Our First Family New Year....

Happy New Year!!!

We had an early "media noche"(?) because Alex will be working tomorrow.  As usual, I made a lite version of my macaroni salad for the neighbors who liked it...

I have a good supply of gelatin from my Mom...

Fortunately, I was able to get us a cake yesterday but unfortunately, it's not a fancy New Year's eve cake because there was no way for me to go out with SooAe today... She's so sick and I was also not able to go to the shopping area where there's a BR outlet.  It was too cold and traffic was quite heavy. I really wanted us to feast on an ice cream cake...

It does look like SooAe would like it anyway.

The cake with lots of white and purple frosting

I originally liked was picked up first by the man who entered

the bake shop after I did.. 

So I settled for this..

As always, we made a simple offering for the departed souls.... 

Slices and pieces of the dishes.

I hope Papa will like the slightly overdone dumpling

and won't mind the unopened beer. LOL!

SooAe, caught a terrible cold!  Thanks to my very nice brother in law (we visited last Thursday) who insisted to drive us back to my mom in law's house, against her wishes, or it would have been worse... Yesterday, it seemed like we had a dripping faucet, if you know  what I mean.  I'm just lucky I guess that SooAe learned how to blow her nose when she feels there's too much to handle already... ^,^  It's not how we do it but at least she does blow her nose... 

While dad and I had a small and simple feast, I had this one ready for the little lady in case she wakes up suddenly...

I like it that I can prepare and create 

healthy meals for her.

When she gets tired of her porridge, I tease her with the yogurt:

Yogurt on her porridge and yogurt on her fruit... 

Again, Happy New Year everyone!  It's about time to make some noise with the Little One...

See you next year... ^,^

I Got Beyond

I got this small token from a friend's sister for editing her master's degree research paper's "abstract."   I told them not to bother anymore but she still felt she had to give me something. 

It's actually a soothing body mist 

The scent reminded me of my Aunt's 

favorite Anais Anais (?) perfume...

but at the moment, I don't use any fragrance products (except for the Armani perfume my sister Izang sent me I use occasionally but at the moment, my current favorite really is Kenzo flower) to save SooAe from possible irritations or allergic reactions.  Hm.. I might give this to my husband's niece... 

I've always wanted to try Beyond's skin care and body care products but thought they're a little bit expensive.  I take this gift as a start of new discoveries..  Let's go Beyond... 

My Deconstructed Macaroni-Fruit Salad...

I've learned how to make my own macaroni-fruit salad in Christmas of 2008.   While growing up, I never really bothered to learn how to make these "Christmas delights" until I got married.  Since it was my first time, I put so much macaroni in it that it looked more like a macaroni with a few fruits, cheese and raisins salad.  A phone call from Mama even surprised me that I was supposed to put mayonnaise. Haha.  Alex, wanting to please me, told me time and time again that it was delicious.  Although I wasn't satisfied with the physical presentation, it was indeed delicious.  Mother in law though, seeing the foreign ingredients for the first time, didn't fancy it.  I really don't know whether she's lactose intolerant or just not into dairy products.  In 2009, I think I became more confident and bolder such that I brought some for my companions at work.  They liked it but it was too sweet for them.  In 2010, Mama was here and she was against all sweets so she just made a macaroni soup for me, hehe.  

This year, I carefully researched for my salad because I really wanted my friends here to taste it.  I actually planned on inviting them over for the Noche Buena but they all went home to their Mom's place for the night.  

The following day, I gave my friend 2 servings of the salad and two days later, we met up again and I was so surprised at how she carefully "deconstructed" my salad by asking me about each ingredient... She loved it and wanted to learn how to make it... 

"What was the red square?"  

"How about the green one? I also saw a white one that tasted like it too" 

"Where did you get the cheese? What cheese was it?" 

"Can I only use that kind or shape of pasta?" 

"I tasted mayonnaise but it seems like you also used something else." 

"Why was it sweet? What did you use? Obviously it's not sugar."

were her questions/observations.  

It was actually the first time that I made (red) gelatin.  I got these boxes of easy to make gelatin Mama sent me last time. Since a Filipino store is nearby, I was able to use this cheese from home.  I still have a stock of the ingredients and I might make some again for SooAe's birthday.  

And oh, I made Maja Blanca too and she liked it.  I used the Thai Coconut cream and I was very pleased with the outcome.

It was only after I got the desired consistency of the 

maja that I realized I didn't have the appropriate 

container for it.  In fear of the plastic's reaction 

to the extreme heat, I lined it with waxed papers first.

