Deck the halls...!!

Dudes, seriously. I LOVE Christmas.

I'm the artistic director for my friend's Christmas card so we went shopping in Namdaemun for props. We ended up at Alpha, the most awesome art store ever, and I got some stuff to personalize our stockings. Here are the (effing awesome) results:

Thanksgiving

I am a very happy camper right now. I'm in bed with Claudie, listening to Christmas carols and chatting with friends online. I'm wearing an awesome SF Giants World Series Champions t-shirt and sipping Peet's Holiday blend, sent to me by my lovely friend Sara J. Sundays are awesome.

Last night, my friends and I celebrated Thanksgiving. For a few of us, it's the last one we'll have in Korea and that made it a little extra special. As we sat around eating the (absolutely amazing and delicious) turkey and stuffing, I thought about how 4 years ago, I didn't know these people existed and now they're my family away from home. It's amazing how that happens. Same thing with my friends at university and I'm sure it'll happen again down the road.

My flatmate is a really closed off person. He doesn't open himself up to new food, new places, or new people (notable exception is when he travels). He's been miserable in Korea right now because most of his friends left and he won't open up to new people. I am very glad I'm not like that and I feel like my life has been so rich and good because I have so many people I care about.

I sat down on Thursday and had a big think about what I'm thankful for this year and I was really humbled by how blessed I've been. I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday, too.

On the border: The DMZ

I've got a checklist of certain tourist things I need to do before I leave the Land of Morning Calm and one of them was visiting the DMZ. My flatmate's gf was visiting from Turkey so Dan asked if I wanted to join them so early (really really early) Saturday morning, the three of us trudged down to the USO and caught a bus to Paju.

The first part of the tour was the best. Since we went through the USO, we got to go on a tour of the Joint Security Action fort/camp thingie. We got to go into these little guard houses that literally straddled the border between North and South Korea so I've now technically been to North Korea! I got to take a photo with a South Korean guard...



After that, we got a lot on the history of the base and of the post-armistice conflicts that have arisen. The camp itself is named after an officer named Bonifas who was killed by North Korean soldiers when he was supervising his men chopping down a tree that was blocking a view of a guard house. From one check point, we were able to see the propaganda town in NK that flies one of the largest flags in the world.

The second part was lame and not worth writing about. Sorry.

Overall, I'm glad I went. I can now say that I've been to North Korea! Here are some more photos:

The Last...

Fall has always been my favorite time of year here in Seoul and as this is my last one, I am finding myself stopping to appreciate everything.

A couple week ago, I ran my last 10K in Korea. It was perfect. The weather was just right for running in a t-shirt and shorts, the course was a loop around the river, the race shirt was awesome, and there was a great after-party. It was so perfect that as I left the race, I got a bit choked up and stopped to look around and soak it all in.



Yesterday, Charles and I went to the last home FC Seoul game of the year and therefore my last. We had an amazing time and though I've been suffering through an absolutely epic hangover, it was worth it. We cheered, chanted, shouted, drank, and took loads of photos. Again, an absolutely perfect end that made me feel teary.

World Series Champions!!!!!

I know this lil' blog is mostly about my time in Seoul or travels but...The Giants won the World Series!!!! Holy poo!!!!

I'm a casual fan but a lifelong one. I'm horrible about keeping up when I'm not in San Francisco but I go to a game every chance I get and there's a lot of love there. I am so happy for people like my papa, who has passionately supported the team his entire life. In no particular order, my favorite Giants memories...and one bad one....

-Apparently, I went to my first game at Candlestick when I was 3 months old. My dad bundled me up in a blanket and snuck me in.

-I spent my 21st birthday at AT&T Park, drinking beer and watching the Giants with my dad. It was awesome.

-Papa Bear took Julia and I to a game when we were about 11 or 12 and gave us each $20 for food. We ate our way through Candlestick and we both ended up puking everything up.

-When I was 18, I left San Francisco to go to university in Philadelphia. The last thing my dad, my sisters, and I did together as a family before I flew out was go to a game. Incidentally, this would be the last game I'd go to at Candlestick. I had the picture of us up in my dorm all four years of college.

-Just this past May, I had 6 days in San Francisco and on my last night, Julia and I went to a game. We sat in bleacher seats and got drunk and cheered our asses off. It was so much fun and I am so glad I got to go to one game during their championship season.

-I once chucked a baguette at a Dodgers fan's head during a game. Ugh, I HATE the Dodgers.

-Speaking of...I was at a game against some East Coast team and the Sacramento Kings vs LA Lakers game was on a monitor and my entire section started chanting "BEAT L.A.!" It was awesome.

