Cake for breakfast Friday

I had a nice evening alone last night. It was good to just lay on my bed, put on some music, and stare at the ceiling for a few hours. I also made myself cry a bit to see if it would help. Might have. I'm feeling a bit better today, anyway. I'm doing lots of thinking and I'm learning some stuff about myself that I want to work on changing. Not bad things, necessarily, but stuff I do that makes it hard for people to really get to know me. Like I think I'm too strong and independent at times. I need to not make people feel like I don't need them at all. Which is a problem, because I don't want to need people, because when you need them and then they leave, it's awful. Buuuut, better to have loved and lost and all that crap, right? Meh.

Anyway, today's top five:

1) Luke again gets a special mention for providing the best email conversation. Made my day more interesting.

2) I had cake for breakfast. Not a part of the eating plan at all, but this week, anything goes. Next week = back on track.

3) Lunch was not bony fish. I consider this a huge success! Yesterday's was :(

4) Mr. B. is being REALLY nice to me lately. He was totally dedicated to getting my aircon fixed, and he says hello to me every morning, and he just told me that all the questions I wrote for the end of semester test are 'wonderful'. I either did something right, he's in a good mood, or he wants something. Maybe my consistently sunny disposition is finally winning him over.

5) Big group dinner tonight - we're going for chicken. We = Courtney, her work mates, her Mike, work Mike, Andy, and maybe Nyasha and her workmates. Should be a fun night!

It gets weirder Thursday

What the eff is going on with my life right now? I did not seek any of this out! It's actually really funny if you're not me :D Ok, it's kind of funny to me too. Only I have to deal with feeling constantly ill to my stomach and being able eat about 5 mouthfuls of food before wanting to throw up. Stress is not so good. If I could just skip this shit, that would be great. Anyway, latest interesting thing: Luke just emailed me out of the blue. This is not especially amazing, but the timing is uncanny. For those of you who don't remember, Luke is 'Mr Palmerston North' from over 4 years ago. Haven't seen or heard from him in years, and he just emailed me to ask how I was doing. I have no idea where he is or what he's doing now - I'd be completely unsurprised to hear he's got a wife and kids, it was what he really wanted years ago. But, then again, people change.

Anyway, I'm going to buy a couple of nice chocolate bars or something and just spend some time alone this evening. I've been so busy lately, I've barely had time to think and I think it's time for me to take some time out and let the thoughts come. Might be healthier. Might be time for me to be 'not okay' for a few days.

Anyway, today's five:

1) The lovely girl in my after school class - it's her birthday today. I've planned a birthday lesson with a big game of ESL 'Cranium' and bought a cake for the class to share. If nothing else, the cake should go down well.

2) Tomorrow is Courtney's leaving party. I'm really sad she's going, but happy that I can go to a party to say goodbye.

3) I was really early for the bus this morning because I went to get the cake, so I stopped in at Cafe Bene and got an iced blueberry tea. It was so nice, and a really relaxing way to start the morning. Maybe I should have a hot chocolate this afternoon.

4) Um, so no one showed up for after school class. Which was good in two ways: I got to go home early AND I got to keep the cake :D

5) Luke's email was actually really nice and it was good to catch up.

Here's some tuna pics:

Ok, not tuna, but cake!

Butterfly Wednesday

The post title sounds transformational, doesn't it? Well, sorry to disappoint - I just saw some butterflies :)

I'm feeling a little more settled today, but not by a whole lot. I'm still finding it a bit difficult to eat much. Lunch today was one of weirder concoctions I've had in Korea - fried chicken tenders covered in hot (sweet) fruit salad. It wasn't horrible, but I'm not really a fan. So, I picked all the chicken out and ate it, then started on the salad. A few mouthfuls in though, and I almost couldn't swallow. I think the poor teachers at work think I'm anorexic or something. A good appetite is kind of a sign of good health here.

Anyway, because Courtney forgot her bank card some time over the weekend and I paid for everything for her, she's taking me out for tuna tonight. It's a bit pricey, but it's delicious all you can eat raw tuna served in a bunch of different ways. I've had it once before and loved it. I have to remember to take photos this time.

