same same

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"

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

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

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.

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.

"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

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?