Edgar Allan Poe and Thanksgiving

I have found my favourite indoor place in Pohang (My favourite outdoor place is Sunrise Park, which I've only been to once).  The place is a coffee shop called Edgar Allan Poe.  It was one of the first places Natasha pointed out to me when I got here, but she had never gone in.  So finally, this past Wednesday, we decided to see what it was like.  First of all, it's super cozy.  It's very nicely decorated and comfortable.  There's even a tree right in the middle of it - which is wierd because it's on the second floor of the building, so either the building was built around it, or somehow they got this tree, with all the branches in tact, up to the second floor.   Anyway, it is owned by a really nice woman who doesn't speak much English but doesn't mind chattering away in Korean to us.  I'm not sure, but it seems as though she lives there with her daughter, which might explain why if feels so cozy.  But using her limited English, and our more limited Korean, we learned a little about her and were able to order.  And that brings me to the best part - the hot chocolate.  It's made with milk, so it tastes so much better than the regular powder stuff from the grocery store, and it reminds me of being a kid.  I brought Tim Tams the second time we went, and the Tim Tams with the hot chocolate is probably best thing ever.  But it doesn't stop there. Then, in the background the whole time was a really good music playlist of lots of random, fun English songs including Boney M (who, if you haven't heard about, you should listen to).  So that was a cool surprise.  Lastly, the bathroom was one of the nicest I've been in, which is always a sign of a good place.

American Thanksgiving was this past Thursday (Happy Thanksgiving), and I was able to celebrate it a couple of times.  On Thrusday night, Tilt, the local foreigner bar, made a big Thanksgiving dinner and there were lots of people.  I've never been a huge turkey fan but this Thursday the turkey never tasted better.  Then on Saturday, Ryan, another foreign teacher, had a potluck party at his appartment.  Again, there was quite a large turnout of people - which is always fun, and Ryans apartment is large compared to any I've seen here, so we all fit somewhat comfortably.  And the food was good.  I think these were the first times I've eaten North American food since I've been here.  I like a lot of Korean foods, but it was really nice to eat familiar food again.

I'm writing this blog at school for the first time because tonight Tilt is showing the Grey Cup - woot woot.  So I'll be there.  And a bad cold has hit me today, so I want to maybe get a nap beforehand.

Lastly, today our school got a new set of teachers.  We are starting up a new pre-pre-school class so we needed a new English speaking teacher and a new Korean teacher.  They both arrived today.  Sophie is the English speaking teacher and she also speaks Korean because she is also replacing Alan, who was our translator.  Then Dolly is the new Korean teacher and she spent a year in Toronto, which is pretty cool.

So things are good here.
Thanks for reading,
Michael