As I'm writing this, it's currently 25 degrees. I'm getting quite sick of the weather and even more sick of hearing about how calm Minnesota's winter has been. Today is probably one of the coldest days we've had but still! Luckily next week it should be back in the 40s, so they say...
With the cold still around us, February hasn't been too exciting. A lot of the stuff I want to do requires being outside and this month I just have no motivation to do that. I did have two pretty eventful weekends the first two weekends of February though.
The first Saturday in February Christine and I met up with some friends in the Gangnam area, which is part of Seoul. We went to two different bars but then proceeded to go to a Noraebong. This was my fist Noraebang experience and I was pretty excited because I had heard they were pretty fun. A Noraebong is Korean karaoke... BUT you rent out a whole room for yourself (the word "bang" means room...which makes "bang" about the 10th word I know in Korean! woo hoo). They had any song you can think of and after some pitchers of beer and some Makgeolli (Korean rice wine) one can only imagine the quality of singing going on in one of these rooms... The room was also complete with about 4 tambourines?? Because who doesn't want to play the tambourine while singing karaoke...
Last weekend, was another fun weekend. Friday night, most of us went to our co-worker Melinda's apartment to make homemade Mandu. Mandu are Korean dumplings... or I call them potsticker. See picture below! Of course ours didn't look as perfect (or anywhere near perfect in my case!)
Regardless of how they looked, they tasted delicious! We put tofu, green onions, white onions, cabbage, sprouts and rice noodles in them, and then you stir in an egg to the mixture also. We steamed ours and then fried some also. I will definitely have to try to make some when I get home!
Saturday was a really busy day. Christine, Rachel, and I made our third attempt at Costco. Note to self, DO NOT go on a weekend! Eeek so busy. We also chose a different way to go there, so the fourth time we go we will finally know the exact and quickest way to get there! I wanted to get some hamburger meat because I had been waiting to make chili but the meat is cheaper at Costco. Of course I had to get a huge bag of trail mix again, and also some granola, raisins, and cheese. It's so tempting not to buy everything in the place! Saturday night, we went out to a bar in Suwon to celebrate Melinda's birthday that day. It was pretty laid back and her boyfriend Tom who we work with also was playing at the bar so it was fun.
Sunday was the day I attempted my chili! It's actually super easy to make. who knew when your dad always makes it for you? :) I do have to say for a first time it actually tasted really good. I made a lot and put some in the freezer and also still have a lot of hamburger left so we'll see what I attempt with the rest of that! I bought some tortilla chips and put some of my cheddar cheese on the chili. It was like being in America! Yum!
Work continues to pass quickly! This is my last month with my classes and I'm getting pretty sad about not having my kindergartner's especially! They are still working super hard for their whole "graduation" but my kids are doing a really good job singing "ABC". I think Michael Jackson would have been proud. They look so cute! I will for sure tape their performance at the end of this month and put it on my photo site. My kids seem to think that this is for another "Song Contest" and I haven't told them that it isn't a contest because then their motivation will go down to actually practice... a little white lie can't hurt right!?
Hope everyone had a good Valentine's day! In Korea, the girl's are supposed to buy the boys presents, then on March 14th (which is known as White Day, I have no idea why) the boys buy the girls presents. I thought it was the other way around, so I was explaining to my kindergarten that the boys will buy the girls presents and Spencer (my only boy out of my 6 students) looks around at all the girls, puts his hands on his face and says, "Oh no!" haha it was so cute. I told him he didn't have to bring anything for us, but of course his mom sent him with little treat bags for the class, and a box of Lindt chocolate truffles for me! :)
Danny sent me a surprise package with 6 bags of M&Ms and 2 bags of reeses... which is quite possibly the best gift ever (except maybe my Kindle!). We'll see how long they last. Overall, it was a good holiday!
Let's see... other news, Christine, Heather and I signed up for a half marathon at the end of April! I've always wanted to run one and for 30,000 won, it seems like a pretty good time to do so. Next weekend is the last weekend of the 5 teachers whose contracts are finished at the end of February so we'll be pretty busy. The new teachers will also be coming around that time so that should be exciting. My friend and roommate Kayla from Gustavus left this weekend for Korea too! She'll be teaching in Daegu but still, we'll be on the same continent again which is exciting and I might be able to see in her in Seoul while she's training this week.
AND the most exciting news, Molly will be in Korea to go to Thailand with me for summer vacation!!! Molly will fly into Korea on July 26th and then we'll leave for Thailand on the 28th when my vacation starts and be there until August 4th or 5th! So, if anyone has any suggestions on what to see/do in Thailand, please speak up because it is already overwhelming looking at everything there is to do there. Ahhh so exciting though! Too bad it's 5 months away!
Tootles,
Meghan
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