It's all real-life...really.

Let me just say this: Soju + Ice-cream (yes, the capital letter indicates that I have now officially deified the substance) = teh absolute win. Especially when the Ice-cream comes in cookies and cream form, and you are getting drunk with people who led protests twenty-years ago. Allrrrriiiightttt.

So we spent the week with rabid small children, who jumped at us, shouted in our ears, and with whom I exchanged translations of English for Korean to cartoon pictures of animals I drew on a whiteboard. Good times. Also: I have now learnt to say "Do you want to die?", which is perfect for those who dare to disobey. Which, y'know, is pretty much everyone below my shoulders at that study room. Those dastardly naughty but, unfortunately, charming children.

Also also: Korean kids = way cuter than white ones. Probably more delicious too.

Although the ajumma we stay most with at the moment is the one who owns the study room, there is also another really nice ajumma who cooks and helps out too. Her daughter and two twins (who are, by the way, real-life NINJAS) come to the study room every day to get a lift home with their Ma and also to hang out with the kids. So apparently the daughter (Song-ah) has taken a real shine to me, loving the fact that she can practise her already good English on a real-life foreigner - not Mintie though, he's a faker. We were both really surprised to find out that she's only in grade six, considering how tall she is, how old she acts, and how good she is at English and all things study. They are all real-life geniuses in that family. It's crazy. ANYWAY, Wednesday day we went to her Elementary School, at which I was inundated by a billion kids who were fascinated with my existence. And I feared for my life when kids literally fell over each other just to see me. *Blush* Totally random. On Wednesday night, after study room times, we went to go see Hairspray which was of fun and happy and had Christopher Walken dancing and singing like a mofo. That dude is such a Dude! What an awesome. We then went and had some chicken feet (eh, pretty good, but cartiledge is way disconcerting to eat), shared a good bottle of Soju (I'm so addicted), and bought, like, 3000 coloured-squares at a 24-hour place (think Officeworks + Coles), which I thought was an unnecessary number of hours to be open. You are unnecessary, sometimes, Korea.

In the morning we went to a Buddhist monastery up on the side of a freeeeezing cold mountain. It was small, but the monks chanting inside the main temple were mesmerising. Also, I made a coin stick to the side of a vertical rock face, and I am now extremely lucky. So, watch out!! After having some good Bibimbap for lunch, despite having breakfast only an hour before, we went and got our study room on.

Study room, I'mma gonna decorate your ass. Apparently being an Art History major makes me qualified to be creative. This logic does not work on me. However, I figured out how to make little Santa stockings using the magic of origami and the power of my brain to work backwards from one I found lying around. I photocopied pages of a stenciled tree I made the kids colour in, and then created a 3D stylez one out of two of the stencils. I got Mintie to get the kids to make colourful snowflakes. They look heaps pretty! And so after giving everyone something to do I sat for the whole day making a huge and colourful paper chain. I also employed cheap azn child labour to cut me strips of paper and hand me the colours I yelled at them in English. My 'teaching methods' are wonderful. Don't even deny. Also, on Christmas Eve I have somehow been relegated to being Santa. This is weird. Am I that old and fat?!

Today was good! Russian realism and abstract art. W00t! It was really damn good, most of the artworks made me want to really go to Russia. There is such a beautifully intense light in most of the paintings, the landscapes are bold and dark, almost with Gothic undertones, and the portraits are real enough to feel their gaze boring through your skull, but impressionistic enough to have an inner dynamism. The couple of Kandinsky pieces just made me want to conduct research on him. Cool dude, that one. We then got some really good hand-made noodles at Myeongdong, and then we headed off to Yongsan for some purchasing. Yerrr. I didn't realised how much buying things makes me feel good. Especially electronic things. I'm lookin' at you Nintendo DS *Bedroom eyes* I'm getting one when I get back duty free (cheaper, would you believe and also with Australian cable), but I bought a 2GB flash so I can download gamez like a h4x0r. Shit yes. Also got a headset. So I can call pplz from the internets. I also got fish-shaped bread with red bean insidey. Yum.

ALSO: WE HAVE PLANS FOR CHRISTMAS. I AM WAY WAY YAW YAW EXCITORORORORORED. Sunrise + Temple + (Snow-Sledding + Mountain-side) = Booyah! Details released soon!

NB: more photos!

ALSO ALSO ALSO: EVERYBODY HAS TO LOOK AT THIS. DO IT. BE AMAZED BY THE INTENSITY OF AWESOME.