HAPPY 2012!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone in South Korea and overseas. 

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidaze~

This Christmas I sent 19 holiday cards to 7 states and 4 countries. Woot woot! I definitely thought of more people that I could send cards to, but it took me AGES to write and decorate 19 cards. My goal was just to have them post-marked before Christmas Day.

I experienced my first White Christmas. Joanne, Lena, and I ate Xmas Eve dinner together at a vegetarian buffet called 왈츠 (Waltz). On Xmas Day, Lena & I took a bus up to 광주 (Gwangju) and spent the afternoon shopping. We ate dinner at my new favourite restaurant, First Nepal. They have the best Nepalese-Indian food. I've eaten there 3 weekends in a row!

화이트 크리스마스 (White Xmas)

Snowfall in 목포 (Mokpo)

Rose Street in 목포 (Mokpo)

크리스마스 (Christmas)

View from my street: My 아파트 (apartment) on the left

First Nepal: the Alu Gobi (cauliflower & potato curry) is really good!

Drinks at Bubble Bar

Lime Mojito & Sicilian Kiss

My computer was finally returned to me on the Monday after Xmas. It works well, and I haven't experienced any problems since I got it back.

Spent the week desk-warming. Even though all of the students were on Winter Break, the school still scheduled English class. I averaged ~3 students per day. I got a head-start on the mandatory In-Service Training for TaLK that requires us to watch a series of orientation videos on the Internet. They are sooooo boring.

I ate the best Korean meal on Friday. My Vice Principal treated ~10 of us to lunch at a restaurant in 영암 (Yeongam). We ate 장어 구이 (eel steak); it was soooo good! Hands down, the best food that I've had in Korea thus far.

장어구이 wrapped in 깻잎 (sesame leaf)

For dinner, Joo, Nari, and I ate at a chicken place that was almost as good as the eel restaurant. I don't know the exact names of what we ordered. Dessert was had at A Twosome Place, just across the street.

weird salad with corn flakes?!

 

Food stir fried together in the center of our table:
chicken, mushrooms, 떡볶이 (rice cake), 람연 (ramen), and plenty of sauce

with 치즈 (cheese) on top

Cookies n' Cream Latte at A Twosome Place

Blueberry Yogur Cheese Mouse

Traveled up to 서울 (Seoul) for NYE and met up with Joanne & Lena. Shopped around in 강남 (Gangnam) and 명동 (Myeongdong). I check out my first Forever 21, where the clothes are overpriced and the inventory is underrepresented. Nevertheless, I found a really nice jacket (on sale!) in a fine shade of eggplant. Lena & I ate dinner in 홍대 (Hongdae) at a Mexican (!!!) restaurant called Dos Tacos. We shared an order of Nachos Fiesta and a Chimichanga, which were not terrible considering we are in South Korea. The nachos I ate in Melbourne were way worse.

LUNCH: Margarita Pizza at Paris Baguette in 강남

Nachos Fiesta @ Dos Tacos in 홍대

My new jacket is so awesome. No seriously.

Chimichanga @ Dos Tacos in 홍대

That evening, we met up with a couple of my native Korean friends, who I originally met in Australia! One of them is completing a master's at Seoul National University. The other has one more semester at the University of Melbourne. I haven't seen either of them in over 2 years!

IH Reunions happen all over the world!   :)