Sports Day!

Daniel and I had the distinct honor of participating in a local sports day for high school teachers on Thursday, May 7th. Think field day for grownups.

(this is daniel: i asked my co-teacher why they had a sports day and his answer was "for teachers to say 'my schools better than your school' " gotta love it, now back to tova :-p )

We had four events - volleyball, three-legged race, tug-of-war, and jumping rope.

My school won. :-)

Here are some pictures:

The raffle prizes. Included -- bicycles, rice, toilet paper, soap, sunscreen, and coffee.

One of the opposing teams -- Sokcho Boys' High School. We beat them, by the way. Do you see Daniel?

My school playing volleyball. I was a key player in this event. Do you see me? I'm in the back, in a red shirt. Close to the guy dressed head to toe in red.

Yup. I was there. And apparantley yelling a lot???

Daniel's school getting trounced in the three-legged race. Do you see Daniel?

VERY nervous before the tug-of-war. I'm next to my coteacher--she's the one with the white striped shirt and red headband. She's so sweet!

So then, I was cheesin' at the camera when THE TUG-OF-WAR STARTED!!! My coteacher had also been cheesin', which is why she's falling over. There wasn't any reason to be nervous after all -- my school won this too. ;-)

Daniel getting suited up for his school's turn at tug-of-war. Did I mention they lost? ;-)

You can't blame Daniel for his school's loss though. He gave it a valiant effort!!!

Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the jump rope contest. They put 15-20 teachers in at one time. It was hilarious. My school won that too. :-)

Korea is hilarious and amazing. After sports day, we went out with our respective schools, then met back up later. Fun! :-)

Things I miss from the States...

I have officially fallen in love with Korea. I've pretty much always enjoyed it (except for the homesickness hiccups!), but it has developed into full-blown love.

However, I do miss the States! There are some things I miss more than others... Here is a short list:

1) Being able to find the same items in the same places in stores from week to week. Here, you never know if what you see on the shelves will be there next week. It's always a gamble!

2) Little Lehn**** Feet... There's this family in Wisconsin who absolutely stole my heart... I taught the older child a few years ago, and fell madly in love with the family. My favorite days at school were days when I would hear these two amazing children running down the hall, giggling uncontrollably, then stoping in their tracks in the hall when I would announce, "I hear little Lehn**** feet!!" Then, after a minute of laughter, they would burst through my door... I think, the "bigger picture" thing I miss is being able to make such strong bonds with people. People here are so welcoming, friendly, and loving... But there's always that little missing part. There's always a little distance -- because I don't speak the language, because I'm from a different culture, or whatever the thing is...

3) As always, food. I think of the average fare in Korea, and my mind just can't comprehend that this is what they've always had... I used to eat in the cafeteria, but I just wasn't eating enough. I think about the fish -- scales, eyes, fins, bones, and all -- and I try to imagine feeling the same way about that as I do about, for example, hamburgers off the grill. Or I think about kimchi and try to imagine feeling the same way as I would about a baked potato. It's just hard to imagine how homesick a Korean would feel in America, looking at the food that I miss so much!

4) Being able to understand the "minor details" of life... I would LOVE to understand what makes the mind of a Korean tick. Why do they value some things so much (for example, the ability - or lack thereof - to hold gigantic quantities of liquor is one of the first things you learn when you meet someone new... i.e. -- "This is Lee Tae Yong. He can drink SO MUCH! He's a teacher at __.") and why other things don't seem to make a difference at all.

5) Knowing the common language of the country in which I live! I cannot begin to describe how dramatic an impact my time in Korea has had on my opinions about people in America who are from other countries / cultures. I've always had a respect for people who have immigrated to America and are trying to make a life for themselves / their families in a strange place. But now, I UNDERSTAND what they're feeling -- it's such a ridiculously helpless feeling. And it's sooooo difficult to learn a new language!!!

6) CHURCH! Oh, how I miss church. I miss being an active member -- volunteering, spending time at church, being a part of church! I miss the sense of community and the friendships formed in church. I miss building others up and being built up. I miss it soooooooo much.

7) Independence. Yes, you can certainly be independent in another country. There are so many foreigners here who are totally independent. I feel pretty lost a lot of the time in Korea. I've gotten my town down, and I feel pretty comfortable with that. However, getting places that are far away can be difficult -- if it's a rainy day, getting a taxi is very hard!

