A couple weeks ago one of my friends went away for the weekend with her husband and baby. Their first weekend trip. I took care of her dog, Hopie, for her. She knows he is okay with me since I already took care of him a month when he was a puppy. He knows me well. ^^ We had a lot of fun laying around watching TV as well as walking in the park, both at night and in the day.
Tiger Jindos are cool looking dogs! And Hopie is such a sweet heart. 
laura
The Korean night is dominated by neon signs and bright glowing crosses. They are everywhere. Churches in Korea aren’t just in fancy church buildings, but within any building on any floor. Of course there has to be a cross on top of the building to show where it is.
This was actually a month ago, but I’m a bit behind in posting. Most of my photos are in my phone which hasn’t been letting me post anything.
:/ I’ll get to them.
laura
I have been a bit lazy for a while now. I have all sorts of pictures to post but when ever i think of it I am either busy or have trouble uploading or with the Internet. I’ll have to get to it!
I think I have mentioned the socks in Korea before. They are so cute and fun!
The lips actually stick out. :)
laura
My baby class is the Ginkgo class. They are Korean age 4 and so they turned western age 3 this year. Right now there are only three in the class. I love them!!! They are way too cute.
After our Friday fun activity class together I sat with them on the carpet and they proceeded to crawl all over me. ♥♥♥
One thing I absolutely love here in Korea in the fall is the color of the Ginkgo leaves-a bright yellow. It is too bad pictures dont always do justice to the beautiful colors. I am not usually a big fan of yellow but here i make an exception. I also love the red of the maples that are also everywhere but they will have to wait for another post.
laura
Mid October we went on a field trip to the Seoul Forest for a picnic and to make some tye-dye scarves at the visitor center. Kinda fun. Wish I could have made one too!
laura
This was more than a week ago. It might have been the last good day for wearing flipflops. I dont like the thin strip of marble tope brick that they seem to use on sidewalk edges and other places. when it is wet it is like walking on ice!!! Dangerous!
Laura
My work consists of ‘teaching’ preschool and kindergarten kids, Korean ages 4 to 7 (translates to normal ages turning ages 3 to six this year). I love the kids so much. And of course, they all love ‘Laura Teacher’!!! The school moved a couple of months ago to a new building. Now, instead of having our own building of 3 floors plus the roof and a garden, we have a 4th and 6th floor plus the 8th floor roof. To take the kids between the 4th and 6th we have to use the elevators. The stairs are too dangerous for them. Here I’m in the elevator with one of my 5 yr old classes (actual age 3-4). I was trying to get my slippers in the picture but they were moving a little too much. ^^
That’s my lovely Lora’s face looking up at me in the elevator. ♥
Between classes, as well as later, when it’s time for the kids to take the buses home (there is a bit of a wait time, since only one bus can pull up outside at a time, and only one group of kids can go down the elevator at once), I often sit and hang out with the kids.
Kate (6 yr old class – just turned 5) is absolutely adorable. But once again…. it’s hard to take a picture of kids who move around so much!!
I love the kids shoes!!! These are Kate’s cute little koala shoes.
laura
Went to a wedding today. Ash (Moroccan) and Nara (Korean). It was at a typical Korean wedding hall, though it was fancied up a bit being in Gangnam and all. The small Moroccan crowd in the audience livened it up a bit, as did Ash’s singing of a Korean pop song for his new bride. I couldn’t get a good pic from the wedding because I was a bit back with too many things in the way. After the dinner I went to the nearby casino (Lucky Seven at the COEX Intercontinental) with a group of old friends. Casinos are great if you have control. I lost 20,000 won (about $20) but then won it back plus 10,000. Yay. Had drinks while playing and chatting away. Then a free midnight snack meal – I had kimchi chigae (kimchi soup). Casino floors are always interesting. The landing on the stairs up gave me some ideas for glass painting (I wasn’t thinking of pictures at the time). This was the floor in the little dining area.
laura
After a school picnic today the baby class was tired. Nap time! They’re just too cute!
