Extending

Hi Everyone,

Sorry its been so long since my last blog, but not a whole lot has been going on in my world. I went on vacation to Malaysia back in July with Al, Danielle and Kate. We had the best time ever! The food, beaches and people were so amazing there. We stayed at a hotel on the beach on an island called Langkawi. It was AMAZING!! We went to Kuala Lumpur for a day and a night and did some knock-off shopping, then we went to Penang, which was a bit underwhelming. It was a great vacation overall, and it really re-energized me for my crazy month of summer school classes in August! I was working MWF from 9:10 a.m. - 8:10 p.m., so it was a bit much, but the overtime pay really helped out.

The other big news is that I've decided to stay until the end of August 2011. To be honest, I haven't saved enough money, I still have a couple of vacations I want to take while I'm in Asia, because I never know when I'll be back here, I really enjoy the kids, and I'm having fun out here! This doesn't mean that I don't miss all of you, because I really do! And I know that I've been bad at emailing, but I am always on skype. And when I skype it feels like I'm at home. And I do miss the food from home, more then any of you know. But as a plus, I've lost 18 lbs since I've been here!! So that's great!

Other than that, not a whole lot to report on this end. I'll try to be better at blogging, I promise, but please keep the emails and whatnot coming!!

Miss and love you!

Spring is in the air

Oh how I love the spring time. The weather starts to warm up, the trees and flowers begin to bloom, and people seem to be in a better mood all around. This is also true for me. The past couple of weeks its been getting warmer here is Seoul. And the cherry blossoms have begun to bloom, which bring a smile to my face.

Since the weather has gotten a bit warmer, we've been doing some more outdoorsy things. We went to a baseball game and a soccer game. Both of which were SUPER fun! The Koreans really take their sporting events seriously. They have some super fun chants and dances. And everyone gets involved. I can honestly say that I was more interested in learning the different chants, more than I was at what was going on at either game! And the turn out to the games here are CRAZY! We had to buy standing tickets to the season opener at the baseball game! Another exciting tidbit, you can bring your own food and drink into the game if you want! Um, hello, good looking out for our wallets Korea!!

This past weekend was the Cherry Blossom Festival. And for the past week, I've been nursing another cold! This one was pretty bad for about a week, so I tried to rest during the day on Saturday and attempted to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival by myself. I wanted to meet up with some friends, but I got lost. Only I try to not look at it as getting lost anymore, I consider it exploring. The subway is a great thing, there are stations pretty much everywhere, and there are cabs everywhere too, so its a little tough to get lost. So, I was wondering around Yeouido (where I was told the CBF was going to be) and I couldn't for the life of me find it. I did end up finding the 63 building, which is a really famous building here in Seoul. Its a museum that hosts a lot of famous art, among other things. Finally I wondered over to the Han River, and low and behold, there was the festival. Tons of people were out, walking, biking, roller blading and taking pictures! I had my camera on me, but since I was by myself, I didn't really feel like taking any pictures. I will and I promise to upload some. It was a really beautiful day.

When I walked to school today, I actually started to sweat, which made me start to worry. Its going to get so hot and humid here pretty quick. And since I've never really lived with humidity, I'm really nervous how I'm going to deal with it. I mean, I hate sweating with a passion. That's one of the reasons I did water sports as a kid! I was already told that most of the girls at my school don't wear any makeup in the summer besides mascara. Well, I just can't do that!! Hello, I constantly have bags under my eyes!! Not to mention the hair issue. They have some hair treatment here called "magic straight" which I think I am going to do, because there's going to be no way I will blow dry my hair to walk outside and have it turn curly!!

Other than that, I'm looking at my closet and wondering why I didn't pack more summer clothes! The only stores that carry "American sizes", aka clothes that fit me, are Forever 21, H&M and Zara! Can a girl get some Gap and American Eagle?! So, I'm thinking of shopping online and having my friends and family send it to me since no one ships to Korea. Not to mention, I can't even access the Jcrew website, its totally blocked!

