Six Months Down... Here's What I've Learned:

I hate to generalize, but Koreans are unaware and a little bit stupid.   I am currently fuming with rage about the fact that there is a bicycle bell for a reason and they seem to forget what that reason is.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, traffic laws are more like guidelines in this country, so if one is not careful, it's probable that you could die at any moment from a taxi driver running a red light, or neglecting to look in mirrors for oncoming traffic, texting about soju, etc.  Bicycles are prevalent here, so of course, I have a bright neon orange one, complete with basket and working bell.  The bell is cool, but it is also a safety feature, for those pedestrians that are walking on the bike paths which are clearly marked on all sidewalks and major streets.  So every day, as I'm cruising on my pretty orange bike, abiding by all traffic rules, I have to continuously stop the bike, mid-cruise, to allow the incredibly slow reflexes of walking Koreans to realize that if they don't get out of my way, I will run them over.  This has happened almost ten times today, in the short 8 minutes that it takes me to ride from school to my apartment. I ding the bell. They don't move. I am riding downhill at a fast pace enjoying the only wind circulation that exists, and they walk out of the coffee shops directly in front of me, not bothering to look if there's an oncoming orange beast headed towards them. They begin texting while walking, neglecting to "hear" the bell. Or, the best, they walk STRAIGHT towards me. Not wavering in the slightest, expecting me to move and dodge in and out of concrete blocks, sewers, and children because they couldn't be bothered with changing their path of direction for the American girl! I just don't understand how you can come out of a building and not look where you are going.  How do you not see me riding straight toward you? I have no resolution for this problem, except to add this to my kindergarten curriculum. The next generation will hopefully be a little more "aware of their surroundings.  ABC's, English vocabulary, and sidewalk etiquette.  

More importantly, now that I've calmed down a bit, I need to express my sadness and grief for the loss of two coworkers. Not literally, like, they're just going back to America. But they have been really great friends and colleagues that I am going to miss very much.  Adam and Cassie have taught me so much about being a teacher, living abroad, and just life in general.  But really, she's really crafty and he fixes computers. I have many fond memories with both of them and am sad to see them go :( 

This week's highlights.
Me: OK, who can tell me a sentence in English?
Seo Yeon: Teacher, house, mommy daddy, horse, Cinderella.
Me: Mommy and Daddy got you a horse at your house, and it's name is Cinderella???!!!
Seo Yeon: YES!!!!
Me: That's it. You're coming back to America to live with me, because you are meant to be my child.
Seo Yeon: Teacher, NOW??!

ha. Also, we took another trip to the beloved bear farm where we swam in the swimming pool *two feet of water where it was necessary to have full flippers, goggles, inner tubes, floaties and swimcaps.* They also went "horseback riding" which consisted of them being led in a circle while wearing bicycle helmets and, wait for it, LIFE JACKETS. In case they fell off of course. Walking in a circle. With six burly korean men standing around. And yes, I saw some burly Korean men. We watched Beauty and the Beast, in which I convinced them that it was me on TV, and that I am actually a princess in America.  They now call me Princess Teacher. Still preparing for open class and enjoying the many changes that have happened at school this week! More soon :)
  

The Time I ALMOST Went to Japan...

So, summer vacation was last week. It was lovely, and unexpected.  I did something that was very new for me, something I never thought in a million years I could do... I was spontaneous. And I loved it.  Since May, I knew I was going to spend my time off work going to Japan with my friends Anna and Michelle.  We researched the trip, bought plane tickets and booked hostels, picked out all the things we were going to do, and when vacation week rolled around, we were excited and ready to go!  Since the army is unpredictable, I am not usually able to plan things too far in advance with Adam.  His schedule changes almost daily, so making a vacation plan with him was just not practical. On the day of our flight to Japan, we went to the airport, fully expecting a four-hour trip to an Asian destination, a week of sushi and animae.  Adam called.  He jokingly said I should change my flight, come to Italy instead... at least I thought he was joking.  We kept talking about it all the way to the airport.  I thought, why not? I tried NOT to think too much, make a pro/con list, be my crazy scheduled self, and I just said "YES" instead.  I told my friends to forgive me, but my mission of love was unfolding.  I watched them walk through customs, missed my flight, and waited another hour to book a last-minute flight to Italy.  It was expensive, but SO worth it.  I flew first to Istanbul, had a layover and then flew the rest of the way into Venice. I slept mostly on the plane, trying to avoid the jetlag.  When I got to Venice, I raced through customs and into his arms! (But seriously, our life is a movie.) It was by far one of the best weeks we've ever spent together.  We walked through Italian towns, drank wine, ate gelato, and simply loved each other.  We had a lasagne picnic, took tons of pictures, danced in the middle of the road, got incredibly lost on a dusty forgotten path, argued with taxi drivers as we tried to overcome the language barrier... I read books, laid by the pool, drank good coffee and ate good spaghetti.  We held hands, talked about the future, slept in late, got fish pedicures (yes, put our feet in water while fish nibbled the dead skin off), watched the sunset, and thanked God for our time together. 

I didn't miss Japan one bit. I didn't regret my choice or feel guilty about changing my plan. I just decided to be happy, and to live in the moment, and it was bliss.  Adam makes me want to change who I am. He makes me want to trust that things will be OK without a plan. He makes my faith in God stronger every day.  He knows that God will take care of us, and with his constant reminders, I'm starting to realize that too.  I hope to be more trusting, to be more spontaneous, and to be more calm like I was on this vacation, like I am when I am with him.  I love every minute of who I am when we're together.

I was sad to leave, but happy knowing it is only the first of many weeks we will spend together abroad.  I had a flight back from Venice to Paris, where I had a 15 hour layover. I slept, ate croissants, and pretended I was french.  From Paris I made it back to Seoul, took the bus to Ansan, and made it just in time for class on that Monday morning. (Literally walked in with ten minutes to spare).  This week was long, getting adjusted to the time again, but I think I am back to normal.  We had a busy week, still practicing for our upcoming presentation and having a water gun battle that could not be topped! So happy with the way my life is going right now, so thankful for all the people in it that make my world go 'round.  Only 6 weeks until my mama comes to visit and only 6 months until I'm back in Tennessee where I belong :) Until then, I will continue to live spontaneously (with God's help and Adam's), and to enjoy each day as it comes. 

Been Busy Livin' and Stuff (swimming pools and Mudfest)

Well, first off, let me apologize to my avid readers. I know you look forward to my blog posts and I have been slacking lately. I wish I could say it was going to get better. I will try, but things are just so interesting over here, sometimes blogging gets put on the back burner. Along with laundry, showering, etc. Kidding. Kind of. But... the main news is on the facebook page, but I will write some recaps of the month of July.  Today is July 27, the official start of summer vacation. I leave for Japan in two days, and I'm super excited to check another country off my list! Adam visited the end of June through the first week of July and then my dad and stepmom visited directly after.  It has been a whirlwind of fun and visitors! I was so so thankful that they all got to come. It really felt like a taste of home.  It was the happiest I have felt since being here. Adventure is all well and good, but my adventure dreams are changing.  I am anxious for the year to be finished so I can spend more time with the ones I love. 

Teaching is still amazing. The kids and I are growing closer every day.  My assistant teacher retired this morning. It was a sad day for me.  I cannot begin to express how much she means to me, even only knowing her for five months.  She is the most loving, patient, and kind woman I think I have ever met.  She has a way with the kids, as well as with me, to calm everyone down and make things run smoothly. I was a flood of emotion when I gave her some pink roses today and hugged her goodbye for the 75th time.  Ah, Grace Teacher. I will never forget her and the memories.  There is a bond formed with your AT that can never be matched. I feel like we are connected on a much deeper level than colleagues.  She will be missed! Yesterday was swimming pool day. It was kind of disappointing from what I was expecting.  All of the kids brought tons of swim gear complete with floaties, goggles, flippers, swim caps, and giant inflatable tubes.  None of them could swim and the water was only three feet deep on all sides, so the whole concept of really playing in the water, didn't happen much.  They all had their giant tubes and just kind of sat in them, not being able to move. I waded through the sea of neon pushing kids out of the way. That part was kind of cathartic.  The saddest experience happened yesterday.  One of my favorite girls, Chae Nee, she is five, ran up to me, wide-eyed and excited and said, "Teacher, ice cream???!" It broke my heart to tell her no. It's some kind of serious injustice to take kids swimming and not give them ice cream. She knew it. I knew it.  Today I brought her candy.

