In Korea there is a thing called the Norae Bang. Literally translated it means "Singing Room." Imagine a Karaoke bar and take away all of the strangers and alcohol. Make the room a bit smaller. Add Korean songs to the play book and imagine 'interesting' cartoons and videos playing as you sing and you have Norae Bang. They are huge here. They are everywhere. If you can imagine it, oftentimes everyone who works in an office together will go out to eat and then do norae bang together. Personally, I can't imagine singing karaoke with my co-workers....But maybe that's because I'm not such a great singer...
But anyway, my friends love to go to norae bang. LOVE IT!!! Me, it depends on my mood. If I'm feeling deliriously tired I'm all about it, but if I'm just tired or just normal...well inhibitions abound. But my friends, they totally rock it out. They are awesome at it! The best part is-the song collection. The Norae bang we usually go to is a bit older so the song collection is a bit older as well.
Last night was our friend Geoff's birthday. We celebrated by going out to eat, going to the batting cages, and then the norae bang~where we sang for about 4 hours. Songs like Heart of Glass, Hotel California, Bohemian Rhapsody plus many more.
Tons of fun times.
As a side note, I've been bunny sitting this weekend. I have two baby bunnies (so small they fit in my hands). Its been interesting to see Bella's reaction to them. When they are in their pin she sits so she can look in and cries as if she is asking to be allowed to play with them. Several times a day I've been taking them out of their pin and sectioning off an area for them to run around in. For part of that time I've been sitting with Bella and the bunnies and letting Bella watch them. She waivers between being pretty scared of them and wanting to play with them. Also, she likes to steal their food during this time. Its really funny to watch how curious she is with them. On the other hand, the bunnies could care less about Bella. I was worried that they would be scared of her, but when she is near they just hop toward her and try to sniff her. This totally freaks her out and she comes running to my lap whenever they do that. At other times they just totally ignore her and hop around doing their own thing. Pretty cute to watch!

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been so bad about updating this for so long. I thought I might get back in the groove by sharing some recent "Koreanisms" which I've had the pleasure of experiencing in my yoga class. Hopefully the humor will come through even though you can't see me act these out.

First Koreanism for today: As we were sitting on our yoga mats with our legs crossed our teacher instructs us to pull one of our feet so that it is resting on our thigh. Usually when we do this it is followed by a nice stretch, but this time I was in for a surprise. Our teacher then made a production of forming a fist and proceeding to punch her foot. As I stared in astonishment (and reluctance to follow suit) I watched as all of my fellow classmates did the same. So there I sat holding my foot on my thigh watching in a mixture of shock and amusement as a room full of women beat their feet. We then switched feet and continued the practice. Having had a bad experience with feet beating (during a massage after which I couldn't walk for a week) I had/and have no desire to beat myself on my feet or anywhere else for that matter. But the whole experience makes me think back to when I first got here and I would see people randomly hitting themselves, on their shoulders, arms, legs, chest, etc. I have to remember that this is the area of the world that Shiatsu massages come from. And, I can't get away from the notion that this is also a place where they seem to believe that pain/discomfort equals good for you. It is one aspect of the culture which I have been slow to assimilate to. But, it is pretty funny to watch and even funnier to tell...

Second Koreanism for today: Strangely this one also concerns my yoga class. Towards the end of our yoga sessions our teacher has us lie on our backs and stick our arms and legs in the air. Then she instructs us to shake our arms and legs as vigorously as possible. I call this the "bug stuck on its back and unable to turn over" pose. At first I thought that she must have us do this for comic relief in her day. I mean, think about it, imagine a room full of women laying on their backs, shaking their arms and legs as hard as possible. It must be hilarious to watch! But, I never see any hint of amusement on her face so I guess this must be seen as helpful in some way. But, I can never find any information about this pose in my yoga books or on yoga webpages. So, I'm forced to think it is a Koreanism. But what really gives it away as a Koreanism is the fact that after doing this for a minute or so the teacher says "dulsa" which I think translates as "go dead" and everyone practically throws their arms and legs to the floor. I've almost been kicked in the head by a classmate several times. Yoga is all about controlled, meditative movements so I can't see this as being a true yoga pose. So now, I make sure to look around the class at this part and enjoy the humor of it all even if the teacher doesn't. Why should such a funny thing be wasted? I'll enjoy it for them!

Hope everyone is doing well. I'll try to be better about keeping them updated. Oh, and just so that you know. Today is the first full moon of the (lunar) New Year. Make sure to celebrate by eating peanuts and walnuts! A taxi driver spent about a 20 minute taxi ride educating me on this tradition! Enjoy!

Wow, it has been a long time since I have written anything. Sorry about that. Things have been really busy on the Korean front. In case you did not know, last month Mom, Dad, and aunt Vicki came to see me here in Korea. There are some pictures posted in the photo section. We had a great time and travelled to so many places. Everyday we walked about seven to eight miles around the city.

After they left I began teaching a preschool class for Kyung Hee University. Two times a month I am going to a preschool facility and teaching 'English' for an hour a week. The kids are so very cute. They love to give high fives and hugs. The older class is so smart. They pick up things so quickly and they are so eager learn.

Soon after that, a famous Korean star's mom called me and invited me to go to the VIP movie premier of her daughter's new movie. It was so exciting. Shannon and I dressed up and headed to the theater. We met her mom and sister at the theater. Unfortunately we got there a bit late so we did not get to meet any of the VIP people. But as we sat down Daniel Henney, a Korean American star/model here, walked past us. Oh My Goodness, he is sooooo very handsome...I sent mental images telling him to come talk to me, but he must not have been on the same brain length...sadly. We saw quite a few famous people but we do not know many of their names. But it was such an exciting night-one that will go down in the memory books.

This past week Shannon, Nicole, and I all went to see the premier of Sex and the City. It was awesome. We had such a good time at the movie and afterward we went to "Pizza and Wine Married." Well, we decided they should divorce because it took them three pizzas to get the order right. We were sure that by the time the right pizza came out there would be spit or something in it. But we took our chances and ate it anyway.

This Friday I met Ji Eun, Jin Sung, and Jeong Yeol (Eric) for dinner and drinks. Ji Eun was in for a visit from the US. It was nice to hang out with all of them again. Ji Eun is still the same as she has always been. The night was full of laughter, jokes, and memories of old times. I am lucky that I got to meet all of them while they were in the states and that I still get to know them in Korea.

This coming week is the last week of instruction then next week is finals. Busy, Busy, busy...