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 !