Does anyone actually read this? I get so few comments, that I wonder sometimes if it's worth updating, or if it's pretty much just ignored. This isn't some desperate cry for attention or anything, it would just be nice to know if there's an audience out there. It's the internet, so I can't even hear the crickets chirping. ;) So, if you're reading this, please comment. Even if it's just to say, "Hi, I read this!"
Not a lot of news, really. Yesterday was a national holiday, Korean Independence Day (a.k.a. "Up Yours, Japan!" Day). No fireworks or festivals. Just a day off work that's going to screw up my Tuesday lesson plans for the rest of the semester (since they'll all be a week behind the rest of my classes). It was nice to get caught up on laundry and other chores, though, so I'm not really complaining.
I did go to Incheon to visit Michele and Sam last weekend. We met in Itaewon, had some marvelous Chinese-American cuisine at Ho Lee Chao (read it out loud, it's cute), and I discovered that I like eggplant. Who knew! We headed back to Incheon for the weekend, made bread dough for calzones and, well, bread, and basically just bummed around watching movies and such. I slept on a floor mat called a "yo", which was surprisingly comfortable for how thin it was.
Michele is a wonderful person. She sure knows how to feed her guests! We had a good time, and I left with a blender and a backpack she wasn't using, so that was cool. I can now make smoothies and I have a better way to transport my laptop to and from work.
We, unfortunately, did not go to the jimjilbang (Korean sauna/bath house), or the fish market, or Chinatown. It was raining like crazy on Sunday, so we stayed in and watched Steve Martin flicks. Next time, though, well will attempt to do at least two of the three, and I will make homemade cinnamon rolls (with the magical Ceylon cinnamon that does NOT kill me via allergic reaction).
In other news...
I had to get my toilet replaced. Ouch. Expensive. Apparently you're not supposed to flush toilet paper or q-tips down the can. Oops.
On a happier note, my fantastic boyfriend Chris has his passport and a plane ticket booked for the end of April! He'll be landing Friday afternoon on April 22nd, so I'll still be at work when he gets here, but I should be able to get to the airport within a few hours after he arrives. He'll have time to grab some food and maybe a bath at the airport jimjilbang in the meantime. I'M SO EXCITED! \o/
No photos this time 'round. Just a general update. I'm trying to post more often, even though it feels like nothing really interesting is happening around here. It's probably at least somewhat interesting to you folks back home, right?
Well, either way.
Peace,
-Maria
Showing posts with label Other Sam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Other Sam. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
New Friends
Instead of writing a general catch up post (though I'll give you a quick recap), I thought I'd start writing according to theme. This post will be about friends.
Now, I like the people that I work with. Korean, Canadian, Welsh, they're all decent folk and I get along with them for the most part. But outside of work, I don't spend a lot of time with any of them, even the Canadians who live in the same little apartment building. So I've been trying to branch out, make friends in other places. I've succeeded in three different social arenas.
I went to a clothing swap in Seoul a couple of weeks ago. No pics, but I got a lot of neat stuff that was new to me in exchange for getting rid of some clothes that didn't fit me anymore (due to losing all this weight). I met a cool chick named Jonna (pronounced yawn-ah) and some other really awesome ladies, and we had a fun time chatting, trying on each others' old clothes, giving our unbiased opinions on who looked good in what, and munching on snacks.
I frequent a forum at Dave's ESL Cafe where lots of Korea and ESL teaching-related discussions happen, as well as the more random forum fare, and threads for folks who want to buy/sell/trade things. I've met a few folks by buying things from them on the forum and meeting up in various parts of Seoul to swap cash and goods. It was a random thread on weight loss, however, that led me to meet my friend Michele. She offered to help me with a diet plan and acted as a cheerleader to keep me on it. I lost a good 6 or 7 pounds with her help! We've hung out a couple of times now, once in Itaewon and once at her place up in Incheon, and I'll be visiting her again this weekend for homemade pizzas and jimjilbang (Korean sauna/bath house). More on that next weekend.
Anyway, here's Michele and her wonderful boyfriend British!Sam (not to be confused with Canadian!Sam):
My school is set up a bit differently than most Korean private academies (known as "hagwon"). It's a government-funded English center, with a full library on the third floor, our school on the second floor, and a daycare center on the first. Though I technically work for the school, I teach my Library Program classes on the third floor in one of the two library classrooms. As such, I've had more interaction with the library staff than some of the other teachers.
