Birthday, Christmas, New Year... and everything in between

 Wow it has been an extremely long time since my last blog entry. It is not because I have not thought about it, it just takes a lot of time to sit down and put all of my thoughts together. I am still continuing to absolutely love my life here in Korea. In the last, well more than a few weeks, I have celebrated my 23^rd birthday, celebrated Christmas, finished one semester of teaching and brought in the new year.

I could not have asked for a better birthday here in Korea. I celebrated it for a solid week since it was on a Wednesday (December 5^th), I couldn’t pick a certain weekend to celebrate so my friends and I did both. The weekend prior to my birthday a few of us went to Daegu and did the normal routine for Daegu. We met up with two of our British guy friends. One has the same birthday as I do. On my actual birthday I went to Daegu for dinner and stayed with a friend. That night we had our first snow of the winter, I was really excited little did I know I would be sick of it in a few shorts days. On Friday the plan was for all of us girls to meet the British/South African guys in Seoul to celebrate the two birthdays.  We all woke up to a massive snow on Friday morning. So getting to Seoul was a long and slow process. But luckily we all made it and had the most amazing time ever. I can honestly say I will never forget my 23^rd birthday because of all the greatness that Seoul brings.

That one snow was the first of 4 straight weeks with snow on Friday. Yes, it snowed everyday Friday for 4 straight weeks. And when I say snow I mean like 4-7 inches. Snow doesn’t play around in Korea.

The weekend prior to Christmas my large group of friends that I hung out with every weekend at the beginning of my time all gathered in Yeongdeuk at Micah’s for Christmas. We all brought a dish. I cooked cheese grits. It was a hit; many people had not ever had the privilege of having grits. Such a shame. It was great having everyone back together for a family style Christmas. It felt like we were all home for the weekend from college because Micah and his roommate to such good care of us. We got in late Friday morning because of the snow slowing travel down. Waking up really late to a home cooked breakfast and a day full of pj’s and eventually the dinner. It was a much needed relaxing weekend.

On actual Christmas Eve I went to Gumi to meet up with friends. We went to dinner at Seoga&Cook and then on to Corona to meet up with a couple others. It was a very different Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but was nothing less than wonderful.

My family sent me a ton of boxes full of presidents for my birthday and Christmas. It was very different opening them but yet it was joyous because I knew how much thought they put into the gifts, especially the ones with Reece cups, Ranch and warm clothes. My favorite gifts were LL Bean duck boots and flannel shirts. Never thought that would be what I would ask for but yes, I did. Much appreciate too!

For New Year’s the girls and I went to Busan. As normal we met up with a couple of the guys and brought in the New Year. It was a fun, crazy night. Never would have dreamed last year that I would be in Busan SK bringing in 2013. But I am so thankful that I got to and with the beautiful friends that I got to with.

Now on to school news. The semester has basically ended. It ended the Friday after Christmas. The students have off all of January. But yet most schools have English camp, luckily mine does not. So for the past 2 weeks I have been coming to school to “desk warm.” With EPIK I only get 10 vacation days off. So I have to come and take up space until my vacation begins. Unfortunately my school computer will not turn on, the other computers in my office won’t either. So I have been bringing my laptop everyday with shows and movies downloaded to watch. It is still crazy cold here, and my office is even colder. The heat doesn’t work well so it takes until afternoon for it to be bearable. Snow is still on the ground outside, the sun shines for doesn’t make it any warmer. It can be a bit depressing because it is freezing cold when I leave school. I just want to get home a quickly as possible and not leave until the next morning. I am so ready for spring weather. I can’t wait to go running. It is even too cold to go walking here for exercise. But, yes I still love this beautiful country. That is as long as I am somewhere with good heat.

When the students return in February and I under the impression that they come for 2 weeks then have Lunar New Year off for another two weeks. But I will have to come during that time too. But who really knows. One thing that is certain is on Saturday, January 19^th, Kiwi (Laura from New Zealand) and I eave for a two-week vacation to Thailand and Cambodia. We will be going to Phuket and Bangkok and then on to Siem Reap and Phnom Pehn. Even though I have already been to Bangkok I am still excited to see Phuket. It is supposed to be one of the most gorgeous places in the world. Bangkok will be great again since it will not be as hot. High 80’s predicted. I could not be more excited to pour swear after having to wear 4 layers of clothes everyday since November. I don’t know much about Cambodia, but that just means more to learn and take in.  This is the first trip I have ever taken that I am paying for on my own. I feel so accomplished and proud to know It is because of what I did that got me there.

