BRRR... it's cold outside!

It is 10 degrees outside right now and even though I have experienced worst, the cold seems to be unnnbeeearrraable. With that being said, this week has been quite a breeze! There are 3 english kindergarten classes in my school. One of the teachers who usually has about 13-14 kids in his classroom, had NONE on Monday due to the "swine flu". When I say "swine flu" I mean the kids got a common cold and their mothers think it is the swine flu. So Tuesday I only had 2 of my 9 kids show up which made a perfect day to cut out snow flakes and make little Christmas ornaments! My boss finally decided to have a 2 day break for Wednesday and Thursday for the school which was a nice surprise for all the English teachers! I took the time on my two days off to fill out Christmas cards, do some last minute shopping, and send out some Christmas packages.

On Thursday, Karla, Rebecca and I went to Dongdaemun which is a huuuuuuge shopping area with decent prices. Unfortunately, the shopping area has their best things available later at night so we didn't get to experience the entire area, but I still got to atleast scratch my shopping itch just a little bit. The shopping here is EXTREMELY agressive a long with everything else in Korea. The area we shopped in was basically a hallway sectioned off by curtains for each clothing vendor. There really wasn't much time to sit there and look and debate what you wanted. You had to make a quick decision whether or not you wanted to buy something or else your life was endangered of being trampled on by a line of Koreans. Afterwards we headed to a large shopping area which was more foreigner friendly called Myeongdong. It had many American brands including one of my favorite stores, Forever 21. I about died and went to heaven. It was nice to finally go somewhere and not everything be a "free size" because let's face it...there is nothing "free" about the clothes sizes here. The girls and I ended up having dok galbi for lunch which is chicken marinated in this red pepper paste mixed with vegetables cooked on a grill. So good that I needed a bib. :-)

Now I am back at work today and had a pleasant surprise finding out that all of my kids were not coming today because some were still not feeling well or it was "too cold" outside. I can't leave, so I finished my book, surfed the net a bit, and decorated my classroom some more for Christmas. Now THAT is what I call a hard day at work...

T.G.I.F.

Thanksgiving

If you know me then you know that Thanksgiving Day ranks up there as high as Christmas for me. Food, family, food, naps, sweatpants, relaxation and did I mention food? I was a little worried that my first holiday in Korea away from home would take a major toll on me. Korea’s thanksgiving, Chuseok, has already passed so the nice thing was that I didn’t have to be reminded of the American holiday coming up that I would be missing away from home for the first time in 22 years. On Thanksgiving Day here I got to make paper plate turkey with the kids. It was fun to teach them about eating turkey, stuffing and how American Thanksgiving traditions usually consisted of football and watching the parade on TV. Turkey here is rare here in Korea unless you want to pay a pretty penny for it. I was already going to deal with the fact that my Thanksgiving dinner would consist of rice and kimchi. Fortunately, we had a potluck dinner and had a friend that was able to pick a thanksgiving set from the military base for a whopping 130 U.S. dollars. We were able to divide the cost between about 10 people or so. The set had one cooked turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, vegetables and pumpkin pie. Then we also had the sides everyone else brought which turned out to be an impressive Thanksgiving meal in Korea. I missed out on eating in my sweatpants, taking a nap, being with the family, and having leftovers for a week, but all in all I would say it was still a good Thanksgiving!

It was really expensive to buy whipped cream for the pumpkin pie so we thought maybe we could make our own...bad idea. We were stirring for litterally an hour and it never turned into whipped cream. Can't say we didn't try!

Sorry I haven't blogging as much as I like, but I will try to keep everyone up to date more.

Miss and love you all!

Happy Pepero Day!

Today is November, 11th. I came in to the school with everyone telling me "Happy Pepero Day!". Come to find out, Pepero day is a little similar to valentines day but not to that extreme. Pepero is a thin stick cookie usually covered or filled with chocolate. The pepero sticks are given to resemble the date 11/11. The day is centered around the exchanging and eating of these Pepero sticks with as many family, boyfriends, girlfriends, and acquaintances who are willing to accept your offering. Peperos Day is usually celebrated by younger children and young couples. I have been bombarded with tons of peperos today in honor of today. I thought there would be a deeper meaning to the Peperos sticks but looks like just another holiday made to sell a product. Either way, my tummy and I enjoyed the little holiday!

Halloween in Korea

The Halloween weekend began with Halloween day with the kids on Friday. The teachers had spent all week decorating all out for the big day just to get the kids excited and also because they said that they thought it was important to us English teachers as well! Friday morning all the kids came parading in their cute little costumes. There aren’t very many places to get costumes so the kids all came in your good ol’ Halloween characters such as witches (or “weetche” as they would say), wizards (or “magic man”), and princesses. Either way- all adorable! I ended up being a generic black cat made out of some leftover felt we had… boring I know but I was lacking creativity at the time. We spent the day playing games, making trick-or-treat bags, and doing a haunted house. We set up a little station in a classroom so all the kids could come in to “trick-or-treat”. Before we started handing out candy the Korean teachers suggested we not give them TOO much candy because the parents don’t like them eating all junk food. All I could think of is how these Korean parents would die if they ever saw my trick or treat bag when I was little which was basically a pillow case filled with about 10 pounds of all the delicious and teeth rotting chocolates and candy you could think of. And there I was passing out candies made out of real fruit juice and rice candies… I felt sorry for the little suckers knowing what they were missing! The day was exhausting but it was a fun day for me and the kids. For a few hours it was nice to be celebrating a little piece of something I was actually familiar with.
Sophia (Chinese Girl) and Jackie (Spider Man) having fun playing my mummy wrapping relay game!

One of my students, Ashley, after trick or treating with me.

One of my favorite students from Joshua Teacher's class dressed as a bulky Spider Man. He claims he was hitting the gym a lot before the big day.

All the english kindergarten kids dancing to "Shake Shake".

Rebecca, Karla, Joshua, Me, Kim, and Lena on Halloween Day at school.

Saturday night a few friends and I celebrated Halloween in Itaewon. The streets of Itaewon were craaaazy! It made me feel embarrassed of my lack of creativity in my own costume. We went and saw a costume contest which came down to Mario Kart who was literally throwing out old banana peels or Quasimodo. Quasimodo ended up winning the grand prize of 500,000 won. The night was fun as usual but still made me miss my Halloween holidays back in college!

The weather has automatically turned ICE COLD…ok so maybe I am being a little dramatic. But it is very cold now! One day it was t-shirt and jeans weather, the next I want to whip out my parka and ugg boots! The apartment has been a little miserable because the heated floors in my apartment won’t seem to heat up as much as they should. (God do I miss blowing HOT air!) The weather is also slowly turning me into a little hermit. I don’t even have the motivation right now to get groceries. I came from Indiana and have experienced Minnesota winter so you would think I would have developed a shell for this weather, but it never fails I become into a big baby the moment the temp drops to below 50 degrees.

