Oh, ya know, just Pumpin things up as usual!

As I said in a post prior to this one we had a lot of new teachers join the POLY crew. So far I like every one of them. A lot of them are men and I am definitely not complaining about that! It seems they get my sarcastic nature which makes work a lot more fun. I am now on the 5^th floor (before I was on the 3^rd) and in this office there is no window to the outside and a huge white pillar in the middle of the room. Kind of an awkward space, but I took it upon myself to vamp it up a little. I posted a Technicolor sign on that plain wall saying “Have a rip roarin’ day” which gave everyone a laugh! I find myself being in most conversations in this room as I try and connect with my co workers... weird I talk a lot? I sometimes even talk to myself... on accident, but when it comes out there’s no turning back! I have concocted another surprise for each one of them too, its small, but I thought about it last night as I was half asleep and got a giggle out of it, (probably because I was loopy from sleepiness) but nonetheless I am going to give it a whirl and I am confident that it will give them a good laugh. I will post what it is and how it went in my next blog!

Oh! Random fun fact... Here in Korea the man carries the woman’s purse! Interesting huh!!

Another random fact: I convinced my first grade class I was a Vampire and spoke in my best Vampire voice most classes. J

Anyway this is all I can think of to update everyone on, it may not have been as entertaining as the moments are not as fresh in my mind, BUT I will do my best to update more often to ensure posts that will make you want to keep on reading!

As I suspected my days in Korea keep getting better and better. I enjoy myself both at work and at home. What more can I ask for!?

 As always I am missing everyone back home. Love you all!!

Make new friends but keep the other, One is silver and the others Gold.

Anyway, the new teachers got a taste of what I was like and within the first few days I heard “the party has arrived” come out of one of their mouths as I entered the room. Looks like their first impression was accurate! Side note, I am glad people who read this blog realize I am sarcastic because otherwise people would think I am a real full of herself jerk! At any rate, the new people are cool and I am excited to make new friends. What I am more excited about is the fact that my good friends from home Sonja and Jay are now in Korea teaching as well! They are in Noeun-dong which is about 15 minutes from me so seeing them is easy peasy! Since they have been here we have spent every weekend together. It’s been nice having people from home here with me and seeing as Sonja and I are basically the same person we get along great. We tell Jay that we are sorry he has to be the third wheel J but how could he not LOVE hanging out with us!

Our first day off together was a Thursday which was Koreas independence day. I was actually a veteran to them and got to show them around to some neat places! We started in Dunsan-dong and went out to eat at a Korean Bbq place a friend suggested. It was amazing! I love the food here so much because there’s always a lot of it, it is cheap and it is healthy. We got two types of meat I believe it was pork belly and ddak galbi, with rice, kimchi chigae (soup), salad, an egg dish, garlic to roast, sprouts, and lettuce to wrap whatever we pleased in and scarf them down for only 8,000 won a piece which would be maybe 6 dollars American money. Super cheap and great quality, a food addicts dream come true! I then took them to the underground shopping area and to puppy alley because Sonja is an animal lover like me and they are such cute little puppies! After exploring we got hungry again and saw that street food carts were out so we took a gander. We had Ttak Boki, meat on a stick with amazing sauce and a hot dog in this wonderful potato breading with sugar and ketchup on top. Jay, Sonja and I shared this delicious feast cart side as we talked about how much we love it here. We have been enjoying the food and atmosphere together quite a bit going out to eat often. It is really cheap not to do so, so it does not hurt the pocket book. That is one of the many things I love about Korea!

I was born a winner.

A few of the teachers who are leaving had a going away party at a bar one Saturday night. It was a photo/video scavenger hunt around the Kung-dong area. It was SO much fun and as I am sure you have guessed the team I was on won. We had a pretty solid team with outgoing and competitive people. Things we had to do included street performances that got people passing to clap for you, Me and my friend M.J. did a mime routine. It was pretty amazing and when I was in third grade I was one for Halloween, in other words... I had experience.  Other scavenger hunt activities included buying a beer from a convenient store and chugging it in the store, simultaneously feeding your teammates beverages (we did both this and the latter in one sitting, I finished first.. can you say champ!?), getting a number from a bar tender, doing cartwheels simultaneously, I am not gymnast but mine as pretty spot on, a pyramid picture in front of a sign and crawling into a blowup sign outside of a store. Those were only a few of the hilarious activities we had to do if we wanted to win. My competitive nature came out and only got stronger with the more drinks I had so I put my all into these events. It was worth it when team “SSS” (Hiss noise) came out victorious. Afterward we all hung out at a bar called Santa Claus, which is not at all Santa themed, but is named that because the owners name is Mr. Hoh. It is a laid back bar with that many foreigners go to, in fact when you go out to most bars you will run into others teaching abroad like you. It’s really cool!

