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Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Pizzeria!

On Tuesday night, my apartment turned into it's very own pizzeria!  Aaron has been in the cooking mood lately, which I always encourage, because it always means I get to eat dinner with him and enjoy his yummy creations!  Tonight's menu was homemade pizza, something neither of us has ever made!   Here's how it went down... an amateur tutorial, if you will!

The recipe makes about 1 3/4 of pizza dough!
* 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
* I teaspoon of sugar
* 1 1/2 cups of warm water.
* 3 1/3 cups of whole wheat flour (We couldn't find any, so we used regular)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
* 4 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil.


STEP 1:
Use a 2 cup liquid measuring cup and dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water.  Let it sit there until it gets foamy... about 3-5 minutes. 

STEP 2:
Then, insert a dough blade (I didn't have one of those: It's okay) in a big bowl, and add the flour, salt and 2 teaspoons of olive oil.  Then, pour the liquid mixture , (I poured while Aaron mixed slowly... resourcefulness people, resourcefulness!) as fast as the flour will absorb it. 

STEP 3:
Keep mixing the flour mixture until it forms a ball.  Then, knead the dough, adding flour if you need to so it doesn't stick to your fingers!


STEP 4:
Grab a medium size ziplock bag and pour the olive oil in it.  Then, throw the dough inside and zip it shut.  The recipe said to put it in a "warm place", so we set it next to my floor heater and flipped the switch!  Worked like a charm.  Let it sit for 45 minutes and watch the magic happen as it doubles in size!


STEP 5:
Let me rewind a second.  While the dough is rising, get out that cutting board and chop all the toppings you want!  We went with a veggie theme: some cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and kale!  YUMMY!


STEP 6:
This is also a great time to cut the cheese!  LOL  This was my big job of the night!
(We chose FRESH MOZZARELLA, by the way!)

The rest of the time I kinda just sat around with my glass of delicious sparkling Moscato, and watched my hunk of a man do his thing in the kitchen!  :) 


STEP 7:
Take the dough out of the ziplock bag and spread it onto a lightly oiled (olive oil) pizza pan.  We found one at Home Plus for $9.00 in Korea!  Once the dough's on the pan, punch down and spread it out until it's almost touching the edges of the pan. (This amount of dough makes a yummy thick crust! If you want thin crust, use 1/2.)
*** And yes, sometimes we prepare food on the floor- the joys of having small counters!


STEP 8:
Top it with pizza sauce.  You can make your own, of course, but Aaron just bought some instead! We're not THAT GOOD, yet!


STEP 9:
Now's the fun part!  Get your artistic hands ready and decorate your pizza to your hearts content!  The possibilities are endless... unless you live in Korea and can't buy simple things like PEPPERONI -- FAIL!


STEP 10:
Throw it in the 450 degree preheated oven.
I'd recommend only turning on the bottom burner,
so the toppings don't get burnt while the dough is cookin'!


... and if you're like Aaron, stand and watch over it the entire 17 - 19 minutes and ooh and ahh at how delicious it looks and smells! (and if you're like me, ALSO ooh and aah, because the more you do it, the more your man will want to be in the kitchen while you sit back and relax with your glass of wine!***)


STEP 11:
Take it out, smile for the camera, and be proud of yourself for baking such a delicious creation... from SCRATCH!


STEP 12:
Serve it up and indulge! :)


"Sorry. I'm sorry!"

Koreans really LOVE to sing in public, which is actually kind of ironic considering they are also the most shy people on the planet! Anyhow, singing is such a huge part of their culture that elementary English textbooks come with sing along English songs for EVERY LESSON! Today's 3rd grade lesson was, "I'm sorry!"

Just another typical day in my Korean classroom!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Wedding Venue!

Aaron's mom recently sent me some pictures of her sister's backyard, where we'll be having the wedding and reception in July!  Have you ever seen a more beautiful tree, and look at that grass... and THAT HOUSE!!!  

I'm beside myself and can't wait to commit my life to Aaron under that beautiful tree 
in 95 days!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Weekend with Katie!

My sweet friend Katie recently moved to Korea to teach English!  We were co-workers back at the high school I worked at in Arizona!  She was an English teacher and I was the Admin Assistant to the Principal!   

She's been living and working in Korea now for 2 months and came down to spend the weekend with me in Busan!  Her town is about 3 hours by KTX (Korean speed train) north of mine!  When I picked her up at the train station and hugged her, I said, "Can you believe we're hugging in ASIA?!  I'm so happy your here!  This is awesome!!!"  ... It really was awesome!

Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all day, so we nixed the outdoor sightseeing and went straight to my place, dropped her bags, and met Aaron and Meagan for lunch at a small soup restaurant across the street from my apartment!

