I guess this is as official as it gets, aside from standing in front of and telling kids to shut up. I think this photo might be even more horrendous than my first drivers license when I was 17. This is how the 6th graders will remember me for all eternity. With frizzed hair and fat face.
That’s Danielle Teacher to you.
Jin to my right, and Leni the row in front of me on my right. And Mr. Principal next to my Vice Principal that I accidentally cut off. I think he looks like Mr. Miyamoto, my 5th grade teacher.
About a year ago I first really heard about KPOP (Korean Pop) when I was working at bloc, but didn’t really think anything of it. One of the girls on my Choreography team always said she basically repped the whole Korean choreo market because one of our clients was always working with the big groups ova in the far East…NOW it’s all making sense. Especially when I sit here watching some of the videos and seeing the completely womanly looking men dancing like my main love Justin Timberlake….
So yea…on the KPOP front, I felt the need to share this video from Letterman the other night. This is “Girls Generation” (or SNSD), which is a KPOP group that my students are f’ing obsessed with. Looks like the KPOP scene is trying to invade the states now, so God bless their songs having at least some catchy English in them. They also have an absurdly insane amount of group members, topping them off at 9 members. Je-sus!
How many times do you think Letterman practiced saying 감사합니다 (that’s thank you….gam sam nida) while getting his makeup done?
I haven’t really gotten super into KPOP since being here, which is a shocker, but I do love this song, and hear it everywhere. Grocery store, subway station, and hummed by my students in class. The guy is from Beast which is like, the *NSYNC of the boybands and she’s from the group 4 MINUTE. There’s also 2PM and 2AM, amongst other groups. Very original names.
Not because I got my first home permanent like all the other Koreans, no no (I Love Lucy reference for the uncultured folk)…
But because this lovely little Korean lady named Lucy gave me my first Far East hairdo!
My do rag was long overdue for a chopping. It’s been like 10 months or something since my lovely friend Rachael back home chopped it for me just before that guy Mike came to visit me in April. Anyways, I have been wanting to cut my hair but thought maybe I’d just let it grown out for winter, but then last night I decided I was sick of it and plus, it was so dead and needed a sprucing up.
Done with the boringness, I found out the name for the place Abby just got her hair cut at, and did some other research last night because I was kinda scared to just try anywhere here. My hair is very very very different compared to Asian hair, so tricky sitch ya herr? I ended up finding rave reviews for this chick Lucy online, who had worked in London for like 6 years, and plus Abby’s hair looks BOMB. So I made the appointment this morning for 4pm today.
Lucy owns the studio and it’s in Sinchon, which is one stop away from Hongdae in Seoul. I got there a little early, being all eager and all, and when I walked in the place was empty, so at first I was like “eeep!” But, they took me right away (obv). I showed her this hott pic of Rihanna for inspiration, and then I was swept off to get my hair shampooed and my head massaged.
But yea, twas a totally normal great hair salon, minus the fact it felt a little awkward and silent at first. She had another guy comb my hair and she was handing him combs. It was odd, but then she jumped in. She also told me that their busiest day is Saturday, and that Sunday is usually slow. Good to know.
A little bit into it we got to talking talking talking and she was so funny. She even answered my unasked question about wanting to maybe ever be able to get bangs. She’s just cutting cutting cutting and tells me “You should never think of getting bangs.” That answers that question. Thanks cowlicks all over my head. That’s when we started talking about how honest Asians are. She told me a story about how one of her clients’ principals (who didn’t speak very good English) told him “he looked delicious” when he was dressed in a suit for work one day (maybe he meant intelligent? smart? handsome even?). I told her about MayMay’s mom’s being very honest when she noticed I put on or lost a couple L-Bs, or when my students or co-teachers comment on a fresh new zit that’s sprouted on my cheek that they think I’ve missed the memo on. Silly Asians gotz no time fo sugar coating.
So yea, the wash, cut and dry cost me all of 30,000won, which is like $25 fat ones. I also bought wax to make the back all messy! And this is how unbalanced I look now.
And since who knows if other foreigners are reading this with the same questions I had, she told me 90% of her clientele are foreigners and everyone there speaks English. The salon is called Lucy Hair (02.325.2225). Get off at Sinchon (near Hongdae, NOT Sincheon near Jamsil) exit 1, go straight til you see Natuur Ice Cream and turn right. She’s just on the right on the 2nd floor of the T World building.
When deciding to move to another country, especially one so different from your own, you obviously put together a list of things you have to do when you’re there. I made a Korean Bucket List during my whole research and application process,which has continued to grow since getting here, and in the past month I can say I’ve successfully checked off 3 big things. Therefore, this will be a somewhat video-heavy post topped off with my old lady laugh in most. Hope ya don’t mind-uh.
1. Eat octopus.
This first time I ate it in a fishy soup with co-workers. I watched it go from breathing to boiling to death in a scalding hot pot, then cut up with scizzors on my table. Sad but whoa, Koreans don’t mess around.
2. Eat octopus…again. This time purchase a living, breathing octopus and then eat it while still alive.
I spent a lovely and smelly afternoon at the Noryangjin Fish Market with Steph, Abby and Nick, Steph’s boyfriend. We walked through a massive fish warehouse while we mustered up the guts to finally choose a baby octopus, go to one of the little inside restaurants with our bag of octopus, then have them cut it up and serve it to us. I don’t think this video or my words could actually express how nervous I was to do this. It actually didn’t taste like anything and I didn’t even really feel the tentacles stick to my throat or mouth like the others, probs because I doused it in sauce then threw it back. So sick, but I’d do it again for the novelty 🙂
3. Go to the DMZ. AKA the De Militarized Zone AKA the most heavily guarded border in the world.
I have been wanting to go to the DMZ since before I arrived, because honestly, who can say they have been to one of the most intense borders in the world? Not many. Well, the perfect opportunity presented itself when Sista decided to put her impulse buying to the test and booked a flight out to see me for my birthday! Me, Sista and my friend Casey ended up going on Sunday, which also happened to be Mama Schaeff’s birthday, so we decided to keep our plans to ourselves until we were back in the South in one piece.
There are 2 different DMZ tours that you can take, the one we went on that takes you to the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel (the 3rd of 4 discovered tunnels dug by the N. Koreans after the war, discovered by S. Korea), the Freedom Bridge (when the war was over, this bridge connected the North and South and allowed those to come to the South), the Dorasan Observatory (where you can look thru binoculars into the desolation of North Korea), and Dorasan Station (the station that will ultimately be the link between the North and the South, whenever, if ever, they unite one day).
