Winter Vacation Part 3

Hey all,

After a day off, here is the final installment of the Wolfish Winter Vacation posts, with the action moving from Japan back to South Korea.

December 30:

We arrived at the Gimpo airport in Seoul late on Wednesday night and eventually made our way to the newly renamed Ambassador hotel.

December 31:

After exploring one of the more glorious breakfast buffet spreads I've ever seen, we made our way to the subway. An hour and a half later we were in Suwon, ready to head off to my school. Mom, Dad, and Robyn got to meet one of my 4th grade classes, as well as my co-teacher and then we had lunch at school. I'm pretty sure most of my female students will return from winter vacation dressed like Robyn, they absolutely loved her; the same goes for Mom and Dad. It was definitely a worthwile visit, as I'm sure they'll tell you. After show and tell at school we headed back to my apartment, so I could give everyone a better sense of where I live and what everyday life is like. I gave everyone a little tour of my neighborhood area and naturally we ended up at the mall across the street. Unfortunately time was running short and the weather was a little too cold outside to go to Hwaseong Fortress, but maybe we'll go during the next visit. We headed back to Seoul for a little rest before New Year's Eve dinner. After dinner we parted ways (Mom and Dad have never really been the type to stay up past midnight). I went to meet up with friends at Bosingak (the Bell tower, one location in Seoul where New Year's festivities take place). We had a great time celebrating and it was nice to be with friends, I know that was a little tough for Robyn, which I completely understand. The only downside of fully enjoying the New Year's festivities is the lack of sleep, which I made up for the next day.

January 1:

Much thanks to Mom and Dad for allowing me to get all of my beauty sleep, I promise I wouldn't have been much fun to be around had I been awoken from my slumber. While I slept, Mom, Dad and Robyn went to explore Insadong and Gwanghwamun and when I finally woke up, I went to meet up with some friends in Myeongdong, where we all eventually got together for a delicious bulgogi dinner.

January 2:

We started our day off by going to the Yongsan Electronics Market, which is one of the most overwhelming places I have ever been. It's basically floor after floor of electronics, everything you could imagine. My goal was to replace my camera, which I did successfully, and I also found a larger external hard drive. From Yongsan we made our way to Gyeongbokgong, which I had been to in the fall, but in winter time it is a changed place. It's very serene and there is a natural beauty that's different than what you see in different seasons. We had lunch in Insadong and then continued on to Changdeokgong, which is on the opposite side of the are from Gyeongbokgong. Changdeokgong was also gorgeous in the winter time, especially the Secret Garden, which I'm sure is also incredible during spring and summer. Both palaces were enjoyed by all, but after spending most of the day outside in cold weather we were ready to head inside and even though they didn't say anything, I could tell Mom and Robyn were itching to look at some more Korean fashion trends. So, naturally I took them to Dongdaemum. Dad and I lasted a very suprising half an hour, then we parted ways and met up for dinner. Most of us called it an early night to prepare for our early morning wake up.

January 3:

DMZ day. We boarded our bus headed north at 7:40 am, not a time most of us are used to seeing on a Sunday. Our first stop on the DMZ tour was Doraksan, the last train station in South Korea, which they one day hope will connect passenger trains from Pyeongyang in the North to Seoul and further south. Even Dubya made a trip to Doraksan and they have his autographed cement slab in the relatively new Hall of Fame at the station. After Doraksan we went to an observatory that looks out on North Korean mountains and "Propaganda Village," a village that North Korea set up to show off the happy people living the North Korean life, but in actuality no one lives there. Following the observatory we went to Panmujeon, the 3rd tunnel, which was another area I didn't go my first time in Paju. The first thing you do at Panmujeon is watch a movie on the history of the tunnels. Unfortunately Dad's headphones were broken so I lent him mine and watched the movie in Japanese. After the movie we got to go into the tunnel. To get to the bottom you have to take a monorail car, not quite as fun as Paul Bunyan's Log Chute or the Matterhorn, but it worked well. Once we were at the bottom you had to be really careful not to hit your head on the tunnel walls or piping that had been installed. Mom could be heard adjusting her helmet a few times and most people were walking around at a 45 degree angle. To exit the tunnel you could either take the car back up or walk it, which Dad I decided to do, being the menly men that we are. There was only minor weezing at the top, but I'm pretty sure we were both glad that we walked it. We had a bulgogi lunch and then we were on our way home. On the bus ride back to Seoul I finally figured out why buses always keep the heat on: so that everyone on board can go effortlessly into nap mode (I finally get it Dave). We arrived back in Seoul with plenty of daylight left to continue exploring so we headed for Cheonggyecheon (the recently uncovered stream as part of beautification project downtown) after one last shopping excursion. It's too bad we didn't stay later because the whole are is lit up beautifully at night, but that's for another time. We made a large circle down to City Hall, where the winter Haechis were up on display and then headed back to our hotel. For dinner we ended up in Insadong at a delicious restaurant where we had an enormous pot of noodles and clams as well as mandu.

