the weekend........

bbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr it was so cold! all weekend the temperatures were no higher than the low 30's. it felt much colder due to the wind.

friday after school i had my korean lesson with hanna who is one the korean teachers at school. she is helping me to learn korean which is not that bad. i know all my consonants and vowels and i am able to read more than i understand. :) i started learning some vocabulary this week so that is fun. :) i cannot wait to go to the korean restaurants and shops back home. i am definitely going into komart on gessner when i am home.

after that suzy and i went to itaewon to get manicures and such. i was able to read an Us magazine while i waited which was nice as it was in english. i know it is not intellectual literature, but it was in english so that was the highlight. then we went to starbucks to meet jen and one of suzy's korean friends. then we went for indian food.............yummy! it was so good and i had a great time. i cannot wait to go eat it again soon. maybe sometime this week actually. :) we all did a little after dinner shopping......suzy found some fun silver shoes for the christmas party. jen and i then walked home to my apartment where we had a sleepover. we got to hang out and visit. she showed my pics from home in maine and i showed her pics from home too.

saturday we woke up and had a relaxing morning. i made french toast for breakfast and we had some coffee. then we got moving to go on our outing. we headed across the river to the seoul arts center to the hangaram art museum. we went for the man ray and world history of photography exhibit. it was awesome! i saw many photos that i had studied in my photography class. it was a great experience! afterward we ate lunch at this little Italian place nearby and the food was awesome!

later that night was the SFS Christmas party which was at the Hilton hotel just up the road. it was fun and the food was great. i won a door prize which is a gift certificate to a hotel across the river. it entitles me to have dinner there on the house. yeah! i am saving it for when paul is here in february.

new pics....

click on the link for "My Photos" and check out the new pics....

snow, snow, snow.....

i walked out of my apartment this morning and looked up to realize that it had snowed that night.....how fun! i instantly put down my bag and coffee, dug out my camera, and started snapping photos. i am so cheesy, but i have never actually lived somewhere where it snowed. i giggled and smiled my whol trip to school. i rounded the corner by the field to walk up to a soccer field that is normally green with perfect turf that had a blanket of white on it. the kids were running, shuffling their feet to make designs, and playing soccer. it was a wonderful sight to see. the kids were having just as much fun as i was. i again took out my camera and took more pictures. :) what a great way to start the day!

the morning went well. math lesson was good and productive after have to chat with my kids about having negative attitudes. then i glanced outside to see little white snow flurries dancing down from the sky.....yes, it was snowing!!! as i taught i was able to watch the flurries dance to the ground. how amazing! the kids were excited too as i was teaching and looked over and stopped mid-sentence to say, "it's snowing!" of course they instantly ran to the window to have a look for themselves. we all stood there completely mystified by the flakes. good fun! it doesn't stick to the ground long at this point, but hey it was snowing!

there are 11 more days of school until the holiday so i made a deal with my kids today. i let them choose where they sit for the next 11 days. there are 2 tables of all girls and 2 tables of all boys. you would think the genders think that they each have some serious plague! tomorrow i am adding a new spin by letting them come up with a table name and banner. then we will starting earning table points for all sorts of things---homework, parent signatures, cleanliness, chairs being pushed in, group work, etc. it should make for some excitement for the 11 days before break. i felt i needed to do something to "shake things up". they were really being unruly. i am also hoping to implement a fun number game that i am "borrowing" from a great teacher at martin that he uses every year at december time. it should be a real scene to see how it all unfolds, but we are all kind of at the point of shatteredness. we all need a change.

today after school i had discipleship and it went really well. i have three 9th grade girls in my group and they are all friends. they are great! i am really enjoying getting to know them and sharing our hearts about life as a follower of Jesus. they have the same issues i had when i was there age, which makes me seem really old to say that.

tonight i am just hanging out taking it easy. i have worked on a bit of school work, snuggled with the kitties, and sent some emails. fun night at D21!! it is 37 degrees right now and i am wondering if it will snow tonight while i am asleep. it would be a real treat to wake up to snow again. :)

wednesday......that means the week is half over...

this morning was tough to get moving. i have had a hard time sleeping lately and i am trying to remedy the issue by not consuming caffeine. so far there is no change, but i am hoping it will get better soon. tonight i am trying to have some sleepytime tea.........maybe that will do the trick!

i taught a great math lesson today although some of my kids are pushing my buttons. they are all about just knowing the answer. this can be frustrating for sure. oh well, the rest went well and i just prayed for more patience. :) i found out recently that i am going to get an LCD projector and a SMART white board over the christmas holiday! woo hoo! although i have no idea how to use the smart board i am willing to give it a go. suzy has used one for a few years now and she has one in her classroom here. she says that it is a great teaching tool and one that automatically integrates technology. there are so many options when you use it. so that is great news for me!!! i am hoping to learn more so i can make full use of it. the afternoon crepted by and we worked on language arts and science. we have been focusing on genre in reading which is a tough idea for the kids. not so much to get it, but to understand so that they can sort books is a chore. we were trying to organize and sort out the classroom library today and it was much more challenging than i thought. the kids agreed that it was not as easy as it sounds. we had some great conversation and thinking so it made it all worth while. i am hoping that they will get the hang of it soon. i am going to give them an independent reading project that focuses on the different genres to work on.

after school i tutorerd the student i have been working with from the bristish school. i also had one of my students, katrina, and lucy help me sort some things out. they worked on finishing up the classroom library and then made up the book order packets that i am going to send home tomorrow. then the three of us went over to the gym for the basketball games. katrina older sister and brother both play and so we watched from the lobby while they munched on the snacks i treated them to.

i came home to mrs. han finishing up two more pieces of clothing for me and also working on the skirts for suzy. she works really hard. we ordered chinese for dinner which was the first time i have done that at my house. fun! suzy ordered and when they come they bring it in and serve you the dishes. they give you real dishes and then when you are done you leave them outside the front door.....dirty. they come back later and pick them up. no cleaning or anything! it is great and super cheap! i took pics of the experience b/c i was astonished. they never do anything like that in texas. :)

i am compiling my lists for home------places to eat, places to go, things to do............
i am getting more and more excited!!!

18 more days.........

today was a good day! i had a white chocolate mocha from starbucks at 8:15am......what more can you want from life???!!?!? :) today was pretty normal. i taught my kids some math games which was great fun and so much fun we were running late to PE because we all lost track of time. i love those moments in teaching! i got a lot of stuff done during my planning time today which was also nice. after lunch my kids made homemade cards for the middle school craft bazaar. all the proceeds from the sale are going to be donated to the river of grace orphanage to help them pay for the heat. it is a great way for my kids do serve others. they got to cut construction paper and then use stamps (birthday and christmas) to create a design. they each created a set of 4 to be sold. tomorrow we have to create bands to hold them together. it should be fun! the kids really enjoyed making the cards and were smiling during the whole thing. after school i had swim squad which was good......although i ended up pretty wet today. i am trying to teach my kids how to dive off the blocks. after many flops they are betting better. it was good fun though! for the evening i went to hang out with my friends lucy and george.....they are the greatest kids! we ate pizza and then played whoonu, uno, and skipbo!!! we had fun and many laughs! we also talked about where we wanted to go most over the christmas holiday at home. they are from edina, minnesota and are going back for the holiday too!!! it was great conversation and lots of good laughs. yes, i have started a list of food places i want to make sure and eat at over the holiday. i will publish it later as i need to get to bed. i am tired and hope to get some better sleep tonight. i have been drinking more leaded coffee here in korea as decaf does not really exist here. the consumption has really interrupted my sleeping, so i am not drinking it anymore except for on tuesday mornings when starbucks comes to school. that is it........no more! i must just say no. anyhow, 18 more days until i am back in town..........looking forward to seeing you ALL!!! :)

19 more days....

left until i will be in texas for the christmas holiday!!! wooooo hooooo!!!! i cannot wait!

today was good......a light day of teaching which is what i needed b/c it is always hard to get back in the groove after a long weekend holiday. we got to experience a little bit of another culture today which was good fun! the british school and grade 5s from the elementary had a "mini" st. andrew's scottish ball. it is a celebration in scotland each year to honor st. andrew, i think. there is a ball at the embassy each year and it happened over the past weekend. the kids learned many different scottish dances and got to dress up today and dance to a proper live scottish band from edinburgh, scotland. the band was flown over for the big ball at the embassy but also performed today at the school for the kids. my class went over to watch the dancing. it was fun to see the 5th grade dancing and learning. one of the cool things at being at an international school is getting to learn so much about other places, people, and cultures. it was fun!

today after school i went to get a hair cut and to get more blonde highlights. i am not sharing anymore details though....you will have to wait and see. :)

this evening after i got home i just have been hanging out. i have a headache that i am trying to get rid of. i plan on getting to bed early tonight. i need my rest. the last few nights i have not been sleeping very well.........not sure why. might be the caffeine that i have been drinking lately. there is no such thing as decaf in this country. i did grind the beans my mom sent me this morning and have a giant cup of hawaiian grog coffee from central market. that was lovely!!!

until next time which should be tomorrow..................

much needed update....

i know that it has been a long time since i have posted anything.......there are a few reasons. first that paul had major server issues and the whole thing crashed. this is the reason why the pictures i posted do not work anymore. the other reason is that i have just not had the discipline to sit down and update which is a really lame excuse but i am trying to be honest about the whole deal. please forgive me. i recently did some thinking and realized that i need to make sure to keep updating and take the time to do it. so here it goes.........