I am missing home more and more everyday… especially as all these holidays creep up. First it is Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then will come Christmas. I have been surprisingly stronger than I thought it would be but more and more I find myself wishing I was just home at times. The feeling comes and goes, but I always have to remember that the things I have waiting back at home for me aren’t going anywhere.

Love and miss you all!

Hiking Sobaekson

Here is a video I made of my hike up Sobaekson. Enjoy! Copy and paste this URL in your web browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TelpC5-HHsA

Father's Open Day

This Saturday was Father's Open Day where all the dads came in to see what their kids have been learning so far. I was hoping that I would get some dads who spoke decent english and I would have been able to gotten to know them better, but that wasn't the case. Unfortunately, I got dads that weren't very good at english and looked at me like I was from a different planet everytime I opened my mouth. Luckily my korean co-teacher was there to translate. It still made things akward because they didn't seem to have much fun playing the games we were playing. None of them seemed to interact with their kids throughout the whole day either. Most of the kids were extra wound up as well because I am sure they knew it was a special day, but it was hard to discipline them infront of their dads! Either way, I am glad the day was over. It was too fake and stressful for me. Afterwards, 2 of my coworkers and I went out for lunch. We had pork belly...I know I know it sounds gross but it is really good! They serve it with lettuce and this red pepper paste and all together it is very good!

This Friday we are celebrating Halloween. I am really excited because the kids LOVE the idea of Halloween even though they really don't celebrate it here. So it has just been fun to teach them about vampires, haunted houses, mummies and just the idea of going trick or treating! Today I taught them what a mummy was and how a mummy walked and they started walking around the class room like a mummy. This Friday the school is giving the English teachers the responsibility of creating the whole Halloween day for the kids. We plan on playing a lot of games and they all are coming in dressed up. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find places that sell adult halloween costumes. If all else fails I plan to dress up as an actual kindergartener. Most of the kids here dress up in these adorable outfits with hello kitty outfits and hair in piggy tails. I know I could probably throw something like that together.

Love and miss you all!

2 Month Mark

Long time no blog! I am 2 months in now. The fall weather is here! Korea is gorgeous during the fall season, although I am not too happy about this cold front coming in. Burrrrrr!

In Korea, they don’t have heaters, only heated floors. Heated floors can be REALLY nice actually, but unfortunately for me the heated floor in my apartment seems to take FOREEVVVEERRR to heat up. Luckily for me, my relatives here got me a heated bed mattress. I crank that sucker up at night and I am good to go!

This weekend on Saturday we are having Father’s Open Class Day. It is a day where the dads come in and sit in on your classroom to watch a “real” class, when in reality it is a bunch of lessons we had been practicing for 3 weeks to make sure it is done perfectly on the open day. I was not here in Korea yet when they had Mom’s open class day. Supposedly preparation for that was A LOT more stressful. The parents put a lot of pressure on the teachers to make sure their child is doing well and sometimes that can be hard to show when they have a child who is not on the level as everyone else in the classroom. This week we will just be practicing the lessons more and making sure the school looks presentable. It will be interesting to meet all the fathers of my students! We went around the room to ask what each of their dad’s did. I have 5 dads who are “businessmen”, one pilot, one lawyer, one English teacher, one dentist, and one boss (haha yes, one of my students said “My dad is a boss.”) The kids love to ask me what my dad does because I just say “He is a computer man.” And they all start cracking up hysterically. I guess computer man sounds funny to them, but it was the easiest way to say it for seven year olds!
I feel like I am in the swing of things now. The only things I still feel hesitant about are the subways and the buses. The subways seem pretty easy, but I still feel like I feel more comfortable when I am with someone else who knows what they are doing. As for the buses, I am not sure if I will ever be able to truly figure them out!

This weekend some friends and I went with a tourism company called Adventure Korea. We went to a Ginseng festival. Ginseng is a root from a plant which is supposed to be very healthy for you. The Koreans love it here and make drinks and food out of it. We got to shave our own root and then make Ginseng wine out of it! Then we went to a traditional Korean village which was my favorite part. We got to stay in an actual Korean village and sleep in a traditional room with the heated floors and had to sleep on the floor. The next morning, they took us to the most beautiful hike I have ever been on (even though this was only my second one). It was a 4 HOUR hike—about 2 and ½ hours up and 1 and ½ hours down! After lots of swear words and jello legs, we did it! The view was amaaaaazing going up as well as at the very top! There were waterfalls on the way up as well as a Korean temple we visited. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

2 1/2 hours later...at the top of the mountain!

The little Korean village we stayed at

My friends and I posing with the ginseng root mascot

My very own ginseng root I harvested myself!

A field full of ginseng...

Chu-Seok Weekend

This week I only worked four days this week due to the Chu-seok holiday, which is the Korean Thanksgiving here. In celebration to our three day weekend, Thursday night I went out with a co-worker of mine and I had my first pizza here since I have moved here. It definately wasn't Papa Johns, but it wasn't too bad either! There were still potatoes on it which always comes as a suprise to me but ends up not tasting too shabby!

Friday, my co-workers set up a pot luck dinner where everyone had to bring in their own homemade dish to celebrate the Chu-seok holiday. I made my infamous chocolate chip cream cheese ball which ended up being the only dessert there. Thankfully I think everyone liked it! I was a fool when I signed up to bring a dessert because I forgot to rememeber that I don't have an oven in my apartment! I managed though! The dinner was amazing. Everything everyone brought was DELICIOUS. There was sheperds pie, pesto, kimchi chiggae (gotta have some korean in there too!), curry, chicken rissotto, salad, beef stew, and a soju punch! Haha, needless to say we all overstuffed ourselves. Unfortunately I couldn't stay long. My relatives were coming to pick me up in Ilsan to celebrate the Chu-Seok holiday with them for the weekend.

I have officially experienced my first traditional Chu-Seok. I also found out that it is not too much different than the American Thanksgiving with lots of food, family, and the infamous mid-day nap. Saturday is usually the official day of Chu-Seok. The day started at 6 AM!!!! Yes 6 AM! They woke me up to begin the day with the traditional ceremony. When I woke up they had already been up setting up the table into this nice spread basically for the ceremony. The ceremony basically consisted of all the men in the family standing in a row and each one had to take turns bowing and doing a little ritual with the korean wine infront of them. There were a few other things entailed such as pounding chopsticks in one bowl and sticking a new spoon in the rice everytime it was someone else's turn to bow. I couldn't make sense of it all but it was neat to watch. This is the ceremony spread, basically for show. Afterwards, they clear the table to set up the edible food. This is my grandfather on my mother's side.

