South Korea!

Blog Down...

2010-11-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

So we totally stink and have procrastinated on putting up India posts/photos. I promise to get around to it, maybe, someday.

Just a quick update if anyone still checks out this site, we sadly left Asia and joyfully returned to San Francisco. We've got a beautiful new apartment on Russian Hill that we adore and I am back at work at the University. Nick sheared off his luscious hair and is looking for gainful employment - but until then he is enjoying the time to bike and be a homebody as I work hard being his sugar momma ;)

This blog was a wonderful way of keeping people updated with our lives and we are so happy to have all these great memories documented. I hope that you all enjoyed keeping up with us and who knows...maybe we'll put up wedding photos in May or something.

Love to you all, Marie.

Whoo-Zoooo!

2010-08-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

There was a huge storm during the night that woke us up at 4:00 am. It sounded like a hurricane! When we woke up it was gray outside but luckily not raining. We had breakfast in our hotel - soft boiled eggs on toast with blackberry jam and butter. Then it was off to the zoo!

We took the subway then the bus to get there. We were disappointed to learn that the bird park wasn't as close to the zoo as we initially thought so we couldn't go, but we got tickets for the zoo and the night zoo also. The first thing we did was pull on a tamarind's tail! It was awesome! We watched feedings ALL day. Polar bears, cheetahs, hunting dogs, lions, giraffes, a king cobra, Komodo dragons, baboons, elephants, crocodiles, and so much more! We loved watching them eat! We especially enjoyed watching the cheetahs and baboons. The lions seemed uninterested in dead chunks of meat - you could tell they wanted to hunt. The baboons were very amusing, and there were so many! While the polar bear, cobra, and crocodiles were interesting to watch, the rude and pushy crowds took away from the experiences.

We saw all the exhibits and really enjoyed meandering through the lush, jungle-esque park. We liked the expansive views of the reservoir and all the gigantic trees. It drizzled for most of the day but it was still nice out, we FINALLY had a relief from the sticky heat!

We ate lunch at the zoo and were most pleased with the outcome - chicken curry with yellow long grain rice, a chickpea curry, raijta, and pappa dam (crispy flat bread that is almost like a giant spicy potato chip). It was a decent amount and quite tasty.

Our favorite exhibit was the white tigers' home. We adored watching them lounge, lick themselves, and pace back and forth. They are really beautiful animals. Again, we also really enjoyed the baboons, as well as the goats. We liked watching the family dynamics of the two types of animals. It was very comical - especially when it was feeding time. :)

We finished the regular zoo at about six, and had about an hour to kill before the night safari began at seven. We went through our photos and wrote in our journal before meandering over to the night zoo. We decided to do the walking tour individually, instead of taking a guided tour full of people. We saw some great animals - tigers, hyenas, hippos, and more. We brought the tripod for some low-light photos, but unfortunately very few animals cooperated by staying still for us. There weren't many photos to be had. Even more unfortunately, we realized pretty early on that our bug spray was depleted and I was getting eaten alive. We ended up speeding up our tour to try and see everything and keep the damage down.

One exception was the bat cage. Free flying bats - extra cool. We walked into the humongous exhibit to big bats, little bats, bats everywhere flying all around us! They were dangling, flapping, munching on fruit, and were not at all bothered by our presence! It was quite fun. After that, we made a hasty getaway for the bug-free confines of the bus and subway back to Chinatown.

After returning to our hotel for a brief moment to drop off the tripod and our bag, it was back to Maxwell Center for more fantastic food! I got wonton mee, which is spicy, tender pork with a chili shrimp paste for dipping. The pork was laid on top of some great, soft noodles with greens that had crunchy stems. It also came with wonton soup. It was completely satisfying. Nick had fried fish soup for dinner. It had a wonderful broth, with several big chunks of flaky fried fish, greens, white noodles, and tofu. It was absolutely delicious! Another successful day! We have one more day in Singapore, and then it is off to Kolkata!

Sweet Singapore!

2010-07-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

We got up at 4:30 am to get a cab to KL Central. We had the nicest cabbie ever. We liked his "no joking" phrase that he would say at the end of every other sentence. He told us how great the trains were - you can check into your flight from the train station and your bags get checked straight from train cargo. We took the bus to the airport though, because we weren't rushing and it was a lot cheaper. The lines at the airport took FOREVER. They were completely inefficient and it was frustrating.

After we finally checked in we had Old Town Coffee for breakfast one last time. They had perfectly soft boiled eggs on toast and a sweet bun with chicken ham (no real pork in a Muslim country) and melted cheese. We also had to have one more amazing cup of milk tea and white hazelnut coffee.

The flight to Singapore was a breeze, it took under an hour. Customs was equally easy. Our bags were waiting for us at baggage claim. If only all airport experiences could be so pleasant. We took the subway into the city - it was clean, easy, and quick. Our first impression of Singapore was that it is a very clean and nice city, but a lot of rules! We checked into our hotel - a renovated opium den! - and then went off to find some food. Maxwell Center has dozens of food stalls, all very cheap, and some of them are world renowned for their fantastic dishes. We scarfed down some delicious fried rice, egg, veggies, Hianese chicken and pork. We also had some refreshing pineapple juice with big chunks of fresh fruit in it.

After stuffing ourselves with delicious food, we got back on the subway and headed to Orchard Street, where all the big shopping is. Singapore is clearly a wealthy country. It was overwhelming. In less than a kilometer, we counted three Mont Blanc stores. How unnecessary. It felt very superficial in this area, so after a bit we decided to move on, after snacking on an ice cream sandwich - a chunk of mint chip ice cream wrapped in multicolored bread. Interesting.

It was a gorgeous day, and many areas were very picturesque. We went to the City Hall area, and saw the Supreme Court, Parliament, and many tall buildings (that are all quite close together). The Children Olympics is being hosted here, so many of the roads are closed due to parades and other events. We saw the new hotel that was just built with a giant cantilever on top - it is impressive, holding a bar, restaurant, and Olympic sized pool. Ironically, our only negative impression of the city is that it is TOO clean. It almost feels like Disneyland here. Cops are everywhere, and there is a general feeling that you need to ask permission for everything.

We saw the War Memorial, then were lucky enough to see the military practice a 21 gun salute for the upcoming parade. Afterward we thought we stop at a bar or cafe and have a cold one, but everything was closed! We decided to buy some brews and head back to Maxwell's to sit and nosh on some snacks. In a 7-11 we found a Singaporean beer called Baron's that was 11.8% alcohol in 50mL cans. Whoa. We sat in the outdoor section of the Maxwell Center as the sun went down, chowing down on some tasty dumplings and spring rolls, and after a couple Baron's, we called it an early night and headed back to get some much needed rest.

Last Few Days in Kuala Lumpur

2010-07-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got up early to go to the Sky Bridge at the Petronas Towers. We got there at 8:00 am only to find out they had sold out of tickets at SIX in the morning. WEAK. Our morning was completely shot. We wandered around for a few hours, then went back to Old Town Coffee at the bazaar near the river. Nick got a cold white mocha that was especially delicious. We got some more gifts and decided that today was going to be a relaxing day without much touristy stuff.

We had lunch at a reggae bar and restaurant. As much as we enjoy the Malay cuisine, we had a desire for some Western food. I had some pasta with chicken, pesto and Gorgonzola cream sauce, Nick had fish and chips. Both dishes were tasty, but nothing spectacular. We spent the afternoon drawing, writing post cards and staying out of the exhausting heat at our little table in the bar.

Dinner was at the same curry buffet we ate at the first night here. The men who run it are so welcoming and polite. We had huge plates of yellow rice this time with hard boiled eggs, spicy beef curry with cloves, and more orange fried chicken. We also enjoyed more of the milky teh tarik, the hot orange tea that is super sweet and deeply satisfying. We can't get enough of it.

Today we slept in and went to check out the orchid and hibiscus gardens. We were seriously disappointed - there were almost no flowers in bloom. There were some really beautiful paths and vines hanging off the trellises however. The few orchids they did have were vibrant orange and white with a dark yellow hue. We expected more. We did find a cute snail, though!

On the way back from the gardens, prayers started. We were captivated by the singing and praying that was blasted from the loudspeakers hanging outside the mosques. You could hear the echoes of similar songs and prayers being said all over the city. We were also stunned by the sheer amount of parked cars and motorbikes. Cars were quadruple parked on the streets and a sea of bikes took up the sidewalks and all available space.

I got serious heat exhaustion shortly after the prayers. It has been intensely hot and it was a little scary - I just physically and mentally shut down. It felt like my brain was melting. Nick got me back to the hotel, kept me hydrated, and made me eat some coconut so I wasn't totally depleted. I crashed and slept for quite some time. We spent most of the afternoon in the hotel as I recovered.

After the sun started to go down and it wasn't nearly as hot, we went out to get some savory Chinese noodles, roasted chicken, and greens from a stand off an ally on Petaling Street. The noodles were salty without being overpowering. The chicken was beyond tender and juicy. The greens were very fresh and crunchy! We also grabbed some more of the fried curry pies with egg. I can't wait to try to bake some when we go home. Then we went to the curry buffet place just to have some more of the sweet milky tea that we love. Today was a budget day - 23 ringgits overall for the two of us, which is roughly $8.00. We will miss Kuala Lumpur! Tomorrow it is off to Singapore!

Butterflies and Frog Soup

2010-07-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

We woke up late-ish. Another great breakfast at the hotel. This time they had scrambles with big slices of yellow peppers. We decided to go to the butterfly park. We got stuck trying to cross the river by foot and almost got trapped on a freeway. We had to double back. We found an old train station. Nick was pleased. It's close to the hotel, too. Figures. We got across the river, checked out the tracks, then found the KLRT headquarters. It is an amazing, gothic building. We love all of the British influence.

We then went to the National Mosque. I had to wear a lavender robe with a hood, Nick did too. We discussed how once you cover up a woman, they get seductive eyes. The people at the mosque were so polite and welcoming. It was breathtaking, but the sounds of jackhammers as they fixed the fountains detracted from the “holiness” of the experience. I loved the feeling of the large, cool slabs of marble under my bare feet.

We finally got to the butterfly gardens. Awe. 120 species, over 6000 butterflies. We were like kids in a candy store with our cameras. We enjoyed all the little paths and dense foliage – even though there were other people there, we felt isolated. It was magical with all the water features and fluttering insects. Such vibrant colors! I found a part of a butterfly wing that we kept as a souvenir. We chased butterflies for over an hour. I freaked out over the poor mouse in the monitor lizard's tank – he just sat there shivering as the giant lizard watched him, biding his time. I couldn't stick around to see him get eaten.

Next, we went to the Islamic Art Museum. Such a great design for the building. Very open, LAEGE spaces. Immaculate domes. Lots of white stone surfaces. Great lighting. We were mind boggled by the Qu'arans, the calligraphy, the sultan's thrones and royal objects. I want to be an Indian princess. They had incredibly large detailed models of all the important mosques in the world. I wish we could visit them all. Nick loved the weapons – intricate, carved bone handles, wicked twisting blades, weathered battle axes and even a mace. Again, the people were overly polite and so welcoming. We felt like honored guests, not sweaty tourists.

