And the Firsts turn to Lasts

Dear God,
Thank you for bringing me here to this city in South Korea. Thank you for my students. Thank you for my church. Thank you for my coworkers. Thank you for Elizabeth. Thank you for safety..especially that one night when I thought for sure that thunder was the North Koreans dropping bombs...Thank you for hearing and answering my cries when living here got to be too much to handle on my own. Thank you for the reminders that I'm never alone, you're always there. Thank you for how you've guided me and brought me through so many joyful situations and also difficult situations. Thank you for loving me so I know how to love these people.

Well, I can't even explain how much stuff I've accomplished just today! So many things to do when moving..especially to another country...AND planning a trip to Seoul AND a 9 day vacation in China...AND saying last goodbyes. I'm pretty sure I've created at least 5 different to do lists in the past 24 hours. However, for Monday's to-do list, this is the last item on it. However, I have no idea how I'm going to put into words what this past year has meant in my life.

I think I will do my best to keep it short and simple. And if you really want to know more about my future plans or feelings about this past year, let's have a face to face convo or long email conversations :) For now, I will include the past couple day's events and some pictures and then give you a little glimpse into my thoughts.

Well, Friday is when the "lasts" began. Friday afternoon, Mrs. Ko, Mrs. Nam, Mr. Che and I went over to GoChang to see this very beautiful park and temple. We ate some tteokboki and kim bap, walked around and just enjoyed one another's company one last time. They like to call themselves the "foundation" of the morning class. And they really are that.

Friday afternoon, we had one last movie day. I made some homemade popcorn and surprised the kids with no worksheet for the movie. I thought they would be happier about the popcorn but they were so floored that they didn't have to answer questions about the movie. Anyhow, I'm glad I could make them happy on the last movie day.


Saturday, I went to lunch with the ladies from my church and then spent the day with Pastor and Alex walking around the seawall area. It was nice and a great way to procrastinate packing.


Sunday was the last day at church. It was just so stinkin' emotional. Those people really feel like my family and it's hard saying goodbye to them. After church, a group went over to Pastor's for some pizza and some yute. Even though my team totally got robbed and we lost the game of yute, it was still all in all a really good time.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I got very serious about my packing. So on Monday, after I assessed that I will definitely have some space in my suitcase, Seul Ki and I decided to do a little last minute shopping spree. I bought some clothes, a few purses, some socks, some make-up...nothing that I really needed, just little treats to remember Korea by :) On Monday night Seul Ki and I went to Santa Rose at Eunpa Park and reminisced about our time together. She is so extremely sweet and she has been such a blessing in my life. Her goodbye present was incredible. She translated her diary entries that included me, and she also wrote this extremely kind letter. I'm excited to keep her as a close friend as she enters college next year. I think she is one of those life long friends.

And so that brings us to Tuesday, today. Today I took my last walk to work, taught my last classes, worked out for the last time in that awful gym, and rode my bike back home from work for the last time.

I actually took a video of my walk to work. Hopefully someday soon here I can put it up on facebook. The morning class was difficult. I felt on the verge of a breakdown pretty much the whole time and when I saw Mrs. Ko wipe away a few tears, I gave in a little. We talked about memories of the past year, they had insanely nice things to say about me, my teaching, how I've improved. I've never felt so encouraged. I left in tears, but I am so thankful that I was able to spend every weekday from 10am to 11 am with that group of people.

I made my way to the gym. Said goodbye to a few of my locker room ladies, ran a few miles or seven, and came back home to continue the packing and organizing. In all of my kid classes we ate oreos and drank milk. I made sure they experienced the heavenly taste of a somewhat soggy (with milk) orea. They were all impressed.

The first class was the best. They made me this AWESOME choco pie tower and put candles in it. They also decorated the room in their own special way and had me blow out the candles as they cheered.

This class was definitely my favorite kid class. Not only were they the best in English but they had such great attitudes and personalities. They are funny too..On the board, they wrote, "See You Next Monday!" Something I have said to them every Friday for the past year.

In every class today I either gave them a hug goodbye or gave them a "hand hug." When I gave Sharon a "hand hug" she held on and said, "Teacher, don't go." Oh these kids will make you want to stay here for forever!

The other classes didn't go as far as the first class for our goodbye parties, but they all went out of their way to decorate the white board. Here are some of my favorites:



And here is my trouble class. We are missing three, but those two girls on the right count for at least 6 other junior highers! They were difficult but they had personality and even though I won't miss them as let's say the first kid class, I WILL miss them..well, some of them ;)

And so the day ended and I am officially unemployed :)

Right now I feel so overwhelmed and busy that I don't feel like I have the time to let myself really feel sad about leaving. It sort of feels like my first week here. I feel like I'm just going through the motions, doing what needs to be done, and I feel a little disconnected. I feel like I'm watching myself do all these things and say goodbye to all these incredible students, but nothing has really hit me yet.

A few things I will really miss about Korea:
*my students *my church *the convenience of living in a bigger city *my one roomer apt *riding my bike to work everyday *the food..especially tteokboki, kimbap, and chopchae

A few things I really won't miss about Korea:
*rude old men *the constant hacking of loogies *old woman snapping their gum *the way people walk in a zig zag fashion on the sidewalks *the gym owner

A few things I will miss but didn't think I'd miss:
*living alone *my market *the locker room ladies *Lily

I think I could go on, but then that would leave nothing for me to tell you to your face. Thank you so much for following my blog. I know I will appreciate this blog even more 10 years down the road when I want to remember what my year of firsts was like! Let me leave you with two things, first, a Bible verse that I memorized in Mrs. Kielsmeier's 5th grade class. This verse has been a huge encouragement to me.

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will go with you wherever you may go."

