Adios Amigas - Crystal and Anne's goodbye sendoff!

On Sunday afternoon, Aaron and I met Crystal and Anne for lunch on Gwangali Beach and then walked down the beach to Thursday Party where our friend Shryl was setting up a farewell party for the two of them to say goodbye to everyone before they leave for 3 months of traveling and then on to their new teaching jobs at an international school in Guatemala!  I will miss these two like crazy!


Shryl, on the far right, went ABOVE AND BEYOND to make this send off party super special for Crystal and Anne, from making personalized T-shirts for them, printing pictures and hanging them all over the bar of the girls with their friends, hanging a handmade "We'll miss you" sign, making unbelievable red velvet cupcakes with adorable adornments of Crystal and Anne's pictures, buying pizza and yummy chips, making a personalized cake and even making and filling a pinata!  It was so awesome!


Here are just a few of those awesome 'Shryl details'!





I had to remind Aaron that it wasn't his pinata!  What is it with boys wanting to break stuff!?


Shryl actually melted marshmallows to make the coating of this cake and Anne's boyfriend Jinho actually wrote the message, which when translated, says: "Goodye guys/friends"


Thursday Party has been a home away from home for Crystal and Anne over the 4 years, not because they're alcoholics (because they certainly are not) but because they've bonded with the owner, the manager and the many many awesome Korean workers here.  Fionna, the bar's manager actually opened the bar early (just for the party)!  She's so sweet!


Enjoy the photos from a great party, filled with lots of laughter, delicious food, and sadly, too many goodbye's!  Love you guys!


Even Ranger came out to say goodbye!


Anne, Maggie and Crystal.


Maggie and her boyfriend used to work at the International School where Anne and Crystal are going to be teaching at starting in August... in Guatemala!  So, she made the two girls the MOST adorable handmade books of things to see, places to go, foods to eat, etc!

Anne brought her ipad mini and asked everyone to come up and take some pictures with photobooth, like a "guest book"!  Aaron and I were practically crying laughing taking these ridiculous pictures!  I personally love this one!

The weather was gorgeous and since Thursday Party is right across from the beach, Aaron, Gill and I walked outside to get a couple photos together!  My sweet, sweet Gilly flowers.

When we got back from the beach, everyone was excited for the pinata... especially Maggie!

"Ummmm... who put Ranger on the table?!"  LOL

Eventually all great things must come to an end.... So, I reluctantly bid farewell to the Gwangan Bridge, which I'd spent 4 years admiring and lounging on it's beach....

... and Gwangali Beach, which I swear is twice as bright as when I arrived in Korea back in 2009!  There's just nothing like this place, and I'm sure I'll lay in my American bed sometimes, dreaming of being here again one day!


... and I bid farewell to Thursday Party, where I've spent many fun Saturday's afternoons together with this group of girls, where I met Gill for the first time, and where I spent part of my bachelorette party! Lots of memories at this little joint on the beach.

and last but not least... I bid farewell to 3 of my closest friends in Korea!   Gilly, Crystal and Anne, you have made my life more full, more fun, more exciting and more rich!  You three are the real deal and I'll always miss you!

As Aaron and I were jumping into a taxi, he mentioned how it feels like the end of an era.  Which, it definitely does....  the end of an incredible era filled with REAL friends, adventures galore, great jobs, a very cozy home, new and exciting food, a new language, adorable (and sometimes not so adorable) students, co-teachers close enough to be sisters, and a love story born and bred between 2 people meant for each other!  I'd say it was a pretty darn awesome era!  And so for that, we celebrate the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, hopefully just as incredible!  

So long, farewell.

This weekend was my last weekend in Korea and the last time I saw most of the foreign friends that I've made here.  Believe it or not, no tears were shed by this girl!  I'm just really blessed to have met great people and to have formed deep and meaningful relationships with them, so while we may never be in the same physical place again, we'll be in touch.  So, in my eyes, it was a bit of a celebration before moving on to all of our own separate adventures.  

On Saturday, we met Adam, Ashley, Jeff, Priscilla, Stella and Chris at Ashley's Buffet in Nampodong.  They have unlimited wine at the buffet, so it always seems to be a top contender when dinner parties are being planned with this group!  Hey, at least we're keeping it classy with wine, right? 

Or maybe we're not so classy, actually.








