Birthday Day!

So many important birthdays on March 31st! Mom, Jacob and Emily! There are a few other friends/acquaintances from high school as well that share the same birthday.

In the free period we have Monday mornings, my 6th grade COT and I went to the English Room to try and arrange the desks differently. First we tried making a "double horseshoe" but there wasn't quite enough room. Instead we just made rows. I think it worked out better than having the students in groups. It's a bit more difficult for them to chat with each other. The only problem is that we have to move the desks back into groups for the after school program, but they will put them back into rows for us when they finish at the end of their session. Anyway, the lesson for today was to create a writing piece about their favorite season and why. I felt really bad for the first class because we did an activity I had planned and then they ran out of time to do the writing part, thus resulting in homework for them. The second class and all other classes following I cut out that activity and almost everyone was able to finish and not have homework. Poor guinea pig class.

After the final period I jetted out. As a surprise for Jacob's birthday, I took a few vacation hours to leave work early. I went to Hongdae to meet him, except apparently I was being too inquisitive and made him suspicious. He figured I was in the area and wasn't too surprised when I showed up at the cafe he was in. We stayed there for a little and then went back to "Goom Steak" for dinner. We both ordered the steak bibimbap. It was really good. After dinner, we came back to my place for oreo cheesecakes. On the way, I grabbed some strawberries from someone selling them on the street. We had dessert and then he opened cards and my present. He really liked the spring jacket-the size was right and he liked the colors too.

When he left, I skyped with my Mom and got to wish her a happy birthday too. :)

Surprise!

Walking around Sangsu

Enjoying the pretty blossoms

Bibimbap, pre-mixing

After mixing and adding spicy sauce

Jacob mixing

In the subway

Birthday Oreo Cheesecakes and strawberries

In his new spring jacket!

Soccer and Church

Jacob came over for brunch and we finished the chicken stew from last night. I did some "spring cleaning" and got my room tidied up quite nicely. I also put away my winter jackets! :)

Then it was off to soccer. It was much warmer at Yongsan than in my area and felt good. Although once we got to the roof where our field is, it was a bit cooler, windier and a bit shaded. It was perfect playing weather. We actually didn't have that many people show up which really surprised me. Luckily the high schoolers that Eirik knows came. We played 6 on 6, with one of our guys joining the high schoolers.

After soccer, Jacob and I grabbed a bus to Sinchon for church. We managed to catch the earlier bus (normally we miss it by a traffic light and sadly watch it pass us as we wait to cross the road) and got there a little bit earlier. We went to Tom n Toms for a pretzel and to change before church. We had a Korean priest do mass. He was a missionary in Cambodia for 6 years!

When church was over, we went to our favorite samgypsal restaurant for BBQ. It hit the spot.

Full, but Fun Day

The day started out with me making mini oreo cheesecakes for Jacob's birthday. I don't have cupcake tins so the cupcakes were a bit misshaped, but it didn't affect the taste at all. I packaged some up to share with our mentees and Kasey. Jacob and I met up and had lunch in Myeongdong at School Food (the "upscale kimbap" restaurant we went to with Hwa Sun, my "big sis"). We ordered a ham and egg kimbap, carbonara ddeokboki (rice cakes) and fried mandu. After lunch we walked around and went to a cafe to relax. Jacob took a power nap and then we took another walk before meeting up with our mentees and Kasey.

Since our official InKAS mentoring program has ended, Eric let us know that we had money left over from our generous donators. Instead of trying to organize a big group event, he split the money to the individual pairs to do an activity on our own. Kasey, Jacob and I decided we'd pool our money since our 3 mentees are siblings and we would be doing activities together. Anyway, Jacob arranged to get the movie tickets for us to see Captain America 2. We didn't realize the Mom wanted to go to the movie with us and she bought her own ticket, however her eldest son was able to get some discounts for her and her ticket was only 2 or 3,000W! The movie was pretty good, but maybe a little bit too intense for my mentee, though she was the one who really wanted to see it. I also felt bad because it was in English with Korean subtitles, so it was probably really burdensome to have to read all the dialog for her. The movie was a little long and it was around 8pm when it was finally over. We decided we'd have dinner together. We got jjimdak, the chicken stew. It was a little bit spicy and the Mom ordered 2 large sized plates for us. It was so much food, considering a large feeds 3-4 and the two little ones hardly eat at all. She asked them to package it up for us so we were able to bring the leftovers home with us. After dinner we walked to the subway and said our goodbyes.

Oreo Cheesecakes!

Yummy lunch

Outside of the restaurant

Outside the restaurant

Jacob, Kasey, Yoon Gyeong and the Mom

Free Friday

TGIF! Classes went okay-a day of 5th graders with two different COTs and 3 different plans for four classes--hard to keep up!

After work, I went to Sangsu to meet Jacob. I didn't have Korean class this week! It was a nice change to have a free Friday evening. It truly felt like a weekend evening. Jacob had looked up a few places to go for dinner during the day and picked one called "Goom Steak". Unfortunately for me, being Friday during Lent, I couldn't have any meat. I ordered a cream chicken and mushroom pasta dish and picked out the chicken and gave it to Jacob. He got a steak terriyaki fried rice that looked really good. My food was quite good. We walked off dinner and wandered Sangsu area for a little before going to 8 1/2 Cafe. We got red velvet cupcakes that were really delicious!