And lastly, I will leave you with two pictures.

First picture is my first official day at my first official job out of college, October 4, 2010

The second picture, my last day at my first official job, October 4, 2011. Here I am, longer hair, a few LB's lighter, and a whole lot more cultured.

Thanks again for reading along. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

"The world comes to Jeju and Jeju goes to the world!"

Dear Jeju Island,

You win the award of being the best looking place in Korea. Congrats!

What can I say? It's Friday and I'm just trying to throw this second to last blog together. Mienhamnida (Im sorry.) However, I do have quite an exciting blog planned for you with numerous pictures, so buckle up!

They say it's Korea's "Hawaii," but I knew that just simply couldn't be since Jeju Island is at the same latitude as let's say Kansas. Mrs. Ko really wanted me to go to Jeju Island before I left. I told her I didn't really have the time nor did I have Lizar to go with. So, I pretty much ruled it out. BUT I got a call from Mrs. Ko on Thursday that she and Mrs. Nam along with two of Mrs. Nam's friends were going to Jeju Island Monday through Wednesday. So after begging my director to give me one extra vacation day and working one extra day to make up for the other day, I was granted the opportunity to take one last adventure outside of Gunsan.

Jeju is an island that sits under the mainland and is surrounded by the South Sea and the Pacific Ocean. So Monday morning, Mrs. Nam picked me up, we met up with the rest of the gang and set off on a 3 hour car ride towards the end of the peninsula to catch the ferry.

Here we are on one of our pit stop:

We boarded the ferry with such excitement. Little did we know what would lay ahead in the next two hours.

Everything started out fine. We even were able to go out on the deck and take some pics

As we were wandering around the ferry... And we definitely wandered quite a bit since Mrs. Nam can not sit still...I was noticing all the people who were eating ice cream, funyuns, chips, and various other snacks. Suddenly, the boat started to increase speed and suddenly, the waters got significantly rougher. In the beginning, I thought, "this is going to be interesting. I bet at least one person is going to get seasick. After I heard the first Korean lose their funyuns about a half hour into the journey, I decided I would count the number of seasick Koreans. After 15, I lost count. As I was plugging my ears and humming "rock a bye baby" to drown out the horrific sounds around me, I noticed those who did not have their head in a puke bag were eating ice cream. HOW could they be eating at such a time as this???? I thought maybe I would experience another first, however, I endured and did not need the puke bag next to me. Unfortunately, Mrs. Ko was not so lucky. Mrs. Nam on the other hand, I'm pretty sure she would have been fine snacking on some live octopus.


After that memorable ferry ride, we arrived on the beautiful island of Jeju. On our way to our condo, we stopped at this small traditional village.

The mascots of Jeju:

Traditional village:

The Condo was super nice. We slept on the floor of course, but it was quite comfy. Our area was so beautiful. It was right on the coast, so in the morning I decided to take my running outdoors. I ran and ran and ran and didn't want to stop, watching the sunrise and running on the coast is really going to make running around White Oaks very drab.

After this beautiful run, we got ready, and ate this Korean/American breakfast. It was funny. Here I sat with eggs, pancakes, fruit and cereal and everybody else around me sat there with rice, seaweed soup, kimchi, and this Korean style salad (similar to coleslaw).

Our first stop was this walking trail along the coast. It was really beautiful.

Mrs. Nam bought me this fruit that I had no idea what it was, but it was really good..however, I was the only one who thought so. Apparently, it's a cactus' fruit.

After that, we went to this international convention center or something like that. Inside was a duty free shop, so Mrs. Nam bought some Red Ginseng and Prada sunglasses (Baller!!!!) After Mrs Nam dropped some Won, we headed to this waterfall.

Here I saw this lady and her homemade hat. Every time I need a laugh, I will look at this picture. I encourage you to do the same.

Break for Lunch! In Jeju, one of their specialties is this pork that comes from a black pig. It was really good, but pork is pork if you ask me.

After our feast of famous Jeju pork, we went to the world's longest lava tube! What's a lava tube you ask? Well, it's simply a tube made from lava many years ago!

We then intended to go for another hike up some mountain. However, we got distracted during transit to this mountain. This sea wall/pier type thing distracted us.

All around the island I saw these little man made mini rock towers. Mrs. Ko told me when you add a rock to the pile you make a wish. So, here I am making my wish. All the ladies encouraged me to make my wish to "marry rich."
We finally made it to the mountain, but we ran out of daylight, therefore we didn't get to "hike" it. And by "hike" I mean walk on a nice paved trail.

Our last stop of the very fun filled day was the Lotte Hotel. This hotel is one of the most prestigious hotels in Korea. And it was soooo nice. As we walked in Mrs. Ko told me to act like I belonged here. I'm not sure how well I blended since I was wearing my comfy "hikin" clothes and a bright red hat I found in Busan for 2 dollars. Mrs. Nam on the other handed waltzed in that hotel like she owned it. She walked into the Louis Vuitton store, made the lady show her a few purses that cost more than my monthly salary and then walked right out of there like Louis Vuitton isn't good enough for her. Atta girl, Mrs. Nam.

In the back of the hotel was this "camping zone." It was so interesting. There were permanent campers and then a few tree houses. I've never seen anything like that. Must be what the rich folk think "camping" is.

At the Lotte Hotel they had this Volcano light show. However, from where we were standing we didn't see much. The people who were eating the 75 dollar buffet, however, had perfect seats.

The next morning, I woke up and headed the other direction for my morning run. This run was not as nice and I ran into quite the distraction on the way:

It was still very nice though. I can't get over the scenery:

We only had a few hours until we had to board that ferry. I can't describe how much I was dreading getting back on that thing. So, in the time that we did have. We visited two places. The first place was where a famous drama was filmed. I'm not sure of the drama, but apparently the Chinese love it. There were many many Chinese tourists. It also had a nice lighthouse. It was pretty windy...I would upload pictures, but frankly, it's getting really tiring uploading all these pictures. You can go to my facebook to check it out.

