Spice. Hello Kitty Cafe. Costco.

I survived! I made it though my first week of teaching. It was exhausting. I’ve been sleeping 9+ hours and still waking up tired. These kids wear me out, but I do love my job. It is harder than I thought. By the time I see my students they have been in class for 8-10 hours and they are tired and ready to play. It’s hard to get them all quite and working. I hope to improve my classroom management skills soon =)

This weekend Reuel, Jamie, and I went to Myeongdong. We meet up with Arri there. Arri is really good friends with one of my sorority sisters at UCF. We got each other's contact info and meet up. She is just starting her second year of teaching in S. Korea and was really fun to have around. She knew great places to explore and we all hit it off right away.

Myeongdong is an area in central Seoul and has all the good shopping- H&M, Forever 21, Zara ect. The streets were PACKED with people. A bit overwhelming at times- I’m starting to get use to the crowds.

After shopping we went to Hongdae. There is a University in this part of town so that means great coffee shops and restaurants. We decided on Galbi Stew for dinner. It’s SPICY pork with veggies. It cooks on the table in front of you. It’s REALLY spicy.

Did I mention it was spicy? Probably the spiciest food I have ever eaten or will ever eat. Jamie took one bite and could not handle any more. Thankfully they give you a lot of side dishes so she ate on those. My nose ran, I had tears in my eyes, and my face was sweating. It was SO spicy. Reuel (who is Korean American) could not even handle it. Arri and I did pretty well. I actually loved it. It was just REALLY spicy =)

Afterward we needed something to cool our mouths off. We found the Hello Kitty Cafe to be the perfect place to accomplish this.

I can see this being ever little girl’s dream. It was soooo PINK! So girly. Coffee shops often serve fro yo here which I love- nice for when you don’t want a coffee. They also serve “bread”. Which is basically a really thick slice of warm bread with either chocolate or caramel sauce drizzled on it topped with whipped cream- it’s huge- and sooo good!

That’s fat baby- he’s traveling with me for a while. He really liked Hello Kitty Cafe.

Sunday we had our traditional Dos Tacos and Church. Very good as always- small groups start soon. I am very excited about this. I think it will be a great way to meet even more friends and find community.

After church we went to Costco and Jamie and I became members =). We said we were spouses so we could share a membership- they did not ask any questions- haha. Costco always has something American and exciting that you can not get at Lotte Mart (the Korean version of Walmart). This week I bought a Britta filter- my water tastes SOOO much better now.

Korean Thanksgiving is Monday- so we have a long weekend- we might go camping on a nearby island if all goes according to plan =) Rough life- I know ;)