Thursday, April 29, 2010

i am a wanna-be food critic

First off, big thanks to Dan for posting my first attempt at a restaurant review on seouleats.com. Every morning when I wake up, I check gmail, facebook and seouleats. I am a religous follower, and have been lucky enough to do a cooking class with Dan (see Seoul magazine's April addition) and have run into him on rainy days at H, my favorite magkeolli bar. He generously posted my gramatically incorrect review of brunch at La Vert today. So again, thanks Dan!! See the post here:

http://www.seouleats.com/2010/04/la-vert-review-by-lauren-mcphate.html

It is Thursday evening and I am typing in my hotel room in Sokcho. Sokcho is a coastal town on the Eastern coast of Korea. I was planning on coming tomorrow morning, but decided that a 3 hour bus ride out warrented an evening here as well, and seeing as I have a brewery tour/pigroast/birthday party to attend on Saturday, tonight was optimal. So I took the 2 1/2 hour bus ride out and was told to take a cab to find a motel. These days I (stupidly) don't worry about planning or researching trips, I just show up. I get into the taxi and say "motel." ????? "hotel." ???? "hostel." ???? I pull out my phone and use the Eng->Kor dictionary, the guy still has not a clue where I am trying to go. Neither do I for that matter :) He pulls a guy off the street who speaks English, I say hotel, and we're off. He brings me to what looks like a four star hotel. At this point I'm tired and stressed and I start freaking out a bit. "No, no, no!! Little won. This is mani won!" He finally gets me and brings me back into "town" a bit and finds me a lovely 30,000 \ a night motel. I have my own room, TV, computer, nice bathroom. Really it's just lovely. So now it's 10 and I want to go out and explore a bit; perhaps even find a local hof to chill with the locals. No dice. There's nothing here but motels and restaurants, and me having no clue where I am, doesn't want to walk too far and never find my motel again. {motel not being an American motel; it's I guess what you would call a Love Motel. It's all inside, there are just hearts and sketchiness abound} I stumble upon a restaurant and figure I'll play the ignorance card. In Korea you're not supposed to go to a restaurant, or even a Hof for that matter, without ordering food. But I just ate a kimbap on the bus and am not hungry. I'm just looking to go out for a while. So I wander in and ask "magkeolli? no food, just drink." The woman clearly wants me to order something so I get up to go and she comes back and gestures for me to stay. I love playing the foreigner card!! I order a magkeolli and she brings me no less than 5 side:

kimchi
radish chunker kimchi
some other radishy kimchi
tuna
odeng

yum! I obviously eat it all because it's there, drink my magkeolli and try to pay. It's 3,000 ($2.50) and I try to give her more because I didn't eat. She's not having it. She was so sweet!! On my way out I tried to explain I would be back tomorrow for food, but I'm sure that got lost somewhere. So now I'm back in the room on my computer about to passout. For whatever reason (probably because I have been sleeping 12 hours a night all week) I awoke at 7 this morning, so now that it's 11:30, I'm about ready to go to bed. Tomorrow's a big day of sightseeing. Hopefully I can find the lighthouse, beach, fishmarket, and whatever else there is to offer here. Full review of Sokcho to come. So far it's pretty quiet....

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

korean 6th sense

After an exhausting five day work week it was time for another weekend in the hood. My co-worker from PES was still out so we grabbed dinner and drinks in Sincheon on Friday, and called it a relatively early night (2:30).

The next morning I am awoken (after a fail at waking up for a run) to Emily and Sarah banging on my door. It's absolutely gorgeous out and we're going to the pool. Now I have probably mentioned the Hamilton pool in previous posts. Problem is it doesn't open until Buddha's birthday, May 21st, quite a popular holiday here. So in dire need of tan, Sarah sought out a make-shift; The Dragon Hill Spa. This place is super close to our house (and Emart!) and is a spa so not too many people know about it. Drawback; children. People here love to bring their kids to the spa. I don't get it. Either way, we all got lounge chairs and laid out all day!! They have their outdoor pool opened 365 days a year and keep it heated to 98.6 degrees, not that I went anywhere near the water. It was warm enough to lay in the sun, but not warm enough to be wet in the sun.