The second spot was this other famous landmark. I'm not really sure why it's famous, but it was really crawling with tourists. We took some pics, got a few souvenirs, ate some lunch down the road and then prepared to get back on the ferry.

We invested in some seasickness medicine and I'm so happy we did. We "cheered" and then we

downed it. Right when I put the bottle to my lips, I hear Mrs. Ko say, "One shaaaaaat!" (One shot!) Haha..classic...I pretty much spit my seasickness medicine everywhere!

While we were waiting to board the ferry, we carefully observed the people getting off the ferry. Mrs. Nam kept asking everyone, "How was it? Were you seasick?" Mrs. Nam is no ordinary Korean. Most Koreans never talk to strangers, but Mrs. Nam would approach pretty much anyone with confidence. There were countless "Mrs. Nam" moments on this trip. After spending all this time with her, I can tell why she has so many good friends, she is just one of those people who everybody loves. I want to be just like Mrs. Nam when I grow up.

Anyhow, we got on the ferry, sat in our seats for about 2 minutes before Mrs. Nam had his following her somewhere else. She led us down to the seats on the 1st level. How to beat seasickness: Liquid Medicine and Business Class! I think that medicine was "drowsy" because we were all knocked out for a majority of the trip back to the mainland.

We reached the peninsula, no problem. Mrs. Nam asked someone on the second, economy class level how the ride was and their response was something along the lines of, "I was so seasick I thought I was going to die." PHEW...I am sooooo happy I was not up there with the common folk.Here's the thing with Koreans, just when you think the trip is over and you have "home" on your mind, they take you to one last sightseeing place. This place was Boseung Valley. This is where they grow Green Tea. It was extremely awesome and beautiful and kind of unexpected to see this type of scene in Korea. There was lots of enormous Japanese Cedar trees and the green tea fields were beautiful. We ate green tea cookies, ate green tea ice cream, and drank some green tea. I think it was one of my favorite parts of the vacation...maybe that's because green tea is one of my favorite flavors.

We rolled into Gunsan around 9:00 PM on Wednesday and I was out by 9:30 p.m. It was so fun, but so exhausting! Korean style vacations are probably the most exhausting things I've ever experienced.

Since the trip, I've been trying to wrap things up here. Seems like there's so much to do, so many people to see, so many Korean things to buy, and so much Korean food to eat one last time. The goodbyes are going to be hard. I'm having to say goodbye to this student tonight. She's been one of the few who have stuck with me the whole year. She's incredible and I will miss her greatly!
Well, I'm sorry this took so long to get posted! Only one more blogpost. Last Sunday I celebrated my one year anniversary with Korea. Now, I've officially been in Korea for more than a year! It's been such an incredible and self defining year. But you'll hear more about my deeper thoughts in my next and last blogpost. See you soon America!

The Hanging of the Hat: now, it's official

Dear old Korean men, While walking in the parks, just turn off your radios, aren't the sounds of nature enough for you?...or PLEASE do us all a favor and invest in some earphones.

Well, I just did a countdown. At this moment, I have 8 teaching days left, 15 days until the Ferd comes to Gunsan, 18 days until myself and the Ferd leave for China, and 27 days until I step foot in my homeland! After this blog, I'll do 2 more blogs because how could I call myself an honest person if I kept up a blog named "A Year of Firsts" after September 26 (the first day in Korea)? I'll see what I can do with making some sort of facebook note for my China trip, or we could just meet up somewhere, have some Kim Bap and Kimchi and I could tell you all about my trip face to face :)

Anyhow, this past week was a short one since Korean Thanksgiving gave us Monday and Tuesday off of school. I think I told you about my Monday, which was nothing that special, but Tuesday I accomplished another first. I made one of my favorite Korean foods..Kim Bap! It's pretty much a California roll, but Koreanized. I totally forgot my camera, so sorry for the lack of pictures.

It was pretty simple, and I look forward to finding a Korean mart and making this for a majority of you who read this blog! Afterwards, Hwa Jeong and I felt both very full and very accomplished. I'm sure we'll do it once more before I leave so maybe I can include pictures then.

Wednesday was back to school. Have I told you how much I love short work weeks? I was explaining to someone on Monday how incredible it was to have Tuesday off because now we could really enjoy our Monday and he said, "yeah, now if only we had Wednesday off so we could enjoy our Tuesday off." Anyhow, it was really nice, but I must say I do miss these little boogers when I don't see them for awhile. I often think about what they are doing..I've only seen one of them around town and when he saw me, I thought he would pass out from being so nervous..strangeee. So, on Wednesday I walk into my first class with a big, "HELLO!" and Sky says, "Teacher, Drew has gas." Me: "nice." Sky: "It's mouth gas." Me: "hahaha..oh Sky we call that a 'burp'."

And just like that, the weekend arrived. This weekend I was pretty intentional about finding something to do with others. Enough of missing Lizar, time to move one! (hehe..jk, Lizar..I will always miss you..especially during Singspiration when something happens that only you or I would think is funny and I laugh hysterically under my breath while Daryl and Alex are just confused) So, on Saturday, a group of teachers and a G.I. went out to lunch and then for a hike. I have found this awesome spot in one of the parks. I think it's probably one of the highest points. You can see all of Gunsan and marvel at it's beauty and smog.

After our hike, I decided to empty my freezer a bit, starting with a very large bag of frozen fruit. So, the group came over, we chatted, I made some smoothies and then we were off to church to eat a chili supper and listen to a presentation on the needs in Myanmar. It was a pretty fantastic Saturday.

