Jimin's First Birthday

This morning Jihye was up early starting on preparing food for Jimin's birthday party. She made me kimbap, mandu soup and kimchi. A wonderful breakfast. When Jimin woke up, Jihye said my duty was to play with Jimin and keep her entertained. Not a problem at all. :)

Toward late morning, Jihye said she wouldn't be able to go with me to the hair salon anymore because she had a lot to prepare. So I went off on my own. The woman was expecting me, as Jihye had talked with her earlier in the week. She said she kind of recognized me from over a year ago-come to think of it, probably 2 years now. Anyway, I showed her some pictures of how my hair looked after she had done it before and she first layered my hair and then set about to perming it. She actually cut off a little bit more than I was wanting, but hopefully once it relaxes a little bit, it will look a little longer. The whole thing took almost 2 hours and she was very nice. She also gave me a bit of a discount because I had been there twice before.

I returned to Jihye's with my new-do. She bundled up Jimin and we went to go visit two of Jihye's friends to deliver ddeok (rice cakes). It is customary to give ddeok for a baby's first birthday and it means they will have good luck. First we went to one of her friends' place. Her friend is in her 40's and she has a 30 month and a one year old. We chatted with her husband and played with the 30 month old for about an hour. Then we took off to the next house. The old married couple who answered the door were very sweet. The woman used to teach in the IIIHR program (language program I did in 2011). Both she and her husband speak English very well. They recently became Catholics because they liked Pope Francis so much. It was interesting to talk with them and we stayed for about an hour here as well.

Then we headed back and prepared for the party. Jihye and her husband finished cleaning and making food. Again, my duty was to tend to Jimin and play with her. Tough job for sure! First Jihye's parent-in-laws arrived and her brother-in-law. Next came her brother and sister-in-law and their 8 month old baby as well as her parents. It was hard for me to communicate with them so I was pretty quiet for most of the time. We did a little tradition where the baby picks an item and it shows what he or she will become or do in their life. There are set ones like pen, money, farming tool, mic; but Jihye asked me to help create a few jobs. I took one of her lipsticks and said it could be model or something with fashion. I also put a cellphone in for something with technology or engineer. Well, Jimin picked the lipstick! She then proceeded to pick the pen and the little rake too. A model-teacher-farmer! We sang happy birthday to her and "she" blew out the candle. Then it was time to eat. I sat at a table with just Jihye's brother-in-law. Sometimes she and her husband sat down and ate with us, but mostly they were moving around and serving and attending to the parents and babies.

At 7:30 Jihye called a taxi for me and she, her husband and Jimin walked me out. It was sad to go because I know this is one of the last times I will get to see her in Korea. She was so kind and paid for my taxi. Jihye's husband apologized that he couldn't drive me there.

I arrived early at the train station and waited a little bit. Boarded the train and had a 3 hour ride back. I was going to take a taxi home, but when I went outside, I realized the buses were still running. Right when I got to the stop, the bus I needed pulled up. Perfect. I saved about 9,000W. And arrived home around midnight. Exhausting day, but so worth it!

Breakfast!

Jimin loves to do this-she's already into Yoga!

Birthday girl picking the lipstick to determine future

She is so strong! She climbed up on to this because she wanted to sit too. With her cousin

Christmas lights outside of Gupo Station

Best Day in Ages

I had to wake early, but it wasn't a big deal because I was so excited for my day.

I grabbed a taxi and took it to the train station. On the way, I talked a little bit with the taxi driver; he asked where I was going to and I explained my tie with the city of Gimhae. I arrived at Seoul Station with plenty of time. I went to check-in and get my ticket. While I was waiting in line, I saw someone 2 people ahead of me and watched him get his paper ticket out of his bag. I thought to myself, "must be a foreigner to print out the receipt like that". And when he turned around I realized it was Randy! Randy did the InKAS mentoring program with me last fall. I had also ran into him a few weeks ago at the North Korean Hunger banquet event. I said "hey" and we chatted after both of us had gotten our tickets. He was headed for Busan to meet his birthmom for the first time! A little later his interpreter arrived and the three of us chatted and then headed down to the tracks.

I boarded the train and settled in for the 2 hour ride to Daegu. The guy sitting next to me put down a burger and two beers, which I thought was funny, as it was only 8:50 in the morning. I watched some TV for most of the ride. I made it to Dongdaegu Station and got off. I went to the ticket booth and asked for a refund on my ticket since I didn't go to Busan. I also bought a ticket from Dongdaegu to Gupo Station. Then I went to search for a Starbucks. I figured I had a bit of time before Bumsik said he'd meet me. Well, I wandered around looking for it, finally found it and ordered my drink when he said that he was up and would be at the station in about 15 minutes. Sooo I had to walk back with my coffee. Whoops.

We met up and started walking to look for lunch. He said he wanted to take me to a market area with lots of choices. We found a little place tucked away and the ajuma there was very nice to us. We ordered a kimchi stew with tofu and other vegetables. She gave us a fried egg just to be nice (and cause I am a foreigner). Bumsik liked the feel of the little place and I told him it would be considered a "mom and pop" place. His next idea for the day was to take a walk along a river nearby. So we stopped and got ice cream and then headed to the stream. We walked a little bit and then sat and talked. There was a nice view of the mountains and the stream was nice and relaxing. The weather was also perfect. I think it might have even hit the 60's, with the sun shining.

We then went to check out a bridge nearby. It used to be train tracks, but they converted it to a footbridge and put a museum in the middle of it. It was really cool. Inside, there was a cafe and a space with some kind of benches to relax. We sat inside and talked some more. The final plan on Bumsik's agenda was to have coffee at his house. We then walked to his house, following the path of the old train tracks. They ran almost 15 feet from where his building is. Bumsik has been interested in coffee and being a barista, so he had roasted his own beans. I sadly had to tell him I didn't really drink coffee, so he made me tea instead. We chatted a bit more and he walked me back to the train station. It was such a fun afternoon with him. I hadn't seen him since May. Now, most Koreans have a kind of dialect outside of Seoul and it can be quite hard to understand. Daegu is known for their dialect. Bumsik and I talked a little bit in Korean, but it was easiest for me to do English.

On the train I had an hour ride to Gupo. Again, in this area they have a dialect as well. My heart felt so full when I arrived at the station and thought back to the first time I arrived there. Actually, I was quite terrified the first time and not happy at all, but thinking about how this place has become so special to me made me happy. Anyway, some woman asked me where the subway station was (in Korean) and I was (proudly) able to point her in the right direction and say some Korean to her too. I made it just as the infamous 128-1 bus arrived at the stop. I got on the bus and there were no seats so I had to stand. I feared for my life. I was there, flopping and flaying all over while the others stood tall. How does that happen?! Luckily a seat opened up maybe halfway through the ride. I was getting a bit bus sick as it was quite warm and the driving was very wild.

