OMG!!!! Desk Warming is Driving Me Crazy!! I Miss Camp!

I am on my second day of desk warming. This is what I look like right now, and it is only noon.  I  thought I would occupy myself and post some random pictures. 

This is Kim Tae Woo, one of my first grade students. He came in yesterday and showed me that he lost his first tooth. He told us that his dad did the ol' pull the tooth out by closing the door trick. 

This is my shrine to the Korean gods of electricity. Haha last night I was cooking dinner and when I pulled the rice cooker plug out of the wall, the power went out! I had to call my co-teacher, who then had to call the landlord, who then had to have her call me back and so on and so forth. All these problems would have been fixed if I could speak Korean and called him myself. The best part is that the landlord wanted to tell Erik where the breaker was instead of me, but because Erik was out getting a pizza, he had no choice but try to explain to a girl how to flip a switch....  

On my to school this morning, I took a few shots of the mural along the hill toward my school. 

I especially love these guys! All the holes in the wall are drain pipes because our school is on the side  of the mountain. This summer I looked inside one of the holes as I was walking up to school, and the hole was full of like 2000 little centipedes! I don't know why I am writing that on here, but it was very unsettling. 

Hehe I just snapped a picture of Jenny taking a nap. 

Here are a few pictures from our Winter Camp. We didn't do topo many fun things like Summer Camp because we spent all the money. 

Playing some games. 

Lets test your English! 

He was trying to spell zigzag. 

On the last day we made candles. 

Even I made one. 

Gumi in January

Happy New Year!!! Crazy to think it is 2012, and that I have been in Korea for almost a year. Still have a good month and a half before I have to come home, but already staring to pack and look for tickets home. My New Years was fun. Erik and I went out with some friends and saw some fireworks. We have vacation at school so not much going on around there. We just finished an English Winter camp last week so now I have to sit at school and do nothing. My vacation starts on the 19th till the end of the month, so my Sunday morning job is to plan a vacation. I thought I would post a few pictures of Gumi in the winter since I haven't been up to much lately. I need some photos for 2012. The weather has been nice lately so one Friday I walked home from school. There is this little (what I think is) a shrine or temple tucked behind some buildings. I can't read the sign though because it is in Korean

I really just liked the wall. It looks to me like they made it out of old roof tiles and mud.

I was on my way to go for a Saturday hike and I had my camera in my pocket so I took a few shots of some of my favorite things along my way home. I didn't get too many because there were a lot of people out and I try not to draw anymore attention to myself then I already do when I walk down the street. This is my neighbor's house. They would always sit outside on their little deck/platform thing in the summer. They were often eating fruit or some strange meat. Usually they would call me over to eat with them, or give me some fruit to take. They were so surprised that I could eat kimchi, and one of the old ladies ran home to get more haha. If you look down the street (it is kinda hard to see because of the sun) you can see the tofu lady. Like a milk man, they go around to deliver fresh tofu.

This is like  a junk yard or something. I always want to see what is behind the walls, but they are always closed.

A happy bull inviting you to come inside and eat him at this restaurant.

I have been drinking cappuccinos non stop this month. I think I must need more milk or something. I was in the same coffee shop three days in a row because they have the best ones in Gumi. I was drinking this one kinda slow, and the rings around the cup reminded me of rock formations. 

Saturday my friends Ali, Rita, and I went for a late afternoon hike to the waterfall in Geumosan. It was really a beautiful day. This is my ice sculpture.

You can see Rita on the left and Ali taking a picture of me on the right. The three of us have been hanging out a lot lately. They are my Sauna buddies.

I am sad to leave them =(

The mountain looks so different without and leaves and the no water in the river. Can you still call it a river if there is no water in it? I guess there are little puddles everywhere and the waterfall is Frozen.

Two little Korean girls playing in the snow.

The sign says something (probably like don't walk on the ice it is dangerous.)

Cute!

