Costco, Woodstock and Galbi

So Wednesday night we had our first Costco experience. I totally made me miss mommy! It was def a fun times, just walking around looking at what was there, what we could buy, and the prices. Oh dear the prices where outrageous! For example: peanut butter $10, tortillas $10, a bag of Mexican chips $5.50. It was a fun bonding time for Beka, Adriana and I. Beka and I ended up spending over a hundred dollars!

Ok so time for an explanation as I cannot believe that I had yet to have written about it: Woodstock. Woodstock is this pretty cool, chill bar like a stones throw away from our house that we frequent all the time. And by all the time I mean 3 times a week! It is a good place to just relax, chill and breath, outside of work and home. Basically we ended up befriending our barman, Sangsou and after just hanging out with him multiple times at the bar he invited Beka and myself out to dinner, and what a dinner was it! He took us for an hours' drive in his very posh Kia (yes there really are things like that here!) to a very nice restaurant where we had Galbi, a type of Korean bbq. It was soooo good!! We had two different types of meat: one seasoned and one unseasoned. It, as usual, came with tons of different types of side dishes that were mostly good. There was this one however that was not so good: thin slices of potato in some type yellow over-powering ginger sauce. It was very not good. Not good at all. We also had a very good raspberry soju, a good cider and this cold noodle soup which was very off-putting. Can you imagine the shock to the system when, even though you know the soup is supposed to be cold, yet something in your normal mind tells you soup = warm, that when you put the spoon to your mouth, it is a total shock! Basically it was a very fun outing with our new Korean friend, who def gave us tons of gossip for the next few days and a very yummy meal to boot!

And now it is Friday night and I am watching Grey's Anatomy with the girls and really really wishing I could skip out on work tomorrow cause Lord above knows that I really need a real weekend and break! I will update again soon as I am going out to an Ice Bar tomorrow night and then the Seoul FC game on Sunday!

Miss and love you all!

rainy days...

I know, I know... I have not posted in awhile. But things have basically taken on a very mundane pace. As does the world go. So I will give you the quick update.

Regard the Sat. work days: we did end up having a meeting with Hosung our boss, in which he proceed to let him know how unhappy we were having to work Sat's and at the way in which the whole incident played out. We ended up getting somewhere, but not sure. Basically hoping that it wont happen again. WORKING 6 DAYS STRAIGHT SUCKS! It would have been fine most likely, but I and Adriana are sick and I can't seem to fall asleep. So basically now I am tired, grumpy and sick! And the kids are getting outta control. Sometimes they are so funny and motivated, working hard and just helping create a good atmoshpere, but then someone starts hitting, or being a dinosaur or just messing around and it all goes down hill. Milosh is the prime example of this behavior. He is really smart, just unmotivated, and always touching people, walking around, ignoring my rules and goading the other children. And of course they are children, so eventually ignore me and want to play! I am trying to have patience. trying...

So thats work... This past weekend we had an interesting adventure. As I have mentioned to some of you, its funny that now in Korea I realize how important soccer has gotten for me. I seriously miss watching games, talking stratagy, running around kicking a soccer ball, all of it. And it is compounded here because it is near impossible watching Liverpool games as they are at midnightish here, and people really dont do soccer, and girls DEFINITELY dont do soccer. So this weekend when we found ourselves at a Western Bar in Itaewon and Burnley vs. Sunderland was on (two teams I dont really care much for, but I must admit that Burnley really impressed me with thier performance) I became totally uninterested in meeting people or the beer in front of me. I sat there drinking it all in, totally realizing how much I love this silly sport! Dad, this is totally your fault! Hahha I really must be your daughter cause I am seriously obsessed! This weekend I am def gonna try and convince the girls to go out and see the Seoul FC game Sunday and stay out a little late to catch the Liverpool game. We shall see though.

So with that in mind (and because I always love thinking about next steps) I have been weighing a couple different plans for post-Korea. One is to do Right Of Play which is another year commitment coaching soccer for development and peace, probably in Francophone Africa, but I also found a program in Honduras where I could coach soccer and do some planning and admin stuff with an NGO for 2-3 months which is actually sounding really good. Get in touch in Honduras, practice my Spanish some more (especially as it is a skill that is really marketable in MLS) but I dont know much about it so would def have to do some more research. Of course try and find a job at an MLS team (wouldn't Vancouver be awesome, working with an expansion team and all!) but shall see...

That whole future thing is crazy! I keep trying to think about how I can turn my time in Korea into a time where I can learn skills that will be important in the future so if you have any ideas! Unfortunately youth soccer here is almost nonexistent so thats a non-starter and I still can't really find anywhere to play.. but I am planning on buying a ball and just going out kicking around hopefully the international language of soccer draws in a couple takers!

Oh! Rain! haha today was the first really rainy day so far. Its still quite warm oddly enough, but dang does it pour! Like I have never seen such hard or so much rain in one moment. Really weird!

