Hong Kong? OK!

Much to update on but due to a lack of time, which always seems to be the case here, I will only talk about a couple things. First, Mike is now here! So crazy that he is here with me in another country. It's been really fun so far to have him here and I am so happy that he seems to be enjoying it all. :-)
The most recent news, actually as of this morning, is that I will be in Hong Kong in 2 weeks!  The wonderful holiday of Chuseok (like Thanksgiving here) gives us a three day weekend. I will be heading to H K on October 2nd and returning on the 4th. and.... ready for the punch.....? we are going to be visiting and staying at HK Disneyland! 3 days spent as a child, ahh can't wait to leave the country for a bit.
http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage
I guess they have Space Mountain, It's a Small world, and a very nice looking castle and who could forget... the boatload of characters who roam the park.

Anyway, that is all from me for now.  Much more to say so little time.  And once again it IS report card time of the month. agh. the months are flying because I always feel like I am doing report cards. Oh work work work. I will try and post a nice long one with beautiful pictures sometime soon.

oh and YES if anyone is wondering I AM still faithfully following my MN Twins. only 2 games back, come on guys! I did get to see a baseball game here, LG Twins. but like I said more on that later. Bed time!

I decided to leave you with this tasty morsel of typical Korea.  One late late night a couple weekends ago, I walked by this store called there is no answer. OK so interesting store name BUT even more interesting is the toilets which seem to be used as some sort of display.  I mean of course, the best thing to display clothing on is a toilet.  I then found the title of the store to be very fitting. Really Korea? There really is NO answer.

Ummm yes I would like to buy that shirt there, yes yes the one sitting on the toilet, no no not on the seat of the toilet, on the tank. THANK you.

if i could stop time, it would be on a saturday

LOTS to say - I'll see if I can keep this short and sweet. ha riiiight. :-)

1. I have accomplished my lifelong goal of becoming such a frequent customer at a restaurant that I am given free gift certificates.  Elyse and I have eaten many times (I believe 3 this week) at a galbi restaurant. As I have mentioned previously, galbi is like a barbecue right at your table. It is very delicious and I promise anyone that comes to visit me will be treated to much galbi! I just got home from eating there and as I paid for dinner, the manager who must know us as the American girls, hands me 2 5,000won gift certificates and a couple other gift certificate things that I don't understand (they are all in Korean). Very exciting. Another comment to add... this galbi restaurant is very close to my apartment and there is outdoor seating, which Elyse and I love. The fresh air is nice and its fun to people watch.  However, I have noticed that more often than not, it's the people walking by doing the people watching.  People that pass us two American girls eating very typical Korean food just have to stare.  I have started thinking I should be waving, saying a hello. It is like we are celebrities here, just for the fact that we stand out in this very homogenous culture. Many times I do not enjoy the intense staring but if it's children or older people, I understand. Sometimes, it is even fun to play with them and give them the same intense stare back. So I say, come visit Korea and experience what a celebrity must feel daily. Does that make you want to come here? I hope so.
2. I have started running daily with one of my co-workers, Min.  We just started this week and have made it 4 days (Mon-Thurs).  We sort of just wonder around, checking out our neighborhood.  Oh and getting lost along the way. I like that I have added it to my routine.  I have wanted to start running here but I really did not want to do it alone. Also, the weather has finally cooled off a bit, or at least the awful humidity seems to  be gone. Today 3 other co-workers, everyone that lives in the apartment building that works at my school, ran with us! We joked that we started a running club. Most of us are not in the best shape so we end up looking like a train, all spread out, running around Seoul. haha I would love to share a picture but then again I do not bring my camera running. We look hilarious.
3. Figured I should give a couple weekend updates... pictures included.

let's see. what have I been up to??

wow. haven't updated for a while according to my pictures. Here is a quick rundown of my last 2 weekends.

Girls at noraebang... probably belting out No Scrubs :)

August 20-22: We went to a noraebang and of course had a wonderful time til the wee hours of the morning, walking home with the birds chirping and our sore throats from singing too much. Next morning, well I should say afternoon, we went to Gangnam, area of Seoul, to a delicious breakfast place called Butterfinger Pancakes. I would liken it to a Perkins but better because I am eating it in Korea. I had a veggie omelette with cheese! (cheese is very expensive here, more on that later) and seasoned potatoes and 2 pancakes. It was amazing and I plan to return.  After breakfast, we met up with a couple of my co worker's friends and went to a couple famous/popular landmarks in that area: COEX mall, the largest underground mall in Asia supposedly, and Lotte World, similar to Disney Land, with an ice rink, some small rides, a bowling alley, and arcade. I have heard of both of these places and it was fun to see them in person. That night we stayed in Gangnam and ate some galbi for dinner and checked out a couple bars - saw a bar show at one of them. The bartenders do many tricks with the bottles and with fire, oh cannot forget the insane amounts of loud music and bright lights during the show.

