Five on Thursday

Guess what? I've signed up to go paragliding in a couple of week! I've been wanting to try it for years, and now I can! I'm pretty damn excited :)

Also, it's Thursday - making tomorrow Friday! I only have a half day of work tomorrow - so the weekend will start early. Awesome!

Today's five things:

1) I did deadlift reps at my own bodyweight!! Yup, I lifted 60kg! It's been a goal for a little while and I hit it today, so I', really happy! Now I just have to get the rest of my lifts as strong.

2) This song:

3) Kumara oven wedges with mayonnaise...mmmmmm.

4) Relaxing evenings listening to music and reading a good book and knowing I can do whatever I like whenever I want to.

5) Nearly the weekend!

Five on a Tuesday

Yes, I'm still alive. No, I haven't blogged in a while. I just lost the urge there. I'm not sure if I'll start up again consistently or not. So, things have changed a bit since I've been gone! I'm currently living (though it feels more like 'perching' in my co-workers house while she is away for the summer. it's great because the house is lovely, rent free, and I can walk to work. It's not so great because it's not mine and I feel quite unsettled. However, I have joined a local gym and am making friends at work (like, outside of work), so life is good. Due to reasons I won't go into, I've had to cut Andy completely out of my life, and I think that's for the best.

One major drawback to my current living situation is that there is no air conditioning. It's not so much that it's brutally hot, but the humidity is horrible. My snacking behaviour is also getting a bit out of control, and I'm starting to feel the effects of eating processed food. So, feeling unsettled and sticky, and a tad 'out of sorts', I've decided to update with five things that I am grateful for, or that made me happy today:

1) My best friend, Amy. We manage to crack each other up even via text message. She is one first class human being!

2) Work! It's currently summer camp time, and I'm teaching two of the most wonderful classes. The students are so much fun, so motivated, curios, and interesting.

3) My co-workers. They are just as bizarre as me, and never a day goes by where I don't laugh out loud at something or someone. They are also kind, considerate, and helpful.

4) I can make it on my own. I've been without Andy (aka my Korean helper) for over two weeks and have managed to do everything I need without him.

5) I am grateful for flipflops. They are quick, easy, and comfortable. Not to mention they keep your feet cool and it doesn't matter if they get soaked in the monsoon.

More photos Wednesday

Today is ESL mid-term exam day. That doesn't mean anything much very exciting, except I'm going out with work afterwards for dinner, which should be fun. Here's another half-hearted update because I don't feel like typing :)

First - this is the Dongdaemun fabric market. It's really huge!

This is the building from the outside. 6 or 7 floors of fabric and fabric crafting stuff.
Awesome and totally overwhelming!

This is in Myeongdong. These guys freak me out.

Traditional Korean dining.

Traditional fermentation of soybean paste

Pork galbi!

Bugs. They taste like bugs.

Drawers are finished! Kinda funky :D

Cherry Blossom Sunday

Spring has sprung!

Back to five things Wednesday

Yes, I've been slack again :) I'm not *that* super busy, but somehow all my time goes... somewhere!
This past weekend I found a gym I want to join, bought some shoes for hiking, went to a wedding, worked on my trash-drawers, watched some Grey's Anatomy (AKA: best show on Earth), and just about strangled Andy. Not really his fault, he's just a naturally annoying person.

But, anyway, some photos:

Funny warning on the back of the knife I bought. hehe "keep the scissors out of children" :D *stab stab*

My drawers 'before'. Stay tuned for an 'after' one day soon.

Fittata in a rice cooker

Dark chocolate almond banana

My new shoes

All dressed up for Andy's friend's brother's wedding.

And now, back to five things so far this week that have been awesome:

1) Having Monday off is amazing

2) I found a gym and will be joining this week

3) I'm having a lot of fun redecorating the drawers

4) I made a lovely carbonara over zucchini for dinner last night

5) It's been really sunny - I hope it holds out until Saturday, I'm going hiking again :)

Got my hair done Monday

Oooh, two posts in one day :)

I went to Dongtan on the bus this moring (I love Dongtan) to go to 'Blue Ocean Hair Salon', which had been recommended to me by another foreigner here in Osan. I booked in last week for a perm! Yeah, the permanent curly kind. It's been on my bucket list for a while, and I finally got up the courage to get it done.

Well, it took a good 2 hours and involved these funky plug-in hair rollers and a lot of waiting, but $65 later, I was curly! It's a lot messier than I wanted, but I think that's just how they styled it for me. They put some wax gunk in it, and to me it just looks like my hair is dirty. We'll see what happens on Wednesday when I wash my hair :D

And, without further ado, some pictures:

'Before'

After!

It's growing on me the more I look at it :)

Hiking update Monday

I'm being super slack about keeping up with my blog, I know. And then, when I do feel like updating, I get overwhelmed thinking I have to write so much, but it's my blog, so I can write little if I want to :D

So, on Saturday I went hiking  It was supposed to be an easy beginners hike, but conditions changed and we had to hike a different way and it was very steep - scaling rock faces and climbing up and down very steep paths with ropes. It even started to snow at the end of the hike! It was a really awesome day, though, and something I'll definitely do again.

Here's a video one of the group made of the hike (not me!), followed by my photos: