Ballet in Korea

I FINALLY found a ballet studio in Seoul.

Ahem. I started this post about 4 months ago. As I said previously, my blogging has slightly fallen by the wayside. So I've been dancing again for the past 5 months twice a week. I found this tiny ballet studio in a university area. It's not exactly convenient to get to...seeing as it takes about 45 minutes to get there and 45 minutes to get back home after the hour and 15 minute class. At first I was a bit apprehensive taking a class where all of the instruction would be in Korean. After my first class however, I realized, no matter what country you're in, ballet remains the same. Dance is dance, no matter where you are. And even though my teacher is speaking in words that I cannot understand, she dances and I follow and I learn. I've even started wearing pointe shoes again. Yeah...I forgot how much that hurts.
My teacher is amazing. She majored in ballet at her university and danced for a couple of years professionally and is now teaching at several studios. She is stunningly beautiful, graceful, elegant, equipped with an exquisite technique...and is one of the most incredible dancers I have ever seen. Needless to say, she motivates me a great deal. Finding this dance studio has been one of the best things that has happened to me since being in Korea. It only took me one class to remember that dancing is one thing that makes me utterly happy...where during that entire block of time in class, I think of NOTHING else, besides: work hard, work your hardest, keep trying, push yourself, you can do it...and oh my GOD I love this.



P.S. Here is the variation we just learned from Don Quixote. (don't have video of myself, so please enjoy Paloma Herrera doing an incredible job.)

Christmas in Korea

Mrs. Claus (Heidi)

So in my 29 years of life, I've never spent Christmas apart from my family. It just hasn't happened. So being on the other side of the world, was a bit of a horse of a different color. And although I missed my friends and family more than anything, I actually quite enjoyed myself...just having an experience in a country 6000 miles away from my own. It didn't exactly feel like Christmas, but what can you do?
I've learned from talking with Koreans that Christmas is treated as more of a friends and couples holiday than it is a family holiday. It's interesting to me because this country has a fairly large Christian population (about 30%) and usually Jesus' birthday, or Christmas, is basically the most important day in the life of a Christian, next to Easter. Anyway...
So most Koreans go out for dinner and then out for drinks on Christmas Eve. A similar schedule of events is followed on Christmas day.
I did have school on Christmas Eve, so we had a Christmas party with our kindergarten students. Santa (aka my co-teacher Matt) even came to the school. He kind of reminded me of that scary Santa from 'A Christmas Story.' Yikes.
And like I've said previously, it seems that everything here is done slightly differently that what I'm used to....i.e....we started our Christmas party by making Christmas cakes--what happened to cookies?!

Lily, Dylan, and Emily making their Christmas cake...

Ryan & Emily

Helping with the frosting-breaking-the-cake situation

Post making 'Christmas cake,' students could play in the playroom or watch a movie while lunch was prepared. Lunch was a funny thing. You should've seen the spreads these kids had. Their classrooms were filled with homemade delicious Korean dishes that their mommies prepared, pizza, fried chicken, you know...traditional Christmas delicacies...

Lavender class with their kimbap, pizza, fried chicken, fruit, etc.

Rosemary class with their spread--homemade tokkpokki, fried chicken, rice balls, fruit, cookies...oh and check out their Rudolph noses

After eating, it was time for Santa. Why Santa...you look so jolly, I don't think you scared the kids at all...

Santa/Matt Teacher and Rosemary students

Matthew is so proud

Denny, have you done ANYTHING good this year???

My Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day celebration:

Harry and Mikyong for Korean BBQ on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve dinner

On Christmas Day, I threw a brunch get together at my mini apartment. I made banana chocolate chip pancakes from scratch...we had sangria, mimosas, Irish coffees; people brought chocolate cake, hashbrowns, champagne, more cake--everyone in Korea always brings a cake...I'm SO OVER CAKE....

My delicious pancakes

Josh Teacher cooking some sort of bacon meat...

Friends stayed over well into the evening. We listened to Christmas music, overindulged in food & drink, played scrabble, card games, etc. I would say that although different and lacking some very important people, Christmas in Korea was pretty ok!

And kids are still saying the most amazing things...

