Catching up!!

Jessica and myself @ Everland

First ride of the day...a doozy!

My babes making stuff on the field trip!

A couple of my babes

Poplar classroom!

Well it's been awhile...in Korea time since I last wrote. Lots to say so please bear with me...

I've been sick for the last couple of weeks- I just can't kick whatever it is I have going on...but perhaps it's the beginning of allergies? Whatever the case, it's annoying. I've been carrying around a box of tissue at work with me, super attractive. The one good thing about Korea though is that getting meds is relatively easy. What they are on the other hand, no idea. I just take it and hope for the best! You go to the drug store (across the street from school- they don't sell any sort of medicine anyplace BUT a drug store), you tell the pharmacist what your symptoms are and she hands you a little pack of pills, then she proceeds to tell you to take 2 of this and 2 of this 3 times a day. Hmmm....I'm glad I just told her I had a runny nose- that's a lot of pill-age! I don't think they sell anything here that's really very strong, so all the pills throughout the day compensates for that. Well that's just my theory. Another theory is that they sell the meds individually, as oppose to all in one pill format like we're used to. Nyquil for example fights runny nose, fever, headache, sore throat...etc. Here I think it's kind of just individual...again, just a theory....

I had stayed in the last couple of weekends (not including this one..) and it was actually nice to be able to enjoy the whole day not feeling hung over or tired. I've been able to skype with people a lot, amazing. Last weekend the Friday we went on a field trip with the babes to a little farm/greenhouse place. It was fun- choatic obviously. At one point I had a missing child, great! No worries she was quickly discovered running about the many tomato plants in the green house (slightly embarassing not being able to keep track of my crazy kids, but that's Poplar classroom). We toured around the greenhouses, made these little bear head things out of moss with a little plant inside- cute! We had lunch there (prepacked sushi lunchable like things- super cool!) and then we just hung out and went back to school. Nice little adventure!

Saturday was a time for an adult field trip. Our school's director paid for all the staff to go to a place called Everland. It's a huge amusement park. It was so nice there!! I was super impressed with everything. Lines to rides were short, entry fee was reasonable- as was the food (all taken care of thanks to the director though!!), they had a really nice zoo, good rides and the highlight- the worlds steepest wooden rollar coaster! The drop was insanely good!! Such a good ride! I think that I may have scrambled my head a bit after that day. I know I'm technically not "old" but man, riding rollar coasters isn't like it used to be!! I had my first Korean fast food burger there and it was actually pretty delicious minus the sweet pickles. Yes, for anyone who knows me well, I'm slightly obsessed with pickles and they have NO DILL PICKLES IN KOREA!!! Tragic. Very tragic. There was a parade at this Everland place, interesting. I'd say about 95% of the people in the parade were white?! Hmmm....very European looking- bright blonde hair all dancers, both men and women. We were amused by this. It was just a really great place!

This past week it was monthly testing time again and report cards are due this coming week. I've been on top of things making last week very busy, but I'm almost done everything I need to be which is good! I'm wondering if next week some more bribery gifts will be rolling in for the teachers because of report card time? I'm sure...In a couple weeks it's Teacher's Day! I guess that's a really great day to get showered with gifts...should be interesting! I'm just hoping if I am to get things, it's not food. Not that I'm complaining about a gift, but please, I would rather just get nothing than sugary doughnuts, chocolates, candy, cakes, cookies, pastries, etc...

With staying in the last couple of weekends, I had hit up the "Buy the way" one night (like Macs) to get some pop. Well it was probably about 1030pm- prime time to see drunken Korean business men stumbling around the streets. It's actually pretty humorous. They all hang off each other, trip on nothing, act like drunken fools- which don't get me wrong, I've been there and done that BUT to see it from mid 40 upper class looking men wearing suits, it's a bit different. Koreans loveee to drink! Well can you blame them? A 2 litre bottle of soju is like $4. Ridiculous. Just ridiculous.

I went to the post office this week to mail some stuff....wow!! That was an experience. Not sure if anything I ever mail will get to the correct place. It's so unbelieveably unorganized- well maybe it's because I didn't understand them. They had no idea what I was saying either so there was a lot of charades being played that day. For the most part it was somewhat simple, but it was a long process to mail one flipping box. Slowly I'll be mailing out boxes but with it being such a process and only being able to get there on my 40 min prep period doesn't leave a lot of time...

