Chutnoon, Birthdays and Turkeys...

So sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. My past two weekends were spent in Seoul celebrating birthdays, so I haven't had a chance to sit down and get something written. This month we have had 6 staff birthdays, so it seems there has always been a party to attend. The weekend of the 25th, I went to Lotte World with Gail and Jennifer to celebrate their birthdays (the 20th and 14th respectively). Koreans are so funny about being in the sun, or being cold that I am not at all surprised that they have an indoor theme park. There are 4 floors inside, the bottom floor being an ice rink. Inside there are a few rides and restaurants and arcades. There is another section "Magic Island", which is outside and houses the 5 or 6 bigger rides. We spent most of the day there and then headed to On the Border mexican restaurant for dinner. It is always such a treat to have cuisine other than Korean. Not that I dislike Korean food, but having it all week long for lunch really makes you long for something else. We came back and spent Sunday recovering.

This past week we had what is called in Korean "chutnoon". It means the first snow. Last week it was quite cold and was -5C a few mornings. On Thursday the 20th, it was quite cold all day and had that "pre-snow" sky. It was only forecast as a slight chance, so I wasn't really thinking it would come. But it did! On and off for the rest of the afternoon. Just a dusting on the ground, since it was already wet, but it was snow! Supposedly, we will have quite a lot here in the mountains in the next few months. There are quite a few ski resorts in this area. I am roughly at the same latitude as Washington DC, so the weather here is quite similar. It has warmed up a bit this week, but still is down to freezing at night. Most of you know, I am happiest when it is 90F outside, so the months of cold ahead will be rough (especially without my bathtub!!)

This Saturday, we went into Seoul to celebrate Sarah's 30th bday. It was lots of fun going out for Indian food, singing Karaoke and hanging out. Gail and I went to Costcos the next day to find some Thanksgiving food. I found the frozen, imported USA turkeys....for $70!! Needless to say, it will be the first Thanksgiving of my life that I will not be having turkey. Turkey is not available here at all, not even in deli slices. So, I may be roasting a chicken on Saturday. (sniff) Oh well...just let me take this opportunity to say to you all that I hope this Thanksgiving you remember how truly blessed we all are. Not to say that I am not blessed here in Korea...I have a job, friends, food, shelter, and only 3 months to go!! But I do hope that most of you are with family or loved ones on Thursday. Remember that we all live in the greatest nation on Earth. I am thankful for each and everyone of you. God Bless.

Nose to the Grindstone...

Hi Everyone! Hope you are all recovered from all the election hoopla this week. It is what is is, so let's all move forward together. I was watching the race closely while I was teaching, and the results came in at lunchtime here. It is interesting to note that the middle school boys here at camp last week were quite interested in the results. Obama is quite the international celebrity. I was impressed by both the speeches and was able to limit my exposure to only that. (thank goodness I haven't had to watch the breaking down of every vote that I am sure CNN is still working on!!)
The countdown is at 7 weeks until Christmas and 10 teaching weeks. I am not exactly sure when I will be able to come home. Officially, my contract ends on March 1, but I am hoping to have a little bit of vacation left over to cash in. We had a teacher leave abruptly 2 weeks ago (without notice) so we are short staffed again. All of us are just so worn out and resigned to the fact that we have to do what we have to do....just keeping our nose to the grindstone and our eye on the countdown.
The past 2 weekends have been quiet for me. Lots of rest, which I need. This Friday night, we went to see the new James Bond, which surprisingly opened here a week before it opened at home! It was good...typical Bond. No award winner of course, but great entertainment. This month is FULL of birthdays. Friday was my friend (and program coordinator) Alice's birthday. This next Friday is Jennifer's. The following Thursday is Gail's and the Sunday after that is Sarah's. Next weekend, we will be spending the day Saturday at Lotte World, a theme park in Seoul for Jenn and Gail's celebration. The following Saturday we will be heading back to Seoul for dinner and dancing for Sarah. Hopefully, I can keep up.
The teaching is going OK. We have had middle school boys for the past 2 weeks, and have them again next week. They are challenging, but can be quite fun sometimes. The kids all become such a blur week after week. I am teaching Library, Broadcasting and Korean Culture this rotation, none of which I am passionate about. But, like I said, I am just focused on the countdown.
I know this is not the most exciting post. I hope I will have more to write next time. (with pics) Please don't count my lack of news against me and not send me emails with your news. Even the smallest of occurrences is fun for me to hear about. I miss you all...

Falling Through Month #8

Hey All- hope everything stateside is going well and you aren't ready to scratch your eyeballs out from all the campaign madness. We do get a little bit of it here, but since I don't watch TV, I am able to escape most of it. My absentee ballot has already been sent in, so I have already done my part. Hope you all remember to get out and vote.

