Goodbye to 2005 - 안녕 2005년

Well there isn't even 24 hours left of 2005 here in Seoul and I can't believe how fast the time has gone. A lot of things have happened to me this year some heartbreaking and some joyous and triumphant! I can't say 2005 was my best year but it was pretty good :) People all over the world are probably thinking up resolutions and things they can change in their lives and perhaps I should be doing that too. However, I'm not! I do have some things I would like to accomplish in 2006 and they are as follows..

1. Tell everyone in my family how important and meaningful they are to my life.

2. Go to Egypt

3. Close all doors I've left half opened and move forward.

4. Make a stronger effort to keep in touch with everyone.

5. Learn enough Korean to have a conversation.

6. Get in rockin shape from dance class.

7. Meet a man who is: intellectual, self-sufficient, not too damaged, over the age of 35, professional, and everything I'm looking for. (haha I'm always looking for this man I've been doing so since I've started dating....hmmm where is he already!?)

8. Turn 30 gracefully.

9. Go to Egypt (did I already mention that? it's cause I really have to get there).

10. Apply for University in October.


I think that's enough for one year! If I accomplish half of those things I'll be pleased with my efforts. I wish everyone a safe and happy new year and I hope 2006 brings happiness and peace to all. xoxox


Now on to the drunkeness from last night......I really wasn't looking forward to the LCI Kids Club New Year's Party From the experience I've had with work parties they just turn into drunk messy puking events and I just don't enjoy that. I had planned on bailing right after dinner which didn't happen. I ended up in a norae-bang (or Karaoke room for those back home). Then onto an ice bar and I didn't get home till about 230!! The dinner was good and we all ate ALOT of yummy Korean food. We had done secret santa at work so every single staff member received a gift. I got some awesome mittens from Ben. It's funny cause I've always wanted mittens that are attached on a long string that goes through your sleaves so you don't lose them, and that's what he got me! Cam got a nice pair too from Justin. I had to buy a gift for May, my partner teacher. It was funny I got her name cause I had already bought her Christmas gifts! She enjoyed what I gave her. After lots of eating and drinking we all left the restaurant.
I thought that was it but the Ohs had different plans. They took us to the norae-bang (which I tried to get out of but wasn't successful). We all had a good time. I danced a lot with Mr.Cha who is the #1 bus driver and the manager of the bus drivers. He is super funny and he was really hammered. I think at one point he asked me to go home with him but I pretended I didn't understand him :) We all took turns at the mic. We have some awesome singers on the Korean staff at school let me tell ya! After drinking a lot more beers the clothes started to come off. Perhaps some found this a good thing, I'm still undecided.




After pretty much being kicked out of our room I thought for sure it was hometime! But no. We ended up going to another bar where they serve you beer in ice mugs and you smash them against the wall after. It was okay but we were all pretty drunk by this point. There weren't many of us left just Petey, Justin, Cam, Rachel Lynn, Paviola, and myself. Most people had gone home cause they had planes to catch today. Only 4 of us are staying at Dream EZ for the break. So we didn't care about going to bed too much. Finally we'd had enough and called it a night.

Tonight I think will be LOW key. Petey might come over and we might just watch movies and drink. New Year's is never a big thing for me and I'm getting too old to party it up like I used to! I hope everyone has a great time whatever they do. Safe travels to all that are going somewhere and please don't drink and drive.



I had to add these photos with Picassa cause blogger photos just isn't working grrrr! I'm not happy with the small pics but check out the album for all the fun!




새해 복 많이 받으세요
Happy New Year

H class rocks it!

It is 230am I'm not really sober as I just got home from the LCI New Year's Party. I have tons of photos and lots to share but just can't do it right now. Tommorow keep your eye open for loads of stuff! Even some topless photos of the boys at LCI!!! For now enjoy H class performing YMCA by the amazing Village People. This is one of three songs we will be singing in February at the graduation ceremony. Remember they are 5 years old and they love disco!!!





It's a little bit long so please be patient while it loads. It is sooo worth it :)

Dance class alone is scary

So RL had some stuff to do tonight so I was flying solo for dance class. Which I will have to do all next week anyway because she is flying off to tropical Norway for the break. RL is the translater at dance class cause her Korean kicks ass compared to mine. I can understand more then I can speak. Usually the ladies just say hi and we dance and that's that. NOT TONIGHT! I was bombarded by everyone asking me a zillion questions speaking a mile a minute! I tried to answer the best I could but it was VERY intimidating. My dancing was top notch and the teacher told me I was good! I guess I'm going to have to learn some new words quick over the weekend so I can answer more questions next week!

One more day then vacation FINALLY!!

