Seoul Lantern Festival

Yesterday, my man SeokMin and I had a beautiful day together.  There has been a lantern festival going on near a famous stream in Seoul for a few weeks now so we decided to check it out yesterday.  We walked up and down the stream in the afternoon, looking at the lanterns and taking an obnoxious amount of pictures while SeokMin explained what some of the lanterns were meant to represent.

One story that he told me really stuck with me.  As I took a few pictures of girls jumping on the teeter totter (above), he explained that there was a sad meaning behind the seemingly fun scene.  It used to be that women weren't allowed to leave their family compounds, so they would sometimes jump on teeter totters to get a look at what was going on outside.  Can you imagine?

There were also scenes of a wedding, a processional for a man who had just passed the test to become a government official, women doing laundry, a kid and his mother buying candy, etc.  There were so many cool scenes, plus some other sponsored lanterns, including an especially cute exhibit of traditional children's costumes (with descriptions) from countries all over the world.  Desiree told me that one of the children was a Native American whose costume description said they wore their clothes for warmth and comfort.  I saw a lantern depicting a girl from Finland that explained that there were so many different regional traditions around Finland that the only constant was a full pleated skirt.  So, the descriptions were funny, but the lanterns were beautiful and super detailed!

After we were finished looking at the lanterns, we went to a nearby movie theater to watch Argo, the new Ben Affleck movie about the Iran hostage crisis.  It was really good!  I'm a sucker for a movie that starts with the words "based on a true story..."

After the movie, we had dinner at Dos Tacos (I had seen it when we were walking around earlier and I was so excited that SeokMin squeezed by hand and said, "DONE!").  It was SeokMin's first Mexican food experience and the dude was a trooper!

Post-dinner, we walked to the front of the festival and got into one of the longest lines in which I've ever stood to walk near the stream.  But, it was also one of the most efficient lines in which I've ever stood too!  We waited for maybe 45 minutes or so (during which, we randomly ran into Desiree, Thanh, David, Navy, Lanae and some of Navy's friends visiting from America!  What a surprise for SeokMin, haha!) and then took about an hour to walk through the festival.  The lanterns were so beautifully lit up, but it was difficult to get good pictures of them because of our close proximity and the vast array of people.  It was really fun being in a crowd with SeokMin, though, because he would overhear funny Korean conversations and then translate them for me.  Dude is a skillful people watcher!  Some of my favorites:

Mom to her very excited child: If we get separated, you can find your own way home!  I am NOT looking for you!
Same Mom in reaction to seeing a couple sitting on some rocks near the stream, sneaking a quick couple of kisses: Do NOT do that in public when you get older!
A Dad was trying to explain something to his young son about the lanterns and his son, said, "Dad!  I already know about that!" Then, SeokMin said the father stopped talking to his son and pulled his daughter over to listen instead.
We saw a SpiderMan lantern, who was packing a little extra junk in his trunk and the man behind us said to his son, "Wow.  SpiderMan is fat!"

And so, a beautiful day date commenced.  I'm really enjoying this part of my Korean adventure :)

Fa-a-all

Fall is by far my favorite season.  Scarves, tea, carrot soup, the welcome chill in the air after months of perpetual sweating (too far?), and THE COLORS.  I love the colors.  Like, whoa.

I love how unexpected it all is.  The uncertainty of when Fall descends on Korea can be frustrating, confusing to get dressed in the morning, but oh so beautiful and so, so quick.  You really have to cherish it when it arrives because it's not staying long.

The colors really popped on Friday and I spent my short walk home in the early afternoon (2:00 - thank you club activity / field trip Friday!) taking photo after photo on our ginko-lined street.  Walking up a mountain to work everyday is kind of a treat - my calves think so too - especially (or maybe only?) during the Spring and Fall when everything is lush and colorful and beautiful.  And with the sun shining just so, well, my rambling tells you that I really enjoy it.

I made pumpkin muffins when I got home (from this recipe, though I didn't include all of the ingredients (no raisins or evaporated milk and I had to use weird flour (half corn bread mix, half whole wheat flour) because I couldn't be bothered to walk to E-Mart!), and they turned out just beautifully), put on some comfy lounge clothes to enjoy a little pre-weekend relaxation before my (now weekly :) !!) Friday night date (more on this new phenomenon later - promise!) and cuddled up with some spiced cider and a muffin.

