A Tour of the Apartment - One Year Later

When we first moved in, JM posted pictures of our Korean apartment and this blog post was the second most popular one we've ever posted. Everyone back home seemed curious to see where we were living. We are very fortunate to be in a quite westernized apartment. JM's school provides luxurious apartments by Korean standards, meaning usually foreign teachers are living in small studio apartments of questionable quality. Every day we feel as though we live in a palace because even in Canada we never had an apartment this big.

Here is a video tour that shows you how much has changed since we moved in one year ago. We have definitely settled in and made this apartment our home away from home!

Our Korean Apartment - One Year Later

Princess Leia was Adopted!

The newest addition to our family did indeed become our baby. We fell in love with this little dog very quickly. It was hard to stick to the decision to have her adopted. Even though we managed with all the traveling we do on weekends for ultimate frisbee, we felt bad that she didn't have a home to roam in on the weekends and lots of good walks. And more, we work on average 10 hours a day, so she was being left alone sometimes 12-13 hours if we had dinner commitments. It was unfair and would have been selfish to keep her. But we struggled with this decision. Leia was found on April 19th, and she was adopted July 7th. We had her for over 2 months and became quite attached. Here is a bit of a chronicle of her time with us.

 How can you not love this face?



Doggie on the kitchen mat



Leia eventually got this name because we kept calling her 'Princess' and that seemed a little too ... lame. So we decided to geek it up a little. It suited her perfectly. It was clear that in her previous home she was a lap dog who spent time on the couch. While we didn't let her on the couch, we did allow her to sleep on us while we were sitting there. She was happiest on JM's chest.

We had Leia for less than a week before she went into heat. Clearly my worry about her being pregnant because she had nipples was false. Notice the diaper in the picture above. This was not our favourite time. But we loved her anyway.

We continued to treat Leia for all her medical ailments. Mostly, it was her skin. She has a condition similar to eczema that we needed to get under control. This required weekly showers with special shampoo. 

  

Leia was a great walking buddy, and particularly loved running off leash.

Because Leia is a shih tzu, she does not shed, but rather needs to be groomed. After her hair cut, she looked so naked! And I think she also felt this way.

  

One night in June, Leia got sick (we didn't know) and cried the whole time. She would not stop crying and barking, not matter how angry we got. Upon visiting the vet the next day it seemed she had intestinal stress and we needed to cut back food and give her a calming drug that would help with digestion. We felt so bad for being angry that we let her sleep with us, in the spare room. She was happy as a clam at the foot of the bed. It just made us love her more. 

  

Trying to interrupt my marking

 Leia trying to jump on the bed. She did it once when we weren't looking!

She had a few suitors for adoptive parents, but only one made it through! A lovely lady from the USA who is teaching here came to visit her and patiently filled out all the paperwork. If we were going to give up our baby, it would have to be to the right home. From all the pictures we've seen, it looks like Leia has adjusted well. It helps to know that she's happy in her new home.

Giving me the eye because I'm taking too many pictures

Where is Leia?

There she is!

 Out for a walk!

We miss Leia, but know we made the right decision. Who could not miss waking up, or coming home to this face everyday? She's a wonderful dog and made our first fostering experience unforgettable.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. - Roger Caras

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and probably lighter.

Jennika and I have been trying to keep fit in Korea. It isn't always an easy task. After what seems like the longest days of work, we are often left wanting the comforts of a couch, some junk food, and a mindless tv show to decompress before bed. For the past month, we have been going to Hulk's Boxing (I admit sparsely) and Jennika has been organizing pickup ultimate on the weekends.

Hulk Boxing is run by Jennika's friend, Amy, who is a kick-ass boxer from Canada. She has been keeping the ladies of Cheonan fit with her Boxercise class, an aerobics type class based on boxing. Recently, her and her husband opened their own boxing club that offers various workout options, boxercise included. Personally I found boxercise to be fun. It has a good mix of aerobics and martial arts. But, I tend to stick to the crossfit circuits.

My last time at crossfit things went awry. We had just eaten a nice salad for supper and biked to the club. During the first half of the workout I started to sweat profusely. Like gushing out of my pores. I new something was wrong because, to be frank, I never work that hard. I told the trainer I needed to take a break. I sat down with a queazy feeling and then it came to me. My supper wanted to escape and I had no say in the matter. I went and hugged that porcelain princess and tried to replenish my liquids. I haven't been back to the club since. Not sure if I'm scared to go back.