Breakfast at Butterfinger Pancakes! YUMMY!

Ice Skating Rink at Lotte World 

 

Bowling at Lotte World 

Next weekend: August 27-29. Interestingly enough, I had Outback Steakhouse for dinner for the first time in my ENTIRE life here in Korea.  Just a chicken salad nothing to fancy, and definitely not a steak.  I have only heard negative things about steaks here. Anyway, after a good dinner we went to a local bar that is known for its fun atmosphere. It's called ZuZu's.  They also have a bar show here too. The male bartenders put on dresses and dance around for part of it. VERRRRY interesting haha. After the show, we asked to get a picture with one of them in his dress. Cute (or cut as my students spell it - don't forget the magic e!) huh?

Next day I went to the dog cafe, which is over by a university here in Seoul so there were many younger people in this area.  BUT this dog cafe, oh gosh... what to say. It was one of the most interesting concepts.  It is just what it sounds like, a DOG cafe.  It is a cafe where you can go, with a dog or without, and get a coffee, tea, or beer while literally SURROUNDED by dogs. They can be dogs just visiting (people bring their dogs) or there are also dogs that LIVE there. Crazy idea i know. I went with my 2 coworkers who have dogs.  I really felt left out without a dog that was mine. Maybe the dog cafe is a bad idea.  Now all I can think about is what type of dog I want, what to name it, and how it would survive in my 5X5 apartment. hmm. One dog that lived there seemed to take a liking to me. I think he might have just been using me for my Oreo milkshake. That night we went to a popular hangout spot called Hongdae.  Many foreign English teachers go there on weekends. There is much to do and see. First, I was told I had to try a mixed drink in a bag at a place called Vinyl. Sort of like a Capri Sun. Very fun and it seemed to be well-liked by foreigners. The rest of the night was spent just exploring different hangouts and of course, seeing my 3rd bar show of the weekend at a place called Big Momma Pippi. Don't answer. I don't understand either. We also checked out a "cave" bar where you would relaxed in your own little cave area. Sunday wrapped up the weekend with us sitting at VIPS (a buffet restaurant) with a window spot to watch a dance/music show put on out in the courtyard below. It was extremely entertaining and I believe we stayed there for a good 2-2.5 hours. 

Bar Show at ZuZu's.  

The Girls with one of the bartenders! HA

A common sight in the Bau House aka the Dog Cafe

The dog that seemed to really like me, or my Oreo milkshake

@Vinyl in Hongdae: mixed drink in a bag. :-)

View from the buffet on Sunday

... a teenage dance performance. CHECK out that crowd!

oh stress. report cards, 80 new names, swine flu... you know the usual

Just finished up a hard week last week and another starts again... agh. Report cards being due are what made last week so stressful. I have decided that this job is not stressful really except for once a month when I have to do report cards. These report cards consist of a series of number rankings for each student as well as a short paragraph of comments about the particular student. As I have mentioned much earlier, I have many students. Let's see, I will do some quick math........ ok. In total, I have about 80-90 students. Imagine doing MONTHLY report cards for all of these children, many who I only see twice a week (in a month, I see them about 8 times). Now you might understand why this is so stressful.
The reason THIS week is a little crazy and hectic is the fact that our new semester just started on Tuesday. This means I have all new classes, 70some more names to learn. grrrreat. I kept my kindergartners and will be with them until March. I am now teaching 2 R1 classes(this means they are first graders that have lived abroad and now moved back to Korea - R= returnee), two regular 2nd grade classes, 2 fourth grade classes, and 2 fifth grades. It is hard to get all new students, especially since I was just getting to know all my other kids. The only fun thing is that I now know more students and when I am walking around the school many kids stop me just to say hi. :-) I love it.
Other stressor here in Korea is the swine flu. School is cracking down and now anyone, teachers or students, who leave the country for a vacation need to be quarantined for 7 days. This means no vacation for any of us teachers. I had been starting to plan a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland for a three day weekend we have in October. Oh well. Guess I will be exploring more of Korea. I am very excited and happy that my family is coming for Christmas.