Open Class and REUNITED WITH JENNY!

Today I had off one period because my 4th grade COT was having open class with that class. It was a nice break in the morning. Lunch was pretty good today too--there was cheese pork cutlets and a creamy potato soup. After lunch SangJi and I practiced/ran through our open class lesson and then it was time to go and teach!

Actually, there was only one mom watching so that was nice--I was so afraid there would be a huge crowd of parents. There were about 5 teachers that watched and most of them stayed the whole time. I also saw the principal and one of the VP's for maybe 2 minutes at the most. I think it went okay, but my COT was a little concerned because she said the teachers evaluating us looked so serious she was nervous!

After work, I was originally supposed to go to the staff dinner, but since Jung Yoon could meet me, I told them I couldn't go and skipped out. I met Jung Yoon at Sangsu and we went to Gusto for dinner. Delicious! I got nachos and Jenny got a burrito. It was so fun talking wtih her and catching up. Her boyfriend called while we were eating and I got to say hello to him. He's doing his military service right now and can't see Jenny on her birthday or their anniversary (coming up in a few days). We browsed Hongdae for a little bit, walking off our dinner and with me showing Jung Yoon dessert cafe after dessert cafe that I love or want to try. When we went into a place and Jung Yoon told me that she loved red velvet cake, I knew exactly where to take her so we walked back to Sangsu and went to the red velvet place Jacob and I have been to before.  We took a bus to Sinchon to meet Jacob for a drink. I was glad two of my favorite people could meet each other and hang out. Jacob asked her to tell him 10 things about herself and he did the same. Jung Yoon and I headed home and it was great to show her my place and have her spend the night. We stayed up late talking.

Red Velvet cupcake!

Jenny with our desserts

Terrible Tired Tuesday has some Terrific News!

My 3rd 6th grade class didn't show up, so my COT called their homeroom teacher to find out what was up. Turns out some of the boys started fighting in class and the class got in trouble (or something like that). So we ended up going to their classroom to have class. They were all a bit agitated and even more unruly than normal. Also, their homeroom teacher is actually off right now; she got married over the weekend so the have a substitute this week.

Then, my COT and I got to practice our Open Class lesson twice in the afternoon. It didn't go over as perfectly as we had both hoped and I'm a little nervous. However, the class we picked to do the open class with is really sweet and generally quite well behaved. I think they will do well tomorrow.

In the morning, I sent Jung Yoon (Jenny) a message saying I wished she could come to Seoul because I didn't have work on Thursday (her birthday) and it would be so nice to see her. She told me that she wished she could come too, but had 3 classes. Then in the afternoon messaged me and said she found out she has a "business" trip and will come to Seoul TOMORROW!! The meeting unfortunately finishes around 10pm, but she asked if she could stay the night with me. Could she spend the night with me?! Duhh, of course!! So, I will get to see her on her birthday! How amazing and awesome!

After work, I came home and got started on making dinner. I decided I would make a meatloaf because I have leftover potatoes and was trying to think what would go well with the mashed potatoes. Well, I was a little worried how it would turn out because I don't have a loaf pan, but it turned out okay--instead I just made it kind of low and filled my square pan. I made the mashed potatoes garlic mashed, of course. And we had cheese broccoli on the side as well. Americana at its finest! When we finished eating we talked and just hung out.

A little bit later, Jenny messaged me saying she heard back from a company and would be able to meet me sooner in the day--as soon as I was finished with work! We arranged the plans and I was so excited I could barely get ready for bed.

Meatloaf, cheesy broccoli and garlic mashed potatoes

Rainy Monday

It was back to being a bit colder today and it was also rainy. It hasn't rained in awhile I don't think (besides yesterday).

Work went okay. The Open Class is this week so that is looming large in the future. I did a little work and reviewed the lesson plan for the Open Class with my COT.

After work, I went home and took a short break before meeting Jacob for dinner. He had training until his teaching job started, so we weren't able to meet right after school. It was nice to relax at home for a little. I wanted to go for a run (run to Hongdae again), but it was a little too chilly for my liking.

Jacob and I have an uncanny sense of wanting to eat the same thing for dinner. Usually before I ask what he wants I have an idea of where I want to go and am always surprised to hear his answer as one of the options I wanted. It happened again today, both of us wanting to get some BBQ. When he finished work, we met up and went to 구이가, the BBQ place we first hung out at. We ordered 갈매기살, a type of pork. It was delicious, as usual. After dinner, we were going to walk around a bit-even walk back to his area, but it was raining a lot so we took a taxi and went to Peter Pan bakery for a scone. It was really delicious. Then I grabbed a bus and headed home. Also, one of Jacob's students gave him an "old" phone, her used phone; we're going to see if it is possible for me to switch phones and use it instead of my older iphone. Fingers crossed as I'm not sure how much more life this phone has in it!

I stopped at the Emart to get a few things and hoped that the meat would be on sale. It wasn't quite late enough for the meat to be at a discount, but I did buy some garlic. I find it very entertaining that there are 1kg bags of peeled garlic cloves for sale (the smallest bag I could find and bought probably has a good 20-30 cloves). Only in Korea...

