Good times at the COEX Aquarium

Peter and I have been talking about going to the aquarium for a longggg time now. So we had decided today was the day to check it out. We met up around noon and took the subway over to COEX. Seriously did everyone in Seoul have the day off today?? I thought the holiday was over!!! It was crazy busy everywhere! We paid our 14 dollars and headed inside. At first it was a little disapointing because there was just some holes in the wall with fish floating around. As we made our way through though, the sites got much better. The aquarium is divided up into sections depending on what part of the ocean and the world the fish are from. We saw a plethera of interesting species.






















My favorite part of the aquarium was the touch pool! I love touching things :) There was mostly star fish however it said on the sign there were sea irchins. I was a little sad because I couldn't find any. I did however find a gimp star fish that I felt bad for. It looked like someone had pulled one of his points off! Poor starfishy.



Close to the touch pool was a snowmaking machine with a picture of a polar bear. I'm really not exactly sure what the point of it was seeing as how there were only fish around and none of them arctic fish I don't think. It did make a good opportunity for me to put on my coat and play in the snow! All in all a great day if I do say! Now I scratch one more thing off of my list of things to do in Seoul.

I'm on a blogging frenzy!

Well..it's Tuesday and no word from Joel. I guess he isn't as hard up for playing War Craft as he made it seem. So perhaps I will still have the computer for a few more days. That's awesome cause Petey and I are going to the aquarium today and I want to post photos!! I can't wait to see the sharks!!!!

A day filled with fresh air was just what I needed

So as you can see I still have the computer and Joel has yet to come and claim it! So this means I can post pictures from today and that makes me happy. Today was a weird one. With dinner plans out the window because Joel had yet to make contact, RL and I decided to have a girl day. We decided to ride the subway to obscure stops along the way and take photos.

Our first stop was at Cheonwang on Line #7. We were hoping that there would be some excellent things to see and do there because any place that ends with wang has gotta be good! Rachel Lynn decided to stop and look at the map to see which exit would provide the most entertainment for us. We both thought that the Ethel Underwood Girl's Home sounded simply facinating! We made our exit from the subway station and found ourselves in the middle of butt fuck nowhere! The highlight of the trip to Cheongwang was a burned out old building and a dried up field of cabbage! As you can see by my reaction I was slightly amused by what we saw! Please do enjoy the lovely sites of Cheonwang for yourself.





































Next stop on our tour of the city was Onsu! We decided to head west out of the city toward Incheon. We decided our stop of choice would be Juan. We did stop at Onsu to take a few photos of the sites from the platform of the train.




















It was a pretty far ride on the subway which gave us some time to talk about our present situations. Poor RL is having electronic troubles and both her camera and computer are broken. We were so wrapped up in our conversation that we miss JUAN!! We got off at the next stop but it wasn't the same. We could have stayed on like 4 more stops and we would have been in Incheon and the ocean. As you can see RL was very sad at this turn of events in our journey.





We decided to head back into the city and eat some Indian. We had planned on going on the round about I think that is on the brown line but after almost 40 minutes back into the city we hit Itaewon for dinner. I have to say the restaurant we went to was disapointing and next time it is Chakraa all the way!! They had a buffet but it just wasn't good and the dishes weren't great. POOO!!! Anyway we stuffed ourselves and were pretty dazed afterwards. This could have been due to the lack of sleep this weekend for both of us combined with copious amounts of alcohol consumption though.
One more day left of vacation then back to work on Wednesday. A 3 day work week will be no problem :) I hope everyone had a great New Year!

So long my electronic friend..

I have yet to hear from Joel and it is already 3. If I don't hear from him soon he's outta luck on the comp today as RL and I are going to eat some curry! So perhaps I'll still have another day with this beautiful machine. Tommorow Petey and I are hitting the aquarium which we had planned to do a long time ago, it should be awesome. I had some of the blank holes filled last night and I'm pleased to know that I wasn't savagely beaten or got in a bar fight. I fell..plain and simple and it is my own darn fault! Some other holes were filled but I think I'll just pretend they are still empty.

Joel's back which is great but I haven't retrieved any memories from Friday.

So Joel has returned to Seoul after a two month vacation back home to Washington State to see his family. He looks good, healthy, well rested, and most of all HAPPY. I did not want to move yesturday because the hangover and lack of sleep was a little overwhelming however RL and I got showered up and headed to Itaewon and hit Outback for dinner. The food was awesome but I didn't really eat much of what I ordered and I just sipped water most of the time. Joel came and met us and we caught up and it was decided we would go to Soho. Seriously I thought it would be okay and I could handle being in a bar but it was still pretty rough. I ordered a coffee with Kaluah and took about 5 sips and realized it wasn't happening and I stuck with the water. We stayed out with him until about 130am and headed home. Due to the Lunar New Year Itaewon and the rest of this city was like a ghost town and probably will be until Tuesday.


