tell, talk, say, speak

annyong haseyo,

A belated Happy New Years to you all:)
Earlier tonight I wasn't in the greatest of moods.  I managed to get to the gym, and was looking forward to just getting home and doing nothing (ah, winter, you make me so feel so pathetic sometimes).  On my way in, my super, Mr. Shin (sp?) stopped me, as he often does, to help me translate something for him.  He hasn't formally learned english since he was in grade school, and he is probably around 70 now.  I was in NO mood to help, but, as teachers do, still attempted to help and put on a cheerful face.  He wanted to know the difference between tell, talk, say, and speak.  It took some time because I often write things down since he's better at reading comprehension than listening comprehension. I ended up helping him for a good 40 minutes.  I helped him with some other simple phrases, too. By the end, he understood but claimed he'd forget in a few days anyhow, since "he is old and it is hard for him to learn study". I wrote down "It may be harder, but I think it can work!" and he laughed and laughed and kept repeating it.  It was pretty cute and put me in a better mood. :) I like when things like that give me some perspective.

Last month I got to visit my friend Laura and her husband in Okinawa, Japan for Christmas. I'm sure most of my readers know who she is, but just in case, she is a good friend from high school. It was really beautiful (and much warmer!) there, and I'm really glad I got to see her.
Next month I will be going to Japan once again, this time to the main island- Osaka, Kobe, and possibly Kyoto.  It'll be a quick trip, but I'm still stoked.

Instead of posting pics directly to this blog, I'm going to try to make a link. It might be a bit more efficient that way.

hiking Samaksan 12/04

Eva with yet another mountain dog

David playing a Korean flute

"soju man" and Jen

I took this picture by mistake, but it turned out pretty cool, eh?

on more mountain conquered!! 

duk galbi for dinner. (chicken, vegetables, rice noodles.)

I fell a little bit in love with this dog.
He's a 5 month old huksy! aaaw.

I look like I'm 5:p

I really don't know why we decided to play with a wheelbarrow.

lantern festival, Buchansan, Suwon, and Yongmasan

Seoul lantern festival

Seoul lantern festival

this one was for the G20 leaders. 

Christmas card?

tiger smoking a hookah

Pororo-a popular cartoon character from kids' tv show

crazy drum set

there's even a dung beetle lantern. sure why not?

drinks with Jen afterwards. She stole someone's hat. 

after the lantern festival we saw a guy selling puppies in the subway. I WANT ONE.

This is my loot from pepero day, 11/11. You give your friends these chocolate covered sticks because they look like the number "11".  I got all of these (plus at least 4 more boxes, not pictured, already eaten) from my students.

Buchansan

Michael showing Liu how to climb. 

Buchansan

people drinking makgeolli (alcholic drink-rice wine)
and eating food on the mountain. Have I mentioned
that it is very common to drink while hiking?
 I like your style, Korea. 

Jen made us breakfast! What a great hostess. :)  

contraband bacon. mmm contraband.

market in Suwon

garden in Suwon

garden in Suwon

Suwon

Suwon

near Yongmasan

after hiking Yongmasan

every time a waygook disobeys, a tree dies. 

sick tree with an IV drip

doing our stretches. This is used to stretch out your back. They have all kinds of exercise equipment on the side of  mountains.

view from Yongmasan

Yongmasan

Yongmasan

Neil the rebel in his pom pom hat

Yongmasan