A Day in Itaewon

Last Saturday, I needed to get a few things in Itaewon, the foreigner's district of Seoul. First stop, Hannam Market to get Tums, Cheetos, Gardetos, and Oreos. What a sinful and yet delightful treat!

I also took a trip to Harley Davidson right up the street. How frickin' cool to see bad-ass Korean motorcycle guys in leather and chains everywhere!

I also found "Love Love" one of the only adult stores I have seen in Korea. Among other strange delights, I also ran into a strange assortment of masks in an alley. I have to admit, Itaewon's grimy streets have grown on me a bit.

Ghetto Fabulous Mannequins

I love the crazy mannequins outside of the stores in Seoul. Window shopping:)

Doctor Whazzup?!

Check it out! In Myeong-dong they have cute doctor dudes dancing and rapping to entice people to come in. Yay!

Wrapped up just for you!

I bought a blindboxed figure recently and got incredibly lucky to pull this cutie out of the box. In addition to being cute, she is wearing nothing but the yellow ribbon she is all tied up in. Yay!

The Worthless Won

I am soo very scared because the value of the South Korean Won has dropped about 10 cents (per US dollar) in the last week or so. Although this is not the first time for this to happen, I feel very worried about being here in this country for the first time. Basically, with the current exchange rate, I am making less dollars here than at my former factory job in Iowa City. Considering that I still have bills to pay back home, this totally sucks!

The other worrisome thing that has been on my mind recently is the developing tensions between North and South Korea. North Korea is putting together an army as we speak. North Korea has torn up all peaceful agreements with South Korea, siting hostile intent. Government officials have stated that the two Koreas are "on the brink of war."

This leaves many questions on my mind concerning the safety and well-being of a person currently living in Korea. At what point should the country be considered unsafe and should we foreigners bail out on the country? Is the pitiful amount of money I am making enough to keep me here?

Yikes!

I've Got Just One Magic Trick

I love my little bunny magician girl! She makes me happy every time I glance over at her:)

Preschool Valentine's Cuties

Call me maternal or whatever but I think my little preschoolers are so very cute! While they tend to be monsters most of the time, when they are busy with scissors, glue, and crayons, they can be pretty darn adorable and non-obnoxious.

Sarah Y. showing off her Valentine's Day heart guy.

Mingi being innocent for a moment before doing something bad.

Jiho- a total sweetheart and overachiever at the tender age of 6.

Jenny actually finished something! Her little heart guy looks great.

Jay being his usual precocious self.

Eddie doesn't care to learn English but that doesn't stop him from being kinda sweet.

Christina D. is a rare child from another planet.

Hena learning the ways of women by being sweet to Matthew only to get what she wants.

Erica, my new little class spazz.

Christina J. and Tina being besties.

Brianna is always rocking the princess dress get-ups and pink glasses.

Its hard to believe someday Albert and June will run Samseong and get drunk off of Soju together every night, singing at Norebang with high dollar call girls. Or maybe not. But still!


In March, these preschoolers get to move on to Kindergarden and I get a new batch of naughty little bundles of energy to tear my hair out about. Fun, fun!

Little Plane Girls

Last weekend, I went to the Yongsan Electronics Market in Seoul to get some goodies for my Nintendo DS. While waiting for my cartridge to me fixed up, I ran into a cool little shop filled with the best collection of anime figurines I have seen in South Korea so far. I was in nerd heaven!!!!

I found this series of cat earred, airplane legged fighter girls completely irresistable and decided they would be amazing to get my boy for Valentine's Day. The one with the eye patch reminds me of Kill Bill and the one in green, my favorite, looks like a hot WWII soldier. How very cool, right?

Ugh! My nutrition in Korea is TERRIBLE!

I feel disgusting and sickly here in Korea. The air is aweful and I have no cooking opportunites, seeing as all I have is 2 burners, 2 pots, and a mini fridge. The fruit and veggies here taste kinda gross sometimes- flavorless and lacking. And expensive!

As a result, I pretty much only eat things to fill my stomach and just barely make it by- and end up getting sick all of the time! I used to be able to eat the Korean food but have had stomach problems the last month and a half so I have been unable to eat anything spicy, with caffeine, or fatty. That pretty much limits me to eating..... nothing in this country!

I am going to be sooooo hungry when I finally come back to the United States!

Candy is Bad for Teeth!

OUCH! Maybe all of the Valentine's Day candy was a bad, bad idea. My damn tooth is killing me again. And its the one that I paid good money to get fixed a few months ago. Grrrrr.

Not a happy tooth :(

Snapshots with First Graders

We had some extra time to kill in class today so I let every one of my kids take a photo with my camera. (Hey, I figure my Canon digital cam is pretty indestructible, right?) I ended up with some really great photos and the kids seemed to have a great time goofing around for a little while. Korean kids work sooo hard all the time so it is nice to see them happy and having fun!

My extra special student, Edward just being his usual weird-o self.

The class suck-ups Catherine and Suyeon. Very nice girls but such teacher's pets!

Chung-ah and Ariel, two goofy friends who like to draw boobs. Naughty, naughty!

The often studious and over-achieving Annie. She reads more than any other kid in first grade and often times says she is afflicted with the "Giggle virus" when she can't quit laughing!

My kids giving teacher some love:)

Being crazy with teacher. I love it!

I love glasses on kids. Pretty cute.

Trying not to smile?

Seriously, this is the sad, serious face Annie makes 90% of the time. That girl was born to study.

See, they are totally having fun in my class.... And learning too, right? Ha ha!

Harry- what a ham. That kid will NEVER sit still.

Catherine, my bright little scholar.

These girls loooooove pink, right?

A-dorable Warning Signs

It is soo impossible for me to take these warning signs seriously, what with being so cutesy-wootsie gosh darn adorwaaable! The little bobble head construction worker guy warms my heart, even when he is faced with danger and death:) Look at those big beady eyes!

ABC, 123

At the ABC Mart in Myeung-dong, you can buy lots of popular brands of shoes for a pretty decent price. They have a killer selection of Converse and Vans, and it is also the place where I got my Baby G watch. The only annoying thing about that place? They always blare annoying music and the employees clap and yell things loudly in an attempt to get you pumped to buy stuff. Uh.

2 - Cute

What could possibly be cuter than adoooorable Korean girls giving the peace sign and holding giant ice cream cones? Ahhhh!

I was proud of myself for getting this photo. Some one was taking a photo for these girls with their camera and I simply just snapped one too. I felt quite crafty:)

Wheelchair Guy Sings the Blues

On your way up the hill to Myeong-dong, you are certain to see wheelchair guy singing along incoherently to a tape recording of traditional Korean tunes. It sounds something like a low mumbling "Uhhhhhhhhh muuuuuh blooooob." And in recognition of his misfortunes and pitiful singing, you contribute lots of Won into his wooden box.

Healthy Graffiti

In a dirty, dingy hallway somewhere in Itaewon, someone is concerned that we should eat healthy foods. So here lies the cutest and healthiest wall art of all time:)

Matching Couples!

Nothing shows your status as a solid couple here in Korea more than matching outfits.

Seriously.