-The Bad...You can go up to any Giants fan and say "Remember 2002?" and they will shudder. The Giants were 7 outs from a World Series championship and the effing Angels rallied to win. Game 7 and the Giants choked. I was in Philly at the time and didn't know any other Giants fan and I had to cry into my beer all by myself. It was awful, so gut wrenching.

This season has been incredibly bittersweet. I am so thrilled and happy for the team and for San Francisco but damn, I have never ever been this homesick in my entire life. Thank goodness for Facebook, it was made me feel very connected to my friends and family in the city. I'll never forget reading the score on my iPod and bursting into tears in the hallway of my school. I still get weepy when I think about it. Just incredible.

The Beginning of the End

Well, boys and girls, here it is. The countdown to the end of my time in Korea finally begins.

I had been planning on leaving this March for a while but sometime this spring I thought it would be better if I signed another contract. The other night, I was looking at job listings and was seriously unenthusiastic. Then, my flatmate popped into my room to tell me that he's leaving in March, moving to Istanbul because he wants to be with his girlfriend. That's when it hit me, I really really really really didn't want to be here another year, all the money in the world wasn't worth it, and I wanted to go home.

So I'm going home!

My contract is finished on Feb. 28th, I get my last paycheck on March 10th, and I am flying out on March 11th. I have a little less than 5 months to go and I am busy making lists and beginning the moving process and it's all very very exciting.

I kinda wish I had known last spring was going to be my last spring in Korea. There were things I would have made more of an effort to do and see but ah well. Though I've loved my time here, I'm ready to go.

On Pins and Needles

What better time to get back to blogging than right after my very first acupuncture appointment?

Picture this: Seoul. June 2010. Maebong Station. I was walking up the stairs of exit four, enjoying my Monday morning treat (mocha latte) and thinking about how smokin' hot nearly all the players on the Spanish national team are. I was thinking about how silky David Villa's hair would feel when I tripped up the stairs and nearly landed flat on my face. I had stuck my left hand out in front of me, trying to save my face and my coffee, and landed on it with all my weight.

Ow.

I somehow made it to school and went straight upstairs. I screamed for Charles and he wrapped up the wrist and gave me instructions on care. I followed them, swelling went down, I was able to do my K-pop dance routine with no problem. I thought that was the end of that.

My little finger had other ideas. About two weeks after the incident, I was teaching the youngest class and my wrist began to throb painfully after doing the hand motion for the itsy bitsy spider song. After the pain went away, my pinkie was numb and stayed that way until today. Last night, it started hurting even more so I finally went to the acupuncturist.

Now, as some of you know, I freak the eff out around needles. Last summer when I had to go to the emergency room because of bronchitis, they took out blood and I nearly fainted. I loathe needles so naturally I was apprehensive of this whole "acupuncture" thing but it turns out, I had nothing to be afraid of. The first part was like any other doctor's appointment and then I went into a room full of beds. First, the nurse put this metal massage thingie on my pinkie and got it all relaxed. Then the "oriental doctor," Dr. Yoon, came in and straight away I told her about my needle fear. She was was very sympathetic and told me to lie on my side and face away from her.

I could feel the needles going in but it didn't hurt, at least until she got to the pinkie. That freaking killed. She left me alone for about half an hour and no joke, I was so relaxed that I fell asleep! Dr. Yoon had to wake me up to kick me out. All this for less than 25,000 won. Not bad at all.

The pinkie still feels a bit weird and it started throbbing when I went for my run this evening so I might go back if it doesn't improve.

I've been having one of those springs that's so eventful I don't have time to write about it. Let's have a go...

At the end of April, I ran my first 10K and it was a great experience. I didn't have the best running time in the world but I had a ton of fun and Mary and I took roughly 5 million pictures. We wore sweat bands and knee socks and looked pretty bad ass. The race was just outside of Seoul and we came back into the city and celebrated at a local pub, shoving our medals into everyone's faces. It was fun!

Joely, my insane flatmate, left Korea to join our friends Dan and Steve in Africa. I haven't replaced him yet (huge pain in my ass) and I miss him horribly (I can say that here since I'm fairly confident he'll never read this blog). He occasionally drove me crazy but he was one of my favorite people to live with.

I just got back from a very VERY whirlwind trip to San Francisco for Freesia's wedding. It was a ton of fun and I spent way too much money shopping but it was well worth it. The wedding itself was at the SF Zoo and the dj played all the greatest hits from our high school years. The next day, while enjoying some lovely margaritas, I saw GEORGE LUCAS sitting at a table behind us. OMG!! I completely freaked out.

