So many little things (and a couple big things, too) have happened since I last posted. I guess they can all come together for one melting pot of Korean delight.
Apparently, the Korean government issued some sort of report about Korean students not getting enough physical activity in school. So, a week or so ago, our school canceled the last two periods of the day to hold an all-school dodge ball tournament. Let me just tell you, it was intense. There were some minor injuries that were remedied with Popsicle sticks and the next day, everyone was exhausted. Dodge ball is no joke.
For Thanksgiving Day, after work, five area teachers gathered together at a funny little duck restaurant. We had a great meal consisting of two courses: first, shabu shabu and later, roasted duck served atop pumpkin. It was one of the best Thanksgiving alternatives for which we could have asked. We ended the evening at our favorite after hours hangout: Cafe Swalo, eating cake and being obnoxious. Delightful.
Friday, during my two morning preps, I had a Thanksgiving skype session with the folks at Kelly and Ed's. I felt like I was there, except for the part where everyone was drinking Bailey's and I was stuck drinking tea. Whatever. It was soooo great to talk to everyone there! Now I'm even more excited for their visit (as if that was possible...)!! Yayyyy!
Friday night, we all (12 of us) went to Bundang to celebrate Thanh's birthday. We ate at a great dak galbi restaurant before Diane, Desiree and I dipped out early to start our preparations for the next day's Thanksgiving extravaganza(s!). After the taxi ride from hell (in which all of us experienced some degree of motion sickness), I boiled a stupid amount of eggs, burnt some croutons and softened a Paula Deen amount of butter...you know, usual Friday night activities. No big deal.
The next day, I woke up early and cooked all morning. before heading over to Dionne and Scott's Thanksgiving dinner. I brought carrot squash soup, deviled eggs, and bread with herb butter. Diane brought apple garlic stuffing and Desiree made potato salad. About 25 people gathered at the Husteds for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. Wowza, was it great! So many fantastic people gathered with some crazy good food. I always wonder if these gatherings will comfort me or make me miss home, (it was a curious mix of both) but I think everyone goes through that to some extent, especially during this time of the year.
We dipped out of the Husted's way early because we had another Thanksgiving to attend at Desiree's friend Faith's in Bundang. Kim and Sunny joined us for Thanksgiving Round 2, which was equally as delightful, though in a completely different way. Post-Thanksgiving activities involved taking the new train line to Gangnam (in just 16 minutes - Whoa.) to check out a K-Pop exhibit with Diane and her friend Lena and then, noraebong for two hours. Many middle school dance standbys and creative interpretive dances later, we called it a night just in time to catch one of the last buses back to the Gwangj. What a Thanksgiving it was!
The next day, Diane, Desiree and I went back to Dionne and Scott's to pick up our Tupperware from the day before and to help them get rid of their leftovers and dessert. Aren't we pals?! We sat around there for a couple of hours, recounting our respective Thanksgivings and meeting Scott's new friend Mr. Lee (who is some sort of big deal in the Rotary Club - what a great man - I was laughing like a crazy person, which is obviously WAY out of character for me :) ) After grocery shopping at E-Mart (on a Sunday - bad idea even though it has become a weekly potluck preparation thing - think Black Friday crowds, but every single Saturday and Sunday - Koreans don't mess around when it comes to weekend food shopping), we returned to Dionne and Scott's to help them decorate their Christmas tree (and eat more leftovers!). What a refreshing, fantastic, put-me-in-the-holiday-spirit evening! I haven't decorated a Christmas tree in several years so I was so glad to be included! The Husteds really know how to treat a gal.
Yesterday brought another installment of Potluck Monday. Last week's (hors d'oeuvres!) was a resounding success so I was really looking forward to this week! Our theme was Mexican. My mind was blown. We had 14 people gathered in my apartment. Every single surface was covered with food and beverages (we've also expanded from food to sharing beverage concoctions - Thanh brought sangria and Scott mixes all kinds of creative things (honey citron tea, ginger honey tea, hot peppers...) with soju to create new liqueurs. We are all willing samplers - it's a tough job.) which, along with all of the awesome people gathered, made for quite a delightful evening. We also celebrated Thanh's birthday with a little pink animal covered birthday cake and a few gifts. Next week's theme: T Party, in which everyone brings something that starts with the letter T (and also to celebrate Toni's birthday). I'm really loving the community we've created through these potlucks. Everyone is so diverse and from such different walks of life that there's never a shortage of stories or laughter - just the way I like it :)
P.S. The best interaction with Mr. Shin just happened. Somehow, my classroom door was locked yesterday (despite what you may be thinking, Mom, I had nothing to do with it :)) so I couldn't get into my classroom today because I only have a key to open the door to the whole floor and not my classroom specifically. After Chan Yang gave me the set of keys that should have opened my classroom and none of them worked, I went back down to the office. I told Mr. Shin my problem:
Noelle: Mr. Shin, none of these keys work! They all fit in the lock, but none of them turn.
Mr. Shin: Seriously?
N: Yes!
MS: Just wait. I school McGuyver. I'll be back.
(not one minute later, Mr. Shin emerged from the teacher's office triumphantly holding two keys in his hand above his head.)
MS: I told you I McGuyver!!! Follow me!
Delightful. Simply delightful.
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