We Are In A New Building/We Bought A Toaster Oven

So this past weekend we helped our school move all its' stuff (materials, tables, chairs, desks, binders, etc.) into the new school building. Since we arrived in Korea we have been in a rental building for our school that has felt at times a little crowded, but has been sufficient.
Today was our first day in the new building. So far we have been approved to use the first and second floors, but we are waiting to pass some inspections for the 3rd to 5th floor.  The English floor will be the 4th floor so for the time being we have to share rooms with the Korean kindergarten teachers on the 2nd floor. The kids seemed to be extra crazy today but we are hoping that was connected to the fact that it was the first day in a new environment.
We are very much looking forward to each having our own classroom. Neither of us have ever had a whole classroom to ourselves and let's just say the ideas are a-brewing. We have lots wall space to hang things and lots of floor space for different classroom stations (maybe in a few weeks we will post pictures once our classrooms are all set up).

Story time with Mr. Greg

Story time with Ms. Karmen

In other news, on Saturday we went to Techno Mart and wanted to buy a toaster oven. We had thought Techno Mart was one unified store (like Walmart or Best Buy). However, we discovered that it was more like an open market, with hundreds of different vendors, selling hundreds of different products on nine different levels. So instead of going to the toaster oven aisle, we had to walk through each floor and find out who actually sold toaster ovens and if they had the size or type we were looking for and of course that the price was right. The task which we thought would be relatively easy quickly became much more of a challenge. This market also did not have fixed prices so bartering was definitely an option.
After searching many levels and finding some prospects, we arrived at the 10th level, which was the food court. So we mulled it over as we ate a burger and fries from Lotteria (a Korean fast-food joint similar to McDonald's). We knew which vendor we liked and after dinner  we went in hope of getting a deal and going home with a toaster oven. We found 'the one' and asked the price, 140,000 won (a little under 140 dollars). Neither Karmen or I would consider ourselves gifted in the bartering department but I bravely asked for his best price as I walked over to my wife who had her serious face on. The man dropped the price an jaw-dropping 5,000 won (less than 5 dollars). We sure showed him a thing or two about bartering. We actually have no idea what the price of the toaster oven should be and we think it might be best to leave it that way. Anyways, an ordinary, routine trip to a store to buy an appliance in Canada, was anything but ordinary and routine in South Korea...

Karmen is excited to make cookies!

A bonus pic: in front of an old palace in Seoul