Pleasant weekend in Ulsan

Nothing overly exciting has been happening other than planning VACATIONS which always gets me super excited. I have a pretty magical time coming up. This weekend, I am going to Jeju Island for the long weekend, which will be amazing. Initially planning to go alone, I will actually be joined by my friend Tina for a part of the trip. Lovely!

Next up, there is my school's Sports Day next week. Apparently having one in October was an anomaly and normally they are in May. Because our field has been under construction, it was pushed to June. Anyways, I am not only going to be a spectator this time, I am going to race! The finale of the day is a big relay race between the white and blue teams. Each grade selects one or two top racers of each gender. The race begins with adorable little grade 1's, and last time culminated with grade 6's. Apparently this time there will also be a teacher race of which I was asked to join. That'll teach me for talking about my rugby days - big things are expected of me! I can't wait. I also imagine I will be the only adult sweating and beet red while my Korean colleagues will be cool as cucumbers under massively brimmed hats.

Many more awesome vacations to come, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for my readers.

Spent the weekend in Ulsan planning said awesome vacations. Nice and relaxing. We went to Old Downtown and had AMAZING burgers. Not amazing-for-Korea (like many "Italian" places here) but actually amazing. I can't wait to go back. It's called Toolbox for anyone wondering. Then we discovered a hidden little park/ancient fortress thingy. Korea is so neat. Here are some pictures!

Rice paddy view from the train.

Cool stone thingies in the park.

Lots of cute old people were chilling
at the park. Under this ornate gazebo
some old men were playing board
games.

Very serene little pocket amidst the concrete jungle.

Terrifying man with a teacup spine.

Whereas Gyeongju's mascots are
the Shilla King and Queen, Ulsan's
thing is whales. This park bench
had dolphin sides!

Amazing bear hats. Sadly, child sized.

Very amusing tag on a pear of underwear I purchased.

And finally a little bit of Annie's mailbox. Business is slow, but still active!

"Dear Anne techer,

Hello! I'm Bak Ga yeon. Today I introduce my family. My family. My family is Father, Mother and me! I don't have sister or brother. My father job is train driver! My mother is nothing of job. My favorit food is spagetti & ice cream. And best one is chicken!!! I love chicken. It's really delicious <3 I dont like vegetables. And best one is onion. Onion is very very very taste bad. Do you like onion? My favorit animal is Panda. Panda is ve~~~ry cute <3 but I never saw panda because Panda is on China. In zoo I never saw Panda too. What your favorite animal? Don't you like Panda? I always thanks for you. Your teaching is very fun and I like your teaching. Bye~"

Firstly, it's really exciting her Hello was not followed by a question mark like 95% of my letters. Secondly, adorable. 

Another cute letter and the Ulsan Whale Festival

"Dear Anne Teacher
Hello teacher Your go to school trip I'm not having fun at friday english I miss you Do you want to math? I want math and english I think english is fun because Anne teacher is teach me teacher How do you feel in school trip Are you miss me Do you want to go to school and teach me What's your favorite subject my favorite subject is english english is fun and easy I want to go to Canada Because is teachers from I miss you very much I want you go school early"

Also this weekend I went to Ulsan for the whale festival. A few people I know signed up to participate in the boat race at it. I was judging a speech contest in the morning, so I just went in the afternoon. It was fun, but the weather sadly turned cold and grey so we didn't stay too long. We saw whale meat! That was one of the most rancid smelling food items ever to grace my nose. I was unable to bring myself to try it not out of moral attachment to cetaceans, but out of extreme revulsion. Sadly I forgot my camera so my photos aren't great.

This guy was banging on wood with a nail and
creating very cool art.

Apparently, later in the evening, this whale
gets "whaled" in traditional
Korean hunting.

Such cute little knick knacks!

Whale meat for your tasting and smelling pleasure!

My friend said it was 40$ for one of those blobs.

Back in Gyeongju, the city is starting
to decorate for Buddha's birthday,
an upcoming holiday.

Finally, here is a car. It was illegally parked and knew it would get it's photo taken, so the owner just covered up their license plate!

Naughty.

Weekend in Ulsan

After a long hiatus, I visited Ulsan for the weekend. I forgot how gracious of a host Adri was, and I had a really fun time. It's also a lot of fun to meet new people who aren't all my neighbours. We even met a few Koreans who thought it was very funny that I lived in Gyeongju because the city is so traditional and boring (according to them).

I had gone to Ulsan to get my hair cut at a place Adri recommended. They all spoke English and it was a lovely salon. They offered to straighten it and I figured why not. Anyways, two women straightened my hair doing about half a pinky's width of hair at a time. It was sooo delicate. But boy was my hair straight. I don't think it's ever been so straight.

Most importantly, we discovered a little cafe that sold really nice teas and western delicacies like sandwiches. It was amazing. We walked in and the staff were instantly excited to see us, and started to make other customers move to give us room. We said we could just return in a little bit to allow the others to finish. When we came back we got super tasty tea and sammies, and even got our tea leaves resteeped. Just when Adri and I thought maybe we had stayed in the cozy spot a little too long, we were given free cake. We aren't sure if everyone gets free cake if they stay long enough, or if this was just one of the many foreigner perks. Either way, London Tea was a sweet cafe and a tasty, albeit costly, meal. It was also right next to the Ulsan Grand Park, where we enjoyed a lovely walk and used the crazy outdoor "exercise" machines (they are very strange balancing machines with no resitance. We played on one where you just swing yourself from side to side on like a sideways standing swing. So fun)

Our delicious spiced tea came with an hourglass
to ensure perfect steeping time.

I had a "Thanksgiving Sandwich" and Adri got the
Curry Chicken Salad. Mine included cranberry sauce,
and the menu states  that they specify in cranberries
because of health. Now you know.

