Typhoon Bolaven.

While my family and friends are in the midst of hurricane season in Florida, I'm hunkering down and preparing for Typhoon Bolaven to strike Korea within the next six hours. When Bolaven went through Japan yesterday, it was 161 mph, and 1,250 miles in diameter. It has now gained strength and is even wider. According to the latest CNN report, Typhoon Bolaven is now "roughly the size of France to Poland in land mass." While I've gotten used to hurricanes, typhoons are not something I've experienced yet. Hurricanes can be scary enough!

Please send happy thoughts and prayers to South Korea. Classes have been canceled for tomorrow (Tuesday), and all the schools are shutting down. I went to the market tonight after work and stocked up on food and water. The typhoon will make landfall sometime in the early morning, and will be in Seoul by 10am, Tuesday, my time. Keep my family and friends in your thoughts, as well, as they are dealing with the hurricanes in Florida.

I'll send updates a little later. Hopefully I'll have nothing to report on! :)

A Very Productive Day.

This morning, I woke up before my alarm and got a jumpstart on my day! I ate breakfast and watched an episode of "Dexter" while I woke up a little bit. Then, the real fun began. (I cleaned my apartment earlier this week, but hadn't had a chance to clean my bathroom. Actually...I had purposely been avoiding it.) Anyway, today was the day. I would clean my bathroom. It was quite a chore!! I cleaned my shower, toilet, and sink, and SCRUBBED the floors! They were so gross! It has become apparent to me that the guy who lived in this apartment before me never cleaned. Ever. So, it took me about an hour and a half to clean the whole bathroom. When it was finished, I felt relieved. I had been putting it off since I moved in, and for some reason this morning, I was feeling really motivated to clean it. Yay for me!

When I finished that, I jumped on Facebook and asked Lisa if she wanted to meet up for lunch. We met at 1pm, and walked around our area, looking at all our food options. We hadn't really branched out much to see what kind of restaurants we had around us, and today was the perfect day for that. We decided on a small bakery. It was good and exactly what we wanted. We chatted a bit and then headed our separate ways. We were going to meet up again later, but we both had stuff to do.

I went home and did a few loads of laundry and hung it all up to dry. While I was waiting for the loads to finish, I checked email and Facebook, and watched another episode or two of "Dexter." Finally, my laundry had all been hung up. I used my laundry rack, AND draped clothes all over my room. Thank you, Korea, for not having dryers. I'm really excited though because now that my apartment is officially clean, I can take pictures and show off my new apartment on Facebook! Woot!

At 6:45pm, Lisa and I met downstairs and went to Pizza Hut. We got a pepperoni pizza to go, stopped for some drinks at a 7-11, and then headed back up to my apartment. Lisa is the first official person to see my apartment. So exciting! (I'm the only one who lives on this side of the street. The other foreign teachers live in the same apartment building together on the opposite side of the street.) We ate pizza, drank beer, and just relaxed. We talked for forever just about life, and it was just what we both needed. She left at 10:30pm. We both have early mornings tomorrow, and we were yawning a lot, so we decided we should call it a night. I'm so grateful for friends like Lisa, and I can't WAIT for church in the morning! :)

Whitewater Rafting!!

On Saturday (yesterday), I went whitewater rafting with my church!! We were meeting up really early in the morning to take the bus out there. Johnny, Mi-yeon, Abby, and I signed up to go together. It was 45,000 won (about $45), which included whitewater rafting, transportation, and a Korean BBQ lunch. What a great deal! So, we all met at 8am in Gangnam to catch the bus together. I had to get up at 5am to take a shower, pack my bag, and catch the subway in time. It was an early morning, but totally worth it!