The 2nd tour is the Panmunjeom, which is the most Northern location within the South Korean border. Here civilians can go to the Joint Security Area (JSA) and see the North and South Korean soldiers guarding their territories together. I must do this at some point!!
De Militarized Zone. There’s barbed wire with a flower on the “M”
The ribbons behind us have notes on them that many families have written to family they still have in the North, and hopes for a unified peninsula one day.
On the Freedom Bridge, where people escaped the North to the South after the war.
Just trekked it down and thru the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. Got our exercise in for the day!
It’s forbidden to take pictures past this yellow line.
Us with a backdrop of North Korean mountains.
South Korean soldier at Dorasan Station.
Creepy propaganda.
In addition to quickly checking things off my list, I celebrated my first Korean birthday. And as if turning 28 wasn’t enough, I’m technically 29 according to Korea. Blah. The way that works is that when you are born in Korea you are considered 1 yrs old, and then on the 1st of the year everyone gets another year older, then another year older on your actual birthday. So I turned 28 on the 1st and then 29 on the 20th. Bahumbug.
ANYWAYS, digging myself out of that sad old hole, JACQUIE came to visit me for my birthday! I don’t think anyone has ever done anything that nice for me before! I made the 2 hour trek from the Dontgogay to pick her up at the airport last Wednesday (and another 2 hour journey back!) and she came to my last 2 days of camp with me on Thursday and Friday. She of course fell in love with how cute the kids are, especially one little peach named Lisa, who gave us both matching gold rings on my birthday 🙂
One of my other most adorable 5th graders, Jena, gave me a notebook with glasses on it, a white board pen (because mine are always running out of ink) and some candy. Adorbz and so thoughtful. I love her.
When camp was over all the little girls wanted pictures with me and Jacq, so it was the perfect completion of Hollywood week. Nothin like getting caught in the middle of a paparazzi storm, especially with little Koreans pumpkins. Trust me, I’ve been involved in a paparazzi storm or 2.
My birthday was absolutely lovely, despite being a little sad that I wasn’t spending the standard January birthday-sharing with my MayMay lover, and of course all my friends back home. It was definitely amazing having Sista here to fill the missing-home void. That night a bunch of us went to a wine buffet at the Artnouveau Hotel in Yeoksam, which I must say, was quite the classy venue. I’ve been invited to it a couple times in the past and always flaked, so when I wanted something out of the ordinary to do this year it seemed like the perfect idea…and it twas!
WOMEN.
California Girls…we’re unforgettable 🙂
I’m convinced that Texans are the best people everz ❤ Benji Boo Boo Bear
M.E.N.
Well, after who knows how many bottles of vino and how many pieces of delicious sashimi, the night took a turn for the trashy as we headed to the not-so-classy Monkey Beach in Apgujong (like the Beverly Hills of Seoul). Since it was my birthday, I got a free bottle of tequila. Eeep! Soon enough tequila shots, buckets of booze and Abby’s ass were flying all over the place.
See?
All in all, twas a wondrous birthday! The rest of the weekend I took Jacq all over Seoul. We were literally out all day everyday and we were exhausted and freezing!!! Even though it was so tiring, it was nice to play tourist again and revisit some of the spots that I went to right when I first arrived. One of my fave places in Seoul is Namsan (or Seoul) Tower, which we hiked with Abby. It wasn’t so cold walking up, but once we got to the top we reached a level of cold that I have never felt before (except for the night in Insadong with Jacq!) Our fingertips felt like they were gonna fall off it was so cold, so we ate pancakes, took pictures with the love lock trees and even locked a lock of our own up there reallllly quickly!
It’s hard to believe that my 5 month anniversary just passed, that I’m off to Vietnam and Cambodia in 3 weeks and that my freakin sista was just here!!! Time freakin flies when you’re having an amazing (sorry for the cheesy) time! Now, I will leave you with this fantastic video of quite possibly the best, most enthusiastic teeny bopper of a cab driver ever. Sorry it’s dark and don’t hate on my loud old lady laugh, I warned you. Enjoy! Now I sleep.
I have been wanting to write this post for like, the past week, and finally decided to not be lazy about it and document mine and Cori’s rendezvous in the gorgeous country of Thailand. This was kind of a monumental trip for me, as it was my first time venturing out of my new home in South Korea. I was on the phone with my sister before leaving and I kept saying how anxious and nervous I was to leave, and kept thinking I was forgetting something. She was like “it’s so funny how now you’re nervous to leave Korea.” I guess home is where my ish is, right? And yes, I quadruple checked that I had my passport and flight documents and allergy medicine and every last summer clothing item I brought with me to Korea before I scampered off to the bus stop in the frigid cold snowy air to head to ze airport. BRING ON THE STICKY HEAT….but not before I nearly froze to death after waiting for nearly an hour outside the bus stop for the comfy bus to shlep me to Incheon Airport. NOW bring on the sticky heat!
I landed in Bangkok at around 1:30am on Friday morning, and after about 2.5 hours of waiting to get through immigration, I headed to the taxi line to get my tired ass taken to D&D Inn on the dirty Khao San Rd. My first thoughts after exiting the airport were “holy shit it’s hot here, this coat needs to be out of my arms and boots ripped off” and “WTF, why is the cabby putting my suitcase in his seat? OHHH…they drive on the opposite side of the car. Well then.” About 30 minutes later the cabby dropped me off at the entrance to Khao San Rd, which is the main crazy animal party street in Bangkok. He motioned that my hotel was down the street and that he wasn’t allowed to drive me all the way in. I soon found out why. Drunkards everywhere, carts of street food, fresh fruit and fried insects littered the shithole of a street. I just remember walking and laughing to myself and reminiscing on my first thoughts of Bourbon St. in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. HOLY SHIT SHOW. Same thing, minus the beads and the boobs from the balconies above.
I finally checked in at D&D, and was initially planning to meet a friend from high school out somewhere if we could get in touch, since he was leaving early in the morning but planned on being out. That didn’t happen. I checked in, showered and passed out to the sweet sound of party animals outside.