laura
This is an old pic but I still wanted to share it. The last day of school before summer vacation it was time for the summer camp for my kindy kids. The 4 and 5 yr olds didn’t stay overnight (actual age 3 and 4) but the older kindy kids did (with their Korean teachers and I). We took big fancy tour buses to the resort. My branch’s bus was full so us foreign teachers had to take the bus from another branch. We were surprised to see that one of the small buses from our school dropped some of our kids off at that branch for the same reason, including two of my babies (just turned actual age 3), twin girls. One of them, the ‘younger’ one is my baby. She is sort of shy and is very clingy. She sat with me on the bus and her sister sat with another teacher from my branch. The girls are always immaculately dressed in brand names. For the summer camp day they were wearing pale pink shoes (the same except Jia’s are a half size bigger) white designer tights, pink dresses and fancy hats – Jiyoo with pink flowers and Jia with blue. Oh, and they also had cool sunglasses. LOVE ‘EM!!! Once we got settled into our seats, Jia’s hat went onto my lap and up went one foot. She made herself comfortable. To keep her entertained, I pulled out my I pod with some of the games and the photo apps. She had quite the time. I was likewise entertained. ^^
Oh. And the girls had Burberry bikinis for the pool time, Jiyoo in pink and Jia in blue. I work in Apgujeong. ^.~ (Apgujeong is more of a rich/upscale area in Seoul, and in all of Korea. It’s where you’ll find all of the designer name stores and super expensive car dealers.)
I think I should start taking more pictures!!! I’ve been getting lazy.
laura
Went to Muuido earlier in the month but haven’t had a chance to upload any of the pics on here (it doesn’t always let me, for some reason when I do have time). I posted some pics here from Muuido last year, as well. Muuido is always so much fun!! I’ve been there several times in the past few years.
It was the first sunny weekend after a long stretch of rain (not just days, but weeks). Great time to head for the beach. ^^ I quite enjoyed being lazy on the beach, watching the seagulls waiting for snacks (and appreciating their footprints).
The first day we arrived fairly late in the afternoon and missed most of the sun of the day. We sat for a while watching the sun set and then headed to the beach restaurants for some samkyupsal (4 layer pork – similar cut to bacon, cut thicker and cooked on a grill on the table). Yum!! Every now and then little crabs would skitter past the table. Cute.
Then we made friends with 2 military families that were out. The kids had gone to bed so it was hanging out time for the parents. Once the tide was really out, they woke up the kids to take them hunting for the glowing sea cucumbers. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. The sea cucumbers there are a pale orange color during the day but look more white at night. When touched, they fluoresce a greenish blue color. So cool!!!
The swimming there isn’t the best, unless the tide is all the way in. Once the tide is out you have to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk forever, just to reach knee deep water that then goes on forever. Some still do it, of course. ^^ When it’s nice out you want to take a little dip, even if you are almost up to your ankles in mud in knee deep water. 
Walking around the mud flats left when the tide is out can be a messy deal, but that is part of the fun. It’s always fun to all of a sudden find a soft spot and sink almost to your knees. Gets a bit hard to move, though, when it’s that deep.
Koreans pile out to dig for clams and other such things for their dinner. Kids just play in the mud. ^^ Missed mud festival this year? You can always make your own. ^.~
While out in the knee deep water, on the walk back I scooped up a little dragonfly that was floating on the water, looking like it was having some trouble. I carried it all the way back to the beach (it really is a long walk) and then sat with it for a while. It eventually flew away. Yay. I saved a dragonfly.
This year I was surprised to see so many tents. It was all Koreans camping out on the beach. Tents seem to be getting more and more popular here. There weren’t actually many foreigners out the whole weekend! I guess it might have to do with the fact that many were away for their summer vacation at that time.
I love the teepee looking tent. It belonged to a Korean hippy family. ^^ They thought I was a hippy, too. They arrived the second day. We hung out with them later that night.
laura
Home made taco pizza as well as home made ham and mushroom pizza, plus some wine and a (Moroccan) card game.
I had such a bad hand!!! (It wasn’t yet organized at this point.)
laura ^^
(Another long post…)
The other weekend we went down to Chungju lake and Danyang. We took a bus to Chungju and took a ferry boat to Janghoe (the lake was too low to get all the way to Danyang). This is a typical toilet in many places here. I got used to them very quickly my first year (the bar I used to go to only had this style so I had no choice).
When we took a bus to Danyang. We had to wait almost an hour for the bus, on the side of a road that is not very busy. Maybe 10 or so cars passed in that hour. Luckily there was a little shop with ice cream. Of course I had to play with a little inch worm I found. ^.~
On the way to Danyang, it started to pour. The roads turned into little rivers. The bus dropped us off outside an apartment building. With no hotel booked, we didn’t want to wander around outside in the downpoar looking for a place so we did what any normal person here would do – went into the little shop in the building, got a nice bottle of makkeolli (막걸리) and some snacks, then hunkered down on some old ripped sofas that were in the hallway of the building.
