Snow!

I woke up this morning to this view outside my window...


The world really is a beautiful place when it snows!! I'm lucky to have snow now, and next week I'll be in the lovely warm sunshine :)

Walking to piano class this morning, enjoying the snow.

I don't have a lot of time left in Korea and there is still so much I want to do before I go! Unfortunately I can't do it all :(
This past weekend, I did make time to go and see the National Geographic International Photo Exhibition at the Seoul Arts Centre. I've been itching to see this for ages, since I love photography and nature - what more could I ask for! I met my Rhodes friend Dani there, and she joined me in Insadong afterwards for some last minute Christmas shopping. We also stumbled upon the best beef-grill restaurant I've been to in all of Korea! And afterwards we relaxed with a cup of tea and some honey cookies in one of the famous tea houses. It was a great day, although I must admit I don't have as much energy as I used pre-pregnancy...I was pooped when I got home!

Seoul Arts Centre - Random display

Seoul Arts Centre - Random display

Seoul Arts Centre

Charming Insadong

Charming Insadong

Charming Insadong

Charming Insadong

Charming Insadong

Charming Insadong

Charming Insadong

Thanks giving weekend

This weekend is all about Thanks Giving. Although I'm not American, I'm really thankful for this holiday ;) So far there's been loads of divine food, and tomorrow there will be more....
Last night we had a potluck dinner at Katie and Michal's place....everyone out-did themselves on the food. I made caramel pumpkin fritters which went down a treat! I ate way too much. It was fantastic!

The delicious buffet

Nate's contribution of peanut butter & jelly sarmies ;)

Fun and games

Me and Kirsty

Michael, our host, who made sure everyone had pretty, fruity cocktails all night!

YWCA cooking contest

The annual YWCA contest was held last week. I didn't cook South African food again, so I teamed up with the Chinese girls to make sweet & sour pork. There was also lots of Vietnamese food as usual, and although a Vietnamese team won, our food was by far the most delicious and most popular amongst the contestants! Lots of fun once again.

The joys of home

I only have about 6 weeks left in Korea before I return to South Africa, so I've found myself thinking a lot about the things I'm looking forward to back home....and I decided to make a list (notice how most of the things on the list are FOOD!).

(P.S. I didn't add 'seeing family' to the list, because that's just OBVIOUS!)

1. Braai vleis - specifically lamb chops and boerewors. Also all the yummy things that go along with it, like pap and sous, and garlic bread!
2. Cross & Blackwell mayonnaise.
3. Proper yogurt. Real plain (NOT sweetened plain) yogurt, and GREEK yogurt!
4. Bovril.
5. Jungle oats and slap pap....real breakfast food!
6. A Sunday roast. I don't mind whether it's lamb, chicken or beef!
7. Fruit and vegetables - especially peaches and butternut.
8. Listening to Afrikaans and Country music again.
9. Watching the SuperSport channel!
10. My room - which is probably bigger than my apartment here!

That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there's lots more....Look out for List # 2!

Oh, I've just thought of something...

11. Mrs Balls Chutney.
12. Bar one.
13. Going fishing.

Halloween

I painted a mask for our Halloween party tonight, but when I got home from work all the paint had cracked and peeled off - so sad :(

One of my favorite students, Eddy, in his Dracula outfit.

Eddy and Eric, one of my naughtiest students - no, THE naughtiest student....says he's going to be an FBI agent one day. I think he's going to be on the FBI's most-wanted list one day....

My baby students' Halloween art work...
A typical 8-year old drawing - very cute!

A very impressive piece of art-work from Peter (not the brightest, but clearly artistically gifted!)

That's what I love about teaching - noticing all the different ways that kids are talented, gifted and bright. It's a rewarding job, and sometimes I wonder who is learning more - the kids or me?!

Mokpo

I took the opportunity to go down to Mokpo on the South West coast this weekend. I've never been in that part of the country so I was eager to see what was there. Korea happened to be hosting their first-ever F1 grand prix race, so the small town had a really buzzing atmosphere. Unfortunately, because it took so long (5 hours on the train) to get down there, I didn't end up with enough time to take a ferry to the neighbouring islands, which was what I actually wanted to do!

I did get to climb Yudalsan, a little peak near the harbour which has stunning views of the ocean dotted with many smaller islands. The overcast weather unfortunately prevented me from seeing the proclaimed sunset over the ocean.


This area is also famous for being one of the posts of Admiral Yi Sun Shin - my favorite Korean hero. So I was pleased to see his statue there too.






The harbour at sunset


Heading out to the pre-F1 night street festival



On Sunday it poured with rain, so I couldn't do much before catching my 1:30 train...I did go into the Natural History Museum, which although fun, has nothing on the one I went to in Oxford!

Jisan Open Day

Our base resort, Jisan, had an open day for all the snowboarding clubs - there was no snow, but there was lots of delicious food plus fun and games to be had! It was weird to see the slopes with no snow, being occupied by some BMX bikers cutting up the slopes - fun!

Homeward bound...

One of my students drew this to give to me...I'm not sure what he was trying to imply, but I guess maybe he was reading my mind!


Notice the little South African flag, with 'Nam Aperika' (South Africa in Korean) written above.