A Wedding, A Countdown and 700+

So this last week has gone by fast. The countdown is closing in. It's already December! I remember thinking, Holy crap it't October, and now it's December. Time is flying and it feels amazing. My Christmas shopping is pretty much done. I have sent almost all my cards and presents out (hopefully they all make it). The post office here has never been an issue, but when I was in on Monday they were crazy! So busy and just plain crazy.

I watch Christmas movies at night and listen to Christmas music during the day. Some of the shops downtown are even putting up Christmas displays. We heard one store playing Christmas music and that was awesome. It felt like home, except it wasn't very cold.

I haven't broken out my winter coat yet. I have been wearing a fleece to work with a scarf and sometimes gloves. There are still leaves on trees. Currently in Daegu it is 39 degrees. And I have a 3 minute walk to work. I was told by our Korean grandmother at work thought that I need to wear a coat. She insisted on it. I just don't think it's that cold yet.

I have 2 weeks and 2 days left with my kids. It's exciting to be getting a new class, but at the same time it is a little terrifying. I like my classroom I don't want to move. I'm sure it will all work out though.

So I went to a Korean wedding on Saturday. It was really cool. Very different from the states. They have weddings at like wedding centers. Every wedding is pretty much the same. I only got to see the Western type of wedding, and it was interesting. They sequester the bride in a room for pictures first of all. When the wedding is supposed to start it does, it's a schedule constantly moving through the venue.

It is really fast too. The parents walk down the aisle then the groom, and then the bride. It's more a catwalk than an aisle. Then there was a lot of talking from the Father of the Bride. Laughing and crying. Then he said something and our table was lit up and everyone looked at us. Apparently he was thanking the teachers for coming (there were 4 of us foreign teachers there).

The father of the bride, had the groom doing pushups, downing a bottle of Soju and running up and down the aisle, maybe to show his worthiness. It was interesting. Then it was over, the ceremony. Next were pictures, everyone gets photographed. Everyone. It's a marathon.

After pictures was a buffet. Lots of interesting food. The bride and groom came out in traditional Korean wedding clothing. That was a really cool sight.

Truth be told I definitely almost cried. Gia looked amazing in her gown. Then I started thinking about Alicia, who's wedding I will not be seeing because I am in Korea. It made me really sad. But it was a good time all around.

Now it's back to work for 2 and a half weeks and then my mom and brother will be here. In case you missed it.

Christmas...Is Coming!

BTB Pie

So Thanksgiving was good. A few of the other teachers and I went to a place called Buy the Book for a lovely Thanksgiving feast. This is the same feast we had for Canadian Thanksgiving. It was delicious. Not the same as home, but it had a homey feel. This place is wonderful and the couple that owns it is great. Definitely going back for Christmas, I talked to Sandy and she said they would probably be open the whole week.

Vanilla Chai and
Christmas music
great way to relax.

It's getting colder here, but I still haven't broke out my coat yet. I just can't do it. It doesn't feel like winter. Maybe it's because I haven't seen snow yet, I don't know. The apartments in Korea, well mostly everything in Korea, is not insulated well, or at all for that matter. It doesn't matter how much you heat a place it ends up cold way too fast. I miss having a dryer.

So I think I missed this story from Busan last weekend. I wanted a cup of hot chocolate, and I asked Jayna if she had a tea kettle. She said yes, but she didn't use it often because it was so big. I asked if I could use it for hot chocolate. She gave me a funny look, said yes, but she normally just uses the microwave. OMG! I have forgotten about the modern convenience of a microwave. I use one at school but I don't have one in my apartment. Great moment.

I put up my Christmas tree, second hand of course. It came complete with tinsel, bows, and ornaments.    Would you believe that most of the ornaments are green and gold? Well I was pretty excited about that, since I can't have the normal mini Packer tree this year. The Christmas music is on my iPhone and the countdown is on.

A couple of teachers and I had our second Thanksgiving meal on Sunday night (it's not Thanksgiving unless you eat it twice) and Kaylee and I had to go pick up a Christmas present. I saw a cute pair of boots in a shop (mind you my feet are considered huge here, and I don't find shoes easily) so I went in to try them on. They are tan suede looking boots. I looked at them, asked how much, and saw they were made in Korea. I tried them on and bought them on the spot, not 5 minutes and I had a new pair of boots. Yay! Random but I'm good with that.