I got in a day before Cori so I spent all of Friday just wandering up and down Khao San Rd. checking out the endless amounts of flourescent tank tops and booze and jewelry and street food. I ended up going to the spa in my hotel and got a 1.5 hour foot and thai massage by the tiniest little asian woman I have ever seen. I swear she was barely up to my boobs. It was on top of my hotel and under this temple like structure but it was all open air, so it was really cool. I still think it was the best massage I got the whole trip. This cost me all of like, $6. After breaking the bank and feeling like I could fall over from relaxation, I decided to wander and get my first pad thai of the day. NOM. Throughout the day I had 2 pad thais, a coconut, a nutella crepe, a thai coffee, mango, pineapple, got hustled for a custom-tailored coat, and ate who knows what else. That night I stopped to get another hour long foot massage and watched some all-too-young Thai girls dance with a ladyboy in the middle of the street.
Saturday morning I wandered some more, checked out and then went to wait for Cori at Buddy Lodge, where we stayed. God bless wireless, because I waited forEVZ for her ass. Maybe like 2 hours. I had to pee so bad but I didn’t wanna get up in case I missed her and she thought she was at the wrong place. I finally decided to go to the McDonald’s right in front of our hotel to get fries to tide me over while I waited for her ass. And literally as I’m ordering I turn my head and see this confused blonde trapsing up the stairs in a daze. I threw my money at the chick and ran to throw my arms around her! I was so excited to see my TRUE sista from another mista! We checked in, went to our room, gave each other our “gifts” and then sauntered out to see what the hell Bangkok is all about. BUT, not before taking a Merry Christmas photo with the wondrous staff of Buddy Lodge (minus the bitch on the right….worst.attitude.of.life). Look out for us on their wall if you’re ever there. 2 Jews and a buncha Thai Santas.
The rest of Saturday we wandered, ate, and took a tuk tuk around Bangkok. For 20 baht (about 60 cents) we got a 3 hour or so tour of Bangkok. Our precious driver, who was probably not a day over 18 took us to I think 3 temples, all of which I forget the names of. But, at the 2nd one we went to, there was the sweetest Thai man sitting in the temple. He directed u where to sit and then talked to us for a bit about Buddha and Buddhism, asked us where we’re from and told us all the places that we must see while in Bangkok. He was super sweet and then took a few photos for us. He clearly has done this before 🙂 We ended up getting stuck in a bunch of traffic that day, after spending far too much time getting hustled (and a bit buzzed) at a couple tailor shops (they have a deal with the tuk tuk drivers, something about bringing tourists to them in exchange for gas money). So we headed back to Khao San Rd. for a disgusting fish foot eating pedicure, hour foot massage and hour head, shoulder and neck massage. Day complete.
Sunday was Christmas and we jam packed our day! Luckily there was a travel agent next to our hotel so we booked an awesome day tour of about 4 temples including Wat Pho and Wat Anan, which was my personal fave, and the HUGE reclining Buddha. We had a wonderful tour guide that we later found out was named Max. At first I thought he looked like Ceelo in his crazy wackadoodle yellow sunglasses and curly moppy hair. He ended up being so funny. He was our personal photographer and chauffer and told us lots of info about where we were and the important ideas of Buddhism. He also told us that the most important things in a Thai man’s life are money (lots of it) and women (lots of them).
Wat Pho posing with Buddhas.
Gorgeous & humungous Reclining Buddha
Wat Anan. My personal fave! The climb to the top was practically vertical!
Earlier on Sunday I met a precious British lad named Dion who was also staying at our hotel. He was traveling by himself and having debit card/front receptionist troubles/being lonely on Christmas sadness so I invited him along with us on our journey about 1.5 hours outside of Bangkok to the Amphawa Floating Market that night. Max’s brother, who we only know by the name Kung Fu Panda, accompanied us (why, we don’t know) to the floating market and waited for us to shop around and such. The floating market was pretty cool! They have them at sunrise and in the evening, so we went to one in the evening. Basically, people cook and barter from their boats on the river. So you can essentially walk along the river shopping, eating and watching these old Thai people cook for people who are eating boatside. At the floating market I had THE best ice cream I have ever had in my life, saw some of the prettiest sushi, went on a boat ride for about an hour, hugged an elephant named Nampen, and Cori almost walked out of a folk museum with the first gas can in Thailand for her mom. She had a transportation strategy and everything. Then we discovered it was a Folk Museum and not a shop. Oops! It was pretty awesome, except for the 4 hours worth of traffic we hit on the return home, forcing us to miss our ladyboy show 😦 Cori, jetlagged and frustrated by the traffic, hit the hay early that night so Dion and I headed out to carry on the massage-a-day challenge and have a couple of beverages. Twas a divine time with my new friend!
We like to believe he stole this boat and took us (and himself) for a joy ride.
People cooking & eating ‘long the river.
That would have been a big oops!
Monday we explored China Town and bought some pretty friendship rings and jade Buddhas and elephants before catching our flight to Phuket. We did absolutely nothing in Phuket aside from sleep in our dump of a guesthouse. Who knew something with the name D’s Cornerhouse could be so sad.
Bright and early Tuesday we caught the ferry over to Koh Phi Phi, which I would go so far as to say was my favorite place on the trip, and the place we stayed at the shortest 😦 The ferry ride over played a random Beyonce concert on board, but as we neared the shore we saw some of the most breathtakingly blue water and lush cliffs I’ve ever seen. It was truly gorgeous! We were escorted to our bungalow at the Twin Palms, right on the beach. After getting checking in by the ladyboy receptionist, “her” sister helped us book our tour for the day to Maya Bay and Monkey Beach. Maya Bay was where The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed, and let me tell you, I tried to find him to no avail 😦 I did pretend I was walking in his footsteps though. Duh! We took a wooden boat out to Maya Bay, and along the way we went to Monkey Beach, which as you would assume, has monkeys just running around on it. They were so cute! And so wild! I don’t know what I did but one of them jumped at me and grabbed my leg, and then a few others jumped after, but I ran away so fast. They did this to a couple other people too who freaked their shit, one girl even started crying. We then headed out to Maya Bay which is where we snorkled, but didn’t really see anything cool which sucked. I think it was because it was a bit overcast. Despite that though, it was so beautiful. While there we talked to a few other girls who were actually also on vacation from teaching in Korea. They all lived in Daegu and came over at the same time I did. We all pretended to search for Leo together.
I’m saying “what’s up lil monkeyman?”
Ta da!
Wednesday morning we were up at the crack to hike up to the “PeePee Viewpoint” as they so cleverly call it. We did not anticipate such a hike so early in the morning, but it just kept going and we were shvitzing like a coupla Jew ladies. The morning started off a bit snappy (naturally), but as soon as we got to the top we were fine. It was overcast still but really beautiful. We got to climb on rocks to find the perfect photo opp spot. We also met a little Indian (I think) guy up there and a very rude girl and her weird friends.