After the rain slowed a bit we headed out. We looked at two hotels and decided on the nicer, more expensive one (it was about $75 a night). It was so nice!!! Check out the phone!
The next day we headed for the caves. Caves are cool.
We went into two different caves. The first was the most extensive cave in Korea and is also one of the busiest. Bus tours sometimes stop there so there was a huge line all the way through. It took about an hour or so to get through. Beautiful but too busy. The ways were quite narrow in places, which I quite enjoyed. Most of the cave was fitted with metal stairs and walkways. Many of them were almost rusted out in places.
The second cave was much smaller but much more interesting and not as busy. The tunnels get quite small in places so you basically have to shuffle along in the squat position. Although I am a bit claustrophobic and my heart was racing a bit fast, I quite enjoyed it.
After the caves we headed back to Danyang to dangle our feed in the river. It was so hot out it was nice to find a little shady spot under the bridge with some nice big rocks to sit on and watch the water go by.
laura
I dropped half my sandwich on the ground by accident. What better to do than to feed the pigeons. I love feeding birds. I showed a friend this picture and she had a good laugh and then said I would definitely be the bird lady when I’m old… feeding all the local birds.
laura
Ordering food in Korea is great (though you usually kinda have to be able to speak some Korean). I love ordering Korean food. It tastes so good and is so cheap. Plenty of food for two people (hot pot bibimbap (rice with vegetables etc), dwenjang chigae (bean paste soup that comes with a side of rice), fried mandu (dumplings) and side dishes of kimchi and other things) costs less than $15 and is delivered quickly and for free.
And then you put the dirty dishes outside your door and they’ll come back later and take them away.
(This picture was from a previous order that had regular bowl of bibimbap as well.)
laura
Aldo finally came to Korea (though it’s a bit pricier than I remember Aldo at home being).
I got these lovely Aldo sandals for my birthday (on the 8th) from my bf.
laura
(Here’s an apology for the fairly long post ^.~ )
I spent the week of May 27th to June 3rd in Mexico for a wonderful friend’s wedding. We were all at the Barcelo Maya Colonial resort near Playa del Carmen. All inclusive baby!!! What an amazing week!
The bricks just outside the Jaguar’s Discotheque where we spent several of the late evenings.
On the 30th we had a stag/stagette combined party on the Party Hopper tour – into Playa del Carmen to Carlos n Charlies, Senor Frogs, and then Coco Bongo.
AMAZING!!
Post party feet:
After a couple of hours sleep I then went solo on a day tour – swimming with whale sharks and snorkeling along an island reef. Again… AMAZING!
(It was surprisingly very difficult to take a picture of my feet with the flippers on in the water! I was trying to actually get some of the reef in the shot but I guess that didn’t quite work as planned.)
The following day was the wedding day. On the way to get my hair done at the salon I came across this adorable little guy.
LOVE IT!!!
Bridal party feet (bride and groom were off getting photos taken elsewhere).
My heels (far right) weren’t impressed by the sand. Many present had taken theirs off by this point and mine came off shortly after.
Beach weddings are beautiful and allow for some amazing photos.
The next day I went with a new friend on a tour to Chichen Itza (stopping at a cenote on the way).
HERE is a post about that day.
Once again – AMAZING!
laura
Friday’s field trip was to a farm out in the countryside near Yeongin. It’s called Milk School and they do tours for schools and groups. It was fantastic! We took a proper bus to get there – much nicer than the little school shuttle buses.
Once we arrived it was already time for lunch. Mmmm. The kids moms send lunches with them that are always quite large and great for sharing with the teachers. Unfortunately it started to rain and the picnic table umbrellas didn’t quite cover all the kids. Also, the ground around them turned into little yellow rivers from the pollen.
No worries, though. The rain stopped around the time we finished eating lunch.
Then we were quite busy, making ice cream, feeding beef cattle, hand milking a cow, bottle feeding calves and a tractor pulled trailer tour of the grounds. The teacher of one of the 5 yr old (western age 3-4) classes was sick so I was in charge of that class. I would have had more pics for here (such as with a cow!) but was too busy taking pics of the kids to send home.
laura
These were taken on 2 different days.
Magnolia petals on the stairs up the hill to a student’s home:
And now they’re gone.
I miss the giant magnolias already. They smelled so good!!!
In the student’s yard:
Not sure what they are.
