Pour One Out for the Costco Salad~

My classes finally started and I'm starting to get back in the routine. It seems a little harder this year, now that I've decided to leave in August... Have I mentioned that? I'm about 95% decided, and it's making things both easier and harder this new school year. I like all 3 of my co teachers, but I just don't think teaching elementary school English is for me for much longer. But man, leaving will be so hard... Just going to avoid thinking about it.

I was laughing at my 5th grade book for very specifically labeling
the East Sea as such, since it's a big deal that some places
call it the Sea of Japan

Cesca and I needed to make a Costco run this week, and for some reason, it was especially fun and enjoyable. We both have recently and inexplicably gotten obsessed with bagels and cream cheese, something that, as an expat, I'm used to. Since moving abroad, my cravings for random American things can pop out of nowhere. I didn't eat cream cheese much at home, but for some reason, I've been wanting it lately, and it tasted SUPER good when I finally got some. Weird, right?

Anyway, we found our bagels, bananas, peanut butter and other necessities, and then were wandering around, when I ran into one of my students. Thankfully, my wine was not yet in hand, but it was nice to awkwardly greet her mother, who said "Oooh that's your teacher. I didn't know who you were talking to! Hello!" AWK. 

We went to get cheap, delicious food court food and laughed about the immense amounts of onions, ketchup and mustard the Koreans were gathering. This concotion is affectionately known as the Costco Salad by expats here. 

Many people pile heaps onto their plates for relatively unknown reasons. 

is it a replacement side dish? Do Koreans just really like free
stuff? the world will never know.

For some reason, we found it immensely funny that day. We could not get a picture of the table just down the row from us, but the amount of onions that they grabbed, and subsequently wasted, was ridiculous.

Cesca mourns the wasted
costco salad that you can see in the background.

The rest of the week passed as it normally does, with Korean class, English class and lots of coffee. 

I had to introduce myself to my new 3rd graders, who are all curious about my age, which I told them was a secret. They seemed to like my cats, and a few of them were even surprised that I was not Korean hahaha. So cute. One of them even loudly proclaimed "I LOVE CHRISTINA TEACHER" after class. I know I will be exhausted teaching 6 classes of them, but they're adorable and I'm sure it will have it's cute moments. 

Because Cesca is studying for the TOPIK, we each spent a quiet Friday evening at home. I'm trying to prep for my own test in April (I'm shooting for level 4 before I leave, so I'll try in April and July if I don't pass), so I studied a bit and tidied up, I wish I could be more dedicated at school, but lately I've been worn out by new classes, new co workers and office politics and hecticness. Hopefully, it will calm down soon.

On saturday, we met up with Grace and her bro + bf for Sicilian food at the restaurant we know in town, where the owner remembered us even though it's been ages. That was cool, and delicious! The weather was finally nice enough that we could meander through hongdae, stopping at shops and booths as we pleased. We stopped for churros, cupcakes, and just to watch the dancers and performers. 

Then we went to a multi-bang. Bang means room, like noraebang means singing room. So at the multi bang, they have lots of options. You can watch movies, sing or play games. We opted to play Wii games for about 2 hours. It was a blast from the past and super fun!

Just dance 2

Concentrating hard on Mario Cart

It was a fun night. On Sunday, Cesca and I skipped dance class to go see Zootopia with Lauren and Ga Hyeon. The song wasn't that interesting this week, and a few of our friends couldn't go. Plus Ga Hyeon doesn't get a ton of days off that he can spend with us, so when he actually has free time that matches up with us, we want to make an effort to actually do something, since he works really hard at the hospital. Plus, I love seeing Lauren, so it seemed worthwhile. 

The movie was great, highly recommended!!!

Then we grabbed some Mexican food

Ga Hyeon's mango margarita looked great.
Mine was a bit meh but that's okay.
The food was good.

It was great to have spent the weekend with lovely friends, having fun and finally not freezing. Another week of school awaits, but spring is on its way and it's not pitch black when I leave for school in the morning, so things are looking up!

Here's to hoping my kids aren't super crazy this week, cause I have things to do and stuff to look forward to!

Happy almost spring!!!

~~

For some reason, I've been back in a Phantom of the Opera swing, so I've spent my week listening to the soundtrack, in various languages and various versions, while I've been working on stuff. Me. Listening to PotO. No surprises, right??

I love this song in Italian. So pretty~ It's been a while since I listened to anything other than Korean or English, but I remember most of the words~

Splende un sole in te che non tramonta :)