I took one stop early to get off sooner and get some fresh air. I messaged my friend Jeong Kwon to come and meet me at the front gate. For dinner, we went to my favorite restaurant, Mongshili. We had bibimbap and kalguksu (handcut noodle soup). It was delicious-as always. While we were finishing up, we called our friend Ji, who now lives in New Zealand with his wife. It was so good talking to him. Next on our agenda was Coffee House, a favorite place to get beverages. They changed location; I preferred the eclectic and cramped location and feel better, but I was glad they weren't closed. It was a staple on the corner of the main street and my heart stopped when I thought it had gone out of business! We walked and drank our juices and called to another friend. Then we took a stroll around campus, stopping at ET and the soccer fields, past the new Burger King, looked at the tree I had planted, BC park and back down the hill off campus. We just kind of wandered around and then Jeong Kwon suggested noraebang. Oohh, I have a love/hate relationship with noraebang (karaoke). I like going with a big group of friends and when others sing or I can join with a group, but I don't like singing that much. With just 2? That means my voice would be very obvious! But he wouldn't let me say no, so we went to a small little room and paid 1,000W for 4 songs. The first one I sang alone, from the Lion King. Then we sang one pop song he knew and we also sang "Let it Go". My memory fails me on the 4th song. (possibly he sang one alone) After noraebang we called a 3rd friend to talk. I thought he was in New Zealand still, but it turns out he's in Busan. I said we'd have to meet the next time I was in town.

It was getting a little bit late and Jeong Kwon has a curfew at his dormitory. He walked me to Jihye's apartment. On the way, he stopped and tried his luck at a "claw" game to get a stuffed animal. He didn't win. I made it to Jihye's and was greeted warmly by her, her husband and baby Jimin! The rest of the evening we just relaxed, ate snacks and chatted.

Bumsik and me with our ice cream

Bumsik and my shadow at the old train track bridge

My. Favorite. Food. Ever.

So many good memories here.

Noraebang with Jeong Kwan

On a walk with Jeong Kwan

What a sweet face!

불금 "Hot Friday"

Well, I'm not sure what happened, but my sub wasn't here today. Instead, the two 5th grade homeroom teachers came to class with their students and sat in the back of the class. It was a little bit...intimidating and awkward for me, but it wasn't too bad. I'm just curious what happened to the sub!

After work, I went to the post office and mailed off a Christmas package! Then it was on to Gangnam area to meet Hee Eun. We decided to go to an event "Friends in Korea"; kind of like a social meet-up for foreigners and Koreans here. First we did grab dinner at a kind of Japanese place for a light meal. There was extra time to kill so we went to a cafe and chatted. Then we headed to the venue for the event. It was alright. We sat at tables, 5-6 per table. First Hee Eun and I were joined by a Japanese guy and a Chinese-Korean. Later a Polish man with dual citizenship to the US also talked with us. He was an interesting character. Finally they all left and we were joined by a shy and innocent 20 year old student who is in military service. He was cute, like a little brother type. He wanted to practice his English so we talked with him. Like others, he said I talked a little bit too fast so I had to watch my pace. I headed home and it took almost an hour. Whew, such a long ride.

I did my packing and headed to bed eager for my weekend trip!

So thankful for Hee Eun!

Thanksgiving!

This is my 3rd Thanksgiving away from home. It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since I've had my Mom's pumpkin pie! But maybe I will have to have her make it before Thanksgiving when I return.

I had my first class with my 4th graders. Then second period started and after about 5 minutes, the students still hadn't showed up. The sub went to go check with their homeroom teacher and found out the 4th graders were having a big test. Second and third period were off for me then! It was a wonderful Thanksgiving gift! Instead, I returned to my office and got to skype a little bit with my mom and work.

After work, I headed to Itaewon to Left Coast Burgers for my Thanksgiving buffet! I was feeling a little down because I would be eating dinner alone, but still hopeful I could meet someone or just continue practicing thankfulness and reflect alone. As it turned out, when I sat down, my table was next to an older American couple. They asked if I was alone and when I said yes, they invited me to join them. I was so thankful it brought tears to my eyes. We chatted a little and then went to get our first plate of food. There were rolls, pumpkin bread, corn bread, mashed potatoes, stuffing, creamed corn, creamed spinach, salad, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, turkey and ham. It was all so very delicious! I had 2 plates of food in order to try everything. At the end, there were pumpkin pie bars and apple crisp. It was nice to chat with Stacy and Steve and it was so very kind of them to reach out to me. They ended up leaving before I did, and Stacy gave me a hug. I told them I really appreciated them telling me to join them. I sat a little bit longer (and might have gotten some more dessert); the owner asked me how I was doing/if everything was good and I noticed she used my name. Of course there was a name card and I had made a reservation, but I did think it was a little strange. When I finally left to go pay, the owner told me that Steve and Stacy had taken care of my bill! I was so shocked and surprised; very grateful.

I took the subway home and wasn't looking where I was going and got on going the wrong way. Which is ironic because Stacy had told a similar story at dinner. I rode the subway for about 1 or 2 stops before I noticed the doors weren't opening on the sides I was expecting them to. I decided I would go until the transfer station (another 3 stops) so I didn't have to pay two fares. The good thing about the longer ride is that I was able to finish the TV show I was watching.

When I returned home, I was still feeling so full! I got ready for my weekend trip to Gimhae and was about to go to bed when my friend Sarah told me she was around to skype. We chatted for about half an hour and it was really good talking with her. I couldn't help it, but after we finished talking, instead of going to bed, I did some research on hotels for Hong Kong for another 30 minutes or so.

My seating reserved for me

Buffet line (a bit blurry)

First plate!

Second plate-so yummy!

Class, class

Today I worked with the substitute. She was pretty quiet, but sweet. The 4th graders seemed to like her. We just played review games so it was a low key class and day.

After work, I stopped at the post office before heading to Insadong. There, I did a little bit of Christmas shopping. I am quite pleased with the results. I wasn't going to buy anything special for dinner, since I had brought some snacks along, but then I got a sample of a croquette and...it was so good I had to get a whole one! I ordered a veggie one and it was really good.

I went to class a little bit early so I could sit and warm up, though the weather hasn't been too cold. While I was in class, one of my Korean friends called me and unfortunately I couldn't talk with him. It's his birthday today too.

When class finished, I headed home and was able to watch a TV show on my phone for the commute.

Croquette in Insadong

Made Chili for Hee Eun!

Nothing too special at work today.

