Boryeong Mud Festival

As part of our contract, our boss, Frank, takes us to the mud festival at Daecheon Beach! It started as a festival to clean your impurities and cleanse the body! Now it is a big party where people throw mud on each other and have a party! Then clean off by jumping into the ocean! There were tons of people there! It was one of the most exciting and fun things we did all year! If you get a chance to travel to South Korea, try to get there in July and enjoy this amazing festival!!


Our boss had prepared Sam-gup sal for lunch for us! It was a great bonding experience! After lunch it was to the mud pits! It is literally huge buckets full of mud with paint brushes to paint yourself with it! It is everyone for themselves, if you are not careful, a bucket could be poured on you... Except, it is tons of fun! I managed to get great pics.. however it was the death of that camera!

Yeosu Expo!

 We were lucky to have the chance to go to the Yeosu World Expo! Tons of countries made an exhibition celebrating the sea and water. It was amazing! We ate food from all over the world, drank and travelled the world in a weekend! Some of the highlights!

1. Drinking german beer and having a bratweirst lunch! We hadn't had food like that for a while since being in Korea!

2. Taking a dance workshop done by Singaporeans! Jenny and I got wicked drinking cups for participating!

3. Getting Henna done in Qatar! Only women were allowed to have it done!

4. Visiting their huge aquarium! There were belugas, sharks and tons of fun picture opportunities!

5. Being in a blizzard.. in July!

Happy Canada Day!

Gemini Class (Age 7)

Wisdom Class (age 5)

I wanted to celebrate Canada day with my kindergarten class! Of course there was much convincing to Frank, but I won this one! I had asked the parents to bring in a white t-shirt that would get painted! I also planned out red and white activities that as a class we could do! I loved the entire day! I taught them about Canada and taught them how to sing O'Canada. We had a red and white snack, made medals and painted maple leafs onto our shirts! It was a lot of fun sharing this with them! It was such a success, the parents loved and the kids had so much fun asking me about where I lived. They loved their shirts and continued to wear them on a weekly basis to school!

Back To Busan!

Jay and I and a couple of friends went to Busan! Jay and I wanted a relaxing weekend on the beach. We went with Matt, Joe and Jenny! We wanted to stop at the Busan Fish Market to grab lunch! Fresh raw fish and squid. It was still moving on the plate! Jay stood up to the challenge and ate it! I was pretty impressed!

We wanted to go back to Byeongpungham Seokbulsa, since on our first attempt we didn't make it in time. We hiked up the very steep circling drive way up to the temple! This time we were able to go in and we were glad we did! It was a beautiful temple. The carvings into the stone were magnificent. It must have taken years to do the carvings! It was very magical! The steep and exhausting climb was definitely worth it! after we hiked back down to the beach, grabbed dinner and had a relaxing evening!

The next day was all about the beach! We spent the entire day, lounging by the water, swimming, drinking and eating! It is so relaxing sitting on the beach, with a beer in hand and fried chicken ready to be eaten! The water is so beautiful and warm we had such a hard time leaving. We even extended our train tickets to stay longer into the evening!  We tried getting Kip to swim but he didn't like it very much.... maybe because Jay dropped him in when a big wave came... Jay won't admit to that though! We were lucky, the same weekend there was an international dance festival going on, on the beach! There were people from all different countries performing! We were sitting behind the stage and got to see alot of the cultural costumes and dancers. Many took to liking Jay, white, tall, handsome, dark features, many women came up to him and asked for a picture with him! So I finally butted in and asked for a group shot with all of them and Jay! He was in his glory! Of course this would happen in Korea!

Hanwa Eagles!

Collin, my lovely, amazing co-worker and friend LOVES baseball! Ever since I met her she has told me about the games. I loved my volleyball games here, so I figured "why not" (in the words of Collin) Off we went! We got tickets in the cheering sections! I yelled and danced and sang all of the cheers! Each player has their own cheer. So there I am in Korean.. well trying.. singing all of their cheers! They definitely kept us entertained. We ate chicken and drank beer, then later had hotdogs! It was a full game with 12 innings. We were tied all the way up until the end where we lost in the twelfth inning. Feeling pretty good (many beers later) We were ready to go! It was a great memory and we all had tons of fun! Thanks Collin!

Konichiwa!

Tokyo! Literally the city that never sleeps. Either they are up partying, eating or working, it is always bright and full of people. We went for Buddha's Birthday. We had a long weekend and our friend Lauren is living there. Sarah was also there! Who would have imagined that the 3 of us would meet up in Tokyo!

At Serendipity bar drinking Ball Ice Serendipity drink!

I didn't realize how different it would be. But, it really was! Tokyo has so many more foreigners and it super expensive. Tokyo is definitely more intense and each neighbourhood was totally different. I found them more beauty conscious than Koreans! (if that is even possible!) They have these photo booths that make your eyes look bigger! Of course we tried it!

Here are the highlights!

1. Eating Nabe: Japanese Hot Pot (soup and guts) very delicious!
2. Going out on the town: Serendipity Bar and Kareoke Kan! We sang the night away!
3. After sending Sarah off, Lauren took us Akihabara - Electric Town! We went into a "Maid Cafe" think PG strip club. You pay the girls who are dressed in maid outfits to play a game or serve you. I played Jenga.. and lost in the last second. (Yes, it was a timed 5 minute game!)
4. Going to Ueno park, we saw temples and walked around. 
5. At night we saw the Sensoji temple! It was stunning! 

Sensoji Temple!

Monday we were off to Enoshima. It is an island off of Tokyo. It is a a beautiful place for hiking and site seeing. No wonder Lauren said you could stay forever there. It was so peaceful and serene. We hiked around and got to see old shops and ended up on the ocean. IT was so nice, all rocks and the waves crashing around us! From there we sealed our love by ringing the love bell at the top of the island! We got to see a Big buddha on Buddha's birthday! This one had a different pose than ours in Cheonan and we got to go inside of it and see how it was built, which of course Jay loved! We went off to Kamakura, where the original capitol was. There were so many temples and we found a  bamboo forest. They were so tall and beautiful. Jay and I made a wish for our friends and families and hung it up for years to come!

Our last day, Tuesday; Jay and I got up at 3:40 am to go see the Tsukiji Fish Market. Let me tell you, I was not looking forward to getting up and was resenting Jay for making me do it.. but we were so glad to do it. It was definitely a site to see. These men come and bring these HUGE tunas and auction them off. The tunas are about the size of baby whales! We got to stand and watch the whole action happen. Then we were able to stroll through the market and we purchased freshly made green tea leaves and which I thought was dulce for my grandpa... which is soup stock.. I tried! We got sushi freshly made and ate happily!  We were back at Lauren's for 8:30 am! We took a nap and met up with Lauren to go to Harajuku.

We were so happy to go and Lauren was extremely welcoming! I am so happy to have the chance to see where she lives and where she works (the local starbucks is her office!) and see the life she has been living! I am so proud and amazed of her doing it and learning the language and making the most of it!  Of course she would, it's Lauren, and anyone who met her would know she does not let a moment of experience past her! She is a true free spirit and loves adventure. I am so lucky to have her as a friend, to learn from and confide in her so many times in my life! To Lauren; Domo Arigato Gosaimas!

May: the Month or Reunions!

In May we had Cheryl and Sarah visit!

We were so proud of Cheryl for coming all of the way by herself! We were so excited to show her our life here in Korea! She stayed for 3 weeks and I think got to see a real taste of what it is like in Korea!

We took her to so many places! Here are some of the highlights!

1. Taking her to a Norebang! We sang our hearts out with our friends!
2. Taking her to Gyengyu to see the Seokguram Grotto. Her first hike here, it was a steep one!
3. Gangwando Biking trip - it was a bit tougher than we expected (60km, mostly uphill) but an amazing day! We biked along the DMZ barbed wire fence and stopped to look into North Korea!

