White Day.

Korea celebrate's a holiday called White Day on March 14th, strategically celebrated a month after Valentine's Day.  In Korea, the woman buys the man gifts on Valentine's day.  So, on White Day, it is the man's turn to buy gifts for his girl.  Then, a month later on April 14th, there is Black Day.  This day is for all the single people to buy candy and chocolate for themselves!  I couldn't believe it when I first heard about it.   Korea is obsessed with couples, so it seems only natural that they basically spread out Valentine's Day over three months.

Also, couples here will do a thing called "same-same" where after they have dated for awhile and are a serious couple, they will buy something that matches.  For example, matching shoes, jackets, watches, whole outfits, underwear (I have not seen this personally but I see the matching underwear sets displayed in the window displays!), backpacks, etc.  I always find it funny when I see a couple dressed in their "same-same" stuff.  A lot of times it's something really bright and obvious so you can't miss that they are a couple!

So, on White Day, my friend Jessica and I went to a girl's night out hosted by a Canadian here in Cheonan. We got all dressed up, so I finally wore heels even though I'm already taller than the majority of the men in this country!  It was at a beautiful restaurant located in the outskirts of Cheonan.   We got our own private room and were able to enjoy a four course Italian dinner.  We had such a great time!  It definitely exceeded my expectations since Jessica and I went on a whim not knowing any of the other people.  I wish I got more pictures of the restaurant, it was really beautiful!

This week's recap and homemade ricotta!

Doug and I have been keeping busy these past few weeks with the start of the new school year and settling back into our routine.  Last weekend, Jessica and I went to a "Girls Night Out", which was an dinner event planned by a professional Canadian boxer living in Korea.  She has her own "boxercise" class (I just went to my first class today and am already hooked!!) and she plans things for foreign women in Cheonan.  The restaurant was beautiful and it was tons of fun.  I'll post more pictures about that later this week!

This Saturday, Doug and I went to Seoul with some friends and had an amazing time.  First, we went to Insadong, a street well-known for traditional Korean souvenirs, and got some gifts for some lucky family members!  Then we made our way to Itaewon, which is basically the foreigner district and has tons of pubs, restaurants, an English bookstore, and shopping.  Jessica found a restaurant called Tomatillo in Itaewon that is the same idea as Chipotle.  You walk up and choose your meat/vegetables and if you want a burrito, taco, tostado, quesadilla, etc.  It was pretty amazing.  We got a side of guacamole and it was the best gaucamole we have had in Korean yet.  Needless to say, Doug was in heaven and wanted to get second burrito before getting back on the train!

Today, we had a relaxing morning, took Yeppi on a nice walk, and got some grocery shopping out of the way.  I was super excited because this week I found a recipe online for ricotta cheese and wanted to give it a try since I was able to find the ingredients here.  I made some this afternoon and was shocked by how easy it was.  It honestly took me maybe 15-20 minutes and tasted way better than store bought ricotta.  It was super light and fresh tasting and was great in penne pasta mixed with some fresh tomato sauce.  I was so excited that I decided to document the ricotta making process:

 First, I prepped the straining bowl.

Then, I boiled the milk and cream mixture until the curds separate from the whey.

After, I spooned the curds over into the strainer.

 Here's the ricotta straining for a few minutes.

Ta-da! The finished product.

Here's where I got the recipe: http://www.framedcooks.com/2011/08/how-to-make-fresh-ricotta.html

New schedule (finally!)

I finally got my class schedule for this semester!!  I was told earlier that I was going to be teaching the first grade (equivalent to 6th grade), however now I am teaching the all of the second grade and intermediate-high level third graders.  Initially, I was really looking forward to teaching first grade since they are so small and fresh to the middle school experience.  But now, I am super excited to be teaching the second and third grade for a couple of reasons.  First, I'll be teaching a group of second grade boys that I got close to last year in an after school class and during the winter camp.  They are really sweet, intelligent, and silly boys and they are so fun to be around and really value learning English.  It was really amazing seeing them open up last year and go from kids that are nervous and shy to speak English to kids that are playing jokes on one another and speaking English non-stop.  Second, in third grade, I'll have girl students that I got to know from an English lunch club that I helped with last semester.  They are also really sweet and good girls so I know I'll have fun getting to teach them.  So, all in all, I realized that if I taught first grade all the students would be fresh faces to me, but by teaching second and third grade I get to continue to get to know some of the students that I really enjoyed last year.

I have no picture related to today's post, so I thought I'd post a picture of Yeppi in a sweater that we got for her while we were in Busan.  It has a hood with bunny ears and a little puff ball tail at the end.  The dog sweaters that you can find in this country are ridiculous, but I love them!  Originally, the sweater went around her two back legs, but it was a little bit too short for her body when we got home and tried it on her.  I just cut of the back legs and now it fits her fine!

Back to school.

Last Friday, school started up again and we, unfortunately, had to go back to work after a very nice and long break from teaching. Well, I guess the past two months weren't all vacation, since Doug and I were in class all of February to get certified in TESOL (teaching English to students of other languages).  But, let's face it, it's way easier to be a student zoning out during class than actually having to be in the front teaching.  Plus, this TESOL class was helpful at times, but for the most part it went over a lot of stuff we had already figured out since we have been teaching for five months already.  We had to sit in the same classroom for six hours each day and the teachers mostly gave us busy work to fill up the classtime.  Ideally, the KNU program has the new teachers take the TESOL class before they start teaching.  However, since we had so many problems with our visas, we arrived too late for the TESOL class.  Luckily, our friends also arrived too late, so we got to take the class with all of them (which helped the class be a little less boring!).  So now we are TESOL certified and have two extra plants in our apartment, which we got as gifts for completing the course!

