ho ho ho!

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe I am actually finding time to write this! It's 2:30a.m. and at 4:15 I will be getting up-assuming I get some sleep- to fly to Boracay, Philippines for Christmas! This week has been extremely busy, so busy that I haven't even had time to be excited for my trip. Finalizing travel plans, Christmas parties and concerts with my kids, shopping, and packing have taken up all my time this week! I'm happy to say that my kids did a great job with their performance and were super cute singing Feliz Navidad!

Now that's all over, I'm packed and ready for the beach! I know I will miss being home for the holidays, but I'm excited for the experiences I will gain traveling. I just wanted to write a quick blog wishing everyone happy holidays! I'm thankful for all my friends and family who have been so supportive to me, it is definitely appreciated. I love you all! I will post pictures and stories from my trip as soon as I can. Take care!

Be merry!

the grinch really did steal christmas!

It's snowing as I write this! When it snows, I like to say we have acid snowflakes because of how bad the air is here! We have had a few snowfalls, but it never sticks. This past month has kept me extremely busy! There are so many things to do around the holidays! I've been busy getting my kids psyched up for Christmas, which has been great because I can be as cheesy as I want to and they love it! We have been busy preparing our Christmas concert for the parents. The music teacher is doing a few songs with the kids and then I am preparing a poem the kids will recite and we will also be singing Feliz Navidad- a great choice for working at an English school, right? I just happened to be singing it one day and the kids loved it, so I decided to put it into the show! Today at rally (our weekly school assembly) I was the MC and I went as my alter-ego "Ms. Christmas." I thoroughly enjoyed telling cheesy Christmas jokes (what do elves learn in school? the ELFabet!) and singing with the kids. Christine dressed as Rudolph and I had Morgan dress up like the Grinch and he literally "stole" Ms. Christmas. I escaped and tied the Grinch up in tinsel and Ms. Christine and I converted the Grinch into loving Christmas.It was really entertaining and the kids had a great time!

Besides school, I've been to the doctor a few times. I just got an MRI for my back a few days ago and I am waiting to have a spinal specialist go over the results. I have been very lucky to have some really caring parents in my classroom. One of the moms has done so much for me! She books me my appointments, drives me, translates, and then takes me out to eat! I am so thankful for her and all the care she has shown. She has even had the moms pitch in and they are paying for my MRI (or part of it, at least) as my Christmas gift!

I'm heading to Boracay, Philippines next Saturday for ten days of relaxation on the beach! It will be sad to be away from my family for the first time ever on Christmas, but I think the beautiful blue-green waters and white sand beaches will help console me!

Here are a few pictures of random things in the last month or so. I'm also gonna include some videos because my kids are just so dang cute! Some of the kids are really into it and some are off in space, which is pretty funny! Pay no attention to the horrible singing or guitar playing in the background! haha.

Sorry, it was so gross I just had to post it! I can't believe how many times I see people like this on the street! Side note-it was also extremely cold that night!!Merry Christmas! Miss Christmas, Mr. Grinch and Ms. Rudolph after Rally. See my gumdrop wall in the background? =o)So cute!Morgan, Adam and I have discovered a great new indoors pastime- badminton in the kitchen! We are still working out the quirks, i.e. volleying the shuttlecock more than one time , but we'll get there. I couldn't find any pictures of me actually hitting the shuttlecock, but I was close every time, really!

I hope everyone has a great holiday season! Don't freak out in the long lines of last minute shopping, take some time to relax and actually enjoy yourself, and appreciate the time you get to spend with your loved ones. I miss you all! I'm going to end with this...

Merry Christmas everyone! from the bottom of my heart!

randomness...

Sorry for the lack of blogs lately! The past month has gone by too quickly, leaving me little time to do much blogging. Anyway, here is my feeble attempt to catch people up on life through pictures. I know they are all completely random, but then again, I am known for being a random girl. =o) Enjoy!
The weather here has been beautiful! It just started getting cold this week, I might actually have to break out my winter coat soon! I have been taking my kids outside as much as possible to enjoy the nice weather. We went to a park to collect leaves, it was a beautiful day!

Our school also got the privilege to go see the "elephant show" at a park. I can't say I am the biggest fan of seeing elephants unchained for an hour or 2 each day so they can perform a "show" for people, but nonetheless, my kids loved it! From the picture, I am sure you can tell how entertaining it truly was.
In my eight months of being in Korea, I haven't had any run-ins with huge spiders, until recently. It is hard to tell from the picture because there is nothing to compare it to, but this spider was a little smaller than my hand! Yuck!!!
We got to ride the elephants after the show!
I have discovered a new level of shopping! Namdaemun Market is a huge outdoor and indoor market with thousands of vendors selling everything imaginable! Each stall is small and cramped and filled with people. I can only handle being in the market for so long before I freak out because of all the people. You take two steps without being pushed over by an "ajuma" (old korean woman) who is trying to get her shopping done. If you can handle the crowds, you can find some good deals on almost anything.
This is a paper vendor at the market. The "stall" was just a little hallway filled wall to wall with paper.
On to Halloween... Good times were had by all. My original costume idea of being half of a ying-yang, with Christine being the other half, didn't work out. We settled on "good and evil." Obviously, I was the good one! =o) I danced the night away and got home at 7am! Most Koreans do not celebrate Halloween, so after we left the bars for "foreigners" we got some pretty funny looks! You can imagine an angel and a can of pop saying hi to you at 7am would be rather amusing for an old Korean person! I think Morgan and I made the morning of many people!Here we have Joe, aka "God's gift to women" and Morgan, aka "Milkis," a popular Korean drink here made of carbonated milk. It sounds disgusting but it is quite good. Evil Christine and Adam, aka "Borat" are in the background.
Have you ever walked down the street at 3 in the morning and gotten a craving for oysters? Yeah, me neither! I just happened to find an oyster truck parked on the street a few weeks ago. There are a lot of food trucks out on the street that sell food, but this is one of the first times I have seen a seafood truck. People stand outside the truck and eat the oysters. I'm not sure they are cooked either. I have also seen a crab truck selling crabs, but didn't get a chance to snap a picture.

Soap on a stick! If you read one of my earlier blogs about bathroom behavior, then I hope you will appreciate this picture. This is a picture of the soap that is in some bathrooms here. It always seems so unusual to me to wash my hands on a stick of soap!
I went hiking, with a few thousand people, a few weeks ago at Bukhansan, a mountain in Seoul. Hiking is a major hobby for a lot of people here. Since South Korea is 70% mountainous there are a lot of opportunities to hike. Every day, especially on the weekends, thousands of people escape to "nature" and do some hiking. It is a nice break to be "above" the city, because we are technically still in it. Here is just a small portion of Seoul that you could see.

We made it to the top of a peak! It was windy and cold (note the absence of guardrails anywhere!) Also take note of the hardcore "hikers" in the background!
I thought this was hilarious! The security camera at the top of the peak was made to look like a tree. The branches sticking out are fake! I definitely appreciate the efforts made to make everything blend in to look natural!

Ok, I guess that is a quick update! Sorry for the lack of quality or details, I just wanted to get a blog out there. Also, in the three days it took me to write this, we got our first snow! For about 2 hours we got huge, fluffy flakes and it was beautiful! Of course, nothing sticks, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

I'd also like to say that I've been reading some amazing books! I just got done reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini, the author of The Kite Runner. Both books were amazing and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a good read! I will leave you with a quote from the book:
"One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, or the
thousand splendid suns that hide beneath her walls."

go ahead and make yourself...

I saw this hanging from a store in Itaewon and I was shocked! I couldn't not help but laughing really hard when I saw this. A lot of the signs here are pretty funny because the meaning tends to get lost in translation or there is no meaning at all. I have seen countless numbers of shirts or other items with the most random English words written on them. I'm going to try and take pictures and post the funny stuff I see. Here is another one...
Remember, "cigalettes" can kill! =o)

bob barker would be very pleased...

to find out that Seoul is going to undergo a project next year that will try and neuter as many stray cats as possible. The neutering will quiet down the cats during mating season (they can be extremely loud, trust me!) and will also attempt to serve as population control. According to the Korean Herald, Seoul has about 30,000 stray cats!