And then going up the hill to the same student’s home a week later:
laura
I’m posting this a little late but still wanted to share. For one Friday fun activity class at work (Easter Friday but it’s not a holiday here), I made these with my 4 yr old class (Korean age 4 meaning they’ll turn 3 this year).
I added colorful covered elastic to the back. The kids wore them around their wrists or upper arms and couldn’t stop moving them around to make the bells ring.
I got the idea and uses THIS template for the bunny head shape (on Family Fun).
laura
On the weekend I decided to enjoy the lovely spring weather and headed to the Hangang Yeouido Spring Flower Festival. After wandering the park and along the Han River park we walked all the way back to Yongsan to go to Emart. My legs were killing my by the time we got there but it was a wonderful walk. In some places it almost seems like it is snowing from all of the little pinkish white petals falling and blowing around. I love cherry blossoms! Petals collected in the gutters everywhere so even the streets looked nice.
Waiting for the bus in Apgujeong after work (from last Friday). The Korean writing (upside down fom this angle) says bu-seu (Konglish). You can see random cherry blossom petals all on the ground.
laura
Walking a dog in Haebangchon is interesting and a lot of work. When it was snowy I was so glad I had a pair of good cheap hiking boots. Without them I’d have been sliding down hills on my backside every day. They still come in handy now as they are fairly comfortable and grip quite well.
Here are a bunch of pics that show one of the routes I often take the dog on.
laura
This pic is from a week ago, before I moved to my new home (short version of a long story). I love the socks and slippers and such here.
laura
I love getting new things. New boots. New clothes from H&M – LOVE IT- one of the only places here that I can find things that fit properly. These are the first jeans I’ve bought in Korea that fit me properly. Woohoo!
laura
One thing I like about living in Haebangchon is that Namsan Park is not so far away. A perfect place to walk the dog. We take a long walk up to the park, up and around the dirt paths around the mountain and then back down again.
Last time we went around and came out at the Hyatt. Then through Gyeonglidan and back up Haebangchon. Just down the hill from my home is a little pet friendly cafe called Latte King.
Mmmmm. Kahlua Latte. Mmmmm. Baileys Latte. All good.
Pets are allowed (inside and out). They also have a little donation box that goes towards feeding stray/homeless cats in the neighborhood.
laura
Meet Runa. She’s an 8 month old (undersized) malamute. I rescued her from a bad situation and have decided to adopt her, that is, as long as I can teach her to go up and down my super steep stairs on her own – she is terrified of them and has to be carried up and down them (certainly not by me!) I hope she’ll learn. She’s such a sweetheart!
laura
What could be better than home made pita pizzas, wine, and a nice game of cards?
laura
Went for a little walk through a little park in Apgujeong yesterday after work. I thought it’d be best to do it before the rest of the leaves fall. I love the look of fall. I love mixture of colors. I love the maples and the Ginkgo trees (bright yellow leaves in the fall).
laura
I was a Flamenco dancer for Halloween. He was a matador. He chose his first and then I decided on mine to sort of complement his. They worked quite nicely. My boots were killing me by about half way through the night so I had to take them off. I wasn’t the only one with sore feet.
He wanted to rub my feet but as they’d been in the boots all evening I thought it wasn’t such a great idea. He said he didn’t care and did this to prove it.
laura
This post is a little late but I finally managed to get the pic uploaded.
For our Canadian Thanksgiving (second Sunday&Monday in October) my friend Danielle and I put together a little dinner. It took some effort to scrounge up some of the parts (the turkey especially) but we managed. All of that for 4 people.
Turkey with gravy, ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli, corn, mushrooms, salad, bread (from an Arabic bakery in Itaewon - the best bread I’ve found here), and of course some wine.
laura
The bathroom of my home here sucks. It isn’t heated, the ceiling’s only about 1 inch taller than me, there is no sink, and there is no light. The door to the bathroom is just off my tiny hallway kitchen. The door has a window in it to let light from the kitchen into the bathroom. I have two pairs of shower shoes - one for actually showering in and one to keep dry for when the floor and other shoes are wet. The kitchen floor has heating in it but the living room and bathroom don’t so the heat will all pretty much disappear. The bedroom, which has a door just off the kitchen (behind where I’m standing on the left side) is heated and there is a window between the bedroom and the living room. Strange set up.
I’m not looking forward to the winter.
laura
I love wandering around the streets to see what I can see. It seems that here in Korea there are always interesting or strange things everywhere. There are a few different buildings with mirrored outsides which make for some fun photos.
I love trying different cafes and restaurants I see everywhere. In Apgujeong there are so many to choose from.
