Honestly, now.

So one of my kids always draws me a picture on the back of his quiz (which I tell them to do why they wait for other kids to finish up).  So today’s art is brought to you by Robert.

Mostly just photos.  I spent most of the day hanging out with J.K..  We went to Central Park.

Today’s post is brought to you by the letters M and J.

J is for Joan, who sent me my holiday jeans.  Jeans that actually fit and are long enough!  (I also got a lot of goodies.)

M is for Mom, who sent me all my Christmas presents early.  The black shirt was just one of the treats I recieved.

C is for chocolate, which I also got a lot of.  T is for the trouble I’m going to have zipping up my jeans. 

I had a good Thanksgiving.  I miss my family.  I miss eating and laughing with them and then wandering off for a nap.  Instead, this year I ate a fantastic lunch with Kerri and then went to work.

Lunch was Italian food.  Kerri mentioned today that, while she may like Korean food, she will never love it like Western food.  I feel the same way.

So it was a quiet Thanksgiving.  I write this knowing that my family will be eating their big meal in just a few hours.  It makes me just a bit homesick.  Times like this I think I will only stay away a year.

Hmmmmmm……..the second picture is with our yummy, yummy desserts.  For about fifteen dollars, you can get a salad (a real, delicious salad!), a main dish of pasta, dessert and a cup of coffee.  I think this will be the place that I treat myself.

This year, I’m much more aware of the “thankful” part of this holiday.  Every other year it’s been lost is the retail rush of madness.  I’ve been too tired, run too ragged to actually slow down enough to appreciate everything.  That, combined with the fact that I’m nowhere near many of the people that I truely treasure, has made think about what I’m thankful for.  It’s pretty much comes down to my family and friends.  Here’s to the people that know me and love me anyways.  I’m thankful for you.  Without you, my life would be rather dull (not to mention unbearable).  Thank you.  I can’t say it enough.  Thank you.

So this past Sunday Kerri and I went out to eat with Dr. Kim and his wife (Judy) and daughter.  Also, Dr. Kim brought his daughter’s English teacher, Tyler.  We all ate at this fantastic Korean place and then had dessert at a coffee shope.

Everyone was exceedingly kind.  I had a wonderful time.  Dr. Kim’s daughter found it pretty funny that I only have a white belt in Tae Kwon Do.  (Her belt is green.)

I think I’m in trouble (the good kind) this winter.  Everyone (almost) seems to be an avid skier.  Granted, I’m from Kansas so it’s understandable in my case, but I’m not looking forward to the pain I’m going to be in.  However, I am looking forward to laughing at how much I fall.

(Picture One: Dr. Kim and Judy)

(Picture Two: The girls!)

All these pictures are from the coffee shop.  The restaurant we went to was a traditional Korean place.  Meaning no chairs, which is okay.  Especially when the floor is heated.  I think I’m going to like winter here.  Or at least the heated floors part.

(Last picture: Everyone!)

Well, that’s all for now.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

So this weekend I went into Seoul to meet up with an old friend.  Brandon and I haven’t really spoken (with the exception of email) for quite a while.  Wow, have things changed.

Namely, he got married.  His wife (Terri) is fun.  She’s very intelligent and grounded. (I also met, Terri’s friend.  Also named Anne.)  We ate at a great Moraccan place in Itawean, then wandered around Seoul swapping teaching stories.  (Picture  1:  Anne and Anne on either side.  Brandon and Terri.  Taken at “Hello Bean” coffee shop.  I’m going to go back there some cold winter day and spend the day drinking coffee and writing/drawing.  I’m looking forward to it.  The shop overlooks the street and is fantastic for people watching.)

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Okay, this is going to be a quick post because I really want to go get some food.

But I had to post this last picture.

Cheers, everyone.

Alright, I’ve been a bad blogger.  To my defense, I’ve been sick the past week or so.  Nothing major, but enough so that I went to the doctor.  But I thought I’d get around to posting some pictures of where I work.  Here’s the Avalon office area, where all the teacher’s desks are.

Yeah, it’s a bit hectic, but it’s where I spend several hours of my day.

Students aren’t (technically) allowed in this area.  Some of them wander in anyways.

My desk is on the right.

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And speaking of my desk, I’ve been doing pretty well at keeping it clean.  I’m rather proud of my self.

Mikey’s computer doesn’t work so there’s a tendency to just pile on the essays.  (The student write their essays in essay books.)

Sorry this post is so scattered.  Here’s the reason:  Everything is in  single does.

The packets with the frog on them are cough syrup.  Hmmm….well, I’m going back to bed.

Cheers.

Alright so this is a song about anyone, it could be anyone.
You’re just doing your own thing and some one comes out the blue,
They’re like,
“Alright”
He’s saying,
“Yeah can I take your digits?”
And you’re like, “no not in a million years, you’re nasty
please leave me alone.”

Cut to the pub on a lads night out,
Man at the bar cos it was his shout,
Clocks this bird and she looks ok,
Caught him looking and she walks his way,
“alright darlin, you gonna buy us a drink then?”
“err no, but I was thinking of buying one for your friend…”

She’s got no taste hand on his waste, tries to pull away but her lips on his face,
“if you insist I’ll have a white wine spritzer”
“sorry love, but you ain’t a pretty picture.”

