The Eagle and Child | Oxford, England | 3 of 4

In honor of the recent release of The Hobbit, I wanted to share our time at The Eagle and Child pub, also commonly known as the Bird and Baby. This Oxford pub is famously known as the meeting place for The Inklings, a literary group comprised of many writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. They would meet and discuss their unpublished works. My dream was to go to Pemberley and this was where Markus wanted to go. He is an avid fan of Tolkien and his works. Markus is a bit of a hobbit himself and it would only be fitting to have a pint at such a famous place.

The actual pub is quite small, but The Inklings would meet in the back room for privacy. I loved the feel of the place. It was definitely the quintessential British pub, warm and cozy. We sat for about an hour and sampled some local beer. We spent our time at the pub talking and enjoying each other's company, much like The Inkling must have done.

Dongbaek Island Hike

Last month, the library took the day off and we met at Dongbaek, an area of Busan near the ocean. It's very common in Korea to go day hiking with your co-workers. Usually in schools, you go hiking after you've taught, but at the library, we get the whole day off, which I enjoy. I don't mind missing out on a day of sitting at my desk to go hiking in a beautiful city.

We met at 10am and spent the next few hours walking from Dongbaek through Haeundae Beach and ended up at Songjeong Beach. I enjoyed the company and the views were beautiful. I've never been to Dongbaek or Songjeong and the areas are beautiful. When we finally reached the end, I was ready to relax and eat. 

Usually, when we go hiking they take us to a meat restaurant. The last time we went hiking the food was amazing. I stuffed myself full of grilled beef. It was great. This time, we ended up at a raw fish restaurant. They said it was sashimi, but this wasn't sashimi. I know from the pictures it looks delicious, but it really wasn't. The fish was really chewy and had no flavor. It wasn't my favorite. 

Also during the meal, there are heaps of toasts. It doesn't matter that it's noon on a Monday, Koreans love to drink. It's also considered rude if you don't drink with your boss or co-worker if they want to drink a shot with you. So, it's common to see people walking around with soju bottles doing shots with others.

After lunch, a few of us wandered over to noreabang or karaoke. It was fun seeing a different side of my coworkers. At work, everyone is reserved but they relaxed a bit. I liked seeing that side of them.  By then, most of the people escaped, but Kelly, Doug and I stuck it out. Earlier, we had planned to escape together, but we ended up staying the whole time. I'm glad we did because it was a great afternoon!

Little John's Grave | Peak District, England

After we left Chatsworth House, we were on a mission. I was determined to find a specific place from a scene in

Pride and Prejudice

. There's a scene where Lizzy is standing on a peak in the middle of the Peak District. I looked it up and found out it was

Stanage Edge

and very close to Chatsworth House. I was determined to stand on the same edge as Lizzy because it's one of my favorite scenes. 

While we were driving, we were using the GPS and it told us to drive up and into a small village full of hills. We finally reached the smallest road I've ever seen. We decided that it was the right way and continued onward. Once we reached the end, we quickly realized it was a dead end. 

The tiny road led us to a small church and graveyard. We parked the car to see if we could figure out where we were or how to get to Stanage Edge. Sadly, we realized that we would have to hike about an hour or so to get there. After spending the entire day at Chatsworth, we were all knackered and decided to pass. I was sad, but it was a decision that had to be made. At least, I was able to go to

Pemberley

!

Ari and I decided to explore a bit and we walked around the graveyard. We kept seeing signs pointing to "Little John's grave". We thought this was interesting, so we followed the signs.

Surely, it couldn't be the grave of Little John from

Robin Hood

. When we finally reached the tombstone, we found that it was. We called the boys over and we all stood in awe. I'm not sure if it was really his grave, but it was still exciting. Despite not being able to go to Stanage Edge, we were still able to stumble upon something quite cool.

Oxford, England | 2 of 4

As I've said before, the city of Oxford is quite beautiful with an extensive history and stunning architecture. As soon as we arrived, there was a torrential downpour. We sought sanctuary in the nearest place and that was the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford and it was utterly breathtaking. We were only able to venture into a small sitting room. We had to pay a small fee to see the room, but it was still amazing. 

