A Seoul Sunday

Last Sunday Jin and I trekked around Seoul. We visited Insadong, a street lined with tea shops, art galleries and scrumptious treats. You can buy anything from tea and porcelin, hand pressed Korean writings and Buddhist statues to silver & jade. At one point in history it was the largest market for antiques; yet now a days I would question the authenticity of such relics. It is the perfect spot for tourists to pick up souvenirs and one of the only Starbucks in the world that has the name written in the native language.
Our next stop was the statue of King Sejong at Gwanghwamun Square. This Confucanist king is most known for emphasizing education, something highly prized to this day in Korea. He pressed justice and righteousness. In addition, King Sejong recognized that a good government required men of broadranging talent and education. Under his rule Korea grew leaps and bounds culturally and intellectually, spurring the name The Golden Age. Jin and I pictured below at the King's Palace Gate.
Once our monument tour was over, we headed for a stroll along the iconic Seoul Cheonggye Stream; the stream once divided the poor located south of the stream from the nobility of the north. Fascinating to be in a place with so much history and culture! Thank you Korea for showing me your sweeter side and thank you Jin for being my tourguide.

Zach's 12th Birthday!

Most likely the coolest 12 year old ever, Zack (in the crown) joyously celebrated his last preteen year with fourteen 20-somethings. I believe this might be a world record for any 12 year old. :) We all celebrated the tow head's last trip around the sun by digging into mexican food at On The Border in COEX mall, a foreigner friendly mall that boasts 4 levels for shopping, eating and yes even gambling. We just kept it clean with some songs, virgin margaritas and cake. It was a wonderful evening! Happy Birthday Zach!

Feb Madness

The month of February started off like no-other from the warmth of Thailand's sun I traversed back to the cold of Korea. A new semester began as the last of the ice was melting from the sidewalks. Students returned with a bouncy vigor and I tried to keep up with the new Korean heavy English curriculum. It was a rough start but lots of fun was had along the way.


Thailand: Climbing, the lake, moto-cy-roadtrip, strawberry fields with a view of Burma, old friends and lots of smoothies. Chats of economic-proportions with Bianca and Adele ;)

Once back in Korea I welcomed a visit from my friend Joe, dinned on a tasty dinner with wonderful friends for Valentines Day, took time for sightseeing, admired Korean gun-twirling skills, mused at 3D art galleries and sang at my first karaoke joint.

The stories of each are better sold in person... so get your $5.oo ready and I will tell you a tale or two or three.

Winter Camp!

Hey family and friends,

Since I last updated the months have flown by... New Years, Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day and now President's Day. Only three months are left now before I return to the PNW! So here are some photos of life in Korea of late.

I taught our Harry Potter themed winter camp for three weeks during December and January. It was broken up into three days a piece per class, with the exception of two extra 3rd and 4th grade classes. The students learned words that related to magic,such as: wand, potion, witch, wizard and broom. Of course it was a hit!For the week, each student was assigned to a house just like in Harry Potter: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They learned how to make potions by mixing various soda and fruit juices and adding fun things like gummi worms (of course this was for the Belch Potion). Owl posts (post cards to Nikki Teacher) were written by the students to cement the new vocabulary and to rate the activities. In addition, we played numerous games where they used their home-made magic wands to command their fellow students to "freeze, dance, sing, or jump." The photo of the kids all sitting down was a partner game. A cross between musical chairs and freeze tag, they students had to walk in two circles until the music stopped. Once it did they had to listen for the English command (shouted out by my little helper) and the partners had to pose together as the command stated. The first pair won 50 points for their team. The team that had the most points at the end of the week was given a prize (competitions always increase the attention span of the students).

Cold Cold Days

The winter months in Korea have been long and cold. Every morning one must layer up or loose toes. It all starts with the tights/leggings (layered over with ski-socks), followed by some long john's and then a pair of loose jeans (both loose from the layers beneath and the lack of a Korean dryer) once the lower half is nestled three layers deep the top half demands a tanktop, tshirt, longsleeve, a wool sweater, (possibly a fleece) and then a down parka that reaches mid-calf. Once these steps are complete the snow-boots go on, a hat is placed atop the curly cues, and gloves are pulled on (one or two pairs depending on wind chill). The last step is the Korean scarf. "How is this scarf different," you may ask. Well a Korean scarf is almost a mini-blanket of sorts. It is long enough to wrap around your head twice and wide enough to cover from the chest to the eyes (scarf pictured is the American style). As unattractive as it may appear, it does the job of keeping one warm in -17*C (or 1*F).

새해복 많이 받으세요, สวัสดีปีใหม่, Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

Make 2011 one to remember.

Crazy love & silly faces from Korea.

(Zack, Lia & I after too much sugar.)

Thankful

So... I have been a little bitter and well, being bitter does not help circumstances. Really life has been quite good for the last few months. Sure there still may be things that I don't (and won't
ever) understand but that doesn't mean I can't be thankful. So with that said, I would like to share with you all some things I really enjoy about my Korean life.

1. My students

2. The sunset behind snow capped trees at Kangnam University (where I take my Korean classes)

3. My fellow Adventure Teachers

4. I love the extra goodies that are thrown in when you buy stuff. Koreans say "serviceee"

5. The "yellow dust" storms from the Gobi Desert that color the afternoon sky in a rosy hue.