The past couple of weeks have been quite a roller coaster. On Friday, October 17th, I was on a LIVE Korean talk show discussing our camp program. I went to bed the night before with laryngitis, so I wasn't sure if I was even going to get a chance to do it, but I squeaked through it. (literally) They just asked questions about what we taught and some of the challenges we face, etc. I still haven't seen it as I wasn't able to navigate the website in Korean. I am supposed to be sent a copy of the interview, so I will see what I can do to get it posted somewhere. I am sure you are all dying to see it (ha ha).

After finishing the interview, I waited for Gail and Jenn to meet me in Seoul so we could head down to Busan. Busan is the 2nd largest city in Korea and is located on the southeastern coast of the peninsula. We took the KTX, which is the express train and made the trip in 3 hours. We arrived in Busan around 8 pm and headed for our hotel. We stayed in the Haeundae Beach area and it was really nice. If I were wanting to stay another year in Korea (don't worry Mom, I'm not), I would get a job in Busan instead of Seoul. Really it has all the conveniences of Seoul, with less than 1/2 the people plus BEACHES! It was quite pretty the day we were there. We wandered around the city for most of the day Saturday and then headed to one of the beaches to secure our spot for the fireworks festival that night. Honestly, I have seen some great fireworks shows in my life, but this was so far beyond anything I have ever seen. It was WORLD CLASS. We were sitting on a beach, looking out into a harbor, with a beautiful bridge spanning the water. The fireworks were launched from the bridge as well as two boats out in the water. The show was about 45 minutes choreographed to music. I was honestly moved and blown away by the show. It will surely set the bar for shows in the future that I see. The next day, we headed back to the train station for lunch before heading back to Seoul.

Monday started another week with the co-ed middle school students from the same school as the week before. The kids this week were 20X more well behaved than the prior week. It gives us hope for next week, when we have one more week with the same school. I am teaching Mom's Kitchen and Music Club this week. I really enjoy the kitchen. Of course, I love cooking, so I would. We are making popcorn balls with m & m's so they are a hit with the kids.

The countdown stands at 8 more weeks until my parents arrive for Christmas and 13 more weeks total of teaching. The pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel is now golf ball size. Thank you to everyone who has sent email. I am sorry I am not the fastest at replying, some nights the last thing I want to do is reply what's been going on.

This Friday, we had a "workshop" in Seoul for the English teachers where they took us to the big bookstore in Seoul and then to a performance called Miso. It was quite good and the best "traditional" show I have seen here in Korea. I spent most of the day in today as I am trying to rest and kick my cold once and for all. Take care and send me news from your end.

All that Jazz...

Hey Everyone! Still hanging in here in Korea and the countdown is getting louder and louder. I can tell that time is moving (very quickly on the weekends, but like molasses during the week). Here we are already in the middle of October and are down to 11 weeks until Christmas and 14 teaching weeks left. Since the job is simply so draining and stressful, I am really just focusing on squeezing every ounce of fun that I can on the weekends. The past weekend was the Jarasum International Jazz Festival hosted in little old Gapyeong (the city that I live in). We were quite excited as this is the only event this city is known for, and we were going to be here for the festivities. The festival started on Thursday night and we lucked out with a 4-day week. That Friday (10/3) was a national holiday. We went to dinner on Thursday night with a big group of us and decided to wait until Friday to go to the Jazz Fest. The main acts started around 4 pm and we arrived shortly thereafter. Now truth be told, I am not a huge jazz fan and really don't know much about it, but as anyone who knows me well can tell you, I LOVE to listen to live music. There is nothing I love more than to sit in the grass and lay back and listen to music. And so that is what we did. We stayed until the end at 10 pm and really enjoyed it all. We did get quite cold by the end of the night and made plans to return on Sunday night a little more prepared.
So Sunday night we went back with 2 boxes of chicken, a 7-month anniversary cake, wine, cheese, crackers and blankets. We were set. There were great performances by all the acts. We really enjoyed ourselves.
Teaching this week was OK. We had elementary school kids, who could not be sweeter, but are difficult to control. I am teaching Clinic and Restaurant. I will teach that station again next week, but we will have middle school boys and girls. Hopefully, they will be quiet and smart! (ha ha) We had the Korean Educational Broadcast Channel come to the camp this week to do a profile on our school and program. Since I am the head teacher of the student program, I will be going to the studio this Friday for an interview. If there is a link to the story when it is televised, I will post it here. Should be interesting.
This Friday, we had a team-building event on Nami Island. This is a small island just about 15 minutes away that is quite the tourist attraction. It is really pretty with lots of open spaces just to walk around in. We had a treasure hunt and then a game of kickball. We only had about half an hour to walk around, so Gail and I decided to go back today and spend more time wandering. It was really pretty. I will post some pics as soon as I get them uploaded.
Next weekend, we are planning to go to Busan which is a port city on the southern tip of Korea. I don't know how much there is to do there, but I wanted to see it before I left and I think next month it will be getting too cold for me to want to do anything!
Keep the prayers and the emails coming. I miss you all SO MUCH. xxoo