We got on the bus and took the very last row, with five seats across the back. That left us with an extra seat to put all our stuff in and spread out a bit. It took about two hours to get out there, and it rained the whole way!! Fortunately for us, it stopped just as we were pulling in...yes!! We went right over to the hut to get our life jackets, helmets, and oars. They explained the basic instructions, which were in Korean of course, then we loaded up on the bus! The bus ride was just up the road, so it didn't matter that we were squished in like sardines with all our gear. :)

Johnny, Mi-yeon, Abby, and I were in the same boat together, so that was fun! It was super busy yesterday, and there were tons of groups there, so we were definitely rushed down the river. Last year when we went, we got a lot of time to get out of the boat and swim around, and we could jump off a cliff into the water about halfway through. This year, the guide told us it would take too long to wait, so we had to keep going. While it was a quick trip down the river, our boatmates and guide were really fun. We had three people in the boat who could speak fluent Korean, so the guide would talk in Korean, and one of the three would translate for the rest of us. The guide was young, around our age, so when we would all start speaking English, he would say in Korean that he felt really left out. It was funny! He was a great sport though, and they tried to translate back into Korean for him so he could feel included. :)

After rafting was finished, we changed and got on the bus to go to the BBQ place. We had pork (from America!), rice, soup, salad, and some sides. We wrapped the meat in pieces of lettuce and ate it. SO GOOD!! After lunch, we got back on the bus to head home. It took us 2 and a half hours to get back home because of traffic, but all of us passed out the whole way! We were wiped out after rafting, our tummies were full, and we had big comfy seats. What else were we gonna do, right? :)

When we got back into Gangnam, we went to Jamba Juice and had a pre-dinner snack. We just wanted to talk a bit more before we headed home. It was a tiring day, and I was happy, but I was also ready to head home, shower, and crash. A good day with good friends. :)

Korean Independence Day.

On Tuesday night after work, I took a subway and a bus to Suwon to meet up at my old academy. My old co-workers were going out to celebrate Darren's birthday, and he invited me to go. I was so excited!! I arrived at the school around 7:30pm, just as their last classes were getting out. Perfect timing.

For his birthday, Darren wanted to go to Outback Steakhouse, so we all headed over there after they closed the academy down. (Darren had Room 5, the "in trouble" room, so he had to wait there for the kids to finish their work.) We had a reservation, so the rest of us went there and started eating and drinking. Darren didn't end up getting to Outback until about an hour later, so that was kind of a bummer! We just ordered more drinks and food when he got there though, so it was fine! :)

We hung out at the restaurant for awhile. It was really great to catch up with everyone and see people. I met the new Korean teacher, Aile, pronounced (Ay-lee). Anyway, she lived in the States for like 6 years, so she has perfect English. She's young, and easy to talk to. We talked to each other a lot and hit it off right away. We're gonna be friends on Facebook and hopefully meet up soon!

After dinner, Amanda, Abby, and I were ready to keep the party going, but everyone else was exhausted from the week. We didn't have school the next day because it was Korean Independence Day, so we could potentially stay out as late as we wanted. But, everyone was tired, so we all parted ways...bummer.

Amanda, Abby, and I went for some ice cream at Baskin' Robbins when we got back. Then, Amanda and I headed back to her place. She was nice enough to let me crash there! We talked for a bit, and were ready to watch a movie. But, by the time we downloaded it, we were both falling asleep. By then it was almost 3am, so it's understandable, right?

The next morning, Amanda and I caught the bus around 11:30am, and headed into Gangnam. We wanted to go to a really great breakfast place called Butterfingers. They serve American-style breakfast, with foods that you just can't find in Korea! Except for there... :) So, I had a Belgium waffle and hash browns, and Amanda had pancakes, sausage, and eggs. So delicious!!

After breakfast (at 1pm!), we decided to see what was playing in the theaters. What I've failed to mention until now, is that there was a TYPHOON happening outside!! Monsoon season is officially over, but over the past few days, it's been randomly pouring outside, and it comes out of nowhere! We were particularly bummed because it was a holiday, and rain really puts a damper on things. Anyway, we saw that Step Up 4 was playing, but not until 6pm. We brainstormed ideas of what to do for a few hours while we waited.

