Making a list... and checking it twice!

Well, Christmas is here, and I stuck to accomplishing my Christmas to do list, and did it! ENJOY! I know I did!!!

1. Go Ice Skating!
There's no picture, because I haven't gone yet! (I know, I know... I just said I accomplished everything... I lied - a little.) But don't worry, Jess, Carlos, Aaron and I have already planned an ice skating adventure for New Years Eve at Yeongdo-Island! ... pictures to come!!

2. Watch It's a Wonderful Life!

It took me 3 nights to get through this movie; not because I didn't like it, but because I was wrapped up in a blanket each night... and if you know me well, you know that once I'm cuddled up with a blanket, there's no turning back - I'm out for the night!

3. Exchange gifts with someone!

My best friend Aaron and I exchanged gifts this year! We didn't realize how many care packages we would each receive from family and friends leading up to Christmas and thought we might only have each others presents to open on Christmas morning, which is why there are so many gifts! :)

4. Make and mail Christmas cards!

I handmade 10 to be exact! :)

5. Download one new Christmas Album!

I didn't end up downloading an album this year. I actually bought a CD instead! Does anyone do that anymore?! It's actually a Korean-English Christmas CD that I heard playing in a store near my place! I figure it'll be a fun thing to bring back to America to listen to, to remember my Christmas in Korea!


6. Make hot chocolate and marshmallows!


7. Host a Christmas Eve Dinner Party!

Jess, Carlos, and Aaron (my Korean family) came over for Christmas Eve dinner! We each had our own part in the food! Jess made an awesome pumpkin, squash, sweet potato thingy, I made regular mashed poatoes and steamed some vegetables, Aaron brought an entire WHOLE fried chicken, and Carlos made fried banana desert!

After dinner, things quickly turned into a dance party!!


8. Put up a ribbon sash for Christmas cards!
My walls are cement, so hanging a ribbon sash was unfortunately, not an option. So, I scratched the idea and taped everything to my fridge instead! These were all cards and letters sent from family and friends from the US! :)

9. Give my apartment manager a present!

Soap is one of the most common gifts given for Christmas. So, I wrapped up a box of 6 lavendar soaps and some sweet popcorn! She loved it!

10. Put up a Christmas Tree
It's small, but it does the job! :)


11. Make a Gingerbread house!

My aunt Barb is awesome! She sent me a box of gingerbread cookie mix, but I couldn't find anyone with an oven... :( So, I had to resort to making a graham cracker house instead! Oh, and I couldn't find any frosting, or powdered sugar to make some, so I used peanut butter instead! I'm getting used to improvising around here!

Tah-dah!!

12. Make a popcorn garland!

I didn't end up making a garland this year. Instead, Jess came over and we made sweet popcorn (butter, sugar, salt, and cinnamon) for our coworkers as little Christmas gifts! mmmmm

13. Read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

While I didn't get around to reading the book, I did watch this clip on http://www.youtube.com/ that counts, right?!

14. Sing (or listen) to my favorite Christmas songs!

Diana Krall's Christmas album was my favorite this year... Mariah Carey's came in at a close 2nd, and the lovely Taylor Swift was 3rd in my book this year!

15. Go out and see public light displays !
These are the Christmas decorations in Nampodong, my favorite outdoor market in Busan!


16. Read the Christmas story from the Bible (or from my laptop, to be exact)!

It was the first thing I did Christmas morning, even before eating breakfast or opening presents under my tree!


17. Sew a stocking and fill it with candy!

Jess came over and we hand sewed stockings together! I made 4. One for me, Jess, Mayo (Carlos), and Aaron. The 4 of us are like 4 peas in a pod and are always together... so I made one for each of us! (The plaid fabric was cut from a skirt I bought for the equivalent of $1.5o at a thrift store in Gukje Market!)

18. Go to a seasonal movie!
Aaron, Me, Jess, and Mayo all went to a DVD Bang in Nampodong and watched "Polar Express." I definitely wouldn't recommend it! The look on Mayo's face pretty much sums up how boring it was! Despite the boring plot, Jess and I were still really glad we all went to see a christmas movie together!

19. Host a Christmas Anju (appetizer) party!
My friends from work: Stella, Josh, Lisa, and George, came over and had anju (Korean appetizers and drinks) at my place! We turned the Christmas lights on and listened to Christmas music all night! It was awesome!

20. Write out a Christ-centered goal for the New Year!

"To love God through my actions and continue to live out the teachings of Jesus... To be patient and give of my time more freely, and to always show forgiveness and grace."

21. Have a full traditional breakfast while listening to Christmas music with friends!

Jess and Carlos spent the night and Aaron came over in the morning for a Sunday morning Christmas breakfast in early December! We made potatoes, pancakes, fruit, eggs, bacon, etc! It was absolutely delicious! Diana Krall serenaded us all morning with her Christmas album!

