Well played Mr. Chicken, well played.

This was the very first amusing sign that I noticed when I arrived in Korea. This restaurant is located just down the hill from where we live so I see it a lot. It never fails to make me smile.


Of course I've never eaten there, I mean, who wants to go to a place that advertises that it's food tastes funny? I just live for the sign.

Farewell to my little Lions.

I miss them already. On this particular day Brian was making up songs again while he was coloring and I tried to catch that but I missed the bulk of it (It went something like, "I like Amber Teacher, I like Kelly Teacher, I like Daniel, I like Steven, I like Max, I like Ben, I like Lion Class...). However, he started singing to the tune of the Do-Re-Mi song from the Sound of Music and this sparked an interesting little rendition. You may remember me mentioning Kelly Teacher's love of the Sound of Music and the soundtrack. Enjoy! They are Tigers now and you probably won't be seeing many updates on them from now on.

Adventures in Korean Medicine.

As some of you may already know, Matt and I have been atleast a little bit sick since we arrived here. Mainly it was just pesky colds but lately I've been plagued with a lot of sinus pain, headaches and nasty snot. Despite all of my home remedies, rest and vitamins it just was not going away on its own and with the new semester afoot I realized that I needed some kind of medical intervention. This meant I had to approach my boss and ask him to take me to a doctor.

Now I've heard many things about medical treatment in Korea and even experienced it slightly when we went for flu shots and when Matt still had a broken foot and needed to receive some treatment. One thing I know, Koreans love medicine. They take it like candy and seem to have the perspective that if it's medicine, it must be good for you so you should take it. This is a bit different from how I view medical treatment since I believe that going to the doctor should be a last resort after you've adjusted your diet, drank more water, slept more, tried to reduce stress, etc. Anyway, I am getting on a tangent.

So Mr. Rhie took me to see a E.N.T. (ear nose and throat) specialist who determined that I am suffering from sinusitis (basically a sinus infection). I didn't get a shot in the bum (which is another popular treatment for things here) but I did get a number of mystery pills (5 different kinds which I am to take 3 times a day).



Round One.





No one seems to be able to tell me anything about these pills and I have tried identifying them myself online (this is basically impossible because they are Korean made and therefore not listed on any of the medical websites). All the information I have about these pills is that I need to take them with food and if I get dizzy or drowsy I need to cut the little yellow one in half.

Another interesting Korean medical phenomenon is the nose vacuum. Yes, you read that correctly, the nose vacuum. This is basically like the suction thing they use at the dentist to suck up saliva except it's made of metal and it goes in your nose. I really, really dislike it. I find it uncomfortable and it makes my eyes water like crazy and it feels like my nasal cavity is going to be sucked out. Also, there are few situations as awkward as having a strange doctor shove something up your nose while your boss is standing there watching.

I am feeling better and improving but I have had 3 visits to the E.N.T. doctor so far and therefore 3 nose vacuuming incidents and 3 bouts of mystery pills (and they are all the same pills each time). I'm supposed to go back again on Tuesday and hopefully by then I will be cured. I'm a little bit tired of being sick and having to deal with doctors and nose vacuums and the like.

Kindergarten Graduation

On Friday, February 23rd was the graduation ceremony for the kindergarten students. For some classes (Dragon, Panda, Bear and Dolphin) it was to signify their graduation from the kindergarten program and the other classes (Lion, Lamb, Tiger) it was just to announce that they were moving to the next level within the kindergarten program. By George, I've never quite experienced anything like this. I don't think there was this much fuss over my university graduation. It was quite hectic and a bit insane. Each student received a velvet folder which contained a certificate of achievement and a formal class picture (which we'd had taken a couple of weeks earlier at a photographer's studio). The kids that were leaving kindergarten were also given a present (which was a set of rhythm instruments- I'd like to know whose brilliant idea that was since 30 kids holding wrapped tambourines and triangles is a bit of a disaster during a graduation ceremony).

It was a strange day and was a little bit sad since I knew that Max and his brother Leo were changing schools and Matt and Joi's classes were moving up to elementary. Everyone was given a lot of flowers and a lot of pictures were taken. Here are some highlights.


(left) Max and I.
(right) Dragon Class graduates.

(left) Joi with my Flower Sceptre.
(right) Matt and Candy.

