Merry Christmas!

Well, I have survived Christmas in Korea. Many of you have asked whether Christmas is a big deal here or not. It's a tough question to answer. In their quest to be consumers and involved in the materialism of the world, Koreans have embraced the gift-giving of Christmas. There are aisles of toys and decorations in the stores, though not nearly as much as in the States. The country is pretty much split between Buddhists and Christians, so the religion behind Christmas is definitely here. However, unlike the massive season of spending we have in the States, Christmas is really only a day. We get one day off work and school, then it's back to the grind the next morning. Though, we do get a week off in 4 more days (Yay!).

The thing I think I miss most about Christmas in the States are the decorations put up in each household. Since everyone lives in apartments around this area, there are no grand displays of Christmas lights on the lawn or Christmas trees in the windows. I did manage to have a Christmas-like dinner tonight. A friend and I successfully attempted to make stuffing and had chicken, stuffing, and veggies for dinner. I must say it turned out quite tasty, even if it was cooked in a toaster oven! I made Christmas cookies last weekend, so I did try to get into the spirit as much as possible. I have some of Tracy's ornaments hanging around my apartment (thank goodness they're cute and compact for packing).

My Tigers' Kindergarten Class before the concert! Aren't they adorable?

My school's annual Christmas concert filled up most of the past month. I was co-creating a concert for about 90 students. Until less than 2 weeks before the concert, we didn't know if we were going to have a venue or if we would have to put the show on in our library. We kept finding out about last minute changes to the time/place/program/resources/expectations until the day of the concert. We had a staff of sick people (including myself with strep throat), people fed up with management (we were unsure if they'd still be around this Christmas), parents who need to hear their children speak and sing in English, broken CD players and no practice space. It was quite a stressful month as far as that was concerned. The concert was a hit, though! My class' parents thought their students were the best. As long as all the parents felt that way, we did our jobs well. We had a combination of big group songs and class songs. The Kindergarten sang "Winter Wonderland" together, and we got 3 rows of kids swaying in opposite directions perfectly during the instrumental section! The whole school sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" at the end of the concert, after which we were bombarded by parents wanting to give flowers and good wishes to their students. My kids sang right before those 2 songs, so they'd sat through about an hour and a half of other classes before being able to be stars. We had 2 fabulous songs - "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain." For the latter, the kids were swinging, clapping, doing head-bobs, getting into the full gospel rhythm of the song. All it was missing was choir robes! The audience was in stitches!


"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" Check out the girl with the writing on her shirt in the front. This is Lucy, and she is absolutely adorable in this song!



Unfortunately, I don't have a good video of the actual performance, but I do have rehearsal footage.

Must-See Korean Stationary

In the basement of the building in which I bank is my favorite store - the stationary store. Pens, erasers, pencils, sharpeners, paper, cards, stickers, art supplies, office supplies, notebooks, schedulers.... more than you can ever imagine, and more creative than you will see anywhere else. Some of you have already been the recipients of my love for this store, as I could spend all day there! Many of you will soon receive the world's greatest Christmas cards, all purchased from this store. The best part about it all is the price - Stationary is such a hot commodity, a fashion item, here in Korea that things are incredibly cheap! That makes the shopping more dangerous than you can possibly imagine.

Among the stacks, racks, rows, and shelves are some really great finds, including the schedulers pictured here. Browsing through the English writing on the books makes for an entertaining hour or so! I had to share these two with the world.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Though I'm on the other side of the world, in a land where turkey can't be found, I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving! Eat extra turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn for me! I'll be thinking of all of you sitting down to dinner together, and I wish I could be there with you!

Bukhansan trek

A few weeks ago, I set out to climb a new mountain with 2 coworkers, Nola and Kelsey. You can see the peak in the photo above... the one WAY in the background! This mountain is located in a National Park just outside of Seoul. In fact, it is the world's most-visited National Park per square foot. Amazing fact, isn't it?

The leaves were absolutely beautiful during my THREE HOUR HIKE UP THE MOUNTAIN! Yes, you read that right - it was a THREE HOUR HIKE UP THE MOUNTAIN! That does not include the time going down, which was close to 2.5 hours! It was the most physically exhausting thing I've done in a long time, possibly ever.

There was not so much a marked path up the mountain as a place where there were fewer trees. I scrambled up rock piles for about 2.5 miles up the mountain, often coming across piles that seemed like a wall, not quite knowing how to get up them!

Luckily, the three of us were of about equal physical conditioning and needed about the same amount of breaks.... toward the end of the 2.5 miles, the breaks were quite frequent. We set visual goals for ourselves, though it seemed like we stopped every 10 steps!


After hiking 2.5 miles up the mountain, in about 2.75 hours, I was faced with about 6 flights of stairs that led to a fortress wall running along the top part of the mountain range. So, I hauled my cookies up these six flights of steps, exhausted, yet inspired that the wall MUST mean that I was close to the top. Deception! Once through the wall, I turned left to discover another 10 flights of stairs leading to a granite peak. Now, I'm not just talking about a small granite rock... No, it was a good half kilometer of granite peak until I could finally stop at the top! But, the best discovery was yet to come...