Hae Young and I met when I was volunteering at the library Christmas program one weekend. She said she would show me around Seoul sometime, and we've been trying to get together for a day to hang out ever since! Our first several weekend plans fell through completely. Then, for my birthday, she got as far as meeting me for a nice ride on the subways before getting called into work. It turned out okay, but we both felt we should try for another time.
FINALLY, last weekend, we met up for a Sunday movie. I'd suggested Tangled, but it was sold out, so we wound up seeing Sanctum instead. We were joined by another library staffer, whose name I mangled so badly he said I could just call him "Dog." Or maybe it was "Doug." I'm not sure.
Hae Young bought me an adorable head band (which I should really take pictures of sometime) with a little bunny on it, and after the movie we went out for melt-your-freakin'-face-off spicy chicken. It was delicious, but so hot I couldn't eat very much.
Here's me with my new Korean friends:
SPICY!
HOLD THE KIMCHI, PLEASE!
NO DON'T EAT IT!
So, there you have it. New friends.
IN OTHER NEWS...
Itaewon is my new favorite place on the weekends since Michele showed me where the foreign food markets are. I can now buy Cheetohs, ginger ale, Pop Tarts, oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, and any number of other dubiously healthy Western foods. She also introduced me to Tartine bakery, which does this amazing Romanian peasant bread and their own (expensive!) butter.
Itaewon also had this red panda hat, which I HAD to buy, because... come on. Red panda.
It has little feets!
AND A TAIL!
That little street-crossing tunnel near my apartment had more art in it last time I went through. A whole design school's art show, actually. I walked through about a block's worth of amazing paper sculpture and other works. I also took a bajillion photos with my iPod, which I'm not going to post here because it would make this post a mile long. Instead, have some links.
1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
Argh, that's taking forever, too. I'll figure out a better way to post these. Maybe I'll just stick them on Facebook. :P
Magpies are really common here, like crows are in Minnesota, but magpies are prettier. Now, I love me some spooky black birds, but magpies have a certain dignity with their long tails, crisp black and white markings, and that glossy iridescent sheen of blue-green-purple to their dark feathers. Canadian!Sam calls them "majestic" and I can't really argue the term. They are. They're majestic. I finally got a (not very good) shot of one. They're pretty bold birds, but oddly camera shy. I'll see if I can't get a better shot with the good camera, now that the weather is warming up.
I took a picture of this random sign in the subway station because I thought the little dude looked like a chibi Castiel from Supernatural, and that amused me.
I also took a picture of this sign in the bathroom where I work.
As you may have noticed from previous posts, I've lost a lot of weight since I got here. Still flabby in the middle, but that could be cured with a bit more exercise to tone up the muscles. I appear to be losing weight at an average of a pound a week, which is nice and healthy. I could probably be losing more if I laid off the sweets entirely, but hey, don't expect miracles from me. The rate I'm going at is just fine.
Here's a recent pic. I'm barely sucking it in! Ignore my double chin there. XD
This was a reference shot for my Valentine's gift to Chris:
Gus is doing much better lately as well. He had some kind of scab on his nose, but I think that's because he scratched himself. I really need to take him to a vet and learn how to trim his nails. He has a swanky new cage and gets lots of fresh veggies in addition to his hay and pellets, and as much free time to run around the apartment as I can possibly allow him. Essentially, if I am awake, at home, and not cleaning, he has the run of the place.
Edit: I had some Gus videos up, but they weren't working properly, so I took them down. Will try to fix the problem and re-post later. :(
And that's it for now. Next weekend I should have plenty of great stuff to share about bath houses, Incheon, and making pizzas.
Love,
-Maria
Now, I like the people that I work with. Korean, Canadian, Welsh, they're all decent folk and I get along with them for the most part. But outside of work, I don't spend a lot of time with any of them, even the Canadians who live in the same little apartment building. So I've been trying to branch out, make friends in other places. I've succeeded in three different social arenas.
I went to a clothing swap in Seoul a couple of weeks ago. No pics, but I got a lot of neat stuff that was new to me in exchange for getting rid of some clothes that didn't fit me anymore (due to losing all this weight). I met a cool chick named Jonna (pronounced yawn-ah) and some other really awesome ladies, and we had a fun time chatting, trying on each others' old clothes, giving our unbiased opinions on who looked good in what, and munching on snacks.
