See all the things! Part 1

In my first post about my recent trip to Korea, I mentioned that Mindy and I had 3 goals for our trip:

1. See all the things
2. Buy all the things
3. Eat all the things

We did a pretty damn good job of accomplishing these goals. And, though I can name at least a dozen things off the top of my head that we didn't see, this post is dedicated to how we worked to accomplish the first of these goals: See all the things!!

Museums

We went to several museums on our trip: the National History Museum, the National Folk Museum, the COEX Mall Aquarium (I'm counting it), a museum about King Sejong (the king who got the current Korean alphabet - hangul - going), and an Andy Warhol exhibit.

This history and folk museums were nice, calm, air conditioned breaks from our treks across Seoul. The museums I've seen in Seoul have been beautifully laid out with lovely displays and wonderfully chosen artifacts. Some truly top notch museums!

There's a big statue of King Sejong in front of Gyeoungbokgung Palace and underneath the statue is a museum about him. He was a really amazing dude. He wanted to invent an alphabet that would be easy to learn so all citizens could learn to read. He not only commissioned the development of hangul (the alphabet), but then used it HIMSELF to transcribe (or translate...) some huge classical epic to both improve and make sure it worked. Talk about dedication!

King Sejong!

 A lot of the things in the museum are dedicated to the Korean alphabet. The walls had things carved all over them, there was a calligraphy section where people copied classic poems onto beautiful scrolls in calligraphy. So pretty.

This says "Min" for Mindy!

This bench is made of Korean letters! Cool!

We also went to the COEX aquarium, which was really fun, too! It was inside this gigantic mall - the COEX Mall. Lots of fish, sharks, penguins, otters, and beavers! It was my first time seeing the namesake of my town - Beaverton - in the flesh. I couldn't decide if they were adorably or freakishly ugly. Still not sure.

It was kind of dark in the aquarium, so most of the pictures that aren't just, you know, fish, are kind of blurry. But Mindy got this cute (and not AT ALL creepy) picture of a couple standing in front of the giant viewing tank. Aw, so precious!

"Why is the foreigner taking pictures of us?" "Ignore her... maybe she'll leave."

The Andy Warhol exhibit was... a mistake. I thought we were getting tickets to something else. It was cool, but I really didn't care. Did you know he made movies? Me neither. From the clips I saw, I don't think I ever want to see any of his movies all the way through. :/

Gyeoungbokgung Palace

There are several palaces across Seoul and Gyeoungbokgung is the main palace. We, of course, decided to go on probably the hottest of all the days we were in Seoul. Nice choice.

I LOVE the colors at the palaces!

I made Mindy pull into the little shop after a few minutes to cool down in the air conditioning and grab a cold drink. I was so sweaty and hot! Ew. Luckily I carried around a hand fan like an old lady. I got a tasty ginger, cinnamon punch and Mindy got some kind of rice drink. Both were very yummy and cold (the important thing).

We were almost ready to go when we got pulled aside by a lady in a hanbok to try a traditional medicine experience. Why not? So we went into a little building (after taking off our shoes), read through a list of symptoms, and determined that Mindy has a cold body type, and I have a hot body type (obviously). Then we were given teas for our body types (Mindy got chamomile and I got peppermint). Then we were given a form to fill out before we saw the doctor. At this point the questions got a little too personal so we snuck out before meeting with the doctor.

*Oops! I guess that happened at another place: the Hanok Village! My bad!

Trick Eye Museum and Ice Museum

After our exhausting day in on Jeju Island (more on that later), we took a relaxing day in Hongdae to visit the Trick Eye Museum. It's a total touristy spot that has a bunch of fun paintings and backdrops to take fun photos against.

With our ticket, we also got entry into the Ice Museum. We had no clue what it was until we walked into a freezer with a bunch of ice sculptures. It was FREEZING! We totally should have gone there first while we were still hot from being outside! As it was, it made outside feel nice! Super cute. And, of course, there was an ice toilet with a little poop inside. Ha!

