Dinner at the Hwangs!

Two of my favourite students just happen to be brothers. So, when Mr. Hwang invited me for dinner at his house with his wife and two sons, Joon Ha and Yong Ha, I couldn't help but be excited. Here's one of my favourite families in Korea...

On Yeoido... Rachael and the transparent man.  

A sea of red! 

A ferry ride...

I made a list of all the things I needed to do before I left Korea forever. First on my list was a trip to Yeoido to take the ferry ride along the Han River as well as a trip up Korea's tallest building, appropriately named "The 63 Building" after its 63 floors. Unfortunately, the 63 building was under construction and the boats was soooo full that we just sat inside and quietly drank our Hites. Here are a couple of the pics, though. Our group included Sam, Charles, Rachael, me and Greg. Oh, and Lori. But, she was busy.

Watch out! Preggers is on the loose!

Usually I try to avoid putting party and / or drunken photos on the blog. However, I feel exceptions should be made when it involves (a perfectly sober) pregnant woman pretending to go into labour while trying to flag down a taxi. You will also notice Elisa panicking as she watches. She later asked all the teachers to pray that the cops wouldn't pull us over for having 5 people in a taxi. I enjoyed that. And, I prayed.

After the Lashing...

The evening of the much anticipated musical began the way any evening should start... with our boss hysterically running up and down the halls screaming at anything that moved. Languages screamed included English, Korean, Pig-Latin and Gibberish. It was an awesome, awe-inspiring display. After being ignored by management for the remainder of the evening, the teachers did the only reasonable thing... we set out for an overly-expensive restaurant with the intention of drinking excessively, and then to a Noraebang (singing room). Here are some of the post-production party photos...

The Sound of Music

In yet another marketing ploy, Herald School attempted to showcase its talent in a musical called "Nol Boo and Heung Boo". It was magical... especially the part that included two certain handsome foreign teachers as the King's guards.

my favourite hobby. 

stunning. 

This one's for you Sammy!

I was reprimanded for not having more / better pics of Sam on my blog. Despite the fact that these photos are boring, I'm posting them anyway so that everyone can see my fabulous friend. These are from her birthday.

Suzie and Sam... looking deceivingly unsuspecting and innocent (it took four tries to get this picture). 

Bad picture of me... but, good picture of Sam. So, it stays.  

Brenda and Me...  

Why didn't Old Yeller make it home?

Well, because I ate him. Please insert all Benji, Toto, Lassie jokes here, because Charles and I finally made good on our promise and ate dog soup (bo-shin-tang). It was smelly. It was stringy. And, it wasn't all that delicious. But, we did it and have the pics as proof. Bring on the live squid and paper-cup-o-bugs!

The set table. The smell of the soup wasn't as overwhelming as it was rumoured to be. It was, nonetheless, a pretty stinky meal. It sort of smelled like a dog that was caught out in the rain. ahem.  

That stringy meat is dog.  

Cranked neck and ready to eat! Notice the steaming bowl of dog in front of me.  

After all the posing, it was time to actually ingest the pup. 

Roughing it in Yangpyon...

In a new ploy for our school to advertise and make money, we took forty kids camping for a weekend. We were prepared for rain. In fact, we had every *single* minute of the weekend planned. What we didn't anticipate was it being so incredibly hot that no one could function. We also didn't think we would lose electricity and running water... but, that was nothing compared to the heat. It was like nothing I have ever felt in my whole entire life. Sunscreen, shade even swimming had little to no effect. But, we did rough it, Suzie didn't go into labour and nobody was injured during our makeshift fireworks display. I deem the weekend a success!

A BANNER! 

Sexy Alena and I at the water hole, where fifty people probably contracted some sort of horrible disease (cause it was dirty) and ended up suffering from heat stoke (cause it was the hottest hotness I have ever felt in my whole life).  

Suzie and I planned a killer roleplay. Actually, we just sat in a room, perspired and told the kids to figure it out for themselves. But, doesn't Suzie look remarkably fresh? 

Our light display... Approximately 38 seconds later we heard a huge thunder clap, followed by torrential downpour and the loss of electrcity (aka a working fan) and running water. But, the burning of the school's name worked out relatively well, despite my skepticism.  

This is what people look like after drinking too many beers, spending too much time in the sun and still being responsible for 40 children. Did I mention we had no power or running water?  

This is a very cute kid, Nick, on his birthday. He ignores me and flicks me in the face and calls me by the wrong name. But, I love him anyway.  

I shot a real gun! And I totally sucked!! Jay, Amy and I ventured into Lotte World amusement park where, of course, they have a shooting range! Twenty bucks, gun-shooting earphone thingies and a loaded gun equals a quality source of stress relief.

A visitor!

Okay, so besides my mom and a couple random encounters with former McGillians, I haven't really had any visitors. Apparently Korea isn't atop most people's travel list. Mike fixed all that when he popped in on his way to Shanghai. Fun was had.

Two boys who are much taller than me.  

Subways are fun.