Playing Catch-up

This week was marked by a few notable events.

Event the 1st: I moved into a new classroom at school, hooray! My new room is much more spacious and it has windows! With a view of the mountains! Natural daylight and fresh air, here I come!

It was actually quite fun being back at school. There was plenty of tea time with other teachers, lots of catching up, and yesterday we all went for a delicious sushi lunch that wrapped up the week quite nicely. 

Event the 2nd: Valentine's Day. Not really a huge event, but fun in its own way. In Korea, only women give presents/chocolates on Valentine's Day. Then one month later, on March 14th, it's the man's turn to give something to the woman who gave something to him. Oh, and it has to be something white since the official name of this little holiday is White Day. I gave chocolate to my bf and we went to our fave restaurant for dinner. I also made him a card...I made it at school and attempted to use crayons...which is not as easy as it seems. I prefer pencils.

Anywho, lots of people complain about Valentine's Day and its commercialization and various other things, but really - it's a day to celebrate love and tell the people around you just how much they mean to you. Yay!

Event the 3rd: My one year anniversary living in Korea! I arrived exactly one year (+ a day) ago and the year went by incredibly quickly! Now I have less than 6 months left and I want to enjoy them to the very fullest! I can't wait for spring!

Here's to more fun, laughter, chocolate, sunshine, and spring flowers in the very near future!

Teaching English again + bear pyramid of love + keep your ear muffs on!

It's back to school time for me!

For two weeks I'm back at elementary school teaching English to cute little kids. Then two weeks of vacation. Followed by a brand new semester with shiny new faces and freshly sharpened pencils. 

As cute as the little munchkins are, teaching leaves less time and mental energy for other things, so I won't be able to post daily, boo!

But that's okay :-) And look! Who doesn't love a bear pyramid that celebrates Valentine's Day? The most luxurious department store in Daegu is now featuring this lovely display and I can't get enough of it. The bears also move and wave their arms (rather slowly) so it's super festive and fun.

In other news, it's super cold and I almost got swept away by the wind today. Most of the teachers are wearing their coats at school, eek! I really hope spring rolls around soon. I'm sure we're all ready for it!

Visual...ness

Agh, it's so sad to look at this blog and not see any pretty pictures!! Only a few days, just a few more days and there will be plenty of new photos to post, deep breaths :) It looks so bare and unadorned, poor thing.

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day full of love and colour and chocolates :) I went to Chuao Chocolatier, a classy little place with a European feel, offering both traditional treats and also some spicy and truly unique chocolates to mix things up a bit. Breaking the mold :) Their gelato also looked amaaazingly delicious and beautiful. And they offer hot and cold drinks so you can sit down and try your chocolates without any unnecessary delay :) I love that these tasty little treats are made locally using fresh, local ingredients.

Okay, enough about that. While I did not do any amorous cooking or reading (I'm assuming broccoli soup does not qualify as an overly romantic food), I did sneak in a viewing of Northanger Abbey, the newer 2007 version. It's only an hour and a half long so it's incredibly brisk and seems to run away with itself by the end, finishing and wrapping itself up with a bow before you've reached for your fourth sip of tea. Of course, I loved the look of the film - the sets, the costumes, the gothic touches...and especially Felicity Jones' costumes (stunning! wish I could wear something like that today). I also loved the performances, the acting was top notch and full of honest feeling as well as comic delights. Felicity Jones and Carey Mulligan (looove Carey) were especially terrific. It was also a fun surprise to see William Beck, who I last saw in the BBC TV series Robin Hood. JJ Feild as Henry Tilney was quite good too, though the film was so short I didn't get to see as much of him as I would have liked. That was the overall big problem, the film felt so rushed that no gradual character development had any chance of happening. I didn't mind the modern touches too much since they correspond so well with the book's inquiry into the nature of the gothic novel (and the pleasures it provides).

Oh dear, I feel like I'm rambling. To wrap it up, it was an enjoyable, very well-acted film but a bit too light and rushed. Jane Austen deserves more.

Cheerio!