After some fun in the sun, Emily and I went to meet Dave in Hongdae to see some live bands. We were supposed to go a few weeks ago and i got vetoed and pitched a bit of a fit, so Dave promised to make it up to me. Ohhh my these bands were amazing!!!!! I love Korean rock music. We're at this hole in the wall bar (FFs; remember my pole dancing head injury, that was upstairs!?) where a band played for 30 mins, break, new band. It started out ok, but by the time band 3 or 4 was on they were actually really good. One dude took his shirt off and started throwing water on himself. All of the girls there (we were basically the only foreigners there) started yelling, in English, "Take off your pants!" Ohhh Korean bands rock. I am definitely going to make a big effort to see more live shows.

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So now for a bitchfest. I have been running roughly 5 times a week. I'm not to where I need to be, but I still have a month or so. Anyway, I am 100% convinced that ajuma have a 6th sense. They can feel me coming up from behind them and they strategically position themselves to get to a place where it will most inconvenience/annoy me. I swear it. At first I would kind of just curse or grumble, but I'm sick of it, and you know what, my elbows are sharp too. I bum rush these ladies. They don't like it, get out my way!!!! After adopting this attitude I have noticed people have gotten out of my way more. I don't know if it's because I do he same route everyday and they know me now, or if I'm just getting better at avoiding people, but I have definitely run into significantly less Koreans in the past week. Go me.

Bitchfest point #2. Where the hell is spring!!!??? Saturday and Sunday were lovely!!! It finally hit 70 and what did it do yesterday? Got to a high of 50 and rained all day. Running was out so obviously I hit up H for a Megkeolli Monday with the crew. Then today it was the windiest day I have ever seen. I went for my standard 10k in the morning and there were points where I wasn't moving because the wind was blowing so hard against me. I WANT THE 80s!!! Where's summer? This is the worst winter/unseasonability Korea has seen ever. Why did it wait for me to come here? Couldn't it have been unseasonably WARM? It it too much to ask?

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Stacy and Scott are coming! Mom and Dad are coming! I'm going to book my summer vacation, a 3 day weekend to China and Japan, and my flight home in September! Yey for exciting updates to come!

This Friday Funday I am off to Seocho. I spelled that wrong. That's beside the point. I am going to wake up super early Friday and take a 2 hour bus to the Eastern shore, where I will spend the day on the beach. i'm going to tour a bit, tan, eat some delicious seafood, and head on home. Should be a lovely little day. Hopefully the weather will be nice. I suppose that's asking too much, huh?

Thursday, April 22, 2010

blue shoes

I love my new shoes.

Wednesay AM I got up early and walked over to Itaewon, walked into a few shoe shops and finally made my way into Nike after nothing stuck me. As I may have mentioned, I can't buy shoes here. I wear a 260 and women's shoes cut off at 250, hence my shitty men's Adidas sneakers. So this time I figured I would go all out with the men's shoes. Top o the line baby. An older gentleman approached me and told me women's shoes were upstairs...I know, I know, I've tried, no dice. So we started looking at men's shoes and I explained my foot hurts and I'm running a 1/2 marathon so I need GOOD shoes. He finds a couple pairs and brings em back. He starts asking me how he could start racing. Then he starts asking me about my job. English teacher blah blah. This sparks his interest. He has a high school aged son who could use some tutoring. Asa! We find a sick pair of blue, dare I call them socks-with-soles, and I decide I neede a Nike bracelet. It tells you how fast you go and how far; it's awesome! And it's flourescent yellow! He rings me up, gives me 20% off the wristband (50,000 won, soo cheap!), and 10% of my shoes, gives me his card and I give him my number. So not only did I get discounts, shoes, a cool bracelet thing, but I may also get a job from this! Yey for shoe shopping!

Went for a 12k (7.5 miles) run this morning after staying out too late with Tu last night. Tu is a co-worker from PES who's brother has been out here for 2 years teaching. He came for a visit and remembered I was here, so I showed him the Hof scene in the business district where he's staying. Let's just say after many a bottle of Cass and some soju, waking up to run this am was tough, but I did it! I think part of the motivation was my new sick shoes :)

Last night I also had my first business class. I got there and they fed me. It was a cool Korean buffett. There was jajamyeong (which I don't like) kimchi (obviously) veggie sesame salad thing, fried eggs, rice (duh), and an odeng soup. Yum. Then I go to the conference room and 6 of the 9 people showed up for class. They're all considerably older than myself and have awesome names like Tornado and Snake. haha I thought the elementary kids were bad! They were all really sweet though and it was fun. Next week it'll be less social and more down to business.

It's ladies' night in Itaewon. Free drinks at Bricx and the Loft and 1,000 won rail drinks at Naked. Hm what do you think the chances for an 8 mile run tomorrow???