This is all the men minus my grandfather. From left to right, My little cousin Sung-ha, my youngest uncle, my older uncle, and my other little cousin Sung-hu.

All the men in the process of bowing during the ceremony.

After the ceremony it was time to start the first meal of the day. There was definately no stuffing or turkey, but plenty of rice and rice cakes! Of course my whole family wanted to make sure I was full enough I wanted to about cry. During breakfast, they told me that it was tradition for me to do three saki shots which I thought was a little odd but the answer "no" was not an option as they shoved each one in my face. Mind you, this was before 8 AM in the morning. After breakfast, I was so tired and full and that drowsy feeling was taking over. I took a long nap and woke up to more family members and more food. I even managed to take another nap later on in the day! (hehe)

The moon is very bright and full on Chu-Seok. So as a korean tradition, Koreans walk outside of their homes to look at the moon and make a wish. One of my aunts took me outside to make my first Chu-Seok wish. It is basically a time to pray and say thank you for everything that you have and love.

My relatives took me back to Ilsan Saturday night after sending me home with LOTS of fruit and some noodles called chap-chay (one of my favorites). I really enjoyed the experience and am glad I got to experience a traditional Chu-Seok!

Update in September

Sorry it has taken me so long to write in my blog recently. Things have been kind of hectic around here and I have found myself to be very exhausted throughout the week.

School has been ok. I find myself unmotivated at times to teach because they kids can take so much out of you. There has been a lot of stress to just try to get the kids to listen at times. I am just sick of yelling all the time basically. As cute as the kids are, I wish I was more informed on the ages because I would have chosen an older age group to teach. Two weeks ago, I got to go on my first field trip with the kids to a botanical garden. The garden was gorgeous and the kids loved it. Their excitement over a flower, or a dragonfly, or even a little frog makes it adorable to watch them run around.

The past weekend, my co-worker, Karla and her co-korean teacher, Rebecca went clothes shopping. I loved all the different Korean fashions even though some are odd. Unfortunately, since everyone is so petite here I couldn’t find a lot in my size, but the experience was fun! Rebecca had invited us to dinner because her mother wanted to meet us Americans. Her mother loves when Rebecca brings home English speakers because she enjoys hearing Rebecca speak English to them. Dinner was amazing, her mom had prepared season meat and had a little miniature stove on the table for us to cook the meat and talk. She spoke a little English and was very sweet.

This weekend I got invited by one of the guys I work with to a touch rugby tournament they were playing in. I had never watched touch rugby before and knew nothing about it. The rugby tournament was held at the Korean Military Academy and was quite the event! There were tons of teams that had come from all over Korea as well as teams that flew in from China and Japan. We watched the boys play and I realized I really liked watching the sport! It is kind of like soccer… but playing with your hands with a difference in a few rules. Our boys didn’t end up winning the tournament but were in the semi finals! They served free wine all day and there was a buffet later on that had burgers and other bbq food! It wasn’t amazing tasting, BUT it was good to have some traditional American food still. After the game, there was an after party held in Itaewon at a place called The Bungalow. The place was really nice and had tables and couches set up on these sandy areas. Great atmosphere. We had a good time and ended up having to take a 40,000 won taxi ride home because we were too late for the subways. Eek!

Today co-worker, Karla and I went to Insadong. I was a little skeptical at first because she told me that it is this really fun place that sells traditional Korean things like papers, and souvenirs, pillows, scarves, jewelry etc. My experience with places like these has usually been a result of Koreans just trying to sell junk. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case! There is a long street that basically sells nice things that are mostly all handmade. It was such a cute little area. We stopped in at a tea house where we both got a cup of tea and shared some homemade Korean ice cream which was delicious!

I ended up buying a scarf. There were also stands that were set up to make your own crafts. You can paint mugs, plates, bags, make beads and jewelry, and even your own light lantern! We ended up making our own light lantern which I was really excited about! I loved this little shopping area and plan to go back for some gifts possibly! :-)

Next week will be a short week since we do not have to work on Friday due to the Korean holiday, Chuseok. Chuseok is the Korean Thanksgiving here and I guess one of the busiest times for traveling. Next week we will be doing things in class that are related to Chuseok which should be fun and interesting! Next weekend I will be visiting my Korean family in Seoul to celebrate the holiday with them. I am interested to see how they celebrate their own thanksgiving. All I know is there won’t be turkey or stuffing which is a sad, sad, sad thing for me. Haha

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I had to blog about this. During my afternoon elementary class last week, we had read a book about a moth that was a pet friend to a little boy. We had a do an activity with it so I decided to have the kids make cards to someone they love or is their good friend and decorate it with a moth theme. (I know it is a little odd, but the kids enjoyed it!) I have the kids freedom to do whatever they want with their card and use whatever they want as long as they wrote in english. This is a card one of the students wrote to her mom. I had to share. It reads:

"Dear Mother, Mother I love you but you are too scary. But I like you. Do you like this card? I'll give time one month tell me what this card is good or bad. But you love me too. And I like play too so play with me one hour. And I'll sleep with you. And I don't like to do homework. That is cecret (secret)"

I couldn’t stop laughing. I wanted her to read it while I recorded but she refused and about broke my camera. I guess you guys will have to only enjoy the visual for now!

My First Food Delivery

I have faced one of my challenges I thought I would have while I was here in Korea- getting delivery for Korean food. Just about anywhere delivers here and I have been having a craving for bibimbap. I get tons of fliers on my door advertising delivery for certain locations and I finally decided to try one today. My fear was that I was going to sit on the phone for a good 15 minutes trying to tell the man what I wanted and where I lived and then end up getting hung up on because he didn't understand me. Luckily, that wasn't the case. The first thing I said when the man picked up the phone was, "I am very sorry but I speak little Korean". He went silent and then I went ahead and just said "Bibimbap". I told him my address and after a few minutes of making sure he knew what I wanted and where I lived, that was that! Easy! My food was delivered in no joke- 5 minutes. SUPER FAST! and SUPER CHEAP! This is all I got for 4,000 won which equals roughly around $4!
The restaurant delivers your food in real silver and plate dishes so after you are done with your food, they give you a little bag that you put all the silverware and dishes in and leave it outside of your door. In a few hours the delivery guys comes back to pick up your dishes.