The Sarah came! We also jam packed her stay aswell! It was such a breath of fresh air having her here! I was over the moon that she came! It just solidified our friendship, because we can be apart for months on end, and when we see each other it was like no time had passed! I felt like she had been here forever! I missed her so much and it was so nice to just see her again! If you are reading this, you truly are an amazing friend and I am so happy to have you in my life!

We took them out Friday night to Wine Bar, California Bar and Kokamo to get the full night life here! Then off to Seoul the next day! We kept them really busy!

1. First stop Seodaemun Prison where the Japanese kept Koreans who were trying to separate their country from Japan
2. Gyeongbokgung Palace - absolutely stunning! The grounds were surreal and the palace was huge, just sitting in the middle of Seoul!
3. We had a very traditional meal in Insadong - bibimbop, bulgolgi, pajeon and ofcourse all the kimchi you could eat! It was a lovely time
4. We shopped till we dropped in Insadong! 
5. Off to Itaewon to have a drink
6. Namsan tower - where we met up with Sarahs old friend Jihye (Jessica) that did an exchange and stayed with Sarah's parents. That was when Sarah was in Grade 5! IT was such an experience. As were walking up the mountain, she pulls Sarah's arm out of nowhere! We were supposed to meet them at the top! How Crazy! JEssica and her boyfriend were just lovely and I am so glad I got to meet them! They treated us to dinner in a restaurant which overlooked Seoul! It was the perfect way to end a fantastic day, I got to see some more sights and make new friends! 

Sunday we were off to Big Buddha and Taejosan Park for a picnic. Sunbin took us to Taehaksan, where we saw a Buddha carved in Rock! IT was another successful day!

Sarah and Cheryl both left on that Tuesday following this busy weekend! We were sad to see them off, but excited we would see them soon! We were so over joyed to have people from home, it really shake any home sickness that we had! Love to you both! 

LADY GAGA!

GAGA FOR GAGA!

OMG THE BEST CONCERT EVER!
*again my wonderful boyfriend got me tickets to see Lady Gaga in Seoul! What an experience! She was unreal! The dancing, the set the lights! It was a sea of pink and blue and purple glow sticks. To top it all off it was a open stadium! As she was singing her heart out, along with us.. The sun was setting! What a perfect night!

Mokpo

Jay and I got a big group of friends to go down to Mokpo, the South West of Korea. We were supposed to go down and stay in a huge pension on the beach. We would take a quick ferry from the main land to the island and have a nice relaxing weekend.... However, it pored rain, so the ferry was closed. So we had to make alternative plans on the spot... Which had to include Kip! :)

We quickly went searching for a love motel, and with our broken Korean we managed to find one with enough rooms, and cheap for us to stay in. We went and had lunch which we discovered Vietnamese Shaboo Shaboo! Delicious! It was stocked piled with veggies and to top it off it was pumpkin rice at the end!

Later, I was getting frustrated sitting in our room with all the rain so I suggested a hike.. and everyone was up for it! Off we went, the group of us splashing in the rain and found ourselves a nice little hike that looked onto the Gatbawi Rocks. They are meant to be a son and father who had died and rocks rose from there.

The next day we followed the original plan and went to Yudulsan Park. There was botanical gardens and a sculpture park. We all felt like we were in the secret garden, it was stunning!

Turned out to be a great weekend despite all the rain!

Busan!

So, it has been awhile... Jay and I apologize, but to be fare we have been uber busy with travelling and hosting.. and I  guess our job!

In April, Jay took me to Busan for my birthday! He had planned the whole thing! It was a great birthday present!

We took the KTX then the subway over to Beomeosa, a beautiful temple and the start of our never ending hike. Jay loves the adventure of a hike, and from the book it looked doable and lengthwise fairly good. Were we ever wrong, turns out it was super steep, and for 6 hours we hiked and hiked and exhausted ourselves. We hiked up Geumjeongsan hoping to get to another temple at the end, but by the time we got there (now 7pm and getting dark) it was closed, we plan to return. However the hike was beautiful and we pretty much hiked from one side of Busan to another. We followed an old fortress wall and saw so many beautiful sites.

