It's been a while...

So, I have been really busy and haven't written any blogs as of late. I am a bit disappointed in myself because I like having record of my thoughts and reflections about what has happened to me. My New Year's Resolution is going to be to keep up with my blog... seriously...

Let the updates commence...

I am taking Korean language courses. 3 times a week... that's hard core. It's really hard to learn a language and I have been quite discouraged... but today after 4 months of being in Korea and almost 2 months of formal Korean lessons; I had a break-through. I am just seeing things much more clearly now and I feel like I am understanding sentence structures and my vocabulary is expanding. I think the biggest thing though is that I am understanding spoken Korean a lot more. I am so excited. I take Korean language courses at YBM and also get help from a teacher at my school; both of my teachers are amazing. I am so lucky. A big shout out to Yun Young Ju 선생님 and Joo 선생님. :) They won't ever read this... but I appreciate them.

Next update, I am learning how to play the ukulele. Self-teaching. YouTube instructional videos mostly... I haven't gotten far because I just bought the damn thing 5 days ago, but I am hopeful. The ukulele is Korean-made... called a Countess ukulele. Badass right? I know. Posting a picture now...

Oh ya, by the way, I chopped off my hair. It's the shortest that I've ever had it. People say that I look like Julie Andrews circa The Sound of Music... now I really do because I have her same do. I like it. Dude, I look so grown up in that picture, eh?

I already posted about badminton. I haven't played lately but I was getting pretty good for a while... sort of... not really... lol.

Was taking an oriental painting class at my school. It was soooo frustrating to begin with because the instructor didn't speak English and I came in half way through the semester and so I was behind and the paint isn't something that I've used before... but now I think that I have the hang of it and I am so excited to do some painting on my own. When I finish the painting I'm working on I will post a picture.

What else? Umm... going skiing on December 28th to January 1st. This is a first. I'll let you know how that goes... John and I are going with Ali and Carolyn so that should be a good time for sure.

Aside from that, I am homesick. The holidays are here and I want to see my family. I miss everyone so much and I wish that I could teleport to California and that jet lag didn't exist. In fact, life is not fair and I am stuck. Boo.

I love you and miss you all and I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Halloween in Korea

Korea doesn't exactly celebrate Halloween. They sort of half-way celebrate in some parts of the city, for the sole reason of making money off of GIs and English teachers who want to party for Halloween. And it works... So Laura and I ventured into Hongdae to partake in the festivities.

But... when you live so far from the center of the city, a train ride in full costume to a Halloween party 45 minutes away can mean; 9 dirty looks, 18 awkward second glances, at least 5 photo-ops and 2 scared Korean children.

Happy Halloween!



Lollipop and Lady Gaga :)

Amanda Teacher Ate My Head!

Today a 5th grader told the class that he had a dream that I ate their heads.

Does that mean that I'm the scary teacher? lol... Sweet.

When in Korea...

... do as the Koreans do and play badminton!

Yes, I have taken up badminton. :) Aren't I rad?

Badminton is so freakin' hard, I really had no idea. It's really fun though! I started getting lessons last week from a teacher at my school who is a badminton badass. Day 1 was a disaster! I was trying to hit the darn shuttlecock while using the appropriate form and I was missing 80% of the ones that he threw at me! I looked like a fool... not to mention the fact that I was the only one in the gym with a red face and sweat dripping down my face.

Day 2 was better, I relaxed a little and just did it. I played for 30 minutes or so with my coteacher and again I transformed into a sweaty tomato. Why don't Koreans sweat?... Anyways, after that my coteacher was like "Oh and here comes Mr. Her to give you your lesson". I was thinking in my head "Shit, I just exerted all of my energy and now I need to go concentrate on not making an ass out of myself by not missing every birdie." The lesson went okay, but Mr. Her is hardcore and I was dizzy by the end of it.

I'll keep you updated on the badminton experience... so far I just do a lot of sweating and my arm is sore all the time. Come to think of it the whole right side of my body is pretty much dead. Yay for exercise!

Counting My Blessings

I had a day today that made me realize just how happy I am with my life. I have amazing friends, though it may not be a big pool... it's quality. I've worked hard on several things in my life lately; they include improving myself, having meaningful relationships, learning about the world, being open-minded and more recently, being a good teacher. I thought for a while that I wasn't doing so well... I thought maybe I needed to change my strategy. But I had an interesting day today, an emotional day to say the least... multiple interesting conversations blew me away today.