Jacob and his dinner! The skillet is so hot it cooks the meat!

Me with my pasta

Red velvet cake and delicious cupcakes!

Our cupcakes-what a treat!

Soccer Loss

Work passed rather uneventful. I was excited/anxious for soccer all day, waiting for work to finish up. We were playing the RMT team, the only team we've lost to. It was our very first game of the league.

Anyway, Jacob and I were going to meet a little after 6 at the subway station (since he was working in Yeonshinnae) and go to World Cup stadium together and warm up early since our game was at 7. However, his second center didn't have class. Instead he came over here for a little before we left for soccer.

We arrived early and the league organizers asked us to join in a game that was going on. Jacob and I were put on separate teams and I realized it was the first time we played against each other in a really long time (since the league started in February, Sundays we're always on the same team because we try to keep the "leaguers" together). I love watching him play (even if I'm trying to defend against him). I think the team he was on ended up winning--he scored 2 or 3 goals. Then we went to our field and had to get ready for our game. I had gotten a birthday card for the soccer team to sign for him so I got a few signatures when he wasn't looking. Again, we were kind of upset because RMT couldn't field their own team and that was that. We ended up losing 2-6. I think 2 of their goals were scored by a guy that wasn't from their team. They also had some tall guys play, and play quite aggressively. They shot the ball really hard and went in hard. It is kind of ridiculous being a social league that they have to play that way.

After the game, Jacob and I were both grumpy, but we got dinner near my place. We went for bibimbap at a restaurant in front of my building. I got a pork and kimchi bibimbap. The owner heard us talking English towards the end of our meal and asked where we were from. After we mentioned that we both taught English, he asked if I lived in the officetel behind the restaurant building. I said yes and he said that he knows a lot of foreign teachers live there. Included with the meal was a plum juice--we asked what it was and he gave us more and told us to have a lot. Jacob asked him why there wasn't a bulgogi (beef) bibimbap in a hot stone bowl on the menu. The guy said that if we ask for it, they will make it for us. He then looked at his wife and pointed at us and told her "they come. You make bulgogi one." We chatted a little more with him in broken English and Korean.

Another dinner in Hongdae

Work was pretty easy. The 4th graders had a test so it was pretty simple.

After work, I met Jacob in Hongdae. We went to a cafe until he had to go to work. I wanted to make a picture frame for him for his birthday, in addition to the spring jacket I got for him so I went in search of materials. Luckily, Hongdae is a big "arts" school so I found a really great art supply store. I bought a wooden box to use as a frame and other materials to decorate it with.

We met up when he finished teaching and we went to Oodle Noodle for dinner. I've always gotten the Pad Thai when I go there--there are a few other things that look good on the menu and part of me wants to try them, but part of me knows how much I like the Pad Thai that I don't want to try something new! After dinner we split cause Jacob had to get groceries. I was happy because my plan was to make the frame for his birthday and I wouldn't have much time before I originally wanted to give it to him (Sunday). Once I got home and started working on it however, I realized that it would be a great 100 day gift. So I almost completed it (minus the picture) and put it away to save for late April.

Dinner in Yeonshinnae

Another long Tuesday at work. Once I'm done with my 6th period though, I can breathe a little easier knowing the rest of the week isn't as tough.

After work, I walked to Yeonshinnae to meet Jacob where his new centers are. Yeonshinnae is the "downtown" of my district area. I was there with my COT back in December for dinner. I did a little bit of window shopping while I waited. We met up and went to an Italian restaurant called Stefano's. We both ordered sandwiches that had pasta and sauce on the bread. It was really good.

Spring is in the air!

Yummy sandwiches

Relaxed Monday

Ahh...how nice to have a 40 minute ease into the work day. I can't even begin to explain how nice that first period off in the morning is.

Well, the second period boys were kind of loud and rude. After class my 6th grade COT took 3 of them into my office to talk with them. She saw Sophie teacher and they went into the other little office attached to our room. Sophie teacher went to class and locked the door (padlocks on the outside), forgetting they were in the other room. I was waiting for my 6th grade COT to return and I thought I heard my name being yelled. I looked in the hall but didn't see anything or hear my name again. The students for my next class arrived and asked where Eun Hee teacher was. I said she was talking with some bad students. We kept going and I see 2 boys in the hall waving paper through the window. I went to go talk to them and see a note from Eun Hee saying she's locked in my office! I let them out and we went back to class.

The final class of the day was also quite bad. They didn't pay attention and didn't participate in the activities. Eun Hee was quite upset and kept several boys after to talk to them. I figured we should show a unified front, so I stood with her looking angry at them while she spoke in Korean to them.

After school Jacob met me at the front gate of school. He had sent a message that he was lost and to wait for him-what a trickster because he wasn't lost. He waited at the park across from my school and said some of the ajushis (older men) talked to him. We walked back towards my place and were planning on getting some vegetables. However, as we were walking I pointed out restaurants that I wanted to try and he said "let's try it now!" So we went to one place and shared a spicy pork dish and a bulgogi. It was pretty good. After dinner we went to a new cafe that opened a few weeks ago (also a place I pointed out and had wanted to try). I got tea and Jacob got a hot chocolate and cookie. He said it was pretty good and wished he could share it with me.

