The Operative Word Here Is... SHIT

1) The Kinderloca graduation
2) A "Shit" show... we discovered wigs and masks at the norae bong (karaoke)
3) Korean flag... (explanation at bottom)



What a week its been… where do i begin? One teacher finished his contract and left, one teacher got fired on Monday then unfired at the end of the week (how does this happen?), two other teachers, as well as the unfired schlep, got put on the shit list. Four of us are still well liked but I am absolutely terrified of being disliked because this shit list that i speak of is HELL. It's pretty easy to be disliked around here…. basically, all you have to do is stand up for your rights and complain… often. Once this happens, your doomed! Since your bound to a contract, they own you for that 12-13 month period and if your working at their school, they can do whatever they want to make it extremely unpleasant. So… your probably wondering why this shit list is so terrible… it hasn't even been a week and so far these three boys have to move out of their apartments (oh, did I mention that they only had a 24 hour notice to do it) into smaller apartments or with shitty roommates. Their classes were taken away, the ones with all their favorite students. Management neglects to invite them to any work dinners and… worst of all, they took away their health insurance (this is a sketchy issue that will surely blow up tomorrow when the labor board and lawyers are involved). It's so hectic right now around here…everyone is shuffling apartments, except the girls. The good/non complaining teachers are being rewarded with the nice apartments. I've already got a nice apartment all to myself so luckily I am just sitting back enjoying my Sunday. There is so much hostility on the 6th and 7th floor. Some of the guys are refusing to leave which has created issues for everyone (one person cant move unless another person moves). Some of us can't stand to even be associated with the hostility so we are all planning on going out for a LONG dinner. There is another new teacher coming tonight. Man, I feel so bad for him… coming into all of this at the worst time. Most of us will try hard to be positive and helpful cause the drama is going to scare the shit out of him. So, all in all… i've got my plan for the next 5 1/2 months… or 6 1/2 if I get put on this shit list. even though things are sometimes really unfair, I will just tough it out. I wont show any negative emotion at work, I will keep to myself, I will try really hard not to complain, I will do WHATEVER is asked of me, I will try not to jump on any bandwagons (the bandwagon is on it's way out the door anyway) and, most important, I will be the best darn teacher I can be. You heard me say it… now, let's see how these next 5 to 6 months play out.
Metaphorically speaking, this job is like prison… you have to be here so you might as well make the best of it. If you follow the rules and act right you might get rewarded, but if you complain and act like an asshole then you have to stay longer and you end up on the shit list with the big man.

Because I'm walking on eggshells everyday… lately, I feel like I'm loosing myself as a teacher. I shouldn't be worrying so much about all the business legalities, i should be worrying about my students. I am hoping that in a few weeks, all the bullshit will fade out and things will run a little smoother. The school year will end on Monday and March begins a new school year. I will have all new classes and a new schedule. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday i will work from 10 to 7:05 and on Tuesday and Thursday I will work from 10 to 4:10. My classes consist of Kindergarten (Jen, Jenny and new comers Jason and Bruce), an after school Kindergarten level class, an after school first grade level class and an after school 3rd/4th grade level class. I have no idea what books I'm teaching but I just gotta roll with the punches… I hope they tell me on Monday so I can plan for the first day- Wednesday (Tuesday is a national holiday: Independence Movement Day).

During the shit (you have noticed… "shit" really is the operative word for this week's blog, haha), it's nice to know I have excellent friends. On Friday, I hung out with my friend Skip. I know Skip from back home, we both worked at the same pool. He just moved to Gwangju this week. We had a great time chatting and drinking somik (soju and beer) in front of the 7-11… that may sound ghetto but it's Korean style to hang out in front of the 7-11 or the minimart and drink. Saturday was loads of fun! Thank god Molly called and woke me up because it was a beautiful, sunny, warm day and I was about to waste it all away in bed. I went to her dong (neighborhood) and we walked from there to downtown. We met some friends and enjoyed an early dinner at First Nepal (fantastic Indian food). After our tasty meal, we went to a norae bong and spent hours dancing, drinking and singing out hearts out… yet again!

