Phantom of the Opera

It has been a few weeks since Valentine's Day, but that doesn't mean we didn't enjoy it to the fullest.

Lauren convinced me that Phantom of the Opera was a can't miss. We asked our boss, Ms. Grace, to do a little digging for us to see if the show was in English and if tickets were available. Good news/bad news, tickets were available, the show was entirely Korean...including the songs, haha!

We purchased them anyway and ended up being the only people in our section...for a Valentine's Day show.

The show, even in a foreign language, was absolutely fascinating. The music and theatrics were stunning. The opening scene is jaw-dropping. It was a great way to spend Valentine's Day in Seoul.

황사! Hwangsa!

We've been a bit lagging on the blog as of late, but with good reason...

Hwangsa, or yellow dust, is the pollution devil that comes from China. Feel free to read about it here. Well, we have been affected this year (we were last year as well...in retrospect we realize this) and have succumb to this...

Thankful Thursday

Today we are thankful for...

• quiet neighbors
• leftovers
• 10am starts
• buds! Spring is in the air :)
• Kleenex

Thankful Thursday

Ugh, we're feeling lame this Thursday :( but still Thankful none the less...

• our baby "adult" 18 year old sister!!!
• Gym PPT with kindergarten
• hugs
• the "ahhh, I know it" moment (from us and kids)
• tteok

Thankful Thursday

This week we have been thankful for...

• overcast weather
• being able to work at the same school
• planning our trip home!
• Mexican food
• kindergarten science experiments

Buldak 불닭

Fire Chicken!

Bul = Fire

Dak = Chicken

This is a delicious, quick, spicy meal. We actually haven't yet had this meal out in Seoul (well, that's to our knowledge - we've eaten many spicy chicken dishes without knowing exactly what they were, so who knows really). It seemed as if it would be an easy enough Korean dish to experiment with and I knew we would like it since our tolerance for spice has immensely expanded since moving here. I followed this simple recipe with a few alterations. We had no Sake or Cheong ju (Korean rice wine) for the marinade so I used our favorite - Soju! (That was a highly sarcastic statement, although we did have some with dinner.) Not sure how much of a difference it made; the chicken was amazing! I also didn't have any kochujan (red chili pepper paste) or red chillies for the fire sauce so I settled for jalapenos and kochukaru (red pepper flakes). We included some of my favorite banchan (traditional Korean side dishes), pickled radish (danmuji), to kill some of the spice but it ended up being not spicy enough for us - Christopher even added some Tabasco. Overall, it was really good and we will be making it again. If you want to try it and like spice - use the red chillies!

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday we find ourselves thankful for...

• Smaller kindergarten classes
• Seeing the old kindys all grown up in first grade :)
• Surprise Valentine's day packages
• Having jobs and being blessed by God with a roof and a plate full of food
• constant effort