Namsan Tower

The North Seoul Tower in Namsan park is a big tower on top of a big hill in the middle of Seoul. We took a cable car up the mountain and then an elevator up to the observation deck where we could get a 360 degree view of Seoul!. The view was amazing.

 

One of the cool things about North Seoul Tower is that people go up there and hook locks on the railing. They take them down periodically and there are these tree things everywhere covered in locks. People write their names, messages, etc. It's supposed to be a super romantic place or something. I don't know why, really. I guess it could be fun to go with a sweetheart. A lot of the locks are put there by couples with sweet things written on them. One of these looks like someone proposed up there. How sweet!

"She said yes! :D"

As we were leaving the tower to head back to the cable car, we came across a spear demonstration! Super awesome cool!! One guy sliced through a bunch of boards like they were nothing! So cool!

Hello Kitty Cafe

I don't know how big of a Hello Kitty fan I am... but I love cute things with cute designs, pink, pastels, adorable animals, etc. And, for a long time, Hello Kitty was the go to for me for these cute designs and accessories. Now there are so many more choices out there (thank you, internet! and all of Korea's stationary stores!!), that Hello Kitty is no longer really my "go to," but I still love her. So when I heard there was a Hello Kitty cafe, of COURSE I wanted to go. There was actually an entire hotel/resort place on Jeju Island, but Mindy said no. Whatever.

HELLO KITTY HOTEL ROOM

While there was a Hello Kitty cafe in Hongdae where our guest house was, it was in the opposite direction of everything else we wanted to see, so I decided not to pursue it in light of my ultimate desire to not walk in the heat anymore than I had to. But, then! On our final full day in Seoul, we stumbled upon the one in Myoungdong!

Even though we were still full from a giant lunch, I made Mindy go up for a brownie with a powder sugar kitty face on it and seriously sweet lemonade in cute cups. Once you stopped trying to think of the brownie as a "brownie" and just as a chocolate treat, it tasted pretty good.

And everything was PINK!!

Noraebang!

A noraebang is a private singing room you can rent by the hour. Prices vary depending on the place, quality, and time of day. We went to two different ones and each time had a blast. The first time we had some difficulty figuring out the remote (which is HUGE with WAY TOO MANY BUTTONS). The second time we couldn't figure out the air conditioning. But we sang our hearts out and had a blast anyways.

So much fun!

Next up: See all the things! Part 2: Seoul City Tour!

The Fabulous Return to Seoul!

As you might know, I recently went on a trip to Seoul, South Korea with my friend Mindy (we realized we've known each other for 10 years! How is that possible!?!). We had been planning this trip since I started graduate school in 2012 and decided it would be my graduation trip for whien I finished my graduate degree (done, baby!).

We looked up places to see, things to do, foods to eat, and we came up with three goals for our trip (people with graduate degrees are very goal oriented, after all). Here they are:

1. See all the things.
2. Buy all the things
3. Eat all the things.

I think we did a pretty decent job on all accounts. If you read this blog then we are most likely also friends on Facebook (wazzup), so you've probably seen all of the pictures I posted along the way. I don't post often (at least not as often as my mom!), but I wanted to share some of our experiences in real time while we were there.

Overall, it was an absolutely amazing trip. I'll share some more detailed posts about how we managed to succeed in achieving our three goals, but for the curious, here is a quick timeline of what we did on each day of our trip (you might see a few places come up multiple times *cough*myeongdong*cough*)"

Day 1 (and 2? depends on how you see the flying out Monday and arriving Tuesday night...): Fly to Korea!!

Haven't seen each other in so long!!

Day 2: Shopping in Namdaemun and Myeongdong

I swear, I left SOME things in the stores!

Day 3: Seoul City Tour bus hop on hop off tour to see the Korean War Memorial, National History Museum, and Hanok Village.

Mindy takes a lot of pictures... and hers were way better than mine, too

Day 4: Shopping in Myeongdong and Elisabeth the musical

My favorite German musical in Korean!!

Day 5: King Sejong museum, Gyeongbokgung palace, and the National Folk Museum.

The lovely palace

Day 6: Church (hello, English branch!), Hyundai Department Store, Jurassic World at the Megaplex
Day 7: COEX Mall and aquarium

Wazzup, guys?!

