guess what?? chicken butt!!

Ever grabbed a chicken butt with a set of chopsticks?? Well, there is a first time for everything! Try eating it! Kate, Adam and I went out with our friend Morgan and a girl Mia (who was visiting Korea and decided to have her first meal with us) and we didn't know a single thing on the menu . The server manages to say chicken in English so we give an emphatic, "Yes! We will have the chicken!" Well, he forgot to say butt after the chicken part. We were all starving so imagine our surprise when we popped the first sphincter filled chewy piece in our mouth... yuck!! However, I guess it is considered a delicacy here.I also got a chance to go to and be in The Donkey Show. It is a musical performance- think Midsummer Night Dream meets Studio 54 on acid. This production was going on in the States but got pulled because of its "raw" content. It was especially interesting for it to be in Korea because this culture is so conservative. However, it was an awesome performance (all in Korean). The story was all told in song and the audience was all standing around the stage, like you would at a concert. Random people were pulled on stage- I must be random because along with "random" security checks at that airport, I got pulled onstage at the Donkey Show!
Robyn, Trena, me, Jinny, and Janice on the way to the beach near Incheon.
Adam at his birthday party. He wasn't thrilled about the hat!
My first beach experience in Korea! This was in the beginning of June when the beaches aren't crowded yet. People here don't go to the beach until it is officially summer on the calendar. It could be 90 degrees outside and you will still find the beaches fairly empty in comparison to the summer season. Also, when summer officially ends on the calendar, so does going to the beach for most Koreans. Summer clothes get put away and summer activities come to an end, even if it is still hot out!

Alas, another 22 days has gone by since my last post! I honestly don't know where the time goes, it has been passing by so quickly! Yesterday marked my 4th month living in Korea! Sometimes it seems as if I've been here much longer than 4 months, other times I feel like I just got here! Summer is officially here which means I am trying to stay out of Seoul as much as possible on the weekends! We are about to enter monsoon season for the remainder of June and all of July. It has been getting hot- in the 80's every day- and is supposed to get hotter yet. Right now the summer feels like a typical Wisconsin summer, hot and humid!

I have been to two beaches in Korea so far. I went to a beach near Incheon and also just recently I visited Daechon beach. I spent the weekend laying on the beach in the hot sun. I got to go kayaking in the ocean and at night I sat on a beach with my friends while we talked, played guitar, and just goofed off! There were little mini four wheelers you could rent so we got one and cruised around the beach and made little jumps out of sand for people to try and jump over. The tide went out really really far and I found 15 starfish, a shrimp, and a crab! About 9 of us crammed into a Minbok to sleep. Basically, we each paid about 9 dollars to sleep in a room with nothing in it. You grab a blanket and a little floor pad and sleep on the wood floor. The next morning I felt so sore like I had been lifting weights. Korea is a beautiful country, almost 70 percent mountains, which is easy to forget when you are surrounded by buildings in the huge city of Seoul. Everytime I have taken a trip out of Seoul I always fall asleep on the bus or the train. I really wish I could stay awake to look at the beautiful scenery, but so far I haven't had much luck!

Last week Adam's sister Kate came to visit. She is teaching in Japan for the summer and decided to spend 11 days visiting Adam. It was nice to have a face from home around, even though I don't know Kate that well. I enjoyed getting to know her this past week. It was also fun seeing her initial reactions to things here in Korea, it reminded me of how Adam and I saw things when we first got here. Now these things seem so normal.

I just finished my first set of parent teacher conferences! I officially feel like a teacher! I was very nervous for them. They are set up a bit differently here. All the parents came into my classroom to observe a 30 minute lesson. After the lesson I met with each parent individually to discuss their child. I was so nervous that having the parents in the classroom would drive my already rambunctious kids wild, but the lesson went just fine. I definitely have to say that the part of teaching I have learned the most about has been classroom management. It is so easy to let little things go, but as time goes by you realize how much of a mistake that was because kids will remember the last time you didn't correct them for something and then all of a sudden your management strategies are not as effective. That is a lesson I have definitely been learning.

I am busy trying to plan things for the rest of the summer. Adam, Morgan, and I are planning on going to Japan over our summer break. We will visit Kate in Tokyo and then explore Osaka and Hiroshima as well. I am also going to the Boryeong Mud Festival. It is basically a time on the beach that everyone gets covered in mud, which is supposed to be great for you skin, and plays. I should have some interesting pictures after that weekend. I am also hoping to get a rafting trip in this summer. It is so hard to fit everything in!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summers thus far. Keep me posted on your lives and adventures!

a birthday eulogy

Ok, ok, I know I have failed my 14 day blogging challenge miserably! This whole blogging thing is a lot harder than I thought! However, on this lovely day of June 5, I would like to take some "oh so precious" time to dedicate a blog- or a birthday eulogy, as I am choosing to call it- to my good friend and traveling partner, Adam Van Straten.

Most people when they hear the word eulogy think of a dead person. This is not always the case, a eulogy is also considered "high praise or commendation" according to dictionary.com. Being the cheesy person that I am, I was looking up some quotes on friendship, thinking they might be good to put in a card or in this blog and I came across one that inspired the title to this blog: " Do not save your loving speeches for your friends till they are dead; do not write them on their tombstone, speak them now instead." We can all thank Ann Cummings for that lovely quote. I decided to take her advice and celebrate the day of Adam's birth with a loving speech, haha. So Adam, this one is for you!

Adam and I have technically known each other since the 5th grade. However, all throughout gradeschool, middle school, and high school neither of us had ever spoken a word to each other. We have discussed it recently and realized we really don't even have any memories of each other during any of those times at all. It wasn't until one happenstance day in the summer of 2005 that we actually met. The story is actually very random in itself- I got to know one of Adam's best friends, Ryan, and one day I went to hang out and met Adam. We got along instantly- which also brings me to another quote I found- " Two may walk together under the same roof for many years, yet never really meet; and two others at first speech are old friends." -Mary Catherwood. At that point we never would have expected to be living together in Korea. We chatted randomly for the next year. One day, knowing he was a fellow wanderlust at heart, I asked him randomly, "Hey, do you wanna move to Korea with me?" He looked at me and said, "yeah, ok." Thus started our adventures! We made plans and here we are!

Sometimes I wonder if my experience in Korea would be the same without Adam. I have heard it said that it is not where you are but who you are with that makes the difference. I think this is definitely true in my case. I have honestly found a friend that I get along great with and one who challenges me to think differently and has a genuine love for life! I don't think I could ask for more! In honor of Adam's 25th birthday today, I am going to attempt to write 25 things I appreciate about Adam (after all, this is a eulogy)
1. His love for life
2. He introduced me to Northern Exposure
3. The way he can pull a random quote off the top of his head that fits any situation
4. When he says, "that's so strange"
5. He can cook
6. He is genuine
7. He is creative
8. He is a true wanderlust
9. He loves his family
10. He loves his friends
11. He is an amazing writer
12. I don't know anyone else that can talk to a dog for an hour
13. He is always ready to have a good time
14. He is free
15. We usually know what the other person is thinking
16. He laughs at my jokes (and is usually the only one laughing)
17. I laugh at his jokes
18. We can tell each other basically anything, no matter how random or weird
19. He makes me eat fruit
20. His intellect
21. He stops to examine every random plant he sees
22. His ugly blue wrist supporter he wears at the gym
23. He introduced me to Jonathan Safron Foer's books
24. He has a didgeridoo
25. He is unique

I will conclude by saying, Thank you Adam! You have been a great friend to me and I am looking forward to many more years of friendship and adventures. You are a beautiful individual and I am thankful that I have a friend like you in my life! Happy 25th birthday!!

I'm not in Kansas anymore!!

I know, I know.... I already failed the challenge! ha! Oh well, you have to give me something for consistency at least- in my lack of blogging, that is! It was a busy weekend as usual. Friday night was Trena's birthday. We went out and had a great time celebrating, which resulted in a late night. Saturday night I went with some friends to see my friend's boyfriend perform in his band. It was a great performance!

Today was a beautiful and relaxing day! I went out for lunch with a friend and he took me to a Caribou Coffee! For those of you that don't know, Caribou Coffee is my all time favorite coffee. It is a company from Minnesota and it basically fueled all my studying, or lack thereof, throughout college. One can only handle so much Starbucks here, so I was extremely ecstatic to taste the wonderful goodness of Caribou again. It made me feel a little more at home!

lantern festival pictures

Here are some pictures from the Lotus Lantern Festival. There were lanterns everywhere! It really was beautiful!


You could make your own lanterns to keep at the festival. Trena is holding one that is homemade.
A view from below, thanks to Adam- who so far has taken every photo on my blog!

rainy days= northern exposure

There is definitely something to be said about waking up in the morning to the sound of rain on your windows...and then rolling over and falling back asleep! That is how I started my day today. There was no school today because of Buddha's birthday so sleeping in was a nice way to start the day. Unfortunately it rained all day long which eliminated possibilities of doing anything outside, but instead enabled Adam and I to have a very lazy day of watching Northern Exposure- a show that I am now hooked on thanks to Adam! We also watched Human Traffic which was a very clever movie.

In honor of Buddha's birthday, I decided to do a little bit a research since I know absolutely nothing about Buddhism or Buddha at all. There is so much information out there about Buddhism and I didn't want to read it all, but here is what I gathered in a few minutes of looking: I am pretty sure the religion of Buddhism was started by Prince Siddhartha of the Shakya kingdom. The prince wasn't happy with his royal lifestyle and started to seek non-worldly fulfilment. Although his parents didn't want him to, he left the palace on a quest for personal enlightenment. After much meditation I guess he found what he was looking for and spent the rest of his life traveling and teaching others how to find their own path of enlightenment. The name Buddha means, "awakened one," meaning someone who is no longer ignorant but sees things for what they really are. A Buddha is someone who is free from all faults and mental obstructions- so all people can strive to be a "Buddha" or a Buddhist . There are Spiritual Guides that have achieved enlightenment that help others find their path of enlightenment as well.There is so much to the religion of Buddhism that I can't even sum it up here, but that's the most simplified version I can give.