Last weekend a group of coworkers and I went to Mudfest in Beoryeong. IT WAS AWESOME. One of the best weekends I have had while being here for sure.  There was mud obstacle courses and a mud beach. There were adult capri suns (get the hint) and a lot of good seafood. There were crazy asian boys and crazy army boys all congregated hoping to get a glimpse of girls all mudded up in bikinis.  They were not disappointed.  It was sort of like Panama City Beach at spring break time, only, everyone was Asian.  There was a mud prison in which you were thrown if you did something bad, and mud was splattered on you through prison bars. I enjoyed laying in the sun afterwards and running into the ocean to clean off.  I highly recommend this experience!

More to come!

Two Words: COMMUNAL. BATHS.

Please excuse my shock but I have never done team sports where one is required to shower with others. naked. together. I have never been a gym member who showers in the locker room, or does anything that would allow you to see others and their nakedness.   I don't exactly consider myself modest about these things, but when you're surrounded by a naked asian women on all sides, it sort of makes you rethink your choice to move to Korea, and reminds you that being naked is not this sacred thing, but is really just a part of life . I'll get to that in a minute. 

Friday was Buddha's Birthday.  We had the day off of work and my coworkers and I decided to take a trip to Busan, which is a coastal area of Korea.  Apparently the rest of Asia was going to Busan for the three-day weekend as well, because we took a bus, and what should have been a 5 hour bus ride, turned into a 7 and a half hour bus ride (due to traffic).  Anyways, we arrived Friday around 3 pm, and made our way to a famous fish market in the middle of the city.  I saw many things... lots of fresh fish, but the most shocking thing, was the eels.  Never have I felt sorry for an eel, but now, I have great remorse for Korean eels. Poor babies. Here's what they do: They take the eels, alive.  They skin them. alive.  then they put them in a bowl of ice, still alive.  and display them for people to see, skinless and wiggling, their little eel mouths squealing in pain.  When some passerby decides to have a nice fresh eel for a snack, they throw the skinned eel on the grill, until it reaches a nice golden brown, no longer alive, because it was grilled to death. Then, people eat it. Can you imagine?! It was so sad! Needless to say, I lost my appetite at the fish market that day. I had a coffee instead.  After the fish market, we decided to go to the popular beach for the rest of the evening.

That was awesome because there were people singing and playing instruments. We hung out there for a while, watched the sunset, and went to find dinner of course.  We ate at a pizza place that was overpriced, but decent.  Then to find somewhere to stay for the evening... which brings me to the title of this post.  In Korea, they have these things called Gymjabongs.  This means "Spa" which sounds relaxing and awesome right? It's really just full of nakedness. No, but these spas are ideal for the traveler who doesn't want to spend tons of money for a hotel room. You can stay at the gymjabong for less than 10,000 won/ night ($10).  You get a mat and blanket to sleep on, and free reign of the 24 hour communal baths and as long as you don't leave, you can stay for however long you want! Sounds too good to be true? Oh, that's because it is.  I'll explain.  Firstly, you get there and are required to shower with other ladies, scrub your body of excess skin, and detail your hair follicles in case your American-ness rubs off in the hot tubs.  Then you're naked, walking around from one big hot swimming pool to another, feeling awkward as anything because you're the only white girl in there, and one that actually eats food, so I looked a little different.  OH! and you're with your COWORKERS. being naked. which makes Mondays at the office a little bit awkward.  But anywho, we hung out in the baths, got stared at, went into the sauna room and sweated out our toxins, and eventually got more comfortable with ourselves.  It was time for bed. They give you really attractive pink shorts and tshirts to wear, to remind you that you're part of the spa, and then you go to the top floor to sleep on your mat.  With 200 other people in a giant wharehouse-like room.  And it was 85 degrees and the floor was heated. Marissa was not a happy camper. literally.  Also, it's a 24 hour spa, so people were coming and going at all hours of the night! I just tried not to get my fingers smushed as people walked over me.  So, totaling around 3 hours of sleep that night, we promptly got up and went to the beach at 5:45 am.  No one was there of course, so we laid out our mat and went back to sleep, in the cool beachy air where no one was naked. 

Saturday was spent at the beach and then a Korean temple to celebrate the birth of a beautiful man, Buddha, who believed in loving all things, and striving for kindness wherever you go.  I love what he believed in and I loved being in such a spiritual place next to the sea to enjoy the day in memory of him.  (pictures for reference).  Saturday night we went to the other popular beach, got a bottle of soju and sat on the sand watching the drunk Koreans throw each other into the ocean clad in business suits. Apparently it's a funny sport there... who can stand up without falling over as the waves crash around you.  The answer? No one.  They were tooooooo drunk.  So that was entertaining.  Then we went to a bar, still in celebration of Buddha, called The Happy Monk.  Met a lovely Italian man who talked my ear off, and politely excused ourselves to meet up with another friend.  He happened to be at the wrong subway stop, so Jaclyn went to meet him, while I waited for them on the corner of another street. While waiting, I got asked twice if I was Russian (meaning, are you a prostitute) and a lot of other interesting stares.  Apparently white girls in short dresses standing on street corners has the same meaning everywhere in the world.  Ooops. So we stayed at a seedy love motel that night, because going back to the heated floor of the gymjabong was just not an option for me...

Sunday was a leisurely morning spent with Jaclyn. It was raining so we set off in search of shopping of course. When we found nothing spectacular, we sat in a coffee shop drinking lattes and watching the surf competition from the window.  Yes, surfing in Korea. Silly I know.  Then it was time to go home! Busan, you did good.  I would definitely go back. Good memories, lots of laughs, enough naked women to last a lifetime. 

3 Months Down! and the Shoes Don't Fit.

So I'm on my third month here, and I just cannot believe how quickly time is passing! It's been an amazing adventure so far, I've seen and done so much! Still loving teaching... (Did you see the pictures? Who wouldn't want to hang out with them all day?) Their little personalities are coming out more and more each day and their English is really getting so good! I'm amazed at what they are picking up! Each sentence has so many words in it, they are finding ways to communicate their tiny thoughts and I am thrilled! I feel so great about work now.  I was a little overwhelmed with the workload this last week or two, but things are slowing down again.  The weather is becoming beautiful! Many of my northern coworkers are complaining about the heat, but it's nothing like Tennessee yet.  I hear the humidity will be crazy soon, but if I can survive a Memphis summer, I think I can do just about anything.  It's around 65-70 and sunny most days.  I hope it stays like this for a while... I am able to take the babies to the park.  They LOVE going outside.  I feel like it's my duty to let them run around freely, make messes, and not be perfect for an hour or two.  They look so genuinely happy blowing bubbles and picking dandelions.  (which of course, are a beautiful bouquet for Marissa Teacher.) We had mini-Olympics two weeks ago.   Basically we dressed them up in SLP t-shirts and had them run around the park doing really silly things. It was more enjoyable for me than them I think, because I couldn't stop laughing when they had to run around a tree with two of them in a hoola hoop, put on the sunglasses and crazy hair wig and then run back. Then they had to run to a tray of white flour and use only their mouths to "dig worms (gummy) out of the sand."  These are all becoming official Olympic sports next year.  So classes are wonderful, the kids are being so sweet. I have had two successful experiences with CCTV now (where the mothers/fathers of the kids come to watch your class from a hidden camera while you get scored on how well you are teaching).  So YAY for that.  And tomorrow is TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY!!! I'm excited. Apparently they bring us flowers and candy and tell us how wonderful we are.  Sounds like my kind of holiday.  Only I won't be eating the candy because I'm on a major health kick at the moment. I've been running and working out, eating much better and cutting out sugar.  I have to start looking bathing suit ready for when my beautiful boyfriend comes to visit! (SOMETIME IN JUNE for allllllll the people that keep wondering :) We are wonderful, God has blessed our relationship beyond belief. Not a day goes by that we do not thank Him for keeping us healthy, happy, and so incredibly in love.  Cheesy, I know, but so true!

