Wednesday, March 2, 2011

This week, so far*!~

     So, I start my official first day of teaching with the new place tomorrow~eeek^^*!~
I'm nervous, excited and pumped for a new start...
     Anyways...I celebrated the ending earlier this week with M.K, Jake, and Lee...times in 노원 at none other than a HOF..went to Boobi Boobi and got hooked up with this beautiful frozen fruit platter^^*!~

and 달기소주^^*!~ photo taken by VeganBeats
  M.K's buddy runs the Boobi boobi in 노원 so this guy was on the house...the ice was really stacked on so getting some of the fruit was an issue...the more 소주 consumed, the more fruit stabbing that happened! None the less...wonderful evening with the guys...

During training, the new team was treated to some wonderful Korean food...what was served~불고기, 삼겹살, 김치찌개, and more 고기! I got straight up 야채 with lots of 고추장 and some vegan 반찬!!

^^*!~ photo taken by VeganBeats
  I love me some veggie 김치^^*!~

^^*!~ photo taken by VeganBeats
 I didn't take a pic of the veggies....but anyways...here's to the start of Seoul part II!!!

New place

     I have successfully relocated to my new apartment, Seoul part II!! By new place resembles a dorm, and it's...cozy to say the least. My bathroom is the size of a closet, the main room is just big enough to fit a bed, and my kitchen is a closet and a half...I was hoping for counter space...but I know I can't stay inside a small place like this all day so I think I'm going to get a lot of exploring points....anyways...
Here's to a new start*!~

outside my window photo taken by VeganBeats


Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Final day...Graduation and a small celebration ^^*~

     Today marked the last day with my school, the graduation day of my kindy kids, and some last hoorahs with my awesome students...
     The graduation ceremony went wonderfully, the kids were fun, giggling, so loving, and everything went so smoothly...ahhh they're adorable ^^*!~
dressed up for "The Little Red Hen" play (photo taken by VeganBeats)
 We rented some costumes...we went with farm animals and ahh soo cute. I want some of these costumes..Halloween huzzuh!
Jessica as the Little Red Hen! (photo taken by VeganBeats)
^^*!~ photo taken by VeganBeats
Eileen as Cow and Hailey as Dog ^^*!~ (photo taken by VeganBeats)

      After the play we did "Old McDonald" and then the graduation certificates....darling
Haiely is beautiful^^*!~ (photo taken by VeganBeats)
      A REALLY small class...but there is no measure for how lovely these kids are. I adore all of them so much and will miss them so much...they've touched my life ^^*!~
Teachers in the back, kids in the front 야!! photo owned by VeganBeats
       Here are my graduates^^*!~

from left to right: Shawn, Esther, Jessica, Hailey, and Lynn ^^*!~ (photo taken by VeganBeats)
  There were a lot of family members that came to support the kindy graduates...our special student was Eileen, she isn't graduating with her peers...but her whole family came to support her friends.
Penny and Eileen (photo taken by VeganBeats)
  Alright, so in complete honesty...the only reason I was considering staying with EDLS was because of these two girls...these beautiful sisters. They are so smart and they have both gotten a decent amount of territory in this heart. They work hard, are so sweet, true characters, and stunning...in every sense of the word. Mush...mush is what I turn into.

After the graduation, I was able to kick it with them and..ahh thank you girls^^*!~

