I challenge anyone to say I am not a kick-ass teacher after I tell you that the CD and poster is what I gave one of my favourite middle school students for his birthday today :D He bought me a 빅뱅 for my birthday and I thought it only right that I return the favour. I wanted to buy him the new 소녀시대 album but they’re too busy being ditsy on Factory Girl. He was really pleased with it and all the other boys in the class were jealous when he opened the poster. It was my first time seeing it and all I’ll say is that I might buy the CD just for the poster XD

Also, if you like 80s music, or even if you don’t, watch this and laugh.

Yesterday was my birthday date with 서영 in 분당. As always, I failed to spot the person I’m meeting and she surprised me. We walked to 교보 Bookstore to pick up some study material for her and to look for a birthday gift for a student of mine. After we got the books, we moved onto Vikings Seafood Buffet for some lunch. We had planned to get there early to take advantage of a ‘Couple Event’ but apparently the event had ended. 서영’s sister, 서정 said she was going to come and pick out a birthday present for their mother so we finished our food and went to wait.

서영 said that she’d probably be late so we decided to wait in a coin 노래방. We were in there for about 20 - 30 minutes and only managed to sing one song before we went to meet 서정 at the Samsung Plaza. I had seen pictures of her sister before so I kind of new what to expect but was still surprised when I saw her. Apparently 서영 takes after her father and 서정 after her mother which explains why they don’t really look alike, but are still both really pretty. They also have very different personalities and tastes which made me laugh XD

서정 happens to be a absolute genius when it comes to ’selca’ so while we sat in Holly’s Coffee and ate my birthday cake, she gave me some pointers. I want to practice but despite the awesomeness of the Haptic, it doesn’t have selca capabilities. Will I have to buy a new phone? Hmm… Anyway, there are more pictures from both their phones which I will post up when I get them :)

After we were done, we looked around for some flowers, then I bought some new shoes then we parted company with 서정 and went to the practice room. We spent about 2 hours together just being close and it was a perfect end to the day. I hated having to leave but after a busy couple of days, I was starting to feel the strain and needed some rest.

Thanks to everyone who’s actively participated in my birthday or just sent me a message wishing me a happy birthday. It means a lot to me :)

. AT SCHOOL
School was busy but awesome yesterday :D All the students knew it was my birthday and they all said, “Happy Birthday, Alex!” when they came in. Some of them even gave me presents which you can see in the picture below ^^

And yes, that is Stand Up o_O My students are freaking awesome :D Credit for that purchase goes to Jennifer and I have to say I was totally amazed. You will also note the little chocolate cake given to me by Alice :D I haven’t eaten it yet but I’ll probably tuck into it tonight, after the concert. She was so sweet about giving it to me yesterday, it made me ‘blee’ a little XD The little flower was from Christine and William. There was a can of coffee too but I drank that at work ^^” You can see who gave me the Vitamin-C tablet in the video :P Oh, there was also a big, white chocolate cake from Max which we ate at the first bar and 태진 형 said he’d take me to the cinema next month when he has some money XD

I will definitely be saying some big thank you’s on Monday and better yet, there are still some presents to come :D

. AFTER SCHOOL
School was great, but it really kicked off afterwards. I’m going to blitz through the venues and then pick up on the best bits in the next paragraph.

01 Local restaurant for dinner [joined by Mr. Lee's wife, Sunny/Susan leave]
02 Small bar/club for beer and cake [joined by maths teacher's husband]
03 Smaller bar for soju and drinking games
04 Club for more drinks

Dinner was nice and I ate my fair share of the meat :D It was a shame that Susan and Sunny had to leave but I didn’t really imagine them staying. We moved on to the first club and started the drinking. I also got to eat some of my cake but not much because Mr. Lee told me I had to go and give some slices to the other people in the club XD 태진 형 was with me so it wasn’t so bad but damn, it was embarrassing. Oh, and that was after I had to stand up while they put on some special birthday light show and played this annoying birthday song XD

We took some pictures and a video so you guys could finally see who I work with :) There aren’t many pictures but I think the video is more than enough.

The drinking games involved the usual mixing of drinks and then mixing of anything and everything on the table. This included some of the liquids contained in the snacks we had. I did my share but Mr.Lee kept drinking mine for me so I didn’t get drunk XD When we left the second bar, I could feel myself being a little ’soft around the edges’ but I was still OK. Mr.Lee was definitely drunk, as was 태진 by the end but not to quite the same extent. Max and the rest were just a little sociable.

The best present was definitely getting closer to all the teachers and enjoying their company. I have some new phone numbers to call and it was great to come together as a team after a rough Summer. Mr.Lee said some really nice things to me before and after he was drunk which meant a lot and the other teachers said they had really enjoyed working with me and were only sorry they hadn’t spoken to me more ^^”

Got home at about 3am, grabbed a shower and went to bed ^^

As always, you can see all the media in the gallery :)

Yesterday was 서영’s Birthday Party and because her friends were busy, it was just the two of us. I will thank them all at a later date ;) Also, not a lot of pictures because…well, I don’t know really. Perhaps we were too busy enjoying each other’s company or because it was raining and I had to hold the umbrella and bags :P

After some initial confusion about where to find the Samhwa Express 9000 bus to 분당 I arrived about 20 minutes late. Thankfully, 서영 wasn’t kept waiting and so we headed to A Twosome Place. I’ve seen a few of these cafes around but it was my first time in one and I’ll definitely be going back. We enjoyed some gorgeous green tea yoghurt and made plans for the day. On the subject of food we had some spaghetti for lunch which was really nice. I had a Double Onion Teriyaki Gratin which was spicy but nice and 서영 had a carbonara which was equally good and very creamy <3 We didn’t really have dinner as such but we did indulge in a Haagen-Dasz Waffle with strawberry and chocolate ice-cream from Tavola. It was gorgeous and I wish I could have taken what I didn’t finish home :D

Aside from eating, I took my first ever purikura pics and I realised that not only am I bad at being in pictures, I’m bad at making them shiny afterwards >> Doesn’t stop the pictures from being adorable though ;) Also, we went to one of those places where you can rent a room and watch a movie, play video games or sing karaoke. 서영 wanted to see James McAvoy in Becoming Jane because she loves the man. I have to admit, I was feeling a little inferior but the film was better than I expected and it put us in the right mood.

Despite on and off rain throughout the day, we went to 율동공원 to walk around the lake. My plan to find a quiet seat was constantly thwarted by them being wet :P After walking three quarters of the way round I persuaded 서영 to sit down. As a gentleman, I can’t and wouldn’t wish to divulge any information as to the happenings of the next forty or so minutes, but I will say she said ‘Yes’ ♥.

The worst bit about the day was leaving and realising that we won’t see each other until August 16th. I’m happy that our relationship is official but it won’t be any less difficult than the last two weeks.

[EDIT] She calls me ‘오빠’ XD