A day and a half after getting back, I ran another 10k. Bad idea! I was still really dehydrated and I puked along the entire length of the third kilometer but I finished and actually beat my last time by 4 minutes! Insane.

And now it's back to the grind. More updates, I promise.

Runnin' the 10k

In a mere two days, I'll be running in my first race ever, the Adidas Hangang Marathon! I'm not doing the marathon (bitch, please) but the 10K. I'm still super excited, super nervous, and super scared. My training has dropped off a bit because of knee pain but I'll finish.

(My deepest fear is that I'll have to get a ride with the pace car but hopefully it won't come to that!)

I've been thinking about training for a half marathon. There's one every year near the South-North Korea DMZ. That would be pretty damn cool.

Change in summer travel plans. I'm going to wait to go to Norway with my mom in a couple years and instead I'll worth through the summer and just have the one week off when the school goes on holiday. I'll use that time to climb Mt. Fuji (one of my things to do before I die) and visit friends in Osaka. At the end of my contract in February, I'll go to India for a couple months to visit the places I haven't been yet before heading back to Seattle. I like this change a lot and I'm quite excited.

"This Would Make A Great Vagina Monologue"

Last week, I had the oddest experience I've ever had in Korea...possibly ever.

No, wait, that would be the rat temple in India.

Anyhow, my friend Mary had another friend, Pennie, visiting from New Zealand and Mary wanted to show her a good time. She got it into her head that we should take Pennie to the 찜질방 and get our fannies smoked.

Say what!

That's right. We went to get our fannies smoked. And how did it go, you ask? Well...we went and did our normal 찜질방 thing, which in and of itself is a bit weird but you're completely naked and I had just met Pennie two days before. However, one quickly gets over it at 찜질방 and we had a great time steaming and scrubbing. Next, we went upstairs and put on our pajamas and went to the fanny smoking station.

Here's where it got a bit weird. imagine a large rectangular box with one side missing and a crude toilet seat on the top. Inside the box was a hot plate. Once we saw that hot plate, Pennie and I got a bit apprehensive but Mary bullied us inside. The very bored looking woman who ran the place indicated that we had to disrobe so the three of us were naked and crammed in the room with the woman while she prepared the pots of herbs and tea and stuff that would be smoked. When she finished up, she handed us these mauve plastic smock things that looked like a shower curtain. We put them on and then sat on the seats and waited for the magic to happen.

It felt very silly at first because nothing was happening. The three of us could not stop cracking up and we felt kinda bad because we didn't want to be disrespectful but seriously! We were having our fannies smoked! A couple minutes in, Mary said "Oh!! It's getting really hot!" and sure enough the steam was totally burning in...very tender places. We told the woman and she had as raise our feet onto the box so that our knees were up by our ears and we looked completely ridiculous. To add to the comedy, my glasses kept steaming up from the smoke that leaked out the neck hole of my smock. Hilarious.

We sat there for 45 minutes, constantly asking how much time we had left. It got super hot and my legs were cramping and we were sweating EVERYWHERE! Mary swears she was burned down there. Finally, the woman let us go after cackling at us stupid foreigners. We hauled ass back to the showers then headed upstairs to the rooms. We decided we needed a beer (yes, they sell beer in Korean saunas) and sessions in the massage chair in order to recover from our experience. It helped, a lot.

So yes...that was my fanny smoking experience. We cannot stop telling people about it and we never seem to find it less funny. I don't think I'll ever do it again but I don't regret it at all.

Bleh bleh bleh

As some of you know, I've been having a sleep problem for well over a year now. I'll fall asleep only to wake up every two hours or so, never really getting to the REM cycle. The months leading up to my trip were the worst and it had a major (and detrimental) effect on my quality of life.

I love sleep. I need sleep. I am cranky if I do not get sleep. I was wildly miserable for months and was pretty unpleasant to be around at least 40% of the time. Lack of sleep plus stress of putting together the trip plus saving money hard core plus work stress equaled one cracked-out Nicole.

Then...I get into Delhi, check into a non-a/c room in the August Delhi heat with flies buzzing around and noise coming from everywhere and fall fast asleep for 5 hours. With the exception of the night I spent in the desert (where I was too dazzled by the stars to close my eyes) I slept like a baby in India and Nepal. Same with every other country.

I come back here and a month later...blam! Back to the same sleep problems and same crankiness problems (though I am trying to get that in control). Yesterday, I had such a bad headache from the sleepiness that I started throwing up and it turned into a full-blown migraine. I went home and spent the evening sleeping fitfully and praying that my head would stop throbbing. I took today off of work and went to the doctor's finally to get this sorted.

