UDC and Happy Birthday Antonio!

 * I wrote this a few weeks ago and am just getting around to posting it. Sorry! *

Joe and I have been lucky enough to make some wonderful friends here in Korea. Almost every Friday night we meet up and have dinner and drinks together. This usually means we stay up too late, drink too much and laugh until our bellies hurt. These are wonderful people and we are over the moon that we get to share so many wonderful Korean memories with them.

A few Fridays ago the guys were playing darts at the bar. Joe got lucky and beat everyone. It just so happens that James is a huge dart player and even has a really nice dart board and darts that he plays with at home. Joe beating James did not sit well. On Sunday we got this picture text.....

This is where the Ultimate Dart Championship was born. (Joe and I are the only non-military couple so no one knows our last name, that's why he is "Joe-X" on the poster.) Jame's wife, Myriam is studying to be a graphic designer so she put this poster together to announce the tournament.

During all of this tournament planning our Puerto Rican friend, Antonio, mentioned that the 9th was his birthday! Everything was coming together perfectly. We would celebrate Antonio's birthday and have the dart championship. James and Myriam kindly offered for the festivities to happen at their place.

Happy Birthday Antonio! 

Antonio is a stand up guy. He is a tad bit older than Joe and I but he can drink/party us both under the table. He has a Spanish accent and a great sense of humor. When he has had a few shots of tequila he sounds a bit like Borat.

To celebrate his 41st birthday we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant. We sat on the floor and BBQ-ed until our hearts and stomachs were content. Leah made the cute "41 Sucks" sucker flower pot, it was a hit!

After dinner we headed to James and Myriam's place.
It was a great night! We all took turns playing darts. At one point Leah and Myriam convince me that I should try to roller blade in the apartment. It was a great idea. And I stand by my decision to blade indoors.

Myriam being a good friend and helping me but on my blades. :)

The next day I could hardly walk up stairs because I had landed on my right knee several times while indoor blading. I laughed SO hard I didn't even care about the pain.

The dart tournament turned out to be a bust for Joe. He lost to almost everyone. I think Leah beat me, and Antonio forfeited at one point. I'd say it was a successful Friday night.

Sometimes Saturday mornings are rough but it is worth it for our Friday night fun. 

Mr. Joe....Kind of a big deal

A few weeks ago a newspaper reporter and photographer came to our school. In Korea, if you want to advertise in a newspaper it is VERY common to hire and pay for an interview. With a new school year approaching (Korean school goes year round, starting in March and ending the second to last week in February) our owner/principal decided to spring for a full page add in the local paper.

Joe was teaching a class and I was on a break. I was in his classroom hanging out when Ms. Flora, one of our Korean staff, came into the room with a photographer. She pulled me aside and told me that the photographer was going to take pictures of Mr. Joe teaching.

Ms. Flora- "many beautiful foreign woman teacher.... no many good teacher be foreign man.... you know this? ....only Mr. Joe take photo with children."

Joe would be star of this photo shoot.

The photographer took a few pictures then Joe and I started to have a little fun. I was shouting out questions to the students, easy things like 2 + 2, the kids all raised their hands and Joe would pose funny and point to a student. The photographer was loving it, and would take a picture then say "good!, one more time". It was a fun little ten minute adventure.

Well now that it's two weeks later Ms. Flora shows me the news paper article! I understood that we would put an ad in the paper but I never expected a full page article with a picture of Joe.
He is a pretty big deal around school these days. I have shown the article to all of my classes.

This is the first article that came out last week. 

The Korean woman in the top right corner is our boss/principal/part owner, Ms. Karen

close up of the picture of Joe teaching

 Today at lunch on our way home I saw a stack of these newspapers in the lobby of our apartment building and grabbed a few. (we are sending a few packages and I needed some stuffing to go in the boxes) As I was ripping through the paper to wrap a glass bottle I stumbled upon another article.

In the second article the picture of Joe is MUCH larger.

 

If anyone wants a signed copy just let me know. I took the entire stack of papers from the lobby on our way back to school after lunch. :)

Room 831....

