Lunar New Year Part 2

* After going hiking with the hiking club we went out to dinner. We went to the coolest restaurant ever! It was a fancy upscale seafood restaurant. Complete with a game room / arcade to entertain the kids, and a closed screen TV showing the dining parents what their kids are up to in the game room! How smart is that! You get to leave the kids in an arcade and watch them on TV as you enjoy a meal without them! Amazing! This restaurant also provided complementary mouth wash, tooth paste, and tooth brushes in the bathroom. I was so impressed!
* Speaking of impressive restaurants, I also went to my first ever sushi restaurant featuring a conveyor belt of food. I have been out for sushi before, but not one with a conveyor belt food delivery system; I had only seen this in movies. There are different colored plates on the belt indicating the prices. Red plates are $2, blue plates $1.50, and white plates $1.00. There were always two samples on a plate so Miea, another manager on the 7th floor, and I would share each plate. I had some rather interesting dishes. Some were really good like the crab roll, and others like the seaweed with apple slices and crab eggs, well, that was just um, interesting.
* Before going to dinner, Miea and I went for facials and massages.(We did not go to the massage place with a red and blue spinning barber pole out front!) Legitimate massage shops exist and each one features a different brand of beauty products that they exclusively use. We stripped down to just our leggings and a robe and hopped into our sleeping bags on the massage tables. We got our faces scrubbed, acupressure to our scalps, and massages to our backs and arms. We also both got masks applied that felt like thick frosting on a cupcake, and while we waited 15 mins or 20 mins for the masks to take effect, we both fell asleep. Thats how relaxed I was! I have gone for facials back home, and in Palm Springs, Costa Rica, and Mexico, and never have I been relaxed enough to fall asleep!
Since people do not tip here I hope that falling asleep was a nice way of showing how much I enjoyed the treatment. I guess if people really like it they show it by buying what is known as a "10 ticket." This gives you 10 pre-paid visits. I just might get a 10 ticket next time I go. An hour and a half facial and massage only cost $30!!! And if you get a 10 ticket its discounted and around 20$ a visit! Still, thats a lot of money to pay up front, but it is just around the corner from my home and I probably will go back. We shall see, I might treat myself, it would help me deal with all the stress at work.
* The stress at work is really high right now. My first book went out to the publisher last week, and the next three need to go out to the publisher this week. And I am also building the next books in the series. Because of this, Lucas will not be able to come out and visit me this week like we had planned. Boooooo! But its ok, I've come up we a better plan! Next month we will meet in Fiji instead. That way it will be a vacation for both of us!
* I went to a Nori Bang after work this week with Hui Kung and Dasom. A Nori Bang is a private karaoke room; Nori means singing and Bang means room. We had so much fun, they sang Korean love songs and I sung songs in English. Apparently I totally rocked Nora Jones' "Don't Know Why." I also taught the girls a few belly dancing moves to some of the Korean pop songs we dance to in class.
* I went to another great restaurant with Sunny and Hye Jung. They make all their own fresh breads daily at this restaurant. When we walked inside they had a table with different breads displayed and I got really excited because I thought the black bread was pumpernickel. Nope! Not even close! The girls explained to me that its black because of when the octopus is angry. Thats right, not black from rye seeds, but black from octopus ink. They said it was good for your health. So what else can I do but order it? "Try a little something new, try a little something different." I got the black bread pizza, which was more like a really large black tortilla with melted Gorgonzola cheese and pine nuts on top. Oh, and did I mention it was served with a bowl of honey for dipping? It was amazing! The flavors were great! I would definitely order it again, I loved it! And the honey really complemented the Gorgonzola well.
The other dishes we ordered were all wonderful as well. We also shared an Alfredo sauce pasta with ya-che (vegetables)served in a sour dough bread bowl. And they served it with an extra side of Alfredo sauce for dipping the pieces of bread bowl in. MMMmmmmmmmm! The only complaint about this restaurant was that it was kinda cold inside. But they did however provide complementary blankets to snuggle with so I was warm enough.
* I have been having a problem with my contact lens irritating my eye so I have been wearing my glasses this week. The down side to this is that my glasses are an older prescription. There are better than nothing though. I told my friend at work about this and she told me just to go to any eye glasses shop and they will fix it for cheap.
