Waygooks Wandering

There are a ton of winter festivals in Korea, but most of them are really far up north. If we weren't going to Thailand tomorrow, we would have tried to go to at least one of the big festivals, but we wanted to save our money. Instead, last weekend, we took a trip to the ice festival taking place outside Daegu at Mt. Biseul with some friends.

Gianni and I thought we were all supposed to go on Saturday because that is what we talked about with Maria and Matthew, so we went to Daegok to meet everyone on Saturday. After texting Sian to let her know we were there, she texted back from the ski slopes! It turns out that Maria, Matthew, and Gianni and I had the wrong day! Woops! We decided to wait to go with friends Sunday, and went back to our house together to play Settlers of Catan, which is always fun. We played a few games, and I won twice! We also all tried toast for the first time. Toast is a cross between grilled cheese and a regular sandwich. Gianni got a steak kind, and I got sweet potato bacon. The sweet potato in mine was cooked inside some egg, which was interesting. It was a pretty tasty lunch. There's a video about it on the videos page now.

The next day we tried the festival again. In order to get there, we had to take the train just a few stops to the end of the line and then a bus from outside the station. The bus was terrible! Apparently, it has different routes at different times. Our friend noticed it was taking us in the general direction of the mountain, but it wasn't stopping at the stops she had listed on her phone. Most of the route was through countryside with no taxis in sight, but we got off the bus at a bus terminal in more of a town-like area to try to get a taxi because we decided the bus wouldn't take us to the mountain. We found some taxis to take us, and got to the mountain.

As we were walking up to the festival area, I stopped to get some of the delicious toffee candy that I got in Jinju before. This time, it was coated with nuts on the outside, which made it even better. At the festival, there were a few activities for children, like "ice skating" on a plastic sled-like thing. We had some fun skating in our shoes on the little ice rinks they made for it. There was also an ice slide, but the line was too long to go on it (and it was probably for kids). There were some really nice ice sculptures leading up the mountain a little ways. There was an awesome dragon, some hearts, and a 2014 one. The mountain path that we were on has a little river as well, which is why the festival is located there. They use hoses and spray water over the river so that it freezes in really awesome icicles and icebergs in the river. You could walk along the river, but in one part they also had an ice tunnel on the river. It was really pretty inside. We spent a few hours at the festival, taking in a little winter and eating ramen for lunch.

When it was time to go back home, we decided to take the bus from the top of the mountain because we saw the stop. We waited for like a half hour for the bus to come. It was two stops until the end of the line from Mt. Biseul, so at the end of the line, the bus driver got out for a half hour for his break. It was so frustrating. It seemed like we'd never make it home. When the bus finally got going again, it turned out that it didn't go along a straight route. Instead, it took a few short, loops to pick up people in other areas. It took us over an hour to get back to the train station! Really annoying, but we finally got back after a few hours on the bus. Gianni and I decided to go to red pork for dinner because we were starving. There's a foodventures episode about this restaurant on the videos page, so check it out.


This week, I've been deskwarming by myself since Niall is on vacation. I also got my new external hard drive in the mail from my parents, so yesterday, I got a ton of videos and photos edited and uploaded, so the blog is almost updated again. Yay! Today, we have the day off before we leave for Thailand tomorrow. We spent the morning packing and cleaning, and we're leaving in a bit to see the new Disney movie, Frozen, with Maria and Matthew. After that, we're leaded to taekwondo to take our belt test and, hopefully, get our green belts!

There was a tunnel of pretty Christmas lights at the park.

New Year's Eve in Korea is celebrated in a similar way as it is at home. Many people make their way to Seoul or Busan, the bigger cities, for special events happening there. We didn't realize this until later, so we opted to have a New Year's in Daegu. Wherever you are, it is very common tradition to watch the first sunrise. They do still have special things at midnight, but even more than that, people try to find nice places to watch the first sunrise of the new year. I think that's a really nice thing to do, although we did not partake of it this year. Instead, a friend from taekwondo told us about some things happening downtown, so we went there. We also went to see Ender's Game with Maria and Matthew before going to the New Year's celebration.

Giant Elvis and Michael Jackson puppets

Korean Jamaican...?

Korean Indian...?