It wasn't bad as well.  My friend and Alex loved it too.  Only I forgot about the coconut shavings for garnishing so I asked them to eat it with mango or cheese toppings.  But with toppings or garnishing or not, we all still loved it anyway... 

Of Our First Christmas...

I planned very well for our FIRST Christmas ever as a family. I wanted us to be merry without overspending (hehe) but I think I actually did as Filipino goods are really expensive here and somehow wished I just got food delivered so I had more time playing and reading to SooAe for the last couple of days.  As I've said in the previous post, I have   very loving and doting relatives that help make this season a time to always remember every year.  Of course, it's only fitting for me to wish the same for my daughter.  But at the moment, I'm doing my best to be the doting "relativeS" to her... hehe.. 

What I prepared are not worth posting as I didn't get good shots of them anyway.  How I wished I really got us that Tigger and Pooh Christmas cake last friday as when SooAe and I dropped by the bake shop before heading home from the church, only a couple were left and they're too  big and not so Christmassy.  

SooAe in the Church... 

She kept on looking to her left

where these ajummas or halmonis in their glorious Hanboks and veils

were seated...

Or maybe she was actually drawn to the 

Advent wreaths that were more attractive and interesting.  

I actually thought that the service was going to be in English.  Although in pure Korean, I still saw a lot of Filipinos.  Last year, they were asked to sing for the Mass but this year, most of the choir members have gone home and they found it difficult to gather new members.

People systematically lined up for the viewing

of the Holy Family or of the Baby Jesus...

We actually lined up too and SooAe waved bye 

to the Holy Family as we walked away... 

I was so worried about SooAe getting sick because I was so confident we could come back home immediately after church.  After church or not, the few meters walk to the taxi stand proved futile.  We ended up taking the bus ride home as no taxi showed up until it arrived.  Actually, we left the church even before the Gospel reading because the ajumma/halmoni procession before the mass took so much time.  The viewing of the Holy family also took forever and the singing of the Gloria took eternity.  SooAe got so agitated that I had to leave.  The ajummas in the "children's room" weren't budging a bit to make room for us when I tried to peek in.   

As I continued with the preparations when we got back home, SooAe entertained herself with her books.  Whenever I called out or talked to her, she'd say something like "Don't disturb, okay?"

She'd tirelessly open her books from front to back

or back to front, hehehehe....

I made her to wear this headband just before Dad opened the front door but she didn't like it.  Look at her expression. 

Obviously, she didn't like it... 

The small feast was started by a simple offering to my beloved Dad whose favorite season is Christmas and a prayer.  I felt most appreciated when Alex thanked me for the preparations.  He enjoyed my spaghetti and spicy chicken stir fry turned "dalk tori tang."   We ate slowly, trying to feed SooAe too, and talked about our past Christmases.  We drowned down the aftertaste with hot cups of honey citron tea while we stared out into the night from our veranda.  Not too far away is the brightly lit shopping area coming to life day after day...  I told him about the overnight party of the Filipinos at my friend's store in the area.

Dead tired, father and daughter immediately fell asleep when we decided to call it a night.. or morning should I say? 

On Christmas Day, we all woke up so early but went back to sleep and allowed SooAe to sleep till midday.  I had a lot of cleaning up to do.  SooAe now makes mess like crazy and the house always looks like I never clean or fix at all.

By 4pm, we went outside for fresh air and to take a photo of SooAe with what's left of her White Christmas... 

Thank you very much for the very pretty winter jacket, Aunt Phoebe.

Dad brought me to a movie date... 

What a way to celebrate the day.  Like what I wanted: a family day.  It's our first Christmas as a family.  He originally wanted us to go to my brother in law's house but I told him how I wished it to be just an "us" day as it was after all only his "free" day off of the month.  For his past day offs, he had to do errands...  Besides, he needs the rest so much... 

I also hope you had a good or the best celebration ever.  Sometimes, other relatives or friends or visitors get too drunk or so emotional that they do stuffs or say things marring the supposed best time of the year.   It's hard, and easier said than done, but the best thing to do really is to ignore them and just go ahead and enjoy.  

And before the year ends, I want to thank you all for sticking around with me this year.  You all have been my constant companion and silent listener or reader of my ups and downs.... The witnesses and fans of SooAe's growth and antics.. Ah, I couldn't thank you enough... 

Merry Christmas!!!

SooAe and I had a very stressful December 23..

But a text from the photographer cheered my night.. 

