February Leaves Us And So Do Some Friends!!

I spent the day Monday in bed recovering from the crazy birthday weekend I had. I was glad that I didn't have to school on Monday. I met up with Nicole Monday night and we had dinner together by her house. Tuesday I didn't have to go to school either, so I slept in and then just spent the day chilling out at home. Not too much happened at the beginning of the week. Wednesday I had to go back to school, so it was tough getting up early and dragging my butt to school. There were no students at school because the new school year doesn't start until next week. We spent the first part of the morning in an assembly where we introduced to all the new teacher's joining our school and then all of last years teacher, including me, were introduced. Then all of the teacher's were assigned their grades and classrooms, some of the teachers grades didn't change and some did. My co-teacher, Jiny is now teaching her own grade 1 class, so I have been assigned a new co-teacher. My new co-teacher's name is Enee, she is two years older than me, she has good English and she is the cutest little thing. She will be my new co-teacher for the year and she will be my grade 3 English co-teacher. I'm very excited to be in the grade 3 office now because grade 3 is my favorite grade, so I will get to hang out with those teacher's for the year. My school has grown in student population, so my English Zone is now a grade 3 classroom and there are now nine grade 6 classes instead of the seven that there were last year. I'm also very excited that Mrs. Kim has returned from her sixth months in America taking an English course and she will be the new grade 6 English co-teacher. We taught really well together and we got along really good as well. After the assembly Jiny talked to the Vice-Principal and he agreed that I could go home, so I left school around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday night I met up with Nicole for a chill evening at her place. We ordered take-out, but then decided to head to Yeonsu to do noraebang and drinks with Tracy, Holly and Lisa. With Tracy leaving in 5 days I want to see as much of her as I can, so we met up with them and hung for a few hours. Thursday I had to go to school again, this time to move my stuff from the grade 6 office to the grade 3 office. Enee talked to me about moving apartments when my new contract starts and how they are still looking for a place for me to move to. I got to see Mrs. Kim for the first time since she got from the US. Since, I ddn't have anything to do at school really once my stuff got moved, Jiny and Enee talked to the VP about me going home early again and he agreed, so I left school at 10:30 a.m. again. Thursday night was Trivia night in Bupyeong and Andrea and Damien were hosting, so we had to attend. Damien leaves Korea next week as well, so we thought we should show up for his last Trivia night. Nicole, Mike and I were a team and we let this random guy, John, who happens to live in my building join our team. There were a lot of teams that attending this Trivia, so it was some tough competition, but we ended up soming in 4th place, which was better than the first Trivia night we attended when we came in 2nd last place. When Trivia was over Nicole, Mike and I took the bus to guwol-dong together. Mike went home for the night, but Nicole and I decided to hang out in guwol-dong for a bit. We started at Rio's and then we headed to eat and meet some Korean friends. I wasn't really feeling the night, so Nicole and I got a ride home from our friend and called it a nght. Friday I had no school, so I got the luxury of sleeping in again. Tracy and Damien were having their going away party in Bupyeong, so Nicole and I wanted to treat Tracy to a 'farewell' dinner first, so Tracy, Holly, Nicole and I went for some galbi and then headed to Bupyeong. We started the party at Rock Bar, which I haven't been to in about 6 months or so.

Tracy is my favorite person in Korea and I've known her the longest, so saying good-bye to her will be a struggle. Mike and Andrea are such a fun couple and I never stop laughing/smiling around them. Nicole (my wife) and I enjoying the fun times at Rock Bar. Carolina and I at Rock Bar. We take such good pictures together.

We played some drinking games at Rock Bar and when we had enough we headed to N's pub around the corner. I wasn't feeling N's pub because there were so many foreigners and when they are drunk they are arrogant and annoying.

The "cool posse" loitering on the streets outside N's pub. Left to Right: Me, Andrea, Nicole, Damien and Mike.

*Photo courtesy of Tracy.*

We stayed for about an hour and then Tracy, Damien, Carolina, Nicole, Andrea, Mike and I headed to noraebang. We rocked out at the noraebang for a good two hours before it was time to call it a night.

Nicole and I searching for a song to rock out to at the late night noraebang.

