cabin fever; giving thanks

this time of year, i always think of family, and how nice it would be to spend the holidays with them. in reality, though, with the places my life has taken me over the last decade, i'm away from home far more often than not. however, this doesn't, by any means, imply that i spend the holidays just sulking around the house. i love these festive months and i do my best to enjoy them to the fullest. thanksgiving is definitely my favorite holiday (halloween is a close 2nd)...and certainly not because i'm so proud of my ancestors butting in and taking over what wasn't theirs.....but because it is a time spent w/ loved ones, a day of relaxation and indulgence, a day to give thanks for all that we've been blessed with in our lives, sharing of food and stories, etc. i feel like on this day, everyone is in my usual mood & it makes me just ooze w/ love.

i've had some pretty amazing thanks-givings to date (playing a contemporary version of hide & go seek with walkie talkies in columbus, ohio and, of course, jess' birthday bash at the manoa cottage in hawaii comes to mind) but this year was right up there w/ the best of them. a big group of friends and i rented both a small cottage and a huge cabin just outside of the city. all the ingredients for a great time were in tact: good friends (old and new), heaps of delicious food, good beer (and bad beer), egg nog, rum, wine, stringed instruments, drinking games, karaoke room, fireplace, etc, etc. no football or macy's parade on the telly but, personally, i don't give a crap about that (no offense). i ate, drank and sang my face off.

the meal that we all, so lovingly, cooked up was off the hook...and all veg! there was so much food that we had to do 3 rounds, with lots of drinking and other frivolous acts in between.




this was the menu:






first course~ spicy pumpkin chili, garden salad deluxe, spanokopita, devilled eggs and cheese.


second course~ chickpea-seitan sausages, mashed potatoes, walnut-apple stuffing, mushroom gravy, sweet corn, roasted root vegetables, baked beans and persimmon-cranberry sauce.


third course (which didn't happen until the next morning)~pumpkin pie from scratch, homemade cookies, fruit and fair trade haitian bleu coffee.

there is a shortage of photos, but that's a sign of an unbelievable. good. time. :) i love you all and wish you a warm and happy holiday season.

familiar faces

it's so good to see some familiar faces in this oh-so-foreign place! life is funny....i was planning to teach english in korea long before i caught wind that these two friends of mine were doing the same. meet my peeps, smilja & aaron.

smilja and i went to grad school together in costa rica. we lived in the same neihborhood there and shared many a bottle/box of wine during that adventurous year. :) she has been in korea for about 3 months now (veteran compared to me) and teaches at a school about 40 minutes away on the subway.

i met aaron this past october while campaigning to get obama elected. now he is here teaching theater to 3rd and 4th graders. he also happens to live in the same part of town as me (gangnam-gu), only 2 metro stops away.

i love having partners in crime. makes exploring all the more fun!