And all of the sudden I realized that I am so happy. And I am proud of myself. I haven't really felt like this ever... or it's been a while. I am going to revel in this moment until I find something else to improve. I realized something else today... I am so lucky. No scratch that, I am so blessed. I don't think that I know what "blessed" really means because I think that it implies a gift from god and I don't know if that is what this is. But in any case, I have a loving and supportive family, two of the best friends that a girl could have, I live in Korea just cause I want to, I meet new and interesting people everyday... I can go on and on.

Wow. That's all I have to say. I feel so at peace. Thank you to everyone in my life who has helped me to become the person that I am. Thank you for your support and your love. Thank you for those people who have made me cry and those who have made me laugh. Thank you to everyone who has impacted my life. I like me, and it's because of you.

Shinbanghak Elementary

I wanted to post a few pictures of my dear elementary school where I teach. I love my school and my students. Still feeling popular and having a good time! :)

Oh, and if anyone wants to send me some mail here's the info:

(If you send me something it would make me feel oh so special :)

To send me a letter:

Rexion Officetel #1212
Banghak 1 dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul 719-2

South Korea

To send me a package:

310 Banghak 3 dong

Dobong-gu, Seoul, South Korea

132-830

I miss you all!

Random Thoughts About Korean Stuffs...

Kimchi
I eat kimchi everyday. I love the stuff. Can't get enough of it. I think my belly is Korean.

Man Purses
Korean men love a good man-bag. They all have them, and they all sport them with no need to feel shame. I say rock on Korean man-baggers, it just makes so much more sense to wear the bag rather than trying to stuff your shit into those skinny pants of yours.

"Oh My God"
In any one of my classes, no matter what the grade or how much English a student knows, there is one thing that's for sure... they all know the phrase "oh my God". What's the deal with that?

I freakin' love my friends
It's so common to see men holding hands with men and women holding hands with women in Korea. I mean grown ass men holding hands... it's brilliant. If you love someone, show it!

G-Dragon
Dude... I mean really G-Dragon... are you a girl or a boy? Why is it that you are still so oddly attractive? I mean you are seriously wearing a high-waisted belt... that screams "gay", yet you smack some girls booty in the same music video. Tell me G-Dragon... are you bi? What's your deal?
<--- This is G-Dragon

That's all for now... :)

Subway Salesmen

It must really suck to be a Subway Salesman. These guys are worse than telemarketers...

They roll their loot around with them all day on the subway hoping for a sale. They give their spiel in every car, always the same fake enthusiasm. They sell things like water bottle coolers, arm covers, razors and crazy adhesives.

All of the passengers try to avoid eye contact because that would mean that you are interested in buying the crap, and most often nobody is. They could sell something immediately useful, like water or food or coffee, but nooo... they sell random things that you'd otherwise never think you needed.

Sometimes there will be good one, like once I saw a guy selling that little tool that seals bags. He did the demonstration where you fill the bag with water and then seal right down the middle so that it separates in the center but no water spill out; its just in two different compartments. That was impressive considering we were on the subway and the extent of his subway infomercial was above and beyond what I had seen. Not to mention he had charisma... he probably knew that his product was way more bad ass than arm warmers or water bottle coolers.

I miss...

You know I didn't feel homesick until this week. It's funny the things that make you feel homesick... It's always the little things that you miss.

I miss eating a home-cooked meal once a week (on Tuesdays or Wednesday :) prepared by my dad... (Okay, that's a big thing)

I miss deciding between Del Taco and Subway when eating lunch at the house with my mom. (We almost always chose Del Taco :) ...

I miss eating Mac N Cheese with Dallas on the couch at midnight watching reality TV...

I miss Saydee and Lola's crazy asses...

I miss somebody else buying groceries for me... Steph... lol...

I miss back rubs...

I miss my mom picking at me...

I miss drinking wine or tea at Rafa's until 4am...

I miss living with people...

Don't get me wrong. I am not having a bad time out here. Actually I really like living out here and I am doing fine, but everyone has "one of those days" once in a while. I just miss everyone.

I love you all!

Local Celebrity

My first week of teaching is coming to an end and it went surprisingly well. I was nervous but so excited to teach that it didn't matter much. And teaching is just as fun as I had hoped... no wonder Steph and I would always "play school" for hours. :)

I am the first foreign English teacher at my school so my arrival was kind of a big deal. When I walk through the halls most all of the students say hello to me... or "Hello Amanda Teacher!" The children are really excited to say hello and for me to talk to them. I am totally a celebrity, even students who I haven't met know my name. I am the most popular girl at Shinbanghak Elementary right now... it's awesome!