the end of october i was sick....i was out on halloween which was sad for me. i felt completely awful and needed the rest. i had the good ol' sinus crud. i did not even answer the door for trick-or-treaters which stunk. i had prepared and everything with candy, but did not think it was a smart move to share my germs. it was tough sitting here listening and not having fun too. :) later that same week i had parent conferences. i managed my way through those with no hiccups. they actually went really well. i had mentally prepared myself for the worst. on the 4th of november i went with suzy to meet one of my students and her mom to go to insadong. the student's name is sydney and she is a sweetie! we all went to make hanji paper crafts. it was great! i made a dark green tray! fun fun fun.....it is the Korean version of the mad potter. it was good fun! we ate lunch at this great Italian restaurant.....yummy!!! the rest of the day we just walked around insadong. later that day suzy and i made our way to itaewon for some shopping and to meet jeff. that night we celebrated BONFIRE NIGHT. i had mentioned this before. it was awesome! helen and i were hosting this event. we had a great bonfire, the mills' boys made the "Guy" to burn, helen made pumpkin soup, and jeff and i shared the smores! it was a great night. then we shot off fireworks. woo hoo!

i had a ticket to the opera but did not end up going b/c i was exhausted the following week. i am sure my body was still fighting off the sinus yuck!!! i received an invitation from the sultanate ambassdor of oman to celebrate the 36th national day at a reception. i felt very honored to be invited. so saturday suzy, jeff, and i went to dongdaemun market for some fabric. i got lots of fabric for mrs. han to make me clothes. i needed something a bit nicer to wear to the party. good fun there at the market.

sunday i went to church and met jen who is a girl that is teaching english here in korea. we met on skype. yes i know that sounds crazy, but it is not. she is the only person i have actually talked to you on there other than friends and family. she is nice and from maine. she is only here for a year and since we have spent more time together and she is great fun to hang out with!

tuesday jeff took helen and i to the korean senior symphony orchestra. it was nice! jeff treated to pizza hut and then we were off to see the show. they played 3 different composer's work. two of them being mendolsohn and beethoven. it was nice. the 4 star general in charge of all military operations here in korea was there as well as the admiral in charge of the navy here. that was cool to see them. the last piece that the symphony played was the army song---stars and stripes, i think. it was cool! it was nice to get out and do something different.

that next day mrs. han, the seamstress, came over to my house for the day. she measured me up and then made me two skirts, two pants, and a nice shirt. it was wild! she was amazing! i could not believe how much she was able to make in one day. she is coming again on this wednesday.

the end of the month was topped off with a real treat-----katie came to visit me!!! woo hoo........she arrived on friday evening. i rode the airport bus out to inchon airport to meet here and even made a "welcome" sign written in Korean! it was great! it was sooooo awesome to see her and be able to hug her. we made our way back to my house then to leave out again for dinner at dak-galbi and then dessert at the red mango. she is not a fan of Korean food at all. her visit was awesome! we did a lot of hanging out and catching up. it was really nice! saturday we went to dongdaemun, edae, sinchon and ended up at watts on tap for some live music by guys that work at SFS. good times! sunday we went to church and then to insadong with jen. we had fun walking around. we also went to one of the grocery stores i always go to which is grand mart. it is a very lively place and it was an experience for katie! jeff made dinner at my apartment that night. yummy! he made jambalaya which was great! buffie, my neighbor, made an amazing lemon cake that i finished off over the next few days. monday i had taken a personal day off and katie and i took the day off. we were in our PJs until 3pm and were going to go to seoul tower when we got sidetracked by picture taking and ended up at outback steakhouse for dinner instead. tuesday katie came to school with me all day....what a trooper! we had our thanksgiving party in the afternoon where there was no shortage on food. it was all over the place. Korean parents like to make sure there is LOTS of food. it was fun and the kids had a great time! wednesday i had an inservice all day and then katie and i again just hung out and had good conversation.

thursday was thanksgiving and it was nice. a day of relaxing and resting. jeff came over early and ended up napping on my couch. katie napped in bed. i just straightened up my house and piddled while they took rest. then the festivities got underway about 2ish when katie started preparing the sweet potatoes. then suzy made stuffing and jeff helped as needed. we ate at 4:30 and there were about 10 of us total. after dinner we had dessert and then answered silly questions out of a "would you rather....?" book that i had borrowed. then we finished off the night with a few rounds of taboo before calling it a night. it was a nice day!

friday we got out to go to the cable cars at seoul tower. it was an adventure to find them but we did after many, many, many steps UP! whew! crazy amounts of steps. we rode up the cable cars, looked around seoul tower, and then rode the cable cars back down. we then meadered our way to namdaemun market which is THE market in seoul. very traditional open air market. very interesting colors and liveliness in the market. we both took lots of pics and had some good laughs. when it started to get dark we made our way back to sinchon near my house. we made some purchases and katie found some last minute things she wanted to buy. then we made a trip to grand mart again and headed home to have some down time. we made apple pie when we arrived at home. we had fun, laughed, reflected on the visit.

saturday we woke up and got moving. we had to be on the airport bus at 11am to make it in time to get some lunch. buffie took us down the hill and we waited for the bus to arrive. once at the airport katie checked in her bags and we ate lunch----burger king!!! yummyyyy!!!! then we had baskin robbins ice cream. they have a flavor here called shooting star and it has pop rocks in it. weird, but really good. then we watched people while waiting for the time to pass. it was fun to do.......this place is great for people watching. then at 1:30 katie proposed she should make her way to the plane and so the time had come that i had to say good bye............that was hard. yes, i cried. then i walked out to catch the bus.......made the trip home, walked up the hill, and then took a 4 hour nap. it felt really awesome!!! i stayed in that night to feed my new addiction of watching FELICITY on DVDs. good times! i watched the rest of season 1 and i have now started season 2. yeah for DVDs.

yesterday i went to church and then hung out at home the rest of the day. i was being a bit mopey and just wanted to stay in so i did. i watched more felicity which was fun!

the weekend.....

it seems every sunday i sit in amazement that another weekend has flown by and i am not quite sure if i am ready to begin the next week. saturday i took it easy.......i went to toy alley near one of the markets with helen. we are co-hosting bonfire night (a UK holiday) this upcoming saturday so went to toy alley to purchase fireworks for the event. it should be fun even though i am a little clueless as to the purpose of the day. bonfire, fireworks, pumpkin soup, and smores......what more can i ask for? here is a link to more information about this UK holiday-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

i got a cool "running around town" backpack in toy alley which was my big purchase for the day!

after the morning trip i felt a bit worn out and my throat hurt......again! i am really tired of the sore throat business. i called suzy and she went with me down the hill to an acupuncturist that one my student's parents recommended. his office is an actual oriental medical clinic. dr. moon speaks good english and was able to help me out all for a mere 4,500 won......yes that is only about 5 US bucks!!! WILD! i love this place when it comes to this kind of stuff. i will definitely go back. :) then we headed to sahruga, the local grocery store. suzy needed some things and i went along for the ride. she did help me make a sahruga card (the korean version of the kroger card) the only difference is with this card you earn points or something. neither one of us is real sure what it does exactly, but now we have one. :) my favorite item lately is the dark purple korean grapes! they are absolutely yummy! i worry when i move back to the states that i won't be able to have them any more. :( at christmas i am going to ko-mart on gessner and see what i can come up with there. i also want to check on some other items that i have become accustomed to. :) KOREAN GRAPES RULE!!! i also like cappuccino milk.....only in korea can i find the goodness. coffee in a can is also on my shopping list regularly.........not the best solo, but makes a great morning mixer with milk for a little latte action. the coffee in a can is chilled so it makes for a good morning wake up drink.

suzy also got us some street food for dinner----mandu, kimchi mandu, and the other stuff she likes a lot that comes with liver. i ate the mandu and left the sausage looking stuff that is boiled in pig's blood to her with her livery stuff too. interesting the things my friends eat! we managed our way home and ate dinner and had good time together chatting and conversing about the latest mental thoughts we had. we "window-shopped" online......she showed me her favs in the UK and i told her mine. then i gave her the picture tour of pics i have on my computer from home. it was fun!

today, after not sleeping well due to the throat action, i got up and went to church............throat still killer painful! thank goodness for some halls throat lozenges that i packed with me. we went to starbucks as usual.....i contemplated if i should get a warm drink or not since i had already had a cup of tea at my apartment that did not really help out that much. church was different today.....we had a missionary from china visiting and he preached on evangelism. a bit old style korean preaching from what suzy said and it did not do a thing for me. instead i read through acts.....starting with chapter 10 which is where the sermon was from. i just kept reading and making notes for myself. good stuff though! i had church in my head i guess. after we got these chicken on a stick deals in the church patio area.....they are yummy! then yes as always i got some hotteok before walking to the subway! good times! i love sundays! :) they rock! we made our way back to our side of town and made a pit stop in edae for some afternoon shopping. i just tagged along as i don't find anything here that fits me. jamie, wyatt, and suzy all made purchases......i just people watched. it was interesting to say the least.....always great people watching here in seoul. the fashion in itself is worth the watching.......it varies greatly and makes you wonder what they were thinking before they left the house, but somehow have managed to make it look good.

i snapped pics on the walk home of the changing colors of trees on yonsei university. check out the new pics...........you should have received an email about the new picture location. if you did not email me asap so i can clue in on how to get there so you can see all the pics that you have anxiously been waiting on for the last two months...........

i came home, drank more tea, and have been doing lots of nothing since. suzy came by to hang out and wanted me to help her set up her skype account. i updated addresses and other random stuff. i worked on my kids scholastic book order and attempted to pay bills, but all the companies are updating their web sites today so i have to wait until tomorrow.

this week should be an easier week......back to normal for the most part. i have parent conferences beginning thursday evening and all day friday. i would ask for prayers for this. the parental situation here is completely different than back home. i am praying that all will go well and there is no major issues.