We decided to stop for a pre-dinner drink and snack at De Chocolate Coffee. For a cafe named Chocolate the iced chocolate was very strange tasting, like imitation chocolate. The hot vanilla milk was great, though. The chocolate tart was okay but I think I would have preferred the chocolate mousse cake.
A month or two ago a new restaurant opened called Rabat (the writing outside is only in Korean so I didn’t really think of it until the Moroccan bf and I were wandering around and saw it that Rabat is the capital of Morocco.) We decided to check it out.
laura
For the fall picnic my school took the kindys to Seoul’s Children’s Grand Park, a pathetic excuse for a zoo. The kids of course loved it but I felt so bad for the animals shut up in such small enclosures. First we set up our picnic area and then went for a walk around the zoo area. I had to laugh when the very first animal in the “Ferocious Animals” section was the elephant. In the birds section there is an upstairs rest area with windows overlooking the birds.
After seeing the animals it was time to eat. The teachers had kimbap rolls. The kids had what ever their parents packed; mostly different types of kimbap.
The kids were always offering me little bits of their food as I walked around. That could be great and it could also be not such a great idea since a lot of the things had misc. stuff in them such as fish eggs or what not.
<For some reason this thing doesn’t usually let me upload any pictures. This post is a little late.>
laura
I love that when the weather is nice here, you can just sit outside a local Family Mart or 7-eleven and drink beer, coolers or soju or what ever else they have that suits your fancy.
Even Hopie was enjoying himself (and little bits of chips and such that were being fed to him under the table). ^.~
laura
Two different coffees, two different days, two different seating locations, one Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Apgujeong, Seoul.
Both wonderful.
laura
I had this past week off work (except for Monday) because of Chuseok, which is sort of like the Korean version of Chuseok. The main day was Wednesday but because it’s such an important holiday, to give Koreans time to travel home and back again and to prepare, the two days around it are included in the holiday. On Wednesday we decided to do something more Korean-ish so went to Namsangol Hanok Village, a little folk village at the base of Namsan in Seoul.
The village has some old style Korean homes: nobles, a carpenter, etc, that were moved there. There is also a park around it with a large time capsule, buried in 1994 to be opened in 2394, 400 years later. I love the little stream that goes through the park with all of its little waterfalls.
From there we headed into the Namsan park. Nam is south and san is mountain so basically Namsan is South Mountain. From even half way up you get a great view of Seoul.
laura
While in Gyeongju we spent a day and went to the sea for a little swim. It wasn’t the nicest beach since it was all rocks, and the water was SO COLD! As soon as you get in your skin starts to tingle from the cold. Kinda nice in the super hot sticky weather of Korean summers.
The beach is also near the site of the Undersea Tomb of King Munmu of the Shilla. Apparently his wish when he died was to become a dragon to watch over the Shilla and this is how it’s done. His ashes were dumped or sunk in the rocks a little ways off the shore and a memorial was built for him on top.
The next day we were to head home but first we decided to go check out Bulguksa, one of the famous temples near the city. It is surrounded by little bridges and gardens. So beautiful!!!
laura
The Gyeongju museum had some interesting things to see, including some fancy floor displays. Perfect for some pics.
Yes, there is an actual wagon under the floor.
While in Gyeongju we wandered around the many parks filled with tumuli (hill tombs) and other sites. It’s a beautiful city to visit.
[photos from July 29th]
laura
During summer vacation, after a few days at the mud festival and a day to do laundry and rest, we took the train down to Gyeongju in the southeast corner of Korea.
The next day we walked through the tomb filled parks and near little streams.
When we had had enough of the parks and heat, we headed for the Gyeongju Museum.
More summer vacation pics to come as long as this keeps letting me log in!
laura
I’ve been on summer vacation for the past couple so although I haven’t posted during that time, I’ve got lots of pics. My summer vacation started with the Boryeong Mud Festival. These pics are in the Family Mart (like 7-eleven).
laura
About a month ago I moved into a little rooftop home. It’s sort of a cute little place with a bedroom, living room, tiny kitchen, even smaller bathroom (with a ceiling not much taller than me and therefore no light), and a nice little rooftop area. The stairs aren’t the easiest to navigate as they are narrow and VERY steep. It’s quite the thing to deal with after a night out.
laura
I love the bungalow. The sign at the entrance of the little rooms: Please remove shoes before entering the beach.