Today, no teaching again! Mr B. just told me to work on the English exam questions. I finished them a few hours ago and have spent the last little while emailing friends and looking at photos on Facebook. I had a pleasant lunch time though. I went outside and sat under the trees. There were about three different types of butterfly flying around, a light breeze, and the biggest ants I've ever seen.

It's only Wednesday, but my weekend is already looking packed. Mike is throwing Court a leaving party on Thursday or Friday, C and I are going into Seoul to go to T.G.I. Friday's for dinner and to see Men in Black III, and then I'm going to the rose festival with Laura on Sunday. Should be good!

Ok, today's five:
1) Tuna!

2) Butterflies.

3) My aircon got fixed - yay!

4) Sun is good.

5) Late start in the morning :)

Pretty crappy Tuesday

Well. On top of sad life news that I'm not going to write about (suffice to say, July in Japan is NOT happening), Mr. B. just told me he thinks the lesson plan I made for our open class next week is "maybe a little bit boring". Uh huh. He said it has no whole class games or 'sing a song', which apparently makes it boring. It has a video of a guy blending an i-phone, a dog riding a skateboard and a guy who can smash toilet seats with his head - how is that boring? When I asked him what he would like changed, though, he just got confusing and started talking about group leaders and that 7 minutes was too short - seriously, I had no idea what he was trying to say. English was coming out of his mouth, but it made no sense. I said "Mr. B., I don't understand. Do you want me to change the activities?". Then he said "no". Oooookay. He said we can do a run through of the lesson early next week and then change it if need be. That actually is a good plan coming from him.

I just looked through it again, and I think I did a good job. But, I kind of HAVE to think that today, or I might throw up :)

Point in Mr. B.'s favour - he remembered about my airconditioner. He told me last week to make sure I'd taken the cover off it, that that might be why it's not working. I went home and checked, and it didn't have a cover. On Monday morning, he actually remembered and asked me about it! I said that no, it still wasn't working, so now he's organised for a aircon service man to come around tomorrow after school. Originally he wanted me to give him the passcode to my door so the service man could go in at lunchtime today, but after some explanation I got him to understand I didn't want a strange man in my house when I wasn't there. Mr B. thought my problem was that they'd know my passcode, but I don't want people in my house when I'm not there. All my stuff, including laptop and a fair bit of cash is in there. Anyway, it worked out in the end. Apparently they guy will be around after 6pm tomorrow. Hopefully then I'll have some cold air.

Now, because Japan has to be cancelled I need somewhere new to go for my summer break. I will go to Japan, but not now. I could go to a beach resort area of Taiwan, back to Hong Kong (DisneyLand!), or check out Macau. I could go all the way to Thailand or buck up and try the Philippines. Or stay in Korea and visit the East coast. A few people (mainly Koreans) have told me recently how great the east coast is. Today is not the day for these decisions, though :) Maybe staying and exploring Korea is a good idea.

Ok, in the name of continuing wellbeing, here's today's five things. I'm warning you though, they might be a bit pathetic.

1) I enjoyed listening to my music on the bus this morning.

2) Mr. B asked me to write the listening section of the end of semester English tests, so at least I have some work to do.

3) I look really nice today.

4) I'm seeing Courtney for dinner tonight.

5) Today was one of the weirdest days of my life. I'm not sure if the universe is helping or laughing its ass off. Seriously, WTF?

Wonderful weekend Monday

Oh. My. God.

My body now hates me.

You know how I said how when some people stop eating wheat and sugar and then after some time they eat it again and get sick, but that didn't happen to me? Well, guess what? It happened to me. I ate almost nothing but sugar yesterday, and it was awfully amazing. I kept getting all energized and feeling like I wanted to run around, and then I'd crash and just want to sleep, then eat, and repeat. Then, last night, after my day of sugar, I couldn't sleep. It took me hours to fall asleep, then finally fell asleep at maybe 12.30, 1am. Then, I woke up at 4.45am with both my hands gone totally numb (little finger on my right hand was scary numb), and couldn't go back to sleep. So, I got maybe five hours sleep last night, max. Also, this morning, my digestive system hates me and I've got an upset tummy. I'm going to try my best NOT to do that again. But, and interesting experiment.

