Korean Kindergarten Kute Moment #2,503

Dante: Teacher, haircut?
Me: No
Dante: Perm?
Me: Nope.

Dante thinks for a moment.

Dante: Shower?

Hahahaha! Little asshole. Koreans are obsessed with my hair. It is wild and will not be tamed by any Magic Straight perm and this intrigues them. In the summer, when its ridiculously humid, I get asked if I got a perm on a daily basis.

Incidentally, I am dying to know how Dante got that English nickname.

Oh, and I found this video on my computer...one of Claude's first feature films...I love this one because of the way he chucked the toy and just went after Justin's hand.

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

Life is good right now. My living situation is the best its been in nearly 6 months, people! Stef is a freakin' awesome roommate. We spent last Saturday morning making breakfast and drinking coffee. Our weekday schedules are totally opposite so we don't really see each other during the week, which I think makes us like each other more since we're not all up in each other's grill. She's just a really cool person in general, into music and dancing and having a good time. Yay! The apartment itself looks happier to no longer have a rapist in it.

It has been so nice go get back to kindergarten! I love those little hooligans and I missed them while I was gone. The other teachers looked genuinely happy to see me back, which was nice. I've started a new business class in the morning thats a lot of fun and I think I'm going to have a good time with them. My afternoon/evenings have been pretty free, though I think I'm going to have to pick up some more classes. Right now, with being so free, I've descended into a life of afternoon debauchery with Craig, my next door neighbor, who also has too much time on his hands.

Being back in Seoul is fantastic. I don't feel like a douche bag any more when I push little old ladies out of my way on the bus, because now they've pushed me first. I had my first night out back here this weekend and my god. I am going to punch the next person who offers me soju. Drinking that is like suckling from the devil's teet. No joke, yo.

I'm baaaaack!

I'm back in the Land of Morning Calm again!

My trip home was awesome and amazing and re-charged my internal battery for another year in Asia. I got to eat some awesome food...I made sloppy love to enchiladas de pollo con salsa verde a couple times. Seattle in particular was great. I got to go skiing and enjoy EVERY-thing the Northwest has to offer. Sigh...miss it already!

Seoul right now is covered in snow and very very cold. My new roommate is in already since The Rapist moved out early. Stefanie is awesome and I feel like we're going to get along really well.


Me enjoying some snow and quiet in Washington

Merry Christmas and Peace Out!

Last night was the big roast dinner and it was delicious! We had a turkey, stuffing, veggies, gravy, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes. Craig's eggnog was delicious and had twice the called-for amount of rum. It was really nice, a good mix of people, and a great way to spend my last night in Seoul.

The cat tried his best to ruin it, though. He kept wiggling out of his Santa Claude costume! He has no holiday spirit. Today I leave him at his Auntie Paula's and I'm very sad about this. I've never been away from my tiny little kitten for more than two nights. Sniff!

I leave for the airport in a couple hours and I'm pretty stoked. Papa Fox has planned a family BBQ with carne asada, guacamole, tortillas, and Pacifico Clara and then later, I'll be meeting up with Aleli and Felicia to get our food/drink/dance on at Baobab! Jet lag can suck it!

Three Cheers for Procrastination

Ugh, it's time to write student reviews. Seriously, what can I write about a three year old?! So far they're all "Seung Yeon is a very good student. She really likes the Hokey Pokey." Gaaaah!!

Since this is due tomorrow and it's already 6 pm and I've got a bunch to write, I thought this would be a wonderful time to write a blog entry. I kinda enjoyed writing the reviews when I taught middle schoolers because I could be scathing, so long as I put it in the "shit sandwich." An example:

"Hyeon Su is very smart but he lacks focus and is not doing as well as he could be. He is easily distracted during class and loses concentration. He also needs to work on completing class homework assignments and blended learning assignments. Hyeon Su is strong, however, in grammar application and does better on that part of the weekly tests."

You can't talk poo about 3-5 year olds, try as I might. Sigh.

I leave for the States in less than a week and as a result, I'm running around trying to get bills paid, rent taken care of, flights within the States booked, etc. etc. It's all a big headache and I've got lists everywhere and very little is getting ticked off. I've got to train my subs, pack (sweet Jesus!) and finish my Christmas shopping. Thank goodness Koreans get Election Day off and I don't have to work on Wednesday. What a great system.

I'm hosting a roast dinner at my place the Saturday before I leave. I'm pretty excited about it, the army base does a good turkey dinner. We ordered it last year and it was really nice. Craig, my next door neighbor, is going to make eggnog (it was AMAZING last year) and I'm going to make a ton of chocolate chip cookies to supplement the pumpkin pie. It'll be a nice send-off.

In January, when I get back, I'm going to start gumdo lessons! I'm really excited about this. My friend Dan has been taking lessons for about a year and he's going to take me to his hagwan. I'll have to start with the little kids but I think that'll be part of the fun. For those of you who don't know, gumdo is like the Korean version of kendo. I'll have a great big sword and I'll know how to use it!

Ok, official at-home dates are: San Francisco December 23rd to January 2nd and Seattle Jan. 3rd to Jan. 8th. On the 8th, I'm going down to Portland for the day. I've got no one's phone numbers anymore so email if you can hang out!

Merry Claude-mas!

Claude got into the holiday spirit! Here are some shots of the apartment with Christmas lights and Claude playing dress up. Imagine Christmas with the Rat Pack playing in the background.

One year down...

Happy anniversary to me and Korea!

Today is the day, my friends. December 3, 2006 a bedraggled and jet lagged Nicole Fox stumbled off the plane after many (many!) delays and onto the bus, armed only with a cell phone number and "Itaewon" as her guides. That night, I went to dinner at the Wood Hof with Justin, Paige, and two other people. Three of them have now left Korea!

It's very odd to think I'm officially an old-timer!

Since it's officially Christmastime, I put up the lights in the living room and did a Santa Claude photo shoot. I'll post those later for sure, if Claude doesn't kill me in my sleep first!