I went to the eye glasses shop I had seen by my house. I took with me a box of my contacts and a photographed copy of my prescription. I set my glasses on the counter there and pointed to the lenses and then my prescription. They showed me on a chart how much it would cost, only $30 to have the lenses replaced! I told him that was fine and then he told me 10 minutes. I waited 5 mins, didn't even get half way through the magazine I was reading before he came back out with my new and improved glasses. He also ordered my contacts for me, I will get a phone call when they arrive, at least I think that is what he was trying to tell me. All I can say is Lens Crafters can learn a thing or two from these Koreans!
* This week I received a special visitor in the mail from Ms. Kapp. Her name is Stacy and she is a paper doll from Colorado and is traveling around the word via the post. It is an activity based on the children's book "Flat Stanley." One night Stanley is squished by a bulletin board that falls on him. His family decides the best way for Stanley to travel around and learn about new places is by sending him in the mail. So now I have a second grade girl's version of Stanley visiting me for two weeks. During this time she will pose for photos and participate in various Korean traditions.
* Speaking of various Korean traditions, today is the lunar New Year. So yesterday I went with Bonyun to her husband's parents' house to prepare traditional foods for the feast today. We were suppose to spend the night yesterday and I was to go with to her father-in-law's oldest brother's house for the ancestor veneration and feast but Bonyun's husband had a fever so we had to cancel those plans. Normally, all daughter-in-laws go to the parents-in-laws house to make food. Then everyone takes the foods they made to the in-law's eldest brother's house for a feast. Many woman will not get to see their own parents or family on New Years day, they are required to be with their in-law's. But things are apparently changing, and some woman can now go to their parents after they spend time at their in-laws house.
Despite Bonyun's husband being sick, she was still required to be a good daughter-in-law which means going to her parents-in-law's house to prepare food. So we went to their house and made different kinds of Jan. To make Jan we chopped up zucchinis, eggplants, sweet potatoes, and lotus root. We also had oyster, tofu, and some kind of fish Jan. We rolled the different ingredients in flour and then dipped them in egg. Then we fried the ingredients in either olive or grape seed oil. Very tasty! Though probably not the healthiest food in the world.
We also dressed up in the Hanboks we would have worn today if we were going to the feast. I got to wear Bonyun's wedding day Hanbok and we made her brother-in-law dress up too and pose in a picture with the paper Stacy doll. What a good sport! You can tell he didn't want to be in the photo! Bonyon's mother-in-law also wore a Hanbok and posed for pictures with me and the paper Stacy. Her family was so nice to me. I really appreciated that they let me join their family for a day!

Lunar New Years Part 1

* I finally got to see Sherlock Holmes! After 3 unsuccessful tries to see it in the theater, see previous posts for explanation, I got to see it on my computer. I got a downloaded copy of it from someone at work. They were passing it around on a flash drive. I was so scared that I was cursed and destined not to see this movie. As I sat down to watch it on my computer I kept repeating, "please don't crash, please don't crash." It didn't; I got to watch it all the way through without a problem. I enjoyed it, don't know if it was worth all the trouble I went though to see it, but I liked it.
* I was so surprised! I saw a Dora the Explorer sticker on someone's car. When I sound out the words underneath it, it does not say Dora the Explorer, so maybe it say a phrase like, "yes we can," or something like that. I'm just so impressed that Dora is tri-lingual! So she can speak Spanish, English, and Korean. She is a great role model for me.
* So I mentioned that Chin Kim was on that list posted at work, this means she is now officially in charge of the 6th and 7th floors of our office building. So that also means we needed to move offices, since we were living on the 8th floor. At first I was going to go to the 7th floor, because this is where the the team I manage is located. But the only desk they could find for me was up front next to Hye Jung. So I was excited at the prospect of sitting with my friend, but Chin said no. And she didn't say no for the reason I thought she did. Apparently, when people are new to the company they are seated in the front desks. Since Hye Jung is new to the company she is sitting up front. Since I am suppose to be a manager, Chin thought it was unexpectable for me to be sitting up front, although I am also new to the company. The further you are from the front, and the closer you are to the windows, the higher up you are in the company. So now I live on the 6th floor, next to a window, in the same office space as Chin Kim.