I hope you got out and did some fun things this Christmas season as well... and that you remembered the TRUE reason why we celebrate this season! Happy birthday Jesus! Merry Christmas!

Peace. Love. Joy.

From Korea,

Jillers!

Merry Christmas!!

I can't think of anything clever to say about this picture, relating to Christmas... but I couldn't resist posting it!  It has shoes for goodness sake!  

TOP MART - GRAND OPENING!

Aaron was the big winner at TOP MART's grand opening today!  TOP MART is the new grocery store that opened near my place!  It was awesome!  After he checked out, a bell rang, and the manager came over, shaking a yellow tambourine, shook his hand, and handed him a gift certificate for 5,000 won!!  

I didn't win anything... :(

I can fit inside this box!!

Lynzi, one of my best friends, and her mom, Jan, sent me a HUGE box of Christmas presents today!!! I could literally sit inside the box, it's so huge!! I love you guys!!!! Thank you for thinking of me!


I couldn't resist, I had to open it to see what was inside!!! Wooo hoo!!!

Oh, and these, of course, which didn't make it into the picture above because they went directly to my desk, were cut open, and eaten!! hahha! I love these things, and they are NO WHERE TO BE FOUND in Korea!


When I went downstairs to get the box, I opened the door to the teachers room, and stood with my mouth open at the sheer size of this box! My Vice Principal said, "You are receiving parcels almost everyday and they are growing in size!" hahah Thanks to all of you who have sent me things to enjoy for Christmas! I feel unbelievably blessed on my 1st Christmas away from home. :) You have made this season so special and memorable! Thank you a million times over for your unbelievable amount of love for me! My cup runeth over!

Last day of school!

Yesterday was the last official day of school before Winter Break! :) So, the kids all left at 10:15am, and the teachers boarded a bus and headed north a couple hours into a town I can't remember the name of! Sorry, the names here are really long and confusing!

Anyhow, we stopped the bus and walked up a giant hill to lunch, which was Sashimi (raw fish)!

When we got the restaurant, I spotted these 2 dogs outside, and had to say hello! The one in the cage in the background was going crazy and barking and growling at us...

So Lee, (our resident Buddhist teacher) walked over to it and told it to "slow it's temper and settle down." Buddhist believe they can communicate with animals. Sure enough, it did!


So then she asked it to sit down, and wala.... It did that too! She's like the Korean dog whisperer!


When we walked into the restaurant, the teachers immediately taped this banner to the wall above our table! I have no idea what it means, but I can tell you one thing... Koreans have a banner for EVERYTHING, literally everything...

... and toasted (with alcohol) to a great school year! As a side note: The male teachers and administrators get drunk at every teacher outing we have... so drunk infact, that some of them weren't even able to climb the mountain we climbed after lunch and slept on the bus!

Me and Stella!

Then, my sadest moment of the day came, my camera battery died! I was especially sad, because I would have loved to have taken pictures of the HUGE mountain that we climbed! Only 11 people were able to make it to the top, and I was one of them!! BIG thanks to Aaron and his awesome workout training that I've been doing for the past couple weeks! I've been getting stronger and stronger everyday!

FYI: This was the 1st mountain I've climbed to the very top of, in my life! For all you Arizonan's, Camelback Mtn is 1280 feet. This mountain was 1631 feet, that's approximately 29 more flights of stairs!!

Then, when we got to the very top of the mountain, I couldn't look down! It was terrifying and I felt like I was floating... so I sat down and latched myself around a tree! Then, once I got up the courage to stand up, the 11 of us started the treck down. Within minutes, we were faced with one of the scariest things I've ever encountered... a really long (approzimately 150 ft), and narrow (approximately 3 1/2 feet wide) wooden bridge, hanging about 100 stories in the air, that we had to WALK ACROSS!!! The bridge connected the 2 mountains, and it was the only way to get down the mountain! I started panicking and told Stella I couldn't do it! She said, close your eyes, and we'll get across! So, all 11 of us, scared to death, lined up single filed, grabbed each others shoulders and walked across! The bridge was wooden, so it swayed as we walked, which made all of us scream, even the guys!! I drew this picture, in the paint program on my computer, so you could get an idea of what it was like! :)


After 2 1/2 hours, we made it back down the mountain, safe and sound! Whew! We jumped on the bus with all the rest of the staff, and headed for dinner! :)

After dinner, we got back onto the bus and were told, by the bus driver, that the bus was actually a special bus - a Karaoke bus! YES, A KARAEOKE BUS! Within minutes, the bus lights were turned off, and the Karaoke lights were shinning in blue, red, yellow, white, and green! The party had officially started as far as I was concerned! For the next 2 hours, on our way back to town, each teacher got up and sang a song in the isle of the bus while we all clapped and cheered! It was awesome!

Stella and I sang a Korean song together! I think we were the big hit of the night! :)