Since we had to pay and it was raining, we decided that we would take a break and sit for a while. The room was quiet with only a few visitors, thus creating a relaxing atmosphere. It was nice to stop for a few moments during our busy schedule and revel in the architectural beauty of the Bodleian Library.

Twelve Days of Christmas Cinema | Week One

This first week of Twelve Days of Christmas was exactly what I needed. Around Christmas time, I get really homesick. Christmas in Korea is nothing like back home. It's more of a holiday for couples and no one else celebrates it. There are so many things I miss about Christmas in America. I miss drinking and eating peppermint infused treats. I miss hearing Christmas songs everywhere. Most of all, I miss spending time with my family and friends. Watching these movies really put me in the Christmas mood and reminded me of home. They were the perfect antidote for my homesickness.

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1983) 
This movie was my first taste of the National Lampoon films. I’ve seen Van Wilder, but I don’t think it really counts. I expected a lot from this movie, and I am sad to report that I was a bit disappointed. I know that everyone loves this movie, but I wasn’t that keen on it. I think that’s the problem with these kinds of movies. People have such fond memories of them from their childhood and they build them up. I've often heard it’s the best movie they’ve ever seen or the perfect representation of Christmas. For me, it was just okay.  

First, the length of the movie is too long. It just kept going and going. Every time they showed the Advent calendar, I kept wishing it Dec. 25. The main character, played by Chevy Chase, is just awful and really annoying. I know that he wants the perfect Christmas, but come on man. Why can’t he just relax? He makes ridiculous choices and most of the time they aren’t even that funny. I think that if I watched this as a child, I would’ve enjoyed it, but as an adult, I just wanted it to end. 

2, The Shop Around the Corner (1946) 
When I was in middle school, I would spend Friday evenings with my mom. We would lay in her bed with a bowl of popcorn and watch classic movies. I’m so thankful for having a mother who exposed me to old movies.  I learned a lot about relationships and love. I also learned how to be a lady and about style and fashion.

On one of those nights, we watched The Shop Around the Corner and I immediately fell in love. It truly is a timeless classic and stars Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. It’s a simple story about two people who argue constantly and end up falling in love on Christmas Eve. The film is executed perfectly. It’s funny and serious when it needs to be. The acting is amazing and it’s a real gem. I wish they still made movies like this; there isn’t a lot of flash or complicated story lines. It gets to the point and focuses on what matters, the relationship between the main characters. It's one of my favorite movies and one that will always leave me feeling warm and happy. 

3. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 
As a child, this was my favorite movie. When I think back on my childhood, I have a lot of memories connected with this movie. I watched it constantly. I knew all the words to every song and sang them much to the annoyance of my parents and older brothers. My mother even made me a Jack Skellington outfit to wear for Christmas. I was obsessed.

I think I loved it so much because it perfectly combined two of my favorite holidays, Halloween and Christmas. It’s not entirely a Christmas movie, but also not completely a Halloween movie. It’s a great combination of both holidays and it’s a fun seeing how they interact. The story of this film is quite unique and unlike anything I’ve seen. I remember being in awe of Halloween Town. I wanted to live in that weird and kooky place. It seemed like a kid's dream living in a place where it was Halloween everyday, who wouldn't want that?
 

4. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) 
I have to admit that in my childhood I had a considerable lack of Muppets. I never watched Sesame Street or saw a Charlie Brown film. I think it’s because my siblings were 11 and 12 years older than me and I was left to my own devices. I watched a lot of I Love Lucy, Gilligan's Island and I Dream of Jeannie. What can I say? I was an odd kid. 

When we watched this film, it was like I found  a missing piece of my childhood. I absolutely loved this movie. There was so many amazing things about The Muppet Christmas Carol. To be honest, I was expecting to dislike this movie, but it was fantastic. It’s heartwarming, funny and poignant.  Michael Caine was also a pleasant surprise. He makes a great Scrooge. The acting was quite good and the puppetry was incredible.  While watching, I found myself laughing and crying. Yes, crying. I don’t know if it was the wine I was drinking, but there was one part that really got me. Judge me all you want, but watching a disabled frog singing about being thankful was touching. It’s always good to be reminded to be thankful, even in a kids movie.