Mud time, fun time!

Getting mud put on your head is fun... 

but getting mud put on your head while a darling and playful Korean schmooch plays on your lap is even better!  I love this kid!

Introducing the new me... or technically, the old me, with some new bangs and a much needed trim! :)

Thanks for lunch!

If I had my camera today. I would have taken a picture of Aaron, knocking on my classroom door, while holding a homemade lunch in a bag for me!

I think he loves me! :)

Yeongdo Farmers Market!

One of my favorite things about living in Korea is the fact that I can shop at local markets!  I've always been a fan of supporting local merchants, and now I have the chance to do that everytime I shop, because today, I stumbled upon the most awesome indoor/outdoor market less than 2 blocks away from my new apartment!  I could have spent all day there!

The market spans about a 1/2 mile or more, offering anything and everything you could think of! 

They have fresh vegetables in baskets, and delicious apples, oranges, bananas, pineapple. and pears galore!  By the way, does anyone know what this is?!  I've personally never seen one before!  Aaron thinks it's a "turnish" (a turnip radish hybrid)!!

My first purchase was some Gogi (Meat) mandu (dumplings) at this tiny shop!  The lady handmakes them herself!  Ten for $2.25

I don't know why I found this picture to be so funny... but this table was filled with chickens just like this one, under the plastic wrap... but for some reason, this one was laying on top and the way it was laid looks funny to me!  IDK, maybe it's just me! 

This family owned shop sells tofu, any and every way you could possibly want it!  I personally never want tofu, so I skipped past this place!

Want a pig foot for dinner!? 

... How about some octopus?!  Anyone?  Anyone?!

Don't bother going to tupperware parties... just stop by this shop!  They've got all the tupperware you could ever need... not to mention, you'll save yourself a pretty penny shopping here!  Everything is dirt cheap!

Fresh veggies... sprouts, spinache, peppers, cabbage, mushrooms, etc... 

If I'm ever in the mood for some fresh meat, I can walk here and watch the meat cut right off the cow or pig hanging from the hook in the back!  Uuuughhhhh

This shop is jam packed with any and every tacky hair accessory you could ever want or need!

Fish seem to be the shop of choice here!  There are shops and shops and shops offering fresh and dried fish!  If it didn't smell up my apartment, I'd cook fish for every meal!   

Need or want a cheap bra?!  These bra's are only $1.80!!!  I think it's worth mentioning that the fish store (picture above) is right next door!

And this lady is on the other side!  haha  My guess is that the bra's are only $1.80 because they probably reek of fish!

Yummy cookies and crackers!  Pick what you want and pay by the kilogram!

Can you tell that Yeongdo is a port town and an island?!  There might possibly be more fish than residents!

The market even has it's fair share of thrift shops!

... and of course, blanket shops, filled to the brim with bright and tacky bedding!  Can you see now why I had to make my own?!  This is what all the bedding in Korea looks like!  Yes, even the old men cover up with bright pink and purple zebra patterned blankets!

I love my new neighborhood and am head over heels about my neighborhood's farmers market! 

Welcome in...

It's kinda weid that I have to share my new apartment by posting pictures of it on my blog, rather than simply having you over for a cup of coffee to enjoy it's coziness with me!  Sigh... I can always wish for more visitors though, right?!  :)

So, here it is!  WELCOME IN!

I would normally say don't be fooled by how large and spacious it looks in this picture (thank you Aaron, for letting me borrow your new fish eye lens!), but to be quite honest, it is, in fact, as spacious as it looks! Kind of crazy considering it's only... a mere...85 square feet!  Ahh, city living!

One more shot of the kitchen and entryway from the other side... I don't want you to miss anything on your personal tour!  *** I have apparently been doing way too much shopping in Korea, because I had to buy this 3rd armoire to store all my winter coats!!  Sometimes the orange county girl in me rears it's little head!

Next stop, the bathroom!  I thought I had a big bathroom at my last apartment,, but my gosh - This bathroom could almost be a 2nd bedroom!  For whatever reason, none of the walls in my apartment are at a 90 degree angle... They're all at weird diagnoals, which made arranging the funiture a daunting task!  For example, the far wall (with the mirror on it) is at an angle and meets the wall to the right, in the corner, behind the shower curtain!  The shower curtain is only up to hide the washing machine and makeshift garden that Aaron created for me to grow vegetables and herbs... hence the very bright light coming from behind!  The little guys are already on their way to becoming plants!  Oh, and yes, I shower in the middle of my bathroom, AGAIN!  Notice the shower head hanging over my sink and the drain in the middle of the floor!