Korea Facts/Randomness:

-Spring is approaching and it has definitely lightened my mood. It's been so nice.. I stopped using the heater. I even open my window during the day and let in the cool, fresh spring air. I am loving it… bring on the HEAT (I think I will regret saying that once July and August's weather come).
-March 1:Independence Movement Day in Korea-
March 1st is a day to celebrate Korean independence. It was this day in 1919 that several members of an underground movement read the Korean Declaration in Seoul. They were protesting the Japanese occupation. The basics of the day is that a group of Korean nationalists chose March 1, 1919 as the day that they would read the Declaration of Independence in public and really defy the Japanese. It did not mark the day that the Korean’s became independent, but it was a turning point. This particular event resulted in the Japanese taking actions against the movement. Thousands were said to have died and tens of thousands were arrested.Today, the Korean people remember this day by reading the declaration in a ceremony in Seoul.
-I plan to briefly discuss this day in class. I am curious to see what my students know and what they can teach me about this holiday. We will talk about the history and then discuss the significance of the Korean flag and what each color/symbol symbolizes.
-Maybe your curious… look at the picture above and read this information: South Korea's flag was adopted on January 25, 1950; the flag is called Taegukki (which means, "Great Extremes").The white in this philosophical flag represents peace and purity. Symbolically, the Yin-Yang symbol represents opposites; it is the belief that all things in the universe have two, opposite aspects that cannot exist without the other. The kwae trigrams are from the I Ching; the broken bars symbolize yin (dark and cold) and the unbroken bars symbolize yang (bright and hot). The four Kwae represent: heaven (three unbroken bars), the Earth (three broken bars), water (one unbroken line between two broken bars), and fire (one broken bar between two unbroken bars). The Kwai trigrams are placed in such a way that they balance one another, heaven is placed opposite Earth, and fire is placed opposite water.
-I finally got to see my new nephew, baby Liam. WOW, he is the most precious baby I have ever seen. I can't believe how much I love him and I haven't even met him in person!

Aunty Em, Aunty Em! :)

1) Thanks to Google images.. I found a beautiful picture of Cebu (read on to see why....)
2) Friday night farewell dinner




I am happy to report the wonderful news… I am an aunt! Baby boy Liam Stechel was born on February 17th at 2:30 in the afternoon. I can not wait to see him via Skype but until then I am enjoying his beautiful pictures. He is perfect! Congratulations Katey and Fabian… or should I say, mom and dad! I am really looking forward to August when I can meet him in person! If all goes well I should be home in exactly 6 months or less… lets hope!

Work was kinda hectic this week. We had our big 3 month tests on Thursday and Friday. Ahhh, poor kids. I hate tests… it stresses me out just watching them rush through these long, detailed tests (it might as well be the SAT). The majority of my students did really well which makes me very proud. I have lots of goodies for them Monday and Tuesday. Even though we have 8 more days of the school year, technically, since tests are done, so are we. This last week of school will consist of fun and review. For a lot of my older students, this will be the last time I am their teacher. Most of them will move up to the next level and begin the new school year which always starts in March. I am really looking forward to a fresh start. Next Friday is the Kindergarten graduation and we all have to attend. The kiddies have been practicing a variety of different songs to sing… "A Whole New World"- from Aladdin, "Lean on Me", etc… an array of music that says.. goodbye, we did it, hello new world! I look forward to hearing them Friday morning. If you're wondering why Kindergarten graduation is such a big deal at my school, it's because…. once you finish Kindergarten, you go on to be part of the after school program.

