hey beautiful day

“One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.” — William Feather

2012-01-14T21:13:00.001-08:00

I feel lucky. I have had my fair share of grand adventures. I have lived on two different continents other then North America over the last three years and visited many more in between. I have made memories that will last a lifetime but will forever seem like a distant daydream. Christmas on the eiffel tower? Sunsets on seemingly deserted Australian beaches? Teaching English to a class of adoring Korean children with smiling faces and big hearts? Yeah right. These are things to remember. And to love. And to share. And to learn from. I have realized that I am a mover. An adventurer. A gypsy soul. But while travel by definition is pretty much always an adventure I am learning that I am currently embarking on what could be the greatest adventure of all. Living a life that I will not soon have to leave. Making connections with people that I will not soon say goodbye to. Gaining experience that will lead to something tangible in the future. Setting up a home that is truly mine, and not only where I stay in passing.

And I am excited.

Preschool Life Lessons

2011-09-05T08:44:00.001-07:00

"This slide keeps sliding me DOWN!"

"Hey Miss Abby! I can see through your eyes"

2011-07-31T11:51:00.001-07:00

"Oh yeah, what did you see?"

"Your brain. It's full of green stuff and air."

IT'S FESTIVAL SEASON

2011-01-04T04:23:00.000-08:00

There are some INCREDIBLE music festivals floating around Australia this Summer. Last month we went to one called Stereosonic, which was pretty much just a bunch of DJs going crazy in the sun. Overall loads of fun. This Saturday we are going to SummaDayze to see NERD and David Guetta. CAN'T WAIT. Australians don't mess around with their music festivals. Especially for guys. It takes ages to get their hair fluffy enough, their singlets just the right about of revealing, their cut offs perfectly frayed and to find the right floro sunnies. Here is a video to help you understand:

"Happy Christmas, I tink it's turty-nine out teday"

2011-01-04T00:56:00.001-08:00

Christmas in Australia was unlike any other Christmas I have ever had. While I spent Christmas away from home last year (Paris), it was in a new city to me and it was cold. This year not only were we in our "home" city for the time being, but it was extremely, sweat drippingly, can't move because I might melt, hot. We had a few invitations for the big day, but ended up spending our Australian Christmas with a few Irish friends celebrating, drinking and eating a huge 'traditional' Irish dinner.

We were invited to Irish Christmas by our friend Crazy (his name is really Cathal, which sounds like an Irish version of 'Karl', but we can't seem to say it right ever), who promised that the beer would be cold and our tummies would be stuffed. It was an offer we couldn't refuse and on Christmas morning we found ourselves packing a taxi with a case of TEDs (toohey's extra dry beer...sorta like miller i guess), sugar cookies, and Allie's delicious spinach artichoke dip. OH! and a chocolate cake for Jesus' birthday in accordance with one of Allie's family traditions. We arrived at Crazy's friend Stevie's house to find a sweet dog, a new wii to play with, a ton of food/beer, and an overall relaxing atmosphere.

Christmas day followed pretty much the same pattern as it does at home, eat, drink, play with new toys, but with a few additions like suntan, swim and sit outside till 1 am. The dinner was absolutely delicious and very much like our Thanksgiving dinner: Turkey, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes and gravy, and some very tasty pork. Everyone seemed to enjoy the birthday cake even though we didn't get a chance to sing Jesus "Happy Birthday". It was so so so nice to actually sit around a big table and eat a big meal with an group of other Christmas orphans.

After dinner we goofed around the pool, and eventually ended up playing an epic game of KINGS. One of the BEST parts of the evening festivities was when the absolutely wonderful hosts brought out a plate of freshly fried up chips and spring rolls. Drunchies satisfied without evening leaving the house! This is definitely something I need to remember to do for future parties that I throw.

"I'm sorry love, I really can't be bothered right now but thank you anyways"

2010-11-19T20:15:00.001-08:00

In the name of money, and adventure funding, I have started working at a marketing research agency. While I have a degree that would almost allow me to design the studies, I am but a cold calling survey giving annoyance. I call people from all over Australia, interrupt their dinners or children's bath times, and ask them if they would like to talk about their newspaper readership, their opinions of local roads, use of LPG gas, and most fun of all their incomes before tax.... But really I can't imagine doing this anywhere else. I have really only been yelled at once and am most often greeted with a "sorry darling" or "not right now sweetheart" (which is the best when I know im calling farmers in the outback). And a surprising number of people actually do want to talk to me, especially when I inform them it is in the name of research. Most often they want to play the guessing game of where I'm from. The winning guesses have been Canadian and Irish (?). I have come across some pretty interesting, silly and just plain illogical people....

For example:

This gentlemen displayed an extreme passion for roads
"I will stand at parliament if they decide to privatize the roads system!"
"Very well, and lastly can I just ask you how old you are?"
"I'll be 80 on Sunday"

or

"Why aren't people reasonable! It's not the roads but that there are so many cars on the road and people driving alone. We need to get back to the metro projects"
10 min later
"And how often are you a passenger on a bus?"
"Oh never! I never use public transports!"

and sometimes angry

"I'm busy at the moment but what's your number and I'll ring you back?"
"No worries just let me know what time is most convienent and I'll give you a call then"
"THAT'S RIGHT YOU DON'T WANT PEOPLE CALLING YOU AT ALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT AND ANNOYING YOU EITHER"

Sometimes you just gotta hang up and move on.

playing in the land down under

2010-11-07T01:06:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been awhile since I have even thought about writing on here but now that I am settled in Perth, and have an inexpensive internet connection, I think it is time to start sharing stories about our adventures in Australia. The whole tale seems overwhelming to tell all at once so I'll go little by little.

