A Feast for the Masses

Well, we did it!! Sam and I officially hosted our very first Thanksgiving meal together, and I think it was definitely a success. As Sam mentioned before we were in no way expecting this to turn into as massive a par-tay as it did. I mean, come on... twenty people to feed, two small burners, a mini fridge, two tiny pots, and approximately 20 square feet of space??? The odds were formidable, but I wouldn't have had it any other way!

We started the fun by giving Sam's apartment a deep clean last night, then this morning went on a re-con mission to Lotte Mart, then to Costco where we purchased 7 rotisserie chickens, 3 big bags of potatoes, 2 bags of rolls and 3 giant apple pies. Then I went back and cleaned my apartment while Sam went to Lotte Mart and HomePlus to pick up the green beans, butter, bigger bowls, potato masher, etc. We also managed to snag the giant pot from Brett's apartment and then, the most clutch move of all, Brady and Ashlee hauled home the office microwave for us. (Yes, I have no shame, I asked to borrow the office microwave for our Thanksgiving feast, and luckily they were awesome and not only said yes, but also gave us some funds to actually have said Thanksgiving feast! Double score! Having no shame pays sometimes I guess :) Sam cut up all of the chickens and we got cooking around 5 pm.

Here is evidence of the 2 tiny burners. I only wish I had thought to take a picture of the GIANT pot of potatoes, because these two pots do not truly depict the fact that these are two. tiny. burners. (Thanks to Ian for lending us the toaster oven!)

Part of the spread. It looked much more impressive in person. Notice the microwave that was key for making everyone's dinner deliciously warm instead of just room temperature. Also notice the kimchi on the edge of the table. We are in Korea, after all!

We had mashed potatoes with skins and without, because we wanted everyone to feel at home :)

My plate of food.

Another plate of food. (Can you tell I was really proud of the food?) Frank brought Stove Top Stuffing. I don't even really like Stove Top in general, but his was de-licious.

Chowing down! It was really nice to have some "newbies" with us, too! David's friend Shannon was visiting from New York, our fav. Korean Jen came along, plus we had the new teachers from the Middle School campuses with us, too. How crazy is this... the guy in the brown jacket went to Trinity, and he and I actually know several people in common that went to Southwestern! Such a small world.

Mmmm... apple pie!

What Thanksgiving is complete without a family portrait? Ashley managed to sneak out before we got to picture time, but yes, you're counting correctly... that's 19 people! Everyone cracked up when Sam busted out the tri-pod, but this is SUCH a classic!

If Cole looks full, you know there was enough food!

Well, we definitely bought wayyyy too much food, but better than safe than sorry I say! Plus, everyone got to take home some leftovers, which we all know is the best part of Thanksgiving. (If you did not get leftovers and want some, we still have a ton, so just let me know!) It was so much fun to have everyone together and I'm soooo glad we had enough food and space! Thanks to everyone that brought drinks, food, cups, plates, and anything else too! I'm still in a bit of shock that it worked out! Thanks to EVERYONE who came, you totally made my Thanksgiving! To everyone at home, we hope you are having a fantastic holiday weekend, and look forward to celebrating with you next year!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!  It is now officially the day after Thanksgiving here in Korea. (side note = I proposed to Alison on the day after Thanksgiving last year, and writing this blog prompted me to check last year's calendar to see when Thanksgiving was.  Turns out it was on the 22nd of Nov last year, which means we totally forgot to celebrate one year of being engaged on the 23rd. haha)  Our Thanksgiving Day dinner consisted of us going out with 5 of the other teacher from our school for kalbi.  Which really is not too far off from a Thanksgiving feast.  Kalbi is pork ribs that are cooked over hot coals right at your table, and you can grill peppers, mushrooms, and garlic on the grill as well.  It is a ton of meat, and if you have read our other blogs about Korean meals you know that every meal comes with at least a few side dishes.  We went to our favorite kabli restaurant, and becase kalbi is considered a "big, heavy, somewhat nice, eat out meal" it comes with numerous side dishes. ? to be exact: 2 soups, the best kimchi in all of Korea, rice, hominy type stuff, red pepper dipping sauce, shredded cabbage, and 2 types of leaf lettuce to wrap it all in.  Korean custom calls for almost all meals to be eaten family style where everything is shared.  So the meal was truly as close to a Thanksgiving feast as we could have on Thanksgiving night.  

We are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at our apartments on Saturday evening.  We initially planned on buy 3-4 rotisserie chickens from the supermarket, along with potato(e)s for home made mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, a couple pies, and some dinner rolls.  We figured this would feed 12 or so people(about the number of people we thought would come from our office.  Well, we did not realize how much people would latch onto this idea.  Word got around to the middle school campus and the new teacher at another campus across the hall from me.  They all invited a friend. Soooo, our current count is now over 20 guests. See my last blog entitled "I live here" if you would like to give me some tips on how to it everyone in here).  It is more than we planned for, but nothing another bag of potato(e)s, rolls, two more chickens, and another pie can't fix.  We are absolutely thrilled that we are able to host our family away from home for a Thanksgiving feast.  We will definitely take pictures and post them ASAP.  

