Christmas is Over and I'm still here

Yes, I know, I am very far behind on my blog. It's been an entire month since I posted and I have absolutely no intention of trying to recap the entire month. Christmas arrived and left with a wonderful amount of fan fair and stress.

School was awful and absolutely still is. At the end of December I had to switch classroom write schedules, and a whole list of other things that Koreans think is necessary. None of which are necessary to provide a good education to students. Currently I have a new batch of students, and when I say new I mean they are fetuses when it comes to English. Not a word. They are always touching each other, pushing and pulling, yelling in Korea and the amount of work the Koreans want them to do is ridiculous. I should inform you that my new Korean co-teacher for this class speaks about as as much English as my students, but she has all the "great" ideas about what I can do better.

I am a puppet at school. Not a teacher, not part of a team, not respected or thanked, just a puppet. Thankfully there are other puppets with me. There will be 5 of us leaving in July, I don't know that many of us will cry.

Christmas was by far the most amazing time I have spent in Korea. I could not have asked for it to have been better. Seriously. School was done and I had the whole weekend to clean and get ready, I needed it.

Too many hours of travel, and they still
let me take their picture on the bus.

Mom and Jake arrived at ICN on Monday night. We finally made it to Daegu at about 10pm. Jake and I went out for a quick drink and a game of beer pong downtown. The kid is able to drink in this country and my friend Elizabeth wanted to meet him before she left for Jeju. Mom wrapped presents while we were out, yes that was her choice. We came back and it was like Christmas exploded. There were presents everywhere and I had American things all over the place. She brought cereal, soup, shampoo, condition, medicine, candy, cheese packets, jam, batteries (for my Nook light, can't find them here), new sweatshirt and socks. It was awesome.

Jake was served a Christmas shot

Christmas morning in Korea was Christmas Eve back home. Thankfully we were able to Skype with the family and open presents with them. It was amazing to see everyone. My cousins did a great job being Price is Right models so we could see all the presents. I got some great presents, although nothing will top being 6500+ miles away, with Mom and Jake, opening presents on Skype with everyone.

Apartment in Busan

Christmas Day we headed for Busan (just as I was getting a cold). Arrived at our apartment stay for the night right on time. It was actually a great place. The location was a bit far away from everything, but it was only one night. We were able to meet up with Jayna and she gave us a great tour of Busan. Dinner at a Thai restaurant, mosh pit at the Christmas Tree Festival, Seafood Market street, Busan Tower. It was an amazing night.

Haeundae Beach

The next day we were headed back to Daegu but first the beach. We were only two subway stops from the beach, and we could see it from the apartment. We saw the beach, and grandma would have flipped, the sea gulls were pretty friendly with the people. We went to the Busan Aquarium, can't say I planned that one.

Made it back to Daegu in one piece. Trains, subways, taxis anything works. Checked in at the lovely Novotel downtown. It was a really nice place. We went to Buy the Book for Christmas dinner, which was a great meal. Mom had turkey and Jake and I had Tofurkey. It was a great night all around. I called it an early night, because my cold was getting the best of me. Nothing wrong with a comfy bed and a book in my opinion, that is a vacation. Jake went out and explored, of course, which meant there were two people worrying about him the entire time.

Thursday was another day in Daegu. We went to Seomun Market (pronounced Sah-Moon Market). Shopped for a pretty long time, before we got very tired and hungry, that's what marathon shopping does to a person. Went to get lunch, which was amazing. We had Little Italia, and let me tell you, yum. I ended up heading back to the hotel to catch a nap, ended up just resting. My cold was getting the better of me. We met up with Elizabeth for dinner that night. She ended up not being able to go to Jeju. We had Indian food for dinner at a place near my apartment. So good.

Indian dinner

We went out downtown after that. It was a lot of fun to watch Jake take on Elizabeth at beer pong again. He lost, but not by too much. I took two shots and made both, that was pretty awesome. It was a really good night all around.

That was when the adventure really got started. It snowed on Thursday night and continued into Friday. In Korea snow is strange, in Daegu it's almost unheard of to get 14cm of snow, roughly 5 inches. That wouldn't stop us much in MN, but it shuts the whole city down here. No taxis to speak of, buses were running an hour late. It was awful.

This is how Korea deals
with snow.

We missed out train at 11:30am, and didn't even make it out of the hotel room until lunch. We did indeed get two taxis to the train station, after the amazing concierge flagged them down. Waited in the freezing cold train station for 3 hours before our train left. Oh Korea. Finally made it to Seoul.

Saturday was a bright and early day. DMZ tour at 7:30am. We had to check in at 7am and we left the hotel at 6:15am. Ugh. The DMZ was amazing though. We were in the tunnel, got to see the whole thing. KORIDOOR really took care of us, the USO did a great job. I am glad we picked that tour, I think it was well planned. I just wish it hadn't been snowing so we could have seen more of N.Korea. And btw, our military escort was pretty dang cute, but he was from Texas and Alicia would disown me for that one...

Saturday night was a night of recovery. I was dying. So tired and so sick, it was ridiculous. I was in a very comfy bed, with plenty of feather pillows and an English movie on the TV. I don't think anyone back home understands how much of a vacation that was for me.

Sunday was a whirlwind day. It was the last day Mom and Jake would be in Korea. By that point I am sure they were ready to leave. Probably pretty sick of me and my cold by then. I don't know that there has ever been a time when we spent an entire week together.

Sunday we had an adventure getting to the Seoul Museum of Art, to see the Tim Burton exhibit. The taxi driver didn't really know where we were going, and my phone is only so helpful. I did finally find the address in Korean and out taxi driver did get us there is one piece. The exhibit was really cool. I am glad I had heard about it and that we were able to make it.

We didn't make it to the war museum, you can only learn so much about the wars Korea has been in before both museums and war is boring. We ended up getting lunch at a random subway stop I had read about and found Mexican food. Now it might not be that exciting to anyone else, but you cannot get good Mexican food in Daegu. Yes, there is a place that serves something passible, when you are desperate, but the American version of Mexican food in Seoul was amazing. It was like sitting at home.

Seoul from Seoul Tower

After lunch we found a taxi (who spoke amazing English) and he took us to Seoul Tower. Talk about a way to make things happen. Go up the mountain, in a packed cable car, walk across the mountain to the tower, wait in line to get in an elevator. So many steps to this process. We made it up there are the the sun had about another half hour before it would set. So we stayed until it was dark, and saw Seoul at night. It was a great sight.

Monday morning came way too fast. Mom and Jake were packed up and headed back to the airport. I stayed at the hotel, to watch the dismal Packer game. Jake gave me two hugs before he left, seriously, that doesn't happen. Mom and I totally cried, the only time on the whole trip.

Temple is Busan

Near Busan Tower

Lotte Department Store, random showcase of awesome

"You may only take pictures that way" said our cute escort at the DMZ

North Korea!

Seoul from Seoul Tower

It was an amazing Christmas.

My Peanut Butter Captain Crunch is almost gone, my Reece's Peanut Butter Cups are toast, and the tomato soup is looking to be eaten very soon. I have started to dream about fresh vegetables and fresh fruit, they don't do well here. I want a big bowl of baked spaghetti with smoked mozzarella cheese. Is that so much to ask?

Alicia gets married in a little more than 3 weeks. I am not ashamed to say that I have cried over the fact that I will not be there. Her dress is gorgeous and her cake topper couldn't be more perfect. If only I could pull out a can of chocolate frosting.

Almost half way done, I won't be staying. I'll be more than ready to go home.

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.