It's Been Awhile! (Lot's of Pics and Videos)

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Hi Everyone!

It's been quite awhile since my last blog (early August when I got back from NY) so I thought I would buckle down and get one written. We haven't been doing too much other than work a lot. Dan got back from GA in early September and soon after left to go to the field for two weeks. I have picked up some tutoring jobs which gets me home after 9pm every night of the week. The extra income is nice and we are saving it for our two-month Europe backpacking trip tentatively planned for July and August next summer. On Tuesday's I get together with 5 other teachers and we have a writer's circle, sharing our work and giving suggestions. The other teacher's were all English majors and are incredibly talented, which can be pretty intimidating. But I used to really enjoy writing and since I haven't in so long I am using this as the opportunity to get my creative writing juices flowing again.

September 21 was my birthday and it was a really nice week. My school got me a cake and the teachers bought me MAC makeup (does EVERYONE know about my MAC obsession??). On Saturday Dan sent me and my two friends, Patricia and Kelly, to a really nice spa in Hannam Village outside of Yongsan Army base. We were pampered with footsoaks, body massages and facials. It was so nice!! Then we walked across the street, still dazed from our massages, and had sandwiches at the Banana Grill (best burger I have ever had, save my Dad's and Dan's!). Then we caught a cab to our hotel and got ready for the evening. We went to Hooter's in Apgujeong and to my surprise about 30 people came! We ate, drank and I got to see first hand what a Korean birthday song is like. I sat on a chair with a silly crown on my head, and as the Korean Hooter's girls sang to me I had to shout "La la la! It's my birthday!" while flapping two menus as if they were wings. Then Kelly and Patricia gave me two Cold Stone Creamery Cakes! I also made out pretty good in the gift department- a GORGEOUS sushi set, matching tea set, digital picture frame, movies, gift certificate and traditional Korean mask. From there we went to Rodeo Drive, a road full of coffee shops, bars and restaurants, and went to the popular Monkey Beach where they had fire-dancers! We spent the rest of the night there, drinking, dancing and having a great time!

The three-day Korean holiday "Chuseok" (CHOO-sock) was on September 15 and is like our Thanksgiving. It takes place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar Korean calendar. My Korean partner teacher gave me this explanation on paper: "It originated during the reign of the third king of the kingdom of Silla (57 BC - AD 935) when it was a month-long weaving contest between two teams. Come the day of Gabae, the team that had woven more cloth won and was treated to a feast by the losing team." Koreans travel to their parents homes and spend the day with their families, eating traditional Korean foods, including songpyeon (SONG-pee-yon) which is made from rice cake and tastes like peanut and sesame.

There is a good-hearted rivalry between the foreign teachers at my school. Since there are 4 Canadians (all from Newfoundland) and 4 Americans we like to rag on each other about what country is better. To quell some of the rivalry and secure bragging rights we decided to hold a Beer Olympics. We competed in Beer Pong, Flip Cup, Sink the Titanic, and Beer Jeopardy. In the end, we Americans brought home the gold, and I'm proud to say I held my own against those Newfies who can drink like nothing I have seen before. (What else is there to do when winter is 11 months a year?)

Daniel's and my first anniversary is in two days so we decided to get out of Dongducheon and go to Osan Airbase which is about two hours south of here. We laid pretty low, went out dancing, watched movies, had dinner at a cozy English style restaurant called Puffin's, and had lunch at Chili's (they have one on base!). We bought a stone rubbed and gold-paint painting by Yi Se-Jea, a retired professor of art at Seoul University who no longer paints because he is too old, of King Sejong, who created the Hangul alphabet in 1446. Chinese characters were used previously and it took years of intense study to master the language since each character stood for a different word. With this alphabet ANYONE (including foreigners) can pronounce the words, which is why Korea boasts a stunning 98% literacy rate.

It was nice to spend the whole weekend together. Since it is now Sunday afternoon we are back home and on base at Primo's (great pizza) watching the Texas Longhorns beat Colorado. The Armed Forces Network replays some of the games during times when the soldiers here can watch them. It's nice because Dan REALLY loves football and he gets bummed when he thinks about all the games he has to miss. When we were in NY I bought him the Fox NFL football package and he could potentially watch every game being played at any moment.

Other than that, I don't have too much to report. We have been so busy with working and staying around our town on the weekends that we haven't done anything too interesting. The weather is still holding out and while the nights are much cooler, the days are bright and sunny and warm. My BESTEST FRIEND SHANNON and her boyfriend Aaron are coming to visit in a couple weeks and I am SO EXCITED! While I will have to work during the week (who knows, I might fall ill for a few days and be forced to call in sick) I have so many things planned for them to see and do. I'd like to go to the DMZ, take them to Itaewon and Insadong, take them to a palace and theater show and possibly get to the ocean for a few days. There are some festivals that week so hopefully we can get to some of those too!

Take care all! We miss and love you!

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Photos

Seoul Art Museum
On the stunning grounds of the Art Museum where my friend Elena and I went to see a Latin Art Exhibit. We saw Diego's and Frida's!

Terry
A teacher at LCI, he plays in a band with his friend, Patrick, who also teaches at my school

Comments

[hasan]

love
it is very nice! her body is full of love!