The first couple of days in Sydney were a whirlwind. We were disoriented from the huge time change and painfully long flight, but excited to explore the famous city. We walked and walked and walked all day until the only thing left was to crash into bed at the hostel. Oh the hostel. While Sydney was our first taste of Australia, the Jolly Swagman was our first taste of hostel life. Located in the King's Cross (which any guidebook will tell you is the center of Sydney's backpacker culture, full of cheap accommodations, camper vans for sale, lively bars and seedy gentleman's clubs), the Swagman was a culture shock of its own. The first night of our delirious jet lagged sleep was disturbed when a french man started banging on our door trying to get the attention of our German roommate. At 4am. Late night shenanigans seemed to be the norm and we soon were accustomed to hearing all the international folks coming in late as the pubs closed. We even joined sometimes.

The opera house and harbour bridge were as picture perfect as one would imagine. Both sights hit you in the face with the fact that you were in fact ACTUALLY in Australia. One afternoon, we ventured to the Sydney Aquarium and wildlife park and were introduced to all the sneaky, venomous things that could kill you. One of the sections was actually called "The Venom Zone". Sort of terrifying. Luckily though most Australians seem to still be alive and not suffering from constant spider or snake bites, so I try not to think about it. The trip to the wildlife park ended with kangaroos and koalas which almost made up for all the venom.

A Day in the Life

2010-02-05T00:50:00.000-08:00

I just got home from a pretty wonderful Friday at school. One of the last three Fridays I will ever spend at HABA actually (huh? really? only 2.5 weeks of school left?) Being in such a good mood caused me to take way too many photos and some pretty silly videos. They represent a fairly typical day.

My day always begins with the inevitable screech of the alarm clock at 8:05 am. I shower. Eat breakfast. Check the internet. And then go back to bed for another 15 min. Around 9:05 I drag myself back up and head out into the freeeeeeezing cold and walk to HABA. When it's not raining/snowing/incredibly windy its a delightful 15 minute walk. This morning we had what they called the "HABA Bazaar". All the kids brought a bunch of toys, books and clothing to sell on little mats to their classmates. It was soooo much fun to watch how some of them really got into selling their junk, turning into yelling, bartering, ajummas. After the fun morning (usually a morning filled with 30-60 min classes) I head to Violet class to help serve and eat lunch with them. Most of the time I sit quietly and listen to what I assume are conversations regarding the state of the economy and South Korean politics. Other times I talk about animals and food and make silly faces. Regardless, lunch time is generally relaxing and sort of entertaining (unless it is squid or pressed fish day. Then I'm not such a happy camper)
When 1:40 rolls around it is time for afternoon English Club classes to begin. English club ranges in age from 5 year olds to 3rd graders. All of us English teachers get to teach each group of kids at least once a week and everyday the schedule is different. On Friday's I teach "Cooking in English" to the 5 year olds. Its always sticky and usually fun. Today we made "giant sandwiches".We put ham, cucumbers, apples, cheese, tomatoes and mayo on a giant baguette. They actually turned out delicious and a little too big for their tiny mouths. Sally : "This is veeeeery big". After cooking its time for EC7A, a class full of incredibly bright and energetic 7 year olds. We spend most of the class doing book work but always ended playing board games or singing or dancing. Today Chris decided he wanted to sing me a song. Does anyone recognize it?

Finally, I will leave you with one last video of the 5 year old cooking class working on their recipe coloring sheets. As you can see, I have a lot of conversations with myself. And have NO idea what is really ever going on.

My body, my town

2010-01-11T02:29:00.000-08:00

Every Friday morning at Haba is spent preparing for what we call 'Presentation'. Each English teacher spends the first two hours of school with the same 6 or 7 year old class doing 'Show and Tell'. This show and tell usually consists of teaching the kids a phrase about the monthly topic and then typically a song. Oh yeah, each month we have a different theme. January's is 'My body, My town'. February is 'Friends and shopping'. A few classes are centered on these themes and your presentation is supposed to be related to the theme somehow. At 12:00 sharp Friday the 6 and 7 year olds are marched into the gym and perform, along with their teacher, what they have learned that day for everyone. It is usually very fun and always super cute to see what actually happens when the kids are standing up front with a microphone in their face.

For most of the time that I have been at Haba, I've spent these mornings with schwarz class. This is a very interesting class because it is full of 6 rambunctious boys (who most the time think that they are honestly transformers) and one very sweet girl. While I have a hard time always controlling them and keeping them from harming one another, we also spend a lot of time laughing and having fun. This past Friday we talked about our body parts and how many of each part we have.For presentation they talked about whatever body part they wanted ( a lot of "I have one head", "I have two arms", and "I have one mouth"), and we all sang the song "I have two arms". I was very proud of their performance. The following video is them practicing the song before we headed out to meet the rest of the school. You can see that most of the kids are doing great but in the right corner Optimus Prime (Antonio) and Megatron (Roy) being a little feisty.

Oh, we also had a 'Sorry, Sorry' dance party.

They dug it.

