Merry Christmas!

We knew the hardest part of christmas would be the part where we were not with our family and friends, but thanks to new friends, a mini tree and stocking, and a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake the holidays here were much better than we anticipated.

Our Mini Christmas tree, with gifts from our mom's back in NC, Joseph's mom sent the tree, My mom sent us mini stocking with small gifts inside! Thank you mommies!

Adam and Jennifer also helped in the Festive spirit because they left some fun christmas lights hanging around our doorway. They helped to put us in the holiday mood!


After spending most of the morning out with the co-workers we were pretty darn tired, but I decided to get a head start on some of the cooking...granted it was only for four people, but I wanted to make sure we had enough stuff to eat. I started on the deviled eggs on Christmas eve...

I had so much trouble peeling those darn brown eggs, I guess my mom is the best boiler because I used to be able to peel those eggs no problem, but this time for whatever reason, they were sticking to the shells.

And the only marshmallows to be had in Korea are multi-colored...this caused quite a few interesting rice krispie treat effects.

I pulled them out of the pot as quickly as they turned into a big burning green glob... I am pretty sure you should not see the hulk in your treats, but like Dani says" Hey it is marshmallow and rice, how bad can it be" and it was in fact pretty good despite being stuck to the pan for 20 minutes.

A huge crowd pleaser with the mashed potatoes.

Now my mom has always combined the corn and green beans, but we had a complaint, so from now on I have to seperate them ( but upon eating them the next night with leftovers, joseph finally proclaimed, Hey this is not so bad... Haha, Point 1 , Ali.

Here is trouble if I ever saw it, Malcolm in the hat, and Dani in the red sweater! Best that Cape Town South Africa has to offer!

The Table was set.....

Finshed close up of my horrid eggs, that smelled bad, but tasted good, thankfully.

Malcolm did the honors, and carved the chicken....

And the most fantastic Baskin robbins Ice cream cake you will ever lay your eyes on.

The ice cream cake was so fantastic, we had to let it thaw a bit, so Malcolm and Joseph picked out some awesome tunes.

Malcolm gave us a bit of education regarding some awesome South African and Korean bands!
Dani Trying to figure out if it was edible, which we hoped it was, because Joseph just bit off part of the houses chimney.

We finally cut the cake, it was a valiant effort by joseph, looked like the sword in the stone, or like the plastic knife in the frozen cake.

Four different flavors, Pistachio, vanilla with chocolate swirl, Chocolate and strawberry... It also had a section of rasberry ice cream... delicious.

But then....it started melting so we put it back in the freezer.

After Lunch we changes venues, and headed over to Dani's apartment, she lives like two blocks from us over here which is nice! Her christmas gift to herself was her Wii, so we ended up playing several games, with Joseph kicking the crap out of my Wii character, except in baseball, for whatever reason I was the Home run Queen, and he was eating my dust.... it was quite a battle of epic porportions.

And just because I think it is funny and so totally Korean, they have heaters that look like fans....this is Dani's heater... it has a huge bulb in it, and a reflective back that eminates the heat. Please excuse Joseph's big nose, it got in the way of my photo.

And Dani is awesome because she had totally rad snacks for us, these chips actually had bits of cheese on the chip, so it really had that pizza effect...what will the Koreans think of next.

And I had to get a picture of Joseph's totally cool old dirty hippy wii character, he and Malcolm both went for the unshaven old guy look.... Dani and I were cute characters though!

So after Wii games, and Tall about Home Improvments greatest moments ( wow could I have found a more perfect friend who also shared my teenage love of all things Jonthan Taylor Thomas!!!!! I think I did!) We headed over to the CGV to see a movie. We decided on the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasuss (spelling?)..... Wow, I was confused and hopeful that it would either start making sense or getting better.... to no avail.... oh well at least Jonny Depp was in it. Joseph and I both agreed that it could have been better if Tim Burton had directed it....I will choose to remember Heath in his finer role as the Joker in Dark Knight!

So then we parted, Joseph and I headed home to get dinner (since we could think of nothing we wanted to eat on christmas day that was not supremely crowded) so we got some Dak Galbi ( chicken in a spicy red sauce over rice) to end our holiday... ( because I didn't feel like cooking anymore!)

It was a very different holiday than I imagined, but it was fun, and we had a fabulous time.... but this holiday, like all holidays do, ended much the same way.....

