Hey there! This Friday was White Day which is the equivalent to our Valentine’s Day so I received chocolates from some kindergardeners, which I happily gave to my 2nd graders for their snack break (not a huge nut and chocolate fan). That night Dan was able to come home from Camp Stanley so I cooked us a nice little dinner and we played Go Fish. I won. Saturday we took the train and met up with Renae, a teacher from my school, her boyfriend Colin and a guy he teaches with, John. We met up at City Hall Station and walked a few blocks to a big St. Patrick’s Day parade and party. I hadn’t seen so many “Whities” (as we so lovingly referred to ourselves) since we got here. It actually came as quite a ... read more

Hey everyone! This weekend was great! I saw Dan, I (finally) have a comfortable bed, and I did a lot of walking around and checking things out. On Friday, I got out of school and rushed home to find that Dan was already there (YAY!!). We waited until the landlord fixed our shower head (it was being held together with duct tape, but in fact worked just as well as it does now, all hail the power of the duct) and then went out walking around our little town as he filled me in on all he had learned at his briefings and classes. We made our way to the Camp Casey food court and had some pizza and soda then got some snacks (for when I’m at school) and a bottle of wine. On our ... read more

Well. Your reading this blog is testament to my surviving the first day of Hogwan school. But that doesn’t mean I escaped with out incurring minor injury. To put it lightly, my first day was pure chaos. The school seemed totally unprepared for the first day of classes and it became evident the moment I walked in the door. I saw the Korean teachers running around like madmen, making copies, printing class lists, and one young woman crying (I later came to find she was having stomach cramps, but this did not ease my anxiety about the preparedness of this school). The 80 or so 5-year-olds eventually lined up in their respective classes with minimal crying and were led from the 3rd floor where the offices, playroom and library (and I use this word loosely here, ... read more

Well, today was, all in all, a pretty good day. We took the train to the Bosan station and met with Sally, a landlord I got in contact with through an Army wife I have befriended through the internet. Sally is her English name- I have found that Koreans (tour guides, school recruiters, etc.) who work with English-speaking people adopt English names so that we can pronounce them. She showed us three apartments that her family owns and after some debate, decided which would be our new home! I didn't take any pictures, but I will tomorrow and I'll be sure to post them. The place has a large kitchen (a dual gas stove top, but no oven), then two tiny living rooms, and a small bedroom. The bathroom includes a shower, but the showed is ... read more