 Last, but not least, I'll take you into my room!  This is the all purpose room, which serves as an office, living room, bedroom, guest bedroom, craft room, internet hot spot, closet, dressing room, library... you name it!!   If I'm not cooking, or enjoying some cereal at my kitchen table, I'm in here!



I was able to reuse a lot of my decrations from the last place by re-covering them!  Remember those pictures, hanging above my bed?  Well, I took the dark green mattings out and used extra material from the bedding (which I sewed last week) to use as a background!  I love how they match perfectly!  I also recovered the little square boxes on the far wall, to match the new colors! 

It feels so nice to call this cozy oasis my new home!  I've never decorated in these colors, but I'm a huge fan of their beachie feel!  And in case you're wondering, I'm currently sitting right in the middle of that comfy carpet as I write this very blog!  Wish you were here to sit with me!  :)

Winter English Camp!

Today marks the final day of three weeks of Winter English camp for both Aaron and I at our respective schools!  We both had a great time teaching our little kiddos to read, write, and speak English!   

I'll humbly admit though, Aaron's kids probably had a little more fun than mine (but mine learned more English), because Aaron played lots of games with them!  My favorite of his game ideas was this one!  Each student was given 3 ballooons to draw faces on, and write the matching emotions on the opposite side. 

  Then, all of the balloons were placed on the far end of the room, 2 teams were created, and students raised their hands to volunteer!

Aaron's co-teacher Herra would reiterrate the directions each time, since we all know kids can't always remember the rules when their excitement levels are through the roof...

The way it worked was, Aaron would say an emotion, like (happy, sad, excited) and 2 kids would hold their arms like an elephant and spin around 10 times, so they were nice and dizzy, then run to the other end of the room, find the balloon with that emotion on it, and attempt to pop it! The 1st one to pop their baloon was the winner! Sounds easy enough right?!

Well, not always.... ENJOY this darling and funny video!

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There's mud in my hair!

After work today, I took the bus to Truchen's old neighborhood to visit her Korean hairdresser for a little trim and some swoopy bangs!  By the way, Truchen, I love her!   Thanks for the recommendation! 

After my hair was cut, I asked, in my limited Korean, if she would please shampoo it and give me a special treatment, because my hair is horribly damaged from the previous bleach jobs, perm, and then brown dye jobs over those! So, she motioned for me to follow her to her computer where she used google translate to tell me that I should do a mud treatment!  I made sure that "mud" translated correctly, and in deed it did... How could I turn down the opportunity to see what mud does for hair's repairing process?!  The answer is...I couldn't!  So, about 2 minutes later, some sort of mud mixture was being brushed into my hair!  ONLY IN KOREA!

There are days when I kick myself for leaving my camera at home!  Obviously this was one of those days!

The good news is... I have to go back every three days (5 more times) to have it done again and again and again!  It's a 6 time treatment!  So, I'll make sure to pack my camera for this Saturday's visit to the hair salon for my mud treatment!  LOVELY!

Nothing like a good belly laugh!

Do you remember the last time you laughed so hard your cheeks hurt and you got that flem stuck in your throat?!  Those moments are the best, aren't they?!  My friend Lyndsea (from California) found a website that lists hundreds and hundreds of hilarious auto-correct texts from people's iphones!  I spent all 4 of my break times, this morning, reading these and laughing so hard I almost fell over in my chair a couple times!  I was laughing so hard I was making my kids laugh... What's better than contageous laughter?! 

These are some of my favorites... Granted, there are some that are even funnier, but probably not apporpriate for the blog! :)

ENJOY a good laugh!

 

Hope your cheeks hurt!!

Happy Wednesday!

"Great deals to fill out you studio apartment - BED FOR SALE!"

I've been searching Koreabridge (my favorite Craigslist style website) for a bed and armoire for my new place!  Granted, I could just inheirt one from the teacher I'm going to be eventually taking over for, but I'd have to wait untl March sometime to get it, it probably wouldn't match my new place, and I have the money to buy my own, so why not, eh?!

So, I found an ad from a husband and wife in Millak who were selling their gorgeous dark wood (my favorite) bed for 25,000 won!!  (American friends, that's $22!)  I'm a lover of all things bargain, so I jumped on the opportunity and e-mailed the guy right away!  After e-mailing back and forth a gajillion times, we finally figured out how to cheaply get the bed from their place to mine - a TAXI VAN!  He said that when I got to their place, he would help me dissasemble it and that we could try calling a taxi van to transport it for me!  Genius, since moving trucks cost an arm and a leg around these parts!

So, after work today, I jumped on the subway with my little hand written directional note in hand...

and made my way over to lovely, Millak!  I walked for about 10 minutes along the river (in the freezing cold)...

until I finally reached their posh and gigantic apartment complex!

When I called to ask what their apartment number was, Nikole, the wife answered the phone and said in a cheerfully-friendly tone, "Oh, I'm actually in front of building 102, and the bed is all packed into a taxi van and ready for you!"  You can imagine my EXTREME excitement when I realized I didn't have to attempt to dissasemble a bed, carry it into the elevator, drag it to the curb, and then wave down a taxi van!  What a huge blessing it was for them to do all the pre-packing!! 

Buying a bed, second hand, and then attempting to communicate how to get it from one part of town to another (in Korean) was an experience in which I figured I would have lots of funny things to blog about... but as it turns out, it was easier than pie!  

So, Nick and Nikole, if you're reading this...  Thank you for making the process so easy... and for the record, I love my new bed!

Here's a little sneak peak of it, all made up with the newly-hand-sewn bedding!  Yep, I did it again!  I can't seem to ever find bedding that I like in the store, so I create my own!   I bought 2 sheet sets when I was home in December (1 blue, the other brown satin) sewd the flat sheets together to make the duvet, cut and ironed out the fitted satin sheet to make a bed skirt, and the other scraps were used to make decorative pillows!  By the way, anyone can do this!  It doesn't take rocket science!  I did it in a matter of about 3 hours! I'm really enjoying the calmness that blues and browns bring to a room - and who doesn't love a little pop of avocado green, right?!  :)

So, tonight, I'm all cuddled into my new bed and loving that fact that I'm no longer sleeping on my floor!  My hip bones and shoulders will be very thankful tomorrow morning!

Date night!

Last Saturday night, Aaron told me to get ready, because he was taking me out for the night!!  Woo hoo! What girl doesn't love a good date night with her love?!  We met up in Seomyeon around 7:30pm and went to a charming little Italian place! 

We both eat Korean food all the time; so endulging in some Italian was a really nice surprise!

I've always loved the idea of dating a handsome, chivalrus man, who orders the meal for both of us!  So, when Aaron picked up the menu and asked if I trusted him to order, I sat back and took in the moment!!

The  garlic bread, thin crust margherita pizza, lazangna, and red wine were to die for... and while we didn't slowly feed each other every bite of food like the young Korean couple next to us, we did enjoy each other's company and conversation!

After dinner, we were given a "free coffee card" from the cashier for the adjoining coffee shop!  What a fun surprise!  The cafe was darling with every type of yummy pastry and coffee drink imaginable!

1 caramel frappocino and a chocolate mocha please!

Then came the BEST part of the date...

The Wii bang!

Yes, Aaron took me to a Wii bang, where you can rent a very small room (approx 5ft by 5ft) to play Wii, watch a DVD, or surf the internet!  But this was not just any Wii bang!  This was a fancy pancy Wii bang that had a complimentary cookie bar, ice cream area, coffee counter, soda machine, and even fresh caramel popcorn!

They led us down the hallway in their tuxedo style uniforms, to our own private room...

While I'd like to say we got right to playing Wii... it wasn't quite that easy!  Every game's instructions were in Korean, so sounding out the hangul symbols and trying to understand what we were reading took a long time!  I'd be lying if I said we didn't have to call the workers over to help us out about 5 times! haha!

We opted to spend our allotted 2 hours to playing Wii, which entailed lots of Mario Cart, Olympic Winter Games, trampoline competitions, carnival games, and tennis!  And yes, I beat Aaron a few times, and no, he didn't let me win!  I won fair and square!  Don't under estimate my video gaming skills!  I was a proud owner of the original Nintendo as a child!

We had such a fun night, and loved that we experienced something new and exciting together! 

Have you taken the time to have a date with the one you love lately?!  If not, please make it happen!  Every relationship, new and old, needs a good old' fashioned date night!