Monthly Photo Recap: May 2014, aka Emma's Visit

SO LATE with this recap. However, I was computerless for a couple weeks, so that seriously bungled my blogging aspirations. Also I'm lazy.

But! My computer is back and good as new, so it's time to play catch up.

May was a fun month, largely because Emma was visiting for two weeks of it. Having a visitor is always a nice distraction from everything else. And while it was bittersweet (because saying goodbye was basically a knife to the heart), it was really, really awesome to get to show her Korea and have some busy weekends of running around and sightseeing.

So, without apology, here's photos from May that are absolutely 90% related to Emma's visit.

Beginning with a picture of the cat! Not Emma.

We took an airport arrival picture, but we both look rough -- her because she'd just stepped off a plane and me because I was an emotional wreck that had been crying in anticipation of her arrival. So here was our first good seester picture of her trip. 

Rainy day on Wolmido, with cool clouds.

Lotteria, kind of like Korea's McDonald's, even tried to copy McD's little characters by making these creepy-ass ones. Emma wasn't into it.  

Exploring Bukchon Hanok Village! 

I just love Bukchon so much. 

We were getting pretty loopy by the end of the night, wandering around Insadong buying as many ice creams as we wanted. 

The beginning of lots and lots of purikura pictures. I could do an entire recap just of these pictures. 

This is known as our Disney Channel Original Movie movie poster. 

Nami Island! We had a good time wandering around.

It was a particularly beautiful day on Nami, too. 

While in the area of Nami, we also stopped by Petite France, unable to resist since Emma had just completed her teaching contract in France. It was... weird. And underwhelming. And full of truly terrifying statues and marionette dolls. Full blog coming soon. 

Teacher's Day passed sometime in the middle of the month, and some really sweet notes and presents were passed my way from some very thoughtful students. 

Sister funday! Playing in a mirror art installation in a subway station. 

Aaaaand more purikura. Can't stop, won't stop.

Emma in Hongdae, looking ~so cool~ in front of this mural. She a day or so after this was taken, which was a tearful goodbye at the airport. I wish she could've stayed longer, and I wish I'd had more time off to explore Korea with her. 

Another cat picture, for good measure.

The month ended with the end of a term at work, which meant saying goodbye to a couple coworkers that have meant so much to me during my entire time in Korea. It isn't the same without them, though I know they're having a wonderful time back home. We took this staff picture to commemorate the momentous farewell. 

Monthly Photo Recap: April 2014

I know I seem to say this every month, but how is April already over?! The past few weeks have just flown by, which may partially be due to my excitement over my sister's visit. (She's here now!)

I've finally got an evening of downtime tonight since it's rainy outside, but we're going to watch a movie and bake banana bread tonight to gear up for the next two days of being busy. (Back-to-back holidays over here in Korea = four day weekend!) Here we go:

This cat is just so photogenic.

My selfie game is strong. (Mostly because I just centered this shot really well.) I'm pretty proud of this one -- all the lines and layers of reflections are just cool. 

I took an outrageous amount of photos of cherry blossoms this year. I might throw them all into a photo blog entry because why not.

Finally got to explore the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, which is pretty cool both from the outside and on the inside. I definitely see myself going back and probably spending a lot of money on all the cool things in the shops. Blog entry all about it is scheduled for this week. :)

The Dongdaemun Design Plaza is also full of great photo spots, such as these cubby holes that were definitely full of children. We did not even hesitate to climb in ourselves, obviously.

Hit up Gwangjang Market for dinner after the day in Dongdaemun, and I finally tried to "drug gimbap" -- blog entry coming later this week! 

More cherry blossoms. Can't stop, won't stop.

So we have a seriously legit Mexican restaurant in Songdo and it's already become a staple of my diet/life/existence. Living without Mexican food has been hard, y'all. 

Lanterns for Buddha's Birthday at Jogyesa! Waaaay more photos will be uploaded later this week once I sort through and edit them. It's my absolute favorite festival and I went nuts with taking pictures this year. 

More lanterns, being gorgeous.

Pre-lantern parade, which will also be covered in the future blog entry.

And last but not least, my Chungdahm branch is finally making the switch to the new "smart" curriculum. Should be interesting -- it's all tablets and smart TVs and stuff, which I think will actually be pretty cool. (Provided we don't have crazy technical issues, of course. Knock on wood...) Definitely curious to see how this'll go over with the kids as well as how I actually feel about it once we implement it in the classroom. 