Day 8: Fly out and back for a day trip on Jeju Island to take the hop on hop off tour bus to see the Jeju Incident Memorial, the Stone Park and Stone museum, Dongmun Market (the good market), Seomun Market (the crappy, empty market), and dragon head rock.

Part of the Jeju Incident Memorial

Day 9: Leave the guesthouse around 2pm (we were very tired) for "lunch" followed by the Trick Eye Museum and walking around Hongdae.

I'M TALL!!!

Day 10: Dongdaemun History and Culture park, Andy Warhol Art Exhibit, Design Plaza, and shopping in the Dongdaemun Migliore building.

Nine floors of nonstop shopping in the Migliore building!

Day 11: Final (haha) day shopping in Myeongdong and Namsan Tower

The view from North Seoul Tower

Day 12: Hongdae Free Market, Times Square Seoul, and seeing "Pixel" at the CGV theater. Otherwise known as the day Mindy almost bought a puppy.

EAT ALL THE BINGSOO!!

Day 13: Church (goodbye, English branch!), lunch with the friend of Mindy's friend, shopping in Namdaemun and Myeongdong (really, real last time), teatime with my friend Rachel, hit a noraebang (singing room), and a fancy sticker booth

The adorable Rachel (who is going to have a baby soon!! OMG!!)

Day 14: Took a final walk around Hongdae, grabbed lunch, hit the noraebang, and then flew back home *quiet sobs*

Our final (delicious) Korean meal in Hongdae!

Stay tuned for more updates on my Korean Adventure!!

Jem Hair!

When I was little, one of my favorite cartoons was Jem and the Holograms. A group of women using magical holograms to become a famous singing group in order to make money to keep open a home for orphaned girls? AND SHE HAD PINK HAIR!?! Who wouldn't want to be Jem?

Truly outrageous!

For me, she rated right up there with Oprah and Michael Jackson as my idols (I was a weird kid). I also signed all of my papers "Jem" in kindergarten, though I think I might just not have known the difference between an "n" and an "m" at that point. (The amazing cartoon should not be mistaken for the movie coming out... only similarities there are some pink hair and singing).

I've always wanted pink hair but there's never been a "good time" to have it. I wanted to have temporary pink hair this summer after I had landed a job. As of right now, I am still looking and interviewing so I haven't had the chance. A few weeks ago, I practiced with some pink on the tips of my hair to see how well it would wash out. It washed out pretty fast so I felt pretty comfortable that if I put it on my entire head, it would wash out in a week, two tops. So I decided that I would do it before I go to Korea for two weeks. This way, I get my pink hair and I can still look professional when I get back in time for more interviews! Yay!

So I got all my crap together: Manic panic pink, old sour cream tub (sorry, Mom; I won't put it back in the tupperware drawer), a color brush, a comb, a towel for around my neck, a bajillion clips, latex gloves, and vaseline for my hair line and I'm all ready!!

Totally ready for this!

Then it was time to get to work. It was super messy and I managed to keep getting pink all over my neck. Haha!

SO MUCH PINK!!

After I got my hair covered in pink goop, I clipped it up, and snapped on a shower cap (cuz SEXY!).

Then I went and grabbed the soft scrub to quickly clean up the pink I got on the counter (cleaned up easy, phew!) and then went and hosed out my sour cream tub and other pinkified instruments in the back yard over the grass,

Then it was time for lunch and waiting before I rinsed it all out. There was a mild freak-out when I stepped out of the shower and saw it in the mirror for the first time, but I swiftly recovered enough to text a bunch of people that I now had PINK HAIR and I would send them pics once I had put on makeup.

JEM!

I only missed a few little spots (it's a little light on one section of my bangs) and some of the hair didn't take the color for whatever reason so it looks like I got pink hair with a blonde weave. Pretty sweet.

For those of you wondering: yes, it washes out. I tested it on the tips of my hair first and it washed out super quick. This will all be gone by the time I get back from Korea.

So how did you celebrate the 4th of July?