Also another funny story from the weekend. So Sat night we went out to Itaewon to find a burger, never got one but after watching the game we were on our way out when a guy complemented Beks on her hat. We ended up chatting with these guys for a bit before they invited us to a beer pong party. After a quick girl consultation we decided to see whats up and ended up at a total American house party, complete with a keg of Cass (the Korean PBR, which is actually quite good, though def getting a little old, could use something more tasteful now but there really arent many choices here in Korea oddly enough)! Anyways, we ended up playing a game, which was weird, but fun. Definitely an interesting experience for sure. Dont know if I will ever wish to repeat it but hey!

Well I think thats generally it! As alway, I miss everyone dearly and hope that all is well with you and that life is treating you all wonderfully!

Swine Days

For Michael:
These pics above are some DELIOUS Bulgogi that the three of us had after visiting Anne in the hospital. (Anne is a friend of ours who burnt herself with boiling water on Monday and is now sitting pretty ath a hospital about 40mins away for the whole week). Anyways omg what a great meal, we had sooo many side dishes... a kimchi salad, a regular salad, kimchi, a kimchi soup, some tofou dish (one of my faves), another type of spicy soup and this great eggy dish... and thats not even the bulgogi bit! For those of you who do not know, bulgogi is a meat dish that is made at the table with mushrooms and greens. You then use salad leaves to roll rice, sauces and the meat into a nice little bite! Basically YUMMY!!!!!

Today (Tuesday) we went on a hike to Inwangsan Shamanist Hillside (and by we I mean all four teachers: Jen, Adriana, Rebekah and myself). The hike was only about 30 mins away from our home by subway and was beautiful. I really enjoyed getting away from the city being among nature etc. There was some very ornate buildings and sites to see (and a great view of the city). We took a picnic and found a very pretty place up in the rocks...

After this we walked towards Independance Park, which was a park dedicated to liberation from Japan. It was a very pretty relaxing area...

Work news: As most of you know we had Monday and Tuesday off due to a confirmed case of the swine flu. Woot we all thought, untill we were awoken Monday morning and were told that we will HAVE to make them up the Sat's of 19th and 26th. Us teachers were NOT NOT NOT happy. As there is nothing in our contracts menioning this, nor saying anything about working Sat's we are upset. Espcially as this now means that we will be working 6 days straight, one day off, another 6 days straight, one day off, then 4 days at work. WHAT! So today we had a meeting with Hosung our director to get some answers about the situation as we really haven't been told anything. After that us teachers ironed out our feelings and thoughts and are going to talk to him tomarrow during our lunch break to discuss the poor communication in this matter and what we would like to see happen in future cases: mainly that we be included in the discussion for makeup days as we would have much prefered to have staggered the Sat. work days.

I know some of you think we should just suck it up, but our feelings are that knowing the seriousness in this country about the swine flu, there should have been a clasue in our contracts mentioning the rules for this instance. That and the improfessional manner in which we were informed was annoying. Bleg, anyways hopefully everything will be ok and we will make it through the next couple weeks.

Anways that is basically that is the jist. We are now off to bed to start our three day work week. It should be a packed week as tom. we are heading back to visit Anne, Thurs is korean class with Hosung (which will be AWESOME!, situtational Korean at a bar), Friday going out on the town with the ladies, Saturday we are going to listen to another Korean Traditional Music concert then to a Seoul FC game, and Sunday we are off to COEX mall to go to a English bookstore! Ahh I know right!

Pic from Korean Traditional Concert on Sat

Well as I almost always say at the end, I miss you all loads, but am having a great time. I have very quickly realized that as much as I like kids teaching isn't for me but I love love love Seoul. This doesn't mean that I am not happy to be here and that I took this step as I love my kids, more it means that spccer really is my passion! Hopefully I will be able to get great at Korean and find a soccer job here hehe! Well thats it my friends, more soon!

Seriously?!?

Ok, so as I eluded to in my previos post, one of the kids (actually one that is in my class but have not meet as he as been home all week) has been diagnosed with swine flu. Ergo our school has closed for Monday and Tuesday of this week for cleaning etc. However, I guess we are now being made to make up those days on two Saturdays the 19th and the 26th. Which would mean we would be working two six-day work weeks in a row!! Needless to say, this has the house in an uproar as there is nothing about making up classes in our contract and we definatly cannot imagine having to work 6 days in a row... TWICE! Now I am sure that many of you might think we are lame weak sauce as it really is not that bad, and as people will know I have many a-time worked straight weeks, but dang teaching takes a lot out of you! I think this is espcially frustrating as the four of us are not professional teachers and obviously we are really here to travel and explore while living in another country. And only one day to rest and no days to explore is really upseting.

So basically the oldet teacher (Jen who has also been here the longest) is going to talk to Hosung our director about this and hopefully it can be solved. We are hoping to only have to do one make-up Saturday a month so as to no cut into our lives too much. ]

In other news, our dear friend Anne I guess got burned with water and is in the hospital so we are off to visit her and bring her a care pack as she is far out and all by herself! Poor girl, its sad cause it couldnt have happened to a more sweet girl!

Ah so thats the drama for now... will let you know what else is up soon!