I read that today in the waiting room of the doctor's office. I found it quite amusing. I'm starting preparations for my big trip after my contract. Some friends and I are planning on visiting quite a few countries as cheaply as possible. Today I got my Hepatitis A and B booster and also my Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. The doc also said I should think about getting my rabies vaccine due to the nature of the traveling we plan on doing. We'll see...

pee pressure

I would like to take a moment to discuss bathroom situations in Korea! One might think that a blog dedicated to something so personal as bathroom habits might be a little crass. However, I think the title of the popular children's book, "Everyone Poops" (and pees, for that matter) puts things into perspective! The picture below is a typical toilet in Korea, aka: the squatter. Please note that this picture is an abnormally clean squatter stall. I have seen much worse! Since being here in Korea, I have become quite good at squatting. I know that I should pull up my pants legs while pulling my pants down in order not to get the bottoms dirty (you never can be too sure of the aim of the person before you). I also know that you should face the doorway when you squat. Toilet paper, if there is any provided for you, goes in the bucket or trash an next to you. I have learned my lesson and now always carry tissue with me! Usually you step on some sort of button or lever to flush. Also, please note that there are many Western style toilets as well.

Also, a few other bathroom oddities I've noticed here in Korea. If you don't want anyone to hear you using the restroom, many stalls have a "courtesy button" you can press while you go. When you press the button you will hear the sound of running water or a flushing noise instead of whatever noises one usually makes as they go. I think it's funny because if you press the button everyone obviously knows what you are doing anyway!
There are also many unisex bathrooms here in Korea. I've been so surprised to walk into a restroom and find a stall for a man and a stall for a woman both in the same bathroom. Sometimes there is just a stall and a urinal against the wall. The other day my friend Morgan and I both had to use the restroom and we ended up in a unisex bathroom together. I definitely experienced some "pee pressure" knowing I was using the restroom with a guy in the next stall, especially a friend of mine. I would have to say the experience was more humorous than anything.

This weekend I also went to a DVD bong. I can't write it using Korean figures on this computer, but the Korean word for "room" is pronounced "bong" in English. There are many types of "bongs" in Korea. The most popular would have to be "norebongs," which are karaoke rooms where you sing karaoke with all your friends, "PC bongs," which are rooms filled with computers, music, snacks, and tons of people usually playing video games and I use them when I want to get work done and can't focus at home on my own computer. There are also "board game bongs" where people play board games, and then the "DVD bong." I think the reason that all these different rooms are so popular is because they are all used for social purposes. Most apartments here are small studios that aren't necessarily good for entertainment. Also, most Koreans live with their parents until they get married, so it is a good way to get out of the house.
When you walk into the DVD bong it looks like you are walking into a small video store. You pick out your dvd and pay for the rental. The attendant takes you to your room and you are all set up. There are cheap rooms, small rooms, big rooms, and really nice rooms, depending on the group size or how "romantic" you want your movie experience to be. Morgan and I opted for the cheapest room. It had a little reclining couch big enough for two, nice sound system, and a screen that took up the whole wall. It was like our own personal theater!
At school we just had our pajama party! The kids all came to school at night in their pajamas. Their mothers brought dinner for everyone and the fathers came into the classes with the kids for crafts, games, etc. My kids all went a little crazy because of all the commotion and the excitement of spending time with their fathers.

This weekend I also got the opportunity to go to a fireworks competitions. I had no idea that there were fireworks competitions, but apparently there was a competition in Seoul. Japan, USA, China, and Korea all had a 10 minute display of fireworks. I have never seen so many people turn out for a fireworks show before. They were all lined up along the river. We took a cab and ended up getting out on the bridge because the traffic was so bad and so many people were standing on the bridges anyway. That is where we watched the show. I have no idea how judging works or who won, but below is a video of one of the teams grand finale. I think it was the USA team, but I can't be sure. I didn't get China's show on tape, but I liked it the best. It was very unique, using color coordination and movements to create their show.