Chorus
Can’t knock em out, can’t walk away,
Try desperately to think of the politest way to say,
Just get out my face, just leave me alone,
And no you cant have me number,
“why?”
Because I’ve lost my phone.

Oh yeah, actually yeah I’m pregnant, having a baby in like 6 months so no, and yeah, yeah…

“I recognise this guy…”
That’s what she’s thinking,
As he comes over her heart starts sinking,
She’s like,
“oh here we go..”
It’s a routine check that she already knows, she’s thinking they’re all the same.

“yeah you alright baby? You look alright still, yeah what’s your name?”
She looks in her bag, takes out a fag, tries to get away from the guy on a blag, can’t find a light,
“use mine”
“you see the thing is I really don’t have the time.”

Chorus

Go away now, let me go,
Are you stupid? Or just a little slow?
Go away now I’ve made myself clear,
Nah it’s not gonna happen,
Not in a a million years,

So Kerri and I have begun our language exchange with a few of our coworkers.  We divided into groups (called Anne team and Kerri team, much to everyone’s amusement).

From left to right: Katie, Kerri, and Gloria.

We met up at a fantastic coffee shop.  Well, maybe not fantastic.  The  coffee was rather overpriced, but the atmosphere was good.

From left to right: Angela, myself, and Ida.

The first hour, we studied English.  Katie had copies made from her English conversation book.  Even during the English lesson, I still learn a lot about Korean culture.

Next was Korean.

I desperately need to learn the alphabet (I’m studying it today).  They even gave me homework.  It’s good that everyone has a sense of humor.  I butcher Korean with enthusiasum!  I’m always amazed by how learning something puts me in a good mood.

(And speaking of good moods, WE GOT ANOTHER TEACHER AT AVALON!  I’m just a tad excited.  Ah….the end is in sight.)

So walking back to my place, Kerri and I were discussing what our plans were after Korea.  I told her of my desire to go to Costa Rica for a while for immersion Spanish lessons.  I said that she should come along.  And she might, which is wild.

But for right now, I can barely write my name in Korean so back to studying I go!

So it’s pretty much winter and I’m settling.  Settling into a routine.  I’m establishing a momentum in a direction that I’m not particularly pleased with.  Lately, I’ve been sleeping in.  Really sleeping in.  To about noon or so.

Never thought I’d say this, but I miss getting up early.  I miss getting things done.  In a place where everything is an effort, I’m getting lazy and I need to knock it off.  I don’ t know if I need to invest in a coffee machine or what.

Part of this is due to the fact I’m not feeling the best.  Nothing horrid, just a persistent cold that is trying to convince me to turn on my heater.

So I write my mid-November resolution in hopes that giving it form in written word will somehow motivate me to follow through this time.  Or maybe I’ll just take a nap.

So on Saturday, we had the school hike.  Hundreds of Avalon teachers hiking part way up Bukansan.  Four hours total and then a meal after that.  We all met up at 8:30 in the morning, which hurt.  I’m used to sleeping until 9:30 or so.  This will be mostly photos.  Enjoy.

(I can’t tell you how much it amuses me when a local assumes that two white people are siblings.  It’s happens to Kerri and I quite frequently, but the other day it happened when I was with Rachael.)

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From left to right: Sarah, Kerri, and myself.  Sarah’s husband also lives in Korea (on base). 

She live two floors above me. 

Fun times.

At first, we were told it was a race (campus vs. campus).  However, we weren’t told that it had to be our group leader that signed in along the way. 

Upon discovering this, most of us slowed down. 

Here’s Sean and Rachael.  (Now you can why I’m so tickled that somone thought we were siblings.)

The day was rather hazy, but still nice. 

These maple trees are everywhere.  I’ve only seen a handful of them in Kansas.  They’re the sort of red that I’m not sure trees are allowed to be. 

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I think that this is going to be the last nice weekend for a while.  I heard that there’s a possibility of snow in the forecast later this week.

It’s hard to believe because it seems like fall just arrived.

Ah well.  Winter should be interesting.

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There was a point where I just stopped looking through the camera. 

Mostly because I didn’t want to fall (again) on the way down.  We were all eager to get down the mountain.

I was going to post my view of hike down, but I didn’t think anyone wanted to see my shoes.

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Okay, anyone who knows anything about me isn’t going to be suprised at all by this picture.

I couldn’t get a decent picture of any of the birds, so I figured that this was the next best thing.

The bird on the far right sounds remarkable like the chickadees back home.

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Another handy sign telling you what you can see………

I was too busy looking that the trees.

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The school provided backpacks with lunch inside.  Nothing extra special, but still free.  Anyone with a blue backpack belongs to Avalon

A few people’s packs ripped on the way down.

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The left is the wall in the park.

The right is just more hikers going down the hill.

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More hikers that I don’t know.

A temple on the side of the mountain.

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On the left, Mikey taking his pulse.  (He was annoyed that we weren’t going faster.)

On the right, Patrick from Oklahoma looking very sly, indeed.

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Left: Eric and myself.  (Eric also lives in my building. )

Right: One of the tables.  The green bottle are rice wine, which isn’t my favorite.  But the food was alright and free.

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