Life Is More Fun As A Millionaire...


Since the last post both Meg and I have become official millionaires! It is nice to finally have some breathing room since we had been living for about 6 weeks on the last of our American money. Having money means that we can also start booking fun trips! We have already booked a trip to a less commonly visited area of the DMZ in late May and to Daecheon Beach, Boryeong City (which is on the west coast of Korea) for the annual mud festival in mid-July. Obviously, we will be writing about these when they happen. Now that we have money we have also started discussing travel plans for our first school vacation (which occurs in late July) so we will be sure to share details as they pan out!

Last Thursday I had my first birthday party at CIS. As I previously mentioned, CIS has monthly birthday parties. If anyone in your class has a birthday that month, you have a party. The parties are ridiculously over the top (just like many things in Korea). The moms bring in food, cake(s), and generally thank-you gifts for the students. Each student also brings in a gift for the birthday kid(s). I had 4 kids with birthdays in April so it was quite a show. 44 presents rolled in last week for the birthday kids (which was quite fun to keep organized). The moms all got together and chatted so there wasn't as much food as usual, but still a fair amount. We had fresh strawberries, oranges, fancy rice cakes, ice cream cake, and juice boxes (all at 11am!) All the kids (birthday ones included) received a stuffed gift bag. It was kinda nerve-wracking having 4 moms all in the classroom at once (this was the first time I have had parents in there with me) so I am glad that from here on out I never have more than 2 kids with a birthday in the same month!

We were told that when the seasons change here it is an instant switch. This is dead on. Two weeks ago it was low 50s and gray every day. Lately, it has been mid 70s and sunny everyday (as sunny as it can get with all the smog). I have taken to eating my lunch on the roof of CIS which is a nice change and Meg and I have been able to do some outdoor running which is nice (sorta!) Since the weather is so nice now the Koreans that we hang out with decided that once a month instead of going out to eat after lessons we will go hang out by the Han River. We did this for the first time on Saturday and it was awesome! We got pizza delivered to the river and drank beer while enjoying the view.

One of the Korean guys who comes out with us every week, Juun, always wears a Detroit Tigers baseball hat. I had made fun of him in the past (being a Twins fan and all) but he is relatively new at learning English and I don't think really understands my jokes. Two weeks ago Meg stole his hat to wear for some pictures and he was joking about how she couldn't do that because of his hat hair. Meg jokingly made a comment that he should buy us our own hats if he didn't want his stolen. Low and behold this Saturday during English class, Juun walks into our room with two MLB bags with MLB boxes inside. Meg and I are pretty shocked at this and give each other a look. Sure enough, we are now the "proud" owners of Chicago White Sox baseball hats. Why CWS hats? Well, one of the other foriegn guys who comes out with us is from Boston. He and I are always going back and forth about baseball, specifically the Twins and Red Sox. Anyway, Juun thought it would be funny to get us Boston hats but mixed up his sox and got us the White Sox instead! Meg and I rocked the hats most of Saturday night (which might have been a mistake since the Twins played the Sox that night and lost) and are still slightly shocked that Juun actually got them for us!

Speaking of baseball, Sunday afternoon Meg and I had our first experience with Korean baseball. One of the Korean teams is the LG Twins, so Meg and I decided that it was fate and we must be their fans. Conveniently, the Twins home field is also in Jamsil, only about 15 minutes walking distance from our place. Not only are they named the Twins, but they also have the exact same logo as the MN Twins! Thus, I am able to wear my Mauer shirt to game and fit right in (and any apparel we get here will work in the US!)

We decided to head over to the stadium for the LG Twins vs Doosan Bears game. Think Twins vs Brewers rivalry only these two teams share a home stadium. The place was nuts!! We got there about 30 minutes early and had to wait 15 minutes to buy our tickets. Everything was sold out except the "cheap seats" which are actually pretty awesome seats! We ended up in right center field, about 5 rows back and it only cost us 6,000w (about $4.50). However, the best part of the game was the atmosphere. The stadium is basically split in half, with the LG fans sitting on one half and the Doosan fans on the other. Pretty much everyone has thunder sticks (which we are now proud owners of) so that they can participate in the choreographed cheers. Yes, you read that right. They have a slew of cheers that they do in unison, complete with motions. At one point most of the LG fans also whipped out sparklers and there were bright yellow LG signs passed out to all the fans as well. Usually, whoever is batting gets to cheer, but all bets are off when the game gets really intense. LG was winning for most of the game, but true to their name, they fell apart in the 8th inning. LG ended up losing 3-4. However, we are now hooked and are planning on attending many games throughout the next few months! The best part, is it is outdoor baseball which has gotten us stoked for Target Field when we return!

We are finally making a trip to the jjimjilbang (bathhouse) tomorrow, so we will be sure to fill you in on this unique aspect of Korean culture. We are also planning on posting a short entry about beauty in Korea (similar to Meg's post about love) as image and looks are looked upon very different here than we are used to. Anyway, much more to come from our side of the world as we wrap up our second month abroad!




Thunderstick Choreography