I found Mexican food. Well, I say I, but really my friend Anna found it.  There's an On the Boarder in Bumgay... yes, funny name.  Bumgay is about 30 minutes on the subway from me, and so far I've been twice in the past two weeks. The tacos are SO expensive, but I probably would have paid $100 to eat Mexican. It did not disappoint.  I have been shopping a little bit and looking for new shoes... the shoes here do not go past a 7 in US sizes.  I am so sad :( My feet are too big :( Luckily my Mama is sending some rainboots my way! The monsoon season is not far off! This weekend is Buddha's birthday which means we get a day off of school on Friday! Jaclyn, Kade, Michelle, Kate and I are going to Busan (beach town about 5 hours away) for some leisurely sightseeing and beach time! I'm soooooo  ready to be on the beach, sleeping in the sunshine.  Hopefully the rain holds off so I can live this weekend in wonderland.  I have booked my first 8 day vacation which is at the end of July, beginning of August. I am going with Michelle and Anna to Japan! YAY!  I have always wanted to go there and see the Geisha district and the flower gardens and temples. We will be going to Kyoto and Osaka for 6 days and it's going to be AWESOME.

So, in summary, I have a lot coming up! Teacher's Day tomorrow, Busan this weekend, Adam's coming within the month, Dad's visiting 4th of July, Japan at the end of July, and hopefully my Mama will be here in September! I'm one lucky girl, and I am so thankful for my many blessings.  If someone reads this to my Grandma, please tell her I love her a bushel and a peck.  I think about her often and wish she had a smart phone. It's on my list of things to get her.  Also, on the next shipment that someone decides to send me, if you could just box up Madison and Makenzie, that'd be sufficient. I miss them more than almost anything.   Being around these babies all day just makes me realize how sweet and far away my two favorites are :( Your Aunt Issa misses you girls! Bode family: I am teaching the big kids about family trees.  I drew ours on the board. It took up the ENTIRE board.  I am so happy to have such a big wonderful family :) You should have seen the Asian 3rd graders trying to pronounce your names... I said "Who is Marissa Teacher's 2nd Uncle?" They said, "STOVE." hah. "Who is Marissa Teacher's Aunt?" to which they replied, "BeCAW".  It was kind of like having you all there with me.  Please know you are loved, and I wish all of you a very happy month of May.  Nine more to go until we're together again! xox

Healthy Again and Back to the Grind!

So I've been pretty ill for about 3 weeks now, and I'm FINALLY feeling better! Praise the Lord! I have had some sort of flu bug/sinus infection/ cold/ allergic reaction thing/ annoying cough, and now I'm almost completely back to normal :) I basically spent the last three weeks going to work, blowing my nose, talking to Adam on Skype, and feeling miserable.  I came straight home from work each day and went right to bed.  I haven't done much in the way of exciting news, but this past weekend (today is Tuesday), I actually went out and had adventures!

So it all started on a Friday evening, when I felt like I was getting a weird head cold.  I went to the doctor after work, hoping I could nip it in the bud before it ruined my weekend plans, which were to go to a Buddhist Temple and stay overnight doing Buddhist things. Needless to say, I have been looking forward to this for like, ever.  I didn't make it there that weekend on account of my 104 fever I developed sometime that night.  I had gotten medicine for the flu, but it wasn't helping. I stayed in bed all of Saturday and Sunday (Jaclyn and Leah went to the temple and had an awesome time, brought me back a lovely souveniere!) And by Monday when my fever was still at 103 consistently, decided to go hospital.  I didn't go to work that day, my one missed day, and instead was lying in a hospital bed with an IV.  It was super scary being in a hospital in Korea all by myself.  I must have passed out during the IV because when I woke up, there were five Korean doctors standing around mumbling things in Korean and I was very afraid.  I'm glad that's over.  I went home and rested for the day, went back to work on Tuesday but felt awful for the next two and a half weeks, and finally felt up to doing things this passed weekend.  The cough was persistent but it's nearly gone now!  I can sing my songs in class again and life is good.  I am sure I will make it to a Buddhist Temple stay before I go back home.

So this weekend: On Saturday, I went with some friends to Seoul where we visited Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul which is the main palace here.  It had a lovely English tour beginning right as we arrived so I got to hear all about the history of Korean's Empire.  It was fascinating! They had a king who had many restrictions, hardly any freedoms, and tons of responsibility.  Once the Queen had been chosen from the noble class, her main job was to have the children.  Once the children were born, they stayed in the palace until age 5 or 6 when a successor was chosen from either the first son, or the most capable.  The other children were married and forced to leave the palace at age 10.  An interesting tradition was that they enjoyed their wedding night five years later when they reached 15.  The Queen's job was not then complete, as she had power in the palace.  When the King died, usually early from too much stress or illness, her job was to help the crowned Prince understand his duties and responsibilities.  Then she had to stick around in case the Prince died childless, to which she was to rule until a more suitable King was chosen.  All of the palace buildings had heat and air systems that ran under the floor for the King's convenience, but none of the rooms contained furniture as it was common to have assassins hide behind things to murder the king.  Even the King's bedroom was completely bare until he was ready to go to sleep, they would bring in a mattress and blankets.  He had lady servants around him at all times for further safety.  They even had to taste all of his food before he ate it in case there was poison in something!!! Horrible job! Anyways, there were lovely gardens, it was a beautiful day outside and I loved walking around enjoying the sunshine.  The palace was also connected to the Korean Folk Museum which happened to be having a cultural performance as soon as we got there! (talk about perfect timing!) I sat down and watched what should have been a very expensive performance, for free! I was stoked.  There were beautiful hanboks (traditional costumes), singers, dancers, fans and scarves, and instruments.  Then I ate ice cream.  The perfect day.  It continued when we went to Insadong and shopped along the busy market streets.  I was enjoying watching the Korean people haggle over trinkets and see the pretty jewelry and artwork.  When I have visitors here, we will visit there for sure! It ended with a trip to Itaewon to eat good old fashioned American dinner, I had a burger, yay.  Still craving some Mexican food and I'd love it if I could get about 8 lbs. of dill pickles.  I went to bed early as I am still pretty tired after a busy week with five-year-olds.  Sunday I slept in, went to the park to grade tests and make report cards, enjoyed a coffee with my Korean Bestie! :) and then went to bible study where I shared lovely fellowship with an awesome group of inspiring ladies.  Oh also, I'm working out again. Wish me luck. I'm doing Zumba videos and this redic. arm workout I found on Pinterest.  IT HURTS.  The weekend basically rocked and I'm sad that it's over.

All in all, life is pretty great when you're healthy and loved.  Thankful for sweet friends who bring you milkshakes and pastries and awesome paper lanterns, yay for Moms and Dads who send you lovely medical advice and talk to you at all hours of the morning, evening and in between, yay for boyfriends who tell you you're beautiful even though your nose is red and your eyes are puffy and you're basically coughing up your lungs, yay for a bible study that sends you home with a full belly and lots of American cold medications, and yay for a job that has beautiful little germ carriers to cheer you up even when you're feeling your worst.  I love being a teacher. Still can't say it enough.  I love every day getting to spend time laughing and loving tiny people who will one day grow up to do amazing things in the world.  I love getting to be a part of the future.  Maybe one day, one of them will think back, (chances are slim since they're only 5 and you don't remember much from age 5,)  and they will think of the teacher they had and how happy she was to see them each day.  They will remember their childhood as being better because her.  Even if they don't, I will remember my 20's as being better because of them and this opportunity.  Loving where I'm at, loving who I'm with, missing you back home, and knowing you're missing me.  More to come...

Korean Kareoke and Boiling Bath Water!