Paris

2010-01-04T00:12:00.001-08:00

Spending the better part of my winter break in Paris was a very interesting experience. Not only was it my first time in Europe, it was my first time traveling alone (our winter breaks only overlapped for Christmas eve and Christmas, so David and I had 1.5 days in Paris together), as well as the first time I had left Asia for the past 7ish months. My introduction to the 'city of light' was stepping out of the Metro station in Montmartre at 11 pm Christmas eve night to be faced with an overwhelming amount of diversity, grit and no idea where I was. After walking around for awhile, David thankfully found me and led us towards our cute Parisian apartment that I had rented off of craigslist. From there the trip was only to get better.
Christmas day was spent exploring the quintessential Parisian sights, accompanied by a lot of "wows", "are we really here?", giggling, eating and of course "kiss me under the eiffel tower"s. I'm not going to lie that when David left the next day I felt apprehensive about my ability to explore this new and seemingly overwhelming city on my own. But to my surprise I spent the next three days walking for hours, taking a million pictures and thoroughly enjoying the sights and sounds of this famous city. I even went down into the catacombs alone which was creepy but very very cool. I really had a wonderful time and am so thankful that working in Korea has allowed me not only to pay off debt and save money, but has also given me the freedom, and confidence, to step out into other places in the world. I learned that yes I can be a confident, independent traveller, but enjoy having a buddy there to share the experience with much more. Once I landed in an icy cold Korea, I was quite happy to hop on the familiar airport bus in Incheon and have it drop me off in front of the grocery store where I have bought food for the last 7 months and walk down the friendly (and clean!) street to my semi-warm apartment. It oddly felt like coming home.

One day left

2009-12-22T01:44:00.000-08:00

Until school is out for Winter break and I am off to Paris. David left yesterday morning and is already enjoying cheap brie and croissants. I can't wait to join him and have an adventure outside of the Asian continent. I wanted to post this picture awhile back because it is pretty much the best way to explain the couple of blocks surrounding my school. The street is called the Hagwon-ga, which means 'private school road'. As you can see in the sign there are floors upon floors of English schools, math schools, pc bangs (rooms with computers that Korean's spend hours playing starcraft and other various computer games) and of course, because this is Korea, there is a random bar thrown in the mix. Such a crazy, but cool place.

a little holiday message from my friends

2009-12-17T02:19:00.001-08:00

Starring Weisse class 6 year olds, Eagle, Brian Lee, Marcella and Alex. Eagle was loving it. The others were really into coloring Santa.

Highest Art Gallery in the World

2009-12-15T02:38:00.000-08:00

David and I spent Sunday exploring the Seoul National Cemetery as well as one of Seoul's tallest buildings. The cemetery offered a peaceful hike through rows of graves and monuments dedicated to South Korea's most honored soldiers, generals and presidents.It was refreshing to be out of the concrete jungle of the city. We even signed the guestbook saying we paid our respects to the past presidents of the country we currently call home. After working up an appetite we headed to Seoul's 63 building. With 60 floors above ground and 3 below, the building was quite an interesting mix of entertainment.The basement housed a wax museum, aquarium (complete with penguins...underground. strange.), a hugely expensive buffet, food court, imax theatre and of course a bakery. We also discovered that the 60th floor was currently home to the highest art gallery in world, showcasing the work of several iconic artists. The promise of a sunset and views of Seoul from South of the Han beckoned us to the top. We weren't disappointed with what we found.

Sa wa de kaa.....wait where am I?

2009-12-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday David and I met up with Danny and his co-worker Gabby in Dongdaemun market. While I wouldn't suggest anyone go to this market around Christmas season, on a Saturday afternoon (one could hardly move because there were soooooo many people out) it was fun to explore the never ending stalls of clothing and accessories and pretty much anything else you might want. Outside of the big shopping centers one could find stand after stand of ajummas (old ladies with perms and visors) selling stacks of books, as well as more scarves and beanie hats than I have ever seen. All really interesting, but just a little too crowded.

After a full afternoon of shopping, we headed back across the river to South Seoul for some very tasty Thai food. We spent two lazy hours feasting on duck curry (with the most delicious pineapple I have ever tasted), chili chicken, noodles and of course a giant pitcher of beer to wash down all the Thai spice. So so good.

A Merry Little Christmas

2009-12-12T19:38:00.000-08:00

In the name of Christmas spirit I splurged and bought a mini fake Christmas tree the other day at Home Plus (sort of the Korean equivalent of Target, needless to say I love Home Plus ALMOST as much as I love Target). David and I were very cheesy, drinking hot cocoa and listening to the 'Number 1's: Christmas' cd, while decorating it. David's mom was also sweet enough to send an awesome package to him full of gifts, taco seasoning, lifesavers and wedding invitations. Pretty much everything that you need to celebrate Christmas in Korea. The tree makes it much more cozy in here. And being cozy makes me happy.

"Dear Santa, I like beetle"

2009-12-10T03:33:00.001-08:00

This is my friend Eddie. He is in first grade, likes purple grapes and his favorite animal is the king beetle. Every week I get to spend two glorious, easy, hours with him at the end of the day hanging out, taking spelling tests, talking about our favorite foods, and playing games. Today we got done with our class work super early and I asked Eddie what he wanted to do. I offered up several games but he had his own idea. Eddie just wanted to spend some time drawing beetles, because really who wouldn't?

Acro Towers

2009-12-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

On a cold, dark walk home it is nice to have these towers to guide me. Even though I've never been in them Acro Towers constantly proves itself to be my point of reference whether I am on top of a mountain looking down on Anyang, or catching a cab home. They are kinda pretty too all lit up.

same same

2009-12-08T05:18:00.000-08:00

If you spend enough time in Korea you will notice a certain silly trend among couples. In an effort to express their love to the world, couples can often be seen in head to toe matching outfits. And I seriously mean head to toe. I've seen couples with the same shoes, jeans, jackets and baseball caps.