For those that might be wondering, it’s a bar in Itaewon. 3 floors, with little rooms with seating as well as a big area on the 3rd floor. There’s a little foot pool at the entry and one on the 3rd floor for sitting around drinking. There’s sand rooms, some with chair swings, some with other seating.
laura
An evening of samgyupsal (3 layer pork similar to bacon, cooked on a grill) and then some beer at the park with my old friend, Hopie!
laura
For one of the world cup games I sat at a local bar and watched the game and little halftime foosball game between my bf and his friend.
(For some reason I’ve had trouble posting anything from my computer, which is why I haven’t added anything in a while. This is maybe take-5 on this post alone. Sneakily posting at work…)
laura
I spent the weekend of the 6th at Muuido. It’s a small island west of Incheon. It’s sort of a trek to get out there – a bus or taxi then 2 buses then a ferry then another bus – up to 4 hours worth of travel – but it’s definitely worth it.
The beach is nice. The sea is more for wading in when the tide is in and mud flats when the water is out, unless you want to walk a mile to get to the water. But it’s all good. Nothing wrong with a nice evening walk in the mud.
Once the sun is down, there’s generally some crowd of foreigners that come up with enough wood to have a nice fire on the beach, to which all other foreigners tend to gravitate too.
There were a couple of people with guitars, a few girls with some funky Korean colorful twisted marshmallows, and what ever drinks you bring on your own (beer from the little shop up the hill or from the nearby restaurants is usually the easiest).
Then of course on Sunday we had to go for another walk through the mudflats once the tide had receded a bit. Found a nice little sheltered (and deserted) beach a bit of the way around the corner.
laura
I’m trying to branch out a little and check out some of the other coffee shops around Apgujeong instead of always going to Coffee Bean or Starbucks (though there is at least a half dozen of each within a 5 minute walk from Apgujeong station). There are plenty to choose from. I’ve been to a couple of Holly’s Coffee shops but not this one. It’s a Korean company but does have some international branches. This one is right beside the station so I decided to check it out. Mmmmm. Raspberry Mocha Latte. A tad sweet, but so good. The shop is very bright and fairly comfortable. Not a bad to enjoy a coffee and a book. I finished reading Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. It’s an easy read and a very cute story.
laura
Kyle, one of the little monkeys that greets my every day (and every class) by grabbing onto my ankles. He and his twin, Thomas (Korean age 7 – they’re 4 yrs old) are often trying to sneak up to me to hug my ankles. Even sometimes mid-class.
Yes, I do call them all little monkeys.
I love’ em all!!!
laura
This past Sunday I spent the day out with the bf. We went to the Yeouido Han River Park, and then to the 63 Building. First stop in the 63 building was the Sky Art gallery, which is located in the observation deck on the 60th floor. In on area, they have set up mirrors and a plexi floor to give a very freaky view of the ground from the 60th floor. 
In the aquarium there is another see through floor over the largest fish tank.
I love days like that.
laura
May 5th in Korea is Children’s Day, which is a national holiday. Since I had the day off, my bf and I decided to go to Seoul Grand Park to the zoo. It wasn’t really a sunny day but it was bright and warm (he thought it was too hot). There are two trams. One to the main entrance of the zoo, over a little lake and some of the zoo, and one from where this one ends to the other side of the zoo. We decided one was enough (almost an hour wait just to get ON the thing!!)
There was lots to see and lots to do. In one area there are all sorts of animal statues that you can climb over and take pictures with. This is a little egg that I found amusing.
All in all it was a wonderful day.
^.~
laura
Friday I went with my kindy kids on a field trip to a strawberry farm. Fresh strawberries picked right off the plants were so delicious!!! As was the fresh, still warm strawberry jam on bread that we got as an after lunch snack.
I love strawberries!
[To see more about the field trip check out strawberries!!!]
laura
We got new slippers to wear at work , It was getting embarrassing how bad the old ones got, being taped together and all. I can only wonder what the fancy Apgujeong parents thought when given taped up raggedy slippers when they visited.
The stairs at my school have been altered slightly so that the steps are a little shorter. Even so, the baby class (Korean age 4) has a hard time going up and down. Maybe that’s because they are only 2/3 years old and aren’t all that stable even on flat ground. There are little footprints to show the children which side to go up or down on.
laura
Went to a Moroccan wedding Saturday. I didn’t get any good shots of MY shoes, but here’s a little video of some of the guys with their dancing shoes on. Enjoy!!!
laura
The Seoul subway is trying to be more bicycle friendly and now has tracks for bikes on the stairs at some stations. This is at Oksu Station on the stairs down to the platform.
laura
I’m a little behind. I managed to get a few great pics in the past few days but haven’t had time to post.