As we left the museum our stomachs rumbled, so we had street food for lunch. We devoured some chicken schwarma in a bun with crunch cabbage, mayo, and a sweet and spicy red sauce for 3 ringgits. Back on Petaling Street we also had some fried curry dumplings with hard boiled egg – flaky, hot, savory, and utterly delicious. We bought 4 for 5 ringgits and some change from an older Chinese lady with a great voice and warm eyes. Got some interesting fruit pudding. Nick had kiwi and I had pineapple. It was like milky fruit jello. Odd, but refreshing.

The afternoon was lazed away as we napped. For dinner, we had to try the frog leg soup with mushrooms, greens, and large flat egg noodles that was around the corner from our hotel. It was served in clay pots in this alley that had rats crawling underfoot. I squirted lime juice and spooned chili paste into the soup to make it tart and spicy. The frog soup was made by a nice lady and daughter working together. The frog was chewy and salty. The broth was fulfilling. I enjoyed the noodles the most though.

We're in love with the dried coconut. We've gone through three bags and also bought brown sugar toasted coconut tonight. We are coconut fiends and completely addicted.

MONKEYS MONKEYS MONKEYS

2010-07-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

WE PLAYED WITH MONKEYS!

The day started at about 10:30 am (we enjoy not having to wake up for work!). We took a bumpy bus ride to the Batu Caves around 45 minutes outside of the city. At the bus stop we met a cool Brit named Mike. He became our friend for the day :)

At the caves, we saw a gigantic golden statue of Buddha and several hundred steps to climb. We could already see some of the monkeys on the stairs. The monkeys have no natural food in the area and depend completely on tourists or those making the pilgrimage to the temple at the top. We bought a bunch of bananas to feed the monkeys. Almost immediately as we climbed, we were approached by monkeys. They were not shy, and occasionally aggressive. I was frightened at times. We fed them all of our bananas as we climbed, and then some Zec's crackers Nick had in his pocket.

When we got to the top, there were beautiful, immense caves. Some water dripped down. We could hear bats, but not see them. Pigeons were everywhere. The monkeys continued to hound us for more food. We gave them some coconut shavings, and were quite delighted to watch them ask for more. We all decided to buy more peanuts, a bag each. We all fed the monkeys again, the boys now allowing the monkeys to climb on them to get food from their hands. While taking the camera from Nick, I got my peanuts stolen by a cheeky monkey! We went to the end of the caves again, and finished giving away the peanuts. The monkeys were wild. One larger monkey rushed at Mike, causing him to drop his peanuts, and the monkey savored the spoils. All in all this was beyond fantastic. KL could have nothing left to show us, but would still be an ultimate success thanks to Batu Caves. Score one for the monkeys!

After we returned, we went in search of more delicious cheap food. 16 ringgits for two plates and two bottles of water. The beef was fantastic and spicy, although we noticed several cockroaches on the walls. Afterwards, we went on a walk looking for the train station from the movie Entrapment. We walked for a LONG time, with no luck. I ended up getting a bit of heat exhaustion; it was very hot and sunny outside. We found another swanky mall to cool off in. Nick had a coffee, I had a scoop of coconut ice cream. We found wifi – why could we not find the train station? Because in Entrapment, they used a totally different station, and switched the signs to say “Pudu LRT.” Totally uncool. No matter. We headed back at the hotel to rest.

After I cooled down, we had Chinese for dinner. We savored the fried flat noodles with beef, squid and egg. We adored the sizzling chicken in a sweet brown sauce with lots of red onions, corn, carrots, and peas. We loved the savory crispy friend chicken with strips of basil and scallions. Consider dinner INHALED.

Then we had hookah with Mike, it was fun. We had 2 pitchers of Carlsberg, but it took FOREVER to get the beer. It was crowded. We sat inside. Mike got a HUGE red circular chair – he looked like a king. We tried some more double apple hookah. We had lots of fun conversations. We couldn't help but laugh at all of the men belly dancing with each other – no women and no booze, why go to a bar? We also saw a monstrous rat on the way home from hookah. Ew.

Exploring Kuala Lumpur

2010-07-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

We awoke to a super tasty breakfast at our hotel - baked beans, fresh fruit, eggs, and toast. After fueling up we walked EVERYWHERE. Once again we were amazed by the dirt versus the streamlined high rises. We love the jungle trees with vines hanging down all over the place.

Our first stop today was Bintang Walk, a popular street full of shopping and restaurants. We liked the look of some of the places and planned on returning later. From the busy Bintang we headed over to the Petronas Towers, some of the tallest buildings in the world. They were awesome. We can't wait to go inside when they are open to tourists - we plan on going in the morning in a few days from now. There was a gigantic mall at the bottom that was beyond ritzy. We have never seen so many couture name brands in one mall before. We felt under-dressed, and we also felt as though our wallets were way too light to be walking around there. After that we went to the KL Tower, but it was touristy and far too expensive to justify a trip to the top, so we skipped it. We do love all the British influence though and saw some really cool buildings as we walked around town.

We started back towards Chinatown in a roundabout way and ended up near the river. We ate lunch at a busy place right on the water. Nick had chicken and beef, I tried the beef and fish curries. We love the delicious sauces, spicy curries, and fluffy rice. It was our second time having green beans, and we were quite pleased.

After lunch we went to the bazaar. It's been around since 1888. We bought some really cool masks at a mask shop. We also got some other souvenirs for our families. We tried some white bean coffee with beet sugar at Old Town Coffee House - amazing. We really enjoyed exploring all the stalls and checking out all the cool things for sale. I like exploring with Nick :)

Later in the afternoon we went back to Bintang walk for food and fun. We enjoyed a refreshing pitcher of Carlsberg beer and tried a double apple hookah at a very chill outdoor bar. We played with the features of our new Sony camera and snacked on some delicious fried bread crisps with a rich tomato dipping sauce.

After the sun fully set we went in search of dinner. We found a Greek restaurant named Albasha and had to try it. We gorged on creamy, smooth hummus and inhaled some lamb schwarma. The lamb was served in pita wraps with heaps of spicy mayo, tomatoes, and slightly pickled cucumbers. It was most enjoyable. On the way back to the hotel we saw a cute cat. It wasn't scared of us at all.

Welcome to Malaysia

2010-07-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

Our post-work travels have begun!

We made it safely into Malaysia via Malaysian Airlines. Malaysian Airlines was FANTASTIC. We especially loved their rainbow seats and beautiful stewardesses wearing bright dresses with busy patterns. The airline food was surprisingly delicious. We had fish curry with a salad and butter (for the first time in a while!) on our hot rolls. Overall it was a terrific flight and experience. We hope it's the first of many good flights!

When we arrived in Malaysia, there were dense forests with many short, fat palm trees. The rain followed us from Korea, and we got rained on big time during the hour long drive into Kuala Lumpur. Along the way we saw many tract homes that all looked exactly the same, in identical rows that stretched as far as we could see over the hills. The highways were clean and well kept. We got into the city and checked into our hotel in Chinatown, on Petaling Street. It was full of vendors selling all sorts of wares. It was pretty much a bombardment of purses, jeans, watches, and other trinkets. We even saw live frogs in a glass case on the street - for cooking, not for pets. The pet store does sells chipmunks, though, for 30 ringgits "a head."

After dropping off our bags, we excitedly started to explore our new area. The streets are busy and there is construction all over the place. Buildings in our immediate area are older and dirty, but full of life, and they are often juxtaposed with gorgeous streamlined glass high rises. It makes for quite the eclectic mix. The air smells of bus fumes and cooking food. The roads are made of bricks and there are lots of crowded streets, uneven surfaces, steps, and grates.

We went to a curry house for dinner that served a tantalizing buffet. We were handed a HUGE plate of rice and then piled on a bunch of random, spicy meats - beef, lamb, orange fried chicken. We also had great stewed tomatoes in a rich, soupy orange sauce and tasty green beans. We were the only people not eating with our hands. We also had this milky, hot tea drink that the server practically threw from cup to cup to mix. It was around $8 for all our food, tea, and a few bottles of water. We could get used to this.

Market Day

2010-07-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

This was easily one of the saddest days of our lives. We knew this day would come, and we knew it would be tough - but it's hard to truly put into words how difficult it was to see these kids knowing it was the last time. We were blessed because we were able to teach them for such a long time, but leaving them was incredibly rough. We were both emotional wrecks. At least we got a wonderful field trip day to finish with.

We started the day off by doing something we had been waiting to do for quite a while - riding the school bus with our kids! We had to make a really tough decision to pick the bus, which meant choosing between different children. When we finally settled on the bus, we saddled up with our cameras and headed out. It was so nice to see the kids' surprised faces as they boarded the bus! I was lucky enough to have several kids from my class on the bus, and we had a great time riding back to Poly. The kids LOVED it.

We had "Market Day" - which is essentially a big role-play where the teachers all pretend to be doctors, immigration officers, pharmacists, and of course, waiters and face painters. It was a bit more demanding than our normal field trips, simply because we were the ones physically entertaining the kids the whole time, but nonetheless it was really, really fun. Miss Marie, naturally, painted faces. She did an AWESOME job, under massive time constraints, to the nature of about 2-3 minutes per kid. She made a list of choices for them to pick from, and pumped out about 80 face paintings across the course of the morning. I, on the other hand, was a restaurant waiter with our fellow coworker Brian. I got to wear a ridiculous bowtie and serve pizza and chocolate pies to the kids, all the while pretending we were in a real live restaurant. It was really fun!

After lunch time, we finished up market day by cycling through all of the classes. Then came the really, really hard part. Saying goodbye. It was too much. My Korean teacher, Sarah, had decorated our room and all of my kids wore their Halloween costumes to surprise me. They had a cake ready, and when I walked in they started singing one of our songs. I lost all control almost immediately, and I was a wreck throughout the remainder of our time. I felt even worse because by crying, I threw all of the kids off, and they didn't really know how to respond. It was just a lot of hugs, and crying. They cried too, a lot. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I know Marie went through an almost identical time. Her kids started bawling, which created a contagious mass-bawling situation, which led to further inconsolable crying by kids and teachers alike. It was just really, really sad - there's not really another way to put it. I'll miss these kids so much. As I mentioned earlier, we knew it was coming, but it's hard to realize the effect they will have on you. As far as we're concerned, they were our kids. And now we're leaving our kids, which is just tough. They are all so sweet, and I'm going to miss them beyond belief.

After we both cried until our eyes were dry, we had to go do it ALL again for the afternoon classes. Luckily, since these are older kids, they understand the situation far better. You don't get any "teacher, why you leave us?" comments, and a lot more "enjoy visiting your home, please come back" comments. Not to say the afternoon goodbyes were easy, but they were easier. During our last class, Marie and I both handed over some teaching duties to the new teachers (who were observing us teach, and getting to know the kids.) Marie face painted them, and I watched movies and played games. It was fun to get to goof around one last time. Nonetheless, I'm going to miss these kids so much. I know I say that over and over, but it's the truth. They've impacted us more than I ever thought possible, and I totally understand how people choose teaching as a profession. These kids become your kids, and you feel responsible for them. Leaving them is like leaving one of your own. It's really tough.

