Settling Down Again, Car Museum, and Fun Cosplays

So April went by fast but was a little stressful.  We were a bit short staffed at work this month so everyone was covering classes and this meant many of us, including the supervisors, had less prep time.  I was lucky that I lost prep time that I could afford to lose but many of the teachers were not so lucky.  But I have to say the supervisors were awesome and took most of the extra work loads on to themselves to make it easier for the foreign teachers to function.  But everyone pitched in to help and even Alexa's awesome friend Elisa came in to help out.  Things are so much easier when people work together, communicate, and try to help make things easier on everyone.  We have a new girl named Stephanie starting at work so things should be improving as things become settled again. 

We went on a field trip to the Samsung Transportation Museum which is actually one of my favorite field trips as you can see all kinds of sports cars, Herbie, the Dalorian (not sure how to spell) from Back to the Future, and many other things.  I have a new student, a shy girl, but she followed the boys around.  Jinu was basically running around pushing everyone out of the way because he was so excited to see everything and the other two boys were equally interested though easier to keep close.  Though I have to admit it was easier to handle my class of ten than these three boys running around.  Most likely this was because my class of ten were way more advanced in English than these boys so they actually understood my explanations and would listen better.  But it was still a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it, especially when they could get into the cars.

Photos By: Andylove 앤디사랑



The cherry blossoms were blooming a lot during early April and as I love cherry blossoms I was pretty excited.  We actually got lucky as some bloomed early and others bloomed later so we could enjoy the blossoms a bit longer as they don't last long.  We may have gotten to enjoy them even longer but a day of all rain basically washed away the remaining blooms.  But that rain made the other flowers bloom a lot so it has been very pretty near where I live.  We could actually use a little more rain for those blossoms as the heat has made them start to wilt.  It literally went from too cold and needing to wear a coat and sweater to too hot for a T-shirt in like a day.  Spring doesn't always seem to exist here in Korea and I have to say the bouncing back between hot and cold did not help me get better though thankfully nearing the end of the month I have started to feel better, minus a few tonsil/throat issues that are healing more slowly because of work. 

Photos By: Anna Mittower



 

So I finally caved and bought the Anna coronation dress so I was really excited to wear it.  Anna did a great job on my hair and I even got white hair extensions to give my hair the white stripe that Anna has.  It took a long time to do the hair but the wait was totally worth it though next time we will have to pin the back because it kept falling out and Anna had to keep retucking it.  It may not be perfect, but I think I make a pretty decent Anna from Frozen which is great because I love the character.  As always, I got a lot of attention when I dressed up as Anna.  Plus the cherry blossoms made for some good pictures.

Photos By: Chwae Myeong Yong 최명용



So as always once one photographer starts with the photos, all the others realize that we are able to be worked with so it was fun.  Sometimes it can be hard to understand but we manage to figure it out.  My favorite part though was the kids and parents walking around because of the nice weather and the blooming cherry blossom trees.  Many of the parents wanted their kids to take a picture with me but the kids would get scared (you know white stranger they don't know who isn't speaking Korean) and not want to.  One kid was so stubborn that no matter what his parents did, he would not look at me or the camera.  I kind of felt bad for the parents but its not like I can help that the kid didn't like me.  I mean I am a complete stranger. 

Photos By: Hanji



Though another reaction I go was the wide eyed stares of disbelief.  I'm pretty sure there were a few kids who honestly believed I was Princess Anna and they just couldn't believe that they were seeing me in real life.  It was fun to watch their jaws drop and them just blatantly point at me.  Then there were the ones who had trouble containing their excitement and were doing their best not to jump around and stare at me.  Plus the kids who got the shy smiles on their faces and waved.  It's kids like those that make me really enjoy playing Princess Anna and one of the reasons I want to wear the costume at a regular anime convention instead of the private shoots, even though it takes a long time to get ready. 

Photos By: Hwang Doo Yeon 황두연



I will say it was actually harder for me to pose for the Princess Anna photos in the coronation dress rather than her winter outfit because I was not used to wearing a bustle and trying to curtsy.  Actually, I can't curtsy and I look silly when I try to do it.  But I still got a lot of fun photos from the event and there was one photographer who even had me stand on a stool so that I would be higher up and closer to the cherry blossoms.  Anna did Luka that day and she was getting a good amount of photos, too, though I personally like the ones where she is not actually posing best.  But then again, I have always been a fan of the more natural look. 

Photos By: Kim Daejin 김대진



I will say I was a bit disappointing in the fitting of the Anna coronation gown as the skirt fell to my hips instead of my waist.  Thankfully by adding the two bustles underneath the skirt, it seems to hold it high enough, despite how heavy the skirt it.  Also, the vest was very loose despite me giving the seller my exact measurements.  They had even forgotten to send me the necklace that went with the costume.  Luckily, they did reimburse me the 35,000 won it cost me to get the vest tailored and the $7 it cost me to repurchase the necklace from a different provider.  Now that the vest fits and the necklace has arrived, I'm looking forward to even better Anna coronation pictures.  Though I will say getting the vest tailored was interesting because the Korean tailor had no patience for me and spoke rapidly in Korean.  Thankfully Alexa was there and we figured it out.

Photo By: Ryu Seong Yeol (Namu) 류성열



Photos By: Shin Gwang Seob 신광섭



I also got to finally wear my Asuna Yuki costume from Sword Art Online with Anna doing Kirito.  I decided to do the cosplay without a wig and it turned out surprisingly well.  I will probably try to do that cosplay without the wig if I can because I look much better when I am not wearing wigs.  I don't seem to have the right face shape for wigs.  Anyway, it was my first chance to use my sword, too, as Anna had been holding on to it and touching it up.  Despite there being another Kirito and Asuna pair at the private shoot, we were still pretty popular though only a few photographers actually asked us to take photos.  But that was okay because we actually had longer photo shoots with a couple of the photographers and many of the photos turned out nicely.

Photos By: Bak Ji Seong 박지성



So two photographers came together to take our pictures and it was nice to focus on the couple aspect of the Asuna and Kirito pair, and not just the fighting poses.  It was nice to have the cute and the aggressive photos.  Though I will say I wish more of the photographers would have taken shots while we were moving and not just waited for us to rearrange ourselves.  Some of my favorite photographs are from the only photographer who took photos of us while we were pretending to have a sword fight.  Western Sky, a photographer I've worked with twice before, took some good action poses despite them being arranged.  All and all, despite not having a lot of attention from the photographers, it was a lot of fun.  it was understandable that the photographers were really busy that day as there were a ton of awesome cosplays out as people were able to wear costumes that they couldn't wear in the winter. 

Photos By: Ryu Jong Ooh 류종우



Sadly we couldn't stay the whole time as we both had plans, so we may have gotten even more photos but that is okay.  I had to go meet the new teacher, Stephanie, and she seems pretty neat so far.  And April ended with Greg starting his visit to Korea so I definitely can't complain.  Stay tuned for the next month's blog(s) as May is sure to be busy.

 

Photos By: Western Sky (Im Myeong Yeon) 임명연