There is a little stand on my walk to work that sells plants. My apartment doesn't get much light but it needs some sort of life to spruce it up here. I was thinking about getting some fish- still might (everyone knows how well I take care of animals...). Well I decided the one day that I was going to buy a plant. Well the lady was selling small plants that looked like basil so I pointed and she went off in Korea about something...no idea. I just shook my head, gave her the "I have no idea what you're saying" look and I handed her some cash. It ended up being 25 cents a plant so she gave me 4 (despite me trying to tell her I only wanted 2). Whatever. It was an interesting conversation. At one point I think she was trying to tell me it was basil (I'm not even 100% sure if that's what it is) but she started munching loudly- I think indicating that the plants were edible? Haha...or maybe she was saying they weren't? Ahhh gotta love it!

Well one night last week I was sitting in my apartment writing class comments when there was this LOUD OBNOXIOUS noise that started coming from my wall phone. There is a speaker system attached to the phone which allows me to see who is ringing my door bell when they come over (instead of a peep hole in the door). Well this loud noise scared the crap out of me. Immediately I started pacing my apartment furiously wondering what the f I was supposed to do!!! Ahh! I was scared! I peeked my head out the window- didn't smell smoke. I peeked my head out my door and the neighbour and me just looked at each other like what is going on?! I skype messaged a few fellow teachers and they didn't seem super concerned. Well after about 6 mins it went off. But HOLY! My heart was racing!! So I went back to work and then a voice came over the speaker and started explaining what had happened- or so I think. CLEARLY it was all in Korean. So I have no idea what they said. About an hour later, it went off again!! Ugh! Doesn't sound very annoying but man it startles you!! I'm happy to say that it didn't go off all night or in the middle of the night, but if it ever does, I might just have a heart attack.

I got my bills last week (the ones that I have to pay for my apartment). Not too shabby! Only a sweet 84 cents for my gas bill- what a joke! My other utilities though were exactly $100. Still- not having to pay rent and only having to worry about paying $100 a month is peanuts! It's a pretty good deal!!

Well the weather has been starting to get warmer slowly. The other day when I had come home on my break- UGH! It was so humid in my apartment I broke down and put on the airconditioning. I had to get the stickiness out of my place! I had laundry hanging that would have taken a year to dry under those muggy conditions! My air conditioner works and it's pretty good!!

So this past weekend I decided that it was time to venture out again for some excitement! It was my friend Nestor, from the University of Windsor, his birthday so I went to visit him out in Cheuncheon (something like that). It was about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride (traffic). It was great however I had gone out the night before and gotten home in the weeee hours of the morning so I had only slept for 3 hours. **(Which side note: thank you to those people who took my skype calls when I got home @ 5am and thought I should phone up everyone on my contact list from my Canadian cell phone- it was lovely for the people I did talk to and for those I didn't talk to, I hope you all enjoyed your voice mails!!!**)The bus was about 100 degrees and man was it killer bumpy (not to mention that I may have been rocking a slight hang over...didn't help the situation). Well when I first sat down I was next to a woman who proceeded to have a conversation with me in Korean. Umm....ok? I tried to explain I didn't understand, didn't speak Korean, it didn't matter. She did however share her little treats with me, it was kind. She wasn't on the bus for long and after that I had a nice peaceful ride (FINALLY they put on the air conditioning over an hour into the trip...ugh). When I got to Cheuncheon Nestor picked me up on his scooter!! It was fun to zip in and out of crazy Korean traffic on a scooter! Nothing like a particular motorcycle I love so much, but hey, I think riding a crotch rocket in Korea would be pretty intense- too intense. Nestor and I ended up spending a beautiful day at the park with a bunch of his friends. There was soju involved, frisbee, soccer, a little batting cages and sitting in the grass and relaxing! It was such a great way to spend my weekend!! I was with an old friend and the weather was perfect- it was amazing!! Not to mention I met a bunch of pretty solid people too! I just wish that it wasn't so far away or I'd be visiting there all the time. I must say though, the buses are like a greyhound but far roomier and it's only $10 each way- not bad at all! I will definitely be heading there more often now that I know how easy it is and how nice it is!! After hanging in the park all day we all went for dinner at an outdoor Korean BBQ place. It was cool- sitting outside, under this pavillion like thing on a picnic table bbqing up some sweet food- good times and delicious food! We headed back to Nestor's after to freshen up and meet up with one of his other friends. We hung out at his place for a bit then headed to a bar to play some darts and hang out. It was a great time!! I ended up meeting a nice Korean guy- it's a shame there was such a barrier with the language...he was hot AND kept telling me I smelled like chocolate...hahaha....After hourss of being out we thought it would be a good idea to go to a Noreabong (Kareoke place). I love it! Only complaint-- not a ton of English songs to choose from. By this time it was approx. 430am. Well after singing our hearts out I decided to go to the bathroom. In Korea most establishments don't have a bathroom- you have to use a public one somewhere around. Well to my surprise when I went out to use the bathroom- IT WAS DAYLIGHT!! Haha...I hadn't realized the time because most bars and places don't close or don't close until people leave (even if it is @ 7am!!) Yikes!! Well it was about time to leave at that point. We hit up a place to get food and then went on our way, back to Nestors. My good friends will know this about me- I'm not really a fan of spending the night at people's houses, so when we got back to Nestor's I grabbed my stuff and instead of sleeping I figured I might as well just keep going (cause it was daytime now anyway- what was the point of sleeping!?) and my new little Korean love drove me to the bus terminal. All in all, amazingggg weekend!! I got to enjoy the sunlight and outdoors, got to hang out with Nestor and meet some sweet new people, and put another adventure in the books! I can't say Sunday- today- was all the productive considering my total sleep hours this weekend was probably about 5 all together- but what better way to enjoy a Sunday watching "The Hangover" and enjoying some delicious Kraft Dinner....mmmm sounds good to me!!