Joe and I live in an office/apartment building. Some of the rooms are for people to live in and some of the rooms are used as offices or small businesses. Our apartment is 831. We are squished between a college aged guy, a family of four and a travel agent.

We have seen a handful of other studio apartments and ours is actually quite large in comparison. Although our building is not as nice as others it is more spacious. (We had some issues with the electrical outlets when we first arrived, the electrition that came to fix it told me that "Bundang (our city) is about 12 years old, but our building is 13 years old". What a comedian.) It is small, it is old, but is is home.

During the work week Joe and I go home for lunch. The school is only 2 blocks away from our house, on the same street. It is SO nice to get a break from the building and the kids.

Last week was like any other. I believe it was Wednesday. We left school in a rush to make the best of our hour lunch break. We quickly got to our building and got in the elevator. I vividly remember pushing the "8". We were playing around in the elevator. I am sure there was some pushing and shoving involved, regardless we were both distracted. Moments later the elevator door opens and we both hop out. Joe ran to our door, but suddenly stopped. On the gas meter outside our door was a weird bag. Joe looked at it but neither of us has seen it before. We joked about reading Korean....then moved on.

We don't have a key to our apartment, each door just has a number pad and you put in your 4-16 digit door code. When you put in the correct code it make a funny little ring. When your door is already unlocked and you try to put in your code it makes a different sound. There is a manual lock switch that you pull when you want to lock the door from the outside. It basically clears the digital pad and bolts the door shut.

Joe grabs for the number pad and starts to punch in our code when it makes the funny sound when the door is already unlocked. We both froze and looked at each other.

Joe-"you didn't lock the door?"
Me - "was I even the last one out? I don't know... I think so?!?"

Joe pulls hard on the door and swings is all the way open. I scream! The loud Ijustsawaghost kind of scream. Inside the apartment was a Korean woman cooking in the kitchen! The lights were all on, shoes at the front door, old woman at the sink! My gut told me to run, and I did! Straight back to the elevator, Joe was on his own.

Me- "WHAT FLOOR ARE WE ON! HURRY UP!"

I pushed the elevator up button but wasn't about to wait for it. I looked around and saw that we were on the 5th floor. I ran for the stairs! Close behind me came Joe.

Joe- "What the hell just happened? Why are we on the 5th floor"
Me- " I don't know, just run!"

We got to our apartment and I double checked we were at the right room.
I locked myself in our apartment in fear that some Korean would come hunt me down for breaking and entering.

Lucky for me no one came.

I honestly was freaked out for the rest of the day. My heart wouldn't slow down. The adrenaline was pumping.
It was definitely my first breaking and entering experience and hopefully my last...

Happy Groundhogs Day..?!

We have had temperatures with highs of around 10 degrees and lows that are negative numbers(!!!).

I am a VERY unhappy with the weather. I like the temperature to hover around 80F. These sub zero temperatures are making life miserable.

Eddie doesn't like the weather these days either.....

 We got him a fancy bed from Costco so that he had his own bed to sleep in......But its been way too cold for the little man.

 Eddie and I have been sharing a pillow and putting in some extra cuddle time.

  It's Groundhogs day.....but let's be honest.... I don't need a groundhog to tell me winter is going to hang around for 6 more weeks.

December Wrap-Up

December came and went really quickly. I figure I better write about it before January comes to an end. :)

We were busy at work and busy with friends. It was a bitter-sweet month. December was full of really high, highs and some low, lows.

Work was stressful. Even when we told each other to relax and just go with the flow, the little things got to us more often then either of us would like. We missed our family and friends from home. Yet, on the bright side, we had some wonderful Skype conversations. We had packages arrive at school and our apartment full of wonderful goodies from home. We spent some quality, outside of work time with our co-workers. Josh and Leah had us over for both Christmas and New Years. MaLeah made a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner, and we got to meet some of her friends over in Suji.

The break down: Work news for the month of December

The kindergartners put on a big musical performance. All of the teachers were in charge of a group of kids. I had the lowest level kiddos. We had to memorize a book to recite to the parents and I had to choreograph it. The kids had SO MUCH to memorize! I felt really bad for them. I tried to keep in mind how stressed they must have felt. We had snack parties after "rehearsal". It seemed to help them relax and have a bit more fun with everything going on.