So, in Korea, they have these things called bongs.  "Bong" is the Korean term for "room".  They have all sorts of bongs, including Wii bong, Pool bong, TV bong, PC bong, Screen Golf bong, and Norebong, literally meaning, singing room.  When you want to do kareoke, there is always a Norebong around every corner.  When you walk in, it's like a hotel sort of, where many different rooms contain kareoke setups.  You pay for your room and you and your friends sit on comfy couches, order food and drinks, and sing kareoke as loud and obnoxiously to your heart's content.  There's no waiting in line for your turn, everyone just sings every song because there's enough microphones to go around.  Bad dancing is also encouraged.  Amazingly, they are filled with American songs that you would sing at typical kareoke! They have Michael Buble and the Aladin theme song, so I was happy :) There are also black lights and disco lights to accompany all of the wonderful performances.  This is how I spent my Friday evening, after a wonderful dinner of the spiciest thing I've ever put into my mouth. It was just fried chicken, but the sauce was like fire.  It was good after you realized you were indeed going to live through the experience.  I got to meet some new friends and enjoy a traditional Korean evening of fun.  Needless to say, Saturday I was worthless, having stayed out until the wee hours of the morning.  That's ok though because it rained most of the day.  I went to lunch with some Korean friends at an awesome noodle shop, and then we had coffee at an interesting cafe close to Hanyang University.  It's where the students mostly hang out.  Let's just say, I had a life altering latte at that cafe.  It was the most amazing coffee I've ever had, and I've had a lot of coffee.  It was even better than Italian or Costa Rican coffee, and you know how I raved about those! I will most definitely be going back there! Sunday was laid back as well, going to church in the morning and then exploring Ansan some more with Jaclyn.  We went to a Bar B Q place for lunch and ordered all by ourselves! It was quite an accomplishment.  Then we bought groceries and I had an early night in, baking cookies in my toaster oven and using nutella as frosting, also experimenting with Dove chocolate on top that melted all gooey... um, yum..  Also during that evening, it was discovered that there was no hot water to speak of, and that made me a little bit angry.  Apparently, no names mentioned, someone in charge of these things neglected to pay certain portions of said gas bill for a while and the heat got shut off in our building.  Bummer.  I, being the princess that I am, was not about to take a cold shower, so I got to work boiling water on the stove and transferring it into the kitchen sink.  Once I had a sink full, my lovely friend and neighbor came over to help me wash my hair.  (There's video footage of this because I'm basically complaining the whole time about how Korea is turning into a third world country) . Then I made her leave so I could attempt to wash the rest of my body with the hot water that I had boiled on the stove.  (sorry no video footage of this).  hah.  Hot water is now restored, which is good because I thought I was going to have to go all ranger on someone soon.  I am loving talking to my handsome ranger boyfriend on skype and facetime now that he's out of rangerland and back in the real world! :) The days are flying by, I'm not evacuating yet, but I have developed an escape plan for all those that are concerned! I love you a million!

One month update: EPIC FIRE DRILLS

So last week was a typical week, no report cards to do and all my test grading finished, I was just recuperating from the previous week. It's looking like the ends of the months are going to be quite busy over here doing teacher things! That's OK though, still really enjoying all of the work! And the kids continue to get cuter every day so that doesn't hurt either... There was ONE interesting thing that happened this week, besides getting a new student named Cheoul Hyeon, meaning "sudden surprise" haha.  We had an impromptu cupcake cooking session because having a new child means we have to do "fun" activities throughout the week to make the child feel more comfortable.  weird.  This hawgwan is definitely run more like a business than a school.  So to the fun thing that happened at school... EPIC FIRE DRILL. Like seriously, I have never seen anything like it. First, the teachers have a meeting letting them know we are going to have a fire drill. Two drills in fact. One of them the children will know about, and the other will be a surprise and we are to pretend as though it is a real fire.  When the bell dings for the drill, we line them up, first having them be quiet, and then on cue, having them scream "help me! help me!" so that someone would be able to find them in the case of a real fire.  That part was a little crazy.  Since I have the babies of the school, mine were crying from the moment I explained what a fire drill was and drew a camp fire on the board.  CRYING hysterically.  Poor babies.  I had one clutched to each of my legs and was carrying two, while two more were pulling on my dress. Needless to say I did not like fire drills.  Until we were leaving the classroom, and I experienced a real Korean drill.  They had flame throwers. That's right, actual people throwing flames to make it seem authentic.  They had fog machines. You could not see one inch in front of your face.  Try finding an exit and going down 4 flights of stairs with 24 five-year-olds. It is not easy! They had mood music.  Imagine the titanic theme song blasting while you're trying to keep your children together while being blind and having your principal run through the hallways screaming "It's a fire it's a fire! Everyone out!"  When I finally managed to get my very scared babies out onto the street in front of the school and stop crying, my principal comes over to announce, "We survived! Say it with me!" Children shout, "We survived!" I was just looking at everything, taking it all in, wondering who in the world thought it was OK to make five year olds really believe they were going to die at school.  Terrified faces were now super prepared for a real fire though, so I guess there was a method to their madness! It's all on video on facebook. Please check it out to see that I'm not exaggerating. 

Becoming one with the nature

Easter Sunday was a new experience this year! I hiked up a ten mile mountain  with a random group of people, while silently praying and singing praise songs of course.  No egg hunts, no turkey dinner, just 10 people who didn't know each other, coming together for some exercise while they couldn't be with their own loved ones.  It was definitely a fun day.  And out of those ten people of varying ages and ethnic backgrounds, would you believe I met a former US Army Ranger? I mean, what are the odds? Hiking on the other side of the world, meet a Ranger! Especially on that day! I knew it had to be a good sign, and turns out, it was! Adam is officially finished with Ranger School come this Friday! (pause for applause).  To some of you, this may seem like not substantial news, but to most of you, you know that this has been my life for the past 6 months.  Adam and I share our lives now, so what he experiences, I feel like I experience.  This has been really tough on both of us, but through the grace of God and our awesome family love and support, we are finally finishing up this week, and I could not be more happy! The long distance love letters have been so romantic and joyful, but it will be amazing to hear his voice again, and see him when he comes for a visit. Needless to say, I'm super excited and proud of him :) Proud of us, for staying together, for trusting each other, for trusting God, and knowing that there is nothing we can't overcome.  So, I look forward to our skype conversations over the next few weeks, but back to my Easter hike.  Remember St. Patrick's Day and the Irish bar where you had to spin the wheel and either drink a shot or buy a shot? Well, I had to buy two, and decided to give one to Douglas *random guy at the bar reading a book, not socializing--lame*, and it is a good thing I did, because Douglas runs the hiking group that consists of reporter/journalists doing work in Korea, as well as some Chinese people, other English teachers, and regular Korean people.  It was a nice connection to make, because now I have a whole new group of friends, (most of them in their 40's or 50's) outside of just English teachers living in Ansan.  It is because of Douglas that we were invited to join the hike on Sunday.  I met some lovely people, most of whom have been here for a few years on work, and one happened to be a teacher living in Itaewon who is a retired infantryman.  Awesome.  We had a lot to talk about.  The hike was nice, the weather was perfect, my body is sore today from all of the physical exertion.  It was lovely to be outside for so long, being one with nature, making new friends.   Afterward we feasted on Korean Bar B Q and ice cream :) Easter was as great as it could be, minus the ones I love! We have plans to join the hiking team again on their next adventure.  Yay for great things happening in my life.  So blessed, and incredibly happy to be able to experience the world and all of it's glory! Saranghay!

Your face look like you take bath in milk every day!