And now, the events leading up to the Ultimate Sunday of Sugar!

Friday night I met up with Andy for dinner. Yet another things my stupid brain wanted me to weasel out of but I didn't. (Seriously, what's up with that? That's three things I've not wanted to do but made myself and they've all been great. Lesson = learned!). Anywho, Andy is a Korean guy I met on the horse racing/Seoul Zoo meetup I did. He lives about 10 minutes drive away from Osan. So, he came and picked me up and we went for dinner. We didn't end up having Korean food, but we did have some rather delicious steak. Then we went for a walk in the park and he took me home. Nice night out :)

On Saturday I spent the day just playing StarWars, cleaning, shopping, etc. Then, in the evening, Courtney and I were meeting up for Shabu-shabu, and I invited Andy along to meet Courtney. Again, good food and good company. After dinner we went to an awesome park for a walk. It had a little river, and all these lights that changed colour, and frogs! While we were at the park, Courtney brought up the idea of having a picnic the next day, so we decided to do that.

Sunday morning I had a chat to Mum and Brook, which was great. Then, in the afternoon, Andy came and picked up Courtney and I and we went to the American Air-force Base where Andy works. Neither Court nor I had ever been anywhere like it. You can't just go there, as a civilian, but Andy was allowed to have us a s guests. He showed us around and we had lunch at an American restaurant. 

The air base was pretty interesting. It's just like a little town, but walled off and there's the odd person in army fatigues with a massive gun wandering around :D It's all very orderly, and very beige! I got the feeling that the air force people could probably be on a base just about anywhere in the world and it'd look pretty much the same.

We went to this American chain restaurant called 'Chillis' for lunch. Quite funny because I've just been reading about that same restaurant in the book about food manufacturing. I was keen to see what it was like. Well, all the prices were in American dollars, and we had to tip - which Court had to work out for me because I've never done it. I ordered apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream, which was about the most American thing ever :) And a total sugar overload. It was very nice, though. Haha, but both Court and Andy were a bit confused at me ordering dessert for lunch, and kept offering me their food too. The flavours in my apple thing were all really intense, and while it was nice, I don't want it again. It was sweet, creamy, salty, cinnamon, vanilla, and a tiny hint of apple. And so much sugar it burned!

After lunch we went to a buddhist temple up in the hills and had a walk and a look around. I don't know how they do it, but Buddhists make their areas so peaceful and calming. I went inside the temple, and the sense of peace was almost overwhelming. I just wanted to sit there, smell the incense and take it in. But, Court was waiting outside, so I didn't. Maybe another time. It was really nice up there, though.

Then we went down to the river and had an afternoon/evening picnic. Which just means we sat on a blanket on the ground for hours talking, and C managed to drink an entire bottle of wine herself. So, by the evening she was pretty happy :D

So, to finish off the evening, C and A had a small dinner (I was too full to eat anything!), and then about 10pm we called it a night and all went home. It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday. Both Courtney and Andy were a lot of fun and are such nice people. I'm super glad I've met both of them.

And that is all for the weekend. And no more sugar for me for a day or two. I'll have to be better socially - I can't go sugar overdosing every time I'm out with friends!

OK, Monday - Today!
Again, no teaching for me at all. I'm going to have to start writing another article or something, before I go crazy. Well, summer holidays are coming, so I do need to start planning summer camp in the next few weeks. Although, it makes it a bit tricky when no one knows what level or how many kids will be in the classes, but I can deal with it.

Today's five:

1) Some Maroon 5 song was playing at lunch. It was Awesome with a capital 'A'. Some of lyrics went something like: "Those fairytales are full of shit. If I hear one more fucking love song, I'll be sick". Hehe, played at full volume throughout the school. Made me giggle, but no one else seems to notice.

2) The lovely not-all-there-kid (Not the always-says-hi-to-me-kid) loves soccer. Seriously loves it. He comes and talks to me about soccer in 99.9% Korean with the odd English word thrown in. Today he was standing on the field and the ball rolled over to him. The other boys asked him to kick it back, and then let him join in their game. Wow, he was so freakin' happy it makes me smile just to think about it. He kept looking over and giving me the thumbs up :)

3) Babies laughing are awesome.