At the park that we did the sharing life festival, Guk Chae Bosung Park, there is a big bell. They had a big stage set up next to the bell. From 9 to 12pm, they had all kinds of musical performances. There was dancing, opera, musicals (Mama Mia and Les Mis), and much more. There was one act involving 70's style dancing with massive puppets of Michael Jackson and Elvis, both of whom had nothing to do with the 70's really. There were also some dances from other countries, like Jamaica and India, performed by Koreans. Another attempt by Daegu to show it's "cultural diversity" despite the fact that all of Korea is homogenous. It was cool, but sometimes comes off a little racist because it's like...."do you actually know anything about the country whose style you are dancing in?" This made Maria coin the term "homogenous diversity," which I think pretty much hits the nail on the head to sum up certain aspects of Korean culture. The MC for the evening chose some people from the audience to help ring the bell, which they do every new year. Everyone in the audience (and there were a crap ton) counted down the New Year. It was kind of anti-climactic though because after the countdown, the mayor and some officials spoke, and then the bell
was rung and then there was a short fireworks display. We had a really good time, it just seemed like the last few things should have been done in a different order. After the fireworks, there were so many people trying to leave the park, it was almost impossible to walk. For some stupid reason, the police left up the barriers, so it was a bottleneck to get out. So annoying! Luckily, we got a taxi quickly after we got out. Our taxi driver avoided a lot of the traffic, and we got home easily. We stopped at kim pasa, Korean fast food, for a bite to eat before going back home. It was kind of weird to be in 2014 when most of the other people I know were still in 2013.


On New Year's Day, we didn't have school. I use the term "school" loosely because, technically, it is school vacation. During school break, we typically have a week of English camps, where we have a small class of students, and we get to do whatever we want with them. The rest of the time, we are just sitting at our desks. This period of time is called "desk warming." Sometimes we lesson plan, but most of the time we are just sitting, doing nothing, but we still have to be at school because them's the rules. Oh well. My English camp doesn't start until next week, and there weren't enough students to have 2 camps as we planned, so Niall and I are splitting up the days. I am doing a Harry Potter and a Sherlock Day, and we are both doing a cooking day where we are making ice cream. We also randomly have 1 week of classes the first week of February. It's graduation week for the grade 3's, but we are teaching all our classes for a week then the kids get the rest of February off too. I don't understand the Korean education system sometimes, but whatever, I guess it's their call. So anyway, it's desk warming now, but we had the day off for New Years.

Water Park area inside and outside

On New Years Day, Maria and Matthew came to our neck of the woods, and we went to Elybadin spa to have a nice, relaxing day. Spas, or jimjilbangs, are a really popular thing in Korea. More traditional ones will separate gender and are basically bath houses and saunas where people are totally naked. Additionally, they often provide you clothes to go into a resting area where you can read or sleep or whatever. This place was like that, but also had some extras. You get there, and you pay to get in. It was $27 per person, and we got the combined ticket to use the jimjilbang and the water park. Next time I go, I don't think I'd use the water park. It was ok, but it was small. The water is sulfur water, which is supposed to be good for your skin. It was nice warm water, and they had a play area for kids, hot tubs, and an outdoor area. I'm glad I tried it, but I don't think we need to go again. After you pay to get in, they give you a bracelet which you can scan on things to buy them, instead of using money while you're in the spa. We put our shoes in special shoe lockers then went into the changing room area where everyone was walking around naked. I mean there were old people, young people, babies. It was pretty crazy to see a culture that just embraces nudity when you're from somewhere that is so shy about it. In the changing area was the bathhouse and everyone in that room was nude. This area was the only gender segregated area at the spa. First, we got changed and spent a little time in the water park area. After that, we rented some jimjilbang clothes (a loose fitting, canvas or cotton shirt and long shorts) and went upstairs where there was a DVD room, a food court, an arcade, mini karaoke rooms, a resting area, saunas, an ice room, a comic book reading room, a massage clinic, and massage chairs. It was pretty incredible. We got some food and then went in the massage chairs (15 minutes for $2) for a bit before laying some mats down and taking a nap and reading for a few hours. You can stay in the jimjibang for 12 hours, so some people use it as a place to crash for the night when traveling because it tends to be really cheap and there are so many of them around (if you are just paying for the jimjilbang and not the water park, it is less than $10 to get in). After our naps, we went back to the massage chairs, got some milk bing su (shaved milk with red beans...delicious!!!), and went in the saunas and ice room. A little Korean kid went "OH! WAYGOOKIN!" when we came in to the ice room and proceeded to dance for us. It was pretty silly. My coteachers had warned me about going to a jimjilbang so close to school because they

The eating/PC/arcade/DVD area

said my students might be there, but actually, Gianni's students seemed to all be there. Either that or his students said hi to him and mine didn't. Anyway, at least he wasn't naked when they said hello! That would have been awkward. Next, we went back down and changed to go into the water park again. We spent some more time in there, wadding around in the sulfur. We spent a good 6 hours or so at the spa, so we decided to head home after that. Maria and I got up the courage to, separately, go into the naked area and wash up and get the sulfur off of us, which is apparently an