19 days until katie arrives here in far east asia to visit
25 days until thanksgiving....yes, we are having a proper dinner with turkey
48 days until i am home for the christmas holiday in texas
59 more days until paul and i are dating one whole year.....how time flies

the rest of Korea Week....

i am just realizing it is over. it was a really long week! thursday we got to make Korean kites which was really intricate. Later that afternoon we learned how to play the instruments for the Farmer's Dance which saw a performance of on Tuesday. That was REALLY loud....small music room, lots of banging instruments......whew my ears were ringing. At the end of the day we watched a Taekwondo demstration which was cool......lots of board breaking. It was fun to watch and the kids really liked it. Friday was fun as most of the kids were hanboks (traditional Korean clothing), Taekwondo uniforms, or some sort of Korea flare. I told some boys that they should wear their Korea jerseys. It was fun. We took an entire elementary school picture on Friday morning in the Korean gear. It was really cool. After lunch we went to the gym for Korean snacks, games, and activities. Good times were had by all. I was completely wiped from the week as report cards were also due on Thursday morning. I came home on Friday afternoon and crashed major on my couch. I was totally drained. :)

hanji boxes

today was so fun! we went to a samulnori performance in the gym and then after lunch we made korean boxes, also known as hanji boxes. it was way cool! here are some pics.........

Samulnori Performance---6th graders from a Korean school outside of Seoul

making Korean hanji boxes with my kids

my finished Korean hanji box

3 and a half weeks until katie comes to korea and 6 and a half until i come home at christmas!!!! :)

it is now 54 degrees currently in korea............bbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrr!!!!!

KOREA WEEK

is this week at school. a week to celebrate and experience the exciting culture of Korea. it is fun. today we did not have anything planned but tomorrow brings a busy day of activities. we will watch the samulnori dance (farmer's dance). it is loud and lots of dancing around. it is fun and very invigorating. then at noon my kids have a Korean box making session. i am excited about this. on thursday we will get to make Korean kites, watch a taekwondo demonstration, and also have samulnori lessons. friday is hanbok day which is traditional clothing. i dont have one so i am not going to wear one as of now. that might change. i am going to get a taekwondo uniform before friday though and i will wear that. they are only 30,000 and i can take lessons then too. it should be a really exciting week and full of lots of excitement. :)

BBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRR..........

the weather has definitely taken a turn for the cold side. yesterday it rained most of the afternoon and now it is quite a bit cooler. this morning when i woke up it was 52 degrees here. the high probably made it to the upper 60's (maybe). then tonight it is cool again---55 degrees. the forecast looks like it will stay below 70 the rest of the week. i have afternoon recess this week and i definitely need a jacket to break the wind. i am now living somewhere that it gets cold for fall. :) i am making hot tea at the moment and feel like i should be preparing to carve a pumpkin. i don't even know if i can get one here. i have will have to ask around. :) to top it off....the boilers for the heat have not been turned on either yet. it is awesome! reminds me of my apartment. :) the boilers won't get turned on until november 1st. good stuff!!!

last week....

it ended with a bang! friday night was the 4th grade fun night from 3:15pm-7:30pm. it was good fun! we played games in the gym for an hour (dodgeball & capture the flag) and then swam in the pool from 4:15-5:15pm. then all the 4th graders went over to the cafeteria for dinner---pizza, capri suns, and ice cream! after dinner we watched a movie in robb hall which is the smaller, older auditorium. they got to watch my favorite-----yes, Because of Winn-Dixie. it was awesome to be able to hang out with my kids and get to know them all better including the other 4th graders. all the teachers were completely wiped afterward but it was really fun!

saturday i made homemade french toast again. i added some vanilla to the mix this time and it did not really make a difference to me. it was good. i then used the rest of the day to be a bum and rest! it was great! later saturday evening i went up to school to work in my room. normally this would be a big no- no for me, but i really wanted to get some things done and get caught up. i made my own reading assessment kit based on stuff i used at home and some of the resources we have here. i was thrilled that i got it all done. you would have been well entertained had you seen me in front of the copy machine though. i had the music jamming in my ears from my dell dj and i was dancing and praising around the copy room. it was great fun! no one was there......i was the only one working so i had the whole school to myself. fab-0!!! i left about 10:20ish after being very productive! i came home to watch more friends!!! i am almost finished with season 2. i think i have only 2 or so more episodes to go. luckily there is a girl here named launa who has all ten seasons. whew! what would i have done??? thank God for her! she is in my ladies small group on monday nights here at my apartment. :)

sunday was the usual-----starbucks, church, hotteok, and for lunch we went to bennigan's. not the same as home, but sufficed. then suzy, wyatt, and i went shopping in edae. well, suzy and wyatt shopped i just tagged along for the walk.

north korea

i know that you have all been hearing about the north korea nuclear stuff going on over here. first let me reassure that life here continues to be normal. there has been no concern with safety as of yet. the news does a really good job of making things seem way worse than they are. i know that there are plans in place if there is such an emergency so i am not worried. to be honest, i found out more from what you all have told me via phone or email than from actual news information here in korea. so no need to be worried yet. i would ask that you pray for the whole situation. i pray that they would find resolution and somehow make peace amongst all this. i pray that there be some sort of solution to be found.

the latest...

hi to all..........
sunday i went to church and the message was amazing! the guy who spoke was an onnuri pastor who has spent the last year starting a church in NYC. his name is mark choi and his sermon was about turning the world upside down. he referenced acts 17 when paul and silas "stir things up" in thessalonia. it was really inspiring and thought provoking. after church as always i had my favorite after church treat--hotteok.

jamie, suzy and i then headed to carrefour for some groceries and things. carrefour is a shopping mall area that is attached to the world cup stadium. inside there is tons of stuff---movie theater, wedding hall, doctor, shopping area, grocery store, two food areas, etc. it is wild! first we had lunch at lotteria, which is a korean version of burger king or mcdonald's. the burgers taste a bit different than american ones, but they are good. they also have a wide variety of types of burgers you can get. for example, they have bulgogi burgers, bulgalbi burgers, rice and kimchi burgers, shrimp burger.....the list goes on. it was really interesting to figure out what to eat.....i went with a cheese burger. :) then we went shopping. the place was sooo packed with people. they were everywhere. we finally finished and made out way to the very crowded register area. jamie had been all checked out when her american credit card did not go through. agh! it was so frustrating for her. thank goodness we had suzy to translate some. jamie grew up here in korea and she speaks better korean than most americans, but when the conversation gets our of her vocabulary range it can become challenging. suzy was able to fill in the blanks. :) suzy and i then checked out while jamie tried to call the company. she had to leave all her stuff there to go home, make the call, and hope to go back to pay. we had to walk to the street to get a taxi and we ended up walking in the middle of the road to try to get one....it seemed like there were none to be found. we were laughing since we were walking in and out of cars the whole time. finally i spotted one and we managed to make our way over to him. he took us a back way through neighborhoods which was nice considering i had not seen many neighborhoods. then we arrived home, jamie used my skype to call her credit card company which was also frustrating for her. no one seems to quite understand when you mention that you live in another country and are trying to get things straightened out. they always want you to call back during normal business hours which is always when we are sleeping....ugh! she managed to get someone who could help her and then we headed back to carrefour to make the purchase. the whole way we are praying that it will work this time. we got a taxi, made it inside, found the basket with jamie's stuff that they were holding for her, and then made our way to the same register. thankfully we did not have to wait in line again. she slid the card and........YES it worked! jamie was so thankful. we gathered the stuff and made our way back to the street to get a taxi home........yeah!

once we were back at my apartment i made the three of us dinner----grilled chicken breasts, green beans, and some rice. they liked it a lot. i made some extra chicken so that i could have lunch for a couple days. yummy! then we just all hung out at my apartment----jamie did school work, i organized my book case, and suzy replied to emails. it was good times!

monday and tuesday were pretty normal days. each week i am feeling better about school. friday is the end of the 1st quarter which is nice. i am nervous about the report cards and then parent conferences. i am already starting to pray about them. they will be on nov. 2nd and 3rd. we are already thinking about next year. we have to make the overseas order by the middle of november for it to arrive in time. i am trying to manage to organize some materials so i can decide what things i need to order that we dont have.

monday night i hosted a group of ladies for a book study small group. we are reading The Self Confident Woman by janet congo. it is the same book that my ladies group did back home last spring. it is an awesome read and one i think that we can learn a lot from. i had 4 ladies show up and another one will be coming on monday. so 6 total including me. makes for a nice size group. we had some great discussion this week and it went well. i was nervous about it before b.c i have never lead a group before and i did not want it to be "too" structured, but wanted more of a casual, laid back kind of vibe. they all enjoyed it and appreciated the fact that i took the initiative to get a group started. that was reassuring.

before they showed up i was buzzing around picking up my house. then i sat down on the couch with my dinner and was listening to some music when i just had this sense of peace and quiet. it was nice to be able to reflect on where i have been in the last two years and think how God has brought me to Korea and the other great things that are going on. it was really enjoyable to just sit here on the couch and be able to really have a moment. :) yeah for those kind of undistracted quiet moments............

tuesday after school we had a long faculty meeting............it seemed to never end. it just amazes me how people complain and frown at decisions that are made about things. i dont always agree, but i am trying hard to be able to just aceept it and be proactive rather than just to react about it. it amazes me how people get hung up on such little things when they are just "small fries" in the bigger picture.

i made some pizza when i got home. then i tried to hammer some curriculum stuff out on the computer. it did not go as well as i had hoped but i did make some progress. suzy came around to hang out and chat some. that was nice and a good time of conversation. then i prepared a salad for the rest of the week for lunches. yummy! she had some hot tea and we continued to talk. wyatt also showed up later and we all got to just hang out and talk about lots of stuff. good times! i like that my house has become the "hang out" zone. :)

today i was really tired all day. in fact after school i came home to lay down for an hour before going to dinner and i ended up sleeping for WAY longer. i slept from 4:30-7 and i woke up moved to the couch and slept a few more hours. wow! i guess i needed the rest. i had some cheese toast for dinner.

all this week i have been coming home for lunch at my apartment. it has been really nice to get away in the middle of the day and eat lunch at my table. i get to fix it up and have some quiet, down time. i feel really "on top" of things when i do this. i wash the dishes and go back to school quite refreshed. i never imagined that 30 or 40 minutes at home can do that to you. i love living 4 minutes from my job. :) definitely has its bonuses!

