Nooo Winter is Coming :(

My new Korean class started this week, which was a little boring because it was pretty easy stuff, but  a little review can't hurt. 

My name is one of the longest in the class... sigh

This week was, again, pretty normal, just with the change in Korean class days. It's weird to have class monday and nothing Wednesday after having it the opposite for 2 years, but it's only for a bit.

I spent my week teaching about can, money, the house and comparatives to 3rd through 6th, respectively. It's getting a bit hard to keep their attention since the semester is winding down. Teacher could use a break too, kids. 

I've been having musical withdrawals lately, especially since it's been nearly 2 years since I've seen Phantom of the Opera :(

A few of the people I know trade and sell bootlegs, and, even though I have an embarrassing amount of them already, I made the mistake of looking at the new list. There have been a handful of new phantoms in the rotation since I last saw it in NYC, so of course I was tempted. I asked my sister what she thought, and of course she had the perfect answer.

So I ordered a few. Merry Christmas to me haha. I can't resist

Cesca and I don't see each other a ton during the week usually, so we often take Fridays to meet up and grab food together.

We ended up choosing delicious indian food with giant naan for our
Friday night fare

Ces has Korean class Friday nights, so she went off and I went home. We had plans to meet the next day to see Mockingjay: Part 2 with Lauren, but first, we needed to make a Costco run which led to my favorite thing ever. 

ONLY ONE ON THE BUS THAT IS NORMALLY
SUPER CROWDED HAPPY

Cesca's bus was empty too so we rejoiced with selfies

We had to buy some Christmas-y things at Costco, and, after we gave advice to some ladies asking about whether candy canes were good for a Christmas party and if foreigners actually think candy canes are Christmas-y, we headed to my house to drop things off, catnap, and then head for the movie.

We received some great literature at the bus stop

The movie was really good save for some forced love triangle stuff and the ending, which was ok on paper but not super cool on screen. It was a great movie though, and I felt riveted the whole time.

We decided to grab dinner in the mall, and because we are always suckers for Italian food, just haaad to try this rendition of pane.

not super pane-esque but delicious

The tomato sauce and wine were also delicious 

We decided we wanted to get dessert and chat more, since we don't see each other nearly enough nowadays, so a tea and cake stop was in order. 

This is what you get when you want "candid enjoying the cafe" shots of my friends...

Oh these ladies....

On Sunday, I headed to dance class early after some miscommunication about our rehearsal schedule... these things happen.

We learned another EXO song, which was fun but horrendously hard and we looked ridiculous. I had seen the practice video and knew I'd suck at it, so I had 0 expectations for being decent and therefore had a great time valiantly attempting to do the impossible. 

After that debacle, we had rehearsal for our show in December and then a party because tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of the opening of Dance Joa!

We gathered and ate and were merry. I got to show off that I'm decent at Korean, and one of them even remarked that he was surprised by the energy in our class, because the Korean ones are quiet and full of serious concentraters. We are loud, energetic and obnoxious, and even if we can't do it, we do our best and cheer lots. It was fun to talk with the other Koreans and of course hear compliments.

The owner has a little boy and he's so adorable. He even fed me peppero! 

The party was still going on when Ces and I left, and to our surprise, it was raining a lot. Thanks weather app... I made it home but am now feeling a cold coming on, as the weather took quite a turn this week. It was fun while it lasted...

I hope this is just a short stuffy nose. I can't afford to be sick this week! Too much to do! There's Korean class to worry about, Thanksgiving stuff to do and I have a teacher trip on Friday! Yikes! Gonna be a full and hopefully fun week!

