Unplanned Seoul Treasures

Anca and I decided to venture out into Insadong and buy some lovely gifts for friends and family. This is the place to go to buy more folky/traditional gifts in Korea. We got a little lost on the way there, but found this beautiful park.











Then we made it to Insadong, where we stumbled upon a lovely celebration. There were traditional performances, where the performers told stories (no idea what the stories were, but they were moving regardless that I was lost in translation). The best part was the audience dancing and truly enjoying life.









This last picture is my favorite. They encouraged the little girl to dance, and they cheered her on as she spun and twirled. Then, on our search for gifts, we stumbled into a little tea shop. The owners let us try all these different kids of tea, including a hibiscus tea. If you can imagine a flower blossoming in your mouth, that's what it tasted like. After tea, we wanted more tea, so we went upstairs from the shop to a cafe. We had iced tea that was not only beautiful, but delicious and decadent as well.



Finally, we concluded our magical day of Korean wonder with a stroll down the Chungecheon River.



Sometimes the best things are unplanned and stumbled upon. 

New Design

Also,

In addition to my tomorrow rant - I decided to go for a more optimistic, happy, and freeing type of design. Mainly because I need more of that in my life apparently.

If you're wondering.....yes, my job sucks that much.

Don't teach in Hagwon's...ever.

There are some decent ones out there, but not worth it to find one. Why didn't I just listen to my mom, like I knew I should have. I just haaaaad to be independent and make my own decisions, didn't I??

How young and stupid we can be.

Tomorrow

I've been thinking a lot about tomorrow.  I even looked up quotes in order to figure out my weirdly strong feelings towards tomorrow. None of them really encapsulated what I wanted to say, or what I was feeling.

Today was a bad day.

I've had a lot of bad days. I've managed to get through the bad ones, forgive, forget, and move on. I've learned to push my feelings aside, to be able to cry about them in private, like all good Americans know how to do. Today was just so awful I needed to be optimistic about tomorrow.

That's the thing about tomorrow, isn't it. It's always out of reach, at our fingertips, teasing us. Tomorrow will be a brighter future. Tomorrow we will have the best technology. Tomorrow is a new day.

That's the thing, there's always a new tomorrow. The past and the present are tangible things. We can logically process what has happened to us yesterday and what is happening to us now, but what about tomorrow?

Does tomorrow really bring promise? The illusion of tomorrow is to keep us thinking maybe the grass is greener, maybe tomorrow will be brighter. That's the thing about the future tense, it's never set in stone. There is the possibility it will happen.

Then there is that word - will. To be - in the future tense. How is it possible to determine what will be tomorrow. As many a bright scholar has said before me, we could all die tomorrow. Nothing could happen tomorrow and everything could happen tomorrow.

The thing that I love about tomorrow, is that it is not today and it is not yesterday. It brings the possibility of the world's impending doom (thank you Mayan calendar), the possibility of winning the lottery and striking it rich, but mainly it brings the possibility of a normal day filled with pasta and friends; which is what I think the majority of us humans desire, normalcy.

I suppose, even though tomorrow is not a tangible idea, (We will never be able to predict tomorrow exactly, not in the weather, our schedule, or even our survival) we can still hope for the best.

I think that is why tomorrow can be so optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.

Anyways, tomorrow, I do hope for a brighter future. Tomorrow, I do hope for a better day. The key is - tomorrow gives me hope. Hope for something better.

At the very least, I know tomorrow won't be yesterday and it won't be today. Maybe tomorrow will be better, maybe tomorrow will be worse, but there is always a tomorrow to look forward to; in this life or the next. There is always the knowledge there is a tomorrow, and that single piece of hope is nice to hold onto.

These pictures are to illustrate my hope for a normal tomorrow. One filled with friendship, pasta, and most importantly, a day of work free drama. Where our only concern is...Is there enough pepper in this? 

Lets hope tomorrow is a better today. 

Miles and Smiles

Anca - she gets me. We laugh A LOT! Like the other day we were on the subway (totally oblivious to the lady sleeping next to us, giving us the stink eye) and we were laughing over this book called S**t My Dad Says.

