Back Home for a Merry Christmas

I am now back in Canada for a month before heading to Venezuela and the rest of South and Central America. I leave Canada on the 25th of February.

Christmas was great. Much more relaxing this year than last, which is always a good thing. This is just a very short update, promising more soon, with photos as soon as I am using a computer with real Internet access.

8 Days Left

Today is Friday, December 15, being a Friday it should be a good night. Tomorrow I am going into the city (Seoul) for my leaving party, as it is my last Saturday night in Korea. On Sunday I am going on a short newly opened hike at the northern edge of the city. Monday is a pretty normal day. Tuesday I am having a going away party at work. Wednesday is my last Wednesday Night Dinner (with many foreigners in Osan). Thursday is my last day of work. Friday I have off, so I will go do some last minute shopping. Then next Saturday I fly home -- how crazy is that!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

It is slowly starting to become a reality. I took down the pictures and art that I have had on my wall for the last 2 years this week, so my apartment is bare. I have sent home a box of stuff and I will decide this weekend if I need to mail home one more. It is still unreal that I am leaving here probably forever. I have become very comfortable in Korea. But I am very happy that I'll be home for Christmas :) I will be on a plane 3 weeks from today!

5 weeks and counting...

I can't believe how fast this is going. I was sitting watching some of my students doing some work today realizing that very soon I will be home and not coming back. It is really becoming real because I have started telling my students, and preparing lessons and schedules in advance -- I usually prepare for no more than a day ahead.

I still have a list of things to do -- but some of the important ones are starting to feel done -- which is good. Like my hostel for Carnival is booked -- yea! I cannot believe I am going to Carnival!!!! I still need to book a ticket to Venezuela and my first nights hostel.

I can't believe it.....but it is slowly becoming real!

Update of the last 2 months, and what's to come...

Sept 1 - Oct 31, 2006:

2 countries
8 provinces
10 cities
3 mountains
2 beaches
1 cave
1 World Cultural Heritage Site
1 theme park
1 acrobatics/horse show
1 house guest
3 festivals
6 airports (each 2 times); in 4 countries
60 airplane/airport hours
2 weddings (one that I spoke at)
and...
only 5 days off work!

For the next few weeks, I have 5 more things on my list to do (but those are all close to home -- Osan, Korea) . I hope Ade will come to visit. I want to get to one more mountain that is not on my list. I need to go on a last Adventure Korea trip. I need to say bye to all in Korea, including my students, and finally come home in time for Christmas.

Man am I ever going to sleep through Boxing Day or what!!!!

Only 8 more weekends

Kids measure time in sleeps, these days I measure time in weekends. My weeks go pretty fast, I love my kids and teaching is usually a lot of fun. But it is on the weekends that I get out and do new and different things, which is kinda the point of this travel and teach gig (for me anyways). I only have 8 weekends left in Korea. That is not much time. I'm sure I will get everything on my list done, but I am not sure if I will get much else done. No matter what it has been a great 2 years, and I am looking forward to being home for Chirstmas.

My Whirlwind Tour

So coming home for Adrienne's wedding, meant that I got to see as many people as possible in one crazy weekend. So I arrived home at about midnight on Friday, September 22 so not too much that night. I exploded in the living room and got to do a little show and tell.

The next day I woke up around 9, nice I slept through the night (always good after a long flight). My mom and I relaxed and had a nice breakfast, then got ready for the wedding. That ended Saturday as we got home in the wee hours of morning. (See the post below for pictures from the wedding)

On Sunday I slept in -- oops! We had a crazy day planned, and we needed to clean and get going. So needless to say that was a bit rushed. But we did get out nearly on time, and our first stop was Sue's place. She has known us long enough, that being 30 minutes late was not a huge surprise to her :)

Yea time with my nieces! My Big Sister's kids. They are too cute!


From left to right: Shaeleigh, me and Shawna. They are great kids. They both demonstrated dances that they have been teaching themselves and showed me the gymnastics that they have also learned on their own. Including Shaeleigh's ability to do a handstand and fall into a bridge -- she taught herself -- craziness!

Here they are with my mom:


We only got to spend a couple of hours with them, before having to rush home for activity number 2 -- dinner with my brother's Big Brother's family. So we got home and Meena (my friend and essencially family) arrived (she had just finished a half-marathon). So she was exhausted and decided that she didn't want to drive all the way back to Montreal that night. Then my brother showed up and his girlfriend. At about 4 Marc and Patti arrive with their 4 kids, plus one additional for the evening. We had previously decided to head to Swiss Chalet, prefect place for 12 people including 5 kids.

