Bummer, Man. Thursday

I tried some new yoga moves this morning, including one or two crazy-ambitious ones. I didn't do particularly well, I'd love to go to a yoga class, but the prospect of finding one, paying for it, and going when the whole thing has to be done in Korean, just isn't appealing. A flier for 'hot yoga' was taped to my apartment door yesterday, but it's all in Korean, I can't even tell where it is. I guess if I really wanted to, I could get Mr B to help me, but that's just more trouble than it's worth!

Anyway, I did my yoga, and then I tried some girl push ups, but my left tricep got cramp or pulled or something. It doesn't hurt now, but I don't think I should use it very hard for a few days. Darn yoga!

So, no classes for me today. I've planned my after school class, though. We're doing some more work on music, only today I've tried to make it a bit more exciting. We're doing some stuff for talking about what you like, and different music genres. Also today, I've had to check maybe 60+ bits of student writing ranging from perfect to completely unintelligible.

And I'm bummed about a thing I can't tell you about because I don't know who reads my blog and it might (slim chance, but still) get someone in trouble. Cryptic, yes? Well, it has the potential to make my last few months in Korea not as awesome as they could be. I am determined not to let it. It's just going to mean I have to put on my big girl undies and get out there.

I have been very bad lately about getting out and doing new things alone. I get very lazy, and I need to kick-start my courage and get out there and do all the things I want to before my time in Korea has slipped away. I'm about 2/3rds through my year here and there are still a few things I want to see and do. I want to get a dress made, get my hair permed, see the garden of the morning calm, re-visit Insadong, and so on. I'd better go back through my lonely planet books and make a list.

And now, today's five things:

1) I picked the first publication I'm going to submit my article to. I've fixed the reference section, and am just waiting for an email back about article requirements (they didn't have them on their website), and then next week I'll send off my first try! I am quite scared about doing it, which = all the more reason to do it!

2) Dark chocolate and almonds.

3) I took some photos of myself this morning and compared them to the ones from the start of April, and there's an actual difference in my body shape. My curves are better!

4) I started watching a new show 'Revenge' last night. I watch two episodes and am already totally hooked!

5) I finished the first Game of Thrones book. It was great! Is Eddard Stark really dead? I'm having doubts from the way it was written. Everyone *thinks* he's dead.... but I don't reckon he is. Well, I hope not, anyway.

Memorise this Wednesday

Mr B. to the class: "koreankoreankoreankorean .... easy question-uh ...korean korean korean korean ... normal questions-uh... koreankoreankoreankorean... hard questions-uh. And then koreankoreankoreankorean three stars, two stars, one stars [sic], koreankoreankoreankorean. Sam teacher, can you memorise, please?"

Me: "Uh, what?"

Mr B: "Memorise."

Me: *look of total confusion*

Mr B: Ok, later.

*sigh*. Normal day :) Still don't know what he was talking about. I think it was for when I write the questions for the next English test, but who knows, really. He's stopped telling me anything unless I specifically ask about it. It's a good thing I pay attention and can read the school calendar without help! And score! Next week is a short week too - no work on Wednesday :)

Today's five things:

1) It was curried chicken drumstick day at lunch. Yum!

2) I wrote the abstract for my article. Tomorrow I'll edit it for the first two publications.

3) I have no classes tomorrow or Friday (apart from after school class).

4) I have painted my nails sparkly aqua. 

5) I'm going to do an at home yoga routine in the morning.

Weekend at the beach Monday

I had an absolutely fantastic weekend in Busan with Courtney. She ended up being able to come for the whole three days, which was actually really awesome. We caught the train down on Saturday morning, travelling in first class on the KTX (Korea's fast train). It's really spacious and totally the way to travel! Not to mention it makes the trip only 2.5 hours compared to 5-6 on the bus.

So, we got to Busan about mid-day, then caught the subway to the beach and found out hostel. It has just moved to a new building so the whole place was brand new and really nicely done. Our room, while not very big, was comfortable and clean. The shared facilities like TV room, kitchen, and rooftop terrace were really great. And our bathroom was nice as!

The lounge

Dining room

Kitchen

World art

Deck

Officially became the best hostel ever when I found StarWars on the wall

After that we went and had lunch at TGI Friday's where we both had cocktails (non-alcoholic for me), and I had a tropical shrimp salad, which was delicious. Then we put on out swimming costumes in the restaurant bathroom, and headed across the road to the beach.

Me and my lunch

Haeundae Beach

Lovely! But freezing cold.

It was about 3pm and we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and sitting in the sun. Then we went and got an ice cream at Baskin Robbins (I had 'lunar cheesecake flavour) and went back to the hostel to read/relax for a bit before dinner. For dinner we went to a Korean restaurant and had a kimchi-pork rib stew. Yum! Then Courtney went to hang out at the foreigner bar and I went to bed.

The next morning I got up early and walked the length of the beach, plus did a loop of the headland. Then went back to the hostel and cooked some eggs for our breakfast. Then, we bought some sunscreen, got an icy drink (I got a delicious blueberry iced tea) and we hit the beach.. We just went swimming and sunbathed all day, apart from lunch when we had some more Korea food. And another ice cream - this time I had pistachio-almond flavour. We stayed at the beach until 5 or 6pm (!!), then went back to our room to shower and clean up. We got a little burnt, but most of it was gone by the morning. I've got a little bit of a tan now. The swimming was really good, too. Although the water was freezing! It got deep quite fast, and apparently Koreans don't really swim. The only people in the water (or in swimming costumes) were foreigners. Some of the Koreans went in the water, but it was just to splash around and they went in fully clothed. Weird! There were also lots of jet-skis and sailing boats and stuff.

Also, the beach was pretty busy, but huge bits of it were taken up by massive piles of sand that were being turned into amazing sand sculptures. There's a sculpture competition/exhibition next weekend.

Anyway, Courtney and I got cleaned up and then went and hung out at the bar for a little while. Then we went to a hamburger place and had dinner. I had a really good burger, but took the bun off. I think it was truly nicer without the crappy bread! Then we met up with Courtney's boyfriend and a couple of his friends and they got drunk on the beach. It was bit cold for me, and I went to bed about 11.30.

I got up early again the next morning and did my walk around the headland, taking some photos this time. 

Busan early morning

The loop I walked

Coastal walk

Mermaid statue

Swing bridge

View of Busan city

Some pretty roses

Then it was time to check out and go home :( Sadly, we miscalculated the timing and Courtney missed her train. She was able to get a bus with Mike, her boyfriend, though. I caught my train and was back in overcast, rainy Osan by 4pm.

Busan/ Haeudae beach was totally lovely and I had a super relaxing, really fun weekend! What's more, I still want to be friends with Courtney and never once wanted to strangle her or poke her in the ye with a pencil (as so often happens when I spend too long with someone). So, huge success!

I was a bit bummed to come back to Osan. I really like Osan, but being by the sea is amazing, and it was gorgeous sunshine and fresh breezes there, and it's muggy and overcast here. I just kept reminding myself that soon I'll be able to go Thailand and hang out at the beach all I want for a little while. I decided while I was away that it is my goal to live in summer for the next 12 months :)

A bit shocking, though, is that I only have about 4.5 months left in Korea. I'd better do all the things I've been meaning to, like the botanical gardens and stuff. I'd better make a list, and also leave some stuff for when Brook comes to visit.

I'm back at work today for a short week. I just helped the student teacher teach her first EVER lesson. Poor lady! It went ok, and I think the kids were very tolerant. I really hope the Korean teachers who were watching give her some good pointers :) 

Also, a new random goal. I want to grow my hair long enough so I can donate it to charity. There's some that make wigs for sick kids. So, I'm going to grow my hair until it can make a 10 inch ponytail (maybe 4-6 months time) and then I'm going to cut it off. And by 'cut it off', I mean for real. Like this:

Or this:

Serious. I'm excited!

