The Non-Proposal

Everyone is asking about the proposal, so here it is:

We were sitting on my bed and I asked, "Do you think we should get married?" and he said, "yes." A few days later we went to order a ring because they don't fit me here and then a week later we picked it up and the lady handed it to me and I put it on my finger.

There.

Sooooooo romantic!

Here is why it was perfect for me: It came out of logic and planning. We knew we would get married from the day we met. We've talked about it since then, so it wasn't a big surprise. It was more just that getting the ring was one step closer to what we wanted to do.

We ordered a cheap ring here because I'm allergic to all metals, which is why you hardly ever see me wear jewelry and will hardly even see me wear the engagement ring! I took it off after an hour because it was bothering me. When we get married in Canada I will have a wooden ring that I hope I will get used to wearing!

So more importantly about letting the cat out of the bag is why I want to marry him. Here are just a few reasons. (Stop reading now if talk of periods bothers you.)

• A month ago we were sitting on my bed and I full out just bled as I got my period. I was so embarrassed! I thought he would be so grossed out. I ran into the bathroom to sort myself out and then stripped the bed and washed the sheets. I apologized and told him I couldn't believe it happened - I felt like I was 12! He just looked at me and started a conversation about how strong women are, how special it is that we can carry babies, etc. This blew my mind - it didn't phase him one bit. He will laugh and tell you he's from Africa - he's seen much worse. I just felt so loved.
• He texts me daily, EVERY SINGLE DAY saying he thanks God that we met and that I had the courage to approach him. He tells me he loves me and that I am beautiful. He calls me his African queen. The first time I respond that I am not African. He said once we are married I will have dual citizenship and then I will be his African queen. Deal! 
• If we aren't together he asks what I have eaten. I'll come over to his house and he pulls a chocolate bar out of the fridge and smiles as he hands it to me and says: I bought you chocolate! HE KNOWS ME.
• I have mentioned this before but he consistently asks how my family and friends are doing. He wants to spend time with my friends here. He asks how YOUR baby is doing. He hasn't even met YOUR baby, but he knows you and your baby are important to me and so he asks.

It's so funny because I normally update you on my weekend, and although it was very special and exciting, it also felt so normal. Friday night the teachers went for pub food and karaoke. We went to this place where you rent a large room and it had a fake drum kit! We had fun!

Saturday was a bit rainy and also there was a huge anti-American protest happening in Seoul so the embassy warned people about not going to tourist areas. Although I am no American, if I went to one of those areas I would be assumed American and I wouldn't want that! So, I hung around Uijeongbu and saw the movie The Circle. Later I met up with Kenneth after he was done work and we had dinner with Caitlin at a new Thai place here. Then we listened to a Korean band playing in the street. Later we grabbed some drinks and sat by the river and drank and talked. It was a fun, unplanned evening.

On Sunday we picked up the ring, called Mom and Dad, had a delicious breakfast then headed to where Kenneth lives to go to Catholic church in the afternoon. Neither of us are Catholic, but he likes this church. I told him I don't know how to do all the up and down stuff and hand gestures. He said not to worry, they skip a lot of that so it's not hard to follow. And he was right! I really liked it! 

Today marks 5 months here! I can't wait for the 6th month because that is when I have a week vacation and Kenneth and I have booked a flight and hotel on Jeju island - near a waterfall! So excited!

Love,

Alli

Take me out to the ball game

I just spent an hour writing a really good blog post for Canada 150, so stay tuned for that.

I had a really fun weekend of sightseeing! On Saturday, Caitlin and I went back to the spot we tried to last weekend before she was re-routed to the hospital. It is called Bukchon Hanok Village which we thought would be some sort of area where you go to see how Koreans lived years ago. There would be old homes and information and people dressed in old costumes. But, it's actually a neighbourhood where people still live. It's a collection of houses and buildings with signs on them that say: Quiet! People live here.

Old roofs

Wall art of a map of the area. We both agreed that if this was

 in Canada/USA it would be vandalized by now. 

We loved exploring the area, but it was HOT. So hot that when trying to take photos they came out blurry. The area has many art museums and galleries. We went into the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art knowing there would be air conditioning. It has some interesting exhibits. I wish I had taken a photo, but we walked into one gallery that had a sign saying it might be offensive to children. And then you look up and there are 6 photos of Korean women peeing standing up.