I came home and started my chili. I turned it low and let it simmer. Then, I went out for my run. The weather was quite nice. Halfway through my run, Hee Eun called me to check where to go when she arrived. I finished my run in even less time than last week. I am almost down to my 3 mile time from high school! And like I've mentioned, I'm really starting to enjoy it. I felt so strong and healthy-very blessed. When I finished my run I had plenty of time to cool down and stretch while I waited for Hee Eun to arrive. I figured it would be easiest to just meet her at the station since I was already out instead of trying to explain directions to my place.

We met and walked back. The chili smelled really good. I started the rice and after about 15 minutes we were ready to eat. I think the chili was a little bit bland, even though I added lots of chili powder and cumin. The reason could be because I've put chili peppers in the other times, though I'm not sure. I also used stewed tomatoes with no salt added, so that could have been part of it as well. We made a kind of chili "salad" with the rice, Doritos and cheese. After dinner, I also baked some cookies. Yum, do I love those cookies. Good thing I only have a small oven and limited ingredients or I could really go overboard eating them.

The rest of the evening we sat and chatted. Hee Eun had suggested getting coffee but I offered powdered coffee that I had. We did that and stayed in which was nice and saved us some money.

Chili with doritos!

Accomplished Errands and Cleaning

Nothing too special at work. Though the school did find a substitute teacher, so I met her in the morning. She just graduated from university in the spring, so she's quite young.

After work, I went to Emart and did the shopping for the kids I picked out at church. I found some nice jackets and warm clothes for the four. It was kind of fun shopping for them. I also was fortunate to have a very kind Emart employee help me while I was looking at the winter jackets. Typically the employees at Emart or other stores can be quite brusque or not helpful or friendly. Instead, this woman was very kind in helping me with sizes and even though I spoke to her in really broken Korean, she tried hard to understand me.

I returned home and made dinner. Then I cleaned my room and did a workout while watching some TV. When I finished that, I returned to Emart to get a few groceries.

At the end of the night, I felt very productive and accomplished!

Pretty Normal Sunday

In the morning I thought I would sleep as soundly as I had the previous day, but unfortunately I was up early. I got ready and headed out to church. I lucked out this week and was able to hop a bus to church instead of the 10 minute walk.

At church, I saw the wish list of Christmas items for some children in need in Korea. It nearly broke my heart because the majority of the children were asking for jackets, shoes, and winter clothes rather than toys or anything else. I sent my mom a message regarding this and she told me to take a few children and we would get jackets for them. After mass, I took 4 names and the woman in charge was very surprised.

I was starting to walk to the subway when I got a message from my Mom saying they were available to skype with me. So I found a bench, sat down and called Phil. I was able to talk to Phil, Kristin, Grandpa and mom for about 40 minutes. It was pretty neat. They liked that I was out on the street rather than in my room.

I took the subway home when we finished talking. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but I've been able to watch some popular western tv shows through a Korean website that has Korean subtitles. Now, I decided I would try it on my phone...and I have turned into a regular Korean. My 30 min+ commutes aren't so bad anymore because I can watch TV! Amazing! What is even more amazing is my phone has the battery power to support that.

When I returned home I had a snack and did some more travel research. A little bit later my friend Mike called me and we talked about our upcoming trip to Hong Kong for New Years Eve! I'm super excited for it!

We finished chatting and I took off for soccer. I walked there-the weather was not too bad. I arrived a little late for soccer; the high school boys had a team of 5 and there were 8 of us. After another 10 minutes or so, we had two more guys trickle in so we were able to play three teams of 5, but then we decided to make it 6 so some people played on two teams. Anyway, it was fun and I even tried playing more offense than normal. I had a few shots on goal, but it's been awhile since I've scored.

I had almost considered walking home because the evening was so nice, and I ducked out a few minutes early (my team finished our round and there wouldn't have been enough time for another game), but I figured a 9 minute subway ride home beats a 40 minute walk. I got home and was all set to hop in the shower when one of my friends messaged me and we started chatting for a bit.

Skype and Jenna

This morning I got to skype with Mom and Grandpa. It was great to talk with them. Toby also made an appearance. The other impressive thing was that I slept until almost 10am, waking only for my alarm to notify me of my up coming skype date!

After chatting, I relaxed and did some research for upcoming trips I have planned. Then I went to go meet Jenna near City Hall. I arrived before her and waited a little bit outside, but it was nice to take in all of the bustling of the downtown area. She arrived with her friend Kent, from Zambia. We went Jenna's choir practice. I forget the name of it, but it comes from Puritan or Quaker times? Where they would take the notes and changed them into symbols and the symbols and different name to them (sol, fa, la, me) and then you sang the name to it. It was a little bit of work trying to remember the name of the symbol and sing, but it was nice to try something different. There were about 10 of us participating.

We finished singing around 5. Kent, Jenna and I decided to get dinner together. I'm not sure how we picked it, but we chose to head to Noksapyeong. We took a bus there and I chatted more with Kent. When we arrived to Noksapyeong, we just kind of walked around, and I tried not to be too forceful with places I was familiar with, just offer suggestions of restaurants I knew or had heard of. We passed Tucan, a Jamaican restaurant that I tried to go to but it was closed on that day. Several of my friends had been there and talked about it. So, I suggested it and Jenna agreed she would like to try it. We ordered the half and half; Jamaican Jerk and Orange Chicken. We ordered a side of rice and it also came with homemade potato chips. It was pretty good, but the rice was a bit dry. After we finished eating, we were looking at the short menu and Jenna said it would be nice to try some of the juices. Kent said, "why not?" and we ordered 3 naranja con leche. I was a little worried because I figured there would be milk in the drink, but my stomach did not hurt at all after. The restaurant was quite busy and lots of people coming in and out of the small place. The door didn't shut properly so unfortunately were were chilled out a little.

When we finished our drinks, we took a walk to Itaewon. Kent was supposed to meet a friend there so Jenna and I joked that we would escort him safely there. We got to Itaewon only to find out his friend was somewhere between Noksapyeong and Itaewon, where we had just come from. He was annoyed and decided he would ditch the friend and stay with Jenna and me. We went to Starbucks and got some warm drinks and chatted for a few hours there. It was nice to get out and meet a friend and make a new friend.

Good chicken and homemade potato chips!

The drink!

Outside an animal hospital. Poop bags!

Hee Eun!

Work went alright. I was a little worried about how the 5th graders would do with just me, but we survived alright.

After work I was reunited with an old Inje friend, Hee Eun. She has lived quite an interesting life in her 25 years. She quit her job as a stewardess for Qatar Airlines and just moved to Seoul to find a job. I haven't seen her in almost 2 years!

We met in Hongdae and walked around looking for somewhere to eat. I told her I knew many places and if she named a type of food, I knew where to go. We picked BBQ and so of course I went to my tried and true, Bonga. She said it was kind of a famous place, the chef/owner is a man in his 60s married to some famous actress/model in her 30s! It was kind of neat to learn more about a favorite restaurant of mine. We ordered the meat and grilled and chatted.