  Playing in our indoor playground...
photo taken by VeganBeats
 My afternoon classes were just filled with fun...lotsd of laughing, picturing, dancing...my kids were so thoughtful, they remembered it was my last day and were nothing but loving and warmth...
Clinging onto me...photo taken by VeganBeats
My afternoon kindy class was hilarious...insisting on playing hide and go seek in a room with only a table...where would they hide?
right after this she jumped onto me...photo taken by VeganBeats
"take pictures of us and chairs Vanessa teacher." photo taken by VeganBeats
my afternoon kindy girls...beautiful bright young ladies ^^*!~ photo taken by VeganBeats
My premium classes were a blast as well...these kids speak English rather well...and have been busting their asses the whole time...chill day in order, hell yeah..... 
peace~~photo taken by VeganBeats
 So didn;t mention it, my face exploded earlier this week...thanks to bangs you can't see by GIANT SWOLLEN EYE...apologies for looking scrubby
wha I look tired....peace signs^^*!~ photo taken by VeganBeats
 My last class of the day is filled with some of the brightest kids...they're english is at such a high level and I've been supporting a heavy creative flow with them...I have successfully turned this class into a creative writing class (huzzuh) and they have me by the heart strings...
     Going into this class, they shut off the classroom lights and screamed "Surprise!!" once I entered...and they all wrote me letters, drew pictures, gave me personalized gifts and organized a snack party! They all planned stuff throughout the week on what to do on my last day...they brought me to tears. I wasn;t expecting such a..loving energy.
Thak you Premium A....
snacking it up^^ (photo taken by VeganBeats)
카프리썬 (caprison) photo taken by VeganBeats
Leaving my final class I got hugs, love, and lots of warmth...hell I'm going to miss these kids a lot...

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Korean Ramen inspo^^*!~

     A great blog, eatyourkimchi.com, recently did a blog on Korean ramen and...well this lady got a little inspired.
~~I had a lot of yummy veggies just kicking it in my fridge so I decided to throw them all together and..well whip up something delicious!

And behold^^*!~
more veggies than ramen obviously ^^*~ (photo taken by VeganBeats)
 I first steamed a bunch of broccoli, garlic scapes, carrots, bok choy, and kombucha squash. Kombucha squash has quickly become an obsession, it's sweet robust and flavorful...AND on sale at Homeplus for under 2,000\!!      Anyways, after steaming, I threw in a bunch of water, some dried mushrooms, and the ramen seasoning packet...(vegan ramen...nom nom nom) and then after about 10 minutes I threw half of the ramen and more water and just let it marinate...via boiling! Ahhh...maybe I should re-write a better recipe..AND::

What you need:
*ramen packet (doesn't have to be vegan for you omnivore folk ^^*!~)
*water
*Veggies, and plenty of them. I went with broccoli, carrots, kombucha squash, bok choy,and garlic scapes (all chopped)
*dried mushrooms (optional)

What to do:
1. In a decently sized pot, boil a couple cups of water
2. Add the veggies, when the water is boiling; starchier tougher ones first (squash, carrots, scapes, etc.)~~dried mushrooms before everything!!!
3. After about 10 minutes add the ramen seasoning and let the veggies soak up the flavors...
4. Then add the ramen and let the noodles cook through...
5. In the last 5 minutes, add the bok choy (they're still crunchy this way!!)
6. Add more water if you like soupy...less if you want less soup!
Enjoi^^*!~

 The ramen suprisingly added a nice additional texture to the mostly soupy veggie concoction....anyways,...thanks eatyourkimchi for the inspiration ^^*!~