To wrap the whole day up, we each got dozens and dozens of hand made cards, flowers, chocolates, pictures, and gifts. It was really overwhelming. We are incredibly sad to be leaving these kids and our home, but at the same time we feel really blessed that they were part of our lives. I know we'll never forget them.

Now, it's onto the next phase: getting ready for our massive vacation, and actually leaving! We'll be departing in 36 short hours, and we are heading to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia first. We'll be there for 6 days, then we take a short flight over to Singapore, where we will stay for 3 days. After that, the meat of the journey! India! Woohoo! We'll be there for 24 days, traveling the country by train. We will be staying in 8 cities, and we expect nothing short of a full adventure. Naturally, because we are both slightly obsessive when it comes to taking pictures, we will take as many as our memory cards allow (did I mention we have 1000 from our last day? Whoa.) Being that we will be without laptop or decent internet connection for the duration of our trip, we will have a mini-hiatus from blog posting. Don't be alarmed though, fellow followers! We are taking note pads so that we can write the old fashioned way, and when we return, we shall craft a blog post for all of our activities.

We're so excited to come back to the states and see everyone! We miss our family and friends so much - just a few short weeks away now! Signing off, but only temporarily...

MUDFEST!

2010-07-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

What a weekend!

This was our last full weekend in Korea, and we decided to do something wild and fun. We took a bus with our friends three hours south to Boryeong to go to Mudfest Festival which occurs right on the beach. Unfortunately, it monsoon-ed on us....but we were playing in the mud, so we didn't really care! We had a blast going down the variety of mud slides and slipping through the variety of obstacle courses. Nick loved the mud wrestling pits, and spent the bulk of the time throwing people face down into the mud, only to get thrown into the mud himself. By the end of the day, a rinse in the ocean was in order.

After some fair food for dinner and a real shower back at our hotel room, our group of friends went out to a Norebang place. Norebang is the Korean version of karaoke. We had a great time singing songs and laughing with our friends.

This morning we got took a great walk on the beach with Sean, searching for shells and soaking our feet in the surf. I found an octopus! It was small and purple and attacking a shell. We gave it to some girls playing on the beach, much to their delight. Then we went to the train station and took a train back through the Korean countryside until we finally got back home. Some serious personal cleansing and dinner at our favorite place with the new teachers who will replace us was in order and now...sleeeeep. Please, I need sleeeep. And I know this week is going to be so busy and hectic since it is our last week that we most likely won't get any. Ugh.

A Wonderful Dinner With A Wonderful Family

2010-07-13T23:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight, a friend of my father's took Nick and I out to dinner at an absolutely amazing restaurant. We had the most delightful time with his family. Despite the language barrier with his wife and daughter, the night was full of great conversation and delicious food. This was the first time Nick and I were sharing a meal with a Korean family, and we loved it! We are sad that we met this wonderful family so late in our stay here.

The restaurant they took us to was a traditional Korean family restaurant. It was so beautiful! The building was all carved wooden logs and inside tree-like pillars held up heavy polished beams that created a vast hexagonal room. The china had delicate spring flower patterns and it the room felt very summery with large floor lamps that looked almost like classic street lamps. We liked it a lot.

We had a course menu that was full of tasty treats and delectable dishes. It was a true feast! We started with some pumpkin porridge, then moved on to green pea jelly noodles and salads. As we were chowing down on all that, baked bulgolgi, slivers of raw flat fish, and hot kimchi pancakes cluttered up our table. We practiced wrapping bulgolgi meat in little round tortilla-like pancakes with our chopsticks - it is a lot harder than it looks. Then came a cold noodle buckwheat soup, which was great since it is now so hot, even in the evening.

Next came a seafood stew, with overcooked rice in a spicy red pepper base. Vegetables, squid, clams, and shrimp overflowed into our eager bowls. Marinated short ribs entered the scene, and we happily ripped into the tender meat. Then large dishes of crispy fried tuna with sweet and sour sauce and crispy chicken and garlic ("manu" in Korean) topped with lemony cabbage. We were stuffed to the brim, but plates still kept on coming out! Finally came the traditional Korean sides - the kimchi, the cucumber in red pepper paste, cold eggplant with mushrooms and carrot slivers, pickled peppers, seaweed, mint leaves, and jasmine rice with ginkgo nuts. The rice was cooked over open fire in a thick black pot, and the burnt rice on the sides were turned into a tasty soup after we poured hot water into the pot for the grains to soak up.

After all that we took some tea and coffee and sat outside until it was time to go. We truly enjoyed and treasured the experience. It was something I wish I had the opportunity to do again. Not because of the food (although the food was spectacular), but because of the company. Nick and I felt truly blessed to spend such a wonderful evening with them :)

Playing In The Park

2010-07-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

Today we went up to Daewha to KINTEX with hopes of seeing the Trick Art Show, but when we showed up there was over a two hour line just to get tickets inside!! Slightly disappointed we meandered back to the subway and on our way found us a cool little park. We had some fun and amused some little girls who were playing there themselves.

After our small frolic in the park we went to get our veggies and were excited to find corn on the cob - we both feel that it is a serious summer necessity! Even better, we got to shuck the corn right there in the grocery store. Nick was very happy to work for his corn.

This weekend we also busted out our suitcases and started to prioritize our packing. We decided to mail home most of our bulky items in boxes since it is much cheaper for us to mail items than pay all the fees for overweight luggage at the airport. Our boxes are ready to be shipped off. It's getting too real for me. I don't feel like I am ready to leave, I remember with such clarity my first day here, and it is hard for me to believe that a year has flown by so quickly. I expect the next few weeks to blow by me faster than a match being puffed out.

Happy Fourth of July!!

2010-07-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hooray for America. Today we celebrated in style - we went down to the Han and played kickball in the park with a bunch of friends. It was hot, muggy, and buggy outside...it finally felt like summer. Of course, Nick and I both managed to get sun burnt a bit. We enjoyed ourselves being outside with our large group of friends and we even had an extra delight:

TACOS! Real tacos!!!!

Three of our friends bought and a truck and transformed it into a taco truck! They plan on driving it around the popular areas at night on the weekends and serving tacos to the hungry partying masses. We were beyond pleased to scarf freshly made pico de gallo and jalepeno ranch sauce on top of greasy, shredded pork tacos.

We missed our families very much and we can't believe that we only have 20 days left in Korea. Soon we will be gone. Time is flying by so quickly now that we are just trying to grab hold of the days and make them last as long as possible. While we are excited for our upcoming vacation in Malaysia, Singapore, and India...I am loathing the idea of leaving this wonderful place and these amazing children.

Summer Meals

2010-07-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I showed off any of my cooking...

We've been using the pork tenderloin quite a bit since we got so much, and I've been making lots of summery sauces and delicious dishes. Nick, as always, has been zealously approving all of my new additions to our dinners. Also, we found PURPLE sweet potatoes...they have made our meals sooo colorful and fun! Nick especially loved purple mashed potatoes, haha. I've started making this green bean salad with raw red bell pepper, hard boiled eggs, and boiled potatoes in a sauce that I make with yogurt, minced garlic, lemon juice, and seasoning. Nick and a few of our friends are all about it, so it shows up a couple of times in these photos. For the new Futurama episode we had Sean and Brian over and we indulged - I made blue cheese stuffed burgers. They were great! It was the best burger I've had in Korea...it figures I had to make it myself, haha.

We've stepped up our veggie intake again - I'm now using 9 different vegetables a night for our dinners (well, when it is just us). We're trying to be very strict with the amount of healthy food we put in our bodies. We usually only eat lean meats, fresh fruits and fresh veggies now. We've cut out butter, 99% of all oil, and sugary sweets from our diets. We successfully complete our Insanity videos this week (yes, it really has been 60 days!) and both of us are incredibly pleased with the results. We are still working out every day and we're very happy to embrace a healthier lifestyle.

Holly and Maple Birthdays

2010-07-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today our classes celebrated several birthdays in our classes for the months of June and July. It was a lot of fun! Our kids got loaded up on cake, treats, and presents. We had a good time playing with all of them during our afternoon break. We are going to miss them all so much. The time is really starting to count down now - only three weeks left until our last day at school. We can't believe that the year has come and gone so quickly. We sent boxes home last week of shoes and our bulky sweatshirts left over from winter. We're finalizing our paperwork for our Indian visas for our adventure there and we're beginning to tie up all loose ends before we leave here. It will be sad to leave, but we're also getting excited for our upcoming adventures.

The National Museum Of Korea

2010-06-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Since we are quickly running out of weekends, Nick and I decided to spend this one doing some things that we have been meaning to do before we leave. Unfortunately, yesterday it poured buckets so we were unable to go up the Gupabal mountain that we've wanted to hike for a while. Today we decided to finally go to the National Museum of Korea. It was quite nice :)

The grounds themselves were pristine and amazing. The museum was gigantic, a soaring piece of architecture with amazing views of Namsan mountain and Seoul Tower. It was somewhat cloudy but still very muggy and hot out. The inside of the museum was just as lovely as the inside, all smooth and polished stones.

Nick and I enjoyed the archeological section. We checked out ancient pots and tools, weapons and bronze armor for horses and guards alike. Then we went on to check out the extensive silk screens, beautiful calligraphy art, and many beautiful depictions of Buddha. Last we viewed the private collections and it was wonderful seeing gorgeous statues and delicate porcelains.

POLY Goes to Space!

2010-06-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

The Air and Space Museum, that is!

Today we had our field trip to the museum. Nick and I got to spend the day together since our two classes were a "team" - I'm sure our bus was by far the loudest bus in the country. It didn't help that the bus drivers got lost trying to find the entrance of the museum and we went around in circles for an extra fifteen minutes, haha. Our kids were rowdy and eager to be at the museum. It was impossible to make them settle down.

When we finally got to the museum, the kiddies were rearing to go. The kids had a great time watching 3D movies about Mars, looking at model airplanes, and flying a helicopter simulator. Nick and I couldn't understand anything really since it was all in Korean, but we were able to enjoy ourselves looking at the giant engines, satellites, gyros, and gauges they had on display.

It was a hot, muggy day, but we still took the kids outdoors to see the grounded planes. We had fun taking pictures with both of our classes together and then it was back on the bus and back to school. A decent lunch and some play time followed. All in all it was a good day :)

Our Kids Go Red

2010-06-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

Today, Red Devil fever hit our school as our kids got all hyped up for the World Cup match tonight. Nick and I got in on the fun and put fake tattoos on all of our kids. We colored soccer pages and made Korean flags to decorate our classrooms with. They looooved it. We got some awesome shots of them showing their pride for their country and their soccer team. :)

It was too bad Korea lost against Argentina, but I guess it was expected - Argentina is a good team.