The resting room with saunas

important thing to do here. In the bathhouse area, there were showers, stools that people were sitting on and using shower heads to wash off, a sauna, a bath, hot tub, and an area to lie on with heated floors. I got a few stares, but I don't think people really cared too much. After a few minutes in there, I'd had enough though, so we got changed and left the spa. It was a really pleasant and relaxing experience. I'm glad I got to see a little more of Korean culture. It was also kind of expensive--around $100 in total for Gianni and I when all was said and done. I think I'd definitely do it again. Also, there is a really cute bakery outside of the spa that we tried because I couldn't resist. They bake their own delicious bread, and we got an almond cake thing that was amazing! I can't resist some tasty carbs. I also got a coffee, and it was my first coffee with a design in it :). Adorable.

So it was a fantastic New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Getting the year started off right. Happy 2014 everyone! I hope you all stay healthy and happy.

I wanted to wait until all the Christmas festivities were finished before I posted. Also, I was trying to wait until I got a new external hard drive for my computer. Seems my laptop is completely full, so I can't post any more photos or videos at the moment. I tried to wait, but it might be the end of January when I get the drive, so I thought I'd post the writing now, and the pictures and videos later.

Our little Christmas tree

One of the light displays downtown

First a few words about what Christmas is like in Korea generally. It's a couples holiday. It's worse to be single on Christmas than it is to be single on Valentine's Day. They only ever have fake Christmas trees. They only know that Santa brings presents to children, but they know very little about the background story of the myth. I had to educate my kids about it during class. They don't know Santa brings coal to bad children. They don't know he lives in the North Pole or that Elves help him make toys. They also don't know about Frosty the Snowman. They know a bit about Rudolph because they have the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" that is the same tune and lyrics but in Korean. There are a few other songs that are the same tune with Korean lyrics as well. They have Christmas light displays and a few lights on trees downtown, but more displays to take pictures with than anything else. They only get Christmas day off from school and work, and all the shops and movie theaters and restaurants are still open. The movie Home Alone is always played on TV on Christmas, so all my kids associate that movie with Christmas. I showed them Jingle All the Way during class as a Christmas present to them, and they seemed to really enjoy it though.


As for our Christmas celebrations: we were having coffee on the weekend before Christmas with one of my coteacher when I noticed a poster for Nanta. I see the posters everywhere, and I wasn't totally sure what it was. Turns out, it's basically like Stomp or Blue Man Group but with a plot that centers around cooking. I said I'd like to go, and it was playing in Daegu. My coteacher knows someone who works at the venue, so she got us tickets to see it on Christmas Eve. So after school on Christmas Eve, Gianni walked over to my school to meet us. One of the other teachers at school drove me, Gianni, and Hyun Joo to Suseong Artpia where Nanta was playing. It's a small but nice venue in an apparently quite wealthy area of Daegu. We picked up the tickets and then went out to dinner before the show. We ended up at a really fancy Italian restaurant where the entire staff like to remind you that "there is no MSG in the food!" It is a really common thing for people to put in food here, and good luck asking for food with no MSG. We got 4 cheese pizza and a pasta dish. I think the chef might have studied in Italy or something. I've heard of a few restaurants in Daegu where that is the case, and it shows because it actually tasted like real Italian food. It was very delicious. After dinner, we headed back and took our seats for the show. We were sitting on the lower level because we were told that area was more interactive. Although this was the case, it was more the area in front of us that was interactive, so I don't really think we needed to pay the extra money for the lower level tickets. I would have liked to sit up towards the front instead of at the back. Still, we were right in the center, so we could see everything. The show is basically a comedy show with cool drumming and chopping and that kind of thing, but the plot is about a group of 4 chefs who are trying to quickly prepare food for a giant wedding that is taking place. It was pretty funny and really awesome, visually. It's really a great family show. There isn't much talking, so it was not a problem to understand what was going on. When they did talk, the few phrases were in English also, which I thought was kind of funny. It felt really nice to be at a play on Christmas Eve.


On Christmas, we woke up pretty early to talk to our parents. My mom and dad were at Gianni's parent's house, so we got to talk to them all together on their Christmas Eve and our Christmas morning. They watched us open our presents from them and for each other, and Gianni's parents opened their gifts from him. It was a nice long chat. The weekend before Christmas, Gianni and I decided to just give each other $100, go to the underground mall at Banwoldang, and go to town. It was kind of funny actually. I like speed shopping. Maybe it's a tradition we'll have to partially keep, even when we go home. I ended up buying him 2 Simpsons stationary sets and a fantastic Simpsons sweater that even fits him! I was totally proud of my purchases, and I think he likes them. I also got Gianni a winter hat and a ton of other random things. Gianni gave me an infinity scarf like I wanted, a scarf and bracelet I picked out at a store, socks, and lots of other nice things. We let them get on with their Christmas Eve dinner, and we made pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. Yum! After we ate, we headed to Daegu Station to get the train to Busan. We hadn't been to Busan yet, and our friends, Maria and Matthew, heard about a special Christmas thing that was going on there, so we decided to tag along with them for Christmas Day. Busan is a city on the southern coast of Korea. It's the second largest city in the country. I'm fairly certain everyone had the same idea to go there on Christmas Day because Busan was sooooo crowded! It was the most crowded it has felt in Korea so far! It was nuts. We didn't sit down once on the trains when we were in the city, and it felt like we were on the trains most of the day. First, we went to the largest department store in the world (actually-it has the Guinness world record), Shinsegae Department Store. There is a movie theatre, a skating rink, a grocery store, and so much more actually inside the department store. There was even a dinosaur, pirates, and africa themed children's play area on top of the store. Insane! Department stores are too expensive, so after looking around there, we decided we'd rather just buy cupcakes at their bakery. We got some delicious treats to enjoy on the train back home. They were so cute decorated with snowmen and Christmas trees, and they tasted great too: black tea, strawberry, and caramel. After the department store, we went down to where the Christmas thing was supposed to be. I guess it was just that there are light displays set up all over the downtown shopping area and at different times there are musical performances. The light displays were kind of cool, but good luck trying to get a nice picture. We could barely even move because of how many people there were, so I'm guessing we walked into a ton of people's photos, and I was afraid of being trampled. It was insane! We stopped for dinner at a pub. It was kind of a bust, but at least we tried to do something cool on Christmas, and we spent it with our good friends. We ate our cupcakes and chatted all the way back to Daegu, which is about a 2 hour train ride. It didn't feel the same as Christmas normally does, but it wasn't bad either. We got presents, saw our families, and spent some time with good friends. What more could I ask for? I talked to my parents again on our Christmas night and their Christmas morning to watch them open their gifts from me. I think they liked everything. I tried to choose things that fit personalities. I got Dad a Seoul Starbucks mug, and I got Mom an amethyst necklace. I got them a few other things too. I tried to get Ben to wake up to see him open his gifts, but he wouldn't budge.





On the Friday after Christmas, we went to our taekwondo Christmas party. Master Hwang had some random taekwondo videos, seemingly from youtube, playing on the screen while we all ate and talked. Everyone brought in food, pot luck style. I brought in ginger snaps made from Mom's recipe. I didn't hate them, but they were different than hers. I had to use dark molasses, for one, so they had a really strong flavor. Apparently, cherry tomatoes are dessert in Korea because someone put them on the dessert table. We had a ton of Korean food, and we learned that our friends in class are actually really great cooks. One of our friends brought his adorable little son who is almost 2 years old. I taught him to say "hi" in English, and I chased him all around and played with him. He even gave me kisses on the cheek. He was the cutest thing ever. After dinner and dessert, we all went out bowling together! It was awesome. I'm fairly sure it was my first time bowling the traditional way. I didn't know that candlepin bowling was a regional thing, but none of the Koreans or even our American friends know what candlepin bowling is, but that's all we did growing up. It was an interesting realization. Even the lighter balls are really hard to hold when your arm is extended backwards in regular bowling. Koreans are really in to bowling. Master Hwang kept asking what our averages were beforehand, even though we didn't know. Also, a few of the people at the bowling alley were wearing things around their wrists to help them bowl better. No one on either team sat down the whole time. Everyone was up and cheering for each other. Yes, it was competitive, but not aggressively so, and everyone was trying to be really encouraging, even of the other teams. I found it really challenging, but it was really fun. One time, I dropped the ball accidentally and threw it backwards! It was hilarious. The first game, a practice game, I did a really good job for a newbie. I bowled a 117! Gianni didn't do that well. The next game, we switched around the teams and played to see which team would pay for bowling. Unfortunately, I only got a 65 that time, but Gianni's score improved. Our team ended up losing, and we had to pay for everyone's bowling, but it was still a really fun time. Master Hwang was nice enough to give us a ride home.
The next day, Gianni and I spent cleaning the apartment thoroughly. We were having our Christmas party that night, so I wanted it to look nice for the first event we've ever hosted together let alone the first event in our Korean apartment. It's small, but we have the couch and enough seating for over 10 people. It was a joint party of Koreans and our EPIK teacher friends. Everyone except Da Eun brought a dessert food, which was fine. She brought really delicious fried rice. On Christmas, I used a recipe I found online to make Italian anise cookies, and I served them at the party. I had to bring at least some of my traditions from home to Korea. They tasted delicious and were pretty moist for those cookies, and Matthew, another Italian, really liked them, so I was thrilled. Lysa brought some amazing apple pie and Matthew and Maria brought buckeyes, which are a no-bake cookie of peanut butter surrounded by chocolate that were really yummy and melted in your mouth. Everything was so tasty! We also did a yankee swap, and I think everyone really got in to it, including the Koreans. Everyone brought 2 presents $5 or under each, so that we could go around twice and make the game a little longer. I explained the rules to our 5 Korean friends who showed up earlier than everyone else. I'm really glad we've been making friends with Koreans in school and in taekwondo. It's really nice to know people who are from this country. It was Master Hwang, Da Eun, Gee Eun, Ju He, and Ju He's boyfriend, Jeffery (English name), that came. Like I said, everyone seemed to have a great time with it. I ended up with a beautiful Korean coin purse and some random daiso things, including a pencil case that reads "I Love Pussy. I havea very good time." It was hilarious! I think Gianni was the ultimate loser. Somehow, he ended up with sexy, purple bunny ears and a thing you put on baby's heads to keep the water out of their eyes when you bathe them. HAHAHAHA! Good try Gianni, maybe next year. Someone bought jenga as a gift, so we played it afterwards. All the teachers had to leave around 10pm to catch buses and trains home, and the Koreans hung around for a bit. I then suggested we go bowling again mostly as a joke, but they said "yeah, let's go!" So we went bowling at a place around the corner from our house with Master Hwang, Da Eun, and Gee Eun. It was pretty fun, but I didn't bowl very well. My arm was kind of sore from the bowling the day before. It was a really nice party and evening.



So our Christmas was a combination of Korean and our own traditions, but we got to see family and spend time with friends. I'd definitely call it a success.

Ever since the grade 2's finished their exams, they've been kind of bad. I, honestly, did not think the grade 3's were that bad, and they've been done with their exams for much longer. Gianni and I have both been doing our best at our respective schools to do fun things with the kids despite the lack of enthusiasm. It's basically just been weeks of games and videos. We are in the home stretch though because the week of Christmas is our last school week of the term! After that, we both have English camp where we have maybe 20 students for a few hours per day, and we can do whatever we want. Niall and I are teaching a cooking class and a scavenger hunt class together. We're making pancakes! On my own, I'm doing a 2-day Harry Potter camp and a Sherlock/Murder Mystery camp. I'm really excited for both of them, and I have them mostly planned out. Aside from camp, we are going to do what's called "desk warming," where we do just what the name implies--sit at our desks ALL DAY. We are required to be at work even though we aren't teaching. It's different at every school though, so sometimes they might let us go early or whatever. So we'll see how that goes.

As far as what we've been up to, I've actually had some bad luck and been sick for the last week or so. Last weekend, I felt really nauseous and achy, and it carried over into the next week. I started to feel better for a few days and was eating normally, and then I got a cold this last weekend! So it's been a little bit unlucky but I've been making due.

We finished our Korean classes on Friday. I'm going to miss our teacher. She was really funny and a good teacher. We might take more Korean classes in the future, but that class gave us a nice base and taught us a few more useful phrases. Now, we just need to practice. I really appreciate that the Daegu Office of Education offered us the opportunity to take the classes because I really think I learned a lot, and we didn't have to pay a cent for them.

We've also been preparing for Christmas. Last night, I realized the advent calendar Mom sent me with Lindt chocolate inside had a mistake! Gianni was looking for the 16, but instead of the 16 we found another 10! Oh well! We also have a 4 ft tall, fake tree. It's pretty cute. It came with some ornaments, and I bought some more colored ones. One of the ornaments is a lotus flower, which is a Buddhist symbol (I actually bought it at a temple), so our tree is part Buddhist :) I also have a "Merry Christmas" sign tacked on the wall, and we bought little stockings that are hanging on the wall as well. The apartment has a bit of Christmas flare. Downtown there are also a lot of Christmas lights. It's really funny actually. They set up these light displays for you to take your picture with.