January 4:

Everyone awoke to more snow falling in Seoul and unfortunately that limited our options for exploring. After checking out of the hotel, we headed to the Namsagol Hanok Village, a traditional Korean folk village. There is a stark difference in snow maintenance between Korea and home. We saw men shoveling with planks of wood, cardboard boxes, and dustpans. Instead of shoveling the snow out of the way, many people just sweep it to the side. Needless to say the paths throughout the village were covered in snow but we endured. Mom and Robyn were troopers and they were rewarded with Dunkin Donuts and a movie. Sherlock Holmes was enjoyable, a little ridiculous at different parts in the movie, but entertaining. Following the movie we went to a Vietnamese place for lunch. Robyn got her fill of dim sum and the rest of us shared some good pho and fried rice. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to grab our bags and then we said our goodbyes. Mom, Dad, and Robyn had their own mini-adventure getting to their hotel in Incheon, while I was everyone's biggest fan on the subway with my bags.

The past week was a nice little vacation, it gave me time to decompress from our travels and organize myself for winter camp, which started today. So, it's back to work and the daily grind, I know I'm already looking forward to my next getaway.

iPod A-Z song update: "Raspberry Beret" by Prince

Winter Vacation Part 2

Hey all,

As promised here is part 2 of the Wolfish Winter Vacation mini-saga. I'm feeling well rested and ready to go after the usual weekend breakfast treat, a Dunkin Donuts bagel with cream cheese and OJ. So, without any further hesitation, let me continue.

December 28:

For the first time on our vacation we awoke to rain instead of sunshine. But, we were all alright with the weather because we would be in transit from Hakone to Kyoto via Odawara. We were picked up by a Japanese driver who looked like a bigger version of Oddjob from Goldfinger; all he was misising was the bowler hat, which I guess is a necessity if you want to look like Oddjob. Anyways, we were taken from our hotel in Hakone to the train station in Odawara, where we caught the Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto. Like most train stations, Odawara was filled with delicious bakeries and gift shops and we decided to pick up baked goods from the Hakone Bakery. Dad and I got chicken tandoori buns, which were incredible, absolutely delicious. The train ride was great, it took about two hours to get from Odawara to Kyoto, a trip that would've taken roughly 5 1/2 hours before the bullet train. We arrived in Kyoto in time for lunch and after we checked in to our hotel, we walked to the Nishi Hongwanji (the western temple), which is the mother temple and headquarters for the Shin Buddhists. The temple was built in 1591 and is a wonder to behold. It has been designated as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. The grounds are spectacular and it really was something to behold. After the Nishi Hongwanji, we walked around some traditional neighborhoods until we got to Higashi Honganji, the eastern temple, which was as magnificent as its western counterpart. For dinner we settled on one of the thousands of restaurants located in the station and the adjoining mall complex called "The Cube" because of its unique design.

