More from Hike #2 with Judy

The tree is famous for its inverse root. Instead of growing below the ground, the root shot back out and grew into a branch...that later sprawl out towards the left of the photo.

Heidi and Vladimir

Heidi and her dog Jindo

I descended the mountain in this position

I never would have done the hike without you, Judy. Next time, just keep in mind that I'm a beginning...like I am just learning to hike/climb-- A BEGINNERRR.........I know..."beginner" is overrated.

Hiking Club - Hike #2 at Cheontaesan...

...I hope that's how you spell it. This was probably the most challenging hike I've ever completed. Look it:

Hiking Clubs--past and present--represent themselves with ribbons. There are fewer and fewer as you reach the summit.

Ginko Tree: over 1000 years old

Wishing rock piles: I made five wishes...for different people

Go go gadget... mountain goat!

More to come...

Happy Birthday, Angela!

Angela celebrated her birthday in Seoul, South Korea. We went to Jane's Club (?) on the Friday before her birthday and ate dinner at Pasha in Gangnam. For her present, she received a super awesome Nikon digital camera.

Here are some photos from the birthday celebrations:

Regrouping is important.

Angela, Heidi and Hannah: Angela ran out of nice pictures before we left the apartment

She photographs extremely well. Look at her.

Dancing to some song...

Angela, Hannah and Heidi: Dinner at Pasha. The lamb chops were awesome. Even non-lamb lover Angela enjoyed it

Angela and Heidi: Spooning

Angela: Don't you just love that outfit?! You look so preeetty.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA!

I hope you had a wonderful time and that everything worked out as you had hoped deep deep down in your heart (down in your heart).

For my birthday, you wished that I would achieve everything that I dared to hope/dream for...I wish that for you, too.

No matter where you travel, near or far, I wish you my favourite three--joy, love & faith.

Here's to many more...

My Koalas are always amazed...

The Koalas are amazingly inclusive. Look at the way they huddle. Guess what they're looking at?

Eddie discovered the "earthquake" and insisted that everyone looked at it, too. They dragged anyone willing to have a look. It appeared that only Koalas were interested in the earthquake.

So cute...

Introducing the Koalas!

It's been three weeks since the new semester started and as time passes, I am starting to love my Koalas as much as my Penguins. It's difficult to imagine it but it's true.

TA DAAA! Our Koala Class
Top Row: Lily Teacher, Daniel, Devin, Tomas, Eddie, Hannah, Andy, myself
Bottom Row: Andrew, Jennfier, Jenny, Tina, Annie and Sean

How can you not love this girl? When she showed up, I hoped that she would be my student and guess what...here she is! She is the most delicate little girl you will find. Plus, she loves to wear this purple coat and always asks me to fix her hair pins. She is a tiny bundle of joy.

Jenny, Hannah and Annie: These three are super cute. Jenny and Annie speaks to me in broken English but my dear Hannah speaks to me in Korean despite my efforts to communicate with her in English. Our first conversations are hilarious because she doesn't seem to know that I am speaking a different language. I love her to death...just look at her cheeks!

I was about to fix the rotation for this photo of Andrew when I realized that this is exactly how you should be introduced to him. This is him in class. He is unable to sit, work, speak, sing or dance while sitting in his seat. Just as soon as I push in his chair--really tight so he can't get out--he is up and prancing upside. He is the one who taught everyone to do handstands against the wall in our classroom. Quite smart if I may say so but a handful.

Tomas and Andrew: Tomas is just like my Penguin Thomas. He protects me from the elevator. He is the only Koala that actually follows my "hands on hip" and "walk" rules. He tries really hard to get the others to follow him but most of the time, he just ends up being last at everything because the other 11 run ahead of him. I always hug him though. He's just like Thomas, which helps me transition haha

Who would have thought that Eddie photographs so well!?
Believe it or not, Eddie is worse than Andrew but he is starting to show lots of improvement. He is one of my favourites now because he seems to really care about doing well for a change.

