weekend stuff

On Friday I celebrated Halloween for the first time in years, which is a little odd since I'm in a country that doesn't actually celebrate Halloween. My coteacher told me that until a few years ago Halloween was a foreign concept to most Koreans, but as more and more foreigners come to teach English it is becoming more well-known. The event I went to was on base and American and Korean kids from the nearby community were invited to come trick-or-treating for a few hours. There was a costume contest, a band, and some other things going on in addition to the trick-or-treating, but for the kids it was all about the candy.

I went straight from school so I wasn't dressed up, but some of the kids had very original costumes. I'm still bummed that I didn't think to get my camera out. The best costume was this one little Korean girl who dressed up as a present. She had a small box around her middle (her arms were free and the box stayed up on its own) that was wrapped in birthday paper, then she had a big curled ribbon in her hair right on top of her head that really was wrapping ribbon, not a hair ribbon. It was a great costume, plus she was an adorable little kid.

After not doing much yesterday I went out for a nice lunch in Pyeongtaek today with some of the South Africans I met at the teacher orientation recently. We ate at a Pacific Northwest Canadian-style bistro. I'm not sure what made it "Canadian-style", but that's what the sign said. They had a wide variety of foods, from pork ribs and other meat dishes, to pasta, seafood, pizza, and fajitas, so maybe someone else can tell me what's Canadian (or Pacific Northwest) about any of those. I had chicken fajitas and even tried a couple pieces of chicken until I bit down on something unnaturally crunchy and that was the end of that. I finished off all the veggies and the others ate most of my chicken.

It was a fun time and nice to just sit and talk. We sat at the restaurant for quite awhile then went to a Dunkin' Donuts nearby for some coffee/tea and dessert. I had a muscat black tea that was very nice. There were several tea choices I've never had before. I'll have to go back soon to try the chrysanthemum tea. I almost tried it but changed my mind at the last minute. I wonder if it's like eating dandelions :)

In case you're wondering, William has been out in the field again for the past week (with another week to go), so that's why he didn't join me for anything in this post. This will be a recurring theme for at least a couple more months, or so the Army says.