Here is some of the art I managed to capture!

This black and white was called 1960 which we think is a depiction

of the uprising that happened here.

After the museum we went for lunch at a delicious Indian restaurant called Om that had inscribed on the door: Customer is God. The decor was so lovely and the food delicious! Then we headed home for a nap and met up later with Kenneth for his first Korean BBQ experience. It wasn't as good as the last one I had, but still tasty. This place has action figures all of the walls so we are calling it Spiderman Beef because we don't know what the actual name of the restaurant is!

On Sunday we went to an event called Brunch and Baseball. The brunch part did not work out as planned. We got there at 2:00 thinking that would be enough time before we had to leave at 4:00. Knowing it would be busy, but it doesn't take long to cook eggs. Well - we were wrong. No one came to take our order so I went up to place our food and drink order which was 6 items in total. After half an hour our drinks didn't come so I went to the bar to get them. They brought 2 instead of 3 and 10 mins later I went up to get the 3rd. After an hour I went up again to ask if our food was coming. I was assured that yes, it was. At an hour and a half we were a bit worried because the whole restaurant was leaving soon to go to the game and we hadn't received our food. Again. I was told it's busy, it's coming. Then I spoke to the waitress who took our order that basically said no, it won't be coming. I told her we aren't paying for our mimosa's and we left. It was a bummer because I love breakfast and I've eaten there before with no problems. This place runs events all the time, so they should know how to run a kitchen when it's busy. Note to self: The corner table in the back is the forgotten table!

We had fun at the baseball game. It was all 3 of our first experiences with Korean baseball. Let me tell you - it is an event! There is a lot of food set up outside which you can bring in, so we grabbed some chicken, pizza, and beer for a good time. Both teams  have a cheer song for each player. The songs and dance moves are insane! (I tried to post video of it but it keeps stalling. I'll post video on Facebook of the songs!)

Altogether an eventful weekend! Thanks to those who have sent me packages of items I can't get here or are so expensive here! It's so appreciated!


Love, Alli

Hail Caesar!

No major points of excitement this week - just sharing some stories and pics for you all!

On Tuesday evening a few of the teachers and I went to the dog cafe. There were less dogs than last time I was there, but these two cuties made their way onto my lap for a significant amount of time. This place is another marketing genius. It's a doggy daycare so you pay them to keep your dog for the day, plus they charge us losers to come in and hold those dogs for them. 

This Saturday was one of those ones where we had the best laid plans and then they didn't work out - but it was still fun. On Saturday, Caitlin, Brynn and I wanted to go to Bukchon Hanok Village which is a traditional Korean village that has old homes you can tour around and see how people lived long ago. Saturday happened to be the anniversary of a resistance that happened here when Japan occupied Korea, so there were a lot of people out in Seoul making their way to different events for that. 

A mural we stumbled on while walking.

We stoppled for lunch at this fancy restaurant that had beautiful decor and made me feel like I wasn't in Korea. I'm not saying that's a good thing, it's just how I felt. I ordered French onion soup and caesar salad - two of my favorite things that I haven't had since I've been here. I've seen caesar salad on the menu a few times but then underneath it says: lettuce with tomatoes, carrots, and croutons and that's NOT A CAESAR SALAD! But, the family beside us ordered one and it was perfect, so I knew I could trust it! It was expensive, but worth it.

Long story short, Caitlin's been sick for 5 weeks and she just got her Alien Residency Card so instead of going to the village we detoured to the hospital and made her get everything checked out. It was worth it as now she's on the mend. 

On the way back to the subway station Brynn told us we were right near a famous market that is always on tv so we walked through. I don't know what I was expecting, but what I saw was so unappetizing for me. In fact at one point I put my hands against my forehead to block my eyes and just looked down and walked. The food portion of the market had people eating tiny LIVE OCTOPI, pig snouts, and giant sausages that I thought were bull penises. And maybe they were. Near the end there were ladies making juice and I took a picture of them because I was so happy. You just buy that cup and they blend it up and make a juice for you!

