Halloween Celebrations and the Da Vinci exhibit

Halloween is not celebrated in Korea. At the grocery store, I found a heap of random Halloween supplies in one corner, and that's it. It was really strange actually. I am used to Halloween stores set up on every corner and every store being filled with Halloween things. My school celebrated by having the kids (and teachers) dress up and bring candy. I must say, the kids were so adorable.




This is Hyung Joon. One of my favorites. He makes the cutest frog I have ever seen. Here he is holding up the words 'today is' that he spelled during activity time.


My kids in the their costumes.



There was definitely not a lack of princesses in my room. Whoa, princess overload. Each one came with wand and a tiara of sorts. It was cute, but come on.... does every 5 year old HAVE to be a princess??


This is a clip of my kids doing the months of the year song to the macarena, monster style.


My kids love to do the chicken dance. I normally help guide them along, but I didn't want to be talking over the video, so this is what you get when you leave them to their own devices..... Watch all the way to the end and look for the child spinning on the carpet. This is Mickey. He can be found spinning this way any time he gets too excited. This child has so much energy, he doesn't know what to do with it. The girl next to him notices, but keeps on dancing. Good for you, Cindy. At the end, she proceeds to say "Mickey stand up" and taps him with her wand. Hilarious.


I dressed up as Batman again. Here I am wearing Mario gloves.


Mario and Batman. And Amanda in the background....


My co-workers after work. Aimee, me, Chrissie, Mel, Amanda. That's a zombie, gypsy, and a spider web.


Amanda and me on Halloween night.



NOVEMBER 1- There is a Da Vinci exhibit in town right now. I went with some friends today to check it out. The exhibit was really neat. They had models of a lot of Da Vinci's inventions and art work. I was pretty impressed by his work. I really had no idea he did so much.


However, the best part of the museum may be the fact that mirrors were hung on almost every wall. I suppose you need to make sure you always look good while viewing the exhibit. Koreans love mirrors. In fact, mirrors are hung all over Korea. There are mirrors on the back of public bathroom doors, in subway stations, at the bus stop, inside almost every elevator. The elevator doors are usually mirrored as well. When no mirror is available, Koreans can be seen using the screen of their phone to see their reflection. It is really quite an obsession.


Robot, Da Vinci style. The movable parts were made to imitate the movement of a human. These motions included sitting up, moving its arms, neck, and an anatomically correct jaw.


Korea is so trusting that the Mona Lisa was hung right out there where anyone could take it. Only a small red rope separated the prized painting from the hands of eager tourists like Amanda. (** please note that I realize it is not the real painting.... it's a joke.)


Da Vinci designed a hook thingy that was meant to fit in the spaces between the bricks on an enemy's wall. This way, no need for a rope ladder which could easily be cut by enemy forces on top of the wall. Here is a model of how it looks compared to the outdated rope ladder. Modern day ice picks use this design.


This is Da Vinci's underwater invention. The helmet is attached to a hose that pumps air in. The suit was only meant for shallow water because the helmet was not prepared to handle the pressure of being in deep water. Looks totally waterproof right???


In the middle of the museum was a 360 mirror.... I mean really Korea. Must we check out all angles of ourselves while in a museum? Or did Da Vinci also invent the 360???


After the exhausting trip through the museum, they offer some cool water. Very refreshing after looking at myself in the mirror for the past hour.