Teacher's Day

Here in Korea, May 15 (yesterday) is Teacher's Day.  This is DEFINITELY a holiday that should be picked up back in the United States.

The students bring gifts for their teachers.  I was given a virtual garden of flowers:

I also received cards, candy, some really nice men's facial lotion/aftershave/deodorant from Chanel and Kiehl's, and 100,000KW (about $90) from the PTA, but the gift that really shocked me was... an engraved pen from Mont Blanc:

If you're not familiar with Mont Blanc.... well, the metal on the pen is platinum and that's a sapphire on the clip. 



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Cirque du Soleil

You just never know when being nice to someone will have a wonderful reward.

A couple of weeks ago, I met a small group of people who were new to town and were exploring Itaewon a bit.  I chatted with them a while and helped them out a bit.  It turns out that they work for Cirque du Soleil, which is playing here for the next two months.  One of my friends and I were wanting to go, so I asked if it would be better to buy tickets online or go to the box office.  They started laughing and that's when I learned that one of them, Ene, is actually the floor supervisor who handles all the seating.  He told me to just buy the cheapest tickets and let him know when I was coming so he would be expecting me.

Well, I did just that-- and my friend and I each paid 60,000KW (about $53) for our tickets.  When we got to the show, we met Ene... and he escorted us to the VIP section where we sat in INCREDIBLE seats that normally sell for 220,000KW ($195) each.  The show was really nice and we had a great evening.

Thanks so much, Ene!

I know the pics aren't that great.  You're not really supposed to take any at all, but I snuck a couple with my iPod... lol

 

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Spring..... FINALLY! (I hope)

It seems like it's been a really long winter this year. BUT, the signs of spring's arrival are finally here.

Last week, there was a vendor selling flowers in my neighborhood, so I stopped and got some for the bed at my apartment.  The blooms are just starting to open.

When I saw the daylilies, I knew I had to plant them.  They reminded me so much of my dad.

This morning, I saw another VERY Korean sign of spring.  A woman dressed to kill (including her fur coat and leopard print hand bag) was driving her motorbike to work.  When the weather's good, everyone's out and about! 

Gotta love it!

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