When we finished dinner we came back to my place and watched some TV. He took off to catch the subway and bus, but it still took him almost an hour to get back because he missed the subway and had to wait a bit. The buses also run less frequently at night which is unfortunate.

Skype Date and Soccer

Jacob came over in the morning so we could skype with my Grandpa together. It was great to see my Grandpa and I enjoyed having the two most important guys in my life meet each other. :) We talked for almost an hour before signing off so Jacob and I could have brunch. I put the casserole that I assembled last night in the oven to bake. It had bread on the bottom with cheese on top of that, then I sauteed onion, bell pepper and ham and that went on top of the bread and cheese. Finally I mixed half and half (which I can eat) with egg and poured that over everything. It sat over night and then I baked it. It turned out pretty good, but I wished that I had mushrooms. I almost bought some on Wednesday but figured they wouldn't be good by Saturday/Sunday so I would wait til Saturday night to buy them, but there weren't any at the grocery store.

After we ate brunch, Jacob did the dishes and we watched tv before heading out to soccer. In the morning, Jacob got a message from our mentee's Mom asking if they could come and watch us play soccer. We told them we'd be glad to have them come! So we went to soccer earlier than normal--plus the weather was quite nice. Jacob and I warmed up a little and then I heard my name called. The Mom waved at me and Yoon Joo and Yoon Gyeom came running over. We talked a little and then passed the ball with the kids. The Mom offered us some Burger King, but we didn't want to eat before playing. John returned--he was in the US for a wedding and was out of the country for a few weeks. It was good to see him again. Jacob asked John if the kids could join and play with us and John agreed. More guys trickled in slowly--I think a lot of them got together the night before and had a party because they were all not in top shape for playing soccer and were late.

I was actually a bit nervous having Yoon Joo and Yoon Gyeom on the field with us. Some of the guys still played as competitively as normal and were still shooting the ball quite hard. It was difficult because the kids would run off and on the field. I think the guys were getting annoyed, but Yoon Joo and Yoon Gyeom really seemed to have a good time. They left around 5:30 or so and we told them "see you next week". When soccer ended, Jacob and I went to Quizno's to get sandwiches to go. We walked to church. Church went okay, but again, they were forcing people into introducing themselves which was a bit awkward. We took our sandwiches and went to a Tom n Tom's cafe. We ordered smoothies and ate the sandwiches there. It cooled off quite a bit once the sun went down and I was chilled walking home.

At home, I got a message from an old adoptee friend I met in 2009 from Belgium. He will be coming to Korea in a few weeks and was just checking in to see if it would be possible to meet up while he's here. He's really good with cameras and has given me a lot of helpful information over the years.

Final Mentor Event and Ji

I had to get up early and head to downtown area to write thank you notes with the other mentors before meeting the families at 11:30 for lunch. Jacob and I met up and traveled together. We walked around a bit before finding the location Eric set up for us changed last minute. It took a little over an hour to get everything coordinated and decorated for the thank you note and picture frame gift for the families and InKAS.

We finished up and headed over to VIPS (a buffet restaurant chain). Some of the families were already there, but we had to wait a little for volunteers and the rest of the families to trickle in. I helped Yoon Joo pick out some food. She doesn't eat very much and she doesn't like vegetables! Most of the food items was pasta and salad stuff. I have also been to Ashley's (another buffet restaurant chain) which is a little bit cheaper, but I think the food variety is much better. VIPS is just a bit overpriced and overrated, but I think Koreans like it because it is Western style food and it's different than typical Korean food. Anyway, there was delicious looking strawberry shortcake...but I can't have cake. Instead I got some waffle pieces and put caramel sauce, whipped cream and almonds on it. I didn't think it really counted as "dessert" or what I gave up for lent. ;)

When everyone was finished eating, we headed out to take a group picture and say goodbyes. Yoon Joo and Yoon Gyeom were looking at the TV and watching an ad for Captain America. Yoon Joo said she wanted to see the movie--I told her that Jacob and I wanted to see it too and we decided we should try to go together! So we made plans with her mom for their 3 kids and us 3 mentors to go with them on Saturday. The Mom also asked us if we had time next Sunday to meet for an event with the adopted families and their church I believe. We agreed to meet with them, but told her we have soccer at 4pm.

Jacob and I went on to Jangji to meet my friend Ji. When we arrived in the area, we stopped in some stores and I got some bread to make a casserole for brunch for Sunday. I called Ji and he met us near an Emart. We ducked inside so he could get some boxes to pack more of his and Yeojin's belongings. I was happily surprised to see how mobile he is. He moved quite quickly-it was almost hard to keep up with him. I'm glad that he is much better now, before he moves out of the country.

We met Chang-gun, their cat and hung out for the afternoon. It is still so bittersweet to me about their wedding and them moving. Ji suggested a light dinner (since we told him we went to VIPS and were a bit full) and we went for chimaek--fried chicken. When we got our chicken, there was only leg and Ji talked to the server and asked where the other leg was and they joked around a bit. He said the next time Ji goes there, he will get 3 legs. The cook ended up giving us a plate of fries to apologize. After dinner it was already getting to be around 7:30 so we had to take off. I took a fan from Ji and Jacob was nice enough to carry it for me all the way back to Eungam. It took us a good hour and a half to travel back. It was another long day, but I had fun with my mentee and Ji.

Test Friday

Classes went okay. One class of 5th graders had to do a role play, but they did very poorly. They told the teacher they wanted to do a role play, but when it was time for them to present they couldn't remember their lines and didn't want to act or do anything--they stood all shy and quiet in the front of the class.

After school I went to Myeongdong area to meet Jacob. First we did a little bit of shopping/browsing. We were going to go to a cafe to get a sandwich and/or soup (with vegetarian options) but there was quite a long wait already. Instead, we went to a Mexican restaurant called Tomatillo and I got a vegetarian enchilada. Jacob got a burrito. It was quite spicy, but delicious.

Next on to my class. We covered the grammar points in chapter 8 for the first part of class. We skipped the break time and continued on until almost 8:40 (class ends at 9) before starting the test. Finally we were given the test and the teachers circulated and actually helped a bit while we were taking it and they checked our tests as we went along. I missed one question completely (a letter written in formal Korean) and another question got a half point wrong out of 10. So, I'm guessing I passed. The time was up and we went over the test together. It was a little shady though because the woman next to me changed her answers as the teacher gave out information. We again went over our time limit, even though the teacher promised we'd be out on time. If I did in fact pass, at least I will have a new teacher.

I met Jacob and we traveled back to our side of town together.

Cancelled Soccer=Grumpy Team

Classes went okay today. The 4th graders did a role playing activity. Most did really well and I even taped a few on my phone.

After school I went home and took a short break. When I finished getting ready and was about to head out the door to meet Jacob, I got a call from him. The soccer league sent out an email that the game was cancelled because there was expected rain and strong wind. Instead, Jacob and I met at Emart and bought some meat. We returned and he cooked dinner. He made a beef broccoli dish that was really good. After dinner we watched some TV and hung out a little.

Student's Role Play of "The Lion and The Mouse".

Teachers Dinner

Work passed rather uneventful. Today's lesson was run by my COT and I assisted as needed. Our final class of the day is right before lunch. Their homeroom teacher wants us to start 5 minutes early and end class 5 minutes early. It's nice because we can go to lunch a little bit earlier too then.

After work, all the teachers in the school went to an area called Seollung. It's a UNESCO heritage site--near the entrance/across from the park area are restaurants so we went to a BBQ place. The meat was really delicious. The only drawback was that our coals were not very hot so our meat cooked slowly. Some of the other teachers kept telling the staff but they would just put a cover over the coals to make it heat up instead of switching them. It would get hot for a few minutes and then go colder and not cook the meat. We ended up switching meat with other tables--they would cook the meat and give it to us and we would give them our partially cooked meat. My COT, Sophie, had a drawing class at 7 and said she'd be leaving at 6:30. I figured I might as well leave with her--no one else was talking to me and everyone was using Korean so it would be a bit pointless to stay there. Plus I was feeling tired.

We took off and grabbed a bus, which happened to be one that is my usual bus. I stopped at Emart to get some groceries and birthday shop. I got a lot of heavy groceries and needed to make a box to carry everything home again. At home, I studied for my Korean test on Friday.

Tuesday Night In

Another long Tuesday successfully completed. Once 2:30 hits on a Tuesday afternoon, I feel like it's all downhill from there. I'm glad that the heavier part of my schedule is Monday and Tuesday--the rest of the week feels like a breeze then.

After work, I came home and started cooking dinner. I realized that another reason it takes me forever to cook (and bake) is because of my limited space and only one burner. In a meal that requires 2-3 pots, I have to stop and do each one to wait for the burner. It makes timing in pulling a meal together much more difficult than usual! I made "chicken Parmesan" except I used mozzarella instead. I also made a tomato sauce from diced tomatoes. We had broccoli on the side for our vegetable. It turned out pretty good! Jacob came over after his work and showed me some drawings from his new students and then we had dinner. We talked until he had to go back home.

Long Monday

I'm still pretty thankful for that first period of Monday's not having class. It does make the afternoon longer, but I'd rather have the extra time in the morning. I really enjoyed the lesson I made, with revisions/edits from my COT. It turned out pretty well. The students made their own schools and wrote about where the classrooms are located using ordinal numbers. The only drawback to this activity is that many did not finish during class time. We had them complete it as homework and then I had the fun task of correcting around 125 worksheets after classes finished. That took quite a chunk of time so then it was almost 4pm and we had a staff meeting. The staff meeting went so long--it was basically an hour long and we went over our contract time to be let out by 20 minutes.

I went to Hongdae to meet Jacob. We went to the Korean restaurant he knew of. We both ordered spicy pork stirfry. After dinner we went to the Homeplus in Hapjeong so I could get some groceries that I wouldn't be able to find at my Emart. Jacob was kind and went halfway to Eungam to carry my groceries for me. I got home quite early which was nice for a change. I relaxed for the evening and somehow the time still managed to escape me and I ended up going to bed around the same time as if I had stayed out later!

Typical Sunday and 2 months

Jacob came over for brunch. We made breakfast burritos again (I've decided next week I'm going to make something else! It's so easy to make the breakfast burritos, but I'm starting to want something else). Jacob did the dishes and we relaxed until it was time for soccer. When we made one transfer we stepped onto the subway and looked at a guy coming out. We both looked at each other and said "Eirik?" (another guy on our team) He didn't hear us and Jacob yelled "Eirik!" as he was going up the stairs. We figured it wasn't him, but gosh, he looked JUST like him!

