Funny Chuseok gift set!

It's officially the week of Chuseok here in Korea, which always makes me want to shout from the rooftops, "Bring on the funny Chuseok gift sets!"  

Before lunch today, my school's Administration presented me with this lovely bag from Lotte Department Store (a VERY overpriced store that I love to walk through, but never buy anything at!)  I did the good ole' lift and shake game to guess what it was... 

It was REALLY heavy, so I thought maybe shampoo?  Soap?   Juice?  I was wrong!

...No wonder I've gained weight since moving to Korea!  Maybe it's because I receive huge boxes of oil for holidays!  Yes, that's 1800ml's of oil in that box!  Eeekkk!  

Thank you Dae Gyo Elementary School!

UPDATE: Sept 7th
I just got back from lunch, and ANOTHER box of cooking oil was on my desk!  Really?!

  
I know it's the thought that counts, but why would anyone need this much oil?   Okk said a typical Korean family will use an entire bottle of oil to cook 1 holiday meal!  OH MY GOSH!  According to the label on this box, that's 14,860 calories worth of oil!  I think I'll be inquiring about the exchange policy at my local Home Plus this afternoon! 

Secret Code!

If any of you are facebook friends of mine and / or Aaron's, you may have noticed that we've recently been posting messages, written in Korean, on each other's walls, like this one below!  I know, at least one of you (mom!), was probably curious what it said and tried to translate it!  If you did, you probably laughed as hard as we just did when we tried!  I was laughing so hard that sound wasn't even coming out!   

The reason why it doesn't make sense when put into an online translating program is because it's NOT Korean words! We write English sentences with the Korean alphabet to practice phonics... You can only read them if you know how to phonetically read Hangul (the Korean alphabet!)  Pretty tricky, aren't we?! 

My personal favorite from this correspondence, is the message that translates as:

Update: ttaenkeuseu Fall Dinner, Tuna! U.S. Forest Time Can U Neck seom we ttaet deojenteu Mech Tech tteoro op U.S.!  LOL!

*** For the record, I never mentioned anything about an update, Fall, Tuna, the forest, a neck, or the U.S!  Now this is what I call a successful secret code! 

Jeshi came to visit!

On Wednesday night, my phone rang, and it was Jess, in Seoul, asking if I had any plans for the weekend!  YAY!  I knew this meant she was probably coming to Busan for a spontaneous weekend trip!  She called me the next morning and said Carlos (AKA: Mayo) was coming too! ... Unfortunately he wasn't able to make it last minute... hence the confusion of the sign which hung as a welcome on my front door!

Remember Stella... my sweet Korean friend who I had dinner with about a month ago?  Well, she is staying in the hospital for a little while, so Jess and I took the subway over to the other side of town to spend the afternoon with her, cuddling in her hospital bed! (BTW: If you know Stella and are curious as to why she's there, please don't write anything on her FB wall... send her a msg instead!) 

Before we got there, Jess and I picked up some things we knew she would love: magazines, a crispy creme donut, a bag of hand picked candy from the candy store, some lipgloss, a book on how to speak Spanish (her newest venture), and a little notebook to journal in, during her stay! :) 

*** As a side note, to stay in a Korean hospital is anywhere between $15 - $40 a night, depending on how many roomates you have!  For instance, a 5 person room (no curtains to divide), will run you $20 a night! Can you believe that?!

It was so nice to have Jess here in town!  We spent all day Saturday together, and then spent the day at my place, with Aaron, lounging and enjoying our lazy Sunday!  Then the three of us all headed over to The Pho for dinner in Nampodong and some shopping in the market!

She left this morning when I left for work.  I sssoooo wish we lived closer!  We have a special friendship that doesn't just come around all the time!  We try our best to cherish it... as we should! 

Love you Jeshi!  See you for Thanksgiving!