Gym Update

We are still going strong. I myself have become addicted. We have been five times a week for three weeks now. We are both startig to see a difference in our appearences. We feel good and are looking great. Our diet of chicken and fish at night has been great. We eat so many veggies too. I have started to really enjoy cooking. Not every night though, we trade off. It's been fun and we are starting a healthy way of living.

Our Anniversary

So this past weekend Latanya and I celebrated our one year anniversary. We celebrated by going into Seoul and staying a night at the Ritz. After the gym on Saturday we headed to our hotel. We arrived in the afternoon and checked in. The concierge upgraded us from a standard room to a deluxe suite. He must have seen our baller status as soon as we walked in, lol. We went up to our room and were in heaven. The suite was just like the one we had on our honeymoon night a year ago. The bathroom was a little different though, in a good and bad way. There were no jets in the tub. But at least we had a tub. And the toilet was fully equipped with a seat warmer, awesome. We put on our provided slippers and robes. We did not want to leave. But we needed to get a bottle of wine to celebrate. Once we got back with our Shiraz we order room service. The room was too nice to leave for dinner. We order a romantic couples feast. It came with soup, salad, chicken with veggies and potatoes, filet with veggies and potatoes, as well as tea and dessert. It was a feast to be sure. We ate until we went into comatose. It was also nice to watch T.V. on a flatscreen again. The next morning I got to watch the Lakers win game 3, yeah! All in all we had the best stay ever at the Ritz. After we checked out we walked to Butterfinger Pancakes for breakfast. They served a traditional American style of breakfast. We order the split decision and of course split it. It came with, 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 French toasts, breakfast potatoes, bacon, 2 kinds of sausage, and ham. It was awesome. It was the perfect way to start our day. We then took a long walk around the area for the day. We went to COEX mall and saw the Olympic Stadium. After a day of a lot of walking we headed back home and called it a weekend.

Not a Good Weekend

So this weekend did not go so well. To start, on Friday Latanya had her dentist appointment to take out her other two wisdom teeth. It did not go so well. The dentist took out the top one and then struggled to take out the bottom. The root was so strong and long that he was unable to remove it. So he filed it down so there was only the root left. He told Latanya that she had to come back on Saturday morning to remove the rest. When she came out of the room she was in so much pain. It was the worst amount of pain she ever felt in her life. I felt so bad for her. We asked for some stronger medicine to deal with the pain and he subscribed some extra strength Tylenol. We were like, this is ridiculous. So we ended up doubling up the medicine with some we had at home. Regardless Friday night was the worst night for Latanya. She basically cried herself to sleep from the pain. I tried to do everything I could. We rotated ice packs from the freezer to keep the swelling down. She was just in so much pain. On top of the pain she was not allowed to eat anything for whole other day.
We went back to the dentist Saturday morning as instructed. The dentist had a specialist take out the rest of the root. It was a complicated procedure apparently. Latanya's root was curved and it was really close to the bone. This made the extraction difficult. They had to drill in her mouth and break apart the root to be able to remove it. The extra numbing medicine they gave her was not enough, so the pain was once again excruciating. Finally they got it all out and stitched her up. Oh ya, she has to go back in a week to remove the stitches. We then went home and once the numbing went away the pain started to set in and she once again was in the same amount of pain as before. I went to get her some soup broth so she could have something in her stomach. After an adventure in the supermarket and a run through the rain I brought it back and made her something to eat. She was able to take a nap and got some rest.
The next day, Sunday was supposed to be better right? Well for Latanya it was. Other than a little bit of pain and discomfort she was doing much better. It just hurt her to talk. She was eating solid food and was up and about. Me on the other hand had come down with something. I woke up as if a bus had hit me. I was all congested and felt like crap. We watched some movies and tried to help each other out. But my body was aching and in so much pain all of a sudden. I ended up getting a really bad fever. My head was on fire and all of a sudden Latanya was taking care of me. Talk about a switch. My fever finally broke in the middle of the night, after countless times waking up. I woke up this morning feeling much better, but still under the weather. Latanya stayed home from work so she could prevent herself from talking all day to her kids. All in all it was a pretty bad weekend. Hopefully this week will be much better.

Teacher's Day

Today was Teacher's Day. It seemed as if the students were more excited than the teachers were. I myself only received two hand written thank you notes. They were both very nice. My co-teacher Grace received dozens of cards. I felt a little jealous. The whole school seemed to be really loud today. Maybe I just started to notice how loud children can be. My last class was the worst. We had the hardest time keeping them calm. Oh well.
Latanya is going to have her second extraction today. The other two wisdom teeth are going to be pulled in a few hours. She is not looking forward to the pain, as well as another weekend at home. Wish her luck. It's time for nurse Dan to take charge of the house again. That's it for now.

Some of my favorite students

Here is a picture of some my favorite 3rd grade students. Every time I have class with them they surround my desk and ask me to sign their English books. I really enjoy teaching the 3rd graders because they are so adorable and are at the stage were learning is fun. I practice the few words of Korean I know with these students usually when I am telling them to be quiet which catches them by surprise. This plan has kind of back fired now some students think I speak Korean or they try to teach me new words.
Tan

Our Weekend

We made sure to keep up with the gym. We went Saturday and Sunday making it three days in a row. Some would say too often thus far but we are working different muscle groups each day, so the others can rest in between. We also have been very good with our diet too. Oh ya, our trainer put us on a diet. We must really be out of shape. Anyway, Protein Protein Protein and less fat and less carbs. We have been eating lots of chicken and fish and more fruits and veggies.
So after the gym on Saturday we took the bus to Jamsil station. From there we walked about 25 minutes to the Olympic Park. The park is absolutely huge. It was opened first in 1988 for the Olympics, obviously, right. The big monument looking thing was certainly right out of the 80's. With it's bright colors and interesting architecture. We walked all over. Up and down many paths. It was such a beautiful early evening. The weather was warm with a cool breeze. We stumbled upon a band playing on a stage. At first they sounded alright but soon they sounded more like a group of guys singing Karaoke. Once they played Sweet Child O' Mine, I knew we had to leave. It was pretty bad. We continued to walk around and saw the Olympic pool, tennis courts and arena. We found an open field up against a small hillside. The field was covered with bright yellow flowers. I think they were weeds, but were planted and organized to make a beautiful scenery. We took some pictures. Someone came up to us and asked if they could take a picture with Latanya, because she was so pretty. They looked like photography students. The girl said Latanya looked like a goddess. I would agree. They said they would e-mail us the pictures soon. After hiking a little more we made our way back home.
On Sunday after the gym we headed out to Insadong. Insadong is a great place to go shopping for antiques. It is also a great place to have a traditional Korean tea experience. We were looking for a tea house they call the Flying Bird Tea House. We were shown the right direction. In this tea house, while you drink your tea, small birds fly throughout the room from bird house to bird house. So it was a must see for us. Once we arrived there we saw an up stairs and down stairs. We chose down, which just so happened not to have any birds. The upstairs did. We had our tea and I enjoyed mine, the Double Harmony Tea. Latanya not so much, until they brought her some complimentary cold tea/punch, which she enjoyed. Once we finished our tea we walked around the area for a little while and decided to explore some more. We stumbled upon a huge festival. It was called the Friendship Festival 2009. There were about a hundred different booths, each having a different country represented. It was a big multicultural event. We saw the most foreigners (other than English speaking) than we ever had before. It was nice walking through, with the exception of the crowds. We watched some different cultural dances. We saw lots of different traditional food and clothing. After awhile we decided to head back home and call it a weekend. All in all, we did tons of walking. We got to see some new parts of the city. As for today it is raining right now. The air is cool and a little chilly. Class went fine and it's another start to a wonderful week in Korea.

The Gym

After much debate, mostly on my part, Lantanya and I decided to join the gym. We signed up last night for 4 months. The trainer/manager was very helpful and spoke enough English for us to understand. The last time I was a part of a gym it went well for about a month and then a week here and there. After that I basically just kept donating money to LA Fitness for no reason because I was too lazy and unmotivated. Also as many of you have seen for yourself, looking at me, I don't exactly scream out gym member, do I? Well, we are excited about it thus far. We are going to have our first workout after school We are pumped and hopefully we will stay motivated. I think the gym will give us a hobby, I guess. We have a lot of down time when we get home. We mostly just play cards or watch a movie. So now we can be active and start living an active and healthy life. Boy, do I sound like an infomercial. Well wish us luck, it's time to sweat, well, at least me anyway. Latanya says she refuses to sweat at the gym. And I said good luck.

Streak

For those who do not know; the Dodgers have broken the modern day record for most victories without a loss at home to start a season. This may be nothing to some and exciting for others. The Dodgers are 13-0 thus far at home. The previous record was held by the Detroit Tigers of 1911. I believe the all time baseball record is 21 games held by the Chicago White Stockings of 1880. One game at a time though. Anyway, enough trivia, the season is long and they have a long way to go. But I cannot help but be excited for my beloved team. If it was not for the SlingBox, I would be going insane right now. Being able to watch the games here has been awesome. I feel like I am back home, and so does Latanya. But she feels like she is back home in the bad way, like lets watch something else, ha ha.
Not much is going on with us today just work. Latanya and I went to the dentist yesterday, I needed a check up . They are scaling my teeth. Which is like a teeth cleaning I guess. It's in two parts and I have to return next Wednesday. I really like our dentist. He is young and very nice. He speaks English very well. Plus he said I have great teeth, and he said he was surprised. I do not know exactly why he was surprised but I took it as a compliment. Anyway, let me say my dental experience here has been good.
I think this weekend we are going to try and do some sightseeing. Nothing too far or wild. We want to do some exploring and maybe some cheesy tourist stuff. We will make sure to take plenty of pics.

Cinco De Mayo

Our Cinco de Mayo was quiet. We took a stroll through a local park in the afternoon and got groceries to prepare our semi Cinco de Mayo fiesta. So we had no tortillas or salsa and were left with no options for beans. We ended up making Fiesta Burgers. We used the taco seasoning we had and seasoned the patties. E-Mart was all out of hamburger buns so we bought bagels. However the bagels had chocolate filling, so we decided to use just some wheat bread instead. We dressed our Fiesta Burgers with jalapenos and horseradish as well as some mustard and onions. Latanya made some great garlic fries from scratch. It was her first time doing it and they turned out amazing. I had some tortilla chips as well as a Corona, it was the only Mexican beer they sold. Latanya was not able to drink because of her wisdom teeth. The Fiesta Burgers were awesome. They were so delicious. We had a nice last day of our vacation, very relaxing. Today we went back to work. It has been an easy day for me. The kids are having their sports day today and I have no class. The weather is gorgeous. It is starting to warm up and the sun is shinning. Spring here is really nice thus far. I am not looking forward to the rainy summer.

Wisdom Teeth

So on Friday Latanya had two of her four wisdom teeth extracted. She did really great through the entire process. The extraction only took about 20 minutes or so. The bad part is, she has to go back in two weeks to remove the other two. Other than the pain she is having a great recovery. The doctor did not give her any pain medication so Latanya is just taking extra strength Tylenol. She really is handling it well. Not much puffiness, we kept the swelling down as soon as we came home. I am trying my best to be the best nurse I can be. But I don't know if I can watch another chick flick, lol. We have basically been watching movies all weekend and eating lots of soup. It's been nice and relaxing not going out and just having fun at home.