Christmas Fun

Happy New Year!

The remainder of the week leading up to Christmas/my departure was crazy awesome fun. Tony's party was a blast and everyone had a good time. I ended up with a super soft and comfy pair of pajama pants from the gift swap game. I am very pleased about that. Some of Tony's neighbours showed up and turns out I know them! I AM SO PUMPED TO MOVE INTO HIS PLACE! (Sorry to see Tony go, though.)

Friday at school was fun with the kids. Christmas carols and crafts, dancing and laughing. Before lunch we had a dance party...Karen and I ended up free-styling to "All I Want for Christmas is You" in the middle of all the kids. We busted out the macarena, the hand jive, and some moves from the kids' festival routines. It was great. Some of those kindy students really love to boogey. It was so adorable to see!

Friday evening was packing and Skype dates. It was nice to finally see my floor again, once all was said and done.

Considering Christmas day was a travel day, I'd say it couldn't have gone any better. I got to the airport in plenty of time to poke around and relax. I found these travel packs of tissue that I got way too excited about and just had to buy. I had clementines and shortbread cookies for breakfast. It was Christmas, after all!

Next. I met a really cool girl at the Incheon/Seoul airport. Ashley is from Nova Scotia and lives in Anyang like me (we recognized each other from Happidus). We chatted a bunch and spent the four-hour layover in Beijing together - dinner and more chatting. She is awesome (maybe because we're so much alike haha) and I know we will hang out more. We discovered we were on the same return flight, so it was something to look forward to!

The first flight got delayed an hour due to military drills or something. I did not mind at all because I was in business class!!! That's right. Apparently when I was asked "window or aisle seat?" at the check-in I was also getting business class? Not really sure how that happened. I walked right by it, looking for my seat, because I clearly never fly anything but economy. The best part was that everyone else sitting in the area seemed equally confused. We all agreed it made for a great Christmas. Thank you Santa/travel gods! So I reclined my chair (fully horizontally) and had an awesome nap. Let me tell you I am the last person that needs THAT much leg room. There were no crosswords to be found in the in-flight magazines. I expressed my disappointment and the man sitting behind me passed me a newspaper with one. Yey! By the end of the plane ride it became a group activity with the people sitting around me. haha One of the guys was also from Anyang! Nuts eh?

The time at the Beijing airport passed quickly in Ashley's company. By the second flight I was exhausted. Thank goodness I kept moving back time zones, so my night was longer and therefore I could sleep more. I went to my seat, and a girl was asking if I would switch seats with her, as I had the seat beside her boyfriend. Of course, no big deal. I'm happy to help out and never mind trading seats with people. So I sacrificed my window seat for a double middle seat - i.e. middle section, middle seat. The man beside me, however, asked if I would mind sitting in business class. You see, he bought the seat for his daughter but she was scared and wanted to sit with her dad. BUSINESS CLASS ON BOTH FLIGHTS! So for dinner I had a delicious smoked salmon salad and shrimp dumpling soup. And then I slept for four hours. Ahhh. Customs took a while at the airport in Bangkok, and it's now 3am Seoul time. Eeesh. Once I was through though, my luggage was out and it was easy to find my ride to the hotel. (Santa was at the airport, too!) There was a man also getting picked up for our hotel and we got to chatting - lovely guy from Ukraine, travelling with some friends, doing yoga and meditation, and deep-sea diving. I had an amazing sleep in my queen-sized bed. The next morning I showered, felt fresh, had breakfast, and was ready to get picked up by the wildlife rescue center... ready to go! Yup, pretty darn good Christmas.

Side note: I travelled with Flat Sophie. If you have been following this blog for some time, you will know that I had (and lost) Flat Stanley in Poland. You should be happy to know Flat Sophie survived the trip!

ELEPHANTS ELEPHANTS ELEPHANTS!