That evening once Kenneth was off work, we went out for drinks and fried food with Caitlin (who Googled if she could drink on antibiotics and the answer is yes.) We ordered off a menu that was in English but only half the menu that Koreans got. Humph. Anyways . . . we got fried chicken and what the menu clearly said: fried vegetables (like tempura) but when it came out was basically fries and fried meats. Cool . . . 

Sunday morning, Kenneth and I did a video chat with Mom and Dad since he wanted to "meet" them, Here's a hilarious moment in the exchange which was affected both by his accent and a bad connection:

Kenneth to Mom: How is your health?

Mom: Oh, it's still in turmoil!

Me: What!?! You said everything is fine!

And then we realized she thought he said "house" which they are having renovated big time.

Mom and I did a laugh cry which we always do in situations like this and Kenneth just sat and stared thinking we were both crazy, which we are. 

After we hung up Kenneth said: "She is lovely." 

Later we went to a park along the river to walk and chill. We took advantage of Korea's open container policy on alcohol and grabbed some drinks to walk around. They sell cans and bottles of alcohol here in every corner store - and quite a large selection too! I found THE GREATEST drink of all time for me which is a melon Smirnoff cooler. It was so delicious!

This was sort of like a triathalon but it said: Run-Sup-Yoga. 

I don't know what Sup means but I guess it's the paddle boarding part.

"lunch"

Altogether it was the perfect Sunday of rest and activity. We laid on the blanket, ate snacks and played the game Word Cookies.Does anyone play this on their phone? We are addicted. 

I also watched the majority of the new season of Orange is the New Black. Has anyone see it yet? It's so good this season - what a story line! A few episodes were even scary. Let me know what you think.

Lots of love,

Alli

All that Jazz

You know what's fun? Having a zero-stress pay day for the first time in 4 months. It came and went without me even noticing to be honest. It's very good for the blood pressure and grey hairs to not have to fight every month.

This weekend had many exciting moments. Friday nights the English teachers usually go out for dinner. This Friday we went for pizza and Kenneth came with me. I like it when he meets my friends! Then on Saturday I went into Seoul for a pedicure. They are more pricey here than in Canada, which I find weird, but the lady did a very good job and it was very relaxing! After that I met up with Jean for lunch. We had amazing tacos and I drank a very large margarita. He just went on a three week tour of Cambodia and Thailand - so I wanted to hear his stories! I think I'm going to do a similar tour when I'm done my contract here.

We got a flight of 7 tacos and nachoes on the side. 

On Saturday evening some friends and I went to see the broadway musical, Chicago. It was so great! We all left randomly bursting out in song in the cab ride home - which I'm sure the cabbie enjoyed.

Greek food before the show!

Jazz hands are mandatory

Sunday was a lazy day where Kenneth and I walked along the river, bought some groceries, and ate delicious burgers.

Today is Founder's Day in Korea which is a  National Holiday. Jaclyn and I had signed up for a special hike where you go barefoot in red mud. It is supposed to be very healing. I thought it would be neat and peaceful. But, two days ago we got a message saying it was cancelled due to low interest. Apparently not all foreigners want to hike barefoot in mud on their day off. We decided our backup plan was to go to WINK (When In Korea) for brunch and bottomless mimosas. But, when we got to the subway station, Jaclyn became sick so she went home. I ventured into Seoul for lunch and Wonder Woman. Lunch was a thrill - I found Pizza Mall which is all you can eat pizza (plus drinks and other things like salad, pasta, fries, and desserts.)  I have experienced many things here which would be great business plans in Canada, and this is one of them.

I loved Wonder Woman. I'll be honest, it might be the only superhero movie I've ever seen. I think the last one I saw was Spiderman with Toby McGuire. I just don't care about superheroes. But, this was really good. I felt good walking out of there! Plus Gal Gadot is exteremly beautiful and strong and watching Robin Wright kick ass made me happy.

Pizza Mall

My hair is super curly these days - the humidity is doing

 it's work - and it will get much more humid soon!

Other highlights of this week:

• I tried Korean BBQ for the first time

• My student's made stethoscopes out of balloons and tubes this week in science. Look how cute these doctors are:

Altogether a lovely week and weekend! 

Lots of love,

Alli