One Month!!

I have officially been in South Korea for one month. I can't believe it!! While it took awhile to get adjusted to my new life here, I'm still amazed by how much time flies. It definitely doesn't feel like I've been here for that long already. I've already had so many great experiences, and I anticipate having many more.

I woke up early this morning to get on Skype and talk with Nicole, one of my wonderful friends back in Orlando :) It was such a great way to start off my morning. I love being able to connect with people and swap stories and catch up on life and ask for prayer-all over Skype :) It has definitely become something that I've looked forward to since I've been here. Since I'm on "Summer Vacation" for five days, I have a number of Skype dates lined up back-to-back with my friends and family back home. It has just been so good to hear from people. I left Orlando about a month and a half after I graduated from UCF, so a lot of my friends were still in the process of finding jobs and figuring out their next steps. It's such a blessing to Skype with them now and hear how God has worked in their lives and provided for them. New roommates, new cities, new jobs. It's all so exciting, and I love that I'm still able to be a part of it from far away :)

Shannon, one of my friends from Wesley, is going to be joining me in Korea on August 16th. Technically, she LEAVES on August 16th, but with all the layovers and changing flights and the time change, I assume I'll see her around the 19th, once she gets settled in. She's teaching English at a different private school than me, about 20 minutes away. It's so good that we will be living near each other, and it will be nice to see another familiar face :)

It was another rainy day today. It wasn't the torrential downpour like it has been; just a steady rain. From what I hear, Monsoon Season typically ends at the beginning of August. I'm hoping that in the next few weeks I'll be able to enjoy some sunshine and nice weather. :)

Buster :)

Today was the second day of my summer vacation. Again, it was a pretty uneventful day, but it was productive at least.

I did laundry for my second time since being here, and it has proven to be quite a task. I only have a washer, no dryer, so when my clothes are finished, I have to find a place to drape them or hang them so they'll dry. By the end of the second load, I have to get pretty creative about where to hang my clothes. I have the clothesline on my indoor balcony, so that works for most of my shirts, but my tank tops and shorts are another story. By midday, I had clothes covering my whole apartment from the balcony to the bed frame to the bookshelf! I opened both windows, which caused a pretty good draft. The clothes were done drying after about three hours. Now, my clothes are clean and back in their respective places, ready to be worn again. I've decided that bi-weekly laundry days will suffice :)

Nail polish here is extremely cheap. It's only 80 cents for one nail polish, and it's good quality polish, too. It doesn't chip off or crack like some polishes do in the States. I bought six nail polishes when I got here because that's something I didn't pack. (It was intentional. I made the assumption that I could find nail polish in Korea, and needed the extra space in my suitcases for more important things.) However, I do always like having my nails painted. As much as my mom hates it, my favorite color to wear is black :) No reason in particular; it's just my favorite. Anyway, I've made it a tradition that every weekend I paint my nails a new color for the week, depending on my mood. I've gone through light blue, light pink, red, and purple. Today, I painted my nails lime green. SO FUN, RIGHT?!

Buster is my (not-so-white) teddy bear that I've had since I was really young, maybe even since I was born. I'm not really sure. He went everywhere with me when I was younger: in the car, on trips, to daycare. Then, the day arrived for me to leave for college, and Buster went with me :) I'm not sure why I got so attached to Buster, but I think it's more about carrying good memories with me. Even now, Buster is here with me in Korea. I think it's good to have sentimental things, especially when I'm in another country. I was told before I got here to bring a few things that would remind me of home. Buster is definitely one of those central "things" so it was no question that he was coming to Korea. Another item I cherish is a photo album. Three of my friends, Aleah, Kate, and Dave, put together a photo album for me when we had my "Jamie's Going Away To Korea for A Year and We'll Miss Her" party :) It's a photo album of all our memories since we've known each other. Under each picture are funny captions and reminders of great memories. I've looked at that photo album three times already since being here. I just love being able to have special things with me that remind me of home and the people I cherish. :)

Jena :)

Today was the first official day of vacation, and it was pretty uneventful for me. I slept in which was so wonderful, and didn't have to wake up to an alarm!! :)

I braved the weather and ran a few errands that I had been putting off all week. I showed up at Lotte Mart just before they opened...and I'm so glad I did. There was an employee standing at the door, holding everyone off from going inside, but the sliding door was open. I looked inside, and all the employees were preparing for the day: They were in the middle of the store in two long lines facing each other. They were clapping and singing a song (in Korean, of course). I was really enjoying the show, when it got even better!! This really loud music started playing, and all of the employees suddenly started doing a fast-paced workout. They were doing jumping jacks and bending down and touching their toes. They were switching places with one another and punching the air with their fists. This only went on for about a minute, but it was so awesome :) Then, they all stopped, went to their places in the store, and the employee at the door signaled for us that we could come in. I'm just so glad I got to experience that. That's the first time I've ever heard of AND actually seen something like that. I wonder what it would be like if more people started their mornings off like that :)

My next stop was the local market near my house. I just needed to pick up some milk. It's a little more expensive there ($1.20), but it's more convenient since I live close-by, and the milk can stay cold on my quick walk home. In smaller markets, there is typically a store employee walking around with a microphone yelling about what sales they have that day. And by yelling, I do mean yelling. I was hoping I could just run into the market and grab the milk I needed and check-out quickly, but I got stuck behind a lady doing a month's worth of grocery shopping. Therefore, I had to stand there and listen to the man RIGHT NEXT TO ME yell into the microphone about the fresh fruits and veggies that were on sale. I'm not typically bothered by the store yellers, but today, I wasn't appreciating it very much.

I got to Skype yesterday with my older sister, Jena. It was nice catching up and swapping stories and whatnot. She's just really wonderful, and I love her a lot. :) I just can't help but think what a completely different experience I would be having in Korea if it weren't for all the technology I have available. While I can't call home to family and friends, I have access to email, Facebook, my blog, and Skype. It's so nice to still feel really connected back home by keeping up with everyone halfway around the world.

Bill.

My 5 days of Summer Vacation has officially begun-WOOHOO!! My schedule is already super laid-back, but it will be nice to sleep in and relax and not worry about anything for a few days :) We're still in the middle of Monsoon Season, so that's been wonderful...It's pretty much been raining since I stepped off the plane. We've had a few dry days here and there, but otherwise, torrential downpours. I realized pretty soon after I arrived that my pink, travel-sized umbrella just won't do in this weather. It's convenient that it's travel-sized, but not so convenient that it doesn't completely cover me when it's raining.