Rainy Sunday

Jacob came over in the morning and I made brunch for us. Originally, I was going to make bagel breakfast sandwiches with some hash browns on the side. But, it evolved into a potato and vegetable hash with a bagel on the side. We had broccoli, potato, mushroom, onion and bacon in the hash. I toasted the bagel and put cheese on top. Yum.

After eating, we just hung out and watched some tv. In the late afternoon, we went to his guesthouse (I got a little bus sick and fell asleep for most of the ride). I met his roommate, Troy and another housemate, Fawn. Then we went to go get dinner. We were thinking Subway maybe, but ended up going to a kimbap shop--it was one of the best I have been to, and apparently the shop has won some awards in its district for being the best kimbap shop. We shared jap chae bap (noodles and rice), mandu (fried dumplings) and donkasu kimbap (a kimbap with pork cutlet inside!). It was all delicious and came to a whopping total of around $11. I love kimbap shops!

We then took a bus to the subway and went to World Cup stadium for soccer. It was raining, it had been raining all day really, and we saw the high school boys we sometimes play with. They were complaining about the rain and didn't walk outside with us. Jacob and I went to go sit and see who would show up. I was getting worried when it was 5 to 8 and we were the only ones. One guy, Ari showed up--he hasn't been there since the fall I think--and slowly others trickled in; Fredrik from last week and TC (his friend, but someone who came in the summer), Eirik and his friend, Stefano, Johan (finally, after quite an absence), Felix (also after quite a long absence), and then the 5 high school boys. So we ended up playing 3 teams of 5, with one (my team) that needed to pull an extra player each time. The weather, while rainy, was actually perfect for playing. It was a little cool, but not cold and after one 7 minute game I was already peeling off my layers. It was a fun night. I felt bad for Jacob sitting on the sidelines. I could tell he really wanted to play. John was in Hawaii, and Jacob is now the "vice captain" so he had to go to take the money and have the pennies. I told him he looked like a coach when he was pacing the sidelines.

The guys playing

Action

100 Days with Jacob!

In the morning Jacob came over and we skyped with my Mom and Grandpa. It was good seeing both of them. Toby also made a brief appearance and Jacob thought it was funny that we could see Toby's tail behind the bed as he walked in and out of the room. We also exchanged our 100 days gifts. I got a really pretty necklace, a "Toby Junior" stuffed animal, and chocolate bar. :) Jacob liked the wallet and the picture frame I made.

After we finished talking with my Mom and Grandpa, we went to get lunch at a kimbap shop. Jacob had training so we didn't have a lot of time for lunch. After we finished eating our kimbap and omurice (fried rice with an omelet egg on top) we went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. The names of the flavors can be so strange! Jacob got the Spiderman flavor and I got "My mother is an alien" flavor. It's one of my favorites--white chocolate and chocolate ice cream with chocolate covered pretzel pieces. Yum.

Jacob left for his training and meeting. I tidied my room up, did a little bit of walking and shopping in my area and got some groceries. Around 6, I left to go meet Jacob in Hapjeong. We wanted to go to the steak restaurant we went to for his birthday, but when we arrived, there was a long line down the stairs. He shook his head and we went in search of another place. We found another steak place we wanted to try, but again, there was a long wait. So, we wandered around and ended up picking a kind of cafe place called Pide. We ordered a pita sandwich and fries. It was good! After dinner, we were going to go to a French dessert place, but it was all the way back on the other side of the area we were in, so we went to a cupcake place near Hapjeong. Jacob got a red velvet cupcake and I got a carrot cake cupcake. They were both good. Afterwards, we stopped at Homeplus to get a few things before going home.

Toby Junior, my necklace and chocolate

Lunch!

Chicken Sandwich

Jacob at the cupcake shop

Me with the cupcakes

Jacob and me :)

Korean Class

The work day was a little bit longer today than normally. Because of my cancelled class on Wednesday, I had to make it up this afternoon. It wasn't that big of a deal, and then I also figured it's kind of nice because I had 40 minutes less of "desk warming" in the afternoon.

When it was finally 4:40, I headed to downtown. I wanted to look for some shoes in Jongro before class. I was not successful--I did figure out what kind of shoe I am looking for, now I just have to find it! I went to get kimbap from a street stall for dinner and sat by Cheonggyecheon to eat it. Jacob called me when he was finished with his training and we talked until I went to class.

Class went okay. I'm enjoying the challenge it's giving me. I'm also looking forward to finishing up with this 6 week session (2 more weeks) and then having class move to Monday nights from 7-9. Although Monday nights aren't the best, I think it will be better than Friday nights!

After class, I took the orange subway line home and got off at the station near my school and took a bus back. It took about 40 minutes also, so it wasn't much faster than the other way I normally go.

Geraniums always make me think of Grandpy

Cheonggyecheon

Cookie Day

Work wasn't anything special. I was mostly caught up on my work so I didn't have to do too much.