He really wasn't much help. Sleeping pills and something for the headaches. He asked if I was stressed at work. HAHAHAH! Every since person in Korea is stressed at work. Seriously.

Well, that's part of the reason I haven't been blogging much, that and lack of internet. It's been hard getting myself out of bed to go running but that's the only thing keeping me normal and not-so-sluggish. I shall leave you with cute pictures of me and students to end this on a cheery note.

Internet-less...

Blogging opportunities have been thin on the ground due to the lack of internet access at my house. It's a long story that involved my flatmate Harry Potter and me taking a stand. Thank goodness I have my iPod for the necessities, like checking March Madness scores and email, but other stuff, like my gossip blog obsession, has suffered. Luckily, there's a very cute coffee shop up the road and I am making the most of it.

I've been in a major nesting mood and trying to make my home look as lovely as possible without spending too much of the money bookmarked for Europe. I am also beginning to throw out stuff in anticipation of my move in 11 months. I don't want to be stuck cleaning out the entire apartment in the space of a couple weeks so I'm going to start mailing stuff home in November and therefore avoid a lot of stress.

Yes, yes, it's nearly a year until I move (or 344 days to be exact) but I am SO EXCITED to finally move home to Seattle that I am doing stuff for it already.

Then there's the matter of my trip this summer to Europe that I cannot stop thinking about. Paris! London! Norway! Belgium! It's getting hard to keep my mind in the present, which is perhaps why I am devoting so much energy to making the home nice. Keep myself grounded or something.

New Year's Tiger Lanterns

The other week, my students made some awesome tiger lanterns for Seollal, Korean lunar new year. I got the activity from the awesome blog 4 Crazy Kings. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Art of Travel

I just read this amazing book, "The Art of Travel" by Alain de Botton. Seriously, I cannot put into words how much I love this book.

It was recommended to me a while ago by my old flatmate Justin. He spent over a year traveling around Asia and I was talking to him about how nervous I was to go on my big trip. He told me to read this book to calm down but alas, in the crunch to get out of Seoul, I didn't get a chance.

A few weeks ago, I was at the local foreign bookstore and I saw it and bought it right away. I have been known to devour books but this one I took my sweet time and savored it for two whole weeks.

De Botton divided the book into sections and he uses different artist/writers to illustrate his points. It felt like he was reading my journal at some points. De Botton nailed so many of the feelings you get when traveling. I especially loved his chapter on the sublime and on beauty.

I have been taking some of his points to heart and trying to treat my city like I'm a tourist here, appreciating new things and really looking at the beauty here. It's paid off already. I was in a cab going across the river the other night and the lights of the building reflecting off the water was beautiful and stayed in my mind for days after. I live in such a vibrant city full of all sorts of cool stuff, I really should be more open to experiences here. Seoul used to be so foreign and "other" to me and now it's just ho-hum. Time to shake that off!

And A Very Merry Drunken Lent To You!

If we look back through the mists of time, all the way back to Feb/March 2003, we will find precedent to the current situation.

What is that situation, you ask? Nicole is inebriated during Lent.

Why is she inebriated during the traditional time for Catholics to abstain from their favorite things, you ask? Because she gave up beer and is now drinking wine.

All joking aside, I really do love the idea behind Lent and I practice it without irony. It's 40 days a year during which you abstain from things you love.

(Side note: some interpret it as abstaining from "vices" but I think that is taking a rather dim view of the matter. God is not about stopping you from biting your nails. Give up something you love whether it is good for you or not. Jesus DID go into a desert for 40 days and he didn't just stop leaving dishes in the sink.)

This year, I am giving up beer and going to my favorite Korean restaurant. That is a pretty big sacrifice as I go to this place at least 3 times a week and it's healthy and cheap. Hopefully, this will force me to cook more and learn Korean recipes for my favorite dishes.

Lent is also about prayer and service so I'll be hauling ass to Mass on Sundays and volunteering around town. It's all about winter/spring death/renewal, man.

Ash Wednesday and the Korean lunar new year all happened in the same week, which I feel is very auspicious. My hippie friend Maria is calling this year "2000-zen" and I think she's on to something.

새해 복 많이 받으세요!

Happy Year of the Tiger to everyone!


I am will be celebrating the traditional way. Today, I am going to clean my house and bin all of the excess crap I've accumulated over the year. Tomorrow, I will make a lovely meal to share with friends at our Crafternoon and on Monday, I will take a walk and think about the past year and what I want to accomplish this year.

Maybe I've been living in Asia too long or maybe it's because this is when the school year ends, but this feels more like a proper new year than January 31st. Go figure.

