It snowed on Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

I would have to say that Korea isn't exactly the best country to celebrate Christmas--it's a little anti-climatic--but nonetheless, Christmas was celebrated, and it was a memorable one.

Christmas here is sort of like Valentine's Day back home--very much for couples, and not so much a big family holiday. It really didn't feel like Christmas at all--especially with all the stress and drama of my school preceding the vacation. And my entire family is together in Florida, so I'm just trying to make the most of my holiday so I don't feel too left out!

Ali and I officially did no cooking this holiday. We ate out pretty much all meals out, which consisted mostly of Koreanized Italian food. They just don't know how to get full in this country! Christmas is about gaining 5 pounds and eating as much comfort food as possible! That didn't really happen this year for us, but we were filled with the company of good friends and good drink!

Christmas Eve, Ali and I went for dinner, opened presents, and drank white Russians. :) Then Christmas morning, we woke up early and met Joy and Rob for church, and spent the day at their place, exchanging gifts, eating crepes, and playing speed scrabble. Then we met John and Amanda that night for dinner and drinks, and while drinking our port bought especially for Christmas, and watched the first snow fall of the winter from the window. It actually felt a little bit like Christmas! I felt lucky that I had good friends to spend the day with. Next week our real Christmas begins, cuz we're going skiing in the east Korean mountains! We're heading out with John and Amanda Monday morning and spending a week at a ski lodge in Taebaek. Should be interesting for all, since other than John, we're all been skiing once. Ali is sure he'll be on the hardest slopes by lunch, and I can't exactly let him be a better skiier than me. Let the fun begin!

Enjoy the pics from Christmas so far!



Before...















After...












Christmas # 2 together...











Honey mask, lush lotion, fuzzy socks, charlie brown mug, striped scarf, hot pink i-pod...I'm a happy girl!















Backpack, hoodie, leg warmers, lush shaving cream (according to the Korean employee, George Clooney wears it!)books, and Q magazine...Merry Christmas!
















Ali and Rob playing cards...














Crepes and candy cane!











Good friends make a good Christmas!!!

OMG it's happened again.

And another one bites the dust.

Well, this Wednesday marks the premature closing of my second school in Korea. I have the best luck EVER. It went a little something like this:

2 weeks ago, I found out my school might be closing. The next day, I found out the school is almost definitely closing. The next day, I found out my boss had no plan to pay me the $7,000 he owes me from the three months of wages he had yet to pay me, because he was bankrupt. The next day, I panicked in search of new jobs. The next day, I had 2 interviews. Later that day, I had 2 job offers. Best week EVER. (eye roll)

Then last week, I find out that my boss might sell our school, meaning I can keep my job and he'll pay me my wages from what he makes selling the school. YIPPEEE! Then today, I found out the potential buyers were no longer interested, so the school is still closing and I'm still not getting paid. BOOOOOOO. So later today, I wrote to the other school who offered me a job that I was interested in, and took the position. I'm not unemployed. YIPPPEEEE!

So, to the labor board I go, with all my Korean co-workers, to squeeze every penny we can out of our bankrupt boss, and when there is nothing left to be squeezed, the government will supposedly partially compensate the wages that were not paid.

I love working three whole months for free.

So, that pretty much sums it up. Hence the lack of blogs this month. My brief summary makes it sound pretty cut and dry, but it hasn't been, as you could probably guess. My boss isn't a evil Korean business man like sounds, he's just gone bankrupt and hasn't cared to tell any of us the past few months. I think (hope) it's natural that I sort of want to rip his head off, but I also feel terrible for him and his situation. He's a good person, just maybe a little, uh, how to say it gently...stupid.

I've been pretty stressed, and I think I hit a low point this weekend. It's hard to start all over, especially living here, because it takes so long to get to know your co-workers and the kids, and to get comfortable and understand each other. I really loved Kookje English Village. It's daunting to start at square one at another school.

I went to the gym tonight. (Yes, I'm joining the gym. I am NOT doing another winter of running outside in sub zero temperatures.) I haven't worked out in over 2 weeks, and it felt SO good. I just felt like I was running and sweating away all my stress. Pearl Harbor was on the little TV connected to my treadmill (is it weird to still have a crush on Josh Hartnett?), and watching a movie about war made me remember that it could always, always, always be so much worse.

