unofficially official.

hello all. how goes it this fine thanksgiving eve? my hope is you are all cozying up by a warm fire and thinking of the following delectable meal to come. envy stems within me simply thinking about it! haha. since i do a lousy job at updating this thing, i thought i'd give it a go 'round and share some humorous stories of today. 

FIRST. the korean 'parking system'... somewhat strange. it would NEVER fly back in the states. i'm afraid guns would fire if we tried to park like they do back home. everyone blocks everyone in here - but ... they live their cards on their dashboards to call for them to come move their cars. this guy in the picture was impatient and tried to move the car he has his hand on. except the car kept rolling backwards. so he had to hold it until the owner came out. i don't think i've laughed that hard in a long time. just picture this man pushing the car and then having to hold it so it won't roll back... good times. 

today we went to the immigration office to fill out paperwork for our immigration registration card - which makes us legal citizens of this great country - south korea. we will hopefully get them back within a week, and then we can open up a bank account. i'm just excited to be considered an actual citizen of south korea. few and far americans can say they've been korean citizens. well that's probably not true. but i am at least officially, and for the time being - unofficially official. wahoo! 

anyhow, on our way back from the immigration office, my director took sara and i to a look out point in tongyeong. it was pretty friggin' awesome. the following are pictures of what i saw...through a camera lense. 

i feel like all these pictures become monotonous after a while, so i just wanted to put up a couple. the right picture is our director pointing out a hiking point for sara and i to take on. i am looking forward to that puppy, let me tell you.. 

sometimes i feel like i should pinch myself. that this reality i'm lving in is a false illusion and i will wake up and hit my head hard on the coffee table after a long restful REM sleep. but the reality of missing thanksgiving makes it real again. bah humbug. 

SECONDLY. funny store of the day.

i got told today by my korean co-teachers that the kids think i am filipino and mexican. haha. the fact that i am not blonde hair blue eyed makes them feel that i am not american. so along with my diet, my heritage has drastically changed since coming to korea. ha. filipino? really? i can't imagine what they will say when i get tan in the summer. hahaha. oh children of korea. how cute you all are... except when you won't shut up and let me talk. haha.

and here is ruby again.. we have a good time. 

this picture is my favorite. two peas in a pod we are! i love her to pieces (wow, i sound like my mom!) :)

don't let that face fool you. she loves me. haha. 

ruby is awesome. her english is outstanding for a 6/7 year old. i am having mom send me some books for her and i to read together and some pencils with her name on it. she will have a cow... or a pig, since that is the main animal here. haha. she is just a doll. she went out last night and bought me a pen and marker just because she thought i needed one. she spent her own money she saved. how do you thank a 6 year old for spending their own money on you? she is adorable. i cannot think of how sad i will be to leave her. so i'll just think about how stellar of a time we will have this year. 

seems odd i've been here three weeks. man they have flown by. they really have. the weeks seem to go incredibly fast when you work the evenings. this weekend we will celebrate our own thanksgiving feast with the american foreigners. i'm pretty pumped up about that. it won't remotely compare to the normal webb/smith holiday feast... but dang...it's all i have to cling to. i am also bummed that this is the first time in 5 years i will be missing out on the 'black friday' shopping day. what an adrenaline rush that is! most definitely! 

on another note, here is a picture of my knees. if you know me at all, you are then aware that i am incredibly clumsy. i frequently hit my head, trip and fall, bump into things, and wake up with extravagant bruises of which i enjoy boasting about of their regular occurrence on my body. but this past week...holy moly people. i busted soo friggin' hard. we regularly meet at the wabar - it is a foreign hot spot. on my behalf, though, i was unfamiliar with the flooring and it was very dark so i couldn't see the step that i would undoubtedly miss. but let me just say... i entered with a bang. a loud loud bang. and it hurt. very badly. so these are my knees now.

they don't look nearly as bad as they did. whew. bless their lil' ole' heart.

okay. ha. this post was of nothing of importance, i just thought i'd update to appease the mass. or at least, my mom. she likes it when i update. it is officially thanksgiving for me. oh how thankful i am for the souls who've crossed my own. oh how thankful i am. 

i love and miss you all deeply. (but not enough to come back...so eat some ketchup 'n turkey for me!) :)

-kami :)