So…as for my little ones… I think I will throw them their own little graduation. After all, going from pre-K to Kindergarten is a big step (even if pre-K was only 2 months long). In the last week and a half, along with many other things, I have taught Jen and Jenny the days of the week and the months of the year. I was so impressed that they caught on so quickly… the months of the year are tough, a lot of those words are 3-syllables, some, 4-syllables. I've learned that singing is one of the best ways to teach ESL. It's a good thing the cameras in our room don't pick up sound. Man, they would die if they heard me everyday…. I sing my heart out and it doesn't always sound pretty. Although, I really enjoy singing this particular months of the year song… Jen and Jenny always request it. Maybe this is why they learned it so quickly.

On Friday, the management randomly decided they were going to rearrange the whole school. This was just so convenient in the middle of the day when we were administering our 3 month tests. Hmm… oh well! I guess they figure since schedules are about to change, we might as well change the rooms around?! Whatever…. what's new anyway, things are always changing. I am pretty much used to the constant change, I'm just really anxious to see what the school looks like when I go into work on Monday.

So, last week I was talking a lot of SMACK about the management… now, maybe they sensed my frustration because on Friday, they invited all the teachers on their annual vacation (damn, they always hit me with some sugar right at the point when I am about to scream). Ya know, maybe the discovered my blog… who knows- really, I've got nothing to hide but it's doubtful that they found it. Even if they did take the time out of their busy day to search for it on the internet, they would have to find someone to translate. Okay… back to this vacation… we were all invited to go to the Cebu, Philippines for our spring vacation (May 25th-31st). We will pay between $800-$900 for flights there and back, food the whole time, scuba diving certification, scuba the whole time and lodging.. WOW! Now, tell me that's not a great deal! I am most definitely going…they are booking our flights this week. I love that I don't have to plan anything.. I just get to go. It's like Hong Kong all over again. Kevin (our new teacher) and myself are the only teachers going.

I got the chance to hang out with Kevin a little bit this week. He is a really nice guy! He came into the job at a messy time.. 3 teachers are leaving, tests are being taken, the school year is almost over and the school is being rearranged- he certainly saw his fair share of drama this week. Come March, it will be smooth sailing… Ha, I say that now… just wait!

This weekend started a little early… I went downtown to QUIZ-Trivia on Thursday night with some co-workers. Luckily, my team is a bunch of smarties so, out of about 11 teams, we got 3rd (only 1 point behind 2nd place)… pretty damn good! Can you believe, I went downtown and enjoyed several glasses of water, not alcohol. Somehow, I didn't manage to make it home until 3 am… UGH. That made for an exhausting Friday. Later that evening I dragged myself out the door, on the subway, into a cab and to my friends' farewell dinner. We enjoyed a tasty meal, and many, many beers at Miller Time.

My girlfriends and I went to a few bars and sure enough, who did I run into… the big boss and my liaison. 4 am rolled around I caught a ride home with them. Now, remember… if your with your high roller boss… going home is not that easy. First, you've got to have a 2nd dinner at a nice restaurant… roasted chicken and salad. Then, you've got to take part in a late night Thai massage. This 5 am, 2 hour massage was not quite as lovely as the last one. I can't decide if it was because I was heading down the sober road or because Thai massages are just that much more intense. Either way, I tried my hardest to enjoy it but I left feeling like I had just gotten beaten up. Ohhh no, it didn't stop there. After we slept for an hour or two, we woke up and enjoyed an early breakfast (10 am is early when you don't go to bed until 7).

Friday night's massage … let me rephrase that, Saturday morning's massage definitely got the best of me… I could hardly drag myself out of my apartment. I stayed in Saturday night, watching movies and sketching. Luckily, I was feeling refreshed today (Sunday). I invited our new teacher Kevin to go with me to Yang Dong market (the biggest, fresh market in all of Gwangju). It was a fantastic day… sunny and high in the upper 60's. A nice day for some outdoor shopping! I made a delicious stir fry with all my fresh,crisp vegetables- a lovely way to end the weekend!