We made it to the field and warmed up. The weather was beautiful! The sun was out and I'd say it hit the 60's even. We split the teams mostly by our Thursday league and the other people. I know I still make a lot of mistakes playing, but I do feel as though I'm improving my defending skills (beyond what some of the guys said last week). I know I held off one of the guys I consider in the top 5 of our group. I was so proud of myself after that. When we finished Jacob and I took the bus to Sinchon and went to Tom n Tom's for another pepperoni pretzel before church. Father Bernard was back after quite a long stretch without him.

When church was over, we went to Seoga and Cook for dinner to celebrate our 2 month~ We ordered a meat spaghetti and a strawberry-ade. We wanted to try a chicken salad, but because it was kind of late, I guess the kitchen stopped making it so we weren't able to get that. The spaghetti was pretty good--a little spicy, but good. After dinner, Jacob walked me to the subway.

Skype Date and Double Date

In the morning I skyped with Mom and Grandpa. It was good to talk with them. I also got to see my baby. We talked for a long time. I'm so thankful for skype. It makes it much easier to be away from friends and family when I can video chat with them a few times a month.

I headed out to Itaewon and met Jacob so he could check on the alterations on his suit coat and the progress of his new dress pants. While he was being fitted I looked at the ties in the shop. I found one that exactly matched the color of the dress I will wear to Sung Min and Yeojin's wedding! The owner said he'd give me a discount so the tie only cost 5,000W. When we finished there, we went to lunch at Chili King. I got the chili (which was spicy!), Jacob got chicken wings and we split poutine (fries with gravy and cheese). It was pretty good. After lunch we went to relax at his guesthouse for a bit before meeting up with my friend Mark and his girlfriend.

We took the bus to Hongdae and waited a few minutes for Mark. His girlfriend's English name is Suzie. They met Salsa dancing--Mark majored in Spanish and spent a lot of time in Spanish speaking countries throughout his college time--which they both enjoy. It was good to catch up with Mark. For dinner we went to Gusto Tacos. After dinner we walked around Hongdae a bit. They wanted to go to get something sweet so we suggested Schneeballen. I had decided that instead of "dessert" for Lent, I was giving up a few select dessert items and a schneeballen was not on that list. Mark and Suzie really enjoyed it. We walked around Hongdae a little bit more and Mark bought some chestnuts to share and we ate them on the street. They had to leave a little bit early because both lived quite far (and in opposite directions from each other), but Jacob and I stayed in a park and talked for awhile before I came home.

White Day and Jacob's 1 year

Work went alright; I'm so thankful Friday I only teach 4 classes. I had a meeting with my 6th grade COT to plan for Monday's lesson. It made me a bit stressed because I'm used to having my plans done further ahead than that. After we met, I spent the rest of the afternoon editing and revising the lesson to satisfy my COT.

I headed to downtown to meet Jacob. We went to Outback for his one year in Korea. :) I let him pick where he wanted to go since it was a special day for him. It is also White Day (Korean "Valentine's Day" where the guy gives a girl chocolate or white items)! I got some Hershey Kisses and face wash. For Jacob's one year, I got him some character socks, one of them had the Korean flag and tiny people all over it. I ordered a flatbread pizza, but it had sooo much garlic on it. When we finished dinner, we headed over to my class and again Jacob waited for me in the cafe. In class the first half we spent working on speaking in the formal way. The second half we moved through a few grammar points and got information about our test next week. It is only going to be 3 chapters which is a lot less scary than I imagined.

BIG GAME

It was hard to get through the school day because I was so excited for our soccer game. I had 3, 4th grade classes and one 5th grade class--I've heard this is the "worst" class of the 5th grade. They lived up to their bad name too.

After work I stopped at a bakery to get a snack for Jacob and me before soccer and came home. Jacob's 2 centers he teaches at are now in my "gu" (/구/ district) 2 subway stops away. He went to meet the centers and then came over before soccer. It had started out warm during the day, but it sprinkled and got windy so it really cooled off.

We went to soccer a bit early so we could warm up thoroughly. Strangely the field lights weren't on, so we warmed up in the dark. This was a big game for us because the team we were playing against was ranked 1st in the league. If we beat them, then we'd be first in the league. Once everyone arrived and the lights got turned on, we heard from their captain and the league organizer that they needed some people because they only had 2 people from their own team and borrowed several other players. It's kind of unfair that it isn't an automatic win for us when we donate our own players and they can't field a team of their own roster. We played well--Jacob had an absolutely beautiful goal and everyone was talking about how awesome it was. I ended up playing in goal for the last half of the first half. When we started the second half, no one was willing to go in goal, so I went back in goal for another half of the time. Finally after we scored another goal I announced loudly "does anyone want to go in goal now?!" and Felix was nice enough to step in. Then it was game on. I hadn't done much running so I still had a lot of energy and moved around the field a bit. Then, Jacob set me up for a goal and out of the corner of my eye I see another teammate Ray come running up and he tried for the ball but he missed--but it's okay because I was on the back post and slid to knock it in! I was ecstatic--my first goal for the league! We won the game 5-2. After the game, Jacob and I grabbed some dinner.