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

another tuesday down

Just got back from some tutoring. It's so much better than teaching at a hagwan!! I love my privates!

Tomorrow is a big day. I'm waking up early, 9:42, to go get new (men's) shoes, as my current ones have caused an injury. Well, I'm guessing it's from the shoes. I got back from an 11k this morning and I can barely walk on my left foot. My arch is killing, which I have never experience before, so I'm thinking it must be from lack of arch support in my cheap Adidias. Nike fancy shoes tomorrow! Then I have to go to school early to finish grading exams from today, which is a total joke. The range from best to worst score is like 5 points out of 50. The parents get annoyed if their kid isn't doing well, and as a result, will pull their kid from our program. So as a teacher I must give a good grade. Why even test, you ask. Because we have to send something home to the parents showing how smart their child is. Yeah, same same at every school, we "teach" for the parents. Anyway, I also need to print business articles to bring to my new class and prepare an hour of conversation. Then I have to book it out of school right when I finish, 5:05, run to the subway, and try to get to the new job as close to 6 as possible. If I get there at 6 they'll give me dinner. Problem is, the last time I went from there to school it took over an hour. I'm hoping because it's rush hour I won't have to wait long for connections. Here's hoping.

So yeah, tomorrow is basically the busiest day ever. ha. Sad how the definition of busy in my life has changed in the past year. Happy Hump Day!

Monday, April 19, 2010

spring, where are you?

Another cold weekend in Seoul. What else is new? Will spring ever arive in Korea? I'm beginning to have my doubts. Forecast:

T- 66 (woohoo) rain
W- 56 rain
T- 55 rain
F- 55 rain
S- 60 sunny (hopefully this trend will continue!)

Anyway. After a lovely day of hiking on Friday I get a call from some recruiter who got my name. We were supposed to meet on Saturday AM because he was unexpectedly called to Busan on Friday. Instead I get a spazzed call from Mr. Thomas at 7 asking if I can meet him in 30 minutes. I had just gotten out of the shower and was getting ready to go out so my immediate reaction was "No!" Then I thought about it, 30 mins with the guy now, or getting up at 10 to meet him at 11 tomorrow. Tonight won. So I walk over to Itaewon and meet him or coffee. His English is pretty terrible and we have some difficulty understanding each other, but the basic point was "what's your schedule and how often are you willing to work." I agreed to a position for a machinery company where I will teach 5-7 adults on a weekly basis; Wednesdays from 6:30-8 (but it's an hour away). If they like me I will also start working Monday nights. Back to Friday night...

I went over to my neighbor Emily and Liz's for a sangria party. Krissy and I had pregames pretty hard, so by the time we got to the party, had some sangria and people wanted to go out, I said no dice. I went home and hung out with my roommates before they went out, then I hit my bed. This was a brilliant idea. I got a solid 11 hours of sleep and then decided to take my first long long run. My friend Ted had agreed to come along with me to Yeoido (cheery blossom festival on the river) and hang out while I ran. At first I was sore and tired from hiking, but I keep yelling at myself and coaxing myself "just keep going. one more mile. one mile is nothing." (in my head, not out loud. Im not that crazy) and I ended up running a full 60 minutes!!! which I estimate to be about 12km. Yey!!! Now I just have to double that and I'll be good to go for June :)

Sunday Funday. We (the usual brunch crowd) decided that we simply must try the brand new restaurant in HBC, La Vert. It opened a week or so again and I've been dying to try it. It looks French country with a twist of Italy and I was told by the owner that he made everything himself. So Sunday am I sent out a mass text and told everyone to meet at 1 at La Vert. I got a hand full of responses and our original group consisted of me, Emily, Krissy, Darren, Carolann and her boy-dare-i-say-it- Friend. We all ordered as we figured out what we wanted and as people strolled in a few minutes late. And thank god because they took forever to get the food out!! It was amazing though and so worth the wait. I joke that I moved to HBC for Indigos, if that's the case, I'm staying for La Vert. They had real bread, real eggs benedict!, good sides and didn't skimp on the portion, and all the brunches come with a coffee Americano. Where does that ever happen in Korea? (FYI coffee is usually $3/4 here). They messed up Darren's coffee order and caught wind it was his birthday the day before, so they brought out a waffle plate for the table. Waffles, whipped cream, kiwi, strawberries, and bananas. It was divine. More people strolled in. We pulled Adam off the street, Julio and friend came, Sarah and Nicole eventually made it, and after 4 hours of brunching Vic and Val made an appearance. i Guess because we were there so long the owner sent our entire group a free round of beer. I love this guy and I love this place.

