I'm Al Roker, only not annoying

Let's talk weather. Cold. Like BRRRRRRR cold. But here is a picture to melt even the most frozen and grinchiest hearts. This is from Christmas Eve, when Abominable Snowman Santa paid a visit to school. Tell me those little babies aren't adorable? I love my kids.

But back to the original post. BRRRR. Seriously, why anyone (me) would choose to move willingly to this frozen wasteland is beyond me. "But, you're from outside of Chicago. Isn't it cold there too? Aren't you used to it?" Yes to the first question, HECK NO to the second. I have come up with a few theories as to what makes this particular kind of cold so miserable.

Theory 1-The wind. One day, God frowned. On that day, he made Siberia. Korean winters are host to a bone chilling wind straight out of Siberia. Lucky us, right? Imagine the coldest wind you've ever felt...then just forget it because it doesn't compare. The blinds inside my apartment frequently move because of this wind. Which tells you two things-the seal in the window of my apartment sucks and the wind is strong.

Theory 2-The mercury is stuck! Winters at home are cold, of course. But usually, Illinois winters are a few days of cold, a few days of what?! are you joking minus what now seriously cold, a few days of beautiful snow, then some glorious feeling days that are above (even if just slightly) that magical 32 degree mark. In addition to no salt for the sidewalks, Korea is also lacking the above freezing days every couple weeks. We have highs around 20, lows are anywhere from 5 to 10. I look at the 5 day forecast-high 25, low 10, high 23, low 11, high 23, low 14, high 26, low 7, high 20, low 5. I look at the 10 day forecast and it's more of the same. The only time it changes is when I look at the 16 day forecast, and suddenly there are highs around 85...because I am going to the Philippines. Then after that I will switch back to reading the Seoul forecast, and I am sure it will be more 20 degree highs and 10 degree lows. Day in and day out. Cold. Wind. More wind. More cold. Is it April yet?

Theory 3- Obstacle course! As I mentioned earlier, they don't salt the sidewalks here. They don't even shovel the sidewalks here. Why would they want to use a modern convenience like a shovel, when they have perfectly good brooms they can use? And I'm being generous by calling them brooms. They remind me more of something one would see strapped to the back of a chimney sweep in 19th century London. So each business owner "sweeps" the sidewalk in front of their building. Great, except that this "broom" does not remove all the snow. So there is thin layer of snow left on the sidewalk. Pedestrians continue walking over it, smushing it down, the cold works its magic, and a short time later, there is a layer of ice covering the sidewalks. This wouldn't be a problem if the temperature ever rose above freezing to melt the ice or if Korea jumped on the sodium chloride train and started salting their sidewalks like normal countries.

Theory 4- Is anywhere warm?? You know the kind of cold where the thought of leaving the house makes you want to cry a bit, the kind of cold where you want to stay home in your pajamas and eat boxed mac and cheese while sitting in front of a roaring fire all day. It's like that kind of cold, only my apartment is not warm, there is no fire place, and they do not sell boxed mac and cheese here. Although it is better than the school, where I seldom take off my coat and gloves during the day (but yet, the bathroom and hall windows are still wide open, why??) and there is no hot/warm/lukewarm/room temperature/anything warmer than frigid water to wash hands with. My kids left a cup of water in the cabinet in my classroom. The water was a solid block of ice the next day. So the two places I spend the majority of my time are both uncomfortably cold, making this whole idea of winter seem a lot less bearable. However, even with the cold state of my apartment, I still rarely want to leave. Up until shortly before Christmas, I would go out every Friday and Saturday nights, and usually a night or two during the week as well. Since arriving back in Seoul after Christmas, I have gone out one time. Once, in over two weeks. I don't want to do anything besides wear fuzzy socks and sit under piles of blankets on my bed. I guess the cold is good for my bank account...lame. Even my shower water doesn't get very hot.

SOOOOO, that's that. I think the reason this winter is so gross is a combination of all of my great theories. And I realize I complained a lot about it in this, but rest assured that's (mostly) just to have something to write about, rather than just going with my gut and saying "Yeah, it's cold, but I'm surviving and it will make those first really warm spring days that much nicer"

twenty one one!

In addition to my usual "this is the year of the successful diet", I also made a New Year's resolution to be a better blogger. For breakfast on New Year's Day, I ate a (delicious) Boston kreme donut from Dunkin Donuts. During the flight back to Korea, I started writing a blog to publish upon my arrival in Seoul. Clearly, I didn't do that. But I guess technically since I STARTED writing something, my be a better blogger resolution lasted longer than my get skinny! resolution. So despite it being a week late, I will share with you my midflight ramblings. This was about 11 hours into the flight. I was tired and not all that happy. Parents of an infant and a toddler had let their "adorable" child run up and down the aisle of the plane, wearing only a diaper, screaming for the better part of the flight, while one or both of them followed slowly behind, looking the other passengers on the full 747, with looks on their faces as if they were saying "Yes, he is ours! We know he is screaming so loud you can't hear the movie through the headphones on your ears, or the conversation you are having with the person next to you, but isn't he just great? If we'd have known they'd turn out this perfect, we would have started on our offspring years ago!" And yes Mom and Dad, this is the toddler we saw running around while we were waiting to check in, and I said "Oh, I see who I will be sitting by" No, I actually wasn't sitting by him. But it didn't matter. It was as if the entire flight was sitting by him.

