She say you look baby

...says my yoga instructor, translating for another woman in the class. Pretty much every new encounter I have with a Korean involves them commenting on some aspect of my appearance. Yesterday I was told my hair looks like a dolls hair (apparently thats good) and I’m most often told I have a small face. Also, apparently good. I think I confuse Koreans because they see that I’m fat, but still think I am pretty with my doll hair, small face and “face dents.” It is quite the paradox. But whatever, at least they are focusing on the good. And everyone is always super nice and concerned that I'm happy, so no complaints. I just haven't figured out the appropriate reaction yet. Like, thanks? I know? Smile and nod? Not sure.

I have also noticed that old Korean men really seem to like me. Sometimes I think they are smirking at me..but like, in a nice way. But other times they are just straight up delighted by me. Especially the taxi drivers. Which comes in handy when we want to take 5 people. I flash my dents and it is done! Maybe I remind them of their wives...curly hair is the style of choice for most older Korean women. Or maybe I remind them of their baby grandchildren...who knows. Hasn't gotten me any discounts so far, but I just know once I learn Korean they are going to be driving me around for free. So I'll get right on that.

Anyway, such a busy and great week! Kayaking was super fun, even though our boat had a hole in it and we pretty much sank. We had to get our boat drained twice and we ended up losing our group. I was paired up with an Austrian and we were Team Awesome....in last place, but whatever.

Oh, and I got my smart phone and we are in love. Match made in heaven. It definitely trumps the Blackberry and I think I like it more than the iPhone. I've only used other peoples and had an iPod touch, but I think it's a little more user friendly. Either way, I love my new Samsung and if you also have a smart phone, we can chat for free on Kakao or WhatsApp! Download them and get my number, stat!

Today we had a "Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer!" party on the roof for Cherry class. It was soooo fun! And hilarious. It was freaking hot outside, but totally worth it to see the kids in their sunglasses. So stinking precious, I couldn't even handle it. I want to figure out different ways now to get them in sunglasses more often. Koreans are pretty opposed to the heat so I don't know how much they liked being outside, but I had a great time! I'll take it over the cold any day, that is for damn sure. The kids are such goobers when it comes to playing outside too. I think they are just not used to it and don't really know how to handle themselves. We were having a pretty good time until one kid fell on top of another and we had to stop. That is how it works here...one injury and the fun is over for everyone. Very sad. But it was fun while it lasted. And my buddy Ray was back today. He had been on vacation for the past few days, so class it had been pretty quiet in Cherry class. But today Hurricane Ray was back in all his glory and I'm not going to lie, I missed him. He gives really good hugs.

And for some BIG NEWS: MY MOM IS COMING TO KOREA!!!!! I am so so so SOOOO pumped!!! She will only be in a Korea for 2 days, but my class will get to meet "Mom Teacher," and she'll get to see my apartment and everything so I'm really happy. She is coming right before my vacation and then we are heading off to THAILAND together! I mean, how awesome is that? My mom and I are going to Thailand. Thailand. Who would have ever thought? Apparently my grandma has started feeling pretty generous and is paying for her ticket here. This is also a total shocker, but I'm not questioning anything, I am just enjoying it. So not only do I get to see my mom, she gets to meet my kids, we get to go to Thailand but she also gets to bring me lots of stuff from home, yaaaayyyy!!! All the stuff I have been lamenting over not bringing, she can bring me! SO EXCITING! Also, I'm ordering stuff online and having it shipped to her so she can bring it. Can I really afford that? No. But I am going to pass up the chance to have some Target hand delivered to Korea? Hell no. Anyone that would like to add to the Target fund and/or would like my mom to deliver something, get it to her before July 17. Or, you can come as well. You just have to bring a suitcase that is 80% filled with stuff for me. :)

And for some lame news, I recently discovered I have to clean my washing machine. Right, WTF? Wash my washing machine? Egads! But I'm actually glad I figured it out because mine was DISGUSTING inside and probably the reason my clothes were still mildewy smelling after washing them. In fact, they smelled worse after I washed them than before! Anyway, it was kind of a frustrating process since the machine is all in Korean and translations were not to be found online. I finally figure out to clean it all the way through and even managed to hunt down some baking soda and vinegar, so things are smelling good these days.

Tracking down things here can sometimes prove to be quite the challenge. I wanted to make homemade playdough with the kids and it called for dried milk...nowhere to be found. Then I looked up other random experiments and they all wanted Borax...no idea where to get that. So we made cookies instead and it cost around $23 for cookie mix, frosting, sprinkles and butter. I made sure to get my money's worth and ate at least 5 cookies. I don't even really like sugar cookies but dammit if I wasn't eating those things!

Ok, well I have to get back to my online shopping now. Trying to make sure I get everything I want! Probably not the best plan, financially, but oh well! Big dreams don't come true when you're being frugal. (mmm, probably the opposite, actually but whatever)

Dream big people!