With Joel being back that means that today is my last day with the computer :( I'm a little sad about it but it doesn't belong to me and I always knew I couldn't actually keep it. Pay day is the 10th of February and I'm hitting Yongsan and getting a computer right away. Petey McPete has offered to help me so I know I'll be in good hands with that. The flat screen TV, microwave, and dvd player will also be vacating my apartment over the next few weeks as Joel gets settled. This means that my blog will probably suck for a few weeks as I won't have a place to upload my photos or post really so that makes my inner geek a little sad.

My bruises are darkening quite nicely. They are a deep plum purple with a hint of black. My head hurts a bit less and the swelling seems to have subsided for the most part however my body looks like it has been through a train wreck. Today not much going on..I'm supposed to hook up with RL for a bit and do some geeky things. I'll try to get one more post in before Joel comes by tommorow for the computer. If not....until next time. xoxoxox

Big black holes just keep you questioning things you just won't remember...

I am not drinking for a very long time. Why? Because I woke up this morning with so many questions about what I saw I am left standing scratching my head wondering if I had a good time. Things I do remember..

I met up with Marshall (which I've learned has two l's)
We drank beer
We drank vodka
um....black hole
um....black hole
RL came over and curled up in bed with me and we laughed and laughed and probably woke up the neighbours cause we were both trashed
RL swept broken glass up off my floor..how it got there black hole again..
We were still up at 8am and went for mandu, rang on Cam's door, talked about bacon and eggs and how much we wanted some
I went to bed
I woke up and my entire left arm and left leg are bruised like I got in a car accident how? I DON'T REMEMBER!!!!

I am not sure if I made an ass outta myself but I'm pretty sure I did. It is noon I'm still drunk and I can't sleep. I'm very unproud of myself right now.

I still love hanboks

Today my class had their Korean manners class and it was awesome! I truly think the hanbok is probably one of the most beautiful traditional dresses of any country. The kids looked angelic and I really enjoyed wearing one as well. I think I'm going to have one made for myself before I leave Korea. Our class participated after lunch and the kids practiced bowing, making cookies, and how to hold their tea cup properly. I also got to participate in everything with the kids so it was really great. This post will be mostly just photos and if you would like to see more of the Korean manners class photos check them out! Blogger isn't letting me upload anymore photos for some reason so do check out the album because there are some great pics of the kids in there. Enjoy!

I love Hanboks

Today and tommorow our school is having Korean Manners Classes in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations. The children learn how to bow and to pour tea. All of the children wear their hanboks as do all of the teachers! My class gets to participate tommorow but Peter's class had their class today. Peter didn't have a camera so I came to the rescue and snapped some shots. They are just so darn cute I have to post them!

It's Official and I can't wait!

As I mentioned before my good friends Jen and Dave are planning on coming to Seoul because I am so freaking fabulous they just can't go a year without seeing my face ;) Well it is definitely gonna happen! The plane tickets have been purchased and April 29th they'll be landing at the Dream EZ for 2 weeks of the most awesome me! Oh yes and Seoul of course which is also pretty freakin fabulous!

A moment of silence for the loss of my country........

Alright so I'm not a Liberal...but I sure as hell ain't a fucking Conservative either! Perhaps it works in Western Canada..but I lived in Ontario and a Conservative Gov just isn't gonna work. I could ramble on and on as could any political debate however I just won't. I'm pleased it is a minority government which means that there could be another election in a few years. In the mean time I'm glad I'm not living in Canada. An American ass kisser is frankly the last thing we need...and several other reasons why Stephen Harper should........hmmmm can't think of something nice enough to type all I can think of is die die die! The only thing I have to really worry about over here is K.J.I. and I can deal with that.


At least The Sens beat the Leafs again...there is one thing that is right in Ottawa!

So long to my 20s forever...

Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to me!


Bring on the dirty 30s I'm ready!

What a fun and interesting birthday party I had.....it has left me scarred for life. Literally!

Last night I celebrated my 30th birthday. I guess some would consider that particular birthday a milestone, perhaps it is. The evening started out with Rachel Lynn, Peter and I having a pre-going out drink together at Rachel Lynn's. We met up with Cameron and took a cab over to Itaewon. There we hooked up with Jessica, D'arcy, Sarah, and Jennifer. We made our way over to Chakraa for some delicious Indian food. We met up with Saejin, Cara and her sister, and the other Jennifer at the restaurant. Everyone went for the buffet, which looked good, but I had only one thing on my mind, Chicken Vindaloo. RL also wanted a non-buffet item so we ordered up our dishes and some basmati rice (seriously where do they buy this in Korea? I've yet to find some and eating it truly put me in a heavenly place). I ordered my dish, which is already the hottest on the menu, extra extra hot. There were a few extra peppers in there but really it wasn't as hot as I would have really liked it. It was so amazing. Definitely the best Indian I have ever eaten in this country! I will go back for the buffet! At dinner Cara, Jen, and Peter gave me some very nice presents. That was really thoughtful and sweet of you guys, your presence there was truly enough but thank you so much :)









































































