Korean kids are cute when they want to be..

Last friday I took several of my classes to the park because it was the last day of our term. Sone of these kids I have really grown to love and realizing that I won't be their teacher next term is a little sad...especially because they're so cute.

This is Dan. he loves his baseball. He used to have straight hair, then he got a perm. i think he's a really cute kid. Really distracted, but cute.

Here's John and Dan, typical daily pose (Dan hiding and John smiling).

Here's Sean with his favorite toy, his cell phone.

Here's my boys making a "kim chi dinner" out of rocks and garbage at the playground.

Namsan Tower

Last weekend, Andrea, Rob, Matt, Jamie and I decided to do Namsan Tower. It was A and R's last free weekend and we wanted to make the most of it. First we started off with Western Brunch at our favorite Canadian Bar, Rocky Mountain Tavern.



Rob and Jamie took pictures of us below while they were at the top of the tower. can you see my cigar and some other "kind" gestures?




Here's a picture of the 4 of us jamming to the beat of korean techno music (which Andrea and Matt bought in Itaewan).


Can you believe this? Even the toilet has a view of the city.


Then we went to Krispy Kreme Donoghts in Myeung-dong (no photo, sorry). it was fun and a very busy to hang out.

A birthday to remember

This February 12th, thanks to my wife's phenomenal planning and thoughtfulness, I enjoyed the best planned and attended birthday in years.


Bowling alleys are rare in this city, and Jennica did a fantastic job of calling random phone numbers until she got a lead on this one, only a few subway stops away from our home. However, there was, as usual, much confusion involved in trying to work out a normally simple task.

Me: We want three lanes.
Korean woman behind counter: blah blah blah Ginger blah blah blah blah blah pabo blah blah blah...
Me: Three (pointing at lanes with one hand and holding up three fingers on the other) LANES please
Korean woman: BLAH blah blah PABO PABO PABO...

Don't worry, it worked out. And since we had 18 people spread over three lanes, we just had a good time throwing balls and not worrying about the score. Note the innovative techniques employed by my expert bowling friends.



Our good friends Hilary and Adrian who are the newbies here in Seoul.

Such close friends we have....


Nice strike birthday boy!


On the way to the restaurant we created a stir by filling a subway car with loud English talking.



Then we moved on to eating. The restaurant is called Sweet Tree. Can you see all 21 of us? In a nice restaurant like this the average entree is about $10-$12, a bit cheaper than back home.




Sunny's daughtor Youkno, isn't she the cutest?



For the after party we had Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. We also cracked open some of the beer Rob brought, but only got through 2 of the 6 liters.



The crew here is so fantastic, it's always a good time just being with them, shooting the breeze and watching funny internet videos.

Blog tag

4 jobs I have held (in no particulary order)

1. ESL teacher in Seoul (really I get payed to make Korean kids chuckle)
2. Petro Canada gas jockey
3. Second Cup Barista girl
4. Special needs leader

4 movies I can watch over and over
1. Love Actually
2. Best in Show
3. Legally Blonde
4. Memoires of a geisha

4 places I have lived
1. Thetis island
2. Saskachewan
3. Victoria
4. Sanggye-dong, Seoul

4 tv shows I love to watch
1. Prison Break
2. House
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Gilmore Girls

4 places I've been on vacation
1. Lake Wenachee
2. Oceanside, Oregon
3. Koh Chang island, Thailand
4. Victoria

4 favorite dishes
1. ribs
2. mexican lasaungna
3. bulgolgi-top-bop
4. don-ka-sa kimbop


4 websites I visit daily
1. google
2. blogspot
3. xanga
4. gmail

4 places I would rather be right now
1. Sitting at my parents old place in Oliver (by the fireplace)
2. Thailand
3. Kyoto, Japan with all the geishas
4.Vancouver--Kits Beach

4 people I'm tagging
1. Andrea
2. Ashley
3. My dog
4. you

A picture is worth a thousand words

We went to Costco on Sunday and came home with a new keyboard for Jamie!


Ice cream on a cold day in Seoul

A human chess game


Seoul Forest

We were really lost at this point....but we found our way eventually.

Nathan Skulstads Colon

EXCLUSIVE! Below is actual footage obtained from secretly sending a remote control camera (designed by me, James) into Nathan's Colon (which in layman's terms is known as the lower intestine). Nathan had been suffering from indegestion earlier, so I resolved to root out the problem and bring healing to his already sickness ravaged body.