4) I went for a lovely walk in the rain.

5) Life is good.

One class on a Friday

It's much cooler today than it has been for the past little while. I wonder if it's going to start raining soon. Apparently the really hot, wet, muggy weather should start soon and last through until August. Not really looking forward to that :)

Today has been just another normal day. I did get to teach one whole class this morning, though. Quite exciting. Sadly, lunch was not. Icky baby frankfurter sausages in sweet bbq sauce with smooshy noodles, seaweed, and some mushed gross spinach thing, along with spicy bony fish soup. My broccoli was nice,

Tonight I'm going out to dinner with a Korean friend I met at the meetup a few weeks ago. Don't know where we're going... mystery dinner! On the weekend I'm getting together with Laura to go to the rose festival at Seoul Grand Park. I'm quite looking forward to that, it should be really nice.

Today's five:

1) Got to teach a class, so for 45 minutes I was not stuck at my desk.

2) Going for dinner tonight - hopefully get to try some new Korean food.

3) I started reading a really interesting book about the food industry and all the things they do to design the 'food' they make so that people want to eat more of them. It's fascinating! The book is quite good in that it's not trying to vilify the industry, which I appreciate. I mean, I think what they're doing is disgustingly unhealthy, but people want it - badly. They're not evil, they are just working on such a different mental planet from someone trying to eat 'natural' foods.

4) Had a great bodyweight workout this morning.

5) I got a seat on the bus! Second to last one :)

Memorial Day Yesterday Thursday

Yesterday was a day off work, and I had an amazing day! Courtney invited me to come along with her and some Korean ladies she knows to go into Seoul. My first thought was "nah, how can I get out of that", and then, once again, I was like "Shut up Sam and tell her yes". So I did. 

I met up with her and the ladies (5 Korean ladies and 4 of their younger children) at Osan City Hall in the morning where we caught a bus and then the train into central Seoul. We went for an awesome walk around some traditional Korean neighbourhoods full of lovely architecture, greenery, and cute little shops and galleries. The sun was out and everyone was so nice and friendly. Some of the ladies spoke great English and others were more unsure, but all were funny and great company.

After walking for a few hours we went for lunch and I tried ice cold noodles. It's a common summer dish in Korea. It's a lot of noodle, as Courtney put it :) I enjoyed it, but it wasn't good enough to want again. After lunch we got some Hagen Daaz ice cream - I got dulce de leche flavour and it was amazing!

Then we walked over Insadong, a traditional shopping area of Seoul and looked at all the handmade fans, jewellery, art, and snacks. I got a bracelet that I love from an old Korean guy making them at his stall. The we were all knackered and sunburnt, so went back to Osan.

Nyasha called Courtney on our way home and wanted to have dinner, so we asked the Korean ladies for a recommendation. We ended up going to a shabu-shabu restaurant, which is so cool because I've been meaning to find one and go for ages! Nyasha, Courtney and I had a good catch up and at ALL the food!

Shabu-shabu comes in three courses here. First you eat the meat and vege boiled in the broth, then you get noodles and boil them in the broth and eat them, then you make a thick rice porridge out of all the leftovers and eat that. All for $11 a person. We were all stuffed!! It was very nice, too.

So, from start to finish, a lovely day!

Back to work today, though. Another day with no classes. I'll try for after school class AGAIN today :) I have been pretty busy at my desk though. Mr B. says we have another open class on Wednesday the 20th, so I've done all the lesson planning and materials prep for that. I just finished. But I'm not going to give it to Mr B. for a few days. He always seems a bit annoyed if I'm too quick to finish things for him. Maybe feels threatened or something.

OK, today's 5:

1) fantastic day yesterday

2)Lots of sun!

3) Had some good work to do today.

4) I finally remembered to tell Mr B. my aircon doesn't work. He made a phone call, don't know what'll happen now.

5) I've got bacon, letuce, and avocado in my fridge! Bring on the breadless BLA for dinner.

*       *        *

So, one kid turned up for class (and then another one after about 25 minutes). Mr B said to just finish at 5:30, so she spent a good 20+ minutes writing this message on the board. It was a really good effort for her!

And here's the cute beagle puppy: