Hey Everyone, I really don't have a whole lot to talk about today, but I'm just having one of those moments where I am so happy to be here, and so thankful for this awesome opportunity that I just have to share with someone! I know these days are long, and sometimes I am gone for 13 hours a day (between the hour commute to work each way) but it's just such a great feeling to have this freedom to come live in this country and experience all I can while I am here. On Sunday I went with Dan to [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Hey Everyone! This week seemed particularly long. The kids weren't exactly on their best behavior anymore and so I've had some (minor) behavior problems. One child, Monica, has been very sad and cries as she rubs her tummy. I think that she is so shy that she is getting stressed out being in school (especially since I don't speak Korean) and it's giving her tummy aches. A few of the other students saw the attention I would give to her, and began to rub their bellies and say "Teacher, I sick, I sick". While I know that there is a good [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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My 2nd and 3rd days have been better than the first. Thank you to everyone who has sent words of encouragement- it really means a lot more than you could know. Yesterday my classes went a little smoother, but I got an unexpected surprise. At 4:30, while in the midst of teaching my Tues/Thurs afternoon class one of the Korean teachers informed me that I was not teaching the 3-6pm group like I had been told, but instead would take the 4:30-7:30pm class. I have no problem doing what’s asked of me, don’t get me wrong, but it was the last [View Full Entry]

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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). [View Full Entry]

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Hey Everybody! Yesterday we went to Yongsan Base and Dan signed in. We walked around but couldn't get into the PX to buy food because Dan wasn't registered yet in the system. Mom and I each bought a box of Girl Scout Cookies (peanut butter for me and thin mints for her)... we were craving familiar "American" food and that certainly hit the spot. Since the ID card office was not open there wasn't too much more we could do, so we said goodbye to Dan and Mom and I headed back to Camp Casey to meet with Sally the Landlord [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Hello, from Korea! We arrived safely Tuesday at 5:20 Korean time after a very long 14 hour flight. Thankfully Korean Airlines is awesome- friendly flight attendants, two good meals, and every seat has a TV with remote. I watched 4 movies, two sitcoms, a documentary, and played Tetris and Blackjack. At the airport, we happened upon quite a frenzy of security guards and photographers. I was pleased at our warm welcome by the Koreans (ha ha) until we were told that David Beckham was to arrive any moment. Mom and I were so tired we didn't care to stick around with [View Full Entry]

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