One of my most favorite times with my kids is when I get to actually sit with them on the floor, on a mat, and read. It's such a nice change from standing in front of the classroom and teaching. And it's SO nice to be close to them. We ALWAYS end up laughing. I think this is mostly because they can really see me up close, and therefore they notice how different I look from them. For instance, last Thursday while reading, Matthew says, "Jacki Teacher, your nose is like this," and makes a motion showing a long and curve-bridged nose. Laughter ensues. "You're right, my nose is like that. It looks different than yours huh?" I say. Then he goes on, "But Shannon Teacher's nose is like this," and makes a tiny nose gesture. It's hilarious to the other students and I that Matthew is comparing the teachers' noses. Then Anthony chimes in with, "No, Shannon Teacher's nose like this (makes a gesture with his hand)....Shannon Teacher nose like Sponge Bob." This comment is too much to handle, and we all crack up again. After we regain our composure, we continue to read. Thank you children for once again making my day!!

Halloween in Korea

I apologize as I am fairly delayed in my posting as of late. You may realize this as I am writing a post about Halloween which was officially a month ago. Anyway, Halloween is a holiday that is not generally observed in Korea. However, there is a large foreigner population that is growing, and a strong demand to learn English and participate in traditions associated with English speaking countries, and therefore more and more people are celebrating Halloween in Korea. Unfortunately, I was really sick that entire weekend, so I didn't get celebrate.

Brandy (Cinderella), me, Sue (Dracula's wife)

We did have a kindy party at my school though. I was a bunch of grapes. The costume came out pretty decent and the kids enjoyed it.

Sarah & Tony

Edward making worm muffins

Amy being the Snow White that she truly is

Game where two teams try to get as many of their color facing up as possible

It's actually quite fun. I think adults would have fun too. You keep turnin over cards, and peeps just keep turnin em back over.

Matthew, the cowardly lion

Sokcho: Sorak Mountain & the East Sea

Last weekend friends and I decided it would be a nice weekend to get out of Seoul and go to the east coast of the country. Sokcho is this beautiful beach town and harbor where one can go to escape the madness that is Seoul. It is known for Sorak mountain, one of the most famous and tallest in Korea, and for its incredible seafood.
We take a bus Saturday morning which as I've started to realize, is not always the best time to get out of Seoul. The trip to Sokcho can take about 2.5 hours, but for us it took over 4. I actually typically enjoy bus rides, that is unless they are stop and go, stop and go. That is actually the opposite of enjoyment.

We arrive and try to stay at this adorable little hostel called "My House" only to find out that it has no vacancy.

"My House's" dog (it's a REAL dog--not one of those rat like dogs I see so much of in Seoul!!)

So we cross the street and book rooms at this nice love motel. Mikyong, Amber, Mal, John, Beth and I walk around the wharf, admiring all the fishing boats and fishermen cleaning out and organizing their nets. This woman, gutting and cleaning out a fish for her restaurant

Next stop: food. We walk around a bit looking for a place that looks inviting and opt for this little family owned seafood place. We sit on the floor of what appears to be someone's living room, decorated in a cheesy 90's love theme. We have one of our Korean friends with us, Mikyong, which is always very helpful when trying to do most things in Korea, like ordering food, especially when there is no picture menu. Next thing you know, we've got plates full of sauteed octopus, and grilled whole fish--eyeballs and all. The octopus was alright, not really my thing, but the grilled fish was uh-maz-ing. It was cooked perfectly so it just fell right off the bone and was so juicy!

Fish anyone?

How bout these?

Then we got some GS (convenience mart) beers and walked around the town to the lighthouse and pier. The view of the ocean was just incredible.Beth, Mallory, myself, Amber and Mykyong on the pier

If you looked out, you could see nothing but the sky meeting the ocean. Then, we were lucky enough to witness one of the most ridiculous sunsets I have ever seen. I have some pictures, but they don't do it any justice. The color of the sky was red. Amber and Mykyong admiring the sunset

After walking around the pier and fish market for a bit, we decide time for more food. We opt for our favorite: galbi (korean bbq.) I tried to order some beef galbi from our server, but she wasn't having it. So, she grabbed my arm, and showed me where the food bar was and motioned for me to get my own. AMAZING! An all you can eat--all your choice galbi place! At the meat bar there was fish, beef, pork, chicken, seafood and more. Needless to say we ate a lot. We did make the mistake however of somehow having 3 bottles of Soju with our dinner. Soju is a beast. It's basically vodka that you can get for about $2/bottle. Many Koreans often drink Soju out of shot glasses when out to dinner...along with their beer. The thing with Soju is that somehow it sneaks up on you. First you think you're doin just fine, eating galbi, chatting it up, drinking...next thing you know...you get up to go to the bathroom, and you can barely walk! Nevertheless, much fun was had, however I was in bed that night by 10:30pm and didn't move until 10am the next morning. :D Thank you SOJU.