Thank god our day started out so glorious, because it quickly went to shit after we spent the entire day in the phuking Phuket airport. Long story short, we originally wanted to get on an earlier flight instead of waiting til 4:30 to fly to Bangkok en route to Samui, but we were told we couldn’t. When we checked in after a few beverages, we found out our flights were delayed (buzz kill), Asia Air put us on another flight so we’d make our connections, that flight got delayed, and then we were put back on Asia Air. Between landing in BKK and making my connection, I had all of 15 minutes to check in, yell at the bitch at Bangkok Airways for taking her sweet time, haul ass through security and run through the biggest f’ing airport to catch the tram to take me to the plane. I have never felt more winded and out of shape in my life than I did while running through that airport. I’m surprised I didn’t fall on my face with the speed I was running at and lugging my oversized carry on. Oops. If we hadn’t made our flights to Samui all flights were booked through the 2nd, so we would have been royally screwed. PINK POWER WORKED IN THE END!
Thursday morning we woke up in Koh Samui refreshed from our clusterfuck of a Wednesday and ventured out from our cute little hotel, Rattana Guest House on Chaweng Beach. We booked an all day Safari tour for Friday, so we took all of Thursday to just wander, get massages and do some shopping. We found a cute little cafe that we brunched at every morning after that we were there.
Friday was AWESOME!!! We were picked up in an open jeep with a group of 9 people. From there we were taken off-roading all over the island! We first went to the PC named Grandmother and Grandfather Rocks (the most phallic natural structures ever!) Taking pictures with these was better than the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
Your baby penis is so handsome.
Other highlights of this Safari tour were holding a monkey and unbeknownst to me having him almost bite my head off, going to this wild animal park where we saw an elephant show, which was kind of sad watching them dance and throw hoola hoops to Mama Mia songs, got to RIDE an elephant and sit on its head! This was so cool! I was soo impressed by the guys ability to just sit on the elephants head, with his feet on its ears and not fall. The second I got on the head and he moved I thought I was gonna plummet down. At this same park we also got to get up close and personal with TIGERS and a LEOPARD!!! They were out in the open, but on these platforms that they were chained too. It was sad, but so cool at the same time. I got to feed a 4 month old tiger milk while he sprawled across my body and I hugged him and held his bottle for him. Talk about death in the face! I was so shocked at how soft his paw pads were. OMG I wanted to take him home he was so cute! There was also a huge 1 year old tiger that I got to get right up in his face. It was nuts! The leopard was on edge the whole time and wouldn’t stop pacing back and forth. Freaky!!! The tour concluded with dinner on the tippy top of the mountain we were on and then going to see the Big Buddha which was, well, BIG. That night we went OUT, and finally hit up a ladyboy show with CJ. We sucked back our sugary Mai Tais as we watched some he/shes pretend to be Beyonce, Christina and Cher. EPIC ladyboy success!
Uh oh.
OMG!
Big Buddha meet Big Booty
Those are dudes.
Our last half day on Samui consisted of some more shopping, some more bickering and some more massaging before we caught a speed boat over to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon/New Years Eve Party. We met CJ on the island and got down to bucket buying and body painting STAT. I think the painting alone would make me come back! The rest of the evening was one giant clusterfuck of people on the beach. It was crazy madness but so much fun! I had planned to try and meet up with Dion who had rerouted his trip down to the islands instead of Chiang Mai, but there was absolutely no luck finding him. You honestly couldn’t move on that beach there were that many people and buckets flying everywhere. I ended up staying til around 2am when I had to hightail out of there and catch the boat back to Samui to take the longest most amazing shower of my life and then peace out to the airport for my 6am flight to Bangkok. I have never been so tired in my life!!! My flight back to Seoul from Bangkok was at 10:30am and I had a random stop over in Hong Kong for 30 minutes which I had no idea about. So weird!
Happy New Year!!!
All in all the trip was so great and it was soooo good to see my Diamond, even though we wanted to kill each other every 2 minutes. What are sisters for right? Now I’m just back in Seoul and in my 2nd of 3 weeks of winter camp, and then I’m popping off to Vietnam and Cambodia mid February which I am SOOOO excited about! Talk about conquering Asia like a biatch!
Sorry it was a novel, but that was to be expected from a 10 day whirlwind of a trip! 감사합니다 for reading and hope you are just an eency bit jealous.
PS. Here’s a tip for future Thailand travelers. Pack near nothing because you won’t wear any of the shit you bring. Cori and I both severely overpacked and ended up only really wearing stuff we bought there. Everything is DIRT cheap and there are clothes galore! Not to mention, I found bras that fit me!!!!!!!! HAIL THAILAND!
I know, I know, it’s been a year and a day since I wrote to you world. My deepest apologies. But, I’ve just been so f’ing busy trying to plan a Hollywood themed Winter English camp that I start teaching the day after I stumble off the plane in Incheon on New Years Day, after a, what I’m assuming will be, ridiculous trip and a 6am flight that is giving me anxiety already. Pardon that run-on, but it warranted it. So yea, let me try and give a quick catch up on the recent happs, because the next thing I write about will be after Thailand. AHH! It snuck up on me so fast!! BOO! Ahhh!
In the past 2 weeks it has snowed two times (but according to Mirandawg from 6,000 miles away, it doesn’t classify as snow. Dirty Jersey snob!) But I don’t care what she says, there was white frosty stuff falling from the sky on 2 occasions, my building has icicles hanging off the edges, and my fingers and toes want to fall off from numbness. On top of the snow, the frigid cold is numbing, and my classroom is so huge that it fails miserably to heat up. I’ve been wearing thick ass tights under my jeans and 1-2 pairs of socks on top of them PLUS boots and my toes still want to die. I’ve even resorted to using a kid’s puffy vest that they left in class as a blanket for my feet under my desk. Oh well. It’s my foot warmer now. And now it’s time to invest in a heating blanket and/or heater for under my desk.
Itaewon 3am snow dribbles & a kebab.