*Photo Courtesy of Tracy*

A Birthday Of Epic Proportions - Party Two!!

Rudy, Marco and I didn't get too much sleep on Sunday, so we watched an entire season of Friends, enjoyed a bottle of wine and just hung out. I had to be back to Incheon by 8:00 p.m. because I was having a small intimate dinner with my close Incheon friends. I didn't feel like taking the train home because I was tired and the train meant two transfers and then a bus ride, so I happened to find a bus from Gangnam to Incheon that took about 90 minutes. The best part was that the bus stopped two blocks from house...Woot! I met up with Holly, Tracy, Carolina, Nicole and her mom and my Korean friend Dave for dinner at a kamjatang restaurant. After dinner we headed to Mad Max for some more drinks and of course, popcorn!

Carolina and I busting out the "Victory" signs because that's what we do. Tracy and Duncan enjoying each others company a little too much...lol! The deliciously awesome chocolate birthday cake that Nicole bought for me and surprised me with at Mad Max. Then I had to stand on a chair while they played the 'Korean' Birthday song and the entire bar full of Koreans watched and clapped for me. It was rather embarassing, but I enjoyed being the center of attention for the night :)

After everyone sang to me I had to do the 'Gus Train', which is 7 shots in a row that had to be consumed in 10 seconds or less. I was a champion at it.

Here is me pretending I'm excited to do the 'Gus Train', but I was terrified. *Photo Courtesy of Carolina* All of my friends that came out for my 'real birthday' celebration. L-R: Me, Carolina, Holly, Duncan, Tracy and Nicole. *Photo Courtesy of Carolina*

Carolina and I have nothing, but love for each other. She loves birthday hats more than me though...lol!

The entire time we were at Mad Max I kept watching this table in front of us because one guy and I kept making eye contact. Well, his friend really liked me and when I was standing at the jukebox he came up to me and said, "You must be from America. You are from Tennesse." I was like, "No, I'm from Canada." Then he said, "Because you are a Ten I See!"...bwahahahaha!!!! It was actually a really smooth pick-up line, but I wasn't interested. Anyways, at one point I decided I should get a picture with him because he was funny and used the best pick-up line I've ever heard.

This is Mr. Pick-up Line extraordinare and I. His English was impeccable. Tracy and I were taking a really cute picture together, but since Carolina loves creeping...

When we finished at Mad Max, Nicole and I took her mom home in a taxi and then her and I headed to guwol-dong to keep the drinking and partying going. We headed to Rio's because I wanted 'free' drinks and I ended up getting a Rio train, which was 4 shots in a row. After Rio's we headed to eat dulkgalbi at our usual restaurant in the square and then Nicole wanted to play the soccer machine, so she played a few rounds before two random Korean guys came and watched and then invited us to join them and their friend for drinks. We obliged and went and drank with them until about 7:00 a.m. before parting ways and heading home. It was a great Birthday weekend, but it left me physically exhausted and I'm on alcohol detox because of all the alcohol consumed over a two day period. I can't wait to see what next year's birthday will bring to me...

A Birthday Of Epic Proportions - Party One!!

Thursday I decided to get an early start to the day because I was heading into Seoul to go to Costco. I need the essentials of cheese, whole wheat bread, bagels, dill pickles and Cheerios. I didn't want to buy too much stuff because I was by myself and I had to lug it all the way back to Incheon on the train and then a bus. Costco didn't me very long, it's always getting there and back that takes forever. Thursday night I had another Korean lesson with my friend and he brought his other friend along. It ended up turning into a soju drinking lesson that involved a bit of Korean speaking, but not enough to consider it a lesson. We hung out for quite a bit together and Nicole eventually joined us for the drinking activities as well. Good thing I had no school on Friday because we didn't turn in until around 6:00 a.m. I took advantage of Friday and slept in because I could. Then I met up with Holly and we went to see the movie, Marley and Me. It was a really good movie with some very tear jerker moments. After the movie we headed back to her place and started making a GIANT puzzle. Then Damien, Tracy, Holly and I headed for some galbi and then we hit up the noraebang because it is the thing to do in Korea. Saturday I headed into Seoul to meet Rudy in Gangnam for my pre-birthday party celebrations. She booked as a hotel room at the beautiful Park Hyatt Seoul that cost more money than I'm going to tell you on this blog. She had a bottle of wine waiting for us when I showed up and we just chilled out. We took advantage of the hot tub and steam room that are located in the privacy of the woman's locker room.

Me chilling in the extremely hot, but absolutely amazing hot tub. Me relaxing on the king size bed with Egyptian cotton sheets. I was on cloud 9.It was like sleeping on clouds. We had an amazing view of the city from our room.

We headed to Coex mall, which was right across the street from the hotel, so Rudy could buy an outfit for the evening and so I could get my nails done. We ended up getting delayed at Coex mall, so we had to rush back to the hotel and change and get ready so fast because I had dinner reservations for 8:00 p.m. in Itaewon. Rudy and I ended up being about 30 minutes late for my birthday dinner because the taxi driver we had took us the long way to Itaewon, so it took us an extra 20 minutes to get there. We were so mad and Rudy even talked to him about it. He just wanted to get more money out of us. I felt bad for being late to my own dinner, but s**t happens.

Rudy and I at Ola Mario Italian Restaurant, where the food is delicious. All of my friends (mostly from Incheon) that came out to my birthday dinner. Holly, Tracy and I at my birthday dinner.

After the dinner Rudy and I met up with Tiffany, Carmela and Chris and we headed into Hongdae to get the real party started. We started at Ho Bar 1 where we danced to K-pop songs, drank some beers, ate some food and I enjoyed my birthday cake Carmela bought for me.

Me with my birthday cake that I waited until the stroke of midnight to blow out the candles and make my birthday wish. The friends that came out to Hongdae with me to celebrate and party. Tiffany, Carmela, Chris, Marco and Rudy (the photographer). A night out in Korea would never be complete without busting a move to K-pop songs, as the three of us did... Me and my girls that came out and stayed out all night to ensure my birthday was perfect...and...it was.

Once we had enough of Ho Bar 1, Marco introduced us to this new club in Hongdae that none of us had been to before. It was called Q-vo and it played only hip hop music, which is perfect for me and the best kind to dance to. It was packed and we were literally moving around like sardines, so we weren't moving at all. We found ourselves a comfortable, unpacked place on the stage and danced the night away. Tiffany, Carmela and Chris around 4:00 a.m., but Rudy and I were still good to go, so we danced until the club closed. The best part of the night was when they played K-pop songs for the last hour the club was opened. I mean, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME!! Rudy, Marco and I headed back to the hotel in Gangnam around 6:30 a.m. when Hongdae starts to shut down for the night/morning :)

A Week Off!!!! What To Do? What To Do?

Saturday night I went for dinner with Tracy, Holly and Damien at our galbi restaurant in Yeonsu. We shared some food, drinks and laughs and then Duncan joined us as dinner finished. After dinner we headed to Mad Max for more drinks and chatter. Of course, we had to end the night at a noraebang, which is always good times. We decided to do it in partners, so each person had to sing with everyone at least once. We only did karaoke for about an hour before we all got too tired and called it a night. Sunday was a really chill day as well. I slept in and then headed back to Tracy and Holly's area to have dinner with them, Damien, Duncan and Carolina. We ate shabu shabu, which I hadn't had in ages, so it was a nice treat. After, dinner we headed over to the movie theatre to watch, "He's Just Not That Into You." We had some time to kill before the movie, so we just hung out, bought snacks and then headed into the theatre. The movie was really funny and it had it's moments, but I can't say that I would ever own it. I headed home after the movie to get a good's night sleep. Lucky me, I have this week off because it's spring break for the students and there would be nothing for me to do at school. Monday I took advantage and slept in before meeting my friend Lisa for some lunch and catching up. We hung out for a while before she had to head to work and I had to go the bank and grocery store. I decided to just take it easy Monday night, so I watched a movie. Tuesday I headed to Seoul to meet up with Rudy who I haven't seen since November. We met at Lotte World in Jamsil and ended up never actually making it to the amusement park because we got distracted wandering around, eating and chatting. Lotte World reminded me exactly of West Edmonton Mall in Canada, just as expensive to enjoy the adventure park, skating, etc, but the shopping at West Ed is way better. The amusement park is inside and outside, they have an indoor ice rink, a swimming pool, bowling alley, hotel, shopping, eating, etc.