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Day of silence~~

      Mental adventures for my Saturday, I didn't go out, didn't really socialize...meditated. I didn't quite plan it, it just happened, very much needed. I have been in a bit of a funk...all too familiar statment right? These continuous waves of kissing "balance", immense dissociation, and then faltering lows, where I can't really gather my thoughts of feelings...like an explosion, fragments and thousands of bits are flying around me all too quickly and I can't grasp onto one thing...one thought. I've been feeling lost, thought much happier in Seoul. It's almost as if I have no idea what to do with myself, I have far away thoughts and plans of thigs I want to do, but gathering enough motivation has become a struggle. Independently exploring things is becoming a burden. I want to do things alone, have that self-reflection, but I want to be with company...but at the same time, I desire isolation amongst company, I want no words exchanged, no acknowledgment, I want a body there so that I don't feel isolated. It's very strange, I know I love people, but I want nothing to do with them lately. I want no judgement outside of my own, and the presence of others only promotes an internal perception of external judgement that I then take in internally. I manipulate and create external opinions and take them in, and usually to fuel some sort of negativity.~~ guilt
     ~Today was a very mindful day due to a mental and emotional dare I say inspiration. I have felt very limbless for sometime, that ice cream scoop has taken a chunk out of my chest...grounded in quick sand blah de blah...anyways, re-entrance in some factor and thus this surge of energy and imagined support urged me to reconnecting with the things I used to love doing, my routines I thoroughly relied upon. I woke up and put on a lot of Ravi Shankar and stated my morning with an hour of silent mindful meditation, then two hours of yoga...followed by more meditation and a walk outside. I didn't speak a word or make a sound for over 20 hours...and just let my mind free flow and allowed the parts to speak. My dissociative parts took a break today...
     ~I know I've been sad, didn't allow myself to be sad though. There may have been a few tears squeezed out, but I didn't allow myself to be sad. I shushed the parts, silenced the thoughts and neglected to accept.

~I'm scared of being sad in Seoul, of opening that gate and potentially letting all that darkness in...or out. But this is a journey and I want to learn (again) how to sit with my parts and if not accept, acknowledge them.


After the mindfulness, decided to play in my kitchen...
~~here's what ended up happening~>
I have one week left in this apartment and too many veggies needing some love...so I decided to make some noms for the week...packing for the move slowly....this is what I'll get to enjoy over time ^^*!~
steamed veggies with a carmelized soy garlic sauce...photo take by VeganBeats
 Eatyourkimchi.com recently posted a video about "gourmet" ramen and I decided to do a vean spin on it...using the vegan ramen and lots of garlic scapes, cabbage, and steamed lettuce...whipped this guy up...this will last me a bit I think...definately. 
photo taken by VeganBeats
 And lastly, while on my walk I passed by maybe 3 donut vending stalls...and lots of kids nomming on side street donuts, I remembered having a lot of leftover flour and random ingredients and decided to expeiment and make some vegan donuts...I will bring these to the kids, I'm not a sugar or sweets girl, but they cam out looking super cute (and heartstopping....hmmm)
donuts ^^*!~ photto taken by VeganBeats
The rest of my day was still followed by silence...I just uttered a word while talking to Hamlet (yes, I talk to my kids (animals).) So the 20 hours of silence has just been broken.
~~although a parts-filled day, I feel better and slightly accomplished. I despise feeling lazy...time to reconnect with the things I routinely relied upon...goals~:
*read everyday....everyday (I just dropped about 60\ on books incentive?
*write everyday (this is a passion I have put on the back burner for a bit too long...)O:
*yoga everyday...ugh I love this stuff why have I put it on pause
*mindful meditation daily, even if it's only for 10 minutes
*at least an hour of silence daily....SO needed


Here's to tomorrow....
~I'm going to the house of sharing....whaa

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Leaving...approaching too quickly!!

~~approaching the last week with my kids...so I'm concentrating on having a lot of fun with them. Of coursefocusing on providing the best lessons possible and I hope I'm making some sort of impact. These kids have done so much for me whether they are aware of it or not....hell I'm going to miss them, they're all so brilliant and caring...
     Today I brought in my camera just to capture some of the kids doing whatever fun stuff they would be doing, they only leave me with surprises!!
^^*~ photo taken by VeganBeats
 love love love these kids...
photo taken by VeganBeats
 The two boys*!~
photo taken by VeganBeats
 The girls are too cute!! 
photo taken by VeganBeats
 My premium class~creative writing...ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ
photo taken by VeganBeats
photo taken by VeganBeats
My kids have been requesting my drawings...here's all of them with my quick cartoons!
photo taken by VeganBeats


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Phil's 24th^^*!~

I'll let the pictures speak...there's not much left to say....




Happy Birthday Phil^^*!~