Returning after a Long, Chaotic Absence

So people (well, KB atleast) have started complaining about the lack of updates. To fill everyone in, the new school year starts in March in Korea and therefore we have been unbelievably swamped at work. Our schedules have changed and have changed again (because they were ridiculous) and still they basically suck (but as the first draft of the schedule taught us, they could be worse). We're fine though, no need to worry and are basically just getting older and wiser for next time. Thank goodness the kids are so fantastic to work with.

Speaking of the kids, now with the new school year I have a fresh crop of babies (and ohmygod are they tiny) and my Lion boys have graduated and blossomed into Tigers. I will post about the graduation madness a little later on. This is pretty stressful and a little bit terrifying. I also have a new coteacher for kindergarten- the often mentioned Paige Teacher. Friday with the new kids was pretty interesting to say the least but I am sure we will figure something out and settle in soon enough. If anyone has some brilliant ideas for what to do with kids barely 4 years old who don't speak any English, I am open and willing to listen.

So this entry isn't just a large wall of text I'm going to include a favorite new picture of my darling (and now departed to a new school) Max. This was taken on February 21st when we had the February birthday party for Brian. (More pictures of that day can be found here.)





Oh Max, we miss you so much already!

Happy Birthday Joi Teacher!

I want to announce to the world that today is a very important day! It's Joi Teacher's birthday! So you should all pay homage to the lovely and lively Joi. Friday night we all went out for galbi to celebrate her birthday and Elly's (which was on the 15th). Here are some pictures (of course). I'd like to point out Elly's excellent new haircut (which you can barely see because she is hiding behind her coat, convinced her face is too red from the 2 shots of wine she had- she still manages to give the peace sign though).

Anyway, this one's for you Joi Teacher!













Here are Joi and Paige before they went out last night. Aren't they stunning?

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day in Korea is fairly similar to how it is in North America but with a bit of a twist since girls are supposed to be the ones giving chocolate and candy to boys. Luckily they have designated another day so that the boys can return the favor. As it turns out, my little Brian's birthday is also February 14th (how appropriate) and he was very enthusiastic about all the chocolate he was able to consume. I brought the party hat my elementary students gave me on my birthday and Brian paraded around in it for most of the day (and brought it back to school on Thursday and Friday).
Everyone ate a lot of chocolate (I still have quite a bit left in my desk at school) and therefore there was a bit of hyperactivity going on. Steven brought Kelly and I an amazing fuzzy heart made of different kinds of chocolates (some were a bit odd- chocolate covered green apple yogurt, anyone?). Other than that the gifts were pretty standard (albeit tasty).

Speaking of gifts, Jon and Paige seem to get the strangest/coolest ones (these were for Lunar New Year, not Valentine's Day, but still). They each got 2 bottles of wine (one white, one red) and a GIANT ham gift package. Yes, you hear me correctly, a huge case filled with different kinds of shrink wrapped ham and some mustard sauce to go along with it. Insanity. Maybe next semester I will have kids with mommies who like to give strange gifts. I did get some nifty Nike socks from one of my elementary kids for Lunar New Year but it just isn't the same as a custom made ham gift set. I guess not everyone like to give the gift of ham. Oh well, better luck next time.

A pleasant Sunday hike

Often I curse a little bit when I think about how "in the boonies" we are in Pungmu-dong and about how long it takes us to go anywhere relatively interesting. However, I do enjoy the mountains and nature in the area so there are some positive things about not being on the 17th floor of a high-rise in Seoul. Last Sunday Matt was busy working on his play so I decided to go out for a walk. The walk turned into a bit of a hike and I eventually ended up in Saudong a couple hours later (no it didn't take me that long to walk to Saudong, that's just when I ended up there after walking and hiking all over the place). The whole time I was thinking how much Donna would love living in this area because she really likes to take these sorts of walks. I took some pictures and here are a few highlights.















I love how reddish orange the soil is around here.


The little shrine on the mountain near the school.





A weird little exercise area on another mountain. Yes, that is a clock fastened to the tree and covered in saran wrap.

Our First Korean Wedding

Last weekend we had the honor of accompanying the lovely Kelly to her friend's wedding. It was held at the President Hotel in Seoul, which is a pretty swanky place from what I saw. Most weddings here are "Westernized" now and this was no exception but there were a few interesting differences that I noted. First of all, when we arrived the first person we saw was the bride herself, dressed in matrimonial glory, displayed in a tiny room (which sort of reminded me of a cage), greeting the guests. She looked gorgeous and very sparkley. Unfortunately because I couldn't decide what to wear we got there just before the ceremony and had to stand. I couldn't get any decent pictures as a result but I took a couple bad ones anyway.