To combat this sad news here are some fun pics! The first is a grass sculputre of Haechi, the mythical protector of Seoul. The second is me (!) at the Palace!

Feckin Tourists!

Roomies: Adriana, Beka and myself!

Woot! After my first week of working I was very happy for Friday to come and to go out drinking with the ladies in Itewon (the more international district of Seoul) and boy what a night that was.We started the night eating at Mr. Pizza, a slightly overpriced pizza place, but well worth it. We had an Indian-inspired pizza with chicken, spices on it and the crust was to die for , cheese covered stuffed with sweet potato. They we headed out on the subway to Itewon were we first went to this pretty awesome latin bar where the floors were covered in sand and the maragartias were delicious! Then we meet up with some friends of the roomie and then proceeded to another bar to meet up with some more Americans. And at bar #2... FREE DRINKS for the ladies all night. I have no real clue what the marketing plan was in that move but hey, I'm not complaining! Out till 3ish, then home to bed.

Saturday we were off to a late start, but eventually got moving and went out to near Dongdaemun for lunch. We went to a resto called Everest, an Indian place that was sooo goood! Beka and I both had Chicken tikka masala. Really spicy but so good.

After that we walked to the Western gate that also marks the beginning of Dongdaemun market and took some photos, but after that we were pretty tired to headed to E-mart (basically a Walmart-type store with a lil of everything) to get some groceries and some room decor, and then went back home. I rearranged my room and it is now starting to look much better... still need somethings but getting there!

Sunday we decided to go to Deosugung Palace in downtown Seoul. It was such a beautiful campus... we got there a bit early to watch the changing of the guards and listen to their demonstration and then meet up with Adriana and took a tour of the inside.

There was also a free Korean traditional concert at 4om so we stayed and watched.... awesome music. Some really interesting and different musical instruments that combined create a very moving sound. Afterwards we went in search of food and ended up eating our favorite Ttockbokgi, a spicy red sauce and rice patty dish, some fun rice balls and some fried mandu dumplings... very yummy!

After that we headed down the main strip, looked at some awesome building structures and walked down Cheogyyi River. Above is a picture of some of the beautiful and almost oddly placed things in the city.

This river had been covered up and built over, but in the early 2000's during an environmental push, they city and uncovered it and turned it into a beautiful rest area for people. We stayed there for a long while, grabed some street food and sitting talking until it started to get dark. There were some pretty awesome light shows that went on as it got darker as well. We then explored some very interesting streets with tons of lights and little shops... bought some honey candy that came with a great explanation of how it was made... by the end of the day we were very tired!

Today and tomorrow we don't have school because of a flu scare so we are off to explore more! Will post again soon! I think today we are gonna go explore the city and bit more and tomorrow we are going to go and look around at some Shamanistic Temples in the mountains.. go for a little walk and picnic of sorts!

I'm a Teacher ?!?!?

"Teacher"? asked a random elementary aged girl on the streets.

And so has been passed the last couple of days here in Korea. Yesterday we started classes... and I was definatly nervous. From what the owners and other teachers said my class was supposed to be terrors, some of the work kids in the school. And after our one hour preperation the night before, I wasnt really sure what was going on. So I started and I was nervous, unsure of what to do I suddenly found myself in front of a classroom with a nuch of 4 year olds looking at my expectantly, calling me teacher and waiting for me to idk teach.

The first day was obviously very heticc and crazy. I didnt have all the books so the first 10 mins of every class that day was very confused. My young kids are actually GREAT! Logan is the cutest kid, so sweet and caring. Milosh is the one who everyone assumes is the devil and yes he is hectic but he is cute once you figure him out. Elizabeth and Suzzane are teachers helpers, always eager to help out. Timothy I havent quite figured out yet. Thomas however is a DOLL! So cute and always tries hard to get the answers right. Ewan is the devil, not one of my favs but when he likes the activity he is totally into. And lastly is Jeff, a super cute shy boy who is so sweet. With this class I do phonics, gym, writing, cooking, themes (which is a weekly theme that we center games etc around: this week is jobs) and a bunch of other things. I am with them from 10am to 1. Then I have a planning break. Then playtime with the babies. And then two grammer and english classes. The first which is my worst class and the last which is the BEST class.

Some random Korean things are people stare at us HELLA! It's so weird. We are not sure if it is cause we are foriegn and there are not many in our neighboyhood or if its my hair. The first day the other kids saw me they went crazy over my hair. It was funny. The food is still great! Tonight we are going out to get this really yummy chicken thing. Things are open soooo late here... like the mall is open until 10pm! Drivers are MAD here, its crazy.

About the appartment. Its actually really nice. I have a pretty big room with a queen size bed. Unfortuantly I have the wrong sized fitted sheet so its a bit awkward as I try to make due. The lived area is Big too. Will post pics soon. Our roommates (and the other two American teachers) are really sweet.

Basically thats about it. Will write more soon. Miss you all and love you bunches!

*side note: in a previous post I said that my breakfest was $60.. I meant to say $6... so yea. cheap for great coffee and waffles!*