Slacker

Yeah, I know. I haven't posted in forever! I'm such a slacker. Since it has turned really cold in Korea, I have become extremely lazy!!!! Seriously, I've even been slacking a bit in the gym department. I only went twice this week! I hate the cold weather!!!! But in my defense, I caught a cold from having to stand outside waiting for the bus. So you can't really expect me to want to go to the gym. However, it hasn't stopped me from hanging out with people!!! Hahaha. I always have energy for that! Have I mentioned lately how much I love Korea? So, here is whats new:

A few weeks ago, I met a really nice guy. We have so much in common its ridiculous! I didn't think I would find some one that shares so many of my likes and dislikes here in Korea, especially a Korean guy. We've gone out a few times, and I really had a great time each time. I am really looking forward to spending more time with him!

This past week was final exam week. When finals finished on Thursday, I went out with Alex and some of his students. I really enjoy hanging out with them! They are hilarious! We had so much fun! Alex always makes things fun! He has quickly become one of my favorite people to hang out with on the weekends!!!! Next to Douchi of course! But Douchi has been kind of boring lately since she's always studying! :.(
Although, last weekend she took a break from studying to go eat lunch with me and Ohma. I love Ohma! She owns a coffee shop in Hannam Dae called Nulbo's. They have the most amazing waffles, and of course delicious coffee. Douchi introduced me to her. She's such a lovely woman. She's the same height as my mom so when I stoop to hug her it reminds me of my mom. She's funny because she says I'm the exact opposite of her son so somehow that reminds her of him. Hahaha. I don't know! But back to Alex, hahaha, he called me on one of my breaks this week while Tommy, one of my students (he says he's my boyfriend ;D), was sitting in my lap. Of course, Tommy got jealous I was talking to someone else, and he started copying everything I said loudly! Finally, I asked Alex if he would talk to him, and of course, he said yes! It was too cute! Tommy said, "Hello, my name is Tommy". It was adorable. Then, he became shy! But Alex was a trooper! And it really made Tommy's day that he talked to Melanie Teacher's friend!

Of course there's Sun, my Korean sister. She's such a wonderful person for sharing her family with me! I really enjoy her nieces; especially, since my nieces and nephew are so far away! This past weekend, one of her nieces celebrated her first birthday. She was so adorable! Her cheeks were soooo chubby! It was ridiculously cute! Apparently, first birthdays here in Korea are a very big thing. It was a lot like Nicole Teacher's wedding reception. There was a buffet table with a lot of nice food. They played a slide show of professional pictures. They had a photographer taking pictures. They played a game where the baby picked up various toys that represented her career choice. She picked up a gavel which represented that she would become a Judge. She also picked up a 50,000 won representing prosperity. It was such a wonderful experience. I am so thankful to Sun for inviting me to such events!

I have met a lot of amazing people here in Korea, and I am truly blown away by their thoughtfulness. I am always meeting new people here, and I am always falling in love with them! I love everything about them and of course Korea! It has been quite a year, and I hope to spend many more here in Daejeon!

Thanksgiving in Korea

Ever since I can remember, I have spent Thanksgiving day just relaxing, watching television, and eating a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Last year was a little different, I was taking care of my grandmother; so I had to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her and my aunt and uncle. This year, Thanksgiving Day didn't feel like Thanksgiving at all. I had to wake up early and work on Thanksgiving. Hahaha. I don't even remember what I had for lunch. I didn't eat dinner; although Douchi and I went out for some pastries from Paris Baguette.

Although Thanksgiving Day was uneventful, we had Thanksgiving dinner at school on Friday. It was Activity Day, and this month's activity was Thanksgiving. We had a huge feast of gimchi, doekpoki, kimbop, pizza, chicken, fruit, cake, pie, and many other dishes. Nothing was traditional about it, but it was fun and delicious. The kids loved it, and they went back for seconds, thirds, fourths, and even fifths! Hahaha. They were walking around asking people to feel their bellies because they were so full. It was too cute! So I told them to do some stretches that would help them feel better! They loved it! They kept begging to do it again!