Countdown to Christmas

SO sorry it has taken me a while to get back on here to post. As you may know, I had company here in Korea in the form of my sister Julie for about 10 days. She was able to take some time off and we had a holiday here called Chuseok. It is like the Korean Thanksgiving. All of the teachers were so in need of a break, and it was great that everyone was able to get some time away. Julie arrived here on Sept. 12 and we did some really fun things. We went to the Seoul Zoo on Saturday and spent the day walking around there. It was a huge zoo with a lot to see. It was disappointing to see the behavior of some of the Koreans. They were shouting at the animals and throwing food into the cages. No zoo workers around to stop them either. Sad. Anyway the next day we wandered around in Insadong with my friend Sarah. Monday, we headed back to Gapyeong so Julie could see my school. We left here Tuesday afternoon and headed to Sokcho. This is the beach town I went to back in May, but we went to Seoraksan National Park, just outside of Sokcho. It was a little past "summer season" so the place seemed quite deserted. Which is always nice to get away from the usual crowds you find everywhere. We spent Thursday up on the mountain walking around some really beautiful sights. Thursday, we headed back into Seoul. Friday, we went on a tour of the DMZ. It was something I wanted to do while I was here. All I can say is that I can check it off my list. It wasn't that cool or inspiring. In fact, I felt like it was a lot of silly propaganda about how the ultimate goal is for Korea to be one united country again and I just don't see how that can happen anytime in the near future. So, for the time being, South Korea can profit off of tours of this area while the people of North Korea starve to death. Just kind of all around sad. Saturday was colder and rainy, which was a bummer as we had decided to check out a outdoor traditional performance. We went anyway and it was a covered amphitheater so we were able to check it out. It was some sort of mask dance story, which was pretty difficult to understand. Anyway- we went to a dance comedy show that night that was a lot more fun. Sunday, we headed back to the airport and got Julie on the plane to take the LONG flight home. It was a great visit, but of course bittersweet.
So, I have started the countdown to the next big goal which is Christmas when my parents come. It is 12 weeks away. Seems like a long time to me...but hopefully it won't be too drawn out. I am really praying that God lines up a job for me when I return. The economy doesn't seem to ready to turn around anytime soon, so there is a bit of worry. Keep your ears open for me!
This week, we went back to teaching elementary school kids, which was a welcome change from the stretch of middle school boys we had prior. I am on the Game Lab station, which is a quite easy class to teach.
I hope all of you are doing well. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. Take care of yourselves and each other.

Running on the Downhill Slope

HOORAY! I have reached the 6 month plateau and everything from here on out is a countdown. 19 more weeks of teaching. 23 more weeks until I am home. 10 more Bank and Post Office lessons forever. 15 more weeks until my parents come to visit. Lastly, 7 more days until Julie gets here to visit. I know all of these numbers seem small to you guys...but I am not quite there yet. It still seems like a L-O-N-G time until I see my dogters again. I REALLY miss my puppies. I miss them most when I come into my room and no one is at the door to greet me and at night when I go to bed and there is no one cuddled up at my feet. I know they are in good hands, but I can't wait to see them again.
Sorry for the lapse in posting. I was in Seoul last weekend for the Nike Human Race. It was a worldwide 10K run in 26 (?) major cities across the world, and Seoul happened to be one of them. It was all for charity and was a great experience. I didn't have much time to train for a truly competitive time, but I ran it in 70 minutes which was not too bad. (for an old lady like me ha ha) I ran it with Jennifer and Jessica (fellow teachers) and we all had a really good experience with the race. Of course I can run a 10K anywhere, but now I can say I ran one in Korea! And- I ran with hundreds of thousands of people across the world. Pretty cool. Of course, I wish I could have run in Austin, TX with Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey- but whatever. They did close off 2 major bridges in Seoul crossing over the Han River, so running there at sunset was something that not many people get to do. Sadly, I did not run with my camera, so I have no pics other than the ones posted here from pre and post race.
So, for most of this week I was pretty tired. We had a week of middle school boys again, so it was fun-filled. I am on the Arts and Crafts lesson, which I LOVE and I am sure I could teach that station all year long. But, it is paired with Bank and Post Office which is difficult to make fun and exciting for the kids. We have another week this week of middle school boys, which will be tough, but then A WHOLE WEEK OFF! Hooray! As I mentioned, my sis Julie is coming to visit. It is a national holiday on Monday the 15th called Chuseok. It is like the Korean thanksgiving. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult to get around with the entire country trying to get places.
Tomorrow, I am headed back into Seoul to celebrate Jessica's birthday, so that should be fun. I will try to get another post up this week sometime. Take care and keep sending the emails. They are truly the highlight of my days. i miss you guys (ALL OF YOU!)

Pictures from Vacation

Riding the cable car up to the Seoul Tower

A lantern fish tank at the COEX Aquarium

A view of Jungmun Beach on Jeju IslandLily Pads at Hallim Park on Jeju Island
At the top of Mount Halla on Jeju

Going up Mount Halla into the clouds


Austin mingles with the natives on Jeju
I think Austin really liked the Korean BBQ! (with Stanley)