What else have I been up to? Well, over the weekend I finished reading 'Wheat Belly', which is about how awful modern wheat is for us to eat. Luckily, I have actually naturally not been too much of a wheat eater recently anyway, so cutting it out has been easy. This book just cemented my resolve to really minimise it in my diet. I've been probably 95% wheat free for two moths now (along with maybe 75-80% sugar free) and I'm feeling amazing. Like a lot of the day I can't wipe the smile off my face. Now I'm reading the 4 hour body by Tim Ferris, who also wrote the 4 hour work week. While I think he has some interesting things to say, his approach is not really my cup of tea. He's all into supplementing with this and that and doing little tricks to allow you to 'cheat' (for want of a better word), and he recommends having one day a week where you eat whatever you want, and even recommends having one of those days a month where you stuff yourself so full of crap you feel ill so you wont want it so much during the rest of the month. That just doesn't sound like a good idea! It obviously works for some people, but I'd rather keep doing my best all the time, eat what I want when I want, but do it consciously. Luckily, at the moment all I want is good stuff anyway (apart from the odd ice cream).

Also, my article is nearly finished. I just wrote the abstract today. For the next three days I'm going to specifically edit it for each journal, and then next week = finishing touches and send it out to the first lucky publication! I'm not going to hold my breath for anyone wanting it, it's not very original or anything (and a bit more of a literature review than anything else), but it was more for the practice of doing it, and I might get lucky :)

All of today's five things are how awesome my weekend holiday was :D

Good conversation Friday

Five things:

1) Just had a lovely conversation with the nicest guy who works at school - the chaplain. I suspected that's what he was, so asked him. He's really tentative, but his English is really good. We talked about his kids, he even had photos, the weekend, his job, my family. He's always nice to me, and gives me big smiles, but this is the first time we've really 'talked'. To tell you the truth, I assumed from his shyness he only knew a few words of English, but he was great. Now, I just hope he doesn't stop talking to me since he asked if I was a Christian and I said no :)

2) Lunch today was mayonnaise tuna salad with seaweed wraps - it was so good I went back for seconds :)

3) I got to do lots of 'teaching' today, and it made the day more enjoyable. However, when I say 'teaching' I mean I read a story sentence by sentence and the kids had to repeat it. In four classes, for 45 minutes. Meh.

4) It's Friday! Beach, here I come!!

5) I was given two mini-snickers by the student teacher - and I didn't eat them. Go me!

Haha, also, Mr B. just told me that because the VP isn't here, I can go home at 4pm. I've been coming in an hour early, and leaving at 4pm (an hour early) for weeks. Literally, weeks. I don't say anything, a) so he feels like he's doing a good thing; and b) so that he doesn't tell me to stop!

Walk like a champion Thursday

Today's five:

1) I've been meaning to mention this one for ages. On my walk to the bus stop from my apartment there is a video game arcade. Outside on the street are a couple of strength testing games. If you walk close enough to them, they play music. I walk close to them every morning just so I can go to work feeling like a champion as the theme from 'Rocky' plays. It's like my life has a sound track for 30 seconds :D

2) I can feel actual muscles in my arms. Parts of my arm are a little bit hard with muscle now. Mainly biceps and forearm - I need to work those triceps harder!

3) In my recent dietary experiments (aka not eating grains or sugar), it's become a little bit frightening to observe the effects of, what I think is, actual sugar addiction. I don't think I have it bad, but boy is it weird. And explains a lot. 

So, sugar stimulates part of your brain that makes you feel good. Whenever you read this in any anti-sugar literature they are always very quick to point out that it's the same part of your brain that responds to heroin and cocaine, as if by merely stimulating the same area as hard drugs, sugar is somehow evil also. Now, I'm starting to think it probably is, but that this is implied annoys me a bit. Anywho, sugar addiction. I always thought it a myth. Like internet addiction, or computer game addiction -  real enough, but probably more of a behavioural problem than a chemical addiction, right? Well, I put sugar (read: chocolate bars, sweets, etc.) in the same category. Well, now I don't. I've been going sugar free and grain free for over a month and a half now. Grain, for me, is easy. Sugar, not so much. I can go a goodish length of time and behave rationally and consciously with my food choices, so it's not habit. But very occasionally, maybe once every two weeks and possibly decreasing in frequency, something else takes over. 

