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.

More Cheonan Ultimate

After our Pandamonium season finished, I started organizing pick up in Cheonan again. We have been getting a core group of people joining us on Saturday or Sunday afternoons and a few randoms who rotate weekends that they are available. It's been great! We've consistently been getting enough for a mini game. And on my birthday we had enough people come out to have a full 6 on 6 game going! Ultimate was my saving grace in Montreal. I met so many friends who I am still in contact with. It's a great way to meet people, get some exercise, and have fun. Some nights we've even been going out for dinner after. As an expat living in Korea, what more could you ask for?

If you are new to Cheonan and looking for a new activity, join our Cheonan Ultimate Frisbee Facebook group to receive invites to the pick up games, tournaments, and other Ultimate related activities in Korea.

June 8th

June 16th

Fueling up on some BBQ after the game.

 

Dark team on the line!

June 23rd - we had some great first timers who rocked!

June 29 - game in progress!

 Watermelon break!

|Water break

Back on the field

Cotton came out to watch!

High Five!

Full squad on June 29th

My 27th Birthday in Korea

Wow .. a whole year has passed since we started writing the blog! One of my first posts last year was about my birthday. And now here I am, living in Korea, celebrating 27.

All week I had been spoiled with cards coming in from my family. Getting mail from home, especially when anything that ever arrives in your mailbox is in Korean, is a welcome treat. Sarah even shipped me some Reece's Peanut Butter cups, which after the trip looked more like peanut butter pancakes.

The contents of Sarah's package - including pictures!

Mom's Card

Pancakes!

Everyone made the days surrounding my birthday feel special. I was treated to lunch by both Christine and Bre (my coworkers). One day I arrived at school to a gift on my desk from my closest Korean colleague, Grace. She gave me a traditional Korean jewellery box for my birthday. It's gorgeous!

The night before my actual birthday, JM and I joined our friend Nick and company for some NOREBANG! If you don't know what that is, well it's the Korean version of karaoke, but you are in a private room with just you and your friends! So you get to sing all the songs you want, and you don't have to listen to the random people in the bar who suck! It was our first time, and it was awesome.

Disco ball in our private norebang room

Nick being thoroughly annoyed by us singing Justin Beiber. Hatin' on the Beebs!

This year, my birthday fell on a Saturday. I was treated to breakfast in bed, but then JM had to work in the afternoon, giving some demo classes to potential students. I went with him to school because, even if JM wasn't around, I decided to make the best of it.

Yummy!

Bringing me breakfast!

JM being adorable

Home made card!

Funny Korean gift bags

A long time ago I had promised my after school class, Creative Expressions, that I would take them out to Korean BBQ for dinner. They eat cafeteria food every day - it gets boring. But admin had told me I could only do it on a weekend. This Saturday happened to be the first that I was in town (not traveling for frisbee), so I told my students to meet me at Bugil's front gate and we would head downtown. This is a class that I absolutely love. They are wonderful, funny, energetic, and all around pleasant students to teach. We went out for grilled meat and they surprised me with Ferrero Rocher chocolates for my birthday. It was so sweet.
 

Lunch with my students

Through Cheonan Ultimate Frisbee, I had organized a pick up game for later that afternoon, and we had the best turn out yet! Might have had something to do with the fact that I milked the birthday thing ... but who knows. ;)

Finally, on the Sunday JM and I went out for a really nice dinner. We hadn't been to any of the steakhouses in Cheonan yet, so we decided to try VIPS, where they also have an extensive salad bar (that has way more than just salad). It was delicious! I had a really lovely weekend and birthday. Thank you to everyone who made it special!

Jennika

Got dressed up to go to VIPS!

 

Hiking up to the Taejosan Buddha (finally!)

We finally decided to make our way up to Taejosan to check out this Buddha statue everyone talks about. In fact, it was really easy to get to. Just take the 24 bus across from Shinsegae (headed east) and get off at the last stop. From there, you have to keep walking up the street and around the corner you will notice a huge flight of stairs leading to a temple (this was evident not only by the architecture, but the sounds of Buddhist chanting over speakers).

The Buddha itself was nice, but we really enjoyed hiking behind it. Unfortunately, we got up there at 6pm, so we started to run out of light during our hike. We only made it to the alter/offering spot, but would like to go back and hike the whole thing. It was a decent climb, right in the "backyard" of Cheonan!

                         Waiting for the bus.                                                           Lots of steps!

                Beautiful path leading to the Buddha             

      Carvings in the rock up the mountain at an altar

Monk ringing the bell

You can listen to the sound of the bell here:

Inexplicable World of Korea #8 - Random gifts that get put on your desk

One day it's a vitamin C tablet, the next it's a tomato. I will never understand.

Announcement: WE GOT WHEELS!

Yes, we picked up 4 wheels today .. in the form of 2 bikes! A couple was leaving Cheonan and wanted to sell their bikes to another couple. So we swooped right in and took full advantage. They are nothing too fancy, but they work, and we are happy to have them. We've been getting tired of walking everywhere (especially since the weather is getting HOTTT again) or taking cabs such short distances, like to the gym. Our gym is about a 30 min walk, but only a 10 min bike ride. I am looking forward to getting my butt to the gym more often now that I can save so much time getting there. And it's a great warm up!