I finally went ice skating in Seoul! I have been wanting to go so bad and finally went. Helllloooo winter! I went last week with a British lad whom I like to call Leonidas King of Sparta. He lives right by Lotte World, which is an amusement park, and there is an indoor ice skating rink there! There are several other rinks also throughout the city, some inside and some outside. I was expecting it to be super cold (given my prior ice skating rink experience) and almost brought my brand new super warm and fat coat, but thank God I didn’t because I was schvitzing hardcore the entire time! Compared to the show-off speed skaters spinning circles around the center of the rink (some face planting and eating shit), Sparta and I were skating at quite the slow pace, mostly because he was clenching every muscle in his body (and my arm) to not fall over. Great success because he didn’t fall, nor did he bring me down with him. Thank god for that because I was wearing a skirt and that wouldn’t have been lady like. He will hate me, but such is life. Here’s some comic relief for you. The one time I took my camera out to videotape, I got him plowing into a precious hand-holding Korean couple. Pardon my potty mouth and Blair Witch Project video skills.
Smart lil Koreans they are, misspelling when they spend all them won on us Englishee speakers!
Ice rink at Lotte World! Doesn’t it look magical?
Strugglin to stand still. It’s slippery out there!
The holiday season/best time of the year has officially begun and I must say it feels nice to be in a different city this year to celebrate! There have been a couple excuses to go out, drink a bottle of makkoli and don a Santa hat in the past couple weekends, which has been lovely. 2 weekends ago was Santacon, which basically entailed a crapload of people gathering dressed up like Santa. Like a good Jew I participated, if only because the Santi hat made my head feel rather warm.
Lots o’ Santas for Santacon in Hongdae!
Aren’t they gorgeous?
2 great Seoul loves. Santa Collina and Benji Boo Boo Pippylongstocking Bear…and random Korean Santi Claus.
My one true Seoul love. The KOKmaster.
Friday night was pretty mellow but I hung out with some new friends and it just felt nice to meet some new people and go and just HANG OUT in a different part of town besides Zen/Hongdae for a change. Saturday I impressed myself with my productivity. I hardcore planned winter camp at Cafe Bene during the day, and then that night rewarded myself with a delicious Mexican feast cooked by one Miz Professor Heyduck, with a side of some saucy, much needed girl time before we all scamper off to different parts of the world for the holidays. Video below (though I might get my head chopped off for posting it. Oh well). Afterwards, the 4 of us met up with our pallios in Itaewon for some more Santi hat wearing and imbibing. I saw pretty much everyone I wanted to see that night, and was just happy happy happy ;). Not to mention, put over the moon at the most ghetto club in all of Itaewon (The Loft, or as I like to call it, the UNclub). Collin and I shared an EPIK few moments of dance party madness. The Macarena, Spice Girls and Footloose. Back to back. Made my life. It was a great weekend to say the least. I’d say one of my favorite weekends so far in Korea…not sure why, just was 🙂
I look aZn. Yea?
This week has been almost non-existent at school since the vacation ceremony is tomorrow and technically we get to leave school at noon after a staff meeting. The kids have also been done after lunch everyday. Super sweet and gives me time to get my shit done! I left today with pretty much nothing left to do before I leave except tie up a few loose ends and tweak some things. Feels good, one less thing to worry about when my 6am New Years day flight is clouding my brain. Livin’ some part of my life on the edge. Yea-yuh.
I will conclude this posty post with an adorable picture and video of my 3rd & 4th grade babies making chocolate pudding during our final afterschool class. Thanks to Mama Schaeff for sending the pudding to me and helping make some little kiddos very happy while making, eating and watching (and FINALLY finishing) Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (after about 15x of start and stop).
Those punims!!!!
Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas and a very Happy Kwanzaa to all. Until next year……. mwah!
PS. I’m fine in terms of the DICKtator’s death. Mom, you can stop sending me 3 emails every hour telling me to come home. LOVE YOU!
Thanksgiving was yesterday in Korea and today back home, and let me tell ya, I’ve got an eency weency case of the Thanksgiving blues. To fill the void of a Thanksgivingless year, I decided to teach about the very first feast between those freezing Pilgrims and the almighty Indians and that great big Mayflower ship. With my afterschool kids, I taught them a very brief dumbed down history, told them that we eat turkey (many have never even eaten turkey before!) and that we also eat this amazingly delicious thing for dessert called pumpkin pie, or to one of my adorable 1st graders, “pumpkin cake.” Oh they just keep melting my heart. Over and over….again.
I had to teach these classes for an extended amount of time on both days because of make up classes, so I had to fill my time with projects to minimize me having to entertain. I found a really cute “Thankful 4” project online and spent much of my day on Friday and Monday (since classes got cancelled!) cutting out multi-colored number 4s, tying yarn thru a hole on each, and writing “I’m thankful” on them. I then had each student write and draw however many things they could think of that they are thankful “4” on their’s. Most were thankful for the same things as me, you know, their family, friends, FOOD….with the addition of Angry Birds, computer games, and dog…but in a whole different way I’m sure for some. I also had the kiddies make those paper turkeys where they traced their hands for the feathers and then wrote what they are thankful for on the phalange feathers. Peep the Thankful 4’s and my 3rd/4th graders Thankful Turkey tree. Some nice little additions to my classroom if I might say so myself 🙂
In other news, a group of us have been trying to organize some sort of feast for this weekend, but that seems to have fallen thru, so we are trying to concoct a makeshift potluck for tomorrow. We’ll see how that goes. I hope it happens because seeing everyone’s pictures of turkeys from back home is making me sad!
In happier news, I was awoken by a text from my beloved MayMay wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving! Princess Priya also texted me stuffed and ready for a nap from her Texas Turkey Day. That started my day off right fo sho. All of my classes except for one were cancelled today, so I got to Skype with the fam. They were pretty stuffed from the Tofurky and whatever else they had, so they were pretty untalkative (shocker), with the exception of Papa Schaeff making sure I’m “not ashamed to go to the doctor as much as possible until that cough of your’s is gone” and Mama Schaeff telling me “you better buy a hat. Are you crazy for not wearing a hat? You’re going to get a head cold!” and “Do you want to buy a jacket from Victoria’s Secret online? They can probably ship it to you. You probably can’t find a jacket over there, can you?” Some things never change :). I was ready to walk out of the room or hang up Skype from 5,956 miles away. It was also beautious to see the precious lil pups who looked quite tryptophaned out for their own good. I of course took some Skype snapshots to document the lovely conversation. My favorite is the standard downward dog shot of Mama Schaeff. I don’t think a Skype sesh passes without a Yoga pose.