Anyways, last night David Green and I decided we needed an after dinner snack (a snickers of course). Without thinking we jumped into our shoes and headed down to the convenience store so very conveniently located in my building. About halfway through the elevator ride down we realized something....

We matched. And were fairly embarrassed because of it.

"and then he scratch me"

2009-12-07T02:12:00.000-08:00

Meet David and Terry. They are 7 years old and very silly. In the morning they are both in Grun class (that is German for green. Each class at HABA is identified by a different color in German. We have gelb, wiesse, schwarz, violet, grun, rot, blau and orange. It makes total sense that an English school in South Korea would categorize itself using German right?) In the afternoons I teach their English club group, which they refer to as "B team", once a week. During this hour I am not only impressed by the progress they have made with their English but throughly entertained by their stories. Today Terry told me about his weekend encounter with his little brother Eric. Eric is 4 and also a student at HABA. Terry refers to Eric solely as "my baby".

Terry: "ABBY TEEEEEEEEEACHER! This weekend my baby scratch me"

Me: "Oh no Terry. Why did Eric scratch you?"

Terry: "My baby Eric...I give him toy....and then he scratch me"

Me: "Was he angry at you Terry?"

Terry: "No. I just give him toy and then he scratch me like this [insert clawing of the face]. I dunno. My baby Eric is crazy"

I somehow think there was more to the story than this. I sincerely hope that none of you encountered any crazy scratching babies this weekend. They seem quite dangerous and out of control.

Oh yeah. They wanted me to take a picture of them coloring. They wanted people to know that yes, they are indeed good students.

"Abbbbbby teacher we will color and you take picture. ok?"

and then 2 seconds later....

p.s. in order to update this more often and to truly show what my everyday life in Korea is like, I have made a pact with David to not only take a picture everyday but to post one as well. so far 3/3. Ole!

Jogyesa

2009-12-06T03:49:00.001-08:00

Today we explored Jogyesa, a Buddhist temple in the heart of Seoul. It was a freezing but perfectly clear day. After joining Danny and Alex on a private guided tour, we were told the story of the Buddha's life. The story was depicted in paintings surrounding the main temple hall which housed three giant Buddha figures.
We were told to come back at 5:30 to hear the bell ringing ceremony.

Shamu Shamu

2009-12-06T03:36:00.000-08:00

The past saturday was spent strolling through the two big department stores that are a few blocks away from my apartment in Anyang. I was overjoyed with all the Christmas decorations and definitely caught the Christmas spirit bug. I think I am even going to buy a tree tomorrow to decorate. After an afternoon of shopping and napping, we headed out to eat Shamu Shamu (I think thats how you spell it). Shamu Shamu is a style of cooking that involves adding thinly sliced pieces of meat, in our case beef, and various vegetables to a boiling broth that is conveniently located on your table. You pick out of the broth what you want to eat and it is all very delicious. Tableside cooking might be one of my favorite things about Korea. Whether it be bbq or dak galbi, I love having everything cooked right in front of me. It makes eating a much more social event when everyone is centered around the communal food rather than staring down at their own plate.

thankful.

2009-11-26T02:11:00.000-08:00

christmas lights in Beomgye.

a boy that always makes me laugh. multiple times everyday.

costco in Korea.

the internet.

blankets...many many blankets.

champagne.

daily emails from family.

packages from home.

taco seasoning.

cheese.

opportunity.

7 year olds that are in a cooperative mood.

giggles.

walks home.

beautiful, wonderful, amazing friends. even if you are half way around the world right now.

beautiful, wonderful, amazing family. ever if you are half way around the world right now.

the upcoming thanksgiving party.

and probably you.

Whipped cream and Optimus Prime

2009-11-20T01:07:00.001-08:00

Sometimes laying down the law is hard work.

But this makes up for all the grey hair.

2009-11-13T03:18:00.001-08:00

"Be here now, and know the beauty of what is.
Free yourself from concerns about what was,
or anxieties about what will be." - Ralph Marston

Out, About and the Daily Grind

2009-11-11T02:36:00.001-08:00

It has been far too long since I've last posted. This is most likely due to the fact that the weekends are full of random adventures and the weeks are full of long days and lazy, lazy nights. Not a bad life. The strange thing though, is that today when I went out to run errands (recharge my cell phone which is less than $10 a month, and pick up some things for special 'pepero day' dinner) I hardly even felt like I was in Korean (or any other foreign country for that matter). Things have become so routine here. And not routine in a bad way at all. I just knew exactly where I needed to go, in order to do exactly what I needed to do. No more guessing where I could find some brie cheese or fretting over the fact that I wouldn't be able to communicate what I needed to cell phone guy. I just simply went about my business.

School has become routine as well. I know exactly what Monday means and exactly what a Wednesday will bring (oh terrible Wednesday and the 'white' hairs that you give me). Each week more or less the same things happen and soon enough it is the glorious weekend again. Speaking of grey hairs, the other day Juliet found 12 on my head. Sam offered to pluck them out in exchange for 500 won (which is like .50). I refused his offer and he was fairly upset. He didn't speak the rest of class which actually wasn't a bad thing at all.

