The source of all my power

Look, some people are perfectly happy to go to class with just a board marker in their pocket, not me.
I go prepared. I have a weapons kit stocked with grenades and bribes.

Truth, I 'inherited' the basket from someone who was here before and I didn't bother buying a newer, shinier one, simply restocking the stationary and adding stickers.

The children give me gifts of stickers too and I just slap them on the surface.

Angry Birds, smiley faces, Pokemon, glow in the dark animals, Power Rangers, cars etc.

I have Reshiram and Zekrom, hah! (I had to take them away from any kid after a fight broke out.)

Yes, the handles are broken.
Yes, they were broken long before I got it.
No, the plastic rings are not a replacement handle - just an effort of boredom and surplus one day.

The cat is from Halloween decorations.

You can see princess stickers poking out of the basket.

You can't really get Ninjago - it would have made a lot of classes much easier if it was the case - but some children have their moms buy them the expensive bumper book from the bookstore.
They then proceed to give them to me.

It's admittedly grubby now but I will admit this much, the kids love this pink monstrosity.
(It'll probably hit the bin once I leave the school - hahahaha.)

Letters from kiddies

Sometimes my students write me letters.

I like the pink hair. I think it suits me. C: In case you're wondering, I'm giving her stickers. (Yes, I do outright bribe my students.)

I also appreciate that she wants to get me a prince.

Gah! Why so adorable?!
This is more distracting than a box of kittens!!

Hanbok, hanbok, pretty, pretty, princess.

I'll admit to having cultural jealousy. We don't have a national dress. (Peasant rags in nineteenth century depictions Do. Not. Count.)

Korea has a really pretty one in the hanbok.
When the school held a 'hanbok day' for Chuseok there was an incredible amount of squee in this direction. SO cute and a rare chance to see the boys in pastels and silks. Super cute.

We found out about a place where we could play dress-up like big kids. (One of our Korean co-teachers was all 'Oh, you have to try hanbok')

Mi Su Da is a cultural experience in the Namsan Hanok Village close to Chungmuro station. They are associated with traditional theatre which unfortunately we did not have time for.

You can experience traditional clothing, games, music and tea ceremony. We opted for the basic package since it was late in the day which comprised of hanbok, photo and tea.

The changing area is very professional and it has excellent security. We simply wore the hanbok over our clothes and little clogs were provided for us.

As you can see, mine does not have the best fit. (Yes, Granny I was aware of it.) On the other hand Stephanie looks great, good colours, and Helen is suitably regal as an ancient queen. (Quite possibly a warrior with Taekwondo skills.)
They were also very comfortable to wear. These gave us the special squee you get from wearing a particularly floaty dress.

We had a lot of fun that day. Yes, we proceeded to prance around and strike period drama poses. I successfully retied the bows for the others and most importantly...

We looked unquestionably fabulous.

Sneer like Psy

A gift from my co-worker Karen.

It's a facemask and a facemask. Swank.

Suddenly Tap-dance!!

There's a newly opened cutting edge mall close to where I live.

When I say mall, I mean MALL. It's an American style shopping mall. A good deal fancier perhaps than where I normally shop myself but it's stuffed with familiar outlets for international brands, restaurants, an arcade and of course a cinema.

The main entrance opens into a rather large open area where they hold events. (They had auditions for a reality show here once. Korean Idol of something like that)

There are some bands that play locally (including the worst one in all Asia) and thes guys put on a fairly good show. I like the tap-dancing. ;P

Advanced Vocabulary

Science class packets come with all the appropriate paraphenalia and two flashcards.

But sometimes I must question the vocabulary words chosen for six year old EFL students.

 

You know you've been in Korea too long when....

...you (and everyone else) whips out their smartphones to take a picture of whatever the server has brought to the table.

Miaow

 

On a trip into town we went looking for a cafe called 'The Pie Hole' that Helen had visited. Instead we found this.

 

 

 

Cue squealing and hysterical laughter along with a strong case of 'THIS, I gotta see'

 



This particular branch was in Shinchon. There are several more, bigger too, in places like Hondae and various airports.

As you can see they really went all out with the theme. There's silhouettes cut into everything and logos stamped absolutely everywhere.

Honestly, it's really for the best that they focused on decor. The food and service wasn't the best especially for what you're paying.

[The above picture has mysteriously rotated. Weird.] At least the latte art was cute.

Adorable foul-tasting cookies. :D All of the food served has a Hello Kitty theme and is reputedly 'meh'. No one seems to praise the food in these places. This is another establishment where you are not attending for the consumables at any rate.

The cafe was crazy busy and only started to quiet down when we were getting ready to leave. The staff were on the hop constantly.

They gave us (cute) disposable cups which is really common in cafes anyway. I got to watch a woman, in a reality tv style fascination, as she spent several minutes holding up the line and arguing with the staff in english because she wanted one of their mugs and not a paper mug finding it super offensive/being too good for one/being allergic/she just wanted one.

She wasn't particularly clear on that point. The staff simply repeated their policy of disposable cups only when they're busy saying they don't have time to collect and wash mugs then. (We could see this to be true.)

Either way, lady there's a hell of a line behind your outrage.

Everything else being said I did indulge myself and my inner eight-year-old. Hanbok!Kitty to go with my Furisode!Kitty.

Hello Kitty Cafe. The food kinda sucks. But the decoration may rot your teeth with sugary sweet cuteness.

A Present

I swear to god, you have no idea how close I came to getting Fearghal one of these.

The expression on his face, and everyone else,  would have been wonderful.

Free Dance Lessons

 

I'll give you one guess as to where I found this stand with handy-dandy flashing lights to guide your dancing feet.

 

 

Only one thing to do then....

 

 

Pork pots

 

 

These little guys were all over the street in our district in Busan.

Remarkably close to all the restaurants (Mmmm, let's go back to that barbecue place).

Less than subtle subliminal messaging?

New Year Morning Paparazzi

 

Here are Stephanie, Karen and I (Helen behind the lens) on beautiful Haeundae Beach in Busan. It was beautiful and the skies were pretty clear but it was still pretty cold.

 

The reason the beach is empty above is that this is actually off-season and the day before New Year.
It was decidedly crowded then.

We got tapped by a news crew who went something like "Oooh, foreigners. Get them to say Happy New Year."...which we did.

Note how Stephanie is wearing her pajamas. That's how close we were to the beach and how early it was.

Helen is not there because:

a.) She took the picture.
b.) As soon as the camera approached us she did this...

thus abandoning us to their tender mercies for two minutes.

Possibly not a good place for lunch....

Thank you, Busan. Now there is only one way I can respond.

Getting far too used to this sort of strange...

On the subway in Seoul. Sometimes you just don't even.

That Most Hated Of Seasonal Duties

I thought I'd be safe enough from being roped into it this year but, nay.

We were provided with company cards and I had to write them for my homerooms.

I'd like to point out that we only get Christmas Day off from work so this card thing seems just cruel.