One year Complete

So this week was my one year anniversary of arriving in Korea. I still love everything about Korea. I do get frustrated every now and then because it seems like people don't fully understand everything I say, but its a part of being in a foreign country. I am almost always confused about something, but for me, I think that is a good thing. I lived most of my childhood not challenging myself to do anything. If you knew me in school, you probably know I didn't study and I did my homework during my classes. I didn't study because I didn't really have to as long as I did the work, not too mention I didn't know how to study, and I hated the task of doing it. I never really had a challenge. Now, I live everyday in a challenge. Its a challenge to understand things. Its a challenge to understand people's feelings because they don't express them here. Its a challenge to learn the language and the culture more. Its a serious challenge to learn the manners and the social rules to go out with people. But I have never met a person, that never wanted to see me again because I forgot to give them water first at the table. It can be a bit embarrassing at times because they correct you in front of everyone, and of course, they all laugh. Its fun for me because its new, and its fun for them because I act like a Korean child even though I am an adult. Most people love teaching me about their culture and traditions. Most of the Koreans I have met have adopted me as part of their family, and they treat me as such. It is an honor for me to have met such wonderful people in such a short period of time. The hardest part of living in Korea is that everyone leaves. The past three weeks have been the hardest for me yet because I absolutely hate saying goodbye. Many of my younger brothers at the gym were called to serve in the army this past month. I knew Tae Su, Song Sok, and Simpson would leave this month, and I knew it would be hard for me, but I didn't know that Du Song, Jin Taek, and Seung Gil would go too. Tae Su and Song Sok were my best friends. It was really, really hard for me to see them go. They were really the only ones to take their time to show me things, and we would hang out after. I really miss them already. I don't think they will come back to Daejeon and that's what makes it so hard for me. This past week the foreigners that I worked with this past year left. No one decided to stay except for Max and me. So I had to say goodbye to them too. Also, this week many of the other foreigners I have become friends with this past year have left to go back home or to other places. I also have many Korean friends that graduated from college and are trying to find jobs overseas or have already found jobs overseas. This past weekend alone I had four goodbye parties that I attended. It was very hard for me emotionally. It has been hard for me at work lately too because Max and I have had to cover the classes the other foreign teachers used to teach. It has been stressful because we are supposed to make lesson plans for our new classes, talk to our Korean partner teachers about our new classes, train the new teachers, prepare them to take over our classes, prepare ourselves to take over the new classes, and at the same time finishing the curriculum for our current classes. On Monday, I only had one twenty minute break between afternoon and morning classes, and that was used to get the books I required for the afternoon classes I was substituting for. One time during the day, the Vice Principal came to find me while I was teaching one of my regular classes; apparently, they scheduled me to substitute in a class during the time I was teaching my regular class. She told me that I was supposed to be in the other class, and I told her that I have taught this class all year and asked her which class she wanted me in. Seriously, I cannot teach in two different classrooms at once; don't get angry with me when I didn't set up the schedule. This month has definitely been stressful and overwhelming, but I think it will be worth it. The rest of the year should be amazing. I have the same age group for morning classes that I had this past year, and I have the baby class. The baby class is so cute! I'm excited! I think I have good afternoon classes as well. Now, if only I can get through the rest of this week. Thank goodness we had Independence Day today and got the day off. I don't think I could have done this everyday this week!

Christmas in Daejeon

Its funny being in a country that has couple's holidays so frequently. Korea has a couple's holiday almost every month! Its odd that Christmas is even considered a couple's holiday instead of a family holiday. Its definitely interesting being single in a country such as this. I love that the singles go out and hang out together, and we all have a lot of fun. Unfortunately, some people had too much fun on Christmas Eve and so Christmas Day was quite boring for me. I just laid around doing nothing. It was a bit difficult especially since it was my first Christmas being without my family. I was kind of hopeful because I had made so many plans with people, but they were all too sick. I really wished that I had just gone home for Christmas even though $2,000 is a lot of money to spend for such a short time. Couple's holidays suck especially when you have to spend them alone! Right, right, I mentioned in my last blog that I had met a guy that I really enjoy being with, and the truth is he's still that guy that I really enjoy being with. But just like any other relationship I've ever been in, I have no idea what is going on. I am totally confused. Is it so hard to put your heart out on the line? Is it too much to ask to take a chance on me? Am I ever going to be that person that someone is willing to take the risk of being hurt? If my mom were here, she would hug me and assure me there was such a guy and I should be patient. She would say that if a guy can't see that I'm worth so much more than that; then he doesn't deserve me anyway. The truth is she's not here. The truth is there may never be that person for me. The reality is I may only have friends the rest of my life, and somehow I'm kind of okay with that. The friends that I have now are amazing! They are family. It doesn't matter to them that I am a foreigner. It doesn't matter to them that I can't speak Korean. It doesn't matter to them that my values, my views and my goals in life are a little bit different. It doesn't matter to them; they still love me, they still trust me, and they still would do anything for me. To know that there are people like that, it gives me hope that I will be happy the rest of my life no matter what the outcome is. For people like that, I am thankful. I am truly happy to have friends like that in my life. Because of people like that, I want to stay in Korea for a very long time.

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.