Ok, hope everyone is doing well. I hope you have a day that makes you go, "Oooh and aaah!"

mosquitos

Hi everyone! Not too much going on lately, I've just been extremely busy with school! Over the past weekend the rooms in the older part of our school, mine included, got new wallpaper. The room looks great, but now I've been busy all week rearranging the room and redecorating as well. We have a big event coming up at school, the Pajama Party, which also is requiring a lot of preparation. My boss is really stressed about it and wants everything to be perfect. I'm sure it will go well. At least her worries have given me good motivation to rearrange, organize, and clean my room, which is always on my list of things to do, but somehow never gets done. I have found that I'm an extremely messy teacher! My desk is always full of anything you could possibly imagine! To me it is organized chaos, to my Korean co-teacher, however, it is just a headache!

Other than school, my back is doing well so far. I went and got acupuncture in my back last weekend. It is an ancient Chinese medicine that is supposedly good for everything. I got 13 needles in my back and a couple going down my leg. I'm not exactly sure what I was supposed to feel from it or how it is supposed to effect my body, I suppose I need to do some research on that. I would have asked the doctor, but she didn't know too much English and didn't really give me too much information. At least I feel good, and I guess that is the important thing.

I took my kids to the park today because it was such a beautiful fall day! They are just so dang cute that I had to include some pictures of them!


I'm going to end on a completely different note. Some of you might know that I really dig spoken word poetry. I've recently come across a poet that I really enjoy both listening to and reading. His name is Tshaka, you can check him out at www.naturalkink.com
This is just a few lines from one of his poems, "Mosquitoes" that really made me think. Go ahead and chew on it for a while...

Cuz nothing matter anymore

Unless it affect us at the core

We forget what we just saw

adore making love to life In Nano seconds

ignore our responsibility to remember life

lessons get lost from the truth no less than 2 seconds after we've held its hand and claimed it as our own.

Don't ignore it

a mini history lesson

Although Korean schools don't get much of a summer break, we sure do get quite a few holidays spread out throughout the year, which is nice. Today is Foundation Day- similar to our 4th of July in the States, minus the fireworks, camping, and barbecues. Foundation Day honors the day that the Korean nation was founded back in 2333 B.C. by king Tan-gun. To celebrate my day off, I decided to visit something historical in Korea. I decided to check out the Seodaemun Prison History Hall in Seoul.
Obviously the history is much more detailed, but here is a simplified version. The Japanese took rule over Korea from 1910-1945, when Japan surrendered to the Allied forces at the end of WWII. The occupation was severe. Many people fought for the indepedence of Korea from Japan and most of those people were put into many prisons. The Japanese forced everyone, especially Korean children in the schools, to quit speaking Korean. The children had to write and speak Japanese in school. They were also taught and semi-brainwashed about the superiority of the Japanese and all the traditions and history of Japan as opposed to Korea. Japanese holidays and customs were to be adopted as well. People even had to change their Korean names to Japanese ones. Those who did not adhere to the new regulations were taken to prison. I actually read a really good book about this back in college, for an adolescent literature class. It is called, "When My Name was Keoko" by Linda Sue Park. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.
I have been anxious to visit this prison for a long time. It was really interesting to see the old buildings, pictures, artifacts, and recreations of old events. It left me wondering if I would be able to fight for my country and risk going to prison like so many Koreans did back then- even like the millions around the world that are fighting for their freedom today. It got me thinking about how lucky I am to have been born into one of the world's "superpower" countries. My visit also left me with a stronger desire to keep myself updated with the current happenings of the world. It was a good reminder that history is in the making each day and it is so easy to forget about it all and just live your life day to day.

This is just one of the three wings to the main prison building. There are many buildings on the prison ground.
This is another wing of the prison from the inside of the building, standing outside the gate to the wing.
This is one of the many pots used to make rice for the prisoners.

