January

The weekend after visiting Nashville, MY DREAMS CAME TRUE. Well, A dream came true. The first time I was introduced to Korean music was maybe back in 2009? The group that hooked my interest into Korean culture was Big Bang. Magically, my coteacher/friend got us tickets to their last performance in Seoul before one of the members had to complete his mandatory South Korean military service. (If you didn’t know, all Korean male citizens are required to train for two years in the military service, due to their relationship with and proximity to North Korea.) The concert was magical and felt so unreal! But I had an amazing time fan-girling over Big Bang.

waiting for the show to start

This picture of TOP was taken by my coteacher/friend Elaine!!

January was cold, but I was so excited to do many indoor activities that I always regretted doing when the weather was great the rest of the year in Korea. So I visited many cafes with different themes. Korea is the best for amazing cafes with perfect aesthetics or quirky and unique attractions –I got my face printed on my latte, you really can’t top that. I want to visit all of the cafes..I’ve been known to go to two or three in one day…anyway! I also visited a couple of museums! One is full of interactive art installations which was amazing, and the other was a modern/digital variation of Gustav Klimt’s works. I also shopped a lot at very unique shops which make you feel like you’re in a movie! Style Nanda created a 5-story store where each floor represents a different part of a hotel…so awesome! Agatha beauty and cosmetics created a spa/hair salon/science lab/house store. And C27 Cheesecake Cafe ALSO created a different theme for each floor of their 3 or 4 story cafe. AND there was a sunglasses store which looks like an art museum. I mean, I just love everything about living here and seeing what people create.

Aside from that, my students performed their play, which my coteacher and I wrote, choreographed, and directed, at their Winter Concert in front of all of their parents. I had to introduce myself in Korean in front of the audience and then introduce my students briefly for their cultural fashion show and it was super nerve-racking, but I did it!! And a clip from that will be provided later. Anyway, January was a really fun month and I’m only sad my students will graduate in a few weeks.