A Skype-y Christmas

So the year is coming to a close...just like it does every year. These past 4 months have been pretty rough not being around our loved ones, especially during the holidays, but I must say that this Christmas was definitely something special.
N8 and I are very lucky to have made such good friends here in Gangneung, we had a huge Christmas eve dinner with friends who all brought something fun and hot to eat! One friend was even able to manage a turkey from a friend who is working for the US government. hooray! We stuffed our faces (I had 3 plates of food) and played dirty Santa and taboo. The next morning N8 and were so happy to sleep in and wake up to a tree full of presents underneath, thanks to the Riley family and my wonderful sisters jb and S! I got some great pj pants, socks, books, and cookie/brownie mix! N8 recieved a hat, gloves, and a scarf which were exactly what he needed. We both got some great books to keep us company too. So we were able to open our presents with my family over skype and wish each other a Merry Christmas.
Then we celebrated Christmas on the slopes of Korea with some friends that were first-timers. We rented our snowboarding equipment for under 30 dollars and lift tickets are also around 30 dollars! Its so much cheaper to snowboard here, which is great for us! We made sure to make it back to Gangneung for another Christmas dinner with the same crew from the Christmas eve dinner. It was another night of more food, fun and friends! N8 was finally able to talk to his family when we got back and the whole even came to a really wonderful close. Thanks to all for making us feel so loved during this holiday season!


Oh by the way! we also had a huge snow fall a few days before Christmas which really made it feel like home! The students had off from school but all the teachers were called in to help shovel! :)

Mix it up!

Hey all! we had a pretty nice weekend with friends. Its definitely the holiday season, so there are lots of parties going on. N8 and I went to Sokcho to celebrate a friend's birthday and also to have a gift exchange for Christmas. We also went through the fish market again to eat some more of that wonderful stuffed squid.



After the fish market, we took a 3 hour bus to Chuncheon for a goodbye party. The city of Chuncheon definitely brought the Christmas spirit into our hearts because it was the first time we've seen snow since we've been here. The next morning N8 and I woke up and were able to warm up with some Starbucks coffee (weehoo!), I was so happy because everyone here drinks instant 'coffee'. It doesnt taste like coffee at all. We also filled up on some dunkin donuts and headed to Emart, the big grocery store and found some mozzarela cheese which made us very happy! We took anoter 3 hour bus back to Gangneung and found that our city has also been touched by snow! Its exciting because now it feels like winter and like Christmas time.

When we got back to our city, I went out to get my hair cut. I'm not totally crazy about it, it feels alittle too flat and it kind of looks like a wig, but i'm happy to have a change. I now look more asian! My kids are going to go crazy tomorrow at school when they see me!

work, work and more work

Today was a great day because we just received ANOTHER care-package from the Riley family! Here goes a big fat shout out to YOU for sending us so many goodies. THANK YOU!
N8 and I were so impressed with the homemade story book with the pictures of the family! You really made us feel loved during this holiday season!
I may be getting the best care-package of all soon because a little birdy told me that S. is coming to visit for my birthday...that would be the ultimate birthday present.
Right now the school semester is coming to a close and the students are all pretty much burnt out from their final exams and they could care less about English right now. My classes are pretty relaxed now because its the end of the year and there is no more material to be taught so I just show a Simpson's episode or sing songs with them.
N8 and I both have to complete winter camps sometime during the break. It usually consists of one week (15-20 hours) for 20 students and also another week for teachers that want to learn English. As of right now, i only get Christmas day off, and then start my student winter camp on Jan 26 and finish on Jan 2nd. I will be doing Christmas carols with my students with another native speaker teacher, Jason, who also works at my school. Then I have to do a teacher workshop, also 20 hours, but in 3 days! It'll be a lot of work but I'm always happy to have eager students.
Right now we are relaxing and preparing for our winter camps, and also looking forward to all of the Christmas parties and New Year parties that are happening in korea with all of the foreigners.

Busy Saturday

We had a busy Saturday...

1. Ice-skating with friends
2. Traditional Korean dance performance featuring one of my students. Awesome. We went with our Korean teacher, Daram.
3. Dinner with friends. We ate a dish called 샤바샤바 (shyaba shyaba). It consists of very thinly sliced beef which you dip into an extremely hot red, vegetable soup. The soup is so hot that the meat cooks within a minute. You then take it out and dip it into a firey mixture of wasabe and soy sauce. You eat the vegetables in the soup with your beef. After the beef is gone, you add noodles, egg, and some spices to the broth and you have the 2nd course. Finally, you finish off the remaining broth (there's a lot of broth) with fried rice. It was FAAANTASTIC. Muffy, myself, and our friend Eric shocked our Korean friends by cleaning off any scraps of food remaining on the table.
4. Bowling with some other friends. I beat Steph both times, muahahha. However, she had me weeping in the first game until about the 8th frame...I was shaking in my boots. She did make two strikes look like child's play, way to go honey!
5. We capped the night off with some pool and beer at our favorite dive bar, The Warehouse. You can count on seeing the same 30 people at this bar on any given night. They play western music and serve cheap beer. It's not swanky, but it always provides some good laughs and a nice way to end a long day of activities.

Below you'll find some pictures and videos from our Saturday:

Muffy is the ice goddess.


N8 and Muffy



Eric pulling a bunch of little girls that were drawn to our handsome western jaws.


Unlike with Eric, the little girls could handle my bitchingly fast skating technique, and they wiped out on the corner. I crushed one, and now she's crippled.






Muffy with our Korean teacher Daram! Daram is awesome.



Muffy bowling another strike


If you look closely, you'll notice my name on the little whiteboard. I'm paired up with Syren, who is a badass on the pool table. (I was lucky to have her as a partner)

Muffy realized that the movements required to skate backwards are uncanny in their similarity to my mother's dance moves.


Eric Richter is clincally insane. That's why we like him. When people see us, they think "Wow, those two people are really great for taking that young man to the ice rink for his big day out!"

Winter Festival

Hey gang,

I just got the video from my school of our recent performance at the Winter Festival. This is a huge deal. In fact, past festivals have even been broadcasted on television (cable television)! Muffy and I, along with two of our friends that are also English teachers in Gangneung, danced and sang to a mix of songs by various artists:

Bon Jovi - Livin on a Prayer (N8)
Village People - YMCA (Kasia)
Bob Marley - One Love (Marta)
Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin Somethin (Muffy)
Wondergirls - Nobody (everybody)

The last sogn, Nobody, is a song by the Korean pop group the Wondergirls. It's almost entirely in Korean except for parts of the refrain. the Wondergirls are the Korean equivalent of the Spice Girls, so the room went nuts.

A little over a month ago, Muffy and I helped Kasia and Marta with a similar performance for their school. So...I bugged them into returning the favor at my school.

Anyways...here's a video of the whole performance! Enjoy.

By the way, if you click on the little button at the bottom of the video window to make it full screen it will be much better.