Al and I are starting to plan our summer vacation to Thailand! I'm so excited!! We also want to go to China in September and Vietnam/Laos in December! If anyone has any good recommendations, please send them my way!

New Faces New School Year

So the new school year has officially begun as of March 2nd. I have a whole bunch of cuties and rug rats! My schedule is pretty sweet, but also pretty booked. I work most days from 12 p.m. - 8:10 p.m., which is good because I still get to sleep in and if I feel up to it, hit the gym or do chores around my apt. We got three new teachers from the US. Their names are Kelly (from ATL), MaryBeth (from Michigan), and Behbevin (from Virginia). They are all pretty cool, but I have formed a closer friendship with Kelly and MaryBeth. They are super fun and out going and I'm glad that they are our newest editions! Kelly and MB are both preschool teachers, which means that they work from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., so our schedules are a little off, but we hang out at night.

My new classes are all pretty good. Most of my old students have been shuffled around into new classes. But learning all of the new students' names is proving to be a little tough. I only have a couple of truly bad kids, and when I say bad, I mean that they don't listen to me, and actually tell me "NO!!!" in class, which is very difficult. I had to take one of these kids into the hall 3 times in one day last week. I had my Korean teaching partner call his parents and let them know that he was being very difficult. So on Monday, he was much better in class. Still not perfect, but we're working on it. The little ones are still cutier than ever! They just love to give hi-5s, and hold my hand and hug. The older ones just want all of my attention, so they are constantly saying "teacher, teacher", which gets a little annoying after a whole class is screaming it at me.

It started to snow again, which is really a downer because it was just starting to get a little warm and nice. Don't get me wrong, I love to see the beautiful white snow outside, but I hate walking/slipping in it! I hope that it doesn't last long.

Al and I went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D this past weekend, and we had to sit in the front row, which was a little intense, but we both liked it. It wasn't as good as Avatar, but it was still interesting to watch. Its really strange to me that all of these 3D movies are now coming out. I mean, 3D has been around for quite sometime and just never really took off, so why now?

Not a whole lot else is going on in Korea....when I think of things, I'll let you know. Hope all is well!

Tokyo

All I can say is....oh my gosh, I LOVE TOKYO!!! Al and I had the best time ever in Tokyo and now we both want to move there. We were only there for 48 hours, but it was the best 48 hours! I'll start from the beginning... We flew Asiana Airlines, it was a 2.5 hour flight. They gave us food, wine, movies and didn't charge us for our bags!! We arrived in Tokyo at 3 p.m. and proceed to take the monorail to the JR station, from there we were supposed to arrive at our stop and navigate to our hotel which was only 6 minutes away. Well, Al and I got totally lost. We didn't have the JR information and only had the subway line info. So we end up at the right station after an hour. Then we exit and try to navigate through the city to our hotel. We ask a couple of people where to go, they were very friendly. We end up meeting this totally nice guy, Atsuto, and he helps us get to our hotel. It only took us 2 hours!! We enter our room, which is very small. (Please see video). We take our new friend out for coffee as a thank you, and decided that we all want to go out to dinner. (We stayed in Shinjuku, a really sweet part of town). We go for Udon and Shashimi over rice. It was by far the best dinner we've had in a long time!! And it was only $7 each! Turns out, the area where we were was part of the "red light" district, but I didn't notice that at all. Everyone was rocking 80s style, so watch out, it may be coming to the US soon... Al and I wanted to go out dancing, so we asked Atsuto where to go and he suggested a club called Camelot in Shabuya. He couldn't come with us, as his girlfriend would be very angry with him! (LOL!) So Al and I went and had a blast! Camelot was full of foreigners and natives. And when I say foreigners, I mean from all over the world, not just North America. (That is the first difference between Korea and Japan, there are foreigners from all over the world there, not so much in Korea). They have areas with tables for just ladies, so there's somewhere to sit. And they won't let you take pictures in the club because they have their own photographer taking pictures. So that wasn't cool, but they were playing all of the jams! Al and I totally got down, but realized that our moves are super rusty! So I need to start working on them again. We stayed out till 4:30 a.m. and had to be up by 9 a.m. to do all of the sightseeing we wanted to do.