Unfortunately, the footage below is all I got. Shortly after I spotted the problem, this little guy ate the camera. It's no big deal, I'll get it back in a day or so. Enjoy!

The bearded pictures....

About 2 weeks ago, Jamie decided to shave off his beard. We decided to make an evening of fun out of this event.



Jamie, before.



Jamie after

I would like to put it on the record that Rob Tegellberg is one of the best things to happen to planet earth since the invention of democracy.

Rob didn't hesitate to accept my invitation to get up early on his day off and go to Yongsan electronics market. Furthermore, even though he woke up that morning with serious ailments in his digestive system from eating too many oranges, he still trooped on down to the subway. And, because he is not just a good guy but a great guy, he stopped at Dunkin donuts to get a breakfast treat for us, even remembering that I like my coffee black.

Rob, you're a fantastically thoughtful, generous, accepting, and friendly person, and I think you bring a lot of Jesus into the world.

Therefore, a toast (of his favorite drink, malibu and coke) to Rob! Here here!

4 weeks to go...............

My sister-in-law, Sarah and her husband John. They're having a baby in 4 weeks, so exicding for the Graham family. It will be the first grandchild. 'm already thinking of ways we can spoil the little gafer.......

A taste of the arts.....

Friday night Jamie, Hils, Adrian and i hot up a no-wee-bong (singing room). Unfortunately we didn't get many pictures, mostly videos (we'll try to host them sometime....maybe)

The place was called Princess Nooweebong and here are our friends in the waiting area (which looked like a dining room with chandelers)







This past saturday Jamie and I had a full day in Itaewan (downtown Seoul). The first thing we did was head to the Rocky Mountain Tavern (the Canadian bar) for Western-style brunch. They call it the "Big trucker breakfast". You may think that eating in a bar on a Sturday morning sounds sketchy, but the food is REALLY really good. We met up with our friends Rob and Sarah-Jane and Reuben. From there we went to the War Memorial park and played with the planes and guns.



From there Jamie and I met up with some more friends and headed to an Art Gallary sponsored by Samseung. Each of us got our very own PDA for translation and narration purposes. As much as I loved the art pieces in the gallary, my favorite part of the show was the immaculate, spiral staircase.



Our infamous married friends Hilary and Adrian (new teachers from Canada). I've known Hils since kindergarten and she was my bridesmaid in May.


Here's Nathan and Lydia (aka: the "Skulls") having a moment.

Thank you Kim---Sank-you Kim

Recently Jamie and I were invited over for lunch at our apartment security gaurd's home. His wife and and the grandmother cooked an amazing meal of bulgolgi, rice, kim bop, soup, salad and and traditional tea. By the way, our security gaurd's name is Sank-you Kim and he has a wife, a daughtor and a son. They also live with their grandmother.





We also learned a lot about Sank-you Kim during our time together. He used to be a banker and their 7-year old house was built and funded by their family. It's a beautiful 4 story brick building. Jeun, Sank-you Kim's son is Jamie's age (23) and he was such a neat guy. He's studying electrical engineering at college right now (smart too).

In other news, Hilary and Adrian are here!!!! I have known Hilary since kindergarten and my twin sister and I have shared in her friendship since that first day of kindergarten. She was also a bridesmaide at my wedding. Adrian came into the picture later and I met him after they started dating. Anyways, they get along great with all our friends. I can't believe I don't have any pictures of them yet. It is truly a blessing having them here. I don't think we'll ever have this oppurtunity to be living so close to one another--this is once in a life time!!!

Speaking of once in a lifetime, i truly appreciate all of the friends I have here in Seoul. It's really sad that a handful of them will be leaving us in Febuary, but the good news is, everyone I know so far is from the Lower Mainland, so we'll all reunite in Canada!! I love the fact that as foreigners, when we're together, no one gets excluded and their are not cliques like there are at home. Everyone is accepting because we have a major commonality-we're westerners living in a foregn country.

In other news, I GOT ACCEPTED TO THE TWU PDP PROGRAM!!!!!! In laymens terms (I'm goingto be a teacher). Still waiting to hear from SFU and trying to keep on top of all the details online, but there's only so much you can do in a foreign country.