59 more days until i come home for christmas!!!!!!! i am looking forward to the time i will get to spend with family and friends. i really understand how important you all are to my life and how i miss you. i like life in korea and enjoy the adventure, but i miss the people from my life that i am have sometimes taken for granted. thanks for being my friends and the support and encouragement you all give!

until next time...................................................

a way cool moment.........

today i went to the salvation army's christian book store downtown with a friend. she was looking for a max lucado bible study to share with her study group. i had heard that they had a great selection of books and music in english so i wanted to check it out. it was a large store with a good selection considering that we are in south korea. i was looking through the music being the junkie that i am and i found a large selection of vineyard music there. THEN it happened.....i picked up an album, flipped it over to look for the date, and it says "Worship Leaders.......CAMERON DEZEN HAMMON!!!!!" i could not believe it. i got all gitty inside and felt really excited that MY close friend was on an album that i purchased in SOUTH KOREA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! crazy stuff! go cameron! :)

then i came home and had to be at the mills' house for 6pm to watch their kids. mum and dad were headed out to a british school dinner and i was going to hang out with my 3 friends, arthur, isaac, and florence. it was good fun! we watched the BBC DVD of walking with dinosaurs. i learned about sea monsters. then i played a mix n match game with florence. after that i had a go at frustration! (board game like trouble) with the kids. i lost.....3rd place. arthur won! bed time called after the game so we read two stories and then called it a night. i laid with them for a bit until they were asleep. i spent the rest of the night reading a travel book about korea. it was nice to spend time with them! they are wonderful kids! :)

mmmm.......saturday mornings.....

i just love lazy saturday mornings! other than the four legged alarm at 7am for breakfast call, i was able to sleep in and really wake up whenever i wanted. i woke up and just have been hanging out at my apartment. thinking, resting, and spending time just to be me. it is awesome! i was hungry so i made homemade french toast. it was good although it needs some minor tweeking. i made a bit extra so i am saving that for tomorrow morning. :) it is hard to believe that i made breakfast for myself......actually made something, and i already have washed all the dishes! crazy i know. it is a nice feeling though. i am going to take some chicken out for later or lunch tomorrow. not sure what i will have with it, but i will figure it out. i need to go to the grocery store today. i was hoping someone might make a costco/tesco run, but so far no takers. i do have a few "possibly", but no for sure.

more sad news....

i am sad to report that since lunch i have been in mourning. i was told today by paul that the diedrich's by my old apartment is closing. no one really seems to know why, but paul and i are thinking it has something to do with the land owner. they are always busy......always! i am truly saddened by this news and would appreciate those close, to go by to pay my respects by having a mayan mocha for me. long live diedrich's forever!!!

tgif!

i am really glad it is friday so that i can rest and be a bum most of the weekend. today was a pretty normal day.....nothing wild to report. we did celebrate sydney's (one of my students) birthday today with dunkin' donuts. yummy! it was really nice to bring them for us all. after school i had swim squad and then on my way home i was stopped by the most interested event ever.

ian (a campus kid) had a praying mantis in a plastic container that he found here on campus. he claims that he has had it for about 2 weeks now. he caught a grasshopper today and fed it to the praying mantis. i have never seen a bug "go to town" on dinner. the praying mantis was muching away on the grasshopper. it was really rather intriguing actually. i went to tell my friend isaac about it so he could watch as well. :) we both sat in wonder and he explained to me that bugs are full of plants b.c that is what they eat all the time. i was asking him whether he thought the praying mantis was an herbivore or carnivore. he then went off searching for bugs to feed his pet spider. i helped him find an ant and he put it into the bug cage he has. :) florence and isaac then came over for a bit to see my house and meet sam and india. they were pretty taken by the cats. isaac even drew a picture of them for me. :) we had fun playing with them and watching them. i walked them home and played at their house for a while before coming back to have some down time at my house. i am tired and trying to rest so i can get rid of the allergy junk.

yeah that tomorrow is saturday.....................

adventures abound....

yesterday i was feeling really tired and my throat had that itchy, dry feeling. i have been battling allergies for the last few weeks. i was done with putting up with the itchy feelings and such so our school nurse called to make me an dr's appointment at the international health clinic at severance hospital just behind the school near yonsei university. my friend helen said that she would go with me as she has been there many times and she knows how overwhelming it can be the first trip. we walked over and they signed me in. a nurse took my blood pressure and my temperature. she used a thermometer that she held to the side of my neck......that was a first. then i was seen by an intern who spoke english but asked me to speak slowly so he can understand. it was a slow process but we managed to communicate. the whole time i was the in the room with him he was making notes on a desktop computer and such. then the senior doctor came in to visit with me. she was in a bit of a hurry as there was an emergency she had to get to upstairs, but she gave me a prescription for claritin. she is hoping that this will help with the symptoms and if it does not i am supposed to return. all in all it was a very efficient place. very nice even though they spoke limited english. it was a good experience.

then we went to the pharmacy to get my prescription. on this one corner there are like 3 pharmacies to choose from.....we picked one and went in. again i just smiled and nodded as the man spoke to me in korean. we took a seat to wait and a lady came up to offer us a beverage. little bottles with vitamin c drink in them. they are quite good and i was entertained that they would offer a drink while you wait. then the man called my name and spoke to me more in korean pointing to the prescription written in english. i knew what to do so i was not too worried. the odd thing is that they give the pills to you in a little plastic baggie instead of a bottle like back home. i also got a free pill organizer. score! :) it only cost 5,200 for 30 days worth.

we were both starving by this time so helen suggested the sushi place across the street. it is called niko niko (not the greek place) although i had to laugh at the name. the menu was all in korean but thank goodness there were pictures. i ordered a chicken on the run roll and helen got a spicy tuna roll. great place! the tuna roll was 7,000 and mine was 9,000. yummy! mine was like a california roll and then it had a small piece of fried chicken on top with honey mustard sauce dribbled over the top. good stuff! it was a place i will definitely go back to. many different choices of rolls and the prices were reasonable. :) suzy joined us later in the meal.

i needed to get my birks' sole fixed as they were almmost worn down to the cork bed. i had been trying but the little shoe guy where no where to be found each time i passed by. tonight i thought i would try again and suzy was there to speak korean. this was an experience. here we are the three of us sitting in this little shoe repair booth on a busy street watching this older korean man repair my sandals. now most of you at this point are imagining that he replaced the whole sole like usual on a pair of birks.......oh no! he had much different tactics. basically, he carved a bit to fill in the part that was really worn down on both of them and glued it in. then he placed a black tready part over that and the front part. it was a wild thing to watch. i really felt as if he were violating my sandals. no place else like korea would you get a show repair such as this. he did a great job and was very meticulous, but just really odd for a pair of birks. now my sandals are heavier and a little higher. it made me laugh.

then suzy and i made our way to Bible study at yonsei. we were a bit late as the shoe guy took a bit to repair my birks. it was a great time of fellowship and one i am trying hard to commit to. after we walked home and i stopped in to say hi to my friends, the dornbachs. they also are a birk wearing family and got a laugh out of my new and improved birk soles. :)

today was an ok day. nothing to major or minor went on. for dinner there was a korean cultural dinner which i went to for the new teachers. a way to learn more about the korean culture and food. we had bulgogi for dinner......yummy! the food was great and the talk informative. now i am at home just hanging out with sam and india. i am thankful tomorow is friday. i hope to rest this weekend and just hang out. :)

frustration........

the word o' the day! pray for patience and understanding. today was a discouraging and frustrating day. no one reason, but i just felt really mentally drained when i came home from school today. i am hoping that this feeling is temporary and will pass soon. i also have still not been sleeping well which is a bit frustrating as well. as most of you know i love to sleep and the fact that it has been good is really bugging. i also have not really felt healthy lately either. i have been having many headaches and my allergies have been flaring up also. overall i have just felt "blah". i would love to get my allergies tested here, but today i learned that it takes a long time. not sure why but that is the word from our school nurse. ok i feel like this whole blog is nothing but whining and complaining. i am trying to perk up and feel better, but lately it has been a challenge. i appreciate prayers and shout outs for me right now.

sam at his best....

another monday.....