Now That's A Lot Of Pork

2010-06-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

Today Nick and I spent a busy day at work and then went over to Costco (most likely for the last time!) to get our meat for the next 6 weeks. They were out of our normal pre-cut pork tenderloin, but for the same price (around 20,000 won!) they had a very large tenderloin all wrapped up, uncut. Nick and I decided that for the price, I could just cut it all up at home.

It was a heck of a job cutting up so much pork! I felt like a butcher, haha. Nick got some photos of me chopping up the pork as I got more and more unhappy slicing off silverskin and handling all that raw meat. After I was done we had 22 slabs of meat - that's a lot of food! I was quite over it by the time I was done.

World Cup Craziness

2010-06-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Dae-ha-ming-gu! Dae-ha-ming-gu!!

Last night was amazing. We had SUCH a good time cheering for the South Korean team in the World Cup. It was so great that they won against Greece - the entire city went nuts, pouring out into the streets. We were quite pleased that we got to be a part of it.

We left late in the morning, to fully acquire our Red Devil gear. My parents had kindly bought Nick and me shirts but we wanted more. We all went and got temporary tattoos, scarves, and red horns to put on during the game. We roamed over to Itaewon in the rain and chowed down at our favorite Indian restaurant. Nick and I spoke some with the owner, who is from Kashmir, about our upcoming trip to India...we are getting very excited for that and he shared our excitement for a brief while. It was very nice of him.

After stuffing ourselves with the delicious spicy curries and butter chicken, we went around Itaewon looking for some more souvenirs for Daren and Phil to take home. Then it was time to head over to Sinchon to go to Beer O'Clock, a pub and bar that was supposed to be a good place to watch the game. We wanted to also watch the Argentina-Nigeria game and possibly stay until the wee hours of the morning to see the USA-England game. Daren and Phil ended up staying (Daren is a big soccer fan), but Nick and I made it back home before the 3:30 am game commenced.

We were excited to watch some good soccer matches, and Beer O'Clock ended up being the perfect place to do that. We secured a large table right underneath the television. Friends showed up and we enjoyed the company. We scarfed down delicious pizzas and blew up our thunder sticks so we could lead the bar with Korean chants and cheers. When Korean scored against Greece the first time, literal sirens went off in the bar. We had such a good time.

When the final whistle blew and Korea had beaten Greece 2-0, the whole city reduced to hysterically happy mayhem. We went out onto the streets - the rain had ceased and traffic was stopped as people poured out of every building to parade down the avenues. We followed along, chanting and high-fiving everyone who surrounded us. It was an amazing experience.

After finding more friends randomly on the streets we all returned back to Beer O'Clock to watch the Argentina-Nigeria match. We made it through the match but by then most of the adrenaline had left us and it was time for Nick and I to go home and sleep. We left the boys behind and had a much needed rest. The boys stayed up to watch the USA game and came home happy but exhausted.

Today, we've taken it easy. We had bulgolgi next door for lunch and now the boys are getting ready to get on the 3200 bus back to the airport. Their vacation has ended and it is time for them to return to the States. Which means it is time for Nick and I to finally catch our breath and relax for a few short hours before our Sunday is over and school starts again tomorrow.

Garlic Lovers United.

2010-06-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm.

The boys took us out to dinner as a thank you for the week they've stayed with us...it's been our pleasure having them here. We took the long, traffic congested cab trip down to Apgujeong, a wealthy area on the south side of the river. We had dinner at "Mad for Garlic"...oh. my. god.

This is an Italian restaurant chain in Korea that boasts over 40 different garlic-centric dishes and over 100 imported wines. We didn't bother with the wine, but we DEFINITELY bothered with the garlic. First we started off with a delicious Caesar salad. It was so exciting to have real Caesar dressing after 11 months of missing it. The salad was huge, with large, full stalks of romaine lettuce, tons of grated parmesan cheese, thick cut croutons and plenty of dressing all dripping around the perimeter of the plate. All four of us were able to comfortably nosh on it. Then, our meals came.

What meals they were.

Nick and Daren both ordered whole clove garlic and mushroom pizza with spicy meat dipping sauce and arugula salad. I had pasta with a Gorgonzola cream sauce that was smothered with scallops and slices of garlic. Phil ordered a calzone, that came with a bowl of crushed garlic sauce. All it consisted of was crushed roasted garlic with seasoning. IT WAS SO SO GOOD. We all would take turns just spooning crushed garlic into our eager mouths. We easily ingested over 50 cloves of garlic. We annihilated our food. We were so happy to have found such an amazing restaurant randomly - I had once saw it on my way home from my wedding dress shoppe and thought it would be a good place to take Nick since he has such a penchant for garlic, hahah. All of us were thoroughly satiated by our garlic feast.

We rolled ourselves out of Mad for Garlic and took the subway over to Gangnam. We ended up at Woodstock, which ended up being a great bar for watching the Mexico and South Africa World Cup match. The music was good, the people were kind, and we had primo seats right near the television. When the game was over we left to wander...only to realize that it had begun to pour buckets upon buckets of rain. We quickly got soaked and gave up our endeavor to find another fun place to hang out at. We grabbed a cab after some difficulty in the downpour and made it home safely, albeit very very wet. We are so excited to watch the Korea match tomorrow - we have our Red Devils t-shirts and we are meeting up with a big group of friends to watch the game. We expect it to be wild. We are a little sad because the weather report says the rain is not going to let up and it appears we are going to miss our baseball game that we had been planning on going to tomorrow. Oh, well. Go Korea!

Shabu Shabu With The Boys

2010-06-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

My parents, after a week of amazing memories in Korea, returned to the US today. It was sad seeing them go after such a short time together, but I'm beyond happy that they got to experience my life here in Seoul. They had a good time and before we know it we'll all be reminiscing together back in California.

When work was done we went out to dinner with our buddies, Phil and Daren. One of our coworkers, Sean, also came with us, because Shabu Shabu just happens to be delicious. We feasted on the spicy soup, the succulent meat, the soft noodles, and the crispy fried rice. It was a great time. The boys have been having a lot of fun on their trip so far - it's been a little sad that we haven't been able to spend more time with them since we have to work and my parents were also in town, but we are really looking forward to this weekend with them, before they head back to California on Sunday.

A Visit To School And The Tuna House

2010-06-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

It was another very busy day today. My mom came to school and it was an absolute blast! First, we had art class with my Holly kids. We had a special project. We decorated cookies with icing pens, and then, we got to eat our creations! The kids loved it. They had a great time drawing on their cookies and then om-nom-nom-ing them up, haha. They were being extra cute with my mom there. They sang her their favorite song and colored pictures for her to take home. I was so proud of them for not being shy and also for being well-behaved today.

My mom sat through all of my classes and also visited with all of Nick's kids too. She was more than impressed with our children and how comfortable they are with the English language. She really enjoyed meeting them all and seeing how Nick and I spend our days. She was tired by the end of the day - we work long hours, and even just sitting through the classes was exhausting. It was a lot of fun to have her there and see how we work.

My dad met us at school when our day was over and the four of us went to Hongdae to grab some all-you-can-eat tuna for my dad's birthday dinner. Phil and Daren were out hiking today near Gupabal and decided against coming with us to the tuna house. I felt so lucky to be able to spend his birthday with him - even though his birthday is tomorrow, we are celebrating on both days, haha. My mom was a trooper and tried lots of things that aren't usually on her menu. My dad was excited to try so many different types of tuna. He was happy that they didn't serve us eyeballs, though. It was fun introducing them to new things. They both really enjoyed the blow torched tuna, and my dad especially liked the cuts of bluefin belly.

Seeing Seoul

2010-06-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

Today was probably one of the most action-packed days I have had in Korea. I am exhausted, but really happy.

I got up early to take the 1000 bus into Seoul to meet my parents for some sight-seeing. We walked down Sejong-ro towards the palace and enjoyed the sunshine. It was even hotter today than yesterday. We checked out the statue of Admiral Yi and the park in between the avenues. We caught the changing of the guards ceremony at the palace and then we ducked into the National Folk Museum to see some of the exhibits in the cool, air conditioned rooms. Then it was off to lunch for some traditional mandu, or dumplings. We had spicy boiled beef with peppers and onions, pork dumplings, and cold buckwheat noodles in kimchi sauce. My dad was especially enjoying the food.

After our delicious lunch we went back to the hotel - my dad had a meeting for work and it was time for my mom and I to go our own way. We walked through the Myeung-dong shopping area looking for some presents and I showed my mom the fantabulous ice cream cakes that Baskin Robbins has to offer here. Then it was off to Dongdaemun to grab a suitcase that was big enough to fit my wedding dress into. My mom was amused with the haggling and all the kiosks full of random items as crowds bustled around us.

Our purchase of a suitcase successful, we grabbed a cab and went to Hakdong to meet with my seamstress and get my dress. It was a very emotional experience for both my mom and me. We made all the ladies who work at Yulliana cry too, haha. As my kids would say, there was a lot of "happy tears." It was so delightful having Yulliana help me get my dress for my wedding. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect experience. Ana, my seamstress, was a huge help and she was so kind throughout the entire ordeal. My dress fit perfectly, and they packed it up into our suitcase and sent us on our way. I will always be grateful for their attention to detail and the welcoming attitude they had towards me. I'm also really happy that I can send my dress home safely with my mom. I can't wait to wear it and show it off to everyone on our wedding day :)

My mom and I rested in the hotel while waiting for my dad to finish with his meeting and then the three of us went over to Insadong to check out the Buddhist Temple that is there as well as all of the little shops and galleries that are in the area. My parents bought lots of presents and souvenirs for everyone back home. They really enjoyed perusing the shops and seeing all the traditional wares that are made in Korea. For dinner we went to Ahndamiro, the Italian restaurant that Nick took me to for Valentine's Day. We had a really nice dinner and then it was time for me to head back to Hwajung to get some sleep, because I have to go to work tomorrow - and so does my mom! She's coming to classes with me as I mentioned before and it will be another busy day.

My Parents in Korea: Day 1

2010-06-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

What a fun day!

We picked my parents up from the airport last night and brought them to their hotel, which is very conveniently located in the middle of Seoul. Today we explored a little and then showed them Hwajung, where we live. It was so much fun to see them!

We started at the War Memorial of Korea. My dad and Nick had a lot of fun checking out the old planes, tanks, gunners, and ships. We all roamed around and took some great photos. We walked through their Memorial with all the names of fallen soldiers and took some nice shots by the water. It was a beautiful, sunny day - but quite hot. Summer is creeping up on us. After spending some time at the War Memorial we cabbed over to Itaewon and had some tasty fish and chips at the Wolfhound, a pub Nick and I enjoy. We had wanted to have the Arabian buffet for lunch but sadly the buffet was closed! My parents enjoyed the food we did have though, even though it wasn't Korean cuisine, haha.

