Sorry to everyone for not keeping you more informed over the past two months. I neglected to tell you a lot of important stuff, like going on the overnight teachers' trip to Everland and how I spent the Lunar New Year holiday. I'll try and work harder to keep you up to date. :)
It's been a really good weekend, so far, though it's almost over now. Yesterday, I met Eunbae for lunch and we went shopping in his hometown of Byeongjum afterwards. I met Dahea and Young-ah around 4 to plan for the start of our English Sunday School class at church and we spent about an hour over coffee working on it, which was fun.
Afterwards, Eunbae and I got a large carton of Baskin Robbins ice cream and ate the entire thing while watching a movie. I should also mention that I got four bags of cookies/chocolate from church friends for Valentines Day and several pieces of chocolate from a few students. I love it when I get things from my students. hehe
Today, I got up much earlier than I'm used to - 7:30. I wanted to make sure I had something to eat since I would be teaching and I'm usually dead Sunday mornings at church. I had a chance to eat and get a Caramel Cafe Latte from my favorite cafe, Haru Coffee, before Young-ah's dad came to pick me up.
Despite it being our first time leading SS, it went really great. I had enough food and coffee to make me sufficiently crazy during game time and energetic enough to lead songs with actions and give a 15 minute message. Honestly, though, I was out of breath after the game and song leading. hehe
It was really neat and everyone said that we all did well. Dahea translated and Young-ah and I did a short English program. It also felt great to have energy while at church, something I'm not used to. hehe
I decided to leave early, during the afternoon service, to catch the bus home and now I'm glad I did. Hyunjoo was meeting a friend in Osan and we ended up running in to each other at the bus stop(she had left church earlier). I don't get to talk with her much so it was really fun to talk for about 20 minutes as we went back to Osan.
After parting with Hyunjoo, I was walking towards Lotte Mart when I heard someone call my name. I turned around and Young-soon and her boyfriend Gyeong-sup were in the car behind me in the ally. They told me to jump in and they would drop me off at Lotte. It was really neat since I don't get to see them much but I really enjoy them.
And that was how my day went up to this point - it's nearly 4 pm. Now I'm thinking I might go out and shoot some basketball(what I went to Lotte for) before dinner. Then maybe relax with some gaming. Who knows. Don't forget to check out my facebook for pictures when I update. If you need a link, leave a comment. ;)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
E.T.
Would be me. According to my student anyway. In my last class tonight, a student told me that I was E.T. and, of course, how could I not be flattered by such a compliment? She then clarified to let me know it stood for English Teacher, not extra-terrestrial. What a relief.
Yes, they're random. Yes, they're crazy. Yes, I love them. :P
Yes, they're random. Yes, they're crazy. Yes, I love them. :P
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Musings for the New Year
It's hard to believe how fast time is going and that 2009 is here already. I made a lot of mistakes in 2008 and I'm quite sure I'll make a lot in 2009. It's a whole new experience living on your own and making all your own decisions. I've encountered a lot of challenges and a lot of exciting experiences and a lot of failures along the way.
It's weird when you're the one who's responsible wholly and completely for every hour of your day not spent working. You decide if you go to church Sunday morning after staying up too late Saturday night, you decide whether or not you read your Bible every day and there's no one there to ask you if you did it, and the list goes on. It's a lot of stuff that I was responsible for anyway, but it's different when you're not accountable to anyone except God.
There have been rough weeks where I didn't spend near enough time seeking God or when I got to church an hour late but I think that when you start a life on your own, there are so many new challenges that it takes a while to iron things out and I hope that some of those things will be fixed in the New Year. It's tough putting into words what it's like. Those of you who have recently moved out on your own know what I mean. ;)
I already have some worries and concerns, though, about my contract ending in September. I know that I should be home for Christmas and hopefully Thanksgiving, as well. But I can't help but worry about returning to the States, even though it's so far away. I was just talking about it with a friend today over lunch.
One of the things I'm dreading most is that I've got to go through the whole process and uncertainty of finding a new job, getting a new visa(and that whole process), and getting settled in somewhere new with a totally different way of doing things. I'm even uncertain about how I would find a job from the States for the small town that I live in. I'm sure God will lead and direct, though, according to how He wants me to act.