I took up crochet,
I had to find something productive to do.

I finally made a batch of popcorn on the stove without burning it! So excited. I miss normal air popped popcorn, this is the closest I can get for the time being.

I miss everyone so much. I can't wait to Skype my family for Christmas. It will be so amazing to see my grandparents. It's really hard not being able to just jump in the car and go see them. Being here has made me appreciate the little traditions. Thanksgiving in a bar, Black Friday with all the lines and ridiculousness, mom's pumpkin pie, grandma's scalloped potatoes. I am totally going to gain 10 lbs when I get back home.

Spicy, but delicious italian baked pasta from
Little Italia. So good.

28 days...

Thankful

Well it is almost Thanksgiving. So in the spirit of almost every person on Facebook, I am going to list the things I am thankful for. It could be very long, so I will try and prioritize and these are not in order of importance, by any means.

1. Skype. Without it I would be a mess. It lets me see my mom, my brother (when he surprisingly shows up on the screen), the dog, the neighbors, my aunt and uncle and my dad. It's a sanity saver.

2. Kleenex. What in the world would I do without my favorite tissue brand?

3. Mail. It is a very uplifting moment when I walk into school or a teacher walks into my classroom with a little hand written note from someone back home. Email is great, but mail is amazing.

4. Tylenol. So many headaches! Without it I would be a goner.

5. Mac and Cheese. It's a little flavor of home that tastes amazing no matter where you are.

6. Music. My apartment would be way too quiet if I had to turn it off.

7. Airplanes. My mom and brother are coming to see me for Christmas (in case you missed it in my last however many posts).

8. Toaster Oven. You can't cook everything on a stove, believe me. And I love that my muffins turned out last week. Next step, lasagna.

9. Other Foreigners. Without all the other foreigners both at my school and around Korea I would be SOL. It's nice knowing that there are people here who have your back and care.

10. My Family. (See I told you this was not in order of importance) I miss them so much. I'm thankful that my aunt will wrap my mom's birthday present and email me photos of Clay Matthews from the Packer game. I'm thankful that my grandparents pick up the phone when I Skype call them (they are selective with their caller ID, haha). I'm thankful that my uncle taught me to throw a decent punch, I don't want to test it, but I could. I'm thankful that I have a village.

11. My Mom. What? Did you think I was going to group her in with everyone else? She is the woman who taught me to be brave and strong and not to give up. She sends me penguin flashlights and mac and cheese and Thanksgiving decorations. She holds a squirming dog up to the webcam so that I can see him every once in a while. She goes above and beyond everyday and I could never say thank you enough.

Clay! And Other Lovely Stories

So this week was a good week. For Phonics this week my kids had ~ay words, and guess what word came up? Clay! Ahhh I had a field day, or several of them. The first day I mentioned that Clay could be a name as well as a normal word. Well this started a whole conversation, and by the end of the week I almost had the kids doing the Packer chant. It's a goal before I leave.

Wednesday is my favorite day of the week, because let's face it, kids singing English songs that they don't understand, while doing complex dance moves is adorable. I added a video so you guys can see my tiny humans and their silly music class.

This week they started construction on the building next to me. I think it was at one point a house. When I moved in, no one was there and it was a dump. So now it is a pile of ruble. So nice. I have started using my ear plugs so I can sleep on the weekends. I slept until 10:30 on Sunday. Good gravy!

I have finally found a decent bar to go to on Friday nights. It is downtown, which kind of sucks, but it is more homey than any other I have found. It is pretty chill and we were able to sit, have a drink, talk and pay a random Korean card game. Definitely felt more like a normal Friday night,

I got my Christmas decorations this week! So excited!!! I will not be putting them up until Thanksgiving, but I can handle that. I put up lights around my room in my apartment. It is so much nicer than my florescent overhead light.

It's getting cooler here. I haven't used my winter coat yet, but I know I will have to soon.  I am not looking forward to the dry, cold, snow lacking winter they keep telling me to expect here.

I have started to crochet again, or at least I am trying to. Could get interesting. I found some great yarn at the market, and I finally got my needles from GMarket. I ordered them all by myself from a half Korean website. Yay!

Guess what?! 42 days until my mom and brother get here! I am getting so excited. Making many, many lists and there is so much to do!

Miss you all! Leave me a question if there is something you want to know about Korea.