PIZZA!

My four classes seemed to go by very quickly today. At the end of each lesson, I did about 5-10 minutes of information about Halloween. I also promised my students if they came to my office after lunch and said "trick or treat" they could get candy. (But, I was in trouble because I neglected to GET the candy yesterday and this morning...oops) So I confessed to my COTs that I needed to go out and buy candy after we ate lunch. My 4th grade COT, Chloe suggested we go together to buy some, which was nice of her. While walking from the lunch room to my office to get my wallet, we were accosted by students yelling "TRICK OR TREAT! TRICK OR TREAT!" and Chloe teacher told them to wait til I was in my office. We ran out to the convenience store and...oh horrors it was closed for lunch! Luckily there is a small "mart" across the street and we went there. We asked for Chupa Chups (lollipops) and said we needed 100. The guy looked at us so strangely, but luckily in the container there were a bunch of them. We counted them and it was exactly 100! Chloe and I split the cost of the suckers and headed back to school.

There was a long line outside my office of 5th graders ready to say "trick or treat!" The first wave of students came-about 20 of them. The second wave showed up a little bit later, also about 20. Some girls were really creative-they made pumpkin shaped masks and put them over their faces when they said trick or treat. Another few girls brushed their hair in front of their faces to look scary. It was cute. English teacher success.

After work, I met Jacob at Hapjeong Station and we went to HBC again (the area we went to last Friday). This time we went to Bonny's Pizza Pub for...pizza. We ordered two 9 inch pizzas; one was a meat lovers and the other had beef and vegetables on it. All in all, it was pretty good, but not as good as our beloved Pizza Peel, though these could be ordered in different sizes and came with a smaller price tag. The crust was a little bit soggy and the cheese wasn't as good either, but it was still much better than the average Korean pizza you would find.

We left Bonny's Pizza and headed to the far end of Noksapyeong, just where it meets Itaewon to go to a dessert place I saw last Sunday after church, Sugar Daddy. We couldn't resist temptation and ended up sharing TWO pieces of cheesecake-one was an oreo cheesecake and the other pumpkin (feeling festive and Halloween-y). They were both so delicious. Died and gone to heaven.

Feeling full with happy tummies, we returned to my place and watched a movie together.

Two creative 5th graders with pumpkin masks

Delicious pizza

Amazing cheesecakes!

Jay!

I had one 5th grade girl walk into class and start to say hello.....and then I heard her ask another girl what my name is. I guess I shouldn't feel too bad about it because I don't know her name either. It was kind of funny to me though.

After work, I headed to Gangnam to meet my friend Jay. I met Jay in 2011; he was my seatmate on the plane to Korea (for Inje program). We started talking on the plane and ended up meeting once in Seoul before I went to Gimhae. Over the years, we've kept in touch here and there, though he's been living abroad (Australia). He's recently moved back to Korea now and we decided we should meet up.

For dinner we went to a Thai restaurant. I should also mention, he was working as a chef abroad. I feel a bit intimidated around chefs like that, not the home-style cooking but ones that work in fancy hotels or restaurants--high end chefs. Dinner was really tasty and it was fun chatting and eating. After dinner we went to get tea. He suggested Bubble Tea, but I couldn't have any of it because there is milk in it. I got a regular kind of tea instead. We chatted some more in the cafe. His English is quite good-he has been living in Australia for the last 2 years. He had some interesting stories. Jay said as a chef he worked long hours, maybe 16 in the kitchen and of course on weekends; so that he envies my teaching schedule.

When we parted ways, I decided to do a little shopping in the undergrounds...and I found 2 nice dress shirts and bought them. Then, it was a long ride home-about an hour or so.

Jay and me after dinner

Hiking Day

Nothing too special at work today...except we had curry for lunch. I tried a little bit of it so I could pick out the vegetables. Then, at 2pm, we were dismissed for a hiking outing for bonding time. Not a lot of teachers went hiking though.

My group was the principal, 3 other male teachers/staff, one female office worker and my life COT and 6th grade COT. We took a slightly different course than last year when we went hiking, though by the middle we had found the same course and the "descent"/rest of the hike was the same. I think the colors started turning earlier this year because we went in mid-November last year and I think that it looked about the same color-wise. It was coolish (not too warm and not too cold) and sunny, perfect for hiking. We stopped for refreshments every 20 minutes or so, having makgoli (rice wine) and some other kind of alcohol the principal packed along. One teacher also brought some melon.