December 29:

Today was our big day of touring. We explored Kyoto during the morning and in the afternoon we went to Nara. Our guide for the morning and afternoon sessions was a nice, older man named Yoshi, who, for lack of a better example, could only compare to Fozzy Bear. He was full of bad jokes for everyone, whether you were Australian, American, Spanish, Canadian, etc... you couldn't escape the wrath of Yoshi. At one point, he even busted out a "Todah Rabah" to the slumbering Israeli couple on our bus. Very well versed in world languages. The tour itself was very enjoyable. First we went to Nishi Hongwanji, which we had already seen the day before, but it was good to see it a second time. Next we went to the Ryoanji Temple, which is known for its Zen garden and the surrounding park. The Zen garden at the temple is different than many Japanese garden, mostly because it lacks trees. The garden consists of 15 larger rocks and white gravel. The idea of the garden is to try and find all 15 rocks, but the longer you stare at the garden the more varied your vision becomes. In the middle of the grounds is the Kyoyochii Pond, originally made in the late 12th century and home to many mandarin ducks until recent years. Halfway across the pond on the bank, they had a tire swing for the monks! After the Ryoanji Temple, we made our way to one of the most amazing and beautiful structures I have ever seen, the Rokuon-ji Temple, also known as the Golden Pavillion. The building is spectacular. The area was built up in the late 14th century by Yoshimitsu, the 3rd Shogun of Ashikaga, with the intention of creating a breath taking site. The area was breathtaking and the pavillion gleamed beautifully against the pond that surrounded it. This was definitely one of those places where a picture speaks 1000 words, so I won't bother writing much more about it. We had lunch at the Kyoto Handicraft Center and then continued on to Nara, which is a little under an hour away from Kyoto. In 710, Nara became the first permanent capital of Japan and it served as the birthplace of Japan's arts, crafts and literature. Today, Nara serves as a city that connects modern Japanese with their ancestors. When we arrived, we first toured Nara Park, which is famous for its policy towards the city's deer, who roam free throughout the park, much to Robyn's chagrin. The park was huge and there were some temples and pagodas on the grounds as well. After walking through the park, we arrived at the Kasuga Grand Shrine, our last stop on our tour of Nara. When we got back to Kyoto, the four of us were hungry and ready for dinner, so we made our way to Shijo Dori, the main street in downtown Kyoto, where we found an excellent udon restaurant that has been in operation for over 100 years.

December 30:

Our last day in Japan was definitely a good one. We spent the majority of the day exploring Kyoto some more. Unfortunately Nijo Castle, which Dad and I had wanted to go to, was closed, so we missed out on that, guess we'll have to go back. We started off at Maruyama Park in eastern Kyoto, a large park that included the Chion-in Temple and the Yasaka Shrine. Unknowingly, we came upon what appeared to be a Japanese funeral. Throughout the park it appeared that they were setting up for a huge New Year's celebration. After leaving the park we explored the Gion neighborhood, famous for being the home to the geishas. Given that it was the middle of the day, we didn't see any geishas out and about, but I'm sure if we had gone back that evening we would've seen them in action. For lunch we stopped at a noodle restaurant by the Kamo River. Robyn continued to have her fill of shrimp tempura, I can't remember what Mom had, and Dad and I had a noodle soup with duck and rice cakes, which was excellent. In the afternoon we quickly explored Pontocho and then hustled to the train station to catch our train to Osaka. We flew out from Osaka to Seoul, which is where I'll leave off for now. Part 3 of the mini-saga can be expected in the next day or so and will chronicle our time in South Korea.

iPod A-Z song update: "A Punch Up At A Wedding (No No No No No No No No No) by Radiohead

Winter Vacation Part 1

Hey everyone,

Let me start by apologizing to those of you who have been anxiously awaiting new posts detailing the Wolfish Family Winter Vacation. It's taken me a while to compile everything that we did in Japan and South Korea and I was also away from my computer for a few days earlier in the week, but I promise that over the course of the next few days a full rundown of the last two weeks will make its way onto the blog. I figured it would be easier for me to write and for everyone to read if I broke up the posts into a few entries. Unfortunately, my camera and I had a misunderstanding in Japan and I won't be able to post pictures from the Japan part of the trip until next week, but I trust that those of you in contact with Dad will be able to see or have already seen his pictures. So now, withouth further adieu, here's part 1 of the Winter Vacation posts.