Great food, fast service, super cheap, and they save you from washing dishes... Oh you amaze me Korea. :-)

My Montage of Kids

Hello Everyone! I have finally made a video on you tube that shows some random clips of my class as well as some of the other students I have been teaching. Enjoy! Copy and paste this clip in your web browser. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl2wsMwO34Q

DVD Room

Today my Korean cousin, Minhee, came to Ilsan from Seoul with her husband to spend the day with me. I was actually not too excited about having them come only because neither of us can communicate the other language very well, but the day ended up being really fun! They took me out to lunch and then I showed them some of the shopping areas in Ilsan. We wanted to see a movie in the theater but there was nothing that we wanted to see, so we settled for a DVD room. This is SO awesome. It is a place where you go and there is a wall that is lined with DVD’s (mainly American) and you choose the DVD you want to watch. The DVD room we had went to had a good selection of DVDs. The movies were mainly all new releases and oldies but goodies. They then take you to this hallway that is lined with little closed off rooms. Inside the room are a large comfortable couch that you can lay on and a large projector screen. You can also buy snacks and refreshments before you go into your room as well. It was extremely nice because it was just very comfortable and had no distractions. My cousin and her husband really wanted to watch a horror film so we chose to watch Hostel 2. The movie was a disappointment but the experience wasn’t. DVD rooms are ALL over Korea so it is very easy to find one nearby. This is the first one I have actually been in. The price for the DVD room all together was 17,000 won. It was a little pricy but cheaper than three tickets to go see a movie at the movie theater.





Afterwards, I took them to see Lake Park in Ilsan. Lake Park is a man made lake and is absolutely gorgeous. It has a large path that runs all around it and the water is crystal clear. This is a picture of my cousin and her husband at Lake Park.

Hiking in Korea

The English couple that I work with, Karla and Josh, invited me to go on a short hiking trip this Saturday in Ilsan. Since I had wanted to try hiking in Korea, I took them up on their offer. Hiking is probably one of the most popular hobbies that Koreans have (besides drinking massive amounts of soju). We went on a short hiking trail in Ilsan which took us about 20 minutes. My first thought was “Oh wow, hiking is a piece of cake.” Then the couple suggested going to a bigger hiking mountain in Seoul. Thinking that I had this in the bag, I was proven wrong as I stood their heaving and panting after about 5 minutes going up the second mountain. The hiking at this mountain consisted basically of an hour worth of going up semi-vertical steps.

Josh and Karla had gone hiking plenty of times before, so needless to say, I was lagging behind most of the time. Besides the never ending burning sensation in my butt and legs, I was enjoying the beautiful scenery! This was a picture of Seoul just halfway up the mountain.

Luckily, the weather was nice and not Korea’s normal 90 percent humidity! Once we finally reached the top, the scenery was all worth the pain and struggle. Once you get to the top you can see all of Seoul all around the mountain. They have a HUGE boulder at the tippy top of the mountain so you can stand on it to get even more of a better view. The first picture is of me enjoying my success. Karla told me it was only necessary to scream “I AM THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!”. Haha!

Karla and Josh have told me that there are other mountains that are 7 hours hikes and ones that even have ropes for climbing. I told them…baby steps first. The experience was definitely all worth it and am kind of looking forward on claiming my next mountain!

After hiking, we decided to go to Itaewon. Itaewon is one of the most popular foreigner tourist sites in Korea and also has a military base. I loved Itaewon! Itaewon is known for the best western (American) food in Korea. I saw more foreigners in this city than Koreans—which is a rare thing to see! The city seemed so exciting and it was just nice to be surrounded by things I could read. We chose to eat at a Mexican restaurant for the night called Los Amigos. The food was DELICIOUS. I got a baja burrito smothered in cheese. Yum! The restaurant had live music and at one point I almost felt like I was at home in the states just having dinner at Don Pablo’s or somewhere like that! Korean food in Korea is generally pretty cheap, but when you are craving for more food found in the states, you are generally going to pay more for it. I didn’t mind because I felt like it really hit the spot! After dinner we hit up a local bar called Woodstock. We were still dressed in our hiking clothes so we felt a little out of place and self conscious that we smelled of sweat but we still wanted to have a drink. The bar had a live band that was made of 3 Korean men but they sang good American rock’n’ roll. I was impressed. It had been a long day for us so we didn’t stay long. There is still so much in Itaewon that I wanted to explore so I am anxious to go back.

One Month Update

Nothing too exciting has been going but I know you guys want to hear about everything so I will update you!

I am not going to lie, the last week of my first month I got a little frustrated with teaching. I just felt like I was struggling with trying to be a fun teacher, but still trying to have control over my kids as well. It’s hard because the Korean teachers want you to make sure the kids aren’t bored, but they also want you to get as much workbook pages done as possible, so it was just frustrating. I had felt like all I was doing was yelling at the kids and they just were not listening. It makes it even harder that I can’t have small talk with them like a normal kindergarten teacher would because their interactive skills aren’t that high yet. I am not complaining, just venting! :-) On a better note, the days after have gotten much better after I got confirmation from my co-teacher, Sonny, that I am doing a good job and I just need to stop worrying so much!

One thing I have had to get used to with these kiddies is their bluntness. I have had two students now come up to me and rub my belly saying “Amanda Teacher Pregnant?”….”Ummm no Amanda Teacher is not pregnant, Amanda Teacher just has eaten too much of your good food!”. As embarrassing as it is, I still manage to laugh and then slap my gut for a bigger effect. Haha! I have also been told by the students I am a “long neck” and that they refer to my skin color as black since I am tanner than most of them right now. Gotta love ‘em.

One thing the Korean students here really go all out for are their birthdays. It is a HUGE deal when someone has a birthday. We take time out of the day to have a little birthday party for them. The mom of the birthday student usually brings in a nice big cake with drinks for the teachers and students. It is traditional for the kids to bring in a photo album or a poster board of basically a story and pictures of how they have grown from a baby to their age now. They then present their poster or photo album to the entire class. They speak in Korean when they tell about their childhood, but their pictures are always cute to look at. It is adorable and the cakes are always delicious! The whip cream in Korea here is lighter and whipped which makes it easy to consume more than I should.




Last Friday was another outing with some of my fellow English teachers. We went to our favorite bbq meat place again and met up with a few people. I have been meeting quite a few people from England which has been interesting and entertaining to hear their rich accents! I feel like I am the youngest out of most of the people who have been meeting which sometimes surprises me. The weekends and mainly weeknights are the best times to see all the foreigners come out. On the main streets the foreigners are more abundant and travel in packs! It is kind of easy to add on to your group just by walking down a busy street. Later on we ended up at a bar that the entire back wall of the bar was lined with old records. You could basically request ANY song, I am talking ANY, and they would play it for you. Good times.

The next Saturday my Korean Aunt came later on in the evening and wanted to take me to dinner and to get a massage or “massag-ee” as she would say. An offer I could not refuse. She took me to a king crab buffet that is literally right outside my apartment which could be dangerous because I LOVE crab legs. They gave us plastic gloves which were nice because I always manage to cut myself when I am opening them up and a pair of the best crab cutting scissors ever. I should have taken a picture of the scissors, but one blade of the scissors was short, while the other blade was skinny and long, perfect for opening crab legs. I am not sure if this is just in Korea, or I have been sheltered in the states and just have never seen anything like this before!