Hope everyone back home had a great Christmas and New Year’s!!

I will have a great blog entry with lots of pictures after my vacation… ahhh I am too excited to wear Norts, tshirts and Chocos!!!

Until next time from the land of rice, kimchi and too much snow!!!

Sokcho, Andong, Busan, Thanksgiving...

As I write this blog I am listening to Christmas music, drinking hot tea and looking at the Christmas lights I just hung around my apartment. I ordered a Christmas tree too. It should be in soon. It just wouldn’t seem right not to have a few decorations up during the season.

The past few weeks have been busy with teaching classes, and random weekend trips. The weekend after my last blog entry a crew and I went with a big tour group on a hiking trip to Sokcho. Sokcho is in the far north province. We believe we were less than an hour from the North Korean border. We visited Seoraksan National Park. It was beautiful. Unfortunately we got there too late to real hiking so we just took a short trail and saw some beautiful sites. We also got to ride four-wheelers for an hour at a park. It felt good to be back on one. It was a great way to spend a fall Saturday afternoon. It was nice to get to travel with many different people, all teachers either EPIK or hagwan.

The next weekend most of us went to Jinbo and stayed with Gigi and Shirley. While we were there we went to Cheongsung to the apple festival. The apples in this country are the size of softballs. No joke! They are so juicy and delicious. It was nice to have a very relaxed weekend in a small town.

The following weekend 4 of us girls went to Busan to celebrate one of the birthday of a British guy we met at orientation. It was a wild and crazy Saturday night for sure. The group we were with really knows how to celebrate for sure.  As always Busan doesn’t disappoint and it won that battle. Needless to say when I got home that Sunday night I was in bed at 7:30 and out for the night.

This past weekend was spent with a few of the girls in Gumi/Daegu. It was a girls weekend, and much needed. No plans, just whatever we felt like doing. Hopping on the train to go to Daegu for dinner and a movie (Breaking Dawn Part 2) or whatever we felt like doing.

My weekdays continue to be the same with teaching classes and coming home and going to dinner or attempting to cook for myself. Not having an oven makes it tough to cook. Plus not having normal ingredients. I have gotten better though. I did manage to cook myself blue berry pancakes one night. Thankfully I did get a package from my grandma with grits in it. So that is always my back up plan.

This past Friday my school had their festival/talent show. Each class performed a dance or song. It was so cute. I have the most talented students in the world. They were adorable.

I spent Thanksgiving night with my fellow EPIK teachers here in Seongju, unfortunately we had pizza.. not the normal Turkey Day meal. But still I was thankful for the fellowship that night. But for Christmas my friends and I are gathering the weekend before and having a big meal and exchanging gifts. My contribution will be cooking grits for everyone. Many have never had grits because they aren’t from the South. I’m excited I have such a great group of close friends to share the holiday with. Unfortunately I have to work Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas but I will get to go to Gumi to meet with a few others in the area to spend Christmas Eve night with each other and wake up together.

Next Wednesday is my birthday. Is makes me sad that I won’t be home for it but We are celebrating this weekend (Gumi/Daegu) and next weekend (Seoul). I’m going to make it the best I can. The last two birthdays weren’t too exciting. I turned 21 on a Sunday, so Greenwood’s Blue Laws put s stop to that night early. My 23^rd birthday was spent in the library studying for a Spanish test. So needless to say I am ready for a great night to celebrate my birth and to becoming older. Ahh 23.. sounds so mature.. that is scary!!!

Something else I am looking forward to is BoYoung (Lander Office of International Programs) coming to Korea! She will be in Daegu with her family. So I will get to see her to catch up and have a piece of Lander with me.

As Christmas is quickly approaching I find myself getting sad but then I remember how lucky I am. I miss my family and they miss me but I am still loving my life here. I am so thankful for my friends here, because we are all in the same position. This is many of our first Christmas away from home so as the song says, “I get my with a little help from my friends.”