After dinner, we both wanted dessert. We started walking and I was going to take her to Billy Angel, where I went with Sumi for our last meeting. But then I asked if she liked red velvet. When she said yes, I knew I would take her to Cafe 8 1/2. Gotta stick with the little local private place! It was also nice because it was a little bit of a walk so we could digest dinner and get some exercise. We ordered and shared a slice of the cake and chatted some more. When we finished dessert, we wandered around Hongdae and did some window shopping. I took the bus home so I didn't have to walk as much.

It was great catching up with Hee Eun and yummy red velvet to boot!

Another run day

Again, flew solo with three 4th grade classes. They did well and I'm proud of them.

After work, I went for another 4 mile run. Each time I shave off a few more seconds. I have one problem though. I think I have small ear-holes. I have never been able to find a pair of headphones that fit and stay in my ears. It's not a big problem if I'm walking or sitting with headphones. But when I run, and they get jostled around, they tend to start falling out and won't stay in. I believe I could shave off MORE time on my run if I wasn't constantly battling with my headphones and shoving them in my ears.

I returned from my run and relaxed by watching some more TV.

Korean Class.

Today I taught solo. There was no substitute for my 4th grade (and two 5th grade classes) coteacher. In addition, the computer wasn't working in the ER so I had to go to their homerooms. It wasn't so bad, except that the students had missed a day of English class so going from the listening activity I made for them last week, to doing reading/writing today, was a bit of a jump for some of them.

The nice surprise was that we were dismissed at 2pm! I didn't have any big plans, and I had already told a friend in the US we could talk. So, when I got home we chatted and talked for almost 2 hours! It was good to catch up with her. I made some leftovers for a quick dinner before heading downtown.

I was on the hunt for a birthday present for my friends' one year old. I'll be going to her birthday party next weekend. I thought a book would be a nice present from a teacher. :) I went to the bookstore and was looking at things. I found some books that had CDs with them-in English or Korean. My first inclination was to grab an English one. But then I remembered they are moving to Australia in a few months. Baby Jimin will grow up learning English and the Korean will be harder to keep with her. I decided a better choice would be a Korean book and songs for her instead.

I then went looking for a pair of black flats. I need some comfortable, dressier shoes. I found a pair that have a bow on the tops of them. Not sure how I feel about the bow-definitely Korean style. The fit is a little tight around the toes, but loose in the heel. The woman gave some inserts to help make it fit a little better. Not 100% comfortable in the moment, but hopefully they will get broken in a bit and become favorite shoes soon.

Next, to Korean class. I guess it wasn't too bad. I sent a message to my 언니 (older sister) to check about the grammar point because I wasn't exactly sure. Still hoping to be able to meet with her soon.

Run

Work wasn't too exciting. I kind of floated along through the day.

After work, I went for a 4 mile run. This time instead of going all the way to Hapjeong, I turned around at 2 miles and returned. It's nice to just run along the stream and not worry about stoplights, motorbikes and extra pedestrians. Of course there are others out walking and biking along the stream, but it's not as chaotic as on the street.

I returned home and watched some TV shows on my computer. I've found a Korean website that has many shows that I like with Korean subtitles. It's perfect for me because I can finally catch up on some shows that I haven't been able to watch here, and I can get a little extra Korean lesson by trying to read some of the subtitles!

The End

Work was pretty normal. Nothing too exciting.

I was supposed to meet a Korean friend for dinner, but she cancelled the plans. I was a little bummed, but at the same time thankful because of the cold weather.

While I was settling in, Jacob sent me a message asking what I was up to. He invited me over for dinner, but I mostly cooked! Anyway, I grabbed a few groceries and went to his new place. I made BBQ chicken sandwiches. After we ate, we started to have a serious discussion about Christmas plans and realized that we weren't on the same page about things. We both agreed that it was best to move on and go separate ways. So after 10 months and 1 day, I'm back to single again.

Pretty Normal Sunday

I had a pretty typical Sunday. I headed out to church in Hannam. They made some announcements about Christmas time. On the 7th there will be a Christmas party and they are also going to be asking people to sponsor a gift for a child in need.

After church, I got a message from Amanda and I ended up calling her and we talked for about 40 minutes. It was the first time I got to use my new headphones with my phone. It worked really well! I was excited. Anyway, we talked and I walked. I wasn't really watching where I was going, just kind of wandering through the neighborhood of Itaewon. I wound up on the back side of Noksapyeong/HBC when we finally finished talking. I was trying to decide what to do. The weather was nicer than it has been-the sun out and not too much wind. I figured it was probably my last Sunday I could get takeout and go somewhere in Namsan Park to eat it. With that in mind, I headed to Casablanca and got a sandwich. (Dangerous place that Casablanca! Especially being in my vicinity every Sunday!) I headed up hill after hill to Namsan Park and found a bench a little bit in the sun.

I ate my sandwich and then I did a little bit of studying. I was just looking over old quizzes I took at Kyunghee University. After about an hour of sitting, I started to get kind of chilled so I took the bus to the subway and subway home. I returned home and changed and layered up again for soccer.

I walked to soccer and arrived around 5:30. I met Jacob by the fields and we sat and talked until everyone arrived. We had a relatively big group-Jeremy had 2 friends from France visiting, so that helped boost the numbers. At first we had 3 teams of 5; we borrowed one of the high schoolers to build a 2nd team. After about 15 minutes Johan and Andy arrived so we made teams of 6, but one team (ours) was short and needed to have someone switch to our team each time. We didn't have a lot of poor players (besides me) on our team, but for some reason we couldn't play well-Jacob said it was mostly because we didn't have anyone that could distribute the ball well.

After soccer, Jacob and I went to Hapjeong to get dinner. We celebrated our 10 months together at Cafe Leemans. We went to one other chain of this in the summer and had really bad customer service, but thought we'd try a different location. We split a dish of spaghetti and their brunch plate. It was quite good. Jacob gave me a container of mini oreos and Junior Mints; I got him some Pokemon snacks.

Dinner was good!

Skype and low key day

This morning I was able to skype with Grandpa and then Mom. It was great. I think it's only been about 2 weeks since we talked last, but it was 2 weeks too long! I really enjoyed having time to catch up with both of them.

After the skype session, I went to go see Jacob's new place. I got off at the subway station and was waiting for him, figuring he would have arrived and I sent a message checking the station. He told me it was a different one, so I started looking for a community bus or bus stop to go to the next subway station. Once I crossed the street, he called me and asked why I had crossed the street-I looked up and saw him and his friend Min Jin (he's living with her family and her, on the weekends) waving at me. I went back and he said he kept getting subway stops mixed up.