today was the first official school day in the new classroom. it went well......just learning new routines and expectations for the new building. it is really exciting and nice to be in the building with the rest of the elementary school. i get to see lots of faces and see my team more. it was a long day though because i did not sleep well last night. not sure why, but it just made it a long day. after school i had much to look forward to since i was going to dinner with jeff, nicole's brother. the best part is that we went to eat at taco bell.......yes, TACO BELL! i know this sounds crazy, but that is where i wanted to go. most people thought i was a bit strange, but it is the truth that is where i wanted to eat. i had been craving it lately. i even got to take my friend jamie from school and she was thrilled. i had a chicken gordita, some steak nacho wrap thing, and some chips and cheese. it was yummy!!! then we walked around and just chatted. jamie and i headed back to school---we stopped at grand mart on the way home for some groceries. i also bought a cool rockin' sweater jacket for only 10,000 won in the subway underground. my first official clothing purchase. yeah! i am hoping that the rest of the week will go by quickly. :)

whew.......

another chunk of time has passed me by and i realized that i have not posted. sorry! i know who my avid readers are since they are emailing me wondering if i forgot about the blog or something! :) i appreciate the accountability and the reassurance that someone is reading about my life......even as boring as it may seem. i also realize that i have yet to post more photos........i know it has been over a month now that i have been promising to post all the photos i have taken. forgive me!

since i last posted i have had my kids participate in a farmer's dance on the field, moved classrooms, witnessed my students squeal with delight at the site of our empty new room, listened to beethoven's violin concerto in D major and bruckner's symphony no. 7 in E major by the kbs symphony orchestra with guest violionist vadim repin, hiked around a bamboo forest, rubbed elbows with intangilble culture property, heard more traditional korean music, taken lots of photos, been to a couple of inservices and worked hard in my classroom to sort it out, had an acupuncture treatment, spent 90% of the last four days in my pajamas being a bum around my house resting, watched more friends and scrubs, cuddled with sam and india, had a manicure and a pedicure, been homesick, had a few starbucks, went to church, made a commitment to not be such a wimp about going to my small group with church, made dinner for the first time in my apartment and had jamie over to share it with me, had another acupuncture treatment, and played with the mills' kids and managed to get shot with a water gun in the process!

now i am just sitting here updating my blog..........reflecting on the holiday and the past few months here in korea, my new home. realizing that i am really far away from my first home, family, and friends. i am realizing just how much each one of the people in my life mean to me.....even though i may not see all of them all the time or even on a regular basis........being 7,047 miles away from any of them makes my heart feel sad. just yesterday as i walked back from the nail place i asked God to make it really clear as to why i am here in korea. i know that there is a purpose for me here even though some days i wonder. i asked Him to comfort my homesickness and to fill me up with Him when i long for and miss my family and friends. i asked God to show me how to be strong in this new place of growth even when it feels impossible. i am learning quickly that i have to lean on Him.

my new do

here is a pic of me with my new hair do......... dark brown with a very blonde streak. the guy who did it said the blonde streak is in the shape of a nike swoosh......too funny! "very stylish" he said. :)

another day.......

chu-sok is fast approaching and i am ready for the holiday. it is korean thanksgiving so many people leave town to go visit family members. i have heard seoul quiets down and it is a good time to get out and explore. that is my plan next week---explore! friday is my last day in "the cave" as i get to move into my new classroom on monday. yeah for new classrooms! the room is really nice and there are windows along an entire wall.......something new for me. i cannot wait to have plants and such in my room and they will grow and create ambiance. i have already got my floor plan on paper and handed in so that they know where to put my stuff.

tonight i went to sinchon with suzy. she had to buy wyatt a gift and wanted some company. we had korean for dinner which was not that great. i should have stuck with gut and got the corn-dog like thing i have had before. good and cheap! tonight i had a fried rice kind of dish that was ok, but not my favorite at all. oh well............ i bought one of those oil warmer deals at a shop and then we bought the oils at a different shop b/c they were cheaper. i charged up more minutes on my cell phone. :) i have to charge it with 10,000 won each month or i lose my number. it is a pay-as-you-go phone. it works well........

today was ok......the kids are squirrely for the holiday. i am not sure who is more excited me or them. today we had the "see you at the pole" celebration. it became big in texas (where it started) in the 90's and now has become an internationally wide event. we all met on the field and had a time of prayer for the world, the nation of Korea, SFS, and our families and friends. it was really nice. the theme verse for this year was psalm 46:10---"Be still and know that I am the Lord. I will exalted among all the nations". My kids and I talked about what that meant and read the same verse from different translations. Each day we brainstormed a list of things to pray about for the world, Korea, SFS, and our friends and families. they made a list and wrote a prayer on their paper. today when we went out they have something to read and pray from. it was good. the weather was cool this morning and made for a nice time out on the field.

now i am working on responding to my student's reading journals. i am a bit behind since i wa out yesterday. ugh! sometimes it is more work to be out than just to go. oh well, i am in good company---sam and india. listening to some good tunes---david crowder band and delirious!

check out the praise music of hillsong. onnuri, my church here, uses many songs from them to use in worship. good stuff!!! :)

phrase of the past few weeks--------earnestly seek God!

80 more days.........

until i am home for christmas holiday!!! it is hard to believe that i have been in south korea since august 2nd. i was looking at the calendar just today and thought...."wow it is already almost october!" time flies..........

have i mentioned that david crowder rocks? i just got another CD in the mail from my mom----sunsets and sushi. it is really cool.....he remixes his songs on this album. way cool! you should check him out...............good stuff!

http://www.davidcrowderband.com/

grace and peace to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

here's the scoop from the last time i have posted....

thursday sept. 14th i went to edae and got my first hair cut in korea. quite an experience.....thank goodness i had suzy to translate otherwise who knows what would have happened.....i just got a trim nothing major. after school on this day i also got to tour my new classroom........WOW!

friday i went on an adventure with my good friends, the dornbachs! we went to costco, tesco and then to hongdae which is another area of town that is pretty funky and cool. we had a bit f trouble parking the van there, but amy was able to solve the problem leaning out the window asking "do you speak english?" i have never laughed so hard in my life. we finally parked the van and walked around. it was vivid, colorful place on a friday night. lots going on and people having a fun time.

saturday there was a breakfast for all the women on campus. we got together shared information about where to find this and that. great fellowship among the women! that afternoon i went to insadong with the dornbachs. they needed a full size violin for george. insadong is the part of town where you can find a lot of traditional korean art and stuff. there is also a HUGE music market there with all kinds of instruments! all my musical friends would have a party in a building like this! i never seen so much stuff in one building. we walked through the streets too. i ordered a chop which is a stone stamp with my name carved in korean. i cannot wait to pick it up. i also got one that said peace. it was interesting to communicate all that to the little guy in the shop. there was a party on the roof of my building this evening and "the band" played. "the band" is made up of some teachers on campus that get together and write music, hang out and have a good time. they are pretty good and made the night really nice. the weather was great!

sunday was the usual----starbucks, church, hotdawks, napping, and dak-galbi!!! :)

monday began my birthday week and i was invited to dinner at ken's with my church crew and pam. WOW.....he made some great dinner-----homemade quiche, bread, asparagus, salad, and dessert! he set a high prescedent for the week! AMAZING! we had a great time hanging out and sharing our hearts this night too. good times!

tuesday was a rather rough day----just felt wrong all day. had a run in with a teacher for the first time and that was difficult. BUT buffie and helen took my out to dinner for my birthday! fun fun fun! we went to a small cafeteria like place on yonsei university which had korean! no english at all......it was really fun to stand there and decide what to eat. thankfully this guy asked if we were in line in english and buffie says, "hey you speak english can you help us?" too funny! i ate a soup like dish with noodles in it. it was quite tasty!!! then we had ice cream. yummy!!! we had a great time and it was nice to hang out and visit with them after a long day and to celebrate my birthday!!! :)

wednesday----my birthday!!! i had many phone calls and emails when i woke up! yeah for fun family and friends. i got ready and left for school and found a sign and balloons on porch. yeah!!! then i get to school and bump into one of my parents in the hall and she gave me a birthday hug and said that her daughter had wanted to get some flowers for my birthday. i rounded the corner to my door and found a balloon bouquet hanging from the ceiling in front of my door. it was amazing! then i open my door and find 2 more larger balloon bouquets hanging from the ceiling at the front of my room..........wow!!! hanna also had brought me a beautiful bunch of flowers. :) it was great! my kids were great and brought me homemade cards and other small gifts. then at noon right after lunch a mom brought me a chocolate cake with candles. it was so awesome and my kids all sang and we celebrated. it was awesome! i could not believe it. i was blow away by the generousity. after school i tutored and then suzy took me to dinner at this cool place that had omelette like deals that were filled with rice. then they put sauce on top and meat. it was yummy! we then went to hang out in starbucks until Bible study. Bible study was good and there are some changes happening in leadership so things will be a bit different during the transition.

thursday after school i had a language arts meeting which was really good.....the meeting was productive so that was great! i had discipleship with the 9th grade girls and i actually lead the time with them. we had butterscotch bars to celebrate my birthday! the time together was good and i just spoke from the heart. i came home and was ssssooooooooooo tired......i laid down after suzy and i had cheese toast for dinner and slept! i took a long nap and then went to bed. i needed some major rest......obviously! :)

friday school was good........it had been a long week with all the celebrating! i had swim squad after school which was really awesome! for the first time in a long time i missed swimming. i was timing my kids so that later they can make the goal to beat this first time. as i watched them swim down to my end of the pool i had this feeling of i wish i were in the pool swimming. i came home and ordered a simple speedo so that i can start to swim again. i had dinner at helen's with sarah and then we went down to this little jazz bar in sinchon. it was not live music, but it was cute and fun to sit and visit. the beverages were pricey though. we each had one and then went to starbucks to people watch. while we were at the jazz place though we heard all this commotion in the street down below so all peeked out the window to see a group of people banging on drums doing the farmer's dance which is a traditional korean art. it was awesome and wild that they were just right there in the streets performing. they walked around the area. i got to take some pictures so that was cool.

on saturday i woke up early to join a few ladies for a trip to dongdaemun where the fabric market is. oh my, so many fabrics! a crafter and sewer's dream come true! this building was many floors and each one just jammed full of all kinds of fabrics, ribbon, beads, buttons, etc. you name it, i am sure it could be found there. it was wild and crazy! i bought a couple of necklaces and some cotton webbing to make a few belts. i did get a few swatches of fabric because i want to have some pants made. after the market we all went our own ways, so i made my way back to sinchon on the subway and walked around. i went in the stationary store and got some little things. i went to visit my little friend who sells food on the street whom i have bought from. he makes toast which has eggs and veg that he grills like an omelette and then grills bread to put it all on. it is yummy! i say hi to him whenever i walk by and when suzy is with me he does talk to me. he does not speak much english at all, but he always smiles when i order in korean. :) he is the this little old guy. i will have to take a picture with him some time. i love buying food from him. i then went to starbucks for an afternoon drink and to eat my toast. i ran into geoff, another 4th grade teacher who is also new this year. we were able to visit and hang out. then tim and kieran came by as well. tim is the head teacher of the british school and kieran is his son and is in the 10th grade. it was great to run into these folks and visit. then we all headed back to campus as the lysos were having an open house. i went down to the field to watch the youth soccer for a bit before going over for the open house. some of my kids were playing so i cheered them on and said hi to the parents! it is nice to be right here and able to see the kids playing. then i headed over to the lyso's for dinner. they had yummy food and i was able to visit with my little friend, florence. she is soooo cute! much of the staff was there so i got to visit with lots of people. then i went over to suzy's for my party. she had made lots of snacks.....includinig homemade kimbap (like sushi rolls, but better). she also had bread, cheese, fruit, a cake, and dips. WOW! it was awesome! lots of people came and we just got to hang out and visit. we played taboo towards the end of the night which was lots of fun! i had a blast visiting and laughing with all the people who were able to come. yeah for new friends!

sunday we went to starbucks and then to church. church was really good this week----we were reading nehemiah. reading about his commitment to pray. it was good to stuff. i am also going to start small group leader training this next week at church. i would love to start a small group for the ladies soon. i need that time of fellowship with other women. i am also praying about going to another small class on the mercy missions at onnuri. onnuri is involved with three orphanages here in seoul and they go to minister to these children. they play with them and hold babies. i think this would be a great experience and i would love to get involved. the training is in a few weeks so i will see what happens. after church i got my hodak treat at the corner. yeah for treats. then we went to lunch at KFC. yes, kentucky fried chicken. wyatt had a craving so we all decided to let him have it. i had a twister which is a couple chicken tenders wrapped up in a tortilla with lettuce, sauce, and peppers. it was good. western food is moe expensive than korean so i just got the twister and not the meal deal. we sat outside on a bench and were able to see the riot police come out in swarms for something going on at city hall. there was no problem, just lots of riot police. wild scene. when we walked down to get back on the subway a whole pack of the riot police were walking in the underground. it was crazy but i was not worried at all. jamie needed a hair cut so i went with her to edae to get her hair done and ended up getting my hair colored too. it is fun. really dark brown with a big blonde streak in it. very different but i like it. lots of comments and compliments. :) when jamie and i got back to campus we went to eat dinner at suzy's. she had lots of leftovers from the party. then i went to work for a little bit to get somethings sorted out. i came home and worked some more on my computer and then jamie came over for tea. we got to visit some more and hang out. i also wanted her to not stay at work any longer. she has a habit of being in her classroom all the time so i had to entice her to leave. :) yeah for hanging out!

monday was just monday! my allergies have been really acting and by the end of the day i felt pretty crummy. i did not feel good and felt pretty cold. i had to go out for a bit as i promised melissa i would show her where the hair place was. i had toast on my home to get some sort of food in my body and warm me up a bit. i was really cold walking home. once i got home i felt yuck so i asked to feel my head and tell me if she thought i was warm. she said that i felt a bit warm. i called phil, the sub guy, to request a sub and the went down to my classroom in PJs to write down some plans for tuesday. viola, i was going to stay home. i hated to, but knew i needed it.

tuesday i stayed home. i have slept most of the day. my friend amy told me to drink lots of fluids so any time i have been awake today i am drinking something. i feel better from all the rest i got so i am hoping that will do the trick for the rest of the week. next week i have inservices monday and tuesday and then the rest of the week is holiday for chu-sok, korean thanksgiving.

i also learned this morning that on monday (my tuesday) mom had to put Little Bit down. complete sadness. she had gotten much sicker over the weekend and the doctor said her lungs were really filled up with fluid. so mom had to make a decision and one she said was the most difficult in a long time. pray for mom and little bit! i know that she is in a much better place. she is the only dog i know who knew how many licks it takes to the get to the center of a tootsie pop. :)

sorry it took so long to update the blog. i know i still have pictures to put up as well. it is coming......

i know, i know, i know......

it has been almost a week and a half since my last post.........please forgive.......i have all the details jotted down in a notebook. i am going to blog this weekend............i promise! if not you can come hunt me down........ hee hee...........

tomorow makes....

6 weeks of living in south korea! i cannot believe it has been that long. it is amazing and weird all at the same time. some days i still feel like i am living in texas and some days it feels like i am not really living in a foreign country. i am thankful for this experience and journey that God has brought me on. living here and meeting so many people from all over the world is an experience of a lifetime. i feel as if my vocabulary changes daily. things are going great.....seoul is wonderful and challenging all at the same time. :)

the countdown.......

94 more days until i come home for the christmas holidays..........................

wonderful wednesday...

today was a great day! my kids and i were able to be productive and get lots done. we had been working on a few assignments and they were able to catch up on those today. we have our first math test tomorrow. i have been really good about communicating with parents this year. i have been really proud of myself. we use an online server like deal to communicate with parents so that makes it really easy. i can log in and shoot all my parents an email to inform them of what is going on. so nice! i created a study guide for the math test too which i put on edline for the parents to use with their kids. :) yeah for school going well. we have been talking about HOPE during devotion time and referencing the verse jeremiah----jeremiah 29:11. we have had some really good conversations about it. i have been really amazed. then i got an idea from another teacher for the kids to create acrostic poems with the word hope. i have been in awe of how insightful and creative they are. i have had some really deep poems. wow! go God!

after school i tutor a 6th grader from the british school. it is nice to get to work with him. his name is jake. we are working on writing. :)

then i came home and rested for a bit before heading back out to do some visiting. i went by the mills' home (where i played yesterday) to share some facts and information about cicadas. there are tons here and isaac (he is 5 yrs) has been really fascinated with them. they do not have them in england. he had collected the exoskeleton of one off a tree and thought it was dead. i explained what it was and that the part he had was just the outer shell. so today i printed off some information about the cicada from yahooligans. he was thrilled when i showed him the pictures and the papers. he will soon be an "expert" on them. :) i then went to visit my good friends the dornbachs. i have mentioned them before and you have seen pics of them on the photo page. i laugh so much at their house such a joy to hang out with them.

i came home to have suzy drop by. i made myself a quesadilla........yum! she had already eaten, but i was cleaning out my veggies and had some potatoes that i needed to use. she volunteered to make "chips" (french fries) with them in the oven. they were awesome and it was great to hang out with her. we have been able to share and be more real with one another which is a blessing. she also assisted me in making a salad and a sandwich for my lunch tomorrow. yeah for friends! thanks God!

sam and i are now chilling on the couch............i am going to spend the rest of the evening loving on sam and india and snuggling. maybe the three of us will watch some friends episodes.....i am almost finished with season one. mmmmmmmmmm......then what?!??!?!

FYI----down to only 2 more whole wheat flour tortillas!!!!!!!! cannot wait to come home for some more...........................

also, costco does not have anymore special k red berries.......thank God i got some when i did.

the beginning of the week.....

monday was good. you know typical monday.....never really excited to be dragging yourself out of bed, but you do it anyway. :) once you get moving you realize that is best that you not stay in bed. the weather here has been amazing. the highs have been in the low 70's and the lows at night in the upper 50's, lower 60's. i love it! so nice to be so fresh and crisp outside. as i post this blog it is 75 degrees at 8:30pm which honestly is warmer than it has been the last few nights. the leaves are slowly beginning to turn lovely shades of orange, red, and yellow. just the beginning though. last night i went to itaewon with kelly and suzy for some pampering. i got a manicure and a pedicure. suzy and i then did some really light shopping---got myself a cell phone which is not great compared to home, a few groceries and some dinner. suzy and i ate at a stall on the street. i had fried mandoo (like a dumpling) and we shared some dawk in red sauce. it was pretty hot, but i drank lots of water. suzy had some sausage looking things that had pig's blood in them like pudding or something. she eats about anything. it was really yummy and i even communicated with the lady to pay. yeah for learning korean! then i treated us to hot deok on the way home (the cinnamon, sugar filled pancake thing). this guy smiles at me when i order b/c i order in korean. he gets a major kick out of my korean. :) at least i seem to brighten his day.

today was good. lots of planning time to get ready for school. i was able to be really productive so that is great. i got a free love seat and a chair for my classroom reading area. they were going to be thrown out b.c they were old. they look and feel fine so i snagged them for my room. my kids were thrilled. i just hope that they fit into my new classroom. i move there in about 3 weeks............yeah! it should be an adventure. we get to take a tour of the new floors thursday after school. i am anxious to see what it will be like. this afternoon i had a "play" date with my little english friends---florence, isaac, and arthur. they wanted me to play yesterday but i had already made plans so i asked if i could come play today. i went over about 4:15 and stayed until 7:20ish. we had great fun! i also had dinner with them as well which was nice. the kids are magnificent and really fun to hang out with. i had a great time with them and am looking forward to playing with them again soon. :)

now i am going to watch some more friends, but might also watch some scrubs season 2. not sure....cuddling with sam and india are top on the list too.