Jacob and me after the game

Our matching boots!

Soccer Shoes Purchased

Nothing too special at work. I met the 4th graders again. I can't get over how cute they are. It's fun to see them still excited about English and willing to participate in class.

After school I went to Hongdae to meet Jacob for a snack. He was teaching class a little bit later than normal. We got japchae hoddeok 잡채 호떡/ a sweet fried dough filled with noodles and vegetables. It was delicious, though I had a hard time deciding between the japchae hoddeok and the regular sweet one (filled with sugar and sometimes nuts). When Jacob went to class, I went shopping--on the hunt for a birthday present. I wasn't successful though.

We met up again and traveled back to my area. For dinner, we went to one of our favorite (chain) BBQ restaurants and ordered kalmaegisal /갈매기살/ pork. I hadn't had that kind of BBQ in awhile so it really hit the spot. After dinner, we went to my Emart and I tried on a pair of turf shoes. I was debating between the youth 3 1/2 and 4, and ended up going with the 4's even though they seemed a bit looser and bigger. Jacob has the same pair (in adult size) and said that it was suggested to go a half size larger. The 3 1/2's felt snug and wouldn't stretch at all. Jacob went home and I relaxed a bit before going to bed.

Goodbye Dinner for MK

I met the last of my 6th graders today and half of my 5th grade classes. I like getting to show them some things about me and my life back home. My COT, Sophie, told me that some of them were quite impressed with our house and said that I was a "rich teacher" because the house is so big. Everyone oohed and ahhed over Toby too, of course.

It was a really long day--I have 6 classes on Tuesday so it's a lot of work. It didn't help that I had stayed out late the night before, coming home from Bucheon. I made a note to not do anything too late Monday nights anymore!

After work, I went to Sangsu to meet Jacob. We got some bread as a snack and walked around and looked for the restaurant MK picked. We waited for 6:30 to roll around so we could meet Bora. The 3 of us went in and got a table and looked over the menu. MK picked a Japanese restaurant. The staff was loud and energetic. They made a lot of noise and bowed to us when we sat down. After we received our first dish MK arrived. It was good to see Bora and MK and have time to catch up, all of us together. MK and Bora continued to order a few other dishes as well. Most of the food had seafood in it, and even dishes we asked for no seafood or didn't show any in the description still came with some. Since Jacob is allergic and I don't like seafood, we had a more difficult time eating at this place.

We finished dinner and MK and Bora wanted to go for "second round" and get more food. They wanted ddeokboki /떡볶이/ spicy rice cakes, so Jacob and I went with, but didn't really eat anything. We all walked to the subway together and went our separate ways.

It was sad knowing this is the last time we'd meet while MK lived in Seoul. However, I'm happy for her big move back to Inchon since she'll be close to her parents.

Trip to Bucheon

The good news about my schedule is that the first period I don't have class. It's nice to settle in for an extra 40 minutes on a Monday morning. I met my old 5th graders, now 6th graders today. It was so nice to see them again! :) I got a lot of big waves and extra loud "hi's" from them. I was happy to see familiar faces and wished I could remember all of their names.  It was good to see faces I recognized and know a little bit about their behaviors and attitudes. I sent a message to my old 5th grade COT to tell her I met some of our favorite students and our trouble makers. It made her smile to think of them again.We had to adapt a lot and change things as we went from class to class. I felt super rusty up in front of the class, but everything worked out okay. I think they were extra patient with me only because they knew me.

After work I took a little break at home before heading to Bucheon to meet Bohye. Unfortunately I haven't seen her since October! It's hard to believe that much time has passed since we met last. She works til 7:30 pm so it is difficult to meet and Bucheon is about an hour away from where I live. I took the subway and arrived at our meeting place. Bohye got her hair straightened so it was very long. She also got braces. We went to a dalk galbi restaurant (spicy stir fried chicken) and ordered pizza dalk galbi. It was pretty good. After dinner, we went to a Starbucks for a drink. There is a special "secret" menu with 3 very sweet and expensive drinks on it. We ordered one and a regular menu drink to share. I headed home after coffee and chatting. Bohye and I tentatively made plans to meet either later in the month or sometime in April.

It was a long trek home and I was quite tired, but it was good to see Bohye again.

Usual Sunday

Jacob came over again in the morning so we could make brunch. We had breakfast burritos again. After eating, we headed out to soccer. There was a much smaller turnout than last week, I think because the weather is a bit cooler again. I think it ended up being 5 on 5. Bora also came this week, back from her business trip to Singapore. She was a real trooper and got hit by the ball several times. I asked if she was okay and she said she was fine; at the end of practice she told me that she really felt like she was improving and was having fun. I was relieved to hear that. I'm definitely impressed with her gumption and proud of her for coming and playing with us. I know it's not easy to play with a bunch of guys, a lot of them really good and know that you are a low skilled player. Anyway, afterwards, one guy Johan told me he was pleasantly surprised to see how I have improved since he hasn't made it to soccer in a few weeks. Eirik also told me that he's enjoyed seeing me grow and improve in the last few weeks as well. It meant a lot to me hearing it from both of those guys since they are some of the best players on our team.