I frequent a forum at Dave's ESL Cafe where lots of Korea and ESL teaching-related discussions happen, as well as the more random forum fare, and threads for folks who want to buy/sell/trade things. I've met a few folks by buying things from them on the forum and meeting up in various parts of Seoul to swap cash and goods. It was a random thread on weight loss, however, that led me to meet my friend Michele. She offered to help me with a diet plan and acted as a cheerleader to keep me on it. I lost a good 6 or 7 pounds with her help! We've hung out a couple of times now, once in Itaewon and once at her place up in Incheon, and I'll be visiting her again this weekend for homemade pizzas and jimjilbang (Korean sauna/bath house). More on that next weekend.
Anyway, here's Michele and her wonderful boyfriend British!Sam (not to be confused with Canadian!Sam):
My school is set up a bit differently than most Korean private academies (known as "hagwon"). It's a government-funded English center, with a full library on the third floor, our school on the second floor, and a daycare center on the first. Though I technically work for the school, I teach my Library Program classes on the third floor in one of the two library classrooms. As such, I've had more interaction with the library staff than some of the other teachers.
Hae Young and I met when I was volunteering at the library Christmas program one weekend. She said she would show me around Seoul sometime, and we've been trying to get together for a day to hang out ever since! Our first several weekend plans fell through completely. Then, for my birthday, she got as far as meeting me for a nice ride on the subways before getting called into work. It turned out okay, but we both felt we should try for another time.
FINALLY, last weekend, we met up for a Sunday movie. I'd suggested Tangled, but it was sold out, so we wound up seeing Sanctum instead. We were joined by another library staffer, whose name I mangled so badly he said I could just call him "Dog." Or maybe it was "Doug." I'm not sure.
Hae Young bought me an adorable head band (which I should really take pictures of sometime) with a little bunny on it, and after the movie we went out for melt-your-freakin'-face-off spicy chicken. It was delicious, but so hot I couldn't eat very much.
Here's me with my new Korean friends:
SPICY!
HOLD THE KIMCHI, PLEASE!
NO DON'T EAT IT!
So, there you have it. New friends.
IN OTHER NEWS...
Itaewon is my new favorite place on the weekends since Michele showed me where the foreign food markets are. I can now buy Cheetohs, ginger ale, Pop Tarts, oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, and any number of other dubiously healthy Western foods. She also introduced me to Tartine bakery, which does this amazing Romanian peasant bread and their own (expensive!) butter.
Itaewon also had this red panda hat, which I HAD to buy, because... come on. Red panda.
It has little feets!
AND A TAIL!
That little street-crossing tunnel near my apartment had more art in it last time I went through. A whole design school's art show, actually. I walked through about a block's worth of amazing paper sculpture and other works. I also took a bajillion photos with my iPod, which I'm not going to post here because it would make this post a mile long. Instead, have some links.
1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
Argh, that's taking forever, too. I'll figure out a better way to post these. Maybe I'll just stick them on Facebook. :P
Magpies are really common here, like crows are in Minnesota, but magpies are prettier. Now, I love me some spooky black birds, but magpies have a certain dignity with their long tails, crisp black and white markings, and that glossy iridescent sheen of blue-green-purple to their dark feathers. Canadian!Sam calls them "majestic" and I can't really argue the term. They are. They're majestic. I finally got a (not very good) shot of one. They're pretty bold birds, but oddly camera shy. I'll see if I can't get a better shot with the good camera, now that the weather is warming up.
I took a picture of this random sign in the subway station because I thought the little dude looked like a chibi Castiel from Supernatural, and that amused me.
I also took a picture of this sign in the bathroom where I work.
As you may have noticed from previous posts, I've lost a lot of weight since I got here. Still flabby in the middle, but that could be cured with a bit more exercise to tone up the muscles. I appear to be losing weight at an average of a pound a week, which is nice and healthy. I could probably be losing more if I laid off the sweets entirely, but hey, don't expect miracles from me. The rate I'm going at is just fine.
Here's a recent pic. I'm barely sucking it in! Ignore my double chin there. XD
This was a reference shot for my Valentine's gift to Chris:
Gus is doing much better lately as well. He had some kind of scab on his nose, but I think that's because he scratched himself. I really need to take him to a vet and learn how to trim his nails. He has a swanky new cage and gets lots of fresh veggies in addition to his hay and pellets, and as much free time to run around the apartment as I can possibly allow him. Essentially, if I am awake, at home, and not cleaning, he has the run of the place.
Edit: I had some Gus videos up, but they weren't working properly, so I took them down. Will try to fix the problem and re-post later. :(
And that's it for now. Next weekend I should have plenty of great stuff to share about bath houses, Incheon, and making pizzas.
Love,
-Maria
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