So, it's been a very eventful weekend. Firstly, Adam finds out about Ranger School, like, any hour now. So I'm trying to occupy my thoughts with other things, so I will write to you about my super eventful weekend! Friday night was not. I got off work and went to bed because it was a very long week and I was super tired. Saturday morning, woke up, had some quality time with me, did some yoga, made scrambled eggs, watched Gilmore Girls for hours, you know. Typical Saturday stuff. It was a gloomy day out and I wanted to get out of the apartment, so I messaged my friend Kate to see if she wanted to get together. She came to Ansan and we decided to go to the movie theatre on a whim to see if we could see an English speaking movie.  There were a few playing, but at the time we were there, only one was about to start. It was G.I. Joe 2.  Of course we were both into that, as well as our friends Jaclyn, Kade, and Michelle.  I was just thrilled to be in a normal looking movie theatre! When we bought our tickets, we had to pick our seats on a screen before entering the theatre, (similar to when you go see a play at TPAC or something) so that part was odd.  The theatre itself looked just like everything in America, and they even had POPCORN! It was so normal!!! We watched the movie, it having more meaning for me I think because I imagined all the guys on the screen to be Adam being awesome killing bad guys.  Good movie, good experience. Of course after that we were all famished, so we headed to Ansan Station to eat at the Uzbekistan restaurant we are all so fond of.  I had lamb kabobs of course and Kate and I had a beer to celebrate it being almost finished with Ranger School! As the dinner was coming to a close, we were greeted by a Korean man, in his forties, that stumbled in the door and asked if he could sit down with us.  Clearly our friend had been having a pretty fun evening already, by the way he was slurring his words and staring at me without blinking.  He took a strange liking to me from the moment he sat down, it was both equally flattering and creepy to hear the numerous comments coming from his drunken mouth. My favorite was by far the "I love you white skin. Your face look like you take bath in milk every day!" This occurred right before he showed us the montage of photos on his iphone, most of them pictures of flowers or jewelry, each time giving us a commentary, pointing to me and saying, "I love you, this I will give to you." or, "Before I meet you, I am sad. Now meeting you, I am happy."  Needless to say, all of my dinner companions were rolling in laughter, also encouraging this strange man's affections for me.  I was laughing too.  Moral of the story is this: drunken korean men are super giving with their affections.  Good times.  After dinner, we went through the markets ( where I saw entire pig heads ready to be eaten, as well as skinned whole chickens, just hanging out) to get some fresh vegetables before heading home to rest up for our Easter Sunday hike through nature! That blog post will be out soon! Love you and prayers for my Ranger today! Happy Easter Bodes, Caseys, Martins and Clarks! Xox

Screen Golf and Soju Don't Mix

Today is Sunday, and I am about to leave for church soon. I thought I would write about my adventures yesterday, attending my first Korean wedding.  We arrived at the wedding hall by taxi, and once inside, had to make it to the fourth floor where Sunny's wedding was taking place.  There were other ceremonies happening on the first, second and third floor so we caught glimpses of those as we walked up.  There are many rules that accompany a Korean wedding.  When you finally make it to the correct floor, you will see that it is required to put 30,000 won ($30) into an envelope with your name on it, and trade it in for your meal ticket at a counter outside of the wedding room.  Then you can go and sit down at one of the banquet style, pre-decorated tables.  We got there 10 minutes early, and the previous wedding was still taking photos as we were coming to find our seats.  Imagine 40 round tables all scattered around a room with a giant, blingd-out, bejeweled catwalk in the middle. Like literally, it was the length of the room, it looked more like a fashion show than a wedding.  It was beautiful.  It is customary for the bride's coworkers to sit in the front, why? I'm not sure, but we did.  It is also customary for the bride's coworkers to sing a song during the ceremony. So we did.  But first, we sat at our tables at the front of the stage, and waited only 5 minutes for it to begin.  First the mothers came out wearing their traditional hanboks (silk robe type thing), they each came down the catwalk and then bowed to each other and exited to the sides where there were two silk sofas waiting for them.  Then the fathers came out, doing the same thing.  No bridesmaids or groomsmen like we know of in America, instead there were 2 flight attendant looking women and two tuxedo wearing, silver masked, white sparkly glove wearing men that were to make sure the ceremony ran smoothly.  The two tuxedo men came to the middle of the catwalk and drew swords to signify that Sunny and JJ were about to enter.  They came in together, through the back door and down the catwalk, where they then walked to the front where the "alter" was located.  It was all happening very quickly.  The Titanic theme music was playing at this point.  Then we watched the ceremony, bride and grooms backs were toward the audience, where a priest read from the book of Genesis and it was broadcast above their heads on a huge screen.  The purpose of the screen is so that those that went straight to the buffet and skipped the ceremony, could watch it while they stuffed their faces.  They said some prayers I think, lit a candle, and cut the cake all right there in a matter of ten minutes.  Then they walked mid way up the catwalk and waited for us to sing our songs to them.  We entered the stage and made a formation, sang the song "Way Back Into Love" from the movie Music and Lyrics, and then another Korean lovesong.  Sunny was very grateful for our work and effort, event though the sound was mediocre at best.  Once that was finished, they walked off the catwalk as the tuxedo men blew trumpets and confetti popped out, and everyone went to eat unless they wanted to stick around for the SECOND ceremony which was traditional korean style. I of course, wanted to see that happening, so we waited.  We had to move to a different room next door where a small table and teapot were set up on the floor.  Ten minutes later, Sunny and JJ came out wearing traditional clothes and sat on the floor.  She poored the tea and they fed each other some weird prune looking thing.  That was it! The photographer took a million pictures and we went downstairs to the buffet.  The buffet was a sight to behold.  They had about 10 different lines of food with huge varieties of Korean food as well as some American, but the best was the sushi.  After getting my plate I sat at our designated table and could see on the TV screen that the other wedding was already starting.  Amazing! The food was great, and the drinks were never-ending, so my coworkers were satisfied with that.  Once we had sufficiently gorged ourselves, we decided to go for a walk to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.  We walked to a nearby park where they drank beer and an impromptu game of cherades broke out, so that was very fun.  I thought my rendition of "The Legends of the Fall" was spot on because I used my friend Kade as a prop to describe "The Legend" and then I just fell down. Everyone guessed it instantly.  After the park, it's around 6pm at this point, we decide to go check out a screen golf shop.  Screen golf is exactly what it sounds like.  Golf that you play and it shows up on a screen. It's kind of like Wii.  You hit an actual golf ball with an actual golf club, and it shows you how far it "probably" went.  We had our own private room, complete with alcohol and snacks.  I watched as the drunkenness continued.  6 people were playing screen golf.  They signed up for 18 holes, and it took 2 hours to get to the third hole.  Needless to say, I did not stay to witness the end of screen golf, but took a taxi home around 9 and crashed.  It was another good day in Ansan!

A Long Time Coming...

Firstly, sorry to my devoted readers for taking so long with my post, it's been a wonderful and crazy week! I am starting to settle in quite nicely and am forgetting things that seem "foreign" to me, it is all just so typical now.  We visited Suwon last weekend, which is a walled fortress that goes for miles and has small things to look at on the way. It was a beautifully sunny day and we even did archery at the end of it! I of course put my hair in a braid so that I could shoot my bow and arrow "Katniss-style".  (Hunger Games reference if you've been living under a rock.) In other news, Adam passed mountain phase of Ranger school and is now onto the Florida swamps! I'm super proud of him and am excited that he could be finished with this business forever in about two more weeks! Prayers for him please! It is now Saturday, March 23 where I am, meaning today is the one month marker of my time in Korea... yay! It's been an exciting first month, I am making great friends, and happy to be here.  The kids and I are becoming much closer, they are understanding English in ways that I thought would take six months, and that makes me smile because I know that I'm making progress as  a teacher :) I have also started learning the Korean language. I said I wasn't going to, but I figure I have the time, so why not? The alphabet is so strange! Learning to read it is going to be a challenge, but if I make the symbols into pictures in my head, I can kind of remember the sounds they make.  I have learned the key phrases like "thank you" which is "casamneeda" and "hello" which is "anyahasayo"  and my new favorite, "I love you" which is "saronghay".  Last weekend was also St. Patrick's Day and we enjoyed that Sunday by going into Itaewon and drinking Guinness at some Irish Pubs.  I had to spin the St. Patrick's Day Wheel to either get a shot, or buy a shot or something like that. My unluckyness caused me to have to buy two shots. That's ok though b/c I gave one to a peculiar looking man reading a book in the corner, and in turn, made a new friend! He is in his 40's and has been in Korea for 10 years teaching government officials English. He also has a hiking group that he invited me and my friends to go on next weekend! Yay for new friends and fun adventures. My mom would be so proud that I'm going hiking :) The school week was typical, we had a cooking class on Thursday, and I also had to meet the parents of my kindergarteners that day. Most of them don't speak English so someone translated for me while I smiled and waved. I told them "thank you" in Korean when I finished and did a long bow, which they of course clapped wildly for.  I think it's going to be a good year with them. Winning them over is half the duty of being a teacher.  The cooking class was quite an event. It was "Eggboat Day" meaning that it was my job to teach the kids how to make a sort of deviled egg into a boat with a sail as a healthy snack. Whoever thought it was ok to give 4 year olds plastic knives needs to seriously be checked out. It was scary and insane.  On cooking day, it is also customary for the kids to come decked out in full aprons with chef hats and monograms.  You'd think they were working on Cake Boss rather than mixing egg yolk and mayonaise in a bowl.  But anyways, it's good to get a little messy sometimes. After all, they are kids! Yesterday we did decopage Easter eggs to hang on the wall! They don't really celebrate Easter, but their teacher does, so therefore, Easter crafts! Hooray! I think I am quite a hit as a teacher, still getting my tearful "Don't go, Marissa Teacher!" at the end of every class.  One can't help but feel the love! I also received a super sweet care package this week from Adam's mom! I was so surprised by the array of goodies, including whale cookies and even leggings! She knows me so well :) Last night there was a party in my apartment building that was the sure sign of a very long work week for everyone! We had lots of food and even played American games from when we were kids like the cup game and after the beer was flowing, the sing a longs got a little out of control hah.  It's like being back in college, only no homework and way less pressure to make a good grade. IT IS AWESOME.  Plus, I'm making money, which is never a bad thing! So today is the day of the epic wedding we've all been waiting for... I will post again later tonight with details of that and also put up some pictures from St. Patty's Day and the rest of the week! Love and miss you Tennessee! Saronghay! (I love you :)