This is the scary part. 

I'm consciously aware I want a chocolate bar, and I make a decision not to have one. "I'm hungry so I'll buy some nuts", I think, "or have a bit of cheese and fruit when I get home". Then, without knowing quite how, I'm actually kind of manically ripping of the wrapping of something containing sugar and stuffing it feverishly into my mouth. Seriously, no exaggeration. The whole time my conscious mind is going "what the heck? What's going on? I didn't approve this". This could be interpreted two ways. One, it's an addiction to a probably not so good substance that I should try to wean off. Or two, it's like those people who eat the walls of their house because they're missing some important nutrient and their subconscious knows it's in the wall material. I'm pretty sure it's the first one. Not convinced a crappy chocolate bar has anything in it I 'need'.

Why is this in today's five? Because if I know about it, I can fix it.

4) I did a taste testing lesson today with the after school kids. I taught them some food words, then had them close their eyes and eat what I put in their hand and tell me what it tasted like and felt like. It was heaps of fun. One of the things was some processed cheese. haha, it must have felt gross in their hands because they were so apprehensive about eating it! It was really funny! They've chosen to do 'music' next week, so I'll have to see what I can come up with. Maybe music bingo or something.

5) Steak salad for dinner, it was delicious!

Regular Wednesday

So, Monday night I went for dinner with Courtney, and she's doing well. I reckon she's my favourite person in Korea :) And she wants to come to the beach with me on the weekend, so I'm trying to switch my room booking to a twin room (but because it's a long weekend, Busan is literally booked out). It'd be pretty cool if she can come, as she only wants to come for one night, so I'd get the best of both, a bit of time to recharge by myself, and a bit of time hanging out with a friend. Win-Win :)

Yesterday was a good day, too. I did the supermarket scavenger hunt after school and it worked really well. It took ages to convince the kids we were going to the supermarket, but once they'd figured it out, they were quite excited. There was only four students, so it was easy to keep and eye on everyone and they put in some good effort and really tried. I was proud of them. Great lesson!

I had prizes for them, too. Though I gave one to all of them because they were really close and ALL did a good job. Only problem was, they were little packs of Oreo cookies that I gave them, and I convinced myself to have one too. Now, nothing bad happens to me when I eat processed food. I've read of all these... zealots really, who after making the change to 'real food' report all these horrible symptoms if even the smallest bite of 'evil processed food from hell' passes their lips. I don't feel anything, but I can *see* something. Every time I eat a grain/sugar thing my tummy sticks out. I guess it's what 'bloating' is. It's not uncomfortable, I don't get gas, but my stomach is distended. Without the crap, it's rather more flat. When I started eating this way I thought maybe it's help me loose what I thought was a fat deposit on my tummy. While it has helped me loose it, it wasn't fat. Not sure what it is, but it's interesting.

Also, I posted a link on facebook to an article about the carbs-insulin-fat connection by a science author I'm reading a lot of at the moment. One of my friends commented about how she couldn't do a diet like that because she wouldn't want to 'eat steak and carrots for breakfast'. Why not? Want to know what I had for breakfast this morning? Pigs feet. I'm serious. Chopped up, boiled pigs feet (google image search 'Jokbal') and a homemade lemon-orange-ginger smoothie to cut through the grease. In my opinion, it was way tastier than toast or cereal. But, to each his own :)

In other news, I've got to go back to the doctor tonight for more medicine. Not sure how much longer I have to take it, but apart from a slightly 'crackling' ear, my cold/whatever it was is all gone. Finally!

Other than that, not too much to report today. Just a regular day :)

Wednesday's five:

1) Just got an email from the hostel in Busan and they can give me a twin room, so if Courtney can book train tickets, she can come to the beach with me.

