#1 on the List.

The other day my co-worker was adding to her list of "things I like about Korea." I think she was trying to find ways to stay positive and remember the good amidst the ever-present frustrations we bump into on a daily basis. (Because there is so much good, and it's so easy to forget.)

Here's something that may be on the very top of my "things I like about Korea" list: KOREAN MASSAGES!

I stumbled on a place called The Foot Shop sometime last summer, and despite what the name indicates, it does oh-so-much-more than just feet. I think I've had just about every little Korean man and woman who works there, and they are all...equally...amazing. I've never had such purely blissful back rubs. Seriously. They dig, they elbow, they get on the table and use their entire bodies...it's perfect. Every time.

So last night I had completed my little sticker card (after 10 back rubs you get 50% off!), and I've been in EXCRUCIATING pain ever since my presentation on Saturday and my lack of stretching after the gym last week, so I decided to splurge for the 80 minute full body Sports massage. I've always gotten the 40 minute, which is mostly just the upper half of my body. This little Korean woman seriously find places in my legs that I never realized hurt. I was writhing in pain and it was WONDERFUL!

And it's so cheap! Less than $20 for 40 minutes.

Thank you, Korea, for having such perfectly wonderful, stress-relieving, inexpensive massages.

A View from the Top.

The presentation came and more importantly, it went! I'm finisheeeee! (As the Koreans would say...it is my own personal mission in life to teach Koreans not to put an extra long 'eeeee' at the end of everything. Orangeeeeee. Marcheeeeee. Finisheeeeee. ENOUGH WITH THE EEEE!) It went well-- they laughed when they were supposed to laugh, they volunteered when the were supposed to volunteer--or more I made them volunteer when they were supposed to volunteer--and I think it was a good time had by all, which is really all you can hope for when you're giving a presentation at a conference that nobody wants to be at. And now I'm finished and I can FINALLY relax. Probably not for long, but for now. :)

Saturday night, Ali and I went to Namsan Tower at the top of Namsan mountain in the middle of Seoul. I’ve been up once before, but only during the day, and there was a big harvest festival going on on the top. This time, we went up during the evening to watch the sunset and try out N Grill–the revolving restaurant at the top of the tower.

We got our tickets to the cable car around 5:30, just in time to catch the sun nearing sunset over the Seoul horizon. The cable car was cool…and quick! We were up in about 2 minutes time! It was a beautiful time of day to be up above Seoul–we stood bundled up with our cameras, as everyone quietly watched the sun dip down over the buildings. It was a serene and magical experience watching the city turn from day to night as all the lights from the buildings, bridges, and cars came to life against the night sky.

Dinner at the top of the tower was cool--the view was amazing (Seoul is so huge!!!), the food was average, and price was astronomical. But I guess you pay for the view. And the VERY overly-priced bottles of wine.

After dinner, we bought a padlock and added ours to the thousands of others that people added to the fence lining the top of the mountain. Was a nice way to spend our '2-years-ago-we-met' anniversary. I can't believe it's been 2 years since that afternoon in Beijing when we locked eyes as Ali came in from a day of biking and I was 5 minutes away from a 12-hour round of throwing-up-from-the-Chinese- flu! Oh the memories. :)

Ali leaving our mark on Seoul.

Our lock is in there somewhere!

A view from the hole in the big stone wall surrounding the hill.

Drowning? Almost.

It's a busy time, people, a busy time. Last week I worked 6 days, filling my beloved Saturday with a school opening performance thingy where I taught kids and parents what to do at a market 9 time throughout the day. If I have to teach kids how to say "how much is it?" one more time, I may never be able to step foot in a grocery store again. Fortunately my Saturday was saved by a wonderful evening at Sarah Jane and Reuben's place in Bundang, which just so happened to be right next to the school opening I was working out. We drank wine, gin and tonics, and did personality testings until 2:30am. I'm an ENFJ, according to myers briggs, just like Ronald Reagen. :)

Unfortunately, this week is bringing even more stress than last. I am looking at another 6-day work week, but this Saturday I have to give my big presentation on the drama program I'm creating to people from 40 Feinschule schools around Korea. I've been working on it all week, and am battling my way through power point. I'm finding it a challenge to give the philosophy and program layout of something I have just started creating and haven't even taught yet. I have to teach everyone how to teach it, and I have no experiences to pull from. Should be interesting! I feel like I'm getting ready for a big game or something.

It's weeks like this that I really wish I had a bathtub.

Ski Pro

I finally learned how to ski!

We went yesterday to a place called Vivaldi Ski resort. Or as the Koreans would say it...Bibadi. (I'd really like to know why they would choose a name that requires so many letters that do not exist in the Korean alphabet.) The free shuttle bus picked us up near us at 6:20am, and we were there by 8, where we sipped a latte in the underground shopping mall while waiting for our friends John and Amanda. If I could have injected caffeine directly into my blood stream, I would have, but the latte did what it could to get me out of me 'woke-up-at-5:45am' stuper.

After a good hour or more of battling the Korean panic that always sets in when any crowds or lines materialize (which is ALL the time), we got our gear, our skis, our determination, and we were ready to roll. That is, we were ready to stand in line for 20 minutes for the lift to the bunny slope.

But the lines did not stop our fun. After about two hours of struggling and wedging and reaching my limit of frustration, I finally got it! I was carving like a pro by the end of the day. Unfortunately, my poor legs were a pile of jelly by the afternoon and my good form disappeared the last few runs, but I managed to get a few blues in before the day was out, and more than anything, I had fun! Skiing is way better when you don't totally suck.


