Moving Out and Moving On

The countdown is on! I leave Korea in two months. I've been here exactly a year, and it has flown. Now I am in the throes of planning my perfect European vacation. I just purchased a ticket to see Much Ado About Nothing by Mr. William Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London. It seems surreal. I've dreamed about going to the Globe for awhile, I'm so lucky!
I am headed to the states for a few weeks to visit and eat a lot of delicious food. I return from Europe in early October. I've been offered a wonderful teaching opportunity here in Korea for another year (or as long as I want), and I'm contemplating taking it. I can put school off for another year, what does it really matter? There's not much at home as far as jobs go, I can spend another year in Korea and probably make twice as much as I'm making now, travel around a bit, and delay the inevitable job/car/reality I have to face in the states.
Anyway, not much is going on here. I am frantically trying to save every penny for my Europe trip. I want to enjoy each ounce of European goodness without having to check my wallet every five minutes!

Interesting information

I've been in Korea now for ten months. It still amazing how much I am learning and have yet to learn about this culture. At the beginning of March I started teaching adults each morning. The class consists of five married, middle-aged men and one older (obviously) married woman. They have taught me so much this past month. I recently learned that it is quite common for babies/children to sleep in their parents room on the floor until they are about 6 years old! They found it very strange that we would put a baby in another room around 3 months. But 6 years! No wonder people move from parents house right into marriage house.
I've also been realizing how important it is for Korean men to go to university, find a high paying job, get married and have babies. Korean women go to university, find a husband and usually never work again. This is changing, but this is the norm for older generations. The kids are not encouraged to have dreams or aspirations beyond getting a job and getting married. They are not encouraged to be creative or think for themselves. I think that's part of the reason the kids think America is so great, it's the land of opportunity. Not to say there's anything wrong with this way of thinking, I just can't imagine not feeling like I could do anything I wanted with my life. The kids get so much pressure from their parents to continue this cycle of work/marriage. All I can do is try to encourage my kids to dream big and help them with their creativity. Hopefully, I can make some kind of difference in their lives in the long run.

THAILAND!!!!!!!!!

Tracy and I traveled to Thailand this past week, and it was definitely the best vacation I've ever had. Thailand is extraordinary, if they paid more money for teaching English, I'd be there in a heartbeat. I fell in love with the island we went to and the energy of Bangkok. It's different from


the Korean cities in many ways.
The first day, Tracy and I traveled to Koh Chang, an island about 5 hours from the Bangkok airport. We stayed at a resort and just relaxed the first day. The next day we rode an elephant! At first, we just rode on the seat on the elephant's back, but on the way back out of the jungle, we were able to actually ride right on his neck without the guide. The elephants are trained just like dogs, it was kind of amazing! And while in the jungle, we saw a really big snake!
The second day we went scuba diving! We were both pretty scared, but we figured we might as well do it. It's pretty inexpensive and we knew it would be twice as much money anywhere else. We left early in the morning and rode out about an hour and a half on the boat. The other people with us were from Denmark, Poland, Belgium, France and Canada. Our diving instructors were from England and Scotland, so all the instructions were done in English. It makes me realize how lucky I am to have English as my first language. All the others spoke English, it's so important when you're traveling to have a common language, I'm glad it's English! We had to wait on the boat a bit for the instructors to take down the experienced divers first and I started to feel a little seasick, so we went for a swim before our dive. I was feeling pretty good as Alex (our instructor) was giving us instructions and putting our oxygen tank vest on. Man, that thing was heavy! Plus they put weight belts on us to help us sink to the bottom. So we jumped in and off we went! Breathing out of a tube through your mouth only is a strange feeling. Several times I thought for sure I would die of not getting enough oxygen. I was breathing pretty hard the whole time and holding my hand on my breathing tube because I was terrified it would fly out of my mouth. We swam around on the bottom of the sea for about 40 minutes I think. A few minutes in, I started to feel incredibly nauseous, but I didn't want to go up early. I sucked it up and kept swimming. The place we dove wasn't fantastic, but we did see a lot of coral and some pretty cool fish. On the coral were little colorful plant like things that would suck into the coral as we passed, that was probably my favorite thing! When we swam back up to the top after our dive, Alex told us how great we did and that usually when he takes just girls down they panic and aren't great divers. I was surprised, but glad I did ok. After we got on the boat though, I threw up a LOT. I ended up not going on our second dive, so Tracy went alone.
We traveled back to Bangkok for our last two days. I just loved Bangkok. So many people, street food everywhere, boys dressed as girls, smiling Thais, night time bazaars. I liked that it wasn't Westernized like Korea is. Changwon is still very Korean, but most signs are in English, most people speak some English. Not so in Bangkok. Plus, most people were extremely kind and things were incredibly cheap. We ended up with a tuk tuk and guide in Bangkok for four hours or so for about $2. He drove us around to a bunch of temples, ending at the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddah. You can't take pictures inside the temples, so unfortunately I don't have a picture of the emerald buddah. He was actually very tiny, surrounded by glitzy gold decorations. The temples are all very shiny and gold. Never have I ever been in a city so defined by its religion. Buddhism rules Bangkok. Buddahs are everywhere, the temples we visited were built by past kings. It was bloddy hot in Bangkok, I was thinking if I did decide to move there, I don't know how I would handle the heat.
So, those are highlights of the trip, we also had a great time just relaxing and snoozing on the beach, eating good food, drinking Thai beer and talking to lots of interesting people.
On the way home, I had a seven hour layover in China, then another 10 hour layover in China which happened to be overnight. I planned to spend the night in the airport, but at 2:30 am the security guard kicked me out and sent me out into cold, dark China. There were no lights on in any buildings, I couldn't tell what was a hotel or what was an apartment. I ended up wandering around for about 20 minutes or so almost in tears when I saw a light on in a lobby. I walked in and thankfully it was a hotel. But to my surprise, there was noone at the front desk and the security guard had removed his shoes and was sleeping peacefully on a couch in the lobby. I figured that might not be such a bad idea, so I found myself a couch and had a little nap. I was terrified of getting found and getting kicked back out into the cold, but noone came around. So at 5:30 a.m. I headed back to the airport and was back to Korea in no time.
Thailand is my favorite place I have ever visited, I hope I can go back and spend more than a week there. Maybe when I get my master's I can get a job at a university and actually live there!