On Saturday, we went to see The Hobbit with Maria and Matthew and the old English teacher from Matthew's school. It was fun, but I had gotten up early to skype with Mom and Dad, so I was a bit tired and fell asleep at the end. It was an ok movie, but I'm not a huge Lord of the Rings fan anyway. Maria and Matthew are though. The movie was a little unsatisfying because it ended kind of abruptly and didn't seem to go anywhere, but it looked nice, as those movies usually do. When I spoke to Mom, she opened the box I sent with presents for everyone from Korea. She wanted to wait for me so that I could tell her what everything was and who it was for. I sent home presents for tons of people, and Mom wrapped them all up with me watching. I had Dad take her presents away though. She's playing Santa this year and will be delivering them to the respective people soon. Saturday night, we went over to Serena and Max's for their potluck dinner. There was delicious pulled pork and mac n' cheese! All the food was wonderful. They and their friends really know how to cook. Gianni and I just bought a cake and brought that. At their house, we also did a yankee swap. We played with different rules we used to play with when we did it in Canada with our cousins and family up there. You could either choose to steal a present from someone or choose one from the middle. If you stole from someone, then that person gets the same choice. One present can only be stolen 2 different times, and the person who went first gets to go again at the end. It was kind of a cool way to play, actually. I liked it. Gianni ended up winning 2 reese's peanut butter cups that were a half pound of chocolate each! It's insane. We're going to cut them up and use them in baking. I stole a box from someone that contained 2 large scented candles and 3 big packs of sour gummy worms! The two of us ended up with more candy than we can handle. Serena and Max are leaving to go home for a month, so it was kind of a going away party for them as well. I'll miss them. It's always fun to hang out with them and see them at taekwondo. Since they are leaving, they bought ziploc containers for us all to take food home at the end. They were like "please, just take it all!" So Gianni and I both went home with a nice haul. Thanks Serena and Max!

Sunday was more of a relaxing day. We went down to an English used book store and restaurant called Buy the Book that I've been hearing a lot about because they were having a flea market. It ended up being kind of small and just a few people were selling their art of jewelry. It was good to check it out and know where it is though. I got a chocolate cupcake and a molasses cookie from the KAPS booth. They are the animal shelter here in Daegu, and they do a lot of bake sales for fundraising. The cookie was amazing! I needed some molasses, and the person who made them told me where to get some molasses, which I have now ordered so that I can do some of my own baking! I'm really excited. After stopping by there, Gianni and I decided that we would go to the underground mall and each get $100 to spend on Christmas presents for each other. We split up and did some flash shopping so that the other person wouldn't see their presents. It was actually kind of fun! Might do it again next year. All his presents are now wrapped up and under the tree, so starting to look like Christmas for real.

One of the groups of "cool guys" playing and singing together. Adorable.

One of the girls doing a traditional Korean dance.

Thursday was the last day of exams for the first and second graders at school, meaning that all the students have now finished their exams yet they still have about a month left of school. I don't understand the Korean education system, but whatever. I'm hoping it goes okay until then. I've been a little stressed this week trying to plan out lesson for the upcoming weeks for the kids. I can do whatever I want, which is both nice and a little daunting. I also have been planning my camps for the winter, and I think I have it mostly planned out. Niall and I are doing a scavenger hunt with the kids together as well as a cooking class together where we are making pancakes. The other three days, I'm doing a two day harry potter camp and then a Sherlock/murder mystery camp the last day. I think I've got some good ideas, and the Harry Potte r camp is almost set. I've been doing blogging classes with some of my higher level students, and I'm almost ready to get some of the answers to your questions posted. I'll post the kids' answers and then maybe you can comment back. On Thursday, some of my students I guess wanted to practice their English by doing presentations for

cool magic trick from one of my kids

me. I didn't know they were planning something, but one of my co-teachers told me at lunch. I got a lecture about street food from a group of boys and one about Dokdo island from a group of girls. Dokdo island is an island on the southern coast of Korea. Japan and Korea both claim it as their own, and the Koreans are really adamant about it, even teenagers like my students. It was nice to see that my kids wanted to practice their English. I need to figure out ways to do things like this to get the kids talking more. That's one of my goals for the new semester.

the guy in the middle is Psy :)

On Friday, I think as a treat after exams, the school rented out the auditorium at the culture center, and the kids did a talent show! It was awesome! Not only did we get a half day because we left after it, but I also got to see some of the cool things my kids can do. Although all the kids were great, some of the girls were doing dances that I consider to be pretty inappropriate for school. I shouldn't know that some of my middle schoolers can move like that. Pretty ironic considering the teachers had done a sexual harassment training lecture earlier in the week. Anyway, there were some really cool acts. Most involved some sort of music--singing, dancing, playing an instrument--but one group of kids did MAGIC! It was really impressive! I'm editing a video, which I'll post soon of as many act as I could tape, but the quality of the video is bad at times. My good camera died half way through, and I had to switch to my phone. Woops! Even some of the teachers sang a song and the principal played his saxophone! He's apparently really good sax
player, and the teachers are always talking about it. My favorite performance was a PSY compilation featuring one of the larger middle school students as Psy! It was hilarious, and the kids did a
really good job of it. If they choreographed their own dances, I'm
really impressed. Anyway, it was a fantastic talent show, and I'm really proud of my students for performing! Also, I feel I need to say something about Korean audiences. We've observed people at parade and various performances inside and outside as of now, and all of them I've noticed similar things. Korean audience members are the best anyone could ask for! If you're a musician, come here to perform! They love it all. They dance, they clap, they scream! It's amazing. At the parade people were waving and clapping at all the people going by, and at the talent show, all the kids in the audience were cheering on ALL the acts (especially the sexy dancing girls and the cool singing and guitar playing dudes sitting down). I was seriously astounded by the way they seemed to support each other.