After our hike we grabbed a coffee and waffle at the bottom of the mountain. Then we met up with the boys for dinner at a Galbi place. We had pork ribs. That is Paul, (Ali's boyfriend) pile of bones.

Christmas in Korea.......And China!

Well I totally jinxed myself about the " We haven't had any snow in Gumi yet" thing. Erik and I walked out our door Christmas Eve morning and I almost had a heat attack when I saw the white dust outside. I have to admit that I was a little excited and it did make it feel more like Christmas! 

Gumi Train Station. Erik and I were off to Seoul to spend the day celebrating Christmas like the Koreans.....SHOPPING.  

It was pretty crowded everywhere. Here are some army guys waiting to go home. 

They really got a lot of snow in the northern part of the country. View from the KTX. 

We went back to Insa-dong to get some handmade man du (dumplings) 

The place was really crowded, so we had to wait like 10 mins to get a seat. 

Lady making dumplings and taking orders at the same time! 

Haven't posted many embarrassing pictures of Erik lately, so I had to harass him while he was eating. Don't laugh or you will spit food everywhere.  

The outdoor shopping mall was deced out with lots of cute Korean Christmas decorations. 

A book Christmas Tree! 

After lunch and walking around in the cold, we stopped at tea shop to have some Korean tea. They had post-it notes everywhere, and this one was cute. 

Erik ditched me to go to the book store, so I continued to walk around and spend my hard earned money. This made me hungry so I found my favorite Korean street food. It is like a deep friend pancake thing filled with syrupy honey something. So good on a cold day. Too bad these were like $2 and the ones in Gumi are not only better but only cost around .70 cents. 

Then we went to Itaewon, the foreign district of Seoul. Not much there that we found interesting but this really funny store hehe.

We had Indian for dinner, and then waked around a little more. I liked these pagodas decorated in Christmas lights. 

Once we were finished walking we got on the train to the airport. They had a spa you could stay at in the airport It was only $20 to stay the night so it was cheaper than a hotel and right in the terminal. I didn't feel like rushing to the airport in the morning so this seemed like a nice place to crash. Plus I could wake up Christmas morning and sit it the hot tub! There was no one in there but me so I could take pictures without disturbing any naked Korean people.  

Then it was off to China in the afternoon. I got there around noon, and we went to eat right away. Nan and her husband had just got back from Beijing that morning so they were kinda tired. After hanging out at the house for a while it was time for dinner! Don't those chicken claws look great....eww. The raw shrimp was actually really good though. I know my dad will yell at me and tell me I am going to get worms for eating raw seafood....but too bad, they were tasty. 

Chinese pharmacy. 

Nan and her mom. We spent most of the next day at her parents place. I got to meet some of her aunts as well as her grandma, grandpa, and dad. They made a nice home made lunch and dinner. They were also complementing me on my chopstick skills! 

This is the traffic in Dalian. I was thinking of Kyle complaining about the driving in Korea, and thought to myself "wait till he comes to China!" 

After eating dinner with Nan's parents, it was time for a second dinner with the Fat Cat. I think I gained all the weight I have lost all year back in three days haha. This was a really nice seafood restaurant. You can see the thinly sliced fish on the plates. You can then cook it in the pot and dip it in the yummy sauce mix. I think it was a mix of peppers, mushrooms, and ginger. I wasn't even hungry, but I ate anyway!  

Nan's kitchen. 

...and dinning room. 

Nan and I went to the aquarium in Dalian to check out the Beluga whales.  Here are some workers feeding the penguins.

Dolphin show. I watched it in Chinese so I had no idea what they were saying.

These Belugas were the best part of my trip! I think Nan and I sat at their tank for more than an hour. At first they were really playful, and then they got feed and were falling asleep. 

When they try and sleep they kinda sink to the bottom of the tank and turn downside hehe.

Check out this lady's hair. I was so amazed at how big it was that I had to take a picture.

The last couple hours in Dalian. We did some last minute shopping, and then went to the airport.

I think Nan was a bit tired. More China picture to come when Nan sends the ones from her camera.