My new school is right around the corner from where I live now, and I think I'll even get to stay in my same apartment! It's called Feinschulle English Institute, and it's a small kindergarten/elementary (same as Kookje). However, this school is a franchise with about 40 other schools around Seoul, and the school I'll be working at here in Ilsan is the head office, with the publishing company attached. They are hiring me to teach (I can keep teaching my music!!!) but also to create and head up their new drama/musical curriculum. So I get to develop curriculum, implement the drama program they are creating, and then promote the curriculum and program to all the other franchises around Seoul. I think it's a good step up for me. I love a new challenge. :)

I suppose it's true that when one door closes (slams), God opens another. Now I just have to pick up the pieces and try to move on.

Fall '09 in Pictures

I think it's about time I give a glimpse at my happenings as of late. (For the full album, click here.) The first shots are pictures from the lantern festival along the stream through Seoul that we went to a couple weeks ago. Everything was made of paper lanterns--everything!









Everyone could sign the lanterns running along the wall of the stream.













There's me! Signed in red lip liner. (You gotta do what you gotta do when you are pen-less.)













One of the exhibits on the stream.















Scary!









It was like a very bright parade, only we did the moving and the exhibits stood still.















My coat matches the lantern!
















These next few shots are in Joy and Rob's alley ways by their house.















































Joy and I by a market near her place.



















The market.














And finally, these shots are some images of Korean fall at it's peak located in Lake Park, just a 5 minute walk from my house. This is where I go running, for those of you who would like a visualization of my daily activites. :)















This was a month or so back--the leaves are all pretty much gone now. But they were pretty while it's lasted!

A bus driver in a good mood.

This morning I left my house after a restless night of little sleep, ran to starbucks to get a badly burnt, badly made vanilla latte (why can’t Korea make better coffee!?!?!?) sprinted to the bus stop only to see the two busses I can take to school rush by as I desperately yelled for them to stop, and finally caught my bus 10 minutes too late, only to have my worst nightmare stare me straight in the face as I climbed the short steps onto my bus. From the driver’s seat, I heard a loud and enthusiastic, “Anyong Haseyo!” come out of the mouth of my smiling bus driver, as his kind eyes twinkled at me as if to say “Thank you for riding my bus! Welcome aboard!”

This is my worst fear. A bus driver in a good mood. I plan the timing of my morning around the assumption that my bus driver will be pissed off, angry, and in a hurry so that I can get to work on time. They sail through red lights, zoom through pedestrian crossings, nearly give the old Korean Grandmas a heart attack as they floor it while she’s still trying to find her bus card, and come to a halting rather than gradual stop, causing a wide-eyed and fearful frenzy at every bus stop as someone frantically waves, jumps, and then runs to the bus which stopped a good 10 meters ahead of the appropriate location. This is what gets me to work on time. This is what creates a calm, easy, and relaxed start to my morning.

This morning, however, after being greeted with the friendly hello, I knew it was going to be a disaster. This dreadfully happy driver calmly waited at every stop light, while other buses rushed past, laughed and smiled after nearly crushing a clueless old man, who, rather than waiting on the curb for the bus, waited in the middle of the intersection, and even waited for a solid 3 minutes at one stop because he saw a woman sprinting from literally a half a mile away towards the bus. And then we had to wait for a train. Needless to say, I was nearly 15 minutes late to work.

Bus drivers simply aren’t meant to be nice. It throws world order out of whack.

Down again down again, jiggety jig.

This week marks the end of another semester at Kookje English Village, which means final tests, report cards, speech contests, and 'market day' (where we throw a mini carnival and they get to spend the fake money we give them when they get enough stamps from doing their homework.) Finishing my second semester here also means I'm at the half-way mark of my contract. 6 months down. 6 months to go. It's all downhill from here. Downhill to....well, I don't know what's at the end of the hill, but either way, ready or not, I'm on my way to the bottom. Lately I'm feeling a little anxious about the, once again, unknown of my future. I'm applying to schools in 3 different countries, I have a boyfriend from Europe, and I'm currently living in Asia, which means that I could be living just about anywhere a year from now. I wonder when I'll be in a place that I'll actually stay for awhile. Sometimes I feel like it'd be nice.

Regardless, I'm making the most of my life at present. I had a really great weekend. Friday night, we went to a new little Italian cafe near me, then out with friends to a punk-ish bar in Ilsan. Saturday brought a couple of episodes of Friday Night Lights (2 episodes away from finishing season 1!!!! Will the Dillon Panther's win state? Will Coach Taylor take the job in Austin? Will Tim Riggins get any hotter???), a tea and walk through lake park, thai food at Budha's Belly in Itaewon with John and Amanda, then a trip down to Bundang (South Seoul) to the Mosaic Cafe for their Art Night. The Mosaic cafe is run by foreigners and meant to be a cultural relief and it WAS!!! Just the cultural relief I needed lately! I felt like I was at the Humble Bean back at Dordt, or in a modern little cafe in Chicago, or at any ole cafe NOT in Korea! It was packed with foreigners and had performances all night, one by a friend of mine. I got to see Sarah Jane and Reuben and other friends from Bundang. Sunday Ali and I went to a cool little puzzle cafe in Ilsan, where you get to sip your coffee and tea (or beer and cocktail--not conducive to puzzles in my opinion) over a puzzle of your choice. What a fantastic idea!!!

I'm trying to get a good start to my busy week, and instead I spent the night looking for Christmas gift ideas online! Doh!

A few of my favorite things.

Some of my favorite things lately:

• Chai Tea Lattes from the Coffee Bean. I can't stop. They're warm, creamy, foamy, spicy, caffeinated...it's everything a fall drink should be. And my new discovery of sprinkling the top with a good layer cinnamon adds to the deliciousness. I almost don't mind that they're over $5 a pop.
  
• Shopping. Another thing I can't stop. I think it's due to 6 months of a steady pay check, and the knowledge that at some point in the near-ish future, I'll be in school, not earning money, but adding money to my already large pile of student loans. I gotta get the shopping in while I can. Today, Joy and I went to Hongdae and each had great success. I bought myself an early Christmas present of the most expensive bag/purse I've ever purchased. I'm not saying how much. I like to think of it as an investment piece. I also bought a long plaid shirt-dress, after months of hesitation about whether or not I wanted to jump on board this new trend. Who woulda thought that plaid would come back in style? And who knew the 90s actually offered a style that could be repeated? I sincerely hope that cargo pants and clunky leather shoes do not follow suit.
• My weekends. This one was filled with a seriously cool lantern festival along the stream that runs through Seoul, yummy Japanese food--complete with Sake--with friends, a sleepover at Joy and Rob's place, and strolling through the Hongdae boutiques with Joy.
  
• And at the top of my current list of favorite things is....FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS!!!! Oh my! This show was MADE for me! Kristin started watching it, said I would fall in love with it, and I have. OH I have! I'm making my way through season one, and I'm pretty sure there has not been an episode where I haven't shed several tears, several times during the episode. It's just so....GOOD! I'm a sucker for sports movies as it is, but this is so beyond any sports drama I've ever seen. It came at just the right time, b/c I'm still working on getting through the Sopranos (just started season 6!) and finishing before someone gives the ending away. Anyway, after watching a Sopranos episode last Thursday night where one guy hanged himself, one guy got shot, and one guy spiraled into a serious herione addiction, I decided that I'm much more suited to the Friday Night Lights sort of television, where the worst thing that happens is losing the friday night football game. Or getting a serious football injury that paralyzes you from the waste down, diminishing your dreams to go pro and be the best football player that ever lived. (I know that sounds tragic, but Sopranos tragic and Fright Night Lights tragic just don't compare.) Fortunately, Ali has also fallen in love with this show (less dramatically than I have), despite it's super American-ness. (What's more American than a show based on a highs school football team in Texas?) So we can watch it together rather than momentarily breaking up while I become infatuated with this series.
  