So, now we are back in school.  Doug has started at his new school that is slightly out of town and I am back at the good old Shinbang Junhakkyo (Middle School).  Doug's school seems to be very relaxed and they told him that they want his class to show the students that English is fun.  He doesn't have to follow a textbook, which is really really nice since the textbooks are extremely boring and often use language and expressions that either I've never heard of or are never used. This school is coed and Doug told me that all the girls come in and ask to take pictures with him during lunch and passing period.  Apparently they were not too happy when he told them he was married!

Now, we are three days into the new school semester and I have yet to teach one class!!  They have not finished some of the teacher's schedule yet and it seems like they are nowhere near finalizing it either.  This is very typical Korean to not have the schedule made even though they have had two months to make it.  Korean culture is so different from American culture in this aspect.  We like to know all the details in advance, know exactly what is expected of us, and do things as efficiently as possible.  But, in Korea, everything trickles from the top down. If the school already has the schedule made but the principle or Department of Education wants something changed, then everything will change again.  Even if it seems counter-productive and inefficient.  The school is changing like crazy due to decisions like this.  For example, I'll have a class everyday at the same time and then I'll find out right before my class that it has changed and I don't have that class anymore.  It drove me crazy at first because I could never get a straight answer from anyone about anything.  However, now I've gotten used to it and just try to not ask too many questions, because most the time my co-teachers haven't even been told why something has changed but just to do it.

So basically, I have been coming into work and doing nothing for eight hours!  I'm at work right now writing this.  Fortunatly, I can bring a book into work to read, which has helped me pass the time!  I even brought my headhpones today so I can study up on my Spanish when I get bored of reading :)



Half way there.

I can't believe we've already been in Korea for six months.  Our official six month "Koreaversary" (as our friend Jessica likes to call it) is on the 28th of this month, but we're practically there!  I know that leaving will be bittersweet, but I am honestly super excited to come home.  That's not to say that we don't like it here or anything.  There will definitely be things we miss about Korea.  I'll miss the fact that this will probably be the safest place I will ever live, period.  I'll miss the friendly and generous Korean culture where people will give you little gifts or start a conversation with you in the elevator, at the store, on the street, or pretty much anywhere.  I'll miss the fact that everything in Korea is extremely cute and I can easily find a spatula with a smiley face on it, pens in the shape of puppies, or kitten oven mitts.  And, I know that Doug will miss all the cheap street food and beef dishes here!

But....I can't wait to be back in sunny California where the avocados are abundant and our friends and family are just a drive or phone call away.  I'm counting down the days and we only have 192 more days till we're flying back to beautiful California!  That's not that far away, right?

Here's a few pictures that I feel really capture the beauty of Korea and the rural/urban mix throughout the country.

Jessica's Birthday!

A few weeks ago it was our good friend's, Jessica, birthday.  Celebrating birthdays away from home, our families, and our friends can be pretty tough, so some friends and I decided to plan something special for Jessica's birthday.  Plus, good friends in Korea are hard to come by due to the limited selection of people that speak the same language as we do, so we had to do something extra fun for her! Our friend Lisa decided to plan a birthday party around all of Jessica's favorite things-Harry Potter, Taylor Swift, and the Hunger Games book series.  We started out the night eating at our favorite Italian restaurant in Cheonan, Welcoming the Moon, and got yummy pizza, soup, and salad. Afterward, we headed to our friends' apartment and hung out and played games.  Lisa even made a Taylor Swift drink list with drinks that corresponded to different Taylor Swift songs!  She did an amazing job planning out all the details.  It was such a fun night!

 Before - The super cute birthday apple pie that Lisa and I made!

 After - demolished by chopsticks.

 Happy Birthday, Jessica! We are so glad to have met you!

Lazy weekend.

This weekend I really enjoyed just getting to relax after our busy couple weeks moving and settling into our apartment.  We still have some organizing and decorating to do, but everything is unpacked!

Yesterday, we were able to go back to Mt. Taejosan, which is a mountain that has one the largest buddha statues in Korea.  It's really peaceful, so Doug and I wanted to go back and check it out in the winter.  Luckily, now we are only a fifteen minute bus ride away, whereas before it took us about 45 minutes!  I think we'll be hiking there a lot more once the weather warms up, maybe we'll even bring little Yepps along :) 

One of the reasons we enjoy Mt. Taejosan so much is because it feels a lot more secluded and tranquil than some of the other mountains and hills we hike here.  I swear the national pastime for middle-aged Koreans is hiking.  Sometimes the trails will be busier than walking around town, so it doesn't always feel like your getting away from the crowds.  But, at Mt. Taejosan you don't have to constantly stop on the trail for passing and you can enjoy the beautiful views.

I thought this was interesting.  This is a frozen lake at the bottom of the steps that lead up to the buddha.  Someone made the Buddhist swastika with ice blocks on the lake.  Apparently,  Hitler took the Buddhist swastika and turned it backwards to make the Nazi symbol!  I didn't know that until we came here and saw all the swastikas on the temples!