We returned to his place and he gave me a little tour. Sounds like he and Troy might only stay for a few months there, but they want to see how everything goes. It's a nice apartment; his friend Min Jin grew up there. Her brother and sister live there and she comes on the weekends. Min Jin's brother's birthday was yesterday and her Mom forgot! She lives about 2 hours outside of Seoul, but she came in to celebrate and make up for forgetting. Her Mom's sister arrived and started cleaning and cooking a little bit.

Jacob and I ran out to the grocery store to kind of check out the neighborhood a little. He got a few things and when we returned, Min Jin's mom was there. They were cooking some food. Shortly after, Min Jin's sister returned from work. The other day her mom made kimchi and she wanted to have bossam (steamed pork) with the kimchi. Jacob wanted to leave, but as we tried to go, they said we should stay and eat. We had a little bit to eat and then ducked out.

We walked to Sinchon, maybe about a 10 minute walk or so. We went to Starbucks for a coffee-since I can't drink milk and they're the only coffee shop that uses soy milk. We sat in the coffee shop for a while trying to figure out what to have for dinner. We ended up just walking around in the cold thinking of different places. Jacob decided TGI Fridays, but we got to the complex it is in and realized it's no longer there! I next suggested Outback and we went there to split a meal. After dinner, we returned to his place and sat on the playground of his apartment complex and talked for a bit.

When I got too cold, we went back in to warm up. Min Jin arrived and we talked with her. She gave us a piece of cake that they had for her brother's birthday. I took the subway home and, as I was kind of expecting, it took longer than the bus from the other place. I thought it should be kind of quick, but I missed the subway and had to wait 10 minutes for the next one to come. Then, when I get to my station, I have to walk about 6-7 minutes home. It might be worth looking for a bus that will drop me off close to home instead.

Something Different

This morning my sub told me that she would be quitting after today. She said that it was too difficult for her. Yesterday was a  hard day and she was in a bad condition. I'm not sure what will happen now with that.

After work I looked for something different to do for the evening. I found a live music event at a Brazilian pub between Sinchon and Hongdae. I had plenty of time to kill and wanted to make sure I was still exercising, so I walked there. I wore my other heavier winter coat and with the hood on, I felt quite warm. I arrived and there weren't many other people there. I ordered a pastel (a Brazilian pastry) and around 8 the music started. At first there was only a total of 4 people in the audience and 5 musicians. But after a little bit, there was a total of maybe 10. It was kind of interesting and nice to do something different.

I took the bus home and warmed up before bed.

My pastel

Late Start and a Cold Run

The Korean high school students took their SAT test this morning. Because of it, flights are delayed and everyone goes in to work late. It's wonderful. Normally I have to be at school by 8:40. Today, my first period started at 9:40. I slept as late as I could, and actually stayed asleep until my alarm. (Thank goodness construction noise is FINALLY dying down!)

I got to work and met with my sub. The schedule was a little bit condensed because of the late start (40 min) so there were no breaks during the morning time to compensate. It was a little challenging. Then, during the 3rd period, my life COT comes in and pulls me out of the room with no real explanation until we're out in the hall. A few weeks ago they took some pictures for the 6th graders yearbook. Turns out my photo got lost. Bleh. So I needed to have my picture taken again. It's a bit unfortunate because I remember planning my outfit for the photo last time but not being as prepared this time since I wasn't aware of it.

I returned to my class and the sub asked me why I ran out of the room.

After school I went for a run. It was a cold, cold day. The SAT day is historically a very cold day and today was no different. I layered up (I think it was 6 or 7) and headed out. I again found myself enjoying my run. I arrived a little bit sooner than I expected (Jacob and I were meeting up) and waited in an ATM lobby for Jacob.

The best part about meeting up with Jacob was that he gave me my winter jacket. He had taken that along with the towels and washed it. It was perfect because I didn't have to wear it on my run, but was able to be dressed warmly when I finished. I took him to a Korean restaurant I went to last fall because I remembered they had a really big donkasu (pork cutlet) dish and he really likes it. I ordered the jjimdak rice plate (steamed chicken) and it was good-a giant plate of food! After dinner, we went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream, yes, even though it was so cold we still ate ice cream. I had seen an ad for a new flavor and wanted to try it out. It was kind of a tira misu and almond with chocolate ribbon in it. Yum.

We returned to his guesthouse to warm up a little and I got my bag of towels before taking the bus back home.

Regular Wednesday

It was a pretty ordinary day. I had my first day with my substitute coteacher. It turns out she lived in a Chicago suburb for a few years awhile back. She traveled in the Midwest a lot and was familiar with Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. That was kind of funny.

After work, I stopped home to have a quick bite and get my towels. Jacob was kind enough to offer to give them a wash and dry for me. His guesthouse has a dryer, but since he is moving out tomorrow and this weekend, he won't have a dryer anymore. So, I picked up my towels and waited to meet him to hand off my things to him. It was so cold today-mostly because of the wind.

He was running late to tutor so I gave him my bag and we took off in opposite directions. I headed to class and stopped to get a small snack. I found a 3 +1 deal for Snickers, but I tried the almond flavor and was surprised how much I liked it.

This was the start of the next session for class. There were a lot of new faces-guess everyone else moved on up. It's still the same teacher and we will finish the textbook that I bought. I'm thinking of being done with classes after this 6 week session.

Cheonggyecheon Lantern Festival

Work went okay. Nothing too special. Today is Pepero Day. A kind of made up holiday because there are Korean snacks that are long thin sticks. They look like the number one. So, for Nov. 11 (11/11) friends give each other Pepero.

Afterwards, I met Jacob in a subway station and we went on a Pokemon hunt for him. Since the store was closed on Sunday, we tried again. We lucked out because the store was just about to close when we found the little stall. She had many figurines crammed into a tiny space. Jacob looked through and found 3 that he wanted to buy.

We went on to the building where I have class for dinner. We tried Patty Patty, a burger place we'd noticed before. It was pretty good. We ordered a set meal with fries and a drink-normally burgers in Korea are stand alone and fries are extra. Jacob gave me two boxes of the cookies and cream Pepero and I got him one box of the same kind!

We finished dinner and then went to Cheonggyecheon to look at the lanterns for the festival. This year, it seemed much more crowded. There were times we had to stop and wait because the path narrowed and people couldn't get through-we definitely didn't experience that last year. It was also almost impossible to get any pictures together there either. We also both agreed that the lanterns weren't as nice this year and there weren't as many. Kind of a bummer.

The evening wasn't as cold as I was expecting which was nice. When we finished going up and down the stream, we took the subway back to our places. I hopped off and took the bus the rest of the way.

Fish lanterns

I liked the pandas

Cute polar bear

One of my favorites-Gyeongbok Palace

At the start of the stream

Monday, Monday

Another Monday finds itself here. I woke up really tired for some reason. I went to bed early and soccer wasn't very tiring so I'm not sure why.