Monday Morning Music.

Well, I didn’t go to the dentist, I didn’t find a new winter coat, but I did start grad school applications! One out of three isn’t so bad. We’re back at school today, and only about 6 kids out of 23 are absent, so hopefully swine flu has come and gone at Kookje English Village. Fingers crossed! Many parents are pulling their kids from school for awhile, and a lot of private schools are suffering. My school is already just making it, and a sudden drop in enrollment is the last thing we need.

Yesterday Ali and I met Joy and Rob at church in the morning (an Anglican church with an English service that I really enjoy) for their Remembrance Day Service. Ali and I were 15 minutes late due to our bus getting in a traffic jam because of some festival or cycling race or something downtown, and the service in total was only 30 minutes, so by the time we found Joy and Rob, settled in, got our coats off and caught our breath, we said ‘Amen’ and it was over. Not sure what the rush was, but we made the most of the painfully early start to the day and headed to the flea market, where Ali got a guitar, and I bought some rip-off Fendi sunglasses that could pass as real if one is not looking too closely. We then took Joy and Rob to Everest, our favorite Nepalese restaurant in Seoul. Their garlic naan never dissapoints!

I’m off to go teach Monday morning music class. NOTHING beats loud instruments and obnoxious singing children first thing on a Monday.

Swine flu hits Kookje.

It's happened. Swine flu has hit Kookje English Village. Yesterday 7 kids were out, today we're up to 11, which is a lot considering we have 25 kids in the entire Kindergarten. So we've decided to "shut it down" in true 30-rock form. No school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It seems all schools are shutting their doors these days. Ali's has been closed for a week, along with what seems like most other public schools in the area. But I thought our little private school would be safe from the big bad flu. I guess not.

Is it possible to mentally persaude yourself that you're sick? Because I've been feeling a little off my game ever since I showed up to school yesterday and realized that little Sam in my homeroom class who coughs on me, makes me wipe food off his mouth at lunchtime, kisses and hugs me goodbye at the end of every day is at home with the swine flu, I've been having waves of "oh no, I'm sure I've got it too" feelings. I have a really bad headache, I went to bed at 9pm last night because I was so exhausted, and in general, I feel a little space out. I'm hoping it's just paranoia messing with me. Regardless, I'm prepared to fight this battle--I'm drinking about 5 cups of Ginseng tea a day (Korea's ward-off-sickness tea), and way above my daily need of vitamin C. You will not get the best of me swine flu!

The good news is that I now have a 5 day weekend! I don't know if this will affect my vacation time down the road, but I can't say I mind a little time off. I have big plans to go to the dentist, start graduate school applications, find a new winter coat, and make a costco run.

Stay back swine flu!

Good Grief.

It's been a busy month, to say the least, and it's rapidly come to a close. I'm hoping November is a little calmer and a little more relaxing. I made it through parents day this week, with a permanent smile on my face, and even managed to make my reliable cat costume a smashing success on Friday. As the week came to a close, I think I started to realize how tired and worn out I was from all the hustle and bustle of the past while, and I found myself crashing and burning to say the least. We were torn between two different trips to the mountain this weekend, and in true form, we waited to make our decision until 6am Saturday morning--the time we were supposed to be up and running to make it to either destination--which was to not do anything.

And not doing anything ended up being just the weekend I needed! I slept till 1:30pm on Saturday, got some tea and watched it rain, went to see the Michael Jackson movie that just came out, went out for a wonderful Italian dinner at a new place nearby Saturday evening, and spent Halloween night watching 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.' Charlie Brown just never disappoints! This was the first Halloween that I can remember not dressing up and going to a party. I must be getting old. Today Ali and I went to Lake Park and took pictures of the leaves before they all fall off the trees. I noticed at the park that despite all the people around, it was so quiet. Everything just felt still and hushed and calm. Korea's such a quiet place. I'm pretty sure that the same park scene in American would have been at the very least 5 times as loud.