Ridiculous things my kids say...

Child 1: "Teachaaa look!! My mom said this a jew!" (As the kid points to his notebook covered in stickers)
Me: "A JEW?!"
Child 1: "Yes, yes a jew!!"
Child 2: "NOOOO...you mean a zoooo!"
_____________________________________________________________________

Question on an assignment:
How does each adaptation help the animals to live in a woodland?

Answer from a child:
Fart help skunk because when skunk is catch by big animal it can break fart.

____________________________________________________________________

"Teachaaa teachaaa!!! You smellllla!"
____________________________________________________________________

Child 1: "Teacha, teacha!!" *frantically waving his hand*
Me: "Yes?!"
Child 1: "Miss Mandy, Miss Mandy....you're FAT!"
All the other children: "Ya ya...teacha you fat, you fat!"
____________________________________________________________________

Child 1: "Teacha, Suzy said you a bery bery scary teacha"
Me: "Oh, why am I scary Suzy?!"
Child 2: "Well you have bery long nose and your hair is bery long"
Me: "Oh...right"
____________________________________________________________________

Me: "Do you guys understand the word 'rash'?" Only one child raises his hand...
Child 1: "Oh you mean like a rashberry?"
Me: "A rashberry?!?!?!?!"
Child 2: "No no teacher he mean a razzzzberry"
____________________________________________________________________

to be continued...

Oh what a week!

A few babes playing in the toy room

My little artist Heidi- best listener in the class and so cute!

My little love Yoon- He's the smartest child I have ever met, kind, caring, loving and so cute- even with his little eye patch! I want to take him back with me!!

My newest babe Alvin- another one of the best listeners, so cute and kind, aww such a sweetie!

One of the random finds in Korea thanks to Ash- Cherry Tomato juice and grapefruit- oddest, most delicious combo ever!! Everyone needs to try this!!

One of the views from the 63 Building, the Han River

Another view of Seoul

Moi, reflection from one of the pillars

Little fish that eat the dead skin cells off of you...so cool! There's a restaurant that you go to and you can actually put your feet in and they eat your skin giving you a pedicure while you eat, have some drinks....I need to try this out! I don't know how well I'll fair with the tickle factor, just on my hands was super sensitive!!!

This week seemed to draggg..not sure if perhaps because I was getting sick? Which I am now full blown SICK. I can't breathe. My head feels like those commercials, where the person's head is a balloon floating above their body- ya that's me. It's horrible. I knew this day would come- working with children makes it inevitable. I actually thought it would have come sooner- but here I am now. Ugh...

I've decided to make it my mission to put to use the P90X videos I recieved over a year ago- for those of you who don't know what that is....google it. It's an intense series of videos that are supposed to rip the body into shape- I can see why after doing them for a week. Yikes! My body hurt in places I didn't know exsisted! However, all a good hurt. I'm hoping I'll get the motivation to continue this- I'm already feeling GREAT, despite being sick.