Vivaldi was pretty cool. Other than the fact that it blasted K-pop (Korean pop music) from the loud speakers just like the resort we went to at Christmas. I seriously wonder why they think that's a good idea--they completely ruin the serene environment of being out of the city doing 'outdoorsy' stuff with loud, off-tune, aesthetically un-pleasing Korean ballades and poppy dance tunes that sound like a terrible Asian impression of Lady Gaga. Nobody wants to hear that stuff on their way up the ski lift.


But regardless, I would totally go back.

Kevin is 12 Years Old

Ok, so I think it's accurate to say that I'm experiencing a little bit of the "mid-winter" blues. It's cold, it's dreary, and there is a significant lack of color to be seen outside. I'm trying to cope, but life just feels a bit glum these days.

So I'm doing what I can. Yesterday, on my way home from the gym, I stopped at the flower shop around the corner from my building and bought myself flowers. I got 2 white daisies, a big bright orange flower, and a hot pink flower. They seemed like the cheeriest flowers in the shop. I did have a few problems with the shop owner, who could simply NOT comprehend that a person could by flowers for themself. He continued to shove the gift card in my face, and I continued to refuse, and when I said a polite "no thank you" to all the ribbon, he persistently said over and over "plesent! plesent!" and i persistently replied "no present! no present! me home! me home!" He finally gave me the flowers, shaking his head.

I found out today that my all time favorite childhood show "The Wonder Years" is called, here in Korea, "Kevin is 12 Years Old." I had a good laugh at that one. Especially since the show ran for several years, so Kevin, undoubtedly, could not have been 12 years old that entire time. I also found out that the Korean equivalent for the show "Ugly Betty" is called "Ugly Woody." He he.

Brrrrrrr.

I feel like I'm finally starting to get back on top of things in my life. The period after Christmas is over always tends to be a bit of a slump. It's cold, there are no Christmas carols to be heard in the stores, no Christmas gifts to shop for, no Christmas festivals to give you a reason to leave the house on the weekend, it's cold...

Yes, it's VERY cold here lately. Last week Monday, Korea got pounded with snow--the most they've had in a decade! Seems like everywhere in the world is having the most 'something' this winter. Most snow, most snow days, most days so cold you start looking for jobs near the equator...

Things at Feinschule are going well so far. I'm excited for the opportunities this school is bringing me. On February 6 there's a big conference with all 40 of their schools in Korea, where I have to do a big presentation (it's about time I finally cracked into the world of power point) on the drama curriculum that I'm creating. Eeeeek! (But let's be honest--presenting to a group of mostly Koreans with a ranging ability of English really eases the intimidation factor...)

Here's some photos from a couple weekends ago when Ali and I walked on Lake Park. (That's right--on. It should really be called 'Block-of-Ice Park' this winter.)


Ilsan from the park.


























"Quack Quack. We're the only 2 ducks left. Doh."
































The beloved block of ice, which Ali took great pride in finding.















And then proceeded to throw the entire way home until it was not so much a block, but rather a tiny chip of ice.

Feinschule is a Fine Schooluh

I have survived week one at my new school. (Well, almost survived...still gotta get through today!) The week started out rough, but it’s gotten better and better each day. Monday morning, I came in and literally stood in the corner for about an hour b/c nobody told me where to go or what to do. Everyone just sort of stared like I was a blonde alien. A really inconvenient blonde alien. But things are looking up, and I’m starting to get in the swing of things.

So my new school is called Feinschule English Institute. It’s the head office of a franchise of about 40 schools around Korea, so this particular branch is both the school and the publishing company, where they make a distribute their books to the other schools. It actually turned out that while I was on vacation, this school talked to the boss of my old school and somehow it was arranged that all of the kids from my old school would follow me here. As well as my favorite Korean teacher, Amy. So it’s been an adjustment for everyone trying to squeeze our kids in with theirs, and adjusting the schedule accordingly. But I think everyone’s getting used to it! I love having my kids and Amy with me! (But Amy’s not staying. Can’t win ‘em all I guess…)

My current role at the school is preparing curriculum for the start of the new school year, which is March 4. I’m going to be the music and drama teacher, so I’m getting my yearly plan for music class together. And more importantly (and much more time consuming), I have to create a drama curriculum for Feinschule, which I have to present at their conference with all the schools on February 6, and which will be used by all the schools. I need to make 4 different levels, with 6 dramas each, which, if you do the math, is 24 dramas. Eeek! And each drama requires 3 books—the play/story book, the activity book, and the teacher’s guide. And each drama needs to last 8 weeks. Fortunately, I only need to have a couple done by February 6! I don’t really know where to start, and I’m not really getting much guidance. But so it goes in Korea!

Everyone here seems pretty cool. There’s another foreign teacher from Arkansas, and one Korean-Canadian who works mostly with the curriculum. And the Koreans have been really great so far. I’m just glad to have my first week down. Only 51 to go! (Not thinking about that, not thinking about that….)

So, in other news, I went to see Muse last night!!!! It was so good to see a live show. Nobody comes to Korea, they just skip right on over to Japan. I would like to write a letter to all cool bands out there, that goes something like this:

Dear _______________ (insert cool band name),

Please come to Korea. It’s really not so bad. The galby is delicious.

Love, Teacher in Korea who misses good music

Maybe I would elaborate a little. But anyway, Muse was awesome. If I were a rock ‘n roll star, I would like to be the female version of Matt Belamy. I would totally rock out the piano like he does.

Happy Friday everyone!