Work went alright. The exciting thing was that we had a "fire extinguisher training". So they lit a big fire on the playground and had 5 fire extinguishers for the teachers to use.

After work, I headed to Ewha to do a little bit of shopping. I haven't been to that area in a really long time, especially to shop. I just wanted to see if there were any good deals or some nice warm clothes.

I returned home and had a good evening catching up on stuff at home. I did laundry, cleaned, filled up water bottles and worked out a little bit too.

Exciting fire extinguisher training

Switched up Sunday

Today was a little bit out of the routine that Sunday has become. This morning I didn't go to church at Hannam because soccer was from 4-6.

The plan was to meet Jacob at noon in Sinchon. Well, I looked at the bus times and there were no buses coming. I waited around and then checked the bus again and it said 4 minutes! I quick rushed to make sure I had everything and ran out the door. I figured I wouldn't make it to the bus stop in time, so I ran to the next stop down and made it there before the bus arrived. Then, the bus went so fast! I made it to Sinchon (maybe 2 stops more than I normally would ride) in under 30 minutes! I went to a cafe and waited for Jacob to finish his tutoring. I told him I was in Twosome Place and he said he was there also! He finished and we took the subway to City Hall. From there, we walked to Namdaemun Market.

We were on the hunt for a toy store. Specifically, a toy store that sells Pokemon. My unni (older sister) told me about the cheapest store she knows of and when Jacob caught wind of that, he demanded to know where it was so he too could reap the benefits of this store. Well we wandered and found the store we thought it was, but it was closed on Sunday. I sent my unni a picture of the map and she said she didn't think that was the right location, but it was closed Sundays anyway. Jacob was a bit disappointed because he wanted to go Pokemon browsing. We wandered a little bit more through Namdaemun before deciding it was time for lunch.

Since we were so close to Myeongdong, we both agreed on returning to Panda Express. After we ordered our food, we took it up to the rooftop area of the Lotte Young Plaza (department store). There were two picnic benches and we sat and ate outside. It was cool, but not too bad. After lunch, we split ways-me to soccer in Itaewon and Jacob back to Hongdae to tutor a new client.

I took a bus to Itaewon and it was much faster than I expected. I stopped off at a subway station stop to change clothes. Unfortunately, when I got there, I saw the bathrooms were on the other side of the "pay" area. I asked the worker if I could go to the bathroom and he said yes, so I went through the gate where you don't have to pay. I returned to the bus stop to continue on to soccer, but when I boarded the bus, I didn't get a transfer which bothered me because it was well within the 1 hour transfer time on weekends. The last stretch, from Hangangjin Station to Itaewon took almost more time than the first part of the bus ride-there was a lot of traffic. I got to the stop and walked to the high school and fields. I was early so no one else was there yet, but other kids were using the fields. Finally Stefano arrived and we chatted a bit. Then John and Eirik came with 6 high school boys.

First we asked the kids on the big field if we could play there and they told us to give them 1 hour. So we went to the small field behind the school. There was a group of maybe 4 Korean guys playing around. They hadn't rented the field so we asked if we could all play together. Another group of 4 guys also showed up so we decided we would make 4 teams of 5 and rotate with winners staying on, losers off. Before we started playing, a janitor/groundskeeper from the school came on a little truck and told us we couldn't play if we were a team. He left and the guys decided we'd still try anyway. The first two teams played and then my team came on for about 5 minutes before the guy came back and told us to get off. He shooed us off and locked the field up. We headed back to the big field and made a playing space for ourselves through the middle, sideways, since the kids were still playing, but only shooting on the goals. Our team was our regulars (10) against the Koreans and 3 other foreigner kids (11). We beat them probably 7-1. I think I like playing on a full field better than futsal. After about an hour yet another person from the school came to shoo us off the field saying people can come and practice individually, but not as teams. Though it's never been a problem before and the kids had organized as teams and had been playing there all day. I'm not sure what he said exactly, but one of the older Korean guys kind of talked back to the man and all of our high school boys started clapping so that was kind of funny. As we walked off the field and started changing and stuff, the school guy kept telling us to hurry up and leave.

John and I left together and walked to the bus stop. We got to the bus stop and were waiting when a neighborhood bus pulled up. We saw it said "Itaewon Station" on the side so we hopped on. I was watching the way we were going and I thought it seemed a bit different than the route I was expecting and after a few stops when 1) I didn't recognize anything and 2) didn't hear Itaewon being called as a next stop I said something to John that I thought the bus was going the wrong direction. (I also looked at a map and confirmed it) He said it wasn't a big deal, but wasn't really paying attention because he was on his phone. Anyway, after about 2 more stops, he looked up and said that we should get off and walk to Noksapyeong. So we hopped off and walked through some back streets and got to Noksapyeong. Now, I always thought I walked relatively fast, but walking with John was almost a struggle to keep up! I got off at Daehung Station so I could go to Sogang for church. Jacob was waiting for me outside the station exit. We still had about 45 minutes before mass started, so we went to Tom n Toms. We ordered a Chai Tea Latte to share. Then I realized it had milk in it, but I tried some anyway. We talked a little bit and I got bit by a mosquito. Pesky things won't die! I barely got bit this summer and early fall, but now they're making their appearance!

Finally back to Sogang for mass. They have a projector and screen on the left side of the church now. They put the readings and songs on it. The Mexican priest had mass. The first part of his homily started out a little rugged, but it seemed like he was reading a lot. The final part was much better and he seemed to just be speaking more. He talked about how we are temples and we should try and work on making ourselves better (like how Jesus said if you destroy the temple I will rebuild it in 3 days), not only physically but mentally and spiritually. I liked that.

After mass, we took a bus to Jacob's old neighborhood and went to our favorite kimbap shop. I ordered ddeok mandu soup (rice cake and dumpling soup) and Jacob tried a new menu item, a spicy chicken bowl. One of the sides was kimchi cheon (pancake)-we both loved it! We walked back to the bus stop near his guesthouse and I headed home. Happy to say that I didn't get sick from drinking the Chai Tea Latte. Though I didn't drink all of it (since we shared), but I might try branching out to that a little now.

Still Remembering Dad

I met up with Jacob and we traveled to Gangnam together. GOA'L was having a benefit concert and Jacob had to help set up and work as stage crew. He needed to go in quite early to work. It took a little over an hour to get there. We found a Pho restaurant to eat at for lunch and then he went to help. I went to Seullung, a kind of park that I went to with Katie in September. It's right in the middle of Gangnam, a busy financial district so its kind of surprising. There are a few big hills and lots of trees. It's a UNESCO world heritage site and there is a King and Queen buried there too. Anyway, it was chilly but sunny and a good afternoon for a light hike. I found a bench in a sunny spot and sat for a bit there. I knew Dad would enjoy a light hike and would have loved the fall colors at the park.

