Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays to everyone!

Christmas has come and gone just like that! And now there are less than 11 hours until my flight to Hong Kong, and I just started to pack!!! Man, I am so good at procrastinating... when I taught my kids about procrastination, I used myself as an example. =_=;;

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great holiday with their loved ones. I wish I could be back to celebrate. Christmas is just not Christmas without my family and friends. I miss you all so much! XOXO

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday and did some mad shopping. I miss everyone and I wish I could be at home, especially during the holidays.

I went out of town for a volleyball tournament this weekend in Gunsan. There's so many pictures that I need to post up from various trips, but I'm still super busy. I work so many hours a week, plus tutoring, and trying to have a social life. There really aren't enough hours of the day. And December's just around the corner, and I feel like I'll be even more busy! That being said, I do want to send Christmas cards, so if you want a card, please post your address or send me a message! ^^

Busy

I had a great weekend at Seoraksan in Gangwondo. It was sooo cold, and a long bus ride back, but overall, a great little weekend getaway. Now, I'm back and it's just as cold, about 28 degrees Fahrenheit right now. I've been really busy these last two days, been out of the house from early in the morning to late at night. I've started working out in the morning, since I have no time after work. So I've only been at home to sleep. Tomorrow, I should have a little more free time to relax and clean.

I finally got all the pictures from my cousin's visit. No time to upload them now, but this one is one of my favorites:

Hehe, we look so happy in the fields. It was so nice having family visit. Who's next?!

Been trying to find a cheap flight to go to Hong Kong for my Christmas vacation. On top of that, I need to finish my grad school research and start applying! Oh, just some of the many things I need to get done...

Pepero Day

So this past Wednesday was Pepero Day, where people give out Pepero snacks to each other. Pepero are stick-shaped snacks so therefore 11/11 is Pepero Day! It's a big couple day, guys give it to girls they like, but friends also give it to friends. Here's what I received.


Too bad none of them were from anyone older than thirteen years old. Haha. =_=;;

I'll be out of town this weekend. Heading to Seorak Mountain in Gangwondo!

Bittersweet

Heyy! On top of being super busy with work, I went to Hong Kong last weekend!! So first things first, while it's still fresh in my mind, if I had to sum up my Hong Kong trip in one word, I would say that it was bittersweet. Pros - got to see my parents and relatives (especially my great-grandma) and such goooood food. Cons - it was such a tease seeing everyone then having to say goodbye, seeing my great-grandma in her condition, and so tiring!

I packed super light (in hopes that I would do some major shopping), so I didn't bring my camera. So I'll have to wait until Momma gets back to the states and sends me the many pictures we took (mainly of food). Until then, here are the only pictures I took, with my cell:

Daddy and I

View of Kowloon from Hong Kong Island
That building will be 103 (?) stories high when completed

It was my great-grandma's 100th birthday!

I'll have a proper, detailed update soon. Until then...

Winter Too Soon

What in the world is going on? It's sooooo cold! It's below zero Celsius on the second day of November! And according to weather.com, it feels like -6 degrees. In any event, I don't think I'll be signing up for that half marathon in December. I really wanted to participate in a race in Korea, even if I were to wing it, but since it's only going to get colder, no way on Earth will I be able to run 12.1 miles in zero degree weather (average temperature of December)!!! I was supposed to get in a run today, but no way. I would freeze. My body is just not made to withstand this weather. Apparently, neither is my brain. Can't think right now. Oh, how I miss the 50 degrees California winters...

December 2008 in Gangwon Province
First snow in Korea there today. Already?!

It's going to be a long, long winter...
=__=

Goodbye October, Hello November!

I know always say this, but time flies. October's gone already and November's here!

Quick recap of October... I was busy every weekend, starting out with Chuseok weekend with Judy's family, Gwanak Mountain adventure, Babee and Adam visiting (going to Sangju and Gyeryeong), volleyball tournament, and Halloween. The kids were adorable on Halloween, but going out on Halloween was a big disappointment. Hmm, I've been busy on the weekdays too, with work and tutoring. Unfortunately no running... Work has been stressful. Lots to do and last week out of nowhere, one of my favorite students left POLY. ㅠㅠ Such a bummer; it was such a shock too, and I'm not even sure why he quit. More on this later. For the October field trip, we went to a car museum in Yongin.

My homeroom class (Tulip)

Sport cars

They're so cute!