By the end we were exhausted and sore and ready to fall asleep in the love motel... well somebody (Jay) didn't print off the address to our hotel.. and the main area where we were staying is packed. So we spent probably about another hour walking around asking people. Some people were really nice, pulling out there phones and locating it, trying to tell us directions, when finally one man googled it, and told us to get into his car and drove us there! It was so nice of him!

We slept like babies! The next day we got up and headed to Haeundae beach. It was foreigner central! I felt like I was back home. We taxi'd over to Yonggungsa Temple. It is located right on the ocean. IT was so beautiful and peaceful.

It was a fantastic trip and we hope to return!

Muuido Island

Way out with the tides!

Jay and I and our friends Dani, Kellie and Jeanette went to a weekend getaway to an island off of Incheon in South Korea. We went with a group called Seoul Hiking Group. The man in charge plans trips every weekend. We decided to get on a bus and go along! We brought Kip too! We arrived at the island and had the whole day to ourselves to enjoy the sunshine and beach.


We had a fantastic time relaxing and roaming along the tides. We could walk far out and Kip loved playing in the water. Later in the day we went for a hike to the top of a mountain to look out on the sunset over the ocean. We were exhausted but loved it! When we got back we had samgupsal and galbi with a ton of veggies! It was a wonderful day! We stayed in pensions and slept on the warm floor! We played games and eventually went to bed.

Can you tell how tired we were by my red face! :)

The next day we got up to hike, but it was so cold, after some naps, and a warm breakfast, Jay and I got out and hiked a different trail. Kip was so good, he followed along and never ran off. He had such a wonderful time being off of his leash. We left around 3 and we felt very relaxed and well rested! I had a fantastic weekend!

New Beginnings

     In March the new school year starts. So I had to say goodbye to my Wisdom and Dream class and I got two new classes. I now teach 10 five year olds and 9 seven year olds. Both classes have never been in English class before, and let me tell you not an easy walk in the park. They have definitely thrown me for a loop. I sometimes just have to sit and let them run around yelling in Korean before I can step in. They are just as adorable but I have a long way ahead of me. 

     Jason and I both have new Elementary classes. I love my new classes and so does Jay. However, he did end up with my nightmare class and they are running him to! It is nice to have a change up for the next 6 months. We will keep you updated with our classes!

March 1st Movement Day

March 1st is a day to remember the ones who helped start the separation of Japan from Korea. In 1919 a girl from Choenan started the separation movement. Our friend Sunbin took Jason and I and Emily, since it was her last morning to Independence Hall to watch the ceremony. It was lovely, I heard the national anthem and was able to watch a re-enactment. 

They did a re-enactement of when a 16 year old girl from Cheonan started a movement to make Korea their own country. She was later caught by the Japanese and then dies at 19 in their jail. She started the ball rolling and after the second world war all of her work was paid off as it was part of the deal to have Japan remove itself from Korea.

We had to be there early to get the whole ceremony and parade, and the Koreans were very happy that a group of foreigners were there to share their day. We had politicians and newscasters asking us questions.  After the ceremony we had a picnic on the grounds. It was a wonderful way to send Emily off and to have a lesson in Korean history! 

Kinder Graduation

The girls holding up their snowman!

Every year at the end of February we have a graduation to celebrate the 7 year olds who are moving on to Elementary School. All of the kindergarten classes have to do a song or play depending on their age and level. Since I didn't have any 7 year old classes I thought this would be a piece of cake. Boy, was I wrong! The parents take this very seriously from the age of my 5 year old class! My co worker and I had decided to go with a winter theme and a love for English theme. My 5 year old Wisdom class each had a sentence to say about building a snowman. It was adorable, as they were saying they were actually making a snowman together! Let me tell you, that took A LOT of practice! In the end they did so well and I was so proud of them, and so were their moms.




I didn't mention that the kids are decked out in costumes and microphones as well for this. Oh, and there was a huge blow up castle behind them! Of course it would be, in Korea you do nothing small, you go out big for everything!