It is Finished

Well, it's done. I am all graduated now and the proud owner of a masters of science in counselor education with a specialization in school counseling.

Sometimes it feels like just yesterday that I was walking into orientation with very little idea of what I was getting into. Most of the time it feels like I've been in graduate school forever. I have mixed feelings about being done. I am excited to get started on this new chapter of my life, but I am also a little sad about saying goodbye to the amazing people I have gotten to know and work with. I will have the opportunity to work more with the head lady of my program over this summer - she asked me and another student to do curriculum supervision for her own big project (a project I'm already writing lesson plans for right now). And, of course, I'll see some of the other students at professional events (school counselor conventions, anyone?).

I finished up at both of my internship sites last week - Lincoln on Wednesday and McKinley on Thursday. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my kindergarten classes. They were all so adorable and so much fun to work with this year. I was so lucky to get such great internship sites and supervisors! I've learned so much this last year and I know that I will continue to learn more as I get going in my career.

I am currently applying to any and all jobs I can in the districts I want to work in. I have another interview this week that I'm really excited for. Wish me luck!

Graduation itself was Friday night. My parents and my sister came and watched me walk and get "hooded" with the oh so lovely regalia that you have to get to wear in such events.

The gym was sweltering hot, but, luckily, the sleeve things on the regalia make great pockets which I was able to store a little hand fan in when I was actually up and out of my seat. They also did a great job of moving us along at a great clip so we got out of there in just over two hours.

After the ceremony itself, we went outside for pictures and then walked to the graduate party thrown by the honors society. It was really small and so we only stayed for a little bit, just enough time to say hi, get a few pictures, and grab a cupcake.

My mom bought me a handmade lei that she gave to me after the event. It was so sweet! Ever since I went to my Aunt Amy's college graduation when I was super little, I have wanted to be able to wear a pretty flower lei at graduation. Turns out, however, that I am allergic to Thai orchids. Who knew? It is hanging in all its glory downstairs right now (don't want it contaminating my room) and it makes me sad I couldn't wear it more. It's so PRETTY. *sigh* But, overall, the parents made graduation very special.

In addition to Fish (remember Fish? My pretty, pretty car I got around Christmas?), they took me, Jesi, Drew, and my friend Jessi out for dinner at the Melting Pot. Yum! Fondue for all! I also got shower lotion, a pearl drop necklace, a bluetooth shower speaker (YES!), and cutie pie sunglasses. I am super spoiled, I know. I'm mostly okay with this. Especially when, what should arrive in the mail, but a present my padre purchased for Valentine's Day! The cutest ladle in existence, if I do say so myself.

And so we kick off the summer with sending Jesi and Drew off to Idaho in a few days from now. We thought we were getting rid of them tomorrow but I was just informed that they will be sticking around for another day to finish up. The parents will be seeing them at 4th of July in Washington, but I will need to stay here for work (back at Dream Dinners for the summer time!) and then leaving for KOREA (insert excited dance here). What with Dream Dinners, working for Lisa, writing curriculum, job applications and interviews, and KOREA I think I will be able to keep fairly busy these next two months before starting up at my new school, though I'm definitely going to have a lot more free time on my hands!

Almost Done!

Wow, I haven't posted all term. I guess things have been a little bit busy around here (that's an understatement!).

This last weekend was Jesi's wedding and it turned out really great.

Dad and Drew (Jesi's then fiance) loaded up the car the night before with a ton of awesome junk: decorations, chair covers, etc.). They completely filled up the Uhaul and then had to use the Smith's pickup truck for a bunch of coolers.

After spending the morning getting all fancied up, Jesi and Drew got married in the Portland Temple and then had pictures outside before heading out for more pictures and then off to the reception!

 They had a ring ceremony and reception at the World Forrestry Center. Our bishop from the singles ward did the ring ceremony and, of course, did a great job. I love our bishop. The reception itself was super fun, lots of dancing and great food!

Got a cute picture with my Uncle Allan. He looks so much like Dad (just more hair). And Jesi did a great job choosing nice bridesmaid dresses. We looked gooood.

