Busy beavers...

Hey everyone,

Long time no blog! Thanks for everyone who leaves us messages and reads this. We miss you all so much!

We had a really busy December (hence the lack of blogging!). We went skiing one weekend, went to a Christmas party on another, and threw a Christmas party for the kids at school. Needless to say the two long-weekends in row were well received.

We went skiing with one of our fellow teachers and her boyfriend to Muju resort. It is apparently one of the best in Korea. It was my first time skiing, and although I did some token face-plants, I found it much easier than snowboarding. Plus, the next day I could actually walk and had only a few bruises. Another memorable moment from that weekend was when we went to go rent ski clothes. We both needed ski pants, and we were prepared to have trouble finding Andrew pants since he's like a foot taller than most Koreans. What we weren't prepared for was the fact that I couldn't fit a women's small, medium, or LARGE.... no folks, I had to wear a men's MEDIUM! It was great, Andrew and I wore the same pants that day. What a pair (of porkers!)!

We also had our staff year-end party a couple of weekends ago. We went to a seafood restaurant, which was delicious. I stuck to the things I knew were safe - sushi and veggies. Andrew, on the other hand, ate everything including live octopus. He actually had to pry it off the plate. The trick is to continually chew it so that the suckers don't stick to your throat! He said that it didn't taste too bad, but the thought of suckers sticking to my throat made me avoid it all. We also went to a nori-bang, which in English translates to "singing room." It is basically a room with a couch and a karaoke machine. I'm not much of a public singer (shh...) , but Andrew likes to sing (or is that a secret?), so I thought it'd be entertaining. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that they have a digital voice corrector installed because everyone sounded amazing, although a bit robot-ish. Anyway, we both ended up singing most of the night. It was highly embarrassing, but a good night nonetheless.


On December we had a Christmas party for the kiddies, which was really a lot of fun. We set up one of the classrooms to look like a market with toys and stationary stuff all over. The kids used their points that they earned (for good behavior in class) to buy things. We also had a student market and a food court. Andrew and I taught the older kids how to make microwave peanut brittle. There was a lot of food flying around the room, but it was a good time.

We went to Seoul Christmas weekend. We spent Christmas eve literally shoulder-to-shoulder walking down the main shopping area in Seoul. We had elbows in our backs for a solid 2 hours that we wandered around downtown. We had big plans of sitting in a pub all night and watching the crowds, but unfortunately every single bar we went to either had beer for $10 (we're on a budget here!) or had absolutely no room. We like to say it's because we looked too scruffy and no one wanted us. Needless to say, we spent the majority of Christmas Eve laughing, eye-shopping, and having a pretty care-free night.

Christmas day we woke up semi-early and went to check out one of the palaces. We got there just at the right time because they were just changing the guards. The palace was quite beautiful and absolutely huge. We walked around the grounds for a couple of hours and took it all in. It was one of those surreal "where the heck are we?" moments that you know you'll remember forever.

We came home that day but nearly missed our train. We were running through the subway stations like madmen decked out in our backpacks. I'm sure that we either looked like we were running from the law, or on Amazing Race. Anyway, we managed to make it home on time and safely.

New Years was also a really great time. Our friends Andrew and Christy came over for drinks and food and we went out to play pool. It was a really enjoyable laid-back time.

I finally finished my grad application and got it sent out. It's a huge relief to have it done. Unfortunately I have to wait until April to hear back from them. You all know how impatient I can be with stuff like that, so I hope April comes soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Anyway, it sounds like everyone had a fantastic holiday. We wished we could have shared it with all of you. Although it's a little belated - Happy New Year, and all the best in 2007!!!

XOX
Love, Tara and Andrew