If you haven't read it, you should. It's a quick enjoyable book, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.

Anyways, the lady got mad at us for keeping her awake and went to find a new seat. Koreans like their quiet - especially on the subway.

One of our sloth days filled with blogging, Zelda (yes, even in Korea I have managed to get my Zelda fix), and coloring. Not our best picture, but you get it, right? 

Anca also has a blog. She's a much better writer than me. Check it out if you have time!

Click me:  Miles and Smiles 

1011 Views!

Thanks for all the views you guys! It's always great knowing the support I have, even through something as simple as a page view.

As promised here are some pictures of the cherry blossoms! These pictures were taken on my walk to and from work, so I'm pretty lucky to see this everyday. The cherry blossoms are gone now. They only lasted for about a week. They sure were beautiful!

Magnificent Mac&Cheese Merlin Mondays!

Merlin Monday's is a new installment in my life. It's a wonderful addition and makes my homesickness much more bearable. Now, I'm pretty nerdy as I'm sure most of you know. I enjoy knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, reading, writing, Zelda, and (of course) sci-fi. There's a BBC series called Merlin, which I've been a faithful fan of for about the past three years now. The show's plot is based on the budding relationship between Merlin and Arthur. The majority of the episodes involve Merlin saving Arthur, then receiving no credit, the graphics are pretty cheesy, and yet you can't help but love the banter between the two young heroes.

Anyways....to get to my point.....

A few months ago, two new teacher's joined our group Rachel and Steven. They enjoy all the same silly nerdy things I do, which was when the brilliant plan for Magnificent Mac&Cheese Merlin Monday's was hatched. Our shared love of alliteration is what brought Mac&cheese into the picture. It's been a weekly thing now for the past three weeks and it makes me feel like I'm not so far away from home.

Now, if you excuse me, it is Monday. I'm off for some Mac&cheese :)

Clay to the Extremeeee

Every month we take our kids on field trips. Last month, it was a pajama party. Annnd yes, even though we were supposed to change, I pretty much wore my pajamas all day. Annnnd yes, it WAS magical!

This month we went to a clay place. I have no idea what it was called, but it was literally FILLED with clay. You'll see what I mean with the pictures.

It was pretty fun, until I fell down and hit my knee and chin on the pavement. I asked my kids if they could hug me to make me feel better, but my devil spawn students responded by laughing at me and poking where I hit my chin.

I love them and I hate them all at the same time.....Is that what it's like having children? I'm sure I made my parents feel that once or twice with my craziness. Anyways, here are some pictures (I actually bought a camera, so I have normal pictures to show you all)!

Jack and Helena

Jack is a devil baby

Helena is a brown nosier

Yes, I love them both :)

Alex, my favorite. I want to steal him! 

Unfortunately, he has a repulsion of English, so Friday was his last day. :(

Rachel B and Rain

Cute and lovable - enough said! 

Alexander and Daniel 

This was their first day in my class! 

They held hands the entire day. 

Rachel A. 

Sippin' on orange juice

I have no idea why he did this.

Duck, Duck, GOOSE!

She refused to show her face. 

This was literally the biggest smile I could get out of this child. 

They attacked my Korean partner teacher, Lynn. 

They all wanted to sit in my lap, so they did. 

The first clay room, writing with clay. 

The second clay room, making clay things. 

One student made a clay toilet with poop in it. 

I'm sad I don't have a picture of that....

Teacher, no more pictures, please!

The third clay room:

A floor covered in clay

and

A dried clay ball pit. 

All the teachers kept pushing each other into the pit. The tiny clay balls really hurt! 

Fourth (and best) clay room! 

1. Clay floors

2. Clay slide

3. Clay throwing wall thing

4. Drawing with clay and lights

You throw clay balls at the lights. 

There was a point system, but that flew out the window. 

Jack Jack Attack

Baby Bromance! 

You put clay on the light and make designs. 

It got ALL over their hands....and then ALL over me.........

Overall, it was a SUPER exhausting day, but I love my students and we had fun. You can look forward to hearing about the cherry blossoms in my next entry!