November in Korea

This month went by rather slow actually. But there are some pretty sweet things to mention. Like...Pepero Day!!! It's kind of a combination of sweetest day and valentine's day. Couples get all mushy gushy (even though they already kind of are in general) by getting peperos. Some even come with small stuffed animals! The range between basic peperos and extravagent ones is pretty ridiculous. What is a pepero? It's a snack comprised of a cracker stick that's dipped in chocolate. In Japan, they're known as Pocky, which I know are selled in the States, so if you're familiar with those, then it's basically the same thing. Except that there are a bajillion different kinds of them!! You can get bigger ones, ones with nuts, ones that are also dipped in strawberry, ones with caramel, etc. Being the nice teacher I am (hah), I bought some for my students. How often am I going to celebrate Pepero Day? I also received peperos from my students. It wa a bit overwhelming at how much I got! Here's what I accumulated from the kindergarteners:

It was pretty fantastic. Moving on, since my friends and I didn't want to hang out and be totally surrounded by couples in their matching outfits and overall cuteness, we had our own pepero party. Nothing elaborate, but lots of peperos to eat! It was a fun day.

I also went to Gwangju for the first time. Well, technically it was my second time, but the first time was solely spent in the bus terminal. Anyway, we were in Gwangju. Our mission: shopping! There was a pretty big shopping area that we traversed. We walked. We browsed. We shopped. It was a good day.

Work has been pretty much the same. Lots of work to do. I'll save you from the boringness.

We had Thanksgiving at school though! Just for the kindergarteners. They did a few craft activities, and we made mashed potatoes and an oreo dessert. My friends and I had our own Thanksgiving "dinner" which was oodles of fun! Turkey is not available in Korea unless you want to spend lots of money on one. Green beans are also considered a foreign food, so no green bean casserole. Well, we could have made it by getting green beans from a special store that sells foreign foods in Gwangju, but we weren't able to get them in time. Anyway, we had chicken, mashed potatoes (regular and sweet potatoes), cheese and crackers, crescents, pumpkin, and deviled eggs. Pretty good! We even had a pecan pie (say what?!?!) Pies aren't common in Korea. It's a cake country. They're totally missing out. Anyway, it was a great night to enjoy with friends.

Now it's Christmas season!! Lots to do, lots to do! So I'm definitely keeping busy with work, learning Korean, planning trips, and relaxing on the side.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! 4 months down, 6 to go!

It's been so long!

I figure it's time for an update. I haven't written in quite a while, but frankly, there hasn't been much to write on. Which means that I need to do something new! Thank you Mokpo for being a little boring from time to time, but I still think you're a cool place.

October wasn't very thrilling, and I pretty much just worked all the time. That's kind of how it's been lately, so why bore you? Anyway, there were a few things that you might find interesting. We had a Halloween party! Korea doesn't celebrate Halloween, but kids who go to English schools know about it. Some schools do something, some don't. We got to be one that does! The entire day was dedicated to Halloween. Usually we would just do something with the kindergartners for part of the time, but definitely not a whole day dedicated to a holiday! There was lots of prep work to do, and the day was tiring, but it was still fun! The kindergartners dressed up as vampires and princesses (boys and girls, respectively), wearing capes that we made for them and donning masks they got to decorate. They also got to make treat bags, paint pumpkins, and of course, trick or treat. Except that the trick or treating occurred in just our school. They still loved it though! In the afternoon the kids did things a little differently. Some dressed up on their own, but others didn't. They also got to make treat bags, go trick or treating, and bob for apples. Stellar. Oh, there was also a haunted house! We used one of the rooms to create a room of horror. The kids thought it was pretty sweet. So all in all, my Halloween was pretty nice. Oh wait, it was on the 22nd. So when actual Halloween came around, it was just a regular weekend. I didn't really miss it all that much.

Another event---ok I have to interrupt this to write just a smidge about something on tv I just saw. There's a group of runners and they were warming up a little beforehand, listening to music. They did a few hand movements to..."Tik Tok" by Kesha. Fantastic. Moving on!

There was an event in Mokpo and Yeongam: F1 racing. This thing was HUGE. There was a massive influx of people in the city, which also included large amounts of foreigners. Now, not to bash foreigners since I am one myself, but I got used to seeing only Koreans. So when I saw foreigners, I felt like they were invading my city!! I was a bit anxious for the weekend to be over so that they would leave...mean? Yes. Maybe I've gotten too accustomed to living in Mokpo.But I'm getting off topic. The event kicked off on a Thursday night with a concert in Peace Park. Who was performing? 2NE1, only one of the most popular groups in Korea right now!!!

I was beyond psyched to see them. All I had to do was finish decorating the school for the Halloween party that was going to happen the next day and I was free!! Wait, what's that? We're going to be decorating until 9:30? I'm going to be at school for almost 12 hours? *hopes crashing down like shattered glass* there goes that. But alas, there is still hope! I heard that SHINee was going to be playing on Friday!! SHINee is also another super popular group.

Yes, I am aware of the horrible leopard-ness matching going on here.

So all my hopes were then magnified for Friday night! We listened to a few groups beforehand, some of which were pretty good. Time kept passing...where was SHINee? Turns out they weren't there...super lame! I still had a good night regardless.

October flew by, and November is doing the same! A quarter of my time here has been completed. The next quarter is going to be great! We're having a Thanksgiving Day party at school this coming Friday (I know it's early, but our school schedule couldn't let it be another day). Lots of preparation to do! My friends and I are also having our own Thanksgiving shindig. Although, there won't be turkey. Green bean casserole is a possibility! Mashed potatoes are also do-able. So Thanksgiving will be quite an adventure.

December means...my mom and sister come to visit!!!!!!!! So it's time to plan. Lots of things to do! It's a bit hard to plan when I work a lot and have 2 Korean lessons each week, but I'll get there! Korean is going well; my teacher says that I am learning very quickly, but I need to work on speaking. Writing can only do so much!

I guess this wasn't that uneventful. Then again, I talked about 2 events that took up 4 days in the past month and a half. I need to do some new things and go to new places!! A little tough when I'm saving up for other things. But things are going well. I haven't taken many pictures as of late, so next time hopefully I'll have something more interesting!