After school, I came home and decided I would make cookies since Jacob and I were having the leftover chili for dinner. Then I realized that I didn't have any eggs. So I ran to Emart and grabbed a few things plus the eggs. I mixed up the batter and ended up freezing about half of the batch (the trick was to pre-scoop some of the batter so when I decide to bake them all I have to do is let them thaw and then bake!). Jacob arrived and I told him he was about 10 minutes away from eating the best cookies ever. He started cleaning the dishes when I pulled the cookies out of the oven. He was going to eat one at the sink and I told him "no! You need to go dry your hands and sit down. These cookies are an experience!" So, he listened to me and agreed they were really good. The last time I made them I don't think I had enough pudding and they were a bit dry. This time, using the pudding mix that Jacob brought back for me, they turned out perfectly, just the way they tasted at home. So, so good! Yum! I finished baking 3-4 batches and then got dinner ready. The chili was just as good a few days later as it was the first day. I think the extra kick was the diced tomatoes with green chilies that I used.

Our 100 Days is coming up (Saturday) so we spent part of the evening talking about the past 98 days and before we started dating. It is still pretty amazing to me to think about the journey of our friendship and now relationship.

A few of the delicious cookies!

Finally Falafel again!

Work was not too bad today. My second period class was cancelled which was nice, but it's rescheduled for Friday so now I'll have 5 classes on Friday. I was kind of excited about the fried rice at lunch, until I realized it had been poisoned with (imitation) crabmeat! What a disappointment. The other big news of the day is that I officially submitted documents for a request to renew my contract! Yes, that means if I pass the evaluation from my principal and do well at the open class (next Wed), I could possibly have my contract renewed and will be here another year! It was a tough decision, some tears were shed and many people shared their opinions and advice with me. In the end, I think it will be the right and best choice. It is definitely only for one more year, no more than 2 years here, absolutely.

After work, I met Krystle for dinner. We had our raincheck from Saturday and she almost cancelled again today. She said she wasn't feeling that great, but if I wasn't scared of getting anything from her she would be fine to meet. I figured as long as she didn't cough on me or my food, I didn't have a problem grabbing a quick bite to eat with her. We went back to Jack's Beans and I ordered a falafel wrap. It's so good! After dinner, Krystle was ready to call it a day. We parted ways and I stopped at Oodle Noodle to get dinner for Jacob. I took it to Yeonhuidong, the area he lives in and met him near his guesthouse. We walked to a playground and sat on some benches while he ate dinner. When he finished eating, we went in search of something sweet. First we went to Peter Pan, a bakery near his guesthouse. There wasn't anything that stood out so we decided we'd try the Peter Pan bakery inside the grocery store around the corner. Again, nothing stood out so we went upstairs to the Angel in Us Coffee shop. We picked a brownie cheesecake that was really delicious. Jacob walked me to the bus stop and I headed home.

A beautiful day in the park

At the cafe with dessert

Terrible Tuesday?

I woke up with a bit of a scratchy voice. My throat isn't really sore at all, but my voice is hoarse. It was unfortunate because today is my long day with 6 classes. After the first period, my 6th grade COT offered to lead class for me which was really kind of her. The rest of the classes weren't that bad.

After work, I came home and made chili. It turned out really good. I waited for Jacob to arrive and he went right back out to fill water bottles. I was waiting so I started cleaning the floors a little. I realized he was gone a long time. He finally came back and I knew something was wrong because he looked really agitated. Turns out while he was in Emart filling up water bottles for me, some ajushi pushed him and told him not to fill up the water bottles. Some words were exchanged (it's probably for the best Jacob spoke in English and the ajushi spoke Korean...) and finally the ajushi went and got security. They talked and tried to explain some things and escorted Jacob out of Emart. He was mostly upset about being taken outside when he didn't do anything wrong. I suggested my COT as a translator and messaged her to see if she had time to talk to the workers for us. She called me and Jacob explained the situation. We went to Emart and she and the security guy talked on the phone and then she translated to Jacob. Things ended on a good note and I was thankful my COT could help us out.

We returned and I assembled the chili nachos. I opened my bag of Doritos that I brought from home and put that on the bottom. Then chili on top and cheese on top--popped it into the microwave to melt the cheese and voila--dinner is served. It was so good! I also made a salad and found out Jacob doesn't like cucumbers. :( Sad. After dinner I cleaned up and then we took a walk to a doughnut cafe I saw on the other side of my subway station. At first glance, I thought the doughnuts didn't look that special and I felt bad that we walked all that way for just some doughnuts. We both ordered one and took them to the upstairs part of the cafe to eat. They were really good! Mine was a white chocolate covered cake doughnut and the chocolate was thick and really good. Jacob had a doughnut filled with chocolate.

Chili Dorito Nachos!

A nice healthy salad to go with

Donuts!

Mexican Monday

Work went okay today. The 6th graders did a kind of "reverse" BINGO game that I made. Most of them did well, but one class just kind of ran around and screamed. >< I guess the 6th graders had an overnight field trip coming up, but it was cancelled due to the resent events of the Sewol ship. It is still so saddening to think of all the lives lost in that accident.