I hit up Costco this week again. I was already out of salsa, yes, the giant tub of salsa. I'm slightly obsessed with it. I need to get back there though- meat is such a steal! I also managed to find crushed canned tomatos, for those of you who know me well, this is a staple in my diet. I'd like to actually get a chance to roam the Costco here- it's hard after work cause all you want to do it get in and out and back home in time to enjoy a SMALL piece of your night. It's in Ilsan, 4 stops over on the subway- not bad at all. They have really great precooked food you can get as you leave- better than the stuff back home!! AND my Canadian Costco card works here!! Yay!

SOOOO I FINALLY got paid this weekend!! NICE! This week I'm hoping to invest in a used cell phone I can put some pay as you go minutes on. After meeting some people here, it's nice to be able to get in touch with them if they're going out or if you want to meet up and what not. I used to sleep with my cell phone back home, but honestly, since being here I haven't craved it at all! Hahaha....Hello my name is Amanda Wishak and I'm addicted to my cell phone.

This weekend was a rather mellow one. Friday night I was somewhat primed to hit the town...but didn't end up. Instead I was able to chat for a solid 2 hours with my best friend from home...ahhh how great it felt to catch up! It was a nice relaxing Friday night in (if there is such a thing?). Saturday I woke up, tidied a bit, Skyped some more with people, threw a mini pity party for myself then came back to reality and got ready to venture out. Yes- I had a momentary lapse in sanity, but I think we're all entitled to that once in a while right? I'm still a bit bummed out here. A lot is going on and to top it off I think the thing that made me most upset, or atleast tipped the sanity scale- my SHOWER ROD WOULD NOT STAY UP. It took everything I had not to throw it down the hall, but instead I just yelled at it which clearly didn't solve anything. I cooled down and ended up fixing it properly now, good. So venturing out was successful. I went into some shopping area with Ashley- fellow teacher. We shopped it up- her more than me. I'm still a little intimidated to shop here. It's a combination of a million people, a million things to look at, I'm super nervous for things not to fit me (because everyone here is built a size 0-4)....I'm just super overwhelmed. I'm still not really in a comfort zone yet. Which at this point is good- not spending money. I just don't even really have the urge to shop. If anything, I'm looking around at things I can buy for other people to send back home. Don't get me wrong- the shopping here is pretty amazing. There are A TON of unique shops and things to buy!! I'm sure with time my comfort level will increase....then watch out.

After shopping for hours, we headed home and then went for Korean BBQ. Didn't disappoint! We hit up a little coffee-ish shop on the way home for a sweet treat. Tall Yogurt Frappe- definitely a new fav drink for the warmer weather!!

I ended up in bed by 11pm ON A SATURDAY NIGHT! Whoa...but I was super tired and it felt great....only if I could breathe. A netta pot would come in super handy right now...but since I don't have one, I decided I could probably just use a water bottle, warm water and a little salt- it worked wonders. For those of you who aren't familiar with a netta pot- google it....it's this wonderful little device you put warm salt water in and flush out your sinuses when you're stuffed up. It's extremely temporary but to be able to breathe is a great feeling! Oprah swears by it so it must be great- right?

Woke up too early on a Sunday....ended up skyping some more with people- I LOVEEE Skyping on the weekend!! Chatted with some lovely ladies in Ottawa who I miss dearly who I should have been hanging out with on a Saturday night. After that, tidied a bit more (yes I'm the only one that lives in my apartment but it's constantly a mess). Being able to clean your bathroom by hosing down the entire thing is genius. I love it! Only downside- it takes a while for it to all completely dry. But I had planned on being out all day, so this was perfect. I decided that I needed to get out and do my own thing. I had taken the subway enough times that I somewhat knew what I was doing....so I embarked on my journey- the 63 Building. The 63 Building is the tallest building in Korea. It's the host to a bunch of offices as well as an IMAX, Wax Museum, Sea World, Art Gallery and a bunch of restaurants and shops. I took the subway alone again, but this time I was going to have to transfer...piece of cake. Thinking about how nervous I actually was about the whole thing a couple weeks ago makes me laugh now. I downloaded a free app for my iPod which is a great map of the subway system. It's so easy to follow and it's also in English. It took me about an hour to get to where I thought I needed to be. I came out of the subway and had no idea what to do next. I read online there was a shuttle bus you could take but I actually think I may have gotten off at the wrong subway stop- crap. Well I got up my courage to ask a cab driver to take me there...ugh. I think he took pity on me- clearly a foreigner. We played charades and he figured out where I wanted to go. Well....I'm pretty sure he drove me around the block, and told me that he was doing so, just not in English. He laughed at me for most of the ride and spoke to me in Korean- well it sounded like that at least, cause if he was going for English- I had no idea. I just smiled, nodded, felt extremely uncomfortable and laughed along. Oh well. I think he took me around the huge block because we were really close to the 63 Building so his fare wouldn't be very much- whatever. It was less than $5. Had he not taken me, I would have probably felt discouraged- kind of like I did on the way home...I'll explain later.

So I got there, got my tickets. I decided to go with the deal of hitting up 3 of the "attractions" there. I figured it wouldn't be very fun to go to the wax museum alone, that's more of a thing to do with a friend- posing in silly and inappropriate ways with the wax figures...not as much fun alone. So IMAX, Aquarium and Art Gallery it was. I hit up the movie first- yay. Yellowstone Park....hmmm. I had to listen to it via ear phones which I'm so happy I had my own. The ones they gave me was only a one ear one!! That would have been a tad bit annoying having to listen to it in English in one ear and Korean in the other? It was a brutal movie....and moving on. The aquarium was pretty nice- although it was under ground, I wonder how many fish die there? I felt so bad for them all. The tanks were SOO SMALL! For example...the snapping turtle they had on display was in a tank practically the size of it's shell! No wonder it was growing algea all over it's body and shell. And again- moving on. The Art Gallery was meh- ok. It was cool to be up that high. The elevator that takes you to the top is on the outside of the building so you can see everything as you go up. The view from the top is pretty cool! All in all the 63 Building was ok. First solo adventure. I figured it was time to get out and explore some of what Korea has to offer. Probably would have been more fun with friends, who I'm missing TONS. Laughing to yourself about horrible Korean fashion faux pas isn't as fun as doing it with your best girl friend. Well now it was time to get back to the subway....hmmm. I paced the lobby for a bit, scoping out white people in hopes they would be able to direct me to the subway...well I ended up being too shy to talk to any of them (I only spotted 3 and they were CLEARLY preoccupied canoodling their Korean lovers...). So I sucked it up and stuck my head in a cab- mistake. REJECTED hardcore. He had no idea, and if he did, he wanted nothing to do with it. Sweet....so back inside I went to pace some more. FINALLY someone was at the information booth. I played charades and awkward one word phrases (clearly I didn't have my Korean/English dictionary on me...), finally he directed me upstairs. OK....got up there, still no idea. Played out the whole thing again...whatever. I was over it at this time and just wanted to get somewhere. I went outside and there was the shuttle. No idea where it was going, if it was going to the right place, but I was over it. It went....not sure where. I finally saw a sign that said Stn, which I knew meant subway. I got off, and clearly whacked my head when I got up- it was just one of those days....I contemplated heading over to Itaewan because I was so close but decided that adventure might better be left for another time/weekend. I had enough and was hungry. I just wanted to go home- so that I did. After hours on the subway, transferring, random cab rides, unknown shuttle rides...it was a decent day. An adventure for sure!
Sunday night was left to do laundry, tidy up- again, grab some groceries for the week and just relax....tomorrow starts another week- one week closer to being home....xo

All dogs go to heaven....

A special family member passed away this week....we will miss you Brooke!!

xo

Korea overload...

Warning: there is no part of this post that is meant to be offensive, just sayin'-

So I've spent the last 5 weeks taking in my surroundings, trying the food, amazed by the people..etc. Well this weekend I've come to the realization that it's going to be a long year- in a sense that I will always be the white girl walking around probably picking up very little Korean in the time that I'm here; having no idea what people are saying, what I'm watching and what I'm listening to. I go into stores, look blankly at the people I'm paying and it bothers me. Back home I joke around with people, I talk to random strangers over silly things, I'm such an alien here- I even have a card to prove it! (ARC- Alien Registration Card, manditory) I was discussing this with my fellow teachers- reverse culture shock. When I get back to Canada it's going to be overload. I will know what people are saying on tv, out and about, on the radio- it's going to be intense. Honestly, it's so hard to describe the feeling I have here right now, one would need to be here to actually feel this, and honestly it hit me today. So now what? I can either embrace it, or hate it. Embracing it was the path I chose and as I was walking down the street I decided that instead of putting my head down (how I usually walk here for fear that I will stick out if I look up), I walked tall and confidently. As I did so, it actually made me laugh a little, I walked past a store that was blasting Kesha- Tick Tock. How appropriate seeing as the song starts out, "Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy, Got my glasses- I'm out the door- I'm gunna hit the city.." Ok so maybeee I don't feel like P Diddy, but I thought the second part was fitting- "I'm out the door, I'm gunna hit the city"...my new motto. I'm here for a year and I'm going to love it up! Sure I'm homesick and a little sad but, I'm going to travel (another teacher is working on a China trip), I'm looking into taking Korean classes, I'm getting out and making friends- I'm taking initiative to make myself happy because if I don't, who will? From January 1st, 2010 I said I was on a mission to make MYSELF happy this year, whether or not that sounds selfish, I'm sorry. BUT I truly believe, if you can't make yourself happy, how can you make others happy?.....sorry to rant....