Now I may have told some of you about my last “massage” experience in Korea. It was a total nightmare. I can’t believe I still even call it a massage because it was more of a form of torture. My mom set me up to have a massage at a spa a few summers ago and it basically consisted of me being naked and having them rub my entire body with a brillo pad…yes a brillo pad…the same brush you would use to clean a crusty casserole dish. I started crying which didn’t help because I had a hot muggy rag over my face the whole time. Needless to say I was VERY hesitant about this second massage place my aunt was going to take me to. We walked in and the place was extremely nice and seemed legit. They had footbaths while you waited for your massage and lounging chairs. My aunt and I were going to get the massages side by side. It started out normal with an actual massage table and massage creams but once again, I felt like they were literally trying to see if they could make me cry. It wasn’t a brillo pad this time; it was just extreme pain from how far they were driving their knuckles and elbows into my back muscles! I think it is the culture here that makes a Korean touch very rough! I have even noticed it with my Korean family and other Koreans. A pat on the back is never a pat on the back, it’s more like a hard slap on the back. Or when they grab your arm for something, it’s more like--let’s see how much I can dig my fingers into your skin. My aunt told me she wants to try to see if I will like one more massage place so we will see what my pain threshold is there.

Missing you all! XOXOXOX

P.S. I am still trying to sell my car back home. If anyone is interested or know of someone who is, let me know!

Three Weeks In

3 weeks in and beginning my fourth! Can you believe this? I am almost a month already in. They aren’t kidding when they say the time flies!

My mom left to go back to Hawaii this Sunday. As much as she has been a royal pain in my ass at times, I still shed a few tears because she has really been the biggest help to me. Now I am on my own to face the Land of the Morning Calm (Korea) with no interpretation from her. Lord help me.

I have officially been an official teacher for a week and one day now. The kids are starting to talk to me in English more and climb on me even more…like a bunch of orangutans. At first they were shy about trying to hold conversations with me, but they are getting the used to me being their new teacher now. The teacher I replaced had lived in Korea for 5 years so had picked up on the language very well. Fortunately on the kids part, that meant that the kids could ask him for something or say something and generally he would know what they were saying. As for me who currently only has a Korean vocab of about less than 20 words, I can never understand what they are asking me so they are forced to try to figure out in English. This usually just results in them pointing at the bathroom, a spoon, more rice, or just some water. Either way, it’s breaking the language barrier!

I was talking to my co-teacher, Sonny, and explained to her that the kids here are so unbelievably affectionate. I am not sure if any of the American 7 year olds would be like this, but what do I know? The minute you sit at their level, they are just hugging you, wanting to play with your hair, holding your hands—this includes boys too!! And they are so affectionate to one another. I constantly look over and see the students hugging each other or having their arm around each other like they are the best of buds. I have had students who want to kiss me goodbye, which about makes me melt, but I just couldn’t believe their attachment with people here. Sonny explained to me since most of the kids that attend the school have well off parents, they have busy jobs that require them to be gone a lot and the kids are usually the only child. She thinks they just crave the attention when any is offered to them.
I was talking to Lindsay, a friend of mine who is a teacher in the states, about how these young kids get so excited about the littlest things. It is just so innocent when they get so excited that you drew a smiley face on their paper and they start showing all their friends like I just gave them a celebrity signature. The minute I tell them they are able to color something, there is no chance of getting my class under control for at least a good thirty minutes. They LOVE to color! I let them make butterflies today with a clothespin and 2 pieces of colored tissue paper. I swear, they could have been entertained for hours on end with these things. They were throwing them in the air and showing their friends, and were sincerely so happy and intent with the cheapest craft ever.

Furthermore, last Friday I also found out that my co-teacher, Sonny, is pregnant! She was a little shocked but she is happy to be pregnant. She already has the cutest little girl and she is hoping for another one although her husband is rooting for a boy of course. I am excited because she is only 5 weeks in and she is supposedly due in April or May which means I will see the whole 9 month pregnancy! It made me think of you Erika! :-)

I found a gym and went to it today for the first time. Possibly the nicest gym I have ever been to! Surprisingly I have packed on a few pounds while I have been here. Must be that white rice…ugh. Instead of eating my occasional 5 piece taco meal, indulging in a whole pizza, or hitting up the local Chinese buffet, I have been mainly just been eating a lot of rice, meat, and vegetables. Unfortunately, one of my co-workers said that the side dishes and a lot of the meals Koreans serve here are high in sugars because of all the sauces they put on everything. All these skinny Korean girls just must be immune to this food then! Hmph! It doesn’t help that Koreans LOVE to eat here… so you know what they say…”When in Rome…”

I am still in the “getting to know people” stage and it is sinking into me lately how much I miss talking to someone that just knows me and I don’t have to tiptoe around the conversation so they don’t think that I come off too strong. I know I am only 3 weeks in and it will take time, but I always wish I would have someone to experience this with me right now.

There is a possible hiking trip in the works so hopefully I will be reporting to you about that soon!

P.S. Did you know they DELIVER McDonalds here???? All the delivery men here ride mopeds so occasionally I see a moped with a McDonald’s logo on the back. Incredible. Not sure if they have a minimum delivery balance, but it would be cool to see if they would deliver me a 1$ McChicken right to my front doorstep!

You Tube of my Apartment

A lot of people have been requesting pictures of my apartment. I finally put up pictures on facebook and have made a video as well! Now you all can get the virtual tour. It's no MTV Cribs, but it will do. Copy the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDyjuJoGrCc

Smooth Sailin'

I have officially been here two weeks and fortunately haven’t had any emotional breakdowns…yet. I know I keep saying this but I still can’t seem to get the grip that I am going to be here for a YEAR! I told my dad I was about 2 weeks in and he goes “Well you have about 50 more to go!”.

I am really surprised I have had such a good attitude about everything. It usually doesn’t take long for me to not like something and in my past short visits to Korea, I would have been wanting to catch the next flight home by the first few days. I am not sure if it is because of the city I am in or the excitement of it all, but I have a lot more tolerance for it all now. I have never lived in New York City, but if I ever did, this is what I would envision it to be minus the Korean language everywhere and the fish cakes on a stick. I love the city lights, the fashion, back to back little shops, and being close to just about anything I would ever need. I am not going to get ahead of myself because I am prepared for it all to hit me at once and sure enough I will be calling a few of you crying how much I miss home. Haha, but let’s hope it takes me awhile to get to that point or hopefully never to that extreme!

