Pajama Party

We had a pj party on Friday, and it was a lot of fun.  All of the kids (and teachers) came in their pjs.  All of the kids were so cute in their pjs!  I couldn't believe it!  And they brought their stuffed animals, too.  

These are my kids in their pjs.  Too cute, yes?!

These are the blue jays.  They're my second favorite class.

Justin and Peter are best friends and they walk around the hall saying, "two little dragons" with their arms around the others' shoulder.  The girls are Raina, Aileen, Selina and Stella.  Two of the kids from this class were absent.  

Well anyway, they got into their pjs and ate a summer soup made of milk and corn.  It looked pretty good but I couldn't try it.  Then, we did the "Cool Cucumber" activity where the kids wore a cucumber facial mask.  So.  Cute.  They didn't really like it at first, especially the boys, but then they were all asking for more.

Eric ended up liking it a lot more than he thought he would.

All of the girls LOVED it.

Look at how good Joonyoung is being!  ❤

Kyle didn't like them on his eyes.

Then ALL of the kids (Kindy and Pre-K) went into the library and we did an activity where the teachers did a little fun competition and the kids had to pick which teacher they think would win.  

This is only half of the kids....

There was arm wrestling, who could drink a cup of coke the fastest, hula hooping, etc.  I won the pencil sharpening contest.  Hollah!

It was a fun time!  We have a field trip next week, which should be a lot of fun, as well!

I wish there would be more pajama parties because it is comfortable teaching in pjs!

And I just have to add this picture of Kyle because he's so funny.  His little pants are so weird and he always has this adorable cross-eyed look on his face.

Summer Vacation Part 2- Aquarium, North Seoul Tower and Seoul Forest

On Wednesday I went back to the COEX area to the aquarium.  They have some really cute stuff there but the place was PACKED!!!  I normally don't feel claustrophobic, but that it was pretty bad there.  I guess everyone is on vacation!

Some ugly fish.

They had fun fish tanks, such as this fake phone booth...

...and this poor little fish in a toilet.  They also had ones in a fridge and washing machine.

Weird puff fish.

Fish hanging out in a mailbox with Spider-Men

A sleeping bat.

Hedgehogs!!  Not too sure what they have to do with aquariums, but they're cute anyway.

Manatees

Seals being fed

Hanging out with some penguins.

Korean stumpy bullhead.

The next place that I visited was the North Seoul Tower.  It is one of the main landmarks of Seoul, but I don't think it is as cool as the Space Needle.  But it definitely has a great, but hazy, view of the city.  I had to walk up a huge hill from a subway station and then ride a cable car up to Namsan Park, which is where the tower is located.  

Like I said...hazy

Apparently the thing to do there is buy a lock and write something on it with you and your lover's name and leave it there.

One of the last places I visited was Seoul Forest.  It is a very nice place and also quite new.  I think it was an industrial area that got torn down to build a park.  There is lots of greenery and super loud cicadas.  Not very much wildlife, though.  But there is an "eco forest" where they have some deer that you can feed.

I found my Korean Uncle Blue!

Ah..feels like home.  This was in the insect garden.  Which was basically dead bugs on display and other miserable looking ones in tiny terrariums.

Nom nom.  Some of the deer let me pet them :)

He is saying Hello.

I also visited a few markets.  There's an area with floors of electronic stuff and ones that sell kitchy things that you would find in a Chinatown area (excepts it's Korean stuff, yeah?).

Some street food.  I would have tried some but I wasn't hungry.

Sadly, it is now Sunday so my vacation is nearing an end.  I had a very good time and it was really nice to visit around.  I still have a lot of places that I still would like to visit on a list, so I will be doing that over the weekends.  Take care!

-Suz

Summer Vacation Part 1- Shopping, Bukchon Village, Palace and Museum

We only get two weeks of vacation per year so I just had my vacation.  I stayed in Seoul and visited everywhere that I could so I could get a better feel for the city.  

On Sunday, July 28, I visited the COEX shopping center.  It is a huge shopping mall underground.  They have a whole bunch of shops and a huge Hyundai Department Store that sells anything you would ever need.  

Bakeries

Fish

Expensive groceries

Massive octopus tentacles....

....along with assorted dried fish.

And yummy looking rice thingies!

On Monday, I went to go visit Changdeokgung Palace but it was closed, as are most things on Monday.  I found that out the hard way.  But I was close to the Bukchon Village area, which "is a residential area, so quiet sightseeing is essential."  It was a nice place to walk around.

The next day, I returned to the palace and took a couple of tours.  This first one is through "The Secret Garden," which was very pretty.  It is odd that a huge palace with a massive garden is located practically in the middle of a huge urban area.

Entrance to the palace

This was my guide for Garden and Palace tours.

Standing on a wood floor that is 400 years old.

This is where they built fires to heat the rooms.  It would circulate through the floor.  They still use heated floors now but I think it is hot water pipes that run underneath the floor.  Smart, really because it keeps your feet warm and hot air rises!

Standing on a bridge that is 600 years old.

This is the building with the throne room.

These stones lined both sides and marked who should stand where based upon ranking when the king came through.

The throne.

Very colorful painting.  I think that circular pillars are only used for royalty.  All others should be square.

An adorable chipmunk stuffing its cheeks.

The palace tour took most of the day, but I went to visit the National History Museum of Korea, which only opened in 2005.  But admission is free, like at all good museums!!  I didn't have much time there so I returned on Saturday and took a tour.  I had a funny little guide lady.  She was very short but walked extremely fast.  The only problem was that she didn't speak loudly enough.  Methinks she is a volunteer....

There are some really neat things there.  Asian culture is so old that it makes America seem like a newborn baby.

This is the nice entrance area

I like this hand-less Korean Buddha because he looks so happy!

Ten story stone pagoda that took about ten years to renovate.