8) Predictability. This may be a Korea-specific thing, but it's definitely been one of the more difficult things to get used to. There will, seemingly randomly, be days where you'll show up for work, only to be told, "Yeah, there aren't any classes today." Or there'll be days where you think there are no classes, and are told, "You need to be in class now!" Many days, I've been told that there's a party that night, and my whole night's plans will have to be chucked out the window. Often, there's no advance warning for ANYTHING. This experience has DEFINITELY taught me to roll with the punches!!

9) Family and friends. 'Nuff said!

10) CHAIRS IN RESTAURANTS. I am, by nature, a floor-sitter. I love sitting on the floor -- always have, always will. However, there's something about sitting on the floor (no cushions / padding / etc) in one tiny confined space without the ability to move your legs for literally hours at a time. It gets achy and uncomfortable after a while.

Daniel and I have now been in Korea for about five months. I am still 100% certain that this was an excellent decision. I will be thrilled to go home, but I'm glad to enjoy my time while I'm here. I love Korea!

alligators . . .

i miss alligators . . .

not those! or these kind either:

alligators = florida

florida = some kind of normalcy

i miss alligators :-/

i am not getting truly home sick, i am still having the time of my life, and i am happy.

i just miss some knd of normalcy.

after 5 months of being barraged with EVERYTHING from EVERY ANGLE being so foreign and so different, it would be nice for a little bit of normalcy.

i guess i have been able to make the apartment and things like that "normal" but still, i would LOVE to have one day where i dont feel like a complete foreigner.

another reason why i am feeling this way is that i have been sick for a solid week, and its just getting old :-p

tomorrow i have the day off. maybe being cocooned in the apartment with tova will charge up by batteries a lil and make me feel like i dont miss the aligators as much :-p

picture blog

so today was absolutley beautiful, so we took pictures.
the first two were from our apartment, the rest were on my walk to work.
pictures cant really fully show how pretty it was. there was a HUGE rainbow in the sky since it rained all day yesterday. also, the mountains for the first time actually looked green!
so beautiful, hope you enjoy

Seoraksan Trip

This weekend, Daniel and I took a trip to Mt. Seorak, which has a gorgeous park and so much to do! We decided to hike to the waterfall, which was absolutely beautiful!! :-) We spent a little over five hours at the park... It was a two and a half mile trek to the waterfall from the main entrance, and definitely worth the price of admission! :-)

Daniel perched himself on a VERY high point on the edge of the waterfall thingy... He took a quick video around the whole place. You'll see me (in a black t-shirt and jeans) standing still as a statue on rocks. That's because I'm trying to figure out exactly which rocks will help me cross the stream and which rocks will get me soaked! No worries -- I made it out okay. It also gives you a little perspective on the size of the place and how high up Daniel was...

Enjoy!

funny kid story

so my students had to write a personal ad for themselves.

the past weeks we have covered hobbies, jobs, personality, and what they want in a girlfriend.
in this lesson we wanted them to put together everything they have learned so they can write their personal ad.

here is an ad, word for word, from one of my students. needless to say, i am a failure as a teacher! :-p

"My name is ______. I am 18 years old and I love in Sokcho, South Korea. I am a cool person. I'm very cool and stylish. I'm, also 2K fashion leader in addition. My IQ is 430. I can fly and a music method of shifting from place to the other place in a moment. Also I can talk one on one with the God of space who is talk everything and know everything.
I am lookin for a girlfriend who is kind.
My dream is peace of the world.If you want to call me you only use telapathy.
I'll visit you soon.
from ______"

i had kids also quoting martin luther king jr's "i have a dream" speech in their personal ad.
rather inventive i must say, but not totally on point!

so hilarious! thought i'd share! :-p

Spring has Sprung!

South Korea is gorgeous. It has been gorgeous the whole time we've been here. It's been much warmer recently, and all the flowers are starting to bloom. Cherry blossom trees are looking GORGEOUS. All of the pictures above were taken by Daniel on his walks around Sokcho.

Teaching is going SO WELL. Daniel and I are having a blast. His classes are going well, he's having fun teaching, and he's really enjoying working with his students. My classes are also awesome. I love my kids (and my newfound rock-star status!), I love working with the teachers at my school, and I'm really satisfied...

Daniel and I both say this a lot, but we're so glad we came to Korea. It was a HUGE decision (and a very difficult one!), but it was the right decision. We miss you guys, but know that we are genuinely happy here. :-)

Oh, and here are a couple pictures of the infamous pizza cones. Yum!!

new hair cut!!!!!

here is a picture of me before the hair cut:

this is me with my hair muse :-p

and here is an outtake of me when i didnt know that the camera was on . . . then i realized that it was :-p