Alexander McQueen...sigh

Now I really feel like a dick. Right after writing an eulogy to my iPod, an actual person I respected and greatly admired died.

I'm talking about Alexander McQueen, designer and absolute visionary of fashion. When I read the news this morning, I actually gasped and teared up, something I have done only once for a celebrity death.

(That was Molly Ivins.)

He was (is?) one of my favorite designers and I think he was a genius, without a doubt. Not only did he have an amazing artistic vision, but he had the tailoring skills to make it look impeccable. Even when I hated something he came out with, I still appreciated the craftsmanship and intent.

Someone commented on Jezebel that she showed her boyfriend one of McQueen's collections and her boyfriend said "Oh, wow. Fashion IS art." I know Alexander McQueen, and haute couture in general, isn't for everyone. I can see the arguments that its a waste of money on clothes that serve no function. I don't see it that way, to me it is art and art doesn't have to have a reason. It makes me sad, so incredibly sad, that his lastest collection is his last ever. We'll never see what crazy thing the "enfant terrible" will pull out next.

Requiem for an iPod

Before I start this, I want everyone to know that I am fully aware of how ridiculous it is that I was so emotionally attached to this iPod. I know!

I took a cab to work today because I was running really late (it was snowing, I didn't want to go in, yada yada) and I was listening to my iPod, Darth Vader, to prevent carsickness. I skipped a song on my morning play list and I didn't put DV back all the way in my pocket. When I got out of the cab, it must have fallen out and I didn't notice until I finally realized there was no music coming out of my headphones (I hadn't had my coffee yet, don't judge!)

There I was, in the middle of a Paris Baguette, willing myself not to burst into tears. I bought my breakfast in a daze then headed to the Coffee Bean and while I waited for them to pour my coffee, that's when it really hit me that Darth Vader was gone and the tears came.

Now, I understand that he was just an iPod but the fact that I call him "he" shows the level of attachment. I remember buying him at the IPark electronics section after my old mini, Smurfette, died. Darth went everywhere with me, to work, on walks, lately on runs, on hikes, etc. etc. He was an adventures little guy.

Darth Vader's first trip with me was to Fukuoka, Japan. He ended up going to the States, India (twice!), Nepal, Vietnam, Turkey, Belgium, Costa Rica, and Belize. He made it all the way around the world! It kills me that he's not going out in a blaze of glory like the man/machine he was named after. Such an ignoble end. Sigh.

And the reason why Darth was so important to me is because I need music all the time. Music is an extremely important part of my life. I am passionate about my likes and dislikes, I like to have music on all the time, and it provides a soundtrack for my life. When you get the perfect music for the moment, it's awesome. I will never hear Fleetfoxes without thinking of the bus ride through the Nepalese mountains because the music and the scenery went so well together.

My third favorite movie ever is Almost Famous and my favorite line is from Russell. He's about to jump into a pool from the roof of the garage and he's asked what his last words will be. After waffling a bit, he decides on "I dig music." That sums it up so perfectly. I dig music and my iPod is a lifeline.

So it follows that I immediately bought a new iPod touch this afternoon, making me iPod-less for about 6 hours. Her name is "터치" which is pronounced "tuh-chee" which of course means "touch." Hehe. I am currently filling her up with all my favorite K-Pop tunes. I forsee many adventures together with her.

Crazy Lady at the Gym, Part 2

Oh dude. I went in for my run on Sunday at about 11 am and the gym was pretty much empty except for a few old ladies. I went on the treadmill next to one of the adjummas because I knew it had all the good TV channels. I flipped through while doing a warm-up walk and I found Liverpool vs Bolton. I was super stoked since I hadn't looked at the score yet and I figured it would be a great distraction while I ran.

Well, yes and no.

Liverpool's season has been shit and while they ended up winning this match, it was not done in such a style as to impress a fan. To make matters worse, I am a very passionate supporter and I'm used to watching games in bars, where one can shout at the TV as much as they want because everyone else is, too. As some of you may have seen on my facebook profile, I was screaming obscenities at the screen while I was running and wearing my headphones. I got a LOT of looks from the little adjumma next to me but try as I might, I could not stop these outbursts. I am so not allowed to watch Liverpool on the treadmill anymore.

But it did distract me and I had a great run!

Adding this video. Oh my ass, so cute!

The Hippie String or The Pushkar Puja

The other night, some friends and I were joking about travel clichés. We were at a Thai restaurant and I was telling them that I’m never going to Thailand because I think it’s cliché, the English teacher in Korea going on holiday in Kopipi. That got us started on the whole topic and we finally decided that the last non-cliché place to go would be Eastern Europe.