Yayyyyyy Fall!

Lily Festival 3.0 - Two Weeks Later...

Two weeks ago, our school held it's annual Lily Festival in which we have an hour long all-inclusive church service that sort of honored Chuseok a couple weeks late and then an extravaganza of dancing, singing, parodies, and special performances.  This year, the weather was beautiful so it was held outside in the school's coliseum, Kyunghwa Bowl.  Pretty awesome.

The foreign teachers sang an offering song during church and the rest of the day was spent drinking tea and taking pictures of the fantastic performances in front of me.  Gangnam Style count: at least seven, maybe 10 times.  Intense.

There was also a special Tae Kwon Do performance from a nearby university.  All the girls went wild when one of the performers show the crowd his cut abs.  Girls.  Wow.

Chuseok with the Husteds

Last week was Chuseok, one of the two main Korean holidays.  Chuseok is a lot like American Thanksgiving, celebrating a bountiful harvest, but also honoring their ancestors and family.  And, since we all like to eat and we've come to be each other's Korean family, and one of the two days was on a Monday, which is a night we always get together to watch the latest episode of Downton Abbey, we decided to have a little Korean potluck while we watched our show.  Best. Idea. Ever.

Desiree steamed some meat dumplings, Diane made some fried zucchini, I made kimchi pancakes and the Husteds made different kinds of fried vegetables like Diane's, my favorite Korean noodle dish japchae, a famous Korean beef dish called bulgogi and a tofu and mushroom soup with fermented soybean paste as the base.  We ate like kings and queens while watching a show about the English nobility circa 1920.

My Korean Birthday 3.0

Almost a month ago, this girl turned a quarter century old.  It's been a pretty rad 24 years, and I'm sure number 25 will continue in the same tradition.  My birthday, itself, sure lived up to the hype.  Here's what happened:

Friday: I arrived to school late (which really seems to be more like on-time for me), just in the nick of time to fill up my water bottle, grab my fan and Bible and make it to church.  After church, I noticed a beautiful plant on my desk from my parents, procured by Dionne and Scott.  A delightful start to a delightful day.  After lunch, the English department sang to me and gave me a delicious cake.  Aaaaand, Dionne hauled out a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, too.  NICE.

Saturday: Desiree had created a Facebook event for my birthday dinner to be held at my favorite sushi restaurant in Gangnam.  Some people told me why they couldn't come but most people didn't respond at all, and I'm not going to lie, I was feeling a little disappointed.  Desiree even called me out for being in a funk.  But, as soon as Desiree, Ben and I got on the bus to Seoul in pursuit of Dos Tacos, I was on the mend and as soon as we arrived in Seoul, I realized that it was going to be a beautiful day: two of my best pals and I got tacos, burritos, nachos, etc., and had one of those great conversations that makes you understand why you're friends in the first place.

Post-tacos, we got a couple of drinks close to where we would eat dinner later and continued our conversation.  Desiree kept leaving to take phone calls, and later explained that there was something wrong with her car at home that needed to be figured out pronto.  Right around the time we had planned to get sushi, Desiree announced that she was super hungry and that we should go get our sushi NOW.  I thought that was a little weird since we had just eaten lunch not three hours before, but who was I to question Desiree's appetite?

We walked up the stairs to the second floor restaurant and as we walked in, I noticed a big group of people seated in the corner.  Upon a little closer inspection, I realized that that large group of people were all of my close friends here.  Every. Single. One.  Desiree and Ben pulled off one of the biggest surprises I've ever experienced.  As we sat and enjoyed our sushi, talking and making plans for later, I was continually blown away by what I had just experienced.  I couldn't believe how much planning, effort and time went into pulling off such a surprise about which I had absolutely no idea.

After sushi, we had some time to kill before it was a reasonable clubbing hour, so we set up shop at a chicken restaurant to imbibe a few beverages.  A couple of hours later, and a couple of people added to our motley crew, we made it to my favorite club in Apgujang, Bunker.  And, oh, what a birthday commenced.  Since my actual birthday happened at midnight, at 12:05, Ben, Vanessa and I (all Iowa State grads) shared a shot of Jack and I told the bartender it was my birthday.  I came away from the bar with a bottle of champagne, a birthday hat and a birthday song ringing throughout the club.