After our bellies were full we made our way over to Soho for happy hour(s). This is where I became injured. Last weekend RL and I were there and there was a man selling sparklers and I was sad I didn't get one. While I was in the ladies room he came into the bar and RL bought me 10 of them!! I was very very thrilled with the sparklers and lit one right away! However....the tip of the sparkler fell off into my lap. I'm not sure how it happened, as I am a very skilled sparkler user..but it must have been a little bit broken and my waving it around caused the full on break. Much to my dismay it burned a hole right through my most favorite skirt, through my tights, and I now have two perfectly circular burn holes into my thighs. I probably got a little more upset about it then I should have however it was the fact that I burned my favorite skirt that bumbed me the most. After 10 rum and cokes though I was totally over it! Sadly a lot of the girls had to leave early and it was just RL, Peter, Cam, Saejin and myself remaining.











































After happy hour was over we hopped in a cab and headed over to Hongdae where we met up with James, Stewart, Owen (seriously it doesn't get more Brit than that), and Marshal(who is from Calgary not England). We had some drinks at the Hole in the Wall bar and decided to make our way to another spot. Cam and Saejin left and went back to Itaewon leaving the hard core party faithfulls Peter, RL, and myself. So we went with the boys to That 70's Bar where a bottle of vodka was ordered up. RL bought some new earings along the way to the bar and we all took turns trying them on. We even got Marshal to take his pants off and show us his tatoo, seriously you will hate yourself when you are 60 dude. After we polished off the vodka we were definitely ready to shake our asses.





























































We walked over to M2 for some HOUSE MUSIC!! I finally finally got to shake it to house and it was awesome!!! I started the night off dancing it up with James (who by the way is a very good dancer!) but spent the majority of the evening dancing with Marshal. I don't know what it is but I seem to get along with James' friends when I meet them! At about 5 I realized that I had to go home otherwise.......... So we caught a cab and headed home. I had an awesome time and thank you to everyone who came out last night. I had a really great birthday party xoxoxoxox

Two more days and I'll be 30 *sigh* I guess getting older is inevitable.

It's been a few days since I've update my blog so I have lots of photos and stuff to blog about today. I'll backtrack a little bit. Thursday is always art day in H class and I've posted our masterful art creations on here in the past. This week one of the kids asked me if I had my camera because he wanted to show my mom his art. The kids know that I show all the photos to my mom so they sometimes ask me to take a picture of them for her. This week we were drawing people ice-skating so here is what H class came up with.






















Later that day I was teaching my first grade class and they wanted to have their photos snapped too! I had taken my camera out to take a photo of a page in their work book. We were learning about a girl named SHELLY! For three pages :) Just had to take a photo of that because my name doesn't appear many places and to be spelled the same way of my name too! Except of course for the most awesome Shelly Shoes in England!
Sarah who is one of my newer students really wanted me to take her photo. Her brother, Dylan, is in my kindergarten class and his mom wanted Sarah in my class too. Really who could blame her? I am pretty fantastic :) Although I don't think Karrie really enjoyed this one I snapped of her. Such a pretty little girl but she almost had her entire fist up her nose at one point!














On to Friday...a typical Friday in H class. One of my kindies, Caleb, has the squishiest face I have ever felt. His nickname is jellyfish because of his squishyness. He wanted me to squish his face and take a photo so he could see just how squishy it really was! It really needs a two handed squish to do it justice however I couldn't snap the pic and squish with two hands at the same time..but you can get the idea. While we were taking photos, Kaylee, came up to my desk and wanted to show me her broken yellow pencil crayon. Sadly she is all smiles but the second I pull out the camera she becomes stone faced. I really don't know why cause she is such a cute smiley kid! Caleb was trying to make her laugh but clearly she was not impressed!


Just a little off topic but I wanted my mom to know that I am taking care of myself. Here is how I start off my day and a typical lunch. Most teachers go out for lunch but I pack my lunch everyday and eat in the staff room.














Although I like to take care of myself and eat well. There are times when I just like to enduldge in a little something with a kick! Last night Peter, Cameron, Saejin, and I headed over to the Bubble Castle. A little Hoff in our neighbourhood. We went and had some fire chicken and lots o beer! Rachel Lynn met up with us later in the evening after she had dinner with Jenny at COEX. It was fun times :)




























Tonight I'm having my birthday party. My ultimate plan is to drink my twenties away...my last night out on the town as a twenty something. I can't believe it!!!! We're meeting up at 715pm and going for some yummy Indian (my ultimate favorite) then to Soho for happy hour, then over to Hongdae (NO TINPAN ALLEY ALLOWED!). Should be fun I know I'll have loads of pics to share tommorow. Have a good weekend all xoxox

My friends are coming!! I'm so happy I could dance!

