It's almost like I'm busy

Well I have officially been in Korea for two months now!  And again I have that familiar mix of feeling like time has flown by and simultaneously crawls.  This has been a great week in Korea!  I seem to have hit a good zone of actually having things going on!  I'm generally a busy person.  I enjoy spending time with friends, having a job that is not 9-5, mentoring, being mentored, going out, doing things... and since being in Korea, life has slowed considerably  As much as that has been a generally good thing and I have caught my breath, on the other hand I'm happy that I have more things going on now.

First of all, it snowed!!!  Now I know that it had already snowed almost two weeks ago, but I was sick at home that day and by the next day it had all melted.  So this week I actually saw the snow fall!  And played in it a bit!

 There's something really wonderful about watching children play in snow.  They're unabashedly embracing it!  Plus it feels more like Christmas is coming.

  Me and a few girls from my 2nd grade class threw snowballs at each other after school!  I was trying to get an action shot...

She is so cute!

And those are my feet... in the snow.  Haha... at least I'm in a photo!

Another fun thing that happened this week is that an orchestra and some opera singers performed at the Boeun Cultural Center.  There generally isn't a lot happening in Boeun, so I definitely wanted to take advantage of the fact that something was actually going on in our town!  Not to mention the fact that it was a concert, which is always good in my books.  I was actually really impressed with the musical abilities of all who performed.  And it was also fun to hang out with locals.  And the words of most of the opera songs were in Italian anyway!  So the language barrier was not an issue at all!

 

 An actual orchestra!  Mind you it wasn't very large...

 A shot of some of the people enjoying the concert

 It's actually a pretty large facility!  Apparently you can take music lessons a the centre as well.  I'm interested in checking out if I can take some traditional Korean music lessons.

This woman in the blue seemed to be our favourite.  She just seemed to love her life while she was singing!  And, she was amazing as well...

Here is a clip of one of the performances.  It was a song I knew and everything!  Very pretty.

This week was one of the English teacher's birthdays in the English Centre at my school.  So we sprang for a cake and enjoyed a little party before the end of the day on Friday.  I love those times when we're not teaching, not worried about Winter Camp, and just able to hang out!  Of course, that's the social butterfly in me talking!  But it was fun!

 Angela, Daheye, Suri and Jenny getting the cake ready! (look how helpful I am as the photographer... haha)

 Yay!  Juhe was surprised!

 Our English Center crew: Daheye, Angela, Jenny, Suri, and Juhe.

 I love how food always brings people together!

 Beautiful cappuccino cake from Tous Les Jours

I got a great piece!  With the chocolate sign and everything.  Thanks Juhe!

Also on Friday, I went to Cheongju with my neighbours and friends (Chris and Betty) and two of my adult students for dinner, a movie, and Home Plus shopping.  Again, what a great time spent outside of the classroom!  Always my favourite.  Jane and Brandy are two of my students in my Parents Class, where I teach adult English.  They are two very wonderful women!  And it's always fun hanging out with Chris and Betty...

 Me, Jane and Brandy.  We had Italian food.  It was actually pretty good!

 Betty and Chris

 See... clearly Chris is enjoying the food

We went and saw Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, complete with the 3D glasses and everything. 

Also, I guess I should explain Home Plus... basically it is like a Super Walmart.  It seems to have everything!  From clothing to food to Christmas decor to produce to furniture to electronics to restaurants to much much more.  It's a great place to pick up brands of things I know and have a ton of options for pretty cheap!  And, as evidenced by Friday, a place where I spend way too much money!  At least I can use everything I bought.  And the big find this time was tomato soup... which is something I have missed greatly since coming to Korea!  On Saturday I had tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich (with actual cheese) and it was basically heavenly.

So it is definitely the Christmas season, and as much as I am in a country that celebrates Christmas, it is still not the same as the overly celebrated Christmas season would be in North America.  I never knew I could miss that so much.  I have already watched a few Christmas movies, I listen to Christmas music constantly, and I get far too excited whenever something Christmasy comes up.  I definitely feel blessed to be here and I have enjoyed all of my adventures so far, but if you think of it, pray for me over Christmas holidays.  I miss my family every time I think of it.  But I'm determined to spread Christmas cheer as much as I can in Korea!

At least Paris Baguette is in the Christmas spirit!  It's a bakery/cafe in Boeun (well, really EVERYWHERE in Korea) and they had a fun cutout that I took advantage of.

As per usual, thanks for the prayers, messages, happy thoughts, etc.