Month: March 2016

EPIK TEACHER: FOLLOW ME AROUND

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Ever wanted to follow me around? Wait, that sounded creepy. Let me rephrase. Ever wanted to know what I do at my job as an EPIK teacher? You’re in luck! In this post I take you through *inhales* my morning routine, introduce to you my co-teachers, lesson plans, lesson prep, how I teach, what I ate for lunch, what I do after school, when I get home and all the other super fantastic things I do in a day. *exhales* Being a teacher means you are constantly developing, learning and growing with your students. I never thought of myself teaching at a middle school (I was counting on elementary when I first got to South Korea) but now I couldn’t see myself teaching at any other level. I have been an English teacher in Busan, South Korea for a little over a month and have established a workday routine that works for me. That being said, the first week of being a teacher here was the hardest, I constantly asked myself, WHAT AM I DOING?! / WHAT …

SMELLS LIKE HOME

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What do you do when you start having Canada withdraw? Hack open a can of maple syrup and make french toast. Mmmmm it was so good, and just what I needed to feel at home again. This week wasn’t too exciting, other than making my apartment smell maple goodness, nothing eventful happened. Oh, I did spend 15 minutes hacking at the maple syrup can. Should probably put “can opener” on my shopping list, as well as “spatula” since I used a rice scooper to flip my french toast. #singlelife #ilivealone #dontjudge Last weekend I went to Caffe Bene near my house to catch up on emails and finish up with some work. I had an iced coffee, and the entire upstairs floor to myself. Nothing like peace, serenity and caffeine to make you feel productive (aka Facebook stalk my friends from home pretending I was with them at all their outings and parties). Moving onto my work week, for one of my classes I taught a lesson on “mottos” and had students come up with a class motto. …

HIKES, ART & GOLD.. OH MY!

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Things making me happy right now: Currently sitting at a cafe and have it entirely to myself (Caffe Bene to be specific). I’m on the second floor looking over my neighbourhood. I slept in this morning, made french toast and drowned it in maple syrup. It’s 17 degrees outside. I booked my train to Seoul for next weekend because, FASHION WEEK! I bought an air freshener for my apartment. Looking forward to going home to see if it works (is that sad?). Came to the realization that I am exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do and that, makes me happy. Can I be real for a sec? If you’ve known me for the past three years, you know that moving to South Korea was an idea that quickly turned into a plan. However, I didn’t act on the plan until this year. I flip-flopped not knowing if I’d be “behind in my career” that I had in Toronto. It took me three years to make my final decision. THREE. YEARS. I …

SEOUL ADVENTURE

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The dream of travelling to Seoul, South Korea has come true. Is this real life? Last weekend my best friend Emily and I met in Seoul to discover the city that features an abundance of palaces, food, shopping and is also a place that has a population of 10,000,000. Yup. 10 MILLION! One of our first stops was to Changgyeonggung Palace, located smack dab in the heart of Seoul. The palace was built by the 4th ruler of the Joseon Dynasty for his retiring father AND served as residence for queens and concubines. There is also an enormous garden in the back but we didn’t have time to see it. 😦 Next time. Watch my Seoul Adventure vlog below! Among sightseeing, we also went to a psychic, hung out at a dog cafe, raved in Gangnam and ate way too much street food. After an eventful weekend, we took the KTX train back to Busan. It felt good to be home since Busan is less congested, and I missed the beach (below = Haeundae). You just …

GOLD COLLAGEN LIP & EYE MASKS

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I’ve been in Busan, South Korea for almost a month. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?! Among the bustle that continues to be my life, I took today off to pamper myself with Spa Splurge Collection’s Gold Collagen Under Eye Mask & Lip Mask. These lip and eye masks work to diminish fine lines and moisturize the areas where they are placed. Both are made with ingredients such as rose oil, vitamin E and gold powder (OoOoO). If I were to compare how they feel I’d say, like a slippery fish out of water.. that’s the best description I can give, you’d understand if you felt them. Both masks have a light, fresh scent and easy to apply under eyes and on lips. They felt snug when applied but I ended up lying down since they slowly slipped away as I moved. The masks felt GLORIOUS on my skin, the collagen immediately worked to make my under eyes and lips feel smoother. After 20 minutes I took both masks off. I could feel my lips and under eyes become tighter and the areas looked shiner. Overall, …

MY FIRST APARTMENT

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IS THIS HOW YOU ADULT?! I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I moved into my first apartment. I’ve been feeling ecstatic and overwhelmed but incredibly happy to live in a place that is comfortable, spacious, and has way too many beauty products in the bathroom. I don’t have a shower mat nor proper plates to eat from, but I do have two cleansers, three face masks, and five moisturizers cluttering the bathroom cabinet. #priorities Speaking of beauty products, South Korea is the EPICENTRE of beauty. Every third store on any main street is either The Face Shop, Etude, Skinfood, The Body Shop, etc. It’s beauty heaven. The day after I moved in I went into The Face Shop and bought Chia Seed Hydrating Emulsion. The store employee (bless her soul) did not speak a word of English but knew by looking at my face that I had extremely dry skin. She threw what I needed in a bag, took a hand full of free samples, chucked those in and smiled as I left. Love her. …