last weekend and this coming long weekend

So we all have this coming Monday (June 6th) off for Memorial Day here in Korea. It's only one day, but I'll take it!! Our plan? Sleep in as much as possible. But that's gonna be hard to do if it's sunny and nice out. But we're trying to save as much money as possible, so we won't be doing anything too crazy.

This past weekend was really nice. Friday evening was spent at the all-you-can eat bbq place (again) with Dennis' co-workers. I arrived late because I wasn't hungry at all when they were all heading over, and I was super bloated and crampy and just felt like an enormous blimp as it's my "favourite" time of month. Arriving late was nice because when I got there the meat was all cooked and ready for devouring! We all (minus 2 who opted out) went for a drink and darts at a bar after dinner at some bar near our apartments.

Saturday was spent lazing about, until Dennis got antsy. So we went to Migeum (the area where I get picked up by the shuttle bus for school), to pick up some stickers for my kids (I'm so nice - haha). For some reason I can't find a decent (cheap) stationary store in our area that sells stickers. We then went to Ori (1 subway stop from Migeum) to the HomePlus to buy some much needed whole wheat bread, steam buns, and bagels (wow, carb city!). Once home, we scrounged for something to eat in our tiny kitchen, and I watched Pretty Woman while Dennis played around on his laptop.

Sunday we decided to go to the Express Bus Terminal subway stop to shop around for some art in the underground shopping area. Our apartment walls are screaming for decorative companions. Boy, was the underground shopping trip ever a bad idea that day. It was really hot out and the place just turned into a massive can of sardines thrown into an oven! We had the hardest time trying to find the tiny art shop - more like cubicle, so we gave up due to claustrophobia, heat exhaustion, and pure frustration (mainly on my part). When we got to street level, we regained normal breathing and decided to look for the French village that we tried to find the last time we were in the area. After a bit of walking, questioning our sense of direction, and of course frustration (mainly on my part again), we finally found it! It's called Seorae Village. If you asked me for directions on how to get there again I wouldn't be able to if it meant saving my life. But dammit, we got there! It was very cute. It really did kinda feel like we were in a different country. We stopped at a cafe for a drink, which apparently was much needed. I felt like a different person once I finished my green tea latte smoothy! The frustrated grump in me was gone.

We ended up finding the park in the village that Dennis read about. It was like finding a hidden gem! It was such a quaint and calming place. If it weren't for my damn stupidity in choosing the most painful sandals to walk in, we would have walked all around the place, but we cut the park stay a bit short to head home. However, once we left the park we were taken directly to the National Library of Korea! I couldn't pass it up. But we were very disappointed because once inside, we couldn't browse the collection because we needed a library card to get passed the gates. At least that's what we saw people doing. The sign said we didn't need a membership to browse the materials, but I was way too tired to be misunderstood by a worker there to ask what the protocol was, so we just headed home.

Back in our area, we decided to have dinner at Quiznos (after I went home and changed into flip flops, that is) and ate outside on the Quiznos patio. I think everyone and their dog was out on every patio on our street that day.... it was really nice. Ugh, we did not want the weekend to end!

I think we might head back to the park in the French village again and have ourselves a little picnic this long weekend! That is, if the weather permits.

Please remind me to wear more comfortable shoes!

STANLEY CUP FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy geez (that was for you, mom L'Heureux), the Vancouver Canucks are going to the Stanley Cup finals!!! It's only taken 17 years! Hey, we'll take what we can get.

The sucky part about this whole this is that I'm in friggin Korea while this is happening!!! Argh!!! We'll likely head over to one of the Canadian bars over here to feel the spirit. Hopefully we can catch a weekend game because with the time difference we're usually at work or sleeping during the games. Ugh!


GO CANUCKS GO!

Did I tell you...

I joined the gym? I hate working out, but I'm a chubby piece of poo right now so I have to do something about it rather than complain about it all the time and not do anything about it.

For 3 months it costs 170,000 Won, which is about $150 CDN. But they gave me an extra month free because when Dennis signed up there was a promotion and that's what he got. The promotion was over when I signed up, but Dennis was able to get me the extra month free. My guess is cuz he's white, and they do anything for whities here! Hahaha.

The gym is on the 3rd floor of our building so it's super convenient and I can't use the excuse to skip a workout because the gym's too far away. Damn.

So far, I've just been doing cardio because I'm too lazy to do anything else, but I have to start doing some weights to up my metabolism... cuz God knows that's gone down a steep, steep hill! I should also start doing crunches... summer's coming!

Side note: Korean male meat heads are an interesting species.

Dennis' 31st

Last Friday was spent birthday shopping for Dennis' birthday, exchanging gifts at the department store, and packing for our "camping" trip/"Best Kid's workshop".

After work I took the subway straight to the Lotte department store to search for a gift. I only had 20 minutes if I wanted to have the gift in time before Dennis got home from work at 7. I ended up getting him a couple of shirts from Hazzy's (a Korean name brand that's grown on me). Korean's pronounce it "haejees". I actually say it this way, too, because I have no idea how to pronounce it in English.