December 24:

After some last minute packing, I woke up early Thursday morning, ready to travel. I was pretty excited all night and didn't sleep much, but I was definitely ready to go. I caught an express bus from Suwon to the airport in Incheon, the ride was pretty quick, about an hour and 15 minutes long, which was nice. I got to the airport with plenty of time to grab breakfast and enjoy all the spectacular sights that the world's best airport has to offer. I even indulged myself in a Caribou Coffee, I can't believe they've made it all the way out here! The flight from Incheon to Tokyo was pain-free. I got an entire row to myself for the hour and a half flight and we even got a meal (because the flight was continuing onto LAX). After clearing customs, etc... I hopped on an airport limo bus bound for our hotel in downtown Tokyo. Our hotel, the Tokyo Prince Hotel, was a pretty decent hotel, although the outside of the building probably hasn't changed since the hotel was first built. It looked like it belonged in Soviet-era Russia instead of modern-day Japan. I met up with Mom, Dad, and Robyn for dinner and we all went to bed relatively early so we could be well rested for a busy next few days of touring Tokyo.

December 25:

Following a delicious filling breakfast, we made our way towards Harajuku, which, to quote Frommer's is "the mecca of Tokyo's younger generation." Harajuku was a very cool area. On one side of the main bridge you have teenagers changing into their more hip, fashionable outfits and on the other side you have the Meiji Jingu Shrine and a large park, signs of a more traditional Japanese culture. The contrast between old and new in the area was very interesting to see. After exploring the Meiji Jingu Shrine and the park and gardens that surround it, we crossed the bridge, snapping some photos of the oh-so-fashionable Japanese youth and entered the market area of Harajuku. Robyn and Mom made a beeline for the boutiques and Dad and I found the nearest benches (I'm only joking, well half-joking). One of the stores we walked into had a plethora of treasures, many which would be perfect housewarming gifts for Uncle Niel (You could really use a collection of Buddy Lees and the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, right?) We made our way through the very busy neighborhoods and eventually we decided on sushi for lunch, which was excellent. After lunch we made our way from Harajuku to Roppongi, a newer, upscale area complete with towering skyscrapers and an enormous mall and streets lined with art galleries. We went to go explore Roppongi Hills, Tokyo's largest urban development and found our way to the art museum on the 53rd floor of the Mori Tower. Before entering the art museum we took in the fantastic city views of Tokyo from the 52nd floor skydeck. The art museum had a very weird exhibit on the human body on display that included some of Da Vinci's drawings on the human body as well as a pretty ridiculous piece of art that can only be summed up as the Superhero Geriatric Ward. Wonder Woman, the Hulk, Superman, Catwoman, and Mr. Incredible were all there. It's too bad no of us took a picture, it really was truly hilarious and my words don't do the figures justice. It's also a shame the gift store didn't sell little figurines of the superheroes, that would've been a definite must-have purchase. We went exploring thru some of the neighborhood areas after leaving Roppongi Hills where Dad and I stumbled upon the John Lemon club and the Cavern Club. I tried to convince Dad it was worth it to come back later that night to check out the Cavern Club, but my efforts fell short. Apparently the Japanese cover bands that play there are pretty good and attract quite large crowds. Anyways, we settled on tempura for dinner, which was quite tasty, as was all the food we had in Japan, and called it an evening.

December 26:

Dad and I decided we would indulge Mom and Robyn and we took them to some fancy shmancy department stores. The good news about Japanese department stores is that the basement is a foodie's paradise. Not only do they have good food everywhere, but they also sample everything! Granted most of the samples were pickled vegetables, but it was still thoroughly enjoyable for Dad and myself and it was very easy to kill time there while Mom and Robyn paroused the other floors. After the department stores we moved on to another Shinto shrine, this one was dedicated to babies and mothers, semi-interesting. For lunch we ate at the most popular and famous restaurant in Japan: Jonathan's! Who knew I had a stake in the most awesome and amazing chain restaurant in the world? In the afternoon we walked back towards Hibiya, the area of Tokyo where the Imperial Palace and the magnificent East Garden and Hibiya Park are located. We explored the East Garden before closing time, which was amazing. It is a beautiful, vast expanse of green and the grounds are great. Mom and Robyn decided to call it a day early and headed back to the hotel while Dad and I went to see what we could of the Imperial Palace grounds. Afterwards, we made our way to Ginza, the "swankiest" area of Tokyo. On our walk we passed by an oyster bar that smelt incredible, only to be followed a block later by a deliciously scented Portuguese restaurant. We felt guilty about eating without Mom and Robyn and decided it would be best if we walked back to the hotel. Along the way we encountered the land of Pachinko parlors, the third national sport of Japan. It's a very carnival like atmosphere in Pachinko land and the parlors are basically adult versions of Chuckee Cheese. We returned to Ginza for a dinner of shabu-shabu (beef that you dip into a broth and mix with soy sauce and other sauces). Unfortunately, the shabu-shabu we had wasn't quite as flavorful as the shabu-shabu I've had in Korea.