When the students know that I will be teaching them they get very excited about learning English, which makes my job easier. My co-teacher calls it "The Amanda Effect". I like the sound of that. I am sure that the luster of having a foreign teacher will wear off soon enough and my job will get harder, but for now I am enjoying the honeymoon phase. :)

My first week was tiring but amazing. My school is awesome, the kids are great and I have never been this popular in my life!

Korea: Take 2

I am finally "home"!

My apartment is amazing. Great view, spacious, right by the subway station! I am living in Dobong-gu, which is in the North of Seoul. I live in Banghak Dong, which would be like the neighborhood name. If you want to look me up on a map then I think you could find me. I am right off of the Banghak subway station.

The previous tenant was a yucky person, but that's okay... I'm a good cleaner. I suspect it was a man in his 20s. Why? Because I had to clean pee splatters off the wall next to the toilet! He probably didn't even notice it, nor care that it was there. And the fridge and the kitchen were stinky and had stains all over the place. Total man pad...

Anyway, I am on my way to making it feel like home. I have been cleaning like a mad woman! I have attached some pictures so you guys can see what it looks like.

The kitchen, hallway and stairs to my bed.

My loft/bedroom.

My "kitchen" & my kitchen table, the only furniture for now :)

My refrigerator that's in my hallway. Very space-saving...

My bathroom that I scrubbed for 3 hours... Does it look clean? lol.

The view from my window.

Another view from my room.

Well... I am really excited to start my new life in Seoul. My coteachers are really nice and so cool. My school is really cute and its right next to the mountains so its really quiet and lovely. I am really happy with my set-up here...

Now everyone come visit!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who came to my farewell party to see me off in style. I really appreciate all of the cards and generous gifts. I am so lucky to have friends and family like you guys!

Thank you all for supporting me and for making me feel so special. I will miss everyone so much and I will be thinking of you often. I would love for you guys to leave me comments on this blog and email me whenever you can!

I especially want to thank my mom and dad for throwing me such a lovely party in their perfect party house and for always supporting me and encouraging me to reach for the stars. Thank you to Rafa and her mom for making my party stylish ;) and thank you to Stephanie for always making a party interesting... even if it means monopolizing the karaoke machine.

It is easy to take things in life for granted sometimes and I wanted to let everyone know that I really appreciate you all and I am so blessed to have you in my life.

Thank you again. I love you all.

The likes of which they've never seen...

Being a foreigner in Korea is an interesting experience.

Although there are quite a few foreigners in Korea it seems that the sight of one is still something to gawk at. I can't seem to go anywhere without getting a bit of a sideways look of curiosity. For the most part, people try to act like they don't see you... that is when you are looking. When you have your head down and are focused elsewhere is when you can feel the eyes burning a hole in your forehead.

Children look at you with curiosity and without shame. Teenagers seem to see you but don't care too much about you. Young adults will sometimes smile at you. Anyone over 30 will look at you when you are not looking. And old people either don't even notice you or look at you for extended periods of time.

I don't know what other foreigners have experienced but this is what I've gathered. I seem to get the most stares on the subway or on the bus. I think that is just because there is no other place to look and so people are more likely to scope out the situation. In any case, when I make eye contact with somebody I try to smile and look friendly, rarely do I get a smile back.


Make sure to act like you can't see me...
When I, as a foreigner, am walking down the street in Seoul and I see another foreigner I notice just as easily as all the people who notice me. When I first arrived I would always try to make eye contact and give a smile like: "hey, I stick out too, lets acknowledge each other." I soon came to figure out that foreigners purposely avoid eye contact with other foreigners.

Frankly, I think this is bullshit. I know that just because we are both white, or the minority, or whatever, this doesn't automatically assume that we should be buddies. But at the same time, it shouldn't mean that we have to make sure to act like we didn't notice each others' big white selves going by.

So, I am going to continue trying to make eye contact with other foreigners because frankly I think that its way more comfortable that trying to act like I am not noticing them sticking out in the crowd like a sore thumb. So other foreigners out there in Seoul, acknowledge my foreign ass.

Awkward moment at the temple stay...

You know, my life wouldn't be complete without some awkward story to make me giggle...

As we were getting ready to go to sleep I was shown where I should go to brush my teeth which was technically the women's showers. There wasn't a sink in the room but rather a bunch of shower heads and spigots close to the floor and a drain in the center. I started to brush my teeth when a half asleep woman with curlers in her hair and an incredible sheer shirt came to the door and looked at me a bit surprised.