Once home, Dennis was surprised by my gift and we soon found out that he's apparently not a Large (he's a medium back home, but I went up a size because I know Korean sizing is tiny). He's an XL in Hazzy's sizing. We went back to Lotte to get XLs for both shirts and he also want to exchange the clothes he got for Teacher's Day from the parents of one class. They got him a Ralph Lauren shirt (in pink) and khaki shorts. A nice $220 gift. Crazy. Anyway, he left Ralph Lauren with the same shirt in green and a black t-shirt. He got cash for the balance remaining! Cash! We thought about returning it all and taking the cash, but he felt he needed nice shirts that he wouldn't normally buy for himself. We also tried to get his new watch sized, but we were silently rejected by the watch staff who spoke zero English. Yeah, he got a hundred dollar watch from his boss. What the heck! Hagwon bosses never buy their staff anything. Dennis scored with this school.

The Ralph Lauren shorts and shirt.

The Lloyd watch

After all that we watched Modern family episodes and started packing for the "camping" trip.

thanks.... you're welcome

May 15th was Teacher's Day here. Since it was a Sunday, we got gifts on the Thursday and Friday beforehand. And for the ones who forgot, we also got gifts on the Monday following. Before coming here, I was really looking forward to Teacher's Day because I knew we were moving to the wealthiest neighbourhood in Korea, so obviously we'd be getting insanely expensive gifts! However, the Korean government managed to pop my hopeful bubble. Apparently, because of a few recent bribery cases the government sent out letters to all schools telling owners not to allow parents to give teachers cash, gift certificates, or expensive gifts.

Last year, one of my co-workers told me that she got $600 worth of gift certificates! And one of the ex-staff members at Dennis' school was given $1000 cash! But his boss didn't let him keep it. I think the cash was returned to the parents. At least, I hope it was returned and not pocketed by the hagwon owner! I've also heard of teachers getting hundred dollar to thousand dollar designer purses. Crazy. But nooooooo... the year that I come is the year they crack down on the gift giving. I'm not complaining. Really, I'm just sad that I missed out. Don't get me wrong, I still received gifts, just not extravagant, over-the-top, expensive gifts that you'd expect from parents living in our area. Oh well, there's always Christmas and graduation! Keep your fingers crossed for me ;)

Here's what I got:

L'Occitane "velvet" hand cream... Oooooooo

Assorted rice cakes (a big box for all teachers, from one set of class parents)

Potted ribbon flower, which is actually a pen!

Beginner's calligraphy pen from Germany

This is from Kelly, not to Kelly. Apparently this 7-year old has her own name stickers

Mary Kay sunblock

Bag of mini Snickers, Korean red ginseng, and Bvlgari perfume

Korean red ginseng. Good for increasing brain power and libido!

Bvlgari Omnia Green Jade eau de toilette

Cake box!

Sweet potato, vanilla, blueberry, chocolate, and strawberry!

success and failure

Dennis was able to get his laptop cord at the electronics market, but I didn't have such luck. So, we went to Myeong-dong to the Frisbee store (authorized Apple dealer) and asked customer service if they could order the cord for me. No dice. Apparently my computer, and thus my cord, is so old that it's not made anymore. I'm just gonna have to try my luck on ebay or craigslist or something like that. Booooooooooooooooo!!!!

So, if any of you out there know of a way I can get an adapter cord for an ibook G4, please let me know asap! Not being able to use my laptop really sucks!

Sad face.

still cordless

So, we haven't been able to get a cord for my laptop yet, hence the lack of updates. We're in a PC bang (PC room) right now, that's right on a Friday night, checking our email and catching up on our usual Internet surfing. We're fun!

We had yesterday off because it was Children's Day and I had today off, too, because my school was amazingly nice enough to give us an extra long weekend. Very shocking! Not the case for Dennis... he had to work today. What was also shocking about my school was that they paid us a day earlier than usual because pay day landed on the Children's Day holiday. We thought we might get paid after the long weekend, but awesomely enough we got paid the day before. Yay! I got paid in cash again this month because I didn't get a bank account until today. We were so busy on pay day, no breaks long enough to even pee, that I almost forgot to get my envelope of money. I grabbed it right before heading onto the shuttle bus and didn't bother counting it because the bus doesn't wait and the school gave me the correct amount last month, so they probably will this time.

Needless to say, I should have counted it on the bus because I counted it last night and I'm $500 short! I was so pissed last night I couldn't sleep. I messaged my co-workers on Facebook to see if any of them were short any money or perhaps they got my pay and I got theirs. Two of my other co-workers haven't had a chance to get bank accounts yet, so they also got paid in cash. Long story short, turns out that Melissa got my envelope of money and I got hers. Argh. Thankfully, she's honest and told me. I'll get it from her on Monday.

Not a big deal, but still a hassle and it kept me up last night!

Time to go. Dennis has surfed all he needed to surf and is bored now and the smoke in this place is getting to me... even though there's a separate, closed-off smoking area, I can still smell, taste, and feel it (on my eyeballs).

If I don't get to post on Sunday... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!