He's done making SooAe's photo album spreads

all we have to do is wait for his call to claim the album,

print outs and soft copy...

(A spread from her photo album....)

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas 

and a Blessed and More Prosperous New Year...

For our first Christmas together, Dad will be coming home late from work. So SooAe and I will go to church this 9pm, perhaps drop by the Filipino store where the Fil. community here will have their overnight Christmas party, get a cake or a pizza and head home.

What have you prepared so far?  I'm done with my macaroni-fruit salad, maja blanca minus the coconut shavings (I tried cheese and mango and they complimented the sweet maja), and spicy chicken stir fry marinate.  In a while, after resting, I'll prepare my spaghetti sauce and maybe another Korean side dish.

Dad promised me a tree this year but at the moment, we really couldn't find a nice place for it.  SooAe tries to knock off or down everything standing on her way. She was able to get to the side of the TV by climbing up the box beside it and tried to knock it down.  But how could I completely forget about the inverted tree like what SM malls do?  I should have done it instead..  I did my best to decorate our place to make the season brighter...

 The wall... unfortunately, I never got the chance 

to get a third sock.. So they are definitely for Dad and SooAe.. 

The ceiling...

Alex said I overdecorated the house

and I told him they're all for SooAe.

She likes the hanging Christmas balls and ribbons.

Instant mobile, LOL!

Extra snowflakes decors were 

taped to the TV.. haha...

Those canisters on top are yummy

wafers from Lottemart..

They make great giveaways or gift for students. 

For the first time, I don't have wrapped Christmas gifts this year.  Alex never got a day off and we couldn't go to the nearest mall.  So everything's belated.. hehe.. Oh, I do have one for my cousin in law though, haha...  

My family and relatives have great Christmas or holiday season traditions and we see to it that we make wonderful memories together, year after year.  I happen to have very doting uncles, aunts, granduncles and grandaunts and cousins.  With them, I always have wonderful childhood memories to remember.  Of course, I can never get over whining and wishing we're all together every Christmas or end of the year.  I can never get over wishing SooAe will experience that kind of holidays or get to feel really appreciated one day too.  But we'll make it happen.  Now's just not the time yet... At the moment, we'll do our best to make our Christmases really merry, warm and memorable... 

My mom couldn't be anymore sadder than us, her children.  Four of us are abroad and she only has my youngest brother to celebrate Christmas with in the house. 

Grinch, in the form of a tsunami-like destructive storm stole Christmas from many people or families in Southern Philippines.  Let's all offer a simple prayer for them please... 

And oh, husband just called and asked if could we spend Christmas day, his only day off, at my brother in law's house and I wasn't able to answer immediately.  He said I could think about it.. hmmmm.... 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

SooAe the Little Bookworm...

We have a Little Bookworm... 

I was calling her out for breakfast but she just kept on

answering back with her "baby talk."

When I looked in, I couldn't help but take a picture of what she was doing.

I hope she'll appreciate Mama's efforts in the future...LOL!

These little books, along with the Pooh toys,

are her bedtime buddies... 

I like it that I could hold out a Tigger or Piglet or Eeyore toy 

as I read out to her... 

She pretends and imitates me a lot... 

While I read the bigger book to her, she'd open her tiny book

and pretend to read out loud too.

The little book is about farm friends. 

She also makes the cow and horse sounds when I say

"Soo Ae too, please?" in Korean.

For the first 10 months, I only had these selection of books for her.  I simply talk to her or tell stories out of memory.  She loves them dearly. 

After his first birthday, my friend got her baby boy 2 sets of Korean and a set of English books.

I definitely don't like this kind of bookshelf.

Because there are too many shelves or spaces to fill,

my mommy friends pick out and buy books on sale,

especially English books that are poorly translated, IMO,

just to fill the spaces out.

For English books, I still prefer buying them secondhand if

they're too expensive or have them sent to me than buy

books translated and published here in Korea.

I told them to not consider "costco" books 

expensive if they really want quality English books 

for their little ones. 

Thanks to her, I got to see and compare the books so I knew what to get for SooAe.  The "Froebel" brand or set is very popular but too expensive for just two handfuls of books.  The Applebee set, boasting of 66 books (+ 4 dvds) in all and have several story books similar with Froebel's, is very affordable for only \199,000.   Since she said she would have gotten the Applebee first had she researched some more, and my husband's English teacher cousin recommended it, we just got SooAe the Applebee set too.  

She's always excited when a box arrives. 

She'd walk and walk around it tirelessly.

