Happy New Year!

Recapping January since we were so delayed about posting Osaka... there were just so many pictures!

Fruit loops in Korea?!

One of Nicole's student's
shoe.

We both went back to work just 2 days after returning from Japan. Thankfully it was only a 2-day work week. We were still exhausted. But the next week was just like normal & we were back into our work routine. Which we are getting extremely tired of... especially since we have opposite work schedules; (Nicole 9-6; John 2-9).

Found the best store with the worst
grammar: "is will spring come after go
winter?"

Does the shirt mean this is
what it means to be normal?
We think Korea is confused.

Birthday fun!

However, we did have a blast celebrating Nicole's birthday. A lot of us went out to our favorite restaurant, Traveler's, & after some dinner and a few drinks we went next door to the 노래방 (noraebang)!!! It was both of our first times at a noraebang so that is why Nicole decided to go there for her birthday. A noraebang is like a karaoke bar but instead, you get your own room & you only sing in front of the people you're with. It was so much fun! All kinds of songs were being sung. It's amazing the amount we sang in just an hour. Ever since then, Nicole has had only those songs stuck in her head from time to time. Thank you to everyone who made Nicole's 25th birthday celebration a blast!

John's Ultimate Birthday Dinner:
Hamburger steak topped with
bacon, caramelized onions,
tomatoes, & avocados.

Brownies always trump cake.

The day of Nicole's birthday, John was awesome & made what he calls "The Ultimate Birthday Dinner". It definitely was ultimate! We were both full after that meal but it didn't stop us from having birthday brownies from Costco! Also, thank you to Nicole's mom for the goodie box! Us & Nicole's students really enjoyed the mini Reese's cups & the Butterfingers. YUM!

Kids Park fun!

Half of Nicole's class enjoying this
awesome slide.

That same week, Nicole's school took a field trip to the 키즈 파크 (Kids Park). It was just a giant area filled with the blow-up slides & bounce houses. It was very entertaining to see the tiny students go down the giant slides.

Birthday parties are always a big deal at Nicole's school.

The workshop goers.

Evgeny Greshilov!

On the 18th, Nicole traveled to Seoul for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. One of the pole studios there was having a workshop with Evgeny Greshilov - World Pole Dance Champion. It was almost 2 hours long & he taught several strength moves & steps on how to progress the skill to eventually doing it as easily as he could. It was hard but a lot of fun. Nicole was actually the only person there who could understand him easily, due to everyone else being Korean & having minimal English language skills. The next day, Nicole was sore all over! John enjoyed making her laugh because it hurt her stomach just to let a little giggle out. Nicole had her payback just a few days later when John had an intense workout himself. We're strange; we know.

No, Korea, it's not.

One of Nicole's coworkers has two students
named John & Lewis. This just happened
to be the order his Korean co-teacher hung
their toothbrushes.

Bar in old downtown Daejeon.

We have finally had our first (and probably last) Weizenhaus night. We went with Nicole's coworkers & a few others. It was a great time but the restaurant was nothing too special. Nicole's coworkers have made a pact to hang out much more often in the next month because 6 (out of 8) of her coworkers will be replaced at the end of February! It will be sad to say goodbye to everyone but we're making the most of our time! Even if we do drive each other insane most of the time.

Shopping in Korea is always fun!

The reason for so many teachers leaving at the end of February is because the new school year starts March 3rd. Most teachers are hired at the beginning or very middle of the school year. And yes, the time between last day of school & first day of school is one weekend. So on February 28, Nicole's 11 students will be graduating from kindergarten! For the next month she will be preparing her students to sing/dance one or two songs & help them to write & memorize letters to friends, parents, & teachers. Ready for exhaustion overload!

But, back to January... Happy New Year! This year, January 31st marks the calendar for 설날 - Lunar New Year! Due to this major holiday, we are currently enjoying our much needed 4-day weekend! 2014 is year of the Wood Horse. Nicole found out that her kindergarten students were born in the year of the Golden Fire Pig (2007); the Golden Fire Pig is a very lucky sign & comes only once every 600 years! After some research, we discovered that many Chinese & Koreans married in 2006 & deliberately conceived to have a child born in 2007. This has piqued our interest. We also discovered that John was born in the year of the Fire Tiger & Nicole was born in the year of the Earth Dragon.

Anyways, Happy Lunar New Year!