The next week was filled with new people arriving and shadowing classes, along with final goodbyes to the teachers leaving. I felt it was necessary to give my friend Kyle from Cali. some nicknames which included Butter Mule as one of them. This name just seemed to have a certain ring to it that I was looking for. I’d like for you to experience this nickname rolling off your tongue so take a minute and say it...go on. Feels good right? Haha More or less it just makes me laugh. If your thinking that I am just a tad weird, you’re not wrong, everyone knows it but I always say I’d rather be weird than boring!

Valentines day, Street chairs and goodbyes.

I cannot believe I have been here for over 2 months now. The time has flown by! I continue to learn things about the Korean customs and language. It feels pretty neat to be able to get in a cab by myself and be confident in how to tell the driver exactly where I need to go. That is a world of difference from the first attempt at solo cab rides!

February has been filled with so much fun! Valentine’s Day was quite interesting! Here in Korea Valentine’s Day is for the men instead of the women. The men get candy and chocolates and dinner dates. I had many small valentines, though, as the children surprised me with candy and Valentine’s Day drawings. It was super cute to see the littler girls in my first grade class color and make pictures and upon completion, bashfully give them to the boy they liked. A boy named Harry made out like a bandit; however the boys in that class were slim pickins! Korea celebrates more than just Valentine’s Day. In fact they have 3 days devoted to relationships or the lack there of. On March 14^th they have White day. This is the day that the men give the women gifts and profess their undying love for them. I have also heard this is the day of many tears and shouting as the women are unhappy with what their significant other have put together. On April 14^th they have a black day. This is for the single people of the country (Holla!); all of the single people eat black noodles on this day signifying their lack of a relationship filled with love. I don’t think I will partake in this black noodle eating day because I don’t agree with what it represents and I heard that the noodles are less than appetizing. I think that being single is not always a bad thing. It has helped gain stronger independence and love for myself and the relationship with myself is one worth celebrating.

February is also the month that many teachers leave and new ones come in. I found myself sad to see my coworkers go even though I only knew them for a short time. They were nothing but kind to me and they thought I was funny and entertaining and come on... I can get into that. The only good thing about them leaving is that I would get new and cheap stuff for my house. They were all selling a bunch of things and I furnished my place with hand me down goods. I am more than happy about my purchases which include a bike equipped with a basket in the front and a rubber horn which you KNOW I will be using even when it is not necessary. I want to mention, because it goes along with the whole furniture and hand me down topic that here in Korea picking up household items (such as couches, tables and chairs) from the street is not as looked down upon as it may be in the states. Many things that people throw out for garbage is like what one would find at Goodwill. They don’t have stores like that here so all those items are free for the taking! I saw an awesome street chair blocks from my house last week and I wanted it so bad, but I couldn’t carry it because it was so big! I am trying to find a couch or something for guests to sleep on when they visit!

Ball Pit drama and a little disc golf

It goes way back to the days of the vomit in the ball pit. No, you read it right... vomit...in the ball pit. No good right!? We were doing stations in gym class and this sweet little girl named Stella comes up to me with vomit all over her thigh informing me of her sudden bout of illness. She also lets me know that the remainder of the vomit resides in the ball pit, where there are thousands of balls now germ infested. Awesome. Needless to say the ball pit was off limits and still is as they have not been thoroughly cleaned. Imagine how difficult it is for me to remind little children each day that the ball pit, the amazingly fun, colorfully awesome, every kids favorite activity, is still off limits. I am even sad about it as I enjoy the occasional dip into the pool of balls. Why are those things so comfortable!?

That weekend I took part in an activity I quite enjoyed and was a natural at...imagine that ;). I played disc golf in a park a few blocks away from me in the middle of the city. It was super fun and a good source of exercise. I had missed going out and doing active sports besides walking to school and hopping like a bunny in gym class. Disc golf is one of my friend’s hobbies and he plays it weekly so I am confident that I will be playing again, getting better and better with each throw. It is also a great source to meet friends. It is nice to have a variety of people to bump into on the streets when you are the minority. I still don’t mind being the minority by the way, and everyone in Korea continues to be extremely nice and understanding of my Konglish.

Love love LOVE you!