Korean Facts/ Randomness:

-I had parent teacher conferences this week…. ya know, I really enjoy parent teacher conferences but not so much when I can't exactly speak to the parents one on one. We had to have a translator there so what would have normally taken 20 minutes, took 40.. haha! Oh well! The parents seemed really nice and all I could do was look pretty and smile. Hopefully, everything I said was translated correctly.
-Korea has the most abortions of any OCED (interesting for such a conservative country)
-Korea has the lowest birth rate because of the terrible rights for women in the workplace and because it's so expensive to raise a child here.
-sock/underwear hangers (from the picture above)… your lucky I took all my panties off- I thought I'd spare myself the humiliation! Since we don't have dryers here, this is a great way to hang up all your delicates. My go-green sister loved this so much, I sent home a few. They are great, cheap and easy!
-It's very odd.... since I have been here, I have started to really like certain things... things I never thought I would like so much. Such things are: milk, black coffee, unsweetened tea, bananas..hmm...

"Balentine's Day"... I realize "B" and "V" are right next to each other... (not a mistake)

Top Left: pot luck dinner goodies
Top Right: time out chair... or, what Molly would say is, "this is where the child molester sits!"
Middle: Pre-K class Valentines
Bottom: ... just read the end of the blog!




Ahhh… another wasted Sunday. It's quite sluggish and maybe even a little pathetic but I really do love doing absolutely nothing, all by myself, one day every few weeks. I mean hey, I would be at the gym but it's not my fault that they are closed on Sunday… haha (easier said than done). I had the typical Saturday night… hence the reason why my Sunday was so unavailing. Molly and Fliss had a last minute pot luck dinner. Once again, I made my famous pasta salad and it was well liked by most. Everyone that came brought so many delicious goodies… a random assortment: deviled eggs, spicy Korean bulgogi (a flat meat dish), sushi, potato salad, fruit, chips and salsa, chicken salad and the macaroni salad. Before heading downtown we stopped at a norae bong (karaoke room). Wow, I can not even remember the last time I sang karaoke. It used to be weekly event but that kind of faded out. It was much needed… after an hour of singing our hearts out, we were shinae (downtown) bound. I'll spare you the embarrassing, drunken details. Over all, it was good fun with good people, like always.

Ehhh work, it's always so wishy washy. I hate it and I love it all at the same time. Of course you know why I love it so much… my kiddies (not just the pre- K class but the older students as well). We are already halfway through this month and my pre-K babies will start Kindergarten in March.. AHH! They are becoming more independent. In fact.. I'm having to wipe their tushies less and less each week. As you can see, we made Valentine's… for 3 years old, they are so good at eye-hand coordination- it's impressive. There are a lot of 5 year olds that really struggle holding a pencil. Some go through a good portion of the school year (Kindergarten) still not knowing how to write their name correctly. Jen and Jenny perfected their name's in 2 classes. Next week my older classes have their big 3 month tests. I'm nervous and very anxious so I can't imagine how they feel. I'm going to review all of next week before Friday's test. I promised all my classes a pizza party (on me) if, as a whole, they make decent grades on this test. We shall see and I will let you know if my teaching payed off this last 3 months.

The bullshit side of work… hogwans (private academies) are notorious for being a little sketchy. I really want to trust my Korean managers but it just seems as though they are always trying to pull the wool over our eyes. For example: three of my co-workers are leaving this month because their contract is up. They called the pension board to set up a time in which they could meet and collect their pension. The pension board told the boys that our management called many, many months ago and reported that they had quit. Why would they do this?…. because, if they quit (which they didn't), then management does not have to pay pension. Now… tell me that's not sketchy.

Our managers go out of their way to make things inconvenient and difficult for you if they don't like you for whatever reason. For now, they like me… I want this to continue so I am just going to suck it up, do my work and hopefully they will make things simple for me when it's my turn to go home. The longer I've been here, the more little things I notice. Like, why does the Korean staff get a big bonus on holidays but we, the teachers, don't? We are bound to our contracts for 1 full year, the Koreans aren't. God forbid we hate it and want to leave… they would make life hell for us. And why does the Korean staff get treated to a big, paid vacation but we don't? It's all a bit unsettling… I know my future career as a teacher will not always feel this disconcerting. Do you remember that big art curriculum I was working on a few months ago for the Kindergarten program? Well, my managers were pushing me to finish it (I don't know why… they didn't need it until March). Anyway, I did an excellent job… I must say, I was very proud of my work. So, March is coming up and of course, they are not going to use it. They waste so much time around here. I worked on that thing for weeks and they aren't doing a thing with it. I was really looking forward to implementing it in my classroom (oh well, their loss).