But since it was christmas Joseph helped, so I got a cute picture of the two of us on christmas Day ( yes he wore red and I wore green!) We were so festive!

sorry it took so long to update, but at least

I got it in before the new year!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Teacher Workshop.

So what seemed like a regular old Tuesday night turned into a huge trip…. Joseph and I usually leave work right at 8:30, our last class of the night ending at 8:20. We pack up and talk to the teachers, say goodbye and head out. Today because of some tests in my last class, I ended up staying a bit later to finish the grading. I go to pack up the Laptop and there is a flyer on my desk from Manager Daniel…. It being in Korean, and my having no clue, I lean over to Sen who happened to be staying a bit late as well, and asked her to translate…. Apparently Manager pulled together at the last minute a Big trip for the teachers and Grace to go over information for the upcoming winter vacation month… Ok sounds good… So Joseph and I luckily had 24 hours notice that we were going on a vacation with all our co-workers…. Interesting. Sen told us that we would be staying in a Pension….which Joseph and I had no idea what that was, so we brought some extra things, just in case…

We get to school on Wednesday and it seemed like the trip would fall apart. Jenny Teacher’s name was not on the board to go with us, and Sera had to come late, and Grace said it would be impossible for her to come… I thought, Surely Joseph, Sen, Krystal, Daniel and I are not going…when half the staff can’t come or will be late.

Somehow between 4:30 when we asked and 9pm when it was time to leave things came together, and all of us were heading out to a Pension on the other side of the Island near all the beaches.

We arrived and this place was no small motel, it was very similar to Lodges you would see in the US. It was two floors, had a kitchen, bathroom, Plenty of space ( because Koreans don’t use much furniture) and an upstairs loft… all set with dishes, towels, pillows and blankets.

Since it was much later than we thought it would be ( the navigation in Korea is really difficult because they don’t really label streets at all. And we took at least two wrong turns that I know of…) The women Folk set to work right away, making rice, cleaning off the dishes, and getting the grill started.

Grace, Jenny, Krystal, and Sen all in the kitchen at once... I was not sure what i could do to help and Sen told me nothing, so I took pictures of them scurrying around like a well oiled machine preparing the meal.

The Men Folk waiting to start playing with Fire and Meat. Joseph and Daniel were in charge of the meat... Daniel grilled the Galbi, and Joseph did the sausage and mushrooms.



Picture of the pension, it was a shame we paid for the tv, we sat and talked and played games so we didn't even turn it on till the next morning. The Christmas tree was a cute touch from the owner, it played Chirstmas carols in a small music box near the middle of the tree. Grace kept turning it off, and Daniel teacher kept turing it back on and running away. It was really funny because Grace kept wondering, "How is it turing on? It must be on a Timer? Are there Ghosts here... ?" but I knew the real secret.

Also had a bannister free staircase to the loft.

There were heated floor pads we could not figure out how to use. So it was really cold upstairs and really warm downstairs. Because of the Ondol system of heating the hot air rises from the bottom and warms the top which is different in America. But since there was only one couch in the place, I was thankful for the warm floors, because that is where we sat.

LOVE THE WALLPAPER!!! The ceiling was really low so Joseph and Daniel kept narrowly missing their heads on the eves of the room... I was having a bit of trouble and I am only 5'2 so Joseph at 6 feet was suffering major difficulties... so I let him go downstairs...

...So I could get another picture!!!!!!

After the preperations were made, we headed out to the deck, Good thing Sen translated to us "Bring warm clothes" or we would have been gonners

Daniel Cooks some mean galbi, the meat tastes like a thicker cut of bacon, and it is really fatty, I like it okay, but it is not Joseph's favorite, but luckily he likes sausage and mushrooms and there was plenty for everyone.

Our table set with Dwang Jang, Kimchi, mushrooms and lettuce for wraps. In Korea they cook the long strips of meat, and then cut them into bitesize pieces. You then take the meat and put it on some lettuce, put on kimchi or bean paste, whatever the side dishes are, wrap it up in a tiny bundle and shove it in your face. It is really delicious. The warm meat, spice of the paste, and cold crisp lettuce is so good.

The food was really yummy and warm on this cold night ( although for December 23rd it was not that cold). And Our Co-workers also got us some pepsi, because they know us foreigners need to drink with our meals… It is very rare for Koreans to put down a whole lot of drink during their meal. In the cafeteria, you can get a small glass of water ( like a shot glass size) for free, but nothing else and you have to get it yourself.

