lunar new year

hooray for long weekends! yeehaw. i had no yoga on sunday. it was the lunar new year & st. valentine's day (hey, it involves chocolate & love, so i'm not knockin' it) in one fantastic weekend.


one of my favorite gals, trisha, and i took this oppor-tunity to bust outta the city and venture somewhere / anywhere new. we scoped some couchsurfing profiles in search of the quirky /cool/fun ones on the peninsula. sent out a few requests, got a few responses & went w/ a fella named will, from montana, who now lives near the coast way down south.

we arrived via bus, well prepared for a good time(instruments in tow) & bearing gifts: valentine chocolates (re-gifts from our students), a handcrafted card, oatmeal raisin cookies (which turned out to be the best cookies i've ever made), spicy veggie chili (a la trisha), 5 bottles of wine, some soju, two tubs of homemade hummus and some sugar & cinnamon for morning french toast.

saturday morning, will & his friend, wes, led us on a hike in jirisan national park. trisha & i had both hiked jirisan before, but not this part, and not in the dead of winter. we couldn't have asked for a better day. the sun was oh so kind, and the whole landscape was covered in the most perfect layer of sparkly snow.

the forest was quiet, aside from the faint crunching underfoot & the tinkle of crystalline leaves as we brushed by.
we pushed our way through snowy bamboo thickets, making the first tracks in the glittering crust of snow. crispy, red leaves cradled snowflakes in their curls and every brittle twig was dipped in pure, yet tasteless, rock sugar. a waterfall was still gushing with life while all else was frozen. and the view of the snowy ridges from our peak was pretty darn amazing.












after slipping and sliding in our cold feet part of the way down, trisha and i couldn't resist the urge to become mountain cats (she was an ocelot...i, a lynx) and we bounded down through the fresh powder in no time, leaving our hosts a ways behind. near the bottom, we came upon some manicured and seemingly sacred grounds dotted w/ primitive cave-like dwellings ... like the shire in hobbiton, or something. i suppose the place is usually alive w/ cultural ceremonies and what not for tourists on any other weekend, but this was a special holiday. the lunar new year. everyone was keeping warm indoors, somewhere, celebrating in tradition with their families.



so the guys caught up w/ us as the sun was starting to set. it was growing colder and we needed to find a place to sleep for the night. but everything appeared to be closed. we finally came to a small, traditional-style home w/ a light on so we knocked on the door. a small woman slid the door open and then a baby (with the most brilliant and genuine smile in the world) appeared in the door frame. we communicated in our minimal korean that we were looking for a place to stay and the woman briefly consulted a sweet-looking elderly lady before inviting us inside. they asked if we were hungry, which we were indeed, and they made us a big meal, which was served w/ pride by the grandma herself. the family was all together and it was obvious that we were imposing a bit on their holiday, but they were so gracious and friendly. we passed some time with the family, exchanging many smiles and head-bows, before we retired to the room that they had arranged for us.


that night felt like a high-school sleepover. the room was freezing and we had only few blankets, so we huddled together on the floor, sipping wine and eating cookies as we giggled over hours of silly stories before finally falling to sleep.


in the morning, after being served a complete breakfast including kimchi AND dongdongju (milky rice wine), we hitched our way to the bus stop back to will's place. we were all dirty & exhausted so, after showering, we decided to watch goodwill hunting while eating chili and hummus..oh, and lots of wine. later, we migrated to a neighborhood friend's place where we continued to drink and watch 80s music videos. i couldn't have asked for more out of a long winter weekend. smiles a-gogo. :) :) :)

happy valentine's day

the best valentine card yet. :)

landmark

veer right, just before "the" airplane...

thirty one

i've been around the sun 31 times! wow. life keeps gettin' better and, of course, i wouldn't settle for less. it's usually around this time each year when i realize just how many amazing people i've been blessed w/ the opportunity to know and connect with in this little life of mine. and man, what would i have to do to get all of these beloved ones together in one spot (a wedding is out of the question, ha)? but just the idea alone--the combined energies of so many beautiful, crazy, lovin', wise & inspiring beings-- kindles the permanent smile that i carry around on my insides.

once again, in yet another time and place, i find myself surrounded by new & wonderful friends. i'm deeply grateful for all the love i receive everyday & am excited to spread it around many times over.

so this is what turning 31 in seoul looks like when you're aimeegaines:

a little partay w/ more than enough dessert, wine, cheese and hummus and just enough good friends (note that i took these pictures at the very beginning, meaning that there was even more yumminess & loveliness as the night progressed). :)





sleeping in and then having pumpkin pancakes at noon with one very cool chick (trisha!) ... after which we lazed around, played music, ate leftover desserts and watched movies for most of the day. we did finally made it out of the house (although mostly out of guilt, ha) and met up w/ some other friends for drinks. :)


the next day, my actual birthday, was the last day of my yoga teacher training course, which began 5 months ago (where'd the time go?). yoga felt good. afterwards, i went out w/ the yoga gang for chinese eats, where we were granted our certificates. check it. i like accomplishments. woot!



AND i received some cool & sweet gifts from some cool & sweet pals.


like annie's mac & cheese! i have been talking about it forever, & trisha hooked it up. so stoked! and it suits my habit perfectly w/ the frank's red hot sauce she gave me for xmas. trisha officially rocks. ;)








and check this out. jonna picked up on my owl fetish (she loves her some owls, too) and found this cool owl print on canvas, which now dons my bathroom door. grooviness. love you, jonna! :)









also, some of my students brought me gifts. and i was moved to see that these gifts were obviously inspired by the kids themselves, and not just some token of crap from the parents. these kids pay attention to me. karen got me some chapstick (just like hers), cuz i apply it consistently throughout the day. she also made me a necklace of sparkly yarn w/ a pendant of pink crayon attached w/ tape (quite the invention, eh? haha). alice got me a cute little neck pillow that's supposed to look like either a fish, chicken or snake (i can't figure it out). she told me to use it so that i don't hurt my neck again. awe. and harry got me some fancy chamomile tea and a blue whiteboard marker (because all of the 10 markers i have in my classroom are just about out of juice. haha). and all the kids made me cute little cards and pictures. i just love them to death.

birthdays, as vain as they may be, can be uplifting. i feel great again. thanks, guys. for all of the emails and fbook messages, too! xoxoxoxo