Of course, I’m guilty of quite a few middle class travel clichés. I was wandering around Nepal and India not too long ago, as one of my friends pointed out. He was especially keen to make fun of the red string around my wrist, saying it was the ultimate cliché for travellers in India and he wanted to know why I was still wearing it after 5 months. It’s something a lot of people have asked and here’s why.

I got the string in Pushkar, a small town in Rajasthan. I spent the bulk of my time in India in Rajasthan, the king state. It’s a lot of desert and a lot of forts and very freakin’ hot. Pushkar is home to a lake that is sacred to Brahma and it’s a very old, very popular pilgrimage site, one of the only devoted to that god. I was excited to go to Pushkar because many friends had recommended it and I was ready for a spiritual experience. This was where Gandhi’s ashes were scattered! I had fantasies of meditating by the lake and finding my chi’I there.

Ha!

The lake had been almost entirely drained for construction (I kid you not), it was hot and dusty, and there were scammers everywhere. I had my hand forcibly hennaed and people were trying to rip off tourists left, right, and centre. I was so disappointed that I ran back to my hotel room and cried. I spent the evening chatting with some obnoxious English gap year kids and managed to get a grip on things. The next day, my last day there, I decided to go to one of the ghats near the lake so I could perform a puja.

Puja is the Hindu form of worship. My knowledge of Hindu practices is shaking and mostly what I’ve picked up by going to temples but puja is the cornerstone and people do it on their own, not in a congregation. I went down to a ghat with a priest (not the correct term but I can’t think of it) and he recited the prayer and I repeated and I called for blessings upon my parents, my sisters, my friends and he dunked the water over my forehead. Then I released flowers into the water and he tied the string around my wrist.

I can remember so much from that particular puja. My feet felt like they were on fire from the hot marble of the ghat. There was a row of women making the pjua offerings that they would later sell. There were kids running all over the place, as there usually are in temples in India. I kept thinking to myself “100 rupees. No more! I will not be ripped off this time!” Of course, I ended up giving 300. Most importantly, I remember reaching out with my mind and seeing all my loved ones as I prayed for them by the lake.

The string on my wrist is a symbol of that puja. I look down and I see a tangible memory of the trip that is getting more and more distant in my mind. I’ve been home for as long as I was gone now and the memories are dimming. Maybe that’s why I flat out refuse to cut it off, preferring to follow the usual practice and wear it until it naturally falls off. It’s hanging on admirably and besides, it’s considered very bad luck to it cut off.

So that is why I am still a walking cliché, the backpacker returned from India with a prayer string on her wrist. I’m ok with that.

This photo is from the hike I took up a nearby hill. That tiny patch of water is where I performed the puja.

Swine Flu Hysteria 2010!!!

Oh jeeze. A few kids at school have come down with H1N1 again so the director got her panties in a twist and canceled classes for the week. I had to come in today and yesterday to do student evals and planning but I have Thursday and Friday off with nary a care in the world. Huzzah!

My brain is a bit mush from all the lesson planning but I did notice a wonderful little gem in the reading book for the five year olds. The chapter is about a marching parade and the students are learning new verbs so they have to tell whether they blow, bang, or join a flute, a drum, and a parade. Of course, being the 12 year olds we are, Charles and I cackled a lot over the "blow, bang, or join" choice. I took a photo! (sorry, it's backwards)



Sidenote: Charles just came barging into my classroom. I asked him what the hell he wanted and he said "To come in here and tell you that I am going downstairs to do a poo. Again." I responded "Hells bells, Trudy!" and he left. Another exciting day at the Wiz Island Play School.

I celebrated my return to health with a trip to the Library, our local pub. Well, pub is a bit of a stretch, it's a very Korean-style bar. I was afraid I wouldn't be allowed after accidentally seducing my ex there a couple weeks ago but aside from some teasing, they've welcomed me back with open arms. I think they have a love/hate relationship with the songs I request. Usually a lot of K-Pop and Lady Gaga.

Right now I am mildly hungover and bored out of my skull and wishing the next two hours would hurry up and finish. Tonight, I'm heading to the gym (it's a walk day yay!) then going to a goodbye dinner for one of my dearest friends here, Maria. She's off to Australia to get her teaching degree. I am happy and excited for her, but I'm going to miss her like mad. Maria and I are the same percentage of crazy and it's rare you find that with someone.

Alright, must get back to loafing around and reading dlisted.com.

No me gusta estar enfermo

No sirree I do not like being sick at all and I'm one of the most whiny and annoying sick people you'll ever meet. Cranky and ill tempered, fussy and not one to suffer in silence. These past few days have been a trying time, indeed.

I haven't been able to sleep so well so last night I decided to go to the local Korean pharmacy to get some sleeping pills. While I was there I also got some stuff for the aching and coughing. Put all three of those pills together and sweet baby Jesus! I am high as a damn kite. Still sick, though.

I've done nothing all weekend but sit in bed, napping and watching Jane Austen movie adaptations. Obviously Pride and Prejudice (oh, Mr. Darcy!) but I also downloaded Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park. Had to stop Mansfield Park about 5 minutes in because the chick who played Fanny was so wildly miscast. It wasn't a huge disappointment since that's my least favorite book (seriously, Fanny kinda sucks) and I had already had my fill of Austen.

Popped another sleeping pill for tonight so must warn, this is kinda stream of concious blogging here.

Ode to My Cleaning Lady: A Series of Haiku

Dulce, I love you
Every other Wednesday she
Cleans my apartment

For only forty
Thousand won she gets it done
Ten bucks an hour

Hitting a reset
Button two times every month
The place looks so good

Trash, laundry, sweeping
You tidy for me and Joel.
Dulce, I love you.

The Crazy Lady at the Gym

One of the things I love about Korea is the plethora of affordable gyms all over the city. Ever "dong" (neighborhood) has its own community center with a basic gym. My dong's (hahahahaha...ok, Nicole, you are not 12 years old) gym is pretty nice and the treadmills are choice. I bought my membership on Monday and started Operation: Running, with the goal of running a 10K in under an hour in the fall.

To start off, I'm using this guide in order to do the first two miles and then I'll do a 10K training program. I've been good this week in getting my ass into the gym. I skipped on Thursday because of a dinner party and Friday because of a massive hangover but I went on Sunday so that's 5/6 of the days I was supposed to go. Not bad. My knee hasn't bothered me, I can already see a difference in my body, and I wore a slutty dress last night and it looked bangin'.

The problem is that in the past week, I've become the resident Crazy Lady. Tuesday, I bought a bottle of wine and stuck it in my purse to save the plastic bag. I forgot about it and when I went to the gym and got out my membership card, the little old lady at the desk saw the bottle of wine and busted out laughing.

The bigger cause for the Crazy Lady title, though, is my gym work-out iPod play list, titled "Run Foxy Run." I need super up-beat music to get motivated but I can't seem to stop dancing along when I'm on the treadmill, especially with the K-Pop. Worse, I started singing out-loud to one song without realizing what I was doing. I got Looks.

This coming week, I am going to try my best to be nice and normal. We'll see how it goes.

This song is awesome. Another Charles discovery.

Mid Week Hilarity

Ok, if you go to google.com and type in "why" the suggestions that appear underneath are:

why do men have nipples
why is the sky blue
why is my poop green
why do cats purr
why did i get married too
why do dogs eat poop
why can't i own a canadian (my personal favorite)

If you go to google.co.kr, the top suggestions to continue "why" are:
why do koreans have big heads
why do koreans love starcraft
why we love crazy japanese tv
why do koreans have good skin

Charles discovered this and it gave both of us, especially the big head question. It's one many of us have pondered.

Something's Cookin'

I woke up today with a headache due to excessive makkoli consumption from the previous night. Mary, Matthew, and I had an impromptu Jersey Shore viewing party and sat in front of the computer for over four hours. During that time, the three of us drank eight bottles of the makkoli and we all paid for it today.

Like every sensible person, I decided the solution to my hangover would be a nice greasy fry-up. I went marketing and bought some baked beans and bacon and then went to town. The fruits of my labor:



Thus fortified, I decided to make a nice creamy vegetable soup. I found a nice recipe on allrecipes.com and went back out to the shops, chopped and prepped then low and behold! Potato Vegetable soup!



I feel like I'm on fire, cooking-wise. Tonight, I am preparing the dough to make ciabatta bread. It has to rise for 18 hours so it'll bake tomorrow. How exciting.

iTunes Mayhem

Put your iTunes on "random shuffle" and see what it pops out with.

The Beatles - In My Life

Bebel Gilberto - Sem Contenção

Radiohead - Airbag

Beyonce - Single Ladies

KT Tunstall - Paper Aeroplane

Camille - Les Ex

Beirut - The Bunker

Madonna - Lucky Star

Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me

Joni Mitchell - Morning Morgantown

Ballin' On A Budget

Well kids, for the first time in a while I am being forced to budget. No me gusta.

I've got a pretty sweet European vacation planned for this summer and in order to make it happen, I've got to buckle down and save hard core. Then, after I return, I'm going to have to save for Montessori school tuition so there's no going back to the carefree days of spending that characterized my first year in Korea.

