Talking...

One of my favorite recent pictures of the studliest member of our family...

Today I talked.  A lot.  From the time I woke up until well past 10:00 PM.

I talked with Bob and Kris about last minute trip details... (they get here in four. days. omgomgomg!!!).  I've had quite a while to let it sink in that they're visiting me but somehow I'm still in awe that they'll be here.  In my apartment.  Sharing and taking part in my little Korean life.  There is something intrinsically, but also quite inexplicably, amazing about getting the chance to share this very, very special part of my life with people, especially my parents.

I briefly talked with my pal Jill.  That girl has the power to make me smile from ear to ear, no matter our topic of conversation or the amount of time we are able to chat.  I love our conversations.

I briefly talked with my pal Heather with Andrea on speakerphone.  Isn't technology grand?  I loved hearing Andrea weigh in on the story Heather was telling us.  I can't get enough of the small amounts of time I'm able to spend with my friends from high school, no matter how random, haphazard or sporadic.

I got to Skype with Nick, Jess and the sweet little Drewster.  I cannot believe how much he has changed since Christmas.  Missing out on his milestones is one of the hardest things about being here.  It quite literally made my day to watch him tootle around their toy-filled living room while I caught up on Nick and Jess's lives.  There is something unconditionally delightful about having a good conversation with a sibling.  Being called Aunt Noelle doesn't feel too bad either :)

After that, I talked with Heather again.  For two glorious uninterrupted hours.  We laughed and laughed as she made Spanish valentines.  I don't know if I'd even be able to recount what we talked about for those two hours but that's the beauty of our conversations.  We can talk for hours and hours about seemingly nothing but I always come away from those conversations with a twinkle in my eye.

Then, Desiree and I got linner (it was almost 4 PM - too late for lunch, too early for dinner...)  We talked.  Then we grabbed coffee.  We talked some more.  Then we ate brownie sundaes and watched an episode of Parenthood.  Then, we talked still more.  We talked and talked, baring our souls.  It was one of those girl talks, and boy, did it feel good to confide and be confided in.

Who knew I had so much to say today?  I love my friends and family.  Today (and most every day) I consider myself to be a pretty lucky lady :)

My First Korean Wedding

Yesterday, Bongkyu, one of the teachers at my school, got married.  Dionne and I got all gussied up and attended, and let me just tell you, it was fantastic (and beautiful and really interesting!).

First, we got on my usual bus to go to Seoul and not too long after we got on the bus, three of my student pals also boarded the bus, en route to the same wedding.  Delightful.  We walked to the wedding with them amid comments about Dionne's and my outfits (Oh Teacher!  Dress code very very good!) and them sneakily putting on makeup (and one adorable student complaining about how heartbroken she is over this teacher getting married because she's madly in love with him - I love teenage girls.)

Dionne and I walked into the wedding hall - where there are several weddings daily, like one right after another, all day, every day - and found our way to the correct wedding on the third floor of the building.  So many people were gathered outside the actual room where the wedding was to be held and it was so fun to see all of the students and teachers from our school.  We were warmly greeted by several students and teachers, which obviously made us feel super welcome as the only foreigners at this wedding.  During the wedding, Dionne and I stood in the back of the room (there were no more seats available) with another teacher from school who translated parts of the service for us.  The wedding was pretty interesting - much of the pageantry of an American wedding without all of the parts that make a wedding a wedding at home (though they did read something about their promises for married life to each other).  It's hard to explain what I mean by that...

First, Bongkyu walked down the aisle, which was more like a raised runway.  Then, the bride's father walked her down the aisle.  After the MCs made some announcements, they read from a binder about their promises for marriage.  (Apparently, if they fight, she promised to make him breakfast in the morning - that's the only thing that got explained to us...)  Next, Bongkyu's father gave a short speech and the pastor from school said a short prayer.  Then a guy sang a song to them.  After that song, Bongkyu's homeroom assembled on the stage around the couple and sang them a real cute song.  Then, they walked back down the aisle, kissed at the end of the runway and it was over.  The whole time, they were being re-positioned for the best possible photo-ops by the two photographers and one videographer by the attendants who work at the wedding hall.  After several pictures with their families, friends and students, it was time to eat.

We all assembled in a banquet hall on the second floor of the same building for a beautiful buffet dinner.  After the dinner was over, Dionne and I, along with the teacher who had been with us in the first wedding, went back upstairs to watch the traditional Korean part of the wedding.  Bongkyu and his wife were now dressed in traditional Korean garb and posed for several different pictures doing traditional Korean wedding rituals.

It was all very interesting, and beautiful, and so, so different, but incredibly meaningful at the same time.  Their wedding was without the religious (or legal) motions - it was more about the ceremonial parts of deciding to spend the rest of their lives together.  What was pretty cool for Dionne and me was how excited Bongkyu was to see us at his wedding.  He waved to us several times, motioned us into pictures and was genuinely grateful for our presence there.  I'm so glad we were able to share in celebrating such a special day!

Graduation

Yesterday was graduation for our third graders.  At lunch, we were all reminiscing back to our own high school graduations.  So weird to think that was five and a half years ago!  Wowza.

Graduation here is a little different from home.  They don't wear a cap and gown (which makes things seem a lot less official, especially when the girls are openly borrowing each others' blazers and ties (see the second picture!) in a last minute attempt to look official in their last interaction with the principal...), and it's just not as personal or exciting as I remember graduation to be.  Also, the girls were not happy to be graduating - they were all (or many of the ones I talked to...) almost devastated to be done with this chapter of their life and moving on to adulthood.  Welcome to the club, girls.

What makes me sad is the very low likelihood of me interacting with these girls again.  I was especially close to about ten students and it's sinking in that they're no longer a part of my life, other than through Facebook and hopefully an occasional meeting over coffee or random run-in on the streets of the Gwangj.  Such is the nature of this job, I guess...

Enough of this sad drivel - today at school is a funny day - the students meet with their former homerooms for the last time in the morning and then meet their new homeroom teachers (and classes) in the afternoon.  Meanwhile, the teachers' offices are abuzz with cleaning and changes to the desk arrangements.  My desk got moved across the room, and aside from an open window right next to me at the moment (I guess some of the teachers worked up a sweat with this move!), I'm a happy camper.  I'm no longer in front of the door so maybe this will mean less distractions (who am I kidding - I spend more time distracting myself than anything...)?  I think what I'm most excited about is that there is a possibility that I can stay in the office during teacher meetings now and just hide at my desk rather than vacating to Dionne's office on Wednesday afternoons...  Here's hoping :)

In other news, yesterday was my mom's birthday!  Happy Birthday Mother Dearest!!!  AND, see you in ONE WEEK!!!!  Seriously people, words cannot describe how excited I am for my parents to arrive!  Holy. Cow.

Ruth's Korean Adventure: An Exit of Epic(ish) Proportions

We got home from Japan at about 11 AM Saturday morning after spending the night in the airport in order to catch our 5:30 flight back to Seoul.  So, we were some tired ladies and after skype dates with the folks, we settled in for a nap.  After waking and freshening up, we hit the road for some duk boki at the cutest cottage-y restaurant downtown.  This place is super tasty and the young man and little old lady that run the joint are delightful.

Post-dinner, we hopped in a cab bound for a jimjilbang in a nearby city.  We had planned to do this pre-Japan, but I just couldn't allow myself to go to the beautiful jimjilbang in Gwangju with the possibility of running into students there...  So, armed with our provided outfits and a couple of towels, we entered the jimjilbang, spent about an hour in the hot tubs and saunas, contemplated getting massages and made our exit.  There is something intrinsically beautiful, but also very strange, about being a foreigner in a jimjilbang.  Little girls were following us from hot tub to hot tub and starring at us through the thick glass of the sauna.  Some women seemed curious about us being there, while others seemed uncomfortable by our presence.  Very strangey.

The next day, we had a lovely brunch with the Husteds that lasted well into the afternoon.  They are such a delight.  Then, we hopped the bus for Ruth's last peek at Seoul.  We went to Namsan Tower, which we had planned to do about three times before, but always found a reason to further put it off.  This was our last chance, though, so we dutifully climbed the hill to the cable car, rode up to the tower as the sun was setting and gazed at the city lights for awhile.  Words cannot describe how I feel about this city.  I'm not even sure  why I love it so much, but after returning from Japan and feeling an extreme sense of calm and looking out over the bustling Sunday night traffic with a strange sense of pride, it became apparent to me (as it seems to over and over again) that this is where I should be right now.  (Enough of this mushy stuff - yikes.)

After we came down from the tower, we met Sunny for dinner in Myeongdong.  Ruth wanted to have Korean barbecue one last time so, over an open flame, we grilled some marinated beef, ate some pancake and talked and laughed for a real long time.  Ruth and I had planned to leave the city earlyish so she could pack and we could enjoy the bottle of wine from Brad :)  But, that didn't so much happen.  Instead, we moved to a different restaurant and enjoyed some makgeolli.  For several hours.  When we got home at 3:15 the next morning, there was no way Ruth was packing, so we woke up the next morning still, er, feeling the effects of the night before, which, let me tell you, made for interesting packing for Ruth.  Desiree told me later that she could hear us raucously giggling and shrieking about our state of events, which made for an entertaining wake up call for her.  Don't worry though, we were responsible despite our next morning drunkenness.  We made it to the airport bus with time to spare and, much to the chagrin of the other bus passengers, laughed and giggled all the way to the airport, recounting the previous night in all its glory.

And, thus ended Ruth's visit to Korea.  What a delightful three weeks we shared!  We learned a lot over those three weeks - about ourselves, about each other and several other topics...  (Ruth's mission to make me nerdier was completed, sort of.)  It was so, so, so amazing to be able to share my life here with her and for her to receive it with such open arms.  It is crazy special (and touching and nothing short of AWESOME) to me that she would take three weeks of her life to come visit me in Korea - I'm pretty lucky to have such a fantastic best friend :)

Ruth's Korean Adventure: A Little Jaunt to Japan

What a week we had.  Rather than chronicle our day to day with names of neighborhoods and temples that will just read as gibberish to most of you, I'm going to stick to the highlights of the trip...  Boiled down and aside from what I've written below, we visited various temples and shrines, went to Tokyo Tower, did a lot of shopping in various neighborhoods, and ate a lot of good food (duh.).  

First, a video of Desiree on the train from the airport:

Highlight 1: Spending a day with Sho

Sho was a foreign exchange student at North Cedar during my senior year of high school, and, for Ruth and I, meeting up with him was a non-negotiable.  So, on our first full day in Japan, we met Sho at a train station about an hour and a half away from our hostel, hopped in his minivan (this kid is awesome.), and began the short drive to Kamakura (a seaside town) to the Hase-Dera Temple (whose brochure bills it as a temple with a view and lots of flowers - they weren't wrong).  Before reaching the temple, we stopped for lunch at a popular sushi restaurant that serves its sushi on a conveyor belt.  Twenty-five plates of sushi later (I'm not joking), we were back on our way to the temple.  The temple itself was beautiful (though there weren't many flowers given the time of year...), beautifully set overlooking the Pacific ocean and a colorful array of houses below.  The temple was bustling with people there to pray and make offerings for the new year - the religious (and inherently cultural) practices of Buddhism are profoundly interesting and strangely beautiful to me.  And, spending time with Sho was priceless.  After we covered every nook and cranny of the temple (including going inside the huge Buddha in front of which we are standing in the picture above), we drove along the ocean on our way to try to see Mt. Fuji.  Let me just say, road trips are the best.  Ruth and I thoroughly enjoyed simply spending time with Sho in his van, rehashing high school and our class reunion and listening to a strange mix of all of our music.  Sho, however, was very disappointed to find Mt. Fuji covered in thick clouds upon our arrival, impairing our ability to experience what I'm sure is a beautiful mountain.  It didn't bother Ruth and I in the slightest - we were so thrilled to be in the general vicinity (with Sho!) that not being able to see the mountain itself was not so bothersome...  The day ended with us eating a delicious, completely random dinner in an area of Tokyo called Shinjuku.  Overall, a very simple day, but one of the best, in my book.  Seeing a country at the hands of someone who lives there is always the best way.

Highlight 2: An early morning tuna auction and sushi breakfast at Tsukiji Market
We arrived at the market (after all night (for some... not this kid - I took a much needed nap!) karaoke) at 4:30 AM to secure ourselves a spot from which to view the impending tuna auction (only the first 120 people to arrive get in!).  Though we weren't sure what was going on, watching various rubber boot clad men inspect the tuna via specially cut flaps in the frozen tunas' flesh was kind of fun.  After the auction was over, we made our way to the best of several sushi bars, waited in line for two freezing hours for five of the 10 or 12 stools to open, and savored every single bite of the best fish into which I've ever sunk my teeth.  Seriously.  I now understand why Bob and Kris rave about the shore lunches of their Canadian fishing exbeditions.  Fatty tuna that, somehow, tasted creamy.  Deliciously strange sea urchin.  Beautifully colored salmon rolls.  UGH.  Take me back!  For real, if I could start each day like this, minus the waiting in the freezing cold morning part (I was a crabby pants - ask Ruth - she'll corroborate), I would.  Sweet Jesus, that was one of the best meals of my life!  We were home by 10 AM, sleeping like well-fed little babies.

So there you have it - the two absolute best parts of our week in Japan, and a butt-ton of pictures :)

Next (and last post about Ruth's Korean adventure): Ruth's epic exit - we did those last two days right.

Ruth's Korean Adventure: Piercings, Fish Pedicures and Lots of Good Food

Photo cred: Ruth

So much happened this week.  Buckle your seatbelt for (kind of watered down) explanations of our day to day...

Monday:  After school (Charades!), our group assembled for Chinese food at the Chinese place in the Gwangj.  We ordered all the good stuff and got ice cream afterwards.  Par for the course, people.  Then, we went to our favorite noraebang.  We payed for two hours.  How long did we stay?  Three and a half hours.  No big deal.

Tuesday:  After school, we headed for Seoul.  Ruth wanted to get her ears pierced, so I took her to my favorite shop, The Crow, in Hongdae.  Afterwards, we had an awesome dinner at a real cool basement Indian restaurant in the same neighborhood.  The food was soooo good and the company wasn't too terrible either :)

Wednesday:  We went with the Husteds to Namhansansang Fortress for dinner after school.  What a delightful meal we shared!  We all love mountain food and Ruth even said that this was probably her favorite Korean meal.  No big deal :) Afterwards, we went back to the Husteds to sample some of Scott's homemade soju concoctions.  YUM.

Thursday:  After school (Friendship bracelets!), it was fish pedicure time.  First, we arrived to the cafe and had our obligatory cafe drinks, plus some honey bread.  Then, it was fish time.  We opted for the little guys (Ruth's tickle tolerance is, apparently, low) and, true to form, Ruth giggled like a little girl.  Not long after we got started, a Korean couple also came to the fish tubs.  They were shrieking and giggling and making a general raucous about the big fish, so we invited them over to the little fish tub to share with us.  They were reluctant, but came over anyway and spent much of the time trying to figure out if Ruth and I were a couple.  So, that was fun :)

Friday:  This was the last day of Winter Camp.  We made trifles and did a review game.  After it was all over, Mr. Shin gave some closing remarks, some involving thanking Ruth for coming to help.  He asked her to give a few remarks about her time here and by the end, homegirl cried.  Precious.  Everyone loved having Ruth at school - one student drew a picture of her and several other students gave her letters.  She was a hit.  After camp was over, we went out to dinner with Mr. Shin, Vice Principal Choi and another teacher from school.  We had SUCH a good time!  Usually those teacher dinners are all business (and by all business, I mean, we eat and talk a little, but mostly eat, and then leave), but this dinner lasted for such a long time.  We talked and talked and laughed and laughed.  The food was delicious, of course, but the company was so, so refreshing and fun!

Then, after a serious amount of cajoling (I was soo tired!), I agreed to take Ruth out for a drink at the famed Cafe Swalo.  What was supposed to be one drink turned into two bottles of wine with our new Korean friend Brad (he likes Brad Pitt because he has the distinct privilege of being married to Angelina Jolie, who has nice lips.) who wanted to practice his English.  He and Ruth pinky-promised to be pen pals (he fiiiiiiinally e-mailed her today!!) and we learned all about his very Korean girlfriend who was at home sleeping.  As if providing us with wine during this delightful two and a half hour conversation wasn't awesome enough, he bought us a bottle to take home with us too.  In a satin lined box.  Homeboy didn't mess.

Saturday:  Saturday was real chill.  We walked around the Gwangj, finished up some souvenir shopping, walked around the traditional market, got some Korean pizza and packed for our impending trip to Japan.  Ruth's favorite pizza featured spaghetti.  Some things can't be explained with logic, like, why there was spaghetti on this pizza.  But, trust me when I tell you, it's delicious in the weirdest way.

Next post: JAPAN.  Get excited.