Friday night I was out in Itaewon at the Loft for some free drinks (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are ladies nights there!!!)
With some hot Moroccan boy’s feet. ^.~
laura
Another day, another coffee (or two or three). This time at Starbucks. The main seating area is down the stairs in the basement. I love the stairs at this Starbucks for some reason.
laura
It started out as such a nice day. When the sun was out it was warm(ish). I headed to Apgujeong to watch the LOKO boys’ match. I’ve known the Lokomotiv Goyang team in part since 2003. They play in one of the men’s foreigner leagues in Seoul and area.
When the sun went down it got very chilly. And then they lost. 
Oh well. Better luck next time, boys.
This was after the actual game when they decided to do a little practice (punishment for losing?).
I also watched a match yesterday, only it was Moroccan guys playing against a Korean team. It was even colder sitting watching that one!! I did take pics for the guys but forgot to take one for here.
I think I was concentrating too much on not shaking the camera to bits with all my shivering.
laura
I was running a little late this morning. I woke up at 9, the time I should have been LEAVING my home. In my rush I somehow forgot to put on socks. :S
I did, however, remember to take a picture on my way home from work. This is a not so packed Seoul bus. The 143 usually gets a lot busier a stop later where there is a big middle school. It’s also busier an hour later. I’m so glad it’s not one of the super packed bus routes that you can never ever get a seat on.
laura
I took Hopie for another walk up in the Namsan park. We followed mostly the same path as the other night. I wanted to see what it looked like when I could actually see everything!! 
Spring is coming!!!! I know because there were frog and salamander eggs in the little water pools along some of the pathways. And green is starting to pop up from under the dead brown stuff. Yay!!
No, there are no pics of the eggs with my feet in them. 
laura
After work today I took Hopi for a walk up Namsan (Seoul Tower is on top). The park has pathways winding up and everywhere. The entire time we were in the park we didn’t see anyone. Maybe because it was already dark, it was a bit cold, and it was quite muddy.
A sort of a little stream coming down the mountain. When I sat down, Hopi was quite interested in the snow on my shoe.
Hopi is funny around snow. He’ll jump and then seems to think that the snow that is kicked up is alive and needs to be caught. He’ll jump, see a little bit of snow bounce up, stare it down and then pounce at it. At one point he was literally doing flips all around me, trying to catch the little bits of snow that were dancing around each time he jumped. It’s possibly a never ending cycle.
Too bad it was too dark to take a video.
laura
This isn’t where I am, but rather where I wish I could be right now.
It’s cold and snowing in Seoul (AGAIN!).
When I got on the subway to come home it was raining. When I came out it was snowing. Now it is snowing a lot. I will have to get up early tomorrow morning as walking Hopi won’t be as simple (I live on a rather big hill) and getting to work will take more time.
Rain + snow + cold = … not a nice combination.
Oh. I took the picture when I was in Vietnam summer 2008. I want to go back. Or, well, anywhere that is nice and warm.
^.~
laura
Yesterday I spent the day hanging out with a couple of friends downtown Seoul. Lunch, Kyobo Bookstore and Deoksugung (덕수궁/Deoksu Palace), one of the smaller palaces in Seoul. This is the Daehanmun (Daehan Gate), the main entrance to the palace area. Unfortunately the Seoul Museum of Art was closed. The main exhibit there right now is Andy Warhol. Maybe later this week…
Then I ended up going all the way up to Dongducheon (very far to the north of seoul) to hang out, eat pizza and watch movies. I’m a tad tired today since I had to get up at 5:30 to catch the subway home to make it to work on time, but it was definitely worth it.
^.~
laura
A photo just wouldn’t have done this justice.
Hopi is quite a handful when he’s awake. Like anything/one (animal or child or even man, for that matter) it doesn’t matter what they do in the day, they’re always sweet when they sleep. Except of course when he wakes up in the middle of the night to bark at the neighbors that are always out late.
Jindo dogs are actually quite interesting.
I’ve been reading a bit about them. There are many variations on color from pure white to pure black. The white ones actually look like baby polar bears when they are pups.
laura
Back at Angel in us coffee shop again for lunch and a sparkling apple juice. The place was almost empty.
I really like the upstairs seating area. It is comfortable and nice. I suppose it would feel different if it was full.
The sandwich isn’t that great except for the bread they use. I love it!!
