This is what Friday morning looks like

All week it's been rainy and windy and gray, but today the sun came out to play! I basically live for the beach in the summer and I haven't been in a few weeks because of weather and busy-ness, so today Bear and I made our long-awaited return. 

Bear learned how to swim this morning! He really hates baths so I assumed he wouldn't be a big fan of the ocean, and I was right. I dropped him in and he paddled straight for shore and then ran out and started digging holes, like he could tunnel his way to safety. I tried again a while later and he did the same thing. He's afraid of almost everything in the beginning and then after a while he realizes it isn't so bad, so I hope after a few more times he'll think swimming is fun. Either that or he'll grow to hate me. We'll see. 

Look at that cute face full of sand

While we were drying off this man walked over and started throwing seaweed towards my umbrella. At first I wasn't sure if he was aiming for me or the dog, but then I realized he wanted Bear to eat it. No thank you, we'll stick to treats. I saw him wander over to a group of kids and try to share with them next. When their teacher said no he tied it around his head like a crown and headed off. I thought we were done with him but he showed up later with a huge pile of rocks that he dumped very near my towel. Summer always brings out the crazies. 

All in all it was a great morning, and as always, I can't wait to go back!

I skipped work for a latte

Today the stars aligned and all the kiddos from one class were absent!  Kids are gone all the time, but very rarely are all of them missing from the same class on the same day. And today was one of those days. I did a little prepping, a little cleaning just in case somebody showed up late. And once I knew nobody was coming I was outta there! I stuck my head in the office and said "Hey, nobody's here so I'm going to take a Starbucks break. Ok?" And my boss said "See you in an hour."

Look at that beautifully empty classroom

 It was a hot sunny day, and I took a stroll through the market to the coffee shop. I sat in there and sipped my latte and enjoyed the peace and quiet while checking facebook, and I didn't have to tell anybody to sit down or raise their hand, and I didn't have to answer any questions, and it was glorious.

 Let's hope it happens again tomorrow. 

When life gives you lemons, move!

Monday night I was sitting on the floor watching tv when I noticed water trickling down from the ceiling. I'm all about waterfalls, but not indoors. It created a small puddle on the floor and it was near an outlet, which scared me. I called my friend and asked her to call my landlord (times like this is when not speaking Korean is really hard) and he came over and looked at it. He poked around for a while and then said "I'm sorry, I don't know." He promised a repairman and left. 

Tuesday, no repairman. Wednesday, no repairman. So I called my friend again before work (thanks Mina!) and she got the landlord over. He told me the upstairs neighbor's air conditioning drain was leaking into my wall and in order to fix it they need to rip the wall open. But good news - the apartment next to me was open and I could either move in temporarily or permanently if I wanted. Bear and I went over and looked, and it was great! Bigger, more open, better layout. So I said I'd take it, and by bedtime I was all moved in. Sometimes I know what I want and I don't want to wait, and this was one of those times. 

Everything about this is so great - I love settling in to new places yet I hate the process of moving. But it doesn't get much easier than carrying things next door, especially when you have helpers. I didn't even box anything up, we just grabbed handfuls and walked. I now have a seperate living area with space for a loveseat, instead of just my bed in my old place. Which means furniture shopping, yay! The dog has more space to play, my bathroom is bigger...I could go on and on. I'm not completely satisfied yet - there's still some shopping and reorganizing to do, so stay tuned for photos :) But overall this was a very fun, very unexpected surprise.