After work, I went to Sangsu and met Jacob. We had an early dinner at Gustos, splitting the chimichanga. It was really good. After dinner, Jacob went to work and I did some shopping--I'm looking for a pair of comfortable but dressy shoes. I was not successful in the hunt. When Jacob was done working, we met up again and went to Schneballen for dessert--second dessert on my checklist after ice cream from Natuur Pop? Cronuts please! We had a double cronut, which is better than a single cronut because there is a layer of cream between the two cronuts. We got chocolate this time and it was sooo good. After dessert, I headed home to get some rest.

Yummy chimichanga

Double chocolate cronut! YUMMY!

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!

Jacob came over for brunch and I made "sandwiches" out of baguettes. I hollowed out some of the bread and filled it with egg and vegetables and then baked it. They turned out really good. After brunch we relaxed for a little before I had to get ready to go to soccer.

Unfortunately Jacob still can't play soccer (he has another 3 weeks or so of rest time) so I went off on my own. It's been 2 weeks since I've played (don't really count Thursday night league last week because it was so short) and I could really tell. For the first hour or so I struggled to make good passes and had bad touches on the ball. We had quite the crowd--we had 12 of our own and 6 of the high schoolers show up. One of the guys mentioned that a new girl showed up last week and asked where all the girls were. Also a few new faces--one guy named Fredrik and another named David (he watched about a month ago but didn't join). I volunteered to go in goal at one point and Fredrik looked very surprised and asked me "really?! Are you sure??" The second half I got into my rhythm a little bit more and started playing better, but there are 2 Korean brothers that play with us (friends of a Korean that plays with us) and they are ball hogs and never passed to me. 

Since we had 3 teams we were rotating 7 minutes playing time or first to get 2 goals. As it turned out, we were off before the last 7 minutes of playing time, so I took off to church a little early. I took the bus and met Jacob in Sinchon. We went to Tom n Toms for a pretzel snack and then went to church. Father Bernard had mass--Jacob mentioned that his homily's are more like lectures than homilies, but I suppose every priest has their own style and since he is a professor it probably comes more naturally to him that way. He does analyze each reading and the gospel more than really give any meaning of how we should relate it to our lives I guess, but it's still interesting to hear. Anyway, Father Bernard said that it was hard to rejoice and be happy on Easter after the events of the Sewol ship accident. He mentioned that right now if people were to tell the grieving families something along the lines, "oh, your son/daughter has been resurrected and is with Jesus now" would have no meaning to them--it's too soon and is not really all that comforting to them in this moment. I could relate and was glad he brought that up. 

After church we went for dak galbi (spicy stir fried chicken). Unfortunately the ajuma added MORE spicy sauce to our dish as it was cooking so it was really, really spicy. When we finished dinner, we walked to Natuur Pop (my favorite ice cream shop) and I finally got to have ice cream! As an added bonus, the ice cream was on sale! 

Easter Sunday Brunch

Easter Sunday brunch

At Natuur Pop!

Mentee Meet up

I unfortunately was woken up by construction around 7am. But, I had a nice relaxed morning after I was awake. I was supposed to meet Krystle at 1 for lunch, but she messaged me as I was about to leave and told me she couldn't make it because she wasn't feeling well. Instead, I went to Emart and made a "point card", so we'll see what kind of discounts I may earn eventually with that. I also printed out some pictures for a present for Jacob. In Emart, I didn't want to wait for the elevator and decided I'd go up the stairs to the 8th floor...well, that definitely gave me quite the workout! Not sure I'll do that again.

I headed to Sangsu to a store I saw a wallet at and decided that would be my 100 day gift to Jacob. I stopped in the store got that and then went to Beetle Juice to get a strawberry banana smoothie. I met up with Jacob in Hongdae and we headed to Myeongdong. We went through the Lotte Department store and wandered around before going towards Jongno and waited in a cafe. We were meeting our mentees around 5:30 for dinner. At 4:45 the mom messaged us asking if we could meet at 5 instead. Kasey was still out with her boyfriend so she wasn't able to change the time up. Jacob and I walked to meet the mom and kids and we waited for Kasey to arrive. We decided we'd go to Mr. Pizza for dinner because I figured the kids would like pizza.

We ordered one large specialty pizza (it had shredded beef, french fries, and tomatoes on top with a "cookie-ish" crust --not the bottom crust but the edge part--stuffed with cream cheese...so strange!), a plain cheese and everyone had to get the salad bar. The kids were a little energetic and Jacob was afraid something was going to get spilled all over the place. After dinner we parted ways and Jacob came over to watch a movie. It was called "Green Street Hooligans" and it was about soccer--interesting but a little violent.

Found this dog while we were shopping (my new blue jacket!)

Jacob, Kasey and me with our mentees and their Mom

Good Friday

Work went okay. The hardest part was that lunch had jap chae (a noodle dish) that I love and since it was a fast day, I couldn't eat a lot!