It's been awhile

I have been pretty busy working two jobs and having fun weekends!
Recently, I went to Goeje Island with my friend Woo. We went on a beautiful December day, there were no people so we were able to enjoy the beaches and scenery without too many tourists. The above photos are from the island, it was the most beautiful place I have seen so far.
We also went to a professional basketball game here in Changwon. It was just like an NBA game except only $7 for killer seats.
A few weeks ago I ate duck for the first time! It was absolutely delicious! I didnt know what I was missing out on. Its my new favorite food to eat at restaurants. Many places serve it here and it's reasonably priced, just another thing to love about Korea!
This weekend, I saw the Harry Potter movie. I didnt necessarily want to see it, but the friend I was with did, so I went along. I have never read a Harry Potter book nor seen an HP movie. But it was AWESOME. There were many things and places and names that I didnt understand, but it was nonstop action and I fell in love with all the characters. I guess all the people telling me for years that I would love it were right. I am going to start reading the books ASAP!
It's Christmastime now but I haven't felt too homesick. Christmas isnt a big deal in Korea, plus the weather has been warm and there's not lots of decorations or Christmas music and shopping shoved down my throat. So, its been kind of nice to be away from the hoopla. On Christmas day we will go to another basketball game and then have kind of a potluck dinner with friends. It should be a good time!
I've also decided to stay in Korea until August. It will give me time to save some more money and hopefully see a little more of the country. I really enjoy teaching and I just don't feel ready to wind down yet.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

To leave or not to leave

I am coming up on six months spent in Korea. I kind of want to stay past my year contract. But Europe for the summer is so incredibly tempting. So, I think I may compromise and stay until August instead of June. I got to thinking about leaving today and I felt overwhelmingly sad. I will miss my kids, I will miss my easy life in Korea. Plus, I'm making tons of extra money now, it's so hard to walk away from that. But I also need to get on with life in the US. I need to get back to school. While discussing my wanting to stay in Korea, my director told me I was getting "kind of old" and that I should go back to school before too long! Koreans are rather blunt, sometimes it's hurtful. I see what he means, and I can always come back, but it won't be the same. I think staying until August will satisfy me, and I can hopefully still spend the fall in Europe. How awesome does fall in Europe sound?? The crowds will be less, the weather will be cooler. Maybe this is the best idea I've ever had.

Seoul part 2

As I mentioned before, there are millions of people in Seoul. Apparently, they all went to the Seoul International Festival. This pic is from the subway, all of us smooshed in trying to get out. I think we went up three flights of stairs and through hallways like this. It was hot and pretty awful. When we finally got outside, the scene was insane. There had to be millions of people at this park to watch the fireworks. And Koreans aren't very polite when they try to get past you, they basically shove you. They'll shove you with their elbows, shoulders, knees, butts, hips, anything that will move you out of the way.


I did get a chance to try out the camera for night scenes. Here are a couple pics I took, I'm so thrilled with the way they turned out! The fireworks were a big deal and lasted at least an hour. They were pretty spectacular. These pictures were taken on a bridge.


































I will be visiting Seoul again, it's about a 5 hour bus ride and just a Saturday and Sunday to visit isn't enough time. I really want to spend more time exploring the city and all it's charms.

Seoul part 1

Last weekend, my friends and I visited the capital city of Seoul. I'm in love. Seoul is huge, but clean and beautiful and a perfect mix of old and new. The king's palace stands at the end of a street lined with 30 story buildings. There's rich culture in the city everywhere you turn.
However, there are millions and millions of people! A woman stopped me on the street and proceeded to rub my arms vigorously, then she touched my chest and motioned to my face. I assumed she was concerned about my freckles being some sort of horrible disease I was unaware of, but we think she was telling me to cover up. It was a strange experience!


This is the entrance to the king's palace, we didn't go inside.













Guards for the palace.












View of the palace from the busy city street.