I knew this on a certain level but it really hit home today. I get paid on Monday and I was doing my financial planning for the month and holy shit, it was grim. It occurred to me that this is how it's going to be every month from here on out. I'm 28 damn years old and it's high time I learn how to save.

I must keep in mind that saving will let me do cool stuff, like go to Norway and hang out in Gent for a beer festival. I think the key is learning to spend intelligently so I don't have to eat ramen and be depressed but learn how to stretch my dollars (or rather won). Oooh, now it seems like an adventure!

The eating this is going...well...argh. It's totally bringing me down, writing out all my food intake.

RANDOM ASIDE: I am totally jamming out to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger on my super hi-tech headphones. It's incredible though difficult to dance because I'm attached to my computer. I love Daft Punk.

Back to food. Yeah, so I am thinking more about what I eat for sure but I am dreading the end of the three months, when I have to "recast" my stomach. Eek. The main benefit from this book is all the water I'm drinking. I am now having a glass right before I go to bed and right when I wake up, while I wait for my coffee to brew. I already feel the difference. Last night, I had a few too many "digestifs" after dinner and usually I feel like poo the next day but no such problem today.

RANDOM ASIDE #@: Last night was a perfect example of accidentally drunk. I get made fun of for saying that but seriously, it was completely on accident last night and just one of the many times I've stumbled into fun. When you're Nicole Fox, the good times are plentiful.

Monday is the day I go back to the gym. I am excited and eager to get running. Let's hope this lasts!

RANDOM ASIDE #3: Daft Punk has lead to Justice and now I'm rocking out to Let There Be Light. If you haven't heard their album, it's time you get off your ass and get it.

And now, your moment of zen:

Snow Days Are Made of Win

It's been snowing like a mo fo here in Seoul and because the city is completely unequipped to deal with the snow, I've had two days off this week. It's been awesome!

Yesterday, I felt like a little kid. I had taken a shower, had a pot of coffee and was in the process of getting dressed when I got the phone call from work telling me not to come in. I'm not going to lie, I did the Snoopy dance all over my living room. It was my first snow day in seven years and seriously, I feel like they're even better as a teacher.

I spent the day doing typical snow day activities. Charles, our friend Amy, and I walked over to one of the steeper sections of the hill we live on and went sledding, using my cookie sheet. There were a bunch of kids doing the same and man, it was so much fun. This Korean woman, about our age, tried to tell us that it was too dangerous and we were making it hard for people to walk but we ignored her and went on our merry way.

After we couldn't stand the cold of the snow that went down our pants, we hauled ass to Amy's to eat homemade turkey and vegetable soup and brownies whilst watching Spaceballs and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. About that time, all three of us got the call telling us our schools were canceled today too so we decided it was beer o'clock and we made our (very cautious) way down to the pub. Other friends joined us and we had a lovely time.

Today, I spent the day inside, cleaning and cooking and being a homebody. It was very lovely and I highly recommend it. I'm reading this book called "French Women Aren't Fat" and it's all about eating like the French and the author gives you a program to get your eating style on track. For three weeks, you're supposed to write down everything you eat and dude, it's bumming me out but it's making me think more about what I eat. After those three weeks are up, I'm supposed to identify the patterns of my eating and cut out repeat offenders for three months then eat them in moderation after. We'll see how it goes.

One piece of advice she gives is to switch up your food and I'm a total creature of habit. I need to get more variety in my food and cook more. I started tonight by making chicken with potatoes and capsicums. I hate cooking for just myself but I need to get over that. I have a sweet ass pink apron that I love to wear and that gives me motivation to cook.

Happy New Year! Or, 2009: A Retrospective

It's January 3rd and the dust has cleared from a raucous New Year's Eve. After being incapacitated for two days due to the hangover to end all hangovers, I am ready to share my thoughts on the past year. Buckle your seat belts, ladies and gents.

2009 was a very very mixed bag for me. The first 8 months were stressful, difficult, and very straining and the last four were among the best of my life, period. The stressful months turned out to be completely worth it and while they sucked to go through, they made me appreciate the time I got to travel. I only had a very dim idea of how miserable I was and the three month break restored me to my proper balance and I am so grateful that I was able to do it.

On to the resolutions!
1. Cook more! I am going to learn how to make bread if it kills me.

2. Save money and stick to my budget! I've got big plans for this year and I need the money to make them happen, dang it.

3. Run a 5K in the spring and a 10K in the fall. Part of getting fit and having my muffin-ectomy. Skinny bitch in '10!

4. Buy less, craft more. Re-using materials, etc. and it helps save money.

Here's hoping 2010 is better for the world at large!