Soooo....this past week was interesting. Started my week off Monday going for dinner at an "All you can eat tuna place"...I probably ate a whole tuna- at the time pretty great, thinking about it now...mmmm...no. I mean it was delicious, but eating that much RAW fish, probably won't happen again. While I was there I decided I should probably indulge in some of the extras- fish eye ball shots, and actually eating the outter sides of the fish eye- mmmmm. The fish shots were like soju, but thick. I don't know if they blended up the eye?? Maybe, possibly took some of the fish eye ball slim to make it?? No idea- but it was...odd. Taste? Honestly I didnt breathe out of my nose and I chased it with beer....hey- I said I would try odd things, not that I would taste/savour them! The other part of the fish eye though, I took the time to chew it, think about it...it was chewy alright!! Like a little piece of rubber, not horrible, just odd. Anddd moving on. Tuesday I spent my night finishing my report card comments for my afternoon children. I'm able to do this from home, super convienent, but just that I worked for 2 1/2 hours- from home. Meh...I'd take that over feeling pressured at work to get it all done, plus it's quiet at home which makes for easy work AND laying in bed to do it....nice. Thursday I ventured into Itaewan for the first time with some fellow teachers! It was a really nice change- it's where the US military base is so it caters to westerners. We ate at this delicious Indian restaurant...mmmm butter chicken, prawn vindaloo, garlic naan bread- so good!! Apparently they have a great buffet, which we went for, but it's only available on weekends- I'd go back to check it out for sure! While there, we discussed going for a few drinks after- the other teachers had a friend visiting and they wanted to show him around a bit. Well how convienent- across the street there was a bar that had big signs that read "Thursdays ladies drink free"...pshh I was game! Draw back? Well we didn't know until we got in...haha...it was a sight to see! Not that there's anything wrong with what was going on... let me put it this way- I felt like I was in a club in Detroit (well what I think it would be like..)- like I said, NOT that there's ANYTHING wrong with that... BUT when you're one of 4 girls in the place...THE ENTIRE PLACE filled with US military dudes, it was a bit intimidating. I was loving up the tunes, brought me back to my good old Voodoo days...but like I said- intimidating. I must say though- a much better choice than the bar we had dinner over top of- a tranny bar? Hmmmm...
Andd moving on- Friday was great! Sun was shining and I decided that I was going to put my big girl pants on and take the subway, alone, for the first time. Great success! I met up with a friend in Ilsan (ok so only 4 stops away- hey this is all new to a county girl!) We went to a little place for drinks, some other teachers met up with us, then we hit up another place for some dance time. It was a great night! Met a fellow Canadian there- from Sask. Hung out all night, a lovely adventure....rest of the weekend was low key. I did a lot of skyping- something I'm looking forward to come the weekends. I love being able to see my friends and family. Hearing from them is just great! It's that little bit of home, right here in Korea- speaking of that...I need to share this little story:
Last weekend I went to a second hand store here in Hwajung- just to check it out (hey ya never know the treasures you can find in these places, especially in Korea?) So I saw some pretty sweet steals- leopard print, velour jogging pants. OK I opted not to get those. BUT I did find a cute little Billabong coat. I scooped it up, brought it home and washed it. Well I put it on Saturday afternoon to head out- in my head I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to find money in the pockets" because I had yet to check them all out....Not that I found millions, but it was even better. There was a loonie in one of the little pockets- weird. It put the biggest smile on my face, and thinking about it, I'm still smiling. OK OK, not a huge deal, but it's the little things in life- right? I'm in Korea, buying a used coat and find a loonie in the pocket...I will never spend that loonie, ever. xo

(Side note: I just want to say a BIG congrats to two of my friends- Patricia and Ian....I couldnt be more honoured to be included in your big day guys...so happy for you both!!!!! xoxo)