As it got closer to 6, I headed back towards the concert venue. I stopped at COEX, an underground mall and an adjoining mall-which was upscale and way out of my budget. COEX has been under construction for awhile and is still being worked on. There were just one or two stores near the entrance that were open.

I then went to the venue to get my ticket. Jacob was in the lobby so he told another worker there to give me his seat ticket (in the VIP section) because he wouldn't be sitting at all. I had a front and almost center seat which was nice. Before the concert started, I met my friend John's sister who was visiting from Hawaii.

The concert was pretty nice. There were a few guitar pieces, violin and guitar, guitar and vocal, string quartet, and traditional Korean instruments. At the end, all of the performers joined together and played Arirang together which was beautifully arranged.

I was able to travel back to Hongdae with Jacob and the other mentors and Nic, in the van that had the chairs. But, because there were chairs in it too, it was cramped quarters. When we returned to Hongdae, we took the chairs up to the office on the 5th floor. Jacob and I walked back and he dropped me off at the bus stop.

Chipmunk in the park

Nine Years

I can't believe it's been 9 years without Dad...

Work went alright. I was busy working on lesson plans for the substitute teacher who asked me to submit my plans a week in advance to her.

After work I came home and just had some quiet alone time. I just needed some down time to think about Dad. Around dinner time, Jacob came over and he brought Panda Express. I thought about what kind of food Dad would have loved to have. He and I would sometimes go to a Chinese buffet on the weekends so I thought Chinese food would be a good choice. It was very sweet of Jacob to go pick up the food from downtown area and bring it to me. The Panda Express is in a food court and I didn't feel like eating in a cafeteria. When we finished dinner, I wanted to do something else Dad would have liked to do, so we took a walk along my stream. Dad always loved walking and being outside. I would have rather done a bit of hiking because I know Dad would have loved to do that, but on a Friday evening when it's already dark...

When we returned from our walk we had the cake I bought yesterday. It was okay. Not as good as the one from Sugar Daddy's in Itaewon. Then we were going to watch the DVD Phil and I made for the visitation, but I didn't have the file anymore. I was kind of sad we couldn't watch it; Jacob had suggested we see it again. I also called Mom and got to talk to her for a little bit.

Ok cheesecake

North Korean Hunger Banquet

I had 3 classes of speaking tests with the 4th graders and one class of writing with 5th graders. Not to hard. I guess for the month of November there are a lot of school clubs/activities for 5th and 6th periods (after lunch). All of my COTs mentioned how they have to do them. I could hear drums banging somewhere in school, so I feel sorry for the teacher who is teaching traditional drumming.

After school I headed to Hongdae and stopped at Billy Angel. I wanted to buy a piece of cake to have for tomorrow for Dad's anniversary. Actually, I really wanted to get a piece of the oreo cheesecake that I had last week, but Itaewon is too far out of the way. Nothing stood out to me there, nothing that seemed like Dad would say, "let's try a piece of that!". So I walked around a little bit more. I found a new cafe and they had an oreo cheesecake on display! So I got a piece-I hope it's as good as the one in Itaewon! Then I went to get jap chae hoddeok (a fried pancake filled with noodles and vegetables) for Jacob and me. We figured a snack would be a good thing before the banquet. We met up after I bought the snacks and walked to the subway.

We traveled to Jongro area and found the North Korean restaurant it was being held at. I would be interested to go there again and order a meal off their menu. Anyway, we saw one of our mentee friends, Randy, at the event as well. When we arrived, we drew a story card. Both Jacob and I picked "hostile". There were three classes: Elite, Wavering and Hostile--to show their relationship with the regime. It also denoted what meal we would get. After drawing our story cards, we went to go sit down. There were about 10-12 tables, with 6 people at each table. There was one from elite, two people from wavering and 3 from hostile. We shared our story cards with each other. The event started and they introduced the program, Citizen's Alliance for North Korean Human Rights. They also talked about their hope for the evening. We were then served our meals. The hostile group got 2 potato mandu (dumplings), the wavering got a bowl of bibimbap (North Koreans eat it with soy sauce and not gochujang, the spicy red pepper paste), and the top class got a bowl of soup with vegetables and meat and a bowl of rice. After we ate, they had a young woman speak. She defected with her Mom when she was 15 years old and is currently studying at a university in Seoul. It was an interesting event.

I headed home afterwards. Jacob went with his roommate Troy to go visit their new living situation. One of Jacob's Korean friends offered to rent a room in their family apartment so he and Troy will stay in a big room and split the rent.

From the banquet

Level Test

Work was pretty easy. Since my 4th grade COT is taking her leave on Friday, she wanted to wrap up stuff and they had a speaking test. After everyone was tested, they watched a movie.

Before I headed downtown, I stopped at the post office. I mailed a package to my friend in Mexico. Last year I had bought a shirt and some Korean snacks for him and never got to the post office to mail it. Well, obviously I've been to the post office in the last year, but I was scared about how much it would cost. It was only around $7 and the package weighed about 450g. I didn't think that was too bad.

Next, it was on to downtown for class. Class was alright, except looming overhead was the level test, dun dun dunnn. I don't know how I did-they don't really seem to ever tell you your score or let you see your mistakes-only that you passed or didn't. So the teacher said a few names and something that I didn't really understand. Then the rest she said we would continue on and do chapter 5-8. So, that's me. Going on to finish the textbook. It's perfect because the next 6 weeks session will then end December 17th (the week before my vacation) and I will have completed a years worth of Korean classes. Done!

The best part about taking the test was that we finished early. I was home a little after 9:30 which was a nice change. When I got home, I called my mom via kakao talk and it was cool to feel like we were just calling and talking as if I were in the US making a phone call.

One of my students gave this to me; she made it in an after school class

Happy Birthday Aunt Ruth!

A very happy birthday to my amazing Great Aunt Ruth! I won't spill the beans on her age since she doesn't like that!

Nothing too special at school, a regular ole Tuesday.

After work, I changed quickly and headed out for a run. Last week when I met Jacob, it was a little bit later in the evening so I had a cushion of time. This week he's feeling a little under the weather and didn't go to the gym so we were meeting when he finished work. It was not too cold on my run. However, it might be one of my last runs for the year if the weather keeps getting colder and colder. It's a little disappointing for me because I'm really starting to enjoy my runs more and more now. I've considered joining a gym, but I don't know if I'd like it or not. I've never been one for running inside, on treadmills, though I do do it.