We spend Sunday morning at this darling little coffee shop right in town.We drink lattes, eat muffins, and just enjoy sitting at this place amongst each other. Alas, it is time to head to the mountain-- that is the reason for the trip, after all.

Incredible views

We arrive at the mountain with about ten thousand other fellow hikers. Apparently, this time of year is a really popular time to hike the mountain, being that the leaves are changing and all.
There are many different hiking options. Everything from a one hour hike, to a seven hour, top of the mountain hike. We opt for a two hour hike as we have to catch the bus back to Seoul later that evening. The hike is beautiful. The trees offer an eclectic array of colors including reds, oranges, yellows, golds, browns and greens. There are streams and waterfalls and walls of rock surrounding us. We hike up to this famous waterfall and sit on the rock and relax. Amber and I try to climb some rock, which isn't exactly successful, but still fun. On our way back down we stop for some makgeolli and pajeon. I feel so Korean, sitting at a picnic table, on the middle of a mountain, drinking rice wine alcohol, eating seafood pancake with friends. I LOVE it.
We take the bus back to Sokcho and look for a place for dinner. We end up at one of these tents, right on the harbor, where we sit on plastic chairs, and cook our fish on makeshift grills.

Our dinner, pre-cooked

Jung gun, our grill master--don't mess with his grill.

We are eating fish RIGHT out of the water. The raw octopus we get is actually still moving a bit. (gross.) But the grilled fish, was majusayo (delicious.)

Fish right off the grill, rip a piece off, dip it in some sea salt, and voila!

And we head back to the bus to begin the trek back to Seoul. Goodbye Sokcho and East Sea. Thanks for an enjoyable weekend.

Annual Picnic

Every year at my school, the kindergarten class goes on a fall picnic. This was our field trip for October. It was the first time we'd been required to do something for the school on a weekend. The picnic was scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9th from 9am-5pm. YES. ALL DAY SATURDAY. I found that most of my coworkers were complaining about this "extra" time demand from the school, but to be honest, I was looking forward to it. A day out of Seoul, at a huge arboretum and park, picnic with Korean food, hanging out with my coworkers (who I love,) and getting to play with my lil kindys?? Sounds like an excellent way to spend a Saturday.
Unfortunately getting out of Seoul was slightly horrendous as the traffic on a weekend here is about four times what it is in Chicago. It took us two hours to get to a destination which should've taken 40 minutes. That's always fun when you're on a bus with lots of kids and the traffic is stop and go and the sun is beating on your face. But I digress.

We get there and the first activity is picking sweet potatoes! Yes, the lil munchkins are basically going to farm. So the owner of the land and some of his coworkers give a lesson to all the kiddies on how to properly pick potatoes. And then they give them all their own hoes. Yes, they give a bunch of 5 year-olds, hand-held, sharp, dangerous hoes and tell them to go to work on the potatoes. The boys--workin for it!

I was more fearful about the hoeing for some kids as opposed to others. However, somehow I feel as though in Korea, even when things seem completely backasswards to me, they always seem to work out. So anyway, away they go, finding the stems, hoeing away at the ground, and pulling out huge sweet potatoes. Tony gettin after it

Willy, showing off his first potato!

They were SO proud!! It was really cute. The best part--the kids got to take their potatoes home.

Next stop: arboretum for lunch. Field trip lunches are always enjoyable. Mostly because I get to try all this homemade Korean food. The kids are so sweet and incredibly generous...always offering you a roll of their kimbop while their tiny little mouths are overflowing with rice. This time, one of my kindy moms made us bulgogi and japchae......Ummm yum?! Then after they eat their lunches they all pull out these ridiculous snacks and then we get to try all those too. Thanks mommies.Brandy and I with Rosemary class

Post lunch the kids and teachers alike get to run free. It is the most gorgeous fall day, with only a couple of puffy clouds floating throughout the blue sky. Then the kids get a tour of one of the farm's greenhouses. Following that we move onto the next major activity: making soap.Getting a lesson on soap making

Denny and his soap (can you tell he's the biggest trouble maker I have??)

The kids got to pick what colors, shapes, and scent they'd like to make their soap. I made some too.

Afterward it's back to the picnic area for snack time. Yes, more funky snacks like chips of all sorts (including shrimp and squid flavored ones,) fruit, cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, etc. Annnnddddd it's time to run around again, burn off some of that energy. It's a good thing too because we left shortly after that and almost every tyke on the bus was asleep within five minutes. And we are free and I am happy. I believe it was a great day had by all.Rosie and Erica posing for the camera

My sweet lil June hiding between some rocks