At the top of that last 10 flights of stairs, I could see that the physical challenge of climbing Baekundae (the highest peak in Bukhansan National Park) was not climbing for nearly THREE HOURS UP THE MOUNTAIN, scrambling over rocks, trying to find the path, then being confronted with about 16 flights of stairs. No, the challenge is AFTER all of that, when your muscles have been worked to the point of exhaustion, when you think you cannot take another step because your bum is screaming at you, your quads are calling you all sorts of names, and your knees could use a hot tub. The challenge is in the form of a granite peak and a metal cable attached... a granite peak that is so steep and is impossible to scale without using all of your strength to pull yourself up the metal cable using your arm muscles (that have been exhausted by climbing for THREE HOURS UP THE MOUNTAIN) for another half a kilometer!

It's amazing more people don't plummet to their death due to an inability to hold onto the cable. This was insane!



The exhiliration in getting to the top was completely worth all of the exhaustion, frustration, and challenge of the day. The feeling of being on top of the world, well... at least on top of Seoul, was wonderful!


It was a great place to eat lunch, which we all had been needing, wanting, craving, almost breaking down and eating before we actually got to the top. We huddled behind some rocks to try to get out of the COLD wind and ate our sandwiches.

The hike down was nearly as dangerous (if not more so in places) than the hike up... And, it took just about as long. We spent the walk down wondering how in the world we actually made it the entire way up, as the walk seemed to take forever!

Our legs no longer functioned as we wished. I think it was Nola that said her feet stopped going where she tried to put them. We were EXHAUSTED! Knees, ankles, quads, bums, feet... you name it, it was tired and screaming at us... using very bad language to call us mean names! The memory was worth every moment of agony, though!

Strep Throat in Korea

Yes, from the title of this post, you can all guess that I've been sick! It's been going around my office, since my managers won't let people leave and get the rest they need and deserve when they're sick! They're making people stay at work with contagious diseases, and it's now spread throughout the entire staff. So, when we're all tired, cranky, and hardly functioning, they only have themselves to blame! Such is Korea.

The healthcare system here is great, though. I just get about 2% of my pay deducted each month, and I'm covered for any normal thing that could happen to me. It cost $3 to go to the doctor, and I didn't even need an appointment. Being a foreigner is a bonus, too, because they know me after just one visit! The doctor was wonderful, and he speaks very good English. Though, no words were really necessary, as he only looked at my throat for half a second before backing away! Being allergic to pennicillin is a great thing here because I got put on wonderdrugs instead. My strep throat cleared up in 3 days, where everyone else took over a week to recover. I am really grateful for that!

Pharmacies are amazing, as well. They package everything into dose-sized pouches. So, I'm on 3 medications, but I don't take them all everytime I'm supposed to take medicine. So, the pharmacy puts all of my morning pills for one day in a pouch, the afternoon pills in a pouch, and the evening pills in a pouch - FOR EACH DAY! So, for 3 days worth of medicine, I had 9 labeled pouches. This is what service should be like for everyone - no more fumbling through bottles trying to read the small print and open the child-proof caps! They're tear-open pouches! Wonderful! I did have to get a prescription for tylenol... I guess they don't sell that over-the-counter here in Korea. I know they have some type of Korean acetominophen, but not name-brand Tylenol!

Anyway, I've spent the weekend recovering and resting in my apartment. It was beautiful weather outside, too... I went to the farmers market and for short walks around town just to get some fresh air (well, as fresh as Korea gets around here). I'm all better, now, ready for the new week ahead!

The first REAL day of Fall

You know that feeling of the air biting you as the wind whips your hair into a mess. The first REAL day of Fall. Not the scientific start of Fall in September, but that first time you realize that Fall is here, and Summer is behind you. That was yesterday, and it was glorious! The first time you have to wear a warm jacket because it is actually cold (the other times were for mere comfort, but you would have been fine without). The first time you wake up to a chilly room and realize you might want to close your windows now. The first time the wind picks up and blows the clouds across the sky. In Korea, all buildings have a lobby with double doors that open to the rest of the world. Since I've been here, these doors have always been open, even in the rain. Yesterday, for the first time, the doors closed. Fall has announced its arrival. Every year, I forget how much I love the Fall... until it happens!

Scenes on the Street

It's time for another montage of pictures you'll only find in Korea!

This is a case, yes a CASE, of Spam sold at Walmart during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). Chuseok is a time of gift-giving (instead of Christmas). I don't know what the fascination with Spam and this country is, but it's strange... Note that the light blue can is "Mild" Spam...???



Yes, people actually buy the Spam casses en masse... those 7 blue cases are Spam containers ready to be loaded onto a bus... Someone's family is super-lucky!





Another bit of merchandise from Walmart. Now, if it seems like Walmart is the only place that sells such strange things, don't be fooled. They're just the ones that don't care if I take pictures!







Every Sunday, the restaurant on the first floor of my building receives a shipment of vegetables. Now, in North America, would the FDA approve of veggies being stored on the street sidewalk?




What would you do with the cabbage on the street? What else but make kimchi ... on the street! Needless to say, I haven't eaten at this restaurant. I can't get over the street-grime!