On Saturday, Douchi and I went to Michi's house in Daegu for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It was absolutely amazing!!!! There was a turkey with actual stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, pumpkin pie and cake! Everything was so good!!!! We ate and ate because most of this stuff you cannot find in Korea. Its only once a year. After we ate, we decided to work it off by going dancing. It was so much fun! In Daejeon, there's only a couple of dance clubs, and the music isn't very good for dancing so we don't like to go to them. So we were excited that we were able to hit up some of the clubs in Daegu. I love dancing, and even though there was no one really there, it was fun just being with friends, listening to good music, and dancing!

This Thanksgiving, I did miss my family and my friends back home. I missed sitting at home in my pajamas watching the parade and football. However, I am very thankful for a wonderful life here in Daejeon. I have been blessed with amazing students that are so cute, joyful and full of life. I live in a beautiful and exciting city. I have a nice apartment. Best of all, I have many friends that I consider family. This year, I am thankful for destiny. I am thankful for courage. I am thankful that I had the courage to leave my entire life in America behind to have this amazing adventure in Korea. I have experienced so many new things. I have tasted so many new foods. No matter where life takes me, I know I will always remember Korea. There are things that I have learned in Korea that I will take with me the rest of my life. Like chopsticks, they are so useful!!! It makes it so much easier to eat noodles! Or using toilet paper to clean up everything instead of paper towels or napkins. Hahaha. I am pretty sure I could not live without Cham chi kim bop, and I will probably eat soup with every meal now. I am very thankful for the experiences I have had this year. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving!

Winding Down!

So at work this week, I had two open classes, and one additional meeting with parents. The past few weeks preparing for these open classes have been seriously stressful, but the hard work paid off. I think the classes went well. I believe my bosses are pleased...at least, I hope they are pleased. Anyways, so after all of that stress, I needed to wind down and have a little bit of fun with friends. This definitely was the weekend for that!

On Friday night, I met with Alex and Douchi and some of Alex's friends. It was a lot of fun! Of course, we went out to eat. Alex's friends are Korean, but they speak English very well. It was amazing. Two of the guys are the same age as me which is a good thing in Korea! Hahaha. I think we all hit it off pretty well so I definitely want to hang out with these guys again. After eating, we went noreabonging. Is that a shocker? Hahahaha. Most nights end at the noreabong. One of the guys and I had to go to a wedding on Saturday so we cut the night kind of short. Hopefully, we will be able to hang out again soon.

On Saturday, I went to one of the Korean teachers' wedding. The wedding was beautiful and she was such a gorgeous bride! The wedding was held at a wedding hall. When we arrived, Nicole was sitting in a room having her picture taken. We all walked in and took pictures with her. Apparently, all of the guests take pictures with the bride. It was interesting because the groom kept walking in and out. Koreans apparently don't have any superstitions about seeing the bride in her wedding dress. After Nicole had finished with the pictures, we moved into the ceremony hall. The wedding was amazing. They had a slide show of professional pictures of the bride and groom. They were really good pictures too! I couldn't believe how gorgeous these pictures were! The aisle the bride and groom walked down was more like a catwalk. It almost felt like we were at a fashion show and not at a wedding, but I kind of liked it! They had a fog machine so when the groom walked down the aisle, he walked through fog. When Nicole's Dad walked her down the aisle, they walked through fog. It was really interesting. After the wedding, we met in a reception hall with a buffet. The food was delicious. They had just about anything you could possibly want to eat! It was pretty sweet!

After the wedding, I relaxed a bit. I really had stayed out too long on Friday night, and so I was pretty exhausted. But, Sun invited me to hang out with some of her friends so I couldn't refuse. It was a lot of fun even though her friends were kind of shy. They spoke a lot of Korean so it was kind of hard to keep up. I can understand a bit if they speak slowly and enunciate, but it was a group of guys. I think in Korea, guys speak quicker than girls. I did understand a little so it was ok. Its really funny because apparently being single in Korea is an invitation for your friends to set you up. Hahaha, so every time I go out with Sun or even one of my other Korean friends its always all guys at the table...hahaha. Sometimes I feel like I'm on one of those dating game shows. I've met a lot of nice people though, but I really think they are too shy to act on anything. But I do enjoy meeting new people so its ok!