This is a picture of me at Lotte World with the ice rink in the background.

The ice rink here was bigger and seemed better than West Edmonton Mall, but it could be that less people were on it and skating isn't exactly a sport that Koreans are coordinated for. It's not on the top of their list of things to do or be good at, looking good 24/7 is definitely the top of that list.

Rudy is a smoker, so when we headed outside for a smoke break we noticed this sign on the wall that said "No Smoking." However, Rudy smoke there anyways and we thought it would be funny to get a picture of me with Rudy's smoke in my hand by the no smoking sign, since everyone knows I don't smoke and I'm highly against it. It's a dirty dirty habit!

We ended up spending 6 hours together at Lotte World before we both realized we needed to head home. I had a lot of fun just chilling out with Rudy and actually being able to spend some alone time with her. I forgot how much fun we have together when we actually hang out. Today, I slept in again and then decided that it was about time I cleaned my apartment. It took me about three hours to clean my apartment pretty much spotless. I'm sure I could have cleaned it faster, but I took breaks in between cleaning. I met up with Tracy and Holly for dinner in Yeonsu and now I'm chilling at home and about to head to bed because I have a busy day at Costco tomorrow...

A Teacher's Retreat That Spelled F-U-N!

Friday after the grade 6 graduation all of the teachers at my school headed out on an overnight retreat just outside of Seoul in Asan. All of the grade 6 teachers changed and ate lunch in the office and then we headed out. All of the other teachers at the school took a bus on the retreat, but two of the grade 6 teacher's drove us. Jiny and I went with two others in one car and the rest of the grade 6 teachers went in the other vehicle. Since we were late leaving Incheon because of the grad by the time we got to our first stop, which was the Hyundai car factory we were too late for the tour, so we missed it. We just hung out outside until the rest of the teacher's finished and then we headed to the second destination, which was Asan Botanical Gradens. We got a tour of the gardens where we introduced to many flowers, plants and trees. Some of the plants and flowers we could even eat, which was strange to me, but I have definitely eaten worse. The tour of the gardens took just over an hour and when it finished we headed to the hotel to drop our bags off and chill before we had to meet for dinner. Dinner is where things got CRAZY and I realized just how much I love my school. We ate dinner at this restaurant called, Rib Station. We had the whole top floor to ourselves, so this is when things got crazy. First, the MC of the retreat, which was a grade 4 teacher made a speech, then the principal made a speech in which we had to do this shot of the most disgustingly strong hard liquor I have ever tasted. I took the tiniest sip and thought my heart was going to stop. Most of the male teachers think I'm a strong drinker, so they would keep coming up to me offering me shots of rice wine or soju, naturally I had to oblige, so I was doing many shots at dinner, but I slowed myself down because I didn't want to be to drunk. At one point, the principal came over to me and asked me to do a love shot with him. Since, he is the principal of our school I can't say no, so I agreed. Once we had the shots poured I thought we would do the shot and that would be it, but OH NO! Suddenly, he asks for all the teachers attention and announces to them that him and I are about to do a love shot. All the teacher's started clapping and cheering and I was mortified, but I made it through...lol! Also, during dinner, the teachers that were leaving MeonWooGuem to go teach at another school all had to give a speech and after each speech, we had to do a shot, so that meant more drinking. The principal made an announcement to all the teacher's about me staying for another year at the school and that I would be more involved in Sports Day this year, since I didn't even go to it last year. All the teacher's seemed happy about it, so that was nice. After dinner we headed back to our hotel to noraebang (karaoke). Well, let me just say that most teacher's were drunk before we even left the restaurant and even more drinking happened while at the noraebang. I had to sing for the Vice Principal because he was hanging out in the room we were in, so I chose 'Dancing Queen.' Then I told the prinicpal (through Jiny's translation) that I would sing for him at the noraebang, so when we went into his room to day 'Hi,' I had to choose a song to sing, so opted for another ABBA song and sang 'Mamma Mia!' The principal was in my face the entire time I sang the song and just loved that I sang and danced. Most of the night the VP and a couple other male teacher's kept getting me to dance with them and even a select few teachers started to speak English to me as they got more and more drunk. It never seizes to amaze me how much English most Koreans can speak when they are drunk :) When the grade 6 teachers had enough at the noraebang we all headed to a chicken restaurant across the street from the hotel and ate chicken and drank more beer. I was exhausted, so I took off early to go and get some shut eye. Breakfast Saturday morning was at 8:30 a.m. so all the teacher's ate at the hotel restaurant and they were all very slow moving. We left the hotel at 9:30 a.m. and headed to Kwangcheon where we got to see the really tiny shrimps that are a traditional part of Korean food. We didn't spend too much time in this area. When we were finished we headed to Sudeoksa temple. We ate lunch first and then we had a couple hours to check the temple out and the cultural shops that surrounded it. The temple was nice, but if you seen one you've seen them all and I have seen a lot in Korea. We left the temple around 2:00 p.m. and headed back to Incheon. I got dropped off right at my house by the grade 6 teacher that drove and as soon as I got back I unpacked and took a nap because I was so exhausted from the trip. The retreat was so much fun and I really hope they have another one this coming school year. *I'm sorry that I have no pictures from the trip. Too much was happening and I kept forgetting*

