Cherry Blossoms and Shufflin'

Geesh! I can't believe how fast this weekend has passed. Can I get my weekend back, please? This weekend was such an amazing weekend!! Yesterday, I went into Seoul with Jess and Lauren for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Before heading over to the festival, Lauren and I killed some time with some photo ops around Gwanghwamun.

With Haechi (Seoul's mascot)

hanging with an Australian penguin?

Afterwards, we made our way over to a park that sits right on the Han River. The Han River is a beautiful river that passes through Seoul and connects to the Yellow Sea. I cross this river every time I go into Seoul and it's breathtaking every time.

I made a bucket list of "must sees" in Korea and walking across one of the bridges that cross the Han River has been on my list. I was so soo excited to walk across and catch a much better view of Seoul.

little duck paddle boats you can rent

63 building (one of the tallest buildings in Seoul)

We then walked below the bridge and found another amazing view...

close-up of the tiles 

so amazing!

Later that evening, we traveled over to HaeBangChon (HBC) to try out Craftworks. I heard great reviews about this place and was so excited to try some local brews. 

Let me just move on over to updating you all about today. The BEST day everrr! I went into Hongdae today to check out a B-boy show that Nadine so graciously invited me to. B-Boying is a type of street dance that usually consists of music genres from house music to hip-hop. It was such an amazing show! And ladies...the men...mmmhmm ;) 

the girls <3

During the show the dancers had invited a few people up the stage for small skits. At the end of the show the dancers started free-styling to "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO. I hear this song literally everywhere I go in Korea. It's like Korea's second Anthem. Well to my surprise, I was suddenly pulled onto stage to shuffle with the dancers. Seriously, BEST MOMENT EVERRR!

Ahh so so much fun! I'm still all giddy inside over what just happened. Thanks again Nadine Teacha!! This next week I will be spending my time preparing for Tania and Lauren's visit. I can't wait!! Next weekend I'll be visiting the DMZ and even be in part of North Korea. I'll be sure to tell you all about it!


Miss you all so freakin' much! <3


-Jenn
xoxo

Easter Visits Korea!

Another holiday has passed in good ol' Korea and I'm here to tell you all about it. The weather has finally broke 50 degrees and I think I'm finally ready to retire my winter jacket. Thank goodness!!

This past Saturday evening, Lauren invited me to her church in Seoul for Easter Vigil. I was really interested in going to see the cultural differences in worship. Of course, the service we attended was in Korean so I had NO idea what was going on. It was still a great experience! One difference I noticed was that there was a lot of bowing...go figure!

Lauren's church

Foreigners with the Bishop

For Easter Sunday, I had brunch with two lovely ladies. Right outside of the restaurant were the biggest dogs I have ever seen. Literally! I'm still trying to figure out where they could possibly live, because the size of the apartments here are not enormous.

On Tuesday, we had an Easter celebration at school. I think it's so nice that our school tries to incorporate the American traditions into every holiday celebration. We had a jam packed day full of learning the story of Jesus and the Easter Bunny, making deviled eggs (so sooo good and MY idea!), and an Easter egg hunt.

little Isaac all in a mess

Matthew <3

Joshua's pig face

Today was Election Day in Korea and I was lucky enough to get the day off. I ventured into Seoul for some much needed retail therapy and literally shopped till I dropped. I'm really looking forward to the coming weeks. Just to name a few happenings... the Cherry Blossom Festival, B-Boy dance show, DMZ tour, and Tania and Lauren visit. Ahhh just so sooo excited!!


Miss you!
-Jenn
xoxo

Field Trips and Tea Houses

I've been horribly slacking on my updates throughout the last few weeks. Sorry about that! You can blame that on Bronchitis. Thanks to being around runny nosed kids and the changing weather, I caught Bronchitis. Needless to say I've been miserable for the last week. Luckily medical care in Korea is so amazingly cheap, that I was able to go to the doctor twice and get medicine all for under $50. Oh, and that's WITHOUT insurance. Go Korea!! 

no idea what type of medicine I'm taking,
but that's ok!

A little over a week ago we went on a field trip to the local children's science museum. I remember I loved going to Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh growing up and playing with all the science exhibits. So, I was so excited to take them here! 

watching TV on the ceiling

Most popular exhibit...throwing balls up a nose

a mouth full of children

This weekend I wanted to get out of the house for a few hours, so I met Lauren Teacha out in Seoul for lunch and to wonder the streets of Insadong. Lauren introduced me to the sweetest and most amazing street food in Korea. Haddeok is the name. I've passed vendors selling these several times while in Seoul and never stopped to try them. Basically it's fried dough with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. So so good!

haddeoks

While in Insadong, we decided to stop in a Korean tea house to warm up and try some tea. We went to an amazing little tea house that had nothing but fresh flowers EVERYWHERE, along with calming music and big ol' comfy couches. I tried the ginger tea. Yum!

The weather has finally started to slightly warm up. I'm still finding myself wearing my winter coat on a few days, but here's hoping to warmer weather in April. April is going to be such an exciting month. I have trips planned every weekend. I can't wait! I still miss and think of you all everyday. 

xoxo

-Jenn