252

Each building in Seoul is required to furnish its exterior with an original sculpture.
Dude's back is on the same plane as his board! Mad quad strengths, yo!

253

My favorite Engrishee on my favorite 1,000-Won coffee mug (made in China):

"ELEPHANT: A Elephant has a long trunk

CROCODILE: A Crocodile has a long body and strong jaws

GIRAFFE: A Giraffe has a long neck

LION: A Lion has a magnificent mane

OSTRICH: A Ostrich has a beautiful double eyelid."

253

Yeoju litter.

254

In these parts, even the trees wear, uh, neckwarmers. Or maybe they're shin guards, and the emaciated Korean Ents are geared up for their next football match.

255

Rainbow Fun Kids School native-speaker class Christmas tree (in progress).

256

Lola & Bobo, aka Sophia & Peter, adventuring in the toy maker's closet, trying on clothes and running away from snakes that look like jump ropes.

257

The last afternoon sun thine eyes will see; the last leaf hath fallen. For 2010, anyway.

258

Somewhere in Bokhansan National Park hikin with the Hannah. From this vantage point, approximately 1/83 of the sprawl that is Seoul is visible.

259

Dear Stalkerbook Behind-the-Sceners,

Though I appreciate the suggestions accompanied by each Reason for Leaving, the one that applies to my chosen Reason doesn't really apply; I opted out of most notification emails when they first became a nuisance some years ago. Don't get me wrong, I heart checking up on my "friends" from back in the day (and "friends" from last night) as much as the next Stalkerbook fiend. It's just that I have quite the laundry list of skillz I hope to acquire sometime in this life. (Un)Fortunately, turning into a zombie while in front of my netbook, refreshing my newsfeed every ten minutes and obsessively making sure I look passably funny/attractive/strong/interesting in other people's photo albums isn't one of them.

As an ESL teacher in Korea, my down time is quite rare; I'd rather savor each second I have outside of my 10-hour work days dodging 3-foot-tall kindergarteners and 5-foot-tall adults partaking in more productive, more satisfying, more fulfilling activities. Such as composing actual emails, or even handwritten letters on cards I've made out of photographs I've taken. Or updating my blog. Or faster F-to-C-to-G-to-F chord changes on my ukulele. Or studying GRE vocabulary. Or making plans for The Next Chapter. Or finding a cure for HIV. (Okay, the last one was kind of a joke, but it being the day after World AIDS Day and all, just thought I'd throw it out there, cause it'd be really nice if someone could finally figure it out.) I think you get the idea.

I'd always threatened a dramatic departure, but lacked the ovaries to actually click "confirm." Finally, FINALLY! It seems, today is the day to free myself from thy chains. And now, on to other things. Like an evening stroll to the market to replace my three(!!)-days-gone dish detergent.

Cheers!

Alexandra F. Williams

PS -- I'll most likely be back eventually just to, you know, save all my pictures... n stuff.

260

Somewhere between the building with 150 chattering elementary school-aged Korean kids and the room with all the heavy stuff.