I'm very fortunate that I live on the 3rd floor. There has been so much flooding here which is scary. A lot of the really bad flooding is in Seoul, where cars are underwater and the streets are flooded. The mudslides have been the worst. In a small town nearby, CheonCheon, a group of students were staying in a hostel when they were swept away in the middle of the night. Within the past 48 hours, we've had the amount of rain that typically falls in June and July combined. Please keep South Korea in your prayers over the next week!!

One of my 7-year-olds, Bill, made a huge improvement today in class. When he came to the hagwon, he didn't know any letters of the alphabet. He was struggling a lot, and wasn't fitting in with any level of our classes. All our students are pretty advanced, so he was just put in the lowest class. Over the few weeks that I've been here, it's been quite a struggle for him. In Speaking class, he tried to memorize what other students said so he could pretend to know what he was doing. It was obvious that he wasn't really learning though. His parents have gotten him an extra tutor on top of his academy AND hagwon tutoring, and it has obviously paid off. Today, we had a reading test. I gave the students a passage to read from their books. He read every single word correctly, ON HIS OWN!! It was such a victory!! I was so excited for him! We high-fived, and Bill's three classmates clapped and cheered for him. It felt so good. It definitely made my whole day. I bragged about Bill all day today, and told everyone how proud I was. It was a wonderful teacher moment for me :)

Immigration...

I went to bed pretty early last night, so naturally, I woke up early this morning. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got dressed and headed to the coffee shop down the road. This coffee shop has quickly become one of my favorite places to go on my free time. It's a small coffee shop on the corner, about halfway between the school and my house. It's so cozy and quiet. There's a set of stairs at the back that leads to a small loft. (It reminds me of somewhere from a movie!!) Today, I took a book with me and had coffee and read in the loft for about an hour before class. It was a wonderful start to my morning :)

My middle school lesson today was about going to the doctor. We talked about different body parts, how you make an appointment, and typical dialogue between a doctor and a patient. For our activity, I paired up the students: one was the doctor, one was the patient. I gave each group a card, describing an ailment. Their assignment was to create a dialogue between the doctor and the patient using the ailment they were assigned. Then, they had to present it in front of the class to practice their speaking. All of the students did really well, and of course, there were some who went above and beyond. I paired up two students, David and Bart. Out of the entire class, they are definitely the best speakers and can understand English better than their peers. I gave them a card describing a broken leg from a football injury. I expected they would give the patient crutches and put a cast on their leg. Little did I know what they had in store. Their solution to a broken leg was to call up the surgeon and have the leg amputated. What else should I expect from a group of middle school boys, right? It was a really fun class. Their grammar and pronunciation was excellent, so I can't complain :)

Darren gave me all the information I needed to go to the Immigration Office today to apply for my Alien Registration Card (ARC). I needed my passport, my medical papers, a photo ID (of course), a paper from the school proving my employment, and 10,000 won (or about $10). Darren printed off directions for me about where to go. The paper said I had to take a bus from work and ride for "approximately 67 minutes," and "go through 33 bus stops" before I reached the Immigration Office. Darren also told me that I would probably have to wait in line for about an hour, too, so I should bring a book or something. SO RIDICULOUS!! Fortunately, I have back-to-back breaks and planning time on Tuesdays, which totals about 2 1/2 hours, so Darren told me to go during that time. I opted to take a taxi instead of the bus.  The taxi ride took about 20 minutes, and I only paid about 8,000 won each way. Not bad!

I went to the Information Desk when I got inside, where I was directed to an office down the hallway. I took a number and went to the paperwork counter to find out what I needed to fill out before my number was called. I walked up to the table and said, "E-2 Work Visa?" The lady looked at me and said, "No English." I was so clueless. Then, I heard a voice behind me say, "What is it that you need?" I turned around, and there was a guy about my age, SPEAKING ENGLISH!! Turns out, he has been teaching for 11 months and was at the office to submit paperwork for leaving the country after his contract ended. He told me exactly what forms I needed and actually helped me fill them out. He knew how to read Korean WAY better than I do, so he was more than helpful!! Also, my number came up after about 30 minutes, so I didn't have much time to wait at all. All in all, my Immigration Office experience went a lot more smoothly than I anticipated. The only downside to the whole thing is that it takes a month to process, so I won't get my ARC until after August 26th. That means, I STILL won't get paid for another month...It's a good thing I can access my American bank account from Korea because I didn't anticipate having to bring enough money to last me this long :)

Vacation Time!

On Monday and Wednesday mornings, I teach a class of one: his name is Clinton, he's 12 years old, and he's the son of the director of my school. Clinton has two private classes back-to-back with me, and then one private class with Beth. In my two classes, I just teach him speaking. We go somewhere outside, and just sit and talk. It gives him a chance to practice his English. Today we walked over to McDonald's and had a conversation for over an hour. Our conversation drifted from ghosts, to scary movies, to soccer games, to family. Clinton is one of the best English-speaking students in the school, so carrying on a conversation with him is not difficult at all. Every now and then, I'll correct his English or help him out with a word he can't think of. It's a really great way to teach English, actually. It's natural speaking, rather than learning from a book. The conversations that take place are very practical and realistic. I'm hoping that with all the positive feedback from this class, more will be created for other students. We'll see...

I've learned something interesting since being in Korea. People are very open about "sharing" their families and watching out for them. It's not uncommon to see people asking to hold babies or a waitress at a restaurant wiping a child's nose. Today, I was crossing the street from the school, and I was waiting at the curb. A little girl, about 3 years old, came up beside me and just stood there. I looked around to see who she was with, but I didn't see anyone coming towards us. The light changed, and it signaled for us to walk. The little girl looked up at me and put her hands up in the air, wanting to be picked up. I looked around again, and made eye contact with a woman, pushing a stroller, obviously the little girl's mother. She smiled and just waved at me, signaling me to pick up the little girl. So, I picked her up and the crowd of us walked across the street. I was super excited that I got to hold a little girl, but her mom didn't think it was a big deal at all! I told Darren about it later, and he said that's common. He said everyone watches out for children here. I told him how crazy it would be in America for you to pick up a small child or ask to hold their baby. Things are just different :)

I have my first vacation coming up!! This Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, I have a break from school. I thought at first that it was some sort of Korean holiday, but I learned differently today. Apparently, it's just a random break in the middle of the summer semester. The public schools are still in session, but all the private schools (hagwons) are out for those days. Works for me!! :) I'm not sure what I'm going to do quite yet, but I definitely want to take advantage of the long break. I'd like to travel somewhere, so we'll see.