Ugh but after a Sunday Funday is always a Miserable Monday. I had to get up at 9 to meet my recruiter again. I wasn't totally sure why we were meeting, but figured it couldn't take more than 30 mins. Plenty of time to go back to sleep before work. Wrong!!! I left the house with no makeup, same clothes from Sunday (because they were still on the floor!), no bra, and absolutely nothing in my purse but my wallet and phone. I get to the subway and Mr. Thomas starts going down. "We are we going?" I inquire. "To the company." Shit. He's taking me an hour away to meet the boss at the company I will work at. Ahhh. The meeting was fine, lasted all of 10 mins, then I had to rush to get the train to work. I went straight from the subway to work, in my state of disarray, picked up a kimbap, and taught. I'm soo tired. Went for a short, fast, run, and now plan on sitting on the couch/my bed, all night!!!

This week is going to be nuts:
Tues- school 2-5, privates 7-10, home at 11
Wed- school 1-5, company 6:30-8, home at 9:30
Thurs- school 2-5, friend from PES is visiting
GET THIS
Fri!- school 1-5.

That's right, I'm working a 5 day work week. Kill me now, I don't know if I'll make it! But Ben (English co-teacher) is getting married on Saturday, so I figured I would be nice and cover for him. And he's covering for me on a Monday for my race in June. This whole working thing will definitely be good for cutting back on my drinking! Wish me luck this week!

Friday, April 16, 2010

friday excursion parte dos

After last weekends sporting events, bowling, baseball, soccer, I decided to follow what I had been watching and have a more proactive healthy week. I started this by laying off the booze and followed up with a strict running regiment. Now that it's Friday I am totally sore and decided I needed a day off training. (This week I did two 10ks and two 5ks- yey!) . For my Friday excursion I decided to climb a mountain. And I did.

I took a 30 minute subway ride up to the end of the brown line (my line) to Buhkansan Mountain. It's a lovely little town with nothing going on. I wandered around for a solid 20 minutes and couldn't find where the paths started. I could see the mountain, just couldn't get to it! I finally stopped an ajuma and she led me. No wonder I couldn't find it. You had to hike up some back roads, go through a farming (I guess?) field, climb through the woods a few hundred meters, and just then do you see the sign for the mountain depicting the paths. Geeze. This ajuma was super sweet and even though her English was super limited, we managed to chat a bit on our 30 minute walk to the mountain. At the base we parted ways. She went down, I went up. I always think of Korean hiking as BS. But man they don't joke around here! I started going up easily enough. There were rock staircases and some level ground. I don't do hiking lightly either. Go big or go home, right? Instead of leisurely making my way up the mountain, I was basically trail running. I got up about 1km when I saw a sign. Left to the peak or Right to the ranger station. I had only been hiking 30 minutes so I went for the peak. That's why I'm here no?

So I start climbing. Unlike my last hiking experience in the fall, I only passed 10 or so ajumas and ajusi. At the last mountain it was 10 every 10 meters. So it was nice to feel I was actually kind of alone in the woods. Then it got steep. It went from jumping rock to rock to rock climbing. As I approached the steepest part an ajusi got in front of me from another path. I thought "oh great I'm going to have to pass him on this steep ass rock." But no. This man must have been a billy goat in another lifetime. As I said, I wasn't meandering around these rocks, I was hardcore running up them. I had to stop every 100 meters to catch my breathe, but I was quick. This dude, with poles in hand, was in front of me the entire way up. He didn't stop once until we were at the top. I don't know how this old man was able to get up there so quick and skillfully. I was using my hands and feet, this dude just hopped along up and up. When we got to the top and was like "you quick" and motioned with my arms in a fast running motion. He kind of just looked at me and ignored me. Which seemd to be a theme of the day. The rare person I would pass I would say "anyanjaseo" to which the reply was either a group of people laughing or just silence. So I shut it and kept on keeping on.

I got to the top dripping sweat. It's a chilly day here in Korea, but man this mountain kicked my butt. I took some pictures, and sat with my book. You must read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." i have about 50 pages left and I started it 2 days ago (it's 800+ pages). It's awesome!! Anyway, I plopped down on a rock and enjoyed some sun and some Swedish lit. After 40 or so minutes I had to use the restroom so I hopped back down the mountain. This time it only took 30 minutes or so, but by the end my quads were shaking. I'm not used to hopping rocks down a mountain! I went to a cute little restaurant, where I sat alone, and enjoyed some fishy soup. Yum. I am seriously going to miss Korean food. I never totally know what I'm ordering, and even if I do, each restaurant prepares it their own special way , and each restaurant always has there own special sides. YUM. Talking to my mom this morning, she says you guys sure eat a lot over there. Yes, that's all there is to do. And drink and climb mountains.