My friends are coming! We started talking about this trip before I even left for Korea but it is finally becoming a reality. Two of my favorite people, Dave and Jen, are coming to see me in April. I got an e-mail from Jen today saying they are picking up their tickets next Tuesday!! There is a slight problem with their arrival date and departure because I will be working both when they come and when they have to leave..I'm hoping they can do a little switchero with their arrival and departure dates so they come and go on a Saturday. I want to be at the airport both times with them! I'm pretty ecstatic right now!

Man I'm tired..

I don't know what it is about Mondays but they drain me! Had a good day at school and all was right with the world. I just came home from dance class. For the past few days there has been a man in our dance class. I think it has boosted mine and RL's confidence, as he...sucks balls. He doesn't really put in any effort and makes us look like professionals :) It is kind of like watching my dad do ballet..if that ever happened. I'm hitting the showers then off to bed! Have a good one all :)

"Girl's Night Out" featuring Shelly and Rachel Lynn

Yesturday was non-stop busy! I left my house a little later then I had planned on doing to meet Jenny. I had to go to Itaewon first to get a phone card then we were meeting in the station. Shortly after I had transferred to the blue line Jenny called and something had happened and she was going to be over an hour late which ment I had to get to the hair appointment myself and she'd meet me there. This was fine and all but I hadn't been there since 2001 so I had to trust my memory to guide me there. I made it from my place, to Itaewon where I got a phone card, back on the subway to Yaksu, transferred to the orange line and got to Apkgujeong, literally ran all the way from the station to the area where the Galleria is (anyone familiar with the area will know this is not a short walk), and to my hair appointment in less than an hour. I am a rock star! The hair appointment was okay. I was really unimpressed with the blow dry I got and my bangs were cut too short, and he didn't colour my hair the way I asked him to. The stylist didn't blow dry my hair so I can't blame him for that. I did get a great cut, or it will be once my bangs grow! Which they do very quickly. Bottom line is I don't have 6 inch roots anymore and I will never wait that long to get my hair done EVER again!

Rachel Lynn and I met up at about 8ish and headed to Itaewon for dinner. Our original plan was to go for Greek food which sounded bad ass to me! It was a bump into everyone kind of night in Itaewon that's for sure. Just as we were leaving the bank machine who should we run into but the lovely Jessica, D'arcy, Jen, and Sarah. Jess by the way your hair looks awesome!! They were heading over to a fundraising event, which I hope was succesful! Then as we were chatting with the girls we bumped into Andrew and Samer. Andrew informed us that he was waiting for Jolene and a bunch of people and they were going for Greek food.
RL and I were not looking to eat at the same restaurant with a bunch of work people, so we decided a new plan was in order. So we headed over to Ho Lee Chow for some Chinese. It is a pretty nice restaurant and they had an awesome selection of yummy things. We ordered enough food for a small country and I am wishing right now I had all the leftovers to help me nurse my tired icky hangover feeling I have. Anyway we also ordered some Chinese beer which was pretty good! For ordering the beer we were given some gifts! Some anti-bacterial hand wipes and some face masks. Very strange gifts to get in a nice restaurant for ordering beer, however we took our free stuff with a smile. We decided the plan for the evening would be to use all the anti-bacterial wipes before we got home.

We put a pretty big dent into what we had ordered but sadly there was enough left to probably fill 4 people after we were finished. We had beef and Chinese greens, Kung Pow Chicken, and assortment of yummy appetizers that had lots of shrimp, and some chicken fried rice. My tummy is rumbling just thinking about it! I could really really go for some right now. After dinner we decided to head over to Soho for happy hour. Which is two for one drinks and they are pretty strong! We stayed for about an hour and RL cleaned up the bar we were sitting at with the wipes :) A lot of people had sparklers lit cause some man had walked around selling them. RL and I said no, but after everyone had them lit I really wanted one. It reminded me of Hassan, Julia, and Hany and our back yard sparkler party oh so long ago! We caught a cab and headed over to Hongdae. We didn't have any specific plan but we ended up in.....TIN PAN ALLEY! The one bar we had said we shouldn't go to cause we go there to much! We scored a table right away and got some drinks. It was nice just being the two of us. We met TONS of people last night. Nobody we knew really just new people. We got free drinks and some tequilla shots which was nice. If you happen to be anyone of these folks in the photos it was nice meeting you :) Everyone else we met last night, sorry we don't have your photos but it was nice to meet you too!













We got pretty hammered and didn't leave the bar until about 515am. I think RL could have kept going but after the early morning start I had and the running around I just couldn't go no more! My batteries had died. But we had a good time!





































