Bathroom Baskets

Heather, "the sis" (in-law for me ^__^) just sent us a pick of these awesome bathroom baskets she put together:

This project was kind of an after-thought on the long list of wedding projects. I found a lot of good ideas from other brides on various websites, and decided to add it as a "if we have time" project. Well, Heather and Matt's mom thought "why not?" and went to the local dollar store to complete the project. Even though it wasn't on the top of the list, these baskets will be SO useful. I am sure our guests will appreciate  most, if not all of the things that these baskets have to offer.

Just as an aside, these are to put in the bathrooms during the reception, and are meant for guests who maybe need a little something to get them through the afternoon.

I won't list everything, but here are some items that Heather added to the baskets:

1. spray deoderant
2. gum
3. Women's sanitary products
4. antiacids
5. clear nail polish (if anyone's stockings run)
6. antibacterial hand gel (this will be an outside reception after all!)
7. saftey pins
8. a comb

and many other things!

Can't thank her enough for picking up all of these items. One less thing to go shopping for when we get home in 2.5 weeks!!!!!

No Woman, No Cry

A lot of people interpret Bob Marley's famous lyrics in a negative light: "If I don't have a woman to love, then there won't be a reason to cry"...as in...love can be painful.  I don't like to think of it that way, and I am not alone. I interpret the lyrics as "No Woman, Don't Cry", like he is consoling her: "Here little darling, don't shed no tears"...you see?

Regardless of the real meaning, I titled my post because it's time to talk about tears. I am a crier, not going to lie. I have always gotten a little teary during particular sad or romantic movies (at the end of the Notebook...anyone?), but I feel like lately (in the past 2 years or so), it's gotten much, much worse. When the Lion King came out in 3D in Korea, I had to contain myself from wiping my tears from my face at the opening scene with the circle of life. That movie sums up my entire childhood. When we went to see War Horse without knowing too many details, holy crap, I was practically bawling towards the end of that movie...damn animals toying with my emotions!!

So, you can probably see where this is going. Although I don't think I am going to be a bawler, I do think I might have some issues. Fortunately for me, Matt says I am cute when I cry, so that's good, I don't want to be one of those ugly criers in front of 140 people!

To remedy this issue, Matt suggests I watch this video over and over again until I am numb and void of all emotion:

It's the P&G Olympics commercial, which I am sure most of you have seen back home, but it's completely new to me. I was researching Olympic advertisements for my students for the Olympic themed summer camp, and I came across this tear-jerker. What the heck, people?!

Matt was only joking of course, but I wonder if it would help at all if I just practiced the vows and such a lot before the big day. While it might help calm my nerves, I don't think it will help in the crying department. If I cry, I cry. Now which of my maids will be holding the tissues?!

Staying Positive

This past weekend was a crap shoot of emotions. Stress levels are high, with both of us. The past few weeks of school have been a struggle, with cultural differences, wild kids, summer camp workbook deadlines, and the over-all anticipation of vacation looming in the distance. We're now at the point where we're just trying to get through, with no real effort to teach any new materials. The games have come out, for sure.

While the rainy season has begun, Saturday we woke up to a surprise of the most gorgeous sunshiny day of the summer. Taking advantage, we jumped in the car and drove to the beach, only to have a ton of things go wrong. People were driving horrendously, our GPS died mid-drive, we ended up stuck on a slow, winding road behind the slowest car ever, and the drive home was long, with numerous random detours for no apparent reason. These things aren't normally enough to make us upset, but with the stress already high, let's just say it was a rough day. The only reprieve was the actual beach itself: not crowded at all and the water was amazingly warm.

Yesterday we slept in and had plans to go shopping at a brand new complex at the newly renovated bus station. That specific EMART is known for having a larger foreign foods section, as well as gluten free food and whole grains.Unfortunately, we drove all the way there, excited about corn tortillas and baby shopping, only to be turned around at a gate AFTER we had parked the car. Korea has a new law in place that the second and forth Sundays of every month, large department store grocery chains have to close to give opportunities to the small traditional markets. Dumbest rule EVER, considering it's been in place for a while, and of course, as you can imagine, people just shift their shopping day to Saturday or Monday. The courts in Seoul just ruled in favor of the big stores, but it hasn't trickled down yet. We were stupid enough to not think about it (considering July 1st was a Sunday), so we surprised and pretty upset, again, because we were already having a crappy weekend.