One thing I am going to master when I get back to the states is my walking aggressiveness. I am going to come back as one mean walking machine. It’s like playing the game chicken when walking on the streets here. You will be coming HEAD ON with the person coming towards you and technically you both are supposed to get out of each other’s way which would be the courteous thing to do! But in Korea, no matter what, it is YOU that better get out because sure enough, they are not backing down on the walking chicken race. I have had quite a few people shoo me to go the other way around them as if I------- am the one that is supposed to move around them. So needless to say, I have become quite aggressive and have been winning at a few of these walking chicken races. Anyone who doesn’t move when they are walking towards me might just get a slight elbow jab in the chest. :-)

Last Friday my coworkers took me out to dinner close by my apartment to an area called “Meat Street”. Appetizing sounding, I know. Haha, but it really is delicious! It is basically a long street filled with restaurants that allow you to cook your own meat. It is basically like your own bbq. The meat is always seasoned perfectly. There are always anywhere from two to twelve side dishes included that are called (banchan) that make the meal all well worth the money. I found out more about my co-workers which was really nice. They told me more about the school and the Korean culture and the things they have learned so far while they have been here. They decided to take me out to a few places to have a few drinks and do some dancing. The night turned out to be very fun. I discovered where all the foreigners were hiding out at in the city of Ilsan, and that is… the bars. One thing that I absolutely LOVE about Korea so far is the fact that you don’t tip here! When they tell you your meal is 14,000 won (roughly $14), then it is ONLY 14,000 won. Same for a drink, taxi cab, and delivery. It is amazing and extremely convenient for me and my wallet!

Today was my first day of having the class as my own official class. I am still getting used to how to teach the language and trying to figure out what my students are capable of. I know I will get used to it, but it is stressful wondering if you are doing something right. The school doesn’t give us much direction on how to teach. They just want us to make sure we are teaching them English! My Korean co-teacher, Sonny, just always stresses that all teachers basically need to do is make sure the kids are having fun as well. I may be rusty at teaching the students, but I do know how to goof around and have fun so no problems in that area. Here are a few pictures of my little kiddies!




I recently found out that all the parents pay about 1,000,000 won (roughly $1,000) a month for their little 6-14 year old to learn English. I can’t imagine paying that much till they were ready to go to college and then paying for the college tuition as well! It just gives you idea how much people value education here. I have another Korean teacher named Rebecca, who is looking to further her education in America. When I asked her what city she would like to move in she said her lifelong dream has been to move to New York City ever since she started watching Friends. She explained to me that she dreams about living in this city because of the sitcom and learned a large majority of her English because of the show! It was funny to hear how she has been inspired by this show and cute at the same time. The even funnier part is she probably has the best English from a Korean I have heard since I have been here. Thank you “Friends”.

Amanda Teacher

I am officially 3 days in now teaching and although it is a career choice I probably never would have considered for myself, I enjoy it… mainly because the kids are seriously so damn cute! Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I work from 9-6. Tuesdays and Thursdays I work from 9-4:20. Surprisingly, the day goes by fast and from what everyone says, so will the weeks. I have a class of 12 students consisted of 5 boys and 7 girls. The beginning of the morning starts off with all the kids coming and handing in homework. In the morning they have a snack provided by the school while I grade the homework and have them read to me all their sentences they wrote. There are different workbooks done till lunch time.

The nice thing that I won’t have to worry about is bringing my own lunch. Unlike most of the teachers at the school, I actually like what they serve! The past few days they have had rice, kimchi, tofu, spiced vegetables, fruit slices, soup, and noodles as just some of the different foods they have been serving for lunch. There are three homeroom classes for English and I know my class and I were meant to be because my class eats the most. Haha! The past few days I have been here we have had to go to the other classes to mooch off their leftovers. My co-teacher, Sonny, says that my class does eat the most and they eat very well. So I can’t help it to give them a big heaping mound of kimchi when they come up to me in their cute Korean accents saying “Amanda Teacher, more please!” while holding their tin tray towards me. After lunch we continue with different teachings. The whole morning till 2:30 consists of workbook lessons, singing and dancing class, cooking class, and drama class. The kindies favorite things to do are drama class and singing and dancing class. The first day I was able to help teach, we acted out The Three Little Pigs. They can’t technically act but you walk them through it and it is just as good. I wish I could have videotaped some of them saying “not by the hair on my chinny chin chin!”.

Next week, they are starting to put me in charge of going to the homeroom classes to teach art and cooking! What could be better than food and crafts?

After 2:30, the elementary kids come and I usually have 2 or 4 classes depending on the day teaching the elementary kids. These classes are much smaller usually consisting anywhere from 2-6 kids. Tomorrow will be Friday and then Monday I will officially be the homeroom teacher for my class. I am still learning things about the school system and the people that work there. The Korean and the American teachers have just been unbelievably nice. They are all so sweet and constantly are asking me how I am doing and how I like Korea. Did I mention how cute the kids are? I know I have… but I just want to say it again! Haha, there is seriously NOT ONE that isn’t cute. Must be the Asian eyes but they all seriously melt your heart. By the second day they were already jumping on me and giving me hugs and presents. I am still getting used to being called “Amanda Teacher” all the time, but I know it will grow on me. They are extremely curious because they know there is a new teacher in the building so throughout the day I will have random kids from the school peeking in the windows or popping their head in to see me.

I am hoping once I get on a routine that I will be doing videos and pictures of my classroom and the kids. So stay tuned!

You Learn Something New Everyday

Last Wednesday I was finally united with my Mom and my aunt also known as Oma (mom) and Emo (aunt) in Korean! We went shopping for a few things I needed for my apartment and when we came back they went to town on cleaning my apartment. I knew the apartment looked old but my mom and aunt were disgusted by the way it looked. eek! A few things I learned that day:

1. If you know me, you know I HATE recycling. I know it’s good for the environment but it is a pain in my butt. Well with my luck, I happened to move to a country that REQUIRES you to recycle. I have to separate my food, boxes, and then regular trash into different bags. Then once I separate those, I have to go downstairs where I sort through my trash even MORE because there are specific bins for all the different bottles, cans, glasses, and jugs. Oy. Maybe I will have a new found love of recycling when I get back into the states, but I highly doubt it. Wishful thinking Dad 

2. There are a lot of good things thrown away in Korea. If Koreans don’t need something, they don’t want to sell it, they just want to get rid of it. So when you go by the dumpsters in Korea, you will find a lot of good things on the side such as tables, chairs, tvs, etc. Many foreign teachers who usually stay here for a short time will usually set their furniture out to be thrown but are treasures to the new foreign teachers moving in.

3. I usually don’t eat the American food here because it’s not the same. But if you ever are craving something from your homeland, Costco’s concession stands still have great pizza and hotdogs!