We caught a cab and came home. RL took some interesting photos out the window of the cab. You can't see much other then the pretty lights of Seoul rushing by on the freeway. By the time I got to bed it was 7am. Unfortunatly I am not a good sleeper when I've been out drinking and I woke up at 1130am. Only four and a half hours of sleep and I feel like ass. Peter I hope you got my e-mail I don't think I have it in me to hit the aqaurium today. But we most definitely will before you go home to Canada. Perhaps the long weekend??? I'm going to do laundry and clean and vegetate for the rest of the day. I hope everyone had a good weekend and have a great week! xoxox Should you want to see all of the evening's photos you can HERE


Just a little sidenote. I was checking out Jessica's wonderful blog which you will find under My Way in the Korean blog links section of this page. She had a link that I too will share. It is called the Waegook Song. There is a little video and song it is pretty funny. Check it out

short n' sweet

I woke up far earlier then I wanted to thanks to the fucking idiot who lives in the apartment above me and makes more noise then all the cars put together outside grrrrrr. However I turned on the TV and what just started?? An Ottawa Sens game!!! Wooohooo nothing I enjoy more then watching the Sens play hockey :) It's the Sens and the Sharks probably from a few days ago. So I'm gonna kick back with my morning java and watch a little hockey action. Then I've got to get my butt to Itaewon to get some phone cards and meet Jenny for our day at the salon. Next time you see my photo on this blog I will have some big hair changes! Then out with RL for her late b-day girlie celebration. Fun times! Have a good Saturday all xoxo

OMG DON CHERRY!! HOW MUCH MORE CANADIAN CAN MY HOCKEY EXPERIENCE GET THIS MORNING!

Seriously this game is awesome. They've showed shots of the Parliment Buildings and downtown Ottawa. Strangely makes me miss home a little bit! I'm currently impressed with the American Forces Network!! For bringing me some good o'l Canadian hockey action this morning.


*hmm they are changing the name of the Corel Centre to Scotia Bank Place?? That's lame ass.

Some pics from the vault

Now for some photos from the vault. I have some photos I wanted to post but at the time blogger photos wasn't working or they wouldn't upload. So here are a few photos for you to enjoy!

Tape you can eat? Yup that's right! Melody brought in some apple candy tape. I tried it but it was completely disgusting in my view. However Melody and Stephanie were enjoying it :)




Beaver? Badger? Rabbit? You decide



Can Cam shake that tamborine or what?




Mr.Cha the coolest Korean bus driver on the planet! I love this man




Myeong-dong station is officially the chocopie headquarters of the Universe





Saejin laughing as he falls on his ass while trying to pose for this photo :)





My two favorite reindeer

The weekend is here again....TGIF!

Today is my 6 month anniversary in Seoul! Wow time really flies. That means in 6 months I'll be on a plane flying home to see my family and friends! I can't wait! I already have appointments booked for facials and manicures and pedicures with one of my best pals Andree. We are currently looking into a location to rent a chalet for a few days to have some girlie time. I can't wait! Then back to grind (hopefully) for another year at LCI. I'm on a the two year plan right now but things always change right?


Today was laided back at work. We started a new math book in kindy and frankly it is a little lame. Far to easy! We were working on above and below. The book had a photo of clouds and we discussed what was above and below the clouds. I am NOT an artist as you'll see by my terrible drawings on the white board. The kids always praise me when they think I do a good job though so that's nice. Math class turned into sillyness when Raydon and Julie started sticking out their tongues to see who's was longer. Man those kids crack me up sometimes! It was quickly back to seriousness though...I assure you :)

ok I'm so jealous right now!

Two of my favorite people...Samaa and Nihalma are chilling together in Egypt..and I'M NOT THERE!!!!!!! I'm impressed Nihalma's folks let her go to Egypt..aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna hop on a plane right this very second get my ass to the Cairo airport and run to Samaa's house! I'm happy you two are chillin though...VERY JEALOUS....but happy for you. You get to eat Samaa's mom's cooking too ahhhh I wanna be there!!!!!! next year Shelly....next year...ahhhhhh that can't come soon enough!!!!

Another day done

Today seemed to drag on forever. All of the kids and myself included, were sooo tired. After class Petey and I headed over to Costco to do some grocery shopping. The weather was crappy, it is freezing rain outside and has been since about 4pm. We were successful in our shopping endevours. I found pants that fit!! That was probably my highlight of the day. If you are over a size 6 here it is hard to find nice pants and normally the pants I see at Coscto are nasty. Tonight I was able to get a super nice pair of jeans and a pair of chocolate brown cords. I am super stoked. Tommorow is Friday and then it's the weekend!! I'm meeting Jenny this Saturday and we are heading over to Toni and Guy and getting our hair done. I need my colour done so badly I'm shocked in myself how long I've waited to get it done. When I used to work at the spa it was every 4 weeks..I haven't had my hair done or coloured since May!!! So it will be nice to get pampered. Then RL and I are having a girlie night out which should be fun. It is a very LONG overdue b-day night out for her. Sunday Petey and I are going to the aquarium which will also be fun times! Hope you all have a good Friday xoxo

Happy birthday to me.....2 weeks early!