Some differences: Korean weddings are short. The wedding started at 12:30pm and everything was completely finished by 3pm (well this is when we left and we had lingered at the buffet much longer than anyone else- the people sitting by us had left long before and had been replaced by new people, to give you an idea). I liked that it wasn't a big drawn out affair that consumed your entire weekend (between ceremony, dinner, reception, dance and gift opening). A couple quirky things happened that made me giggle a bit- the smoke/fog machine that started up when the bride came in and when the newly wed couple left and when the groom took off his shoe and hobbled around the room collecting money in it. After the ceremony the couple changed into traditional hanboks and went around greeting everyone as they dined on the fabulous buffet. There were so many delicious foods and we spent a ridiculously long time eating. Some of my personal favorites were the chili shrimp, lobster soup, tuna sashimi, and cinnamon punch.

After we finished up at the wedding we decided to go to Myeong-dong so Kelly could search for Stash tea (which I brought with me from Canada and now she loves it too). Unfortunately the internet lied to her and the store where it was supposed to be sold (it's tough to find in Korea, apparently) did not carry it. It was a really awesome store though and I am definitely taking Steph and Alison there when they come to visit. It had the cutest clothes and at the cheapest prices I've seen in actual stores here (as opposed to buying something off the street or in the subway). So you get that added perk of being able to try things on.

We also stopped by the Myeong-dong Cathedral which seems to be currently under construction. We went inside and crashed someone else's wedding and I took a few pictures of the beautiful architecture. Kelly informed us that this is the oldest Catholic church in Seoul.
















When we were finished shopping (this is where I found my watch), collecting free samples (Kelly is truly a girl after my own heart), exploring and crashing weddings we went and had coffee. We also got to meet one of Kelly's friends (and Elly's too since she used to work at Little Brown back in the day). Now here is a cute little story. Kelly was telling us all about her friend, Kate and then her friend shows up, shakes our hands and says, "Hi, I'm Stacey". You should have seen the look of surprise on Kelly's face. Changing your English name is a pretty common occurrence (Kelly has also gone by Sun and Prajna in the past) and obviously Koreans call each other by their Korean names so it's not surprising she didn't know that Stacey had changed hers. Nonetheless, it was pretty amusing. Stacey was really nice and we swapped numbers and hopefully we can meet up with her again sometime soon. She likes norae bang!

This is the 100th entry!

Well some good news- our computer is no longer sick! Yay! Unfortunately the way we solved this was to do a basic system recovery which was a pain in the butt because we had to redownload all of our programs. We didn't lose any of documents, pictures or music though so that's a relief. All the same I'm glad I've also been storing my pictures on photobucket. The one thing that is annoying is that we weren't able to save Microsoft Office but we do have crappy Microsoft Works and if we really needed to do something in Word we could just do it at school so it's not a big disaster. We'll get it back sometime, I'm sure.

So here I am awake much too early on the 2nd day of a three day holiday long weekend (Happy Lunar New Year!). That is because basically all I did yesterday was sleep, put away laundry, fix computer things, go grocery shopping and watch TV. But mostly sleep. We're constantly sick here and right now is no exception (we're going to get our boss to take us to the doctor next week if we don't make a miraculous recovery this weekend) and I was really sleep deprived last week so clearly I needed the rest. We had hoped to do something exciting since we don't get many days off (or long weekends for that matter) but as it turns out, everyone travels during Lunar New Year and it would have been nearly impossible to find a train ticket to explore another city. So instead we're going to go to the DMZ next weekend and just take it easy this weekend. We had toyed with doing to Busan but came to our senses shortly after.

Today I think we're going to go into Seoul, to Itaewon and visit the Rockey Mountain Tavern and watch some hockey!!! Yes folks, it turns out that Itaewon has something really attractive, a place that shows NHL games and according to the schedule they have an Oilers game on today at 6pm! I'm a bit giddy, actually. Oh and Matt also needs to finish his play (which is turning out really awesome and I'm quite proud of him. It's probably all the help I've given him though. Hahaha). So I'm sure we'll keep occupied until we have to return to work on Tuesday.