Cori and I also Skype planned the shit (kinda) out of our Thailand adventure today. Even though my mind was racing and I felt like an anxious piece of crapola, it made me really excited to have a little bit of home up in these parts. So I can’t wait to see my sista from anotha mista. Twill be quite the adventure for us…if we can ever figure out a way to get away from the lady boys in Phuket to Ko Samui and then back from Ko Phangang on New Years to make a flight at the butt ass crack of dawn. FMLxInfinity.
So yea, nothing too exciting, but I felt that my first Thanksgivingless Thanksgiving abroad ought to be documented. Back I go to sippin this awful bottle of Makkoli and eating this piece of awkward tasting pumpkin candy that I purchased, and watching some Glee.
The theme of this post is nudity. Butt ass naked nudity. But in the purest form, of course.
Before coming to Korea I had heard a thing or two about Korean bath houses, otherwise known as jjimjilbangs. First, I heard that you get completely naked and wander around a bath house (which made me quite nervous), and second, that they are everywhere and that you can even stay over night for practically nothing if you want to. Other than that, I didn’t know much until I went on a very fun first date and got the low down about the amazingness, and the sometimes wandering hands of the local Koreans. From the couple stories I was told, I was urked yet rather intrigued at the same time, and knew it was something I’d have to experience for myself. Cue last night’s adventure to the top-of-the-line Dragon Hill Spa in Yongsan (http://www.dragonhillspa.co.kr/) with my loverlies, Abby and Steph. All of us were jjimjilbang virgins and had wanted to make sure our first time was as pleasurable and memorable as possible so we chose a place we new would be legit.
Here’s how it went down…
After braving thru the frigid cold upon exiting the station, we oriented ourselves and followed the bright lights toward the spa. We walked in, feeling a bit clueless as to where to go, so we just followed a group of Koreans who were just ahead of us. When in doubt! We made our way to the register, and for a measly 10,000won (less than 10 bux!) we were given a luxurious t-shirt and baggy fat man pants, a key wristband and 2 teeny towels. I felt like we were signing our lives away to a heavenly nudist concentration camp (I’m a Jew, I can make that joke). We then followed the Korean crowd again and did as they did and took off our Uggs before walking into the shoe locker room where we found our first of two lockers. This one was cubby-sized and for our shoes.
Moving on, following the crowd still, we made our way past a co-ed arcade room where a bunch of adults were just hanging out and playing ski ball and other arcade games in their sexy concentration camp attire. We found the elevator which gave us the choice of 2 floors; one for men and one for women. Upon reaching the 3rd floor, we exited into a land of naked Korean bodices, Korean hard boiled eggs and what we would later deem Heaven on Earth. I was already really nervous about getting butt ass naked with my homies, and I got even more nervous when I was greeted by the nakedness. I mean, yea we are all girls and have the same stuff but it’s weird, and we’ve all only been friends for a few measly months. I guess you just get super close with peeps fast when on a journey such as this. Nonetheless, we made our way to our second locker where we disrobed and changed into our fancy spa duds. Easing our way in. I like it.
After changing, we made our way into the main area where we yet again followed some Koreans into a room which was littered with some sort of bamboo type mats and rectangular cushy blocks for your head. It had this scent that I loved, which was a woody amberish scent. Here many were napping, but we continued thru to the little tiny door across the room, which was called the Ochre room. Curious, we opened the door and were greeted with a blast of excruciating heat. I’m not even exaggerating when I say it was excruciating. I felt like a poor turkey being plopped in the oven to roast, or just someone who decided to go take a seat on the sun for the hell of it. But like the champs that we are, we made our way past the 6 or so older Korean women sweating their asses off, and found a seat in the back of the oven. Keep in mind I had not even been in there for more than 45 seconds and I was already dripping sweat, or gravy, whichever you prefer. I blinked my eyes and they stuck together and burned. This was unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was like a sauna on steroids. I sat down on the ground and my butt lit on fire. I put one of my tiny towels under my butt and it burned thru the towel and scorched my butt even more. It was like playing hot potato with my butt, but I stuck it out for probably about 7 minutes. I had to leave because I thought I was gonna die, but Steph and Abby stayed in for about another 2 or 3 minutes. After cooking ourselves, we laid on the cool bamboo mats for a good 10 minutes and it was the most heavenly lay of my life.
You know what part comes next? The naked part. That’s what comes next. Eeep. After leaving the Ochre room we made our way back to locker number two to shed our concentration attire. The whole time walking back all I could do was giggle and go “omgomgomg I’m so nervous!” Over and over, as the naked bodies kept shuffling past me. Back at the lockers Steph undressed the quickest, you eager beaver you. Then she greeted Abby and I on our side of the hall with nothing but a teeny tiny towel covering her “important parts.” This was literally a “Hello girls!” moment. It was like the first time MayMay and I basked topless together in the French Riviera. Twas a little weird at first, but after about 3 minutes passed it was all fine and dandy and liberating. So, we nakedly walked down the stairs into Heaven. And let me tell you what Heaven is like.
First, upon entering Heaven you must take a shower. After futzing with the lever for a couple seconds warm water came out. We then walked past a bunch of women sitting on plastic white stools in front of sinks showering themselves, washing their hair and scrubbing the shit out of each other. There were even a couple little kids running around frolicking in the pools. There are both inside and outside baths, and they range from luke warm, to mildly hot, to freezing cold, and each is infused with different aromas, or salts, and has jets that you can turn on or off at your own desire. One of them even had individual baths with hand railings in case the jets got you a little too excited that you lost yourself in the water. Watch out Abneet. My favorite was the last indoor bath we went into which was FREEZING cold and smelled like eucalyptus. I think this bath alone could cure my disgusting cough and open up them bronchials. It was painful at first, but once in the water it felt amazing. And then even better when we got out. I felt like my body was in this state of euphoria or something. My next favorite was the outside bath. After scampering outside, butt naked, in the probably below 30 degree weather, we gracefully sat in the piping hot bath. The combination of the heat and the cold was so delicious.
Next came the sauna and steam room. These were normal, not on steroids. The first was a sea salt sauna, and the second was an aroma steam room. The aroma of which we couldn’t place, but it was bomb diggity. We hung out with a bunch of older Korean women in both for a bit, and got in touch with our inner Korean woman.
After sweating, relaxing, observing full on naked body massages being performed, watching random women scrub each other’s backs and butts down, checking out the au naturale Korean-ness, and a final shower, we made our way back to our lockers where we put on our concentration camp pjs again and went back to the Ochre room for a lay and a snooze. Drifting in and out of a deep REM sleep, I had probably one of the best naps I’ve ever had, and it was on a bamboo mat on a rock hard wooden floor. Then was when we decided that this Kimchi Curry Matzah Ball soup-ness was soon to become an every Wednesday ritual to break up the week (with the addition of our other Kimchi bitch). I don’t think I have ever felt in that much bliss as I did last night.
