The Christmas season just isn't the same as an expat, far away from friends and family. This is the first year I've been away from home for Christmas and it's a very odd experience. Add to this that for Koreans, Christmas is a whole different ballgame. They don't celebrate to the same extent as Americans and from what I've been told, it is more of a couples holiday. In any case, the atmosphere is lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. It will be especially weird on Christmas, not being with my family. I'm thinking a nice Christmas brunch is in order but I don't have the plans hammered out yet. If I was ever going to feel homesick, this would be the time of year I would be.
It's been a long week due to the persistent cold that seems to want to stick around no matter what. I'm hoping I've gotten myself over it this weekend but I don't think I going to be that lucky.
The temperature has dropped into the teens several days this last week and many of the Koreans that I have seen have seemed mostly oblivious to this. I am not a very good judge of cold weather simply because I hate it and I lived in Miami for four years, but I still think it is considered to cold to go bare legged, which is something I saw a woman doing a few days ago. I have also seen a fair amount of translucent tights and only sweatshirts without coats. I really don't understand. I look like a fraking marshmallow most days and I'm still cold.
There are only seven days left until Christmas and only ten days left until my mom and brother get here. I'm ridiculously excited.
Korean number of the day: 구 (goo) and 아홉 (ah-hope) - nine
Korean word/phrase of the day: 크리스마스 (ke-ree-se-ma-se) - Christmas
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Baby, It's Cold Outside
I have a lot to catch up on. I have been uncomfortably busy. Hence, I'm probably getting sick again as happens when my sleep schedule is tampered with. I really hope this is not the case but I will know in a few days.
Okay, so backing up a couple of week, I had a lavish Thanksgiving celebration the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Ovens are not a normal occurence in Korean so Brittany and I "borrowed" one of our Korean friend's apartments and ovens to throw our party. We got a turkey and everything. We then proceeded to cook for 10 hours straight. Needless to say it was delicious and too much food. I didn't really have to eat for a day afterwards.
The last two weeks, I have been writing grade reports, tests, lesson plans, spelling list and a story with my kindergartners for their end of the year story book that is going to be eighteen pages long. I'm really not sure how I made it through, but I did. And now for celebration. I'm excited to sleep massive amounts this weekend.
On Thursday, I had my first brush with Russian food. I went with Erik and Brittany to a restaurant called Gostinii Dvor in an area of Seoul that is kind of like their middle eastern Asia village. There were lots of signs in Cyrillic to prove it as such. I had no idea what to expect, but it was really very good. I don't really like beets, but I thought I'd get borscht just to try a traditional soup and I liked it very much. We also got some cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and potato, some Russian ravioli stuffed with lamb and Erik got several different kinds of beer which he generously let me try. For dessert we had this honey cake thing that was similar to baklava only more dense. Russian food gets a thumbs up, but I think it wouldn't be as appealing during the summer since it is all fairly dense.
In the last week, the weather has finally and officially taken a turn for winter. My hair froze on the way to work yesterday. I really need to get out the blow dryer, but I hate getting up any earlier than I have to. I will definitely have to buy some long underwear sometime soon. It's only just barely gotten below freezing, but it's very windy most days and it's also a damp cold so it cuts through your clothing. It also makes my nose look like Rudolph's. Super attractive.
However much I hate being cold, I love snow. It snowed for the first time this year yesterday morning while I was walking to work and it was beautiful. Big fluffy flakes of it. It didn't stick but it was totally awesome to look at.
Korean number of the day: 팔 (pal) or 여덟 (yoh-deolb) - eight
Korean word/phrase of the day: 추워요 (choo-wuoh-yoh) - I am cold.
Okay, so backing up a couple of week, I had a lavish Thanksgiving celebration the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Ovens are not a normal occurence in Korean so Brittany and I "borrowed" one of our Korean friend's apartments and ovens to throw our party. We got a turkey and everything. We then proceeded to cook for 10 hours straight. Needless to say it was delicious and too much food. I didn't really have to eat for a day afterwards.
The last two weeks, I have been writing grade reports, tests, lesson plans, spelling list and a story with my kindergartners for their end of the year story book that is going to be eighteen pages long. I'm really not sure how I made it through, but I did. And now for celebration. I'm excited to sleep massive amounts this weekend.
On Thursday, I had my first brush with Russian food. I went with Erik and Brittany to a restaurant called Gostinii Dvor in an area of Seoul that is kind of like their middle eastern Asia village. There were lots of signs in Cyrillic to prove it as such. I had no idea what to expect, but it was really very good. I don't really like beets, but I thought I'd get borscht just to try a traditional soup and I liked it very much. We also got some cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and potato, some Russian ravioli stuffed with lamb and Erik got several different kinds of beer which he generously let me try. For dessert we had this honey cake thing that was similar to baklava only more dense. Russian food gets a thumbs up, but I think it wouldn't be as appealing during the summer since it is all fairly dense.
In the last week, the weather has finally and officially taken a turn for winter. My hair froze on the way to work yesterday. I really need to get out the blow dryer, but I hate getting up any earlier than I have to. I will definitely have to buy some long underwear sometime soon. It's only just barely gotten below freezing, but it's very windy most days and it's also a damp cold so it cuts through your clothing. It also makes my nose look like Rudolph's. Super attractive.
However much I hate being cold, I love snow. It snowed for the first time this year yesterday morning while I was walking to work and it was beautiful. Big fluffy flakes of it. It didn't stick but it was totally awesome to look at.
Korean number of the day: 팔 (pal) or 여덟 (yoh-deolb) - eight
Korean word/phrase of the day: 추워요 (choo-wuoh-yoh) - I am cold.
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