Today, Sunday, I've just relaxed a bit and ran a few errands. I realized yesterday at the wedding that my memory card for my camera was messed up. So I decided to go pick one up. Also, my bike tire went flat again sometime last week. I was debating whether I should just get a new tire or just get a new bike. I've been thinking about getting a new bike for awhile because my other bike only has 6 gears. So, it can be kind of slow when I'm riding to the gym. Plus, my back tire has gone flat at least 10 times now. It's never the front tire; it's always the back tire. So it can't be something I'm doing wrong, but I have to pay to get it fixed every time so it sucks. I asked for a new tire, but the guy insists he can fix it. But every time, it goes flat again. So I decided to just go for it and get a new bike. I figured with the distance that I ride everyday and with the length of time I plan to stay in Korea; I needed to get a better bike. It's nice. I spent a good deal of time today just riding around. I wanted to purchase it from a shop either close to home or work, and I lucked out because I found a place kind of in between. This bike doesn't have a basket like my other one; so I might still get the tire fixed on my old one and keep it for riding around town. Plus, the bar between the seat and the handle bars is kind of high so it would be difficult to wear a skirt and ride it. My other bike folded up which made it easier to carry up the stairs, but this one doesn't fold so I hope I am able to carry it up the stairs at the gym. Maybe I will get a better work out right? Hahaha. Here it is Sunday night, and I'm not ready for the weekend to end. I love the weekends! I love my students too; so it's not too painful waiting for the weekend to come.

No Rainbows and butterflies this week

After 8 months of being in Korea, it was bound to happen eventually. One of those weeks that nothing goes well. Let's start with Monday. Randomly after working until 5:15 on Monday/Wednesday/Friday since the beginning of school, my boss changes my schedule. Not a big deal, I don't mind, but no one told me and the fact that it changed with no discussion means someone complained. Whatever, I got over it. Then, on to Tuesday, one of my open classes got moved up to next week with my other open class. Leaving me only a week to prepare. Ok, I can deal right? On Wednesday, I find out that my boss is going to sit in on my classes on Thursday to observe my open class lessons. Wednesday at 6pm as everyone is leaving the office, I'm given a form that I am supposed to fill out for the open class observation. Thursday, the materials I had asked for a week ago were not purchased. I had to run across the street to purchase some myself which left me no time to fill out that form I was given at the end of the day on Wednesday. My boss didn't like that I didn't have it filled out, and he didn't like my lesson plans for either of my open classes. So, Thursday afternoon, I had to change both my lesson plans for my open classes so that the Assistant Director could observe my classes on Friday. Friday, she observed my classes and gave me some suggestions on what to do, but we both discovered one of my classes is no where near ready for the open class. So now, I have to do the open class lesson plan everyday until open class. This will put us behind in the books, and my partners are not going to be happy about that. Whatever, I'm doing the best I can, and they have to know that. Friday night, I found out that my Jiu Jitsu tournament was canceled because no other women wanted to compete. I was relieved about that at first because after this week at work I wanted to spend time with friends on Friday and Saturday nights which would put me a little behind on my sleep on Sunday. Friday night, I had promised kwanjangnim I would go out with them for a bit so I couldn't really go out with anyone else. Then, tonight, Saturday, everyone from the gym is resting for the tournament, and everyone else is out of town. I had plans with Yup, but he bailed at the last minute. I'm really kind of upset about that because I needed something to go right this week. Now, I kind of wish my tournament wasn't canceled. I was happy when 6pm came on Friday because I thought all of the bad stuff was over, but I guess not. Whatever, one bad week out of 8 months is not bad. I'm still in love with Korea; just not in love with certain people right now. Hahaha. Maybe this week will be better? Anyways, I'm going to the tournament tomorrow to support the guys. Hopefully it will be a good day!