A Boring Week and Graduation!

The students started back at school on Monday to finish off their last week of the winter semester before they get another two weeks off for spring vacation before the new school year starts.

Since more students are going to be attending the school this coming school year I have been moved out of my English Zone and back into the grade 6 office, however, I have no idea if I will stay in that office for the year because it will depend what happens with my co-teacher and if she changes grades. If she changes grades I will likely be moved to the same office she goes to since she us my main co-teacher and the one who takes care of me :)

Anyways, I didn't have any classes to teach all week because the English curricuulum is finished. I spent the past week sitting in the office catching up on a months worth of TV shows, which I managed to do.

Tuesday, Jiny took me to the Immigration office to renew my work Visa and my Alien Registration Card (ARC). We were there over an hour, which was nice because it wasted time we would other wise be spending bored at school. When we finished at the Immigration office we just headed back to the school for yet another day of nothing to do.

Nicole's mom got into town Monday night, so on Wednesday evening Nicole invited some her friends for dinner with her and her mom. Mike and I were the only ones who showed up and we had dulkgalbi in Guwol-dong and then headed to Rio's afterward to say "Hi," and hang out for a little bit. We were all so tired that we headed home relatively early.

Thursday night I had dinner with my friend Karen in Bupyeong at this delicious chicken restaurant. Afterward, we cruised the underground while we waited for trivia night to start at 8:00 a.m. We also, had a coffee at Holly's coffee. I ended up buying a sweet purse for 10,000 won in the underground. I wasn't planning on staying at Trivia Night because I wanted to head home and get my run in for the night, but I ended up staying and playing on Mike, Andrea and Damo's team. We ended up coming in second and only lost by 1.5 points, how maddening. I headed straight home to bed after trivia.

Friday was the grade 6 graduation at my school. I was a little bit sad to see some of them go, but most of them...good riddance.

The stage where the students recieved their grade 6 certificates. The gym full of grade 6 students. I think they were just over 300 that graduated.

I decided to take pictures of some of my favorite grade 6 students walking the stage. It was really neat how they did it. A picture of each student was displayed on the screen while they recieved their cerificate. It made it easier to see who was who and the pictures were really cute.

This is Lindsay she is my favorite grade 6 class. She has really good English and she is really pretty. This is Amica, she is best friends with Lindsay and in the same class. I think Amica is beautiful and she has impeccable English as well.

The graduation ceremony was about 2 hours long and consisted of many speeches, the grade 6's walking the stage, prizes being awarded, the grade 6 teacher's saying their farewells, and two grade 5 boys playing violin solo's. Jiny and I both had to record farewell speeches to the grade 6's on Thursday morning, but on Friday before the ceremony started we were told they were on hold, so our farewells didn't get played. I was embarassed about mine being played and having to do it period, but then I was kind of disappointed that it didn't get played for the grade 6's. After the ceremony all the teacher's changed and we headed on our overnight field trip.