Anyways here are few of my favorite pictures from the last couple weeks. They include trips to Seoul Tower, a hike in the huge Bukhansan park right outside the city, and finally the zoo in Seoul Grand Park. Oh and of course pictures of the Halloween celebration at school. Far too cute even if I did get swarmed a couple times for being in charge of the candy. Each kid was only allowed one lollipop each....what kind of Halloween is that?

Happy Chuseok! Let's go to the beach!

2009-10-14T03:22:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago South Koreans celebrated the harvest with a holiday similar to Thanksgiving called Chuseok. For the weeks prior to the long weekend, gift sets took over the shelves of the grocery stores. These gift sets ranged from beauty supply sets, shampoo, Whiskey bottles and my favorite by far, the Spam set. This box held what I hope to be more Spam then a person can/should eat in a year. Apparently during the three days of Chuseok Koreans eat a lot of songpyeon (sort of stuffed rice cakes. We got to make some at school!) and sometimes visit/pay respect to their ancestors. At school I asked Anna teacher if she was excited for the upcoming events, she quickly replied with "Not really. I have to cook all weekend while the men relax. Women don't get excited for Holidays like Chuseok and New Years".

At school we had a good time playing traditional games and singing songs. All the kids wore their Hanboks and were super adorable. Sarah teacher even brought in her traditional clothing so that I wouldn't be left out.

Since there was no school on Friday because of Chuseok, David and I decided to head out of the city to an Island off the West coast in the Yellow Sea. Our trip to Doekjoekdo was perfect and so needed. The journey there included an empty subway ride, a sold out ferry but tickets for the one 3 hours later, watching a sketch comedy show in the terminal that we laughed at with all the Koreans even though we had no idea what was going on, a ferry ride that was far too choppy for my liking, a taxi ride that could have been a roller coaster with a taxi driving in aviators, a gold chain and redsox shirt and finally the beach.

We laid on the beach for hours, watching all the other 50 foreigners who had the same idea, then headed into town when hunger took over. While walking around we found a guy who we had met at mudfest. He graciously invited us to the bbq that his pension was putting on for him and his friends. After dinner and a gorgeous sunset, there was of course the necessary drinking around the beach bonfire. Somehow we ended up at a noreabong (private karaoke room) with a couple from Canada and New Zealand. Since we didn't bring a tent the beach was our hotel for the night and offered us a covered platform with opened arms. We even found eggs and sausage for breakfast the next morning! After a little more exploring we hitched a ride with the previously mentioned cabi back to the ferry and back to reality. Not a bad way to spend the weekend.

oh yeah....for Winter break I bought a plane ticket to France. Paris for Christmas? Why the heck not.

HABA Olympics

2009-09-21T01:49:00.000-07:00

Today at school I was fortunate enough to snag seats to the Haba Olympics. The 6 and 7 year olds split up into a red team and blue team, one class of each age on each. It was the greatest thing to watch. They were all so so so happy and so so so excited to be playing the rediculous games that the gym teacher had come up with. I only got to hang out and help for an hour because I had to go teach the 5 year olds. ugh. They are a handful to say the least. We are working on saying the phrase, "Lets see. One book, two erasers, three crayons, four markers, and five toys". They are cute but a bunch of little monkeys. Anyways... I would like to introduce the 6 and 7 year olds of Haba!! They are all hilarious. I hope you enjoy this exclusive olympic footage.

They don't exactly have this much energy during class, but pretty close.

In the beginning of this video, from left to right, you have Cindy, Nicole, Nick and Dorothy. And yes...Nick does have a mullet. It is wonderful. In the video before you can also see all the usually lovely Korean teachers as well as a shot of the other native English teacher Ryan.

river hill

2009-09-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend David and I headed up the Han river, about 20 min outside Seoul, to meet up with his co-workers to hang out on river hill. It was such a wonderful weekend spent eating delicious (and super cheap) Korean food, riding on boats (and a lot of "I'm on booooat" singing), wakeboard watching, dock jumping and overall enjoyment of being outside the city playing in the sun.

Once again we stayed in one of the "love motels". Apparently this area is infamous for being THE place to bring your mistress for an hour or two. Not only is it close to the city but also seen as somewhat romantic. Although I see nothing romantic about places that rent by the hour and have a red light option in the room. The funniest part of all this was that rooms could not be booked for an overnight stay till late in the evening because the motel wanted to make as much money as possible through hourly rentals...oh so romantic. ick.

Swine vacation, river bike rides and football matches

2009-09-06T02:10:00.000-07:00

Life in Korea has been pretty great lately...especially since I have had the greater part of the last two weeks off from work.

Two Wednesdays ago I was teaching my rowdy 6 year olds like normal when one of the Korean teachers rushes in and says that we all have to go home. Super confused I went out and asked the other English teacher at Haba what the heck was going on and he informed me that the school just found out that one of the 5 year olds, Raphael, has swine flu and that we do in fact get to go home...for the next week! While neither of us were to concerned and actually pretty happy about this surprise vacation the rest of the school was in chaos. Korean teachers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, talking a mile a minute on the phone with parents and getting all their students ready to leave. Everyone was gone within a half an hour, it was ridiculous. Eventually our won jon (boss) told us that we didn't have to come back to school until the following Thursday or Friday and sent us out the door saying:
"uh don't tell that Haba playschool is sick...not good. And if you have fever call me. But don't get fever please."
So needless to say I tried not to get a fever and spent a lot of time doing this

and it was glorious. Ended up going back to school on Friday and I was actually happy to be there. I sort of missed most of the kids and we had a really fun day making menus of our favorite food and talking about building houses.

