Christmas in Seoul and Beyond

SO excited to be sitting in the Tokyo Narita airport at the moment about to board our plane to Honolulu! We left Seoul at noon today and have had a few hours here in Tokyo to catch up on the large amount of sleep we've missed out on the past week. Christmas Eve/Christmas we spent at school working on getting everything organized for the substitutes we hired to fill in for us for the two days of classes we're going to miss. We had to plan everything out for them in thorough detail as it's quite confusing...5 kindergarten classes all using different books and then 7 different elementary classes each, five of which use different books. Besides the plans for our subs the Korean teachers are giving tests to our classes while we're gone, so we had to write the tests and make appropriate copies. Teaching takes a LOT of time! I don't think it's very common to have so many classes with different preps though. Well, it was all worth it for the reward we are soon to receive.

'Hopefully we'll be on the beach in 24 hours far away from screaming classes of kindergarten children =D I hope that doesn't sound like we're unhappy or anything to be away from them for a short bit...

Merry belated Christmas to you if you're reading this! It doesn't seem like Christmas has come yet as we didn't have any of the normal Christmas events, besides a visit from Santa. I had the assignment/privilege of dressing up in the schools elaborate (and surprisingly big enough) Santa costume. I handed out presents to all the kids and many of them actually believed I wasn't Nolan teacher, but the real deal! Pretty funny, I acted as if I'd fallen asleep and missed the whole thing when they accused me of being Santa after he had continued on his journey to visit more boys and girls. They believed me! It was great =D And now, we really are off, no more delays!

Mele kalikeemaka

Simple Smiles

This is going to be short...but sweet..I promise!

This morning Nolan and I were running a bit late and so I left the house ahead of him so I could get to school quickly. This morning we had kindergarten Birthday PARTY and so I had to prepare some last minute party game things.
As I was scurrying down the street (as it was fridgedly colder than the previous few weeks-winter here you come) I passed a middle aged asian man. We smiled, and then as he was just about to be out of my site he turned around and said in broken English "It's COLD!" This random use of English surprised me and I laughed instantly in agreement with him! He was so cute and kind to offer his little English and say a few words with a smile! It brought a BIG smile to my face!
I continued to scurry my way around the corner and up the street, past the park, and then as a car was turning around the corner a man and wife in their car passed me. The driver's car window was open and as the car turned and our eyes met he smiled and said ANYO ASSEO! (Hello in Korean). I again was taken by surprise. It's freezing, and this couple decided to open their window and say hi!
It doesn't seem like much but the weather was cold, I was walking alone to school for a change, and was greeted with such warmth by the world! hehe. It brighted my day and was a wonderful start to my FRIDAY!

Have a wonderful day!