I told them to be silly like the crazy guy behind them.

I'm exhausted from volleyball, going to look up some more grad schools, then head to bed early. Tomorrow's high temperature is 4 degrees Celsisus (39 Farenheit)... Tuesday morning is going to be -1 Celsius! So cold...

Back to Reality

It was so nice having family visit me here in Korea, but now my place feels so empty. The nine days that my cousin and her husband were here went by so quickly! I don't have any pictures from the time they were here, but I'll soon get them after they get settled back home and upload their pictures! Here's a quick breakdown of what we did...

The first Saturday they were here, I met them in Gyeryong (a small city south of West Daejeon). From there, with her relatives, we went to Sangju in Gyeongsangbuk Province. It was her Grandfather's birthday, so we went to go spent the night out in the country/mountains with them. It was really nice out there - the air was so clean, and even though we surrounded by the nature, our accomodation (a small shack/bungalow nearby) was very modern. It is even nicer than the place I'm at now. =_= Their family was very warm and welcoming. Gah, I miss family!

We ate a lot of delicious food and called it a night early. The next morning, we woke up early for breakfast (more delicious food), then went for a short hike up the mountains. After church service, we had another delicious meal, and made the long trip back to Seoul. It took almost five hours total to get back to my place. We were all exhausted, but I took them to Seohyun Station to do a little shopping and eat some delicious meat! So yummy!

During the week, they went out to Seoul everyday, exploring different tourist sites. I had work and I get off late, so I feel bad that I was not able to take them out anywhere. It just so happened to be a really busy week, too. We did get to eat some more meat Tuesday night, and I ordered chicken for them Monday night. All about the good food here!

The following Saturday, I met them back in Gyeryong to spend their last day with them. My cousin's relatives took us around the area. The original plan was to go hiking up Daejeon Mountain, but it was uber crowded. So somewhere along the way, we made it to Buyeo (previous capital of Baekje Kingdom?). We stopped by a museum for a bit, then ate some traditional food. I ate snails! We walked around for a bit, visited a lotus garden, then headed back to Gyeryong. I spent the night there and early in the morning, came back to Seoul.

On Sunday, some friends and I played in a charity volleyball tournament. I had high expectations for our team and was really looking forward to playing some normal indoor volleyball (6 people on the court, instead of 9). Unfortunately, we lost... It was really unsatisfying, so afterwards, my friend and I went to Bucheon to play some more volleyball. There was no one at practice, and we only played doubles, but it was fun. And we got a free dinner out of it, too! It's nice being the youngest, and the only girl. Hehe. Anyways, it was a good six hours total of intense volleyball, and I am sore all over today, so I wasn't able to go for my run tonight. It's been too long since I've gone running...

I had a really good time with family visiting. But now, it's time to recover and it's back to my life here in Korea. Work work work on the weekdays (plus running?), and try to go out and do things, anything!, on the weekends. I'll update with pictures soon!~

Hiatus

I have visitors here for about a week, so I'll be MIA until they leave. Until then!

Gwanak Mountain Adventure

On Saturday, after tutoring, my friend Susan and I went hiking up Gwanak Mountain (관악산) in the southern part of Seoul. It was an interesting day.

First, we went to Gangnam to grab a quick bite at Paris Baguette. A quick bite turned out to be a lot of food (especially since both of us are such big eaters).

This was my lunch:
a pastrami egg sandwich,
mushroom tortilla,
chicken salad,
and chicken pizza.
Yum, yum, YUM!

And I was still hungry afterwards... Anyways, we headed to Seoul National University Entrance Station, changed, and put our stuff in a locker (more on this later). Seoul National University, Korea's number one university, is situated at the foot of Gwanak Mountain and the entrance to the mountain is right there next to the school's main gate. So up we went!

The sign says:
Yeonjundae (A path up a mountain).
Really?! I wouldn't have guessed!

Heading up...

The view south, away from Seoul.
Remember the buildings in the far distance at the foot of the mountain...

I climbed up this!
A little scared...

The peak in the distance (with the Korean flag at the top)!

Made it up there!!

Seoul in the distance.
Beautiful view.

We made it to the top fairly quickly - about two hours. On our way down, we found a paved path. It was a little hard on our knees, but we continued along that for quite some ways. Then, when we got closer to the bottom, we asked someone where we were.... ANYANG! We completely walked over the mountain to the other side! =_=;; The picture earlier, looking away from Seoul... we end up at those buildings (an university in Anyang). By now, it was dark and getting chilly. We caught a bus back to the nearest subway station, then subway back Seoul University to pick up our stuff in the locker.