Ok, onto some new pictures.
This is grill at a restaurant that is used to make galbi- a grilled beef or pork. Usually the grills are flat pans, this is pretty unusual for most restaurants.
Sorry, I had to do it... I thought this was pretty funny!
I went shopping at an underground shopping center in Seoul. I've never been in one before and I never ever expected something so crazy. Imagine a really really long hallway crammed with stalls and vendors on each side. Each vendor's selling space is just packed with different trinkets and items for sale. There are people everywhere! Some walk very slowly and others are in a rush and just push right past you. I don't think you can walk five feet without bumping into someone. This picture is from the flower/plant section. There were so many different sections: plants, dishes, lamps, art, rugs, knickknacks, shoes, bags, jewelry, and other random things. I think the shopping center was probably over a half mile long. I was nervous to walk into most stalls because they were so packed I thought I would turn around and break something.
This is a special ice cream treat that I forgot the name of, but it is really good. On the bottom of the bowl is shaved ice. On top of the ice is red beans, watermelon, bananas, and pineapple. On top of the fruit is the ice cream. I didn't really care for the fruit, but the mixture of the ice, red beans, and ice cream was really tasty!
I guess you could say my past week has been pretty busy! Plus, you should all be proud of me for posting two blogs in a week!

the mars people...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Or, maybe I should say, Happy Chuseok! Yesterday was Chuseok, the Korean version of our Thanksgiving, also one of the three biggest holidays in Korea. The holiday falls on the 8th month and 15th day of the Lunar year. This year that happened to be September 25th. Koreans celebrate by returning to their hometowns to visit their families and graves of their ancestors. People eat a lot of food, play folk games, give thanks to their ancestors for a bountiful harvest , and celebrate. It also means no school for us! Because Chuseok fell on a Tuesday, our school took off Mon-Wed. It was a well needed and very relaxing break!
Seoul basically became a ghost town because so many people leave the city. I originally had plans to leave, but ended up staying around because of health problems. A few weeks ago I ended up hurting my back really badly! It turns out I have a herniated disk. I am not sure exactly what caused it, but I have had occasional bouts of back pain since college, so I am assuming it probably was a minor problem grown worse because of my lack of ever wanting to go to the doctor. I would like to say, however, that since coming to Korea, I have now become a much bigger fan of taking care of myself because health care here is so cheap! Yes, I do have insurance from my job, but even if I didn't, health care would be extremely affordable in comparison to the States! For example, the day I went in for my back I got x-rays, and found out I had a sinus infection as well. I've never had x-rays taken before but I know that the one time I went to the doctor in WI for a sinus infection the visit cost me $15o. Well, in Korea x-rays and my prescription of painkillers and antibiotics only cost me a total of $40! I ended up going to a different doctor a few weeks later because the pain had only been getting worse. He gave me 6 shots in the spine and anesthesia, some weird electromagnetic nerve shocking treatment, and x-rays for only a hundred dollars! So needless to say, it is much easier to "want" to go to the doctor here. Not to complain about my health problems like I have nothing else to talk about, but I really wanted to get my point across about how cheap things are. Also, I might need surgery on my back, which would be horrible, but I am hoping I heal up soon. This past month has been completely miserable for me in terms of health!
Ok, now that that is out of the way, I know it has been a while since my last blog, so as usual I will do my best version to catch everyone up on my life since my last post in August. It turns out August was the month of birthdays; not just for me, but for four of my friends as well! My birthday was on a Sunday, so I celebrated it with Morgan and Robyn at their birthday party which they held on Saturday, the 25th. I wasn't sure how celebrating my 25th birthday would feel being so far from home with so many new friends, but it turned out to be a great birthday! It also made me realize how many amazing friends I have made since I've been here and how many amazing friends I have back home who sent me cards and packages- thanks to all of you reading this that sent me birthday wishes!!Each month our class celebrates the children with birthdays. The birthday kid brings in a cake and snacks for the class, plus presents for the whole class as well. In return, the other kids bring the birthday person presents too. It is really fun! Edward and I got to celebrate our August birthdays in the Koala Class together. My class made me cards and a hat and treated me like the guest of honor (all thanks to my co-teacher, of course!) Here is my class posing for a birthday picture. Aren't they cute?
