Lunar New Year

Last week was Lunar New Year, so my dad and brother came up from Busan to spend time with the family. I had to work, which was kind of a bummer (but not really since I only work twice a week for 2 hours), but everyone had work off after Tuesday. Jamie flew off to Japan just a few days after returning from Thailand and Mark was using his time off by doing absolutely nothing. Just kidding, he did do something...he watched some ESPN online. ;)

The week was beautiful. Warmer weather graced Seoul with a very short presence (it's already cold again), which allowed me to go on a few runs along the river...something I've been dying to do since winter started. I'm beginning to feel like a hamster in one of those balls at the gym. On Wednesday and Thursday, I went to my grandma's house. Wednesday was the day of preparation while Thursday was when everyone (all my aunts, uncles and cousins) came over. I was bummed that I had to leave early to start researching the night's news, but I was thankful to get some of that delicious food in my tummy before I left. And it's always fun hanging out with the family...they're all characters!

[30 degree weather isn't stopping me from running around!
By the way, that's ice at the bottom of the photo -___-]

[Mealtime with half of the family on Thursday morning]

On Friday, dad and bro went back to Busan while Mark and I welcomed Jamie home from Japan. That evening, we went out to Hongdae with one of Jamie's college friends, Jason, who travels to Korea often for business. We all hung out together when Mark and I first got here, so it was really cool to see him again four months later. Reminiscing about our first weekend in Seoul made me feel like I'm a completely different person from just four months ago...weird huh?

[Jamie and Jason deciding what we're going to eat]

[Jamie's laughing at Mark. Mark's scowling at Jamie. Jason's tired. Typical Friday night.]

The rest of the weekend was just as pleasant. I spent most of Saturday watching movies at home until I met up with Mark to go ice skating in Gwanghwamun, which was an interesting experience to say the least. The city builds an outdoor skating rink every winter near city hall; there's no admission fee, only a $1 rental fee. The rental skates were literally roller skates with rusty butter knives as blades...no joke. Mark thought I was going to bust out all of my Michelle Kwan moves but I was just as much of a beginner as anyone else that night!

[Itaewon at night]

And Sunday was special because it was my first day tutoring a 10-year-old boy in English! It went really well and I'll be seeing him twice a week until April, which is when he goes to Germany for international school. He's really small and cute and gets bored really quickly, reminding me a lot of my youngest brother Robert. Tee hee hee ;)

All in all, a very relaxing weekend, which can only mean a very refreshing start of the week! And that has most definitely been the case so far.

I hope all of you have had a great first half of the week. Until next time, bisous xoxo...