We haven't had a long weeked or day off since the 3rd of October and I am really looking forward to having all of next week off. Not much planned other then relaxing and um relaxing! Petey and I are going to have a culture day and do touristy things in Seoul but that's about it as far as plans go! Our supervisor Jin is a total rock star and was able to get us 2 days off for the lunar new year at the end of January so I will have a week off then work 3 weeks then have 4 days off again. I love it! My kids so lovingly reminded me that my birthday is in 26 days. They also reminded me that in Korean age I will be 31. GEEEZZZ the big 30!! I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I thought I could just crawl under my bed and forget about it but with the constant reminders I don't think it will happen. Tommorow night the Ohs are taking the entire LCI staff out for dinner and drinks then the party will probably continue on afterwards but I'll be bailing after dinner. I remember the last LCI night out and between the puking and the other stuff I think I'll pass. I definitely will enjoy a few drinks on the company dime though :)


Let's check out what's new in H class! Here are some photos from today and yesturday. Yesturday we all chilled out and drank hot chocolate and ate cookies because I like to break out the hot chocolate once and awhile. The kids love it! Today we made Chinese Dragons in art class. The kids had an awesome time doing it! Enjoy the pics! I don't let the kids touch my camera and damn I suck at self portraits! I don't think Raydon realized that his dragon's tail was infront of its face! Too bad you can't see it because he did a rockin good job! Raydon wants me to take his photo atleast 100 times a day. Actually all the kids love having their photos snapped which is fine cause I love taking them :)



*Stay tuned for an amazing video of H class performing YMCA!

ouch

Normal day as usual blaa blaa blaa. Tonight RL and I went to dance class which was great except for the crazy lady that always stands beside me and takes up too much space and talks to herself and does weird things! After the dancing the teacher pulled out mats which she hasn't done before (well in the 3 weeks we've been going). It was stretching like I've never seen. My entire body feels like rubber now and I know tommorow I'm going to hurt REALLY badly. I know it is totally worth it but OUCH right now.

Teacher there's a bird on my head

Today was Animal Show and Tell at LCI Kids Club. This is usually a monthly event but due to holidays next month this is our second time in December. I don't usually enjoy Animal Show and Tell because of the animals being caged and poked and prodded at by children (except for when they had a python and other snakes..that was cool). I'm not sure what the animal today was other then it was ugly and stinky!!! It had webbed feet, a pig nose, a rat tail, rabbit whiskers, and the fur of a beaver! Anybody have any ideas? Here is the sign that was posted under it. I can read it but make sense of what I just read..um not there with my Korean yet. The kids were not allowed to touch it because it had long nails and sharp teeth and it bites. Why bring it then?? I like when they have animals we can touch that is more fun! The lady usually brings a kind of bird and a plant along with her. Today was different though because we usually rotate in three stations and take a look at everything and we didn't get to do that today. Instead she had two birds with her. She let each class come up and hold the birds but mostly she just dropped the birds on random kids heads. Please enjoy this video of H class and the birds. I got to hold them both on my arm that was kinda neat :)

A nice Christmas with some nice people :)

We got off to a bit of a late start today, which was all my fault because I didn't wake up until 1230!!! Usually I am up much earlier but I guess it was all the drinking last night and going to bed at 530am which did it. We all met at Rachel-Lynn's place and began the day with present opening!! I got some lovely gifts from everyone THANK YOU SO MUCH!! We filled our bellies with yummy breakfast food for pretty much the entire day, watched It's a Wonderful Life and South Park goes to Canada for Christmas (not sure the episodes exact title but I enjoyed the dock in front of the Parliament Buildings!!). I'm dead tired and after calling the folks to wish them Merry Christmas I am off to bed because it is back to work as usual tommorow morning. I hope everyone had/has a great Christmas wherever they are!











































Things I will not be needing until next Christmas

- body wash/soap
- cinnamon gum (got about 40 packs! seriously no exagerating!)
- chocolate
- and thanks to Caleb Vitamin C


Mom and Dad and everyone back home. Thank you for all the lovely gifts I feel so spoiled this year. I love you all dearly and I can't wait to be with you again. I love you very much. xoxoxo

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!! xoxoxoxoxo (Mom and Dad I look like crap in the video...but the message is from my heart :) ) I love you!!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Tonight was Christmas Eve and the gang met up for a yummy fondue dinner in Itaewon at the Chalet Swiss. After waiting for what seemed like forever to get seated we got settled in a private room where we could eat yummy cheese and beef and be silly and not disturb anyone! Roll call for this evening: Rachel-Lynn, Jenny, Cameron, Saejin, Bohan, Heidi, Emily, and myself. We had a really nice time at dinner and ate some delicious fondue. There was an interesting brass duo playing Beatles tunes for most of the evening with intermitent Christmas music over the speakers.
























































Afer enjoying some time at the Swiss place we headed over to Ponchos for some beers and margaritas, where Jenny and I realized that we were starting to make our way around the world. Switzerland to Mexico and it didn't stop there :) We just weren't feeling it at Ponchos due to the loud and very bad hiphop music that was playing. It didn't stop us from taking tons of photos though! Bohan and Saejin (the two hottest Korean men ever I might add) made some time for a arm wrestling match! I'm really not sure what the final score was but I think Saejin might have kicked Bohan's ass on this one! After leaving Ponchos we headed to some place Cam knew of. I don't really remember the name I just know it was on the hill in Itae and it was called Friend something or other. The place was okay but Jenny and I realized that we had left Mexico and ended up in Transilvania! There was Christmas and Halloween decorations scattered about the bar. We ended up having a pretty good time there and the dj was cool and played everything we wanted to hear. There was plenty of holiday cheer and dancing going on. I don't think anyone grabbed Saejin in any private area on his body too which really is a first I think! He and I gropped each other at some point but that is our usual friendly way of telling each other we're cool :)









































At about 300am everyone decided to head over to Polly's Kettle, that is when I made my exit for the evening. I don't really like Itae to begin with and I was cool with the bars we were at but Polly's Kettle was just not tempting enough for me to stay. Plus I had some Christmas presents to wrap and I was pretty tired. Everyone is still there probably partying it up! RL walked me to catch a cab. My cab driver rocked! He got me home in probably the fasted I've ever made it home from Itae 7 minutes!!! He drove very very fast. I didn't even get to enjoy my bridge view he blew by so fast! But now I'm home and getting ready for bed as tommorow we are having a big Christmas Day feast. I'll post some more tommorow as well as more photos from tonight. Merry Christmas everyone! xoxoxoxox

Shelly teacher did Santa come all the way from Canada today?

As much fun as today was, I'm really glad it's over! Christmas can take a lot out of you when you have 12 Santa crazed kids jumping all over you for a good part of the day! This morning started off with Christmas music piped through the halls at school and children running frantically about excited about Santa! As soon as the kids had their coats hung up and slippers on we headed down to the gym for some Christmas songs and a talk about religious stuff from some Christian mission group. It started off okay with songs and a group rock, scissor, paper and the kids seemed to be having a great time! Until.....*insert Jaws theme music here*





I won't go into detail about what the discussion was like because I don't feel like pissing off any die hard Christians out there at Christmas time. After we went back to class and a decent attempt was made to get some work accomplished before lunch. After lunch we were supposed to head down to the gym to see Santa and have our photos taken. I felt so badly for my kids because they were running over an hour behind and they had to sit around the gym trying to behave for that long. Some of them got a little sleepy like Caleb. He curled up on my legs and took a good nap! But doesn't he look so cute when he wakes up? After all the waiting the kids finally received their presents, had their individual photos taken as well as a class photo with jolly old Saint Nick (a.k.a. Ben teacher)I love H class!!!



The afternoon classes were pretty much a write off as we did nothing but eat yummy food and chat it up and play some games. My last class of the night wanted to play scrabble which we just started playing a few weeks ago because I really wanted them to work on their spelling and vocabulary. Can't you see how well it's working?? No Die?? I'm not sure what that class was thinking about this evening but those don't seem like Christmasy sentiments :)
After a crazy day at school RL and I worked it in dance class tonight and went back to her place to eat some snowman cake I was given by one of my kid's moms. We didn't like it so much so we left it for a present on someone's doorstep but I'll never say who! :) If you'd like to see some Christmas photos enjoy!

Shopping in Seoul at holiday time makes the malls back home look empty at Christmas!!!!

Rachel-Lynn and I headed over to Express Bus Terminal to do some last minute Christmas shopping (oh and buy ourselves beautiful sweaters to wear Christmas Eve). It was NUTS! The department store, the underground mall, and the subway station was a sea of busy rushing people. I can normally deal with the crowds here but tonight I was getting a little stressed out. A highlight of our trip was CANDY CANES!!! We were looking for some at Costco but there were none! Tonight we finally found some!! It will definitely make things more Christmasy tommorow during kindy Christmas party! Hopefully it will make up for the Christian group that is coming to perform some blaa blaa Christmas play for the kids and sing religious songs I imagine. I've avoided all the religious questions from my kids thus far so hopefully they don't bust out the Jesus stuff tommorow. Not to knock people's faith, however I minored in Religious Studies and took a course on the Historical Life of Jesus, as well as other Biblical Studies classes. When you really break it all down an analyze the bible (I've read it cover to cover) it makes you really question blind faith. I won't get into it but anyway, I got home and spent the last two hours wrapping gifts for my kiddies. Seems like a waste of time since they will rip it all off in about 1.2 seconds!!! It will be worth it I guess to see the looks of joy on their oh so cutie pie faces!!!


I can't believe it will be Christmas on Sunday. I don't feel very Christmasy inside but hopefully that will change tommorow with all the festivities. I'm sure our Saturday night fondue will also help to highten the experience. It's weird I had that last year on Christmas Eve..with two of my favorite people, Dave and Jenny B!! So I think I'll make Christmas Eve fondue a new tradition! So that's it that's all that's new! Enjoy a few pics of my kids trying on my gloves. Why? not sure they thought it was cool :) xoxox Ho! Ho! Ho! - a shout out to Petey McPete who has finally made it into the world of blogging!!!!!

BUSY!!!!!!

Things are really busy this week between report cards, present wrapping, shopping, and school Christmas parties I just haven't had anytime for anything!!! So I will just leave you with this video of Serena (one of my H class favs) shakin her thang!!!She is an awesome dancer let me tell ya!

let's give this a try

I've been looking for quick ways to add video to my blog for awhile and I was checking out James' website today and saw he had posted a video using a program I had heard of. So I'm gonna try and post some video of Emma dancing (like she does everyday!). I would have dropped some music in but I don't have time so if it works enjoy! I had a good day at school and at dance class tonight the teacher shouted out, "Shelly Good!". So confidence is high :)

Were all the cabs in Seoul avoiding the Costco area today??

I met up with RL, Petey, and Jenny and we headed to Costco today. Getting there was no problem and Peter and I shared a cart which was overflowing when we made it to the check out. I was really happy to see that Costco finally starting carrying some Nabisco crackers (Triscuts and Wheat Thins which are my two favorite kinds of crackers!!!!). I've also been checking out some pillows and they were on sale today too!! We bought our ingredients and stuff for Christmas Day breakfast, I bought some Bailey's to put in our coffees because the bottle my mom sent me will probably be all gone by then. RL and Jenny decided to stay and have some hotdogs but Pete and I wanted to just head home and we went to catch a cab. I have never waited so long for a cab in my entire lifetime!!! It was soo cold out and Pete and I waited for an hour for a cab. RL and Jenny had time to eat and chat and take their time and we were still standing out there! Finally after waiting forever and not being able to feel our limbs a cab came. The driver told Pete and I that there was some sort of traffic thing going on and there was no stopping there or something. It took me a good hour to thaw off when I got home. Good thing my sweet mother sent me some Timmy's!!! Cause I had a HUGE mug of it (with some Bailey's of course!).

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K

Yesturday Petey McPete and I met up with Rachel-Lynn and Beth at the subway station and headed off for Lotte World, where we met up with Jenny. For those unfamiliar, Lotte World is a huge indoor amusement park (there is also and outdoor section to the park called Magic Island - much to our dismay it was closed which I guess means that eventually it does get too cold to have roller coasters running!). I can't say I had the best time there, not that I didn't enjoy the company cause they were awesome, but we spent the entire day waiting in lines and rode a total of 4 rides!!! Everland sooo kicks Lotte World's ass as far as Korean amusement parks go. It was cool to see what it looks like because the last time I lived here I could see Lotte World across the lake from my apartment window but never went so I'm glad I got that mission accomplished. There were some pretty good rides there including; The Bungee Drop, The King Viking, and the girls said the tea cup ride thing was awesome! I'm sad I missed that but Petey and I found ourselves in a Mexican restuarant drinking Coronas! At about 7pm we called it quits and went to meet Heidi and Emily down the street for some yummy Korean food. Upon exiting Lotte World we saw Santa's Village and all the pretty Christmas lights so we had to stop and take a few pictures before meeting the girls.




























The walk from Lotte World to the restaurant was unpleasently cold, however to keep up with tradition fireworks were exploding as RL and I walked away. That's two times that has happened and I think fireworks should explode everytime we leave anywhere!!!





It was nice to get into a warm place and park ourselves on the heated floor and drink some beer for awhile.











After dinner Heidi invited us all to her place for some beers. We met James and his friend Rich outside and went to the store where we bought a very large amount of beer.












































At some point in the drunken festivities James and I left and went to the store to get some mixers. We found the store okay but finding Heidi's apartment again proved to be a little bit more difficult. After trying the key code numerous times to get into the building James had to call Heidi and it turns out we weren't at the right apartment!!!




Mothers all over the world, if you see this antler cladden man lock up your daughters! James you look so hot in this photo I think your next calender should be filled with pinups of yourself :) *This photo was not altered in anyway this is truly how good looking James really is.

After we were all pretty drunk we found ourselves in cabs heading across town to Hongdae and ended up where? Tin Pan Alley of course! There was dancing and propositioning going on and Petey McPete turned into the Major McCheese and bailed without even a goodbye!!! RL and I are supposed to go to Costco today with him but I'm a little nervous to call him! However we all had a pretty good time and Cam and Saejin turned up. I limited myself to the amount of dangerous rum and cokes I ingested because I didn't want a replay of last weekend. Speaking of which, it turns out Heidi walked into the door on the way out last night, like I did last Saturday! But she did it so hard she got a nose bleed!!! I spent most of the evening talking with James' friend Rich. Rich is cute and sweet and likes a lot of the same music as I do. Sadly he is only here on business and is returning to England on Tuesday. Saejin was trying very hard to get me to go home with Rich last night. However, I'm looking for something a little more substantial. Rich said he is perhaps returning to Korea in March so perhaps we'll see each other again who knows. Anyway here is the Lotte World Photo Album should you wish to see more of yesturday's photos! I can't believe it's Sunday already and it is snowing outside!!!!!!! Gotta run and get ready to head off to Costco have a great week everyone xoxox

I love my mama and my papa!

I had a good week: things went well at school, I can talk a little bit, and RL and I made it through our first week of dance class! To top things off I received a nice big Christmas package from my family today! It was filled with all kinds of goodies but they are wrapped so I don't know what they are. I do know that there is a can of Tim Hortons coffee, a coffee maker, and a bottle of Bailey's that have been opened!!! Also included in the package were some very festive Santa hats which my 410 class really enjoyed! As you can see by the photo! I really loved the cards from everyone and I really will miss you all this year! I'll be there in spirit in someone's rum glass! Too bad you can't send turkey!!!! I love you mom and dad!!!

10 more days till Christmas!!

I like Christmas, it's not my favorite holiday, but Christmas is nice. The thing I like about Christmas is being with all of my family so this year that key element is missing, however I'm spending it with some lovely Canadian folk so I'm sure it will be wonderful. This lovely sax playing Santa is the latest addition to our subway station. He rocks back and forth playing the same song all day but he is festive!


I was sitting in H class today watching my kids work on their art work. I don't think I'm the greatest art teacher because I suck at art, however we did oragami today which I have become quite good at since moving here! The assignment was to make oragami icecream cones and glue them in our art books and draw complimenting pictures. So as you enjoy pics of my kids and their art I will get back to my thoughts I was having while watching them work. Sometimes I wonder if kids have some sort of telepathy because they can speak jibberish to each other, yet still be understood. I catch myself watching them in awe because they can be looking so intently at each other like they are completely intrigued by the conversation taking place, yet the words spoken are utter nonsense.
I find this fascinating! I love spending my days with small kids because they are so interesting to observe and hang out with!
Another thing I find funny to watch is snack time. My 240 class is filled with 8 year olds, which in Korea is grade 1. I have them for 3 hrs which is a long time for them. We break halfway through for snack time. They all bring snacks which usually consist of; a large bag of chips or something along those lines, a box of chocolatey snacks, and a poweraid or soda. How these kids are not overweight is beyond me.
The thing I find funny is how they turn into vultures! It is like watching a wild kingdom video! The way they trade snacks and bargin with each other, and if they forgot their snack watching them suck up to people who have good snacks trying to get some. Kids are funny! Well I'm off to dance class have a great day/night everyone!

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and blaaa blaaa blaaa

Today was a good day I must say! Despite the fact that I can't talk for shit right now things went well in all of my classes and at the doctor! I normally have two breaks on Wednesdays one from 240-410 and one from 455-535. My partner teacher, May, comes at 455 and teaches reading or something so we switched breaks so I was off from 240-455 straight. I went over to the doctor to find out what the heck is actually wrong with me!!! It turns out..A LOT! Good news is that my sinus infection is better bad news is that I still have tonsilitis and my limphnode (is that how you spell that?) on the left side of my throat is infected which is causing the laryngitis! So I've got some heavy duty medicine and a nasal spray called Flonaise which I actually used back in Canada and know it's good shit! I have to go back and see him Saturday morning, before I head off to Lotte World and ride roller coasters all day :)

While I was on the way to the doctor I thought I'd snap a few photos of my hood and work area and such. First off are a few shots of the very dead subway station about a 1 minute walk from my school. I commute to school everyday and the entire process from front door to classroom takes about 20 minutes tops! I actually like the morning ride to school because it gives me time to wake up and listen to some tunes and think about my day.




























Here are some shots of my street shortly after you exit the subway station. If you keep walking straight up the road you hit my place. I was heading to the doctor and if you can read Korean you know where the doctor is :)






















I had a great time at dance class with RL tonight. Our dance teacher is the most cut female ever! She is a bad ass dancer too. I think we both did much better tonight and tommorow will be even better! I think I'll get used to dancing every night. The moves are really fast and she was super nice tonight and broke things down for us so we could catch on to what was happening. I still think the both of us are going to have some serious professional dance careers soon enough!

Am I cursed??? Oh yeah..and welcome to H class!

So I find myself snapping photos just because I can now! I know those back home are probably curious to see my classroom and students so here we go! First we'll start off with a few of my favs! I didn't even let them take their coats off before the flash started going yesturday!




Caleb


Jennifer


Joey


Emma


Julie


Serena


Dylan


Dany


Missing in action was Kaylee because she was pretty late yesturday morning which was okay because I got a bag full of Chanel makeup from her mom :) and Raydon. There are many more photos of the fabulous H CLASS as well as photos of some teachers, all of my older students, and our oh so fun gym class!!!