EVERLAND!!

Friday night Nicole and I met up with some male Korean friends to go for drinks because we hadn't seen them in a while. We went to a nice Korean style Hof in Yeonsu and just chatted and played Korean style drinking games. When we finished at the Hof we headed to 'ajushi' alley for some food and more drinking as well as drinking games. Then Nicole wasn't feeling well, so I put her in a taxi and sent her home while I stayed out with the last three friends and we headed for kamjatang and more drinks...We ended up turning in around 8:00 a.m., so I spent all day Saturday sleeping and recovering before meeting up with Nicole for a very very chill night at her place with movies and water...lol! I had and early day Sunday because I was heading to Everland amusement park with some friends in the morning, so I headed home around 1:00 a.m.

Sunday morning was an early one. I headed to Tracy's to meet up with her, Alison and Carolina, so we could taxi to the bus terminal and catch the bus that would be taking us to Everland. There were 6 of us that went, Tracy, Carolina, Alison, Tara, Rebekah and me. We caught the 8:20 a.m. bus and arrived in Yongin, where Everland is, around 10:30 a.m. Think Disneyland, but not as exciting. It had a theme, I'm not sure what it was, and many rides, games, shops, etc, but Disneyland is well...Disneyland!

This is the entrance way to Everland. Bear hats are very common here, so that is why the mascot is wearing one. Stopped for a kodak moment with the skiing snowmen. The park theme is 'Snow Festival' right now. It doesn't matter what age you are, having your picture taken with a mascot is always a good idea. This is the six of us. Left to Right: Rebekah, Carolina, Me, Tracy, Alison, and Tara. Rebekah and I decided to buy animal ear headbands. I opted for the 'white tiger' because it was my favorite animal out the choices we had. Rebekah's favorite animal is a giraffe, so she was in luck.

There was a parade in the afternoon at the park. There were mascots and people dressed up in random outfits dancing and singing. It was funny to watch because all the animals/mascots were completely random and I'm not sure how they fit into the park theme. However, I had no idea what the theme of Everland even was.

The rabbit mascot and the GIANT snowman. I think mascot is a mouse and it rocked the dance moves the best.

Since we had gotten to Everland so early we managed to get a few rides done with no lines. We waited just over an hour for the T-Express ride. It is the largest wooden roller coaster in the world with the largest vertical drop. Let me just say that it was worth the hour long wait. On our way out of the park we walked through the zoo. It was really sad seeing such wild and large animals in such small spaces.

They had some white tigers for our viewing pleasure. They matched my headband. The polar bear was the saddest sight for me. He was dirty, his living quarters were so tiny and the weather is far too warm for him. I decided I will be a turtle in my next life with my crime fighting brother, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

When we finished at Everland we headed back to Incheon and then Tracy, Carolina, Holly, Lisa and I went for galbi and then called it a night. It was a really fun girls day and I can't wait for the next one.

Winter Camp at MWG!!

Monday, was a very tiring day because I only got three hours of sleep after the concert and since getting off the plane and I had to start my week of camps at my school. I was glad that I had my lesson plans sorted out and ready to go because being that tired I was not prepared to have to sort out my lesson that morning. My first class was grade 3's, second class was grade 4's and my last class was the grade 5's. The grade 5 camp classes consisted of 15 girls, so I decided to do a comparison of North American music with Korean music. The girls were really quiet and not interested in being at the English camp, but I tried to make it as enjoyable as possible.

The camps actually went by faster than I had anticpated. The classes were only 40 minutes long, so they were just long enough. Of course, teaching the grade 3's was the most fun because they are just so cute and they love all sorts of games. I also taught a parents English class for two hours in the afternoon at camp, which I thought would be worse than it actually was. There were only three parents in the class and each one had a very different level of English.

These are some of the cute little grade 3 girls that were at camp. These were the only two grade 3 boys at camp, but they were so adorable and they liked the camp. The kid on the left, his mom was in my afternoon parent's class. The second day of camp started off with a rather foggy morning. This is how the skyline looked from outside my English zone window.

