I renewed my contract

Today is November 1st, my birthday month and the start of my 11th month in Seoul. About a week ago I signed a 7 month renewal contract so I'm employed through August 3, 2011. I was a little worried that they weren't going to offer me an extention so I'm very happy and relieved right now.
It's getting colder but the weather hasn't fully committed to winter cold yet, we'll have a couple days of freezing cold (by California standards) and then a couple days of sun and warmth. This past weekend was Halloween and I had a really nice time. Since Halloween fell on a Sunday I had three days worth of cosutme options and I've always been kean on making my own costume and this year was no exception.
On Thursday night I went to a Halloween party in Gangnam and it was really fun. I made a Guiness bottle costume, I worked on the label for over an hour and I was pretty proud of the result. It got a bit crushed after a night of dancing but I did get some pictures of my masterpiece beforehand!
On Friday my company encouraged the employees to dress up because in Korea people don't really celebrate Halloween. I was a soju bottle (the National drink) and it was really easy to make (green shirt + handmade soju label) much less detail than the Guiness label. My students all laughed and were really curious about the Halloween mumbo jumbo. "What do adults do on Halloween??" "Well... they dress up in costumes and drink alcohol."
Saturday I went on a solo hike up the nearest mountain Ansan, it's behind the University Yonsei which is a hop, skip and a jump away from my house. I downloaded a couple podcasts and went on a three hour hike/walk and it was really nice. The weather was perfect and the mountain wasn't very crowded, which can be a problem on the mountains here. I took a couple pictures, but my camera has the unique talent of taking ANY picturesque sight and making it look lame, so I probably wont post any of them.
Saturday night my friend Julia and I went as ninja turtles along with a Waldo, a Woody and a lumberjack. We went to Itaewon and stayed most of the night at a westerner bar called Dillingers. My favorite costume was a guy dressed as Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon. His skirt was so short and I'm chuckling right now just thinking about it.
High light of the night: Julia and I were talking to the bar tender/ DJ and he told us to come behind the bar to show us something and as soon as we walked behind it, the bar owner announced (with a microphone!) that they were having a costume contest and th ninja turtles were in it! Um... I'm not a big spot light person and we both froze for a second. There were a lot of people there! Some how Julia and I didn't run away and we actually won second place. Unfortunately Brave Heart's costume was too good. I'm glad we did it, even if we did get tricked into participating.
I hope everyone else had a good Halloween too!

Monday Update

Hey everyone. I'm sitting in my office wearing my outdoor coat because there is an uncomfortable draft coming through the closed windows. Brr. October has been an interesting month weather-wise, its rained and shined and the temperature has dropped drastically. Last night I went for a walk with a friend and my sweatshirt, scarf and long pants still left me feeling colder than I would have liked.
Exciting news: My boss has agreed to let me sign for an additional seven months, so my contract can go until early August of 2011. I'm really thrilled because I'm not ready to leave Seoul yet, I have a job, good friends and a comfortable life here and January is just too soon to leave.
I got to talk to my mom and Eva for the first time in months last week. Both of them are doing well. Eva's in Denmark and living a good life, she was approved for her Danish citizenship and she's been taking intensive Danish classes for the past couple months. I really want to go visit her there when I'm done teaching.
I had my second photo shoot yesterday. It was really fun. I like Robin, the photographer, he's fun to work with. The only strange part of the shoot was that the studio booked another group to start exactly when we were scheduled to finish, with no time in between. As we're finishing the final shoot, which required the most dramatic makeup, the next group just bursts in, and it was so awkward. I'm trying to ignore a group of people walking around us, so rude. Who does that? Robin said the pictures should be ready soon so I'll upload some.

사랑니 (Love Teeth)

Two posts in one day, impressive I know. This was just too sweet to forget: I just had class with one of my students, he's a senior in university and he's getting ready to go abroad to the US for a year. He needs to get his wisdom teeth removed before he leaves, so we were talking about the dentist and the different names for different proceedures. I told him he needed his wisdom teeth removed.
Student: We called them 사랑니 SaRangNa.
Me: SaRang means love right?
Student: Yes, they are called Love Teeth.
Me: Why are they called Love Teeth?
Student: Because you are old enough to be in love when you them.
I thought that was pretty cute and wanted to share it.

Hey Again

The summer has come and gone and I didn't make any time for my blog, sorry about that. I'm turning into a white stereotype I guess. The other day I was in a book store, looking for some new reading material, when I came across the book "Stuff White People Like". I picked it up and after too many of the items on the list applied to me I put the book down, I ain't no stereotype. mutter mutter. One of the items said: Starting a Blog and Never Updating it. Gah. So to prove that list wrong, here I go.
I got a new office at work and it's definitely an upgrade. More space. More windows. 3ftx4ft World Map over my computer? Holla. I really like the map and it gives my daydreaming mind even more inspiration to imagine my extensive post-Korea travels.
It's starting to get a bit nippy outside, I pulled my jacket out of the closet and it's been a constant companion this week. I'm not ready for Korean winter again. It was so cold last year.
This upcoming weekend should be exciting, there is a free local music festival in Seoul on Saturday followed by a fireworks show and then on Sunday my Canadian friends want to have a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. It'll give me some good blogging material (hopefully).
I'm doing well and I hope all of you are as well :)