I'm also concerned about settling into a life in America that could last several months. When you live at home, you can be independent, but your lifestyle mirrors that of your family. When you move out, you take on and form a completely new lifestyle separate from what you had with your family. It becomes uniquely yours.
My first experience on my own was here, in Korea. Therefore, the lifestyle that I've formed and become comfortable with is very Korean, since I am immersed in the culture in a way that very few foreign teachers would ever be. I eat Korean food every day, have my favorite restaurants, formed hobbies that are Korean, go to a Korean church on my own, have become more comfortable with chopsticks than with a fork, etc. I can't imagine the culture shock and the potential stress of returning to a different life than what I've become used to.
Anyway, enough of that. I have a few goals for the New Year. It's been a little rough getting settled in on my own and there are things that I would like to change in this new year, 2009. First and foremost is to keep my focus where it should be, seeking after Christ. I've found out just how important that is over the past few months.
Another goal is to really improve my Korean so that I'm comfortable communicating in a variety of different ways.
One goal that I'm already working on and have gotten much better with is having a better sleeping and rising schedule. The 3 am to 11 am schedule wasn't conducive to a healthy style and after a lot of lecturing from my friends here, as well as my family, I've already gotten to where I'm averaging a 1:30 to 10 sleeping schedule, which is a step in the right direction, right? ;)
Finally, a very important, and probably the most difficult, goal is to be more spiritually pure. I want to be more confident in my witness and never ashamed of my Christian faith. It's too easy to not bow your head over a meal when you're the only one doing it in a group of people or in a crowded restaurant. Another is to keep my witness pure by not engaging in things or saying things that could bring damage to Christ's reputation. I know that some of the language I use in Korean sometimes is not pleasing to God and it's often hard breaking those habits. But I want my life to be above reproach and my speech is an important part of that and is an area where I have often failed. :(
I know, however, that with God's help, He will lead me to victory in all areas of my life. I pray that this year is a year where God can use me in a way that He has never used me before and my life is a living testimony of the saving power and sovereign will of God.
It's weird when you're the one who's responsible wholly and completely for every hour of your day not spent working. You decide if you go to church Sunday morning after staying up too late Saturday night, you decide whether or not you read your Bible every day and there's no one there to ask you if you did it, and the list goes on. It's a lot of stuff that I was responsible for anyway, but it's different when you're not accountable to anyone except God.
There have been rough weeks where I didn't spend near enough time seeking God or when I got to church an hour late but I think that when you start a life on your own, there are so many new challenges that it takes a while to iron things out and I hope that some of those things will be fixed in the New Year. It's tough putting into words what it's like. Those of you who have recently moved out on your own know what I mean. ;)
I already have some worries and concerns, though, about my contract ending in September. I know that I should be home for Christmas and hopefully Thanksgiving, as well. But I can't help but worry about returning to the States, even though it's so far away. I was just talking about it with a friend today over lunch.
One of the things I'm dreading most is that I've got to go through the whole process and uncertainty of finding a new job, getting a new visa(and that whole process), and getting settled in somewhere new with a totally different way of doing things. I'm even uncertain about how I would find a job from the States for the small town that I live in. I'm sure God will lead and direct, though, according to how He wants me to act.
I'm also concerned about settling into a life in America that could last several months. When you live at home, you can be independent, but your lifestyle mirrors that of your family. When you move out, you take on and form a completely new lifestyle separate from what you had with your family. It becomes uniquely yours.
My first experience on my own was here, in Korea. Therefore, the lifestyle that I've formed and become comfortable with is very Korean, since I am immersed in the culture in a way that very few foreign teachers would ever be. I eat Korean food every day, have my favorite restaurants, formed hobbies that are Korean, go to a Korean church on my own, have become more comfortable with chopsticks than with a fork, etc. I can't imagine the culture shock and the potential stress of returning to a different life than what I've become used to.
Anyway, enough of that. I have a few goals for the New Year. It's been a little rough getting settled in on my own and there are things that I would like to change in this new year, 2009. First and foremost is to keep my focus where it should be, seeking after Christ. I've found out just how important that is over the past few months.
Another goal is to really improve my Korean so that I'm comfortable communicating in a variety of different ways.