Then, we went back to my place and lounged around... played chicken foot, ate banana bread with real American canned FROSTING! (Thank you Katie!!!), played with Kitty, and did a lot of catching up!

Aaron sat close by, but completely tuned out whenever we talked about the high school we worked at in Arizona or the newest gossip amongst old co-workers!  lol

Meagan came over and the 4 of us lounged around and watched Mission Impossible 4 before taking a taxi over to nearby Jagalchi Fish Market, one of the 10 famous landmarks of Busan! 
(iphone photo = bad quality!)
We picked out 1 live fish to have cooked, 1 live fish to eat as sashimi, and 1 huge crab!

Then the guy took us upstairs to a table where they served us! )

Speaking of serving... The man at the table next to us had had a few too many soju's and was eager to feed Aaron some of his seafood!  (Yes, this is actually common!)

Our food came out and was as delicious as it looked! 

Meagan almost single handedly finished off an entire plate of sashimi!

Katie and Aaron split the crab!

I was lucky and got a few bites!

The people at the table next to us had ordered fried rice inside their crab head!  Apparently the cook mixes all the head juices and butter together and fries the rice with it.  We went for it too!  It actually wasn't too bad!

Remember the drunk guy who fed Aaron with his chopsticks?!  Well, he must have really liked us, because when the rice cake salesman came walking through the restaurant, he eagerly flagged the guy down to buy some for us!  Not our favorite, but it was a sweet gesture for sure!

It was STILL raining, so we decided to stay indoors and take the subway to Lucky 7 Casino in Seomyeon!  Neither of the girls had ever played Roulette, so it was really fun!  Aaron didn't get to sit at our table because it was a busy night!  So the three of us girls had a blast - laughing, clapping, cheering when we would win!  Luckily the Japanese people who were sitting at our table thought we were great and would clap and cheer for us as well.. even when we would only with a coupled dollars!  We ended up all walking away as winners!  Aaron was the big winner though... He won 80,000 (about $75.00)!  

It was a late night and we didn't wake up till almost 10am!  Luckily the rain had left and the weather was turning out to be quite nice!  Even Kitty agreed!

So, we met Sam and Gill in Nampodong for coffee at one of our favorite little cafes!

They loved Katie... of course!  At about 1pm, we all bid farewell and Katie headed to the station to catch her train back home to Cheong-ju. (???)

Katie, thank you so much for coming to see me!  Everyone loved you and had such a great time getting to know you!  We miss you already!
 


Friday, April 20, 2012

Open Class is coming....

Loola's open class is coming... duh-duh-duh!

She's been staying super late at work preparing for it; making sure her lesson plan is perfect, the invites were sent out (Yes, other schools teachers and Admin are invited to come and watch!), the students are ready and understand the key expressions, the classroom is deep cleaned, and all of the videos are made. That's where I came in.

I don't know why, but whenever a photo or video needs to be taken, I seem to always be the go to girl to get the job done.  Luckily, I love Loola, so I didn't mind helping out!  Besides teaching 4 classes today, I recorded and edited these 8 videos for her open class!  They're pretty funny if you ask me!  ENJOY 




They're not the greatest quality, but it's the best I could do with my iphone! :)


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Craft night!

Aaron has taken on a new English club class at his school.  The theme of the class is "green," as in, "being green", and he's been teaching them about the earth and how to preserve it, etc.  He was browsing pinterest (yes, I know!), and found someone who had fused plastic grocery bags together by ironing them between wax paper, and then sewing them into small bags.  

Aaron thought it would be the perfect project for his club class - a recyclable pencil case bag!  Genius!  He decided to make an "example pencil case" to show his students and asked me to help by sewing the zipper on.  Not too shabby for our first go, eh?!  It looks kinda flimsy in this picture, but it's actually really thick and sturdy!  *** The bag is from one of my favorite stores in Nampodong, called Style Lab!

I've been busy, busy, busy making the wedding invitations, crafting the envelopes, and writing the addresses this week, and last, and finally completed them tonight!  I'm not sure exactly how I made it through without accidentally cutting myself, giving up half way through, sticking my fingers together with glue, or going crazy!    These envelopes were a TRUE labor of love, and what's inside was even more of a labor of love!  
Good news is, I think they turned out really cool, and Aaron loves them, so I'm proud! 
The inside will remain a surprise until after everyone has received them.   


I bought myself some red roses to celebrate the completion of the invitation crafting, and to make my kitchen smell really yummy for this weekend when the lovely KATIE OLSON (an old co-worker from the High School I worked at in Arizona) comes to stay with me!  Can't wait to see her! 