We wish all of you back home the best on this Thanksgiving Day.  We hope that you are able to be with family and friends on this day that calls for being thankful for what we have.  As for us, we are thankful for all of our friends that we have made here, but especially for all of our family and friends back home that have supported us on this journey at the beginning of our lives together.  We are thinking about you and hope you have a wonderful day.  Take an extra bite of everything on your table for us!

I live here

Alison also wrote a blog today, don't forget to check it out also. 

I was looking through all of our old blogs todays and realized that the only pictures of our apartments are from the very first week we were here.  So I thought you might like to see what my place looks like now that it has been lived in.  I did some minor tidying up so I would not look like a complete slob, but I left all my books and gadgets exactly where they were when I had the idea to take some more pictures.  So here is the tour of an apartment that has been lived in for nine months.

My bike outside my door in the hallway

The view of the inside of my door.  I recently purchased my coat rack that was an absolute necessity for my collections of coats, gloves, hats, scarves, and umbrellas.  And yes, I take my shoes off at the door every time I come in.  I'm so asian.

Turn the right once you've walked in the door and you have my kitchen, complete with tea pot warming my water for some jasmine(쟈스민) tea.  I have acquired multiple cooking utensils, a drying rack, and a toaster since we got here.  I actually do quite a bit of cooking so my sink is always full of dishes.

Thats the washer underneath the counter(mini-fridge to the left of it), a 4kg bag of rice that needs to be put away in green, and the other bags are my non-food waste trash by the door.

My drying rack in the foreground.  Desk and "closet" in the background.  All the way in the back is the TV I never use.  I never set up cable or internet in my place because I can get Alison's wireless internet in my room.  My Xbox went out of commission a month or so ago, so the TV is relatively useless.

My desk and windowsill that are use for storage more than anything else.  The windowsill is full of things like Shout, airspray, change, pictures, books, video games, a lint roller, nasal spray, and some computer speakers.  The desk houses my DVD collection and random things that don't have a place.

The green chair was courtesy of the hotel that went out of business down the alley from us.  Alison and I spotted two of these bad boys one night on the way back from the convenience store.  We grabbed them, gave them a good wipe down and now we each have one in our room.  On my bed is the beautiful bedding set that Avalon provided for me.  The TV stand that I now use as my bedside table houses a GRE book, a Japan travel guide, and some other books that I am eventually supposed to get around to.

Just another view.

The floor table is where I find myself spending most of my time recently.  Thanks Abby!! Abby recently left and gifted me this table.  I plop down on my floor cushions and surf the net, download music, write blogs, etc.  The floor is the best place because the heating comes through the water that runs underneath the floor.  Coming home and sitting down on the warm floor is amazing. 

So there you have it.  It's what I call home.  I will be sad to leave it, but I really am looking forward to a full size kitchen(and refrigerator) a separate living room with a couch(ohhhh a couch!!!), and my full size corner desk from IKEA.   haha, its funny what I miss.

Change, Change, Change

Well, there have been lots of changes over the last couple of weeks and it has really gotten me thinking. The weather has definitely changed, and I am still adjusting to that. I've realized exactly how "Texan" I am... I keep thinking, "Okay, it's been cold for a couple of days, but it will warm up again soon!" Umm, not quite. I'm learning to wear socks and always have my scarf and hat handy! I'm also trying not to think about the fact that it will probably only be getting worse until we leave. Sigh.

There have also been quite a few changes in staff at our school. One of the teachers that I am closest to, Abby, finished her contract and headed back to Winnipeg last week. Lindsey and Jordan are back in the States, although, Jordan will be back here before we know it, and many of our favorite Korean teachers will be moving to a new campus that is opening later this month. We've also gotten some new teachers, so that has been exciting. For those of you that know me well, you know that change is not exactly my favorite thing. At all! However, with all of this transition it has made me think about the last nine months and also think about what the future will hold once we head back home.

I regret not posting more of our day-to-day activities here in Seoul, because I'm not sure how well it has come across on this blog how much I absolutely love it here. While adjusting to a new culture and a new city took some time and effort, I really do feel like Seoul has become "home". For one, this is the first real "city" I have ever lived in. Even though I have lived close to Dallas and Austin, I never explored them to the extent that we have explored Seoul over these last 9 months. Even with all that we've done I've already started compiling a list of everything we still have to do and am trying how to fit it all in over the next 12 weekends! I also love being able to function with out a car... even if it is mildly annoying to have to haul your groceries a mile on foot or on the subway, I don't really think too much about it now.