Speaking of movies (I did speak of a movie somewhere in that last paragraph), I also went to see the movie 'District 9' last week and everyone must go see that movie! It was so nice to see a truly great movie that is beautiful and subtle and everything a movie should be minus the hollywood sheen and dramatization. Go see it! I think I might go again. Also in the movie plans this week is to see Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds.' It just came out in theater here. Has anyone seen it? Thoughts???

I watched Magnolia tonight for the first time in 6 years. I'm not so sure it was the best way to prepare myself for Monday morning. I love that movie, but I kinda forgot that it's a bit of a downer...

Happy November everyone!!!

Retro Rooftop Olympics = Success

I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow it's the end of October. I don't even remember this month starting. It's been a whirlwind.

Last Saturday we had the Adventure Teaching Korea event--the Retro Rooftop Olympics--which Ali and I put on. It was superly duperly fun--water balloon toss, tug-of-war, giant jumprope, dizzy broom, drinks, BBQ, live music--all happening on a rooftop in Seoul. I'm also superly duperly glad it's over. Who knew one little event could be so much work. I got home at about 2:30am Sunday morning, after getting up at 7am, setting up in a frantic frenzy all morning, meeting, greeting, hosting, socializing, networking, and mega-phoning game rules all afternoon and evening, and cleaning up till 12:30. But it was all well worth it, and it looks as if this was the beginning of the annual Adventure Teaching Korea Retro Rooftop Olympics.

So after checking that one off the list, I just have this week to get through--parent's day Wednesday and Thursday (i.e. practice for two weeks so that your classes are perfect and in no way how they are on a normal day, and put on a performance all day with a huge smile, way too much enthusiasm, and high heels--again, something I would never do on a normal day. But Korean moms love high heels) and then Holloween party all day Friday.

Which leads me to my next concern...what to be for holloween this year? I feel too burnt out to be original. I'm really leaning toward wearing all black, throwing some ears on my black headband, and drawing whiskers on my face in eyeliner. Ah the classic cat. It just never dissapoints. But I feel pressure to do more. The last teacher went as Kimbap. (Korean version of sushi.) Her custom made costume is still in the corner of the teacher's room and it's twice the size of me. How do I live up to kimbap?

Conquered: Marathon and Highlights.

My half marathon went great! I went, I conquered, and I pretty much felt full of joy and happiness the entire 2 hours and 6 minutes (faster than I expected!). I know hindsight can be optomistic, but in general, it was a great experience. I was the only blonde in the bunch, ofcourse, which made me somewhat of a celebrity among the curiously toned speedy little Korean dudes, meaning I got about 70 thumbs up and 'GOO JAAA" (good job) along the way. They even pulled me out of the crowd right before the race began to shoot off the little gun that makes the loud noise to start the race. I was confused and scared that I was actually going to shoot someone, or that pulling the gun meant I couldn't actually run the race, but other than that, everything went swimmingly! It was along the Han River that runs through Seoul, it was a beautiful, sunny, cool morning, and with every step I thought to myself..."I've always wanted to do this! Now I'm doing it! Go me!" Ali was my loyal supporter, and had to race to the finish line to take pictures since I got in a good 20 minutes faster than he expected!

What's next? A full perhaps? We'll see...

In other news, I got my hair highlighted last night. Some of you may remember the little predicament I found myself in my first year in Korea where, after asking for subtle highlights, they dyed my entire head of hair the color of neon yellow post-it note. After which it turned a hew of moldy green and stayed that way for a good 6 months until I returned home and got it fixed. So this year, I was not taking any chances. Fortunately, there just so happens to be an Aveda salon right around the corner from me, which I decided would be my reward for completing the half. I was there for a good 3 hours last night, being meticulously worked on by 3 Korean woman at once, all very intense and focused, giving me the impression they were very serious about this and had done blonde highlights many times before. After they finished and I beemed with approval and said, "It's perfect!" they all quite literally breathed a sigh of relief the size of a little fat kid blowing out birthday candles. Turns out they hadn't done this as many times as I thought.

But it is, as I told them, perfect! I was really worried it was going to be either blindingly bright or completely unnoticeable, and it is neither. Just natural, normal highlights. Now it's my turn to take the big sigh of relief! (Especially since I paid more for it than I've ever paid for anything done to my hair before...) They also gave me a free hair treatment, hand massage, and back massage--well about a 30 minute back massage. But I'll take it! I love how Korea dishes out the free stuff.