I was given a part in the musical!!!! I love to sing and dance with the kindergartners. I love how excited they get when I am really "into" a song. When Ms. Flora asked me to make a "cameo" in the musical I couldn't help, but be excited. It was a very last minute idea and most of my lines were ad-lib. A few of the kindergarten girls I would be singing and dancing on stage, with taught me the dance moves and practiced with me the day before the performance. I even got to wear a costume! A traditional Korean dress called a Hambok. Ms. Flora had tried to rent one for me, but couldn't find one on such short notice.

When she finally got my costume she came to me and said;
Ms. Flora-"These is your traditional Korea clothes."
Me- examining the clothes and a shrink wrapped bag. "Looks good to me."
Ms. Flora "...well....I try find clothes for you size but.....they no have....these is clothes for really fat little girl....you try on now."
Me- "OH!! hahah, ok"

haha I am glad I can laugh at myself. This dress was wider than it was long. A hambok is not supposed to be fitting by any means. They are floor length dresses, with 400000 pieces of undergarment and not flattering to any figure. This dress was a treat. Good thing I would only be wearing it for a few minutes.

Eugene and Dorothy before the show

Did I mention that I also had to sing and dance...?

We also had a handful of new students and more changes. Its not as if we are not flexible with the changes its that the changes are always last minute. Or even worse the Korean staff knows about  changes and have neglected to communicate. For me the lack of communication is the hardest part of my job. 

We worked up until December 23.

That Friday was THE best! All of the teachers and students were looking forward to a week off. When Joe and I got home that evening we had a note on our door from the door man.
We went to my favorite door man and showed him the note. He spoke in Korean then pointed to the other side of the building. We walked around the building to the other door man and showed him the note. He spoke to us in Korean and pointed us back in the direction we came from.... So back to the first door man we went. Luckily all of this run around was worth it.

 We received a package from my Aunt Debbie and cousin Sarah!!! I was SO excited to tear into that box and find out what little piece of home they sent us. In the last year I have become very close to my Aunt and Cousin and have been missing them a little extra. It was great to get some love from them.

This box weighs about 1,000 lbs! It was packed full!

!!!!

Hello sugar coma!!!

I knew that my Aunt and Cousin had been busy baking. They make goodies every year. But WOW! I didn't expect to get some of everything!
Joe and I had zero self control and proceeded to taste test everything! In less than 15 minutes we had eaten ourselves sick! But it was worth it. My favorites were the chocolate mint cookies, the rocky road and the almond park...... and the fudge. :) Joe liked the peanut butter balls, the chocolate crackle cookies and the rocky road. We took a few zip lock bags and put our favorites in the freezer so that we can enjoy them for a little bit longer. We took some to MaLeah's house on Christmas Eve and then took some to Josh and Leah's house on Christmas. Everyone LOVED the treats. Baked goods are hard to come by here in Korea. Ovens are hard to come by and so are some of the ingredients needed to bake.

Thank you Aunt Debbie and Sarah for all of the wonderful treats!

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we headed to Suji.  MaLeah had invited her co-workers and friends over for dinner. She made a few different sauces and spaghetti noodles. It was great to spend time with MaLeah and get to know and talk to more people in Korea.  It seems like she has a good group of people at work and near her apartment.


On Christmas day we Skyped with Mom and Dad Randall. They sent us a package earlier in December. Joe and I had promised not to touch it until we could Skype on Christmas. (although technically I think it was their Christmas Eve). They spoiled us! The US flat rate international shipping boxes look small, but M and D always find a way to stuff it full of goodies. It was a bitter sweet Skype date. We missed being home for the holidays, but we also decided to book a trip to Hawaii for Christmas 2012! We all decided being apart for Christmas was no good. Joe and I have a time share in Hawaii and we decided that we would book it and meet M and D there! We invited Sara and Will but they are going to Hawaii for their anniversary in August. I am already counting down the days until Christmas in Hawaii 2012!
Joe also surprised me with tickets to the Nutcracker! We had agreed not to give gifts this year, but he broke the rules!