This week was the first week in probably over a month that we went to taekwondo training three times! It was nice to get back in the swing of things. The holidays kind of took priority for a bit, but hopefully, we're back in it. I definitely need to be training because of all the snacks I keep eating, and we both need to do it if we're going to make black belt by the end of the year.

Our Korean class Friday night was good, as usual. Next week is our last class, believe it or not! Where has time gone!?

It was a good week, and now we're having a relaxing weekend at home. Today, we watched movies all day. Tomorrow we might go out to Duryu Park with Maria and Matthew, but we aren't sure yet. We are watching our friend's dog this weekend also. She's a little dog named Maia, and she's really adorable and low maintenance. Her mom, Simone, is taking a weekend jaunt to Seoul, and I've been missing my furry companion, Trixie, back home, so it's nice to have a dog around again, even if it's just for a weekend.

I celebrated Thanksgiving with my students by doing a lesson about Thanksgiving and then showing the Thanksgiving episode of The Simpsons. It was a pretty fun lesson, and I think most of the kids like the episode. I played it with Korean subtitles, so I at least know they understood it! I taught them all about Thanksgiving traditions, like the Thanksgiving Parade, football, and giving food to the homeless. When I taught them about the food that we usually eat, they kept thinking that the turkey was chicken...they really haven't ever seen a wild turkey here, which is weird to think about considering in Newton they flock in people's driveways! I also told them the story of Thanksgiving--I should say both stories because I told them the traditional story and then what really happened to the Native Americans. I got really creative with pictures and gestures in my attempts at conveying small pox, murder, and religious intolerance (of the King, forcing the pilgrims to leave). One of my students asked why I didn't go home for the holiday. My response was writing how much money it would cost (in won) to fly home. He went, "ohhhhhh."

We weren't able to celebrate Thanksgiving on actual Thanksgiving Day because we had school. We did go to taekwondo and watched Serena and Max pass their belt tests. Serena passed 2 belts! She's brown now, and Max is blue. Master Hwang heard us talking about Thanksgiving and basically invited himself over to Serena and Max's on the weekend for some turkey! He's hilarious sometimes. After taekwondo, we went out for MacDonalds. Hardly a Thanksgiving feast, but at least it was a little piece of home on Thanksgiving with some of our lovely friends. As I was rushing off to school the next morning, I called the house briefly and interrupted Thanksgiving dinner to talk to Mom, Dad, Ben, Catherine, and Uncle Richie. It was nice to get to talk to everyone and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving even if we only talked for a second.

On Friday, I had a lovely surprise at lunch. The package from my mom came!!! I was so excited, but I didn't open it until I got actual clearance that I could open it before Christmas. She sent a beautiful advent calendar for me to hang up, and the best part is that it was stuffed with lindt chocolate balls! She also sent me some hot chocolate and chocolate spoons to go with it. I got some beautiful earrings and a Canada charm for my charm bracelet. I also got a pair of Canada mittens, Canada booty socks, and a Canada magnet. There will be no mistaking that half of me is Canadian! The presents were really amazing, and it was great to get something from home. It's really terrible being away for the holidays. At least the last time I was away for Thanksgiving I was in Arizona with my lovely cousin. I spent all night on Friday baking for our Thanksgiving weekend! It's really hard having only a very small toaster oven to cook with, but at least I have that. I think everything came out really well. Corn bread, apple crisp, and banana bread! 
The real Thanksgiving celebrations were this weekend. We got 2 Thanksgivings! It was awesome! The first was on Saturday at Serena and Max's house. We got there a little early to help out, but Serena had everything under control in the kitchen. She made both a turkey and a ham! There was a huge amount of food and all of it was delicious! I brought some banana breads made with Mom's recipe, and I think they came out perfectly. They tasted just like hers! I also brought an apple crisp, which isn't exactly up to her standards yet but was a million times better than the first one I made. Serena and Max had delicious chips and dip and American candies around the house too! We got peanut butter cups, 

Watching Koreans try turkey for the first time!