2) I'm reading 'Why we get fat and what to do about it' by Gary Taubes, and am really enjoying it. It all makes so much sense. I'm really excited to be effortlessly eating and exercising in a way the feels really 'right' for me. I'm also really interested to see the strength gains I make through my bodyweight exercises. This is the first time I've ever tracked progress or had goals, and I am finding it really motivating.

3) Korean BBQ for dinner tonight!

4) The cute beagle was playing with a stick on the way to school :)

5) I just checked my balance at the bank and I'm on track to complete my 'save $15,000'  goal. I should just scrape in after my trip to Japan in July. Just.

Weekend update Monday

Just a quick update today, I'm not really in a writing mood.

I had a great weekend (mostly) and the event I hosted on Sunday went very well.

Saturday I went to Suwon with Courtney and we saw the Avengers movie. We both enjoyed it, but agreed it was a bit confusing at times. I think they put too much time into fight scenes and not enough into properly explaining what was going on. I enjoyed it though. Then we went to meet Courtney's boyfriend, Mike for dinner. However, on the way Courtney got some upsetting news from home. Nothing devastating, but upsetting enough that's for sure. She didn't want to go home, though, so we had dinner. Her tears and stress caused some tension (not between her and I) so I was really happy to get her on the bus and headed home - not for me but for her. I wish there was more I could do - it makes you feel crappy as a friend when there's nothing you can do to help. She's being really sensible about everything, though and hopefully we can get together later in the week.

Sunday was horse racing and the Seoul Zoo. The plan was to go to a theme park, but the group all wanted to go the Zoo (which was cool, it's actually what I preferred too). The horse racing wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped. It was interesting, but they only raced once and hour, and the action lasted about 2 minutes. We stayed for two races, then went to the zoo and walked around until everyone was tired enough to go home. The group was good and I think I did an ok job of leading them -though there wasn't really much involved. I'm glad I did it, and everyone seemed really appreciative that I'd helped out :) And the weather was amazing!

It's great again today. I really hope next weekend is really sunny for my weekend in Busan.

Today's just been normal, nothing exciting to report.... yet.

Today's five:

1) Gorgeous weather.

2) I got permission to take tomorrow's after school class to the supermarket for a scavenger hunt.

3) I've looked up 6+ journals to maybe submit my article to. The only problem is they all say submissions can't be under consideration by anyone else, so I'm going to have to send it to one, wait for a reply, then move on to the next one. It'll take weeks to get rejected by all of them!

4) I'm really enjoying reading the first 'Game of Thrones' book.

5) Last minutes plans: I'm having dinner with Courtney tonight :)

Kid with a knife Friday

Pretty normal couple of days. Yesterday was unremarkable, other than my after school class went really well and the students were really cooperative. I think I'd aimed the lesson at the right level and it was the topic they chose last week. I'm still going to do the food tasting lesson, and I also want to take them on a scavenger hunt to the supermarket down the road. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to yet, I'll have to ask if it's ok.

I only got to teach two lessons today. Mr B. showed up 10 minutes late to the first one and told me to teach alone, but then proceeds to translate a lot of what I say into Korean and wander around making the students speak. He's taken to mocking them if they are shy or their accents are strong. It's horrible and frustrating. I really don't want to be associated with him. In my second lesson, he was late again, but had the courtesy to send another teacher up to tell me he was cleaning up a kid who cut their hand. He came after about 15 minutes and the class went much the same as the first, only one boy (who I've confiscated a pen knife off and seen him cruising the school with scissors) cut a huge hole in the padding of his chair with a knife. He's now crying in the teacher's room. He's a weird kid. Worrying.

Anywho, today's five things:

1) It's Friday and I have a good weekend planned.

2) I finished reading 'good calories, bad calories'. It was a dense read, but really interesting and educational. I've moved on to the similar, but more readable 'Why we are fat'. It's a real eye opener. Sadly, if I try to talk to anyone (other than mum) about it, and say I believe it, I sound like a kook. Ah well.

3) My cold/infection stuff is much better today. My ear blockage is minimal. Should be right soon :) Back to the doctor tomorrow.

4) Today's a strength training day - I'm looking forward to trying to do more push ups that last time. I so want to be able to do a regular push up!