So yea, it was amazing. I didn’t get touched inappropriately by any Korean women this time, but I’m sure it will happen some day. Until then, I can’t wait for next Wednesday! Oh, and maybe one day I’ll get this horny substance removal done, whatever that is, but probably not.
It’s November 17th, 2011 which means I have been living in freakin Seoul for exactly 3 months today. I remember that day quite vividly. On the 16th I was a damn waterworks show while saying bye to the Schaeffs at LAX, and all that I could think was “WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING?!” In the end, I grew a pair and whimpered my way through the security line like a little bitch. Here are the last known (and sexiest) photos of Rudolph and the fam before peacing out.
The sexiest photo of me on the planet.
I landed at around 6:30pm in Seoul, and as soon as I walked off the plane and into the airport I was SHVITZING…and I hadn’t even stepped outside Incheon Airport yet. My plane buddy named Kevin (wow, I remembered that) was a skinny little Korean boy who helped me hoist my life-of-luggage onto my cart and we were on our way to exchange some dolla dolla bills for some wonios. I then meandered around the airport by myself for a bit trying to get oriented and figure out where the hell I was supposed to go to meet the EPIK/Korvia peeps. I found them after walking in a few circles. My internal compass needs some work, clearly. I met my plane buddy Casey in the flesh and met Henry Oh from Korvia who gave me my cell phone. I also thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I thought “WOW. He’s cute.” Casey and I ended up talking talking talking and missed the memo to get on our bus to head to Kyung Hee University, AKA our orientation site. We got briskly shuffled out to the bus and I plopped on down next to little Miss Veny. Who I l.o.v.e. LOVE. The rest is 3 months of history.
Fast forward to now, 3 months in, and yesterday I took my first sick day. I never fully kicked my last round of sickness so I was bound to get sick again. I signed up for my first Yoga membership in Seoul after school on Tuesday with my co-teachers. For 12 classes/month it’s only 80,000won, which averages out to about $6/class!! What a steal! Tuesday’s class ended up being Pilates and it felt so good. It was really funny though because I was wearing the least amount of clothing, but I was dressed how we dress for Yoga in the states. Yoga pants, sports bra and tank top. I felt a wee bit out of place when everyone was in baggy pants over their tights, longer sleeved shirts and no cleavage whatsoever. Oh well! I have the gift of sweat and could not do that! Not to mention, the teacher paid extra attention to me. I think this is because I was the lone big-bootied Waygook standing out in a sea of skinny Koreans in the class. Needless to say, I felt amazing after, but as soon as I got home I started feeling shitty. I ended up going to bed super early (for me) that night, around 10:45pm, and when I awoke in a congested haze I was not about to get my ass out of bed and stand all day. I always take myself down that road and therefore I never get better. So I stayed home and slept literally all day, and caught up on some guilty pleasure television between naps. I also received my beautiful purple warm comforter, which coupled with the warmness of my Ondol (heating in my apartment that heats the floors!) made for an even better day of slumber.
I am officially the only Waygook who belongs to Lime Yoga!
Another first happened last week. I shlepped my ass down to Hongdae on Wednesday for my first tap class in Seoul. Well, that class was a rude and brutal awakening to my complete and utter rustiness. I SUCKED ASS. There were 4 of us in the class plus the teacher. My friend Woo Sik, who is the guy I originally met, was in the class, his brother and then one other guy. I can’t stress how awful I was. First, I haven’t tapped in probably 3 years or so, and even then it was like once a week since I began working, and second, they are legit Rhythm tappers which is a grittier style of tap than I am used to. The class was fun, but I was super frustrated and nervous, and my feet and head were NOT working together. On top of that, I was stressed about planning for my first Winter camp. I told the guys I would definitely like to continue classes and they thought it would be best to take them on Weds and Fri (which I was kind of bitter about committing to on a Friday). I told them I would, but then last night decided since I’m gonna be traveling it’s probably not the best idea to buy a whole month’s package (100,000won/8 lessons) when I will probably be missing a bunch of classes coming up. So, that’s out, but perhaps I’ll go take one off classes here and there when I feel like being made a fool of 🙂
On Tuesday was yet another first, and this was quite an interesting one. You know how at home we have fire drills to practice what to do if there’s a fire? Well, I found out in Monday’s meeting that in S. Korea they have War drills for if N. Korea and S. Korea ever go to war. Yep. Sorry mom. So yea, during my Tuesday after school class with my 1st and 2nd graders we had the drill. The principal said we didn’t need to go out of the classroom, but to just stay in the room and keep quiet. Everyone else had to go downstairs and underground. I’ve heard that not all schools have underground areas, but they go out on the field. How that would protect you, I don’t know, but my school has an underground. So, if anything happens I will be saved :). During this drill there was a radio announcement that was broadcast for 20 minutes in Korean, from 2:-2:20pm. It really felt like we were back in WWII or something. It wasn’t scary or anything, but just the foreign language and the way it sounded over the broadcast sounded very old fashioned. While the broadcast was going I gave the kids a worksheet to do, then when they finished they just went and read in the playroom to keep quiet. That gave Leni and I a chance to go over necessities for Winter camp. So yea, Bomb Drills. New and different thing to add to the ever-growing list!
Next week is Thanksgiving! This will be my first Thanksgiving away from home and it’s so weird! A group of us are planning a feast for this weekend so I can’t wait to eat lots of nomz! I’m also going to be teaching about Thanksgiving in my after school classes next week, so that is the perfect excuse to have kids make paper turkeys and bring in pumpkin pie for us all to eat. NOM NOM NOM.
In other FIRSTs news, I have officially booked my first flight out of the country for just before Christmas to New Years! After much harassing from my favorite morning wake up call, Cori and I are almost set to go. We’ve got our RT flights and hotel in Bangkok, just need to book the domestic flights, and we have an itinerary planned. I am SO excited! It’s gonna be so much fun. It’ll also be nice to get out of the snow that will be covering Seoul. Bret is also planning to come visit me end of January for my birthday, so I’m just waiting to see if he got the dates approved. Then hopefully we can start planning!
That’s about it for now. Sorry for no new pictures, but here’s a cute lil one of one of my munchkins and some creeptastic mannequins. Enjoy!