The next day we had a brunch where the couple came back to my parents' house and opened all the gifts before heading off on their honeymoon. Of all the things Jesi fought my mom on for this wedding I'm surprised the brunch wasn't one of them. I don't want to see anyone for at least a week after my wedding! Awkward...

After the brunch wrapped up, my cousin Amanda, my Aunt Amy, and I went to Saturday Market. We had a great time going through all the booths, eating tasty treats. We finished up the day at Voodoo Donuts of which SOMEONE (I'm not naming names mom) ate most of my bacon maple bar. That's ok, though. I got to eat some of this person's mom mother's day chocolate covered strawberries and cheesecake (we got her an awesome gift... super delicious).

I have to say, Jesi couldn't have chosen a better week to have her wedding. The week before, my action research paper was due and I did a presentation on SAT preparation programs effectiveness for a bunch of people from two different school districts. Then this week I have spent every night up getting my professional portfolio ready for tomorrow. I am currently sitting in the library at school typing this up as I wait for my class tonight during which we will present our action research projects and talk about licensure. Woof! A lot of work to get done in a stressful period of time.

I'm in the middle of interviewing for jobs next year as well. I had an interview at a local high school earlier this week and I just set up an interview for an elementary school next Friday. I'm getting really excited about graduation (4 weeks!) and getting a job for next year (crossing fingers, everyone!).

Summer is looking to be great. I have my trip to Korea in July and two summer jobs all ready to go. I will be starting back up at Dream Dinners again (yay!) right after graduation (literally... 7:30 am the day after I graduate). I'm also going to be doing curriculum development supervision for my current professor. I'm so excited to get to work with Lisa some more this summer. She is an amazing lady and I have been so lucky to get to learn from her these last few years (and now this summer, too!!)

I can't believe it's already been 3 years! Well, I guess I can. But I'm still going to miss everyone in my program and all the wonderful professors who have helped me these last few years. They have all been amazing and I'm so grateful that I got into such a fantastic program here at PSU. Now I'm ready to hit the road with my masters degree and start doing what I've been preparing to do for the last few years.

Ready, set, GO!!

Almost Spring Break...

Well, it's been well over a month since my last post and Spring break is coming up in two short weeks so I feel like I should post an update or something.

So much has happened and so little at the same time. Right not I'm just in the daily grind of internship, school, home, class, homework, etc. with little bits of helping do wedding stuff thrown in there.

As far as school is concerned, it has its ups and downs. Overall I feel like I'm doing a good job, though some days are harder than others. There are a lot of sad stories, especially at my elementary site and some days that kind of hits hard. But there are so many good stories, too.

These next two weeks I will be doing a lesson with "My Mouth is a Volcano" instead of my usual kindergarten 2nd step lessons. It should be pretty fun. We got a picture book and a coloring sheet, too. We'll have a good time talking about what a volcano is, how the boy in the book can't keep his words inside his mouth, and what we can do to keep our words from erupting when they aren't supposed to. The kindergartners are so cute. I get to teach kindergarten four times a week: once in each class. It's so much fun.

At my high school site I am starting up senior check ins. I'm meeting with students who haven't applied to a four year school yet and seeing what their plans are. So far I have talked to a student who is going to become a tattoo artist, someone taking a gap year backpacking Europe and meeting up with family (they have family all over Europe!), and someone working to apply to a teaching program that has a late deadline. It's really great getting to hear all of their plans and help point them to scholarships and other resources. We'll be doing forecasting and junior interviews soon where I will help students pick classes and check in with juniors to make sure they are on track to graduate and make plans with students who might need some extra resources. I don't get a lot of face-time with students at the high school (at least not as much as I do at my elementary site) and I'm really enjoying this!

I'm also starting up the job hunting. I have requested letters of recommendation, filled out a general application for my top choice school district, and trolling the job postings on my other choice districts. A little early for hiring, but you never know. I got my resume all spruced up, an online portfolio, and lovely calling cards. Now I just need to take some time to practice the example interview questions our professor gave us and put together a nice interview outfit and I'm all set!

