Will I Ever Be Back?

As my time is winding down, I'm constantly thinking what my future holds in this country. I'm feeling obligations (obviously) to uphold some sort of relationship with my new-found family, but does that necessarily mean I'll be back here, living...?

I have 45 days left in Korea...will these 45 days be my last?

Will my friends and family back at home make my year there so worth while that I can't leave again?

Hmm...wondering.

I'm creating a pro-con list for Korea. This list has nothing to do with my decision to come back next year, but it has everything to do with keeping/maintaining memories of my last 2 years here. Although, most of my time here has been unreal and unforgettable, I want to be able to physically see what I've done with myself the last few years and what opportunities and experiences I've come across.

Ohhhh, Korea.

P.S. Mom - Thanks for reminding me of this photo...I love it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

메리 크리스마스 and 새해 복 많이!!!

Being that I'm excellent on keeping you all up to date on my life, I decided my 'card' this year will be short and sweet.

I had one helluva year - if you don't remember, refer to the previous blog posts!

I am so thankful and grateful for everyone in my life. You have made a significant impact on my being and I don't know what I'd do without you.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and were able to spend it with the ones you love. I'm looking forward to hearing all of your New Year's resolutions, and I'm especially looking forward to watching you forget then by March! :)

Some quotes I stumbled upon:

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions. ~Joey Adams

I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's. ~Henry Moore

New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions. ~Mark Twain

This weekend I will spend the New Year with my family in Gyeongju. Koreans are nuts about watching the first sunrise of the year - so I'm counting on being up early.

Be safe and thankful!

Love you!

PS Santa said I was pretty freaking cool this year!

Birth Family Meeting ^^

Hey everyone!

Well, the BIG weekend has come and gone. Over the last few days I've obtained extra family members. The number - unknown. I can't even break all the information down that I received so we'll just start with the basics.

I met my father's side of the family this last weekend. I did meet my mother's mom also, just for a few hours. Each of my parents have 4 siblings, so I have a little bit of an uncommon situation. I think back in the day it was expensive to have a lot of kids, that's why you typically see 2 kid families in Korea - then AND even NOW.

My father has an older brother, two twin sisters, and a younger sister. He is the 2nd oldest. I met everyone including my grandmother, his older brother's wife, a sisters' husband, and one cousin. I'm sure I'll get to meet EVERYONE soon enough.

I fit in like a glove with my father's family. From what I can see (literally) I've taken on those genes. They are loud, hilarious, and love to drink....ring any bells? They actually did mention that my personality fit in well with theirs. They are extremely close and love to give gifts...ringing any more bells? Also, some of the first questions they asked me were about special skills or talents I

had. I told them I was handy with my hands and that I loved making things (ie furniture, cards...etc.). Apparently my grandfather and possibly his father were carpenters so it's definitely a family skill. Guess what else I found out...? I was also informed that my sister was a make-up artist and one of my twin aunts is an Esthetician (well, in Korean standards...probably no waxing involved, but she's into skin care). All in all it's a match. So, we'll just have to see what kind of traits I notice from my mother's side.

What went down:

I arrived at the adoption agency with my friend Dru and it was all locked up. They aren't open on Sundays. I got a call and the social worker told me that my family was there waiting for me. She said that my mother, father, brother, sister, aunts, and some cousins were all waiting for me.

When we walked into the office we were instructed to go downstairs and they would be waiting there. I walked down and was bombarded with hugs and tears. Strangely enough, I didn't cry - a little shaky though. My sister was a sobbing mess. We sat down on some couches and then awkwardly stared at each other. They social worker had some letters that my birth mother had written to me and my mom, and she translated them for me. Dru was a little shaky and couldn't seem to get the words out. The letters were great. Sweet and to the point, explaining a bit about the situation they were in when I was born - they also seemed extremely thankful to my parents and that was expressed in the letter to mom.

After some photo exchanges and a brief question and answer session, we headed out to Gwangju to have lunch. We had lunch right as we approached Gwangju at a little beef restaurant. Gwangju is east of Seoul and extremely cold - I believe there was snow and ice the ground still. We had a great lunch and was able to get more questioned answered.

Lunch came and went and we headed to see my parents and brother's house. Gwangju is not a big city so they live in a small apartment complex. There Dru and I sat down for a photo album session. They showed us pictures of their wedding, friends and co-workers, different places in Busan, and pics of the family. They even had some pictures of my mom when she was pregnant wit me.

Another ride in the car to Daegu, reunited me with my suitcase, and then in the car again to our final destination. We stayed the night in Gyeongju where my sister and Aunt (plus, uncle?, and cousin). We ate food, drank lots and go to know each other more. One thing I found out was quite interesting.... when I was born I was very sick - I believe pneumonia, and was incubated as soon as I was born. Right then and there my birth parents had to make a decision on whether or not they could keep me. With the medical bills so high, they were forced to either pay up front for my medical treatment or give me up for adoption so the state could pay. They had no way of getting the money and were forced to give me up for adoption. Quite interesting and changes my story a whole lot. I believe my father still feels saddened by this.

The weekend ended with a little bit of site seeing in the ancient city of Gyeongju and then a sleepy ride home to Busan. In Busan, they really got to know me....MESSY apartment and all. No surprise there. We had some dinner and then they were off! I definitely had a few more drinks when they left. :)

Overall, the experience was epic. Definitely something I will never forget. I plan on continuing staying in contact with them - although communication is rough, if there's a will there's a way. I think they are a little saddened that they didn't have much time to get to know me, but we can just blame the agency for that. Through this whole experience I've realized that I wouldn't change my life for ANYTHING. This does not change who I am. I will not let this affect me in a way that makes me give any second thoughts to who I am, where I come from, and makes me appreciate even MORE the life I've lived. I've experienced so much and owe more than words can express to my family back at home (yes, the Thompson's) for giving me the best life. I've been so fortunate and loved.

Thanks friends and family for creating this crazy Jin. Genes may have blessed me with larger than life boobs and a thirst for alcoholic beverages, but my environment gave me memories, appreciation, love, and MY LIFE!

Love you guys more than you know!

See you all in March - Less than 3 months away!

With Korea Comes Life Changing Happenings!

Well, if you haven't heard yet, you're out of the loop.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the social worker at my adoption agency here in Korea. I've been writing back and forth to a few ladies that are helping me find my birth parents. According to her e-mail, she had found a physical address for my birth mother in Gwangju, just east of Seoul. The next plan of action was for her (the social worker) to contact the birth mother (as we'll call her) through mail, and see if she'd be willing to speak with her.

A few weeks later, she contacted me via e-mailing letting me know that my birth parents were excited and nervous to hear about me. They wanted detailed information about me and when a good time to meet was. I also found out that my adoption paperwork wasn't necessarily correct. According to my paperwork, my birth father might have never known about me, but according to the social worker, my birth parents are MARRIED and I have a full brother and sister. Crazy huh??

I'm heading up this weekend to meet them with my friend Dru - he's been in the same situation so he's a perfect companion on this crazy experience that's about to happen!

I don't have too many details, but I'll be sure to write back when I've come back!

Love you and all thanks for helping make me who I am today!

Movember!

Movember - the charitable rave going on in Busan, Korea. Why have I never heard about this before? Maybe it wasn't as catchy in Seattle as it is in Canada? Who knows? Anyway, can't walk around this city without seeing a foreigner sportin a mustache. In support of men's health issues, such as Prostate Cancer and Depression, guys were growing out as much facial hair as possible to help raise money. Last weekend was the official party for finishing out the month of mustaches. They had an auction, donations, t-shirts, etc. in order to get the last of the charitable contributions.