Since they already look familiar, SooAe I guess marveled that she finally has her own set of Korean books... We originally planned on getting her own sets after her first birthday but when my Korean tutorial ended, I worried about Sooae's exposure to the Korean language and asked Alex we buy earlier so I could always read to her.

She dug into the box herself.  

I helped her out with the heavy ones of course, hehe... 

This set is appropriate from age 0months to 5 years old.

This is my favorite.  The set of eyes would belong to different animals as you turn the page...

so cool... 

Interestingly colored pictures/pages... 

And finally, they would belong to a boy.. How I wish they had a different set for girls.  I saw a couple of books more that would be better appreciated by boys.  One even came with a toy car.  

This one is Dad's instant favorite... Push the buttons to hear the proper pronunciation of greetings. 

And most importantly, her favorite... 

While I was busily washing her bottles,

she searched through the pile of her books,

grabbed this one, opened it and pretended to 

be reading it aloud, even pointing out to the texts. LOL!

Maybe she loves the cute little girl in the book...

The book belongs to a 4-book series/set that comes with a dvd.  There are 4 dvd sets in the package and I'm just glad there are books like this.  In a way, I could listen to or watch with her for the proper pronunciation.  

This cute little book is about a little girl refusing to eat what her mom served her.  Instead, the mom turns the ingredients, one by one, into characters that animals would love to eat too... 

Isn't she adorable?  When I read books to SooAe, I personalize it by saying her name instaed of the original character's name. 

And the book that scares us both, LOL!

A puppet and book in one.

SooAe would crawl away every time I try to

hold this one out or try to read to her.

I'm settling for this set for a while.  My Korean language teacher just texted me yesterday to go claim SooAe's book/s from the multicultural center.  SooAe doesn't belong in the age bracket being given free book/s but since she was born before Seollal (popularly called or known as "Chinese New Year), even after being born after 2010, she still filled out a form for SooAe.  Also, a library will be opened this coming January at the nearby complex.  I'm definitely excited to explore it with SooAe...

And now, I'm searching for a cute bookshelf for her books...

And they're just half of the total number of books

she currently has.

Not much but enough to entertain us both

and to learn from.. 

Question, is there something I don't like about this set?  Yes, there is.  I actually didn't notice it before but the "sound" books don't have switches in them.  Once you've accidentally pressed a button, you have to patiently wait for the sound to end...  Also, Froebel books seem more sturdy and "classy" looking.  I think they are more lyrical too.. But I need variety.  But Froebel books are also a little wide and heavy for Little People and tiny hands to hold... Applebee's are a little lighter, IMO. 

We can settle for this.  Who knows, the library might be full of Froebel books we can just borrow after all... ^,^

But like what my 2 mommy friends told me before, babies tend to "cling" to their first books.  It's only been 5 days since her Korean books arrived.  They're new and more colorful yet she still picks up her English books a lot.  Sometimes, they feel silly for buying too many books because their babies would always reach out for their first books. I think it was the same way for us siblings.  We grew up with just one thick collection of children's or Disney stories at home.  I also remember a thick hardbound collection of English prose, poems and stories.  The rest were about science stuffs and colorful pictures of post World War II pictures and stories and some of my grandmother's novels and Time magazine collection.  I will do the same for SooAe eventually...  ^,^

I hope Alex' siblings could read this, LOL, so they'll know what to give SooAe on her birthday, hehehehe.....^__________________^

   

The Munchkin Convert 2: Snack Catcher

Eating or hanging outside with a baby is quite challenging.  You have to think about her too especially when she's on solids already.  Of course, you don't want your baby reaching out for the high calorie and greasy foods you want to indulge in so it's good to always bring along something for her, may it be her regular food or snacks.

I used to bring along a Gerber Lil Graduates 

Snacks canisters for her to snack on while we eat outside

if I won't be feeding her regular meal.

Now I can put different kinds in this cute snack catcher and

we're good to go... 

I wasn't actually so into this product but I thought to give it a try when she started biting off the lids of her Gerber canisters.  

They come in gender neutral colors.. blah!

I started using this with SooAe about two months ago but unfortunately, she doesn't really fancy the color maybe.  She rarely touches her snacks inside.  She'd just try to bite the lid off, pick out a few pieces and then leave it lying around.  

I on the other hand find this product cool because scenarios such as these are lessened:

Hand her a plate or two and at the count of two, the food

are all over the place.. 

You give her a few or a lot, she'll do the same... 