Sunday was also very fantastic and very very busy. It started out with helping the Pastor's wife get ready for the potluck we have once a month. Aren't you surprised? I've become quite domesticated over here in Korea ;)

After church I entered into the stellar group that is Haven Alumni. After Jon, Dale, Stephen, Hank, Elizabeth, and Josh, it was my turn to hang my hat. Maybe I explained this in previous blogs, but hanging hats is what people who go to church at the Haven do when they are about to leave Korea. So, there was a tiny little ceremony, a coin, a pin, and a cake. This church has meant so much to me, they really became my family and I will definitely miss this church more than I will probably miss anything else...thus, my speech was tear filled, sappy, and probably not even understandable.
After my hanging we had an incredible pot blessing (pot luck)!

OH MOM! I almost forgot to tell you, but for my dish to pass I brought that vegetable casserole you always make at Thanksgiving, and since you NEVER picked up the phone on Saturday morning or Saturday night I totally winged (wung?) it and let me tell you, you would be very proud, my dish was the first to be finished! There's nothing like taking home leftovers from your dish to pass at a potluck...ouch.

After church, I headed over to a party that I had been invited to by a couple who moved to Gunsan about 8 months ago. There were many people there and I only knew like 3 of them, so it was so great getting to know new people. It was such a good time playing games, talking, eating..reminded me of college or random summer nights in Dixon. I think I let my competitive side show a little too much with a game of spoons..there goes that domesticatedness..shoot.

Anyhow, the weekend was really really good. I'm beginning to feel a little sentimental these days. I think I'm going to miss life here more than I am anticipating; I'm also feeling a little anxious for another big change even if that change is moving back home. Oh, life.

That's what I got. One more blog down. Two more to go :) Have a good one!

Chuseok Memories

Dear music industry,
Watch out, I'm your next big star.

This past week was, once again, not too eventful. I feel things are really starting to wrap up..well at least, I think I am mentally wrapping things up. Nonetheless, this week did hold a few firsts.

The work week was as per usual, but the weekend was where the action was. Isn't that always the case? Anyhow, after working a full week, it was time for one of the two biggest holidays in Korea... Chuseok! They say it's the equivalent to our Thanksgiving, but I say no to that..unless you eat turkey until you burst, watch the Macy's Day Parade and the Cowboys and Lions play on TV, and see a movie in the theater with the Gabriel sisters, you are not experiencing Thanksgiving ;)

In Korea, a majority of people travel to their relatives and they feast for about 2 days. A few of the traditional foods are these rice cookies and also this amazing little creation called ddok..Ddok comes in many forms. People also make and eat this type called Songpyeon but my favorite Ddok is the white sponge looking ddok..Mrs. Nam bought me some on Friday :) Here it is:Anyhow, this holiday is a 3 day holiday. However, because it fell on Sunday, we only got Monday and Tuesday off. I am so thankful for the two days off, I'm currently soaking up this holiday in a Dunkin' Donuts down the street from my apartment.

Most foreigners spend this holiday traveling to various Asian or Southeastern Asian countries, but because of my upcoming trip to China, I decided to stick it out in the Gunsan to save some dinero. I am so glad I did too because Seul Ki invited me to celebrate Chuseok with her family on Sunday afternoon and evening.

Sunday morning started with a bang, literally. Mr. Oh accidentally side swiped a parked car. Granted the streets were packed since everyone comes home for the holidays and Gunsan is that small city that all those big shots in Seoul come home to, but still the situation was messy. So, after the insurance people arrived and things settled down a bit, we were off to church.

After church, Mr. Oh dropped me off at Seul Ki's house. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was definitely a great way to spend my first Korean Thanksgiving. Seul Ki's parents were so so so friendly and definitely quality people..of course I knew they would be since Seul Ki is such an amazing person.

I should have known to pace myself better, but by the end of the night, I thought my stomach was going to explode! We had the first meal when I got there. She made these stuffed peppers, bulgogi, chop chae, bean sprouts, rice, kimchi, sweet potatoes, and songpyeon. After eating, we ate fruit and played two games of Ut...a game I fully intend on bringing home and teaching you all how to play. They also tried to teach me how to play "Go Stop" but the language barrier combined with the complex rules was too much and I just watched them play.

After games, we decided to go for a hike. Seul Ki's dad loves hiking and walking. He said he really liked hiking with me since I take big steps and walk faster than his wife who apparently holds him back on his hikes. haha..I think his wife is probably, at the most, 5 feet tall. We hiked around Wolmyeong Park, then we took a taxi to the other popular park in Gunsan, Eunpa Park.
We walked in the rain, drank some instant coffee..I've become quite the coffee lover here in Korea...we walked to this restaurant that served a very spicy noodle soup. It was so spicy. I've really improved in the spicy food department, but this spicyness really started to build up. Her dad said after I ate it, my face was a little more red and my lips were a little puffy. Later, her mom admitted that she ordered the spicy food so that I would never forget this experience...well, mission accomplished, Seul Ki's mom ;)

I had been waiting for this "first." I didn't really think it would happen with one of my students and her parents, but it did, and it was A-mazing. I FINALLY went to a Norebong! Norebong is basically Karaoke..but "Karaoke" is a Japanese term...Koreans let me know that real quick. Norebong means "singing room." So, unlike a Karaoke bar, the Norebong is a private room with a TV that acts as the Karaoke machine, couches, a table, and a disco ball. It's extremely popular in Korea and everyone..of all ages..goes to them often. It's a little surprising since I think sometimes Koreans, generally speaking, are more shy and introverted than Westerners. However, I guess if you plop them in front of a Karaoke machine and play some Kpop songs, they come right out of their shell!