Many reasons to smile... :)

Today was a happy, but somber day at the same time. Today, I remembered my dad, who passed away when I was only 16. I went to a church around the corner from my house and lit a candle for him. This affected me a little more than usual, probably because I'm alone in another country. In previous years, I've been able to surround myself with my family and friends, making the day a little bit easier. After my quiet time and some extra prayer time today, I was reminded of how truly fortunate I am. God has blessed me time and again, and this has given me many reasons to smile:

-I can smile because I have a really wonderful family who has supported me every step of the way in my growth and walk with God. They have continued to love me no matter what, and believed in me when I doubted myself.
-I can smile because I have the greatest group of friends who have never abandoned me, even when it sometimes seemed easier to just walk away.
-I can smile because I'm part of the Wesley Foundation in Orlando; a family who has continued to hold me accountable and pray for me on this new journey.
-I can smile because I'm having the opportunity of a lifetime, teaching English in South Korea for a whole year!!
-I can smile because God loves me and is continuing to use me in ways that I never could've imagined :)

"I smile when I think about
The way You've turned my life around.
I smile when I think about
The happiness in You I've found.
I'm so amazed at what Your love has done,
And when I think the best is yet to come,
I smile!"

I Smile, by Russ Lee

Transformers 3 in 3D :)

This morning, Tommy and I made plans to go see the Transformers 3 movie later on tonight. I hadn't seen the first two, and he had them at his apartment, so we decided to have a movie marathon!! I met him at Suwon Station, and we took the bus to his place. We stopped at a bakery (Paris Baguette) on the way and bought a delicious pastry :) We watched Transformers 1 and 2 back to back, and then headed over to Suwon Station to grab some dinner and go to our movie.

When you buy your movie tickets, you pay for the ticket and actually reserve your seat in the theater!! The available seats show up on the screen, and you select how many and which ones you want. It was really cool. We bought tickets for 3D and the ones where your seats move. (There was a miscommunication at the ticket counter, so we ended up getting the moving seats. We hadn't planned on that.) It ended up paying off big time in the end!!

By the time we got to Suwon Station, we had about two hours to kill before the movie so we walked around and looked for where we wanted to eat. Since it was a Saturday, everyone was out, and it was pretty crowded. Tommy ended up getting some food at a vendor, and I got some chicken nuggets at a nearby store. We ate our dinner and headed upstairs to the 6th floor where the movie theater is. We still had over an hour, so we stopped in at Dunkin' Donuts for some dessert :)

The movie was SO GOOD!! I'm really glad I saw the other two because it made a lot more sense than it would have. The 3D was an awesome extra effect and having our seats move was way cool. At first, it was kinda lame, and Tommy and I were laughing about it. But once the movie got going, our seats were shaking when the really crazy scenes happened, like when the Transformers were fighting, or the helicopters were flying in. So. Good.

Today was wonderful and just what I needed. Sunday is going to have to be a pretty productive day for me. I have a to-do list that needs to get checked off before another week begins.

Korean Babies :)

On this new Summer Schedule, I have a very relaxed Friday. I teach one class, and then I have a 2 1/2 hour break before I have to teach again. Today was very productive for me!! I taught my first class, then went grocery shopping, picked up some lunch, and went home. I ate lunch, watched some tv, cleaned up the house and put all my groceries away. Then, I headed back to work, taught two more classes, and then had another 50 minute break. Then, I taught my last two classes for the day :) Pretty easy, huh?

My first class of the day is my middle school Speaking class. They are so wonderful, and I have so much fun with them. It gets a little crazy sometimes because it's all boys, but they try really hard and participate. What more can I ask for? Today we learned about how to make plans with someone over the telephone. I divided the class in half. We rearranged the room so they were on opposite sides of each other, so they could face one another and "call." (Darren walks by periodically during each class just to make sure everything is going okay, and there aren't any behavior problems. He seemed a little surprised today when he walked by and the boys were standing up and "calling" each other across the room. Normally it's pretty quiet in the classrooms.) Anyway, the boys were really shy about picking up their imaginary phones and calling each other, so I made them start "calling" me every time they had a question. They would keep trying to get my attention until finally they would say, "Ughhh!! Jemmy Teachuhhh!! Ok. I calling youu!!" And I would look over, and if they had their imaginary phones to their ears I would answer their question. This only took a few times before they realized I wasn't kidding about the whole phone thing :)

Once they started making plans with each other, they really got into it. I had given them a pretty general outline to follow as far as addressing one another and how to ask to make plans with the other person. However, about halfway through class, one of my students, Bart, got really creative. Another student, Ben, asked Bart if he wanted to go to a movie on Saturday, and Bart said, "No. I am busy. Sorry, bye!" Everyone thought that was HILARIOUS!! So, I used that as a teaching moment. I told them that when they make plans with people, sometimes it won't work out or you will have to decide to do something else. So, we added to the lesson that you could say you were busy, but you still had to decide on other plans. It was really fun :)

I love babies...a lot. Especially the ones with really big puffy cheeks and lots of baby fat. Well, let me just say that I've seen the most ADORABLE little babies in Korea. I was going up the elevator today, and there was a little girl riding up with her mom. I'm pretty sure my heart melted. She had one ponytail on the top of her head, and her hair was sticking straight up. And her cheeks looked like big marshmallows. She kept smiling at me, and she only had two teeth. OHMYGOSH!! I may or may not have one of my very own in my carry-on back to the States...

Tomorrow, Tommy and I are going to see the new Harry Potter movie. I'm really excited!! My students have been ranting and raving about the movie since it's come out, so I think I should probably see it :) Plus, movies here are super cheap, even in 3-D.

Hershey's Dark Chocolate

Yesterday, my middle school students learned about "asking and giving directions." I printed off really basic maps of a pretend city for each one of them. We talked about the cardinal directions, what a "block" is, one-way streets, across from, beside, and between. I chose two places on the map and asked them to get from one place to another. After they mastered a few of these examples, we did some role-playing. I paired up the students and asked them to come up with a conversation where one of them was lost and was asking the other for directions. Some of the students did really well!! They were very creative, and included a lot of detail in their examples. Later that day, I overheard a conversation in the hallway. It started off in Korean, and then one of them said, "Ya? Excuse me, would you give me directions please?" and then both of them laughed about it. That was one of the lines I taught them in class earlier. Whether they were making fun of what we learned in class or not, either way...THEY LEARNED!! I'd call that a success :)

Today, I taught my middle school students how to have a conversation with someone they have just met. We went over introductions, what is appropriate and inappropriate to ask when talking with someone, and how to bid them farewell. We started off by creating a list: appropriate and inappropriate topics to discuss when meeting someone. The students were kind of quiet at first, so I broke the ice by giving some examples. I told them, "In America, it is not okay to ask someone how old they are, how much they weigh, or how much money they make at their job." I got really surprised looks, and then a student said, "No. It's ok for Korea. I weigh 55 kg. It's ok." I was shocked!! They also said it's okay to ask people where they work, if they're married or not, and about the President. While making this lesson, I assumed that there would be a few differences here and there, but not THAT many!! I asked Darren later about it, and he told me that the students were right. In Korea, you can ask about anything. They are very open about their lives.