--- oh yes..am I cursed?? I believe so I have full blown laryngitis again and can't speak!! What is healthy again?

Dancin..Dancin..Dancin...I'm a dancin machine!!

So tonight was the first night of dance class. RL and I have signed up for a dance class that takes place Mon-Fri. What we didn't know was that it started at 8 and is 2 hours!!!! We made it an hour and a half tonight but we'll work our way up to the full 2 hours I'm sure. I'm not sure how to describe the type of dancing it is, other then a mix of hip hop, jazz, aerobics, and just fast fast fast!! I have to say I think we did pretty well for our first night but we're both wiped. I have tons of photos and stuff to blog about but tonight it just isn't happening I'm going to bed!

my head....why do I do it to myself?

I just got back from Outback where we all met for Jolene's birthday dinner. She is the only teacher older then myself at the school and when she leaves, unless some older people come, I will sadly be the oldest. It was very difficult to just get myself out of my pajamas and out of my apartment. I was and still am, pretty out of it and very sore, everywhere. Not sure why that is but I hope I'm better tommorow because I have to be in prime form for my first dance class :) I clearly was not today though because I look like a deer caught in headlights. The others were still a little hurting from last night too. Petey McPete seemed okay and Cam didn't drink last night he stayed home so he looked hot as usual. It is sooo cold outside I feel like it is mid January in Ottawa. The wind is bitter and it just takes any warmth you may feel under your warm winter clothes away. When we left the restaurant and were walking to catch a cab I saw a crazy person. This man wearing no jacket or gloves or warmness of any kind washing his car. I found this facinating because I had not seen a carwash before in Korea, perhaps I've not been looking hard enough. Secondly the man could have dressed warmly!! He was dancing around and he looked like he was a shade of purple. Now I'm off to bed where I intend to sleep off the weekends damage so I can be fresh as a daisy for Kids Club in the morning.

Some people

So it seems there is someone out there in cyberspace with a fairly huge chip on their shoulder against me. I don't know who this person is and frankly I don't care to. I just wanted to inform you that you can post all the horrible nasty comments you want to and start a hate blog against me..I'm not going to crawl in a hole and cry about it. You can post on my friend's blogs about how much you hate me, but your verbal filth will be deleted before it can get an audience. I'm not angry or hurt by your words, to be honest I feel sorry for you. It takes a truly lost person to be so ignorant and infantile. Perhaps you need to engage in some extra curricular activities to fill up that pathetic gaping void in your life because it seems like you have a lot of time on your hands if you just sit around and dream up disgusting immature posts about me. I'm sure it makes you feel good inside and better about your sad wasted life to insult people you don't know. Seriously it just makes you look like a bigger loser and that's really tragic.

My head hurts but that might just be because I walked into a glass door!

Last night I met up with Rachel-Lynn and Peter for an evening in Hongdae. Peter doesn't usually come out with us and we felt the need to get him out and dirty drunk! We decided to head for some Mexican food at a place we'd been to before that makes some yummy dishes. I think the place is called Margarita but I'm really not exactly sure. We had a spicey meal and some Coronas and decided it was time to hit the town (which later in the evening took on a literal meaning me). There is this great little bar in Hongdae which has been named "The Hole in the Wall Bar". The reason being is there are only about 5 tables and it is the size of a portable. If you don't know the bar is there you will most definitely miss it! It has a great atmosphere and they play requests all night. I think we filled up about 10 papers with songs we'd like to hear.
Rachel-Lynn and I took a self-portrait. I think RL is very very happy to be at the hole in the wall bar. You can see the DJ and all his cd's behind a pensive Peter. I think we were listening to Bjork at this time. We were all having a really great time at this place until some wanker busted out his guitar and tortured our eardrums!! Normally I enjoy hearing someone play the guitar (when they have an ounce of talent!). The DJ told us this guy was going to play a few tunes live so we didn't have a say in the matter. It was a group of friends who were partying at the bar and brought a guitar along and felt the need to put on a live show. We all agreed that it was time to get the heck outta there! There was even a bit of unfinished booze on the table that just had to be left in order to save ourselves from this heinous musical crime! So we continued on to Tin Pan Alley, which is a place we frequent. I really like Tin Pan because it is usually a fun crowd, they play requests, and it's just fun! The evening started out on an innocent note however, it got a little outta hand once the Brits arrived! James and his buddy met us at the bar and we were almost 3 sheets to the wind anyway at that point. They left us alone for a few minutes and when they returned we were on the bar shaking it!!! EVEN PETER!! Which was so awesome!!! Here are some shots of us being drunk and foolish but having a damn good time doing it :)










drunk









drunk










drunk












drunk









drunk





I was the drunkest I've been in a very long time last night but fun was had by all! On the way out of the bar, in my drunken state, I walked right into a glass door and this morning I'm not sure if my head hurts because of the beer, the door, or a combination of both. I just want to stay in bed all day but it is Jolene's birthday party tonight and I have to go for dinner. Tommorow night RL and I start our dance class which should be awesome! I think we had some good moves last night though :)

Nara's Wedding

Here are two lovely photos from Nara's wedding which I attended earlier today. These photos were taken by the most awesome RL.