Precious lil Gabriel
Creepiest mannequins of life. Why would anyone want to buy pj’s from this store?
I’ve been here for almost 3 months now, I honestly can’t believe it. Where the heck has the time gone? I know in the grand scheme of things 3 months is nothing, but this is the longest I have legitimately been AWAY from my family and close friends. Having always lived within an hour of the Schaeffs, it’s kind of crazy to think that it’s been so long since I’ve seen them. I spent my first Halloween abroad which ended up being my most elaborate, and now the holidays, my birthday and both Mama and Papa Schaeff’s birthdays are fast approaching. It’s nutty to think I will have to ship presents to them. Regardless, the past almost 3 months have been the most amazing I’ve ever had. I’ve talked to a few peeps back at home in the past week, and they all keep telling me that it looks like I’m having the best time. And all I can respond with is “YEP, best decision I’ve ever made :).” It was a bit hard for me to actually tell my mom I was already considering a 2nd year here. A couple days later, I got this adorbz pic of me from when I was 3 with my first Korean friend/neighbor, Hana Ko, from when we lived in North Hollywood. When I would sing the Hannukah song like a good Jewish child she thought I was singing about her. Or so Mama Schaeff says. Keepin the azns close by from the get go I reckon!
“Oh Hana Ko, oh Hana Ko, come light the menorah…”
In other news, I thought I’d take a post to just talk about some of the things I’m loving about being in Seoul. First, that would be my lovely girlfriends here. I really love them. Katie, Abby, Steph and I had a wonderful girls night out on Saturday filled with martinis, tequila sunrises, some amazing jazz and most importantly, some much needed GIRL TALK. We went to Jazz Story which is in Hyehwa, the area I’ve decided I really want to live in. I think I wrote about it before, but I went on one of my favorite dates ever there and I needed to go back. Abby had been saying she wanted to go see some jazz, so twas perfect. Originally, I had only intended on going out to Jazz Story and then making it an early night because old lady over here has not been wanting to booze it up like a young buck these days. What is becoming of me? I guess I’m becoming more matour. Anyways, that went to shit after a couple “dirty” martinis, a good buzz, a bottle of soju and the need to make up for a shitty Friday night. We ended up going to yet another ghetto ass club in Hongdae, which was awesome good fun. I didn’t get home til about 5am, after which I proceeded to sleep/Skype/sleep the rest of the next day away. All in all, I am in love with my girlfriends here. They are simply amazing and make me happy. I really needed a good group of girls, especially after leaving so many lil gems back state-side 🙂 YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Anyways, here is a video of Billie Jean (how approps 😦 ) and some pictorals!
Written in the menu ❤
From classy to trashy. Enter Club Naked.
I know I literally talk about my students like they are my children or food that I love so much that I just want to eat UP, but there were a couple things that made me even more obsessed today. First, one of my favorite 6th graders, Billy, is entered in an English speaking/writing competition. He asked me if I could proofread his speech for him, and of course I was so excited about it. He wrote about challenges that we all face in life and compared it to his favorite show called Challenger. It was seriously the cutest thing ever. Kids are so freakin smart and it becomes even more apparent everyday. Here he is in 6th grade and I was truly impressed by how he not only could write a 2 page speech in English, but it also made sense. I was talking to my co-teacher Leni about how good it was while on our way to lunch today, and she told me he is one student who truly cares about learning the context as he wants to become a writer one day. I knew I loved him for a reason. But now I’m sad I came half way through and only get him and all the other 6th graders for 1/2 a semester 😦
Second, last night Katie and I had a coffee date, and afterwards we were walking around Suraksan, which is where she lives and where both our schools are in North Korea. I ran into so many of my students!! It was actually really nice to run into them and talk to them outside of school. 1 of the girls was Sally. She sits right in front of me in one of my 6th grade classes and she is always so cute and sweet and shy. She doesn’t ever raise her hand but I can tell she’s smart and she’s one of my faves. I was talking to her last night and was so impressed with her English. Katie and I kept telling her how great she spoke, and then today she comes to my class and raised her hand 3 times, giving 3 correct answers. Truly impressed and it made me happy to think maybe just that little “you speak so well!” had an impact. Another one of the girls I ran into was Sara. She’s in 5th grade and apparently has problems at home. She’s super tough, pretty obnoxious and is always punching the boys. But I still really like her. I think she’s really smart and just needs someone to actually tell her that because I don’t think she gets it at home. I was telling her how I always call on her because I KNOW she’s smart, and that she always gives correct answers, and when I look at her work it’s usually almost always perfect. I also told her she was pretty and she just kinda hid inside herself and kept saying “No I’m not. No I’m not teachaaaa.” While I’m sitting at lunch today, I told both Jin and Leni how I ran into her last night, and Jin tells me “YES! Sara came to me today to tell me how you told her she was cute and smart! She was very happy.” Ah, the freakin little things just keep getting me 🙂
Last thing about my students then I’ll stop. Today I learned that Sesame Street is PURE GOLD. I taught my 1st and 2nd grade afterschool babies about feelings and emotions this week. Whenever we start the class and I ask how they are today, they give me blank stares, so it seemed only suiting to teach them something so vital. Anyways, we started the class today with a Cookie Monster and Ernie video about being happy and sad over a cookie. THE KIDS WENT NUTS. I honestly didn’t expect it. I ended up playing the video 3 times for them because they couldn’t get enough, and frankly neither could I. Something about hearing cute little babes laugh. I also had them draw feelings on monkeys, and originally asked for one student from each table to come up and tell the class what emotion their monkey had. No no. Every single student shot their hand up to come to the front of the class, show their monkey and speak complete English sentences. It was one of those “OMG I’m actually doing something right” moments. They’re having fun and learning 🙂 So great. Now here’s a video of them watching Ernie and Cookie Monster, because I couldn’t handle it and needed to bottle it up. Let your heart explode NOW.
In completely unrelated news, not only will I be ringing in the New Year with my sista from anotha mista, my favorite bossy pants, Cori, BUT it also looks like Bret is going to be able to come out here and we will travel to some exotic land together over my birthday!!! BEST NEWS EVER!!! Now to get the fam out here soon! 🙂
That’s Danielle Teacher to you.
Jin to my right, and Leni the row in front of me on my right. And Mr. Principal next to my Vice Principal that I accidentally cut off. I think he looks like Mr. Miyamoto, my 5th grade teacher.
seoul | tapperilla 