I motioned to her that she could come in and I would leave and she pushed me back inside the room as she motioned something like "no its okay". Anyways, I didn't know what she was there for but I stood there and continued to brush my teeth.

Before I knew it she was squatting in the middle of the floor and peeing. I didn't laugh, I wanted to, but I didn't. I avoided even looking in her direction and pretended to be really concentrating on brushing my teeth. She then took a bucket of water and washed the floor down and went on her way. Normal, to her I guess. Who was she? I don't know... not a Buddhist nun, they are bald, this woman had curlers in her hair... I don't know what she was doing there.

So I finished brushing my teeth, spit into the same drain where she peed and then burst into laughter. Awkward...

Temple Stay... Longest day of my life...

I am so exhausted from going to the temple stay last night. We arrived at the temple at about 7pm and went to sleep around 10pm. We slept on the floor on mats and sleeping bags and were scheduled to wake up at 2:50am. Of course, nobody went to sleep right at 10 so everyone was exhausted. Not to mention stiff.

Wait, back up... so when we got there we changed into our temple uniforms which were very modest loose shirts and MC Hammer pants. The girls got orange and the guys got green. We proceeded to make lotus lanterns out of paper which I thoroughly enjoyed... of course I like that crafty stuff... After making the lanterns we put them on a shrine of Buddha and then bowed and made a wish. It was really nice, and the lanterns turned out beautifully. You can see the lantern I made in the picture...

The monks were so adorable, I don't know if its appropriate to say that, but they were. And there were helpers who work at the temple who were very sweet. Our tour guide was the cutest, he looked like a little oompa loompa, I don't think he was a monk, but he was so precious... and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

A rundown of the things we did would be... learning how to bow, making prayer bead necklaces thingys, doing some exercises and meditation type stuff, going on a tour, eating breakfast and lunch and going to some tombs. It was an interesting experience but I have to admit that I was cranky all day because I was so tired. The area where the temple is is a beautiful and peaceful place and I really enjoyed the fresh air.

So as I was sleeping in this temple, I was hoping that I would have some dreams of Buddha or some sort of calling or something. Nothing. No dream, no visions, nothing. What's up with that?

I love pat-bing-su!!!

My favorite dessert in Korean thus far is pat-bing-su. Its shaved ice topped with red beans, various fruits, ice cream and condensed milk. Oh my, its delicious! I really just wrote this post so I could post a picture of it... hehe. Its sooo good.

Puppies at Chungmuro

Everyday when I go to school I get off at Chungmuro Station and walk to Dongguk University. On the street that leads to the school there are pet shops with the most adorable puppies in the windows. Everyday I stop and look at the puppies on the way to school and on the way home. Rari says that the shop owners probably know me by now.

The puppies are so small and so cute that I cant help but stop to look at them. I heard that the reason why they are so small is because they are taken away from their mothers at a very young age and so they don't grow at the usual rate. But they are so damn precious! Supposedly, Paris Hilton visited Seoul and bought a dog from one of those pet stores which are quite famous. I don't know if the dog she bought is the dog that she lugged around everywhere with her and became famous in its own right. Probably.

When I see the puppies I contemplate buying one when I come back and have my own apartment. That would probably be a bad idea because I would have to then figure out how to get it back to the States, because of course I would be in love with it and wouldn't give it away. We'll see... someone really needs to talk me out of this one...

My shirt is speaking English…

So many Korean people walk around Seoul wearing shirts that have English sayings on them. Some of the sayings are coherent, sometimes there are just words, and sometimes they are hilarious. I saw a girl at the COEX Mall yesterday wearing a shirt that said “I love Crap”. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Like poo-poo? Does she even know what crap is?
The best one that I saw today was on a girl on the subway. This girl was probably 12 years old, 13 tops. She was wearing a shirt that said “Don’t quote me boy I ain’t said SHIT”… I put SHIT in big letters because on the shirt the word SHIT was about 3 times the size of the other writing. I know that is a line from a song, but what is this little sweet Korean girl doing wearing that SHIT? I mean shirt…

Speaking of Shit…
The other day after dinner with the family, Rari, Duri, their cousin and I went to Coffee Bean. We were hanging out talking and naturally the Koreans spoke Korean and only spoke English when they had to. I say that because I don’t know the context of the phrase that Rari was saying to me. She was asking “Do you know ‘Asian shit’?” Okay I really don’t know what she was saying and I never did find out because I started laughing so hard that I almost peed. I was like “What?” and she would say “Asian shit”. No clue, but it was hilarious.