After work I took the bus to downtown and met up with Jacob. We went to School Food for dinner. We ordered a bibimbap dish and split that. We also got a kimbap and I poked out the meat. Then we went to the cafe to relax a bit before I had class.

Class went alright. I definitely feel like I am on the lower level side. I need to do some more studying. It's also kind of nice because we are going over some grammar points I learned at Kyunghee University in 2012 but never fully understood. So it's kind of a review, but it's also actually learning the information as well.

When class finished Jacob and I took the subway back and he headed home. When I got home I relaxed a bit and tidied up my room.

Homemade Dinner

The school had some event today, so one of my classes was cancelled. That was a nice little break in the middle of the morning.

After school, I ran to get a few last minute groceries and then started on making dinner. My plan was to make ravioli with wonton wrappers. The only problem was that the wrappers were still frozen, so I had to run them under water to try and defrost them a bit to pull them apart. Which caused the edges to get mushy and hard to peel apart. Peeling the wrappers apart took the most time. Next time I will make sure everything is properly defrosted! I stuffed the ravioli with ground beef, onion flavored cream cheese, bell pepper, mushroom, onion and garlic. I boiled them (which also took a long time because they were quite large and I only put 3 in at a time) and then made a homemade tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes and some garlic. Finally, I made some broccoli too. Jacob came while I was still cooking and helped do some of the dirty dishes. Then, it was time to eat. They turned out really good and the sauce was delicious too. I'm hoping to make it again soon!

When we finished dinner, we ran to Emart to just browse. Jaebin's birthday is in a few days and I wanted to look for something for him. As kids get a little bit older it's harder and harder to know what to get them! I'm at a bit of a loss for what to get my Jaebin!

Ravioli

Homemade tomato sauce

Dinner's ready!

3 Months

Work wasn't anything too special. My COT and I worked on a lesson plan for our Open Class in 2 weeks. I feel like there is a lot more communication and collaboration in preparing this lesson than the last time I did an Open Class...

After work I met Jacob in Sangsu. We decided we'd go try the Jamaican Jerk Chicken place we had seen awhile back. We both thought it was in a different place so we ended up wandering around Sangsu and Hapjeong for a bit before pulling up a map and locating it that way. The inside was decorated in Jamaican themed everything and the music was mostly Beatles in reggae form which was interesting. We both ordered a chicken sandwich that was really good. After dinner we wandered around and I took some pictures of some of the cute shops in the area. Both of us were still a little hungry and tried to decide what else we would want. So, we walked to Mecentapolis Mall and were going to get a pretzel but noticed a new sandwich shop across the way. We went in and checked it out. We split a sandwich and soup. It was really good and we both agreed we'll be back to try some other sandwiches. I would still be so, so, so thrilled if a Panera came to Korea. I'd be there once a week!

We finished eating and Jacob went the long way home, riding the subway to DMC with me. When I got home I did some chores and chatted with Krystle. She was asked officially if she would renew her contract or not. After talking with her, I ran to Emart to grab a few groceries. It was good because some of the meat was discounted and I got ground beef 30% off.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Burger!

He really was happy!

3 month dinner at Jamaican Boat

Saw this gem walking around Sangsu

Our soup and sandwich

Belgium Friend--5 years later

Work was a bit stressful today. I realized there were a lot of things I still needed to get done before the end of the week. I also had some very loud and unresponsive students. It's hard to motivate them when they feel they are so behind in English "what's the point?!" :(

We had a meeting to discuss the first Open Class of the year. I decided I would do the open class with Sangji (the one I share the office with). After the meeting, I buckled down and got a lot of stuff done.

After work, I hopped the bus to the subway and wandered around Sangsu, window shopping. I briefly met Jacob and walked him to the GOAL office before his interview. Then I walked around some more, looking for a place to take my friend Kim for dinner. Jacob told me to meet him at 6:30 and then we could go to the meeting place with Kim at 6:45. Well, 6:45 came and went with no sign of Jacob, so I went to meet Kim since he didn't have a phone. I apologized for making him wait, but  he said it was no problem at all. I decided I would go to the BBQ place I went to in Dec '12 and then took Jacob to in January. We chatted and walked that way. When Jacob finished his interview, he met us at the restaurant. Anyway, Kim was sweet and had some handmade coffee flavored chocolates that his friend sells from her shop in Belgium. (Ah, let me backtrack! I met Kim in 2009 at the GOAL Homecoming Program. He was adopted to Belgium. We've kept in touch here and there over the years, with me asking him a lot of questions regarding cameras. Photography is his hobby and he is really knowledgeable and really good!) We decided to order meat and a side dish of dwengjangjjigae/bibimbap. Dinner did not disappoint and Kim was very excited and happy with my dinner pick.

When we finished dinner, we walked to the quieter side of Hongdae to look for a cafe. I had seen one awhile ago that I wanted to try so we went there. Kim talked cameras a bit with me and he took some pictures. We kept it a rather short evening since he had only arrived in Korea 2 days earlier and was still a little tired.

