Brooke's Korea

Spring is in full bloom over here!

April turned the county pink as everyone celebrates the CHERRY BLOSSOMS with literally cherry blossom everything from pink Starbucks lattes to pink convenience store hamburgers...

My new school is a lot more fun and interactive than my past experiences, as a student and a teacher! Plenty of theme days, field trips and events. The kids love it and it is really a new experience for me as a teacher. I feel like I'm learning just as much as the students!

One of my favourite parts is the cooking classes!

..and ALSO that I get a wholesome Korean lunch EVERYDAY!

We made pickles!!

LUNCH TIME!
These kids NEVER complain. Meals are always soup, rice, kimchi with varying veggies and meat dishes!

Sending lots of love!

Taking good care of myself and always eating well!

MY MOM AND MY SISTER ACTUALLY - FOR REAL - CAME TO VISIT ME!

This is true and quite frankly I still can't believe it! It was very surreal for them to come all this way to see me and get a little taste of what my life is really like.

It being their first MAJOR travel experience and their first time in ASIA - I give them both A+++s for attitude, effort and experience.

The sick/sad/funny reality of this trip was our family's unavoidable bad luck... Not that we have it too rough but it seems around every corner there are minor "inconveniences" that stop things from going exactly as planned...

STARTING WITH:

Karl and Mom missing their connecting flight in Beijing...
To fly all those hours and get SO CLOSE - only to be unlucky enough that a short(ish) delay in Chicago cost them a whole day... GREAT START.

Well at least they can add China to their list of countries travelled to.

After a not so pleasant night spent in a Chinese hotel... FINALLY they arrive in Seoul - Saturday evening.

After a quick shower and drink in my TINY apartment ...

... It was game on!!

First up was Korean BBQ of course... lots of meat!!

Then off to the bar to meet my friends "CHINGUS" who had been anxiously waiting the arrival of the Deacon Girls.

A little darts and matching Canada pins!

A late night didn't stop us from taking advantage of the shortened weekend!

We set off on the bus to Myeongdong - A very busy shopping district in Seoul. Thousands of stores and even more places to eat.

We got our nails done for the first time - Dr. FISH pedicures!
After a little peer pressure - we all dove in for this hilarious spa treatment. These little guys nibbled away at our dead skin leaving our feet feeling baby soft.

With limited time we tried to make the most of the day! - However, there was so much to see here that Karl and Mom made their way back to this district the next day while I was at work!!

**PROUD OF THEM**

After grabbing some unique but tasty travellers - we left Myeongdong for Gwangjang Market!

Here Sean treated us to an traditional Korean lunch and some interesting sights and smells at a traditional market!

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We saw a SUPER random, entertaining food/cooking themed LIVE performance. It was called NANTA and we were all left speechless by its original content...

I went to work every morning and the ladies stayed busy!

Monday - Back to Meyongdong for the ladies

Sean treated them to a Mani (Karl) and (real)Pedi (Mom)

Then off to Gyeongbokgung Palace all together - open every day of the year!... except for Tuesdays...
We made the most of the trip to Seoul and ran around in some Hanbok!

Then we walked the market streets and paid an artist $30 for this...

We drank wine and did some prep work!

Then they even had a short visit to my work! Where they got a glimp into my daily cuteness/crazyness!

We had a surprise *L*U*X*U*R*Y* movie night! Sean booked the tickets and when we arrived to the theatre we were lead to our own private living room for a viewing of Beauty and the Beast!