. Then we proceeded to catch up on another show we are watching together, I know, we're adorably lame... but we’re okay with it, so that’s all that matters!  After that, we went to Taco Bell again to get my fix once more. I ate all I could eat until my heart was content, then packed up a bean burrito with no onions and a double decker taco, thank you April, for getting me hooked on this delicious treats!  Then it was time to head to the bus terminal.  

Dan waited around, as I waited for my bus. We said our goodbyes and I got on a much nicer, comfier bus and proceeded to sleep for the next two hours. This bus stopped at a rest area, which woke me up. I do not understand the Korean public transportation system. Why do they stop sometimes and not others?!  Dan has a short week this week due to Veterans Day, so I will see him Wednesday night!!!

As for now, that is all!

Halloween as A Disney Princess AND a Superhero!!!

So Halloween was awesome. I got to celebrate twice in two separate costumes, once as a Disney princess and once as a superhero. As you know, my school threw a big Halloween party, just like last year. Last year, they wanted us to be dressed in scary costumes so I was a vampire and Kate was a witch. This year, they gave us more options, but in the end, they just bought us whatever they wanted us in. haha They put Kate in a new witch costume and me in a Snow White one.

Growing up, I had a Snow White dress that I LOVED. I spent 2 Halloweens as a kid being Snow White because I thought I looked the most like her (out of the original 5). I looked up a video on youtube of how to do my makeup like her. I went to Kandee Johnson's site. She does AMAZING work and I LOVE watching her videos. She's always so happy, upbeat and entertaining! Anyway, after seeing what I'd need to get the makeup look right, I watched her hair video. She made both of these videos to look like the Snow White we first met in the original animated movie.. from the 30s. Holy crap.. I had no idea it was that old!!! Then I watched the hair video for the second or third time and tried to mimic that look. Let me just say.. she makes it look SOOOO easy! haha I ended up using my straightener to curl my hair and pin and hairspray the crap out of it. I was getting so very frustrated but I think it all actually turned out pretty well, except I had wayyyy more flyaways than Snow White (or Kandee) ever did! Here's a picture with me and one of Kate's students. She had on the same exact costume as me, except in a much smaller size :)

The party was a lot of fun. As the kids came in, they tried to guess which of the foreigners was Kate and which was me. We do not look that alike, so it was pretty funny when kids asked me if I was Kate and vise versa. Once most of our kids were there, they sent the teachers and students off into different areas. Kate and I were sent to the 7 year old classroom to face paint. That was fun. I was way faster than Kate who completely doubted any skill she had. haha Angelina was in another classroom doing the same thing. Brian, Ivy and a few others were carving pumpkins with another group of kids in the Cooking Room. Then we swapped to give all the kids a chance to do both.

After an hour or so, everyone went outside so we could start our walk around town trick-or-treating. They tried to have it organized, but overall, it was very stressful and chaotic. Not for me. I just did as I was told but Big Mama and Ivy were running around the kids trying to sort out where they were all supposed to be. They were organized into groups by grade and each group had one place they would sing the trick-or-treat tune to before getting candy from them. They mostly went to stores, but a few restaurants and a hospital were part of the tour. This is obviously very different from how we trick-or-treat at home. The kids had very small containers to hold candy because they got next to nothing, compared to how we do it.

When we got back to iSponge, parents were cooking bulgogi (meat or beef). They sent kids upstairs to go through our "haunted house." This year's haunted house was much bigger than last years, but I was too scared to go in it. :) After they had their turn upstairs, they were sent to get food. Then we had to pose for way too many pictures, and we finally got home around 8:30 or 9.

Friday night was a very relaxed one for me. I wasn't feeling great. I was coming down with a cold and it was worst that day, which I wasn't excited about because I didn't want it to mess up my other weekend plans. So I spent my night watching TV, taking a nice long shower, reading, and getting plenty of sleep. I woke up to a few cute texts from Dan telling me he was on his way to Gwangyang! Yay! :) We spent the day relaxing. Then we went out for Korean BBQ for dinner, because we were both being way too lazy to do dishes or cook. Then we came back, changed into our costumes and met up with people in Suncheon, at San An's.

The Halloween party out here was serving as a going away party for a few girls too. :( Katherine, who I never got the chance to get close to, and Diviya, who is an AWESOME friend and who has been featured on here at least one other time. I'm sad she's gone and that it took us so long to get close, but I'm very grateful for her! Here is a pic of her and I form the night. She was Medusa.

They did a great job of making it a fun Halloween party with traditions we share from our home country's. They had games and candy and carving jack o' lanterns. It was definitely a fun sendoff party. Oh yeah, here's a picture of Dan in I in our couple costumes. So Korean of us. haha It's funny because in Korea, you see couples wearing the same shirt, accessory or outfit all the time. It shows that they are together. Dan and I have said how we'd never want to do that, but then we wore themed costumes. Hilarious. It could be worse.. For more pictures from both nights, look at my Facebook page!

As for plans this month, I don't think I have many. I'm going to Daegu this weekend, where Dan lives. I'll get my fill of Western food. He promised me Taco Bell, Subway and fish and chips. I think I'm most excited about those, or maybe a Double Decker taco. Or... haha I love food! Then he has two 4 day weekends in a row! Lucky me! :) Now we just need to figure out if he can come home for Christmas.... :)

Rubik's Cube Paintedness... (yes I know that's not a word)

So this past weekend I went to Suncheon for the first time in quite a while. Kate wanted to have her birthday as a theme party.. a Rubik’s Cube theme party. I didn’t blog about this, but last April there was another theme party. No, not Halloween. It was the Call of the Wild, so we were all supposed to dress up in animal print, or like animals. Dan, of course, took it to the extreme, and came painted as a leopard. We were not dating at the time, and after seeing him like this, I have no idea how we ever started. Kidding, love! :) But really.. look at this picture! He looks RE-diculous! :D

How did I ever fall for you? :) Kidding!!

Anywho, as soon as he heard about this party, he knew he wanted to go painted and he was trying to convince me to as well. Anyone who knows me at all knows I can be extremely shy, so the very thought of doing something like this terrified me. I don’t like to look like an idiot, especially on purpose. Haha Anyway, he must be quite charming because, he convinced me to go (and when I say he convinced me, I mean I said I kinda want to go painted too.. and then had his “in”.. all downhill from there).

In all of our painted glory :D

As you can see, we make quite the couple.  That's Diviya with us. But in all seriousness, the party was a blast. There were a lot of people I knew as well as quite a few newbie’s that I have been too shy to say “hi” to. It’s amazing what being painted does to a person. Lol Also, there was TONS of sojullo. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, think jello shots, but instead of vodka, we use soju, and it’s usually in big containers that we all share from.. very Korean style, and delicious. :)

I was truly painted from head to toe. I painted my fingers and toes in a fun way too! See them here:

Aren't they fun!?!

ther than that, I’ve just been working hard with the kids, working on not being that teacher who yells a lot.. It’s.. challenging, to say the least. It’s one thing to be a teacher with poor classroom management back home yelling at her students and it’s an ENTIRELY different think to be like that here, in a country where most of my kids struggle to understand me.  Although, today we made trick-or-treat “buckets” and it was fun to take a break from the book. That’s almost all we ever use and I still had them speaking in English while they worked! It was awesome.

I’ll definitely talk more about Halloween at school and with friends because both are going to be a blast!

Married in Korea

Well, as you all know, two of the greatest people I've ever met got married this month. Here is a picture of the happy couple. Lizzie and Iain, I wish you all the best. It truly couldn't happen to two better people!
As for me, life hasn't changed much since I last wrote. I'm still teaching, although I must say, I actually feel like a teacher this time around. Last year, my classes changed almost every month. Most of the books we used were meant to be completed in a month, so we'd get new material for the next one and for the most part, I never repeated a lesson with new students. This year, I am a lot more familiar with the curriculum and I am finally getting the chance to use what I know works, and tweak what doesn't. It can still be a challenge to do all of the things I'd like to with my students, but I don't really see how I can change that, since I am on a pretty tight schedule. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but on top of completing a set of books (or unit, depending on the book and class), I am also expected to help students in most of my classes prepare a presentation. Each month, I come up with a new topic for each class that relates to the material they will cover that month. We pick out key words or ideas from the unit and then use those to make sentences explaining their mean. At the end of the month, each child gets in front of a camera and presents what they have written and worked on for that topic. It's meant to get the kids comfortable using English the correct way. Sure, this is a more formal way, but it is better than nothing. I also try and push my kids to answer questions I ask them in complete sentences, which is a challenge, even for some of my more advanced students.

I certainly didn’t plan on saying that much about school; of course I’m not finished yet. At the end this month, October, new parents will be coming in to decide if they want their kids to attend iSponge. So, Ivy asked me to have the 7 year old Kindergarten class prepare presentations, all on separate topics, instead of the same, as they usually do. Edward will be talking about a typical day at iSponge. Eric will talk about 3 of our most fun classes. Sherly will talk about a few of the field trips we go on- remember, these are rarely educational, just super fun! Haha Sarah will talk about Drama class and the plays they have presented and worked on. Sally will finish us off by talking about Halloween and what we do at school for that holiday. We will also be having another Halloween Party, like last year. I’m excited :)

Outside of teaching, I’ve just been spending time with friends out at all our usual places (String, BBQ, Club Davey) and of course, hanging out with Dan. He took me out to a very nice dinner a few weeks ago up in Daegu. We got all dressed up for it. It was very cute and cheesy, which I love! Haha Kate’s birthday was this past Wednesday so we went out to String for that. She wanted to have a Rubik’s Cube party this weekend, but turns out many people will be gone since it’s a long weekend, so we’re doing that next weekend instead. I’ll take lots of pictures and puts some up here. :) Of course we’ll have a Halloween party too, outside of school. I have to figure out what to be… Dan wants to be a zombie soldier so I have been looking into ways to make him all bloody and gross. Should be an interesting month!

So I've been slacking a lot lately; I've been too busy..... watching TV shows and movies on my computer. Haha Actually, now that's it's been so nice out, I've been busy almost every weekend going to Busan, Suncheon, Namhae, or just out in good ol' Gwangyang.

This is at String.. one of Fritz's last times there, except not really because he ended up coming back..

Anywho.. life is really good right now. I have no complaints. :) I have decided to stay for another year, at the same school I'm at now. I should be signing a contract within the next few days. Also, my school is giving Kate and I a month off. They still owe us a week in our current contract and they are giving us 3 more so we can go home! YAY!!! We are using that first week to go to CAMBODIA with Rhonda. It should be a blast! We are all really excited!!

Also, I'm going to really try to keep this thing more updated. We shall see how that goes..!

Goodnight world!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

So first off, I have to say Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I know it has been a while since my last post and things haven't been too interesting really, until today.

First, let me catch you up on my life since February. Kate and I went to the Busan Museum of Modern Art about three weeks ago. The whole experience was a lot of fun, travelling via bus, taxi, and subway trying to find the museum, and then later trying to find our hotel, and on Sunday, shopping. HA! The museum was featuring a trick art exhibit which was complete mindblowing. We spent a few hours there taking pictures of each other and asking Koreans to take ones of us together. I have a whole album of them on Facebook. They are definitely worth checking out. Below you can see a play on one of Van Gogh's paintings and another of me battling a shark.

Then last week, I came back from lunch to shower and watch an episode of one of my favorite shows like normal. However, when I went to watch it, I was told that I could only watch it if I downloaded some viewing license. Not thinking, I clicked it, which downloaded some virus and restarted on my computer. When it restarted, the blue-screen-of-death appeared and there was nothing I could do about it. Like an idiot, I had not backed up any of my pictures from while I have been here, so all I have now is what's on Facebook, which stinks, but I'm just glad I have my computer back, working again and I can start capturing new memories!

As for today, I came to school, teaching like normal. It was time to teach my last class and I noticed that one of my students was not there. I ran downstairs to grab a few supplies I needed to teach the class and saw the other student, so I waved and said hello, got the materials and went back upstairs. After a few minutes, I said, "I wonder where Carly is," thinking she had time to change her shoes and get to class. Then one of the two other students in the class, Sunny, told me that she isn't in the class anymore. When I asked why, she spoke to the other girl, Lora, for a few minutes in Korean, trying to figure out how to tell me in English. Together, they came up with this, "We don't like her, so we complained about her. She reads too slow and she says words wrong, like in Kate teacher's class she said 'eve-er' instead of 'ever'. It's so simple! Also, she is not friendly with us. The other young students are friendly with us, talking about their life, but not her." I brought up Carly's age because she is in second grade whereas Lora and Sunny are both in fifth, thinking that might be why they don't like her, because she has such high English skills at such a young age.

As they were telling me this, I was in shock! Instead of teaching for the first 10 or so minutes of class, we just discussed this. I didn't understand how they could complain about a student and get her removed from my class, especially when I had seen Carly there and hadn't heard anything about her no longer being in the class. Midway through class, after we had moved on from the conversation, Ivy came in asking for the books that are at the level just below the class these girls are in. I saw her take them into the office with Big Mama, Carly and Carly's mom. So I guess that means Carly is now in this lower class?? Oh boy.

How can this be okay, you ask? I think it's all because of money. They would rather have Lora and Sunny's parents continuing to pay tutition and keep their kids at our school and risk losing one, although it looks like they somehow found a way around that, probably by telling Carly's mom that the class is too hard for her, but what do I know? :/

SNOW in GWANGYANG!! :)

Hello Peeps!

So yesterday a wonderful thing happened. It SNOWED in GWANGYANG. For those of you who don't know, or who forgot, this is the name of the city I live in over here in Korea. Anyway, snow is kind of a big deal over here because it doesn't usually happen this far south and even when it does, it's very very light. Yesterday it was much lighter compared to Michigan, but it was still more substancial than any snowfall I've seen in my part of Korea. Overcourse, it did not stick, but there is always next time...!! I took a picture of it using the restaurant aross from my apartment building as the backdrop, since they have nice dark windows. I can't believe how excited I'm getting about snow. I really don't like snow, in fact I always complain about it. Who woulda thunk!? haha

Other than that, not much has happened. Lizzie came back last week, so that's been really great. I've already seen her a few times. Fritz is back too and I finally saw him on Wednesday. Now Rhonda just needs to come back from Italy and the Gwangyang crew will be reunited!

On a side note, I can't believe it's already been about 7 months since I first got here. Only 5 months left!! Then, who knows.. The only thing I plan on doing in the near future is going to Busan, which is much bigger than Gwangyang and about 2 hours away, and going to the Magic Art show and probably doing a lot of eating and shopping. Busan is also home to an aquarium where you can go diving with sharks, sea turtles and many other sea creatures. As of right now, I still plan on doing that come Spring, unless I chicken out!