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and are getting your Christmas shopping done. I can’t wait to get packages from home with my birthday and Christmas gifts!!!

These are pictures from the Sokcho weekend. 

Here is the video link from the school festival.

Seongju Elementary

Here is a quick recap of my last few weeks

Ok, so yeah it has been a few weeks since my last update. I blame it on the day end and day out routine that doesn’t change up too much but still is exhausting. My week days consist of waking up between 6:15 and 7:00 depending how cold it is and how much time I feel I need to get ready for school. I am at school before 8:30 and teaching my first class at 9. at 4:30 I am already headed home. During the day I make all sorts of plans in my head, but it gets dark at 5:30 so the plans go down the drain once I get home and regroup. It is starting to get really cold here, so once I am inside I don’t like leaving unless I am meeting others in my town for dinner.

The past few weekends have been spent with my normal crew of 10-12 other EPIK teachers. We can’t wait to get together on Friday evenings and the weekends do not last long enough. The past few I have been in Gumi and Daegu (they are 30 minutes apart on the train). Last weekend I went to Gumi for one last meal at Waegook Cook. This is the place I have mentioned before that is a western restaurant/bar. Unfortunately the owner is in very bad health so they were forced to close. I will greatly miss Friday nights at Waegook. All of the foreigners in the area will too. Now we will just all have to gather earlier at Corona, the foreign bar in Gumi. It is one of those places that everyone knows your name. I know that sounds a bit like Cheers, but it is true. Once you meet someone once you are part of the Gumi circle.

Last Saturday after a long night at Corona we went to Busan. There was supposed to be a big fireworks festival, but unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate. It rained for 14 straight hours. I mean poured without stopping. So the fireworks were postponed until Sunday night. Sadly we all had to return home because we are grown ups and can’t skip out on Mondays like in college.

We did not let the rain put a “damper” on a great night though. We all ordered animal onesies. Yes, adult pajamas that are animals. I ordered a fox. We had many different animals. We were a walking zoo. People on the streets were stopping us to take pictures, kids were yelling out car windows, it was crazy. We were famous.

We sat on the beach looking at the ocean and bridge that was lit up beautifully for a few hours just enjoying the night with friends. Yes, still in costume.

Sunday morning we woke up and it was absolutely gorgeous, one of the best days for weather I’ve had here. We grabbed a late breakfast/early lunch and all sat on the beach just enjoying the weather. Having the sun beaming down was so nice, as Vitamin D is very hard to come by now that winter is coming.

As I am into my 3^rd month here in Korea I am continuing to fall more and more in love with it. There are days hat I do question it, usually Mondays when I have 6 classes of 6^th graders. They are the spawn of Satan most Mondays. But this week they were angels. But then there are those times that I just look around and think, “Dang, I am so lucky to have this opportunity. To live and teach in a foreign country, to make a difference in peoples lives, to be making money (that is great in Korea too) and to have met some of the most amazing friends from all over.”

Everyday I have little thoughts about things I want to blog about, but there is no way to possibly remember them or explain them. For example:

At lunch I always wonder what I am eating and what is in the soup… I eat it anyway.

There are days that students pet my hair like I am a dog because it is so different from theirs. The students always want to stare at my eyes because they are “blue/green/grey”… not like theirs.

My co-teachers sometimes pull a ninja move and disappear and I don’t see them until the next day.

Teachers and students compliment me on how nice I look and how well I am dressed. Not sure how to take it because some day I feel like a bum but they still compliment me… which brightens my days!

The lady at my kimbap restaurant treats me like family, one day she brought me a bowl of pasta salad (not typical at this restaurant)… I could tell it was homemade just for her family. She must have known I would love it.

College football… oh how I miss you. Keeping up with it via the internet just isn’t the same… but GO DAWGS!!!!

I always hope I am on the right bus/train and pray taxi drivers understand me when I am in Daegu.

Ok so enough rambling…

This evening (Friday) I am headed to Gumi (surprise!!)… but we will leave at 4:20 to go to Sokcho. It is in the northern province, yes bordering N Korea. There we will hike with 75 or so others. I am looking forward to this and the beautiful scenery. The leaves are starting to change colors here and it is gorgeous. So my next blog I promise to have pictures of the trip!!!