Anyway, it's Friday night in Seoul. My neighbor is supposed to have a roof party; her roof looks directly onto mine {note to self, don't sunbathe topless} and everyone thought it would be spring by now. No. It's 50 degrees and when the sun goes down I'm sure it'll be right back in the 30s. Screw you Korea. Oh well, I have an interview in Itaewon at 11 tomorrow morning for an evening position, so I should be well rested anyway. And tomorrow I am going to attempt to run 7 or 8 miles on the Han, aLthough I'm pretty sore after this "easy" hike I took today. Tomorrow night (this is the comment that sparked mom's comment from above) is my friend Darren's birthday. He got a deal at La Plancha, a Spanish steakhouse in Itaewon, where you pay 20,000 won and have an unlimited buffett;"150 minutes of meat." Then it's Sunday Funday!

Enjoy your weekends and I will try to be better about posting more often next week!!

Friday, April 9, 2010

cross training

After an especially saucy Thursday, I woke up this morning with a hurting head and an empty stomach. It's 9:30 on a Friday and I don't have to work. I don't even wake up this early when I do have to work. But my stomach said no, eat. So after I ate some tteokbokki, which I had bought the night before and put in the fridge for some reason (yey to not drunk eating), I couldn't fall back to sleep. I had to go to immigration anyway, so I figured I'd get it out of the way. I was nervous about going because I wasn't sure if they had accepted all of my documents, but being super tired and hungover eased those nerves, I was doing all I could to keep my eyes open!

[side note: I was at Sam Ryan's last night at 9pm. I get a phone call from Martin Student. Hmmm what could he want? I answer "Hello Lauren teacha. What was our homework today?"

"Yes Martin, study. You have a word test tomorrow."

"Asa, so no real homework." and he hung up. haha he doesn't ever do his homework. He just wanted to chat on Thursday night with his teacha!]

I get there after a freakin 40 minute subway ride, get a number, I'm next, get my passport and ARC back. Yey! Legal again. And it was super easy, no hassle, no exchange of words, she just handed it to me and walked away. Asa!

So I'm about ready to pass out but it's absolutely gorgeous out, so I want to be outside. I tke the train to Yeoido which is an area of town right on the river and only 5 subway stops from where I am. I had brought a blanket (stolen from a plane) so I curled up in the grass, in the sun, along the river, and had a wonderful two hour nap! Then I ate my weight in sweet potato filled waffle bites (yum!! I'm addicted) and so I felt I needed to do something. I saw tons of people on these silly bikes with big baskets so I figured the rental was close...it was! For a mere 3,000 won an hour, that bike is yours! I cruised up the river, I cruised down the river, I cruised all over in that hour. I haven't been on a bike since DC, so it was great to get out and go. I miss my Schwinn. Steve, you better be taking good care of her!

Then I decide it's getting late I should head home. I start walking without really knowing where i was trying to go. I knew I didn't want to get on the subway. i hate the subway. I'd much rather find a bus. I know Norianjin is close, but it's across a highway. I end up walking for like an hour before I could cross, I found a bus, and got dropped in Sinyongsan; right outside my favoritist place in Korea; Emart! Emart is the Wholefoods (although only a small organic section) of Korea. I go many a time for a free lunch. There are samples of everything. You start with tofu, mushrooms, and usually a pajeon of some sort. Then move to the fish; then meat (which I skip), to the banchan bar. This is my favorite. It's all of the spicy sides I love and there's a ton of them. Then the bakery and onto frozen foods where it's all mandu (dumplings). Then onto dairy for "cheese" [read: Kraft singles] and milk and yogurt. Then the best part. Wine tasting. 50% of the reason I go to Emart is for the samples, but 50% is for their good wine selection. Today they had 9 different wines to sample. I think you're supposed to pick one from a table to try, but hey I'm a foreigner, I don't knwo the rules, I want to try all of them!! And then I found Stump Jump. It was a wine I used to drink all the time at Matchbox. So not only am I full, I know have some great wine. 30 minute walk home from there and the day is gone. Where does time go?