So after dinner and clean up we moved the party inside, for some "teacher workshop". Joseph and I were all set with questions and such, and the teachers decided they wanted Ice cream, so we sent Manager Daniel out to the resuce, and while he was gone we played a few games, called 3,6,9 ( where you can't say any number with the number 3,6, or 9.... so the game when like... 1, 2, Clap, 4, 5, Clap, 7,8, Clap, 10, 11,12, Clap.... and so on...) the best part was Joseph and I were not totally sure how to play, so we kept losing. Well in Korea when you lose you have to suffer a punshiment, they usually flick you or punch you or something, so Joseph had no problem losing, it was when Jenny teacher lost and he had to punch her, he felt bad. I felt even worse when Boss Grace lost and I had to flick her face... I have determined that Only in Korea does your boss think it is funny if you flick her in the face.

Ice cream arrived and the conversation continued. We then played the questions game. Grace described it as, "you ask a question and then we talk about it..." So I assumed since it was a teacher workshop that it was school related. They said you could write down a word, or questions... So I wrote " What is the JET testing for?" and Joseph wrote "Discipline".... Well they put all the papers in a cup and we all had to draw a question or word, so I got my question and it said " What three things would you take to a deserted island with you".... wow, Joseph and I totally missed the point of that game. Thank you "Miss Communication"! ( I refer to it as though it is a living breathing Human being now!)

The good part of the game was if you liked someone elses question then you could answer it too, So we all spent time talking together (mostly in English too!) about our lives, our hopes, what we would take with us to a deserted Island ( A cell phone, Joseph and camping gear were my three)

Then somehow we got on the topic of Blood types... yeah I know... Blood types... apparently Koreans believe they can tell alot about you from your blood type. If you are blood type A, you are a nervous person who is always thinking of others, if you are B, you are very focused on youself ( not selfish, just self thinking) but you like to have harmony, if you are AB, you are unpredictible and "psycho"...though that may mean something different to them than to me and Joseph. And if you are O then you are simple (?ok) and you love harmony and bringing people together...

It was very interesting, unfortunately Joseph and I were a bit unsure of our blood types... I think I am O and Joseph didn't even venture a guess. Oh well.

We the started preparing for bed, by getting out the massive amount of mini floor mattresses, blankets, and pillows.

One last picture before we all went to bed. Joseph didn't want to play along but I am going to put it up anyway!

Sleeping on the floor was a new experience, I got really hot, because the floor was super hot, and felt like it got hotter as the night went on, I almost wanted them to open the window or door. I felt like a pancake all night because I would get hot and have to flip myself over. I ended up sleeping near the fridge and debated getting up and trying to stuff myself in there to cool off. I didn't sleep well though, because I am not used to the hard hot floor, so in the morning, both Joseph and I agreed that we were not real fans of the floor experience, but glad to have tried it.

While we layed down everyone else kept the meeting going by talking in Korean, and managed to continue the meeting till 9am that morning, so with our 9:30 wake up call, they were all pretty tired the next day, but they all still had smiles on their faces ( well bigger smiles than Joseph and I who are big babies and need our rest)

So many Korean cell phones!

The View from the Pension was absolutely amazing. And now that it was 9am the next morning, we could finally enjoy it!

Next we had breakfast which consisted of rice and nalboo stew, which is usually really good, but it was hard to eat for breakfast because we usually just have some juice or a granola bar, but we ate it because we didn't know when we would eat next, and it was quite good, just a bit too spicy for the morning.

We played rock paper sisscors to see who had to clean, and Joseph and I won so we didn't have to, but we helped by moving the breakfast table back and packing up the mattresses and pillows from the night before.

After Breakfast Sen teacher wanted to go on a small walking/hiking adventure so she, Grace, Joseph and I put on our coats and shoes and headed out to see the land around the Pension. We were very close to water and a small island, so we headed down a small trail that led to a bunch of steps toward the ocean...very beautiful.

And some people must have had a soju party sometime before... Naughty Koreans leaving a mess behind!!! Soju is rice liquor. Must have been some party!

It was after that assumption that Joseph found a bamboo fishing pole, which was really neat. maybe the Soju was for some fishermen!

Made it to the bottom. Pretty view.

Joseph and the Rocks.

Me and the rocks!

