Haggis, kilts, and champagne...

"Today's rain is tomorrow's whiskey."

-Scottish Proverb

     This year I have had so many moments when I really question if this is truly real life.  I have done so many amazing things that never in a million years would I have ever imagined I would be doing.  Its almost as if I need to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming.  Yesterday was another one of those moments to add to the ever growing list.  First up my friend Lindsey was supposed to fight in a boxing match.  I would have never ever thought I would count myself as a boxer much less being a boxer in Korea.  Unfortunately her opponent pulled out at the last moment so she did not get to fight but that just gave us more time to prepare for the main event of the day; the St. Andrews Ball! Yes you read that right a ball as in gowns, champagne, and more forks than you know what to do with.  

The ball is thrown by the St. Andrews Society of Seoul which is an international organization to celebrate Scottish heritage around the world. 

We went all out! and by all out I mean we bought $50 dresses off of Amazon and attempted many pinterest tutorials for our hair and make-up.  It felt like prom all over again!

We live about 1.5 hours by public transportation away from the hotel where the ball was held.  We looked super awesome with out coats and umbrellas on the subway.  People were extremely interested in us the entire ride.

See what I mean about all the forks?! I know that you go from the outside in so I think I hid my confusion pretty well.  Each table was named after a clan of Scotland.  Lindsey and I were assigned to Clan MacMillan for the night. 

The ball started with a champagne reception.  Then the bagpipers brought in the guests of honor who included the British ambassador, Irish ambassador, Turkish Ambassador, and the ambassador of Azerbaijan.  If you haven't heard of that last one don't worry its a very small country bordering Russia, Turkey, and Iran.  After that we started our five course meal! The steak was amazing! I don't think I have eaten real non-fatty beef in three years.  On the right is haggis.  Traditionally haggis is the sheeps heart, liver, and lungs chopped up and mixed with spices and oatmeal.  It is then cooked inside the stomach of the sheep.  To me being from a heavily German influenced area it tasted a bit like a squishier version of the inside of brats.

Here are a few of the videos we took of the night! The dancing was so much fun! I enjoy dances with set steps a lot more than having to make up my own dance moves! I was also a bit in love with the bagpipers.  

I do not drink very much but when you are at a super fancy and classy event, it seems like you must have a glass of champagne or red wine in your hand at all times.

I think we clean up pretty well for two kindergarten teachers!

You cannot see it but I am video calling my sister here.  Its kind of fun to have the time difference when you are staying up to the wee hours of the morning. 

 When the ball was first hosted Seoul had a curfew so people would have had to leave the ball at 11:00 or stay until 4:00 AM.  Because of this the ball offered a "survivors" breakfast at 3:00AM and they continue to offer this breakfast today.  Let me just tell you bacon, sausage, and cold fruit juice is very welcome after an exciting and long night of dancing!













Last night was really a very magical night.  We met so many nice and interesting people! We even danced with the Turkish ambassador who was the sweetest and cutest tiny old man! I only wish I had known about this event last year.  Unfortunately both Lindsey and I will have left Korea by this time next year otherwise we would definitely attend again in a heartbeat!


Obviously Korea does not celebrate Thanksgiving but because our kids are at a predominantly North American taught school we held Thanksgiving.  The kids had the chance to make mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and apple pie cups.  They also had to learn and perform Thanksgiving songs for the rest of the school.  So enjoy my little Sea Lions singing their Thanksgiving song!

And because I can't not end the blog post with a countdown my birthday is in two weeks, my sister comes in three weeks, and Christmas is in four weeks! I guess time really does fly when you are having fun!

The Little Mermaid, Sake, and owls...

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

-Walt Disney

   This post is only about 2 months late, but better late than never right?  It seems crazy that its been two months since Lindsey's and my trip to Japan!  Our final city was Tokyo! I had been to Tokyo the year previous so I left it up to Lindsey to plan out what she would like to see and do.  While waiting for our overnight bus from Kyoto to Tokyo, I casually suggested that since the bus was dropping us off at Tokyo Disney we could just spend the day there.  And of course Lindsey agreed.  The last time I went to Tokyo was in February so Tokyo Disney was decked out as a Frozen Wonderland and it was magical.  This time it was decorated for Halloween and was packed full of people. 

We always knew I would never make a good Disney Princess and this just proves it.

This was my third time visiting a Disney park.  The first was Disney World in Florida and then last year in Tokyo and yet this was the first time I had ever seen characters walking around the park! I always saw those Disney commercials of little kids running up and hugging the characters, I always thought they were lies.  Apparently that does actually happen.

