Christmas Eve

After the birthday celebration, we were all tired to say the least.  We slept in and eventually made our way down for breakfast.  Just as I was about to take a bite of yogurt, I looked up and who did I see?!?  None other than the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders walking into the buffet.  What the heck were they doing in Korea?  Apparently they were here on official Santa business - bringing Christmas cheer to all the troops who are stationed here.

After breakfast we had a little bit of downtime to just hang before we made our way back into Seoul.  We had lunch with the Stewart Family at the most amazing Nepalese restaurant called Everest.  The sweet potato curry is my new obsession . . . to die for!!  These are the remnants of our meal.

This restaurant is reason enough to come visit Korea (hint hint).

Even cute little Lia (Kim and Todd's adopted daughter from China) enjoyed her naan - she was thinking quite hard about where her next bite would be.

It was also Kim's birthday so it was great to be able to celebrate with her.

The subway ride home from lunch was interesting . . . I love it when Korean grandmas fall asleep on my shoulder.  People fall asleep all the time on the subways and buses.  It's amazing to me that they don't miss their stops.  Or maybe they do.  Who knows?  But as you can tell, "personal space" is a foreign concept here.

Mrs. Hogan gave us all light up Christmas necklaces to wear on our way to Christmas Eve dinner.  I bet you can guess which one is the America . . . 

Christmas Eve was spent amongst great friends.  It was such a comfort to me to be around
1. friends from Korea AND Colorado (Charissa on the right, Shannon in the middle),

2. about 20 people, which made me feel a little more at home since I'm used to spending Christmas Eve with about 40-50 people!  This picture doesn't do it justice, but we had quite the crowd gathered at the Husted's.

I was feeling a little homesick, but the food was delicious and the company even better.

It was hard saying goodbye to the Hogan's and I was extremely envious that they were going to escape the bitter cold of Korea for the warm sandy beaches and sunshine of Boracay.  But atleast I have Thailand to look forward to - just about a month away!

Birthday Celebrations Korean Style

The Hogan's came to Korea for a couple days to visit Kelly before they escaped the frigid country to spend the rest of the holiday season on the tropical island of Boracay in the Philippines.  I was able to get my birthday off of work so I spent the day showing them around Seoul.  It was great to have some friends in town from Colorado.  It made it seem a little more like home.  Here are some highlights from December 23.









Sean made me a birthday flower with a hidden birthday card inside.

Then I was showered with gifts from my mom and the Hogans - natural peanut butter, magazines, spices, gingerbread mix, Kashi cereal, and granola just to name a few.  Thank you thank you!!














The hotel gave me a birthday chocolate muffin, candle and all.











The Marriott hotel was beautifully decorated with lights, Christmas trees, and giant gingerbread houses.  It satisfied my Christmas spirit, but leaving the festive atmosphere, the giant marble bathroom, and the spacious room for my little apartment was depressing to say the least.  But atleast I got a little mini vacation for a couple days!







On the subway ride back from dinner with Kelly's Korean co-teachers, I was a little nervous that this is what my birthday celebration would look like.

       

But after the bartender brought us 4 free tequila shots taken without salt and chased with a lemon instead of a lime, our spirits and energy had improved and only shenanigans could follow...

...including a unique version of "White Christmas" sung by the one and only Kelly Hogan, which was hilariously interrupted by a brief Irish jig she felt inspired to do.

Needless to say, my birthday was one I'll never forget.  Thank you to the Hogan's for spending the day with me.  Also a big thank you to my friends and family who sent me cards and birthday packages.  I was deeply touched by your thoughtfulness and generosity.  It meant so much to me to know that I haven't been forgotten about!

"Last Christmas" Student Performance

On Christmas Eve, ERC put on a song contest that I unfortunately didn't see because I took the 23rd and 24th off of work.  Each class had to prepare a song or bring in an item for Show and Tell.  Two of my classes sang songs and the other two opted for the show and tell option.  It was funny because the two songs that both classes wanted to sing were "Last Christmas" and "All I Want for Christmas is You."  So I decided to record my beginner class so you could see a few of my students.  I love this class and we have a lot of fun together.  Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1649079181685&comments&ref=mf

Chicken Soup

I had mentioned in my previous blog that I had been sick with the flu and a cold.  The week I was sick my kind boss brought me chicken soup because it's what all Koreans eat when they're feeling a little under the weather.  This was unlike any other soup I have ever eaten.







She's not kidding when she calls it chicken soup because when I opened the large bowl, what to my wondering eyes did appear but an entire chicken!!  Bones, skin, and meat were all there, plus it was stuffed with rice (of course) and ginger.  There was an enormous amount so I put some of the broth into my bowl and grabbed out some of the breast meat.  This was a challenging feat because I was trying to remove the skin and bones without burning my fingers on the pan and avoiding the dark meat.  It was pretty good after I added in some salt and pepper.  I put the rest in the fridge to save for the next day.


So, when I opened up the container the next day, something didn't look quite right.  The broth seemed different somehow but I wasn't quite sure what had happened.  I began to tilt the bowl and realized that the broth wasn't tipping like it normally does.  I continued to tilt the bowl even more and finally figured out why the soup looked different - the broth and hardened to a gel-like consistency similar to jello or the canned cranberry sauce.