Make Your Classroom Sparkle!

Today I've been decorating my classroom. I never realized how much work and effort goes into those colorful signs and art displays of colors, shapes, alphabets, etc.  It is hard work. But super fun to use your creativity to make them cool.  My latest chart, (for the days of the week) is done in an underwater theme. *see facebook for photos. It has a whale with a bubble coming out of his mouth saying "What day is it?" and then colorful fish surrounding him with the days of the week.  I am quite proud of it, as it took a long time to cut out those fish and laminate them and put velcro on everything.  Today was an awesome day.  It started off with me running late this morning because I was so comfortable sleeping that I didn't want to get up.  I was awoken by a text message from my dad that said, "Can you skype?" To which I replied, "I can't. I'm late."  But then he sent a picture message of a letter from Adam and said, OK then.  I said, "I am getting on Skype!!!!"  He read me the letter. I cried for a while, tears of joy because I'm so happily in love with Adam. He never ceases to make my day one hundred times better.  I walked to school feeling loved and appreciated and so lucky and blessed to be the woman that I am and loved by him.  When I got to school, I was greeted by a perfect class of five-year olds who were ecstatic to see me and perfectly well behaved.  Well, maybe not the last part, but it didn't matter as I was in an exceptionally great mood.  They were relatively good today though.  I taught them the BINGO song and we practiced writing the letter "B".  We also talked about brushing our teeth, did the monkey song, read a book, and went to the bathroom about a hundred times.  They are really starting to understand my faces when I get angry or happy, and my good points chart (rocket ship themed) is working swimmingly.  If their rocket points go up, they jibber jabber in baby Korean to show how proud they are of themselves. SO CUTE.  After school I had dinner with some coworkers and then worked some more on my crafts and planning for next week.  There are a lot of after hours in being a teacher, but I hardly mind it since I love the people I am around, and the work is fun and rewarding.  It was White Day today in Korea, which means that if you are a woman, you receive chocolate and flowers from your husband/boyfriend.  It's like Valentine's Day on crack, but only for girls.  A fellow teacher received 3 dozen white roses from her soon-to-be husband. So sweet.  I have been invited not only to attend her wedding, but to also SING a song at it.  All of the teachers will sing a love song to honor her and I will get to experience a real Korean wedding ceremony! I'm so excited! Today was a wonderful day :)

Korean Magic Shows and Weird Medicine

Today at school, my life was changed.  I was able to witness tiny Korean children getting down to the beautiful musical selection of "Open Gangam Style".  If you have not been living under a rock, you know that this is a very popular trend to watch on youtube/make your own video of you and close friends doing ridiculous dance moves, but to see tiny Asian children doing it in a large mass was just too much wonderful. The magic show that we watched today in the gym was quite a success. (During the magic show there was a musical interlude which is when the dancing commenced.)  Of course the show was done in Korean so I didn't understand most of what was being said, but it was fun to watch the kids' reactions to his tricks! There was an array of live animals involved as well, including a guinee pig, three white doves, and a chicken.  So school was fun.  Duck, duck goose is also considered rocket science if you weren't aware . It is nearly impossible to get children to grasp the concept of running AROUND the circle to tag the person who goosed them.  They just run all over the classroom instead.  At school, it's like a craft store threw up all over my desk.  As a kindergarten teacher, I'm required to decorate my classroom.  This task involves making detailed charts and displays consisting of the seasons, weather, days of the week, months of the year, a good points chart, a seating chart, a feelings chart, a lunch helper chart, and any other thing that is important for a five year old to see on the wall.  As you could probably guess, I am having wayyyyy too much fun with this aspect of being a teacher.  Pinterest is my best friend! I made a rocket ship good points chart, which I'm very proud of, the idea stemming from my own 3rd grade experiences with learning your times tables.  Your rocket climbed the wall every time you learned a new number.  My kids have rockets that climb to outer space, if they're good.  When they get to space, they get a present.  It's working swimmingly.  After work, I was going to ask the school nurse for advice on what to take for the three ailments I have at the moment.  Yes, Korea is making me ill, but I will live.  Especially now.  The nurse sent me to the doctor, which just conveniently happens to be located on the top floor of the building that my school is in! Isn't that handy? I was hoping they would just give me a prescription and send me on my way.  Didn't happen.  First off, they didn't speak a word of English, so trying to gesture to them where the problems were was quite a fun task.  Thankful for my theatre training at this point, because hopefully they understood and gave me the correct meds. Oh, and a shot. THEY GAVE ME A SHOT.  Since my health insurance isn't set up with the school for another three weeks, I had to pay for everything out of pocket.  In America, this would have been a crazy fee.  I paid $50 total and they apologized for it being so expensive. I think they apologized anyways, can't be sure.  So, a doctor's visit, a shot, and 2 prescriptions for $50.  Can't beat that. Plus I was able to walk right in and be seen by a man in a pink lab coat.  Emily Jean Upchurch needs one of those instead of her boring white one :) Medicine is kicking in and I'm off to bed soon. Loved talking to my grandma yesterday, thanks Alex, and Aunt Beck this morning.  More Korean adventures to come !

Faith in Korea

So this blog post is about to get real. I have mostly been writing about what's happening and forgetting to write in detail about how I am feeling about everything. #1, I am absolutely 100 percent confident that this is where God wants me to be right now. I have never felt more strongly about a decision I've made being the right one.  (Except maybe choosing Adam, but we know how I feel about that ;)  I have had an amazing Sunday that started off as very relaxing, some deep cleaning of the new apartment which is always therapeutic, writing a letter to Adam, and then taking a stroll into town.  I stumbled upon a coffee shop that looked pretty quaint and went in to get a caffeine fix.  I also found out that they had molten chocolate lava cake in a coffee cup so it's like baby size, and of course, I got one of those. The first delicious chocolate I have been able to find here, score.  I noticed another non-asian sitting alone in the corner.  I decided to approach and make a friend.  It's a really good thing I did because she turned out to be a wonderful woman who invited me to a bible study with her later on tonight.  I was very excited to meet someone outside of my school and have an opportunity to meet other believers as well.  I went to the bible study and had an amazing time, listening and learning from a group of women that come from all over the world.  There is one from Africa,  two from Korea, and a few from the states that are either teachers or missionaries or students at the university here, and of course, my new friend, who happens to be Canadian.  We were served American food, (mac n cheese and pickles!!!!!! yes, pickles.)  The woman hosting it was a Korean woman married to an American retired veteran so they are able to go to the military base and get lots of American supplies.  Yay for good connections! She's going to get me some pickles and pop tarts!!! We discussed each others backgrounds and talked about how important it is that we are here, as Christian women, living out God's word.  I am so excited to try out the church on Sunday, it is an English-speaking service and it will be awesome to experience that connection over here.  I'm very happy with my life at this point.  I still have so many years ahead and so much more world to see, and I'm super in love with God and in love with my family.  I hope this joy will continue with me throughout the week and be a good model for the children.  I want them to see a teacher that is happy and loving and want to be like her.  I wish for patience and strength in this week, and an open heart and mind to see all that God has to offer and all that I can offer to him.  Hooray for another exciting day in Ansan :)