We were out of the hotel by 10 a.m. the next morning and headed straight to Harajuku! It was a really beautiful day and we did a ton of walking around. There are so many different types of people there. All dressed totally different. And all shapes and sizes, which is very unlike Korea. The people are ten times more friendly and I'd say better looking. The guys there are tall!! Which is always a plus in my book. We saw some Harajuku girls and guys, but not as many as we'd hoped. We went and toured a temple/park and it was so huge and beautiful. After that we ventured to Asakusa to see a really amazing temple at dusk. I got some really good video there. It was very breathtaking. And there was a shopping bazaar all the way to the temple, where I got two beautiful wall material posters. After a long day, Al and I decided that we wanted some sake and sushi. So we went back to the hotel to change and ask the concierge where the best place to go was. He had no idea, so we ventured back to Shabuya and found a great place. We had sushi, chicken wings, and edemami! It was a really great place and we decided right then and there that we want to live in Tokyo!! Its a must! It was really difficult to come back to Korea after that. The food is so much better in Japan. But the cost of everything else is just so much higher there than here. So, we'll see what happens next. But we are planning another trip there soon!

Earthquake!!

So we had a small earthquake the other day. It was only 3.1 and lasted like 3 seconds. But it was really funny! Most of the Canadian teachers had never felt one before, and neither had some of the Korean teachers! But being a seasoned earthquake vet, I assured them that it was no biggie!

There is so much to talk about...One of my friends from Townsend happened to be traveling through SE Asia, so he hopped on over here to Korea and I had such a great time with him! His name is Alex, which was really funny when we hung out with Alexandra too! We finally started doing some sight-seeing, went to Seoul Tower, where they have a teddy bear museum!! I can't wait to go back and check it out (I love you bear!). We also went to Insadong, which is this amazing area that has a ton of street vendors and cute cafes. Alex and I got a delicious waffle with ice cream and fruit on it. Its all the rage here. It was delicious! On Monday, we all went to watch the Superbowl in Sinchon at Beer O'Clock. They were serving chili, so of course I had to check it out. Well, it was super packed and we got the last table in the house. After the Saints won, we decided that it was time to get out of there. So as we were walking to get a cab, we decided that we were all going to have just one more drink....(Alex, Alexandra, one of her teaching partners, and a Korean friend). Well, we went to this silly bar and proceeded to stay out till 4:30 a.m. on a week night. What a great idea. I met the bartender and he speaks perfect English and Spanish (he's Korean). So I was trying to practice my Spanish on him. He's married to a Mexican woman, but she's still in Mexico and they aren't going to see each other for another two years. Crazy, I know!

This weekend, Al and I are off to Tokyo and we couldn't be more excited! We're only going to be there for 48 hours, but I can already taste the fun! I really can't wait to see some temples and walk around the Harajuku area. I will start a picasa site to upload all of my pictures.

Well, that's enough for now....teaching is going well, but its report card time and I had 8 classes of 8-12 students each. I had to write at least 6 sentences for each, and they couldn't all be the same because the moms' call each other to compare. And we were instructed to write nothing negative!! So it was a task and a half!!

Hey Yo

So I'm not blogging as much as I should, and I'm sorry for that. Here is what is new and what is going on....

a new teacher has arrived at school. Her name is Brittany and she is from Chicago. She is the new preschool teacher that has taken over Tara's classes. (Tara is one of the teachers that Al and I loved to go out with, she's taking a month break, then moving to the rich part of town to teach at a different school). I haven't really hung out with Brittany, but its nice not to be the "new girl" anymore. The school year is winding down. We have our monthly tests tomorrow and Friday. And the kids start a new unit next month. March 1st is the beginning of their new school year, so that means either advancing to a higher grade/level, or moving down. I had to start working on report cards today and was told not to give a grade lower than a B-, even if the student deserved something lower. So that makes what I do more of a business than a school, I should have expected that. Oh well.