On moving day, at exactly 4pm, employees from the 5th and 6th floors showed up to help us move. They brought boxes and labels with either my or Chin Kim's name on them. They just started sticking labels on everything and taking it away. I was shocked, they had our offices moved from the 8th floor to the 6th floor is 10 minutes!!!! It reminded me of Loribeth's wedding reception where all of a sudden the dinner was over and waiters started grabbing people's plates and drinks. They could clear a party out like a fire alarm!
* Please excuse the foul language in this next paragraph (especially you Gary because I know you hate this word) but I feel it is necessary to describe exactly what I see. So apparently showing cleavage is incredibly scandalous, but its okay to wear cootchy cutter shorts. Well, if you were nylons with the cootchy cutter shorts it is completely acceptable. But if you don't wear nylons, or you show cleavage, well then your a whore. I think it comes from a history of woman here not really having much cleavage, well until recently when western diets were introduced like Cold Stone and McDonalds. So to make up for not having boobs to show off, woman here wear the most revealing shorts imaginable. So now when I see a woman wearing this style shorts I make reference to her ovaries showing.
* Bonyun's grandfather died last week. It is customary to give an envelope of money to someone when their family member passes away. Friends give $30 and managers give $50. So I thought this was a just a range in which you give money so I gave $40. Nope, Bonyun and Sunny were laughing at me because I give the amount between what people give. Silly English! But its the thought that counted and Bonyun and her family appreciated it. Plus they got a chuckle out of my faux pas.
* So I was excited to learn that there is a milk delivery service at work. Every Tuesday and Thursday is cereal day so I have to stop at the convenient story and pick up a jar of soy milk. At work they only offer cow's milk on cereal day, which I am allergic to, so I have to provide my own. But I could have had soy milk delivered to the front desk every Tuesday and Thursday, and it would have been 30 cents cheaper a bottle!
A manager from the 6th floor called the company for me and they sent a sample of their soy milk for me to try before I signed up for their service. Good thing they did because I couldn't drink it. It wasn't true soy milk, it was 70% cows milk and 30% soy milk. I was so pissed! It was just regular milk but instead of being fortified with calcium, it was fortified with soy beans!!!! So once again, I have to go to the convenient store on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get my soy milk for cereal day.
* They have a Korean Project Runway. Its actually in its second season and its just like the American program but no Heidi Klum or Tim Gunn. They have a Korean version of Heidi and Tim though. And this week they had Austin from season 1 of the American show. You remember him, he once wore his own dress he designed because his model didn't show up. Well, they had him on this show and I was so grateful because he spoke in English to all of the designers and judges so I actually understood a little of what was being said during the program.
* Melissa, we do need to be old ladies in Korea when we grow up. They get to go hiking every day and bully people around. They get to cut people off in line, and they get to ride the subway for free! This is definitely the place to be when we are elderly!
* I went hiking with the hiking club from work. Once again, I was the only female hiker, my companions were the same two from last time, plus one of the guys I manage from the 7th floor. We hiked the highest mountain near Seoul, 836 meters. It took 4 hours and we had to use crampons (ice cleats) to climb down the mountain because it was so icy. There were frozen waterfall everywhere. In fact, when I stopped to take a picture of one of these beautiful sites I was able to save 2 peoples lives! The first one was a woman walking up the water fall without crampons. She started to slip and I grabbed her and walked her across the ice to the other side. If I didn't she would have slid and fell off the cliff.
I went back to try to take the picture again and a guy coming down the mountain without crampons actually slid off the cliff! He was able to grab on to the metal rope railing and was holding on for dear life. I dropped my backpack and went over to the guy and basically bear hugged him back over the cliff to safety. The guys from my hiking club were so impress with me. They had already passed the waterfall and were waiting for me to finish taking a picture, so they got to watch the whole show. The guy I had saved was either too shook up about almost dieing, or was too embarrassed about being rescued by a girl, that he didn't even say thank you to me; he just ran off. That's okay, I did my good dead for the day and felt really proud of myself.