Tomorrow is FRIDAY, my easiest day at work, and the beginning of the weekend!  Hallelujah! 
This girl is ready for some relax time!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Okay, so I didn't win anything, but I did have a yummy chicken dinner with my two co-teachers after work tonight at a new chicken restaurant that opened last week right next to the school!

No outing is complete without a photo, right?!  I set my camera on a table outside the restaurant and hit the timer.  For whatever reason, it took 5 pictures in a row and I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the progression of poses and facial expressions that were captured!

 Picture # 1: 
totally normal

Picture # 2: 
I'm starting to get a little fiesty because I know it's going to keep snapping away. 
The girls aren't sure what's happening...

Picture # 3: 
Okk's feeling fiesty now and I'm getting more silly because it's STILL snapping away!

Picture # 4: 
I'm still fiesty, Loola has finally loosened up, but now Okk thinks the timer continuing to go off is weird and is getting embarrassed because people are watching us. 

Picture # 5: 
Me yelling, "Loosen up Okk!  This is fun!"  

Gotta love the self timer... and funny co-workers!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

6th Grade Field Trip!

Yesterday was the first field trip of the school year, and I was asked to go along with the 6th graders to take pictures for the 6th grade yearbook!  Unfortunately, Okk was asked to go along with the 1st graders to a library (BORING!)... but Loola and I got to stick together all day, which was really nice for us!

We actually took the local buses to get to the place we were going, and each of the kids had to pay their own way!  Gotta love Korean field trips!

We took the bus about 10 minutes and then walked down a street hill towards the ocean! 

It was another gorgeous day... perfect for some walking!

After about 15 minutes of walking, we made it to our destination, the brand new Maritime Environment Research & Training Institute!  Not exactly the most exciting field trip destination, but whatever!  It beat being out of the classroom! 

We helped the students get settled into the auditorium where they listened to a guy talk about marine life and how to preserve the ocean...

Then Loola, Hanna and I sat down and relaxed in the back row...

...while the kids played games with the presenter! 

Then we realized we didn't really need to be in there with them, so we (the 6th grade teachers, myself, and Loola) went into the staff room and drank coffee together!  haha!  It was turning out to be quite the relaxing field trip!

After about 45 minutes, we were back on duty!  
We walked the kids through the museum...

...snapped pictures of them, and with them!

...watched them play high tech, motion censored, games...

... snapped more pictures...


... and painted and named our very own marine life...

Then, we walked the kids into the research center, where the researchers taught the kids how to clean the ocean and showed them machines they have built to rid it of fuel (remember, we live in a port city, so the water is loaded with oil - yuck!)

The researchers chose 6 students to go back into the dressing room...

... and get decked out in the research garb!

Then, they walked onto the research bridge and poured bowls of oil into the water below...

... so the researchers could lower their new oil cleaning machine to show them how they clean the oil out of the ocean!  Exciting, right?!  uggghhhh

Then, the kids were handed hot rocks that had been processed through a heat and cleaning machine.  They had to walk them to the other side of the building and drop them in a pile.  Completely pointless in my opinion, but hey, whatever!

finally, it was lunchtime!  This is my favorite time during the field trips because everyone is in a good mood and there's lots of food to go around! 

This is a typical student lunch!  Kimbap!

Parents always prepare the teachers lunches!  How sweet is that?  This time, we had 3 different types of kimbap, tons of fruit, cookies, kimchi, soup, and yummy drinks!

After lunch, we walked the kids down to the water and let them run wild!  But, not before taking the infamous class pictures!  In Korea, we don't say, "This is Mrs. Hanna's class"  We say, this is "Class 6-2."  (6th grade - class 2)  

This is 6-1

This is class 6-3.  How awesome is it that there are only 18-20 students in each 6th grade class at my school!  I'll answer that for you, "It's REALLY awesome!"

Me with two of my favorites, Min-Ju and Cho-Ah

Can you spot the blondie?

"I'm the king of the world!!"

There was a little Korean style pavilion that we hung out under for about an hour...

The kids were sooo well behaved all day!  I only had to reprimand 1, and it's because he was being loud!  I swear I have the best students at my school.

For whatever reason, the kids have been really into trying to shuffle lately!  They're absolutely terrible!  haha


My initial reaction was to say, "No, no!  Get down right now!"  But, after looking around and seeing that the other teachers didn't care, I just went with it!  I thought about how it's good training for when I'm a mom.  I have to relax!!! 


We ended the field trip with an informal talent show, for anyone who wanted to show off!  These two girls did a dance they've been practicing in dance class!  (Check out the scream mask!)  I'm telling you... anything goes in Korea! 

We jumped on a bus and returned back to the school's bus stop where the students gathered around, bowed to us, and waved good-bye!  It was a great day with my kiddos!