Korea!

Tomorrow I'm being thrown to a group of adorable little wolves.
Fingers crossed they don't eat Teacher Andrea alive.
I'm literally hitting the ground running, and sadly haven't had any time to go on photo adventures .... mostly because I'm sleepy from the jet lag (which I refuse to admit), and a little bit nervous about appeasing Korean parents.

But .... but .... but .... this city looked pretty amazing on the drive from the airport and I"m very much looking forward to this weekend's long walks.

Here's what I see outside my window ...

BP- Simplified

Because my fridge is on the mend ....
Because I'm not sure how garbage works in my building ....
Because grocery shopping was a little daunting ...

The Ghost of Airports Past

The road to South Korea was a long one paved with frantic repacking at the airport, too many layoversin 4 different airports, the threat of a deadly virus, broken baggage, and an overheated 14 hour plane. Guess how I kept a smile on my face?

Klaus made a friend who is more orange than him in Toronto.

There was an ongoing debate as to whether I was as glad to see Chicago as it was to see me. It was rainy and dark the entire 7 hours I was there. I've always wanted to go to Chicago, and I even ran in and out at the airport once (you have to touch ground for it to count, if you count such things) ....

I also rode the train a few too many times.

Waiting for that 1am take off of a 14 hour plane ride is perfectly explained by the kid ... if you can find her
I was so excited to see this.

More airlines should bring the maps back!

Welcome to South Korea .... where all the woman wear shoes that would make even the women from Montreal blush.
I'd heard about couples that dress alike ...
This toilet is smarter than me.


Dear Sean Connery,

You still got it going on.

XXXX

a.

What's in a Tony Danza shot?

I have a tiny bit of Canadian content that should have been posted before I left, but as you can see below, I was drinking with the big guy before I left which always leads to my body throwing a temper tantrum the morning after the messy night before and thus all my last bits of energy were devoted to packing instead of typing. So anyways …
Say hello to Colin ...

He's pretty fantastic. He was my housemate once upon a Toronto summer and much fun was had. Colin was back home for a few days, and lucky me he called me to go drinking at the guy with the hat's house.
There were many boys I've known for years there. There were boys with their toys ...
and boys who weren't so good at card games .....
Then we took the show on the road and hit up the infamous Bucket.

Where I met an actual Klaus, THE Klaus who runs the bucket.

And shots of Tony Danza were had ....

And the conclusion was made that everyone looked better in glasses.





.... or perhaps not =)

BP - Canadian & Korean edition

If I wasn't so stuborn, or so poor, I might have considered paying for the wifi at the Toronto or Chicago airports... but then I probably wouldn't have started reading my amazing new book, or listened to the UNbelievable mix CD 800 millions times, and I doubt I would have wandered around O'Hare and stumbled upon navy recruits getting their first taste of army straight off the plane, or worried so much that the bratty sunburnt kids fresh from Mexico were going to infect me with the latest plague to hit the scene .... all that and Klaus would have been lonely, and we wouldn't want that now would we?
Now I know what you must be thinking? What has she been eating for breakfast?
Well ...

... the second last day I was in Canada Aidrenne surprised me with a brownie, which only further proves my point that she's a wonderful friend.

My last breakfast at home I made pancakes drowned in maple syrup and sprinkled with strawberries and ate them outside .... but alas I used my dad's camera and forgot to upload the photos before I left. But I'm offering a trade, instead of my last fabulous breakfast at home here are the breakfast options from my flight to Seoul.

My cheese thing ...

or this omelette thing the Chinese woman beside me was eating. She laughed so hard when she saw me take a photo of my breakfast that she insisted I take a photo of her morning snack as well.

Up, up, and away

Today ..... I'm a little bit nervous.
Although this is the third time in almost as many years that I've packed as many things as I can into a suitcase and moved to another city, this time I'm going very far, far away. I'm not doing anything terribly original, just joining the ranks of ESL teachers in South Korea ... but saying good bye to the county is turning out to be a little more difficult than I thought.
So in honor of all the butterflies that are currently fluttering a little too much inside of me here is a song I find relaxing.
Once upon a time there was an incident with an old housemate which involved hot candle wax and my Cd. My Cd lost the battle. Lovely housemate that he was, the big curly haired guy with the sitar reburnt my Cd and added a few extra songs (including this track) to make up for the accident. A year or so later, my Cd very much forgotten, I was feeling more than a little sad while flying down to New Orleans when this song shuffled its way into my life via my ipod (the Matt Pond Pa version). It helped me to let go of my silly girly sadness and realize the awesomeness that is sitting on a plane full of silver haired foxes headed for NOLA.
So as I'm about to head off the airport, driven by one of my favourite friends, .... I think the world needs more musical saws.

Ladies who lunch

I was part of an elite group of ladies lunching today ...

However I was told that I did not dress appropriately as my dress was wrinkled. 

I disagreed.

I was wrong.

Love my mother as I do .... she has a tendency to .... well, my face says it all.

But I love my mom.
You would too.
Lunch was lovely.

Dear Packing, meet my fist

Dear Packing,

I want to give you a kiss with my fist.

Sincerely, 

andrea.

xo

I hope that when I finally do unpack - an activity which I equally despise - all my outfits will magically make me look like one of The Sartorialist's women.  

Toronto the red

Yesterday I jumped in the car and drove to the big city for my big interview. 

As I was on my way to catch the streetcar I passed a travel store that had a bright red sign in the front window ....
The universe continued to send me happy messages as I ran into many lovely red things that day. (Which also just happened to match my red coat)
Including my very favourite bookstore.
Later there were beers at the Red Room with this kid (note the label color) ...

... followed by delectable sushi with this lady...

Sadly my visit was only a short affair, which lasted less than 24 hours, but it was lovely. Even Klaus managed to say hi to some old friends.Oh, and did I mention I got one of these?

Bp - I'm super!

It was a super breakfast ....

With a super friend .....

Bp - Faked

Bp is faked this morning as a result of having to wake up before noon for my interview with the Koreans.

Wish me luck!

                                               The genius that is Marc Johns.

I'm a bonafide capitain

You know how people sometimes ask "If you could pick one song to describe yourself, what would it be?"

Here is my answer, and I defy you not to be up an dancing by the end of the song.

In fact .. fuck it ... I can't help myself ....