As for the swine flu, all the Haba kids are fine now but we do have to take and record our temperatures twice a day. Apparently the Korean government has issued a new law saying that if one student gets swine the whole school must shut down for a week. While David's school is ignoring this law (he has had whole classes absent because they have all been sick) I'm glad that Haba shut down. It will be interesting to see if it happens again.

In more exciting news I had a GREAT weekend playing on the Han river and watching soccer with David and Danny (a friend from Western who just arrived in Korea two weeks ago). David and I rented bikes at Hangang park and spent Saturday afternoon riding along the waterfront.It was really really nice to be by some sort of large body of water for a change. After the ride we headed to Seoul world cup stadium for the South Korea, Australia soccer game. Surrounded by a massive amount of people, free beer samples and a Hyundai car stage, we enjoyed a picnic of fried chicken and MGD.
Around game time we met up with Danny and headed into the stadium and had a great time cheering the red devils on with all the other Koreans (and in David's case heckling the few Australians who ended up on the wrong side of the crowd). Most exciting thing was the South Korea, ranked 48th in the world, was able to beat Australia,16th, 3-1.
All in all it has been a great couple lazy weeks but now its time get back into the daily 9-5 grind...ugh

2009-08-21T04:18:00.000-07:00

some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. -gilda radner

Japan!

2009-08-15T23:27:00.001-07:00

Here is a small slideshow of my summer vacation trip to Tokyo, Japan. For some reason it starts at the end and goes backwards...and doesn't show all the pictures haha. To see the whole slideshow click the link at the bottom. Don't worry its not too long. Out of over a thousand pictures that we took I was able to pick out the 180 best!

http://s595.photobucket.com/albums/tt38/World_Travels/Japan/?albumview=slideshow

Lately

2009-07-20T02:02:00.001-07:00

A lot of eating, playing and teaching.

Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner (brinner)? It was almost perfect with pancakes, scrambled eggs and something we have decided to call "beefcon". What looks like the pork bacon that we are all used to turned out to be slices of beef. Didn't taste like bacon but it worked.

Saturday night was spent in Itaewon, which is known as the foreigner district. It is really close to a big US military base and the area caters to the foreigner crowd. It has bigger clothes, mexican food and even more English friendly then other areas of Seoul. Found a great mexican restaurant where we sat at the bar enjoying margaritas, chips and salsa, a wonderful bar tender named Dean (who sang along with David to the cover band playing Eric Clapton)

Talking with Smiles, who we met at the reggae bar...not quite the same as Boundary Bay reggae night.

Sunday night after a long day of eating spicy noodles and watching Harry Potter we decided to have some comfort food and made chicken wings and mashed potatoes. Special note about movie watching in Korea: Since we don't know how to check movie times it is best to head to the theatre whenever you feel like it and buy a ticket to the next showing. You also get to choose your seats in the theatre when you buy your ticket. Kinda sweet when you figure out where the best seats are.

In regards to teaching it has been getting a bit easier and a lot more fun as I am getting to know the kids better. Had another wonderful conversation with Sam (Cat in the Hat is a crazy monkey boy). He was trying to tell me in the best English that he could how he watched a documentary about dolphins having hands when the dinosaurs were alive. And how when a "giant rock crash the earth" the dolphins moved into the ocean and lost their hands. This was news to me but I told him that was called evolution and he said "yes yes teacher" and went back to his pokemon cards without a second thought. Next it is just one week of teaching until my two week Summer break!! First week will be spent exploring Tokyo!! So excited and will undoubtedly take a million pictures!

And lastly a video of a lovely Korean monsoon. This happens all day sometimes.

Mud is Love

2009-07-13T02:10:00.000-07:00

So this weekend David and I trekked down south to Boryeong to partake in their annual week long Mud Festival. The day started off with an early morning train ride to take us the 3 hours south. Once we got there we were greeted by David's co-teachers and two rooms in the "love motel", a place that the Korean's are not used to having people actually spend the full night but only a couple hours. From there we went to join the masses in the mud! Everything was centered around a big amphitheater that was having contests and playing music all day. My favorite part was the self paint stations down on the beach. There were just big things of mud with paint brushes in them to paint yourself/others. There was also a mud wrestling pit...kind of crazy but oh so much fun. Other highlights of the weekend include: a never ending shellfish feed (so proud of myself for actually enjoying eating those guys) where we got to cook everything right in front of us, fireworks in the rain, having a very random morning with the boys in the hotel room, getting to chat on the phone with my family, finding real life elephants and getting to watch David turn into a little kid with excitement, getting to see and swim in the ocean, having a strawberry shake while waiting to leave for the train and getting to relax on the way home knowing that pizza and bad tv were waiting. One of the weirdest things was that although it was mainly tourists enjoying the mud and beer there were also quite a lot of Korean families there too. There were also a TON professional photographers sticking their cameras in everyones faces. Apparently there is a huge photo contest and everyone is hoping to catch the best shot of the festival. It was strange to just be walking around or playing in the mud and all of the sudden have 5 or 6 huge cameras in your face. There must also be about a million pictures of David and I covered in mud. Great fun, even if I think there is still mud in my ears.

You know...just feeding elephants. In the middle of a beach town.

We spent a couple hours here watching the people still crazy enough to play in the mud despite the never ending rain and wind.