I wanted to vomit.  It was absolutely repulsive!  The jiggly mass of broth combined with the left over chicken and the chicken wings, skin, and bones still sitting there made me feel sick to my stomach.  Then I started to think about the fact that I had eaten some of it the previous day, so all that nastiness was actually in my body!!!!  Let's just say Korean chicken soup will now be avoided like the plague if I can help it.  I will stick to making my own soups - atleast I know what ingredients are in my own concoctions.



Now go and enjoy your Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup for me, and appreciate the fact that they leave out the fat that causes the broth to coagulate in the bowl and in your body.  Oh America, how I miss your normalcy.

Benesian Christmas Party

Sunday, December 19, 2010 

Tonight was our Christmas party hosted by Jinny at her coffee shop, Benesian Cafe.  There were about 30 of us gathered around her Christmas tree sharing wine, food, and gifts.

We started off the evening with delicious appetizers that included apples with Sarah Jane's homemade caramel sauce, Ashley's famous deviled eggs, Dionne's amazing persimmon bread, and a variety of other yummy treats.

Then JJ (Ashley's husband) led us in prayer and called us to remember the true meaning of Christmas.  Then Scott led us in a candle-lit reading of the nativity story.  After that we sang a bunch of Christmas carols led by Reuben, Kelly, and James.  After that we did a white elephant exchange which included such wonderful gifts like dried squid, an ash tray with a saying that encouraged us not to smoke too much, a bath mat with a pig on it, some eggnog bread, a large supply of mac n cheese, some binoculars, and an old cell phone that won't work until it goes back to the U.S.

It was a fun evening and a great way to kick off a fun-filled holiday week.

Job #2

I started my new P/T job two weeks ago and it's going really well.  The school is only 3 minutes past ERC, so it's a quick walk from my apartment.  I teach 4-7 year olds and they are adorable.  Korean kids are so cute!  I love my 7-year old class.  There are four girls and three boys and I'm in love with all of them.  Their English is pretty good and I want to adopt one of the girls - NagKyuen.  She has the cutest dimples and wears these big bows in her hair.  My six-year olds are great but their English isn't quite where it should be.  There are only three girls and one boy, my smallest class at the school.  They are pretty well behaved and think it's hilarious when I say things in Korean.  I see my five-year olds twice a week and my four-year olds once a week.  The fours are definitely a challenge.  They don't understand most of what I say and I feel like I'm babysitting most of the time.  Luckily, the classes are only 30 minutes so I can generally get them to focus for about 20 minutes of that time.  But since they don't know a lot, I struggle trying to get them to repeat things that I'm saying.  I do have some CDs that we sing songs to.  Last Monday and today we sang "head, shoulders, knees, and toes."  About 33% know the words, another 33% attempt to say a few things and point to the correct body part, and the last 33% runs around the classroom as I try to sing and get them to listen.  It's definitely a challenge and my third class is the worst.  They hate listening and have a 10 second attention span.  Luckily no one is there to check up on me because I feel like there's not a whole lot I can do to get them to listen because of the language barrier.  Hopefully it'll get better but I'm not counting on it.  Thankfully I only see them on Mondays, so I get it out of the way at the beginning of the week.

I also just got sick and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I felt fine up until yesterday afternoon, but last night I got home from house church and could tell I was starting to get the flu - achy muscles, the shivers, and a cough.  I have been trying to stay healthy, despite the cold and the fact that all my friends are sick, but I think it finally caught up to me.  I haven't been sleeping well and running outside has been brutal.  I didn't know it was possible to run against the wind in both directions, but apparently it is in Korea, so it makes running miserable and freezing.  I'm supposed to run one more half marathon on Sunday, so I'm hoping I'll be able to do it.  If not, I might just run the 10k.

On Wednesday night a bunch of my friends are going caroling on the subway.  I hope I'll be able to make it after work if I'm feeling better.  I can't wait to see the reactions we get!  It should be pretty funny.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  My schedule has been a little crazy this last week.  I'll try to be better!  Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

Dear Mr. Cab Driver,

Thank you so much for getting lost as you attempted to take me to the much anticipated all-girls sleep over on Friday night.  Because of your lack of knowledge of your own country, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the city lights pass by as you shouted into your cell phone trying to get directions from a friend.  I was so happy when you were able to utter three English words "Call Korean friend" to me, forcing me to call Peter, my much-too-devoted Korean teacher because my boss didn't answer her phone, leading to more calls from him and a few text messages, most of which I ignored.

I think the best part of the night was when you dropped me off at the "right" apartment complex, which it most definitely was not, and then charged me 30K won (10K of which was charged as you were stopped on the street calling your national headquarters for directions).  Being stranded in the middle of nowhere was definitely my idea of a fun weekend night.  I wish I had gotten your card so you can be my personal driver for all my taxi needs.

Dear Cab Driver #2,
Thank you for not killing me on our drive back to my apartment.  Although I was a tid-bit upset with the first driver, it seemed that you sensed my anger, tripled it, and then applied it to the gas pedal.  Yes, I was ready to be home - it was almost midnight and I wanted to be in my bed more than in your cab.  However, I generally prefer to survive my cab rides.  Fortunately your lead foot was able to deliver me to the correct apartment complex, much to my terror and fear as you flew down the highway weaving in and out of cars and around sharp corners.  Another 15K won later and I was home . . . back where I had started 2.5 hours ago.

2.5 hours in a taxi + 45K won bill (about $45) - not seeing my friends/watching Christmas movies with them = by far the best night I've had in Korea.

Thank you cab drivers, I can't wait to call you in the future.