Things turned around, though. We made a bunch of cranes yesterday afternoon, and only have 100 to go! We also made shopping lists and are getting organized for the big trip. We lugged out our luggage from the back room and are wiping them down and starting to put things in a pile for future packing.

Two more weeks of regular school, with one week of summer camp, and then we are home. It's the home stretch now, and we can do it. Tensions are high, but it's all good...trying keeping a positive attitude!

We have a few small projects left to do and then our Korea project list will be finished. Feels good to be so productive ^__^

Things are Prettier in the Rain

Well, folks, two weeks late is better than never. The rainy season is officially here. While global warming is certainly messing weather cycles up all over the world, Korea is no different. It's a blessing, of course, since this country was about to plunge into a serious drought.

I woke up with a start at 5:00AM this morning to the most terrifying thunder I've heard in a long time. The flashes of lightning, with thunder following almost simultaneously, were amazingly  bright considering our bedroom is  a cave and the only window is in the kitchen and is the size of a computer monitor. The entire day was intermittent sprinkles with ridiculously heavy downpours. So heavy that many plants have fallen over, dirt is splattered all over the wall of the apartment building next door from our pots, and the roads, of course, are flooded.

We welcome the high humidity, (that humorously makes my students think I have a perm because my hair curls all over the place), because let's face it, everything is prettier in the rain:

second floor rooftop at my school

our first sunflower of the season in our driveway!

almost-ripe tomatoes and white lillies in a toilet

wet driveway garden

Besides getting stuck in the 1-10 minutes of monsoon downpours, and being sickeningly sweaty and sticky during class, I love the rain. The sound it makes pattering on my umbrella is one of my favorite things ever, and with my L.L. Bean rain boots, there's no need to get fussy about puddles ^__^

Another plus, we leave in 3 weeks from tomorrow and when we get back it will be over! Yessah!

Bridal Jewelry

While I have absolutely NO idea what I am wearing on my feet as a bride (and honestly I don't care too much), I knew that I did want some nice jewelry for my big day. I don't usually wear a lot of jewelry, which is why I felt like buying a few nice pieces that I can wear for anniversaries and special occasions would be great and remind me of my wedding day.

I ended up going with a wonderful Etsy seller, who hand makes all of her own pieces. I decided on a matching necklace, bracelet and earrings, all made with pearls and royal sapphire Swarovski crystals. The necklace (which was a special order for another bride), caught my eye since it was in a light sapphire color and was exactly what I was looking for. The maker gave me a choice of three shades of blue, I went with a darker, brighter blue, and so she is adding it to the earrings and bracelet as well.

So, wonderful blogging world, here is my bridal jewelry:

the necklace that started it all (mine will have darker blue)

the bracelet (which will have blue crystals)

the cascade earrings (also with blue instead of crystal)

I am beyond excited to be wearing these on my wedding day, and hope to enjoy them for many years to come!

Red Mud Healing

This week is finals week here in most schools in Korea. Late, isn't it? Actually the last day of school isn't until July 21st (!!!) so we actually have two more weeks after this of COMPLETE FLUFF. Seriously, teachers break out the movies and it is just hot, sweaty, monsoony mayhem.

Because midterm and final exams only take place in the mornings, it provides a great opportunity for school teachers to do something together as a type of bonding in the afternoons. As I have mentioned many times, it's all about community and family in this country. Whenever there is an opportunity to strengthen relationships, these peeps will do it.

This time around we went to a recreational forest outside of Daejeon that is famous for its red mud path. You take off your shoes and delight in walking in squishy clay that is supposedly beneficial for your health.

view from the path

can you spot the snowy crane in the rice fields?

two of my English co-teachers enjoying the clay

it's definitely not mud, but clay

three of my English co-teachers and one Korean teacher

What made today interesting was that Matt's school ended up going on a field trip to the SAME place! This never happens, since there are so many mountains surrounding the city. My teachers and I sat on that platform pictured above and he just came strolling up the path with his teachers, too funny! He sat and chatted with my teachers for a while, since they all know him. They had just gotten their wedding invitations from me a few hours earlier, so they were so excited and happy to be talking to us about the big day.