Bye Bye Miss American Pie

2009-07-06T01:59:00.000-07:00

This is how we celebrated American Independence in Korea

The afternoon began with finding a dry spot to set up camp and fire up the grill. We ended up under the coverings by the soccer field at the park. As 4th of July tradition states we had hamburgers (Australian beef, Koreans don't care too much for US beef) and hot dogs. We even found pepperjack cheese for the burgers!!

The field was quickly taken over by a hoard of boys playing full field soccer. It was the perfect entertainment.

However, when it started to rain heavily all 22ish boys joined us under the covering in an attempt to stay dry. We learned that they were pretty much all 11 years old and that one of them was from Delaware. They were funny and when they said they were hungry from the intense soccer game they had been playing David handed out the bread we had brought as well as a gatorade. Cus really, who needs gatorade on the 4th of July when you have good old OB BLUE to quench your thirst.

When the rain let up a Korean family invited us down to play soccer with them. We were then invited over to their table for kimbab (kind of like sushi), popcorn, steamed potatoes and yellow melon (a close friend of the watermelon we were informed). They family was super sweet and very excited to use the English that they know. While Grandpa (who claimed to be 73 but didn't look a day over 60) said he had learned English as a child in school, the Aunt said that she had learned from the Internet and tv. Crazy. We kept saying how something like this rarely if every happens in the US. When was the last time you saw a family invite random foreigner strangers over for lunch? It was wonderful.

After eating WAY too much food from the generous family, it was time for more games. Big David and little David had a face off while Andy waited for his turn to join the action.

Later that evening (after a much needed beer/food induced nap) it was time to head back to the park for fireworks. Although we only had sparklers, bottle rockets and fountains the American spirit was in the air. I made sure that a Leonard family dance of the sparklers happened.

All in all it was the perfect was to spend America's birthday outside of America.

i just wanna dance

2009-07-03T01:34:00.000-07:00

around the entire world

sorry, sorry

2009-06-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

This is one of the mega superstar groups in Korea...Super Junior. They are everywhere and I'm not gonna lie pretty catchy. Today in my class with the 9 year olds (the oldest kids at the school that only come in for a few afternoon classes) one of the boys started singing Sorry, Sorry and I started to do part of the dance. His face lit up at the fact that I knew this valuable piece of Korean pop culture. I may have enticed him to continue the dance and it was pretty wonderful. As you can tell I am a great teacher....very productive.

YOU CRAZY MONKEY

2009-06-24T01:45:00.000-07:00

Before reading the book The Cat in the Hat this afternoon, my 7 year olds (6 in western years...In Korea when you are born you are already 1) we had to answer several questions about what we thought was going to happen in the story by only looking at the front cover. One of the questions was "Would you like to meet the cat in the hat? Why or why not?"......

Me: So Sam would you like to meet the cat in the hat?

Sam: No. (without any hesitation at all)

Me: Oh really, and why not?

Sam: He is crazy monkey.

Me: I think that he is actually a cat. The title says that the story is about a cat not a monkey.

Sam: No Abby teacher...he CRAZY monkey.

Me: So you would not want him to be your friend?

Sam: No. Way too CRAZY.

Me: Sounds good...go ahead and write that down as your answer.

After this the 3 other students also decided that the cat in the hat must be a crazy monkey cat and they would not like to meet him. They also decided that the cat could only be wearing a hat for one reason and one reason only...it was raining a lot and he did not want to get his hairdo wet. Very wise indeed. I may have been laughing the whole time.

What do you think?

Central Park

2009-06-19T01:27:00.000-07:00

this park is right across the street from my apartment building. I can tell that it's a place I'm going to be spending a lot of good times at.

Above is a game that mixes volleyball and soccer called Jok-Gu. Very entertaining!

Annyeong haseyo!

2009-06-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

I made it! I am safe and sound in Korea. It still doesn't seem real at all but the Korean signs and constant honking outside the window tell me that I am no longer in the pacific northwest.

The ride over wasn't bad at all. I think I watched 5 or 6 movies and an episode of House. Slept a little but was really too jacked up to really relaxed. Once I arrived at ICN customs and baggage claim were a breeze and I easily found that tall white kid waiting for me outside. By this point I was pretty dazed but David somehow managed to push me in the right direction to exchange all my money and get on the bus to Anyang. The bus took us off the island that the airport is on and through Seoul so it was a nice little introduction to the area. When we got to the bus stop in Beomgye (pronounced bumgay) my boss and her husband met us and took us to the apartment. Won jon Nim (the manager at Haba) talked to me about swine flu and said that since the kids are little I won't start teaching till next Monday, pretty much to make sure that I am not sick. In my semi quarantined state though I've been able to relax, grocery shop and explore the place that will be my home for the next 9ish months. I sorta like being quarantined.

So far:
-I LOVE my apartment and can't wait to share pictures as soon as I can
-I have only really made 2 cultural mistakes...one being that when I first got to my place I just walked right on in with my shoes on. Apparently Won jon Nim's husband was quite shocked. Second, last night when David and I went out for BBQ chicken and beer I started to refill my own glass once I had finished. Korean drinking culture states that one must never refill their own glass. It is the duty of their drinking partners.
-Gone for a morning run around the amazing park across the street from my apartment. Got to watch all the old korean men and women working on their fitness before it got too hot. Central Park also has really really cool fountains that at night are lit up with all sorts of colorfull lights.
-Watched David play a crazy sport that mixes volleyball and soccer
-Found the Korean equivalent of Target
-Tried to make enchiladas...Mexic-asian food didn't work out so well

2009-06-10T23:35:00.001-07:00

"we are mysterious creatures aren't we? and at the end so much of it turns out not to matter."
-evening

cove nights.

