I'm Going Home!

My coworkers have been really nice this week and have allowed me to sneak out of work at lunch to prepare for my trip. It is officially 2.25PM and I will be flying out of Seoul in about 7 hours. I wasn't sure how I would get to the airport, but as I got home, my landlady said her son would take me because he is also flying tonight. Perfect. I love when things like that work themselves out! So, I'm off! I wanted to post a quick note to say Merry Christmas! I may not post a lot around the holidays...I might be a little busy! :) Blessings to you and your families--have a great season!

On the Streets of Gangnam

Steak for Lunch!

Today, my co-workers and I were given the school credit card and were told to have a meeting over lunch...but not just any lunch, a 4-course steak lunch at New York Steakhouse! Tuesday, the girl in the bottom left-hand corner and I taught a lesson and invited the other English teachers and the principal and vice principal to observe our teaching method. The principal was inspired, I guess, because he has initiated a few meetings and other observations at our school. The existing English program is based on grammar, but students see me once a week for conversation practice. There are a lot of things that can be improved, so we met for lunch to discuss co-teaching practices. I think things are in place to begin the next term on the right foot. The women in this picture are my co-workers, by the way.

12 Days According to Korean Teenagers

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
twelve monsters dancing
eleven pretty girlfriends
ten sports cars
nine new houses
eight computer games
seven Christmas trees
six movie coupons
five french fries
four F16s
three BMW's
two loads of cash
and a great big chocolate cake!

Dinner with New Friends

My friend Kara and I were invited to her co-worker's house for dinner tonight. It has been marked on the calendar and anticipated for a couple of weeks. We were picked up at 4 and headed north out of the city. We were greeted with the aroma of some of my favorite Korean dishes--homemade and completely delicious! Dinner was followed by lattes all around (with caramel hearts drawn into the froth), pecan pie and fresh grapes! Coffee was followed with red wine and camembert cheese with nuts and dried meat! So much food and drink--lots of amazing hostessing, too! The evening was comfortable, relaxing and completely fun!

Roses on the Subway

Yesterday was a nice, relaxed day of laundry, cleaning up around my place and a little shopping. I slept in until 10 (which is a little unusual for me) and lazily headed to the mall for lunch and shopping with a friend. When we were finished with our greasy cheese pizza, we headed back to the subway for our commute home. As we reached the subway platform, we encountered a large group of women holding beautiful roses! They were just getting back from a wedding. My eyes got big and I smiled when I saw all these pretty flowers and one woman noticed this. She handed over her flowers to me and asked if I would like to have hers! She pushed them into my hands with a smile. It was so nice and unexpected, but it brightened my day! It is not the first time this kind of thing has happened. The first thing that was passed into my hands from a nice Korean lady was a bunch of deep purple grapes--not the sweet ones, but the ones that really taste grape! She got up off her seat and thrust them into my hands with a smile before leaving the subway car. This type of kindness blows me off my feet! Another encounter with this unexpected friendliness was when my friend and I were invited to sit down on the subway seat next to an elderly lady. She passed us dried anchovies and showed us how to peel them and eat them neatly. These kinds of people have a special gift for brightening my day! Whenever I start to get discouraged or frustrated with living in such a busy, crowded place, I meet someone like this--sent from heaven!

Packing has Commenced!

Today was the long awaited day for me to dig my empty, dusty luggage out from under my bed. I told myself months ago that I couldn't start this process until a week before departure. So, now my room is a complete, yet organized, mess and I only have 5 more days until I am flying home for vacation! I have stacks of stuff everywhere--from clothes to gifts to drying laundry! I am counting down the days and getting very excited! My vacation plans are pretty simple, but I will savor every moment! :) I am ready for some America after traveling for nearly 7 months! I will spend the first half of my trip in freezing, cold Minnesota with my family before driving out to California with my boyfriend for the second half of my time in the States.

Some things that I am especially looking forward to are:

1. Seeing my family after 7 months away and my boyfriend after 4 months away!
2. Eating and cooking familiar foods and treats! I am especially looking forward to Swiss fondue and raclette, Mexican quesidillas and homemade Chinese food!
3. Visiting close friends and spending time catching up with them!
4. Shopping for clothes and shoes and supplies for the next 9 months!
5. Speaking English quickly and fluently without having to rephrase key points!