Today was teacher birthday at LCI, something that happens every month a teacher has a birthday. This month it is myself and Linda, she's older then me though :) Everyone gives 5 dollars for each teacher celebrating so it's nice because you get an envelope full of money and some cake. We always have the teacher birthdays the second week of every month. Today actually happened to be Linda's birthday and mine is on the 23rd. Happy Birthday Linda!




































That was the highlight of the day really. Things went pretty smoothly in all of my classes. I had my private lessons with Kaylee today which happens every Wednesday afternoon for an hour. She is one of my kindys and she struggles with just about everything. I had her write the alphabet today and she couldn't remember what a small P looked like :( oh dear..and the rest of my class is reading!! So I don't mind helping her..I don't get paid but her mommy gives me pretty gifts :)


Are you tired of hours of endless play with the Rubix Cube?? Well there is a new cube on the market and I'm sure it is flying off the shelves!!! (Max if you're reading you'll like this one) THE EVANGECUBE In my last class of the day Stephanie had this and she let me photograph it..she didn't know it was because I thought it was hilarious though, she's a good church going girl and I don't want to tarnish her! But seriously The Evangecube?? I guess you can find Jesus if you turn it enough. Well that's a wrap for today! Have a good one all xoxox

First day back was great!

It was so awesome to see my kids today! I can't believe how much I missed them but as soon as they came into class this morning I was happy to be there! We all had a great day and we got a lot accomplished. I have to say though that Owen's grandmother sent him off to school and forgot one detail, to brush his hair!!! It was so crazy and sticking up all over the place I had to bite my lip to contain my giggles for the first hour. After getting sweaty in gym class though his hair fell into place and all was well again. I mentioned before that I have the luck of getting all the kids with some sort of problem. I had this one boy, Daniel, in one of my older classes who has severe A.D.D. I'm not one for medicating children, however this boy needed to be on something. Anyway I was informed today that his mom pulled him because she realized he just couldn't handle the work and the social environment. I feel badly that he couldn't catch on but I have to say not having to constantly watch him made the class so much easier. I did get a new girl in that class today which I knew was going to happen. I have quite a few sets of siblings spread throughout my classes. This new girl's brother is in my kindy class and her mom had asked for her to be in my class so voila now she is. Her converstation is far better then the rest of the kids so we'll see how things go for her, I hope she doesn't get bored.


Tonight was back to dance class with RL. Things were good but it hurt after skipping for almost an entire week. When we were leaving she told RL not to miss any more classes because I wouldn't go without her :) Now I'm home and it is 930pm I haven't eaten since lunch and I'm gonna cook me up some dinner! Then read and go to bed. Hope you all have/had a great day! xoxox

Rachel Lynn is a goddess!!!

I was just happily surprised by a ring on my door from Rachel Lynn, whom I'm glad to see returned safely from her getaway in Norway. She is such a sweet gal she brought me the one thing I asked for, a postcard from Norway. A very pretty postcard of jewelry that was burried on a Viking ship. That wasn't all...SHE BROUGHT ME CURRY!!! My favorite kind of curry too, Vindaloo. If I had chicken right now I would be cooking up a storm. She did make a good suggestion though of eating from the bottle by spoon, however it deserves to be prepared in proper fashion. Thank you RL you're one awesome gal! xxoo

Back to Life..Back to Reality

Well my week of R&R is officially over. In a few hours I'll be off to bed and then up for work in the morning. I'm looking forward to seeing my kids but a small part of me will miss doing absolutely nothing. Today I got quite a few things accomplished, except for writing the speech for my kids which I will get done tommorow. I did watch another film though. Today I watched Crash. It left me feeling disturbed. It wasn't spectacular or mind blowing, however it was a story based around racism and stereo-typical views society holds. If there is one thing in this world that breaks my spirit it's racism. There are a lot of things I can handle but if someone makes a racist joke or a racially charged comment, I want to turn around and walk away. I've had to deal with racial issues in my own life and it has been difficult at times defending my views to other people, but I've stuck to my morals and beliefs even though it caused me grief. Why? I don't feel that we were put on this earth (however that happened)to segregate ourselves from one another. One of the reasons I love Canada is because of the beautiful mix of cultures and colours you find there. If you look deep though people still segregate themselves into small communities of their own because it makes them comfortable. I wish things weren't like that, but I can't change it. You learn a lot when you open yourself up to other cultures and backgrounds and people. Who gives you the right to judge someone else because they happen to look different, worship a different God, or speak a different language? I certainly don't have that right. If you aren't in the mood for a comedy and are looking for something a little darker, watch Crash.