Seul Ki's parents were actually pretty incredible singers..and Seul Ki's mom was also quite the little dancer! Seul Ki was also amazing at singing..I on the other hand...wow...I'm as bad as I thought I would be. However, Seul Ki was very impressed when I tackled Usher and Alicia Key's duet, "My boo."

The Norebong was sooooooo much fun! I hope I can go again before I leave...and I really hope I can find one in the U.S. when I'm back.


After the Norebong, we went back to Seul Ki's house and guess what? We ate again! Her mom made beef and we ate what was left over from lunch. While eating and talking, I realized something that I really really really appreciate about Koreans. I've observed something over the years in America. When a young person dies, their facebook is flooded with things like, "I loved the way you smiled." or "Although we had our differences, you were such a wonderful person." or something along those lines. Whenever I read those, it makes me sad that that person can't read that, or hear how they have affected people positively.

I've noticed though that if you affect a Korean in some way..whether good or bad..they will tell you exactly what they think about you right there and then. Now, of course that can lead to something like, "wow, you have really bad style" or "you are really greasy," BUT they also don't shy away from verbally communicating what they do like about you. In fact, whenever I meet Koreans for the first time, I feel really nervous because I know at the end of the day they will tell me what they think about me or will tell me the opinion they've formed about me. Something that Americans would never do on the first meeting, well at least to the person's face.

After eating dinner, Seul Ki's dad told me what he thought of me. He said that he really loved my smile and personality and that since he had been around me during the day, he felt lighter/happier..or something like that. It was such an encouragement to me and I will treasure that. I think so many times, in my head, I say what I love about those who are around me but I never verbally tell them those things. I hope this concept of verbally encouraging others, even if they are somewhat of a stranger, rubs off on me.

Well, I'm pretty sure Dunkin Donuts is closing up and thus, this Chuseok holiday is coming to an end. Here's to a 3 day work week next week! Hope you are all well!

Fortune Teller Pants

Dear Mrs. Nam,
Please put on your fortune teller pants and tell me where I'll be in 6 months. And while you're at it, could you let me in on who I'll marry...just so I can keep a look out ;)

Prepare for another short one folks. As the weeks are waning, it seems my exciting experiences are also waning. Although I wasn't doing anything real exciting this past week, my students provided for some exciting stories.

On Tuesday, after 2 months of gallivanting in South America, Mrs. Ko waltzed into my morning class. I missed her so much! She got me this change purse from Peru and a magnet from Rio. She also went to Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and several other countries down there. I wish I could have shattered that language barrier for about 2 hours so she could have explained in great detail all about her trip. However, she did do a good job explaining and while walking and over lunch, I was able to hear all about it. I want to be like Mrs. Ko when I grow up. :)

Mrs. Nam was probably even happier about Mrs. Ko's homecoming. They have become such great friends through this class. I've loved observing their friendship when we go on our various excursions. One really great thing about Koreans is that they really know how to be a good friend. Many times we as Americans will say, "yeah, let's get together some time," but we don't really mean it and both parties know nothing will come of it. On the other hand, you say to a Korean, "yeah, we should hang out some time." and they respond, "When? I'm free tomorrow..or right now, let's go." They give gifts and just by observing, they (well, at least Mrs. Nam and Mrs. Ko) are very genuine and selfless in their friendships.

This pic was taken back in April, but I just love these two ladies!


Anyhow, Mrs. Nam and Mrs. Ko took me out to lunch on Tuesday to eat some Vietnamese food. I think Vietnamese food has become a top fav of mine. Mrs. Ko was saying how she needs a haircut and Mrs. Nam told her to go to this specific hair shop. Mrs. Ko said that shop is so popular and she would never be able to get an appointment. Without calling or anything, Mrs. Nam told Mrs. Ko the shop would definitely not be busy and she should go that day. The next morning, Mrs. Ko came to class and with a shocked expression said Mrs. Nam was correct, she got a hair appointment, no problem. So, Mrs. Ko says to Mrs. Nam, "You a fortune teller?" Classic Mrs. Nam response: "No, but I was wearing my fortune teller pants."

Also, Tuesday was a birthday of one of my students in my 4:30 class that consists of only 3 girls. So, in celebration, we walked down to the first floor to get some ice cream from GS. Now, I've gotten into this habit of walking up the stairs to the 4th floor where the school is. Not only is it somewhat good exercise, but I can easily avoid the ajumma crowded elevator. So, I suggested we take the stairs to the three 11 year old girls. At first they had this excited expression that was like, "wait there are stairs in this place?" But after the first flight this was Yerin and I's conversation:

Yerin: "Teacher, exercise?"
Me: "We're just taking the stairs to the 4th floor Yerin."
Yerin: "Teacher, it's hot."
Me: "Well, you're eating ice cream so you should live."
Yerin: "TEACHER, WE'RE CHILDREN!"

Thursday was officially the day Elizabeth left Gunsan. So, Tuesday and Wednesday night we hung out a bit, took a walk, chatted with my fruit lady. You see, this fruit lady is no ordinary fruit lady. She is very kind, however, whenever I take my trash out, she always yells at me from her fruit stand like she wants to take my trash. One time, maybe 5 months ago, I gave her my trash that wasn't sorted (sorry, Kate). In Korea, they are big on recycling, and they even have special bins for food trash. So, I felt really bad when I handed over 2 boxes of unsorted trash. Anyhow, since then, I've stealthily taken out the trash without her noticing. But a couple Saturdays ago, I was doing my best to sneak by her while she was dealing with some customers, but she still yelled something out to me. But I kindly bowed and said, "it's ok." So, on Tuesday while Elizabeth and I were returning from our walk, she stopped us. She was trying to communicate something to us, but we had no idea what was trying to be communicated. This is exactly what we heard. "Hamburger? mung mung" along with some hand gestures. So I looked at Elizabeth and I said, "mung mung?" Elizabeth said to me, "mung mung?" The fruit lady then said. "Ye, mung mung." After that strange encounter we went into my complex and walked down the hallways saying, "mung mung? mung mung? mung mung?" When we got into my apartment we looked up the word "mung mung" and we learned that it is the sound a dog makes. I guess it's our equivalent to "bow wow." Thus, we concluded the fruit lady wants my food trash for her "mung mung." Elizabeth and I just found it humorous that we walked down the hallways of my apartment barking to each other.