November was a pretty busy month. Three of my friends had babies, Chelsey and Kyle found out they are having a girl (lil Claire), I had a few business trips for school, an ice skating field trip, birthdays, open classes, and Thanksgiving of course.

Ice skating was soo fun. I got a kick out of watching my silly students falling everywhere. Seems as if it's a little bit of KARMA going back to the students that have never been good...I say this with an evil grin on my face. It was a great day and full of laughs. I'll be sure to post pics soon.

Thanksgiving. Well, I managed to stress myself out again - always nice. I had approximately 15 people over at my house. This year I moved furniture to create more space, and added some extra tables and chairs. It turned out great! I was a bit rushed feeling by the time everyone got there, but the food was hot, and DELICIOUS! This year we managed to get a turkey - for 120,000 won. EXPENSIVE..that's about 100 USD. But, so worth it. Anyway, we managed to have a great Thanksgiving and I am thankful for so much this year. I'm also thankful I won't ever have to have Thanksgiving in a studio apartment again.

Hope the start of the holidays was great for you all, and hope that no one was trampled on Black Friday.

Fall

안녕하새요! Hi!

Well, here is my every few month update. Sorry - yet again for the late arrival.

Here's what's new...

If you haven't noticed or are too busy to check your e-mail....over the last month or so I've been trying to upload as many pics as possible starting from February to the present. It's been quite a task, but is hopefully allowing you all to visualize what my current year has been like for me. I'm currently (as in, this exact moment) uploading pics from summer. You probably won't get many more because I haven't been doing much of anything these days.

For summer vacation, David and I headed to the small infamous island of Jeju. It is located on the southern tip of Korea. They call it the Hawaii of Korea - it's where are the honeymooners go. No pun intended. We had a fabulous time. It was incredibly hot, but we managed to see and do just about everything we planned. The beaches were amazing there and the life there made it seem as if we weren't in Korea at all. The people there definitely had this island life vibe around them. It was so nice to get away and relax. The pictures will explain the trip.

Well, summer is out and fall is in. Just about a month after coming home from summer vacation, we were in for another week off. Chuseok - Korea's Thanksgiving was the last week in September. Last year mom and dad were here around the same time. This Chuseok I planned a trip with 9 other friends of mine. We went to Beijing, China! We had such a great time and it was a packed filled vacation. Those pics will come soon. We were on a tour so everything was very well organized and timely. I really enjoyed China and would love to go and see it again. We were able to see all the famous spots in Beijing as well as eat some of their local cuisine. I'm so glad I was able to see a part of that country while being out here. There is a lot of history in China - the US doesn't compare in age and it's amazing to see palaces and cities that Emperors once ruled.

Up next in September was another 10K. Unfortunately I over-trained right before China and hurt my heel. So I ran a 5K instead. It was short and sweet. I'm taking it easy but I'm signed up for another 10k in November.

One thing I have been looking to do in Korea for the past year and 9 months is visit an orphanage. Finally I made it out a few weeks ago. The kids were so cute and they seemed to connect easily with a bunch of foreigners. It felt good going and I hope to go again soon.

For those of you that are unaware - there is a MAJOR crisis going on in Korea right now. The crop of Korean cabbage did not do so well lasty year, so there is a HUGE shortage of kimchi. With the crazy weather that we had last winter, the crops didn't produce nearly as much cabbage as previous and Korea is now importing cabbage from China. Pretty sure its putting a big damper on the Korean pride. Anyway, so if you are a regular kimchi eater in the states - I'm sure the price has gone up 10 times. Just a little food for thought.

Alright, for those of you who see/talk to my parents on a regular basis you might have heard of my plans for the next year or so - for those of you who don't, let me fill you in. According to my last blog update, I stated that I was thinking about staying in Korea another year to fulfill some financial needs. Well...money isn't everything. My plans have changed and I have mapped out the next year of my life. I will be coming home March 26th, 2011. Get excited. I plan on coming home and starting Esthetician School at Clover Park Technical College. The program starts March 30th....I was sure to give myself plenty of time to get ready..haha. The Esthetic Program lasts two quarters, Spring and Summer. I will be taking 7 courses and going full-time from about 730am to 2pm Monday thru Friday with the weekends off. If anyone is in need of a facial, waxing, or body wraps I'm sure I'll be working on the floor within a month of school - probably for fairly cheap. When I come home I'm going to be looking for a cheap car, and a cheap/free place to crash.... :) Remember, you all miss me and really want me to come home - even if that means bumming off of your couch from a few months. My plan after school is to either get a job or move back here to Korea. The program will end August 30th. It's not a great time to get back to Korea - September is in the middle of the term, but there's usually something you can find at any time. Also, I am thinking that hitting the Esthetics market here is a great idea. There aren't a whole lot of places that are clean/trustworthy, or that even do waxing. I wanna monopolize the market here and especially with the foreign community. Anyway, these are just ideas right now. I might come home and love it and never want to leave again. I do have many babies waiting to meet their Auntie Jin (at the least 4) and a wedding to be in. So, these are my plans as of now and I'm so excited to see everyone. You need to put in some last minute requests for Koreanish things while I'm here so I can ship it home while I can.

Now for some bigger news. Although I may be coming back to Asia, there is no guarantee - soooo....what better way to leave than by going on VACATION! Oh yeah - I'll be traveling from February 27th until March 23rd. Guess where I'll be going - such a great question to answer. My itinerary: Busan, SK to Boracay, Philippines - Boracay to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - KL to New Delhi, India - ND to Bangkok, Thailand - Bangkok to Vietnam - and then home. Now, you think that is amazing..well, the price was even more amazing and going to all those countries costs about 300 dollars LESS than going from Vietnam to Seattle. Soooo...who could say no to that...??
This does put a huge damper on all of your Christmas presents...sorry. Soju presents, ok?? It's killing me, but Christmas will be pretty uneventful from me. I'll be sure to send a card!

When you see me again I will be brown and skinny. :)

On that note, I'm off to teach! Have a great Fall in WAshington! And see you all next SPRING!!

Love, Jin

Summer in the ROK!

Hey everyone!

Sorry - I'm in trouble. I know....not keeping up. Sorry guys!

I'm hoping most of you have received my February through May pics that I sent out a few days ago. It was from my return back to Korea and the beginning of Spring. There are a few more from May to the present, but I must say - not a lot of interesting things have been going on.

I'm still anticipating my vacation. I've still got 1 more week of English camp and 1 more week of sitting at school - doing NOTHING. I guess I really don't have any excuses for not updating the blog...oops.

Camp has been going well. I believe that the little 3rd and 4th graders are sent to English Camp in replacement for babysitters. It was a little stressful. 5th graders were angels and next week I've got my favs - 6th graders.

Some really good friends have left Korea, so it's been a great opportunity to make new ones. It's amazing the connections you can find with the people you meet. I met a couple a few weeks ago that lived in Seattle for about 3 years. They were both working for the Make a Wish foundation and from their stories, it sounds like an amazing organization to join as a volunteer. I'm looking forward to the next bunch that come in.

Taking a vacation here in a few weeks with David (I'm sure you all know who that is by now). We're going to Jeju. I'm in need of a vacation more than ever. Things around school are mundane and so familiar, it will be nice to mix things up a bit.

I am considering another year in Korea. I know - don't be mad. I am currently not saving and funds and the idea of coming back empty handed, is not really a choice. I am going to be home near the end of February AND for the end of summer. So - that will be two trips back to back, cutting out of my worldly travels, just to visit you people. I hope that makes you happy. Who knows, I might be bringing guests with me as well.

I'm making my Korean TV debut tonight. Airiang news is filming one of my really good friends and she has invited me to the interview. I actually had another interview earlier this week for a girl making a documentary on Korea. I've become quite a star - what can i say....newspaper, tv..such is the life.

Anyway, I must get going. I miss and love you all. Hope everyone is in good health and is enjoying a sunny Washington summer.

XOXO

Marchee and Aprir

Hello - Sorry for the 2 month hiatus. Things get busy and I forget about my little blog!

Marchee - what a pathetic, colorless, WET month! The whole month I felt like I was living in Washington. Depressing as ever, no pun intended...I still love Washington. I believe it rained almost 20 days in March. Not exactly the Spring I was hoping for.

March 2nd was our first day back at school. So far the year has been treating me well. I've got a new, interesting schedule, with new faces - both teachers and students. I'm no longer teaching the little Kinders, but they have added a second, 1st Grade class to the school. They are pretty cute, and seem to uphold the rumors that the younger students seem to speak better English than the older students. I've been teaching a lot more hours to the younger kids - some like it, others don't. My co-teacher has changed this year. She is actually a friend that I had last year (she was the 5-2 teacher), and was asked by the Principal to teach English this year. She is great. We teach together Monday through Wednesday, and I think that her teaching style is improving the way our students study and learn. We also have a new Principal. After a month of school, our Principal was promoted and we got a new, first year Principal. He is really nice and has traveled around the states a bit, so he attempts to speak to me in English...and that is always nice. The month of March was really slow, and not a lot went on.

Aprir - still depressing as far as weather goes...but a little more fun filled. I started the month off by taking a road trip with my friends Jana, Nikki, and Mack to Seoul. It was a great trip! We rode in my friend Jana's Nugget (her copper van that reminds me of a little chicken nugget) - slept in the van Friday night, and then continued into the city by subway. We had a friend with a birthday so we spent some time with him, and then did a little site seeing and shopping. My friends ended up getting tatoos. Don't worry - I'm inkless. :) It was a long weekend - mostly exhausting from the lack of sleep, but it was great to get out of Busan for a few days.

As most of you have probably already heard, an aircraft carrier was sunk off the west coast of S. Korea. A lot of scurry and hub bub has been going on about that - canceled events and such. The second weekend in April, the girls and I decided we were going to go to the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival to check out the famous blossoms. Apparently, since the Naval base is quite close to that city, the attendance was supposed to be a lot lower...so we figured, it'd probably be a good time to go. Well, we got lost. Ya - not fun. But, eventually we found a part of the festival and we were able to take some cute pictures, and then leave. Haha. We are glad we were able to say we went, although it was short lived and not as exciting as we thought it might be. I think if we had hit the major festival AREA, we would have been able to see a lot more...but we were satisfied all the same.

On the 18th, I ran another 10K race. This one was the Pink Marathon - for breast cancer. It was a great run - right along the beach and then, as I was rounding the corned, the great run turned into a mountain right in the middle of the race. Nice. Anyway, I ended up with around the same time as I had last November. But...I found out later that the course was longer than an actual 10K and that we had a slow start time, so all in all - I ran a bit faster. It was a great day to donate and support a cause, run with friends, and get some exercise. My friends Nikki, Chris, and Charlie ran with me and we ended up seeing a bunch of other friends, so it was a great event. We've got another one coming up in May in Dadaepo (where I ran my race last Nov.), so we are all really excited about that one.

The other weekends this past month I've been busy spending time with my friend Nikki. She will be leaving Korea here in just a little over a month. I'm really going to miss her. We've become great friends, but I'm sure we'll stay in touch.

Last weekend we spent the days shopping, eating, and going to the beach. We got 2 nice days and my face is actually, a little pink.

Later this week, I'm going on a trip to Seoul with my students. We are going to Everland (which is as close to Disneyland that Korea has) and some museums. I'll have to fill you in on what we actually do, later.

I'm really looking forward to May - and hopefully a sunny end of Spring. May has many exciting things!! Jana's birthday is the first weekend and we're going to celebrate Sunday, doing as many Korean things as possible (norebang, silly photo booth pics...etc.). I'm paragliding on the 5th! I have the day off from school, due to Children's Day (yes, this is a holiday). We've got a great party planned for May 8th - a delayed Cinco de Mayo party! I've got my 10k on the 16th, and then a 4 day weekend May 21st, which hopefully means a mini trip will be planned!!

Hope all is well at home. Miss you all! Stay safe!

Pictures will come soon...look for a Shutterfly link in your inbox!

PS The miss spellings of March and April are interpretations of how Koreans pronounce them... ;)

1 year down

Wow - I can officially say that I've been in Korea over a year now. Just a few Fridays ago was my 1 year anniversary of being in Korea. It's so crazy to think that a year has already flown by, but then when I think of my first day in Korea - it seems as if it was soooooo long ago.

Being that the year mark has hit, I'm losing many friends that I've gained over the last 12 months. It's a bitter bitter. There is no sweet in that equation. They will be missed and are irreplaceable. Meeting the new Epik group is not high on my priority list, but spending time with the friends I've already acquired has become a lot more important.

I can recall a warmer March last year. Today/last night it snowed and for the first time in....whoever knows how long, Busan saw a good amount of white stuff. A quote from a friend's facebook status "Snow removal tools I saw today: brooms, hammer, wrench, desk, plastic storage container, umbrella, wait for it ... the lid from a sandwich tuperware container!!" -Kylene
Haha! I'm anticipating a warm Spring...one like last year - beach volleyball in May, but now that snow has hit Busan, I'm not quite sure what Spring will look like.

I've already had many new experiences since I've been back in Korea. Hard to believe I know, but as most of you know - every day is a new DYNAMIC experience for me. Not only have I had some new exciting things happen, so have my friends.

My friend Jana purchased a van - hilarious, small, and fits her to a T. A few of my friends have changed their apartments so they can be closer to the beach - and FAR away from their schools. That can either be a blessing or a pain in the neck. On one hand you are never going to run into your students at the store (as I do) and you have easy access to the beach during the summer, AND on the other hand, most of them have an hour commute to school now. I've decided to stay in the same place and PAY, ya my free apartment is now costing me, 50,000 won a month. Prices went up and the budget didn't go up with it.

I had my first experience at a Korean dentist. He graduated from UCLA dentist school and speaks very good English - but just because of all that, doesn't necessarily mean his ways are completely Westernized. For example, I went in for my teeth to be cleaned and because I had a sensitive spot where a cavity was. You can't just go into the dentist in Korea, unless something is wrong. If I would have gone in there just for a teeth cleaning....they might have laughed at me. I did indeed get my teeth cleaned, after he inspected my cavity, but its not common for just a cleaning appointment. When I got there I was sent to a room decorated with UCLA paraphernalia and pictures of this dentist all over on different vacations. He sits down and puts on gloves and takes this thing that looked like an over size pen, with a light on the end, and stuck it in my mouth. In front of me was a computer monitor, and after is inspected my mouth with this pen, the images of my teeth were plastered on the monitor. It was a little camera - phhhew, no x-rays - the kind that used to make me gag as a child. Yes, cavity and yes, I needed some cleaning....it's been a few years. He also said that my tooth needed to be ground down because my bite was off...which might have been causing me pain. He assured me that I'd need to come back in for a filling and then said that his assistant would clean my teeth. Oh great. So she sits down (uncloved) and gets to work with her cleaning instrument. Not flavored. Just a pointy thing with some ridges on it...like a small sander. She was basically sanding the grime right off. Not completely pleasant, but it actually wasn't too bad - until she hit the gums.

A few days later, I went in for my filling. I was NERVOUS. I had the dentist, as most of you know - it's a quite dramatic affair for me. They sit me down and he sits down and he says - let's speak Korean, ok? And I say - uhhh I don't know Korean, and he says - I'm going to teach you. Hahaha like I'm really going to learn anything while I'm focusing on nothing but what your hands are doing, and what my mouth feels like. So he says in Korean, now we're going to drill. Wait a second....did we miss a part. Like......NOVOCAINE? Ya, another example of Korean style. I had heard in the past that they don't numb you for these - but..thinking to myself that that wouldn't be the case with this American taught dentist....I was corrected. Oh ya, he hit a few nerves. Didn't seem to bother him that I was no longer laying flat on my back, but moving my hips like I was about to make a run for it. After the drilling agony, he filled it, rinsed me, and then I was free to go. Wow - I will be flossing 6 times a day now and never eating sugar again.

All in all, my experience did not damage me as did my childhood memories of the dentist. I must be getting older. Out a $150 bucks but realizing it would have cost me WAY more in the states. And saving money makes me happy!

Well - gotta get some work done here at school!

Love you and miss you!

Happy 설날! (Lunar New Year)

Hey guys!

It's been months! Yes, I realize this. Soooorrryyy!

Well, the holidays came and went, and let me tell you....nothing like being at home.

I believe I wrote to you all about Thanksgiving...which ended up being a great time with friends, but Christmas (I will admit) was a bit depressing. The hype of the holidays in Korea are no where NEAR what it is like being in the states. At home, we're constantly reminded by the media, the decorations at stores, and our own home decorations....but in Korea - meh, nothing to get excited about. In Korea, Christmas is a lover's holiday - not much for family time. I ended up watching Avatar in the theater Christmas Eve night, spend the rest of the evening til the morning out and about, and sleeping in til 4pm on Christmas Day. Nothing to brag about. It definitely felt like any other day. I didn't do absolutely nothing....I went out to dinner with some other foreigners and had dinner at a foreign bar. It was good - but nothing like a home cooked Christmas meal.

I did receive some very nice cards, pictures, and some gifts!! Too bad I couldn't wait til Christmas - opened everything before or after, so that really didn't add to the spirit.

January - as most of you know by now, was an exciting month for me! My visit home!! It was incredible. I was able to catch up with my family, great friends, and some an enormous amount of money on American goods and services. It was all worth it!

I was able to spend about 3.5 weeks eating and talking. And that's about all I did, well add a little shopping in as well. It was perfect. I had the chance to go to Seattle and have a big girls' dinner, see the grandparents, go skiing with mom and dad, and took a trip to Victoria BC...to mention just a few things that I fit in.

It was a great vacation - filled with relaxation as well, but I will say, a big part of me is glad to be back in Korea. I'm a little anxious and excited what this next year has in store for me. I'm looking forward to making more money and traveling.

Miss you all and stay in touch! I love hearing how you are all doing and what's new in your worlds!

Updates and pics more often...promise!

Jin

Happy Octobre!

October brings the rents to Korea! Yay! Chuseok (주 석) is the first weekend in October. I'm finishing this first sentence..umm...almost two months later! Sorry people!

For those of you that didn't know, Mom and Dad came and visited me over Chuseok weekend. We spent a few days in Seoul and then took the bullet train down to Busan. They were about 11 days and we spent a ton of time doing some sight seeing. We went to dinners with co-workers, saw some of the major attractions in Busan, took a bus tour, and they even had a chance to visit my school. Even, in the small quarters of my apartment, we were able to make a great time out of it. Mom and Dad were awesome and I was excited to show them around my new "home" and have them meet some of my friends.

October was BEAUTIFUL!! I can not believe the nice weather we had. It was even super pleasant at the beach!

Sorry for the lame update. Love you all!

Summer is over!

I can't believe its September already!! Craziness. My summer went so fast. I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my other blog entries, but I was at school every day except for the 10 days I had off for vacation. So that means I got plenty of sleep, watched lots of Friends episodes, and that's about it. It was incredibly boring and a waste of time. My school doesn't realize that when students are on vacation, going to school is last on the priority list.

I spent a ton of time at the beach with my friends and tried to get out and explore a little more of the surrounding areas. With the end of summer comes vistors from the states!!! YAY! Friendly, familiar faces in a foreign country, nothing is better.

My previous co-worker/friend Tami Mason arrived in Seoul on the 9th of September. She stayed a few days without me and I arrived in Seoul Friday night to meet her. We did some exploring and sight seeing and SHOPPING up in the big city. It was great having someone to constantly talk to about the things I've learned and seen since I've been here. On Saturday night we made plans with some people from Busan to meet up and check out the night life around the Hongdae area in Seoul. We had a great time and met up with a handful of people I'm friends with. The next day we traveled the 3 hours on the KTX (Bullet train) back to Busan. I showed her around a bit down here and took her to school with me one day. The kids really loved asking her questions and getting nosey about her life. She did quite a bit of sightseeing and shopping without me... sad, I wasn't able to take any time off of work. I was able to show her my good "after" school spots and tried to get enough energy to make her evenings worth while.

I hope she had a great time. I really enjoyed her company and loved showing her the sights and great shopping areas that I am so accustom to now. I hope she visits again, being that this is also her homeland, but I feel that she will always find a special place in her heart for Korea.

With September comes many BIRTHDAYS and my first Korean wedding! Dad turned "older", friends got wiser.... and my apartment stayed cleaner.

The co-teacher I had for my summer English camp invited me to her wedding. It was the most OUTRAGEOUS thing I've seen (social setting) while being here. I thought the baby's first birthday was a little odd, but this one tops the cake. Picture this...the guests were piled in the back of the wedding hall, the isle was a lifted stage with a floral design, the only people sitting in the fancy chairs were over 55, the bride and groom did not show emotions, the entertainment/music was electric violin dancers, a small group came out and sang and they were AWFUL, AND they cut the cake at the ceremony with a machette while a fog machine went off....

Is the what you pictured?











Haha. It was great though! Definitely an experience. I guess in Korea, the wedding ceremony isn't really all that special, it's the gift giving and the joining of the families that is the most important. In Korea, they don't have receptions like we do at home. We were offered a buffet dinner and then we all went home. Pretty simple and I think the buffet is part of the "booking the wedding hall" prices, so they didn't have to cater a venue..it's just all provided.

Ahh, September...thanks for being over and thanks Korea for staying WARM!

Mactan Island

Our traveling day was incredibly long and annoying. The 10 hour layover was ridiculous and seemed like it lasted a lifetime. We had the opportunity to go out into another part of the airport, but we were unsure of the restrictions. Turns out, we should have went out and explored. We were so bored and restless... Our flight to Cebu was quick and we met a few Koreans on the way. Needless to say, we had no idea that the WHOLE island would be saturated with Koreans. So much for a vacation away from them.

We got picked up by the hotel shuttle and was taken to the hotel. We were able to check in right away, which was nice because we were early. As soon as we got to our room, we settled down a bit and got dressed for the pool/beach. Well...the beach wasn't exactly what we had in mind. Apparently, Mactan Island is technically a coral reef, not really an island. Our beach was the equivalent of someone taking a bunch of shells and grinding them into tiny pieces. It hurt when you walked on it and under no circumstances would you want to put a towel down and lay on it. Luckily the hotel had out plenty of lounge chairs for sun bathing.

I was a little disappointed as to where we were located. We were really far away from everything and Cebu City was about a 45 minute cab ride. We were pretty secluded and it wasn't all that safe to take a stroll into downtown. I didn't realize til after I got back to Busan that there are way better options for the Philippines.

Our days were mostly spent relaxing at the pool side. On our second day we did manage to get out and about on an island hopping tour. We asked the bartender "what is there to do around here?" so he suggested this little trip. It wasn't arranged through the hotel so we were a little sketchy on what we were getting ourselves into. It turned out to be just the two of us going and we got the entire boat to ourselves.

The island hopping tour was quite interesting. We were the only ones on the boat with a crew of 4. Two young kids and two older guys. We made our first stop near the closest island to do some snorkeling. The water was gorgeous. So clear and blue. In order for us to even get in the water we had to pay a "water entrance fee" and a rental fee for the snorkeling gear. Did I mention that Filipinos will charge you for anything and everything. The snorkeling was great and we saw some amazing fish. After snorkeling we got back in the boat and headed for the floating restaurants. Half way across the water to the restaurants, it started getting cloudy and we could see there was a storm coming in. Oh ya, giant black clouds, down pour, in an all open boat. Great. We were soaked, our stuff was soaked, and we were starving. We got to the floating restaurants with ease, but I was a little nervous because there was lightning and thunder and we were under metal roofs. It was amazing how fast the rain came and how hard it fell. The restaurant owners gave us bright pink table cloths to wrap ourselves in, and were given the menu. Being in SE Asia, the menu was not just a handed to us....we were able to get up and choose what we wanted to eat. They had buckets of fresh seafood (catch of the day) that we could go up to and pick what fish, crab, snail, squid, shrimp...etc. we wanted. It was amazing...but as you all know, I'm not much of a seafood person. I ordered a Lapu Lapu (Philippines are famous for this fish and a city is named after it). My friend Katie ordered shrimp, clams and fish. As a courtesy, they offered us some spicy clam soup. Our meals came with some DELICIOUS 맛있요 fried rice. The fish was cooked whole, obviously...can't get a nice steak of fish anywhere around here, and EXPENSIVE. I can't really recall the amount but it was the most expensive meal we had in the Philippines.

The rest of our vacation was spent hanging out with some "locals". I put that in quotes because they are all from different islands but work in the same field. The Phillipines Islands are huge. There are over 7,000 different islands and over 150 different dialects. Pretty crazy. We met these crazy cats through a friend/acquaintence of Katie's. She lives in a small town in Korea called Andong and this guy is a University professor (he might be younger than me). We met up with him and he was friends with about 7 or 8 Filipinos. They are all Medical Reps or as we say Pharmeceutical Reps. Great people. We went out for dinner and coffee one night to get to know them and then the next day they took us on a 2 day tour of Southern Cebu. It was great because they all had cars and spoke English. We went to Mantayupan Falls and played around all day and then they took us to a beach after. We stayed the night at the beach and had a big Filipino dinner. It was great. They were so hospitable and wouldn't let us pay for anything. I was a little bummed out about the beach. There wasn't really anywhere to lay out in the sand because again, it had shells all over it. The view was gorgeous and the water was warm and clear.

Overall, we had a great time. There would have been a few things I might have changed but it was a great experience. When I got back to ROK everyone decided that was a good time to tell me of a better island to go to....jerks. Haha. Well I hope that fills you in a little bit on my first exploration around Asia.

Hope all is well on the home front. I'm thinking of coming home in January...not quite sure though. It will be summer in Australia..haha.

Love you all,
Jin

Goodbye Silver CRV

Just an FYI, if you see the old CRV around town, you won't find me in it. Dad sold my car at the end of June to an 18 year old. So don't honk and wave...it's really not me. I'm sad but am looking forward to getting a new car when I return.

Address Update!

I know that I have told you all my address before, but I just found out the way I had it written down, wasn't the correct Konglish. I tried to order something online and couldn't find my area for some reason...then I figured out Yejin didn't write it down right.

Its:

Busan, Busanjin-Gu, Beomcheon-Dong
875-24 Frenvil 1202, South Korea
614-829 Jin J Thompson

Don't worry, I've been getting all of your letters, pictures, cards...etc.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

How much can you cram into one month, seriously?

Hello!! Since school is almost coming to a short lived end, I am going to try and keep up with my blog updates.

As a school we started volleyball up again. We are just playing one of the nearby schools for fun. We only have a week left of school...so technically just a few days of volleyball, but it's felt good to be back on the court. Yesterday was a doozie...I jammed my thumb receiving a serve. It wasn't even my ball....I don't like playing with new players, they duck and then I get hurt. I was a little hesitant in even saying anything to the teachers. In Korea, if you have a hang nail they would probably have you on bed rest and in a cast for 6 weeks. It hurts so I tried explaining that I would put some ice on it and take some pain medication and they told me to not take any pills for two days. It already feels a lot better, so if I just keep ignoring the topic, they'll forget about it.

Last Friday, the 10th, I had a Family English Camp. It was actually quite fun. The parents came in with some of my students and we cooked, sang, and made posters of each family. It was good times and it was nice having the parents there. It really helped with managing the kids. The camp was about 3 hours in the evening, so after my co-teacher took me and a few of the other teachers out for drinks.

Saturday and Sunday was Mud Fest! It's a huge festival in Boryang on Daechon Beach. It's about 6 hours away and the hype of conversation for the past 4 months. As soon as we arrived in Busan, all we could hear about is how amazing Mud Festival is and how everyone should go at least once while there are in Korea. It was pretty fun. We left at 6:30 am and took 3 buses filled with around 40 DRUNKS in each. My friend Nikki and I were on the bus with a fairly tame group but the music they played was a little loud and obnoxious. One of the other buses apparently had a huge baby powder fight...glad I wasn't on that bus. We got to Mud Fest pretty early in the day...maybe 2 and started out fun. There was a carnival (which I never saw) huge blow up slides and pools filled in mud, and a main stage that had performances throughout the day. There were little stations where you could paint mud on people and there was a small hut, which they named the "Mud Prison" where if you stood inside, you'd get buckets of mud thrown on you. To be honest, overall, I wasn't that impressed. I assumed the mud would just be everywhere...but it wasn't. It was strategically placed in various parts of the festival and sometimes it felt like they ran out. Nikki and I were fast to get our party going and then crashed early and was in bed by 9. Long ride to only be awake for 6 hours....but it was fun and I'm glad we went.

Saturday we had a teacher's retreat in Miryang. It's about an hour away. We stayed in a cabin and had a lookout to a great view of the mountains and a river. It was beautiful. We unpacked and headed down to the river. We found our principal there....fishing, of course...? It was peaceful and was nice to stick our feet in the water. And then...some of the younger men came and decided to throw all the women in the water, including myself. I'm not a big fan of swimming with all of my clothes on. We ended up playing a volleyball game in the water which turned out to be a great game that I'll have to come home with. After our swimming adventure we came back, showered, and started preparing our night of food and drinks. Being a good little foreigner, I brought with me ingredients to make my co-workers a special "American" drink. I made Jungle Juice (Spodie, fruit in vodka with juice). It was a big hit and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think we had more drinks than we had food...and we had a lot of food. After dinner we were teamed up into pairs. The way the decided this was by taking these green peppers, cutting them in half, giving the guys the ends with the stem, and then women got the other half. Then you go around and find your second half of the pepper and that person is your partner. Pretty clever..haha. My partner was my friend Sancheol/Tyson. I'm not quite sure why we needed partners, most of the night it was unnecessary to be paired up, but it was definitely good to have a partner that spoke some English. Our first game was a miniture volleyball game. We were all told to sit on our butts and kick this long balloon around, same rules as volleyball. It was pretty entertaining and funny. It went a little LONG though... After volleyball the whole school gathered around the living room and we sat and played drinking games. Koreans are serious about their games. It was intense. Overall, the weekend had great moments, but I was still quite bored with the language barrier. I am happy I had an Ipod and a book. The next morning we gathered and did the "workshop" part of the retreat. We sat around and everyone reflected on the past 5 months, their relationships with each other and the students, and what they look forward to for next term. I was forced to give a speech spur of the moment to, what I'm sure, was about 2 people....the ones that could actually understand. Going away for the weekend and not speaking NORMAL English is exhausting...

Ahhhh Tuesday was the last day of SCHOOL!!! Whooo hooo. The students have been nuts for the past month...itching to get out of here I'm sure. I'm so happy for the summer break. Although, technically I'm not on break. I get to come into school every day, even though I don't have students, just in case some stop in to use the English room. Oh well, the extra time will be nice to prepare lessons, get some summer camp materials ready, and I'll be able to organize everything on my laptop!

Last week I was invited to spend a few days with the Scouts/Leadership kids on a field trip at Maritime University. Of course I agreed and on Wednesday we left for a little water adventure.


This little boy is Brian. He is a 4th grader and a little shrimp. I showed up to leave for the trip and this is what he packed his belongings in for the two days. Guess who was carrying it most of our trip?

We got there and were surrounded by hundreds of Elementary school kids. There seemed to be a lot of down time due to organizing all the students so when we had extra time, the instructors/lifeguards had the students sing K Pop songs and dance while we all watched. It was actually, slightly entertaining. We got changed into our swim wear and were off to our first designated location on campus, to get life jackets!


We went down to a docking area where the kids were instructed on proper paddling techniques for rafting and canoeing. Again, lots of down time so the lifeguards used it by singing, throwing innocent children in the water, or splashing water on them using boat paddles. Again, a little (cho goom 초 금, not really sure if that's how you write it in Hangul, but I think so) entertaining. Some of the students were so bored they went looking for crabs instead. It was great because there were so many lifeguards that the teachers really didn't have to do anything but watch and relax. The students rode on a banana boat and rafted on Wednesday. Before rafting, Koreans must warm up...so the instructors have them do jumping jacks. It's quite an interesting process. There are a few leaders and they count to three, and then the rest of the group has to count also...eventually the group will be too tired and depend on the others and no one will say anything and they will have to start all over again. Haha. I was able to go with the other lady teachers on a boat around the little cove we were in. It was really nice to be on a boat again!! I love boats. Then when we got back I went rafting with the students. It was fun. They had us in 3 different rafts and we paddled out and had a paddle water fight with the other boats. Apparently, my lifeguard was unimpressed and as we were approaching the dock...he threw me out of the raft, and when I attempted to climb the ladder, was thrown back in. My co-teacher and James Bond (5-1 Teacher) also wanted to go swimming so I pushed them both in. Another one of the lifeguards thought he would be tricky and throw me in when I wasn't looking, but I taught him and took him in with me. The students had a quick snokeling lesson in a big bin of water and while they were waiting (again), I showed them how to make a whistle out of grass. Big hit...not too much grass in Korea so it was fun to see them play with it. The night was filled with snacking and sleeping (for some) and then the next day we got up early to do more water activities. The students started Thursday by canoeing around the cove followed by some snokeling and swimming. I got in the water again. Did a little snorkeling but saw NOTHING. Then took a swim while the kids climbed up a blow up mountain and slid down. They were quite impressed that I could swim without my lifejacket. Koreans don't swim well... That basically wraps up my little field trip with the students. It was great and relaxing and am blessed I get invited on these little outings.

And...for the last major event of the month, I went with the students and a few teachers to some professional Men's Volleyball games. I have been watching volleyball on TV since the day I got to Busan, so it was quite exciting to see these players in person. The students could only sit still for one match, but I was allowed to stay and watch the other 2 matches! It was great! I was also given 2 more tickets for another game later on this week. I missed my "team" tonight because all of my friends were busy with English camps, but I'll try and watch one of the playoff games.

Hope you've enjoyed July as much as I have!
Love you!

And if you didn't know already, Kyle is home safe from Iraq! Yay!!

4th of July Weekend

Best picture I could get of the few fireworks I saw on the 4th..

Fourth of July is just not the same in Korea.

Last week went by fairly quickly.

I started the week off by meeting my friend Alice at Kyungsung University to watch Transformers 2. The theater is a good way to get away...sometimes I walk out forgetting I'm in Korea. Sometimes I think that the translation in the words isn't quite on, because I found myself laughing when no one else was.

I think I forgot to mention...after my friend Alice left school, we got a new 5-2 teacher. She just got back to Korea from New York. She was there for 5 months and worked at some of the local schools learning how to teach the "American" way. She's very nice, but no one can replace Alice! She likes to talk to me a lot because it helps her remember her English. I was warned before she came to our school that she wasn't the nicest of people. She has been very sweet to me, but she's a little rough. We'll see how it goes. I heard a rumor that she might be taking over my co-teacher's position next school year, so I might be teaching with her if I stay another year. So far, I enjoy talking to her because she knows a lot more about the American culture than the others at school.

Monday we received another new teacher! She took the place of my friend Victoria (4-1). Sad. I lost 2 friends in a matter of weeks. The new teacher is very kind and her major in school was English Education. Which means...there might be a fight for who gets to be the English teacher next year. I named this girl Ann. She is actually YOUNGER than me...and Korea is huge about that so it's kind of funny that I'm no longer the youngest. Not like it had any affect on me...they treat me better than anyone else here. Ann is really sweet and kind and I think she likes that we are similar in age. She speaks a little bit of English, so we can communicate when need be.

On Thursday the entire school went on a field trip to Haeundae and went swimming at the Grand Hotel. It was the smallest pool ever and we had 200 + students in it. Cramped my style a little bit. I was going to go in but then I found out I had to wear a swim cap...so I opted to stand on the sides and take pictures. But then....a few of the students splashed me so I figured I should just go in. So...with the help of the students I got the awful swim cap on and went in. It was fun! Still hate swim caps though.





After the field trip, some of the teachers took me to this little hole in the wall restaurant. Well, I thought it was going to be a restaurant...it was a little "Korean Ice Cream" shop. It was incredibly crowded so I was quite excited to see what all the hype was about. Hmm....you know how in America we like our beans to be savory? Well, not Koreans. They love to take all kinds of beans and soak them in sugar! Everything is made with mashed sweet red beans in it. For example...there are little food stand on the streets...and you see that they are serving little waffle looking things, oh contrare....red beans in the middle. Back to the ice cream...apparently it's a fine art. First they put a small amount of milk in the bottom of a bowl. Then they will tip the bowl with shaved ice, red bean grossness, and a spoonful of apricots or some kind of fruit. Not good, but I was a good sport and tried it. Of course I was only with 4 teachers when I tried it, so when I got back to school (we did a few more bowls for the teachers who rode on the buses), they shoved a spoon in my mouth as well....even after I pleaded.

Saturday on the 4th was a little disappointing. Some friends and I went to Songjeong Beach. It is the farthest beach in Busan on the east coast. The weather was cloudy and sprinkled. I really missed being home at the Laymon's. I left the beach pretty early and headed to Haeundae beach to meet my friend Jana. We just sat at a coffee shop and people watched all night. There were soooo many foreigners at the beach it was pretty entertaining. I did see fireworks on the 4th. Some yaucht in the ocean lit a few off! That's all I needed.

Sunday was a normal beach day, with sun, but with a twist. After dinner my friend Jana got a phone call asking if we could go up to Ulsan. She was interested in getting a free puppy and the girl called her and asked if she wanted to come that day. So we hopped on a bus...not really knowing where we were going, and went to Ulsan, about 90 minutes away by bus. We got to Ulsan and picked up the puppy and was back on the bus within 10 minutes. It was a great, spontaneous trip to pick up the cutest little puppy!

Well, I'm going to start working on a new more recent blog entry since this one is so old...sorry it's not very entertaining.

Last Weekend in June

I can't believe June has flown by. Now that my time in Korea has passed the "honeymoon" stage, looks like the "homesick" stage is next. Hopefully, with all of your support, you won't let me know too much of what is going on in your lives. It seems to make me miss home a little...so, all I really want to know is how you are and what you have been up to.

Now that I have this blog, I have been making it a point to document things that I observe (on my Itouch) so I can update you all in a more entertaining/speedy way, without forgetting.

In recognition of baseball season, I've come to the observation that many more Koreans know about Seattle that I thought. Well, maybe that's not the case, but I have been seeing a handful (probably around 3) men around the city wearing Mariner's caps. It's quite shocking. Saw a man running down the sidewalk a few weeks ago, a guy at the Lotte Giants game, and a guy on the subway...all sporting the hat. I'm not really sure if they are particularly interested in the Mariner's though. I met a guy at a bar who was wearing a Cleveland Indians cap and I asked him if he liked that baseball team. His response was...."I bought this cap because when I drink, my face gets red, like the Indian." Sooooo...I guess they buy things because its resembles them?

Just a random, pointless thing that I saw while in a taxi...you know those stickers that look like gun shot holes...people put them on their cars.. ya, well, apparently they are in Korea as well. Hmm...maybe they were from Rochester and moved to Korea.

On a different note, I experienced 2 new things this weekend.

Friday, we had a dinner meeting with my teachers. I was a little bummed because, one, this was the first meeting without my friend Alice, and second, we found out Thursday afternoon so a lot of the younger teachers could not make it. I had already made plans so I was debating if I wanted to even go. Now that we don't have volleyball it's strange going to eat after school....we're not celebrating anything. And, guess what my co-teachers (well influenced heavily by the Principal) wanted to go....raw fish (sashimi) of course. By now, all of the teachers know that I'm not a huge seafood fan. As the side dishes were coming out, if they seemed more western, Brandon (4-2 teacher) would slide them in front of me. The evening progressed and the soju and beer were being poured..(OH MY GOSH I JUST DELETED EVERYTHING I JUST WROTE, THANK YOU FOR THE UNDO BUTTON)...sorry, I was asked if I wanted to try the RAW FISH. I said, "on ee yo"...no thanks. But then I got to thinking...I should just try it. I eat it cooked. So yes, my friends and family, Jin tried raw fish, three pieces on separate occasions, dipped HEAVILY into a mixture of soy sauce and wasabi and wrapped up in a leaf. My lovely co-workers were more than willing to pour me a few more glasses of "meck ju" to watch me down some "Korean tradional" food. My evening concluded with my Principal asking me to rate all of the men according to....how good of a man they were..haha. Oops, I forgot to put my Principal first..they got a nice laugh out of that. Oh how I appreciate and love those akward moments with my school...

On Saturday, my fellow foreign neighbors and I were invited to our "Den Mother's" baby's first birthday. Little Eu Joon turned one and it's a very very big deal in the Korean culture. First birthdays are huge here. She rented out a room at the W Party, which is a huge wedding banquet hall with tons of rooms and a huge buffet that the whole place eats from. They had everything you could think of eating. We tried to sit at a table where we wouldn't stand out too much. It was me, my friend Diana (Korean Canadian) and Christine (the only white girl)... They offered free booze so we were happy we were seated away from the crowd. YeJin (my Den Mother) and Kevin (my tutoring student) were dressed up in traditional Korean clothing and so was little baby Eu Joon. They looked so nice. We were asked to choose an item that we predicted the baby would choose as his future career. He sits on this little throne with all these items in front of him and he picks an item that they claim will be his future. He chose a computer mouse, but I thought he'd go for the ball. They also had this CRAZY MC. She was dancing and singing and running around screaming. It was definitely an experience I won't forget!




Ahh..June. Can't believe you've come and gone.

Activity Genius

Did you all know that I am brilliant at finding activities for my students? Well, I am. Guess where my new place to find games for my students is at...? Bridal and Baby Shower websites. I have been using games from there to play with my kids. It's quite entertaining. And no, I don't dress them up in bridal gowns made out of toilet paper. That would be quite fun though. In Korea, they might find that wasteful.

Today the activity I chose for my 5th grade activity class was a big hit. Too bad they were SUPER loud. Most of the teachers I've talked to this week have come to the conclusion that there must be a full moon out. They are excessively loud and we can't figure it out. Anyway, I first had the students stand in a line as they came into class. I clipped them each with 2 paper clips and had them sit at a table. I stuck a post it on our stage with the group numbers and told them if they spoke Korean, I would take away one of their clips. Then I had 4 baskets of items that they already knew...gave each table a basket to look at for 3 minutes and then took it away from them. They were to memorize all of the objects.. Do these games sound familiar? Then, had them write down the words and make a sentence for each word. I put all of the words on the white board and counted everyone's points. I went through a basket to see who was missing what. After that we added to their total points, points for each sentence that was correct. At the very end we subtracted the total clips I pulled off their shirts... Ahh.. Feels good to have a successful day. Anyone want to hire me?

So the next few weeks have a bunch of fun stuff going on. I've been invited to play in a volleyball tournament tomorrow at Gwangalli Beach. It should be fun. Tomorrow...I'm going to lay low. I have no money. I am going to start looking for vacations though. Southeast Asia...not quite sure where to go yet. I think I'm on my mine too...sad. Anyone back home wanna come meet up in some country??? End of July there is a Mud Festival where you drink and run around in fields and fields of mud. It's supposed to be epic and a must do before you leave Korea. I'm trying to get some people together to go around the 18th.

Hope all is well!

A Month Has Gone By

Hello Everyone!