Muiido makes a mark.

So Chuseok weekend at Muiido Island was absolute hit. Check out the photos below and to see my full album click here. And WISH ME LUCK on my half marathon tomorrow!


The weekend started with a 2 minute ferry ride...














Hooray, the beach!!!







































The water is really muddy when the tide is in. (But not muddy enough to stop us from swimming...)












The little huts we stayed in! With a great view of the ocean!





















Rocks...










...rocks...



















...rocks...














...more rocks...











Go Joy!




















Our view from the hut...










FRESH clams. Straight from the ocean. Along with Korean rice wine, soju, and cass!













Just a casual pose by the sunset...
















Go sunsets...











Horseback riding anyone?












In the morning, the ocean turned into miles of mud flats. A very fun hike, despite the crabs we squashed with every step...












The mud flats.











The group! Top: Adam, Rob, Ali, Kristin, Jason
Bottom: Joy, me, Natalie, Harriet

Chuseok

It’s nearing the end of my work week, and I’m getting ready for a 4-day weekend. It’s Chuseok here in Korea, so while Koreans are celebrating the Harvest and giving thanks to their ancestors, I’ll be snuggled on the beach around fire with friends eating fresh sea food and making smores (with flavored marshmallows and the closest Korean replacement to the graham cracker we can find.) A group of us are heading out tomorrow morning to spend the weekend at Muiido Island, on the West coast of Korea. It’s not tropical or touristy, more a fishing harbor, and it will most likely be deserted considering everything completely shuts down over Chuseok, and I couldn’t be more excited for some peaceful, low-key, relaxing seaside fun. We’re staying in little bungalow hut thingies right on the beach, right by the water, so hopefully the mosquitos don’t eat me alive, and I can enjoy falling asleep to the sound of the ocean.

It’s been a busy week here at Kookje English Village. I had a surge of adrenaline Monday morning when I realized in my music class that I was putting in far too little effort and I needed to spice things up. So I’ve been getting all new songs ready for the next couple of months—complete with several songs about the different colored leaves of fall, raking, and general autumny stuff. I have successfully prepared almost everything I will need for the next 3 months of music class. I’ve even got my December schedule finished, complete with laminated snowflakes and bells. I wasn’t kidding about the adrenaline thing…

I’ve been teaching the adult TEOFL writing class every Tuesday, and it’s going really well. It’s nice to deal with people age 20 and up after a day of screaming at crying children, wiping dirty mouths after lunch, and telling little Tommy, for the 17th time, stop calling James a bunny. I also met with my favorite girl who’s just finished the TEOFL class this week because she wanted to talk to me about taking private lessons. I’m really excited! She’s 20 and absolutely the sweetest person ever. She’s hoping to go to school in Hawaii next year, so from now on I’ll be teaching her private classes at my apartment two nights a week—speaking and writing class. That makes 3 nights of extra teaching a week! And on top of that, Ali and I are still heading up the Adventure Teaching Korea facebook and blog project, as well as planning a big Adventure Teaching Korea event for the 3rd week of October (a day of Retro Olympics, carnival games, bbq, and an afterparty to follow…no biggy…YA RIGHT!!!). All in all, it’s going to be a busy month for yours truly.

But before the busyness takes over, I get a weekend sleeping by the ocean and eating fresh fish. Hooray. J

Gyeongbokgung Palace

On Sunday, Ali and I venture to one of the biggest palaces in Seoul, Gyeongbokgung Palace. Here's a few of the shots. For the full album, click here.




If you flip this picture upside down, it looks really cool. Try it.




















Very beautiful lake with Bukhan mountain in the distance.















The King and Queen of the palace grounds.












One of the lakes on the palace grounds.
















Very cool hallway.

















I want that colorful drum...
















The changing of the guard.












Palace grounds.















I look so tall! Actually, the doorway is just midget-sized. :(












A little cafe we stumbled on outside of the palace.