Noise Basement

Well, the 3 day weekend is upon us! March 1st is Korean Independence Movement Day and it's a public holiday. Korea has surprisingly few public holidays, so we have very few days off. While I wish this extra day off would fall a little further into March (since we just had Lunar New Year, and our next holiday won't be 'til mid-May), I was still excited to get the extra day off.

Skiing at Yongpyong

This Saturday, I went on another MeetUp trip, this time to go skiing! I had yet to go skiing in Korea, so I decided to go for it. Skiing is very popular, almost as much as hiking in the warmer weather. Additionally, the 2018 Winter Olympics will be held here so I took the opportunity to hit the slopes where that will be happening in a few years.

Yukhoe and some Hangul

This week has been really great. I've been writing mostly about Beijing, but in the mean time some awesome things have been happening as well. It was so nice to only work 3 days after I got back from China, and then have another weekend! On Saturday I got my hair highlighted again at Hair & Joy; it looks really good! It was at the point where my kids would ask me "Teacher, why is your hair brown here (points at roots) and yellow here (points at ends)?" In my defense, I think they only noticed it because they are so unused to seeing people with blonde hair. It probably looked like quite a contrast to them, but I don't think other westerners noticed THAT much....

Onnuri

I haven't been going to church recently. I can't say exactly what it was, but I wasn't feeling at home at the church I'd been going to. But, I miss church. So this week, I scoured the internet for English services in Seoul. I found a few large churches, but I really wanted something specific. I wanted to be sure that the church's beliefs and values were aligned with my own. So, I finally found the website for Onnuri English Ministry, which has campuses in two locations. I decided to go to the location near Yongsan held at 4pm on Sunday.

Puppy Fever

This summer I lost my childhood pet dachshund Molly. I'd had her since I was 7 or so, and I remember when we took her home. She lived a long and full life, being the most beautiful and sweet doxie ever known to man. She never met a stranger. She licked you til your skin was raw, but you couldn't pry her off because she was just so darn cute. It was so hard, taking her to the vet that day. She was in pain, been struggling with some heart problems her whole life, and finally it caught up to her. I held her paw as she passed away, but I know she was finally out of pain. I was in mourning for a while, but ever since then there's been a puppy sized hole in my heart. Of course, I still have my other baby, Maggie. And she's been so good! But, I've pretty much always had two.

A Pre-Christmas Weekend

I think I am still a little bitter that we have to work on Christmas Eve. I mean, not bitter... but, it makes Christmas not as exciting, I guess. I shouldn't let something like that affect how enjoyable my Christmas is, but knowing I still have another day to work before I am truly on vacation is really hard. It's been a good weekend, though.

An Assortment

I don't have one central topic for tonight's blog, so it will be an assortment of things that have been going on in my life. Not even sure where to start! I guess I'll go back to the weekend.

The Rosie Diaries: The Great Exchange

It is with a small amount of regret and guilt that I write to you now. Reggie is no longer with us. Please, allow me to explain...

The Reggie Diaries: Adoption

I've hinted the past few blogs about a decision I made about improving my state of mind, and in particular my loneliness. Last night I took the plunge and ... I adopted a pet hedgehog.

This might be a total shock to you. I only told a few people about this, because I wanted to be sure I was doing it for the right reasons, and I was sure I really wanted to take on the responsibilities of pet-ownership. After some thinking and quite a lot of reading, I decided to get one.

Speech Contest

Once a year (aka: once a contract), I have to work on a Saturday. Today was that day. I had to come in to work in the MORNING (yuck!) and be a judge/interviewer for the SLP Speech Contest. Back in early October, all the kids had to do a Writing Contest. They HATE Writing Contest.

Whirlwind Weekend

Well, as you saw from the previous entry, my mom is in town!!! She arrived on Wednesday night and it was fabulous! I was eagerly awaiting her arrival when the taxi driver called me. I figured he wouldn't know how to get to my building exactly since it is on a side street, but I looked out the window at the front of my building and there was a van and a little blonde standing next to it looking around! I flew down the stairs faster than I've gone in a long long time, and into my mommy's arms!

Winter Woes Part 1

I'm sure that the harsh, cold, dry Winter will bring many woes upon my Southern heart this year. The past 7 years living in Houston where temperatures in the 40s induce panic and unending Facebook statuses remarking on how frigid it is will certainly make living through a South Korean Winter verrrry interesting.

Seoul Lantern Festival

Today was probably one of the best Saturday's I've had in Korea. I was productive, got out of the apartment, but I was not stressed out or in a rush or hiking a mountain. This is a particularly good feeling, since the last few Saturdays I've felt were wasted by having to do one thing or another, rushing here or there, etc. Today, I allowed myself the luxury of no alarm, waking up gradually, as my body allowed. It was bliss.

Meetup: Mt. Seoraksan

Still playing catchup from this weekend, so consider this Part II.

As I mentioned before, Tab invited me to do a "meetup" with her. MeetUp is a website that basically facilitates group activities and adventures. You want to go hiking but don't know where to go or how to get there? There is probably a meetup. I think they have them in other locations, but I am registered in Seoul, and I belong to a few different groups. I hadn't done a meetup before, but when Tab invited me I agreed.

An Attempted Korean Wedding

Happy Monday, readers!! I have hardly had time to sit down this weekend, and unfortunately that means I have had no time to write a blog! But, the good news is all that time spent away from the computer translates to better blogs for you :) see, I'm just thinking of you!

My blog about the weekend will be split into 2 parts. This is Part I.

Pay Day Blues

The past few days I have been melancholy. That is the best way to describe it. I'm not really sad or upset, nothing in particular has happened. But, I'm just in a funk. For some reason, yesterday I started thinking about the holidays coming up, and how different it will be to have them alone and far away from everyone I love. I knew that was going to happen, but when it's actually approaching it feels way more real and way more depressing. I'm not depressed, yet...

Dongan Presbyterian Church

Today was so lovely to sleep in. I actually slept until 9:30, which doesn't happen often. I am usually up around 7, due to the light coming in my room. But, I suppose the Advil PM last night was probably a factor...

I had committed to going to church with Sean and Casey, my coworkers. But, I also needed to write last night's blog. So, I decided that I would meet them there. They go to Korean class before church, so they leave an hour earlier than necessary. That gave me some extra time to get ready.

Seoul International Fireworks Festival

After several days of avoiding the blogosphere for one reason or another, I'm back! It was so weird to have 2 days of work, then another weekend! Hey, I'm not complaining! Those two days were fairly stressful; it was the due date for the report cards we had been working on last week. Thankfully I had gotten ahead last week and it wasn't as stressful for me as the other teachers.

Yeouido

Today was the last day of Chuseok vacation. I'm sad that it's coming to a close... it has been fun! Today I slept in and did some laundry in the morning. The life of a grown up... excited to get laundry done. LOL - I met up with Tab around 3 at Yeouido station, and we headed to Yeouido park and the Han River. It was a beautiful day and there were tons of people taking advantage of the sunshine.

Seoul Tower, Etc...

Today was jam-packed. In the best way possible!!! I had a mild meltdown last night, and got some incredible encouragement from my mom and also from my Nana via email in the AM. I decided that while I know I'll have my ups and downs, I MUST make the most of this year. I am not a quitter, and I refuse to leave before my year is over. And if I'm going to stick this out, I might as well try to retain a positive attitude even when I am desolate...