After lunch we headed back to Hwajung. We showed them our little town and our home. It was nice spending time just hanging out and talking with them. Nick and my dad explored a little and found an interesting little co-op farm that had an elk. Yes, an elk. When they came back from their mini-adventure they looked online and found that the Koreans use the antlers for medicinal purposes. It was a bit of randomness that they both seemed to really enjoy. Then Nick left to go to the airport (again), this time to pick up our friends Daren and Phil.

My parents and I spent some more time in our apartment, escaping the heat and then we took the subway up to Ilsan to see La Festa. We walked through the shopping malls and my parents had a good laugh over some of the random English on the t-shirts for sale.

After returning from Ilsan we went to dinner at one of Nick and my favorite bulgolgi houses, right across the park from our house. The owner, Hi-Yoon, is a wonderful lady who was very kind and welcoming with my parents. They REALLY enjoyed the barbeque beef, the spicy soup, and many of the sides. They sampled kimchi and pickled radish, tofu and egg souffle, bean sprouts and green onion smothered in spicy pepper sauce, and much much more. Nick and the boys met us at dinner and we all enjoyed each others' company for a little while. Then my parents went back to their hotel after some language barrier issues with their cabbie. It was all good though, and they got back to their hotel safely.

Nick and I took Daren and Phil to Ilsan near where I had been with my parents earlier in the evening. We went to some of our usual haunts and had a good time catching up with our friends. The boys are very excited to explore Korea for the week. Tomorrow Nick will take them out and I will be spending some time with my parents. Tomorrow is also the day I get to pick up my dress from Yulliana! I'm so excited!

Birthday Parties With Our Kiddies

2010-06-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun day with our kids. We had birthday parties in our classes - which made me think of my brother, who is celebrating his 23rd birthday back at home. My class didn't have any birthdays in the month of May, but Nick's class and the Willow class (I teach Willow their Phonics and Immersion lessons) both had parties. We had fun watching them blow out candles and munch on party snacks.

Since my Holly class had no birthdays they played in the playground we have at school while the other classes had their parties. My kids were especially cute in the ball pit. I thought I'd share how cute they are.

I can't wait for my mom to come to school and meet my children! We've decided that she'll come on Monday for the entire afternoon. She'll get to meet my kinder kiddies as well as my first grade and third grade classes. It will be so wonderful for her to get to see them all! They are all super excited to meet her as well. It will be a lot of fun.

Great News and Rainbow Bar in Gangnam

2010-05-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

My mom and dad are coming to Korea this week! It's such a surprise!!!! They just called me and let me know that my dad has business in Seoul and they are both coming! I am beyond excited.

The best news is, I get to pick up my wedding dress with my mom. I cannot wait for her to see it - I've wanted her to be a part of the process so badly, and now she gets that chance.

I'm sad that my siblings can't come too, but it will still be beyond nice to see my mom and dad. Nick and I can't wait to show them around our home! They get here on Friday - I can hardly wait! It will sure be a busy time though...our other buddies come on Saturday next week. We'll just have to sacrifice sleeping to make time for everyone, haha...sigh.

Nader leaves tomorrow. We've had a lot of fun with him this week. Tonight we went to Gangnam to try out a few new places. We had dinner in Hwajung and then hopped onto the subway to ride it alllll the way down and across the river. Gangnam is near a lot of wealthy areas. It has a good crowd of people and lots of places to go and see. Rainbow Bar was our destination - a hippie bar with hookah and some super comfy pillows to rest on. Black lights and tapestries cluttered the ceilings. Prayer flags and old photographs from all over the world adorned the walls. It was a place that made me feel like I was back in San Francisco. They had lots of specialty drinks and I enjoyed their "Monkey Special" which was a banana rum drink. Yum. We checked out a few other places and then headed back at a respectable hour since Nader has an early flight tomorrow. It's been a lot of fun having him here, and we will miss him.

Top Cloud Bar and Jongno-2

2010-05-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight Nick and I decided to show our friend the best Seoul has to offer. We had delicious bulgolgi at our favorite restaurant in Hwajung and then we caught a cab into the city with a friend from work. The four of us were dressed to impress and our destination was Top Cloud Bar, on the 33rd floor of Jongno Tower. Jongno Tower is an impressive feat of architecture - it reminds me of the Floating Building in Osaka that we saw last October. We rose up above the city and savored a fancy cocktail (well, us girls did, the boys had brandy) together while overlooking the cityscape of Seoul. Top Cloud had soaring ceilings with floor-to-ceiling windows. It was modern and big with curving walls that swooped around to show you breathtaking sights of our city. They had live music and some very expensive wares. We enjoyed our one drink there and had great conversation.

After a lovely drink at Top Cloud we failed to catch a cab to Hongdae, where we had wanted to go for Club Day. Since we had no choice and were stuck in the neighborhood for a while, we figured to make the most of it. Across from Jongno Tower was a pedestrian lined street with twinkle lighted trees and lots of places to see. We ended up visiting a few bars and clubs while getting a feel for the local flavor. We ended up at Table/Bar Santa Fe, an underground place with great music and a beer...buffet? Yes. The ceilings were low enough that we felt like giants and we made friends with some English speaking Koreans our age. It was a fun time had by all.

Another Delicious Dinner At The Tuna House

2010-05-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

Oh Tuna. We love you.

After a very busy few days at work (tooold you) and a few very rowdy nights with our friend, we decided that no trip to Korea was complete without going to our favorite Tuna House in Hongdae. After work the three of us jumped into a cab and we ended up in a prime spot at the bar, being pampered by our three favorite chefs. On top of the plethora of sashimi, we received multiple peanut butter-pickle-tuna wraps, which we adore - don't knock 'em until you try 'em!! We also got our favorite blow-torch seared tuna and several plates of chopped bluefin with yellow tuna roe, wasabi, and chopped radish.

As always, we had a fantastic time and got lots of little perks - a few extra plates of fantastic tempura, clam soup, and random green kiwi soda drinks. It's cool, we'll take it all with love and smiles. Nick and I agree, this restaurant can do no wrong in our eyes. We love it and we will miss it dearly when we go. Our friend also had an amazing time and we were glad to show him a slice of our awesome lives in Korea.

Busy Busy Busy

2010-05-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

Oh dear the next few weeks are going to be sooo busy. Our friend visiting from San Francisco comes tomorrow and work has been hectic. We have kindergarten report cards due again in a week and we have birthday parties and other busy-ness at work. Our school is holding speech contests and also we are going to have headquarters come and review our abilities by sitting in on our classes. ARRG. Too much to do and not enough time to sleep.

Today we worked out and cleaned our place in preparation for visitors. Then we had to embrace the weekend and we went to Taj Palace, our favorite Indian buffet with our buddy from work. We GORGED. We were in a food coma for the rest of the day. Now we are getting excited to see our friend and finishing one more load of laundry, haha.

The Lotus Lantern Festival

2010-05-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

It was a gorgeous spring Sunday and we decided to celebrate Buddha's birthday with some friends at the Lotus Lantern Festival near Anguk in Seoul. It is a week-long festival, we even get Friday off work this week due to the celebrations.

The streets were dancing with vibrant colored lanterns bobbing in the slight wind. Foreigners and Koreans alike poured out onto the streets to partake in all the festivities. Monks smiled and sang and women adorned in traditional hanboks danced and swayed. We meandered around the Buddhist temple, listening to chanting and singing, our spirits merry.

We witnessed a few parades and concerts and I even got my face painted with beautiful blue and white flowers. We had such a fun time checking out all the booths and activities. They had all sorts of interesting foods, games, yoga and martial arts exhibits, and activity stations for kids and grownups alike.

Arts and craft booths were EVERYWHERE, and I had quite the field day stopping at as many as I could and trying out all the different techniques. I didn't want to make everyone wait for me so I passed on incense making, candle making, and soap making, but I stopped to paint our wishes on a wall, create a shell powder print, do some red and black calligraphy lotus flowers on spun paper, and also do a wood block painting. It was so nice to have so many opportunities to be artistic in one day, haha. Once again at the wood block painting station, several Koreans stopped to watch over my shoulder. Nick took some amazing shots of me painting.

We really enjoyed being in the middle of the swirling, happy crowd of people that pulsed along the lively streets on such a beautiful, sunny Sunday.

A Quick Wedding Dress Update

2010-05-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

I went for my final fitting today, and my dress is AMAZING. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The lady sitting on my left is the seamstress. She did a fantastic job. I love the picture my friend took of me when I saw it for the first time. I'm so excited!

Happy Teacher's Day!

2010-05-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

We love our children. And today, they all showed us how much they love us!

Today was Teacher's Day, and Nick and I were bombarded with presents from all of our classes. It was so nice to get cards, flowers, gifts and handmade crafts from all of our kiddies. Some of their families were overwhelmingly generous. By the end of the day our desks were overflowing with presents! We got wine, brandy, tea sets, Burberry perfume, scarves, chocolate, candles, soaps...the list goes on and on. It was a wonderful feeling to be showered with thanks and with presents for just doing our jobs. We love our work here and we are going to be so sad when it is time to leave all these awesome little monsters we call students. :)

A Quarter Of A Century Later...

2010-05-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

Today, I am 25 years old...or as I told my kids, "Today, I am old." hahaha sorry Mom.

On top of my birthday party on Saturday, my actual birthday was full of fun, smiles, and laughter. My kindergarten kiddies were so cute and brought me lots of presents and my KT helped them decorate the classroom with birthday signs that the kids made. They made me cards and sang to me a few times throughout the day. I got THREE birthday cakes - a sweet potato (Yeah I don't really know either) one from my class, one from Nick, and a cheesecake from the Director...Nick's cake was by far the best though. It was an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Korean Baskin Robbins' cakes blow American Baskin Robbins' cakes out of the water. There was no cake involved, only ice cream (my favorite part!) The cake had whipped cream icing with chocolate lattice and white chocolate swirls, glazed raspberries and blackberries. Inside was cherry ice cream and then the center was a vanilla ice cream with chocolate wafer candy chunks and swirls of caramel. IT WAS DELICIOUS. It was also one of the first times I've indulged in sweets in the past month, so it was extra wonderful to have a small slice!

My afternoon kids also brought me some presents, drawings, and cards, even though today was Level Tests and they all had to take these intense tests instead of doing regular classes. I was so thankful for all my wonderful students who made my birthday a little bit better.

After school let out, Nick and I hopped in a cab and went to our favorite restaurant in Korea - the Tuna House. The chefs were quite happy to see us again and we enjoyed bluefin and yellowfin morsels while sitting at the sashimi bar and chatting it up with a Japanese couple who was seated next to us. As always the fish was superb and we marveled at how the tuna just melted in our mouths. Since it was my birthday the chefs gave us some extra special pieces of tuna, and we also got to stuff ourselves on our favorites. We had blow-torched tuna with green onions and sauce, our favorite pickle and peanut butter wrapped tuna, and some amazing dark red chunks of tuna that looked more like wiggly jelly than fish. It was soooo good.

I had such a wonderful birthday - a great celebration of the past 25 years. I can only hope that the next twenty five years are as exciting and full of love and adventure! I felt very lucky to have such a good life, and even though I was far away from many of the people that I love and hold dear, I was happy that Nick and my students and my friends here in Korea did such a grand job of making it special for me.

