It’s been a ridiculously long time since I’ve updated and for that I sincerely and profusely apologize... my life is insanely busy which is a good and bad thing- depending on what activity is keeping me busy. :)
So.. first thing’s first.. the positive busy things:
- 12/14
It’s been a ridiculously long time since I’ve updated and for that I sincerely and profusely apologize... my life is insanely busy which is a good and bad thing- depending on what activity is keeping me busy. :)
So.. first thing’s first.. the positive busy things:
- Taiwan for Chuseok: pretty much rocked!
I went to the National Palace museum on Friday morning and saw lotsa Chinese historical stuff- same stuff I’d seen in China last summer, nothing really new and different.. but it was still nice to see it again and refresh my memory. PLUS it’s history, so yea- awesome. Berengere flew in that morning and I met her in the afternoon- we went to see Taipei 101 
(the tallest building in the world, supposedly!) It had a viewing deck like the Seoul tower and an outside area that was ridiculously windy- pretty cool. We went to Shilin night market 
which had some rather interesting cuisine and then found some cheap-o foot massages which RULED b.c. my foot has STILL been killing me. blech. Saturday: We went to Longshan temple which is actually a multi-denominational temple but it just so happened to be during the Harvest Moon festival- which is essentially the same type of holiday for the Chinese as Chuseok is for the Koreans- they give food in honor of their ancestors. 
It was really interesting to see this in action. That afternoon we went to Wulei which is a little town outside of Taipei. We went up to the top of a mountain 
and explored a bit then had quite an interesting experience as the only foreigners at a hot spring on the side of the river. 
We couldn’t take pictures there b.c. it woulda been a little strange, but let’s just say the spectacular & unrealistic view will forever be ingrained in my brain. That night we naturally got another cheap massage- which was UH-Mazing and I couldn’t have spent my $15 USD for an hour massage better! :) 
As Typhoon Parma was hitting Taiwan on that Sunday, B and I made a GREAT decision (ehem, not quite) to go to _______ National park and explore.. 
we got to the top of the mountain and had to make our way back to Taipei before the storm attacked us so fiercely that our bus fell off the mountain therefore killing us on impact, lol. (that also was quite an interesting experience, and yea, I was a bit freaked out) 
We safely made it down the mountain, back to our 3rd nightly massage- which just so happened to be the best- and eventually returned to Seoul the next day. It was a great trip and I’m so glad we were able to go... 
- A weekend in Busan with Rebecca Payne: I learned the art of Soju and Aloe juice. I learned not to leave your purse unattended. and I learned how difficult it is to replace your valuable belongings once they have been swiped from you in a foreign bar overseas. :( I was also reminded of how ridiculously awesome Becca Payne is and how glad I am that we are living in the same country so we can hang out more and more. :)
- The Beijing Swimvitational with the Morning Swim Squad:
Over Halloween, I chaperoned my competitive Morning Swim Squad to a swim meet in Beijing, China. 
Only a few swimmers could actually go so it was a small group- but it was a fantastic group at that. We went to the Great Wall on Friday when we got there and it was much better than my last insanely hot and exhaustive experience at the Badaling section of the Great Wall last summer. 
This time, it was cold weather and we rode a chair lift up to the wall, so I wasn’t experiencing heart palpitations from the insane height of the wall. :) The meet was on Saturday- which we did quite well, I must say. I networked and met other coaches around Asia-which was difficult considering my predecessor alienated them all... Then as we were leaving on Sunday, there was a snow storm!!!! 
As some of the swimmers and myself have never lived in or near snow, we naturally enjoyed this nice surprise quite thoroughly with some snow ball fights :) 
I love my lil’ swimmers. :) It was so nice that all my hard work being a “travel agent” for this trip really paid off. :) 
- Hong Kong for Thanksgiving: This was the best of all!!! The “20-somethings group” (as others have been known to call us) went to HK for a splendid weekend of debaucherous fulfillment. LizTeacher and I did a bit too much imbibing on the plane that we were balling our eyes out during “The Time Traveler’s wife” and all the Asians were looking at us like were just some ridiculous Westerners that needed to get a grip. lol. As the only American accompanying 2 Frenchies and a Brit, we didn’t really have that traditional Thanksgiving celebration- but it was still quite an adventure as we ate traditional Chinese food (which those of you who know me well, remember my reaction to this last summer- those of you who don’t can’t refer to my China Blog ;) ) B and LizTeacher ate Duck-
naturally with it’s head still on! and Alex had some OxTongue- mmmm yummy!! and yes, I ate ordinary chicken, which THANK GOD- no longer had it’s head. With so much British influence in this former possession of the Brits- it was like being in London- 
but with lotsa Asians and BETTER!! I shopped so much more than I have ever shopped that I was afraid I would have no money for the rest of my life- HK has SO much more than Seoul (i.e. IKEA!!!) in the ways of purchases that I kept telling myself, “This is ok, b.c. I won’t be able to find this in Seoul”- whew, I really shoulda practiced a lil more self control... The architecture was quite intriguing and the skyline was to die for-
all the buildings were all decked out for the holidays- loved it!! 
