Snow!

It snowed in Yeonsu the after Christmas. A beautiful blanket of snow covered the ground for a day, and now it has turned to slush and yuckiness. I trailed in slushy brown grossness into my apartment, so I've started to become a real Korean by taking off my shoes when entering my place. I'm posting some pictures of my adventures with the snow. Most of the foreigners were not as excited about it as me, but then I rarely see snow back home.

Video of SantAnarchy!

Santa Con

Sorry it's been a while since I last updated. I'm going to make up for this by doing at least three posts this week! (maybe more)

So I heard about this group called Santacon Seoul on facebook through my trusty dusty friend Whitney. The group info said this:

Santa is coming early!
On Saturday, December 12 Santa is coming to Seoul. Help spread Christmas cheer through one of the world's largest cities! Join this global event and dress in your snazziest Santa outfit. You're welcome to dress as other festive characters (reindeer, elves, tree, snowmen) but Santa is the reason for the season, right? We will have a specific meeting location and route to several bars in the area. The event will be held in Hongdae (Line 2.) We will start at Hobar 3 at 7 pm. We will be crawling to 5 specified bars. Don't forget to practice your Christmas carols. You can also purchase little gifts (candy, ect.) to pass out to strangers. Started in San Francisco in 1994 the Santa Con event is now held worldwide. SantaCon events are noted for the cheerfully bawdy and harmless behavior, including the singing of Christmas carols, the giving of small gifts and often free hugs to strangers. The point of the event is to spread some old fashion Christmas cheer and joy while of course having a good time!

Here are some pictures of what transpired:

It's December in Korea!

It has been snowing this weekend, but nothing is sticking. I made spring rolls for dinner tonight, but I didn't think to take a picture of them for the blog. I'll do that later this week :) I did take pictures with my kindergarten class on Friday. The pictures are the best, but they will have to do for now.

Here's some of the coworkers:

I'm making Christmas Cards tonight and having an evening in to myself. If you want a card leave a comment. :)

Losing my good karma and my voice...

I have been telling my coworkers that I have used up all my good karma this month. For example when I visited Brittany and I had to take a train from Seoul to Incheon, I caught the last bus back to Incheon. Then on Halloween I got my cab paid for by one of my friends and I got home with plenty of time to sleep and recover. We had to combine Kindegarten classes this past week and I wound up with all the good kids in my kindy class. So, finally I have gotten the short end of the stick in Korea.

On Friday I had a bad cold. My nose was continually stuffy and had been draining each night as I slept. After teaching all day I decided to have a quiet night in instead of drinking with friends. I woke up to find I had lost my voice.

I was able to get some theraflu by miming and writing down a few key phrases for the pharmacist, and I rested all of Saturday. One of my coworkers is leaving so I wanted to go out on Saturday to say goodbye, but I was so sick I decided to ditch that plan. Also, I got paid this week and I had a lot of plans to go and get stuff done, unfortunately it's Sunday and I still have no voice. I'm cleaning today in hopes that if I rest my voice it will return. I hope I get my voice back by tomorrow otherwise I wont be able to teach.

I feel MUCH better today, still stuffy and coughing, but I still have no voice.

Sadness abounds.

I suppose I shall have to do something really nice to get my good karma back again.

Halloween

I was a cat, and it was awesome. Also, It's the first time I stayed up until the subways started running again.

Busan Trip

I had an awesome time in Busan and on our mountain hike in Gumi. On the bus ride I jotted down these thoughts,

Riding in a bus from Incheon to Busan I am filled with sudden overwhelming awe... I am in Korea! I am a traveler in a distant land and I have so much I've yet to discover and experience. Yet here I am, at the foothills of my trek. I am alive and I am in love with the beauty of life. The beauty of the moment; however bittersweet and fleeting, it fills my very being and I feel more beautiful, alive, and richer just being in this moment.

Here are a few picures of what I saw and did:

my bus ride window view as I traveled ...

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Here's Brittany and I the night before the hike:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

We met up with some of her friends in Busan and saw some live music:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Then early in the am (7ish) we woke up got breakfast and met with the crew for hiking:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Here are the hike photos:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

the paved portion of the hike:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Beautiful...

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

worst picture of me ever but proof I made it to the top:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Done hiking and eating before my long car ride:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Vlog from the top of the mountain!

Brittany co-hosts this Vlog ontop of a 976 m high mountain near Busan somewhere in Gumi, South Korea. A blog with pictures and more descriptions of the hike and Busan trip is soon to come.

Insadong and More

Whitney came to visit me in Incheon for the night and we met up with friends for the night. She took pictures and posted them on Facebook. The next day Whitney, Jennifer (one of my co-workers), and I went to Insadong. They're apparently known for their fine antiques. Wikipedia says,


"During the Japanese occupation, the wealthy Korean residents were forced to move and sell their belongings, at which point the site became an area of trading in antiques. After the end of the Korean war, the area became a focus of South Korea's artistic and cafe life. It was a popular destination among foreign visitors to South Korea during the 1960s, who called the area "Mary's Alley". It gained in popularity with international tourists during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 2000 the area was renovated,and, after protest, the rapid modernization of the area was halted for two years beginning that year"

After getting in late the night before Whitney had to call it quits early so my pictures only have Jen in them. Without further ado here are pictures from our outing in Insadong.

The marketplace was a-buzzin with activity, art, and antiques. We found the local tourist stop and got subway maps as well as maps of the city. This map was posted outside the building.
Some of the stuff you could find laying along the sidewalk can be seen below.
There was a robot so I encouraged Jen to do the robot with me.

Apartment Tour

Sorry the sound is bad on this one but I'll write more and upload pictures later tonight. Now, for your viewing pleasure, my apartment.

Oh, Korea

For Kathleen's birthday we bought pie from the "Paris, Baguette" I told the Korean woman that it was Kat's birthday and I thought she gave me candles. Upon arriving home, I realized she gaves us straws. Oh, Korea.






Kat and I went hiking on our mountain after all, and then she had to leave me for her crazy adventure. I had my first couple of days at my school. I'm making lots of new friends and the students seem pretty nice. I don't know if I can compare them to American students though. It's just different, but not better or worse. Very few can pronounce my name correctly so I get a lot of "Teacher Callalon" and "Teacher Candy" I'm glad I'm not a Beth though because an old teacher named Beth was referred to as "Bathroom Teacher." My student explained that "Beth plus r-o-o-m is bethroom ... she bethroom teacher"

Last but not least, here are some more of the pictures of the area Yeonsu. Yeonsu is the neighborhood I live in and Incheon is the city.