After the hike, we walked to a traditional Korean restaurant. It too, was the same one we ate at last year. The first course was tofu (homemade or specialty made), followed by bossam (boiled/steamed pork) and the last was a soup that had vegetables and shrimp in it. All in all, it wasn't too bad. I ate a lot of the vegetable sides, but stayed away from the pork and shrimp. When dinner was finished, I walked to a bus stop and headed to downtown for my Korean class.

Class went alright. Next week is already the level test! I'm not sure I'm ready for it. There is another American in the class and after 5 weeks of class (I did miss one though) I finally had the courage to talk to him. He's from around Chicago which is pretty ironic, but he's going back to the US next month to start Grad School. I got home rather quickly, making all of the transfers on time.

Hiking 

On the mountain

Panorama of Buhkan Mountain

Saw these cute faces last year too

Joy of Running

Terrible Tuesday passed and wasn't so terrible.

After work, I went for a run to Hapjeong/Hongdae to meet Jacob for dinner. I was excited to finally go for a run with my new phone. It meant several things.

1. I could listen to music on my run
2. My headphones fit my ears and didn't fall out 
3. I could track my run with an app that measured distance and time

So, I found out that from Eungam Station to Hapjeong Station is 4 miles and it took me 37 minutes to run. I also found out that my 4th and final mile was faster than my first three, which was interesting to me. Maybe I'm a good distance runner and should have kept going. Or not. Definitely not.

Anyway, I really had a great time running. The sun starts to set around 5:30ish or so already. So by the time I was on my run, the sky was turning beautiful colors. The paths along the stream have tall grasses and the light hit some of them that are going to seed. It was just really nice-nice to be out in the cool weather, nice to enjoy a glimpse of nature in a big city, and nice to be able to have the health to run. I also noticed at one point where they had cut some of the grass it smelled like the grass being cut when I would be out horseback riding. I love that smell and it took me back to the time when I could ride. (I really miss riding a lot)

I arrived to Hongdae (walking from Hapjeong to Hongdae was my cool-down) a little bit early--before Jacob was finished at his gym. I did a little bit of window shopping before we met. For dinner, we went to our favorite BBQ place, 본가 (bonga) for the stews instead of grilling. It's great because each dish is only 6,000W, two of them is the cost of one order of meat to grill! I got the bulgogi and Jacob got the bibimbap and dwenjang stew. 

After dinner, we went to Schneeballen. Except...it was closed again. I'm very worried one of my favorite dessert places is closed! We decided we'd try the pretzel ice cream dish from Auntie Annes. So we went to the YZ Plaza; when we ordered, I'm not sure the woman understood and we watched her get the "soft serve" we were more concerned it wasn't right. She handed us a container of just the ice cream and no pretzel. We pointed to the picture and said we wanted that, but she said that we had already paid and wouldn't really do anything about it. We were really frustrated and annoyed. As it turns out, the soft serve was really gross and not good at all. We each had only a few disappointing bites of it. :(

SAYUL Concert

Work went okay. I was feeling extra tired from soccer yesterday. I slept til my alarm woke me, which was a first with my new phone (about 2 weeks now).

After work, I headed south of the river. One of my Inje friends started an NGO; the goal is to teach and share Korean culture with others. He started out doing a project trying to get "East Sea" added to world maps in 2012. He and 4 other of my good Inje friends traveled across the US and Europe then getting signatures and informing people. Anyway, I went to support him at their first "Thank You Concert". The concert displayed a few traditional and newer cultural pieces for Korea; there was drumming, dancing, instrument playing, taekwondo and singing. My friend, Seok Hyun, came to the lobby to tell people the concert was a little delayed and apologizing to people waiting. When he saw me, he did a double take and got a big smile and came to give me a hug. He said he was surprised I came.

I should say before the concert, I got kimbap for dinner and enjoyed walking around the area. The concert was at a university, so it was nice to see another college area. It took me almost an hour to get there and an hour home.

One groups performance

My friend Seok Hyun thanking everyone for coming

Cool picture in the subway-I was riding in the first car and could see through to the tracks

I'd date me

This morning I skyped with my Grandpa for a bit. It's always good to see him and catch up with him. At times, it feels like we're not even apart because I can see him and talk on skype with him. But other times, I wish I could reach out and get a hug or eat his chili with him.

When we finished talking, I was off to church. On the way, my Mom messaged me and we talked about Dad, which brought tears to my eyes. When I got off the subway, I passed a young father wearing an Illinois sweatshirt. Mass was pretty good. The homily was about loving others like yourself.