My elementary students were pretty tough today. They were really unfocused and very talkative. By the time my lunch break rolled around, I was exhausted and pretty frustrated. Apparently all the classes were like that because the Korean teachers were talking about their students as well. Maybe there was something in the air today. I don't know. I went to lunch and was able to take a break and get away for a little bit. I had some extra time left over, so I wandered across the street to Lotte Mart just to look around for awhile. I was walking the aisles in the scrapbooking section (one of my favorite hobbies!!), and I stumbled upon the most wonderful thing. A random pack of Hershey's Dark Chocolate kisses was sitting on a shelf next to the scrapbooks. I hit the motherload. I knew it was meant to be. First of all, I didn't even know they HAD delicious American chocolate here, let alone in the aisle where I was looking!! I just had to buy it. So I did. And for some crazy reason, my day just got 1,000 times better! :)

Korean Sun :)

This morning, I woke up really early to go to Suwon Medical Center to pick up my test results. I was out of bed and in a taxi on my way to the hospital in about a half hour-record timing!! Everything at the hospital went smoothly. They found a doctor who spoke English, and she explained all my test results to me. Even though they all said, "Negative" for drugs and everything, she felt the need to tell me what every drug on the list was. Oh well, she was really nice :)

I ended up getting dropped back off at my house around 9:15, which gave me about an hour and a half before I had to be at work. I stopped at a coffee shop and read a book for a little while. It was very peaceful. Today was the first day since I've been here that the sun was out, and the weather was actually warm, and I SAW THE SUN!! It was a nice break from the torrential downpours we've been having.

Today, my middle school students learned about "Clothes and Shopping." I decided that for this lesson, we would get really creative. I had each of my students make up a store name and list the products that they sold. Then, each student went "shopping" at their peers' stores. This taught them how to have a conversation while shopping: how to ask where something is located, how much something costs, how they can pay (cash, credit card, check), what sizes they have, etc. The students LOVED it!! I gave them my example before we started and said, "Welcome to Jamie Mart. I sell clothes and sports equipment." At first, they all copied my store name, but used their own name instead. I made them all start over and be really creative. We ended up having a variety of stores to choose from; from motorcycles and speed boats to trousers and backpacks. I'm really loving these Summer Lessons we're teaching. I feel like the students are learning so much more than just what the textbook gives us. It also allows me to be really creative, too, which I love!! :)

"It's a bed bug, Teachuh!"

I have a new teaching schedule for the next month. Instead of working 2:15pm-9:45pm, I'm working 10:50am-7:20pm. It's nice coming home from work when it's still light outside :) Our kids have a month-long summer break from their academies, so we were able to move our hours around so they could still come to our hagwon for English tutoring.

During this month, Darren told Beth and I that we could break away from the traditional curriculum for the middle schoolers and teach our own lessons. We decided that every day we're going to choose a topic and teach Speaking class with that. Today, our first topic was "Restaurant." For my middle schoolers, I decided to teach them how to order food at a restaurant, what the role of restaurant workers are (host/hostess, waiter/waitress, chef), and how to invite someone to your favorite restaurant. I had the students stand up and present in front of the class. They were really shy at first, but once they realized that they were all in the same boat, they eased up a little bit and started enjoying themselves. I also had the students do conversations with their partners, which is something they rarely get to do. At their academies, they typically just sit in class all day and listen to their teacher. The Speaking lesson today was really successful, and I'm excited about tomorrow. We're doing Shopping and Clothing :)

For the older elementary students, we have been watching short movie clips and talking about common lines and phrases that are used in English. I was in the movie room with my students watching a clip from Ratatouille today, when I heard shrieking from down the hallway. I assumed there was a behavior problem with one of the younger kids. Boy, was I wrong!! After class, Beth came up to me and told me to look at something one of her students had brought in that day. One of her boys had a jar, and he was unscrewing the cap. Beth said, "You have to check out this bug!!" Well, I don't really prefer bugs at all, so I started wigging out before I even saw it. The student said, "It's a bed bug, Teachuh!!" So, I assumed it was something small. Either way, I don't like bugs, so I was a few feet back. He opened the jar and moved the dirt around. Inside, I saw the largest beetle I've ever seen in my entire life!! It was about 3 inches long and had horns coming out of its head!! The student shoved it up in my face, and I started screaming for him to put it away. All the other students in the hallway were just laughing at Beth and me. When we were back in the Teacher Room, I told Beth I could hear her students screaming from down the hallway. She said, "Oh no, they weren't screaming. That was just me." Apparently, the student had taken the bug out to show the class, and it was crawling up his arms and over his hands.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going back to Suwon Medical Center to pick up my test results from my check-up last week. Once I have been cleared medically, my next step is to fill out the paperwork at the Immigration Office so I can get an Alien Registration Card (ARC). With the ARC, I'll be able to open my Korean bank account, hopefully just in time for my first payday :)

The Frypan :)

I did laundry for my first time since being in Korea. I only have a washing machine, no dryer, and all the buttons are in Korean. It was very interesting trying to figure out what I was doing :) I rigged up a shower curtain rod on the back porch and hung hangers from it so I could dry out my clothes. (Dad, you would be proud of my contraption!!) The detergent was powdered, which I've never used before, and again, the instructions were in Korean. I guessed at how much I would need and just hoped for the best!! My first load came out great, so I guess I'll keep doing what I did :)

Tommy called me this afternoon, and we decided to meet up at Suwon Station for dinner and a movie. My subway stop is only two stops from Suwon Station, so it should've taken me ten minutes tops to meet Tommy. However, I have no sense of direction, so I got on the wrong subway and rode in the wrong direction for a good twenty minutes before I was able to get back on the right one. Anyway, about 45 minutes later, I met up with Tommy. We went to the movie theater to see if there were any spots left to watch the new Harry Potter movie. It was only 13 dollars to see the Harry Potter movie in IMAX and 3D!! Wow!! We ended up not seeing the movie though. When you buy your ticket at the machine, you actually reserve a seat in the theater. When we looked at the seats, the only ones left were in the first two rows which would've been pretty miserable. We're gonna go see the movie later this week :)

Tommy took me to a fried chicken place that he said was the best in town: The Frypan. He was right!! They bring you a huge platter of about 15 chicken tenders, sitting on top of a pile of crispy potato chips. It is definitely some of the best chicken I've ever had. They gave us a really delicious (mah-sheet-so-yo!) dipping sauce, too. YUM! It was a nice break from the Korean food I've had for almost every meal so far. I'm glad I've been introduced to it :) It was good to get out to another part of town today. I can't wait for what's in store tomorrow!!