I met up with Jacob and we went to his Imo's for dinner. I got kimchi stew and he got a pork cutlet. I wasn't feeling too hungry after my run and didn't eat much. The sides were pretty good-potatoes and bean sprouts. After dinner, we went to his place and discussed our Christmas plans. It looks like we decided on Cambodia- we will fly out together on the 24th to Siem Reap and spend a few days there; then we will move to Phnom Phen and I will fly out alone to return because I have to work that week after Christmas (Winter Camp preparations). He will be joined by his roommate and they will stay in Cambodia over New Years and a few more days.

I took the bus home and didn't get bus sick. Before I hopped on the bus, I bought an ice cream cone to eat. I ended up waiting until I got home to eat it and it was a little bit melty, but not too bad.

Last Date with Sumi

I'm sure I mentioned it already, but I actually don't mind Monday's all that much. The first period is off so if there's anything that needs to be finished I can do it then. I only have 5 classes and they're all pretty good. Though the first class is always so quiet and unresponsive. Anyway, we did a writing lesson and for some reason we only were able to do the writing exercises in the textbook and didn't even get to the other activity I planned. I was really surprised because normally using the textbook takes about 5 minutes, 10 at the very most so I'm not sure how the time passed so quickly.

After work, I headed to Hongdae to meet Sumi. It was our last time together; she'll be going back to her hometown tomorrow and staying there until she leaves for Pakistan. The date right now is tentatively set for the 17th, but it depends on her Visa. Anyway, I realized when I woke up I should have prepared a gift for her! I wracked my brain trying to think of a good gift and came up with "scarf"-it will keep her warm and she should also have her head covered while she is there too, so I figured it would be the perfect gift. The only problem was...time. We planned to meet at 5:30 so I didn't have much time to find a scarf for her before our meeting time. Luckily, as I came up from the subway tracks, in the station there was an accessory store, Redeye and I saw a big display of scarves. Thank you, Redeye! I picked one out and went to go meet her.

We went to a chain restaurant I ate at with Bohye. The menu is pretty basic and simple 3-4 dishes only: for Sumi, nyengmyeon (a cold noodle soup) and me, bibimbap. With the dishes, we also get a small side order of grilled meat. It was pretty good-though even within the chain, there are some differences. My bibimbap was a lot different than the other one I had, and much smaller. Any, it was good and I know I'll be back again. We finished dinner and went to go look for dessert to chat a little bit more. I had two ideas. The first was a place I spotted on Saturday, that had Dutch baby pancakes. The other was Billy Angel Cake company. I'd passed the cake store before, and seen a store in downtown area. The cakes look delicious. I let Sumi see both places (they were right across the street from each other by good luck) and had her pick. She liked the way the cakes looked so we stayed there as it was our second stop. This location had a lot less cakes than the downtown location did, but they all looked good. Sumi said she wanted to try Red Velvet. Well, actually this happened when Jung Yoon (Jenny) came to visit. We went into Billy Angel and she said "red velvet!" and I mentioned the really good red velvet place Jacob and I love. But when I told Sumi it was near Sangsu station, she said it was a bit too far to go. So we decided to try Billy Angel's red velvet! It didn't disappoint. It was really good. She and I got to chat for an hour or so. I also gave her a card and the scarf. She loved the scarf, but felt bad because she didn't get anything for me! Then, we left so she could meet her boyfriend.

I was sad to say goodbye. In the last month we became better friends and I will definitely miss her. Her internship term is for 6 months but can be renewed for an additional 6, so there is a possibility I won't get to see her again in Korea.

I took the bus home and for some reason I got really bus sick. After I got off the bus, I thought I was going to be sick. I didn't, but the rest of the evening I didn't feel well and I went to bed early!

My bibimbap, yum!

Red velvet and teas

Sunday routine

Sundays have begun to have a new pattern to them. I woke up early (I'm not sure why) and couldn't fall back asleep. I got ready for church and then skyped with Mom, Grandpa and Martin before I had to go. It was great seeing all of them. Mom also held up my 4 leggie, so I got to see my Toby baby for a little bit too.

Church was pretty good. I was touched because they sang Prayer of Saint Francis. It always makes me think of Dad and my friend Molly.

After church, I walked to HBC and went to Casablanca for a sandwich. I ordered the lamb chili this time and also got a sandwich for Jacob. I took my sandwich and went to Namsan again. This time though, I went a different route-it required a little bit more walking at first, but I was in a better area, and when I left, I realized I had stumbled upon the edge of Namsan Park. While I was walking, an older Korean man stopped me and started talking to me. I couldn't understand much of what he said (sometimes it's harder for me to understand older people's Korean) and told him I couldn't speak Korean. He switched to broken English, asking me to take a photo with his phone. I asked if he wanted to be in the picture, but he said he just wanted a picture of the walkway (with the golden ginkgo trees). After I took the picture, he said things like "thank you", "nice to meet you", and "happy new year" while bowing at me.

I headed home for a short break and to layer up for soccer. It was sunny, but windy which made it seem much cooler. It wasn't as warm as yesterday was. I headed to soccer early so I could go get some groceries at HomePlus. Koreans are crazy about the free samples in the grocery store and it makes me a little irritated sometimes. Some of them will stand in front of the little cart just taking their toothpick and loading it up taking two, three, or even four servings all at once. Or stand there and continue eating. They also shove and push so they can get a sample. It's ridiculous.

I finished getting my groceries and met up with Jacob and we walked to the field together. The high school boys showed up, which was good in a way I suppose because we only had about 6 of us show up (Eirik brought 2 friends, but they didn't really want to play). I was surprised how warm I got running around playing and ended up taking off a layer. It only felt cold when I would go in goal and only stand instead of getting to run around. After soccer Jacob was sweet and rode the subway part of the way with me again.

Beautiful Day

The weather today was beautiful-it was warm and sunny. A nice change because the past few days had been getting colder and colder. Jacob and I went to a kimbap shop for lunch. Then he had to go to a GOA'L event. I took a walk along my stream and met him where the event took place. I arrived early and sat in a Starbucks, where, already only November 1st and I was serenaded by Christmas music. Can't believe they're already playing it. The only good thing about it was they picked the right singers-it was a mix of Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and other guys and gals from that era. Loved it.

Jacob and I then went on to Dongdaemun. I had come up with a few ideas of places to go for the afternoon. They all included being outdoors because the weather was so nice I wanted to enjoy it while it's still here. So, off we went to Dongdaemun Culture and History Park. There is a big design plaza and some interesting architectural works there. We walked around a little bit and also found some fun kinds of chairs scattered throughout the place. Finally, we did a little bit of soccer window shopping.

Next it was on to Hapjeong. We went for jjimdak, the chicken and noodle dish. It was really good. After dinner we walked to Hongdae and sat on a bench to talk for a little bit. Jacob set up one of his Korean co-workers up with his Korean roommate on a blind date. Their date was earlier in the evening and Jacob went to meet his friend to talk about how it went. I came home and relaxed the rest of the night.

Cool "flowers" at Dongdaemun