My 25th Birthday Party!

2010-05-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

What a night!

Last night we celebrated my 25th birthday, which is fast approaching tomorrow! All of the English teachers and some of our friends got together and we went to Hongdae for some delicious Indian food. We had reservations at Shanti Indian Restaurant; it was a FANTASTIC place! We didn't take lots of pictures during dinner since we were so busy stuffing ourselves with the amazing food, but I pulled some pictures of their food off their website.

We ate family style, each of us picking out a few dishes and then sharing with everyone. I wasn't disappointed by anything I tried - in fact, I LOVED everything I tried! We had big, overstuffed samosas and perfectly fried vegetable fritters. We sampled the tandoori chicken and savored the spiciness of the smoked chicken. We inhaled the lamb vindaloo, the chicken tikka masala, the palak paneer, the shrimp curry, the chicken makhini...we had so much great tasting food! Of course, all of it was piled high on HUGE slabs of tasty garlic naan.

I would highly recommend this place to anyone wanting some yummy Indian cuisine. It was up near the University on the second floor of some random building, but according to their website they have three locations in Hongdae. Nick and I will definitely be going back. If anyone wants to check out the place, we went to the third Shanti, which you can look at on their website: http://www.shantifood.com/

After such an awesome dinner, we all headed over to Papa Gorilla's, a bar that has some disastrously good deals. Some more friends joined us and we had a good party. It was a lot of fun.

Today we are taking it easy. Nick's been amazing and did the laundry AND cooked me dinner. I feel like such a lucky girl :) I spent the late evening talking to my mom for Mother's Day - we get to talk to Nick's mom in the morning, we're both so happy to get the chance to talk to our moms - WE MISS THEM!

A Gorgeous Day Off!!

2010-05-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Children's Day!

Here in Korea, May 5th is a holiday celebrating children. Basically, it is a second Christmas for all kids in the sense that they don't have to go to school and their parents get them presents. We aren't sure if it's the most consumerism-driven holiday we've ever heard of or if the Korean triple threat of Valentine's Day, White Day and Black Day wins. Either way, we're very happy to celebrate it with a gorgeous Wednesday off of work!!

Nick and I split up today to each take some time doing things we enjoy. Nick went gadget hunting with some friends in Yongsan and then they relaxed with a beer by the Han River. While that sounds really nice, I had something more important to do.

I shopped.

And it was a great shopping day. All sorts of sales were everywhere due to the holiday. I hit up some of my favorite stores and bought some much needed smaller sizes and spring/summer wear. I also got shoes, a matching purse, and some fun jewelry. I was excited to see that I was fitting into such small sizes and I'm really happy seeing the results of our intense daily workouts. It made me feel good and more motivated to continue the workouts and devote myself to a healthier lifestyle. :)

All in all we both had a great day. We met up again in the evening for our workout (plus cardio ab session, ouuuuch) and then I whipped us up some butter chicken for dinner. It makes us happy that we only have two days of work until the weekend, this was such a wonderful midweek break! Thanks, kids!! haha

Another Fantabulous Field Trip

2010-05-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

We had another field trip with our morning kiddies today - we all piled onto the buses and went up to Lake Park for a fun-filled day of outdoor activities and a big picnic on the grass.

We let the kids run and play and did several great activities. In a true competitive manner, the classes were pitted against each other during the activities. Nick's class and my class were on the "Blue" Team. Both classes took winning very seriously. They screamed and cheered on their classmates during the relay races and competitions. Chants were led and the occasional tear was shed as the competitive spirit ran rampant amongst the six year-olds. It was all in good fun though and they had a blast.

First the kids ran a relay race. They had to run to the end of the field and eat a chip off a clothesline without using their hands, then run back and tag the next person in line. Nick got some amazing shots of the kids running their hardest. You can see the excitement and determination in their faces.

Next we had the "Matching War". A few dozen felt squares were scattered all over the field. On one side the color was orange (our competing team's color). The other side was blue. The object of the game was to have as many squares be your team's color as possible. This led to lots of screaming from the sidelines as the classes took their turns running about crazily trying to flip over the felt to their team's color. When it was my class's turn to sit out and watch Nick's class have a go at it, some of my children got VERY intense as they yelled out instructions to help their team to victory. Of course, I was there, camera in hand, ready to capture the moment.

After much yelling and a victory for our team, we had the "Basket Race". Once again children lined up on one side of the field. This time, the teachers lined up on the other side. The kids had to run across the field holding a basket filled with balls. They then had to flip over a card and on it was a teacher's name. That teacher had to run back with the child and basket to the line and tag the next kid. It often ended up with us grabbing both the basket and the child and carrying the two back across the field - it was faster and more fun than trying to keep pace with little feet. The orange team managed to tie up the score at this point and our kids were ready to take a break.

The picnic consisted of delicious gimbop, sesame chicken wings, fresh cherry tomatoes, and strawberries. There was plenty to go around, and the kids seemed to thoroughly enjoy feeding Nick and me all their "extras" - and we were happy to munch on a few extra chicken wings and tomatoes. The kids also brought loads of snack foods and it was quite difficult turning down all those sugary and salty snacks, but we did our best to keep our promise of eating healthy and avoiding sweets.

When all our kids were fat and full and satisfied, we let them run around and digest a little. We took class pictures and relaxed as the muggy day wore on. Finally it was time for our last competition - the Tug of War. I must say, this was the most enjoyable part of our day. We had a lot of laughs making the kids give us their "mean" faces or their "strong" poses. After the kiddies made their effort it was the teachers' turn. Wow, did Nick's class and my class cheer for us! It was super cute hearing the alternating chants of "MR. B! MISS MARIE! MR. B! MISS MARIE!" We all had a lot of fun trying to triumph over each other. It was a fun and silly time.

After that it was time to pack up and go home. Most of our kids were pretty tuckered out by all the activity during our fun day. We taught our afternoon classes and now we are happy to announce that we have tomorrow off! That's right - May 5th is a holiday in Korea called Children's Day. Basically it is like Christmas without any religious meaning. We don't have to go to work, kids don't have to go to school, and parents are supposed to buy their children a present. Whatever, it's a midweek vacation! Hooray!

The Simple Pleasure of Riding a Bike

2010-05-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live." ~ Mark Twain

Today was an amazingly gorgeous day, all awash in golden sunshine with a slight breeze. Nick and I could not let it go to waste. We made some smoothies and headed off to Lake Park, in Ilsan.

Once we got there we decided that the best way to enjoy the day would be on a bike. Neither of us have ridden bicycles since early high school. We figured it would be a fun and interesting way to spend the day. We found a bike shop that did rentals and for 10,000 won (or around $9.00) we had bikes for the next two hours. They were old, wobbly, and Nick's gears didn't work - but it was still perfect.

We spent a lot of time going around and around the lake, marveling at the people picnicking, the water lapping at the shore, the cherry blossoms floating on the breeze, and the many sights the park has to offer. We stopped at the waterfalls, sat on some benches under vine covered trellises, and then...jackpot. As we were riding on the main trail, Nick suddenly veered off onto a stone path that led down to the water. We walked our bikes to a two-story tall swing. Yes. It was gigantic. We loved it. We took turns pushing each other on it and we had a blast. I have a feeling we will be going back there and taking more pictures on the swing - it was a lot of fun and really picturesque.

After a few circuits around the lake we were ready to move on. We did a little shopping in Western Dom (hello new shoes haha) and then went to Costco to pick up some groceries for the next month. Once home we did our (EXHAUSTING) workout and then I made chicken penne for dinner. Yum. The whole day was glorious and fun. We really enjoyed ourselves.

A Picnic in the Park

2010-04-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

It was another beautiful day today and after a banana and pineapple smoothie Nick and I decided to enjoy the outdoors again. I grabbed my sketchbook, Nick grabbed a book his mom had just mailed to us, and we took our picnic blanket outside. We bought some DELICIOUS toasted sandwiches from "A Twosome Place" - zesty lemon chicken salad and a Reuben on a whole wheat loaf. We also purchased a large water bottle and some baked onion chips and picked out a nice spot in our little park right across the street from our apartment building.

The food was yummy and we spent a few hours hanging out in the sun, amongst the flowering trees. Nick really enjoyed his book. I played with the camera a little bit taking lots of photos of the blooming flowers and worked on sketches for our save-the-dates. I like the idea of making a little painting and having it turned into our invitations. It was inspiring being out in the spring sun and we had a nice, relaxing time.

Around 4 we came back inside and I took a little nap. Then we worked ourselves to the breaking point again with our workout session and I made us some penne with diced tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, mushrooms, and little meatballs. Now I'm just finishing up some grading (we had monthly tests on Thursday and Friday) and we are relaxing some more before our hectic work week begins again tomorrow.

Spring is good for the Seoul

2010-04-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

Today Nick and I woke up to a glorious, sunshine-filled day. We could barely contain ourselves with our excitement. Spring is here! As you could see from our last post, all the trees were full of blooms and the air was warm and fragrant with the scents of blossoms and fresh grass. We got up, got dressed, and hopped onto the bus to go down to Seoul.

We shared a burrito from Tomatillos for lunch (had to get our Mexican fix!) and then wandered down the major street to check out the outdoor wicker displays that were at the Sejong Cultural Center. They had HUGE wicker statues and sculptures. They were really neat and we had fun photographing them.

The park was set up and new flower beds were put in. Instead of last year's intense floral arrangement with no room to walk in between, they had the park set up with large lawns and then small flower beds bursting with tulips, peonies, daisies and more. It was nice to take off our shoes and roam in the grass barefoot. We stopped at each bed of flowers, taking extreme close ups and practicing with our new camera.

After spending ample time on the lawns we meandered past Gyeongbukgong Palace and went to the gallery district. Nick bought me some gorgeous jewelry for my birthday that is in a few weeks. I felt so pampered. I showed him a place where I liked some of their pieces and he brought me inside and told me to pick out anything I wanted. I got a multi-chain braided necklace with purple Swarovski crystals and a matching bracelet. It was so nice and made me feel so special!! Then, as we were walking back from the first jewelry store, we saw another small place that had funky necklaces and earrings. Nick picked out a pair of purple and blue feather earrings that perfectly matched the dress I was wearing and got those for me too! I felt very loved. :)

The afternoon sun was so nice and we weren't ready to go home quite yet. We entered the Palace grounds to check out their cherry blossoms, which are in full bloom. Nick took some pretty pictures of me sitting in one, wearing my new earrings. After a while just enjoying being outside we decided to head back to Hwajung.

By the time we got back Nick had a serious hankering for a smoothie. We decided to buy ourselves a small blender (like a Magic Bullet) and load up on bananas, strawberries, pineapple, oranges and apples. We sweated through our workout, which was one of the most intense cardio sessions yet, and then I whipped us up some tasty smoothies. Later we had stuffed bell peppers for dinner with some spinach and then our friend came over and we watched a movie. It was a perfect day!