After our nice walk we went to a local restaurant for some du-bu (tofu in English) that had been soaked in soy sauce, duck and pork, and simple side dishes. Can I just say that I love duck?

It makes me a little sad to know that I only have two more testing periods left before my time here at Mannyeon Middle School is done.

It makes me HAPPY though, to know that I have less than 4 weeks left until MAINE! ^___^

Inviting the Koreans

Along with tons of craning (total count thus far: 780), Matt and I spent the weekend making more invitations! Why, might you ask? Well, there were a few friends in Korea that we wanted to give them to, despite knowing that they couldn't make it. Then, after some convincing by our teachers, we figured we would make a bunch more for our schools.

Why did we leave it until now, the first week of July?! Purely for logistics. See, dealing with weddings and invitations in Korea is a little different than in the States. Here is how it's done (some of these steps are specific to being a teacher, or working in an office):

1. Go to a wedding venue, order hundreds and hundreds of invitations from one of the many templates they offer. (We're obviously not doing this, which is why our teachers are going to be pretty surprised when they see our hand made invites)
2. Schedule your wedding to be in the hometown of one of your parents. Now, this might sound inconvenient for not only your guests but also as a bride and groom, but let me remind you that Korea is the size of Maine. Unless you're getting married on Jeju Island, everyone can most likely reach your wedding destination within a few hours.
3. Send out/hand out invitations 2-3 weeks before the wedding (any earlier and people will forget). If you work in a big office or a school, you hand out a few invitations to the heads of each floor, and they post them on a board for all to see. Indirectly everyone is invited, whether you are handed an invite or not.
4. People don't RSVP, people just go.
5. If you work with the bride and groom, you are expected to give money. Only really close friends and family give gifts. If you attend the wedding, you bring the money with you. Someone (usually a cousin or relative), sits at the entrance to the wedding hall, collects the money, counts it, and marks it down in a book. If you can't attend the wedding (which is really bad form), you give your envelope (which has your name and the Chinese characters for "happy flower wedding" on it) to the head of your department. They in turn go to the wedding and give the money in your stead.
6. The majority of weddings are held at a wedding hall. Americans would call these types of weddings "cookie-cutter". You rent out a hall/floor of a wedding hall building, they supply everything (flowers, officiant, music, food, etc) and you basically just show up. A lot of the time there is a private, Korean ceremony with just the family before, and then a western-style wedding afterwards.  Then afterwards everyone eats in a banquet hall, sometimes with guests from other weddings! This is how it's done here. Also-no reception, just food. There is no dancing or music or games or fun. Most weddings usually last around 2 hours.
7. Part of the money you are giving to the bride and groom goes towards your meal at the wedding. Some people are really "cheap" and they basically just pay for their family's meal costs (around 15 dollars a person). Most people, though, give money for the cost of food plus extra for the newlyweds.
8.You go on a honeymoon, usually for a week. Popular destinations include: Jeju Island, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Macau, Hong Kong, and Guam.

So that's how it's done! Any questions?! hehe

So one of the reasons why we've had some hold ups with the invites for our schools is because of the protocol. Koreans are VERY serious about saving face. This means that they will go through anything to save someone from being embarrassed , offended or put off. This also goes along with the communality of the society here, you must include everyone. Therefor, my co-teachers and vice principal talked long and hard about my wedding invitations and decided how many I needed to make in order to not offend anyone. Then they talked about the money issue. While I am TOTALLY FINE with not receiving money, it's Korean custom, and so it needs to be done, and done right. This means that each floor in the school will most likely round up money for me, and hand it to me at the necessary time. Who knows, all I know is that other people are handling this, and I just need to hand out the invitations, answer any questions people have (mainly, no, the wedding won't be in Korea, so very sorry!). That's it. My situation is very unique because one, I am foreigner, and two, my wedding isn't in Korea, which never happens here. But they seem to have figured everything out, so we're good to go today: