New Address!

Hi friends and family!

I just wanted to post an update letting you know I have a new address. My school recently moved to a new building. We are no longer Little America and have become Langcon English Academy. Rest assured that things will not get better at this new school..... no, not until I walk out of that school and never have to return again. Currently I teach over 6 hours a day, which isn't much, I know. But after 6 hours I am suppose to get overtime pay. It has yet to happen after 7 months of working overtime. Now, I start teaching at 11 am and finish around 7:10/ 7:40. Explain to me how I can work from 10:40 - 6:55 and be working over time and now work 11 am to 7:10/7:40 and be only working 6 hours? Something doesn't add up.

Anyway.... here is my address

LangCon English Academy
Cheong-yong Building 2nd Floor
19-2,3 Mae-gok dong Buk-gu Gwang-ju
South Korea
500-815

my kids wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Time flies

It's amazing to me how fast my time in Korea is going. Sometimes I don't even realize how far I've come or how fast the time is going by. Take for instance my blog, it's been a month since my last update. I looked at it the other day and thought, "that can't be right I just updated it!" I went from updating every week to now forgetting about it and coming back to all this time that has gone by without an update for friends and family back home.

happiness....

A lot has been going on in the past month. From stuff at school to the weekends spent with good friends, they are all good memories that lucky I have lots of pictures to remind myself of those times. It has been quite some time since I've gotten out of Gwangju for a weekend. I guess I have been busy with celebrating friends birthdays, events in the city or just pure relaxation that there hasn't been much time to get out and explore more of Korea. The cabin fever is setting in and I'm ready for some weekend adventures elsewhere. Hopefully I'll remember to update about them when they happen.

rooftop gathering with friends...

The week of October 18th was the Kimchi Festival in Gwangju. It was the Festival that I was most excited to check before I even came to Korea. Kimchi is such a huge part of Korean culture. They eat it at every meal. I was really excited that the festival took place in the city I was going to be living in. There were concerns about the festival. The weather in Korea had ruined a lot of crops and there was the "Kimchi Crisis" going on. It didn't affect Gwangju as much as the Northern cities, though. I went on the weekend with a few friends to check out all the hype. It was about 10 minutes away from my apartment so it was easy to find. We walked up to see a huge stage with musicians playing. There were people and stands everywhere. We went straight to the tent where we could make kimchi ourselves. The foreigners go to one table where we had some friendly Koreans helping us and who spoke English. The Koreans were on the other side making their own kimchi. We were given a head of cabbage and the ingredients. We mixed the ingredients together and then began rubbing it on to the cabbage. It took us about 10 minutes after we put the ingredients on the cabbage we were given a taste of our own kimchi. It was pretty good, but not really spicy enough. They put it in a bag and then a container (kimchi is pretty rank smelling...). On we went around the area to check other things out. There was stand after stand after stand of different kinds of kimchi. There are so many different tastes and ways to make kimchi, you can use cabbage, lettuce, radish or cucumber. They are all tasty, sometimes you find ones that are better than others. We stopped at a little food stand, sat down and ordered kimchi soup and some other meat dish. It was definitely a great experience!

Sarah, me, Danielle and Marleen making some kimchi

The weekends have been pretty low key lately. I'm going to skip the weekend night life stories and go to talking about school. I've already talked about how frustrating my school is with all the things going on. My school is turning into a Langcon, which could be a good switch. They have a set out curriculum to follow, which we definitely need! I have doubts that many of my students will be able to keep up with the new curriculum though. I have probably the rudest kids in the city and ones that don't care even the slightest. It's unfortunate really, for Dan and I, to be at such a poor academy. It kind of ruins the whole experience. But then again, we are over halfway finished and have managed to find ways to get through. Besides the afternoon classes, which really aren't fun or worth teaching. The kinders.... are little kids. What to say about them. 5 crazy kids that drive us nuts sometimes, they are whiny, fight all the time, don't listen, those 5 little kids are pretty awesome, to say the least. Dan and I both are really proud of our kinders. We have gone through several Korean teachers, for the last several months the only teachers they have had consistently have been Dan and I. They are forced to speak English, try to translate their problems to tell us. They do a great job at it, too. It's amazing to think back 6 months ago and realize how much they have truly learned in those months. Their speaking is better, reading is better, they still have trouble with spelling, their coloring skills have improved. It kind of makes up for the rest of the kids that haven't improved at all. Take for instance Samuel, I have been teaching him for about 5 months. His reading use to be really bad, his speaking not so great.... but now, his reading is really good and you can't get him to stop talking in English. He loves to tell me stories, they usually take a good 20 minutes to get out, but it really is a great feeling. My boss has actually been telling me how much Samuel has improved and his parents have complimented on it, too. He use to never want to sit down and study, it was almost impossible. Now he is actually excited. I think a lot has to do with the fact that he wants to catch up to his classmate, Brenda. Who is a smart little girl and is really far ahead of any 7 year old (and a lot of my 13 year olds too!!) We use to hide from the kids during our lunch breaks, lately we've been going into the big room with the kinders and playing soccer with them. They love it and it really makes for a fun 30 minutes.

Stella, Paul, Samuel, Brenda and Iris... love their smiles in this... Dan and I have some good kids

For Halloween, Dan had the kids make tiger masks.

we gave them lots of candy for Halloween

I'm coming up on my 7 months in Korea. 5 more to go!

I'm Grandfather, you are young. GO!

The title is a line that an old man said to my friends and I on Saturday while we were hiking. We had stopped to take a break before continuing the hike. I guess it was his way of encouraging us. Either way, we made it to the peak to show him

Fall in Korea!!

Saturday morning a few friends and I got on a bus and headed to Yeongam. It's a town a little over an hour away from Gwangju and is the entrance point to Wolchulsan National Park. Wolculsan is marked by mountain ranges mostly covered in enormous rock formations. Getting off the bus we were quite intimidated by the huge rocky mountains, thinking we were going to be rock climbers instead of leisure hikers. We squeezed into a taxi and drove to the entrance of the park. We walked up a little hill and found the entrance to the hike. We were met with the map of the park and some basic stretches they suggested doing, oh Korea. We began the hike thinking it was easier than the hike we did 2 weeks prior, despite hearing from various friends that the hike was "a bitch." We soon began to find out that they weren't lying to us. After about an hour and a half of hiking we made it to the Cloud Bridge. It had a phenomenal view of the surrounding areas! We even saw trees with beautiful fall leaves. The suspension bridge was pretty awesome and we took several pictures on it.

heading up the Mountain

We decided to continuing hiking, but weren't sure if we really wanted to go to the top. Seeing as we were all pretty tired as it was. We kept on going though, pushing through the burning in the legs! As we got closer to the peak, it got a little scarier. From the bridge up we were climbing up steps like a ladder. It was incredibly steep and we were all but pulling ourselves up these steps. After making it up the steps there were rungs that we had to climb up to go further up to the peak. Being afraid of heights, it honestly was pretty terrifying. But I wanted to see the spectacular view for myself so I kept going!

first view of the Mountain

I sat by a rock and enjoyed the view and peace at the top. Koreans would walk by and smile at me and say Annyong or ask where I was from. At one point a Korean lady opened up some food and offered it to me. It was really sweet, but I unfortunately had to decline the free food as she was offering apples and I'm severely allergic. After sitting at the top for quite some time we started our decent. We found a new way down and it was a lovely walk to the bottom. After we walked to the opening where we started we were greeted with claps from other hikers who had finished the hike, too. It was pretty cool.

Suspension Bridge

A perfect Saturday spent with some pretty fantastic ladies.

Danielle, Kelsey, me, Megan, and Kate on the Cloud Bridge

Many the Miles

It's really amazing where the paths in life can take you. A little over a year ago, I had quit my jobs and made the decision to move. My life would be so different right now if I didn't decide what I was doing wasn't what I really wanted for my life. I knew from the time Caley and Chris had come to Korea, that I too wanted to come. But there were lots of things holding me back from what I really wanted to do. When I finally made the decision to come here, I couldn't have been happier. It was really awesome that Danielle and Megan decided that they too wanted an adventure and could be part of this experience with me.

I have officially been in Korea for 5 months. There have been so many ups and downs. Most of the downs have come from the job. But really, I knew what I should expect signing on with a Hagwon. Hagwon's are a business, its more important to make money that see improvements in the children's English language. I have met so many great people and had some really awesome times with these new friends. I've also been fortunate enough to travel to China, twice, to see some old friends from college.

School isn't all that bad. I mean, I love my walk to and from school and the talks and laughs I have with my coworker. And my kinders, Samuel and Brenda. I sometimes get really frustrated with them. But they are smart little kids for being 7 (well, really by our standards they are 6). Brenda translates so much for Dan and I during the day. She is a smart little girl and is pretty respectful. Samuel is a little independent kid. Sometimes he can be a little brat and not do his work, so can Brenda. Usually if one is being bad and not working, the other is really good and going out of their way to do MORE work. I love the hugs they give me everyday and the really awesome days are when they stop what they are doing and give me a massage. Sounds weird, but it isn't. Brenda likes to give hand massages. Samuel usually climbs behind me on the chair and will give me a shoulder massage. He is pretty strong so sometimes he hits me pretty hard. But, he means well. The kids have really changed a lot since I arrived 5 months ago. Iris use to be a really shy girl and every time you talked to her, she would cry. She was usually the only one to not run up and give Dan and I hug. Now she won't let you go and rarely cries!

This past weekend the girls plus Geoff and I all went hiking on Mt. Muduengsan. It was a beautiful fall day and we had a great hike together! On the way down we met this awesome Korean man, who for being older spoke great English. He gave us all these random facts about the mountain and himself. He was 62 years old and for the past 36 years he had been climbing the mountain, everyday. He said he's climbed the mountain over 10,000 times and they call him the Mountain Tiger. He was cool!