"Mah-tah-toom!"

Thank goodness it's Friday!! Woohoo!! Today was a really relaxed day, especially after working through midterms the past two days. I had a few really funny encounters with my students today:

1. I wore my pink Ron Jon shirt, and on the back it says, "I don't do mornings." My middle school students didn't know what that meant, so I was trying to explain it to them. One of them said, "How you not do mornings?" I explained to them that I'm not a morning person. They said, "Ohh!! Tired?" So I explained that I don't have energy in the mornings. They said, "You not sleep?" So I explained to them that I'm just not happy in the mornings until I am completely awake. One of the students starting speaking in Korean to the rest of them. Their response, "Ohhhh!! Hahaha!" I asked what was said, and a girl replied, "It means you lazy, yes?" I guess I wasn't successful with THAT conversation! :)

2. When I went to Suwon Medical Center earlier this week, I had my blood drawn for testing. Just like last time, I developed a huge bruise from the needle. One of my younger students saw it today, pointed at me, and said, "mah-tah-toom!! mah-ta-toom!" I asked him what he was talking about, and he grabbed his arm where my bruise is. I said, "oh, hospital! doctor!" He looked really upset, so I asked him what "mah-ta-toom" is. He said, "fight!" and started punching the air. I realized that he thought I had gotten in a fight and went to the hospital. Oh geez...I explained it to him, and he felt much better :)

I'm definitely going to have to keep learning Korean so I don't have these little misunderstandings with my students. They end up being funny, but we struggle sometimes in understanding each other. It's all part of the learning experience, I guess :)

At the school, we have an empty classroom called "Room 5" which is the punishment classroom for students. If they act up in class, they are sent to Room 5 where they have to do extra work, and their parents are called. (A lot of the students think Darren is mean because he's the one who's typically monitoring Room 5.) Anyway, today I saw something that I haven't seen before. There were four students standing in the hallway holding chairs over their heads. They were there for about 7-8 minutes. I asked Darren about it later, and he told me that if the students are really disrespectful they have to stand in the hallway and either hold their arms over their heads or hold a chair over their heads as punishment. It obviously works, because the students straightened up really quickly after that.

I really hope it stops raining for at least a few hours this weekend. It will be refreshing to see the sun and maybe get outside for a little bit :)

Korean T.V.

We finished up midterms today, so that's a huge relief!! I know all the students are glad it's finally over. I had mostly lower-level students today, so the speaking tests were a major struggle. For the most part, everyone did really well.

Yesterday, Darren surprised the teachers and bought us chicken wings during one of our breaks. It was a nice little pick-me-up before we continued with midterms. Plus, it was free dinner, so we didn't have to spend any money! :)

Last weekend when my Internet was set up for me, the man couldn't get the cable service for the T.V. to work. He said the line was clear, so it was obviously a problem with the T.V. itself. Well, we finally figured out what the problem was, so now I have cable T.V. Woohoo!! There are a few stations in English, which is a relief, but all the rest are in Korean...obviously. There are a few news shows, a movie channel, and then a channel that plays really popular shows from the States, all of which are in English. As I was flipping through, I stumbled upon NCIS which is my all-time favorite show!! It's in English, with Korean subtitles :)

This may sound completely disgusting, but I've become addicted to Korean Instant Coffee. I'm talking single-cup packages of dry coffee, mixed with hot water. Stir it up and voila! Coffee :) Before coming to Korea, I think I would've considered myself a coffee snob, only wanting the best coffee like Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. Now, I will swear by this instant coffee. They do have regular coffee shops here, but the instant coffee is really good. Plus, you can buy 20 single packs for really cheap at the store. Why not??

As I've mentioned before, Koreans HATE cheese, so none of their food comes with cheese. I've found myself craving cheese on multiple occasions: mac n' cheese, grilled cheese, ham and cheese, just cheese. I think one of the foods I miss the most is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Shannon, my friend who's coming to teach with me in about a month, promised to bring me a box of my very own!! I can't wait for that day!! (I'm excited that she's coming to Korea, too...) ;)

Midterms, Schmidterms...

Today and tomorrow my students are taking their midterms. Midterms consist of speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

For the speaking test, we meet with each student individually for about five minutes. We ask them to read sentences from a page, look at a series of pictures and make up a story about them, and discuss broad topics like their favorite sport or holiday and ask them to explain why. All of the questions vary depending on their level of English.

For the listening test, the students listen to a CD and mark down answers in their workbooks about questions that are asked of them, or blanks that are to be filled in, based on what the speaker said.

For the reading test, the students read through a series of passages and answer questions about them. It's very similar to a typical standardized test.

For the writing portion, the students are given a list of topics, and they are asked to write as much information as they can about that topic. Also, there are a few questions they are to answer as well, using all their knowledge of the English language.

This is pretty tough stuff! I was shocked today when I found out what all went into the midterm. My first class of the day is two 6-year-olds, Matt and Willy. They couldn't even get the concept of reading one packet and bubbling in answers in another packet. Luckily there were only two students, so I was able to sit right there with them and point to where each answer should be marked.

It was really interesting to me to see the difference in the students when midterms rolled around. As any normal school would have, there are your troublemakers, your lazy students, your overachievers, and your sleepers. Well, come midterm time, EVERYBODY was on top of their game!! There were no behavior problems today whatsoever. They were all really focused and attentive. This is definitely a good thing, but I felt really bad. The students are already pretty stressed out when it comes to school. By the time they see us, they have already put in a full day at an academy, and they come to our hagwon (private school) for extra English tutoring and practice.