Joseph, Sen and Grace exploring around. Sen found a really awesome perfectly round smooth black stone, it was neat.

A view of the coastline, it was gorgeous.

Sen in the Pink hat and our Boss Grace give us a "Kimchi" moment! (they say kimchi instead of cheese... haha love it!)

And Joseph, Just to show porportion of the rocks to the people, it was so cool.

Grace, Sen and I pose for another picture.

Walking back up the trail to the top.

It was kinda scary how steep it was, I was glad it was not rainy or wet because I was not wearing my sneakers for hiking.

Found some old cool fishing nets on the land.

View of the city from the top of the stairs.

On our way back to the Pension we were stopped in front of a HUGE gate by a korean man, who owned a big beautiful white house overlooking the big island and ocean, he invited us into his garden to take a look around. Apparently he was the owner of the most expensive home on Geoje Island, which has also been the filimg place for some very popular korean television shows.

We had a great time just walking around his beautiful garden and playing with his puppies he had running around. The view was fantastic, but I was too embarrassed to take a picture.

After checking out of the pension we got back in the van and traveled to a few other picture places on the island, of course me being stupid left my camera in the car, but Jenny teacher took some good shots, so I will see if I can steal them from her and post them later. Windy hill was first on the list, and it was fantastic, If you look at the top of my blog the little Island thing is Windy Hill. The view is amazing, but the truly devistating time I didn't have my camera happened when we walked back to the van, we saw a HUGE jellyfish floating in the water, and not like, it was a big as my head, it was literally as big as my torso... I was so mad I didn't have a camera.

Jenny teacher told me I should try eating jelly fish, but to be careful because it can be sour... Yeah......I may hold off on that.... thanks for the advice though.

So back to the van we go, and we go across the street to see a Theme museum, which I am not sure what the theme was because outside were huge statues of Mythological figures like a centaur, and a Dragon eating the head of an elephant...( ok.....) and robots. The museum was quite like that line up, just korean history, but in random order, but it was neat and reminded me of the museum of history at home in Raleigh with the models of homes and shops from different time periods, it was exciting to see how far Korea has come in just 30 years.

Our Dragon (Yong) eating the head of an elephant.

Joseph and More statues....

The funny part of this story is that Grace just off handedly asked us if we wanted to go there, so us thinking it was part of the tour said "sure"... but apparently we were the only ones who wanted to go so they bought us tickets with Teacher Daniel, and only the three of us went, and the rest sat in the van.... so we felt bad staying too long because they were waiting on us, but we didn't want to rush through because they bought our tickets, and we didn't want to waste their money.... so it was quite and odd situation. Had we known that nobody else wanted to go, we could have easily come back at a later time, but we figured "hey lets be easy going and go with the group" which totally backfired. Ooops... Miss Communication rears her head again...

Robots... totally....Rule.

Inside the Museum, cool old posters from the 70's.

Tribal men with toothpick art behind them...( Like I said, I think the theme was random)

And unfortunately that is where my camera battery dies...so i didn't get pictures of the totally cool life size Movie statues, they had the Aliens from the movie Alien, Jim Carry from "The Mask", Batman in his suit.... and Albert Einstein..... I have no idea what movie he was in, but it went with the random theme very well. The upstairs was less history and more artifacts, they had a whole long wall of different bells, and a room with theatre masks and creepy clown dolls

( I hate clowns so I ran out of that room)

So we headed back out to the van to meet with everyone....

I am not sure what happened next honestly, because they said we were going to go to Gujora beach, and another place, but for some reason I think people got car sick..... so we ended up just driving back to Gohyeon and dropped everyone off.... so we got back earlier than we intended, which was nice, so Joseph and I came in the door and had to sit down for a long time... we both missed alot of sleep, so we tried to keep busy so we would stay awake enough to go to bed at a reasonable time and get up early to talk to my family the next day ( christmas)

So to try and stay up we went to Dinner at Pizza Hut and Starbucks, and ended up seeing Grace there with her daughter ( whom I teach) Lina...

We finished our coffee and headed home, and it being Chirstmas Eve we tried to watch a video on Youtube, a 1951 version of "A Christmas Carol", but I fell asleep right after the ghost of Christmas past, so I have no idea if it was good or not. HAHA.

So that was our day before christmas and christmas eve... it was crazy, but we had a good time getting to know our co-workers better.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!