Love you all!!

Christmas is coming, I would love, love, love surprises (and grits, because I want to cook them for all of my non-southern friends. I’ll introduce them to greatness and perfection!)

A wonderful weekend leads to a wonderful week!!

Ok so my blogs have become far and few. I apologize. My week days are the same from day to day, just teaching different grades. But I will back up to last weekend. I ended up staying in Seongju last Friday night to relax and prepare for a busy/crazy Saturday. So Saturday morning I woke up super early and made my way to Gumi to meet friends there to get the bus to Andong. Two of us got a bus before the other two; unfortunately we were gambling when got on the bus. It ended up being the non direct bus. So the hour trip took two hours. Luckily the seats were super nice, reclining all the way back and with a leg rest like a recliner. So we didn’t complain too much.

We finally made it to Andong and met up with the others. We headed off to the Mask Festival. When we arrived we were reunited with our big group of friends. 12 of us in total, we travel in a pact obviously.

At the festival we all made our own mask and walked around. We dined on great vendor food. Mostly consisting anything and everything you could put on a stick. Including a corndog that was covered in French fries, better known as a heart attack on a stick.

That afternoon we took a bus ride to Hanoe Village. A few of us decided to take the short hike to the top of a cliff. From here we could see the whole village. It was a nice view. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay there to see the sunset because the fireworks show started just after. So all of my friends and I sat on the beach area of the lake and watched the sun set together. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

The fireworks wasn’t like we expected. They had what they called a rope firework. It was stretched across the little lake area and ended at the top of the cliff. It burned slowly but looked like a sparkler. Really cool!

After the show we had to wait around at the bus stop for the bus back to town. So a few of us decided to give everyone a little concert and sing along with our iPods and of course dance. I have the best group of friends, we are always having fun no matter where we are.

The bus finally came and we went back into Andong. It was Shirley’s birthday so we all shared a great ice cream cake and the headed to a bar. There we ordered different flavors of Soju punch. Pretty awesome hangout for sure. After finishing drinks we headed to the norabang as always. Most of the group actually feel asleep while a handful of us did the entertaining.

The entertainment was not over though. In Korea they have what they call jjimjilbangs. This is basically a public bath house. Saturday night we arrived to late to shower so we just changed into the pajamas they gave us and found a nice place on the floor with 100 of our now closest Korean friends. After only a few hours of sleep we woke up and started the experience. Male and females have different shower areas.

I will explain the steps.

1. Go into your locker room and strip down to your birthday suit.

2. Head into the shower room.

3. Sit down on stools and wash your body and hair. At this station you saw other scrubbing each others back like they were monkeys or something.

4. There were 4 different jacuzzi type pools all a different temp. So we started with the hottest and slowly moved through all to the coldest and then repeated.

5. Shower off once again.

6. Dry off and put your clothes on.

Yes, all of the ladies in the shower room was completely necked. It is a common thing to do here when traveling or for Koreans on the weekends. They acted like it was nothing new. But they did watch our reaction very closely. They found amusement in our first experience.

The girls then met back up with the boys to hear about their shower time. It was an enlightening experience for all for sure. After a quick breakfast we walked back to the festival for a few last minute things.

The trip home was better than going, we got the direct bus and slept the entire ride. I finally made it back to Seongju from Gumi after having to wait and wait on the train and bus. Timing is the hardest part of public transportation.

This week has been wonderful!! Classes have gone rather well. I no longer stress out. I plan lessons but always change them completely at least twice before I walk into the classroom. I braved internet shopping here so now I have a cute new pair of boots and two sweaters. On Thursday I went ice skating with the 3rd graders. This has been my best week so far because I haven’t had any “bad days” with school. All of the kids seemed to behave very well and we had a field trip.

Today is Friday, I am planning on staying here tonight and probably going to Gumi for atleast dinner with friends tomorrow. I can’t stay in Seongju all weekend. I would go bat crazy. It is such a small town I am always ready to go to bed by 8. Sad, I know, but relaxing.. so it makes the weekends even better.

I promise to start getting better with my blogs and putting pictures up.

A week after Seoul trip... Still recuperating..

I wrote this Friday, October 5th... 

 Last Friday evening I headed out to Gumi like most Friday evenings. Once I arrived the normal festivities started by going to Waegook Cook for dinner and Corona Bar afterwards.

Unfortunately we had to catch a 7:17 AM train to Seoul. So I struggled to wake up after having very little sleep. The train ride lasted around 3 hours. We arrived in Seoul around 11:30, just in time to get an early lunch.

After getting our subway tickets we went to our hostel. It happened to be in Russia Town, a bit weird at first but we soon got over it because the hostel was very easy to get to from the subway.

Saturday afternoon the ones of us there already explored. We found this crazy carnival ride. It spun around and tilted and bounced all at the same time, and it did not have seat belts. You just had to hold on for dear life and pray not to lose your grip. The next day all of our arms were sore.

At this point I was exhausted from very little sleep the night before so a few of us decided to head back to the hostel and take a nap while other shopped. I ended up napping for around 5 hours. I woke up just in time to get ready for our first night out in Seoul with all 12 or so of us.

We took the subway to Hongdae, it is a big area for bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants. We went to a few different ones before we decided a better option for the night would be to go to a Norabang (karaoke). We found a super cool one that has actually been featured in celebrity shows in Korea. It has marble floors, great couches and lots of instruments to accompany our “amazing” voices.

Sunday we spent the day doing the tourist thing. We went to the Grand Palace and Namsan Tower, both of which I’d been to last year. But still super cool because I knew what it was. We went to the tower around sunset so it was a beautiful sight. (I’m at school now, I will upload pictures later of it.) Last summer it was raining the day we did these tours so it was a much better experience this time.

That evening after dinner we called it an early night, we all wanted to feel like a human being before going to the amusement park on Monday morning. Monday we got to Lotte World (this was my 3^rd time going, but best time I’ve had) around 10:30. We broke off into two groups to appease every ones taste in rides. Lotte World is the Disney world of Korea. Half is inside and half is outside. It is really cool. All of us 22-27 year olds could act like little kids and not be looked at like we were weird.

After a good nap we all got ready and headed to an American style restaurant. I had chicken wings and RANCH, yes RANCH dressing!!! They were amazing!!! After dinner we went back to the Norabang we’d went to Saturday night. After an hour of singing and drinks we headed out to a great club. The clubs all are at least two stories. So you can look down on the floor and see others while dancing in the balcony areas. It was a wonderful night for everyone.

Tuesday, our last day in Seoul. I woke up thinking it would be just a laid back day of touring. Little did I know the options were shopping or hiking. Shopping in Seoul mean battling crowds. So I chose hiking. Five of us (Daniel, Beth Ann, Courtney, Micah and I) set out for an exhausting adventure. It was a 3.4 kilometer hike to the top of Buhkansan Mountain. It took around 2.5 hours to get to the top, we lost track of time. It was very grueling. But once we got to the top it was totally worth it. We could see all over Seoul. It has to the highest peak in Seoul. Elevation was 800 meters.

Koreans are serious about their hiking, we laughed at how decked out they were in all of their gear, boots, backpacks and hiking sticks. Little did we know it was all for show. Beth Ann sprained her ankle on the way down. Two good Samaritans came along the way and helped us out giving us wrap and spraying her ankle with anti-swelling spray. No matter the language barrier, hurt looks the same and the kindness of a stranger can make your day all better.

After getting back to the hostel we barely had enough time to shower and get ready to meet everyone for Mexican. Yes, we found an amazing Mexican restaurant. After dinner we found a sports bar that had foosball and pool tables. It reminded me of Sports Break in Greenwood, kind of nice to have a slice of home.

It was cool to get to hang out in a more western style setting with all of my great friends. Some were ready to head back to the hostel while others wanted to go out with a bang in Seoul. So most of us headed out for yet another crazy good night of dancing.

Leaving Seoul we were all beat, dead tired, feeling horrible but leaving with amazing memories. I could not have asked for a better group of friends here. We are all so thankful to have met one another. And we tell each other often how grateful we are for each other. God really knew what he was doing when he placed us here in Korea together.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we are going to Andong for a big Mask Festival. It is a pretty big deal. So I will have great stories to tell from it. It is also Shirley’s Birthday, so I know we will have a lot of fun for that too!!

Love ya’ll