I was told to be pretty strict when it came to the speaking test. Darren wanted to find out exactly how well they're speaking and what they need to work on. Because of their Korean accent and the huge difference in the two alphabets, the students struggle a lot. For example: they don't have an "L" in their alphabet, so they say "R" instead. Also, most words in Korean end with an "uh" sound, and they carry that over to their English. Instead of saying, "My favorite sport is soccer," they say, "My favorit-uh sport-uh is-uh soccer." That's what we have to be strict about, constantly correcting their English and asking them to repeat words over and over. All the students did really well today, overall, so I would definitely consider it a success :)

Suwon Medical Center

I left my apartment at the early hour of 9:45am to head to Suwon Medical Center for my E-2 Visa check-up. I walked 4 blocks in the pouring rain to Lotte Mart to find a taxi. It took me a few minutes, but I finally found the line of taxis waiting for customers. I walked up to the third taxi in line, only to be turned down. I went to the next one in line, same thing. I finally walked to the very front, and the man let me inside. (Come to find out, the taxi drivers are really respectful when it comes to waiting their turn. They send people to the very front car until it's their turn at the front.) Good to know. Darren (my boss) had given me a piece of paper with all the information I needed on it. I pointed to the address in Korean for the Medical Center, and the taxi driver knew exactly where to go.

I walked inside and went to "Window 5" with all my information, hoping to talk to someone who knew a little bit of English. The man sent me to a side counter to fill out some paperwork. I figured out a few Korean words like "Name," "Phone Number," "Address of Occupation," and "Date of Birth." The rest was all a blur. I stood at the counter for another few minutes, obviously looking very perplexed. The man at Window 5 came right over, took the paperwork, and filled out all the rest of the forms for me!

I was sent to the second floor for a chest x-ray. Apparently they want to make sure that I don't have tuberculosis. Then, I went to the third floor where I had my blood drawn, urine tested (gross, I know), eyes, blood pressure, height and weight checked. I know pee is gross, but I have to share something:

The doctor handed me the cup to go pee in. As I was leaving the bathroom, I noticed a rack of pee cups sitting on the counter by the sink. There was a big green arrow pointing down at the rack. So, I left my pee cup there along with maybe 8 others, and went back into the lab. The doctor didn't question me when I came back, so I realized I had done the right thing. So bizarre... :)

Everything went as smoothly as it could've gone, considering no one spoke English. There were a few mishaps here and there, but overall it went well. Finding a taxi on my way home was probably the most difficult part of the whole experience. I left the hospital and wandered up and down the block for a good ten minutes before I was finally able to get an available taxi. I definitely need to learn how to be more aggressive when it comes to getting taxis. It's a new experience for me, but hopefully I'll master it soon :)

I tried a new food today. Beth and I had the same dinner break at work, so she took me to a new restaurant. They sell riceballs. You pick what you want inside of it, like chicken, tuna, crab, kimchi, or pork. They take the meat, mix it with spices, roll it into a ball about the size of a baseball, and wrap it in seaweed. It's SO YUMMY!! I had a "chom-chee-salad riceball" which is "tuna salad riceball." It's definitely one of my new favorite places!! They brought us our food, along with a really yummy soup and some vegetables. It was quick, too, which is always a good thing. I only have 40 minutes for my dinner break, so I always have to go somewhere with really quick service.

Tomorrow, my kids have mid-terms. They have speaking and listening tests, and the students always get really stressed out about them. Say an extra prayer for my students tomorrow and for me. I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their pronunciations, but Darren told me to be pretty strict. He wants to see how well they can actually speak, which is understandable, but I know they are trying so hard.

Refillable Markers??

I FINALLY have my own Internet set up in my apartment!! I was stealing my neighbor's connection up until now, and it was a little rocky at times. I shouldn't complain too much though because it was enough of a connection to check email and keep up with Facebook...and write my blog, of course :) But now I have my own connection, and it's a great signal. This weekend I was finally able to Skype with my family and friends back in Florida!! And one friend in the Bahamas!!

This weekend was pretty uneventful for me. I did a lot of relaxing and laying around my apartment, which is probably just what I needed. On Sunday, I mustered up the energy for a quick trip to Lotte Mart to buy some much-needed groceries. As I previously mentioned, Lotte Mart is the Korean version of Sam's Club or Costco. What I DIDN'T mention, is that it stands four stories high. Well, I found all my groceries in pretty decent timing, seeing as I have to walk every aisle to find what I need. I went through the check-out line with no issues, paid with the right amount of money, and thought I would be on my way. Well, as luck would have it, I had forgotten where the exit was. (Now, before my mom sighs heavily and buries her face in her hands, allow me to explain.) I was born with something called: no sense of direction whatsoever. Just when I think I've successfully overcome it, it has a way of sneaking up out of nowhere, and knocking me off my feet. Well, the two exits at Lotte Mart are only on one level. (Come to find out, it's on level 2.) There are emergency stairs, but those are obviously only accessed when needed. So, I took the escalator up a floor, walked the whole floor, went back down, thinking I may have missed the exit somewhere. Meanwhile, the little Lotte Mart man is chasing me down with his stickers, wanting to tag everything I've already purchased so I won't be caught trying to shoplift. I continued walking around and moving from floor to floor. I was just about to declare an emergency and use the stairs, when I came up with a brilliant idea. I said to myself, "Self. Go to the top floor, look around, and work your way down. You'll eventually find the exit." So, I did that. Floor after floor, until...SUCCESS!! I found my way out! It took me exactly 14 minutes from the time I left the check-out line until I found the exit. It's not one of my brighter moments, but you know what? The exit is on the second floor. I won't be forgetting that :)

I've discovered a few new things in Korea that I haven't seen in the States:

~The escalators they have here are so AWESOME!! There are no steps on them, so it's just a long slope. It's convenient if you have a cart or stroller, or are in a wheelchair and need to get to another floor.

~At the school we have refillable whiteboard markers. Yep. It's true. When the ink runs low, you simply unscrew the cap on the back, pour the ink inside, and replace the cap. After a little bit of shaking, the whiteboard marker is good as new!! It's very practical and doesn't waste as many markers :)

~The chairs at the school are extremely comfortable. They are wooden, like normal desk chairs, but the backs are divided into two separate pieces that look like kidneys. They adjust left and right so your spine fits perfectly between them, helping with posture, and preventing your spine from rubbing against a chair back all day long.