We've got 3 teachers leaving this month (the worthless schlep is one of them…it's about time). Just today we had a new teacher arrive. It's another boy… I miss working with ladies but I guess he will do. He was supposed to get here on Friday but he missed his flight. The poor boy is already off to a lousy start and I've got a bad feeling about this (ohhh lord, not another negligent asshole). No, no… I've got to stay positive, I'm sure he's very nice and probably an excellent teacher. I can't imagine what people said about me when I first got here. I just need to put myself in his shoes and be kind.

Korean Facts/Randomess:

-Woops… the jokes on me: I accidentally bought the scented toilet paper this week. In Korea, they/I use toilet paper for everything (paper towel, napkin, tissue… you name it). I've been smelling flowers quite often. For some reason you can only buy toilet paper in a giant pack. The first toilet paper I bought lasted me over 5 months so, with only 6 months left… it looks like I better get used to the flowery stuff. Hey, it is soft… I'll give it that! haha!
-Speaking of smell-good toilet paper… since they use it as their napkin, I think it's kind of gross to have a roll of flower smelling toilet paper sitting on the tables while you eat. I mean, shit… you might as well spray perfume into your kimchee. Hmmm….tasty
-So, Valentine's Day, or should I said… Balentine's Day (that's what the Koreans call it) is right around the corner. It is in fact a holiday celebrated around here but it's done a little bit differently. This day is devoted to boys. It is the girls job to ask the boys out and also her job to shower him with gifts (candy…. preferably Ferrero Rocher- the Italian, chocolatey ball of goodness). Ohhhhh boys, you wait… I know you were getting excited. There is another holiday here, very similar to "Balentine's Day", called White Day. This day is on March 14th and it's the day when men shower their ladies with gifts and love. I'm still not done with the "LOVE" holidays… on April 14th they celebrate a day called, Black Day. This kind of cracks me up… this day is for all the single people. The idea is that those who did not give or receive gifts on Valentine's Day or White Day can get together and eat jajangmyeon, white Korean noodles with black bean sauce, to celebrate their singledom.
-I thought this was a joke when I first heard of it but then I asked some of my students and felt bad for ragging on it when they confirmed what I heard… baby wigs! No joke… Korean's often buy their little girls/babies hats with hair connected. It's beyond me why this is done but for the Koreans it's just part of their culture. Babies are new … they aren't supposed to have a lot of hair. My 9 year old female students were so confused at why I thought this was silly. They all wore them when they were little, especially when taking baby photos. The picture above illustrates the baby hats/wigs perfectly (I didn't take this picture, I found it on google).
-Korea has the highest stomach cancer rates in the world because of the kimchee (made with chili and salt)- that'll do it! Good thing I'm only here for a year because I love the stuff.

Fantastically Wonderful Hong Kong!

1) The Buddha at Lantau island
2) Curious about Asian plane food... haha, here ya go!
3) The parade at Lantau island
4) Skyline of HK... from the Avenue of Stars
5) Heading over the beautiful water in our cable car at Lantau island
6) Our cute little hostel.. and Felicity
7) Molly, Felicity and I in our cable car at Lantau island