One goal that I'm already working on and have gotten much better with is having a better sleeping and rising schedule. The 3 am to 11 am schedule wasn't conducive to a healthy style and after a lot of lecturing from my friends here, as well as my family, I've already gotten to where I'm averaging a 1:30 to 10 sleeping schedule, which is a step in the right direction, right? ;)
Finally, a very important, and probably the most difficult, goal is to be more spiritually pure. I want to be more confident in my witness and never ashamed of my Christian faith. It's too easy to not bow your head over a meal when you're the only one doing it in a group of people or in a crowded restaurant. Another is to keep my witness pure by not engaging in things or saying things that could bring damage to Christ's reputation. I know that some of the language I use in Korean sometimes is not pleasing to God and it's often hard breaking those habits. But I want my life to be above reproach and my speech is an important part of that and is an area where I have often failed. :(
I know, however, that with God's help, He will lead me to victory in all areas of my life. I pray that this year is a year where God can use me in a way that He has never used me before and my life is a living testimony of the saving power and sovereign will of God.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I've been tagged by Rachel
So I'm gonna do this crazy picture thing. hehe
This was Christmas 2005 and is, overall, a bad picture of everyone in it. lol
We were decorating the basement Christmas tree with the three Korean girls who were staying with us at the time. In this picture is Sarah, Me and Youngsun, and she would kill me if she knew I posted it. :D
Can't tag 6 people cause I don't know that many on blogger. lol
1. Go to your "My Pictures" file.
2. Select the 6th folder.
3. Select the 6th picture.
4. Post that picture and explain it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same thing!
This was Christmas 2005 and is, overall, a bad picture of everyone in it. lolWe were decorating the basement Christmas tree with the three Korean girls who were staying with us at the time. In this picture is Sarah, Me and Youngsun, and she would kill me if she knew I posted it. :D
Can't tag 6 people cause I don't know that many on blogger. lol
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
My first Christmas in Korea!
Christmas stayed pretty busy, which I was glad about. My first Thanksgiving was memorable at being totally forgotten about by everyone but me and totally devoid of family, which was depressing. Thankfully, I actually enjoyed this holiday, a lot. :)
The holidays started with Christmas parties at school. For every class last Tuesday, I bought big packs of chips and snacks and a bottle of Chilsung Cider(like Sprite) and we just played games or colored pictures all class, depending on what class it was. I had fun in all of my classes that day, for the most part, and it was an easy day for me.
That evening, the 23rd, the teachers all met at Cassie's apartment after work at 10 to have a little Christmas party before our four day vacation. We ordered in chicken, the others drank wine and beer(I had coke), and we talked, laughed, and played lots of Jenga. We ended up heading home a little after 2 am but it was a great time together as coworkers and something we don't do enough of, I think.
Christmas Eve morning, I slept in late and then went out shopping to get a present for Gichon, who's name I had gotten for the secret gift-giving. I took the 4:40 bus to church and shortly after arriving, I went back out with the guys to get some ramen since we were hungry and bored while the praise team(all the girls) were practicing.
The evening ended up being a real blast. We started out with some Christmas songs, followed by the children's Sunday School program, which was really cute and there were about 4 plays throughout the night. After the service was finished, we all headed downstairs for some food. The table was spread with Deok(rice cakes), fried chicken, soup, fruit, various kinds of bread, mandoo(dumplings), and Gimbab. After stuffing ourselves, we all headed to Young-sun's house.
Once there, we played games, ate Christmas cake(a Korean Christmas tradition), talked and exchanged our gifts. Young-sun got my name and got me a very soft green pillow cushion. At 1:30 am, we headed out to go caroling at all the churchmembers house. At the first house, we got a big bag of snacks, at another place we got a huge bag of tangerines. At Dahea's house, we all went in and ate a cake roll and drank plum tea and at Jin's house(who's family has now left for America :( ), we went in for some coffee. We finally got back to Young-sun's house at 3:30 and finally got around to sleeping at 4:00.
