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!

.

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!