I finally got myself a camera

After living here for how long?? I finally went to Yongsan today with Peter and got a camera! Prior to that I attended Nara's wedding which was really wonderful. She looked like a princess she was so beautiful in her dress! The entire wedding took about 1hr or so. Hopefully I'll be able to get some photos together and show them here tommorow. I wish I had of had my camera at the wedding!! Now I have it though so be prepared for lots of photo action on this blog now!!!! I thought I'd start you off with a few of the view from my apartment window. They aren't so great because I don't really have the camera figured out yet and I think I had the wrong setting selected but they will get much better I tell ya!



The view isn't that hot...RL is lucky on her side of the hall you can see so much more! I do like all the lights from the apartments at night though! Only one disapointment to my day...Peter and I walked around EMART after we got my camera and we were looking for Christmas lights. I got some really pretty ones for my apartment. I plugged them in as soon as I got home and they exploded!!!!! I'm happy I wasn't electricuted :) I'm sad about not having lights though!

On a different note. LCI Kids Club visited a retirement home in November where we gave presents and sang songs and entertained the elderly for awhile. May, my partner teacher, sent me this photos of myself and Owen (he's holding my hand) followed by the rest of H class. We were looking at a pack of dogs that were on a rock which seemed to be well fed and cared for but you never know right? Anyway enjoy :)

Where did you come from where did you go where did you come from COCK IN EYE Joe :)

After finishing work this evening, I met up with Rachel-Lynn, Peter, and Shane and we went out for some yummy kalbi at a place near by our apartments. Afterwards, we headed over to the Bubble Castle for a few pitchers. It was a nice ending to what felt like the never ending week! Tommorow up early for the wedding, camera shopping, and RL and Peter and I are going to hit the bars in Hongdae for some drinking and dancing which are two things I really enjoy :) I'm so stoked about talking copious amounts of photos I can hardly stand it!!!

If it gets any colder my ass is seriously gonna stick!!!

Our school is in an office building which means the building owner not LCI Kids Club controls the heat. I can't complain about my classroom because for the most part it is warm, however the washrooms are a different story! We share our bathrooms with the rest of the building and frankly it is like going into an outhouse!!!! The seat is like a piece of ice and I'm afraid my ass is going to freeze to it one of these days! The tap water is also fridgid so the whole experience is quick and very unpleasent!!!

I'm going to my first Korean wedding this weekend. Nara, one of the wonderful Korean staff at our school, is getting hitched Saturday afternoon. All of the teachers are going and I'm interested to see what it's like. Then afterwards Peter and I are heading off to Yongsan and he is going to help get a digital camera! So the pictures will soon be coming!! I'm a picture taking fool so expect load of em!

Tommorow night I'm going Christmas shopping and that's the weekend so far as planned! Hope you all have a great one :) xoxox

Some lovely presents today and Harry Potter

This morning I was walking to school with Cam and we passed a delivery bike and Cam told me to look cause he had a box with my name on it! Shortly after I arrived at school the box came and it was full of wonderful presents from my family in Halifax! I was super excited and my kindergartens made me open it up right away because presents are the best thing ever to them :) I got some great shirts, food, bath stuff, some of my favorite alcohol (we didn't open that one in class because I could tell by the shape and feel that is what it was!) and some other great goodies. Sadly I can't bring my box home tonight because I am going to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire after school. I've already seen the movie at home but I want to see it on the big screen. I'm going with Ginny and Jen, who are both teachers at my school. I might have to have a night cap before bed though :)

What an out of the ordinary evening

Today was the usual at school and afterwards I had to stop and get some blank cd's and as I was leaving the stationary shop Ben pulled up on his motercycle, followed by Justin and Scott. I don't hang out with these boys but they invited me for a beer and I said yes. So I hopped on the back of Ben's moterbike and off we went. I have to say I LOVE motercycles and even though it was cold I really didn't mind..I guess it is the speed I love :) So we went for a few pitchers and shot the shit and it was nice! Now I'm home and I'm a little bit drunk which perhaps isn't so good! I'll have to hit the pillow early tonight!

Doesn't he make you wanna cuddle and pet him?

I was surfing through Yahoo! News and one of the top news searches they had posted was about the ugliest dog award. This looks like it might not be a real animal but it seriously is. Sam's won the ugliest dog award 3 times (he's a pure bred check his website)! Sadly the little cutie passed away a few weeks ago. I think they should have sent him to Korea and plastered his face all over the news. It might have made some Koreans think twice about ordering the dog soup!