It was one hell of a week… sorry for the tardiness of my blog. I hope my compelling Asian escapades make up for the wait. Let me go way back to the very beginning of of my vacation, Tuesday night… I left my apartment only to find that Gwangju was a ghost town. Was it because of the late hour that I was leaving or because of the holiday?… I'm guessing it was a little of both. I walked a mile on the dreadfully slick, black ice with my luggage at hand until I finally spotted a cab. When I got to the bus station, the few people I saw coming in and out at that late hour, were all carrying the same gift bags…. industrial sized bags of spam- wow, what a lovely and thoughtful new year gift… please ignore my sarcasm if you're a lover of this tasty canned meat. Anyway, once my friends arrived, we bought bus tickets to Seoul and we were on our merry way. We arrived in Seoul around 4 am…. I tried to get a little shut eye but I was way to excited and full of caffeine. Once we got to Seoul we had to take a pricey cab to Incheon where the airport is located. 5 am…. exchange our wons to Hong Kong dollars…6 am…. a little Subway (sandwiches that is)… YUM… 7am… no sleep… 8am… finally we board and we are in the air by 9. After landing in China 2 hours later, we enjoyed the Shanghai airport for 6 long hours. A good 2 hours of that time were spent being quarantined by the Chinese officials. Right after we got off the place, we were escorted down an enclosed group of hallways and into several different rooms where they checked our passports, searched us, etc. Is this typical… I felt like a slave. I don't know what the big deal was, we were only in Shanghai (China) for a few hours… we weren't even leaving the airport. There were signs everywhere that read: "NO TALKING, NO PICTURES, NO CELLPHONES", hmmm, oh well. Our schedule was so off that day, we were going off no sleep and I think we ended up having 5 or 6 meals. 2 of those meals were on the airplane… maybe it's an Asian thing but I've never been on a 2 hour flight that serves a full meal, beverage (free alcohol), snack, and ice-cream.

Finally, we landed in Hong Kong…ahhhh, yes… instant gratification! I could finally shed the layers of clothing and relax. Right off the bat, I was noticing all the differences in the Chinese culture compared to the Korean culture. This might just be me but I think that, as far as physical appearances go… the Chinese are a lot taller than most Koreans. Their eyes are more open rather than squinted. Koreans always comment on how my… white people's noses are raised from their faces. Well, I noticed that most Chinese have noses like mine. Not to discriminate but before I moved here I wouldn't ever have been able to tell the difference between a Korean and a Chinese person. Now, it's incredibly obvious. Smoking…. it's not allowed everywhere you go like it is in Korea. If you see a woman smoking on the street in Korea… assume she is a prostitute but, not in Hong Kong. Finally… there is trash cans everywhere. People aren't just throwing there trash/ hocking loogies all over town. There was actually signs posted everywhere: "$5,000 fine for littering or spitting" (that's HK dollars not US dollars- $100 HK is about equal to $13 US). It was nice to see a clean city! Before we ventured out to find our hostel in the middle of Hong Kong, we bumped into some friends from Cheongju… how coincidental! These were some guys I met at the Dejeon Rock Festival who are from Raleigh as well. We tried to make plans to meet up with them the next day but it fell through… the trouble of not have a working cell phone in a foreign country will really get to ya. For this entire vacation… let me just say, THANK GOD FOR FELICITY (FLISS)! This was her 4th time coming to HK and she knew her way all over this hectic town, she's not illiterate when it comes to reading a map… I on the other hand, am! We got bus tickets and headed through the city on the top of a double decker bus. At this point, having no sleep didn't even phase me. The city was incredible… so many people… so much much diversity, tall beautifully structured buildings/architecture, tropical flowers and trees placed randomly throughout the city- WOW! Fliss led the way from the bus to the hostel that was perfectly placed in the middle of this gorgeous city. Our hostel was located on Fashion Street right near the harbor. From our window, you could see the water.. it was beautiful! Being that it was the Chinese new year, everything, unless booked ahead of time, was extremely expensive. My trusty friends booked our hostel weeks in advance so we stayed 4 nights at a very reasonable cost. I have never stayed in a hostel before and this experience was nothing like I had expected. I assumed we would be bunking with a bunch of random people, sharing bathrooms and roughing it all the way… fine by me. I was happily surprised to see that the three of us had our own room with our own beds and our own bathroom. It was a rather tiny room and the hot water didn't last more than 4 minutes but it didn't matter, we were in Hong Kong. The lobby of the hostel had a common room with Wifi, computers, a kitchen and a million different guide books and maps. Everywhere we went, people were speaking English… it was amazing. I felt like I was home again… I forgot how nice it is to walk up to someone, anyone, and ask something in English and have them understand and answer you! That first night we went to this ridiculously insane street fair/flower market. I have never seen so many people in my life. We walked through this squished market admiring the beautiful fresh flowers and trying our best not to loose each other. Sleep deprivation was finally setting in by 11 pm and we needed to hit the hay so we could venture out and begin our first full day.