I rearranged my apartment this weekend and it has way more room for dance parties! Al and I love to have dance offs from time to time, and sometimes you just need more room to practice your moves.

I've seen Avatar two times, once in 2D and once in 3D and it was amazing! I also saw Sherlock Holmes, which was really impressive. I like going to the movies here now because the seats are so comfortable, and you are assigned your seat. When you order popcorn at the movies, you have to specify if you want plain popcorn, because they give you kettle corn if you don't.

Its been warmer lately, but today we got some snow, then it started to rain. The weather here is so different than California, drier, colder, but I like that its different. Even if all I do is complain about it. Its nice to have seasons.

Al and I went out on Monday night to watch the NFL playoff games, a day late, but it was really fun. We both miss football so much. It was nice to sort of feel like we were home, even though we already knew who won the games!

I'm looking forward to this weekend and next month. I get paid on Friday, which means that I can actually go shopping and get a mani/pedi this weekend. And we have a few days off next month for Lunar New Year (Feb. 14-15) and Buddha's birthday (March 1-2), so I think that we're going to try to get to Japan!!! Tokyo here I come, crazy fashion and all!

Not much else. I know that a lot of you have been requesting that I put up photos, I do, just on facebook...I'll also start a picasa or something soon and send the link along.

Hope all is well! xoxo

Interesting things about Korea...

Since I've been here for over a month, I've had some time to ponder all of the things that I find interesting about Korea...
1. It is not unusual to see a girl take a cell phone picture of herself to see how she looks. If she doesn't look good, then she'll fix herself and take another picture until she is satisfied with the way she looks.
2. Women are not to smoke in public places, so they all smoke in the bathroom.
3. Couples dress alike. And when I say alike, I mean down to their underwear. They sell couple underwear. They will wear the same jacket, pants, gloves, hats and shoes. Its truly a sight to see.
4. If a girl is with her boyfriend, then he will carry her purse. And I mean they will proudly wear the purse, not just hold it.
5. Food comes out when its ready. Generally everyone shares everything, so this isn't that big of a deal. But being an only child, I don't like to share, so it really sucks when my food doesn't come out for a while.
6. Food is eaten when it is piping HOT!! Some of the soups come out boiling and it is eaten quickly. I don't know how they do it. I love pizza more than anyone I know, and I've burned the heck out of the roof of my mouth more times then I care to remember, so I think that the Koreans must be immune to burning the roofs of their mouths.
7. The children go to school from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m., then they have to go home and do homework. I mean they have regular Korean school until noon, then take all different kinds of lessons until 9 p.m. I have no idea how they do it. I loved having free time and playing when I was a kid.
8. You can buy groceries, clothes, furniture, and fast food all in the same building. (My favorite place is right by my house and its called Home Plus).
9. You have to bag what ever you purchase. The bags aren't free, you have to pay for them.
10. Korea is big on recycling, so you have to separate all of your recyclables as well as your food garbage, this gets dumped into a bin without a bag. For all other trash, you have to purchase a different bag. (I have been fighting this since I arrived, and now there is a notice up at my building, they are monitoring our waste disposal with closed circuit tv "CCTV", and if we don't we will be fined $500 USD)!!
11. All of the tv shows are showed in their entirety and the last tin minutes are all commercials.
12. The bathrooms are all tile, for efficient cleaning.
13. There are no dryers, I have to hang everything, including socks and towels... have you ever just washed and hung a towel, then try to use it. Lets just say its like a Brillo pad!
14. The subway system is amazing, along with all of the public transportation systems.
15. Pork and beef are the preferred meats here, along with seafood. Boy how I miss turkey and chicken. Don't get me wrong, I eat chicken here, but its not as prevalent as at home.
16. The coffee is mostly instant. It is not at all the same as home. So glad there are plenty of Starbucks and Coffee Beans here, but the coffee is a bit more expensive.
17. The floor heating is the best. We should have this in the US.
18. The bars are open until 6 a.m.
19. People can be found eating at all hours.
20. There is a ton of food delivery, too bad I don't know how to order in, especially in this freezing cold!!
21. Cosmetic surgery is very common here. Women tend to get their eyelids done or have their chin/jaw bone done. And if there is a little mark on someones face, you'll most likely see a skin covered band-aid on it the next day.
22. You can buy fruit or seafood on the street. I see it everyday while I walk to school, and bought some strawberries yesterday for $5, and they were the best strawberries I've ever tasted!
23. Its impolite to pour your own drink. And if you are pouring a drink, then you must touch the arm that you are pouring it with your free arm. This shows that you don't have any knives or other things. Its a sign of respect. This also goes for exchanging money.
24. The women wear high heels every single day, no matter what. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've almost fallen down from the snow/ice on the ground. And they walk with such grace, its crazy!
25. Its always a rush to get in/out of the door. There is no such thing as ladies first here. I was on the subway, and there was a woman in a motorized wheelchair and I looked at Alexandra and asked her "Should I still try to go first or should I be polite and let her go?" I've fully subscribed to the "ME FIRST" idea...who would have thought?!