Last weekend......

sorry for such a delay...........please forgive me.

let's see last friday i had swim squad with elementary kids right after school and it was great! i had the beginner group and it felt really awesome to be back in the swimming realm. we had a great time and they worked really hard. i cannot wait to see them again this friday. i am really glad that i signed up to help with this. :)

after swim squad my principal invited the ES staff over for pizza at his house which was nice. i never knew people put corn on pizza.......koreans do. then a group of us went out bowling which was really fun. we played two games and it is just like bowling back in the states. i scored a 63 the first game and a 108 the second. not bad since i have not bowled in ages. we laughed a lot which was nice. then i headed home as i was tired. the week had worn me out.

saturday my friend helen and i went on a tour to chungju lake which was about a two and a half hour bus ride southeast of seoul. it was free tour put on by seoul selection, an organization that caters to foreigners. we rode down then got on a ferry to go across the lake. we ate lunch at this little house place that was fantastic! i loved the food. we had bibimbap, a rice dish. it was very authentic as we had to take off our shoes and sit on little woven bamboo mats at the table that was short to the ground. good fun! after lunch, we went to a traditional korean like village that is now a historical site. there were lots of llittle buildings and such. we heard traditional korean music under a gorgeous painted roof of a pavillion. the colors in the roof were beautiful. the weather was a bit damp and cool, but tolerable. it was a nice day. i did not get back to school until 9:20ish on saturday night and began the day at five to seven am. i was tired, so i came home to cuddle with my kitties and watch friends. yeah!

sunday i got up and went to church----had my sunday traditions of starbucks on the way and hot dawk after. yummy! church was good. i learned a new song titled--"majesty". it was good. i found out monday afternoon that i actually have the song on my computer and the version i have is by delirious!. small world. sunday afternoon i spent napping and watching friends. resting. then as usual a group went for dak-galbi. yeah!


i am in the process of pictures. i promise to not be too tardy. patience please!

being thankful.......

today made for an interesting day. i was homesick today....i wish i could see and hang out with my family and friends. i did get to IM with paul which was nice and comforting. i think the stress of Back to School Night made the day a bit hard. i was prepared and everything was in place so i am not sure what all the havoc was about.

after school today i had a really close call. i was cutting paper on the paper cutter when all of a sudden i pulled the cutting part down on my finger full strength. i hit my left pointer finger with the blade. it hit on nail and i instantly was in pain. i closed the cutter, shut my classroom door, held my hand above my head and walked calmly to the nurse's office in the elementary building. OUCH! i did not bleed but i know have a big, nasty looking bruise on my nail and finger. Nurse Ko tells me that i am really lucky that is did not cut off part of my finger. i have been told in the past that i have really strong nails, so i am thankful for that otherwise i would have had to go to the ER. it does hurt and it throbs regularly. i have had ice on it all evening. i chunked the ice right before parent night.....figured that might look weird. i am going to lose my nail i am sure which is never fun! ugh!

after my injury i had to go to discipleship. this is the group of 9th grade girls that i have chosen to lead with another teacher every thursday afternoon from 4-5pm. it was great to see them even though i was wiping tears from my near finger loss experience. we had great conversation and great time of prayer! i felt better after hanging out with them today! i pray that the group will become a safe place for the girls to exploe their faith and a relationship with each other as well as God.

Back to School Night went really well. i had all but 2 parents show up. it was great to meet them all and share with them my goals and expectations for the year. it was a very positive experience and it was good. i was able to visit with some of the parents which was really nice. thanks for your prayers about this for me. they worked!

first clothing related purchase

this evening suzy invited to me to go shopping with her in Edae (near the women's university). it was fun.....suzy bought a new outfit which is really cute by the way. then we walked over to the hyundai department store (foley's like store). suzy did some shoe shopping and found a great pair. they had to order the right size, so she has to go back in a week. we then got to have a sweet treat of hot-daughk (i have no clue if i have spelled it correctly). yummy! we walked around the sinchon area just poking our heads in and out. i made my first purchase which was this cool gray hat. love it and it was only 10,000 won. i will have to take a picture in it. so to answer your question which i know you are wondering-----Korean people's heads are the same size as Americans. :) good times!

after the shopping suzy and i went into this little Korean restaurant.....not far from the dak-galbi place we go on sunday. suzy had to read me the options and then i narrowed them down for her and let her pick. i had spicy seasoned pork with rice. it was good, just pretty spicy. we also had some fried mandu. yum! dinner was really cheap---oonly 10,000 for both of us. yeah!!!

just around the way from dinner was this little Korean lady selling flowers out of a pseudo kind of shop. her little place was the size of a large closet and her flowers were in buckets just outside the door. she was really nice and i got a nice bunch of small, light yellow little daisies. they are really cute! i also got a pedicure tonight to get ready for back to school night tomorrow. it was not the best one i have ever had and i won't go back to that shop, but whatever. suzy and i had fun making small talk with each other.

tomorrow is back to school night so i would ask that you think of me and say a prayer. i am anxious a little.......i think just the newness and meeting parents and all.

photos...

i have not had the chance to get the new pics uploaded to the site yet. things have been a bit out of sorts with back to school night tomorrow. promise by the end of the weekend they should be there. :) i have not even had a look at them as they are still on my cameras.

thanks for your patience! :)

sadness.......

I was in shock this morning when I learned of the Crocodile Hunter's death. At first I didn't believe it, but was quickly reassured that it was true. Such a great loss from the world of education. He really had a passion for teaching folks about wildlife. It does seem likely since he did dance with danger so often, but a great tragedy to die at such a young age. I pray his family will be able to be comforted during this time of grief.

deep thoughts about Friends

I have now watched half of the first season of Friends. I am really having a great time and laughing lots. Each time I watch I see myself more and more in Phoebe. Her earthy, natural, artsy personality reminds me of myself. Although I do not say as many random things as she does I think I most relate with her. All of you might think I do say lots of random things....I have no idea. Good times are had when watching Friends! I even tried my skills at guitar Saturday at the beach and I really felt like Phoebe then. My guitar skills are limited.....very limited! :)

napping........my new hobby

Monday was a really long day. Nothing abnormal I just was really tired. It was great to see my kids and get to love on them some more. I got home from school though and I was just wiped. I talked to Paul for a few minutes before he went to bed and then I curled up on the couch. The weather has really cooled off and it makes great napping. I woke up about 6:30ish to answer the phone and then snuggled in my bed after that. Next thing I know it is 9:00pm!!! Yes I took a three hour nap! Whew! I stayed awake for 3 or so hours.......talked to Katie, ate some dinner, watched 2 episodes of Friends and then went back to bed. Surprisingly I was able to sleep through the night. I felt really rested this morning when I woke. YEAH for REST! Woo Hoo!!!

Weekend Tidbits

Buffie was watching the cats over the weekend for me and she discovered Saturday morning that they had been a bit naughty. They somehow broke one of my green striped plant pots and there was soil everywhere. My kitties are so mischievious! I guess they just really missed me.

Sunday night I met Jeff, Nicole's brother, for dinner in Sinchon which is near the school. We had not gotten to visit since we last went to lunch. We both have been pretty busy since then. It was really nice to hang out with him and catch up. Happy Birthday Jeff! His birthday was on Saturday! :) He also needs a congratulations as well as he is getting pinned as a CHIEF on Friday, Sept. 15th. YEAH!

TAECHON BEACH...