I had a realization while I was doing all of these touristy things by myself on a Friday afternoon; this is exactly the time to do all of the touristy stuff! No crowds, no opinions, just me and what I want to do. So from now on every Friday I will pick a new destination to go check out on my own. Especially because Ms. Han has blown me off the past 2 Fridays!!

I have no school on Monday which is awesome. The crappy part is that I didn't realize until last week. I could be in Japan right now. Next time. Since there are no holidays in March the school just takes an arbitrary day off. Have I told you I love my job? Because it's amazing. So I'm thinking I may go out to the mountains and take a hike. Tonight I'm bowling with Krissy and the boys (another first in Korea) then tomorrow going to a baseball game with Emily and her new interest Bradley (see subservient chicken on fb). Then Sunday I'm doing to see a documentary about women's rights in Korea through the past 50 years. haha shockingly no one wants to go see that with me...another solo
venture.

Time to bowl. Peace

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

i have locked myself in

I did it. Many months after I had planned (and a shorter distance) but I did it. I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon. That's 13 miles, 21 km, and I have given myself a 2 hour time limit! The money has been sent, it's a done deal. June 13th, baby.

While running 10 milers last May I figured I would move to Korea, keep up my running, and run a marathon this spring. ha! Little did I know that Korea promotes a drinking lifestyle. There is very little time for running. Or if there is time very little motivation due to a pounding head. But now that I am committed, I will do it. And I will do it fast! I think I'm currently running around a 9 minute mile, about 5 miles at a time. I want to get down to an 8 minute, but that may be too ambitious for June.

Anyway the race is really cool which is part of the reason I decided to do it. Not only is it 2 months away which gives me ample time to train (I've never run more than 10 miles at once before) but it's also on Jeju Island. Jeju is promoted at the "Hawaii of Korea." I think that may be a bit of a stretch, but it's worth checking out. It's only an hour flight and I'm pretty sure I can get a flight for less than $70.

I am covering a Friday class for my co-teacher Ben in April since he's getting married the following day, so he owes me a Monday class. June 14th I will be on the beach resting my weary legs with a mangorita! Happy Flag Day to me!

Nothing funny to report from school today. I know I keep saying this, but I really enjoy these kids. The day (all three hours of it!) just fly by. Two of my afteschool tutoring classes were cancelled for this week and next due to testing; boo. But I got home early and could catch up on facebook, so it's all good I guess.

Tomorrow it's off to Sincheon for some octopus dinner. Im taking Carolann (my new friend from Long Island. She's been here just over a month now and lives down the street. She's super fun and loves to go out, even at the risk of missing the bus every morning!) and Emily to the best dinner place that I went to when Jen was visitin. Octopus, veggies, gochujong, and mekju. You can't go wrong.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter in the HBC

I have just, in the past 20 minutes, decided that I am definitely going to run a half marathon June 13th on Jeju Island.

How was Easter in the states?? This is my first Easter in 5 years that I haven't spent it with Concetta!! I miss my Chetta Easter! Easer Korea style is a little different than home. Firstly, Koreans don't care. People go to church (Christianity is the #1 religion here) but no one seems to care about holidays. Christmas was no big deal, and so it goes with Easter. But obviously the foreigners will use any excuse to throuw a party. My friends English Jo and Australian Renee hosted an Eater flat crawl. We started on Saturday at 2 at our local HBC go-to bar, Phillies. We all had a couple drinks, were broken into teams, read the rules, and sent on our merry little way. I was team captain of the SHeep. We had Emily, Darren, Carolanne, Emily (2), Bradley, and Derek. Much like the scavenger hunt at the airforce base, we went from apartment to apartment through HBC performing tasks for points. We had an egg pong tourney (throw as many eggs into water cups as you can in 20 mins), an egg hunt, pin the nose on thebunny, egg on spoon challenge, subservient chicken (kind of like playing dare-pick crd out of a hat and do the task), and the most fun which consisted of using only your nose to roll an egg into a tape square. It was much harder than it looked!

we didn't end up winning, but it was an absolute blast. And, of course, I rocked my Jesus Says Keep On Pimping shirt for the 5th year in a row. What a great purchase from the market in England!!

Hope you all had a great Easter! On actual Easter day, a few of the girls and I went to a delicious brunch at Noxa (a first) then watched a 5 hour marathon of Real Housewvies of NYC. What a great show! This week it's just back to the grind. Got up and ran this morning, plan on doing a 10k tomorrow morning; it'll be the first time since my race in February that I ran that distance, so wish me luck!