After soccer Jacob and I took the bus to church. We were both a little hungry so we stopped at Tom n Tom's and split a pepperoni pretzel. It was pretty good--I like the pretzel dough from Auntie Anne's better, but overall I think I might have liked it a little bit more (it also had sauce and cheese--mm, cheese!). Church was okay, but it was a bit awkward when they asked people to introduce themselves. I know it shouldn't be such a big deal to stand up and say, "Hi, I'm Amy and I'm from the US" to the congregation, but if one doesn't want to do it, I don't think he or she should be cajoled or pressured into doing it. This week the Father even went so far as picking out people to introduce themselves.

When church was over we went to Noodle Box for dinner. Jacob walked me to the subway and then I came home. Even if it's not too cold during the day (low 40's-mid 30's) it still dips into the mid 20's at night and its so cold walking home. I am still eagerly awaiting spring's arrival!

Weekend, Finally

As usual, I couldn't sleep in, but it gave me time to get some things done around my place. I cleaned and did some other chores before heading out. I went to Hongdae to do some shopping for some upcoming birthdays. I walked on to Sinchon to get lunch; yesterday I really wanted to eat bibimbap, but didn't really have time since I was shopping and then had class. I was on the hunt for a Korean restaurant and went to the place Jacob took me to awhile ago. Unfortunately there was no bibimbap; I considered getting something else, but I really, really wanted bibimbap. I took off and went back into Hongdae to find a bibimbap place. I found a restaurant and got my bibimbap. It was ok, but I think next time I want bibimbap, I will eat at a place near my school-it was quite good. I briefly went through some stores in Sinchon and then on to Ewha to do some more shopping. Jacob and I met up and we had Quizno's for dinner. I came home and watched some TV and relaxed for the evening.

Korean Class and MK

Fridays I will only have 4 classes to teach; all are 5th grade, but it will be split with two different COTs (Sophie and Chloe). The first class was a bit on the rowdier side. They were quite talkative (to each other, in Korean). We played a game and I noticed a group of 3 girls at one table just talking amongst themselves not paying any attention. The next class Sophie told me not to come to orientation so I had a little break. The last two classes were with Chloe; the first one was an orientation class and the second was their first lesson which I prepared. Partway through class, the screen went out (yes, the TV screen is STILL broken, but there is no real way to fix it anymore; the principal says they've spent so much money on it there is no more budget for it, so it is what it is now.... However, sometimes the screen will go out, but come back on a little bit later) so that made it a bit challenging. I also noticed there was going to be a lot of time left, so I quick threw in an extra activity to fill some time. In the afternoon, I had another surprise. The social worker was supposed to be getting a used desk put in her office (the one adjoining ours), but it was too big to fit through the door, so instead....she was to get my desk and I would get the new, used one. So, I had to take everything out of my desk put it on the ground and wait for the new desk to arrive. Then, I had to set up my desk again. Later, I did some lesson planning down in the vice principals' office so I could use the internet and I got a lot done. When Sophie and I were walking home she told me that she is really glad that we are working together. I was happy to hear that. :)

I came home to drop off my computer and then headed out to downtown. I did a bit of shopping and got kimbap for dinner. I took it to the building where my class is and ate there. Class went alright. They announced that we will have to take a test when this level is over (2 more weeks). I think they are doing it because there is a long waiting list for new people to come in and might try and be weeding the current students out if they aren't studying enough.

After class I hopped on a bus and went to meet Min Kyung in her neighborhood. She will be moving to Inchon on the 16th. What is it with my friends moving away?! Inchon is definitely not as far as New Zealand, but I think it will be much harder to meet her now. She is also thinking eventually (soon) she will quit her job in Seoul and get a job closer to her -new-home.

Fries and Taco Salad

First Day of Class

Today was the first day of the new school year! I had three 4th grade classes and one 5th grade class. The 4th graders are quite cute and still fairly small, though some of them are almost as tall as me too. I saw one of my students from Winter Camp and she was happy to see me. My COT (Chloe) and I introduced ourselves and explained our rules and expectations for the students. My 5th grade COT (Sophie) told me I didn't have to go to the orientation for the one 5th grade class, so I only had 3 classes. I will do a brief introduction of myself when I see them for their next class.

After school Sophie and I went to get a few things for our office. I brought them home because the items weren't a big enough cost to get delivery to the school. Then I met Jacob in Hapjeong on the subway to go to Itaewon for a date night. We were going to go to a place we had seen called Chi Chi's, but again, Jacob had read reviews and it had not received very good write ups. Instead we went to a place called Pizza Peel for, yes, pizza. It was so good! We ordered a chicken pesto and the "Canadian" which had bacon, mushroom and pepperoni on it. The pizza sauce was just like pizza sauce in the US. Unfortunately since it is Lent, we weren't able to get any dessert after dinner. We walked around Itaewon a little bit before heading back to the subway. On our way we ran into a friend, Raphael, who was our photographer for the Mentor MT in November.

Jacob with our delicious pizzas!

Ash Wednesday

Today was kind of a stressful day. It was a lot of preparing and trying to coordinate with my 3 COTs and discussing the schedule/lessons for our upcoming year. It is additionally difficult because my 5th grade COT also teaches one 6th grade class and my 4th grade COT teaches two 5th grade classes. That means for each grade, I basically need to coordinate with 2 COTs at the same to plan accordingly or I might end up needing to create 3-5 lessons for each unit (there are 6 in one unit) However, each COT has a different idea of my role and her role so it is really important to compromise and work together with everyone. Like I mentioned before, it is also hard to plan because we're starting in the middle of the week. One COT read my mind and suggested throwing in a "free" class for one of the classes that met an extra time at the end of the week so that all the classes would start the same with me on Monday. I thanked her profusely.