Chungyang

Alright, this weekend was another fun packed weekend in Daejeon. Friday night, we went out for a bit with the gym. It was Mike's last night in Korea for a while so we went out for a bit. We just sat around and talked for a bit. Nothing too big. I was exhausted so I went home early.

On Saturday, I was able to sleep in for a bit before Sun picked me up. It felt good. I definitely needed some sleep! Hahaha. Sun and Wan Hee picked me up and took me to Sun's parents house in Chungyang. It was very relaxing. We had samgipsal and home cooked Korean dishes. I was super excited! I had never had such delicious gimchi! Sun's parents also have persimmon trees! They picked some persimmons for me! They were so good! I'd never had sweet persimmons before. I've only had the sour ones. I'm in love! Sun's nieces came over for a visit too. They were super cute! One even prepared an English song for me! It was the cutest thing ever! The oldest one (she's probably about 3) calls me Miguk Amni which means American sister. It was super cute. Sun told me they consider me family; her parents asked me to call them Ohma and Appa (Korean for mom and dad). They asked me if they could be my Korean family. It was so sweet!!! And they invited me to help make the gimchi for the winter! Yay!!!! I'm going to learn to make gimchi!!!!! After we got back to Daejeon, we hung out for a bit at Sun and Wan Hee's house for a bit. Some of their friends came over for a bit, and we sat and talked. Then, we went out noreabonging! Hahaha. It was another amazing performance! The guys were all super sweet. When I mentioned that it was cold, they all fought over who was going to give me their jacket. Hahaha. It was the sweetest thing ever. I'm pretty sure they only did it because Sun and Wan Hee told them to, but it was still super sweet. It was definitely a good evening! I really enjoyed hanging out with them!

Next weekend is my jiu jitsu tournament so I can't guarantee a post, but I will definitely try to post a little something to tell the outcome.

October 24th Weekend

So I didn't get back until late on Sunday night from the Jiu Jitsu Tourney; so I didn't get to post before the craziness of the week started. So I'm going to try to write as much about the weekend as I can remember. On Thursday night, we went out with the gym because it was one of the Korean guys last night in Daejeon. He is moving to Seoul because he is a police officer in the Korean army. He is really a sweet guy that speaks English very well, but he would never talk to me because he's super shy. Of course, on his last night in Daejeon, he opens up and starts talking. Hahaha. We went to Musa's another place that all of the workers recognize Douchi and me. We get special service! Hahaha. Then, we went noreabonging. The guys have amazing voices! If you have never been noreabonging with a Korean, you have to!!!! Every song is a performance! It's amazing!!!! I love it! I wish we could have stayed longer but it was a Thursday and most of us had to be at work in the morning.

Friday, as expected, I was super tired! I really wanted to take a nap on my breaks, but instead of resting like your supposed to do on your breaks, they asked us to set up for Halloween. I hate decorating with a lot of people. Everyone has there own opinion and nothing gets done. I was tired and grumpy because I only got 3 hours of sleep. On top of that, people kept popping the balloons and scaring the crap out of me! I hate balloons popping. Its the worst! Oh well, I survived; I'm not sure how, but I did. Which brings us to Friday night. Douchi and I wanted to go out for a short evening because we were both tired and Douchi had to be up early the next day. We met up with Alex and some of his friends for a bit before Douchi had to go home. I stayed out for a bit longer. One of the guys we hang out with from Hannam joined us late. After everyone else left, we stayed out even longer and talked. He's really sweet. It was starting to get really cold so he kept buttoning up my sweater around my neck...hahaha. He even walked me to the taxi carrying my bags. It was the sweetest thing ever especially since my bags are pink! Hahaha.