The past few Sundays, Meg, Danielle and I have been getting lunch and then going to the DVD bong and watching movies. The DVD bong is where you can rent a movie and you get your own private room to watch it in. The rooms are always very comfortable with a bed and/or couch in it. It's great for a lazy Sunday!

This coming weekend there is an International Community Day in my city. I'm looking forward to it and afterwards we are having a roof top gathering. In 2 weeks is the Gwangju Kimchi Festival as well!

There are so many things to look forward to and I'm excited. I'm so happy to be in Korea. Life here is so comfortable and fun. I can't even begin to imagine how things would be if I didn't decide to come here....

Until next time.

Vacation!

I just got back a few hours ago from an amazing vacation in Beijing. My friends Keith and Ithzel went out of their way to make our vacation fantastic. There is something about Beijing that makes me want to stay....

Anyway, instead of writing about my vacation Danielle and I decided to do a video blog of our daily happenings. We are going to spend some time putting the videos together and editing things. Stay tuned for that update!

Enjoying the view on the Great Wall

Turn and Run

Well, I guess it's been almost two weeks since I've updated. So, here is the brief update.

Last week was my birthday weekend extravaganza. On Saturday a few friends and I got together downtown and rented a room to play Nintendo Wii. It cost us each about $3.50 for a drink and we could play for an hour. We had a lot of fun of course! Afterwards we all headed to the Outdoor Galbi Restaurant (aka Korean BBQ for those not sure what it is. You cook your own meat at the table). It was really good. We got ice cream and had a drink and were all home and in bed early. On Sunday, Megan, Josh and I went on adventure to Sangmu to check out the 5.18 Memorial Park. We sat in a park for a long time just hanging out and talking. It was really fun. We then headed to one of the best restaurants in Gwangju The First Nepal, for my 2nd birthday dinner. I didn't really know much about the dinner. Other than Danielle and Dan kind of planned it. A bunch of friends were there with cake and a cool necklace that says my name in Korean. I have some great friends here :)

On to school things.

I think I've talked about before on how we currently have only one Korean teacher.. She told me last week that she wants THIS Friday to be her last day. If that's the case it will be Dan and I plus our director. Dan and I basically do everything as it is. Several Korean's have been interviewed for the position. But she keeps saying how she is "too busy" right now to find a teacher. One lady was in for several days sitting in classes. I guess she was hired... she called and said she wouldn't do it. More people were in to interview. On Saturday we had to work and the newly hired teacher was in shadowing. She seemed pretty nice, despite not having much English skills. Yesterday was suppose to be her first day... guess who never showed. I think my boss has given up on finding a Korean teacher. Which is not really good for Dan and I. Also, we were suppose to be paid Friday. Money is finally in our account today, but of course, only half. I hope I can warn future foreigners on this train wreck of a school.

On the plus side of school topics. I have one class all afternoon who is my absolute favorite. They love to have conversations, are polite and just fun to be with. The girls all gave me birthday presents, which was really sweet of them. On Saturday we had school and that was the only class were I said, keep your books out. We will pretend to work but play games all class. They loved it and really were happy with me for it. 3 of the kids in the class have birthdays this month. So, I bought them all a snack as a little present to them. They were so happy and started chanting my name. It was cute.

And lastly, Saturday begins my 6 day vacation. WIN! Danielle and I both fly out on Sunday to Beijing. We will be staying with my friend from college. I'm so excited! After we get back I have to teach on Friday and then it'll be the weekend. September is almost over :)

Life is Good

This coming weekend not only is my birthday weekend (yay), but it's also my 4 month anniversary of being in Korea. I can't believe 4 months is already here! It's been a crazy ride so far and I'm sure the next 8 months will be just as crazy. I have had a lot of ups that have been pretty epic, but I've also had some serious lows. I know I absolutely made the right choice by coming here. I got out of the rut I was stuck in, in Limestoneville and get to experience and meet so many great people. I'm also meeting up with friends I haven't seen in years that live abroad, it has and will continue to be an amazing experience.

2 weekends ago Megan and I ventured out of Gwangju to the Boseong Green Tea Plantation. I've been hoping to go at some point and that Sunday turned out to be a great time for both of us. We jumped on a bus and with the help of some nice Korean's got off at the correct stop and then purchased another bus ticket to go to the Plantation. We left pretty early in the morning, so both of us only had a light breakfast. It turned out to be a gorgeous, but very hot day. We did plenty of hiking through the fields and up the mountain. It was about 1:30 in the afternoon, with the sun beating down on us when we made it to the top of the mountain. The view was beautiful. I don't know how those ajummas and ajosshi's climb that mountain regularly to pick the tea, but more power to them!

view from the top of the mountain

lines of Green Tea

me in the fields

more lines of Green Tea

This weekend is not only my 4 month anniversary of being in Korea, but also my 25th birthday. I'm getting old! I think I'm going to have a low key type of weekend and get some friends together for dinner and to play some Wii downtown and of course, eat ice cream!

Now, on to my children.... My one kinder Brenda is in love with me, most of the time. She gets mad at me when I make her read or write (haha). When kids in class (she is in a class with older kids, she is VERY VERY smart) say they don't like me, they like Dan teacher, Brenda will be the first to say "I like Megan teacher! She is my favorite friend!" It's cute and other times she'll say "Megan teacher is a Princess" Of course, 2 days ago she was angry with me and told me all the reasons I'm NOT a Princess. Want to hear them? Of course you do!

1. I wasn't wearing a beautiful dress

2. I didn't have a pretty crown (I said it was at home)

3. I didn't have a sparkling ring

4. I didn't have a horse

5. Where was my Prince? (I'm wondering that too!)

6. I didn't have heels on

7. My hair wasn't done properly

and finally

8. I wasn't wearing a bracelet

Clearly, someone watches too many fairy tales! It was pretty adorable and made me laugh. She was really excited to hear my birthday was coming up and wrote herself a note so she could bring me a present, too.

That's my update for now. Despite the bad things that have been thrown at me in my 4 months in Korea, I still love it here. There have been way more awesome times to even things out. Life is good and I know I made the right choice by moving halfway around the world to start a new path!

Excitement!

Hi friends and family!

Today I bought myself a new laptop. It was on sale, score for me and all the programs were loaded in English! WIN! I got myself a cute HP mini and I'm pretty excited about having a computer that works!

In other news. Beijing is happening in 22 days!

Sad Day

My computer stopped working.... So, for now I won't be able to update unless I use a friend's computer or the school's.....


Also, I just got my bangs cut. The people didn't speak a word of English but did a great job! And it only cost me $1.50.... WIN! I knew I loved Korea for a reason.

Urban Dictionary

Most of you probably don't understand my most recent post and the frustration I went through. I think Urban Dictionary has the best example. It's completely true and spot on for every point.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Korea'd

So, the last part in italics is funny, about having to teach a book that isn't in English. My boss decided to start a new class for me to teach. It is a writing and grammar class. I can handle that, easy enough. Except... the book was made in Korea. Therefore, there are so many grammatical errors! I'm constantly scribbling out words here and there. Changing words to fit properly or whole sentences. The best part of the book, the translating part from Korean to English. Or even the explanations in Korean. So, I'll be teaching and have to skip several pages until it gets to English. And then when the kids are doing the translating part, they will be confused and ask me for help. They laugh at me when I zone out and they are trying to get help, but really? How much help can I be for this? None at all. They give me a few words and I make up a sentence and they never know. Honestly, its a brilliant idea for me to teach them a Korean book.

Tomorrow I am venturing out for my first hair cut. Stay tuned.

The week from hell.

I hate being a debbie downer in blog posts. It truly was the week from hell. Most people avoid writing these blog posts. The one about school and how it REALLY sucks a lot of the time. How no matter what you do its always WRONG. No matter how hard you try to make things fun your kids are still bored and then you get in trouble for it. Or the whole having to read your bosses mind on what they want and when you didn't properly read your mind they bitch about you in Korean IN FRONT of your students. Yeah, it was one of those weeks.

Thank God for fantastic co-workers that can help you brush things off and make you laugh in the worst times.

I was more than ready for the weekend to arrive. I went out Friday night to meet up with the usual crowd. As usual, we had a great time together and stayed out way too late like always. I had a very very lazy Saturday followed by a night out again. This time though, I was home early! Today I did a bit of shopping with Meg and Tanya, my new friend from Michigan who has been here for only 2 weeks.

I'm thankful for my friends here that can help me forget the bad weeks and remember why Korea is indeed an awesome place to live!

To end, here is a picture of the ladies and I about to get on the 3D roller coaster

Tanya, Meg, me and Danielle

Locked Up Abroad... Shanghai Edition

Last weekend I had a much needed vacation out of Korea. This vacation couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I needed to forget about the frustrations with school, the kids, the boss and just everything. I got the bus at 1 am to Incheon airport Saturday morning with my co worker Dan and his friend Ben. I'm glad I didn't have to travel there alone, even if we just slept on the bus the whole way. We got to the airport around 5 am and slept on a few benches until the airport opened and we could get our tickets. My plane was to leave at 8:55 am. I had a connection in Shanghai with a 2 hour layover there and then flew on to Hong Kong.

You might be curious as to why the heading is 'Locked Up Abroad, Shanghai Edition' I'm just going to give the shortened version, since it makes me look less stupid. To be fair though, it was totally not my fault, I was following directions! I had a connecting flight in Shanghai with a 2 hour layover. I wasn't sure where I was suppose to go and when I asked the Immigration Officer plus an airport lady told me to follow the hallway. I listened and walked down said hallway. Turns out, I was suppose to go through Immigration and get some stamps, go through customs and then re-enter the airport, go through immigration and security again and then find my gate. Since I was sent the wrong way, it caused several problems. Luckily, the Immigration Police Officer was incredibly friendly, thankfully! She whisked me around the airport, taking me through security, immigration and getting everything in order that I should have done before. She couldn't understand what happened that I didn't do it in the first place, until everything was figured out and then she remembered that she indeed did send me down the hallway instead of through the doorway. She could tell I was worried and she just kept reassuring me that everything was okay. In the end, I had to get another flight. This worried me as well because I had a friend waiting for me at the airport and I had no way of contacting her to say I would be 2 hours late. But through the entire ordeal all I could think about was the National Geographic show "Locked Up Abroad" I knew there was a reason I shouldn't watch it!

I finally arrived to Hong Kong 2.5 hours late and my friend had already left. Luckily I got a hold of her and she came back to get me. It ruined our intended dinner plans for the evening. Cristina and I had a lot of catching up to do. It has been a little over 2 year since we have seen each other. We also were meeting up with Ithzel, another friend from Lock Haven. She was in Hong Kong getting her visa renewed for Beijing where she goes to school and works.

the beautiful Lamma Island

Cristina and I in Stanley

We had a beautiful weekend together. The skies were clear, it was sunny and a little too humid for comfort. The main reason I chose Hong Kong was to see Cristina, so it didn't matter what kind of weather we had, I still would have been happy to have this reunion! It was just a plus that we could meet up with Ithzel as well. On Sunday we wandered around seeing parts of Hong Kong and deciding on what touristy things we wanted to do. We decided to take the tram up Victoria's Peak to see the whole city from the top of the Mountain. What a great decision and sight! We also went to a little place called Stanley where they have a market. It was a cool little place with a beach and rocks to take lots of pictures on. Which of course we did!

On Monday Cristina had to work, so Ithzel and I made some plans to meet up in the afternoon. We met downtown and went to find a bakery called Complete Deelites. I was told that this place had amazing cupcakes. We found the bakery easily and picked out our cupcakes and they were amazing! It was so great to have this delicious sweet cupcake. Korea needs some lessons on baked goods!! On we went to find the Star Ferry to go to Lamma Island off of Hong Kong. It was another beautiful day with clear skies. Lamma Island was a cute little place, there are no cars on this island which made it so much better. We hiked around and then hung out on the beach for a little. We ate a little restaurant where we got a salad and grilled salmon. It was delicious. I was told to get a Lime Soda on hot days and we tried one, once again a fantastic suggestion! We headed back to Times Square to meet up with the working girl Cristina.

Ithzel, me and Cristina - overlooking Hong Kong

the girls in Stanley

I may not have done or saw much in Hong Kong. But I still had such a relaxing and great trip. The best part by far was being with old friends, catching up on our lives, whats been going on the past few years, what we hope to be doing in the future. There really isn't anything much better than that. I'm truly lucky to have had the chance to visit Hong Kong. I may not be a fan of the place since I don't luck the hustle and bustle of big cities. But I do appreciate reconnecting with friends! I had a great time, saw the quiet parts of the city, saw the busy parts of the city, saw the beauty and tasted some great food. That right there makes the perfect vacation.

I had another layover in Shanghai, which I got through with no troubles at all. Luckily. I honestly could not wait to get back to Korea. I love my life here. I love how quiet my area is, but being just minutes from downtown where I can have fun. I even missed hearing Koreans talk! I missed the friendliness of the country and people. And I had only been gone for 4 days!

Friday night I decided to go out with Megan and Danielle. We met up with friends downtown and met a new teacher who is from Michigan. She is a really fun girl and we became dancing partners on Friday night. It's amazing how time flies in Korea one minute its 11 pm and the next its 4 am. ha. On Saturday I met up with Tanya, the new teacher in a nearby area, and we headed to visit Megan. We got some food, did some shopping at some donuts and then headed back home. We were all exhausted from our fun night out. We decided a quiet night in would be a good idea. That quickly changed when we realized we wanted to go dancing again. So of course, we were all out again Friday night, again home by 4 am. haha. Life is awesome. It's so fun to go out and meet up with friends old and new. There are many good times and good memories made on nights out!

Meg, Danielle, Tanya and I

And now, its Sunday night. I'm ready to tackle another week at Little America. We recently got 2 new boy students at our school. The one is so cute and I gave him the name of Trevor. I asked him if he liked it and he got this huge smile on his face and shook his head yes. I loved it!

Happy Birthday Gram!

I really don't update the blog too much on life at school. I guess mainly because I don't want my entire blog to be a negative thing. Life at school definitely isn't a walk in the park. A day at school for me is filled with frustration, annoyance, and anger.

It has a lot to do with the fact that the kids at my school are downright rude and they don't care about learning English. The sit in class speaking in Korean and no matter how many times I yell at them to be quiet, they don't listen. I feel like I'm not teaching them anything and that they aren't learning anything. Which really sucks, I want to know that I've taught them something. I guess I do have some progress in classes.....

Here's a story about one of my classes:

I was having a really hard time teaching my one older class. They are at the "I'm so cool and I don't have to listen" stage. They will be heading to middle school next year, where I'm sure they will lose the attitude. There are 3 boys and 3 girls in the class. Of course, they sit in their separate groups chatting in Korean the whole time. Completely ignoring everything I have to say. The girls are extra bitchy to me, sometimes the boys listen, other times they don't. The one boy was just mean to me. Doing things just to irritate me more and disturb class. I sent him to the hall the one day, of course, I couldn't push him out the door alone, luckily Dan saw my attempt and grabbed him and yelled/scared him for me. I dread the end of the day teaching them. I mean, even the Korean teachers hate teaching these 6 kids!

Cue summer camp.. the 3 boys ended up coming to camp. They were put in my group, which they were not thrilled about and neither was I. Sunday at camp was spent riding the water slides and the one boy joined Dan, Danielle and I most of the day. Occasionally we would run into the other 2 boys and talk to them. Since camp, the 3 boys have been really nice to me. While they still talk a lot in class, they are actually respectful and the worst boy and I get along now. Which is really awesome. The past 2 weeks he has been the only one answering my questions and finishing the work FIRST and then playing games. Today everyone else was either talking or playing games on their phones. He was the only one who would answer me. I gave him gum for it, which no one noticed since they were too busy doing other things.

More frustration and anger comes from the boss/language barrier/craziness/can't make up her mind issue. The whole not communicating with the foreign teachers on pay or vacation days definitely adds to the stress level. My boss didn't really like me. But since camp was such a success she has started to like me more. And now is friendly to me and will sometimes talk to me (though I'm not her favorite like Dan, which I'm okay with...)

Yeah teaching in Korea is REALLY frustrating. Especially at a hagwon. I think I would come home more stressed if I didn't have a long 30 minute walk home from school. I walk with my coworker and we talk, vent, laugh, and joke. It definitely helps to destress. It doesn't completely go away, but it helps. It also helps to remember that I'm in this great country, exploring, making new friends, discovering new things, experiencing a new life... so really, 30 hours of a stress a week is kind of worth it, right?

Vacation

I have 6 hours of teaching standing in the way of VACATION! I am so excited. It was kind of a bummer that I didn't have vacation the same time as my friends, but I guess its kind of nice too. This way I get more ME time. Which, we all know is definitely good. I am headed to Hong Kong for my 4 days of vacation (would have been 5 had the 5th day not been kept a secret!) My friend Cristina who I met at Lock Haven is currently working in Hong Kong. I am staying with her and we get to catch up on the past 2 years of our lives while seeing Hong Kong. I know it will be a fantastic trip and it will be nice to spend time with an old friend.

Life is good, no matter how stressful and annoying things can get!

And last, to Gram. Happy Birthday!! I miss you. I miss living with you. I miss you making fun of EVERYTHING I do. I miss you laughing at me for reasons I don't know. I miss hearing you complain about things. I miss you coming out of your room just to watch me chop up onions only to tell me I'm stinking up the whole house. I love you :)

Water park "Resort"

This past weekend was Little America's Summer Camp. The kids were all really excited last week for it. Danielle, Dan and I on the other hand, were not as excited. We got on the bus on Saturday around 2 ish. Off we went to the water park that was about an hour away. We pulled up and the place looked gorgeous. It was this big hotel with a water park on a river with beautiful mountains in the background. Under other circumstances it would have been the most perfect and relaxing weekend. In our case, it was not.

The mayhem began with room assignments. 2 days before Camp started I was given a list of kids to look after and what not. Of course, they were all boys, 9 boys to be exact. Dan was given 12 of the "bad" kids (which is funny, because ALL of our kids are bad, compared to Danielle's kids). So we lined our kids up and headed to the rooms. Dan and I were lead to a room and all of our children filed in... I was told I would be sleeping in this room too. Brilliant idea right? Did I mention there were 85 Korean children in all and 6 rooms.... So, then my boss picks out several younger annoying boys and tells me to come along. We were lead to another room, that was smaller. And then a bunch of girls walked in. At this point there were 20 boys and girls in a VERY small room. The boys decided to take the room and the girls got the "living room" area. Since there were no beds only mats and blankets, I swiped my pillow, blanket and mat and claimed my spot. My boss walked in and said "Megan, okay?" NO I was not okay with what was happening. Did I have a choice? No. Thankfully several girls were moved to a different room. Which left me with 17 kids and luckily only 1 pooped themselves. It was nice that the older girls helped get the boys situated and put to bed, I surely wasn't handling that.

The 3 of us lead several games and the kids had a lot of fun, which was good for me cause now my boss is happy with my game ideas. The explanation of games went really well too. Mainly because of Danielle's great co teacher Rosemary! (Seriously, Danielle has it REALLY great at her school). The meals at this resort were not very good, rice, kimchi (for breakfast, lunch and dinner) and some other things. We again, were not very excited for that.

Bed time was about 10 pm. Danielle, Dan and I hung out in the hall while the kids got situated and then ended up taking a walk and hanging out together outside talking and getting our "down time" We probably heading back in after midnight, none of us got any sleep though. The floor was very uncomfortable and by 5 am all of the younger kids were awake and very loud!

We headed to the pool around 10ish. We hit up some slides and the not so lazy river that had a wave pool thing and waterfalls. It was so much fun! The one water slide was called the tornado, it was a lot of fun to ride. We took Dan's favorite student on the slides with us. A lot of the younger kids would ask us to play with them, but we were limited on the pools we could go in. We wanted to play in the wave pool, but that required you to wear a cap and we weren't going to buy one of them! So we stuck to the places were a cap was not needed. We took a few different kids on slides with us and then escaped to a place in the pool area for a nap. It was a really long day and we were ready to go home after 2 hours of being there.

Monday was hard to go back to teaching. Everyone who went to summer camp was extremely exhausted. I still felt tired today!

In other news, I got my multiple entry sticker today. So now I can leave Korea and come back without problems... 11 days until Hong Kong!

a few of the girls in my room, plus one of the boys... and our not so sweet beds on the floor

one of the water slides and the pretty mountains

great view from the room!

The tornado... an awesome ride!

some of the boys in my room....

Filled with the fragrance of Nature...

What's filled with the fragrance of nature, you ask? Well, Damyang Bamboo Forest of course! On Saturday I headed to U Square bright and early to meet up with the girls (and by bright and early, I mean 9:30). We planned on heading to Damyang to check out the Bamboo Forest. We bought our bus ticket, which cost us a whole $2, awesome! We were headed about 40 mins outside of Gwangju. Once we got off the bus we weren't exactly sure of where to go next, we were hoping it wasn't another experience like we had in Gamami (a deserted bus stop).... Danielle and I asked a shopkeeper for assistance and a friendly bus driver took us to the taxi stand and told the driver where we wanted to go. Turns out it was less than 2 minutes away, also another cheap ride. We bought our tickets into the forest, another $2. First we took pictures of the very tacky panda statues they had at the beginning. I don't understand Koreans though process, but I'll just let it go.

being scholarly...

more awesome trees

me in the forest

Bamboo forest... love it.

Bamboo trees are lovely.

We headed into the beautiful forest for a few hours. The bamboo trees were so cool and it was a perfect day to spend in nature! It wasn't incredibly hot and humid, it was the best weather. On the walk through the forest they had soft music playing. Again, I don't understand why. I would much rather listen to the sounds of nature.... Either way, I had a great time with Kelsey, Bess and Danielle in the forest. Eventually, we made our way in the Culture experience village. A couple was in a pagoda making fans, which was pretty cool. Danielle bought a plain fan, you may be asking whats so special about that... Well, there was a man who painted the fan for you, if you wanted. So, we headed up to his little house. It was really awkward at first, we don't speak Korean and we didn't want to just walk into his "house" and throw a fan at him. He noticed Danielle and invited her in and then told the rest of us to join them. It was a traditional little place, complete with a stereo and tv. He was an awesome guy. Turns out he knew a little bit of English. He told us interesting things, like how the paintings in his place were from 1929. He also showed us his pen and said it was from when he was in the armed forces. He began painting and it was one of the coolest experiences/things to watch! After the painting ended, he told us to sit in front of the old paintings, grabbed his camera and snapped a picture of us. Off we went, to do more exploring of the bamboo forest. We were all getting very hungry and decided we spent a sufficient amount of time in the forest.

writing on the fan

almost complete

We walked across the road from the forest and decided we should rent bikes. There were some fun bikes with baskets on them, pink, green, blues. When in Korea, do as the Koreans do! So, we crossed the rock bridge to the other side of "river" and rented the 4 person bike. It was an enjoyable bike ride we had, playing "chicken" with the Koreans, laughing and talking.

After our bike ride together we jumped on the bus back to Gwangju. We decided we should get lunch/dinner and chose VIPS which is an all you can eat buffet. It was a bit pricey, but the had salads with olives (which I've been craving), plus soups, delicious fruits and much more. We spent a good 2 hours there and I think the waiters were getting a bit annoyed. But hey, we had fun!

friends on a bike ride!

I headed home, exhausted from our day of fun in the sun/woods! I wasn't in the mood for a night out, so instead I watched a movie and read. It was a great night!

On Sunday I awoke to the sounds of rain falling outside my window. It was a great thing to wake up to and also meant that I should stay in bed extra long and read :) Rainy days are wonderful (unless of course, you get stuck walking to school without an umbrella, happened today). I read most of Sunday before heading to Danielle's. Bess and Kelsey made their way over too. Kelsey made chili for dinner and then we baked cupcakes and made a whipped topping for them. We ate while watching Spaceballs together. Again, another fabulous time and a great way to end out the weekend.

So began the start of a VERY long next 2 weeks. The week so far hasn't been too bad at all. Not sure what's going on right now, but boss lady is being kind of nice to me. Shocking I know. This weekend is our school's summer camp. We are headed to a water park. I don't really know much details at all. Saturday we have to lead games for the kids (Danielle will be there with her school as well). Dan and I were given the option to come home Saturday evening and have Sunday off. Instead we chose to stay at the resort, the downfall is that we have to sleep in the room with the children. But, Sunday we get to enjoy the waterpark!! I'm really excited to hang out on the lazy river, play in the wave pool and check out the water slides. I miss being in a pool!!