5) I've got some Australian steak for dinner! It's heaps cheaper than the American beef, but it's the only one I want. Aussie beef actually lives in paddocks, and American beef is... well, if you've seen 'Food Inc.'... ew. I'd love some lamb.

5k Wednesday

I got off school early again today, to go to the doctors to get more medicine. It turns out they can actually give me more than three days worth at a time, they just don't like to because they want to do regular check ups to make sure it's all going ok. I also found out they're open until 10pm, so I don't have to take time off work to go any more. The doctor said I've got a sinus infection and an ear infection, with fluid in my middle ear, and that I'll have to take pills for a couple of weeks to get it all gone. My symptoms are feeling better, but are far from gone.

Having such a blocked up head, I didn't get any work done on my article today, but by the end of the week I want to have the first draft, including the reference section, all finished. Mr B said he's probably going to drop some of my classes next week, from Tuesday or Wednesday so he can do reading and grammar with the students, so I should be able to work on getting the article ready to send out.

Because I had a free afternoon and it was a nice day outside, and because it's this week's challenge on NerdFitness, I walked/ran (minimal running) 5k to escape a fictional landslide (don't worry if you didn't understand that sentence at all - I just walked 5k). I managed it in 46.30, which is great because my goal was to do it in under an hour, and my hope was to do it in 45 minutes, so not far off :)

Today's five:

1) More pills to make me better.

2) Sun, sweat, and 5k walk.

3) There was a really cute and energetic dog in the lift this morning.

4) People say the drivers here are really rude, but cars stop all the time to let me cross roads and drive ways. It's nice :)

5) I'm going to dinner at the 'nice' BBQ place with Courtney and maybe Nyasha for dinner tonight.

Off early Tuesday

Today is teachers' day in Korea, so school finished early and the VP let me leave at 2.30! Yay :)
That is so good, five things aren't needed.

Where'd it go? Monday

Wow, where did last week go? And more importantly, where'd my weekend go?! Time sometimes seems to be racing so fast.

So, the weekend. Courtney and I were going to see the Avengers movie in the afternoon, but the website we got our tickets through messed up and it sold out. Instead we went to see 'Mirror Mirror' and I'm actually really glad we did. I think I enjoyed it more than I would have the Avengers, and it was so funny. We both really enjoyed it. Then we went to an all you can eat Korean BBQ place, which we've been to before, but not for age. Sadly, I could barely taste a thing because of my sinuses. And my ears were blocked too, so I couldn't hear properly.

Hehe, all this for two people. And this was only round 1!

From to to bottom: Marinated pork; spicy stuff we couldn't work out if it was a vegetable, meat, or what; my calamari and an octopus (bland!!).

Chewy and no flavour - I think I didn't know how to eat it.

On Sunday I decided to go to the doctor because I couldn't taste or smell at all, and my ears felt blocked and my hearing on one side was seriously impaired. So I went to the doctor and they reckon I've got sinusitis, so I'm on another round of antibiotics. This time though, they said I have to take more than three days worth, so I have to go back on Wednesday to get a new prescription. Apparently they can't give me more than 3 days at a time and can't give me a repeat script. Luckily, when I asked at work today, it turns out Wednesday arvo is a sports day so school was more than happy for me to leave after lunch to go to the doctor.

All this for only three days. The green stuff is throat gargle and is disgusting.

Today my ear is a bit better, but still blocked, and my nose is a lot less runny, but my sinuses still feel really swollen. I also still can't taste or smell :(

Anyway, Saturday I saw the movie and had dinner, and Sunday I went to the doctor, and also went shopping at the Osan market, which gets extra big on certain weekend days - and Sunday was an extra big day. I got lots of good things cheaper than the supermarket. I made home made chilli sauce out of the chillies, and pumpkin soup out of the pumpkin - both using my blender. That was a seriously good buy - I'm getting so much use out of it!

Grapes, capsicum, carrots, pumpkin, chillies, kiwifruit, and a cauliflower.