Saturday, I just wanted to sleep all day, but I couldn't because I had made a 10am hair appointment to get my haircut (yeah, I got home at 6am; I'm an IDIOT!!! hahaha). After my haircut, I was awake so I figured I would go to Costco. It wasn't busy at all. I guess Saturday before noon is the perfect time to go. When I got home, I was exhausted and I had to be up early on Sunday to go to the jiu jitsu tourney so I had decided to sleep. Is that possible on a weekend in Korea? Apparently not, Sun called me and invited me for dinner to meet with some of her friends. Of course, I told her I would. I can sleep when I'm dead right? Hahaha, jk. Although, I'm pretty sure I wasn't a whole lot of fun because I was falling asleep at the table. Hahaha, but I did last for a few hours. I was proud of myself. Sun noticed I was tired and suggested I go home early. Hahaha. I think that is the earliest I've gone home since I got to Korea.

Sunday, Kwanjangnim had told me to be at the gym at 6:30am, but every time we go somewhere we never leave until at least 30 minutes after he says we will leave. So I decided to get a little more sleep. I was getting ready when the guys started calling me at 6:15 when I wasn't at the gym. Say what? I told them I'd be there in a bit, but of course, there wasn't a taxi in Munnyeon Dong at that time. So I had to walk. I ended up meeting them at the bus station. Oh well, I got to the bus station in time, and we weren't late getting to the gym in Bucheon. The fights went really well. Of course the high schoolers started the tourney off. Song Won and Kim Won were in the same weight class and belt rank. There were several other boys in the same category. I think they sparred two players each before they had to spar each other for the gold and silver. Kim Won got the gold and Song Won took silver. It was the same way in the no-gi competition. Next, the older guys had their tourneys. Ki Jin took silver again (he wasn't happy about that, but he did well). Seung Young took one gold and one bronze. Seung Young busted his head open on one of his opponents teeth, he completed his matches with a bandage on his head, and that's possibly why he only took bronze in that competition. Mike took home a silver in gi, and he took home a gold in no-gi. Overall, our gym won four golds, four silvers, and one bronze. We won the entire tourney and took home the crystal trophy. Kwanjangnim was very happy, and we probably would have done some serious celebrating except we didn't get back to Daejeon until midnight. We were all exhausted from such a long day! But it was good! I was very proud of the guys!