Flight Etiquette by Laura

Having spent a lot of time in airplanes the last couple of years, I consider myself somewhat of an expert in air travel etiquette. Please take note.
1. Parents, this is for you. Congratulations, you reproduced. Having not had children, I don't have a copy of it, but please show me where in the parents handbook it talks about common courtesy being gone. An airplane is not your living room. An airplane is not grandma's house. And the passengers on the plane are sure as heck not junior's grandma. We do not find your child stripping down to his diaper and running up and down the aisle adorable. We find nothing about his nonstop screaming cute. In fact, it's quite the opposite. You, your giant stroller, and the child running around it are the first things we notice when we arrive at the gate. And you are the last ones we want to sit anywhere near on the plane. I like kids. I spend 40 hours a week with them. I don't like sitting next to kids on planes. I also spent the entire flight from San Fran to Chicago sitting next to parents who refused to get a seat for their kid. So he kind of shared a seat with me and Mommy, while Daddy enjoyed his own seat, and while Mommy and Daddy both spent 4 hours saying "Baby Jason, give mommy kissies! Who wants to give Mommy kissies? Baby Jason wants to give Mommy kissies! Baby Jason, who wants to give Daddy kissies? Baby Jason, give Daddy kissies!" Etc. Baby Jason had not a lot of interest in giving mommy and daddy kissies, but a lot of interest in looking out the window. I had the window seat. Mommy and Daddy thought it would be okay for Baby Jason to crawl over me to look out the window. Having just gotten off a 10 hour hell flight from Seoul where the turbulence was so bad the flight attendants were not allowed to get up, meanwhile some ancient Korean woman is laying in the aisle of the plane, out cold, requiring oxygen, an IV, a doctor and nurse who were both on board, and 10 paramedics waiting in SF, I nearly missed my connection, and had to sprint through the San Fran airport, arriving at the gate as they were boarding. Did I want Baby Jason to drop cookie crumbs all over my lap while leaning over me to look out the window? No. I immediately saw this would be happening as soon as I found my seat. Before the plane left the gate, I offered to switch seats with Daddy, who had the aisle seat. This was my polite way of saying "This isn't my kid. Change seats with me" Daddy said "Maybe. We'll see. He doesn't need to look out the window, it will be dark anyway" True. However, not needing to look out the window, and not letting him look out the window are two different things.
2. Just because your compact car sized suitcase is labeled "carry on" doesn't mean you can't check it, especially on international flights when you can check bags for free. For real, people are out of control with the carry ons. I've spent the past 11 hours with my purse and backpack under the seat in front of me and zero leg room because people have some weird aversion to checking bags. So they squeeze small car sized bags into the overhead bin. Come on, just check the bag. Make it someone else's problem. The woman boarding the plane in front of me had two carry ons that were so big they didn't fit down the aisle of the plane.
3. If you want to sleep the whole flight, cool. Good for you. Take the window seat. Save the aisle seat for those of us who like to stay well hydrated, thus requiring frequent trips to the lavatories.
4. The rows on your ticket mean something. The boarding group on your ticket means something. When they announce boarding for group 1, that does not mean those of you in group 4 should form a barricade around the door, preventing anyone behind you from boarding the plane before you, regardless of group number.
5. Bring your own food. But please refrain from bringing any of these delicious yet smelly foods- peanut butter, bananas, boiled eggs, tuna. And yes, I have sat next to people eating all those items.

I stopped writing at this point. It was getting light enough, and I wanted to see the frozen wasteland that is Siberia. It did not disappoint. Here are some inflight pictures, I didn't get any of from the complete frozen wasteland, but they were pretty anyway.

Waiting to board in Chicago, I hate 747s. Something THAT big should not be in the air. It just doesn't make sense. Aaron and I have had many conversations about this. How does it fly? The only possibility, according to Aaron, and I agree wholeheartedly, "it's witchcraft" Sidenote though-Korean Air is AWESOME. Anyone who comes to visit me, come on Korean Air. Without a doubt, one of the best I've been on.

Sunrise? Maybe sunset, I don't really remember.

According to the inflight map, this was North Korea. But I kind of think that had to be some kind of mistake. It's a small enough country it seems like planes could easily fly around it. What if a plane had to make an emergency landing there? So as much as I'd like to think this is North Korea, it's probably China.

Shortly before landing at Incheon

Otherwise, it's been business as usual since I've been back.

Raffi coming out of my ears!
In just a few short weeks, there will be photo ops and music galore at the school's January concert. This means for the remainder of the month, learning takes a back seat. Classtime is spent doing concert practice, concert practice, and more concert practice. My poor babies hate it, and whine every day when I say it is time for Banana Phone. But let me tell you, this dance is ADORABLE, if I do say so myself.

Home time is good time!
I had a fantastic week at home. It went by quickly, was crammed full of family time and delicious food time. Isn't that what the holidays are all about?

Close encounters of the North Korean kind.
Unlike the Chinese North Korea I saw from the plane window, I legit saw North Korea for the first time yesterday, when a former colleague of my Aunt's parents invited me and my sister from another mister, Niki to go visit Hye Ri Art Village with her. It is right on the border, and while the village was cool, I can't help but feel slightly more excited about finally laying eyes on North Korea. The border was everything I thought it would be and more. Two rows of barbed wire fences, camouflage watch towers every 50 yards or so, solders carrying giant rifles stationed in each tower. I need to go visit the DMZ.

Cold.
It's cold here. Like COLD cold. Aside from my visit to Hye Ri yesterday, I've barely left my apartment this weekend. Instead, I've spent the better part of the last 36 hours working on a puzzle on my heated floor. Life is good. Except that until I finish this puzzle, I don't have any work out space, since this puzzle takes up most of my floor space. Oh, studio apartment joys.