My lemon tea

Photo Cred: Kim

Kim and me meet again after 5 years!

Running Day

I figured today would be a good day to go for a run. The forecast was nice and I didn't go to soccer yesterday.

Work passed uneventful. But I was a little overwhelmed thinking about some of the things I needed to do, with limited time to do it.

When I got home, I changed and went to Bulgwang Stream again to start my run. It was really nice to run along the stream. I enjoyed seeing all the people out enjoying the nice weather. Once I got to World Cup Stadium, I had to go on to the streets to finish my run (I ran to Hongdae). It was a little difficult because I had to weave around more people and wait at stop lights and watch for cars and motorbikes. It also felt a little bit dirtier and harder to breathe. I arrived in Hongdae after about 40 minutes of running, which is a lot further ahead of time than I had planned or expected. Actually, I thought it was kind of interesting because taking the subway it's about 25-30 minutes and this was only about 10 more minutes longer than that. The only drawback to running to Hongdae is that I'm dirty and poorly dressed.

I did some window shopping and waited for Jacob to finish teaching his class. We met up and went to his "Imos" restaurant for dinner. I ordered bulgogi stew and he got donkasu (a pork cutlet) with cheese--I tried some and it was really good. After dinner, we walked back to his area and went to a bakery. I got a croissant with cream and strawberries. It was so good. Then I took the bus to the subway and the subway home.

Palm Sunday

Another mostly relaxing day at home with Jacob. He came over and I made breakfast sandwiches. I tried to be creative and put some egg into my cookie cutters for a fun shape, but a lot of egg ran out the bottom and then it was difficult to flip and get out of the cutter. I used waffles for the bread and also made some bacon. They turned out pretty good!

In the early afternoon we left to take a walk along Bulgwang Stream, the stream that starts by my subway station and goes all the way to the Han River (I believe). We just walked along the stream to the next station and then grabbed the subway to Sinchon. There, we walked around to look for a place for dinner and decided we'd go back to Seoga and Cook, the Italian restaurant with large portions. The last time we went there, we tried to order a chicken salad and they said "no". We figured because it was later at night or something, but when we tried to order it again, they told us "no" a second time. We were both really disappointed. Instead we got the meat spaghetti again. After eating, we sat and talked until it was time for me to go to church. Jacob had contemplated going, but with the big hill and his "micro-torn" Achilles, he figured it would be a bit too difficult and painful going.

We started mass out in the vestibule and had a "pre-Gospel", sprinkling of water/blessing of the palms and then a procession in with our palms. I forgot Palm Sunday has the really long Gospel! Mass went quite long and I was glad that Jacob and I had had dinner before I went to church. I headed home to relax a bit and prepare for the upcoming week.

Breakfast sandwich!

Tulips along the stream

On our walk along the stream

Yummy spaghetti and peach juice from Seoga and Cook

Flowers on Sogang's Campus

Friends and shopping

Today was a good day. In the morning I skyped with Lilly! I haven't really talked with her at all since August. We've sent messages back and forth here and there, but not really just talking. It was so good to see her and catch up. I also saw Joel for a little too. She said if I stay another year, she and Joel really want to come and visit. :)

Jacob and I met up and we went to Dongdaemun to look at the new History and Culture Park and do some shopping. We stopped for a late lunch/snack in the Lotte Department Store at a Chinese restaurant. We ordered a chicken omurice (rice with a fried egg) and dumplings. Unfortunately the dumplings had a shrimp inside even though the menu said "pork" dumplings! Luckily Jacob took a bite and saw it before he ate the whole thing.

After wandering Dongdaemun for a little, we headed to Ewha for a little more shopping. I found a nice spring jacket/blazer. It's light blue and fits perfectly. Jacob found a good spring cardigan too. We walked towards Sinchon and went to a cafe I had seen a month ago. It was quiet and cozy with lots of couples in it. Then it was time to go meet Line and her other friends.

Line was having her going away dinner. She wanted BBQ and always picked the same place--Jacob said it was good, but too much money for the amount of meat. So I remembered a BBQ buffet I went to that was only 8,000W/person and suggested that. We went there and I think everyone was happy. Jacob grilled for our table and I enjoyed having BBQ.

We took off after awhile and went to catch the subway. Except they made some announcement and there were no trains coming on the monitor. We decided we'd take a bus to go near his guesthouse, transfer buses and go to the subway to get home. So, we followed that plan...until we got to the bus stop at the subway. We were walking to the station and we both kind of turned and mentioned, "doesn't some of these buses go to Eungam?" Then I see bus 7025 which I KNOW goes to my area and we hop on it. We say oh good, only like 10 stops. Except then I hear the next stop announced and...it's not the right "next stop". We are going in the wrong direction. So, we decided that we'd ride to the end of the line and get a bus going back. We did that and it ended up taking us about an hour and a half to return from Sinchon, which should be about 30-35 minutes. It was kind of funny and definitely something I'll always remember.

Dongdaemun Culture and History Park

At lunch

Chicken Omurice--so good!