2009-06-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

boxes and things

2009-06-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

It is a funny thing to box up the past 4 years of your material life not knowing when you will next open them up or who you might be when you do. Realizing while these things, for the most part, are an important background your everyday life but that you can easily live without them for the next 8.5 months. I'm excited stop collecting things and focus on collecting people, places and experiences.

"Live simple so others may simply live" - Quote from an old worn out truck on Taylor street hill.

le market

2009-05-25T10:26:00.001-07:00

2009-05-22T23:33:00.001-07:00

i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it
(anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate
(for you are my fate,my sweet)
i want no world
(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

I'm going to Korea, gonna eat a lot of kimchi

2009-05-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

The details:
I am going to be in Anayng, South Korea. I really know nothing about it except that it has a pretty sweet park and a lot of bars. If you zoom out you can go up and see that Seoul is not only HUGE but pretty close.

View Larger Map

I am going to be working at HABA playschool which is a private school, or Hagwan, for kindergarten and elementary school aged kids. Their curriculum I guess is based on the idea the children learn best by having fun so I've been told that there is at least one field trip a week and that you teach through doing activities like cooking, doing art projects and of course singing/dancing. Their website is all in Korean but you can see what the school looks like and the absolutely adorable faces of the students there. I'm really excited to meet these little ones although I am nervous about the whole teaching thing. I'm taking over a girl from New Zelands contract so I will only be teaching for 8.5 months and not the standard year. Which I think is really nice!
http://www.habakids.com/

My apartment is apparently pretty nice. It has a loft bed and a view of the mountains on a clear day. Here are some of the pictures that the girl whose contract I'm taking over sent me.

and one of the view!

Overall sounds like a sweet deal. I'm so excited, and a little intimidated as well, to see what SK has in store for me.

p.s. The title of this post should be read as if you were singing along to the Presidents of the United States song Peaches

p.p.s. For anyone who is interested in Korean culture and all it has to offer here is an interesting article from Matador. From what David says everything holds pretty true... although he has only seen one protest/riot haha

http://matadorabroad.com/10-korean-customs-to-know-before-you-visit-korea/

"drink it in. because this is it."

2009-05-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

30 days until I fly off to Korea.
30 days until I say goodbye for now to the Pacific Northwest.
30 days until anything and everything.
30 days until most of what I know will be half a world away.
30 days until I will wander but won't be lost anymore.
30 days until I won't know what some of my favorite people are doing almost every hour of the day.
30 days until comfort, stability and safety are challenged.
30 days until someday is today.
30 days until I can't be frustrated by my mothers calls and endless questions...but probably will want to be.
30 days until I meet the world.

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite"

2009-05-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

i want many many many moments

2009-04-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things"

“Sometimes, there are things in our life that aren’t meant to stay. Sometimes, change may not be what we want. Sometimes, change is exactly what we need. And sometimes, saying goodbye is the hardest thing you think you’ll ever have to do, but sometimes, saying hello again is the thing that breaks you down and makes you more vulnerable than you ever thought possible. Sometimes, change is too much to bear. but most of the time, change is the only thing saving your life.”

As far as 21 runs go...

2009-04-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

yours was pretty amazing.

2009-04-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." -E.E. Cummings

2009-04-19T10:46:00.001-07:00

"sometimes this is all there is"

2009-04-15T20:35:00.001-07:00

Soooooooomewhere out there

2009-04-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

1. Happy surprises!!
2. Smiley foxes in the morning
3. Tater tots and random runs to Taco Time
4. Bellingham family
5. Running outside in the sun listening to good music

roads.

2009-04-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Happy
1. TARGET
2. Monday evening library trips
3. Being overwhelmed by travel books
4. Orange Soda
5. The overwhelming genuine giggles of a one year old

To Work on
1. Not making impulse buys
2. Cleaning my room
3. Eating normally
4. Remembering to give gratitude where gratitude is deserved
5. Letting go

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” - Jack Kerouac

five things.

2009-04-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

1. The generosity of the three "Easter Bunnies" that visited me this weekend.
2. When the stars come out just a little during a melancholy drive home.
3. The future.
4. My bed and all the blankets/pillows/coziness that comes with it.
5. Being able to live without regret.

"absence is to love what the wind is to fire. When its a small fire the wind kills it...but when its a real fire wind intensifies it"...lets see what kind of fire we built.

(this quote may be from 'the city' haha)

2009-04-11T20:01:00.001-07:00

suuuuuuuunshine

2009-04-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

i'd really like to tell you
oh my suuuuuuunshine

i feel like being sappy

2009-04-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

don't forget, don't forget
mhmm
that I believe in you
should you forget
should you forget
let me remind
that I am behind you

you were a secret, waiting to be found out
soon be what everyone is talking about
may you spread your love like laughter
find whatever you're after
open all your windows and let the music spill out

don't forget, don't forget
that I believe in you
should you forget
should you forget
let me remind you
that I am behind

may you dance like rain upon a still lake
you make this world a beautiful place
no more crying, don't shun your light, keep shining
wipe your tears from your sweet face

don't forget, don't forget
that I believe in you
should you forget
should you forget
let me remind you
that I am behind

don't be afraid should things happen to change
'cause change can be a beautiful thing
should things fall apart
be patient like a rainbow
life is loving and letting go

-Brett Dennen

hey beautiful day

2009-01-23T19:49:00.000-08:00