Free food has no calories, which is lucky because
I ate both our pieces.

Ulsan Grand Park

Lots of funky statues in the park

Cats and Christmas Spirit!

I spent the weekend in Ulsan with Adri, resting and getting ready for tonight's Christmas festivities. We went shopping and I got a whole bunch of adorable Korean sweaters to help me survive the freezingness of my classroom, a new hat and new mitts. The mitts ended up having a string attaching them to run through my coat. So while I may look like a child, at least I won't lose these ones!!

We went out for lunch today to a "Chinese" restaurant. It's pretty neat to see how different Chinese food is here vs home, and I bet both versions are equally different from the food in actual China. Anyways we had a delicious big soup full of seafood, noodles, and super excitingly, VEGETABLES. I ate all the seafood and veggies, excited to have so much variety in my soup, whereas my colleagues picked around the veggies and ate all the noodles. It was pretty funny. I find meals out with my teachers pretty interesting because I can literally understand nothing, and I feel like you see a whole other side to a person when you can't understand them. Also it actually takes will power not ot laugh at all the slurping noises they make. It's just so loud and I can just see my mother dying in the corner hahaha. Anyways, the soup was amazing.

Here are some pictures from the cat cafe and from my little Christmas set up and some other stuff. The cat cafe was pretty hilarious:  a basement cafe with a ton of kitties. The cats were SO patient, being stroked and harassed constantly by children. There seemed to be a rule though that the sleeping cats weren't disturbed. Also the cats could climb on ceiling pipes to escape children. All the cats had their claws and there were tons of kitty jungle gyms for them to climb around on, so I think they were all pretty happy. When a group of girls came in, Adri and I offered to switch tables so they could sit together. Apparently, this act of decency warranted us getting a free bag of mystery meat cat treat! Once we got that, we became way more popular. Finally, a super old cat came and snuggled into Adri's lap. No cat came to me, so Adri put him in my lap. He was so old and happy to snuggle he didn't mind. When we eventually let, I carried him all curled up and put him on a sleeping matt. He didn't move at all. It was so cute. One kitty did have a pretty severe looking eye infection, but the healthiness of the others has me pretty sure he was being treated for it.

As for Christmas, my amazing parents and auntie have sent me SO many goodies, that I barely miss them. LIES. Miss you guys so much, but the packages definitely take the sting out of it. Can't wait to Skype with you tomorrow. Adri and I are having Christmas morning together, and there are plenty of dinners and parties happening to keep us busy and not too sad. Love to all my family and friends, thank you for reading my blog, and happy holidays!!

Before class one day the boys tried to see how many could sit
on each other. After trying and failing to take a photo, I had
them all go sit down. Under this massive pile was one little
boy who was very happy to be able to breathe again!!

Really cool looking restaurant near Adri. Sadly, we feel
ill equipped to order by ourselves. 

Cat Cafe!

Squeeazine that bag of mystery meat caused the cats to 

come a running. Pictured here is a beautiful brown cat.
I had never seen a solid brown cat before.

Adri makes an old friend.

Adri gives him to me

Putting him, he decided he liked my arm,
so I didn't move it.

Beautiful hanbok store I pass home from the train station.
I want to know if it's allowed to try them on. I feel like they're
so expensive it would be rude to try them on without intention
of buying.

Merry Christmas!!

Can't wait to open them. Tried
to peek but they are pinned
shut!!

Happy Pepero Day!

And Remembrance Day. Two holidays that really couldn't be more different!

I went to Ulsan this weekend to visit Adri but also to go to Cost Co. It was AMAZING. Just like back home. We all spent way too much money though. For dinner we made (ok Adri made.. the kitchens are too small for helpers) spaghetti  bolognese and it was one of the yummiest things I've ever eaten. 

This is my walk to school. Just
figured you might like a
visual.

Second block on way to school.
Note there are no sidewalks and
at rush hour I often think I
might be smushed.

School Friday morning.

 Fun story. Koreans like to open their windows. All the time. So while it is not very cold yet, it's been around 10-15C these days, I am FREEZING at school. Students and teachers all wear their coats indoors. Teachers have smuggled space heaters under their desks. It's brutal. When I asked why this was, a coteacher told me that students like it and they like seeing their hair blow around haha. I'm thikning something was lost in translation. Anyways, I've asked around to foreigners and apparently it is a habit from the days of gas heating when they didn't want to asphyxiate. The English room does get a lot of sun luckily so sometimes it manages to warm up. On the occasion that the room is regular indoor temperature, the students will complain that they are hot. I suggest that they remove their down winter parkas. They seem to find this a horrible inconvenience haha. Anyways, here is a picture from the textbook that I thought was funny because even the cartoon students wear their coats indoors!

Korean indoor coat wearing

The lunch ladies were on strike Friday so we ordered in.
Some teachers who don't normally sit with me got to
see the shocking fact that I am capable of using chopsticks.
I was literally the only person who ate veggies from that
veggie tray. They really love their protein, rice and
kimchi!

Pepero Day is awesome. Because it is today (Sunday)
students celebrated on Friday. All of this was given to me!!
The one at the top in the blue bag is HOME MADE!

Nude: Chocolate is contained tightly in the biscuit.

We switch to "indoor shoes" at school. I was curious about
this before coming so for anyone else who is curious
these are the standard female model. 

These are my awesome socks.

The gingkos are a gorgeous shade of yellow
these days.

Adorable grade 3 boy in his super pouffy
down jacket: "Teacher. Do you like Angry Birds?"
Anne: "Yes."
Adorable kid: "Here!"
It was too cute. I love it. 

How will I manage to follow this complex recipe without
an English translation!

Possible the most exciting moment of my life: finding
a packet of gruyere cheese at the Cost Co. It's the real deal.