We danced the night away, got home at 5:30 AM and I spend my actual birthday completely, and believe it or not, delightfully hungover.  Diane made me dinner that night and I rung in my 25th year in my pajamas with a bottle of water by my side, rehashing how fantastic a birthday was created for me by some of the most fantastic pals for which an expat such as myself could ask.  A month later, I'm still smiling about it.  Fantastic.

The Tropical Storm (Formally Know as Typhoon) Tuesday Report

Yesterday, the unthinkable happened.  With a typhoon warning in effect and reports of serious damage when the typhoon made landfall in Okinawa, school was canceled for today.  For the first time in two years.  I was sent home with an armful of newspapers, told to wet them and tape them to all of my windows to protect from broken glass, and to fill my bathtub with water in case something happened with our water supply.  Before all of this, I hadn't thought a bit about the coming typhoon - just brushed it off as an over-reaction.  All of this hoopla freaked me out a little.

It felt a little strange to sleep in today.  And, it felt extra strange not to be at school today, especially after the typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm late in the morning, which basically meant that there would still be heavy rain and wind but there was less expectation for serious damage.  It's now 7:00 PM and I've spent the day sleeping, making lunch for Desiree and myself, watching some Laguna Beach (lately, we can't get enough of that show, though we spend the whole episode complaining to each other about how dumb the cast members are acting), purging my closet of the clothes I haven't worn in awhile (inspired by this blog - she also converted me to hand washing the clothes I really care about - what a woman!) and doing laundry.  I've heard wind now and then and as far as I know, it has yet to rain.  Some typhoon, indeed.

The pictures are from a few weeks ago on a rainy evening - they show the view from my bedroom window.  I'm a little obsessed with the mist that rises from the mountains when it's really humid.

Coming Home, Again.

Last year I spent almost a month at home.  It was so great to be home, go at a relaxed pace, see people and bathe myself in all the Ameri-centric things I had been craving.  This year was different.  Two weeks.  Schedule, schedule, schedule.  Less cravings to satisfy. Since this trip was very different from last year, it was incredibly satisfying in a completely different way.  Last year, I was worried about how the distance had change me, changed the relationships I so cherished and changed the way I remembered things.  They hadn't changed that much (I talk to almost everyone on a regular basis, after all and how much can things in Clarence change in 11 months anyway?).  This year, armed with the knowledge that things would be comfortable, unchanged for the most part, and revitalizing for my mildly jaded spirit (I'm always sooo ready to go home but so energized to get to Korea when the time comes too), I came home knowing what to expect, knowing what I wanted for the most part and knowing that my mom had put together a well planned, thoughtful schedule (a feat that makes total sense, yet something I can never bring myself to do - it's a good thing she does it naturally!) for my time at home, allowing me to see everyone I wanted and needed to see as much as time and schedules would allow.

There was plenty of family time (both weekends, we got to spend time with Nick, Jess and Drew - perfect!  And, lots of Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncle time.  Oh, how I miss those holiday and random family gatherings!), friend and neighbor time, serious conversation time, and of course, homegirl-eats-her-weight-in-Iowa-centric-food time.  I even spent a couple of hours in the emergency room as the result of a minor cooking (chopping, more accurately) snafu involving some green onions, a hella sharp Korean knife and the finger nail on my right pointer finger, which made for a shocking bandage for a pretty minor injury and a (funny?) story.

I was constantly reminded of how many special people are in my life there and how lucky I am that they would take time out of their busy summer schedules to spend a little time with me.  Honestly, this sounds kind of silly, but it meant the world me.  People here excitedly asked me what I did while I was in America (WOW. Teacher, you go America? Wow.) and I think they expected tales of grandeur and excitement, so when I simply said I spent a lot of time with family and friends, they were a little confused.  That is, until they studied the huge grin on my face and the slight twinkle in my eye.  Then, then they understood, I think.