I can't believe I forgot to add this!

While at Everland we were waiting in line for a ride (I can't remember which). We saw a very strange thing, a Christmas tree decorated in Tarrot cards!?! Isn't this an appropriate decoration for any pretty Christmas tree?

As strange a thought as it is to be riding roller coasters in December..we had the most awesomest of times!

~ This will be a very very long post~

I'm so proud of Rachel-Lynn and I because we actually got our butts out of bed, got dressed up warmly, and caught the bus to Everland after talking about it for ages! The bus ride to Everland was suprisingly short and we were there in about 40 minutes. The excitement of being at a large amusement park overtook us because we found ourselves skipping to the gates with glee. The interesting thing about Everland is all of the staff wave at you with two hands. I think their arms must be dead tired from doing that all day! So Rachel-Lynn and I tried out the two handed wave ourselves just as we entered the park for our day of fun fun fun fun fun! It struck me shortly after we arrived at Everland how strange and bizarre it was that it was about 0 degrees outside and we were going to ride roller coasters! All of the parks back home in Canada would be closed and burried under a blanket of snow by now. Are roller coasters designed to run all year round regardless of the weather conditions?? I'm not sure I wish to know the true answer to that question. For the first time this year I felt in the Christmas spirit! The park was heavily decorated in Christmas decor and Christmas music was pipping through all of the speakers throughout the park. I was more then overjoyed to hear Feliz Navidad about 6 times throughout the day! Everland is quite a large theme park and has many different areas you can visit. We chose to start off in 'American Adventure- world of living adventure & thrill!' or so it's described on the map of the park! American Adventure portrayed a view of America from pre-1900s. Everything was cowboy style, big wooden structures, saloons and such. The one benefit to going to Everland in the winter and early Saturday afternoon is the fact that there are literally no line-ups. The longest we had to wait the entire day was probably about 5 minutes! We spotted a ride that looked fantastic called Championship Rodeo. This ride turned out to be our favorite ride in the park and we went on it about 10 times throughout the day!!! Basically you get whipped around very quickly in circular motions while music blares. It provides a wonderful overall sensation in your stomache and it will definitely be the first ride I hit when I go back to Everland! Not to mention, the girls running the ride are dressed in animal hide line-dancing on a wooden stage as you get tossed around! Us cowgirls dug it! After getting off and running back in line 3 times we decided to see what other rides American Adventure had to offer. The next ride we hit was 'Colombus Adventure- A dizzying Viking ship falling from a height of 33m at an angle of 75 degrees' Basically it was a double pirate ship ride and it seemed that everytime we rode that ride we were on the kick-ass side of the ship with enthusiastic Korean park goers! Then onward we marched to the Suspended Roller Coaster which was by far our favorite coaster in the park. You get whipped along a track that winds through the trees (very close to the trees I might add) at top speed! And we both had the need for speed yesturday!!! This turned out to be another one we hit about 5 times throughout the day!


Next we wandered over to Aesop's Village. Which was clearly a place for young children so the both of us fit in very nicely! The area was filled with very cutesy things and we thought it was the perfect opportunity for some photo taking!

I liked Aesop's Village and the colours were pretty and there was actually green grass growing in December but there wasn't the thrill that I had come to experience. I think we both were longing for some gut turning action so we wandered away from the village and headed off towards American Adventure again to hit some more rides. This time the park had changed to a late 50/60s feel with diners and Chubby Checker music, neon signs, Elvis photos, vintage cars and the like.

We decided to hit the Rolling X-Train, which is a big loop the loop roller coaster that looked really fun. We realized it was a head bashing ride and we were both a little sore afterwards. We decided not to go on that ride again. I spotted a ride that tickled my fancy and we went over. It is called the Crazy Limo! It is like a pirate ship type ride but it completely rotates all the way around and you get to be suspended upside down in the air! I think I injured my face from laughing so hard on this ride. Why was I laughing?? Because Rachel-Lynn was screaming bloody murder!! I don't think I've ever seen anything so funny in all my ride riding years. There was a little girl and her dad infront of us and they too were laughing at Rachel-Lynn's antics. I don't think she'll want to go back on the Crazy Limo again :) We then saw another ride called the Double Rock Spin. Basically everyone sits in a line and the ride lifts you up and rocks back and forth and upside down and flips around it was very fun indeed. I thought Rachel-Lynn would be a little scared of this one after the limo ride but she was in top form and we both enjoyed the ride! Afterwards RL posed with the Blue Brothers just outside the ride. It looks a little like she is getting a knee in the bum :) We decided to leave American Adventure and we took the sky lift which is basically a chair lift you see at a ski hill and we went to the lower area of the park called European Adventure. It was a pretty area and it was probably the most Christmasy part of the park. There were rows and rows of decorated trees and pretty decorations. We stopp