Vacation just about over :(

Time well wasted as I like to look at it. I realized this morning that there were things I needed to get done this week and have yet to do them. For starters I need to write a speech for my kindergarten students to say at the graduation ceremony. I'll do that tommorow and I have some cds I need to burn for class and some other school stuff. I had over a week to get these things in order and in classic Shelly fashion I've left them to the last minute. Tommorow will actually be a busy day! Today I finished my cleaning for the most part. When you live in a tiny apartment you need to keep it spotless in order for things to feel comfortable. My sink is clogged again! What the f**k? Gotta go get more drano stuff. Tonight I'm supposed to chill with Peter and have some drinks and perhaps polish off the booze we'd planned on downing this week but never did.


I finally watched a GOOD Nicolas Cage movie called Lord of War. I checked the reviews and it wasn't given favorable ones. However I usually ignore what the critics say and make my own opinions. I really liked this movie and I thought Cage was awesome. Not stellar like Leaving Los Vegas but great. It is a pretty dark film about a gun runner and his career and I felt it was well done. There are other good actors such as Jared Leto, Ian Holm, and Ethan Hawke in this one.


A film I will not recommend is 40 Year Old Virgin. This one started off in the right direction and I found myself laughing out loud for the first 40 minutes. Then it just went straight down hill and dragged on far too long and the ending was a strange musical routine to The Age of Aquarius by 5th Dimension. The critics say this is a must see which makes me wonder..what the fuck do they know? So that's about it for today. I will leave you with these two questions though. How exactly can trees continue to flourish and have beautiful red leaves in the freezing cold of January?? The trees in Seoul baffle me. Why does my stove have to be so small? It makes cooking more then one thing at a time very difficult!

OMG it's Friday all ready???

I can't believe my week off is almost over :( What have I accomplished? Well lets see..NOTHING! I've done lots of cleaning and a bit of shopping and I saw Seoul Tower but that's about it. I have watched some good films and have some more to watch but I can't believe how fast the time has flown by! Back to work again on Monday. I miss my kids though so it will be nice to see them again. Back to grind which means - going to dance class EVERYDAY, perfecting my craft of teaching, no more being lazy! I'm happy though we have a 4 day weekend at the end of the month. I did realize today that I will be 30 in 17 days!!! Hope everyone got my e-mail about the b-day bash I'll be having on the 21st. I am a little excited though because Jenny and Davey B will be coming to Seoul in April and that is coming pretty soon!! I'm happy and sad because Joel is supposed to be returning to Seoul at the end of this month which means I have to relenquish my possession of this wonderful computer :( I will be getting my own in Feb though but it will mean about 10 days without a comp! What's up for this glorious Friday? Cooking something awesome, a load of laundry, and some films. Perhaps tommorow I'll do something more thrilling. Later gators!

Seoul is one big freakin city

I've been to many big cities in the world including LA and Paris but man sometimes it hits me just how big Seoul is. Today Petey and I met up and headed over to Seoul Tower. Neither of us had been there before so it was definitely a must do for this week! We hopped on the subway and headed over to Myeong-Dong and made the 10 minute trek up the street to the cable car building. The directions we had were: follow the alley beside the Pacific Hotel (if you are going to Seoul Tower get out at exit 3 at Myeong-Dong and go down the street beside Pacific Hotel - it is really obvious - when you get to the top of the street take a right up the stairs and hang another right on the main street and you'll hit the cable car building entrance).
We passed a restaurant along the way that both of us decided we would never eat at but we had to take a picture of the blue/grey chicken that was on the menu. If you pass this place you know you are going the right way! We made our way to the 3rd floor of the cable car building and purchased our tickets up to Seoul Tower. For those Canadians out there it is pretty similar to going to the CNT in Toronto, just wider and different looking.



We made our way onto the extremely crowded cable car. The lady on the piped in announcement mentioned something about maximum 35 people per car, however I think we had like 50 in ours. We picked a really nice sunny day to go and the view of Seoul when we got out of the cable car was spectacular. Seoul goes on FOREVER...it is massive and it is a little overwhelming to see just how big when you actually see it from above. We stopped and took a few photos of the view before we made our way up the stairs to the tower itself.





























