Well, that's about all I can think of for now...

Time Flies

I can't believe that I've been here for a month already....time has flown. We had a snow day on Monday, Seoul hadn't seen this much snow (10 inches in one day) in over 70 years! My schedule has changed a bit this month, I'm supposed to go into school by 9 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So, I was really excited that we got an extra day of vacation on Monday. I took a few pictures of the snow storm to show you, but it really doesn't do it justice. With my extra time I talked to a lot of friends and family at home. Then a bunch of the teachers and I went outside to play in the snow. We had a snowball fight, it was the Canadian teachers vs. the US teachers....can you guess who won?? The Canadians. I took a snowball to the face, and let me tell you, it hurt! Burning cold. The we decided to make snow angels and play on the frozen playground. It was so much fun!

After that we decided to get warm, have some hot coco and grilled cheese sandwiches. We played a few board games (Cranium and I can't remember the other game). Helped a few Koreans get their cars out from being stuck in the snow, etc. Then I found out that Alexandra only had to work a half day, so we decided to meet up in Iteawon for some drinks and dinner. One of the other teachers from my school came with and we went to a foreigner bar called Geckos expecting there to be tons of teachers partaking in dinner and drinks. Much to our surprise there weren't take many other foreign teachers there, but we still enjoyed some veggie burgers, wings and fries. It was a great way to end the vacation. The only bad thing is that we have to make up that day next Saturday. I have to work a full day on Saturday, January 16th, which means the weekend will only consist of Sunday...no exploring or fun to be had there.

I'm taking on more classes this month and just started teaching a new set of students who don't know any English. I got to give them English names today. Some of my favorites were included (Rachael, Christine), but one of the students did not want an English name at all, so I call her Moon (it is part of her Korean name). I'm excited to help mold these students and watch them progress for however long I have them. I will include pictures of my students at a later time as it would be weird for me to take pictures of them during class without having a reason...

Alexandra and I have met some new friends this past week. One is through a friend of a friend (thanks Paco) and the others we met out at a bar last weekend. We're looking forward to exploring the country with our new friends. But not in this weather! It is so bone chilling cold, I can't begin to tell you.

I rode the subway yesterday all by myself, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I've been so worried about getting lost or missing my transfers, but it all worked out so well. Korea has an amazing subway system and I've already been told that I will not find another one like it. I will only be disappointed with all others.

You'll have to turn your head to see the difference in the photos.... sorry!