Next weekend I'm going to a meetup in Seoul at the Seoul horse racing park and then to a small theme park nearby. However, the leader of the group emailed me on Sunday to say she's had to go to hospital to have her appendix out and could I host/run the meetup? My first reaction was 'Hell no! That's way too scary/difficult/hard work'. Then I was like 'Shut up, Sam. Do it'. 

So I did. 

So, next weekend I'm taking a bunch of expats to bet on horse races and to a theme park - both places I've never been :) Go me!

On the food and fitness front things are going really well. Food is getting easier and easier. I'm proud of myself for making such good changes and making such good progress when I've been sick for the past... ages. Since the first week of April. I'm getting stronger, too. I'm still pathetically weak, but not as much as I was. One day I'll be able to do a push up :)

Today's five things:

1) I've hardly had to blow my nose at all today.

2) I got another section of my article written to draft stage. I think I'll finish tomorrow.

3) It was chicken soup day at work. I like the chicken soup the lunch ladies make.

4) I have all of Wednesday afternoon off to go to the doctors. Score!

5) My after school kids wanted to do some stuff on food this week, so as a surprise I've planned a lesson on Thursday where we learn some words to describe food. Then, I'm going to blindfold them and give them some different stuff to eat and they have to use the words we learned to describe it :) I think it'll be fun.

Hooray it's Friday!

Not such a pleasant day today. I went out last night for dinner with Courtney and Mike. We went for Mukinji, which is this ridiculously tasty Korean pork and kimchi stew.  It was a bit more spicy than usual last night, and I woke up this morning with a pretty upset digestive system :( It continued on and off right through to just before lunch. It seems to be gone now (fingers crossed). On top of that I also ate an ice cream last night, and had a really unhealthy take away dinner on Tuesday night. I actually think the food affects my mood and how easy it is for me to wake up in the morning. Up until Tuesday I had eaten only negligible amounts (like what I couldn't avoid in school lunch) of sugar and grains for over a week. I was finding it easier and easier to get out of bes, and my mood was consistently positive and I felt good. Then had a bit of a bad time on Tuesday afternoon and ate badly, then ice cream again yesterday night, and come this morning I found myself negative, unmotivated, and kind of bloated. I've never considered myself sensitive to food, but maybe there was something going on. But, then again, I also had an upset tummy, so can't really say.

Regardless, I need to re-commit to my health 'goals' as such. I'm not worried about having food like I did, but I don't want it to become regular like it was a couple of months ago.

Anyway, today's five things:

1) I've got my bodyweight workout this afternoon and I'm really looking forward to it.

2) It's Friday! I'm going to the movies with Courtney tomorrow, in Suwon.

3) My article is coming along really well. I'll be finished the first draft early next week.

4) I got a little program for my work computer that pops up a message every 15 minutes and reminds me to stretch a bit. I've been getting sore shoulders from all my desk time.

5) Pork belly for dinner!

Wednesday's five

Me: Why do you want to learn English?
Him: Ummm................ English.......... America............. number one!
Me: Oh, ok. Do you want to go to America?
Him: No.
Me: Oh, do you want to talk to American people when they come to Korea?
Him: No.
Me: Ok, do you like American TV and movies? Do you listen to American music?
Him: No.
Me: Ok, so why learn English?
Him: America... number one.... powerful.
Me: oookay then.

Today's five:
1) I had a really good night's sleep.

2) I've written 2,000 words of draft for my ESL teaching article.

3) Mr B. kept telling all the kids they had ADHD today. I have no idea why, it was his phrase of the day or something. It cracked me up... so un-P.C!

4) I picked up a dark chocolate toblerone at E-Mart today. It's dark chocolate so it's ok right? Well, I put it back! Yay for me :)

5) I was talking to the not-quite-the-full-quid kid today before class. He saw we were going to do something different and wanted to know what. I said we were signing a song today, and said the Korean work for singing. He got so excited and was really happy! Then I was joking with him -in a way so he knew I was joking - and said 'and dancing too!' and he goes 'Oh! Dancing! Michael Jackson!' and struck this awesome Michael Jackson pose. We were both cracking up :D I tell you, there's something wrong with him, but sometimes he's more switched on that the 'regular' students. Cool kid :)

Lots of teaching Monday

Whew, what a day!