Cafe

A fried chicken place in Sinchon

Giant soccer ball in Sinchon--bring on the World Cup!

At dinner--BBQ Buffet

Finally Friday!

Work passed rather uneventful. Even though I only had 4 classes, it was still a little hard getting through the day. The last week or so of not getting a lot of sleep has really started piling up.

After work, I hopped on a bus and headed to the downtown area. I had to buy a textbook for level 3 of my Korean class! I got the textbook and met Jacob at California Pizza Kitchen. I was really craving pizza so we decided we'd go there. We got the "taco" pizza or something like that and it was really good. I picked off my chicken and gave it to Jacob. We finished dinner and walked to my class building. Jacob waited in the cafe for me while I went to class.

Class was pretty good. I like the new teacher, but now some of the material is a little bit more challenging. I'm glad that I'm now in the middle/low end of the students. It gave me a lot of motivation to do studying outside of class. I needed something to get me back into the swing of studying and being in a class that challenges me seems to be the ticket. The previous classes, I could coast by with what I already knew, but it seems that I will need to work some now.

When I finished classes, Jacob and I took the subway back to the other side of town together. Even though it was only 2 days since we last saw each other it was good to see him tonight.

Soccer and Groceries

Work went pretty fast today. The 4th graders took a test and then played a heads up 7 up spin off game so it was easy.

After work, I headed home and had to leave almost right away for soccer. This week our game was at 6pm. Jacob, because of his injury and a work meeting wasn't able to come. It felt weird to go to soccer without him and not have anyone to warm up with since I arrived early. Ray and Stefano showed up a little bit later and asked about Jacob and his heel. We played the bottom team in the league. They needed to borrow a few players, but we still ended up beating them. The final score was 8-1. The last 10 minutes or so, I switched with John so he could come out of goal. In goal I had 2 really good saves.

When we finished the game, they asked if we wanted to join in and help any other team. I was considering it, but I knew I wanted to get some things from the HomePlus store so I decided I would pass. I went to HomePlus and I was there for an hour. It was nice to just wander and see if anything caught my eye. I picked up a few kitchen items I needed, in addition to the groceries. I took a backpack with me and I almost couldn't fit everything in the backpack. It was heavy, but luckily I didn't have to travel too far.

I came home and unpacked all my groceries and relaxed for the evening.

Whirl Wind and FULL Wednesday

What a roller coaster day! I didn't get much sleep again. I was up late thinking about my contract and whether to renew or not. It's been on my mind a lot as I only have a few more weeks to make the decision.

The 4th graders did a role play of our textbooks version of "The Three Little Pigs". They were so cute. They really enjoy the role play activity and it's interesting how much difference a year makes, knowing my 5th graders would NOT do that or enjoy that activity.

In the afternoon Jacob met with his social worker to talk about information she had regarding his birthmom. He called me after the meeting to tell me what they talked about.

When work finished, I took off for Hwa Sun's, my "unni" (older sister). I haven't seen her and Jaebin since the end of January. It was great to catch up with her. Going to her house always feels like coming to a second home. Her youngest brother and his wife had their second baby. There were some complications so her parents were taking care of their toddler. So, Hwa Sun was taking care of the parents' dog. Pass the dependent, haha.

Anyway, Hwa Sun made dinner--we had bulgogi, kimchi cheon (kind of like pancakes) and soybean paste stew. I talked with her and Jaebin did his homework. It's sad these days when I go visit Jaebin now he's doing homework. A little bit later, Hwa Sun's husband came home. He had stopped at the grocery store, so we had strawberries. It was good to see both of them and talk with them.

I headed home around 9. On my way, my good friend Emily messaged me. She is thinking about coming to visit in July, if she had the funds to do so! How exciting! I was lucky enough to catch Amanda on skype when I got home and we talked for almost an hour. It's been awhile since she and I have talked. Afterwards, I talked with my Mom and Grandpa. I was very glad to see both of them and talk with them about making a decision whether to stay another year or not. I still haven't decided and I only have another week or two to make that decision.

Such an eventful day~

Reunion

Work went okay. The 6th graders finished their presentations and the 5th grade classes were pretty easy. At the end of teaching 6 classes, I was feeling pretty worn out. I wrote some letters to people back home for the rest of the afternoon.

I stopped at home to get envelopes before going to the post office. When I got to my building, the doorman gave me a letter from my Great Aunt. It was great to get a letter from her. I also thought it was such a coincidence that I got a letter from her the day I was sending one to her!

I went to the post office-since it's in the new location I had to backtrack almost all the way back to school. Then I walked back to the subway to meet Jacob as he was coming from his work. We went to Sangsu Station and walked to Hongdae from there to meet his friend Line and her boyfriend. He met Line last spring--she was adopted to Denmark and is like a big sister to him. We met in the Hongdae park and chatted for a little before moving to Burger B for dinner.

