Happy Day = Happy Emma!

Today I had a REALLY good day. I thought I would share it.

It started off with getting up early to go with my director to Busan to declare my passport lost/stolen (still not sure what the hell happened) and to apply for a new one. This was fairly painless. We go a little lost in Busan but that turned into a brief tour of the city so all was good. Busan is really pretty and I plan to go back, maybe in the spring/summer. I hear it's only 45 minutes on the train from here. All the driving we did was a good opportunity for me and Jenny to talk and get to know each other more. I feel very comfortable with her and she opened up to me which was nice. She didn't seem like my boss which is a nice feeling. Coming home from Busan gave me the feeling of "home sweet home" for the first time which was a really good feeling. It still doesn't beat Kitchener but I am definitely starting to feel comfortable here. The trip to Busan also made me appreciate that I chose to come to a smaller town. With downtown Ulsan a bus ride away it really is nice. When we got back I took Jenny out for lunch to show my appreciation for taking me to the Canadian Consulate. We went to the Japanese place that is literally 20 paces from my apartment. It was quite good. A different experience from our Ye's back home. It was simply better haha. and the price was significantly less.

Teaching today was also good. After having an odd schedule for the last couple weeks, I am finally back to my regular classes which means I get to see all the kids again. My first class was full with 12 students and it was quite a riot. I like to get them to say words in English and then have them teach me what it is in Korean. The kids love it too. This one student, Jackson, was in a silly mood today and laughed uncontrollably at my pronunciation. Just thinking about this is making me laugh a little because he has the most infectious laugh. Eventually we were all laughing and had a pretty silly class. My second class was with younger students and they are always so cute. We were working on telling time and by the end I think they got the hang of it (yay!). Our middle school kids are having exams right now so I had two extra spares which is always nice and I finally changed my classroom's decor a little bit. Korea has an English newspaper for kids called The Kids Times and they have really cool articles about a range of topics. We had a bunch from over the years, so I flipped through them and cut out some articles on animals because the kids love them and some other articles I thought they'd enjoy and posted them on the bulletin boards in my class. I am really starting to feel comfortable which is also good! Just before leaving work I realized that I hadn't seen Jenny's daughter lately but knew she was somewhere at the school. Then I saw her and I guess she was sleeping in a vacant classroom and had just woken up. She then proceeded to come up to me and hop in my lap and cuddle for about fifteen minutes. It was incredibly cute and well needed on both ends haha.

By the end of the day I was hungry but really didn't want to make anything for dinner. Luckily about  minutes after that thought Jenny said that she would like to have dinner with everyone tonight. That worked out perfectly. It just happened to be Jenny and Crow's 14th wedding anniversary so we were all out celebrating with them. It was really nice. We went to this restaurant that was very good. We sat at a round table that had a grill in the middle and the girl serving us cooked up pork, onions, garlic, and jalapeño peppers marinated in this slightly spicy but delicious red sauce. It think this is what it is called: Daeji Bulgogi  (spicy marinated pork) 돼지불고기 It is served with lettuce for wrapping (I am pretty sure I have talked about something similar before) and various side dishes like kimchi of course and onions. I am surprised with how much spicy food and onions I have been eating that my tummy has not acted up at all. I am quite thankful actually. As an appetizer we had this amazing spicy marinated tofu. I could have eaten a ton of that stuff. I have also grown a liking to having a beer or two when we go out, but mixing soju with it. It is quite tasty and common. During dinner we chatted about all kinds of things and our server was super cute and said that she wanted to learn some English because she plans to go to New Zealand soon. Crow asked a lot of questions about Canada which was nice. I always appreciate when they try their English with me, just like the appreciate when I try using Korean. I can ask for water at a restaurant officially! haha. The are all so surprised to hear that I like to do the same things they do like bowling and sledding and skiing. Its humorous for me to see how surprised they are haha. They are also impressed how I have adjusted to eating Korean foods. I am too.

Crow came up with a really cool idea that we are going to start in the new year. Once a month we will choose on class who has behaved the most, brought their books, done their homework, and participated and Jenny and Crow will put 100,000 won ($100) in each month and on either a Saturday or Sunday, I will take that class on an outing. It might be a hike, to the movies, bowling, out for lunch, on a picnic etc. I love the idea and so does Jenny. Crow was worried that it would take away from my weekends, but it would be a lot of fun and I enjoy spending time with the kids so much anyways. This idea will also be good for business so its a win all around. Another thing that made this such a great day was that Jenny and Crow said to me that if I want to travel somewhere in Korea to let them know and if it is possible we will all go together. I think that I have this independent mind set because I travelled here on my own that I think I have to do things alone. It is nice to have them plus my roommate Kelly to do things with and ask any question that arises. I am truly grateful. After dinner we all walked to the convenience store and got coffee. I know this may sound strange but its a thing here. You purchase a cellophane wrapped cup with the mix all ready to go and once you've paid you unwrap and add hot water from a dispenser and mix 'er up and drink. I got a Mocha Cappuccino and it was quite tasty! It also warmed me up because it is hella cold here right now. Seoul got snow last night and we saw some ice here tonight. I will have to start wearing my heavy jacket and scarf. The temperature drop from afternoon to evening is so significant and I am still not quite used to it.

That was my good day. Sounds pretty awesome eh?
This didn't happen today but it is still something happy so I'll add it. The dates for my winter break have been finalized. We are off on December 25th as it is a holiday, and The 1st of January is a holiday too which is not taken away from my 8 days of vacation I get over the year. The 2-4 is my vacation. This means that Tuesday-Sunday I am a free woman! haha Kelly and I are going to go on a trip. We are thinking either Seoul or Jeju-do Island. Google Jeju Island if you can, it looks amazing. At first I said that we should go to Jeju because it looks like it will be great scenery, but Jenny suggested we go there for our summer break where we will get 5 days off. So now I am thinking Seoul for the winter break, but Kelly and I will have to talk about it :). We might have an end of 2012 party/get together on Christmas day with everyone from work since I don't have any plans. I thought it was a nice gesture on their part.

Overall I had a good day, and I am starting to really settle in which is a good feeling. I have had some doubts over the last few weeks but they are slowly dissipating which is good! Now I can enjoy Korea in all its glory!