which we haven't had in a long time, and mint chocolate kisses! A bunch Serena and Max's friends came as did Master Hwang and Dae Eun from taekwondo. Gianni and I spent a good deal of the time talking to the two of them. We taught them about the food we were eating. Master Hwang didn't like that most of the food was sweet because he likes spicy food, but I think he enjoyed the ham, turkey, and banana bread. He even brought Serena and Max some toilet paper, which is a traditional gift you give someone when you go to their home for the first time. It's to wish them good luck and happiness as far as I understand. We had a great time chatting and eat until really late at night. Master Hwang was kind enough to drive us home. He wanted to see our sock collection. Ever since he saw me buying tons of socks in Seoul, he thinks I'm a "socks maniac," in his words. I've tried explaining that they were for family to no avail. We showed him the socks, and I also got him to take a look at the TV. He tried to get the cable working, but it turns out I only have one line to use for bot the cable and the internet, so I have to get the landlord to come fix it. Ugh! I feel terrible for all the problems we've been having with the place, but it's almost all set now!



The next day was more of a potluck Thanksgiving that Matthew and Maria hosted at their place. They are our married friends, and we always play quiz with them. They have an apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, and small living room downstairs, and their huge bedroom is upstairs. They had heard that you could order a turkey through the Daegu Compass, the foreigner magazine. The Compass brought turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce I believe. It's really nice that they have a service like this because you really can't buy whole turkeys here. Our friend, Marie, brought them a toaster oven and was in the middle of heating things when we arrived (late! because we got lost) with plates and cups for everyone to eat with. First, we went around the room and everyone said what they were thankful for. I said, "employment!" Everyone brought a dish, and boy are there some good cooks in the room. We had creamed corn, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes. Gianni and I brought corn bread muffins, which Serena had to buy us the mix for because they don't have corn meal here. We also brought sweet potatoes. While we were making them, we realized that Korean sweet potatoes are not orange like at home. They taste basically the same, but they were this ugly, green-brown color by the end. We also had to eat them cold because the toaster oven was too small to heat up the big bowl we had. Still, several people said they were good, so that's okay! It was lovely sharing food with everyone and talking. We watched a little football and some Ohio State marching band shows. Maria and Matthew went there, and their marching band is incredible. After dinner, we had pumpkin pie, our extra banana bread, and Sian's milk tart for dessert. Sian is from South Africa, so she brought a South African dessert. It's like a custard pie, and it was really good! After dessert, we got into playing some card and board games. I learned to play some new card games and bananagrams! It was a really excellent time. Everyone left at around the same time in order to catch buses and trains home.

Despite the fact that we only met our friends here 4 months ago, it's been incredible getting to know them all. Having great friends who are in the same situation as you makes it so much easier to be away from family and friends back home. Thank you to Serena and Max and Matthew and Maria for hosting Thanksgivings this weekend, and thank you everyone for being such amazing friends to us!

This weekend was just what the doctor ordered. Both Gianni and I got in a bit of talking time with our parents, which was nice. But, primarily, we spent a ton of time sleeping! This was the first weekend in about a month that we've been able to sleep in as long as we wanted both days. Saturday, we got some errands done and went grocery shopping before going to see Catching Fire with Lily and Jonathan downtown. It was fantastic! I love the second Hunger Games book. I think it's the best story. I found it more interesting than the last movie, and I like that it gets into the politics a little. On Sunday, we cleaned the apartment a little, and Maria and Matthew came over to play Settlers of Catan. We played like 4 games. It was funny because Maria won practically all the games the last time we played, and she didn't win at all this time. We got pizza at Pizza School with them for dinner, and got some snacks for dessert at the convenience store. All in all, it was a great weekend. Just what we needed. I feel at least a bit more relaxed. Also, our bathroom is finally fixed! The maintenance man fixed our sink pipe, both drains are cleared of hair, the shower is in now mounted on a wall, and it's all clean. The boiler also got fixed so that it, hopefully, doesn't drain water all over everything on our porch area like it had been. I'm really glad everything in the apartment is finally settled.

Gianni and I  breaking the boards

Almost forgot! We basically forced Master Hwang to test us for our orange belts on Thursday. He definitely told us that is when he was going to do it, but when we came in on Thursday, ready to go, he said next week. We complained a bit, and I think he realized he told us the wrong thing, so he felt bad. In any case, we tested for our orange belt and passed! Gianni didn't make any mistakes, but I made 2 :( WOOPS! I know the forms too. I just got a little nervous. Also, he sprang a sparing thing on us that we hadn't learned yet and breaking boards! Granted they are plastic boards that have breaks in them, so they don't take much force to break, but still! We were like, "umm....Master Hwang, we've never done any of this before. You didn't teach us." But we passed, so we're officially orange belts now!!!