Now the locker situation... everything is in Korean, and in terms that I don't know. When we put our stuff in the locker, it seemed fairly easy. Start, choose an empty locker, put our stuff in, then paid for it with my T-money bus card. Done. As we started to think about it more... are T-money cards that advanced? I just would scan it again, and the correct locker would open up??? There was no confirmation number or anything. Other places had you scan in your fingerprint or enter in a password! We were worried. When we got back to the locker, we saw some guy putting in his stuff, and a confirmation receipt came out! When we saw that, we were so worried - that's what we didn't get! We couldn't open it, and there was no one working at the station anymore. Somehow, after a few tries, with the touch of some buttons, our locker opened up. I don't know what buttons I pushed, but it was magic. We were soo incredibly relieved.

So earlier, before our hike, we bought a little roast chicken. We never got a chance to eat it, so we decided to just eat it before splitting ways. Only problem was, there was nowhere to eat. I was hoping there was some cafe or a bench outside of the station where we could sit, but nope. We were so tired, and just sat down on a nearby curb, and wolfed down the little birdie. Everyone walking by gave us strange looks, and many laughed. A lady told us to sit at some nearby chairs (but they were in front of a glasses store), and some guy said that the food looked delicious. Embarrassing...

Overall, quite the adventure. It was a really good hike; I was a little sore the next day. I haven't really gone running since last Thursday. I only ran two miles yesterday, and plan to go the gym tonight since it's storming outside. I really have to get in more the miles before my cousin comes to visit and I go to Hong Kong. And I still haven't signed up for the Half. Hmmm... I'll just wing it. >.<

Mileage

Lately, I've been racking up miles running. In the last three weeks, I've run about 35 miles, a little more than 10 miles a week. I normally run about 3-4 miles, and three or four times a week. I think. This was completely an estimate based on a 9-10 min/mile pace. I didn't really know for sure how far or at what pace I' was running, and I was also been doing stairs and ramps along the way.

So today I finally got the Google maps pedometer to work. It wasn't working for the longest time, but I finally figured it out. On top of my total, I ran about 6 miles tonight in about 55:00 minutes, so about a 9:00min/mile pace. Correct! Man it was really hard getting out of the house, but I'm glad I did. Endorphins really do make you happy! Haha!

Smelly Melly

Smelly, come back to Korea to visit me... I miss you!

Matthew

My Kindergarten student, Matthew

This picture was taken at the September Kindergarten birthday party. All the Kindergarten students give presents to the birthday students, so they end up with about seventy presents!! Here's Matthew lugging his presents around; he's such a class clown.

The look on his face expresses how I feel. Haha, I've just been stressed from work and tired from running. So many things to do...

More later!

Chuseok Weekend

Wow, Chuseok weekend flew by really fast. I went with Judy to visit her aunt and uncle in Incheon. They're a little older and remind me a lot of my own grandparents (especially their delicious cooking, or the way her aunt mumbles things under her breath to herself, or their constant bickering and fighting hehe). It was a good three day weekend - a lot of good food and relaxing, a chance to get my mind off things.

I forget what these pancake things are called.
Judy's aunt made about 100 total, I think!

Fish, fish, fish!

Me making 송편(songpyeon) -
a traditional Korean food, half-moon shaped rice cake.

Tradition says that if you make beautiful songpyeon,
you will have beautiful children.
I'm working hard!!!

So... what do you think?

Tada, the finished product!
Beautiful children??? Haha!

I really ate too much this weekend, time for a run. Later!

Seoul Grand Park

This past weekend, on Saturday, I also went to the Seoul Zoo (part of Seoul Grand Park) in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul. It was relaxing, just strolling around the park. Pictures galore! Here are some of my favorites of the day, enjoy!

Rawr!

Pandas! ^^

The dolphin/ sea lion show was good.
Similar to a Marine World dolphin show.
Not as interactive, but more jumps and tricks!

Looks like he's posing for me.

Hangin' around with the monkeys...

Caged.

Keep out, danger.

I thought they were red pandas,
but they actually are also known as the
"lesser pandas."

I'll probably be MIA for the next few days for the Chuseok holiday. Will definitely update when I get back! Until then, take care!