Quote for the day.

"She took comfort in the pure randomness that surrounded her, accepting that no one escapes, knowing that it could happen to anyone at anytime...pain, happiness, confusion, even love."

I love this quote. My friend gave it to me a few years ago, and I found it again today amongst a stack of old lesson plans and copies of worksheets from my job in Minnesota. It took on new meaning for me today. Sometimes I feel like I am surrounded by pure randomness--I know it is not random to those who grew up here, but to me it seems that way most of the time--I struggle with the daily things and make huge efforts to do things that take natives only minutes to do! Sometimes I spend hours trying to make sense of something that should be quite simple only to be left completely confused! Even so, life is good--randomness is good. I embrace the randomness around me--eventually, it starts to seem not so random anymore. Anyway, I am not going to say a lot tonight, I will spare you my futile attempts to express my thoughts in a profound way and let the quote speak for itself.

Monday, Monday

Normally, Mondays are not my favorite days of the week, but today I can't complain! Since students were taking their final exams, I didn't have any classes. I decided to try and get ahead with lesson plans, so I worked hard all morning. At noon, a co-worker invited me out for a Korean BBQ lunch, which was delicious. Then, when I arrived back to school, my vice-principal was near my desk and he told my co-teacher that I can go home early (I am sure he would've told me himself if he were able to speak English)! Awesome! I love when that happens! I got to the gym early and then my friend and I bought tickets for our vacation in February! Very exciting! AND, she shared the Christmas cookies her mom sent--you know, the ritz/peanut butter sandwiches dipped in chocolate. Yum! I am really getting excited to come home in less than two weeks! I am looking forward to it so much--it has been nearly 7 months since I have been in the States! It is time! :)

Demonstrations and Weird Chopsticks Food

Demonstrations are a regular thing in Seoul. I see them so frequently and rarely have any idea what they are about. I think the demonstration in the picture was an anti-China demonstration. I thought I would include a picture because it is so common to see. Anyway, I also wanted to include pictures and a few thoughts about using chopsticks. Sometimes they make eating so much easier! I have found myself reaching for the chopsticks even if a fork is available. However, there are some things I think should not be eaten with chopsticks! French fries and party snacks for starters. Also, salad. Salad definitely requires a fork, as well as raw vegetables. Just a couple of random thoughts today...

Images of Winter

There was a little snow on the ground this morning when I started out for work. Just a little, but it was pretty slick! On my walk from the subway to school in the morning, I had to walk across a street that was a pretty steep hill. I did this as slowly as possible (we all know how conducive women's footwear is to icy slush)! I whipped out my camera and snapped a couple of shots before heading in. The students were really playful after their final exams were finished in the afternoon--the stress had been lifted and the atmosphere was much more cheerful! The soccer balls came out and the snowballs flew! :)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

The Salvation Army bell ringers are here too. :) Today, since some of my students have already taken their final exams, I taught them the song, Santa Claus is Coming to Town. They have this song in Korean to the same tune, but it the lyrics are slightly different. The first thing I did in class was to group the students and pass out the lyrics in Korean. They had to translate the lyrics into English and here is a sample from my last class:

You Must Not Cry

you must not cry
you must not cry
Santa Grandpa don't give present to crying children
Santa Grandpa know that who is good or bad
he is coming to night
when you sleep or wakeup
when you are angry or playing
Santa Grandpa know everything
Santa Grandpa is coming to town to night

I'm Glad You to Meet!

As usual today, at 4:30, the art teacher and I started on or daily walk to the subway station. He is a sculptor and shared with me that he had a sculpture in an exhibit tonight. Using his very limited English, he asked if I had time this afternoon and if I wanted to join him. I told him I would very much like to go and see his sculpture. It turned into a whole evening and I have just gotten home (it is 9). When we got there, I realized that it was the previewing of the exhibition and the only guests were the sculptors themselves and the chairpeople of the Korean Sculptor's Association. I was the only non-artist! We looked at the art, then all went for a meal of Korean BBQ. It turned into a really fun evening, and at the end of the night, as we parted ways, after I thanked him for bringing me along, my coworker's shook my hand and said , "I'm glad you to meet." It brought a smile to my face and I thought, "I am glad you to meet too!"

Woo-hoo!!