Stay warm, stay safe! Peace out, sailor scouts~

~~~

This is the dance we learned. I 100% don't care for this song, nor the dance, but it was fun to try and basically flail around doing it. EXO's Love Me Right is probably my least favorite song of theirs... I'm not sure why we keep doing EXO, our teacher doesn't care for them and they're really hard, but they're popular so the newbies know about them. I wanna do something cute and girlie, dang it!

We Gon' Get It Pop It

Apparently, it wasn't a super interesting week, given that I have like 5 photos to show you. The sun sets earlier and night comes sooner, but the weather hasn't caught up yet. We're still enjoying warmish weather, so I'm wondering when it will really feel like November. 

I went to Korean class Tuesday and on the way, I was blinded by the lights down the street. Across the street from my hagwon, in a small cafe, some cable drama was filming some scenes.

Apparently, they filmed all day, and there was a crowd in the morning. It was slightly distracting during class, and sadly, they didn't need foreigner extras. 

My Korean class is down to only 3 people, and although the grammar is hard, I've been having a good time, because we actually get to chat with our teacher a bit more and use the language. It's a much better feeling than when I'm dejected and frustrated with learning Korean, that's for sure. 

We found out the song for our class early this week, which was exciting, since I wanted to learn this dance.

I have some free time at my desk sometimes, so I've been trying to study more a work, even though I'm self conscious. I've decided to take the TOPIK again next year, so I really need to work on some weak points to get a good score. 

All the grammar points I've reviewed.

Wednesday was Peppero day, which is kind of
like the japanese snack Pocky. You give it
on 11/11 cause the date looks like Peppero.
I finally got a box from a student!

Wednesday was also the day after Grace's birthday, so Cesca and I took her out to dinner to celebrate We also got coffee and talked about everything and anything for like 4 hours It was awesome. I'll be forever grateful for the wonderful friends I've made in Korea. It's been a ride, but meeting these amazing people is just so reassuring and heartwarming, especially when they feel the same way.

Lovooove her.

Thursday was my favorite day ever, because the CSAT was happening. I feel so bad for the students who have to take the test every year, but I'm also excited because we get to go to school late. To prevent traffic jams, most businesses, the stock market and other schools start at 10 so that the students who are taking the test can get there on time. Police escorts are waiting to help those who are late, and people pray for days and days before the test for their student to get a good score, as it is a huge factor in college entrance requirements and decisions. 

I feel bad, because one of my 5th graders, who has 7 years until the test, told me she gets nervous every Sooneung day (the name of the test) because she knows she will have to take it someday. How sad is that? I hope Korea can change a bit, because the high stakes testing has scary consequences here...

So, Thursday was a mixed bag, because, while I love sleeping in, it's tough knowing that the kids at the school next to mine are taking a test till 5pm that will determine their lives, basically. 

Anyway. 

Young Ah invited me to dinner Thursday, and since she knows great places and I love her, we went and got 'hamburger steak," Which is basically a hamburger without the bun haha. But we got to this place at 5pm and there was already a line, so it must be good, right?

It was pretty delicious

This one was 'Turkish style' with a slightly
spicy sauce. It was delicious. 

Bellies full, we headed out to our classes, me to Korean and her to her head ribbon spinning drum class.

On Friday, I went to take a Korean placement test at this place Cesca has been going for free classes. My language exchange partner had to stop meeting with me cause she has to take some accounting class in the evenings, so I am in need of more review and practice. The level I got placed in was already full though, so I'm slightly lower than I'd like to be. I am glad for the review though, because, as much as I love my hagwon, we learn pretty fast, so, while I recognize terms I've studied, I can't always remember what they mean. Extra review will definitely be better than me attempting to study on my own and getting distracted. 

We then headed out to our friend's birthday party in Gangnam, where I usually don't venture. It was a great time and fun to see friends and meet new people. The place was kinda dark tho, so alas, no good pictures. 

Ces and I met Lauren for brunch Saturday. Since she is passing on Korean class this month and lives across town, I haven't seen her in ages, even though we talk like every day via the interwebz. The place was delicious and we chatted for quite a while. I miss her. Then, since it was raining again, Cesca and I just hung out at home and I chilled at her house when our evening plans fell through (meh, it happens, and you all know I love chill evenings at home). 

On Sunday, we went to dance class raring to go, since we were learning a song I really wanted to try. 

We worked hard, and we were super exhausted by the end, but it was soooo fun and I LOVED this week. Ces and I felt pretty baller, especially since we already knew what the song sounded like. Even with some minor mistakes, we had a great time and killed it for only learning it in 2 hours. SO FUN.