Dinner was great. Those kids are so much fun. And afterwards it was time for dessert, back at the house. My mom had bought wonderful b-day cake -- yummy!




After dinner it was time to get the kids into their pj's. Here are Nicole, Natalie and Patti.


Here is Luc. He has amazing patience for anything, including video games! I tried to get a photo of Matthew, but he was getting changed at the time and it didn't work. So here is one from last Christmas:


In this picture are Natalie, Luc, Jordan (my brother), Matthew and my mom.

Dessert time was great, because a few people came over ad I was actually able to chat everyone I usually only get to see once a year! This year I will be seeing them only 3 months apart! Sue came over, so I got to talk to her, since I had missed that part of the visit to her place earlier, being too occupied with the kids.

What a fun day, albeit a little crazy.

Monday was slightly more relaxed. Shopping, then sorting mail, packing(stuff into boxes to stay at home), packing my bags to go back to Korea (easy -- nothing to go in them) and then dinner. There were a few things I cannot get in Korea, lobster, scallops and lamb -- yum!

Then at 11:30 pm I got on an airplane to head back 'home'.

Adrienne's Wedding

I may have been called crazy many times in the last month after telling people that I was going to fly home for my best friend's wedding, but it was so worth it. She was beautiful, they are so in love, it could not have been more perfect.

The wedding was on Saturday, September 23, 2006 at 3 pm, about 15 hours after I arrived home :) I knew I would be reading a scripture, but I didn't know when. Adrienne called to tell me on Friday, but my mom didn't check the messages until about 10 minutes before we left the house. So that is when I realized that I would be reading during the ceremony, right after Ade's parent's gave her away -- good way to make me nervous :)

The reading was good and the wedding was perfect, here are the pictures to prove it...

The wedding started with these 3 cuties!

Adrienne was escorted down the aisle by both her mother and her father, looking radiant.

Can't you just see the love!

Time for the exchange of rings!

They are now officially married :)

Here are Adrienne and Joe with with their respective parents.

Here is the whole family on each side, including Adrienne's brother, sister, and brother-in-law, and Joe's brothers.

Here is all of Ade's family and their pastor who performed the ceremony.





Here they are looking beautiful.

Here I am with the happy couple.

And here are I am with Adrienne.

They took about a million photos in this beautiful garden and then we moved inside for the rest of the party.

Everything inside looked beautiful. She had created a very Asian feeling at the wedding, since they have both spent the past year teaching English in Japan.

Then it was time for speeches, here are Ade's parents thanking everyone.

This speech brought me to tears, when Ade thanked me for coming. Sooo glad I went.

After dinner it was time to cut the beautiful cake.

It is much better I think when the cake is not just for show, and it actually is eatable, and it only is meant for wedding (unlike at Korean weddings). This cake was delicious.

Then time came for the first dance. Followed by lots more dancing. Including a Filipino tradition, a money dance. What a great idea! The new couple dances, and you pin money on the bride or groom to dance with them :)

It was a great night. Both my mom and I had a great time


Adrienne and Joe, I wish you all possible happiness in you future together.

Getting Excited

I'm getting excited about going home for Adrienne's wedding. This is going to be fun -- I just bought my dress and shoes today. I even found shoes that may not be too uncomfortable; what a concept! I love shopping in Korea, especially when I go to foreigner areas where clothes fit, yea! It is crazy only 2 more weekends and I go home (only fore a few days -- but it is still exciting).

Time Flys

I cannot believe how fast time goes here. This weekend I am heading to a nearby pottery town that I have been meaning to go to since I got here. Then the following weekend is my coworker's wedding. After that is my birthday and then there is only one more weekend before I go home for Adrienne's wedding. This all means that that time will be here sooooo fast. Once I get back I only have 3 more months here. I cannot believe how fast things are going. My weeks fly by 'cause I love my job and my kids. My weekends fly by 'cause I do something fun most of the time.

Looking forward to seeing everyone that I can when I come home in September, and everyone else in early January.

:)

My tatoo

Introduction

Hey guys -- I hope to keep this blog better updated then before -- since I plan to write less and put up more pictures -- so it should take less time -- and maybe I will do it more often. We will see how much work I can get done this weekend since I have planned a weekend of doing nothing -- yea!