I'm changing my style a little bit. It's been difficult for me to bust out e-mails on a consistent basis, so I've decided to build my own blog. This way, you guys can view what's been going on with my life at your own time and not have to stare at my long e-mails. You'll be able to log on and look at this whenever.

I feel like it's been a month since I've updated you all. Has it? The last few weeks have been busy as always. Oh my gosh, I just checked my last e-mail, and it has been a month since I've filled you in on my life here. Ooops. Sorry! Hopefully with the blog I'll be able to update it more often, making you happy, and making it easier on my memory.

Since last month...there have been a lot of things that went on...never a dull moment.

The week that I wrote you last was a very volleyball involved week. I believe I played 4 out of the five days during the week and also on Sunday. This was the week of May 11th.

I was invited with another co-worker of mine (Alice 5-2 Teacher) to the nurse at our school's (Tracey) house. She lives in an area called Namcheon. The apartment complex she lives in is massive. It's surrounding a middle and elementary school and the shops/restaurants on the bottom floor are super trendy. She took us out to a really yummy Italian restaurant first and then invited us over for coffee and dessert at her place. Oh my gosh, she had such a nice place. Hardwood floors of course, 3 Kimchi refridgerators, 2 regular refridgerators, a real stove, a dishwasher, about 5 rooms, and most of those had little sun rooms connected to them...the cabinets were all a rich cherry and there was crown molding everywhere. It was top notch. Anyway...by far the best apartment I've seen in Korea.

Wednesday the 13th we had our normal practice game against another school...can't remember which one. Then on Friday my co-teacher asked me at the last minute if I wanted to practice volleyball with him at another school. Of course I would...duh. But I didn't have clothes so he rushed me home after school so I could change and then we were off. I figured we would be meeting the other male teachers for a typical practice game with another school, but OH NO...I was going to be practicing with my co-teacher's CLUB volleyball team. I got there and recognized a handful of the men from our previous games...and it was a little awkward, because they did not know I was coming. This was an intense volleyball day. We were actually practicing...I felt like I was back in high school or at a camp or something. Drill after drill. It was fun and I was rewarded with a yummy fish soup dinner (that's sarcasm at its finest).

The following week was...what students...BUSY! Monday volleyball, Tuesday I started tutoring (I'll get to that in a minute), Wednesday was my Open Class and our first volleyball tournament, Thursday tutoring again, Friday Women's volleyball tourney, Saturday shopping on Texas Street, and Sunday more.....you guessed it, volleyball..at the beach.

Tutoring. My den mother YeJin, who I think I've mentioned before, has a husband that is really involved in working with foreigners and wanted to learn more Business English that he could use at work. She asked me if I would be interested in tutoring him, so we met up and talked about what he wanted to learn and that was the start of some extra income for me. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday in her office for an hour. I get paid 20,000 won per hour and so far it's been pretty good. His English is pretty good already, he is just not very confident and doesn't exactly know what order to put his words in.

An open class is a class in which your co-workers, vice principal, and principal come in and observe a class of yours. I was able to choose the class I wanted, the lesson I wanted to teach, and what day and period it was going to take place. These are completely staged and rehearsed. The reason for these classes is a bit foggy, but the education board is trying to reward teachers that perform well in these open classes with a pay raise for the following year. It is ridiculous to me. First of all, we have been in Korea for 4 months and many of us have not figured out if we will be here for next year or not, we would get about 100,000 won extra a pay check which is not that much, and it does not reflect an every day class situation because they are staged. My lesson was performed directly out of the book...nothing special. It's over and done with but definitely a stressful time for myself and my co-worker. Oh ya, by the way, my English room is COMPLETELY finished. Pictures will come shortly...I'm still trying to figure out how this blogging stuff works.


These are some pictures of me teacher during the open class.


The volleyball tournament for the Men went well, but the news isn't as great for the Women. That Wednesday we had the Men's playoffs and we ended up winning so we were scheduled to play the following Wednesday for the Semis and Finals. For a mini celebration...dinner and drinks. The Women played on Friday and we got our butts kicked. But that was predictable. It was very fun though.

As most of you probably already heard...the Ex-President of South Korea committed suicide...I believe the last week in May. I read the stories and so many people in Korea were devasted. I think a lot of Koreans cried that weekend.

Ahh Texas Street. If you've heard anything about this infamous area, you would think that it would be a great place to tour. Not so much. Texas Street is a famous area where there is a mixture of Chinese and Russians. Yup, Russians. I went with a few friends (always go with others) and checked out the area. COMPLETELY SKETCHY. Russian prostitutes and everything. Not a good place to go...especially at night, but I'd recommend not going in the day either. I went because it was supposed to have some "foreigner" shopping...but that was not the case.

The following week....last week in May was every changing thanks to Korea being Dynamic. Our volleyball tournament was cancelled due to the death of the President and we just practiced against other schools all week. I believe this week we played at a girl's high school. We watched them after our game, and they were AMAZING! One observation about Korean Women's sports...they all cut their hair really short (I think it's forced) so sometimes they don't even look like women. In rememberance of the President we ate duck and drank Soju that Friday.

On Thursday the "young" co-workers and I went out to celebrate my friend Alice's last few weeks at school. I'm bummed. She's such a great person and I usually hang out with her at school. Anyway, we went out for Sam Gip Sum (pork) and drinking...and Noraebang. It was fun and sad...

Monday the 1st, Alilce took me into Seomyeon (pronounced (hard O sound) Some Yawn)...the big city near my place, and we went out for dinner at a Shabu Shabu restaurant and shopping for "indoor summer shoes". I needed new shoes for school that were open toed because it's really hot now days and my feet were sweating and stinking..you know. Shabu Shabu is real yummy. It's not a traditional Korean dish...its inspiration comes from Japan. You dip thin slices of beef into hot broth...and dip the beef into sauce, and then you put the sauce dipped beef into a leaf of lettuce...that is with a small ball of rice...and a few seasame seeds. It's delicious.

Tuesday, my co-workers put together a huge ceremony for the opening of the English room...and a celebration for the library and science rooms that were also remodeled. It was boring.

The rest of the week was more volleyball practice and then on Friday we had our Semi-Finals and Final tournament. We were really scared because Beomil Elementary School has a "SUPERSTAR" on their team. Well, well, not so much a superstar...we beat them and moved on to the final round. In fact, I actually defended a few of his hits and suprised some people. We lost in the final match...boo. Our school got a tiny trophy and then we went out for drinks and dinner...again.

Last week I helped celebrate a friends' birthday. We went to a Western style bar called the Fuzzy Navel and the bartenders put on a flaring show for us. It was amazing and I have a video to show you all! It's great.

This last Friday was pretty busy. I had a co-teacher training day with the EPIK group. There were around 300 hundred native and Korean teachers there. It was pretty easy but I think I would have rather of been at school. It was Alice's last last last day and I wanted to say goodbye. But...instead we said goodbye a better way. The "young"sters at school went out for a Lotte Giants baseball game. One of Alice's students' dads works for the team and got us some great tickets. It was a perfect farwell outing.



Soo...for the last few days I've been hanging out at the beach playing a little volleyball and working on my tan for the summer. The weather has been weird but we're managing to get some pretty beautiful days. My friend Dara leaves this week for Canada and then Hawaii so I'll be saying goodbye, yet again, to another friend. Boo.

Well...your eyes are probably sore by now. I'll be getting better at this so hopefully you'll see more updates, which in turn will allow less reading, but more frequently.

Love you all!