ONE MONTH DOWN....only 11 more to go!!!

Birthday celebrations at work!

My kids- overly enthusiastic about reading apparently...

A sweet Hello Kitty motorcycle...

Shop til ya drop!

SHOEEE ALLEY!!!

Random alley...

MMMMM big steaming pot of BUGS!!

Pot of bugs cooking away and snails in shells....very distinct scent

Well this week was a busy one- what week isn't I suppose...but it was my BIRTHDAY week!! Monday started off dandy...nothing too exciting...I worked late in anticipation for what the week would bring- which ended up being a grand plan. This week was monthly testing and report card time. What this mean is that my afternoon classes on Tuesday and Wednesday would take little exam like tests on the material we covered that month. The only marking I had to do for this was the writing portion- good news. It's bitter sweet because sure for two days you don't teach and have no planning to do, but at the same time you have to do the marking and grading of the papers. I wasn't sure what to expect but all went relatively smooth- I think/hope.

Wednesday was the big day! I actually shared my birthday this year with one of the other teachers who was born on the exact same day and is from Canada as well- weird! My Korean teacher Lina brought me in some homemade Seaweed soup and Mushroom Bulgogi with rice...mmmm..DELICIOUS!! Apparently in Korean culture you eat Seaweed soup on your birthday and it's supposed to bring you good health for the next year? Something to that effect. Whatever the case- it was really good, as was the mushroom bulgogi (meat with mushrooms, garlic, onions all in a fantastic sauce). Lina also brought in a beautiful cake from Paris Baguette- devine. I must say, all things considered, I was very spoiled on my birthday. I got gifts from some of the kids, co-workers and friends and family back home. On my break in the morning when the mail usually arrives there was a big box sitting on my desk!! My second package from home-yay!!! It was a gift from friends, such a kind and thoughtful thing and it couldnt have arrived on a better day!!! Perfect timing! After school that night I went for dinner with the other birthday girl, Ashley. We went to this little place around the corner from work, they call it cutlets? It's these pork cutlets that come all different ways. It was deeeelicious!! You get a big cafeteria style like tray with tons of stuff on it- I ordered the "Lady Set" (yes odd name)....it came with 2 soups, kimchi, pickled root of some sort, rice, a coleslaw like salad and the meat. The meat came 2 ways- one was flattened out and then rolled with cheese, peppers and onions on the inside, coated with this crispy coating...mmmm so good!! The other meat was just plain meat coated in the crispy coating. Great meal! After that Ash and I decided to hit up the pancake in a cup place. I had yet to try these and heard good things about them...they are pancakes filled with warm, gooey goodness (they put sugar and cinnamon inside before they cook them so when they cook the inside melts)...also delicious. Came home that night definitely FULL! Thank you to everyone who made my birthday amazing!! I loved all the posts and messages from people on good old facebook- made me smile!! I miss everyone so much from home!!

Thursday night was cheap night at this Mexican restaurant place so myself and a few of the girls I work with ventured out to give it a try. It's this place called Tomatillos....pretty decent Mexican food for being in Korea!!!! I had a burrito STUFFED with egg, bacon, hashbrowns and all the stuff a normal burrito would have- odd combo to most, but it was GOOD!! We ordered a big pitcher of margarita and relished in our Mexican food- MMMMM. Again- I went to bed that night with a fullll belly.

And then FINALLY the most anticipated day of the week- FRIDAY! Who doesn't love Friday?! It was the month end birthday celebrations day so if you have a child in your class who celebrated a birthday that month there is a party for them (for the morning children, my 4 year olds). Well it was Pink's birthday this month so her mother brought in this huge chocolate cake...ahhh soo good!! All the kids bring in presents and stuff their face with cake (thankfully this is done in the last period, I can only imagine the sugar high these kids are on after mowing through all that cake...). I couldn't believe the amount of cake, sweets, goodies that poured in this day. The teaching office was just full of random junk food- clearly tasted good, but holy. It boggles my mind how Korean people are stick thin?! I wonder if the parents are just trying to plump us Westerners up cause they think we're all over weight anyway?? Haha..who knows. After work on Friday I hit up some shopping with a few lovely ladies, Jean and Meredith. I was able to get a glimpes of what would be in store for me the next day. They have these HUGE shopping areas which are amazing!! The streets are lined with the likes of Forever 21 (may I add it's 4 floors), there is an H&M here plus countless other "American" stores. There are also a lot of neat little stores where you can find some unique things.

Saturday morning I woke up and decided to make some phone calls- I figured it was a good time back home...Friday night. I ended up talking to some people I miss in a bad way. What a great way to kick off the morning! I love calling people and catching them off guard- being able to phone through skype is just genius. It's just a little bit over 2 cents a min!! Insane considering I'm on the other side of the world! I love it, AND to have my own 519 number...greatness! I encourage my friends and family to call me- day or night. Please. If you don't get ahold of me, leave a message! I can also send and recieve texts this way too! I'm still getting used to how it all works- so I apologize for that.

I ended up going shopping ALLL DAYYY Saturday with Marie- a co-worker and her friend who was visiting from home, Tess. Marie showed us around a couple parts of Seoul. We saw some of the market-like areas that house some unique crafts and more souvenier like things. I'm having a hard time buying things for people because I want it to be practical!! I ensure though that before my time is up, everyone will get a little love from Korea. Marie took us all over. We hit up SHOE ALLEY...which for those who know me well, I loveeee shoes!! There are over 10000 pair of shoes there!! Pretty much 85% of them are horribly tacky- I don't know what it is with Koreans and shoes, but I ended up scoring a sweet pair for $15. Nice little flats, super cute!! Next we hit up this department like store with more "high fashion". It was pretty expensive but the stuff was really beautiful!! Unfortuntely my budget doesn't allot for high fashion Korean clothing....not that any of it would fit me anyway- I'm pretty sure the size here averages around the 2 mark?? haha...no joke. We toured around for a bit....I got a good taste of some of the street food- but I have yet to taste any bugs....I'm a bit nervous for that!! After a long hard day shopping I caught a nap before heading out on the town with the ladies! I met some new people, danced my face off and had a great time!! I definitely was bummed about missing out on some pretty sweet people's birthdays back in Windsor....so sad. Missing you like crazy....xo