My other class, Dream was old enough to do a play, we did the Gingerbread man. They were sooo good! They said their lines, sang loud and acted so well! We got many complements on our play. Of course they too were in extreme animal costumes and microphones. Our gingerbread man costume however, was a squirrel, we didn't see any tail in the picture when we ordered it! HA!

Rosie as the Gingerbread Man!

In the end, the kids all get a certificate for finishing their year and their families give them flowers and candy. We too, the teachers, got a lot of flowers and love from the parents! It was sad to see kids move on, and knowing I wouldn't be teaching them again, but I was really happy with how we ended! 

Kinder Birthday Parties!

Mike from Dream Class enjoying doing his birthday speech!

Every season, the kindergarten program at SLP celebrates all the birthdays in the month. We recently had the winter birthday party for all of the birthdays in December, January and February. It is intense! Any child with a birthday in those months, will receive a gift from every one from their class. On my dream class there is 8 kids, so each child got 7 gifts. We had 4 birthdays in that class alone, so not only did mommys have to buy a gift, they had to buy 4! At the party the birthday student is asked to come up and do a speech. (What their favorite color is, their favorite animal...etc) Then each student in their class will bring up a present and hugs them! It is so cute, and the kids go wild with a bag full of presents!
There is also a feast that is served at lunch, noodles, which is every child'd love at school, fruit, cake, cookies and extra special fried chicken! The kids love it! We sing songs and dance! The kids have alot of fun!

The Price of Beauty!

Here in Korea, beauty is everything. Everyone here is quite blunt about it. I have had children say I am beautiful because of my white skin, and then days where I have too much makeup on and they "Oh teacher, too much..."

Beautiful here is to have the whitest skin possible (check!) and pointy noses (check! - so far I am doing well!) Then of course to be super thin (not a check) and big colourful eyes (check!) Females go to all lengths to be "beautiful" in this culture.

For example, when we wash our face at home, maybe we use cleanser, toner , moisturizer. For the most part that is all we use in North America. Here, when they get ready to go to bed there is cleanser, toner, eye cream (inhibiting wrinkles), serum (another anti-wrinkle), water cream then moisturizer, BEFORE BED! I have tried it, and my skin is smoother.. but there is no way I am keeping that up. I don't even try to do that in the morning. So in the morning you do all the night steps, then a sun cream, and then BB cream. It is almost like foundation, before you even put on makeup, which they put on alot! Whenever you buy makeup here, they load you up on samples of all of these products, so I am just doing it for the hell of it to use up the samples!

Plastic surgery is a common thing here for women. They tend to make their noses have a more pronounces slope and actually have surgery to have their eyes widened. You could ask any female and they know plenty of people who have done it, or them themselves have already had surgery.

You can tell how popular piercings are here though by the price! A couple of girlfriends and I, and Jay, wanted to get our ears pierced. I wanted my second holes and my rook pierced. The guy was great, funny and really good at what he does. It only cost me though, 14$. We laughed! We told them that back in Canada that would get us maybe the earring he pierced our ear with! So Jay got the courage and got his ear pierced too, only 3$, might aswell!

For majority of Koreans they go to Gingabongs. They are Korean bath houses. I finally got to go! You pay 5$ (again.. super cheap) and you walk right into the female change room, and you are surrounded by all naked women. (O ya forgot to mention it literally means a big room with tubs and pools and showers and all women are naked!) You get over the fact of feeling shy pretty fast. People are buying shampoo and soaps all naked. So off goes the clothes, I buy some scrubs and soaps and off to the showers. It is a custom to shower and scrub (literally your skin off) before entering into the pool. It is to show that you are clean.

You then are free to bathe in hot tubs, cold tubs, go outside into a really hot tub, pools with massage jets and chairs. It is the most relaxing thing I have EVER done! I was there for probably 2 hours bathing with my girlfriends and relaxing! I do plan on keeping it routine and going once a week!

Plus I've been told you look beautiful after you leave! :) Always about beauty here!

Christmas in Korea!

We are a bit late on this, but our Christmas in Korea was wonderful!