SooAe doesn't find the digging into the container for food fun.  She doesn't like it that she couldn't easily take off the lid either.  I'll definitely get another one for her fruits.  I like it best that I don't have to always scoop out her food or snacks from the floor and serve her fresh ones.  Car messes are also further minimized.

I got this one even though SooAe doesn't really snack that much.   Unlike her playmates, I'm proud that Sooae doesn't like eating almost all the time whenever they are playing together.  SooAe would just look at the food, take a piece or two, scatter them on the floor and run away to continue playing or reading, LOL!  I gave her Gerber Lil Graduates on her 7th or 8th month but she never really liked them except for the yogur, fruit and veggie melts.

I actually expected her to fall in love with this product and carry it around to eat but I guess my baby has self discipline after all.... ^,^

The Munchkin Convert 1: Six Soft-Tip Infant Spoons

My inability to remember my GMarket ID and password made it difficult for me to make online purchases for my baby.  Fortunately, my Korean mommy friends have been very helpful and so I finally got the things I so wanted for SooAe.

GMarket hasn't replied yet to my requests to email me my personal details or ID and PWs so I just also made up another account without using my ARC #.  

In October, I misplaced SooAe's favorite spoon:

Super soft tip Infant spoon by Edison.

She fell in love with it right away.

She plays with the one she's holding in above photo and I feed her with this one:

Smart Steps Soft Touch (and long stemmed) Feeding Spoon by Evenflo.

The above mentioned spoons are definitely good with babies just being introduced with their first solids.  They are both temperature sensitive and the soft tips are baby gums friendly.  They enable you to pick up food with ease and being shallow, you can also easily remove food from them.  

Losing that pink spoon (saddened me because I actually wanted to keep it in SooAe's memory box too) made me realize also that it was about time for transition anyway.  SooAe needed bigger and deeper spoon for her food stage already.  My friend immediately got me this when I asked her to.  

Even Alex commented that these spoons make feeding SooAe easier and faster.  We're able to feed her the appropriate amount of food at a time.  When she rejects the food and pushes them back out with her tongue, it's so easy to scoop them off her chin, bib, tray, hands or clothes with these spoons.  They are very colorful that she always wants to hold one or two while eating.  Not bad.  She does her best to pick up food on her own.

It's definitely worth the purchase.  I only saw a couple of Munchkin products at the LotteMart we frequent.  Emart has a lot of Munchkin products but to get to the nearest outlet, I have to take two bus transfers.  I still love shopping in Malls than online.  I get to see the actual products and compare right then and there. 

Aritaum's Very Merry (Christmas) Gifts,Holiday Limited Edition: Holiday Special Body Set for a Special Teacher

Indeed, hitting 2 birds with a stone again in this post...

ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ 

It's my Korean Teacher's last day today and I really feel sad not for myself but for SooAe.  She knows it when Mrs. Lee would be visiting.  She'd excitedly watch me or her dad arrange our "study" table.  Then she'd impatiently watch out for her to arrive by crawling to and staying near the front door or simply glance every 5 seconds at the door while she's playing or eating.  I already forgot the exact date when she did it but after learning how to climb on our "study table," she'd do it nonstop whenever we're having a lesson.  There's this one time when she really wanted to drink her milk on it.  We thought it was still early anyway so we gave in.  But on that particular day, Mrs. Lee decided to come in early too and saw SooAe like this, to our embarrassment.  (Alex always wants me to have my things ready and on the table even before my Teacher arrives.  Not doing so, he said, is a sign of disinterest or rudeness.)

There's no way to stop her... 

SooAe is hyper active when Mrs. Lee is around but she never once showed irritation and she'd also laugh at my daughter's antics and tell me that there's a little boy inside SooAe, hahaha...  (I tried turning on the tv to divert her attention, to no avail.)

When I stood up to get her water, she threw my 

books and notebooks on the floor, climbed up,

grabbed my Teacher's pen and chew on it.

But she never told me that it's going to be her last day today.  She just kept on asking about SooAe's birthday and I didn't have a clue or didn't see it coming.  She only informed Alex last Monday night when she had to tell him to get a copy of his family register for SooAe's free book(s?) from the center.

I wanted to give her a "Thank you" gift but unfortunately, the very thing that I wanted to give her is with my cousin, hehe.  I wasn't able to bring it home with me the last time I visited their place.  Alex wanted to get her either a pair of winter gloves or a scarf.  Knowing my Teacher's fashion sense and Alex' shopping style, I told him to just leave the gift selection to me.

So together with my mommy friend here and with our kids, we headed to the nearest Aritaum shop after our early dinner at a burger place.