We spent Christmas evening at Josh and Leah's house. Josh and Leah made a delicious prime rib and the company was wonderful. We had a white elephant gift exchange. I found some couples clothing (couples in Korea wear matching clothes to show that they are a couple. It could be clothes that are the same color or clothes that have half of a comic on the boys shirt and the other half of the comic on the girls shirt. It is hilarious to see grown men and women in matching clothes!) Joe was original and gave a gift card. It was fun. I walked away with a huge container of hot coco mix and Joe got a handful of mini liquor bottles. It was a great way to spend Christmas here in Korea.

The Nutcracker!

I had been talking about going to see the Nutcracker in Korea for all of December. I had tried to get tickets with MaLeah and with Leah, but it seemed like non of the days or times worked out for everyone. I had given up on the idea and was okay with that. On Christmas day, Joe woke up early and tried to convince me to get up to "open presents" knowing we didn't have gifts for each other. I told him we should just go back to bed and wait until our Skype date with M and D to open gifts. He got up and started making noise around our apartment convincing me to get out of bed. As soon as I sat up in bed he handed me a small stalking. He had got me tickets to The Nutcracker! I felt like a little kid! I was very excited to get my surprise gift! The tickets were for the following Thursday.

The day of The Nutcracker Joe and I dressed up and went out to dinner at "On The Boarder". The famous chain has very popular restaurant in the COEX mall in Korea. Besides the location you could convince yourself that you are back in the good 'ol U.S of A after a margarita.

After dinner we hopped back on the subway and headed to the theater.

We met a very kind mother and daughter and we took turns taking each others pictures.

I was REALLY excited.

Joe got us "couples" seating. We assumed it was just a guarentee seat next to one another. We joked on the way there that knowing Korea we would probably have to share a small Korean size love seat.
When we got to the theater I was shocked at how beautiful the theater was. It was decorated in gold leaf and red velvet. Joe checked us in at the box office and got our tickets. We got a small gift with our couples seat (a small phone charm) and free coffee and cookies. As we made our way upstairs an usher showed us to our seats. I guess we should have knocked on wood....our couples seating was a small love seat.

It was a great night out! I don't think I can convince Joe to go again. I think he would have fallen asleep if he could have gotten comfortable.

We spent the rest of our winter break relaxing around the house. I found a dresser on Craig's List that I wanted. It was only a few subway stops away and the girl selling it said that it might fit in a taxi. We went with the assumption that it would fit in the taxi. Boy were we wrong. It was WAY too big for a taxi, but I wasn't about to give up. Lucky for me, Joe was more than willing to do whatever it took to get that sucker home.  Our closet was over flowing and I was so tired of having to share a sock drawer! We ended up carrying the dresser from the girls apartment to the subway, through the subway, onto the subway, then from the subway to our apartment, then up to our room.

We also got a mirror, rug and a small night stand for Joe's side of the bed. (we picked up the other stuff a few days later) Carrying this thing through the subway we met tons of very kind Koreans. People opened doors for us, pushed elevator buttons and even slid our subway cards over the pay machines.

I think that's all for December......

December P.E. Time

My very favorite time of the week is when Joe and I get to teach P.E. together to the kindergarteners.
Our "gym' is a pathetic space for physical activity and we work with little to no actual P.E. equipment. But the kids have such a great time and I LOVE teaching with Joe.

I wanted to do something special for our December P.E. class. I had this fun ides to make some felt Christmas trees then create some kind of game for the kids to decorate them with felt ornaments. Joe helped me cut the ornaments and trees.

Working hard...

 or hardly working?

Finished product!

We put together 6 trees. I was really happy with how they turned out.


During PE we divided the kids into teams, then hid the ornaments under cones. Each team had to find 6 ornaments in their team color. Most of the kids don't have Christmas trees at home so this was their chance to decorate a tree.

Mr. Joe giving directions and showing the kids how to play the game.

Waiting patiently...

Henry, Erin-Jo and Brian

Dorothy, Daniel and Angela

Iris, Amy, Jenith and Matthew

Andy, Sean and Erin-Na

Sarah, Jun and Jamie

Sam, Eugene, Alex and Daniel

I think it is safe to say that we all had a great time.