My parents had brought up gifts and my mom made stockings for Jay and I. She even brought stocking stuffers! Jay and I woke up and opened our stockings in bed, like I have always done with my parents every Christmas morning. It was really nice to keep the traditions going. We exchanged gifts and had a nice breakfast! We tried as much to keep it to our traditions at home, we were both feeling a bit homesick at this time!


We even got Kip a present! He got to get all dressed up for our Christmas Day!

When Christmas got closer and closer, the kids got more excited. Santa was coming to visit them Christmas Eve at school! They would each receive one gift from him! That is all that they could talk about! Mom had sent a craft for them to do for Christmas. They all loved it! I have a video of them thanking mom, but I'll have to wait until we go home to show it, it is too large to post on here!

My Parents In Korea!

As alot of you know, my wonderful parents came to Korea to visit us. This was their first actual holiday since I was one!I was so excited and anxious to make everything perfect! I wanted them to enjoy every minute of it! When I saw them for the first time ( after I had forced my students to eat as fast as they could so I could get home) It was like no time had passed! We had a great time! They were exhausted from their flight so I got them into their hotel and met them after work for dinner!

My parents were such troupers, they ate everything I brought them too and they were game to go anywhere I sent them or took them! The first weekend was a whirl wind of activities! We went to Suwon, an old folk village, Big Buddha, Tejosan Mountain, a Cheonan Sky Walkers Volleyball game and ate tons of new food! They had a great time!

During the week we both still had to work, but between Jason and I's schedule my parents were hardly ever alone, and if not I had them go somewhere else. They did have some bad luck with things closed and not open certain days, but on Tuesday and Wednesday they went to Gyenju. Where Jason and I had been in October. They loved it! One of their favourites!

The Thursday the got to meet my two kindergarten classes and saw where I worked. They met tons of people and kids! The kids were so excited to see my parents. Even kids I don't teach wanted to meet them! I did crafts with my parents and the kids. My dad was a huge help, he kept making sure the kids washed their hands, and they loved coming back and showing off their clean hands! The kids had so much fun meeting them!

It was so nice to be able to show my parents where I live, how we are getting by, and how wonderful this country is! Now they have faces in their mind when I speak of a kid or of a friend of mine!

The following weekend we went to Seoul. My parents got us this luxurious suite to stay in! It was stunning! That weekend was filled with sites of Seoul! My parents went up early on Friday and did Seoul tower (which we were glad we didn't have to walk up all those stairs again!) and Namdemun market. Saturday we did a whole bunch of palaces, we went to Insadong and went to an old village. We then got to take them out for dinner to a garlic italian restaurant. It was so nice to be able to pay for my parents dinner finally. We were so happy that they could come and share this experience with us! I also was very proud of them for getting on a plane and coming! I thought it was going to take alot more convincing to get them here! After dinner we went to the Seoul Lantern Festival! it was beautiful! I had no idea what it was going to be like, but I was told it was the last weekend of it. I thought it was going to be lanterns hanging from trees, but it was actual figures and pictures and sculptures made from lanterns! It was amazing! They were huge! The next day was Sunday and we had a great breakfast and went to Itaewon so Jason and I could get cheese. They were getting anxious about their plane so we didn't do too much. It was very hard to say goodbye! And of course, I cried.. but I was so happy that they had come! It was a wonderful trip and we had an amazing time, and would love for them to come anytime! Love you lots mom and dad! Thank you for support and love!

Seoul Lantern Festival

The last night that Robin's parents were here, we went to the Seoul Lantern Festival. I don't think that any of us knew exactly what the lantern festival was all about, but it was absolutely amazing. There is a man made river, which was made to make the area look a little nicer, and all down the river were these beautiful lanterns, all shapes and sizes. This post is going to be short, just because the pictures do most of the talking.

One thing to mention is how efficient they were at corralling people in and out, they had people who looked like they were directing landing airplanes with flashing lights in their hands yelling at people and telling them to move through. There were times when we had to take pictures on the run. However for a city with 10 million people and others from around the country, they have to keep them moving through. 

Below is a video of some of the lanterns and the music that went with it.