A Gorgeous Spring Evening

2010-04-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

After work tonight, we came home and kicked our butts working out with our INSANITY videos. We are proud to be through Day 4! Already we can tell that our endurance is getting better. Today was mostly stretching and yoga, called Cardio Recovery, but it was still intense and made us sweat.

We decided to grab some BBQ at one of our favorite places afterward, and we took the camera because we wanted to stop in the park and check out the trees that are all blooming right now. We are so happy that spring is finally here! Winter was really starting to get to us. We can now go outside with light jackets, or even no jackets! We wanted to try our hand at taking photos at night with our D90. We enjoyed our meal and then spent an hour just out in the fresh spring night air as we played with aperture, lighting effects, color filters, and our ISO levels. We really need a tripod to get the shots we want, we are going to start looking for one that is small and easy to tote around. We got a few cool shots though, and I thought it would be nice to share.

INSANITY

2010-04-20T23:56:00.000-07:00

Our poor, broken bodies...

Today Nick and I started a serious new workout regimen. It is called INSANITY by Shaun T. It is a 60 day cardio workout routine. It rocked us. We started with a fitness test today, and I thought I was going to die. I've lost weight while I've been here, eating healthier and riding our exercise bike with some regularity, but I decided that I wanted to look better and feel better. Also, having my dress fitting helped motivate me a lot. Nick was also in the mood to tone up and get in better shape, so we decided that we were going to try something extreme and stick with it. We are good at challenging ourselves, and it looks like INSANITY is going to be incredibly challenging. I hurt so badly right now I feel like I can't walk. But I am looking forward to seeing results and I'm proud of myself for committing myself to this completely. Shaun T. is also a really good motivator and we enjoy hearing him push us as the videos progress. We are cutting out sweets and snacks during the day and I've upped our veggie intake during our dinners and lunches. We are looking forward to being skinny and fit!

Everland!

2010-04-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

What a day!

The director was wonderful to all the teachers and staff at our school and sent us all on a trip to Everland today! Everland is a big amusement park a few hours away from Hwajung. It was much more extensive than Lotte World, the park we went to a few months ago. We had so much fun with all of our friends!

We went on a few great rides, including the world's steepest wooden roller coaster! It was a ton of fun. Nick and I love going on rides that flip us upside down and make our hearts beat. We goaded a few of the more timid teachers to join us and we all had a blast on each ride. We munched on delicious churros and had a nice lunch all together, also courtesy of the director. It was very generous and a great time.

After lunch we managed to catch their parade, which was surprisingly full of Caucasian dancers instead of Koreans. They also had creepy masked creatures dancing up on these pedestals that lifted up on poles. It was interesting and fun. Then we walked over to the massive tulip gardens and played around taking lots of photos with the flowers, the statues, and all the water features.

Fun photos accomplished, we decided to check out the zoo that was also part of the park. We were a little sad by some of the displays, which had no vegetation for some of the animals. Others were impressive - especially their monkey house, which was full of different types of primates. A chimp was very interested in Nick, and would mimic his faces, sticking his tongue out at us and wiggling his eyebrows. It was funny.

We walked around the zoo portion for some time, checking out the baby tigers, polar bears, lions, tigers, and seals. Then we went into their main Africa house and saw some hyenas, a few wild birds, fed a bunch of parakeets, and then saw the baby lions. One baby was VERY interested in Nick, and came up to the glass and was licking it, with Nick's face squished up on the other side. It was very cute.

We ended our day with a few more rides and then took the bus back to Ilsan. Nick and I grabbed some delicious pork bulgolgi on meat alley and then went home completely exhausted.

Down on the Farm

2010-04-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

Hooray for field trips. They give us a chance to play away from school and also a chance to take loads of photos with our new camera.

Today we took the morning classes to a random farm in the middle of nowhere. We all hopped into the buses with our classes and drove forty minutes into farm country. We went to see a kiddie-geared tomato farm with lots of beautiful covered gardens and places to picnic and play. The kids got to run around and be outside in the gorgeous spring weather and we got to play, too. We took a little tour of the tomato fields and got to feed some fenced-in chickens and a rather fat rabbit.

We all sat down at picnic tables and had a delicious and incredibly healthy lunch. The school provided great packaged lunches that were made by caterers. We all got some baked chicken wings, cherry tomatoes, loads of gimbop (which is mostly vegetable sushi with some small slices of ham; lots of carrots, cucumber, radish and mushroom sprouts), a tangerine, a banana, and grape juice boxes. It was awesome.

After our wonderful outdoor lunch we had a talent show on the little stage that was there. Each class has been practicing something to show off to the other classes. My class sang "Witch Doctor" and did a little dance. Nick's class sang Mr. Sun and also did a dance. All the classes were super cute and it was a lot of fun.

When each class did their part in the talent show the kindergarten classes went to make topiaries. We were given a little kit with eyes, a nose, a mouth and "ears" made out of balls of mushy plants and sod that had metal spikes sticking through them. Each kid was given a small mountain of more mushy plants and they had to beat them flat. Then a sprig of ivy was placed in the middle and we formed our "mat" of mushy plants and dirt into a ball around the ivy. We used some twine to ensure it would keep shape and then decorated our ball with the previously mentioned eyes, ears, etc. When we were all done and our hands were nice and dirty we had mouse-y bear shaped little heads made out of plants. It was sort of cute, but overall a frustrating activity to do with six year old children. By the end of the activity I had heard "Teaaa-chhuhh help me!" too many times and I was ready to go home.

Today, I Bought a Wedding Dress

2010-04-10T21:56:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Nick and I are getting married in May of 2011. We have been planning our big day while overseas and some time ago I started looking into having my dress made here in Korea. I've been sketching and saving pictures of dresses I like and compiling them all into a little wedding sketchbook. When I was looking at wedding dresses online I was deterred by the US prices of the dress styles I liked. I had been looking at wholesale wedding manufacturers online and I was struggling with the idea of buying a dress without seeing it or spending more money than I wanted to on my dress. Luckily, I have some amazing friends here who were more than willing to help me break into the world of Korean weddings. My Korean teacher made an appointment for me to consult with some dressmakers. It was a very exciting day!

First, I went on my own to "Wedding Street", In Ahyeon-dong. I walked past many wedding dress shops and took some pictures with our new camera :). I went into a few shops to talk with the dressmakers and figure out how much I could expect my dress to cost, what the quality of materials and craftsmanship were like, and how easy it would be to work with these seamstresses. While some of the display dresses were stunning, I left most shops feeling disappointed. The shops all had three or four dresses on display and that was it. Few had books or images for me to see, and many spoke little to no English. Most of the better fabrics were wildly expensive and the ones that were in my price range felt and looked cheap. I figured if I had been able to find a place I loved I could have brought my Korean speaking friends to talk with them, but ultimately I left Ahyeon-dong doubting I would ever buy a dress from there.

I met my friends at Hak-dong station not too far from Gangnam and together we went over to Yulianna Wedding Consultants. Our appointment was at 4 pm and it was just a short walk from the subway station. We were right near Furniture street and large, expensive displays of Scandinavian couches and French antique furniture were in classy, over-the-top stores all around us. We turned onto a little side street, entered a building and went up to the fifth floor. Our consultant was waiting for us. She led us into a little room with purple velvet couches and MOUNTAINS of wedding albums. We sat and talked and sketched for hours. We went over every detail of the dress, with my friend patiently translating so nothing was left unsaid or misunderstood. We poured over pictures and photographs and discussed fabrics, bead work straps, hem lines, where the zipper would be...everything you could imagine! The woman was wonderful, thorough, and kind.

After an exhaustive examination at what I wanted in my dress, I was whisked out of the purple room to the pink makeup and hair room. They pinned up my hair in twists and braids and tacked a tiara onto my head. I was told that a wedding is my day to be a princess, and that they would make me look like one. Now, most of you know I am NOT the princess-y type, but I wasn't given the option to not be a princess, haha. They took off my smaller earrings and clipped on some huge, sparkly monstrosities. I was told it would look good from far away. They powdered blush on my cheeks (Too pink! I argued, but was told it would look good in the lighting) and smacked gloss on my lips. My eyelashes were curled and mascara was layered on. I was not comfortable playing the girly girl.

Next I was whisked onto a raised rectangular stage. In the middle was another raised section, this one was a circle. I was directed to stand on the circle. Mirrors flanked me on three sides, golden curtains were hiding me from my friends. Three women stripped off my clothes and pinned me into a dress that had some of the elements I liked for my own dress. I slipped on some heels they provided me and then they put a bouquet of flowers in my hands. Suddenly hot stage lights were turned on and the curtain swept back, presenting me to my friends. It was surreal and very amusing. I was paraded about in a few different dresses, discussing with my consultant about what I liked, what I didn't, how things felt, etc.

The price was right and with all the attention to detail I knew that this was the place for me. I went for it and signed a contract. My dress will be hand made and I will go back May 15th for my final fitting. At that time the dress will be complete and we will make sure no further alterations need to be made. If there are changes that have to be made, I will most likely be shipping the dress home the first or second week of June. I am so excited that everything ended up working out so wonderfully, and I am eternally grateful for my beautiful Korean teacher for helping me with the most important dress of my life! I couldn't have done it without her, and I am so happy to have her as my friend. I still can't believe that I bought a wedding dress today!

Noryangjin Fish Market

2010-04-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

HOLY FISH.

Today we went to the Noryangjin Fish Market for the first time. It was an unbelievable, overwhelming experience.

First thing's first, I must describe the smell. It is the most potent, overpowering, completely saturating smell I have ever experienced. Now, I have never been to a trash dump, so I cannot imagine what that smells like. But the stench of fish was so complete in this hangar that I gagged a few times during our adventures and almost lost my appetite by the time we were going to enjoy our own seafood feast. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

The fish market in Seoul is gigantic. On the second floor there are several restaurants that will cook your fresh seafood. On the main floor, hundreds and hundreds of vendors are lined up in a huge hangar selling all sorts of seafood. Seafood like we've never seen before. There were buckets and bins and Styrofoam boxes full of creatures that none of us could identify. Octopi trying to escape only to be pushed back into their buckets, inky water swirling. Sea snails and worms wiggling and fluttering in water that was constantly replenished by hoses. Liquid fish guts, old sea water, and fish blood ran in rivulets off every surface, forming a rather unpleasant muck for us to walk through. I bought new shoes on the way home - my ballet flats were soaked through and I knew they were ruined beyond repair.

Unpleasantness aside, the fish market was an amazing sight. Once we got used to seeing unbelievable sights and the smell became tolerable (for me anyways, Nick and Brad did not have as much trouble acclimating) we marveled at the bustling, chaotic order that was the fish market. This was a serious place of business. Auctions were going on over a loudspeaker. Vendors would yell and motion for you to come close, pulling a fish out of their tanks to show off. Men, women, and children whirled around us buying all sorts of seafood...we watched live octopi thrown into black plastic bags to take home or fresh sashimi cut up on old wooden chopping blocks. And when I say fresh, I mean the fish was wiggling a minute ago. The vendors would take the chosen fish, throw it mercilessly on the ground (in the delicious looking muck, mind you) and smack it's head with a wooden stake that had a spike at the end. Half the time it would sever the fish's spine and they would immediately stop wiggling, their gills split open with a sickening thwack. We were taken aback at the nonchalant brutality. We don't get to see how the meat gets on our plates...but at the same time, we watched with a serious fascination. We couldn't wait to have one killed for our own feast.

