Photo A Day: January 22-31

Jan 22 - I made some homemade chicken noodle soup today. It was a cold day, and I need to eat soft foods because of my mouth.

Jan 23 - A bolgogi welcome dinner for Alison Kathleen LaFave! Also Happy Lunar New Year!

Jan 24 - Showing Alison around Gunpo! 

Jan 25 - They have the little exercising things all over Korea that has no resistance to them but you always see Koreans using them. I decided to get a bit of a workout before I go to work!

Jan 26 - Eating some Pho! Alison and I shared a large bowl of brisket pho and we were still unable to finish one of those. The tea they gave us was also really good.

Jan 27 - Making some meat for mine and Alison's bulgogi dinner. This is my favorite restaurant in Korea so far!

Jan 28 - Korean's spell English words really well. The blue card says "Especilly For You!", the pink one says "Specil For You!" and the green one says "Especielly For You!" 

Jan 29 - Today Alison and I went to Gyeongbokgung. It was the first time I went to a Palace and it was Alison's first experience in Seoul. We wanted to do a jumping picture at a different spot but with self timer it was hard to do. We found stairs that we were able to jump from though, so it worked out well. 

Jan 30 - My awesome mom sent me a care package with these teas in it. Both of which are good! 

Jan 31 - I'm covered in snow from the walk home today. It is really coming down. I also attempted to make a small snowman on my way home, but the snow is too dry that it won't pack together. :'( But I am still super happy it is snowing! :D

Gyeongbokgung!

I went to my first palace here in Korea. Gyeongbokgung is the most famous one in Seoul, it is also the most photographed. The palace was first constructed in 1394 and was reconstructed in 1867. It was the main and the largest palace in the Joseon Dynasty. Gyeongbokgung translates to "Palace of Shining Happiness."

It was cold when we went, but it wasn't very crowded. We were able to wander around freely and not have to worry about crowds. There were also two artificial islands that were created withing the palace grounds, and the lakes surrounding the islands were frozen over. There was also some snow left over in the shady sections from when it snowed a couple days ago.

The whole entire place was gorgeous. It was very big too. I could easily get lost within in. It felt a bit like a labyrinth. The architecture of the buildings were absolutely beautiful, as well as the detail on the buildings. All the trees were bare from the cold, but I could only imagine what it would look like in the spring and fall, with all the trees full of color.

We got there just in time for the changing of the guard ceremony

Alison and I in front of one of the gates.

This is Geunjeongjeon (Throne Hall)

Hwangwonjeong Pavillion

Gyeonghoeru (Royal Banquet Hall)

Welcome to Korea Alison!

A couple months back, my boss asked me if I knew of any friends who wanted to come and work in Korea. So I asked around on Facebook and my friend Alison was interested. She talked to my boss and he hired her. I was really excited because I was going to have a friend from home, not only come to Korea, but also work at the same school as me.

So she arrived in Korea yesterday and we took her out to a bulgogi dinner. She will be staying at my apartment until the teacher she is replacing leaves. Then today, I took her around Sanbon and showed her the area.

Our first picture together, and will most certainly not be our last!

Implant and Wisdom Tooth!

On Wednesday, I got my implant put into my mouth, now I just have to wait six months for it to fully heal and insert the crown.

Here is my x-ray after the implant. 

Then yesterday, I got my bottom right wisdom tooth taken out. I am happy that I am able to feel the pain and what not. The dentist said it was going to be a difficult procedure because of how close it is to the nerve. So I am happy I have no nerve damage. Now I am going to be in pain for awhile.

Photo A Day: January 15-21

Jan 15 - I found this recipe on Pinterest awhile back and have been wanting to try it out. It is a recipe for Apple Pie baked in an apple. It turned out really well and its good.

Jan 16 - One of my favorite students from my 1st-3rd grade classes. Her name is Lucia and she is absolutely adorable.

Jan 17 - I got a tooth implant today. They let me take a picture of the after x-ray. Now my mouth hurts and it will take 6 months to heal. Good thing they gave me 10 days worth of pain medicine.

Jan 18 - This is a restaurant that I go to near by my apartment to get take-out whenever I am really hungry and don't want to wait to cook food, or when I am too lazy to cook. I usually always get the same thing to, the Sogogi Dookbaegim which is soup with beef, vegetables, and noodles. Today was one of those day that I got take-out!

Jan 19 - Birthday lunch at school today. Happy Birthday Annie and Plateo!

Jan 20 - We celebrated the Lunar New Years at school today. All the little kiddies came to school in their cute little hanboks. We also played some traditional Korean games. It was a very long and fun day!

Jan 21 - I got my lower right wisdom tooth removed today. My cheek is slightly swollen. I was really nervous, because the tooth was very close to my nerve and the possibility of having nerve damage that can last 6 months. Well, It's been several hours and I can feel my face and the pain. YAY, no nerve damage. I will be getting my lower left one taken out next weekend.

Korean New Year!!!

Today at school we celebrated the Lunar New Year with the kindergarten class. That meant I was able to dress up in my hanbok again. The kids all looked so adorable as always with their cute little hanboks on as well.

The kids first bowed to Sione and Sarah (the are the owners of the hagwon), then the kids bowed to the foreign teachers, and lastly they bowed to the Korean teachers. After they bowed, we would give them each a little treat. After the bowing was finished, we had a session of photo taking of all the kids. Then we made some sweet potato dumplings. This was basically the kids rolling mashed sweet potatoes into a ball and then rolling it into a cookie crumble. 

After snack time, the kids then played some traditional Korean games. The games were similar to the ones we played during Chuseok. We also played hopscotch too. They play a slightly different version then the one I am used to in the states, but it was still fun. They also played this game called Yunnori, which is a traditional board game played with four sticks. Instead of playing with the sticks, the children were representing the sticks. It was quite funny to watch. 

For lunch we had this soup called Tteokguk. The Korean New Year is also a birthday celebration for Koreans and so when you are finished eating the soup you are a year older. The Korean's have a different aging system then the rest of the world, where you don't turn a year older on your birthday, but on the New Year. 

This was my group for the day!

Photo A Day: January 8-14

Jan 8 - My new roommate. His name is George-Michael. Emily I thought Maeby needed a friend, even if they are thousands of miles a part and one is a fish while the other is a cat.

Jan 9 - A delicious chocolate covered waffle. YUM! Koreans love them some waffels, and I have to admit, I do to!

Jan 10 - Me with the boys of my kindergarten class. They are all so cute. I love Leo's expression. He's always so straight faced when he is taking photos.

Jan 11 - Some instant coffee, Carmel macchiato, when I need a small caffeine boost.

Jan 12 - I <3 Snow! It snowed today and I got to walk home in the snow after work. YAY!

Jan 13 - Today the kindergarten class went "sledding" (more like tubing on snow). It was really fun. The place we went makes their own snow to create the snow hill, so we were able to play in the snow for a little while.

Jan 14 - Some late Christmas celebration! I made the gingerbread house and we tried very hard to make it stay with the icing. It turned out it was taking a long time for the icing to dry so we ended up using a hot glue gun to keep it together.