My shower works! I have hot water for as long as I want it!! I have forgotten how much of a luxury that is to have! No more shower sprints and goosebumps on top of goosebumps! Maybe this is just my theory, but I think my cold is in direct relation to my cold shower. Do warm showers keep us healthy? I have never really believed the thought that being out in the rain makes you sick. Or, the belief that being out in the cold weather makes you sick. No way--I grew up in MN. It is cold all winter and I don't remember being sick all that much growing up. Likewise, I don't think the people who live in Seattle or London are sick all the time--it sure rains a lot in those places. Anyway, just a thought. But, a warm shower helps me start the day better (I'm not as grumpy), so maybe it is all in our heads. My room was toasty warm this evening as I got home. My landlord promised to fix the shower and turned on the heater for me. It was kind of nice and made me forget the fact that I live alone! Well, if this entry isn't random enough already, I am going to throw another thought out there. I don't think that a person could have a house pet in Korea. The floor is the source of heat and it is really hot right now (hot enough that I kind of scuttle across at a quick clip--kind of like walking barefoot across hot pavement in the summer). I don't think a cat would touch it.

A closing conversation between me and the guy at the front desk at the gym:

Him: It's cold out, huh?
Me: Yes. How cold is it going to get?
Him: Twice this cold.
Me: ? OK. ?

(Am I missing something? How cold is that going to be? Am I the only one who doesn't get it? How can it get twice as cold? Twice as cold as what?)

Sabrina, I've got a Puke and a Meow!

My friend Sabrina has a great way to rate good and bad things that happen on a daily basis: puke and meow. Good, happy, and exciting things get a meow, and bad and horrible things get a puke (there is a science to this). Now, while I haven't completely adopted this system for everything, it was the first thing I though of tonight as I walked back to my apartment! The puke thing that happened to me today was that I found out that I do indeed need to teach a three-week class during winter vacation. I had been told for about two weeks that I probably won't have to do this (and would get extra time off), but today, that dream was shattered. It isn't so bad because it will only be one 90 minute class per day for three weeks, but, when you think you will have the time completely off, and you don't, it is kind of a bummer to find that out. Another puke thing is that I am still sick. It has been way too long and I am tired of coughing, and my nose might fall off if I use one more kleenex. The meow thing that happened was when I got home, my landlady knocked on my door and invited me to dinner! She prepared mandu (Korean dumplings) and dokguk (traditional soup for Lunar New Year). Something more that came out of this dinner was that her husband promised to fix my boiler! That means, no more shower sprints after tomorrow! Each morning for the past few weeks, I have only had about two and a half minutes of hot water each morning. I get in the shower already shampooing my hair, and race through the conditioner as the hot water desists and the cold water streams out of the shower head. I am generally pretty cold at night and dread the thought of getting out of my bed and into that shower. In fact, I have been showering every night at the gym because it is consistent hot water, but I really like my morning wake-up routine. Another thing is that the button panel near my door (refer to my previous entry) has become a little clearer. My landlady told me not to touch two buttons I have been using daily. No wonder my room is usually cold in the mornings!! As you see, my day has been up and down and up and down. Thanks for letting me borrow your system Sabrina--it really fits my day today!

Mr. Pizza Made for Women

Friday nights, my friend and I have been making a habit of going out for dinner. This week, we decided on Mr. Pizza. We have visited Mr. Pizza several times since being here--the sign always cracks me up: Made for Women! What? Why?? Oh, and yesterday, we stopped at the new Tea Purple at the end of the street. For 4,050 won (roughly $4), you can get a cup of semi-hot chocolate about 2/3 full with a little whip cream on top, and if they run out of ceramic mugs (which they did), they will charge you 50 won (about a nickel) for a "to-go" cup. Lets just say, I wasn't that impressed with the new neighborhood coffee shop. And, it seemed that they were brewing coffee in a regular coffee maker like many people have at home. From now on, if I want hot chocolate, I will stick with the Swiss Miss packets my mom sent and add a few of the mini marshmallows on top! Oh, speaking of Swiss, I finished the book "The Swiss Family Robinson." I still think it is the cheesiest book I have read in a long time, but I am glad I read it--I always wanted to ride an ostrich and live in a tree house. Anyway, I still am not sure I would recommend it, but if you do read it, let me know what you think about it!