Monthly Photo Recap: March 2014

This month was surprisingly light on photo-taking. I can't think of a particular reason, though I suppose it was just a fairly boring month. And yet, it's flown by -- I can't believe it's already April! March saw the end of the wintery temperatures, which kept me inside most weekends. (I'm definitely happy that I've now seen the end of my last winter in Korea.) And now, with April comes the start of the fun festivals and events that make me loooove spring in Korea. The next couple months of photo recaps will definitely be much, much more exciting.

Now that my school is in Songdo, I've been taking a bus to work. Here's my ghost-like reflection in the sides of the phone booths right next to my bus stop. (Waiting for the bus gets boring.)

My littlest students are fascinated by the strange floor windows in the classrooms in the new building. I have to constantly tell them to get away from the windows at break time because they like to do this. Sigh.

This one was chasing me around with his sticky blue goop during break the other day. He's a sassy kid and while a super lazy student, is quite smart and funny if you talk about things he's interested in. 

"Let's have sandwich night," they said. "It'll be fun," they said. No one warned me about the food coma that would immediately follow sandwich night. So. Much. Food.

Possibly the most exciting moment of my month: EMMA IS COMING TO KOREA! She's taking the (very) long way home from her teaching job in France, stopping through Korea for a little over two weeks before returning to the States. I can't wait!!! May 1st!!!!!

Bringing back the 90s, one skirt at a time.

I've recently decided that while I like dogs better, I think I would prefer to be a cat because they sleep the majority of the time and that is relevant to my interests. 

Sunday morning, heading into Seoul, having difficulties. Being awake is just hard sometimes, especially when you can't get your sunglasses out of your hair. 

After attempting (and failing) to spy on the filming of "The Avengers 2," we settled instead for sunbathing by the Han River for a bit, enjoying the warmth and blue skies. 

And! The cherry blossoms are out! I can't wait to go back and see the full display of blossoms tomorrow. They're just so goddamn beautiful. 

Finally visited Seodaemun Prison and learned quite a bit more about Korea's history during the time of Japanese occupation in the first half of the 20th century. While depressing, I really like the museum they've created in the old prison and highly recommend it. Blog entry coming soon! 

Rounded out the month with a trip to Burger B in Hongdae because it's just so damn good. That milkshake was peanut butter and basically tasted like heaven. 

The walls of the subway stations around Korea are so photogenic -- and perfect backdrops for a photo! Corey took this one for me and I really, really like it. The random tile pattern is just awesome. 

Photo Blog: Time Warp at the Seoul Folk Flea Market

If you were take a Goodwill thrift store and mix it with equal parts antique shop and estate sale, then throw in a pinch of distinctly Asian flair, the result would be the Seoul Folk Flea Market. Some friends and I stumbled across this amazing market by accident -- we'd set out looking for a completely different market and managed to get completely lost. Luckily, losing our way was the best possible thing to have happened because the market we did find greatly exceeded our expectations.

Though I'm slightly upset that it took me two years to find this market, it's probably also for the best. If I'd known about all the vintage and antique things in that that building holds when I was first decorating my apartment in 2011, it would've been dangerous... That being said, this is definitely a new go-to spot for gifts and souvenirs. 

The flea market was only recently put into an actual building in 2008, with its origins being in the street vendors that used to cluster around that area of the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Now it boasts hundreds of vendors and offers a staggering range of items.

Lucky for us (and you), a respectable amount of effort has been put into making this market organized and tourist-friendly. As we walked around, we noticed that the different areas of the market are color-coded, as you can see in the pictures above, from the signs hanging above the aisles to the tarps that pulled down over the booths. Here's a basic breakdown of the zones: 

• Yellow = household goods, personal goods, vintage clothes, accessories.
• Orange = vintage clothes, shoes, bags.
• Green = antiques, used goods.
• Red = food court!
• Indigo = tools, bicycle accessories, repair items.
• Blue = clothes (sports, men's, military).
• Purple = leisure, cameras, clothing.

Aside from the obviously ancient antiques that makes the market kind of feel like a museum, looking through most of the booths was like a bizarre time warp through the past 50 years. I say bizarre because of the number of very American (and generally Western) items that were being sold, which I can only assume are leftovers from the Korean War and Korea's subsequent modernization. The entire building is just steeped in nostalgia, making any attempt to shop with purpose nearly impossible due to the overwhelming desire to just carefully look at everything.

Directions and information: 

• Sinseoldong Station, Exit 10. 
• Walk straight out of the exit and around the corner on the left. You'll make a left at the Shinhan Bank. From there, look for signs and little lanterns hanging along the streetlights. The market will be on your left! (If you cross Cheonggyecheon Stream, you've gone too far.) 
• Hours: 10:00am - 7:00pm. Closed on every 2nd and 4th Tuesday. (Note: Many vendors close early, so I would advise going before 5:00pm.)