I saw a Junk boat and shrieked with excitement as I impatiently begged my girls to board the boat and sail off- at about $20 USD, we hopped on, had a complimentary glass of wine, and sailed around Victoria Harbor for close to an hour. 
It was awesome! (PLUS- as the Asian equivalent to the Europeans’ Clipper ship of Chris Columbus fame, I got a bit o my historical fill for the trip :) ) LizTeacher and I went to see the famous _______ Buddha statue on Lantau- it was huge, but a lil disappointing as I thought it would be a bit more impressive than just some random humongous Buddha statue sitting on an isolated mountain. Still neat to see the largest sitting Buddha though. (check mark on that) LizTeacher and I joined her Rugby crew on a daylong boat tour that took us to a secluded beach
where we enjoyed AYCE, AYCD fun.. 
we jumped off the top of the Junk boat, 
swam in the tiddly bit cold water, and played on the beach. It was actually an unforgettable time and it was SO nice to put some color back into my dreary, pale skinned self :) To sum this trip up- I had THE BEST time and will be looking into International schools in HK for my future :) - Skiing at YongPyong for LizTeacher’s b-day:
-
It’s strange that this didn’t even feel like a vacation or anything really special b.c. we weren’t leaving SoKo- I know, I know, B and I keep saying we are spoiled rotten. Before now, having lived too far away from snow, cold weather, and mountains- skiing was THE vacation of my year to go visit my UD & AK in Breckenridge, Co.. Thanks to the ski lessons sponsored by my UD & AK, I was able to hop right back onto those skis and get back up the mountain :) It’s just like riding a bike- I remembered just what to do... also, this “riding- a- bike- familiarity” is evident when I continue to go up mountains that are just a lil too difficult for me and scream French all the way down while crashing and burning into more advanced individuals... I definitely had some picture-tastic wipe outs- thank God I told my very experienced friends to go ahead of me, as the “Snow Plow Queen” would be making her way down the mountain all in due time. I quickly made use of my limited mutli-language skills with “Mien Hamnida” (I’m Sorry! - Korean) and “Putain!” (an actual French word who’s meaning shall not be shared... lol) Thankfully, about 1/2 way down the 5K run, I discovered 2 Korean chics that were slowly but surely making their way down via constant Snow plow and I just started following them. We became fast friends as the 3 of us could not verbally communicate with each other due to the language barrier, but we knew we were kindred Ski-spirits just by the body language and our ever-so-similar looks of fear spread across our faces as we had gotten in way over our heads in a mess of fake snow. I made it down the mountain- finally-... and was ready to give up on skiing forever (once again!)... until I remembered the 150,000Won ski pants I had purchased b.c. no others would fit my big Western hips & then I had to recommit in order to get the worth outta my ridiculous investment. So I went back to the Green runs and became a Green pro once again. :) Oh, YongPyong- I will see you again!! - it’s SO nice to finally live in such close proximity to skiing, hopefully I will actually improve :)
Lastly, the negatives:
- My superior is a bit unbearable. I’m used to teaching in a classroom, having some independence, being told “Ok, we need you to teach this class- now go!” and then ‘Going’ and actually doing it... I’m used to being trusted and having the freedom to teach how I want, I’m used to sending emails to people without having them censored, and I’m used to cooperation among colleagues (aka great coworkers!) .... well, this is SO not the case here. As I am no longer in the classroom, I’m constantly under supervision while I’m ‘teaching’ which leaves the door open for ‘comments, suggestions’, and well... to be honest... orders. (and those of you who know me well, you understand that I don’t do well with orders- right, Mom?!?) To make this long & detailed story a short and rather vague one- Teamwork is not the name of the game here in Aquatics, I miss the classroom, I miss teaching History, I’ve learned that I can definitely stand up for my teaching philosophy and the way I think things should be run for the benefit of the children, and and yes- I’m whining about the best job ever! (ugh, what’s wrong with me?!)
- and that’s it...
It will not be forever before I update again.. I’m headed to the Philippines in a few days to spend my 3 week xmas vacation on warm beaches with cool drinks in my hands. I’m sad that I’m not going home for the holidays, but it’s a good move on my part-as I’m getting homesick and miss things from home and I want to continue to acclimate to Seoul a little more before coming home to the things I miss.... #1 is my family, my cat, and of course my friends... but I miss the little things too- like:
- Diet Dr. Pepper
- Driving 70 (ok, 79! :) )on an interstate and blaring my music and not having to stop every 5 seconds for the millions of Korean drivers on the same road at the same exact time.
- Low fat food
- Acrylic nails
- Pants in stores that ACTUALLY fit my big wide hips!!
- Understanding what is at the grocery store
- Weather in Farenheight- not celsius
- Size 10 shoes!!
- Flip flops and tank tops
- Unlimited calling and texting
- Target
- Actual MALLS!!
- Movies without subtitles
- Microwavable meals...
- Gum!!
Until next time, Happy Christmas and New Year!!! May your days be merry :)
- Taiwan for Chuseok: pretty much rocked!
Posts
