Halloween~
Seoul Tower Pic
This past weekend was another lazy weekend. I just chilled in my apartment and researched Halloween material for my lessons for this week. I think this is possibly the most fun I have ever had preparing for a lesson….maybe the last time it is fun.. ha ha. j.k..? I was watching clips of old Halloween movies and just having an awesome time. It really reminded me of why I like the holiday. I love the creepy vibe of Halloween, the general sense of mischief, and (of course) the candy! In the spirit of Halloween, I am also determined to scare my students. I downloaded the 16 sec. car commercial where someone pops out at the end (just Youtube: scary car commercial). I succeeded in scaring some students and it was all very amusing (several girls shrieked… but most students just held their hearts with pained expressions). ha ha I warned them that I would be trying to scare them all on Friday – the day before Halloween–and I am not sure who is looking forward to that more, me or them (probably me).
I also bought a pumpkin (which was quite the adventure) and carried it from the local market to school. It looks sort of similar to an American pumpkin but does not have the same vivid color and shape — I’d have to describe it as a medium-sized, light orange, and squat pumpkin. Because Halloween is not a Korean holiday, they don’t carve jack o’lanterns. So, this was a first for them. The students who participated (it was voluntary) had a lot of fun and enjoyed taking pictures with it. I’d have to say we did a pretty awesome job and it looked very beautiful all lit-up tonight.
On other news, I recently got my hair cut (not seen in above picture*). And it is much shorter than it used to be, but I think I like the style. The experience was interesting …I had to place a lot of faith in the hairdresser. She cut all of my hair with a razor – she did not touch a pair of scissors once!
Anyway, that is all the news for now. Until later….tootles!
Nothin’ Special
Today, I have nothing special to report. Didn’t do much this past weekend other than spending some time on Saturday with a co-worker from school. She is very nice and funny; her homeroom class were having a field trip and I tagged along.
The weather has been very bitter lately, with a lot of thunderstorms in the evening. It was making such a din the past two days, it woke me out of a sound sleep. Can you believe that? It woke me, of all people! My alarm clock is not even that effective! ha ha
Seoul Tower
First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the birthday wishes I received via the internet and snail mail. I had a good birthday!
This Saturday, I was off to Seoul again (it really is more like a collection of cities under one name, it’s huge). I finally got a better understanding of the scope of the city by viewing it from Seoul Tower in Namsan Park. The Tower is on a 262 meter peak and is 480 meters above sea level. It had a nice view! 😀
The bottom picture is of the large collection of locks that are attached to the wire-fence, which surrounds the perimeter of the outside viewing area of the Tower. They are “couple locks” – couples go up the Tower and then attach the locks (which usually have their names, love messages, etc). It is a way of saying, “our love is going to last forever” – attach the lock and throw away the keys. ❤
While at the Tower I saw a traditional martial arts performance, which was quite impressive. I should take up martial arts… 😛 On Sunday I just lazed around, which was also quite nice. Now, it’s back to work!
P.S. Like usual, I’ve replied to comments in my previous post (“Blue Hens…”). *Last weeks’ post (“prior to Blue Hens”), I did not reply to…sorry about that – I was lazy~
Blue Hens in the house
UD Crew reunited!
I am 아름다운, right? ha ha
Orientation in Osan went well. It was a nice break from the school routine, but I was glad it didn’t last more than 2 days. And I actually missed some of my co-workers….. *SHOCK* ha ha Still, it was nice hanging out with English speakers and being totally surrounded by ENGLISH if but for 2 days; I felt like I was finally back in the know. And I could speak as quickly as I wanted to, without having to slow-it-down or re-word what I was saying. During that time, I was reunited with the UD graduates who are also participating in the GEPIK program (but living in different areas of S.K.). UD representin’ word up.
When I got back from Osan, I was surprised by a random dinner invite from three of my co-workers. They remembered I was coming back and met me in my hometown for dinner. Dinner was really nice (a stew with lava red broth)…luckily, I am a fan of spicy food. Afterwards, I went to Ilsan with one of my co-workers for an evening stroll around the lake.
The next day, Saturday, was a Korean holiday – Chusok, or the Harvest Moon festival.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chusok
It was described to me as Korean version of Thanksgiving (if you wanted to compare it). I went to Seoul with 2 UD alums and 2 of their friends to the KOREAHOUSE, which is a traditional Korean-style house where people can experience Korean culture through traditional food, performance, and goods. There was a festival going on there because of the holiday, so it was quite busy – Korean and foreign people were there eating, playing games, and taking part in crafts. I got a chance to dress-up in the traditional Korean hanbok while I was there, and although I wasn’t as cute as some of the Korean girls walking around in their own, it was a lot of fun.
Mellow in South Korea 