Afterwards my mom and aunt took me hostage (pun intended) for a few days to Seoul where my great grandmother and grandfather live, and where my mom has been staying. During my time there we shopped some more for my apartment. Although my mom has a way of getting on my last nerve, she has the biggest heart. I feel like the luckiest English teacher here. She has really done everything she can to make my apartment feel like home. She set me up with a new cell phone, showed me what all the Korean writing means on all my appliances, bought me a brand new t.v. and some furniture, and has just been my life saver all in all.

Unfortunately, I was living in a Korean house straight out of the movies where you had to sleep on the floor with no air conditioner in 80 degree weather all the time. It was rough, but I survived. We had went to dinner one night with a couple that were my mom’s good family friends. The dinner entrées were a little much for me to take. I really do try to taste everything when I am here, but there are a few things that I draw the line. The husband of the couple handed me a large fried fish about the size of my hand with head and all. When I went to go take a bite, a massive amount of fish eggs came pouring out of its body! That was a no-go for me. The restaurant also served us the raw insides of the fish on a bed of rice noodles which the husband of the couple popped in his mouth like popcorn. Needless to say, I mainly ate a squid pancake all night. Yummmm haha

The last day before I went back to Ilsan, my mom’s entire side of the family went to this large river resort where we set up a tent and had a picnic and played in the clearest water. My mom’s sister in law has two little boys named Sung-ha and Sung-hu. They are going to English summer school right now so throughout my stay with them, they thought it was fun to use English words around me which was so adorable. The vocabulary mainly consisted of no, yes, thank you, hello, etc. At one point I was trying to teach them the difference between pretty and ugly and after that they thought it was funny to say “You-are-UGLY!” to their mom all day. Haha
A few other things I have learned about Korea so far:

1. Koreans are health nuts! Everything Koreans do, eat, and buy seems solely based on their health. They are concerned about taking their vitamins all the time and making sure everything they eat is good for them. This probably explains why my 92 year old great grandmother was still kickin’ it and was probably more active than I was when staying there. I even saw a face roller that is used to roll on your face to exercise your face to make it slimmer. Hopefully some of this health craze will rub off on me!

2. The first night I arrived in Seoul my mom’s family wanted to take me to dinner to celebrate me being here. I learned there are specific rules to drinking in Korea. In Korea you should not pour your own drink. It is customary for others to pour your drink for you and for you to pour for them. Whether you pour using one or both hands is important. If the person for whom you are pouring is older than you or of higher status, then you should pour holding the bottle with two hands, otherwise pour with one hand. This is extremely different for me because my family was placing their empty cups in front of me waiting for me to pour for them. I had read about this before but didn’t think it was so implemented!

3. Customer service here is amazing! There are people in every isle of every store waiting to help you. There are always super happy greeters at all the stores that take a long bow when you come in. I noticed in the grocery store that whenever someone got something without a label instead of the customer going to go get the price code, the cashier would run and go get it for them. They always throw in something for free as well! We went to go get gas and the man who pumped our gas just decided to give us 2 free bottles of water with our gas. They just seem to go the extra mile here.

4. Everything is a race here whether it is getting on the elevator, the escalator, getting in line, getting on the bus, even just getting into a door. No one can wait for the next person. My aunt who lives here told me people do treat life like a race here because everyone is so busy they don’t have time for waiting-in-line manners.

I wish I would have had access to my computer over the last few days so I could have written about everything. Everything seems like a blur now looking back. My blog for my first day of school will soon be coming.

Reality Check

Today was my first reality check of living here in Korea.

This morning I was picked up by one of the managers from the school where he took me to the nearest bank to set up an account. I got my money converted and officially have a Korean bank account! Wahoo! Here I am with a few crisp Korean wons!


After the bank, my manager told me we would do the health check tomorrow which I was glad. I definitely could wait another day to get jabbed at by a needle. I attempted to call my mom at the 2 phone numbers she gave me to call and neither of them worked. Great. Now I was stuck in this 10x10 apartment with no internet, tv,phone, or any idea how to order some food! For those who know me, I do NOT do well without internet. Haha. My computer had no more battery life yet and I still hadn’t found a converter to use with it in hopes my mom would be able to help me in that department. So with nothing to do, I decided I would trudge outside into the city to see if I could find one myself. I went into every store near my apartment that may have looked like they sold electronics, I went to drug stores, and I went into places I didn’t even know what they were selling. Everyone thought I was crazy. Each Korean I spoke to went something like this:

Me: “Annyong haseyo! Do – you- have- converters?
Korean: “uh…..” *tilts head*
Me: “Korean to American plug” *does jabbing motion to illustrate plug*
Korean: “uh….” *does a goodbye waving motion*

One girl whipped out her cellphone which I am guessing had a translation feature and STILL didn’t know what I was talking about. I had read in my research about Ilsan that if you wanted to see Americans, your best bet would be to sit at Starbucks. Sure enough, I walked in and there was an American man with his Korean wife. Although it was refreshing to talk to someone who understood the words that were coming out of my mouth, he couldn’t remember where he got his converters at and didn’t know where else to tell me to look. I gave up and settled for a vanilla frappuchino and a cream cheese bagel.

I finished the Chelsea Handler book and am now onto Twilight ladies! I had only gotten a few pages in because the internet man finally came and installed my internet. Thank god! And get this- I explained to him that he wouldn’t be able to work on my computer because I had no power and didn’t have a converter to plug in. He said he would be right back and came back about 30 minutes later with converters that he said he went out and bought! I offered to pay but he refused. That is like the cable man coming in to set up your cables and realizes you need a surge protector and then runs out and buys one for you! Not only was I happy with the gesture but I finally have contact with the outside world now! Tomorrow is my appointment for the health check and hopefully I am able to see my mom.

Favorite Things from Home

Hey Guys!

This is my first youtube video I have made for the beginning of my Korea adventures. It is dedicated to all my friends and family. Check it out!
Copy the URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGx16LnG4eQ

Annyong haseyo! (Hello!)

Well I have officially survived my first day in Korea. Fortunately I did not have to exactly start teaching the first day I arrived, thank god. The teacher I will be replacing showed me the ropes to his classroom and I got to meet my little nuggets. I have 12 cute little Asian 7 year olds all eager to learn my native language! Raymond, the English teacher I will be replacing, introduced me to the kids and let me do an introduction of myself. It took me a few minutes to explain to them I was from INDIAN-A and not Indians. All the girls in the classroom are so sweet…as for the boys, there were a few I already wanted to drop kick. But all in all, I am excited to start my first official day! Luckily, my boss felt bad I had just landed in and since my apartment wasn’t cleaned up yet, they put me in a hotel for the middle of the day to get some rest and wait till my apartment would be ready to move in the evening.

The hotel they set me up in was very nice and I am pretty sure a “love motel”. Most hotels in Korea are more geared towards couples who want to get a room together. Everything was very couple oriented and was made to be very swank and romantic. I didn’t care because I just wanted a place I could lay down in some air condition (it is very HUMID here). This is a clip of the place I stayed at which was Hotel Boutique K. Copy the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZlaQ_2FK7M

Around 6, they picked me up from the hotel and took me to my apartment. The director and a few of the people that work in the office for the school were in there setting up my bed and had already bought me food, pans, a comforter, and even some bathroom slippers! The apartment isn’t too bad. You can tell it’s very old. The building feels like a dorm to me. The hallways are very long and there are always a few doors that are always open. I live in a GREAT location though. I am smack dab in the busy part of the city where everything is literally at my fingertips. I am able to walk right down and step outside and there is a 24 hour convenient store. The city is still new so it is a very clean area. I will be doing a youtube clip to show you the apartment once I get more settled in.

After we were done setting up my apartment, Kim, an English teacher at my school who is from Georgia, showed me the ropes of the city! She also lives in my building so that will be nice to know someone else lives here. She took me out to dinner where we had this large dish with chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and noodles sautéed in a spicy sauce. She told me a lot about the school, the city, and just how to get around. I unpacked tonight and got a little more situated. Fortunately, the school is still allowing me to have a week off because of the threat of the swine flu here which means I have some more time to get settled in. My mom is here in Korea waiting to see me and help me with everything which I am EXTREMELY thankful for because I know she will help me out so much. Tomorrow they are taking me to get a health check which I am VERY nervous about because there is a blood test involved and not only have I never given blood before, but I haven’t had a needle stuck in me for awhile and was almost starting to forget how uncomfortable it is. After that, they are taking me to the bank and then hopefully I will be meeting up with my mom. Should be a busy day.

Finally Here In Korea

After a long two and half hour drive to the Chicago airport, $100 in excess baggage fees, and a 13 hour flight, I am finally here!!!

My flight was at 1:00 AM on Sunday. My sister and her boyfriend Justin dropped me off at the airport around 10:00 on Saturday night. I checked in and was told I had to take a few things out of my luggage, of course. Luckily my sister was there to take back a few t-shirts I had to take out. When I checked in the gentleman at the desk was nice to ask if I wanted an isle or window seat. I requested an isle because nothing is worse than being on a 13 hour flight and having to hold your pee because the people next to you are in a peaceful slumber. Unfortunately the only isle seat left was next to a baby so I settled with a window seat.

Once we got in the air we had a choice of steak or a korean dish called bibimbap. Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE bibimbap. It is a korean dish that is made up of rice and vegetables and mixed with a hot pepper paste. Delish. I slept most of the flight and then read the my book by Chelsea Handler (sorry Christine and Laura... I know I said I would start Twilight, but I was biting at the bit to read Chelsea Handler's book and get a good laugh, but I promise, I WILL read it). Once I landed I was greeted by a little asian man that was waiting for me that had a sign up that read "Amanda Susan Basile". I felt like a celebrity. I wanted to take his picture so bad but he was in a hurry to get me out of there and didn't speak a lick of english. Needless to say it was a long silent one hour drive to my school.

That is where I am currently at now. It is going to be a loooong day. I just got off a 13 hour flight and now I am going to be thrown in the with the sharks on my very first day. I got here very early so we are just waiting on the other teachers to be coming around 9. After school today I am guessing they will be taking me to my apartment which I am very anxious to see.

So far the reality of all this hasn't hit me yet. I am still taking it all in. I think I am going to get off and explore the school a little bit now. I'll keep you all posted!

Packing for the Year

So I finally got word that I am officially leaving Sunday morning and will be arriving in Korea Monday morning! Eeek! Every now and then I have those “WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?!?!?!?!” moments but I manage to pass through them. One of my major concerns right now is how I am going to magically cram one year worth of all my belongings into two suitcases and try to make them under 50 pounds. I have already come to the conclusion that no matter what, I WILL pay the excess baggage fee. To my friends and family who know me too well, one of the first questions they asked was “How are YOU, out of ALL people, going to pack for this??” Now if you know me well, you know that I am NOT a light packer. I just so happen to be one of those people who like to pack a few extra things… just in case. I am still waiting the day I am proven right when my friends and I are stranded on a desert island and the extra curling iron and massive amount of jewelry I decided to pack are used as survival tools on the island. Here is just a glimpse of my attempt to pack my life into two (what seem to be) SMALL suitcases. Try not to laugh…

Trust me, everything I have in there is a NECESSITY! After a test trial of trying to see if I could close both suitcases, I was forced to leave of some of my favorite things behind: my steamer which would have made each of my shirts look fresh and neat, my robe which I would probably walk around in all day if I could, my snuggy (the best invention ever), and a new Brookstone nap blanket my friend gave to me. Those are to just name a few, trust me…there were plenty of other sacrifices. It probably doesn’t help that I had to pack a year worth of deodorant since apparently Asians don’t sweat very much which I unfortunately never got that gene and I also had to pack a large amount of my shoes because I DID get the big foot gene which Korea doesn’t cater much to.
Tomorrow I will be driving back to Chicago to pick up my stamped visa and then I will officially be ready for Korea. I thought this time would never come, but now that it is happening, it is all happening so fast. The only thing I will have left to do is say my goodbyes.

Beginning a New Chapter

Scrambling to squeeze in our favorite things to do for “one last time” our senior year, celebrating in an unnecessary amount of Grand Prix festivities, getting ready to leave the apartment we called home, and preparing for graduation day were all signs that our last year at Purdue was dwindling down. It was funny to think that just a few years ago parked in front of the freshmen dorms, I was bawling in the car and hanging onto my Dad like a little koala bear. You know those fights you have with your parents that revolve around the topic that you think you are a grown adult able to take responsibility of yourself but your parents insist to think you are too young to do it on your own. That day in front of the dorm…I would have gladly let my Dad win on one of those fights. Now four years later, the last thing I wanted to do was leave that university. The thought of leaving some of the most amazing people and times I have ever had in my life was a hard pill to swallow—the thought of not having a job by the time I graduated was even harder. With a major in retail management and with 6 years of retail service under my belt, I wasn’t sure if that was the field I wanted to pursue. With a tough economy and uncertainty of what I wanted to use my degree for, I felt lost. I came across the opportunity to teach English in Korea, and after some research-- I was sold. What a better way to take some time off to travel, experience a different culture, and do something totally out of the ordinary all while getting paid. If I can go to a foreign country alone, overcome the language barrier, become good at doing a job that I have never done before, and survive a whole year while still having fun, then I hope I will be able to do just about anything afterwards. We’ll see…