The next morning, we had to get up around 9:30 for the 11:00 Christmas service so we could prepare. The praise team had to practice their songs and I had to practice with our little group for the Christmas cantata. It was a nice service with some praise songs, the cantata, and a message. We had the traditional holiday food rice cake mandoo soup for lunch, which was really good and prepared in a special, especially delicious way. After lunch, we just hung out at Young-sun's house and most of us took a nap for a couple hours and I finally headed home around dinner time.
It was a wonderful time and I loved being able to spend so much time with my friends. I don't know what I would do here without them.
And now to the rest of my holiday vacation. On Friday, I took the 1:00 bus to Bundang, Seongnam City to meet an old Homeschool Friend student(Edwin) that I had become close to but never met in person. I met him at the huge and well-known church(for homeschoolers), Global Mission Church. After I grabbed some lunch, we headed to a pc room to do some gaming together.
After sudden attack for two hours, we caught the bus to his house and happened to be on the same bus with his dad. His family is very nice and his mom made bul-go-gi especially for me since she knows it's my favorite and told me to come often since they are like family, which was amazing since it was the first time I had met any of them. lol
We played some cards and listened to some music before heading back out again. We met a friend of Edwin's and went together to a Sauna where we spent the night. In the morning, we ate breakfast out and headed to a pc room again where we played sudden attack for about three hours. After lunch at Subway, we went to a karaoke room(my idea) and sang our lungs out for two hours.
We got some coffee afterwards at the most amazing cafe in Korea. It's called Cafe De Gortieu and I had the best coffee(caramel mochiatto) that I've ever had in Korea. And it was for an amazing price. Due to a campaign because it's a new cafe, we got two for the price of one - $3.50. After coffee, we gamed for another two hours, had pizza, and I caught the bus for home. It was a great time and I hope to do it again sometime in the future, if not just for that amazing coffee. lol
Sunday was pretty normal and yesterday was very boring. I had a whole day with absolutely nothing to do. Everyone was working except me so that left me all by myself to watch tv and play computer games all day. Felt like a very unproductive day. hehe
It's kind of nice being back at school again, but the stress of work is there again. Mostly because we've got a lot of stuff to worry about right now. It's report card time(haven't nearly finished), schedule-writing time, have to write a bio for the new school website, and we're starting a totally new schedule from tomorrow. It's stressful getting new classes when you've gotten used to how you've done things with other classes that you're comfortable with after 3 months. Of course, many of them are the same but there are many new ones, too.
One kind of nice thing is that I start at 4 everyday with no breaks, rather than starting at 3 three days a week with a one hour break in between two classes. Time goes much faster when the classes are back-to-back as opposed to having an extra hour to do nothing, which makes the night feel longer.
For now, I'm looking forward to another holiday the day after tomorrow, followed by the staff trip to Everland on Friday and Saturday. I'll update you as those happen. Sorry for the long post and I'll hopefully get pictures of Christmas Eve soon.
The holidays started with Christmas parties at school. For every class last Tuesday, I bought big packs of chips and snacks and a bottle of Chilsung Cider(like Sprite) and we just played games or colored pictures all class, depending on what class it was. I had fun in all of my classes that day, for the most part, and it was an easy day for me.
That evening, the 23rd, the teachers all met at Cassie's apartment after work at 10 to have a little Christmas party before our four day vacation. We ordered in chicken, the others drank wine and beer(I had coke), and we talked, laughed, and played lots of Jenga. We ended up heading home a little after 2 am but it was a great time together as coworkers and something we don't do enough of, I think.
Christmas Eve morning, I slept in late and then went out shopping to get a present for Gichon, who's name I had gotten for the secret gift-giving. I took the 4:40 bus to church and shortly after arriving, I went back out with the guys to get some ramen since we were hungry and bored while the praise team(all the girls) were practicing.
The evening ended up being a real blast. We started out with some Christmas songs, followed by the children's Sunday School program, which was really cute and there were about 4 plays throughout the night. After the service was finished, we all headed downstairs for some food. The table was spread with Deok(rice cakes), fried chicken, soup, fruit, various kinds of bread, mandoo(dumplings), and Gimbab. After stuffing ourselves, we all headed to Young-sun's house.