We had a faculty retreat this past weekend in Taechon Beach. We left Friday afternoon and it took about 3 hours by bus to get there. Friday night we stayed at a condo-like hotel resort place. It was nice. I got my first true cultural experience. In the room there was a bedroom with a regular western style bed and the other room was empty. I did quite understand it, but later that evening someone explained that Koreans like to sleep on what is called a "yo" which is a traditional Korean style bed. Basically it is a fluffy mat not as dense as a futon mattress would be, but just as thick. I stacked two on top of each other and then took the comforter and laid that on top of those. It was quite comfortable! I thought it was really cool too. I took some pics of my bed that night....so check out the pics section. Saturday morning there were more sessions that the speakers had for us. Then we had to pack and eat lunch. The retreat was over, but there were quite a few people who wanted to stay one more night down at the lodge that the school uses a lot. At the lodge it was great. The rooms had 4 bunk beds so all the single ladies stayed together which was fun! That afternoon we had loads of free time to hang out, go to the beach, or take a stroll around the area. One of the middle school teachers who is Korean was going to the Korean mud baths there. After inquiring about them I decided to take the giant step outside of my comfort zone to experience another traditional Korean activity. The baths are seen as a social place where women get together and visit with friends. The catch to the whole deal is that all the women are naked. Weird at first I know, but I just stop over thinking the whole deal and just did it. Sunny was really nice about being patient with all my questions and inquiries. We had a great time! There are showers, a hot bath, a sea bath, a mud bath (muddy water) and a sauna. After we took a soak in each one and sat in the sauna, we took a cool shower to rinse off and then painted ourselves with mud. Then we just got to sit around and wait for the mud to dry a bit and let our skin soak all the good minerals and such in. Everyone seemed quite shocked that I liked it so much. Most people aren't as brave from what I gather. I just decided that God loves me just the way I am and I should celebrate that. It was a very liberating experience for me. After the bath, I went down to the beach, took lots of pics, and then walked around. It was nice to get out and breath in the fresh air. :) Taechon Beach is known for good seafood.....especially really fresh seafood. So a group of us decided to take a walk in search of somewhere to eat dinner. Most of the places look the same---they all have many tanks full of live fish, crabs, eels, and such swimming around out front of the restaurant. Many of the places also had the short tables where you sit on the floor. We finally decided on a place that had chairs and with the help of friends YunJin and Suzy who were kind enough to order for us. We had a crab like stew which the crabs were removed from the tank near our table shortly after we placed our order. To some degree this was a bit disturbing to me. I have no problem eating meat or anything, but I am not a fan of being able to look at it swim around becoming some what attached and then to see it get taken out of the tank to go in a boiling pot of water. I just would rather not witness the murder first hand. Then we also had all sorts of clams which we cooked on our table. My favorite Korean dish so far was also included which the name I have a hard time remembering how to pronounce, but basically it is a pancake like thing with veggies and such. This one also had seafood in it, most noticeably squid. Not really a fan, but was hungry so I got over the chewy quality of squid which I do not really care for. It was quite a pricey meal, but worth it. The crab was ok---really challenging to get out the meat. I did not like the clams---too chewy.

After dinner we headed back to the lodge and some folks went off in search of firewood for the campfire on the beach. We decided to have it on the "back bay" which is more secluded area and it was quiet. After getting the fire going we sang some praise music and relaxed. It was nice.

Sunday morning we had great breakfast that some of the folks volunteered to make----pancakes and bacon with eggs. Yummy!!! I really liked the pancakes. After breakfast people meandered down to the beach to hang out. I loved the bath so much that I went back for round two on Sunday just before lunch. I went alone this time and had a great time just being solitary. Nice, quiet, and relaxing. There were some older Korean women there, but it was not that busy at all. I felt so refreshed and healthy afterwards. A great way to spend a Sunday. Lunch came next and then the bus ride back to school...................

I had a great weekend.......the beach was nice and it was really fun to get away and hang out with people without being "on the hill". I took lots of pics so be sure to check them out.

Last week

I cannot believe that it has been a week since I have updated my blog. Sorry to those of you who are avid readers.

Last week seem to fly by and there were lots of things to do. Tuesday I had dinner with Sarah and Buffie. Sarah made burritos and they were really yummy! Wednesday I ate dinner at home and tried to get some much needed rest........I have become an expert napper since I arrived here. I watched some more episodes of Friends. So funny! I cannot believe I didn't watch it on TV at all, but that goes back to my not owning a TV I am sure. It has been great to laugh and chuckle. I have been lloving getting to know the characters from the beginning.......I never knew Rachel's whole story about her being attached to her parents financially. Great stuff. Thursday night I had an invite to go eat at my pen pal's house for dinner. Her name is Christy and she is an awesome cook. She supposedly just "whipped something together"......right. It was a pampered chef recipe and it was really good. She made a chicken, broccoli and cheese like stuffing and then wrapped in all in homemade croissant bread. WOW! So yummy! I was able to visit with her and her husband which was really nice to get to know them better and have good conversation.

Thank God for the people who are here at SFS that have just been really great about creating time to get know each other and fellowship with others. :) Yeah!!!

School is going well. My kids are great and the routines are getting better with each new day. I have volunteered to help with the elementary swim squad on Friday afternoons. I am excited about this and hope to get to know some kids better. On Thursdays I am co-leading a discipleship group of 9th grade girls. I hoping that God will help me grow as a leader and be more confortable with hanging out with high school kids and talking about God with them. :) We have Back to School Night on Thursday and I am busily trying to prepare for this night of excitement. I am hoping it goes well and I would ask that you pray for Back to School Night and that all goes smoothly.

another day gone by.....

well i am finally feeling a bit on top of things. i left school today about 5:45ish and felt prepared for tomorrow which is a first for me here. it was a nice feeling and i am hoping that as more time passes that i will continue to feel this way. i have afternoon recess duty this week. it is nice to get out of my "cave" to the sunlight. :) i also get to know the kids which is a huge plus as well. :)

for dinner this evening suzy invited me over to her house. she had some chicken from the weekend and then she made rice and these pancake/crepe like things that are korean. they are really yummy....she puts veggies in them and they are my favorite so far. :) she is going to teach me how to make them soon. we then had some cake that her friends had brought over to her. it was good as well.

i am exhausted as i did not sleep very well last night----too much Starbucks. they do not have decaf here so i have been naughty. i am going to get some rest tonight.....i hope. :)

i would love to hear from you all........the in's and out's of your life.....please update me!!!

it is monday morning here......

woo hoo.....another busy school week begins here in seoul!

photos....

i have uploaded more photos so please check them out...................
happy having a look!!! :)

tis already over....

it is hard to believe that once again the weekend is already over. it has been good though. productive, restful, and full of fellowship.

i was really glad for it to be friday....the first full week of school and it was busy. friday was also our first payday......yeah! friday night the new teachers had to put on a skit for our penpals and other folks from school. that went really well. afterwards the school took us out for bulgogi, which is traditional korean food. although the place was really, really busy the food was ok. we also had bibimbap (a rice dish) which was good. i sat with new friends and got to know some folks more which included my penpal, christy. the evening was followed by a long wait on the curb for the school bus to take us back to campus. once back at SFS, i went home and called it a night. i was exhausted and went to bed at 9ish.

saturday began with a trip to costco with some other folks. i needed a few things and also had some requests from buffie to pick up some dried blueberries. :) wyatt, suzy, kelly, and nate went on this trip. the highlight of the trip for me was finding the special k red berries cereal which is my favorite!!! woo hoo!!!! then i got home and still needed to get some cat food so i went for a scooter ride with my neighbor sarah down to the local neighborhood grocery store, sahruga. we ordered sandwiches at this little shop across the way and went to the store while she prepared them. fun fun fun! the sandwiches were really good........i am definitely going back to this place. :) cafe dough is the name. yummy! i took a two and a half hour nap after lunch and then piddled around my apartment. it had started to ran pretty hard while i was sleeping which made the nap so nice. :) i then learned of another group that was headed to Tesco, very similiar to Target. i went along on this trip as well. i know it may sound as if all i have done is shop, but more than that it is a chance to get off the school hill and get out around town. you take when you can. both costco and tesco are easier to get to with a car and i do not have a korean license so when other folks invite you go along. at tesco, i bought a small rice cooker which suzy is going to give me proper instructions on how to use. i also got some other little things i needed. i did buy the first season of friends on DVD so i can watch something when i need a giggle or two. yeah! in addition i purchased a new litter box for my cats that has the lid/house thing on top. 40,000 won!!!!!!!!! the friends DVD was cheaper than the litter box.........i could not believe it. i would have continued to use the old one but they had been slinging litter all over the floor. :) at the end of shopping we treated ourselves to chocolate milkshakes and large fries from mcdonald's which is inside tesco. it was good. this is the first time i had eaten mcdonald's in korea.

this morning i ventured out to church---onnuri. the same place as last week that i felt so great about. the group grew this week by two people which made for a fun time! we walk to the subway and on the way grab a starbucks on the way!!!! :) the service was amazing again this week. i cannot believe how connected i feel when i am there. the music and the message are really good. WOW! i went to the visitors table this week to get more information and to fill out contact infomation. i am anxious to find ways to get involved more there in the community. i also saw two of my students there which was great! how nice it is to attend church somewhere they are also going. it was really a great feeling. i had my first korean snack today---it is like a pancake/pita with honey like stuff inside. it was really good and cheap too! i do not know what they are called, but they are really tasty!!! mmmmmmm............

we ate lunch in the area near ewha womens university. we had korean and i ordered my lunch today with suzy's korean tutoring right before. :) it was fun!!! it was fried rice with veggies and chicken then an egg on top. it was good and very filling.

after lunch suzy and i went shopping in the area near the university. we had a good time shopping even though i was not really able to do much shopping. suzy is a little korean girl from england and she is considered pretty average here in korea. she said that she thinks she wears about 1 or a 2 in US sizes for pants. as you can imagine with this bit of information i and the average american woman are considered large. most of the time i have heard if i were to walk into a shap that say "no lar-gee" and redirect you out of their shop. it is quite frustrating. today since i was with suzy, they did not say anything to me. i would have never gone into a shop without her to divert the sales folks. :) most places do not even carry clothes above a size 4 or 6. i found an american apparel today and was quite excited about it. we went in and suzy asked if they had any larger sizes in womens. only small and mediums..........ugh! that is ok though i realize that i do not need to shop for clothes here. i can have some things made if i need something in particular. we went to the hyundai department store which reminds me a lot of foley's. it was good....i did try on a pair of low top converse sneakers but they were too big. it was fun to walk around and see what all they had there.

we met for deok-galbi this evening as we have been doing each sunday since i have been here. it was yummy! after dinner, we went just a couple doors down to baskin robbins. good stuff!!!

i am at home reflecting on my weekend and trying to get to bed early. :)

i have added many pics from the weekend to the photo link, so be sure to check it out!!! :)