Bowling, Korean Style

I went bowling with my host family today. It was a bit surreal. The house balls had finger tip inserts! (if you are a bowler that will mean something to you). It was awesome because I use a fingertip ball and so I did pretty well despite the fact that I haven't bowled in a long time. My host family was impressed with my skills, even though I only bowled a 135 as my high.:) haha.

There were some hard core people bowling at the alley, which by the way was on the 2nd floor of a building above a department store... kinda weird. So many people had their own balls and shoes which were just like the ones that I have seen in the states.

It was fun to go bowling and weird to do it in Korea. I thought it was cool. If this post is lame I'm sorry but I am just a nerd. lol.

Mom you should tell Patty that I bowled in Korea, she will get a kick out of that. :)

Another Tale from the Metro

Distracted by the Umbrella Jedis...
On the second day of my Korean Film class the instructor brought the class on a field trip to the Korean Film Museum. This involved taking a group of 25 students: 20 of which are foreigners, on the subway and then a bus ride.

On our first attempt to get on the subway, half of the students didn't make it onto the train because they were all trying to go through one entrance. Also, everyone got distracted as they were attempting to get onto the train because two old men who were also getting onto the train began to yell at each other and then proceeded to hit each other with their umbrellas. The were like little old Korean jedi warriors. It was awesome.

Meanwhile about 8 students were left behind at the subway stop. I got onto the subway because I learned quickly that you must be aggressive when you are getting onto the train otherwise you will miss your very small window of opportunity. As the doors to the train closed there were a group of foreign students who had the most panicked look on their faces like they were going to be lost forever. I know that I shouldn't have laughed but I laughed out loud. I am an ass, I know.

No worries, everything turned out okay. There was one Korean student who also got left behind and she helped them to find their way.

Tales from the Metro

Like Sardines...
Interesting experience in the subway at rush hour... people crammed into a car to the point that no one could move, including me. I poked some guy in the head with my folder and he gave me a dirty look. Hey, give me a break I couldn't move my arms!

Child Abuse...
The subway is my favorite, I like to people watch and plenty of people watch me because I am obviously different than the rest. I had two little boys who would not leave me alone the other day. They kept saying "Hello, Hello" in Korean and I would say hello and then they would run away. Then they came up and starting hitting me playfully, they were so cute that I didn't care. Also I don't know what the protocol is on scolding other peoples' kids. So I let them hit me and I just laughed because Korean kids are just too cute to be mad at. (You all know me and my Asian babies)

Jesus Freak...
I also had a Korean girl ask my for the time. I told her "Ten minutes after four" and looked away. And again she asked me for the time, I showed her my watch and then she nodded. She then proceeded to attempt to speak English to me, but the only words that I could make out were "eyes" and "pretty". I assumed she was complimenting me and so I thanked her and she smiled. She then attempted to say something else and I made out the word "pig" because she lifted her nose with her finger... I don't know where she was going there.
She took out a picture of her brother who was in the military and I said "oh, I see. Military?" and she looked at me like I was the crazy one. By that time I had to get off the subway for my stop and she got off and started walking beside me singing "Jesus loves you..."
I was confused.

After 12 hours sleep I had a productive day…

Today I was introduced to the steep hills of Dongguk University. Wow, I have blisters on my feet from climbing these hills. My legs are going to come back from Korea looking mighty toned. Woo hoo!

I also came to understand just how unorganized the Dongguk summer school is going to be. They listed the wrong meeting room on my paperwork and the girl who is my “Dongguk Buddy” did not even know where the building was where our classes would be held. Don’t get me wrong, the people are nice but the program does not have a strong foundation. Oh, by the way, I am the only American in the summer school program; the others in the group that I met today are from the UK. I was a total loner, ha!

Other than that I used the subway for the first time today. I went to school with Rari on the subway and I came home by myself. Rari was so worried that I would get lost and she made sure that I called her as soon as I reached the apartment. I came to find out later that the whole family was worried about me using the subway alone because they did not want me to end up lost and without a phone. They are so sweet.

I also went to Olympic Park today with Duri (Rari’s younger sister). Olympic Park is literally the location where the 1988 Seoul Olympics were held. It is very close to the apartment where I am staying. I fell in love with Olympic Park today. It is huge and it has so many different kinds of trees and plants. There was soothing music playing over speakers throughout the park and small outdoor venues where amateur musicians played. And there were so many cute Korean babies!