December 27:

Early wakeup call, quick breakfast, then we hopped on a bus bound for Mt. Fuji. Our guide, Yasushi was very good and had the right mix of information and humor to keep us engaged. The bus ride from Tokyo to Fuji was around 1 hour, 40 min. We lucked out, the day was very clear and when we arrived we could see the mountain very well. We could only drive up as high as the 4th station, but that was still fairly high up and we were able to see beautiful views of the mountain range. I also had some delicious grilled squid with teriyaki sauce at the 4th station, probably the best squid I've had since coming over to Korea. From Mt. Fuji we made our way to a local hotel for lunch, which, as far as tour lunches go, was amazing. A very delicious bento box! After lunch we drove an hour to Hakone, where we boarded a ferry that took us from one point on Lake Ashi to Togendai, where we took a gondola to the top of the mountain for great views of sunset over the mountain range and the lake, very scenic. In addition to passenger ferries, Lake Ashi also has roughly 5 replicas of the pirate ship from The Goonies. From Togendai we got back on our bus and were dropped off at our hotel in Hakone. Hakone is famous for its hot springs, but none of us could muster up the courage to venture in. Even with all my jjimjibang experience, I was a little nervous to go in by myself. The hotel was very similar to the Spanish paradors, although not quite as nice as the parador we stayed at last year in Ronda (that place was incredible!). We chose to have dinner in the buffet-style restaurant, which was awesome. Crab legs, lobster, sushi, chicken, shumai, shrimp; this restaurant had it all and it was all pretty delicious. They also had one waiter, Mory, an Australian, who was very attentive to us and made sure that we "enjoyed our meal." The hotel had an amazing garden, very Japanese and very beautiful. We definitely lucked out with the weather; the next day, we left under the cover of rain showers.

That's all for Part 1, Part 2 should be up tomorrow if all goes as planned. I hope this is enough to tide you all over.

iPod A-Z song update: "The Pretender" by Jackson Browne

Winter Break!

Hey everyone,

I'm in a little bit of a retrospective mood as I write this latest post. Today was my last day of teaching in 2009; my winter vacation begins bright and early tomorrow morning and I'm really excited for Japan and a little Wolfish family trip. I can't believe I'm basically at the halfway point of my year of teaching, all of the sudden the days have begun to fly by. It's been a tremendous experience so far and I'm definitely glad with the decision I made. That being said, I'm definitely ready for a little break and I'm looking forward to all that Japan has to offer in the week we're there. The last three days of classes have been pretty fun to teach, mostly games, which is easy for both the students and myself. My special class had a lot of fun with Twister and Apples to Apples today. All the teachers and students were definitely excited for the short week because of Christmas. I'm hoping we can still enjoy our usual Christmas tradition of Chinese food and a movie, but substitute Japanese food for the Chinese. Speaking of movies, I saw Avatar last night and thought it was pretty good overall. I knew going into the movie that I really wasn't going for the plot, definitely paid to see the ridiculous over-the-top CGI creations and they didn't disappoint. I had hoped the story would be a little better given that James Cameron spent 9 years on the movie, but overall the movie was enjoyable.

In other news, I finished my workbooks and they'll get printed and binded over winter vacation, which is great, but I'm glad with that project. I'm currently waiting on a last minute load of laundry that I hope dries before the morning. It definitely helps to have heated floors to speed up the process. I may or may not be blogging from Japan, we'll see if anyone brought their computers, I'm leaning towards not bringing mine, but I'll have a notebook to jot down all the important stuff. That's about it from my end, if I don't blog in Japan there should be a new post up on New Year's Eve.

iPod A-Z Song update: "One Headlight" by the Wallflowers

School Field Trip/Snow Jam

Hey everyone, here's a new post that's certified grade-A pleasure reading at its finest.