In the meantime, I just need to take my civil rights exam on Saturday (shouldn't be too hard if I take a moment to study this week) and get started on my action research project. The next couple of days will be spent doing pre-assessments and getting parent permission slips back (please, PLEASE let some of those have already come in!).

Sorry about the lack of pictures. I haven't really done anything picture worthy lately. We got some fun things coming up in the next few months, though: Jesi's wedding (pleeeease let that be over soon!), graduation (also hurry up and be soon!), TRIP TO KOREA (not at all excited about that one *sarcasm*). And hopefully we'll throw in a congratulatory "I got a job!" day in there, too. :)

Wish me luck, friends! Trying to keep the stress down and the happy up (some days are better than others...). The sun is helping a bit with that.

Welcome, Fish!

The new year has come and gone. There was a quick trip to Disneyland (which was AMAZING!!) and then it was back to internship and the daily grind of school, stress, wedding planing for Jesi, and the fun of the last six months of graduate school.

Speaking of graduate school, my fellow school counseling cohort and I spent the last two days on campus with the head of our program (who is amazing, P.S.) going over information about the hiring process, graduation, getting our license, interviewing, our action research project, and our online portfolio that we will use for both getting our license and then edit up for a show version we can use for the job search. It's a big project and kind of tedious but it's going to be really great when it is all done. Super excited to see it when it's done (not so excited about getting it done, but there you go).

Along with all the fun work of internship, I am going to be starting work on making up credit I missed when I was able to waive the effective teaching my first year (already did that with my student teaching in undergrad... they didn't make me do it again). My professor (same amazing lady we met with the last two days) is creating a course for me that is essentially me doing curriculum development for her. I get to write creative lesson plans for her bully prevention program! I am so stoked!

But, a la Alice's Restaurant, that's not what I wanted to talk about today. I'm here to tell you about Fish, my new car.

My mom told me that for graduation they wanted to get me a really great present because apparently I've been working really hard these past few years or something (and also because they are super amazing and generous and love me lots). I don't know, it's just grad school, right?

Anyways, they said they wanted to get me something like a graduation trip or a car and since I have been planning and saving since day one of grad school to go to Korea with my friend Mindy (July, baby!!), they decided on a car.

Dad rejected my first preference saying something about "reliability" and "trunk space" and "only children 65 pounds and under can ride in that." But it was PINK! Party pooper.

My dad took me out a few times to test drive and I found that a lot of the newer cars are kind of difficult to see out the back when you are short (annoying) so it took a few tries to find a car that worked for me. While we were looking around, one of the sales guys pointed out a Cube (which I have always thought was a super ugly car and made fun of). We decided to get in and test drive it for funsies and as I got in the guy said, "This is a really great car for girls." And I asked, with as little snark as possible, "Oh, why?" There are good answers and bad answers to that question. "Um, er, uh, hmm..." is not one of the good answers. That was fun.

After driving it, I announced that I loved it and it would be named Fish after the Boxtroll or because it looks like an aquarium, take your pick. My parents were incredulous ("Seriously? THAT'S the car you pick?!?") but I am in love with Fish.

We didn't end up getting the one at that particular dealership because it was outside the price range, but we got a newer model with less miles on it for a better deal. I say we, my Dad got the deal. He paid but it's in my name.

And here he is in all his adorable, toaster neanderthal glory!

I even got a hidden Mickey in my car. Check out those cup holders.

It has a magic key. You press a button on the door to unlock/lock the car and it knows if you have the keys near it or in the car. And you only need to press a button to start it. So fancy.

The guy who first showed us the car said it was "all tricked out" which means it has a rear view camera (one I can use 'cuz it has these nifty guides that show where your car will actually go... I might try to learn how to parallel park, now), cd/radio/ipod stereo, bluetooth. It is quite nice.

CUBE.

 And, of course, it had to be cute, so I made myself a little rear-view mirror dangly of some Disney fish (for FISH) to liven things up a bit.

And that, my friends, is Fish. The backseat is a bit uncomfortable, but I am willing to sacrifice your leg room for my own driving comfort. He is doing pretty great (though apparently I need to take him in to update his software? Computer cars...) and I really enjoy zipping around town with my Fish.