I am helping Edward cut the cake so he can serve it to his classmates. By the end of the day there is cake everywhere!!
Nine Inch Nails came to Seoul on September 11. I went to the show and it was amazing! I wasn't sure what to expect. It turns out that the crowd was fairly small for such a well known band. That means I got super close to the stage. I also had a good time moshing! I realized that I could never have moshed at a NIN concert in the States because I think I would have been killed! Here, however, when I would crash into people the Korean men would stop and say, "Are you ok?" To which I would answer (or scream in a "rocker-esque" voice) "Yeah, I'm ok!!" and then proceed to smash into them even harder. I thought it was great!
Here is a picture of the sunset down by the Han river by my house. I love going down by the river. You can relax, read, run, rent bicycles, eat, or just people watch. It is one of my favorite spots to "get away" without going too far from home.
Ok, the next few pictures involve a crazy story! I know you aren't supposed to take rides from strangers (don't tell my mom) but I couldn't help it! My friend Morgan and I were walking one night and he goes, "look at that car!" I turned around and this weird looking car was driving down the block. As you can see from the pictures it has lights and crazy stuff all over it, not to mention he had a weird siren thing going of and horrible Korean music playing really loudly. The experience is almost too surreal to describe, but just as Morgan was thinking, "I hope that car picks us up..." what do you know? The guy slows down and says, "Where are you going? Do you need a ride?" I thought maybe it was a weird taxi or something so I said, " Do I have to pay you?" The guy screams, "No, I am a gentleman! Where you going? I take you there!" Morgan and I looked at each other and got in. I'm not joking when I say that there was barely room for us in the car because there were so many weird gadgets and random crap inside the car- the same goes for the outside. We get in and he starts talking about crazy random things in semi-broken English. I think he just wanted to talk because anytime we asked questions or tried to have an actual conversation with him he kinda just ignored us and kept talking. The most insane thing about our ride were the stares we got from all the other cars! People kept slowing down and staring. The guy loved this and so he would roll down his window, causing the others to roll down theirs, and yell, "It's the Mars People, the Aliens! I've got the aliens in my car!" Mostly he said this in Korean, we weren't sure what he was yelling, until someone in another car translated for us. Eventually, Morgan and I got fairly freaked and decided to pull over for a "Picture Opportunity" with the guy. He told us we could take pics only if we posted them on the net, so here they are! I'm not even sure my story does the actual situation justice, but let me tell you, it was weird!!
Here is the crazy man with Morgan. He ended up following us down a block when we tried to walk away. We had to be sneaky and lose him down a dark alley! We think he might have been drunk...
Here is the dash of the car with the flash... it was insane!!
And without the flash- the whole car had this weird illuminated glow.
In honor of the Chuseok Holiday the kids in our school dressed up in their traditional Korean hanboks, which are now only worn for special occasions, to celebrate Chuseok at school. We made songpyeong (spelled phonetically) which are rice balls with filling, learned how to bow to our elders and drink traditional tea the proper way. I think I learned more that day than the kids did!
Here are some of my kids in their hanboks. They were soooo adorable!
Over break Morgan, Sarah, and I went to Dr. Fish to get fish foot pedicures. A fad that started in China, Dr. Fish is a little cafe where you order tea, coffee, or gelato, and soak your feet in these little pools. The fish eat off the dead skin from your feet. I guess there are some place in China where you can immerse your whole body! It is a very interesting sensation- definitely not a relaxing one if you are ticklish! The fish happened to love Morgan's feet the best, which I am taking as a compliment because that means my feet are more clean than his!
Notice the fish all around Morgan? My foot has the green polish.
Last, but not least, vacation would not be complete without a trip to Lotte World, a mini- theme park in Korea. I only went on a few rides, but it was a good time!
Ok, that should catch everyone up on my latest escapades. I hope everyone is doing well! Don't forget to drop me a line sometime! Also, I would also like to say, on a random note, if anyone is looking for a good read lately, I would strongly recommend "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, I couldn't put it down!