We slept in a little bit and were out of the room by 10ish and on our way to see the city. We bought subway passes that were very inexpensive and they lasted the entire visit. Once again, these maps give me anxiety so lucky for me I had the lovely Molly and Felicity who were like my tour guides. We attempted to see some famous temples but the lines were so horrendous that we decided we'd rather do other things than stand in line for hours upon hours. Taking in the warm sun and the cool spring like air, we strolled through town in complete awe. We stumbled upon the Ladies Market… this is a famous market with thousands of vendors selling everything from fake designer bags to men's thongs (hahaha… I took a picture of these, so hilarious). I finally found the bag I've been looking for… A little Chinese woman took me up to a room and into a closet where she had tons of fake bags hidden away. I picked out a beautiful Mulberry (Brittish brand for those of you who are not aware… I wasn't, I just liked the bag haha. Fliss knows her bags and she pointed me in the right direction). I haggled with the lady for a couple $100 and finally got a decent price. This whole experience reminded me of China Town in NYC… HAAA… NYC doesn't even compare to this place). After shopping for a few hours we went and had a very bizarre lunch experience. At this place you order, wait in line for your meal and then hoover over people to get a table. You get lucky if you even get to sit with your friends. After 20 minutes of trying to find a seat in this insanely busy cafeteria, we questioned whether or not we wanted to take our food outside and sit on the ground. Finally, 3 people got up and we rushed to the table and had lunch with a random women who never moved from her seat. We en hailed our food and got out as quickly as possible…. that's the last cheap meal we have in HK. After wondering around the city some more we found a really neat mall right on the harbor (Ocean City Mall). We diddled around a bit and finally thought we should sit down for a snack and a quick rest. We found an incredible restaurant/bar that looked over the harbor. It had outdoor seating, a superb view of the skyline and a very classy, warm atmosphere. We ordered a glass of wine and cheered to the new year and the wonderful HK vacation. We had every intention of just sitting for a bit, going home later and getting dolled up for a real night out on the town. 1 glass of wine turned into 4 bottles of wine between the 3 of us…. we ate the traditional dim sum dumpling dish and had endless laughs. What a night…. oh my god is just about all I can say. We stumbled out of the bar with purple lips and headed for the city. We met a ton of different people… some gorgeous Israeli men, numerous Brits and even a few Americans (it's funny, all the Americans we met were coming from Korea like us- teachers). That night ended roughly the next day began with a hang over.

Since we wasted half our day in bed, feeling like shit… we opt to NOT drink anymore for the rest of the trip. Pretty much all we did that next day was, eat an incredible lunch (Thai/Malaysian food) and rest. I attempted to shop by myself but I didn't get too far… god forbid I get lost in this city and I can't even call my friends. Feeling a little better, we went out later that night saw a fire work show in honor of the new year. I just love fire works… I always feel like a little kid again, they are just so magical- I'll never get over that! After the impressive fire work show, we went into a really neat part of Kowloon and had yet another fantastic meal. See, I told you we wouldn't be eating cheap meals again. Instead, we enjoyed some authentic Mexican… I love a good enchilada covered with fresh guacamole and pepper jack cheese. Our plan that night was so go to bed early, wake up early and see all the sights. We were going to make up for our lost hungover time.