I'm sure I'll be super exhausted after the weekend and then I'll have another long week with the kids. I don't know what the plan is yet for Danielle's birthday weekend, but the following weekend I'm off to Hong Kong! I have a busy couple of weeks and I'm really excited.

rock bridge

the artist

in the nice Korean man's place

our attempt at jumping pictures. Fail

jump picture, win!

Life is good :)

Vacation Plans and 4th of July, Korean style

My summer vacation is coming up at the end of July. It's been hard to figure out where I should visit. I only have 4 days and my friend have off a different time than me. So, planning a vacation with friends here was out of the question. I thought about Beijing, of course there are pros to going there like seeing Rika (a friend from Lock Haven who lives there) and cons, like the uber expensive visa for American citizens ($200 comparing to $90 for every other country). The other option was Hong Kong, no visa requirement and I get to see Cristina (another friend from Lock Haven, who is from Spain). It was a tough choice, but I ended up choosing Hong Kong. Danielle said she would like to go there as well, so I figured we could try going in the Spring, when we have more money saved up for the visa and such. I wasn't doing very much planning for this mini vacation and I knew July was slowly creeping up on me. I sent several messages back and forth to my friend Cristina who is currently working in Hong Kong. She was really excited to hear I was looking at flights to come visit. Finally, I found some cheap flights that would allow me to spend a sufficient amount of time in Hong Kong... and I booked the flight. July 31st until August 3rd I will be visiting the city and Cristina. It will be so nice to see her again, it's been about 2 years! I'm really excited for the trip to come up and it's helping me to get through these long weeks.

The other thing that is helping me get through the weeks, which I've previously mentioned...is the shark diving excursion! We are hoping to do that the weekend before I head off to Hong Kong! woohoo.

Last week was a normal one at school. I think we (as in my coworkers and I) would be much happier if our boss backed off a lot more. It's really hard to describe the woman, other than she clearly hates my co teacher and I for no particular reason, other than we are females? She LOVES my coworker Dan. Today she was saying how she didn't like the one classes test last month, on and on until Dan said, oh yeah sorry I made that. She immediately stopped bashing it. Last week I went out for dinner with Dan and our Korean co teacher Rose, twice. Dan bought us pizza the one evening and then I treated them to some Korean meal on Thursday. It's nice to have dinner with them :)

Finally, Friday rolled around. Unfortunately for me, it was a frustrating day. Really, it gets bad by the end of the day. My last class is 12 and 13 year olds. They are incredibly rude and bitchy kids. They don't listen, they don't care, they flick me off, they refuse to do their work. The list goes on. I basically am teaching myself English. It was uber frustrating, which is why I got a beer home and drank it on the walk home. Don't judge, it was necessary.

Friday nights are usually relaxing nights in for me. I like to unwind from the week and just hang out by myself. Yeah, it would be nice to hang out with friends some nights. But I save so much money just staying in and avoiding 2 nights out with taxi fees. Plus, I enjoy waking up on Saturday with energy to do things. Saturday afternoon-ish I headed to Danielle's place to get ready for our 4th of July partay. We picked up a few things, blew up balloons so people knew where her place was (which kids promptly popped), and hung out talking. We had a small group over earlier for dinner. I made galbi meat and then cooked up some of Danielle's peppers. Kelsey and her friends brought some pizza. We had a nice little arrangement of food. It was delicious and great to hang out with new friends! Some people slowly started arriving after 9 pm. We couldn't wait to set off our firework purchases. I had bought heart shaped sparklers and Danielle bought a bunch of other things. It was nothing like the fireworks we've seen at home. But it was still our own fun in Korea with friends, that's all we've got anyway. After getting eaten alive for a few hours, we headed inside to watch the Germany vs Argentina match! So exciting!

On Sunday, I headed back to Danielle's around 11 ish. She unfortunately got bit by a mosquito on her eye. So I went over to share some benadryl with her. Kelsey, Bess and friends headed over to meet up with us so we could go for brunch together. We went to this cute place called Blank. Everyone had delicious looking meals. I ordered the spanish omelet and I wasn't really happy with the choice after I saw what everyone else got. haha. I really wanted the stuffed french toast, but it had fruit on it and since I'm allergic to certain fruits, I avoided that choice. I was excited for the chocolate pudding they had advertised on the window, which of course was shot down when the guy said no they didn't have it. boo!

Tonight I bought myself peanut butter. It was time for me to have that back in my life. I put off buying it because I'm very picky when it comes to peanut butter. Choosy moms choose JIF, you know. I saw Skippy on the shelf tonight and couldn't pass it up again. It'll do for the year.

Kristin and I playing with sparklers!

our Red, White and Blue spirit!

Galbi and peppers, delicious!

they may not have been that spectacular, but we still had fun.

Kristin, Emily, Kelsey and me... good times!