We ate and they reminisced. After we finished eating, Line pulled out some macaroons from a shop she and Jacob went to often. They were really, really delicious. Line asked Jacob if he had taken me there and I said no. She was shocked and Jacob protested he must  have taken me at some point. I insisted no and then it dawned on him he hadn't because we've been exploring so much and finding a lot of other good dessert places. He likes cronuts better than the macaroons (which surprised Line). We all walked back towards Hongdae station and said goodbyes for the evening.

On the subway, I was squished against the door because it was so crowded. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get off at the next stop for my transfer, but luckily a lot of other people got off there too, so the car emptied out and I just had to push a little to get out.

Tired Monday

Last night I had trouble sleeping again and didn't get much sleep. It made for a long and tiring day. Luckily, my day was pretty easy. Today the 6th graders had a speaking test/presentation about their favorite season. After classes, we had a staff meeting about sexual harassment (I think) that was an hour and a half with a guest speaker.

When work was over, I went to Hongdae to meet Krystle. She wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant, so I figured I'd give Japanese another shot. I ordered udon (noodles) with beef and an egg. Well, the broth was quite salty and the beef fatty. I wasn't crazy about it--Japanese food still hasn't won me over. After dinner Krystle and I walked around and did some window shopping. It was quite cold today and we were both getting chilled so Krystle decided to head home. It was just the time that Jacob was finishing up teaching, so I walked over to Eastern (adoption agency) and waited for him. We took a taxi to his neighborhood and went to the grocery store's food court for Jacob's dinner and some groceries. Then I grabbed a bus to the subway and came home.

Lazy Sunday

I had a great relaxing Sunday. Jacob came over in the morning. Because of his injury he didn't go to soccer. I was debating going, but I didn't sleep well Saturday night and figured taking it easy today would be best.

Anyway, we went to the bibimbap restaurant again for lunch. The imo ("aunt"-and more polite term for an older lady, especially one working in a restaurant) there already recognizes us. Lunch was pretty good. After lunch we hung out and watched some tv. In the evening we made a chicken stir fry with veggies and mandu as an appetizer.

It was just so nice to bum around and not rush off to do anything. :)

Wedding Day

We woke up and heard voices in the guesthouse. Apparently there were 2 other Korean girls staying there in a different room. Jacob and I got ready and I grabbed some bakery for us for breakfast. We were going to stay at the guesthouse til closer to the wedding, but figured maybe other people were there and I could visit with my Inje University friends. We grabbed a taxi and got to the church about 30 minutes before the wedding--it turned out to be the perfect amount of time I think. There were already quite a few people there.

We stood outside--it was sunny and warm, but very windy which made it a bit cool. I saw my friend Bit Chan and he came over to talk to us. He was surprised to see me there. In the foyer of the church were tables set up with wedding pictures and tables to pick up food tickets for lunch and a place to drop off money (typical Korean wedding custom is to give money and not gifts; Koreans can expect to have the wedding paid off by the wedding gift money given). We saw Ji and gave him a hug and met his Mom and Dad. He told us to go have a seat in the church on the right side. We sat down and waited as the church filled up. They had a nice service--after the homily, Ji gave a speech to Yeojin, then her parents and finally his parents. Then Yeojin gave a short speech to the parents as well. Finally, they did this cute thing where we all said the different parts of their name. We said "Jeong" (Yeojin's last name) and Ji said something that started with "Jeong"; then "Yeo" and "Jin". I guess it's kind of hard to explain... Finally, they said their vows, exchanged rings and lastly had two friends sing songs to them before finishing up the ceremony.

After the ceremony, they had a big family picture taken. Then, it was time for the friends' photo. When that was finished, we headed out to have lunch. It was a big buffet and the seating was mostly outside which was nice, but windy and a little chilly. At first Jacob and I sat with a few ET friends, but then we all decided to move to tables in the sun, so we sat with a few different guys the next time. It was good to see them all, but it was hard to catch up with all of them. I was just happy to see all of them and remember all the good times we had together in the past. It was nice to be around them all again like old times. We saw Ji and Yeojin take some pictures in the traditional Korean hanbok and we took some group pictures with friends outside. Then, people started heading out and finally we got a chance to snap a picture with Yeojin and then Ji before they rushed to the airport for their honeymoon.

Jacob and I had a lot of time to kill in Suncheon, but unfortunately due to Jacob's ankle and the windy and cool weather we didn't want to do anything outside. When I booked the train ticket, I didn't realize Ji and Yeojin were leaving immediately after the wedding for their honeymoon and had hoped we'd have some time to visit with them so I had gotten a 7:20pm train. We went to the station to see if we could switch to an earlier time, but there wasn't any room. So, we walked to the Emart to look for a snack. We hung out in the food court there and then walked back to the station and waited in a cafe there. Another long 3 hour train ride back and we were back in Seoul.

Some of their wedding pictures on display

Ji walking down the aisle

Yeojin with her Dad down the aisle

Lovely couple

The friends! Can you spot Jacob and me? Left side, in the front!

Some ET friends and me at lunch

ET friends :)

Captain Sailor Moon, Hansy, me and Justin

Best Dressed Couple ;)

Hopefully not our last picture with Ji before he moves to New Zealand!