One of the things that's making this move so much easier is that so many of our friends are leaving Korea at the same time as us! Adam and Ashley are leaving Korea the Wednesday after Aaron and I and are traveling through Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Cambodia for 6 weeks before moving back to Southern California!

Chris is moving to California to go back to school and Stella is planning to stay in Korea a little longer...

Jeff is staying in Korea 1 MORE YEAR without all of us. He's a brave man!  Priscilla is heading back to her home country of New Zealand after she spends a month traveling!

After closing down the restaurant, the 8 of us walked over to the batting cages in Gukje and spent the next couple hours hitting balls and playing doubles on the basketball machine game.  Aaron and I dominated, of course... We play that game every time we pass an arcade!

 I love this group of friends, but I'll especially miss this gem and our Monday night Revenge nights when we watch the newest episode of Revenge and catch up on EVERYTHING from work, celebrity gossip, love, life, travel, etc... all while downing popcorn like it's our job!

 It's by chance that we all met, but by choice that we became friends!  I'd say it's one of the best choices I made while living here! I'll miss you guys!  

The Senior Citizens Club's drummers!

"Clang, Bang, Clang, Bang, Clang, Bang!" It's that time of year again (right after Seoullal) when the Korean Senior Citizens Club marches around my neighborhood, clanging and banging their instruments in stores and restaurants to "remove the evil spirits" and collect compensation in return for their 'good deed'!

I stayed home from work today to pack boxes because I have soooo much packing to do, and when I saw the group, scratch that... when I HEARD the group coming, I grabbed my camera and ran downstairs in my PJ's to watch the festivities and snap a few photos. They were all piled into the lobby of the love motel across from my apartment, which Lord knows NEEDED some evil spirits removed! lol

 I was asked by the leader if I was Russian (which I get ALL THE TIME!). When I responded that I was in fact an American English Teacher, he quickly told the group that I was from America and told them to huddle together so the "waygookin" (foreigner) could take their picture! :)

Korea is filled with really cool little traditions like this one. I was glad I stayed home to witness it one last time before I head back to the states!

The longest to do list... ever!

I was an absolute tornado today, with my incredibly long to do list in hand, whipping through the city, getting stuff done and hanging with friends along the way!  I started the morning with a knock at my door from a guy who wanted to buy my iphone (and a fishing pole! lol), then I made brownies for friends and co-workers, packed a box full of souveniers, baking stuff, spices and a football LOL to ship home, listed stuff for sale on www.KoreaBridge.net, got pictures developed for Emo so she doesn't forget us, walked to the dry cleaner, stopped by the bank to deposit $$ and transfer some, bought some oranges from a little old lady on the sidewalk for my snack at work, had a Korean name stamp hand carved for $15 by a random old man who was sitting outside my bank, walked to work, drank some coffee and checked ny e-mail, then left work and took a bus to the subway, recharged my subway card, took the subway to Seomyeon, met Crystal and Anne for dinner, met Juhye to give her her shoes that she had left at our apartment back in December, spontaneously got my hair cut (trimmed) with Crystal and Anne (The first time in almost 6 years!), went to the cupcake shop to decorate cupcakes with the girls but the clerks wouldn't let us buy 2 cupcakes because they only have boxes that fit 4 cupcakes and couldn't understand how we could possibly carry two cupcakes in a box for four (I swear they CAN NOT think outside of the box sometimes... no pun intended) so we left and went to H&M instead (I know, surprise, surprise right?!), bought 3 things, took the bus home, watched The Bachelor with Aaron (sorry for telling everyone A), returned e-mails from people interested in buying our stuff, YAY!, posted a blog for Aaron Nicholas Photography about these two darling girls: Caroline and Joyce

and now I'm in bed exhausted and ready to start a new day tomorrow!  Exactly 1 week left!

What do you desire?

This video was just posted on a blog of a fellow English teacher in Korea and I think its message is incredibly powerful. 

Are you asking yourself these questions, everyday, in order to live the life YOU desire?

1. If money didn't matter, what would I spend my life doing?
2. How do I really enjoy spending my time?
3. How can I be a master at "the thing" I like to do?
4. What do I desire? period!

"If you say that getting money is the most important thing, you'll spend your life completely wasting your time.  You'll be doing things you don't like doing in order to go on living... which is stupid!"  - Alan Watts