Fighting Weekend

On Friday, Yun Ho and Song Wan both competed in the K-One Max fight in Gochang, South Korea. I was able to go to support them because our school had the day off. I was really excited that I was able to go because the whole gym has been looking forward to this fight for forever! I didn't know that Song Wan was competing as well until they started checking his blood pressure. I think both of the guys were dieting for this match. Yun Ho dieted for 12 days and lost 8 kg for this fight. I was shocked because he's already really skinny! When we got to Gochang, the guys went into a room to register. I decided to wait outside because they had to weigh in, and even though they are comfortable enough for me to be in the same room, I'm not comfortable. After weighing in, we were able to go for lunch. The guys didn't eat all day because of weigh in. We ate eel for lunch because it is the Korean power food. It looked absolutely disgusting, but it was really pretty good. After lunch, we walked around Gochang for a bit. They were having some sort of festival so we checked it out. We were trying to figure out what we were going to do all day because the fight didn't start until 6pm. The guys asked me if I wanted to go to a sauna room. I told them that they could go, but I would read a book outside. Then, they asked me if I wanted to go to a PC room. However, the way they said PC it sounded like they were saying fish. So I thought that they were talking about the place where they have the fish take off the callouses on your feet. I was like sure I don't care. I was a little surprised when we ended up in a PC room...hahaha. Here I thought that I was going to get a Korean pedicure and instead I spent the day on the internet. Oh well! Hahaha. After a couple hours though, I was seriously bored and tired of sitting so I told the guys I was going to walk around the city for a bit. One of the guys didn't like me going out on my own so he walked with me. It was a little awkward because his English isn't that good, and my Korean absolutely sucks! In a group, it doesn't really matter because I know someone else will do the talking, but one on one sometimes I feel like I have to choose simple phrases to use to make people feel more comfortable. It was ok though. We grabbed some coffee and looked in a few shops before meeting up again with the other guys. When we met up with the guys, it was time to go back to the gym for their medical check up. The paramedics checked their blood pressure to make sure they were in a good condition to fight. Yun Ho's blood pressure was super high so they kept checking it. We were the only ones left in the gym when they finally gave him the ok to fight. After the medical check up, Kwanjangnim, the coaches and I went for dinner while the guys were warming up for their fight. I asked one of the coaches to order for me because I wasn't familiar with the food, and they wanted me to choose quickly. Kwanjangnim thought I was being slow about choosing what food I wanted and told the other coaches. When I gave him a dirty look, he was surprised that I understood what was going on. Hahaha. Then, they started talking about how they went noreabonging the night before. So to confuse him even further, I asked him a question in Korean about the story they were telling. It was hilarious! However, I think I might have gotten myself in a bit of trouble because now Kwanjangnim thinks I understand more Korean than I actually do...so now he doesn't speak to me in English. Hahaha. After dinner, we went back to the gym because the fights were starting. This tournament actually had a good many women fighters. The coaches kept telling me that next year I was going to compete in the tourney. I told them they were going to have to train me more than they do in kickboxing in order for me to compete. From our gym, Song Wan competed first. He did really well, but as usual his opponent was bigger and stronger than he was. Kwanjangnim had to throw in the towel the first round. I hate seeing Song Wan lose because he is such an amazing kid. He improves so much between fights, but I think he gets put up against harder opponents each fight. Yun Ho's fight went better than Song Wan's. It was the hardest fight I've seen him fight. He had to go all three rounds with his opponent. At the end of the third round, they were tied so he had to go a fourth round. His opponent did a few illegal moves and was docked for it. However, one of those illegal moves left Yun Ho hurt badly. He finished the fight and won. But he was hurt too badly to compete in his final match. It really sucked to see him in so much pain. I couldn't do anything about it. Everything I tried to do he pushed me away (I think he didn't want me to baby him). It was so hard for me to just sit and watch him hurting.

We got back to Daejeon about midnight; so I called Douchi to see what she was up to. She was out with Elicus and the guys from the soccer team. So I met up with them for another epic evening! Hahaha. It was a lot of fun! Even if we didn't end up at the noreabong. Hahaha. The guys are hilarious, and they make every night out amazing! We only stayed out until 4am before we headed back to Douchi's. My keys got locked in the gym so I had to spend the night with Douchi.

On Saturday, I had to call Shiiki to see what time Kwanjangnim was going to be at the gym so I could get back into my house. The gym was supposed to be closed because of the fight and some renovations, but Kwanjangnim was going to be there for a bit. I was finally able to get my keys and go back to my place to clean for a bit before the girls arrived for the Daejeon Rock Festival. Some of Douchi's friends stayed at my apartment for the festival. They were really sweet girls, and we had so much fun with them. The festival turned out to be more foreigners than fun. So Douchi, Michi and I decided to go back to Hannam. The girls decided to stay for a bit. They called us later because the police shut the festival down because of noise complaints. It was really weird. They met up with us at Musa's in Hannam, and we definitely showed them a good time. I talked to some Korean guys they thought were hot, and I introduced them. It was fun! Musa was playing some really good music so we had to get up and dance which got the whole bar joining in the fun. It was hilarious! The girls were just excited that Musa served french fries, cheese sticks, and tater tots! Hahaha. Afterwards, we got a group of guys from Musa's to go noreabonging with us. However, the girls were not used to staying out as late as we normally do, so we went home pretty early at 3:00. By the time we got everything figured out and got home, it was 4am. One of the girls decided that she would prefer to be closer to the train station in the morning so she wanted to stay in a hotel. So, I had to help her find a taxi at 4am. The entire time we were looking for a taxi, she kept complaining about how the other girls were trying to tell her what to do. She certainly was not very appreciative of our hospitality. Oh well, the other girls were really sweet, and I would love for them to come back any weekend.

All in all, it was a good weekend. Next weekend, I'm supposed to go to Seoul for a concert with Douchi. It should be fun! Stay tuned!