When we got to the top we saw some interesting things that looked like giant bee hives. They were little chimneys used to send smoke signals. You get a great view of the city from up there! There was also a pretty little pavilion where you could sit and chill out. Finally we bought our tickets to the observation deck and went up the elevator to the top. It was pretty amazing the view you got of Seoul the only thing that disapointed me was that you couldn't go outside. I was hoping it was going to be like the Eiffel Tower where you can go out on the observation deck and take pictures outside however it wasn't. The windows were not spectaculary clean either but we took a ton of photos none the less. It was cool they had different cities printed on each window and how far away you are from them. They had one for Toronto so I did the math and I am about 11,000 km away from Ottawa. Wow that's far! We took some goofy action shots of each other and some other pictures and finally made our way back down again. We decided to walk a bit through Myeong-Dong which was ridiculously crowded as usual. Do people not work in this town??? We headed over to BK for some lunch. I noticed something which I have noticed before (but something you would never see at home), McDonalds, then right next-store BK, then The Face Shop, and then Body Shop. Two fast food restaurants side by side and two skin care shops side by side. Weird. Anyway we had some yummy fat free lunch then made it back to our place. We had some warm drinks with a little Kahlua and played Jenga!!! We rocked it, until it all came toppeling down (Petey won but it was a darn close game!). That was today! If you want to check out all the photos from Seoul Tower click the link! Ciao for now!



** I've been practicing the self-portrait action. I think I'm getting a little bit better here is my photo for today!

much to much time on my hands you say?

This is my second post today which means that nothing very thrilling is going on that would occupy my time and make me too busy to post. I can say this though...BURRRRRRR it's freakin cold and windy in Seoul today. I went out to do a bit of shopping, well mostly to get stuff to unclog my drain because for some reason my kitchen sink was backed up. Problem solved but it was chilly walking to the store. Tommorow will be more exciting though. I talked with Peter and we are meeting at 11am sharp so we can go and do some sight seeing. Definitely Seoul Tower because surprisingly I haven't done that yet either time I've lived here. The tower was closed for a really long time and didn't re-open until last month so we're gonna go. Peter hasn't gone yet either and he should since he is heading back home soon. We might hit a palace and something else exciting. So stay tuned because I am determined to take TONS of pics of this great city I live in. I'm a little surprised with how chill I've been and how many movies I watched in the past 4 days. I just finished watching Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It was good I enjoyed it. It made me think of home though. Why you ask?? Well throughout college I was the promotion director for our school radio station. It was part of my job to host New Music Night at the great night spot Zaphod Bebblebrox (wayyyyyy back in the day) making the connection now? The Rolling Stones video "Streets of Love" was even shot there this summer. I miss their Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters. Man those were good drinks! If you are ever in Ottawa you should check out the club. I think I've babbled enough today. Have a good one all!

I think I'd forgotten how truly great it is to just be lazy.

I can't believe it is Wednesday already and my week off is half way through. What have I accomplished thus far? Let's see..
- I've watched many films
- I've cleaned and disinfected just about everything
- I have actually left my apartment and gone shopping and to dance class
- I cooked some truly amazing Indian food
- I pondered about my life
- I've organized my closet

Sometimes I just like to be alone. I guess I'm just one of those who doesn't need a large crowd or social circle to have a good time. I've really liked being able to retreat into my own head and be alone for awhile. I almost feel like just blowing off dance class for the rest of the week and just chilling and restarting my life on Monday when things go back to normal. I want to paint my toe nails, and wax my eyebrows and maybe eat some icecream. Since I didn't go anywhere spectacular for my vacation I feel I owe it to myself to have a good time. Should I feel guilty for just wasting time? I don't think I should. Tommorow I will get up and pull myself together and get out and see the city but for today I've got lots of great films to watch and all the fixins for a good pedicure. Speaking of films...

I just watched a really great one. "Elizabeth Town" a wonderful film by Cameron Crowe. If you liked "Almost Famous", it is one of my favs, then you should see this movie. The soundtrack is amazing, the story is wonderful, and the acting is great. This movie made me think about my dad and how awesome he is. I really missed my dad after watching this movie and if he was here I'd give him a huge hug and tell him he was truly great. This will definitely be one I have to purchase and add to my collection. Totally off topic but Sparks by Coldplay makes me sad. That's all for today from apartment 303. Where the floors and walls are so clean you could eat off em!








I love you guys and I miss you xoxo

Are you in the mood for a good mind fuck?

I just watched a brilliant, dark, beautifully shot, mind fucking mess of a film called "Stay". If you like movies like Donnie Darko for example, like to question and ponder the film you just viewed, and don't need the Hollywood flash to be entertained, you should run out and rent this film. I'd heard of this film before I came to Korea and had wanted to see it. I saw a few commericals for it here but never saw a theatre playing it. It stars Ryan Gosling (whom I think is brilliant and probably one of Canada's finest acting exports- watch United States of Leland or The Believer and you just might agree with me) Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, and a cast of other amazing actors. I still feel like my brain has been put through a blender (in a good way). Perhaps this week will just be filled with movie reviews and the odd photo here and there. My main goal was to catch up on all the films I wanted to see and clean..looks like I'm doing a good job so far :)