Tonight Rari painted my nails so now I am in with the trends. Maybe I won’t stand out as bad now… lol. Tomorrow I will go to class and then attempt to get a cell phone. I am learning Korean; it’s easy get motivated to learn a language when you are in fear of getting lost. I started with the alphabet and so far I have only studied the vowels. Korean is tough, so I haven’t gotten far.

And now I am off to bed. I am exhausted despite my 12 hours of sleep last night! I have been waiting for this moment since 5:00. Good night.

Did you know that it's an hour bus ride from Incheon Airport to "Lotte World" bus stop?

So I landed mentally prepared to not have anyone to pick me up. And it is a good thing because there wasn't anyone there to pick me up!

As the last post states that, was entirely my fault but all is well now. Thank goodness.

So I attempted to contact my host family with the contact number that the university provided and there was no answer for some time. I left a message and then tried again and finally after the help of the information desk woman, my host family was contacted and they told me to meet them at the "Lotte World" bus stop near there home.

I was a bit apprehensive to take the bus and get off only hoping somebody would be there, but I had no choice! So I got the information from the information desk woman on how to get to where I needed to go. Thankfully I did not have to transfer or I would be still roaming around Seoul right now.

The bus ride was long and the announcements for the stops were a bit unclear. I asked a couple behind me which stop was "Lotte World" and they motioned that they would let me know when to get off (they spoke no English). They were very kind and shooed me when it was time for me to get off.

Thankfully as I was stepping down off the bus Rari was running towards me saying "Amanda, Amanda". I knew then that I was in the right place and I was relieved.

They brought me to there home which is an apartment, not a house, as are all homes in the city in Seoul. It is a very quaint place and they have a very cute dog named "Doong" (I am guessing the spelling there) which means fat. The dog is adorable and pudgy with googly eyes.

The family is very sweet, there are two daughters and the mom and dad. The daughter that attends Dongguk University is 23 and her name is Rari. She speaks the most English but is not fluent by any means. Their hospitality is greatly appreciated and I feel very comfortable here. As soon as I arrived they gave me a gift which was a utensil set that I could use for meals at there home. There is a fork and spoon and chopsticks as well as a container that they are supposed to go in. I used my gift to eat breakfast this morning!

Today my plans included getting shown around town by Rari and her friend. Tomorrow is orientation at Dongguk University. The trip started off on the wrong foot but I think that I am right on track now!

And I call myself a college graduate… 6:51pm (PST) June 27th

So I am in the air right now currently flying over Alaska and all of a sudden I realize that I am an idiot. I checked my application that I sent to Dongguk University and I put the wrong date to be picked up! I put the 29th instead of the 28th! I’m dumb.

So I don’t know what lies ahead of me… Maybe my host family was provided with the flight information and they checked and realized that I am dumb and put the wrong date. I hope.

I think I have about 7 hours to go before I arrive in Seoul and it looks like I can only wait and see what happens. You think they’ll let me sleep in the airport?

In this situation, all I can do is laugh at my dumb self…

Gimme SMOE

I had my interview with SMOE (Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) today!

It went really well, and I feel confident with my answers. I was really nervous that my phone wouldn't work again, but lo and behold the phone rang at exactly 6pm. The anticipation was killing me and now I feel calm but excited.

At the end of the interview, my interviewer Rachel told me that she is confident that SMOE would be interested in having me teach for them. She then asked if I would be up to the task. Seriously, my heart pounded and I felt like by saying yes I would change my life forever. I almost got scared and said nothing, then I realized that I just could not pass this up. What felt like a minute in my head was probably less than 3 seconds... and then I just blurted out "yes, I am so excited!"

Alright, so the job is not in the bag... but I am confident. I am excited to do something new and stimulating. I am hoping that my experience as an English teacher will solidify my plans for the future. All I can do is wait and see... and make the best of what comes at me.

Wish me luck!

Korea or Bust

Only 2o days until I leave for South Korea. This will be my first of two trips...
Trip #1 is to study for a month at Dongguk University in Seoul.
Trip #2 ... if all goes as planned... is to teach English in the public school system in Seoul.

I am thrilled to be traveling again, it has been quite a while. I can't wait to feel revived and alive.
Traveling changes me, it makes me better.

This blog is for my friends and family. I want to let them experience Seoul with me.
Maybe then we won't miss each other so much :) Ya, right.

Love you all.