After a few hours of examining each type of fish and random seashell filled with some random squishy creature, we decided it was time to choose our meals. We picked some enormous prawns, a king crab, and a "small size" sea bass. We picked our prawns first, had them weighed, and then unceremoniously dumped into a black plastic bag. Our crab was handed to us alive, in another black plastic bag filled with sea water.

Our fish we had to pick live out of a tank. The gentlemen who sold it to us was a pushy man. After we made our choice and he murdered our fish, he shoved us down the little alley that he had thrown our still twitching feast (we named him Flipper!) and a woman with large rubber gloves swiftly chopped off Flipper's head and ripped out some of his guts. She hosed the body down and then we argued with the man about taking the fish with us. We wanted to go upstairs and have it cooked in a restaurant of our choice. He wanted us to go to his friend's restaurant. Ultimately, we were the ones paying, so we got our way. The woman threw the body in one bag and the head in another. We went upstairs with our bags and found a restaurant that would cook all our seafood for a very nominal price. It looked clean and was crowded, and so we slid off our (now disgustingly foul) shoes and padded onto the heated wooden floors to sit traditional-style on the ground.

We indulged in our steamed prawns and king crab, dipping the fresh meat in soy sauce or red bean paste with freshly chopped garlic and parsley. We had Flipper "barbecued" crispy. The fish was flaky and had the most perfect mild taste. We also had Flipper's head thrown into a very spicy pepper soup. The soup had potatoes and onions, greens and mushrooms. The entire head (eyeballs, flippers and all the juicy parts) was boiled in the soup for over an hour as we ate the first three courses of our meal. By the time they brought it to our table, piping hot, the succulent meat was flaking off the bones. Four hours after we arrived at the fish market we made our way back to the subway, feeling full and satisfied. It was an amazing day.

Out in Ilsan

2010-04-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

Finally, Friday night! We love Fridays, mostly because we can sleep in Saturday morning, hahah. But this Friday was particularly fun, because we went out in Ilsan with Brad and a friend from work. We had some food in Hwajung before going out and then hopped onto the subway up to Ilsan and La Festa.

We met up with our friends in Zan Bar, where we sat and chatted for a while. Then it was over to Boom Club to watch bad music videos and amazing bartenders flip their martini shakers. We had a lot of fun.

Dying Easter Eggs with Holly Class

2010-04-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

In preparation for Easter, I taught my kindergarten kids about dying Easter eggs. My mom sent us some dye packages in a little package, and I thought it would be fun to introduce my kindergarten class to colored eggs. In Korea they do not have that tradition and had never even heard of colored eggs. They didn't really believe me, even after I showed them pictures online.

They picked out their colors and we gently put their eggs into cups. While we waited we had snacks and sang songs. When my KT and I went around flipping the eggs so they could get even color, the kids were gasping and screaming in excitement over the fact that the eggs were really red, yellow, green, etc. It was funny watching them get so worked up! They were really cute and we took a few great photos of them decorating their eggs. I was happy to give them the experience!

Super Spicy Curry!!

2010-03-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

After sending Tess off to the airport this morning and a full day of work, we hopped in a cab and went down to Hongdae to get some deliciously spicy curry at Abiko Curry House. We've been here before and we've always loved the richness of their curry. They smother pork cutlet with a brown curry that burns your mouth, your throat, and your belly with a deep, hot and lingering burn. They also lay on garlic chips, green onions and a raw egg to really make your taste buds explode.

The curry house has five levels of spiciness - we've never done a level five dish before. The first level of spice was so mild we couldn't even feel a burn. The second level of spice is enjoyable for me, leaving me feeling a burn without feeling pain. The third level was almost too spicy for Brad, and was too spicy for me the last time I ordered it - it made my eyes water and my throat feel engulfed in flames. Nick and our other friend who came with us tried the fourth level of spiciness tonight. They enjoyed their meals immensely, but sweated and cried through the entire thing. It's good to know that they've had their limits tested. The waiters who served us were very concerned for them, too - they came by twice to warn us of the spice and to ask the boys if they wanted to reconsider. When the food did come, the chef came over and told the boys that if it was too spicy they could go stand up and be by the water cooler. It was funny.

Last Night With My Bestest

2010-03-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the last night Tess will be in Korea. We took it easy (we've been going to so many places every night for the past week!) and stayed in Hwajung. We feasted on marinated pork bulgolgi at the fabulous restaurant next door to our apartment building. Both of our friends were incredibly pleased with the barbecue, the spicy soup, the ridiculous amounts of grilled garlic and all the yummy sides. We took our time with dinner and spent a few hours talking and eating.

Afterward we returned to our apartment and the four of us shared a bottle of wine, all while talking, laughing, and reminiscing. We listened to some of our favorite music and looked at older pictures too. It was really nice and a good last night together. I'll miss her terribly - getting the chance to spend time with her has reminded me how much I miss my friends and family back home.

Nick's friend, Brad, is staying until Sunday, so tomorrow we will be going back into Hongdae for some super spicy curry. Both of our friends have truly enjoyed the food and culture since being here, and we are glad that we've gotten to show them around and have so much fun.

PS - Our new Nikon camera arrived, and starting Saturday we will be using it for the bulk of our photos. We have to get a lens protector before we feel safe using it outside. We are very excited though!

All You Can Eat Tuna :)

2010-03-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today we took our friends to one of our most loved restaurants that we have found here in Korea. Our little party was joined by some of the other teachers from school and we all headed down to Hongdae.

We were seated in a private room and then the food started rolling in. And continued and continued until our table was a puzzle of piled plates and heaps of food. It reminded me of Tetris, trying to fit each dish on the table. Our chef friend came in and visited with us, bringing us delicate slivers of dark bluefin belly and yellowfin cheeks. We munched on fish eye sockets and beautiful pink sashimi that melted in our mouths. We had a lot of fun and stuffed ourselves to our limits.

Tomorrow is Tess' last night in Korea before she moves on to Japan on Wednesday. We aren't sure what we will do yet, but we are sure it will be most memorable. It has been an absolute joy having her here; I have been having the time of my life showing her around this amazing country. It'll be a sad farewell, even though it will only be for a few more months before we return to the States.

City Bus Tour and Eating San-Okji

2010-03-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

Today we took the City Bus Tour around Seoul. It was fun doing the touristy thing with Tess. We stopped at the Korean War Memorial first. I had never been and it was very interesting. Large, aggressive monuments and statues told a story of pain, sadness, and war. There were tanks, planes, helicopters and rockets all over the grounds. You were able to climb up and take pictures in many of the cockpits. We walked around, took lots of pictures, and then looked at the hall of names.

After some time we picked up the bus and went to the traditional Namsangol village near the Chongmuro station at the base of Namsan Mountain. We meandered through the village watching old men weave wicker shoes and baskets. Children were playing Yut and running hoops around the squares. We even got the chance to get dressed up in Hanboks and take pictures with huge hairpieces. It was wild.

We rode the bus up Namsan, terrified that it was going to tip over and roll down the incredibly steep and narrow roads. Then we rode back down the hill and hopped off near the Blue House, where the Korean President lives. We went to a great little dumpling house and gorged on dumpling soup and cold buckwheat noodles in kichi sauce. It was wonderful.

We returned to Hwajung just in time to see Nick bring in his friend from the airport. Now we were really excited - TWO amazing friends visiting us in Korea! We decided to give them the experience of eating San-Okji, the wiggly octopus that we had months ago. We went to the traditional seafood restaurant and ate a mountain of raw fish and poked at the wiggling limbs.

After playing with our food and having it play back, we picked up some fried chicken to make sure our hunger was truly satisfied. Tomorrow we have to go back to work, but we look forward to spending the evenings with our friends! We will be going to the Tuna House tomorrow, and we are very excited to show our friends more of our favorite places in Seoul.

Shopping in Seoul

2010-03-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

Today was a shopping excursion!

After some much needed sleep we got up in the (late) morning and headed out to do a massive shopping tour of Seoul. Since it was going to be so much shopping, Nick decided to stay home. He enjoys going out and doing things, but shopping with some girls isn't really that high on his list, haha. One of the teachers from school came with us too. She's only been in Korea around a month and she was excited to see the sights.

First stop was Insadong, one of my personal favorite places in the city. We scoped out the tea houses, the ceramics, the antiques and the Korean traditional wares. The girls picked up some postcards and we all snacked on delicious fried pancakes that are filled with brown sugar, maple syrup, and peanuts. We also grabbed some bread dumplings that are a browned bun stuffed with meat, onions, and glass noodles. We enjoyed both street treats immensely.

After a few hours roaming the streets of Insadong we popped onto the subway and went to Dongdaemun. There we saw shoe alley and the numerous merchants selling sporting goods, clothing, random appliances, and much much more. We also went into the large fashion tower Doota to scope out the expensive and somewhat ridiculous fashions the South Koreans covet so much. We bought some french fry-covered corn dogs and smothered them in ketchup. Then it was time to move on to the next neighborhood for more shopping.

After that it was off to Myeung-dong, which is one of the largest shopping areas in Seoul. Pedestrian streets stuffed to the max with carts and throngs of people surging into and out of the plethora of stores. We couldn't even get into the new H&M because there was a line to get into the building! We bought some clothes and eyed sunglasses, purses, jewelry and more. Finally though, all the walking caught up with us and we decided to exhaustedly call it quits and head back home.

It was so much fun to have a girls' day full of shopping and roaming around. We took a well-deserved nap and then went out with Nick for bulgolgi and egg souffle. We ordered thick cut slices of bacon to barbecue up and ate lots of kimchi salad and delicious garlic cloves. It was delicious.

Our friend is here!

2010-03-27T04:29:00.000-07:00

Wednesday my best friend, Tess, came to Korea for one wonderful week of fun and adventure. We have been having the BEST time visiting with her! It has been so great to see her after 9 months of missing her.

During the day today she came to school and met some of my students. She's a teacher in the States, so she had her class write letters to my third graders. My kids were so very excited to write letters back to their new American pen pals. It was a fantastic experience for them. They got to ask questions about the US and answer questions about Korea. Some of them brought stickers, photos of their families, and presents to attach to their letters. It was really sweet.

After school let out we went for duc-galbi, which literally means "Chicken Meat". We love it. It is very spicy chicken with rice cake noodles, cabbage, seaweed, and seasoning that is all cooked together in the middle of the table. After you eat the bulk of the meat then you get more rice, cabbage, and seaweed and fry it all up with lots more of the spicy red sauce. Delicious.

We ventured into Hongdae to show Tess the Seoul nightlife scene. We had a blast going to different places, walking around the busy (and cold!) streets and dancing late into the night. It was an awesome time.