I've gone from teaching nothing in weeks, to teaching nearly every class today. It's been fun, though. Mr. B. has been in a really cooperative mood, so the teaching feels like it's quite smooth and that the kids are actually benefiting from both of us being in the classroom. My goal this week is to write at least 500 words of my article, but I didn't get any done today because I was so busy. I had about 40 minutes free at the very end of the day, but by that time my nose and sinuses were so sore, my head didn't feel like it could handle much more.

I've been sick now for over a month. I don't think that there's much point in going back to the doctor. My symptoms are server, just persistent. After reading through some stuff written by others here in Korea, this is really common at this time of year. It seems like half the foreigner community of Korea is sick for the entire months of April and May because of the yellow dust and other allergens in the air. I've got the name of some allergy pills and a nasal spray, so I'm going to the pharmacy tonight to try and at least get some relief. Hopefully I just have to last until June and it'll all go away.

This does not make staying in Korea seem at all desirable though. Let's see... Winter in freezing cold, and while snow is neat, it gets not so neat quite quickly. Then spring, which is apparently just allergy/respirator infection central, even for people like me who don't have problems back home. Then summer, which by all accounts is just non-stop torrential rain, heat, and humidity. Autumn in lovely. Sooo, 3/4 of the year suck! Fail, Korea. Fail.

Good news! Brook and I got all out tickets and accommodation booked for our trip to Japan in July! I'm super excited! It's going to be really hot and humid, but surely it can't be any worse that places I've already been? I had wonderful holidays in it before, so Japan shouldn't be any different. I'm just hoping Brook will be ok. He can be sensitive to that kind of thing - We'll have to be careful to drink lots of water.

So, the plan is: 4 days in Korea, 7 days in Japan, and then 3 days in Korea (including my birthday!). We're going to Osaka and Kyoto in Japan. Both places look fascinating. Woohoo! Dreams of this holiday are going to keep me going for the next couple of months.

Ok, today's five things:

1) I had salmon and eggs for breakfast. Salmon is so cheap here!

2) Lots of fun teaching today.

3) The prospect of spending even a couple of hours with an unblocked nose...

4) Gorgeous weather, again. It's so much easier to be happy when it's sunny.

5) I talked to all my peeps on Skype over the weekend (apart from you mum!). It was really good to catch up and find out how everyone is :)

Sunny Sunday!

It is such a nice day today! And yesterday too. In fact, yesterday was wonderful!! Someone adopted my rabbit, so I took her into Seoul and gave her to the guy, Arthur, who was very nice. The bus trip with her was easy as anything, and it all went super well. So, I am now rabbit free - which is a relief, the place feels so clean now!

After dropping Kyle off, I went to Myeongdong to have my summer shopping spree - and oh, what a day! I went mainly to two stores - Forever 21 and UniQLO, both cheap but nice (and big!!) clothing chain stores that carry sizes that fit me. $200 later and I'm decked out for summer - two new dresses, work skirt, short shorts, and some staples like new black and white singlets, new black t-shirt, that kind of thing. The UniQLO store actually has REALLY nice basics kind of stuff made from this smooth fabric. I also got these neat 'ultra-seamless' undies, you can almost not even see them when I'm wearing them, they just looking like skin, and are very comfy, so really good for under white skirts or tight dresses.

And now, for mum, here's most of the interesting stuff I got yesterday:

New stripy dress (channelling you mum!) and old cardi.

I'm a prude, and while I like the dress, the neckline is too low for me. hence the cardi.

I'm bringing sexy back. With my back. Get it? Back, back? Ohhh, never mind then.

Work skirt, new singlet and cardigan (which although it doesn't look it here is really light-weight).

Short shorts and floral blouse.

Totally not my usual, but I LOVE this top.

And this dress. It's cute!

And I'm pretty sure I can wear it to work with the cardi.

That's my weekend adventure. The end :)