Up at 7:30… and a couple cold showers later and we were out the door by 9. We took the subway up to a pretty little area and had a nice breakfast outside. We got lucky… this was our last day and it was the warmest, sunniest day yet. After breakfast we took the subway to a ferry that took us to Lantau island… the location of one of the world's biggest Buddhas. This island was so hilly and tropical. A bus took us up to the area where the Buddha was. We hiked up a huge flight of stairs to finally reach Buddha… all around us were Buddhists praying and bowing to their god, it was quite enthralling actually! The view from the top of the mountain where Buddha sits was just gorgeous. I can't think of any part of this trip that wasn't spectacular or beautiful. We spent the first half of the day wandering around Lantau Island, seeing some of the old Asian temples and taking endless pictures of the town's beauty. We walked through a little village along the island and witnessed a neat parade celebrating the new year. We heard drums and signing and saw people dancing under a giant dragons… it was quite a show. To end our day in Lantau we took the cable cars across the island and into the city. This was by far the best view of the entire island. We rode over the green mountains and right above the beautiful turquoise, almost transparent water. I felt like Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when he rides through town in at the great glass elevator… it was my first cable car adventure, can ya tell!? After Lantau we took the subway and then a bus up to the Peak where we saw another beautiful view.. this one was the harbor skyline at sunset. Riding up the mountain to the Peak took a good 40 minutes but the ride was relaxing and beautiful. Some of the world's most expensive real-estate in on the Peak. After seeing the Peak's view, we went back down the mountain and took yet another bus to see the Avenue of Stars. Not only do you get a view of the harbor's fantastic skyline (at night) but you get to see the variety of stars… hand prints on stars.. Asian stars that is… most of which I am not familiar with. Well, there is Jackie Chan, everyone knows him! We ended our evening with a little shopping and an unforgettable, authentic Chinese meal. We started off with some hot, lavender, green tea and began with a variety of pork spiced dim sum dumplings. After our dim sum appetizer we enjoyed some crispy chili/pork sautéed beans (they don't have green beans in Korea so I was throughly enjoying these crunchy greens). We also munched down on some beef and veggie lettuce wraps but, the best part of the meal was the pecking duck… WOW… it was sliced thin and had the most flavorful, crispy skin… it just melted in your mouth. We washed it all down with a couple Chinese beers called Tsingtao. This meal was the cherry on top of a perfect day. We went to bed somewhat early… it wasn't hard because our busy exhausted us.

The last and final day of our Lunar new year vacation is hardly worth talking about… it was spent traveling. We left the hostel around 9 and traveled ALL day… bus here, subway there, plane… train… car/taxi… wow! I didn't make home until 4 am.. hence the reason I didn't write Sunday night. I've been exhausted; these 55 plus hour work weeks are killing me. Somehow, I'm still making it to the gym everyday after work and luckily… I still adore the kiddies. I can't wait to tell you about Jen and Jenny, I'll save it for this Sunday's blog.



Chinese/Hong Kong Facts/Randomness:

-The variety of people everywhere amazed me… all shapes, sizes, colors. Any type of attire was appropriate… this would be far was accepting in Korea.
-Cleavage was not looked down on (it is a big NO NO in Korea)… although, shorts like panties in Korea are totally alright/normal. I'll never understand this.
-Hong Kong drives on the other side of the road as well as the other side of the car.
-Driving is normal… unlike in Korea where you are constantly hearing horns and wondering when your going to die (that's a bit dramatic but you get the point).
-The eating etiquette is quite interesting… it's rude to finish your entire meal. At a restaurant or at someone's home, always leave food on your plate, this shows the waiter or the hostess that what you had was plenty. If you finish everything it means you are not necessarily full and the meal was not good enough for you. It also shows the person paying for the meal that he can afford to feed his family/friends.
-It was nice to finally see a germ concerned country other than my own. Koreans are constantly sneezing and coughing without ever covering their mouth or washing their hands (heck, half the time my school doesn't have soap). In HK, there were signs all over the subway telling people to cover their mouths, protect against germs, and wash hands.