One of the things that has absolutely made this year for me, too, is the people we work with. While I absolutely adored the people I worked with at White Rock (and still do!) it has been nice to work with so many people in my own age bracket. Being here together, so far from home, really creates a bond. We talk about work way more than we should, and sometimes we get really sick of each other, but for the most part I really do enjoy the people we work with, which is a huge blessing. It's nice to have people in your neighborhood, to relax in front of the convenience store with after work, borrow books and movies, etc. It's like a slightly more adult version of college life :)

It's also been a year to slow down and think about where I am and where I'm going. Although I haven't found the "magic answer" for what I should be doing with my life (sorry Mom and Dad!), I've definitely had some time to think. I've also learned some valuable skills as far as communicating clearly and effectively and patience. Patience has NEVER been one of my strengths, but when you are dealing with a classroom full of kids who are obviously not getting the point or a cabbie who wants to take you anywhere but where you want to go you learn that blowing up won't get you anywhere. I'm not exactly Ghandi, but I feel like I have definitely learned to keep my cool much better than before (right, Sam??) I can honestly say I never expected to find myself in Asia, but it has by far been one of the best experiences of my life. I'm trying not to over think the "going home" part, and listen more, trusting that God will show us what we're supposed to next when the time comes. I'm trying to be patient :)

To close (if you've stuck through this rambling!) Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! We will be picking up a rotisserie chicken and apple pie at Costco this Saturday and mixing up some mashed potatoes, green beans, and maybe even some stuffing to feast on with our crew, but we will definitely be missing you all!

Layin' Low

It is Friday night here and Alison and I are both laying low tonight.  Alison is feeling a slight bit under the weather, it is probably just allergies, but she decided to stay in to get some rest just to be make sure it does not get worse.  I am just hanging out in my apartment because I don't feel like spending any money.  South Korea has not been immune to the economic downturn, and in a sense it may be hitting us harder being here rather than back home in the states.  Compared to nine months ago when we arrived the exchange rate between the South Korean Won and the US dollar has dropped over 30%.  So, if we sent home 1 million won in February, we would have gotten $1,000, but now we only get $670.  OUCH!!  We are hoping that the economy gets going in the right direction before we have to send all of our money home in three months.  It certainly won't be back to the rate it was at 9 months ago, but hopefully it will make a small rebound.  But we are not letting the bad exchange rate keeping us from making the most of our time here.  Like I mentioned before we are going to get to go to Japan on a four day weekend in January.  We will fly into Tokyo, probably spend a day there, then head over to Nagano to see the snow monkeys.  From there we might head south for the remaining two days before heading back to Seoul.  It will be a quick trip, but it would have been disappointing if we did not make it to Japan.  We have also decided that we are going to go to Vietnam and Cambodia(at least) immediately following the end of our contracts.  Our employer allows us to delay our flights out of Korea for up to 30 days after our contracts expire.  So we will fly to Vietnam, travel for ten days, then fly back to Korea, spend a night in Seoul, and then catch our flight back to the states the following day.  

Beijing Day 4

Go look at the other entry entitled Beijing Day 4. I wrote it a long time ago but never got around to publishing it, but when I did, it published it on the day I started writing it.

Beijing Day 3: The Great Wall

Well, what Sam said is true, visiting the Great Wall has been a life-long dream of mine. I had a strange fascination with the Wall when I was little (I can still see the small, blue, hardback book my parents bought me). I guess it's the allure of something you can see from space, but that was built without the assistance of any "modern" construction conveniences. The idea of this wall snaking though the countryside for thousands of years (construction on the first sections of the Wall began in the 6th century BC) just captivates me. In any case, finally getting to see it and walk it was a really amazing experience.

We decided not to take our hostel's tour because we wanted to set our own time frame on the wall. We also decided not to go to Badaling, the most often visited section of the Great Wall because we wanted something a bit less, well, crowded. Instead we took a bus (and then a taxi) to the Mutianyu section, about 70km northeast of Beijing. Overall, I think it was a good decision, and getting there and back was not too difficult. Just make sure that if you do this, when you get off the bus at Huairou you set a return price with your cab driver before you take off as your cab driver will sit and wait for you while you are on the Wall.

So, we finally arrived at Mutianyu and took the cable car up to the top. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I will now stop talking and provide photo evidence of our journey! (As usual, more over at the picture page.)

Ummm... so. many. stairs.

What trip to the Great Wall would be completely without a thoroughly exauhsted, ridiculously dorky high-five photo as a capper? Obviously not this one!

It's about time.....

I am sure that is what you are saying right about now.  It has been months since either of us posted a good blog.   I just posted Day 4 of our China Trip, hopefully this will inspire us to get Days 2 and 3 written as well.  In the meantime, we have just about 3 1/2 months before we touch down on US soil again.  Our contracts end Feb 21.  In between now and then we are planning a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner.  Since we have no oven, we might have to resort to turkey lunch meat sandwiches, but mashed potatoes, gravy, store bought rolls and sweet potatoes will all be present.  We inherited a small Christmas tree from a teacher that is leaving, so that will be a nice adornment in one of our apartments. In January we have a 4 day weekend, which we will spend in Japan. And then when our contracts are up on the 21st of February we are planning to delay our flights out of Korea for about 10 days so we can hit Vietnam and/or Cambodia and/or Thailand before come home.  

With some of our fellow teachers leaving in the coming week the reality of how much we miss our family and friends has made itself more evident.  There are alot of things we don't miss back home(paying for gas, driving to the store instead of walking around the corner, greasy food) but family and friends can not be substituted for.  We really look forward to seeing everyone and catching up when we get back.  In the meantime, there is a number that you can call me(Sam) at.  It is not long distance, it will call my computer, and if I am not online, you can leave a message. The number is 469-277-6758.  More info later on Alison's number.