~The trash/recycle system is really good here. It's mandatory to recycle. At the store, you have to buy separate bags for recycle, compost, and other trash. You divide all your garbage between the three and leave them on the curb at nighttime. Every day, a truck will drive by and collect all the trash and sort it into its various bins.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to Suwon Medical Center to get a mandatory check-up done for my E-2 Work Visa. After my check-up has been approved, I'll go to the Immigration Office and fill out a mountain of paperwork. After THAT, I'll be able to get my Alien Registration Card and open a bank account :) Beth told me about her experience at the Medical Center, so I know to anticipate playing a lot of charades while I'm there. From filling out the paperwork, to understanding their questions, I'm going to be doing a lot of smiling and saying, "huh?" :)

Korean Gum...

I have officially completed one full week of working at the school!! Woohoo!! I've been in Korea now for 10 days, even though it feels like a lot longer than that to me :)

Yesterday, I went to Lotte Mart (pronounced "low-tay-mart") which is basically like a Sam's Club or a Costco. They have everything you could possibly imagine, plus more! And they sell everything in bulk. For example, one can't just buy a toothbrush or two. One must buy 8 toothbrushes... :) Everything is super cheap though, and they have a lot of American brand things there, like foods, clothing, appliances. Well, I needed to go get a 2.5 in. X 3 in. photo taken for my upcoming hospital visit. (Unfortunately, I left my entire "Korea" folder at home in Tampa, and it had all the rest of the paperwork and photos I needed...) Anyway, I went to Lotte Mart and had to buy 8 photos, not just one. It was done in an hour, and they came out really good!! That was yet another successful adventure I've been on. I anticipated having to play charades with the guy to tell him exactly what I needed, but surprisingly, he spoke pretty good English! It ended up being a lot less difficult than I thought.

So, on Monday, I'm going to the Suwon Medical Center to get my check-up done. I have to get a check-up, go to the Immigration Office, and then I can receive my Alien Registration Card. With my ARC, I can get a bank account set-up. It's all pretty complicated, but it will be done soon :) Anyway, it's really interesting here because every appointment you go to, doctor, hospital, dentist, you have to have a small photo of yourself. Koreans carry copies of small photos of themselves in their wallets for when they are out places. I'm not sure what the purpose of that is. I guess it's just an easy way to identify you or something. It's probably a good thing that I have 8 copies in case something comes up :)

Before I left Tampa, my mom gave me 6 packs of Stride gum. I love gum. A lot. And it's a really good thing that she gave them to me because the Korean gum here is SO GROSS!! It's all fruit flavored, but it actually tastes like you're gnawing on a real fruit, and it's sticky, and the flavor only lasts for about two minutes. Your mouth doesn't feel clean and refreshed after that...So thanks, Mom, for the gum! :)

In the office at school, there are two American teachers: Beth and me, and four Korean teachers: Kate, Sue, Iris, and Melly. We all hang up our keys by the door when we first walk in. I was looking at the key rings the other day and just started wondering...It's funny to me what kind of keychains people choose to hang their keys on. You can learn things about people from what they have. On my key ring I have a Spiderman keychain (of course!) and the pink cowgirl boot keychain my mom gave me at the airport before I left. I love Spiderman, pink is my favorite color, country music is my favorite, and I love line-dancing :) All of our keys in the office are very easily identified based on our keychains. I don't know, maybe this is just random, but I thought it was interesting. :)

I love being in the office and talking with the Korean teachers. We are constantly exchanging questions with one another about how to pronounce something or spell a word. It's a really great way to learn the language!! We are all able to laugh at each other, but there's a sense of respect because everyone is trying to learn the other person's language. It's great.

Pasta Hair

Yesterday (Wednesday), I had another first experience!! I had a separate break at work than Beth, so I had to go get dinner alone. I found the restaurant (without getting lost!!), and ordered my own food all by myself. Beth has been teaching me a little bit of Korean every day, so I've been picking it up pretty quickly. I rarely practice though, because we're almost always together, and she just orders for me :) I felt very successful though! The lady understood me perfectly, and I got what I ordered :)

Learning how to read Korean has been a fairly easy process. There are only a few symbols to learn that represent sounds. It's very interesting though: the words written in Korean most of the time translate to English, with a little bit of a Korean accent :) Sometimes, though, they will sound out like a Korean word instead, and then you have to know what that Korean word means. It may sound confusing, but it's really not.

For example: if I look at an instant coffee mix packet here and sound out the Korean on it, it says: "ca-fe-mix-uh" which means "coffee mix." It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it. I'm still practicing a lot, but I can't imagine it will be much longer before I can start reading signs.

Coffee shops are really easy to order in because everything "sounds out" into English. So, I can walk into a coffee shop and say, "car-a-mel ma-key-ah-to," and they'll make me a caramel macchiato. See?

Yesterday, the younger kids learned about different foods at the grocery store, how to figure out what you have already, and what you need to buy at the store. (By the way, Koreans HATE cheese, so you'll never find it here unless it's fake or really processed or something...) Anyway, we were going through a bunch of different foods, some that they eat and some that they don't. We finished up early, so I was asking the students what their favorite foods were. One of the girls said, "pasta! you hair! pasta! haha!" She was telling me that my curly hair looked like pasta...wonderful... :) One of the other kids said, "pizza!" So I decided to have them make a list of what you would need to make a pizza. They said, tomato sauce, (no cheese, of course), mushrooms, bread (dough), pepperoni, and then I thought someone said spinach. So, I wrote "spinach" down on the board. All the kids started laughing. Apparently, the student had said, "finished!" instead of spinach. I started laughing, too, and apologized, but told them that spinach was still really good on pizza. They thought that sounded so gross! It was just one of many confusing moments we've had at the school. The kids are very forgiving though, and realize that you're learning just like they are :)

Something interesting that I learned here is that the students get to choose their own American name that is used at the school. I had two kids in different classes, one named Circle and one named Dragon. It took me a second to realize they weren't kidding. I thought they were trying to trick "Jamie Teacher," but they were completely serious! :) Interesting name choices...

Waffles and Cream :)

Today was a WONDERFUL day!! I'm feeling much better, too. I was more successful today, piecing together the curriculum for each class and figuring out exactly what I was teaching. I asked Beth a few times to make sure I was doing it right, and I was right on! I felt very accomplished.

Our younger students learned about "Pop Songs" today. Darren printed off lyrics for the students so they could follow along as we played the CD. These were some of the song choices:

-Party in the USA
-Livin' on a Prayer
-Hakuna Matata
-Umbrella

Talk about all over the map!! It was the most random assortment of songs I've ever seen!! It was so funny teaching the kids the songs though. They would follow along on their papers, but after awhile, they were jammin' out and hitting their desks to keep the beat. Once they caught on, they were belting out the songs. It would go something like this:

"mumble mumble mumble....OOOHHHHHHH, PARTY IN THE USA!!"

or...

