V-Day & beyond

So this weekend should prove to be very fun I think... I'm really looking forward to it actually. Tonight I was supposed to maybe go out to dinner with this friend of mine, but since I've got the gang coming over tomorrow I'll probably end up skipping out on that. So for this evening I've got to go shopping for the big "Anti-Valentine's Day" party that's being held at my apartment tomorrow afternoon and I've also gotta buy some stuff for school. Today I finally got my DVD of "Dream for an Insomniac" in the mail that I ordered back in December so I'm planning on watching that as well.

And then there's the party tomorrow. To celebrate our dislike of the entirely commercialized seudo-holiday that is Valentine's Day we are planning on wearing black and watching horror movies. We're also having a potluck, for which I will be making Bagel Bites & my usual tasty sugar cookies, maybe some mandu as well since I've got a whole big bag of them in the freezer. There will of course be wine and other alcoholic beverages to round out the evening...though you can be sure I'm planning on staying away from that devilish Chinese absinthe. That stuff was lethal...

So that's the plan for Saturday then, maybe with running in the morning with the Hashers if it's not too cold out. I might go running with the other Hashers' group on Sunday if I don't on Saturday...Danya's been trying to get us all to join her both days. She's crazy...she reminds me a lot of me when I'm so health-crazed and fanatical about rollerblading every day in the summer. Of course I do have my limits: I cannot tolerate doing anything in cold weather. And that is where we both differ...she's got a will of iron and not even sub-zero temperatures can prevent her from getting her runner's high. But maybe, since it seems lately I have become more accustomed to the chill, I might join her sooner rather than later. Anyway...

Sunday night I promised Danya and Zach (another anime groupee) that I'd go with them to this dinner thing at an English bookstore down in Itaewon. Not sure what is being served, but Danya's vegetarian and she's not worried about it, so neither am I. I think we might be doing something before that too, or possibly after. We'll figure it all out tomorrow I guess.

Also, one of the teachers at my school had mentioned something to me on Tuesday about if I'd possibly want to stay longer at this school after my contract expires. So then, since my brother's not getting married until the end of September I might remain here until at least the end of August just to save up a little more money than I otherwise would have. After all, I'm not going to have a job when I get back to the states and I will need something to live off of. It's really only an extra month and a half I'd be here so it's not that big a deal. Still, I've gotta give myself some time after I get back since I had planned on taking that long overdue trip to France later on this year. I'm thinking maybe the beginning of September, which will still give me enough time to get back and prepare for my brother's wedding. (I get to be a bridesmaid this time!) But, in the event that I don't have time to go in September, I guess I could always just put it off until after the wedding...no big deal.

And then there's that big looming question of what I'm going to do once I get back to the US. Should I stay and look for a job in St. Louis or should I flit off once again to places unknown? I guess only time will tell...

unusually busy

I am sooooo glad this past weekend is over with! I cannot tell you how exhausted I was after the Kindergarten end-of-the-year performance on Saturday, since it seemed like I had been working nonstop up until that point...not that it was hard work or anything, I just value my free time that's all. So yes, it's over & done with, thank god.

Everything went really well, better than even I had imagined it would. The kids didn't mess up anything too badly and the parents really seemed to enjoy seeing their kids up on stage dancing around, or acting, or singing, or whatever it was that they were doing. After it was all over the other teachers and I went out to dinner at this little seafood place we've been to a couple of times before. I tried something called a sea cucumber which was this raw, slimy greenish blue thing that had a texture not unlike raw oysters. It didn't taste all that great so I didn't try another after that. We also had some seafood kalguksu, which is this homemade noodle soup, as well as some steamed scallops and mussels. Those were both really good. The dinner was compliments of my school's director since we had worked so hard to prepare for the performance. She also gave us the day off yesterday since we did spend all of our Saturday setting up for it too.

So on Sunday I just basically sat around my apartment and relaxed...nothing too extreme. I finished one book and then another the following day entitled "The Reader". It was ok, though not one of my favs. For my day off on Monday I walked around the city since it was so nice out and then in the evening I went down this side path I discovered on the way back down from Mt. Namsan. The path led to this little park where there was a playground with swings and a climbing fort. I swung on the swings for a while and then proceeded to climb around the fort like a monkey. The few passers-by I saw probably thought I looked rather strange playing on a playground by myself at that time of night, especially since I'm not exactly a kid or anything. In any case, it was fun. ;)

Today I am back at school waiting for two other teachers to come back from a meeting so we can all go out to COEX mall for dinner. The supervisor of our kindergarten is leaving tomorrow to go live in Hawaii with her children since she's going to be attending a university there. The dinner tonight is her going-away party. Should be fun.

This weekend I've got dinner planned with a friend at a Greek place in Itaewon on Friday and then the usual anime get-together on Saturday afternoon. I think we may be going out somewhere that night as well since the weather is actually supposed to be bearable. Maybe dancing or something...who knows? Sunday I'll probably be staying inside to relax and veg, or I might possibly go running or hiking in the afternoon. There's also that hash thing I've been wanting to try out that I mentioned in one of my previous posts. Still haven't gotten around to running with all of them, but I'm planning to as soon as the weather warms up a bit. After all, I did just get myself a new pair of running shoes for the occasion...the Asics GT-2100s, and I love them!

Anyway, more later...and I'll be posting pics of the performance from this past weekend as soon as I can get around to it.
:)