The lights that you see in the reflection in the far left mirror actually have wings on the bulbs.
Angel lights? Kinda cute.
laura
I’ve agreed to take care of Hopi for a month while my friend is between homes.
Hopi (means tiger skin) is a tiger Jindo.
The Jindo (진돗개)is a special Korean breed of dog.
He’s not yet a year old.
Here he’s sitting with a small pile of my shoes at my door. So far he hasn’t eaten any here. I’m told he only chews and shreds things when no one is home. He’s in a little balcony when no one is here so maybe my things are safe.
laura
This feels like such a long week.
It’s the last week of the school year in Korea so a lot has to be done.
This is Oksu Station on the Jungang line and line #3, where I transfer a couple times a week (same station I got the socks at, actually). The Jungang line is one of the above ground subway lines. I don’t like it as it only runs every 20 minutes or so, on a schedule rather than every 5 minutes like most of other lines. Stations on this line are only partially covered so in the winter they can get quite cold and in the summer, well, you melt. Not so much fun.
tired. off to bed.
laura
I’ve been so busy lately I keep forgetting to take pictures until it’s too late and I’m already home with my shoes off, today included. But I had to try these on again anyway. Last time I mentioned the socks, but another great thing about Korea is the shoes. You can get cute inexpensive shoes everywhere, usually 10,000 Won (~$10ish). For some reason I decided I should enter the little shoe shop at Sindang subway station (신당역) where I had to transfer. These were the result. A 15,000Won pair of cute ankle boots that I didn’t need.
^.~
laura
I really should be banned from Forever 21.
I can’t even walk into the place without spending ~$200.
(Though I can get quite a bit there for that much.)
It’s one of the only places in Korea that I can find pants that are long enough, shirts with long enough sleeves, etc. And it’s 3 whole floors of goodness!!!!! And not small ones, either!
I don’t think I’ve ever gone in there and spent less than 2 hours (sometimes considerably more) or much less than $200.
I walk through and one rack after another,
I see things that make me think,
“I NEED YOU!!!”
laura
Went to see Avatar in 3D tonight with a new friend. Avatar is quite popular in Korea. Even after a month in theaters, it’s still sold out. I really enjoyed it. The 3D really adds to the quality, I think.
A very entertaining movie.
I took the subway home.
Noksapyeong Station, my stop, is one of the fancier stations in Seoul.
It kinda made me dizzy taking this picture though.
I don’t do well with heights.
laura
I spent the day in cozy socks tangled up in my blankets with a book.
Lazy days can be wonderful!!
(One of the great things in Korea is the abundance of cheap cool socks!)
laura
Lunch break at an Apgujeong branch of Angels in us, a cute coffee shop. The Italian sandwich isn’t bad.
A couple of months ago the upper floor of this one was closed to the public and they had a cherry picker outside with huge flood lights shining into the 2nd floor windows. Some drama or movie was being filmed. I wasn’t able to find out which one. It’s kinda neat being around Apgujeong as that certainly wasn’t my first encounter with dramas and movies being made.
The stand straight ahead is all mugs (with photo proof) that have been autographed by famous people that have been there. Hanging on the window next to that is all membership point cards. Dang. That reminds me I forgot to get my card stamped the last 2 times I went. Oh well.
In case you haven’t noticed, I ♥ coffee shops.
^.~
laura
It’s a rainy day in Seoul.
I walked through Seoul’s Rodeo Drive area in Apgujeong after work (basically right next to it). The main Rodeo street was just recently redone and the new drainage grates are now marked with the street’s name.
Not long after this I missed the 3.0 earthquake that hit Seoul. I must have been either in a taxi or in an elevator at the time because I didn’t notice it at all.
O.o
laura
At my favorite haunt… My friend’s bar, Question in Itaewon.
(before the crowds arrived)
This week I was there 3 evenings in a row.
A second home? Maybe.
laura
This is one of the many things that I love about teaching. The random spelling mistakes that are made. Today two girls made the exact same mistake. They both skipped 3 letters, resulting in a very different sentence. Do you know which letters are missing?
After the first one I had a good laugh and had to take a picture before making her correct it. When I saw the second one I was nearly on the floor laughing.
I’ll make her correct it the next class. Had to pass it around to the other teachers first.
^.~
laura
Another day of work, another drink at the Coffee Bean (or two, or three ^.~).
Mmmmmm. Hot Vanilla (vanilla steamed milk).
I ♥ Coffee Bean.
laura
laura
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