I sent Elizabeth off into the sunrise on Thursday morning. It was sad, but I'm very happy for her to be back home!

The weekend was nothing too big. Seul Ki came over and we went out to lunch to Mr. Pizza...oh how I love Mr. Pizza. The pizza is ok, but the salad bar is the bomb! Then we shopped for a bit and went back to my apartment to watch 2 hours of non stop Korean dramas (with English subtitles). It was really fun. I actually am slightly addicted to Korean dramas...they always catch you with that love triangle! I had planned to run on Saturday evening and when I told Seul Ki about it, she said she had always wanted to try running. I told her that would be fun if she came along and that she could change her clothes and then meet me at the park. But Seul Ki said she didn't need to change. She was wearing skinny jeans and a big tshirt with Vans tennis shoes. Further, she brought along her purse. I was pretty interested to see how it would turn out, and it really was as funny as I thought it was going to be. Here Seul Ki was in jeans, a a striped shirt, white shoes, and a purse around her neck running for the first time. I will never forget that run. In between our laughing fits, we did a little running, but I think it was a little much for Seul Ki. At one point she said in frustration, "my clothes, my hair, my purse....you're long legs!"

It was a pretty good weekend, and I look forward to next weekend since we have a 4 day weekend because of the big Korean holiday, Chuseok. That's all I got. Hope all is well and you didn't do too much laboring on Labor Day!

Farewell Lizer

Dear Elizabeth,

I can't really put into words how much I have been blessed by you this past year. I know this year would have been drastically different without you. Thank you for the laughs, the witty comments, the late night "workouts," Cheeseball Saturday, listening to and understanding the frustrations with the different culture and everything that comes along with teaching ESL, being my travel partner to all those various places..especially Genie's apartment.., and so much more..basically thank you for taking this journey with me these past 11 months...you were a true answer to many prayers! I love you and will miss you, but I know this experience in Korea will forever keep us connected :)

After one year and a few days, my costar in "A Year of Firsts," will be heading out of Korea and making her way back to the mother ship! Although she leaves tomorrow, last week and weekend we did most of our "goodbye" events. I'll get to that in a second.

As for the week at school, my favorite day was Monday when none other than the infamous Mrs. Nam poked her little head in the door and said, "hello!" in her precious Mrs. Nam accent! It had been almost a month since I'd seen her last, so it was so wonderful to see her again. She spent a week in China and then spent several weeks taking a break from studying English. Since then, she's provided some laughs, kept us updated on the weather, and always manages to ask the best questions to the other classmates.

The weather has cooled down just a bit, but the humidity is still raging. Last week, I had a little spat that is turning into unwanted drama with the gym owner. I was running on the treadmill last week, and at about 35 minutes, the man comes right up next to me and starts giving me a hard time (all in Korean) about my sweat. So, I responded in English. "It's hot. There's no air conditioning. You shut off the circuit for the fans to save energy. I'm running. I can't help it." He didn't understand, but I think he was slightly offended that I talked back to him...Korea doesn't understand the "you should earn respect" mentality, nor do they have any concept of "customer service." Anyways, that's currently turning into a big deal in which I'm pretty sure I'll be asking for my money back for this next month and be taking my business elsewhere...like it's not hard enough staying motivated to exercise everyday.

So, after a week of ups and mostly downs, Elizabeth's last weekend had arrived. Friday night after a "roller coaster" of classes...(side story) My 7 oclock middle school class was off the walls on Friday. This class has been getting progressively worse. It's supposed to be a conversation class but I'm finally coming to the realization that because of their different English levels and their extremely low level of maturity, they are nowhere near ready for a conversation class. Friday they were out of control, so towards the end of the class, I had to sternly put my foot down. I tried explaining to them that they have been acting very badly and that my elementary students are not only better in English but they are also better in behavior. After I said that, one of my favorite middle school girls types a Korean word into her electronic dictionary and then shows me the English word. It said, "puberty." Hehe..this lightened my mood a bit, but still they are going to be my final project of the year.

Anyways, after class on Friday I ran over to the Korean restaurant across from my work, picked up some cheese donkas (cutlets) and a roll of chum chee kim bop (tuna rolls) and came back to the apt to meet up with Elizabeth. We ate, looked at pictures from the past year, and just chatted like we've done so many times before.

Saturday, I named "Elizabeth Saturday!" For lunch, all the ladies went to a nice Italian restaurant in town for an farewell lunch for Elizabeth. Good food and good company. After lunch, Lizer (what Mr. Oh calls Elizabeth) and I rode bikes around Gunsan. We had intended to go to various places and take lizer's pictures with those places, but we only made it to one before we decided to go back to the apt to chill before dinner. Dinner was also a "farewell dinner" thrown by Elizabeth's coworkers. We ate at "Han's Deli," which not surprisingly does not have any sort of sandwich on their menu. It seemed kinda like a fusion between Western and Korean, with the Korean side being more dominant. It was decent.

