an awkward seating arrangement.

went to a basketball game between two seoul teams: the samsung thunders vs. the SK knights. like every sporting event in korea, the crowd was cheering hard. nigel dixon was our favorite. a big guy from the US who didn't seem to care too much about the game as he took his sweet time getting to and from each side of the court and didn't feel like participating in any team huddles during timeouts.

the halftime show was a special navy troop that performed fancy rifle spins. during the finale, the troop pointed their guns straight at the crowd and shot. the loud deafening "boom" impressed all the koreans while zachary and friends were all freaked out. thankfully, i was in line getting food.

went to work with zachary today.

took the bus and subway...

walked through the milk-carton neighborhoods....

and took a quick photo-op in the school playground.

signs making sure the school is kept cute and clean.

getting real comfy 'cause it's game day!

the neighborhood view of namsan tower.

patchwork wall.

bye jade.

an owner of a tea shop gave me this walnut pin cushion.

our friend, aaron choe baked us banana bread. easily the best banana bread i've ever had.

what's been cookin' the past few weeks.

got this card on my last day.

king kong.

binny and anna. they laugh and fight like ajummas.

happy lunar new year!!!

we spent the day with imcheon como's family. como made korean pancakes and the boys dressed up in their hanboks. you know you're old when you're getting bowed to and passing out the money.

a day of ssireum (korean wrestling) was an awesome way to ring in the lunar new year!

how it works: each wrestler wears a belt around their waist and thighs. the opponents hold onto each other's belts and then use different techniques to wrestle each other to the ground. the wrestler who brings any part of their opponent's body above the knee to the ground is the winner.

nakchi kalguksu ("knife-cut" noodles with octopus...and other seafood creatures).

zachary is officially a seafood eating machine!

feels like yesterday when we first watched you sleep, walked around the park with you, read you asimov, taught you black slang and took long naps with you in your warm kichijoji home.

happy first birthday, evan. we miss hanging out with you.