After school I stopped home to drop off my computer (I brought it to work to do some lesson planning since I STILL don't have a computer or internet in my office) and put on some warmer clothes. Then, I headed to Itaewon to get dinner. There was a restaurant I had seen that had hummus and other Mediterranean food so I thought that would be a good place to go on a no meat day. I found it, Hummus Kitchen and was going to order the hummus plate, but instead tried a puff pastry filled with cheese, spinach and pine nuts. It was served as 4 small pastries on a stone board. It was pretty good, but I kind of wished I had tried their hummus.

I went in search of the International Catholic Church. It didn't take long to walk there and was pretty easy since it was on a main street and I had been there before (bu coming from a different direction). It was good to find it coming from the way I did because in the summer I might have to start going there for mass in the mornings since soccer will be moved back to the 6-8pm time slot and I won't be able to go to Sogang in the evenings. Anyway, I arrived a bit early and the mass before me coming out was a Spanish speaking mass. Everyone was speaking Spanish in the entrance and it made me think of my friend Liduvina ad I missed her and her family. The small chapel filled up quite a bit and it was a crowded mass. I liked the homily the French priest gave. After mass, I came home and related to prepare for the first day of teaching tomorrow!

Dinner

Harley Davidson--made me think of Aunt Ruth and Grandpa

Cooking Class

I had a relatively uneventful day at work. I briefly met with my 6^th and 4^th grade teachers to talk tentative plans. Right now it seems very confusing and difficult because we are starting English class in the middle of the week and it throws the schedule/timing off a bit for the following weeks.

After work, Jacob and I were supposed to meet Ji so I could get a fan he's getting rid of and just to hang out with him before he leaves Seoul on Friday. (He will either live with his parents in Gimahe or in Suncheon with Yeojin's family to prepare for the wedding.) He was quite busy with Yeojin's Mom and wasn't able to meet us. We had a back up plan because we figured he probably would end up not being able to hang out. We went to a GOA'L cooking event at Hoya Cooks. Class wasn't until 7, so we met at Mecentapolis Center and had snacks--first Auntie Anne's pretzels and then Mr. and Miss Potato for French fries. We walked to Hoya's for the class. This week we made dwenjangjjigae (soybean paste stew) with nengi, a spring vegetable (greens) and ddeok galbi (a meat patty with rice cake and nengi). It turned out okay, but I'm not sure I would make it again. It was a lot of work to clean the nengi and it didn't have much of a taste.

Chef Jacob

John, taking pictures of the event

Our soup and meat patties

Back to School

The first day of the new year! Fortunately I didn’t have to teach at all (I don’t teach until Thursday). First thing back, I was asked to move my stuff to my new office space. I took about 4 loads down to the new office, but the desks weren’t set up and another teacher was using the space as storage for mass school handouts. I was surprised at how much I have accumulated at my desk in the 6 months I’ve been working. Most are things I’ve inherited (from the previous teacher and my friend Ginger). Anyway, I spent the next few hours getting to know my new COT. Her Korean name is Sangji and her English name is Sophie. She is one year older than me and is a “special” English teacher. She doesn’t have a teaching degree, so she can only teach English. She and I will share our small office space together and teach 5^th grade and one 6^th grade class. For lunch, we went with the other subject teachers to a restaurant quite close to my home. I didn’t want to go back to school! Lunch was fish as a main dish and then a stew was served with it as well. I had side dishes and some of the kimchi stew. We all walked back to school and Sophie and I just chatted and set up our office some more.

 

After work, Jacob and I met near Sangsu Station. He was studying in a café and I joined him there before we went to Greek Joy for dinner. It was delicious—I dove right into everything so I didn’t get to take a picture of our salad, soup, bread or chicken gyros. After dinner we went to Schneeballen for our last cronut and schneeballen before Lent begins. This time we got a “Milky Bee Cronut” which just meant there was a heap of ice cream put in the hole of the cronut. Amazing. Best dessert ever!

Milky Bee Cronut!

Brunch and Soccer

Jacob came over a little bit before lunch and we made breakfast burritos with onion, bacon, bell peppers, egg and cheese. They were delicious! We hung out before heading out to soccer early. Jacob had a friend coming back to Korea bring new soccer cleats for him so he was eager to try out his new shoes. We passed the ball around and waited as people trickled in. We had a pretty big turnout, I think we ended with 12; 6 on 6. There were a few new people that came, but John (our captain) asked that our Thursday leaguers were all on the same team so we could practice. Well. That went poorly for the first good chunk of time. We got scored on so many times and we played really poorly. As time went on we found our niche and someone else arrived from our team too. Then we started clicking a bit more.

After soccer we headed to church. While we were waiting I got a call from my Australian friend Seon. It was good to hear from him, though he made fun of my American accent. Church went really long. It was difficult to understand the Mexican priest. Jacob and I were going to have dinner at Subway, but they were closed after church. Instead we parted ways without getting dinner.

 

Breakfast burrito!