More interestingly, he seems to be a little jealous of my old Penguins. Isn't that cute? No one has ever been jealous for/over me haha awww Eddie...

Tina and Jennifer: They are new best friends. Tina cried so much on the first day that her eyes swelled over. All you could see was red all over her face. She reminds me of myself as a preschooler because she cries any time something is wrong. It's so sad when she cries because I just want her to tell me what's wrong only she isn't able to verbalize her feelings yet. All I can do is hug her and send her over to her best friends...so sad.

Daniel is super smart but well known for his ability to space out. His mother came to watch him and insisted that he paid attention. Everyone wants that...

Devin is probably the smartest student in our class. I don't have enough time to list all the tasks that he able to accomplish. I am so happy to have him in my class because he models everything for the others. Turning the page...pronouncing words...asking questions...everything.

Andy and Sean: Andy is another smart student in our class. He's funny and loves to suck his thumb when he's listening to the lesson. Sometimes I tell him to stop but other times, I just can't help myself. It's comforting for him haha aww...

Sean was another crier. In fact, his mother yelled at me for not paying attention to him when he cried. That is what you are supposed to do but here in Korea...whatever. Now, he doesn't even cry. He loves coming to class and helping me with everything. And he spells his name the nice way: SEAN!

My Koala girlies are decked out in Korea's latest fashions.

The gushing will never end, so get used to it haha

A new semester brings new loves to my life.
I am extremely blessed.

Look it...

I am very lucky to have my laptop with me. I watch all the new episodes of The Simpsons online. Without it is like a part of me is dead inside. Was that too much?

Well these made me feel better after I washed my new purple ipod. I hope that warranty works out...Aish...

Marathon Countdown...

...is more tiring than completing the marathon itself. Since our four hour run ended, I've been really eager to get it done and over with and start something else.

I think once I have my first race time, then eventually it will get more exciting 'cause then I'll have something to compare my new race times with. Like RW says...you either go faster or longer. So we'll see how fast/long I can go. This is also why the North Pole Marathon was cool. I mean what's more challenging than running 26.2 miles in the freezing cold!? That's amazing! I can visit the Arctic, climb glaciers AND visit Santa ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Who wouldn't do that!? haha

Well, it turns out that running the NPM is actually extremely expensive. We are talking about a-down-payment-for-a-house expensive. So yeah...not meeting Santa until I marry a rich man who will finance my adrenaline addiction. This also mean I will not be running the Anaractic Marathon because it costs twenty grand in Euros. That's equivalent to a small shack in Canada. I think I would rather have the shack.

So that's what it is now...now that I'm almost finished living out my five year plan, another five will need to be planned. And because I'm sticking with the promise that I made earlier on in the year about not planning during my goal-ed year...I am only thinking about buying my house.

So who's willing to sell low?


When I finish the marathon on Sunday, I hope to be in decent enough shape to remember all the details. A&H will be there to cheer us on and take photos. Sunday should be very interesting...

Stay tuned...

H.

Out with the old...in with the new.

March 2nd was the first day of our new semester. I have a new group of Koalas...and all my Penguins have been distributed and split up. Penguins are no longer.

I think about how they are doing some times and appreciate our Penguins on a day to day basis. The Koalas are in Lala-land. For the most part, they are well-behaved but change is difficult as usual.

My new Koalas speak Korean. When I try to teach them new phrases like "Don't do that, please", they repeat that phrase non-stop. So, I think I will introduce a new phrase per day haha

The Koalas are not high enough to sing that "it's okay, it's okay" song yet...but I look forward to their learning more English.

In the meantime, I am glad to see all of the Penguins transition well into Planets (The new Kindergarten classes are named about Planets).

I hope this week will be more organized and that I can focus on taking photos of them interacting in their new classroom environment. I think my Koalas may have some good ol' Penguin spirit. *sigh* A new semester of fun and craziness awaits. Adios, chicos.