We also joined other people in our studio for a special performance, because it's the studio's 10th birthday this year. They're doing a special performance and showcase kind of thing, so, of course we got asked to join. We had practice AFTER our 2 hour dance class, so we were kinda dead, but still had more energy and enthusiasm than some of the Koreans. Especially for the cheering. Us Waygookin are great at cheering.

It's gonna be a tough month of practices, but it seems like we will have a great time. 

post practice picture with the 10th anniversary performing group

I'm excited for the weeks ahead, as they include more dancing, preparation for Thanksgiving and some fun lessons with my students. Have a great week everyone!

~~

Here's the real dance version of the song we did this week. So fun and pretty catchy! Ikon Rhythm Ta~

The song is fun cause it's about just dancing and having fun and enjoying yourself. It even says "this is just a song so everyone get on the rhythm."

Drama club is over!!!

I don't know if it's the cold, rainy weather this weekend, or exhaustion from my cough keeping me up late at night and waking me up early, or what, but this week was pretty crazy overall. 

Despite sleeping most of last sunday and skipping dance class, I still woke up feeling pretty gross and crappy Monday, which was pretty unfortunate, because I had a looooong day ahead of me.

we started with a walk to the district office and
theater

woooo festival

Between rehearsal in the morning, walking to the place, tech rehearsal, lunch time, practice, stage makeup time and then the show (which started at 2 and ended past 5) I was exhausted. 

getting ready to go on

I know I used to flinch when people did stage makeup on me, but damn is it hard to do it on little kids. It was their first time getting makeup put on them, for most, so it was a little difficult. My handler informed me that many of them were super excited about it and gave great feedback about the makeup, though, so I must have done an ok job.

We didn't have may mishaps (especially since after our group, the sound stopped working. yikes). I'm proud because my kids were 4th graders, and most schools used 6th grade. There were also a lot of repeat songs my school avoided, like High School Musical's We're all in this together and Bruno Mars' Marry You. 

Receiving our participation award. We were in the 2nd tier,
meaning we weren't the worst!! Yess!!

After we gathered the kids up and cleaned up our area (some of the moms brought me coffee, bless their hearts), we headed out. Of course, even though I was exhausted and feeling crappy, we also happened to have a staff dinner that night. 

So,while may handler went back to school with the kids who had no guests come to the show, I headed out to dinner. We ate gamjatang. Gamja means potato but in this case it means some part of the pig that we are eating. like the spine and ribs or something. It's delicious, but a lot of work, haha, since you have to work all the meat off the bones.

I, sadly, couldn't sit with the subject teachers, since I came late to dinner, but Young Ah came over and made sure I got a fresh portion, and she helped me cook it. I was feeling crappy about not getting to sit with people I know, but then some of the subject teachers announced they were going to a noraebang and Seon Kyeong made sure to invite me. Young Ah told me I could get out of it if I wanted, but I decided to go with them and had a great time. I sang a few English songs, and then impressed them with my knowledge of some Korean songs as well. It was awesome and they were so enthusiastic and energetic that I couldn't help but enjoy myself.

Young Ah had had to leave early for a drum class, but she made sure to call me and make sure I got home ok and was feeling alright. She's so sweet!

She went to Japan over last week's vacation, so she also brought me a gift!

So cute!!

The rest of the week flew by. One of my coworkers is moving to America next year, so I gave her a book that talks about some cultural differences between the US and Korea. She was so touched and we all had a good laugh talking about some difference. Seon Kyeong was aghast when I told them that when you handshake in the US, you should make eye contact. "But... very very rude!!!" she exclaimed. It was fun to finally be the knowledgeable party and to be like 'yeah well, now you see why things don't always make sense to me!'

The teacher was so touched that she told me she hopes I find a man as nice as myself to marry someday, because I deserve it. Aaaaw. 

Other than that, I don't know what was in the water, but my 3rd graders were crazy Friday, and even my best class was just not attentive. I haven't been sleeping well because of my cough, and I was just exhausted. I met up with Cesca for dinner Friday and, like the rest of the week, basically came home and went to bed early, knowing my cough would keep me awake longer than I wanted 

On Saturday, I spent the rainy day with Cesca. I usually like rainy days, when I am not sick, because i like to cuddle in bed. But, when you've been trying to sleep off a cough and cold, another day in bed is boring. Not only are rainy days sometimes boring because you can't do anything outside, but in Seoul they're a little dangerous. Umbrellas, more traffic and of course, polluted rain make for a not fun experience, so we stayed mostly inside. 

We stopped by Mcdonald's for lunch, and I had a pleasant surprise. They have caramel macchiatos! They're less than $3, which is waaaay cheaper than most coffee shops here. And the taste was decent. SO happy.

it was goood

Sadly, they're no available via mcdelivery. Sigh... first world problems!

We went through Cesca's closet to sort out spring/summer and fall/winter clothes and I discovered something crazy!

HOW DO WE HAVE THE SAME SWEATER?!!?

Haha just kidding, we both were online shopping together and liked it, so we both bought it. Usually, only one of us buys it, but we both really liked this one. It's so cute and cozy!

We were feeling cooped up, and we decided to try the Italian place outside of Cesca's apartment, which we have been intending to try for aaaages. The prices were surprisingly not crazy, which is what we were expecting from a mokdong area restaurant. We ordered pane and pomodoro, and they surprised us by telling us we also got a free gorgonzola pizza. 

mmm

Then they surprised us with tea and tiny tiramisu! I was impressed with their service! We're probably lucky we didn't try this sooner, cause we might be here all the time.

Tiny fork!

It's so cute

these are so cute!

SO YUMMY AHAHA

me too me too!

yuuuuum

It was a great night, even though I couldn't stop hacking it up on the bus. I felt fine for most of the day, but the second I got on he bus it was like I could not keep it in. Ugh. So annoying. Cough drops only go so far. Sigh. I hope it goes away soon.

I was pretty annoyed about dance class this week. Usually, we know what dance we're doing because she tells us during the week or they announce it on Facebook. We've been requesting some dances for a bit, but even Sunday morning, we had no idea what we were doing. 

We showed up and found out we were doing Teen Top. I was pretty mad, actually. It wasn't even a new song. It's a song from 2013 that wasn't suuuper famous (they're not the most popular group). It was ANOTHER boy song. We've been doing boy songs for weeeeeks, and old ones at that, so I was kind of hoping for a girl group. If it had to be a boy group, why something so old and not popular or current? Teen Top is also quirky and crazy, so their dances are hard. I was just so over the whole thing that I tried, but not too hard. It just felt like at the end, we hadn't accomplished anything for how hard it was. The moves were too awkward and unfamiliar. I don't mind doing hard dances, but I like to feel like I accomplished learning something, and I'm not proud or happy at all with what we did. 

I know our teacher is probably busy with things, but I still felt a little frustrated that we weren't doing anything we asked for, and we hadn't been told what we were doing, just for getting ready. I like to at least hear the song before we do it, so I can place the moves with a beat.... So overall, it was quite frustrating and more than a bit disappointing, because dance class is usually a highlight for me. I hope next week can pick it up. 

Heading home in the drizzle, I stopped at the convenience store for a candy bar, when I came across this:

An adorable, mini size ramyun (this one is
jajangmyeon flavor- black bean noodles)
I like this size better, I usually can't eat a full
size one.

Here's to hoping the rain cleared away some of the pollution and that next week is less exhausting than this week. Drama club is over, so I'm guessing that might be the case. 

Here's to hoping this cough finally goes away this week! Stay warm, stay dry!

~~

At first, I didn't like the new Lovelyz song, Ah Choo, but I heard it around a couple of times and I definitely fell for it. What has Korea turned me into??? I like a song about sneezing!! The song is about how your first love is like a sneeze. You just can't hold it in. The dancing is super cute and in sync, and I think the song is adorable and catchy.

This is a ballad from Taeyeon (from girls generation) called "If" and it's beautiful. I knew the song when one of the teachers sang it at the noraebang, and they were so impressed that I knew it (the song is slow so I can actually read the lyrics as they come up, which helps). 

It's a beautiful, sad song about being an idiot and not approaching someone you like because you're afraid of what would happen. If I approached you, what would you say? If you were to leave, what would I do?  So, like a fool I couldn't say I love you...

Deskwarming, Drama Club and Dance Parties

This week was a rather slow and boring week in the beginning. My school had a vacation, but since I would have had to use vacation days to get the days off, I just went to school and spent the whole day mostly alone.

Being in school by yourself is creepy. Luckily, Seon Kyeong was there Monday, so we had lunch together and she kept me company for a bit, when she didn't have to be down in the main office.

Uh, getting some mixed signals here, Hongdae

Tuesday and Wednesday continued the same, with me being alone in the office for 90% of the day and relaxing/studying/napping/prepping. 

Then I'd go to my Korean class at night. The weather has cooled down A LOT, and it's unfortunately getting dark early. Boo.

Makes for a pretty sky, though

Sooneung watches. They countdown to D-Day,
the day of the big, life determining high school
test. It's in just a few weeks, since it's November
now. I'm sure they're terrified.

The good news it that I got to break out some
scarves. Cesca and I found these for cheap.
Cat scarves ftw!

Thursday and Friday proved to be much more stressful. I love having the office to myself, and would have rather done that for 5 days straight. But no. Tomorrow (Nov 2nd), the English Drama Festival is finally happening and so my handler wanted the kids to have extra rehearsals Thurs and Friday. It's pretty boring for me, because all I do is play the sound clips and interject intermittently. The kids are cute and like to play around, but some of them are brats or are really annoyingly inattentive. It's like herding cats sometimes. 

I had some good moments with the students, because a few of them are super sweet. One of them told me I was the most beautiful foreigner they'd ever seen, and they always like to play with my rings and ask me questions about if I like Korean food or music or things like that. One of them asked me if I had a boyfriend and was very coy when I joked, "why, do you?" She then informed me that she's had one for over a year. OKAAAAY 4th grader. Way to show me up. So it wasn't all doom and gloom. The break times are fun. It's just, you know, the play that makes the drama...

We practiced a lot and had so many mishaps. For all the weeks we've been practicing, my kids have short attention spans and are easily distracted. This means missed cues, botched entrances and other general mess ups. While it is annoying, the pressure was higher since we had limited rehearsal time, and a bunch of tension just snapped. My handler is more of a tough love teacher than I am, and ended up telling them that she regrets picking 4th grade for the drama program, because 6th graders would have worked harder and wouldn't have fought or squabbled like babies. 

She also likes to pray with them, which she always prefaces with "Christina doesn't like when we do this, but we're going to pray together" just to let them know that I am a godless heathen. Wamp. I don't mind praying, but I really just don't think we should be praying in a public school, especially when a good portion of the students are not Christian. But it does make it awkward for me when she says things like that. At least my tail is covered if the parents complain, as she always announces that I'm not involved in the decision.  Life lesson kids, if a teacher asks you 'Are you gonna tell your parents if we do this?' then the teacher maaaaybe shouldn't be doing that. Alas, I don't have a say, and because it all happens in Korean, I sometimes don't catch on until it's too late. Sigh. 

Friday resulted in tears from no less than 3 students, and a trip to the hospital for another one (nothing serious, she just had indigestion and was dramatically in pain). Dear god, I can't wait for it to be over.  

The hospital trip and relatively good practices meant rehearsal ended early, so I got to hang in the office in relative peace for the last few hours, completing some last minute modifications for some costumes for the drama club.

After school, I headed over to the dance studio to meet up with my class and help decorate for the halloween party they were having. It was a blast, and just what I needed after the disastrous day that was drama club rehearsal day.

Shannon and Grace getting their skeleton
on

We are such hard workers

We got to perform Bang Bang Bang for everyone, which was fun. There was a showcase for our teachers and a dance battle, plus games, activities and fun! It was a great night!

the Wacking teachers. I still don't know how to
explain what that is.

Our teacher Soo Yeon

Here are some more pictures!

everyone loved our waygookin (foreigner) hats

Grace's boyfriend laughed
so hard he cried when I first showed
him my hat. So he had to take a pic

Party crew pre party briefing

Shannon, Grace and I were in charge
of making drink bags, which we obviously
did a great job with cause we're so precise
and they came out uniformly.

Making ghost faces

Getting ready to perform

Cesca had Korean class till 9 so she missed all the fun (and work) of decorating, but she made it for the important stuff. We all partied the night away and had a great time. 

We got home late at night.... Or early in the morning I guess, so Saturday was spent relaxing, especially since I had started feeling ill Friday at school. I blame drama club. We caught up on some stupid reality TV, and then went shopping. Some of our friends already had Halloween plans, and since the only real Halloween plans here involve drinking at bars, which requires travelling on public transportation with a costume on, we kind of just passed on it this year. I miss house parties and living close to my friends so we can get together easily. So, Ces and I just spent it together by going gift shopping ( for our co workers) and then grocery shopping at Emart haha. We're so classy. I started feeling ill again, so we went to her apartment, since it's much warmer than mine. I already need all my blankets and a sweater to sleep, but i'm trying to resist getting my electric blanket out too early. I wanted to last till November, so I guess it's A-Ok for me to get it out tonight!

Sunday morning brought a massive headache, chills and a sore throat. Damn kids and or people who don't cover their mouths when they cough. Feeling pretty shitty, I layed around Cesca's apartment, watched TV with her and then proceeded to sleep while she went to dance class. I wasn't super interested in the dance this week, and since I have to spend all day tomorrow with the drama club, I'm trying to prevent myself from getting more ill. Might mean a nyquil kind of night tonight. 

So, all in all, it was a low key weekend, for the most part. Besides the dance party. It was weird not doing anything big for Halloween, but with the weather, stress and illness, I think it was for the best. Hopefully I can stop this cold from getting too much worse. SEND ME GOOD VIBES, I need them for drama club tomorrow. 

Stay warm, everyone!

~~



My kids are obsessed with this song and they ask me to play it during drama club breaks all the time, so it's stuck in my head. I like Apink, but I am always a little confused when they do an upbeat song that has kind of sad lyrics and a video where they're playing around and having fun while talking about, I assume, a breakup or a fight. Maybe I missed something, but my kids love this song. It's pretty catchy. This is Apink's Remember.