"mumble mumble mumble.....OOHHH OHHH!! LIVIN' ON A PRAYER!!"

It pretty much made my whole day :) They were so into it! I was actually really surprised by how many of them had already heard the songs. And when I asked some of the girls, "who do you like most in music," they responded, "Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift!"

One of the kids asked me, "Jemmie Teachuh, (Jamie Teacher) what is music is you like?" And I said, "Country! It's my favorite!" They all stared at me with blank faces. So I said, "Cowboy music? Guitar?" They said, "hahahahaha!!! NOOOO!!!" I guess they aren't country music fans... :)

Beth has been introducing me to different restaurants in the area, telling me the best things on the menu. Today, she introduced me to what could possibly be my favorite thing yet: waffles and cream. It may sound gross, but it's amazing!! They cook a Belgium waffle, fold it in half, put icing on one side, syrup on the other. It's pretty much heavenly :) Beth and I split one on our break before our last class, and it just seemed to make the time go by so much quicker...

As of tomorrow (Wednesday), I will have been in Korea for a week. Can you believe it?!? I feel like I've been here forever! I've adapted pretty well and have learned my way around town. It's almost natural now.

Homesick...

Yesterday was the first time since I've been here that I've felt homesick. It was my second day of teaching; it's my first full week this week. It is so overwhelming trying to keep all the classes straight and prepare for each one with the right materials. Just on Monday I taught 10 classes!! Beth, my co-teacher, has been really helpful in preparing me before each class. I took really detailed notes about what I needed for each one, so I can refer to them later. The classes are back-to-back, and it was really stressful trying to keep up before the bell would ring.

The classes went well-it seemed that (for the most part!) the students liked "Jamie Teacher." About halfway through my classes, around 6pm, I got a really bad headache. No one had any headache medicine so I tried to tough it out. I made it to about 8pm, and had to ask Darren to cover my class while I stepped outside. I felt really nauseous and dizzy, and had a really bad headache still. Luckily, after the class Darren covered, I had a 40 minute break before my last class. I couldn't make it though. Darren sent me home at about 9pm. I walk to and from the school though-it wasn't too far of a walk, but I felt every step last night. I made it home okay and went right to bed.

I think it was the combination of my headache, not drinking enough water, and the stress of trying to keep up that did me in last night. I want to make sure that I'm doing the job right, and I want to do my best to catch on as quickly as possible. I think I wore myself out. I need to just go with the flow and take things one class at a time. It's going to be okay if I have to step out of class and go get a book I forgot or something. I just have to keep telling myself that.

When I got home last night, all I wanted was to be back in the States, in my own bed, and be taken care of. Being homesick definitely made me feel worse, but luckily, I was able to go right to sleep. This morning, I'm feeling much better. I'm going to make sure I drink water constantly today and bring headache medicine to the school in case I need it. Your prayers for a more successful teaching day would be much appreciated :)

Overall, yesterday was good, right up until the end obviously. Darren came to my house in the morning to set up my own Internet and cable connection, but couldn't get it to work. He was on the phone with the workers for awhile, but it didn't help. He told me I have to wait until Saturday for someone from the company to come set it up. It's kind of frustrating because I was looking forward to being able to Skype with people this week :( I'm bumming Internet off of my neighbor, so the signal strength is pretty low. It constantly goes in and out, so it's really difficult to get a good connection. I can't WAIT until I can start talking to people from home!! :)

Leg Cramps...

My first day teaching was on Friday, and it was WONDERFUL!! The girl I'm co-teaching with, Beth, was super helpful! She showed me the curriculum before each class, and gave me some pointers about what exactly to do to engage the students. It was really awesome :) The students seemed pleased to meet me, and I feel like I fit right in at the school.

On Friday night, my boss took us out to celebrate my arrival. It was my first "Korean night out on the town," and it was great!! I learned a little bit more about the culture here which is this: alcohol is a necessity with every course at every meal. If you're not drinking, the Koreans don't think you're having a good time. Fortunately, I was able to enjoy myself without holding an alcoholic beverage in each hand :) I got to know some of the Korean teachers I'll be working with, and they had a lot of questions for me. They are so interested in the American culture, and all of them talk about wanting to go to the States someday. It was great!

I'm learning how to speak a little bit more Korean every day, and I'm also learning how to read Korean. It's a lot simpler than I thought it would be. Once I learn how to read Korean, it will make my life a little bit easier for sure :)

Today, Saturday, I had my first adventure into the Big City, Seoul. All of us girls went for a shopping day. Seoul was exactly like it's portrayed on tv: massive crowds with people everywhere, venders on every corner, shop after shop, loud music. It was perfect :) I was able to do a lot of window shopping, but I caved in and bought a pink purse!! It's ginormous! I feel like I could almost fit inside that bag! But it was too cute to resist.

Everything here in Korea is extremely cheap, so I've been appreciating that a lot. A typical meal here costs $3-4 (American dollars), and you get so much food you can never finish it. You order a main dish, and they bring you like four sides to go with it. Also, you don't tip here. It's considered really offensive. (Basically, they don't need someone telling them they did a good job. They strive for perfection every time they serve.) One downside to eating here is having to sit on the floor for every meal. I thought at first that it was really fun, and just loved how different it was from the States. However, I've noticed that after about ten minutes of sitting cross-legged on the floor, I get really bad leg cramps!! I'm hoping I'll overcome that after I get used to living here for awhile, but we'll see...

After my shopping day, I went to Suwon Station to visit Tommy. Tommy is a friend from Wesley who's been over here for over a month now. We were just now able to connect and see each other since I've been here. It was really good to see a familiar face and catch up with him :) When I went to see Tommy, the girls took a different subway line than me, so I had to go to Suwon Station alone. But...I RODE THE SUBWAY ALL BY MYSELF!! I changed stations twice and didn't get lost once. What an empowering feeling! :) I felt so accomplished. Then, I rode the subway home, and walked home without getting lost. Beth told me to call her so I could get directions from her, but I wanted to see if I could make it home without help...and I did! SUCCESS!

Overall, today was very successful for me. I saw another city, bought my first Korean item, saw Tommy, and rode the subway all by myself!

My boss, Darren, is going to set up my Internet and Cable on Monday, which will be really good. I've been picking up my neighbor's Internet connection since I've been here. I've been lucky so far to get a good connection, but my own Internet will definitely be better. It will allow me to start Skyping with people :) And cable tv (with some American shows!!) will also be a good thing. It's nice to see familiar things once in awhile.