Valentine's Day and more

On Valentine's Day, Kait and I had very nice day just going downtown and hanging out. We wanted to buy "couple wear," but nothing struck our fancy. (Couple wear is when a couple - as in two people who are dating, etc. - buy the same pair of clothes together. Sometimes, however, the design on the clothing is split between the two pieces, so you must have somebody else wearing the other half in order for it to make sense.) So we wandered around downtown for a while just checking out shops and immersing ourselves in the Korean fashion - though not taking a part in it just yet. From there we went to the arcade and played a bunch of games for less than 5,000 won ($3.50) and got our pictures taken in one of those small photo booths. We also went on a fun, simulated "roller coaster" ride downtown. We wore 3-D glasses and sat in a fake roller-coaster seat that was set up with hydraulics and air hoses that blew air into your face during the "fast" parts of the simulation. We had fun. We finished the night by going out to one of our favorite restaurants in our neighborhood and watching a movie at home. (The movie was "Milk" and we thought it was great - one of the best movies we have seen in a while.)

Two weekends ago, Kait and I traveled with Kait's friend Rosemary (whom she met in a dance class) to go to nearby Gyeongju. Since Rosemary has a car, we were more than happy to accept her offer to drive. We had lunch and dinner together. One dish was a delicious "kimchi chigay," which is basically a kimchi stew.

Just yesterday (Tuesday,) Kait went with some friends to an animal shelter to volunteer and play with the cats and dogs. Kait mentioned that the shelter was started at the very grassroots level with close to zero funding. Apparently it was actually the first animal shelter in all of Korea, and the woman who created it is a bit of an advocate for people to stop eating dog. (I will let Kait post more on this later, as she went there herself.) Next week I will also start volunteering there as well, and I definitely look forward to it.

Just this last weekend Kait and I decided that we needed to cook more because we were going out to eat almost every day, so we prepared dinners such as a ginger stir fry and an Indian curry dish. We have been feeling much better about this and hope to keep it up as time goes by.

Other than that, I am just starting to look for a job next year at a university here in Daegu so that I can be happier with my level of autonomy in the classroom. I just started looking, but I think I have a decent chance, so I will give it a go. Anyways, Kait and I wish all of you at home the best from our part of the world. Regards, Ace