Don't Drink the Koolaide! (or in this case, the tap water)

So apparently when you move to a new country, it takes your body a little while to adjust to the new environment, bacteria, and food that you're consuming, but mostly, it takes time to adjust to a new water source. Well, mine hasn't been taking it too well and I've been feeling pretty ill for the past three days, therefore, not writing you entertaining blogs to read because all I want to do is curl up and sleep.  Bouncing around singing the hokey pokey is also not conducive to helping one recover from said sickness, so I am now taking a rest as it is Friday. Hooray! This week has been crazy.  I have been making lesson plans and having full class days with kindergarten in the mornings and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders in the afternoons.  My hours of work are from 9:30-6pm and an hour break in the middle.  The days have seemed especially long this week since I haven't been feeling great :( At least today it seemed to be getting a little bit better. I have survived my first week as a teacher! And I'm EXHAUSTED.  I have been using information that I never even knew I had, like songs and chants that I learned in kindergarten, plus a variety of other things I've learned from being an aunt and babysitter.  If someone reads this to Madison, please let her know that the asian kindergarteners are doing the monkey/alligator song, and they are loving it.  We also do a lot of coloring, snack time, puzzles, and dancing.  I have come up with some very clever math and english games for the times when I actually have to teach them something, but the majority of the mornings are spent just playing and having fun :) I LOVE my kids. They are basically amazing.  One even cried today when it was time for me to leave.  It's going to be tough to say goodbye to them when the year is finished... but I'll think about that later.  Back to today.... I have finally been able to keep some food down today, which is great news because I went to eat Uzbekistan food after work with some friends, and oh my gosh, it was delicious.  Lots of meat, lots of potatoes, lots of things that Adam would love.  I was happy to have my appetite back and be able to enjoy dinner tonight.  Then, since I was already out, decided to go to a bar/club with them.  It was a very hip part of town called Jungang and mostly students from the university hang out there but it was packed tonight. Lots of neon lights, drinking and having fun in the street.  I, however, was a sober sally, trying to not make my stomach feel any worse, so I enjoyed watching my drunk friends attempt to play darts and dance.  Always a good time.  Took a cab home, and now am resting up to enjoy my lazy Saturday tomorrow.  Only one more week until we hear from Adam about Ranger School and I CANNOT WAIT.  Lesson learned for the week: don't drink water from the tap that you haven't boiled, even if it does mean you have to wait longer to cook your ramen noodles. #impatient. 

What do you mean the Kareoke bar is really a strip club?!!??

OK, this is going to be quick, but just a recap: Saturday was fun, I slept in late for the first time since being here, hooray. I went to school to prepare for Monday and then went out with Jaclyn for street food for dinner, which was quite delicious, and then we set off in search of a bar to get a drink.  We found a great looking joint with a picture of a woman singing into a microphone on the front of the door.  Since kareoke bars are quite prevalent here, I assumed it was that and got even more excited that we were going to sing kareoke! FUN! When I got to the entrance of the bar, a very confused-looking Korean man came to give me the Korean symbol for "no" which is your hands crossed in front of you like an "X".  I said, "We wish to get a beer." He said, "NO WOMEN. MEN ONLY. WOMEN LIKE THIS (then he proceeded to make stripping motions with his hands)."  "Ohhhhh, this is a strip club!" I said, "YES." he replied. Then we left.  So, moral of the story is that, korean strip clubs bare a striking resemblance to korean kareoke bars.  SUNDAY: moved into my new apartment, finally, and I LOVE it.  It's a loft apartment with a small kitchen, living space, and bathroom.  The bathroom is the best part... it's actually called a "wetroom" because the shower, toilet, and sink are all in one open space.  The shower head is loose and sits on the sink, and you must literally pick it up and rinse your body in order to "shower".  The entire room gets sopping wet and then dries farely quickly, yay. Just had my first shower experience in the wetroom. This is definitely going to be different than what I'm used to! Tomorrow is a school day, and I cannot wait! So excited!!!!

And on my 5th day in Korea, I found THE AQUARIUM.

That's right folks. I found the Aquarium last night. Well, Korea's version of "Seaworld."  IT WAS AWESOME. Let's back up.  Yesterday was Friday, and we had the day off because the national holiday was Korea's Independence Day.  They don't really do much in honor of this day except everyone's off work, so Jaclyn and I ventured into Seoul to meet my friend Kate. (From Memphis not Nashville, although it'd be super cool if that one were here too. Just sayin'.) This was my first experience on the Korean subway, and it was definitely an adventure.  So Jaclyn and I stopped for coffee and bagels on our way to the train, and thought we'd have an hour or so to eat them once we got on.  This would have been a perfect plan if we had been able to sit or even MOVE on the train. It was extremely crowded and we weren't exactly sure how to navigate it (me especially) and so we mainly just looked like the lost american girls with too much food.  I made the sad mistake of sitting in an empty seat when someone got off at one of the stops.  It was about two minutes later that a large Korean man started yelling at me, and I thought he was being nice, saying "Yougeyo" which I interpreted to mean "look!" I thought he wanted me to look out the window to see the scenery, so I did, smiling nicely back at him.  He kept yelling, so I kept turning my head to look out the window. He got angry and yelled louder.  Then Jaclyn noticed the sign that had a picture of a man with a cane and a lady with a baby. Apparently I was sitting in the old people or pregnant people section of the train and was being totally disrespectful without even knowing it. awesome. He did not want me to look out the window, he wanted me to move my disrespectful american self out of the seat! so I did. He stopped yelling then. Fast forward through an extremely awkward rest of the train ride with him glaring at me... we made it to our stop.  We got off to find Kate waiting for us at the meeting place and proceeded to check out Seoul.  We walked around Itaewon which is nicknamed "little America".  It had lots of cool stores and street vendors and even an Outback steakhouse. Score.  Lots of Gangham Style stuff.  We decided since it was freezing out, we would go to the Korea National Museum.  It was super interesting with all of its cultural artifacts and pictures.  I began to feel a little more oriented in the country I was living.  After the museum, we decided to stop for lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant.  We took off our shoes and sat on the floor at tiny tables with a burner in the center.  A large pot was brought out with a whole chicken in it, floating with broth and vegetables.  It was actually quite tasty! Like chicken soup, only, less like my mom's.  After lunch we went on an adventure to find Hannuk Village which was supposed to be filled with korean culture and just cool houses from way back in the day.  After an hour of searching, we finally found it, only to see that we'd missed the last American tour for the day, so that was kind of disappointing.  We got to see some of the houses and architecture from the Mulan period hah.  I'll post pictures soon. But now getting to the good part of the day.... We went to the 63 building, which is the tallest building in Korea.  I forgot exactly how high, but it's like their version of the Empire State Building.  We bought tickets and rode the elevator to the top and saw the most beautiful views of the whole city at night, it was amazing! When we came down, we realized that their was an aquarium in the basement of this building.  Yes, a real live aquarium with penguins, fish, seals, otters, jellyfish, eels, sharks, and a GIANT OCTOPUS. I had never seen one before in real life so I was super excited about that.  Again, lots of pictures.  Sad to say, no whales in aquarium, but it was a super fun day, none the less.  After this we were exhausted, found a bulgogi burger for dinner (bulgogi is korean beef remember) and it absolutely tasted NOTHING like a real burger, bleh, and then we went home. Yay for a first day doing something besides school! There is so much to see and do here, and I'm excited I have a whole year to explore.  Some things I miss already: Liquid hand soap, Taco Bell, and Adam. Oh, and all my family and friends :)

Oh wait, you actually want me to TEACH my own class today?

