Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving and other pics of the neighborhood and adventures.

These are my students last week dressed for Chuseok in the traditional outfits called a Hanbok.  

Aren't they cute looking?

Below the students and I are making songpyeon. Songpyeon are half-moon-shaped rice cakes that are filled with sesame seeds and honey.  They are steamed and then eaten.

Here are the students ready to play a traditional Korean game.  They had to throw three sticks that you will see below and how they landed effected the moves they could do on a game board that was on an easel.  Also the students did Korean Wrestling, which I do not have pictures of.  The students would take off their shoes, sit on a mat, wrap their arms around their legs and push... Whoever pushed the other off the mat was the winner.  You could not use your hands for Korean Wrestling.

Below the students are doing a traditional dance that in English is called Open the Gate.  The song is in Korean  and the students walk in a circle.  Two people are the gate in the London Bridge Style.  When the song comes to a certain part the people that are the gate lower their arms around the person walking through and then the new person has to be the gate.  

In modern South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans as they return to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of their ancestors.  So many students left Seoul to go to various places around the world.  

Here is a silly picture of my class.  You can see co-teacher Melissa on the left and Korean Teacher Phoebe in the middle. 

Here are some neighborhood pictures, here is a dog that was following me around the one day before work, isn't he cute?  He looked well cared for so I think he just hangs out walking around.  I have seen him before in the neighborhood.  There are also cats that walk around the neighborhood and the shop owners put out cat food for them.

Here are pictures of buildings in the neighborhood, this building is getting rebuilt so it is wrapped up.

 Here is an alley near my building.  notice the mirrors are turned in on the cars, everyone does that.  Actually most of the cars automatically fold up their mirrors when the car is locked.  Also, people park on the sidewalk here which is really unusual.  When you are walking there are mopeds on the sidewalk, some are delivering food like pizza, fried chicken, and McDonalds, yes in Korea you can get McDonald's delivered to your home!  Also, on the sidewalk there are bikes and cars park on the sidewalk, so you have to be constantly on the lookout when walking, haha.

 Look at the outfit below, Many woman wear hats when walking.  Actually many wear full face masks to protect their skin and masks to keep pollution out.  I will have to get some pictures of some people in the park in full gear.  They will have packs on their backs, walking sticks(picture people on the Appalachian Trail) water bottles, hiking books, hiking pants, hiking jackets, full face mask, full hat on their head and even sometimes sunglasses.  It is a site to behold.

 Here is an interesting car elevator in the neighborhood.

Here is a great bakery, Paris Baguette.  They are all over the city.

On Wednesday we did a wine party, the fellow teachers and I.  Everyone brought wine or food and we just had a nice time with each other.  I brought cheddar cheese, colby jack cheese, crackers and chocalate covered almonds.  Other teachers brough brie, other cheese and many snacks. We are all hanging out in Morgan's Apartment.  We had 12 people and drank 10 bottles of wine!  Luckily Morgan lives one floor away, haha.  

Some of the girls went out after the party to go to the bar and they saw a guy jerking off in the alley, which they screamed when they saw it.  Then about thirty seconds later they saw another guy beating off in the alley and they screamed even more.  They were in hospital gowns and sometimes the patients go out to restaurants or for walks, or for more dirty things........  Actually walking to school the one day there was a guy peeing in the alley.  And one time when I was walking home I heard a guy unzip his pants, I kept walking.... then I heard lots of really loud farts.  I looked back when I turned the corner to see if he was taking a shit or not... He was not.  

Who unzips their pants to fart?

  I 

 Here are some views from the roof at my apartment building.  Notice the many crosses from the churches. 

Here's a 360 degree shot of the roof that I did on my phone.

The Apartment

Here are the windows in the apartment.

Here is the view out of the windows.

Here is the building across the street.

Here is looking out of the balcony down six stories.

This is the building across the street from me.

Another view from the balcony.

Here is how I get into my apartment.  All I do is enter my pin number and I can get in.  I have no keys to carry with me ever and I don't have to worry about getting locked out of my apartment.

A robot decal I got to go around the light switch.

The stove cooktop.  I just turn on the gas and then turn the knob and the burner lights.

A funny decal for the bathroom, Twinkle my tooth.

This is my favorite decal, Cheer Up!!! that bowel movement is almost over!

Here's the bathroom, as you can see the shower and toilet are quite close.  Also, it can get moldy in the the bathroom, so it's important to clean.  Actually many of the teachers said in the summer it is so humid that mold can be a problem.  the bathroom door is moldy on the bottom, so I wrapped the door with packing tape to seal the mold in.  haha

The living room, bedroom.  The bathroom door is to the right.

Another decal I got for the door.  Shhhhh! the baby is slipping!