Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

This is me waving to you across the ocean on Christmas Eve. It's also me waving good-bye to Korea and hello to Thailand, woohoo! Love you all so much, please take care and have a lovely, peaceful, and joyful Christmas. XOXO

Yay Christmas

I heart Christmas. I can't help it...yes, there's a LOT of tackiness, I agree, and I'm not a fan. But there's a lot of prettiness too, and I especially love the getting-togetherness of the season. Speaking of which, A and I are going to a nice Italian restaurant today, after which we are going to a bboy (breakdance) show as our Christmas presents to each other. Korean bboys are some of the best in the world...so...hopefully photos to follow! :) For now, here are some Christmas pics around town:

Outside a Starbucks:
Inside the Starbucks. The Korean script below the cup actually just spells out Toffee Nut Latte (To-pi-nut-la-tay):
Little house party at my place:
And my super-awesome kinders yesterday after their Christmas concert:
My 4 mischievous little Santas:
Happy Christmas weekend everyone! xoxo

Boys' Choirs

My new favourite music for classtime when my kids are doing seatwork is boys' choirs. Truly, I feel like crying sometimes, the music is so extraordinarily beautiful. Here are two of my favourites:

Santa & the Space-Time Continuum

A ha. This from the Globe & Mail ~ read about Santa's use of nanotechnology to get around the world in one night (or 6 Santa months).

Shoes Hurled at President Bush

From the BBC this morning. If you're looking for some entertainment, you can watch the video here.

7am in Seoul

The view from my window early this morning. Having been plagued with food poisoning for the duration of the weekend, I was unable to sleep this morning. It turned out to be a blessing, for when else do I take the time to truly enjoy the sunrise? Never-else. And despite my headache, it was truly a lovely couple of hours, just me, the sun, and my books.

Invasion of Christmas Crabs

Strange, entertaining, and a bit creepy.

heh heh

This is one of my kinders named Tirano. We visited a museum last week, and upon entering the dinosaur room, he exclaimed, "Teacher! It's a Tirano-saurus!"
In case you don't have enough sin in your life, you can now add it to your coffee in powder form:
When you just can't get those lips and eyes to come off:
And 'your way' I guess includes potato salad in Korea:

Driftwood Horse

Found this in my wanderings on the internet today.

Me in the 50s.

Gwanak Mountain

Oh how I heart Korean fall/winter! Yes, it's December 2, and yes, I walked around without a coat today. 11 degrees Celcius. :D

It's also perfect for hiking, which I haven't done nearly enough of this time around in Korea. Finally did get out to a nice little mountain the other day with a few friends. It's called Gwanak Mountain, and it's pretty close to the racetrack. About an hour by subway from where I live (everywhere is an hour away by subway it seems...good for reading).

C & J. J pointing out that he's pretty sure we're on the path less traveled (and we were), and we were actually meant to be over there:

J taking a moment.
Me & A, my soul sista:
All views from Seoul mountains look the same: more mountains, and lots of lego-like buildings:

A nice surprise near the top ~ a temple:


C enjoying one of Korea's ubiquitous instant coffee machines, even at a temple on top of a mountain:J & A goofing around:
Kimchi pots:Hopefully get out hiking again this weekend. Enjoy your week! xoox

The Sunny Road

One of my favourite songs, by Emiliana Torrini.