This past weekend was pretty fantastic to say the least. Friday after school I continued my badminton lessons, which have turned into 45 minutes of working on my footwork on the court, or as I like to refer to it, ballet class. Coming from a tennis background it's hard to imagine that movement on the court would be much different in badminton, but I was surprised by how much it is. I've been trying to master a 7-step sequence, which I can do when I'm not trying to hit the birdie, but still have a lot of trouble doing when actually going through the motions with the birdie in the air. Most of the time I end up falling over myself or have my Korean teacher yelling at me that I'm doing the steps in the wrong order, but I'm definitely enjoying it. It ends up being a pretty decent workout. I even got to bed pretty early by Friday night standards in preparation for my Saturday field trip with my special English class.

Saturday's field trip was pretty awesome to say the least. We started off at the LG Science Hall in Yeouido, an island on the Han River in Seoul. The exhibits were pretty interesting. First, we got a background on LG, including some amazing black and white commercials from the 1960s, before TV was prominent in South Korea. Next, we went to the renewable energies room, complete with solar energy, wind energy, fuel cells, and a model future city. The life science exhibit was next and the kids got a kick out of the child predictor machine. Basically the machine took two images of the students and fused them together to predict what their child would look like. There were dancing robo-dogs as well. We also got to go in a 3-d simulator, have a robot painter paint our pictures and we got some goodies when we left. After the LG Science Hall, we made our way to Bucheon and Aiin's World. Aiin's World is like Mini Israel for those who have been there. It is basically an open space filled with smaller replicas of world famous buildings, castles, etc... We also took in a magic show performed by clowns and another 3-d movie. All in all it was a pretty successful afternoon. Saturday night was spent in Seoul with all the usual fanfare.

On Sunday, a few of us went to Gwanghamum Plaza in downtown Seoul to watch Snow Jam, an aerial ski and snowboard competition. It was really interesting to see how they fit the ramp for the jump onto the plaza. Unfortunately the event planners probably didn't count on warmer weather; it was around 8 degrees Celsius, a little warm for skiing or snowboarding. In addition to the competition they also had a makeshift ice rink set up and a bunny hill run, which looked painful since most of the fake snow had melted away. Earlier in the week, Andrew Gruen, the son of our good family friends, who is also here in Korea, invited me over for a little Hanukkah celebration on Sunday afternoon. So, after Snow Jam, we made our way to Andrew's for some latkes and noodle kugel, which both turned out well. It was a nice gathering and I know we all really appreciated it. We even lit the menorah and sang Maoz Tzur. It was a nice end to the weekend.

Yesterday night I finally tried the Indian restaurant a few blocks away from me with my friend Rebecca and it did not disappoint. Great samosa, curry, tandoori chicken, and naan. No Kahili unfortunately, but maybe I'll find him next time. I am a little jealous that Robyn is done with her first semester of university and got to go to the Vikings game with Dad on Sunday. I'm definitely counting down the days until next Thursday, I'm ready to be on vacation and so far, I've been busy putting the finishing touches on my winter camp schedule and workbooks. I've added some pictures of my school and the field trip. I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet in any posts, but Koreans like to compare foreigners to other celebrities. Throughout the years, there is one celebrity that I'm constantly being compared to, whether its waiters at restaurants or people i meet for the first time they always seem to arrive at the same person. That person is Adam Sandler. Personally I don't see it and neither does anyone that knows me (family, friends, etc...) but it's been fairly consistent and especially here in Korea. A few weekends ago on the way home from Seoul a couple was taking pictures of me on their cell-phone for obvious reasons (Do I really look like him?) Then this past weekend at Andrew's, one of his Korean friends told me I reminded him of Adam Sandler as well. It's happening so much that I've come up with my own phrase for it, "I've been Sandlered." Well, with that, I'll end this post, but expect another post after this weekend or early next week.

iPod A-Z song update: "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles

Is It Really Snowing?

By the title you can safely assume that winter has finally arrived in Korea. Over the weekend there were some light snow flurries and even some reports of people skiing on some wonderful artificial stuff. The past week went by relatively quickly, as most do now; I turned in my winter camp plans, which were approved so now I have to gather all my materials and over the course of the camp, I will put together a workbook in addition to the current workbook I am working on for my special class. Compared to other teachers I know I am doing a lot more work, which will be rewarding in the end, but at the moment is adding a little stress to every day. It's good to know I'll be done with one of the workbooks in two weeks and it's even better to know that means it will be winter vacation! I am counting down the days, as I'm sure Mom, Dad, and Robyn all are, until our trip to Japan. Vacation will be sweet but also short; for the first time in four years I don't have really have a month off in January, but the school semester schedule is a little different here. After my winter English camp finishes at the end of January, school is back on for the first week in February and then it's the end of the semester and the spring semester begins in March. I still haven't been given a clear answer on whether I have to be at school every day in February or if it's another break period for teachers as well.

Last Wednesday my Korean class ended for this semester. Overall it was an enjoyable class. I was able to meet some other English teachers, not surprisingly I was the youngest out of the group (I'm used to this by now). We had a nice end of class potluck and review and it was a good introduction to Korean but I think I will try and study on my own over winter vacation to learn more since the class didn't really focus on conversational vocabulary, but more on culture and vocabulary associated with the theme of each class.

On Thursday I saw Ninja Assassin which was a pretty awesome movie. The main actor is Rain, a Korean pop star (K-pop), basically the equivalent of Justin Timberlake. While I never thought I would get sucked into the world of K-pop it's literally unavoidable when you're here. They play the songs everywhere and everyone from my students to my co-workers loves the music. The movie was more gruesome than I thought it would be, along the lines of Tarantino at times, but it was definitely very enjoyable. Anyways, that's all from my end, I'm currently waiting on my usual Monday load of colors to finish their cycle and praying they dry quickly, which is never the case.

iPod A-Z song update: "My Mirror Speaks" by Death Cab for Cutie

Thanksgiving

Another shorter post, no traveling means less to report on, but still plenty of good stuff to read. While part of the Wolfish-Bick clan were celebrating Thanksgiving in Minneapolis last Thursday, I was patiently waiting for the weekend. Saturday was the day for our Thanksgiving feast. Jessie graciously played hostess in Bucheon (a little over an hour away by subway from Suwon) and dinner was a great success. Once the men arrived in Bucheon, we immediately made our way to the closest HomePlus to pikc up our end of the meal. Like so many grocery stores worldwide, HomePlus has an array of samples as you trek through the aisles, but we were men on a mission and I can personally say that I have never made it through a grocery store that served samples as fast as I did last Saturday while still enjoying some of the tasty and free treats. Right as we entered the store, we made a beeline for the rotisserie and fried chicken that was our substitute for turkey (no one had an oven to cook one in). Next we darted over to the wine section and grabbed two "not-so-great taste wise but great deal" bottles of wine, a Chilean cab sav and I forget what the other one was, but I do remember it earned the distinct nickname, the "Guiness of wines," not for its rich flavor, but for its thick texture. From the wines we made our way to the bread, chips, and canned corn. When we got back to Jessie's, the rest of the meal was almost finished. The meal itself was great! In addition to the chicken and corn, we had stuffing, steamed broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake. Oh, and how could I forget the Monkberry Moon Delight and the Savoy Truffle? Sunday was the usual R & R.

In other news, I can't believe it's already December, 23 days until vacation begins, which I am definitely looking forward to. Good to see the Vikings keep on rolling and congrats to Mr. Joe Mauer on the MVP award, hopefully the Twins can keep him, it'd be a shame to see him go. I have a busy week this week; I'm finishing up my workbook and I also have to organize my Winter English camp plans and submit them. And how could I forget the big concert news: Earth, Wind, and Fire are playing in Seoul, Dec. 18th, Muse are here January 7th and Green Day are here January 16th. Hopefully I can make it to one of them. That's all from this end.

iPod A-Z update: "Monkey Bars" by Jurassic 5