Sunday morning was church and then Sunday evening was yet ANOTHER "farewell" dinner for good ole Lizer. We ate pizza, played this awesome Korean game that I will be bringing home, ate dessert and then parted ways. I actually forgot to include that last week, on Sunday, Elizabeth hung her hat at the Haven church. It's a Haven tradition, which I, too, will be participating in next month! Hope you are all doing well and you school goers are pumped and ready for another year of filling that nogan of yours!

Farewell, Lizer!

Gyeongju, Goodbyes, Good-eatin'

Dear Gyeongju,
You are one good looking city. Thanks for all the historical facts and site seeing options.

Where to begin! This past week was so packed full. I can barely remember it. And it doesn't help that I didn't give myself any notes to remind me of our mini roadtrip to the other side of the peninsula.

So, last week, I left you in great anticipation for this week's blog right? Right. So, let's pick up from last Sunday afternoon. After filling up the gas tank and grabbing some sandwiches from the infamous Lee Sung dong bakery in Gunsan, seven teachers hit the Korean highway. Gyeongju or BUST!

We had decided the week before that we would spend Sunday and Monday (Korean holiday) in the Washington D.C. of Korea. The city is so old...like ancient..literally. We saw stuff in museums from the 4th Century. America is such a little child compared to Asia. In Gyeongju, it was, if I remember right, the capital of the Silla Dynasty. This dynasty is known for uniting the three dynasties that separated Korea. They unified them and also made Buddhism the official religion. So, the city is full of many artifacts from palaces that had been excavated, and also, although we didn't really get to see them, I hear there are many beautiful, ancient temples in the mountains nearby.

After a 5 hour drive, we arrived in Gyeongju at about 7 pm. First, we went to our sweet set up at this condo. One of the teachers is an older Korean man who had some connections and got us this condo for a very sweet deal. So, we got all checked in, made our way to our room, open the door, only to find the maid just finishing up her shower. Although it was unexpected, it really wasn't surprising...oh, Korea...Nothing will ever catch me off guard thanks to you.

After that slightly awkward encounter, we got acquainted with the place. Intially, we were slightly concerned since there were no signs of a single bed in the place, but we opened the closet to find 3 "beds"..Korean style. So, we set it up and gave it a trial run.

They were actually pretty comfy.

Then we went out and ate some sort of sum gyeop sal..pork and also met our "tour guide." The Korean teacher's friend that lives in Gyeongju. He was a nice man..probably in his late 60's...He asked all the guys on the trip if I was their wife...and the last guy said to him, "nope, why? you sound interested." Thankfully, he didn't speak English. Oh, Brian, you're hilarious ;)

After dinner and a quick trip to Home Plus...like our Walmart...we thought we were going back to the hotel when *screeeeeeeeech* we spotted this awesome lotus farm (field? pond?) The lotus is the flower that is closely associated with Buddhism. I'm pretty sure it's in many of the temples and paintings inside the temples. They grow in ponds, I've seen them before, but never this big or so many in one place! So, we poured out of the car and got to explore. The pictures are so pathetic in comparison. And it was even prettier in the daytime when all the lotus (loti?) were open. Here are some pics:

The lotus farm.
The lotus and ILotus' closeup!

Got back to the room and found the maid snoozing away on the couch! ...im totally kidding..but that would have been funny. We all went to bed early and slept like babies.

Monday came along and I observed that maybe Koreans sleep on the floor because it makes it so much easier to wake up. Without the comfort and squishiness that I require in every bed that I've ever made my own, getting out of bed is not so difficult.

I jogged around for a bit. We ate some breakfast. And we were on our way out the door for an extremely full day of sight seeing. Koreans don't mess around. There is absolutely no diddle daddling allowed when a Korean is in charge of your group. You think it's impossible to go to three museums, a palace, burial grounds, a Confuciasm school, eat lunch at a restaurant, go to a traditional village, eat some watermelon with some old friends, and see the original house of the Chae family all before 3:30 pm? Think again.

Our first stop was the Gyeongju National Museum, which was comprised of 4 buildings. Here, we saw many artifacts that were from the 4th and 5th century Silla Dynasty. We did see some originals but unfortunately when the Japanese had control of Korea they destroyed many of the originals artifacts. We first stumbled across this ancient bell called, "Divine Bell of King Seongdeok." It was pretty divine.

The first museum we walked in was Anapji Hall. Anapji was a pond built by King Munmu in the 600s. He built it on one of the palace grounds. This palace was the "party" palace according to one of the Koreans with us. It was pretty neat. I'll post more pictures of all the artifacts on facebook asap.

Our next stop was at the Archaeology Hall where we saw the Gold Crown, which apparently is a National Treasure and other various ancient things.

This is a helmet from the 500s:


Here is a pretty famous design in Korea. According the free guide I picked up at the museum it is "a roof end tile with a design featuring a human face of Yeongmyosa temple site." I just think it's cute. Outside the museum was this pagoda. Unfortunately, it's a replica, but it was still neat.


We finished off the whirlwind museum run with going into the art hall which featured a few different Buddhist art rooms.

Remember Anapji Hall? Well, this was the actual palace grounds the pond was built in. Over 1400 years of upkeep and this place is still looking good. The pond is to the right of the picture.

After we partied it up at the party palace, we visited the burial grounds (buzz kill) of many of the different Kings. I really didn't know what to expect, but the "cemetery" reminded me of the Indian burial mounds at Devil's Lake..except these were massive and only one king to each mound.


We actually were able to go inside one of them, which was really interesting, but out of respect they didn't want photos. Bummer.

So, the next stop was at the Confucianism school.I kinda wandered away from the group at this time so I missed most of the explanation, but basically children studied Confucianism here.

Here are the classroom rules. Translated: 1) Don't hit each other 2) Don't speak Korean and 3) Don't say the "F" word. Wait...those are my classroom rules.

Finally, it was time for lunch. We ate at a Korean buffet. It was decent.

After lunch, we drove for about 20 minutes to a traditonal village. Although it is a tourist spot, it is not a village solely for tourism. People actually live here in these traditional houses and live normal lives, it seemed like many of them were farmers. It was beautiful and the pictures, like all my pictures, really don't do it justice.

This was built by a servant of someone. I think. shoot..sorry, I can't remember what I read on the plaque..but it was very old and Asian looking.
I really need to make a flower colleague of all the flowers in Korea..Chincha adamdapta! (Very beautiful!)
Another part of the village
After the traditional village, I thought our time in Gyeongju was up, however, we ended up making a couple more stops. One was to visit old friends of the Korean teacher who was with us, and the other one was at the Chae family house. If you meet a Korean, most likely their family name will be Kim, Lee, or Chae. So, this was where the very first Chae's lived. At this home, there was a tour guide who spoke super good English, so he explained to us about the Chae family and their 6 precepts. Here are a few of the famous family quotes: "Not to be prejudice, hasty or covetous. There is no such thing of solidly perfect value. Live a righteous life with no lopsided though." and "the possession is like dung which one can't stand with its foul smell if one store them in one place but can be fine fertilizer if one sprinkles it fairly." This house was probably one of my favorite stops. It was very informative and I understood everything that the guide was telling us.

So, after a couple days being filled with loads of information about Korea's ancient times, we were homeward bound. We arrived in Gunsan at about 8 pm which gave us all enough to time rest up and take on a shorter work week.

Although it was a short week, time, once again, seemingly dragged on. Just the usual. On Friday, in my morning class, we had to say goodbye to 2 of the college aged students, Eun Sun and Mira. They were great students and will definitely be missed.

Also, on Friday, it was my last day at the company class, so I thought. So, Friday I had to say goodbye to my company students at Tata Daewoo. They were sweet and on his way out, one said, "Natalee Teacher, I miss you." Although there will be times when I miss seeing their shining faces, I am mostly excited to have my afternoon break back! Here they are: Tony, Ms. Jeong, June, Lee, Mr. Shin, and Rain. Tata, Tata Daewoo employees, may you never forget our endless conversations about your weekends and I shall never forget your semi-inappropriate comments like, "Teacher, you're dressed to kill me."

At Tata I taught 2 different classes. The above picture was my class for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I taught another class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There were four faithful members in this class. Two women and two men. The two women I had over for an Italian feast a few weeks ago, so you've seen their picture. But here is Mr. Cha and Mr. Kim.

Friday night, this class of four took myself and my Korean team teacher out for some dinner. We ate at this new Vietnamese restaurant, PoHoa. I've had Vietnamese food once before in Korea, but this was so delicious and fun to eat! I think they call it, "Wal nam sum" which I'm about 80% sure that translates to "Vietnamese burrito." First, you must take the rice paper and put it in hot water for a few seconds.

After the paper is soft and sticky, you add whatever you'd like to your sticky rice paper.

And WALAH, "wal nam sum."

You can also dip your "burrito" into this amazing peanut sauce. This was probably the best food I've had in quite some time. PoHoa will be seeing me again in the next 6 weeks.

Saturday was exactly what I needed. A day to do nothing. However, I'm not someone who can just do nothing all day..so I decided that I would go through ALL my clothes and decide which ones I'll be bringing home as well as which one I'll send home in a box. I got a little carried away and packed every single piece of my clothing into a suitcase just to see if it would fit and how much it would weigh. Surprisingly, it all fit, but I soon regreted my impulse decision to pack away all my clothes when I realized I still have 6 weeks left and need more than my sweats and tank top to wear to work.

Saturday night, I met Seul Ki at Subway. That's right, Subway reopened..hallelujah, I feel like I can breathe again. Seul Ki had never eaten Subway, so of course she was just overwhelmed by it's greatness. After Subway, we went to the movie theater and watched "Larry Crowne." Decent movie.

On Sunday, we had the once a month potluck. Along with the great food, there was great company. During this potluck, I sat with a group of foreigners that were visiting the church. To my right sat a Korean, to my left sat an Aussie, and in front of me sat a man from South Africa and a woman from England. It was so interesting listening to all the nice British sounding accents..I never wanted to talk because the sound of my own American accent interrupted the eloquence of their voices.

Sunday night, I was so excited to go and play basketball with a Korean friend of mine. After I got over the uncomfortable feeling of being the only girl (and foreigner) in site, I had so much fun watching and playing basketball. It was fun, but I was absolutely terrible. I'm pretty sure nobody has ever had that many air balls in one afternoon of basketball. I could tell not going to Broken Arrow this summer really messed with my basketball ability.

While I was watching and playing, I started to feel these conflicting feelings. I love meeting new people and I love meeting Koreans, I met a few new people playing basketball and it made me say to myself, "Natalee, why are you meeting these awesome new Koreans who will make it that much harder to leave in 7 weeks?"

I've always been someone who absolutely loves connecting with other people. I really think my favorite thing in all the world is finding someone who I really connect with and spending time with them. I love staying in contact with my friends from home and from my university, and I always love that hour long conversation I have once in a blue moon with someone I met once either on a missions trip or at a summer camp. I care so much about those around me...and sometimes I've found myself caring way more than the other person..but my point is, I've made so many incredible connections here, and although I usually don't mind goodbyes because I do enjoy keeping in contact with the people I have the strongest connection with, I am a little worried that the amount of goodbyes that will happen in the next 6 weeks is going to be slightly overwhelming and a war of emotions between the excitement of coming home and sadness of leaving these people who I've really come to love is going to take a toll on me...it will definitely be a first. And thus the war begins...