Since we were at Disney right before Halloween we were hoping that the Disney Villains would be out.  We found out that the villains were at the other newly built Disney park, Disney Sea.  So because we are super financially responsible and make great adult decisions, we decided to ditch Tokyo Disney and head to Disney Sea.  It was the best decision we could have made.  Just after we entered we met Cruella D. Vil! 

This is a lovely photo of my face right after she asked us how to say Cruella D. Vil in Korean.  Super awkward considering that the crowd around her was probably 80% Korean.  The actress was amazing and played Cruella perfectly!

To follow the villains theme the nighttime show was all the villains on these amazing boats! The whole thing was incredible!

The park is Sea themed so it was centered around a lake in the middle.  

My question is where in the world do they store 5 gigantic boats after Halloween is finished?

The major areas of Disney Sea were Venice, Indiana Jones, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, and Finding Nemo.  Hindsight is 20/20 but I wish we had skipped regular Tokyo Disney and went straight to Disney Sea.  It was so cool and totally different from any other Disney Park. 

Lindsey is obsessed with "The Little Mermaid" so she was again almost hyperventilating at the Mermaid Lagoon.

Just looking across the river to Aladdin's city of Agrabah.

Again so cool to actually see and meet the characters! It is a bit weird that they stay in character the whole time.  I don't know what to say to them. 

This was Ariel's Grotto and was so well done.  That is the what makes Disney Parks so different than any other theme park, every single detail has been thought of. 

There also was a volcano in the middle of the park.  Inside the volcano was a "Journey to the Center of the Earth" ride.

The main attraction in the Aladdin section was a storytelling ride of "Sinbad"

This is my go to pose for any photo.  I call it "what do you want me to do?"

After spending 14 hours (yes you read that right, 14 hours!) at Disney we finally went to our AirBnb and crashed.  But once again the next day we were up and ready to go.  Our first stop was at an owl cafe.  Owls are just so cool and beautiful!

These were lime flavored Gyoza and they were super delicious.

After lunch we headed to the Harajuku district.  This district is the birthplace of lolita fashion.   There seems to be two types of this fashion.  Super bubble gum pink or goth.  The fashion looks like this: 

So of course we had to try out some super weird Harajuku themed cafes.  This cafe is called Kawaii Monster Cafe.  Kawaii means cute and this cafe was super over the top cute.  It had multiple sections called mel-tea, mushroom disco, milk stand, and bar experiment.  We sat in the milk stand area.

I was able to fulfill all of my childhood fantasies of ordering the largest ice cream sundae on the menu and of course just like mothers always say, I did feel extremely sick after eating all of it.

Because we didn't have enough sugar we then ate cotton candy bigger than my head.  I will point out that Lindsey got the cotton candy, and then begged me to help her eat it.

On our final day in Tokyo we visited a shrine that I had visited the previous year.  You can buy little wooden plaques to write your prayers or wishes on.  Its fun to walk around and read what everyone has wished for.  This one definitely stuck out.

A sushi conveyor belt restaurant was also on Lindsey's wish list of things to do.  It was so cool! Each person had a screen in front of them and you just ordered what you wanted and then it came on the track.  The screen would even tell you if it was on the top or bottom of the track.  

Here is the video of the cotton candy making and my sushi arriving!  That toy at the end was from a toy shop we stopped at in Harajuku.  

I would like to point out that on each of these plates was 1 or 2 pieces of sushi.  Also surprisingly all of this was only about $15!

The sushi restaurant was in Shibuya.  This is the busiest street crossing in the world!

Can you spot the dinosaur?  Or as Lindsey, not so kindly, pointed out Godzilla? It looks like a regular dinosaur to me.

Because we hadn't had enough sweets we went to an Alice in Wonderland Cafe to indulge just a bit more.

For our final stop in Tokyo we went to a Sake tasting bar.  I do not really drink so to me if I can taste the alcohol its not good.  But Lindsey said it was good, so it probably is. 

This week was incredible! Japan is just such an amazing place and Lindsey and I make great travel partners.  We went from sunup to sundown.  I checked my phones step and distance counter after the trip and on average we walked 9 miles a day.  Now the countdown is on until Katie comes to visit me! Just 40 more days! 

 The next few months are going to be insane.  In just three weeks its Thanksgiving, then another three weeks and Christmas.  After Christmas it will be graduation for my kids and then pretty soon its the start of a new school year.  But to quote Walt Disney and one of my favorite movies, "Meet the Robinsons, " Keep moving forward!