I arrived at school around 10:15 to prepare for the ceremony for the new incoming students and parents.  Since I am a kindergarten teacher, actually, the 5-1 teacher, I was expected to give a speech explaining that I was sweet and kind and would indeed not eat anyone's children.  All the teachers gathered to sing two songs and do a cheesy dance to make the kids feel less scared about starting school, and then they received their class assignments.  In Korea, the ages are different than in America because they use the lunar calendar.  This means that they are 1 year old when they are born (because they've been alive since conception) and that when they are 5 year olds, they are really only 4 years old in America. So, imagine something that is about Makenzie's height, but that speaks three languages almost fluently. So crazy.  Since I have the 5-1 class, that means they are 5 years old (korean age) and on 1st year of english learning.  They are the babies of the school and I absolutely adore them already.  After giving my speech in the gym, they were called one by one if they were in "Marissa Teacher's" class, to which they then ran up and hugged me before forming a line to follow me to our Zebra's classroom.  Once getting to the classroom, I helped them to sit at the tables and prepare for class.  They started off shy at first, but warmed up quickly when they realized that our snack for the day was ice cream.  We red a book on the mat and I had them answer questions about colors and shapes.  Then we made worms and dirt! (The American snack with oreos, ice cream, and gummy worms) which they loved. Since our classes are only 40 minutes long, this concluded the day for us.  I was afraid at first that I wouldn't be good at this, because the language barrier would be so difficult, but with my theatre background and big facial expressions, I think they really understood and connected with me even on the first day. It's going to be a great year :) Also, the parents were very sweet, most of them speaking some or lots of English to make me feel less intimidated.  After this exciting morning, I went with my friends Aubrey and Mark to get lunch at the kimbop shop across from school.  A kimbop is like a sushi roll except without the raw fish. Mine had seaweed on the outside, and rice and fried shrimp on the inside, and it was actually pretty tasty.  I had a side of ramen noodles to go with it.  They called it cheese ramen,  meaning it was American style ramen noodles and a slice of Kraft cheese on top. YUM. I observed the older kids classes in the afternoon and got off work in time to have dinner with Jaclyn (a coworker) before we went back to the hotel.  We were looking for more Korean food to try and ended up finding my new favorite place. They served some weird named dish that basically amounted to FRIED CHICKEN with CHEESE FONDUE. It was so tasty and accompanied by some hot dog looking thing and even french fries.  You'll have to see the pictures to get the full effect.  I'm about to head to school again for another exciting day of teaching babies! I wish there was more hand sanitizer, or as my niece says, "handzatizer" haha. Missing my family... missing Adam, and knowing that he's missing me.  More to come later!

Careful! They Spit! and Italy lives in Ansan!

First of all, I forgot to mention that Koreans, they spit.  Like, on the ground, and everywhere, it's just something that the culture has decided is OK.  ew.  It's lovely to be walking around the train station, already looking lost and confused, only to have asian people stare you down and hawk giant loogies in front of you. Very attractive.  So anyways, YESTERDAY, day 2 of observing kindergarten was pretty fantastic.  I started the day off with a brisk 15 minute walk to the school, enjoying the time spent chatting with my co-workers, (2 of whom are British and super fun to imitate).  As you walk through the metropolitan streets, you will see piles of trash on the ground.  They don't have public trashcans, but the people are considerate enough to put trash into piles that do seem to get picked up daily. We arrived at school and went to our classrooms, again greeted by hugs and squeals of delight.  Our first class had a dance party to Justin Bieber's "Baby", so of course, I got my groove on.  They seemed to enjoy my dancing very much. For all of you that know me, that means "the Marissa dance" was in full swing, and is in fact, a hit with the kindergarteners.  Our next class was a trip to the library where we watched Tom and Jerry for 8 straight episodes.  This to me seemed very American and the kids absolutely loved it.  Lunch was next, and I actually enjoyed it! It was Bulgogi *Korean beef* and rice, with of course, kimchi radish and a potato soup.  Bulgogi is pretty great and after lunch, my faith was restored in the fact that I might not starve this year, pending there's enough bulgogi to last.  I then had an hour break before my afternoon classes and decided to go to the pastry shop and hang out with some coworkers.  I am feeling very excited about the people I'm working with, we seem to be getting along nicely and all have similar goals during our time in Korea.  This week is a three day weekend due to the Korean New Year being on Friday, so I'm hoping to take the train into Seoul and meet up with Kate who is there teaching.  She's going to show me around and hopefully find some adventures! Afternoon classes consisted of the older more advanced kids, and then we had a song and dance rehearsal for today's presentation. Apparently in Korea, it is customary for the teachers to do a special song for the parents and new children who are beginning the school year.  We are singing and doing motions to "Do, a Deer" from the Sound of Music.  It should be quite entertaining.  The better my singing ability is, the better kindergarten teacher I am, right?  After school was finished, I set off in hopes of spaghetti. I am pleased to say that it was right next to me the entire time!!! Basilico is my new favorite place to dine.  My dinner was absolutely amazing, consisting of margarita pizza, spaghetti with meatsauce, and salad.  Oh, also, we got free coffee ice cream for being American. SCORE! They believe that if they give you free things once in a while, you will keep bringing them business. They just so happened to be correct. I will be frequenting that establishment for a long time.  My night wouldn't have been complete if I hadn't gotten lost on the way home.  I am sad to say that I have been here only a few days and have already managed to get lost in Ansan. Shucks.  We eventually wondered our way onto the right street, so all is saved.  So, in conclusion, good friends, a great job, and SPAGHETTI made for a great second day in Korea. 

Korea Day 1-- A Taste of Kimchi

Well, after an exhausting day of airplanes and bus stations and freezing cold to get here, I'm happy to say that I've finally arrived :) After a grueling 14 hour flight from Detroit, I had my first experience with Korean food as I got to the bus station last night with my fellow English teachers. Grilled corn on the cob sold at a street vendor was absolutely delicious! As I stood outside in the arctic cold, (not as cold as ranger school of course), I was slightly warmed by the yummy corn.  Korea was looking pretty good so far.  After meeting with the man in charge of our arrival, we were taken to dinner at a traditional Korean Bar-B-Q restaurant.  The grill is in front of you with hot coals underneath (similar to a hookah only upside down) as you sit on the floor at your tiny tables.  A large tray of pork comes out that you are to place on the grill, turning it with tongs and cutting it into pieces with scissors-- so weird.  Random pieces of bread are scattered around the bottom of the grill and are used to soak up the oil from the meat.  Various side dishes are then brought, such as kimchi in different varieties and a bowl of garlic which is also placed on the grill, and lettuce to make kind of a pork lettuce wrap.  I feel like this blog is going to be a lot about food.  The pork was good, the kimchi wasn't awful, and we left feeling exhausted but satisfied.  Our hotel which we're staying in until our apartments are ready, is dark, but nice.  It comes fully equipped with a computer, large TV, and mood lighting for those sassy korean escapades.  Apparently it's one of the only places in Korea that you can actually find a bathtub, score!  I fell hard into a deep sleep last night and woke up excited to see the school.  I was not disappointed! My job today was to shadow a current ESL teacher to her kindergarten classes.  I fell in love with kindergarten.  They are so tiny and so loving, and already their english is so clear!  I was introduced as "Marissa Teacher" and instantly given hugs and kisses.  Since the school year is ending here, today was spent doing a completion ceremony in which the different classes dressed up in tiny caps and gowns and received a certificate, after doing a presentation of a song and dance of the teacher's choosing.  I heard adorable Korean renditions of "Dancing Queen", Michael Jackson's "ABC 123", and my favorite, "A Whole New World".  CUTENESS OVERLOAD.  I was in tears.  I just had a revelation-- I think I was probably born to teach kindergarten asians how to sing and dance to american disney songs. I'm going to be so good at this!  After their ceremony I watched the teaching of some other classes and received a real korean school lunch.  I think my love of Korean food might never arrive, as I had two bites and decided it was not for me.  The fish were like sardines, complete with heads and scales, and of course, the kimchi was just as appetizing. I decided to opt out on dinner tonight to catch up on some more sleep. Got some peanut butter and bananas at the grocery store across the street, but I seriously might starve if I don't find something edible soon.   I am already missing some spaghetti and meatballs.  And Adam. I miss him too. First day in Korea = major success :)

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