Once there, we played games, ate Christmas cake(a Korean Christmas tradition), talked and exchanged our gifts. Young-sun got my name and got me a very soft green pillow cushion. At 1:30 am, we headed out to go caroling at all the churchmembers house. At the first house, we got a big bag of snacks, at another place we got a huge bag of tangerines. At Dahea's house, we all went in and ate a cake roll and drank plum tea and at Jin's house(who's family has now left for America :( ), we went in for some coffee. We finally got back to Young-sun's house at 3:30 and finally got around to sleeping at 4:00.
The next morning, we had to get up around 9:30 for the 11:00 Christmas service so we could prepare. The praise team had to practice their songs and I had to practice with our little group for the Christmas cantata. It was a nice service with some praise songs, the cantata, and a message. We had the traditional holiday food rice cake mandoo soup for lunch, which was really good and prepared in a special, especially delicious way. After lunch, we just hung out at Young-sun's house and most of us took a nap for a couple hours and I finally headed home around dinner time.
It was a wonderful time and I loved being able to spend so much time with my friends. I don't know what I would do here without them.
And now to the rest of my holiday vacation. On Friday, I took the 1:00 bus to Bundang, Seongnam City to meet an old Homeschool Friend student(Edwin) that I had become close to but never met in person. I met him at the huge and well-known church(for homeschoolers), Global Mission Church. After I grabbed some lunch, we headed to a pc room to do some gaming together.
After sudden attack for two hours, we caught the bus to his house and happened to be on the same bus with his dad. His family is very nice and his mom made bul-go-gi especially for me since she knows it's my favorite and told me to come often since they are like family, which was amazing since it was the first time I had met any of them. lol
We played some cards and listened to some music before heading back out again. We met a friend of Edwin's and went together to a Sauna where we spent the night. In the morning, we ate breakfast out and headed to a pc room again where we played sudden attack for about three hours. After lunch at Subway, we went to a karaoke room(my idea) and sang our lungs out for two hours.
We got some coffee afterwards at the most amazing cafe in Korea. It's called Cafe De Gortieu and I had the best coffee(caramel mochiatto) that I've ever had in Korea. And it was for an amazing price. Due to a campaign because it's a new cafe, we got two for the price of one - $3.50. After coffee, we gamed for another two hours, had pizza, and I caught the bus for home. It was a great time and I hope to do it again sometime in the future, if not just for that amazing coffee. lol
Sunday was pretty normal and yesterday was very boring. I had a whole day with absolutely nothing to do. Everyone was working except me so that left me all by myself to watch tv and play computer games all day. Felt like a very unproductive day. hehe
It's kind of nice being back at school again, but the stress of work is there again. Mostly because we've got a lot of stuff to worry about right now. It's report card time(haven't nearly finished), schedule-writing time, have to write a bio for the new school website, and we're starting a totally new schedule from tomorrow. It's stressful getting new classes when you've gotten used to how you've done things with other classes that you're comfortable with after 3 months. Of course, many of them are the same but there are many new ones, too.
One kind of nice thing is that I start at 4 everyday with no breaks, rather than starting at 3 three days a week with a one hour break in between two classes. Time goes much faster when the classes are back-to-back as opposed to having an extra hour to do nothing, which makes the night feel longer.
For now, I'm looking forward to another holiday the day after tomorrow, followed by the staff trip to Everland on Friday and Saturday. I'll update you as those happen. Sorry for the long post and I'll hopefully get pictures of Christmas Eve soon.
Long time no blog...
Sorry everyone, it's been a long time since I've written, I know. Life has been busy and I've gotten lazy, what more can I say? :P
I've had a good past two weeks and an even better Christmas. Two Saturdays, I went skating with some friends and two little girls from church. I also happened to run into a little girl from school who was skating with her friend. I ended up having four little girls push and pull me around the rink for an hour. It was a blast. :D You can check out the pictures on my Facebook.
Anyway, I'll leave it at that and post a separate post for the Christmas holiday time, it's bound to be long. :P
I've had a good past two weeks and an even better Christmas. Two Saturdays, I went skating with some friends and two little girls from church. I also happened to run into a little girl from school who was skating with her friend. I ended up having four little girls push and pull me around the rink for an hour. It was a blast. :D You can check out the pictures on my Facebook.
Anyway, I'll leave it at that and post a separate post for the Christmas holiday time, it's bound to be long. :P
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