Instagrammin' | August 2012


Sometimes, I don't have a chance to whip out the DSLR and take a photo. Thank goodness my iPod is always easily accessible. I have quite a collection of photos on Instagram and thought that it would be nice to share some of the highlights from each month. I didn't want to start with the beginning of this year, that would be ridiculous. So, I decided August would be the best place to start, especially since it was the month that we went to the UK.




1. Markus and I on our way to England. That day we took seven different modes of transportation and recapped all seven in a series of photos. This was the second photo and when we still looked refreshed and excited.
2. Our first meal in England with James and Ari was oatcakes. They were freaking delicious, a cross between a pancake and a crepe. We stuffed them full of bangers and bacon. 
3. Homemade syrup sponge pudding and custard and a beautiful English garden. It doesn't get more British than this. 
4. Markus probably reading Game of Thrones on his Kindle in the English garden. 

5. I found Anthropolgie in Edinburgh! I haven't been in one for an entire year. Of course, I wanted to buy everything but bought nothing. 
6. The beautiful streets of Edinburgh. I could have walked those streets forever. 
7. The Lake District was like being in a painting. It was unreal. 
8. Being a true Muggle and hanging out at the Ministry of Magic at the Harry Potter Studio Tour. 

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Halloween at the Busan English Library


I love Halloween. It's one of the greatest holidays. What other days can you pretend to be someone else and get free candy? It's amazing. When we first came to Korea, I was so shocked to learn that they do not celebrate Halloween. It makes sense why they don't, but it's still so sad that the kids don't have an opportunity to enjoy the festivities.

 My co-teacher asked me to plan a Halloween Day Event for our students and I didn't hold back. I went all out. I wanted the kids to have a good time, but I also wanted to be able to enjoy Halloween too. If I can't drink pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin ale, I'm gonna plan an awesome event. 




We couldn't decorate the entire library, even though that would've been awesome. They gave us this little section in the front, but hey, it's still something. I loved walking in the morning and seeing the Little Halloween corner.



There are three native English teachers at the library including me. Kelly and Doug are also from America. It's nice to have my fellow countrymen working in such close proximity. We decided to dress up as literary characters, since we work at a library. So you see before you, Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Mr. Fox from Fantastic Mr. Fox and D'artagnan from The Three Musketeers. Even though we thought they were well-known characters,  the kids had no idea who we were.



A few students came in costumes and the overall theme was witches and wizards. I think that's the only costume that they sold, to be honest. If they didn't come in costume, we set up three stations to help them get in the Halloween spirit. At the first station, they created their own paper plate mask. At the second station they made spider hats. Finally, at the third station, they had their faces painted by Kelly and Markus. They also colored and created Halloween bags for trick or treating.



I had a great time and I think the kids did too. They were so cute with their little masks and spider hats. They were also surprisingly well behaved. Maybe they were overwhelmed with all the fun that they were having that they held it all inside. Either way, it was a Halloween to remember.

The Foxy Man | Halloween Costume 2012


Halloween is probably my favorite holiday. It marks the beginning of the best three months of the year. Every year, I always say I'm going to dress up, but it never happens. I think that the magic of fall takes over and I always have good intentions but never follow through. Last year, I made a lame attempt at being a pumpkin. I put on an orange dress and pasted some leaves in my hair. It was a bit lame I know, but this year, I decided that I would put in more of an effort for my students.

Since I work at a library full of wonderful books, I thought it would be good to be a literary character, Mr. Fox from Fantastic Mr. Fox. I bought a generic fox mask at a nearby costume store. It was pretty awful. It was all white with gold sequins all over it. Markus, the artistic genius that he is, transformed it into the beautiful mask you see now. He used watercolors and added a few other small touches. I think it turned out wonderful and I know that no one else in the world has a mask like it. Now that I've made the effort this year, I've decided that I want to dress up every year! Maybe next year, Markus and I will have awesome couples costumes. Any suggestions?



Wandering Wednesday | Florida Road Trip 2009: 1 of 3


During Spring Break 2009, Markus and I decided that we would go on a mini road trip through Florida. We wanted to see as many Roadside Attractions as possible. We also planned to visit friends and family. I planned for us to visit a bunch of quirky places that many people never heard of before. We also decided that while we were driving and saw any interesting billboards or places, we would stop and check them out too.



The first stop of our first day was at Jon G's in Lake Worth. This historic restaurant always has a line out the door and around the side of the building. We went as early as possible and were one of the first inside. Markus and I actually had our first honeymoon in Lake Worth and passed the restaurant many times, but never ate there.

After Jon G's we drove north towards Jupiter to visit Blowing Rocks. This was our first time going but definitely not our last. I never knew that something like that could exist in Florida. It was like visiting another state. Once we finished exploring the rocky terrain, we drove to the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse close to central Florida. I've never been inside a lighthouse before and I was quite impressed.



The final part of our first day took us to the Ruins of Bongoland. It was built in 1948 and for a few years was a mini theme park. Now the only remains are some poorly constructed and dilapidated dinosaurs.  It was the perfect way to end the first day of our Florida Roadside Attraction road trip.

Florida Road Trip 2 of 3

Chatsworth House | Derbyshire, England 2 of 5

The size of Chatsworth House is overwhelming. There is so much to see and I was glad that spent the whole day there. I think Markus and I stopped to look at everything. I must've taken over 600 photos.

When we made it outside to the gardens, we quickly realized that it was turning into a mini photo shoot. Sorry for all the shameless photographs of Markus and I, but I couldn't help myself. It was the first time I've ever been in a garden like this. It was stunning and unlike anything I've ever seen before. I felt like I was in a British period drama. I was waiting for someone to pull me into the bushes and either kill me or ravish me.