So, happy birthday Buddha! I'm happy you have found enlightenment and that many others have found what they are looking for in your teachings as well. I truly believe that without vision people perish... so thanks for the vision, you have made a major impact on our world!

day 2

so here it is, day number 2 of my challenge! I actually almost forgot to write...so here it is, my blog for the day. I don't have too much to say except that I worked all day on getting all my report cards done and I am soooo tired! I am thankful tomorrow is a holiday- my first one while here. I am hoping to go hiking or bike the path along the Han river, but I hear it might rain. My backup plan is going to see Shrek 3, which I am not entirely excited about at all. I made a new Korean friend tonight! She is a friend of another Korean friend I have here, Jinny. This girl, So-young, doesn't speak any English so I am hoping that hanging out with the two of them will help me improve on my Korean! I started taking lessons but as soon as I hit the second level I had to stop because the classes moved way to fast. Instead I went to the bookstore and bought a "do it yourself" Korean language book. I am hoping to get through the book and then rejoin Korean lessons again. Ok, since my day was fairly uneventful, I am going to go to bed now! Have a good night (or day, depending on where you are in the world) everyone!

free hugs, swear words, and buddha's birthday

For those of you actually reading this, thanks for not giving up on me, I know it has been almost a month since my last blog. I suppose that could be seen as a good thing- my life is just too dang exciting to fit in time to blog! No, actually, the truth is I have just been a bit lazy when it comes to blogging. I heard that it takes 14 days to make something a habit. So I decided that I am going to make it a goal to write at least one thing a day for the next 14 days, even if it is only a thought, feeling, one experience or even one sentence, just to try and make this a habit. =o)

I hugged a man holding a sign that said "free hugs" on Sunday. I have heard about people that have gone around holding these signs and since I have been to Korea I have seen about 4 of them. On Sunday I decided to actually do it. Adam said it was probably just a guy trying to be perverted and cop cheap feels off of girls who hug him, so I made him and another girl do a group hug with me just to keep things innocent. Sunday was the Lotus Lantern Festival. The festival is held once a year to commemorate Buddha's birthday, which is May 24- no school!!! There are lanterns everywhere! The tradition is to make a lantern shaped like a lotus flower and as you hang it up you make a wish (either in your head, or you write it on paper and hang it from the lantern.) That night the lanterns are lit and it is a beautiful sight! ( I have pictures that I will post eventually, once I take them from Adam, my photographer until I buy a camera.) There is also a parade. All the floats are huge lanterns made into different shapes. It was getting dark just as it started, it was great!

May 15 was Teachers' Day. On Teachers' Day it is common to get gifts from your students as a token of their appreciation for teaching them. I was expecting a gift or two, but was pleasantly surprised to find an abundance of flowers and gifts from my students. I am lucky enough to be teaching in a very affluent area and I figured out my gift value to be about $300. Let's just say I have enough face and body lotion, shampoo and shower gel to last me all year! We also had our Spring Picnic on May 17. We took the school to Yongsan Park and had a treasure hunt planned for the kids along with various other games. Along with the beautiful weather and sunburns we received, all the teachers had a great time playing with their students. It was nice to let the kids run around all day instead of keeping them cooped up in their desks.

Teaching so far is going well for me. There are always challenges and days where I get really frustrated, but it always keeps me on my toes, which I love! One week I was getting really frustrated with my students and their behavior and it just dawned on me, "they are getting too smart!" Our normal classroom routine just wasn't working anymore. The kids were getting bored and distracted. I am happy for that now because I realize they are learning. Teaching is a constant progression of evaluation and change. I was told this in college, but I don't think one really realizes it until they are actually teaching.

My kids are really funny too! One day, as I was about to put a boy on time out he says in the most genuine voice ever, "Ms. Jasmine, your toes are a beautiful color!" I couldn't help but laugh as I put him in time out! Today we were learning the letter "F." I was playing a game with my students and, not realizing it, I held up the letter F and C. I said, "What sounds do these make?" My class shouts, "Fff" and "Ck" Then all of a sudden a little boy shouts out, "Fuckah!" (imagine this phonetically... then a little girl, "yeah, "fffckkah" pretty soon the whole class is saying it out loud. Granted, they have no idea what this means, or that it is even a word... but here I am in the middle of a group of kids thinking, "I just taught them a swear word...." I thought that was pretty funny too.

I had my first visit to the dentist today. I chipped a tooth way back in the 10th grade, about 10 years ago, and it has slowly been getting worse. Yesterday I finally made an appointment to get it fixed. Going to the dentist made me feel a little more like I live in Korea, instead of just visiting. You don't go to the dentist when you visit a country, at least on a good visit you don't. I have been here for almost 3 months, but sometimes I feel like I am still on a trip.

I will leave you all with this. I am feeling more and more like I belong here. I am making some great friends, exploring, and constantly trying to become a better teacher. This is day 1 of my 14 day blogging challenge, so feel free to hold me accountable on this one. Expect some pictures soon. I will leave you all with a quote from an amazing book I am reading (that you all should read too) "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. "The mistakes I have made are dead to me. But I can't take back the things I never did." Chew on that one for a bit! Until tomorrow...