One of the lessons I did was on Canadian Holidays, so I had the grade 5 choose one of the holidays I presented and make a card for it.

These are the best cards that were created by some grade 5 students.

Since the grade 3's are so easy to please I would start with a game at the beginning of each class. Musical chairs is always a big hit with the students because they get to listen to the latest K-pop song and dance around chairs. The last day of camp I just played games the entire 40 minute class with each grade. The grade 3's played Twister and loved it and we played a bunch of rounds of musical chairs.

Korean's don't really like to have their pictures taken a lot, but the grade 3's had no problems posing for this picture during musical chairs. I mean, how cute are they?!?!

I also made each grade get a group picture with me at the end of camp, however, the grade 5's weren't so keen, so I don't have one with them :(

This is me with my grade 3 campers who are too cute for words and I cna't wait to teach them in grade 4 this coming school year. This is me with a much larger group of grade 4 campers. It's funny how there are always more girls than boys.

My winter camps were only 4 days and I got a 90 minute lunch break, which was nice and the school paid for my lunches. It was rough having to come back from winter vacation and having to jump right back into teaching the next day, but camps are easy and the 4 days went by rather quickly. Thursday after my parents class Jiny took me to get a new cell phone, which was one of my requests upon renewing. My new phone is beautiful and in English and it has a SIMcard, which my last phone didn't because it was so old. The best part of my new phone is that it doesn't weigh a thousand pounds and will no longer be referred to as "the tank."

Big Bang: The Big Show 2009!!

As soon as I got home from Indonesia I met with Nicole to hang out and chat for a bit because she had to bring me my house key. We sat at Dunkin Donuts for a bit before I realized I needed to head home to unpack, change and get ready for the Big Bang concert. I was hoping to take a nap before the concert because I had just got off a plane and was exhausted, but I was not missing this concert for anything. even a missed flight home from winter vacation. Nicole and I met a few hours before the concert to take the train all the way to Olympic Stadium, which was a good 2-2.5 hours away. We literally, got to the concert about an hour before it started and the whole train ride to the concert we busily designed our t-shirts. We had to finish the shirts at the concert, so we finished them outside and then headed to the main concert area. We were a bit too late getting to the area where merchandise was being sold, so we didn't get to buy any memorabilia, but the t-shirts we were wearing were better than any we could have bought.

This is me and my AMAZING concert t-shirt. It reads: "T.O.P I LOVE YOU!" Nicole's favorite Big Bang member is Tae Yang, so her shirt reads: "Tae Yang I LOVE YOU!" The sun in the center is what his name means.

Camera's were not allowed at the concert and the security was really tight, so I had to be super discrete about taking pictures and I couldn't use my flash, so I apologize for the bad quality, but you can get the idea.

This is the best K-Pop group in all of the world...ok, well Korea. It's BIG BANG!! This is a picture of Big Bang at the end of their show. Yes, Tae Yang is wearing bright pink pants and he wore them well ;) My wifey and I at the BEST concert in the world with the best t-shirts hand-made by us, so no one will ever have the same.

During the show they sang their English song, called 'Number 1' and Nicole and I ended up getting videotaped singing and dancing during the entire song. I'm almost positive it was because we were foreigners at the Big Bang concert, had made t-shirts, were singing the song word for word and busting a move. After the show, outside the venue, they had a big display that had giant pictures of the group, so we took advantage and got in on the picture taking action.

Nicole and I had to get pictures with Tae Yang and T.O.P. wo happened to be side by side, so really, it was meant to be.

Of course, I had to get a kissing picture with T.O.P. because well, we are dating...he just doesn't know about it. Excuse us, while we share an intimate moment together. we don't get to see each other very often with his busy work schedule.

The concert was about 2 hours and it was just Big Bang, so we got to enjoy a full two hours of GREATNESS! Then we had to prepare for our 2 hour trek home...On the way back to Incheon we stopped in Sorae to see Sehun because he was leaving for the army, so we went for kamjatang and then Sehun drove Nicole and I home. Enjoy the video below of Big Bang member, Seungri singing his new solo song, 'Strong Baby.' Unfortunately, with security being so tight I only captured 50 seconds of the song and he quality is not top notch, but the song is catchy.