All in all, the two weeks passed by oh so quickly, as I knew they would.  But, it was the perfect Iowa getaway, filled with most of my favorite people, most of my favorite food, plenty of wine and spirits, laughs, smiles, photos and revitalizing relaxation in the busiest possible way.  While I sometimes call Korea home (since I do, in fact, live here and all and have for the longest period of time that I've lived anywhere but Fourth Avenue, Clarence), Iowa and Clarence will always possess everything that home embodies.  Pulling up to our red house, having Miss Snickers wag her tail uncontrollably and jump all over me upon recognizing who I am again, and having my dad hand me a perfectly mixed Whiskey and 7Up, as my mom sets the table with guacamole and hint of lime tortilla chips, gosh, simply conjuring those familiar images in my mind just now brought a chill to my spine and a strange tear to my eye.

I am one lucky lady, indeed.

Breaking Blog Silence

Good glory, it's been awhile.  Somewhere along the line, I fell off the blogging wagon (again).  Maybe it was the fact that Blogger is now blocked at my school (where I guess I did the majority of my blogging?), maybe it was the fact that I don't seem to do as many new and exciting things as I once did, maybe it's because I didn't have much to say in the way of blog worthy/appropriate content (would you believe that?) but let's just cut to the chase and say I got lazy.  So there you go.

Here's a short breakdown of what has gone down since the 4th of July, some of which will warrant their very own posts.  Cool.
> I signed up for a third round in Korea.  More on that later.
> I went home to visit for two weeks.  Definitely more on that later.
> (I wasn't going to blog about this, but it's become a fairly sizable chunk of my life here, so it's whatever) I dated a Korean dude, stopped dating him, started dating and stopped dating again (second round - different guy) and started talking to and seeing again the first guy.  Nothing too crazy or serious - trying to keep it light and fun, but if you know me very well, you'll understand that that's a bit of an oxymoron and much easier said than done...  Less on this later, but let me just tell you - dating in ESL is definitely interesting, at times frustrating, and most definitely complex, but in the end, at this point, delightfully challenging and pretty fantastic.
> school trip - imagine if you will: all of the EB teachers on a bus.  A raucous bus.  This most definitely warrants its own post as well.
> my first legitimate haircut (legitimate meaning not done by me in my bathroom) in over three years.  It felt so good to be in a salon again, and even better to be in one in which I couldn't speak enough of the same language as my hair dresser (I detest salon small talk - I'm so awkward about it, if you can imagine.).  Extra cool points: one of my students works at the salon to which I went and she helped do a lot of my hair (my hair needed a little extra love after three years...) - pretty sweet bonding experience with one of my pals.  The tresses are getting pretty long (by my humble pixie cut standards), folks.  Pony tails are my style of choice lately (it is SO FREAKING humid here) and I'm down to between two and four bobby pins to keep the stragglers in place.  Progress.
> plenty of Seoul gallivanting, including but not limited to fish pedicures, river cruises, Batman movie viewings (much better than I was ready to give it credit for...), bowling and probably much more than seems to be escaping me at the moment...
> Gwangju, Gwangju, Gwangju.  This city, my friends, is so good to me.
> once a month eye check-ups after my surgery - it's been almost four months since my LASEK surgery and whoa, what a game-changer!  The doctors (and me!) are continually impressed with the improvement in my vision given the sorry state of affairs in which my previous vision cast me.  Literally every appointment, my doctor says, "As you know, before, you had a very high level of nearsightedness (here comes my favorite part) and a PROFOOOOOOOUND amount of astigmatism.  And now, perfect vision.  Wow."  It sounds like he's really patting himself on the back, but I'm so over the moon with my change in vision that I'd gladly reach around and vigorously pat him on the back too.  Since my vision was so terrible and they need to continue the healing process, I'll have to continue these monthly checkups for at least a year.  No big deal.
> School, school, school.  Still love my school, still love my students.  Still feel unbelievably, inexpressibly lucky to have fallen into this situation, in case you were wondering.
> Joined the three fifths of the Korean population that has a smart phone (I'm serious!).  It is soooo cool to be able to talk to (most of) my pals at home in real time.  Like, whoa.
> Summer camp.  Nothing too crazy to report - pretty easy, pretty chill, pretty cool girls.  Hopefully the extra cool ones will come to our school next year!

Aaaaaand, that's all I can think of right now.  Here's hoping I come visit your computer more often :)