I wanted to go back to Casablanca for another sandwich for lunch, so I walked to Noksapyeong and HBC area. I got there and it looked like the sign said it didn't open until 5pm on weekends an 1pm during weekdays. I was bummed and went to a different restaurant for a sandwich to go. I forget the name, but it had "dog" in the name. I got a chicken caesar wrap. When I took it to go, I passed Casablanca and saw the door was open; I looked at the sign again and I had mixed up the time/days so if I had waited 5 more minutes...it would have been open! Oops. Anyway, I took my sandwich and my goal was to get to Namsan (mountain) to eat it. I had to walk through a bit of a hilly neighborhood first, but finally got to part of the base. I then climbed up many steps, thinking it would lead me to a path of sorts. I ended up on the road part (buses can go up the mountain) with a sidewalk alongside it. Not as "nature-y" as I was expecting, but I still got to see some colors. It was also nice because it reminded me of all the walks we took as a family at Love Creek after church. I thought of Dad as I walked.

I ate my lunch and enjoyed the cool, crisp air. Then I headed down and found a bus to take me to a subway station to return home. At home, I relaxed a bit before walking to World Cup. I had found there was a festival at the "Heaven Park" (하늘공원) behind the World Cup stadium. There are these tall grasses, kind of like wheat I guess, and they light them up. Anyway, I walked to the stadium and followed the massive crowd to get to the park. It wasn't a super steep climb, but it was hilly. The view of the grasses lit up was magnificent. They shone changing colors lights on it and there were trees decorated with glass ornaments that sparkled and reflected the light. The only slight damper was the rain that kept starting and stopping. There were also lanterns strung up along the path up and down the walk.

After enjoying the view there, I headed back to the stadium to meet Jacob. We sat and watched other groups play soccer before our time slot. The high school boys returned this week, which was a bit unfortunate because we would have had just 2 teams of 6; instead, we had to rotate and sit out a match. Our friend Jes had his last time at soccer-he's going back to Denmark on Thursday. (He was injured last year and went to Denmark from Nov-Feb and is now returning for more serious surgery/rehabilitation) He brought his roommate, Edo. I met Edo in 2012 when I played. The last time I saw him was last year before Jes went to Denmark. I like Edo a lot-when he saw me he looked surprised and gave me a hug. He hasn't played in over a year so it was fun to have him back. Luckily for me, I had Jes and Edo on my team; both got tired quickly and wanted to play in goal a lot, so I didn't have to play except at the end.

When soccer was over, Jacob rode the subway my direction one stop and transferred to a bus to go home. It was nice that he traveled with me a little bit.

On my walk in the park

Fall colors at Namsan

All the lanterns made it so beautiful

Nice view of the stadium behind me

So pretty with the different colored lights

Enjoying the festival by myself

Jes, my first friend at soccer

Busy Day

Today was a pretty packed day. Jacob and I went back to the *Kanival Pizza (I misread the name the last time and there is no "r" in the name--I think that is a mistake because the theme of the restaurant is very carnival-esque with little jester masks to give the bill and dangling lights that look like circus lights plus other decorations and color schemes...) We ordered the same thing-as it's the special. It was really good.

After lunch, we went to his place and he realized there was an internet problem so he worked on fixing that. Then it was time to head to the GOA'L meeting. The meeting was an "Extraordinary General Meeting" to try and change some of the articles etc of the organization to meet certain NGO requirements. (Or something like that) It was very official feeling and proper. In the end, not all of the points were able to be addressed because of some other discussions and back and forths between attendees.

When the meeting was over, Jacob and I headed over to the meeting place for Kasey's birthday dinner. We were supposed to meet outside of Dunkin Donuts and walk to the restaurant together. We were a little early, but it was still kind of nice outside. Kasey and J (her boyfriend) arrived early as well and we chatted with them and then moved into Dunkin. Our friend Todd arrived and we waved him inside. He also was part of the InKAS mentoring program the 3 of us did last year. He moved back to Australia earlier this year and is on vacation until December here in Korea. The other members were all arriving a bit late. Finally we had most of the group and moved to the restaurant.

Kasey made reservations at a meat buffet place. It was so bizarre. There was no one else in the restaurant and the workers there seemed to be so bothered by our group coming in. I've never seen a place look so annoyed to have customers! It was so strange. The food was pretty good and it was fun talking to some new people. I sat with Jacob, J and Thomas. Thomas played soccer with us once, and Jacob knows him from doing a teaching job together. We also talked a little bit with the table behind us; a guy Jon from soccer, Todd and Kasper. Most of the people there I knew at least a little bit.

After dinner, we moved to Thursday Party to have cake and play some games. The people working at Thursday were all dressed up in Halloween costumes. Many of the guys were happy because they had on an EPL soccer game. Someone bought Kasey a Hello Kitty shaped ice cream cake. It was strawberry and pretty good.