I originally wanted to get her something similar to this:

but the outlet is quite small and so they only have the Christmas set pictured below.  I've  been to bigger outlets and they have several body gift sets displayed too.  Pictured above is also from Aritaum and it's the body gift set I got from my Director when I left GnB Academy in 2009.  I love the  scent and the powder puff.  The similarly scented body powder has shimmers so I just transferred the powder in a bowl and used this cute container and puff for SooAe instead. Indeed, I didn't use it back then as I still had body sets from Alex' company.

This is the body or gift set I got for my Teacher.  It's one of Aritaum's Holiday Special/Limited Edition gift sets.  The box contains the following:

1 300mL Shower Gel

1 300mL Body Milk

travel sized/15mL tube of creamy hand cream (not pictured)

travel sized/15mL tube of foot cream (not pictured)

(all, in shea butter scent)

I wish I could give more but Alex and my Korean friend said 

doing that would burden my Teacher such that she'd also 

want and think of giving something to me and SooAe.

Among the sweet things about Korean cosmetics/skin care companies is that you can have your gift set beautifully wrapped for free or for a minimum fee.  Other companies sell beautiful gift boxes for your purchases for as low as 1000won (Nature Republic, for example)...   

SooAe's beautifully wrapped gift... 

And, the freebies... A hand cream I've been lemming for and a beautiful baby blanket.

hand creams are among a mom's best friend.. 

this will definitely stay in the kitchen cabinet.

Our baby will miss Mrs. Lee the most.  She has been very kind, patient and understanding of our situation, or the situation I chose.  Other Moms have sent their babies to day care centers so they can concentrate with their studies and have some time to themselves but Mrs. Lee told me she admires how I never wanted SooAe to be out of my sight, LOL...  Actually, even when Alex is home sometimes, she prefers seeing SooAe with me than staying with her dad in the computer or bed rooms... 

SooAe loves to grab our pens and pencils just to show us she could hold them properly too like we do... Look... 

As for me, I need to open my books and read or study for an hour (or more) everyday until my new teacher arrives in February 2012 so as not to fail Mrs. Lee too.  She's a very good teacher.  She'd compliment me on how I could easily get or understand the sentence patterns we're studying. I'm just a lazy student.  My first term will be finished today and I'm happy and thankful that I was given a very understanding and diligent Teacher.  She told my husband though that I'm the only student who usually asked for make up lessons for the times we needed to cancel my classes.  Other foreign wives even escape or do not open the door sometimes when they don't want to study for the day because of some family problems. 

Little did I know that they can be "counselors" too for foreign wives but I never really tried opening up to her about my problems and woes as a "foreign wife."  I just ask about things that bother me like when my mother in law keeps on saying to SooAe "Halmoni chichi!"  She told me that it's a joke by the elders, especially the grandmas or great grandmas to their grandchildren so I shouldn't be bothered by it.  She added though that even younger Korean wives find it gross.  But  "Where's your sense of humor, Jehan?" she asked.  I said I left it in the Philippines, I suppose, haha!  and added that we are not close so I don't find it endearing at all.. kkk... 

I appreciate her the most for not saying or asking anything at the times when I was in very vulnerable modes or situations.  We'd go on with our lessons as if nothing's wrong with me.  She'd sometimes arrive right after I'd been crying alone.  Thus, the puffy eyes.  As I'd mentioned before, I went through a difficult recovery and suffered from depression.  Her presence, even though it was just for 4 hours a week only, definitely made a difference.  At that one time I finally broke down in front of her, she even joked that I shouldn't be doing that.  After all, I gave her the impression that I am a strong and very private woman, LOL...  She told me that most of her students spend a great amount of their study time crying out to her or sharing their family problems, so she understands...

I've also heard of foreign spouses abusing their Korean Language Teachers such that in the contract I signed before our lessons officially started, it was stated that we cannot or shouldn't, in any way, harass or physically abuse our Teacher.  Whoever did that was definitely out of her mind... 

I'm looking forward to a new term.  I'm hoping she'll come back here.  She told Alex that they have plans to relocate in Seoul.  Although she can still teach here, she's not sure whether they'll be assigning her to the same area or not.. 

It would be so selfish of me to request her to come back to teach here.  Travel time from the Women's center to our area alone takes 30-40 minutes.  I hope and pray that Mrs. Lee will have diligent, studious and kind students in the future.    

To these wonderful women (and men? didn't hear of a male Korean language Teacher visiting homes) of Korea, Thank you very much...