I remembered there was a board game cafe nearby, so we decided to do that. We fought through the rain and found the cafe nearly empty, which was nice. We ordered coffee and got a board game from downstairs to pass the time. It was really nice to just relax and warm up after being rained on all day. Both of our phones were dying, so we took them to the front desk downstairs and asked them to plug them in for us. (That's a really great thing about Korea! Pretty much any cafe or restaurant you go into, you can give them your phone and they'll charge it for free...even if you don't have your charger!) Awesome, right?! I think so. Before we knew it, a few hours had passed, so we packed up our board game, got our phones back, and headed back to the theater. Step Up 4 was really fun, and we really enjoyed it! It was a great way to spend a holiday in the middle of the week! Only two more days, and then the weekend! :)

Magic Mike.

On Sunday, Abby, Arri, Mi-yeon, and I met at Dos Tacos before church. It was the first time Abby met the other two, so that was cool! We enjoyed our usual burritos and good talk, and then headed to church. Church was really good, as usual, and the message was just what I needed to hear. It wasn't the typical funny sermon that we're used to hearing from Pastor Doug, but it was still really good. I could tell he was passionate about what he was speaking on, and had really done a lot of research. I gained a new perspective in hearing that sermon, and it's just really refreshing when that happens.

After church, we decided that we wanted to see a movie: Magic Mike. If you haven't heard of this, it's the new Channing Tatum movie, with Matthew McConaughey. It was exactly what we were expecting for an R-rated movie, but it was much more hilarious than we expected!! (And when I say "NEW MOVIE," I mean new for Korea. It takes us a while to get movies here...) Anyway, our movie didn't start until 7:50pm, so we decided to go to a board game cafe while we waited.

Abby had to go home, so it was just Arri, Mi-yeon, and me. We went to the cafe, ordered some drinks, and picked out Rummikub. This is definitely one of my favorite games, and this is why: It's not an extremely competitive game, and it's kind of relaxing. It requires a lot of thinking, but none of us felt like playing a fast-paced, competitive game. We stayed in the cafe for a few hours playing the game and chatting, until around dinnertime.

For dinner, we decided to go to Black Smith, a new grill restaurant that opened up in Korea. The girls ordered pizza, and I ordered a big chicken caesar salad. Mmm!! Whenever I have the opportunity to order salad somewhere, I jump all over it! It's so hard to find a fresh salad anywhere here.

After that, we jumped on the bus and went to Apgujeong, where the movie was playing. We ended up arriving pretty early, so we wandered around until we found a place to get ice cream. It was a good dessert after our food. Perfect.

When it was time for our movie, we headed back to the theater. As I've mentioned before, Korea is famous for its interesting popcorn selections at their movie theaters. Mi-yeon went with normal (boring!), I went for Sweet Caramel, and Arri got half Cheese, half Onion. (She's a bit too adventurous for me!) Then, we headed inside.

When the movie was over, we headed to the subway station and parted ways. After a long day, I was ready to get back home and prepare myself for another week of teaching. :)

"Take me out to the ball game!"

(This past week has been crazy busy, so I finally took some time to sit down and blog again. Hopefully these next few entries will catch me up to today!)

On Saturday, I met Mi-yeon at Times Square, one of the biggest shopping malls in Korea! They are known for their shopping and diverse food. We weren’t there to shop. We were there for some “On the Border.” I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this restaurant, but it’s a Mexican restaurant from back home. Delicious.

Mi-yeon and I met up at noon to grab lunch. We both had crazy weeks, so we just wanted to relax and enjoy some good company and good food. Mi-yeon ordered enchiladas, and I order quesadillas. I can’t even remember the last time I had a quesadilla. For our pre-meal snack, we even got real nacho chips, like the ones from back home! (Those are pretty difficult to come by here.)

We talked about our crazy weeks, and just got caught up on life. It was really good to relax and just de-stress. After we finished eating, we decided to take a walk around Times Square. Mi-yeon lives only a few subway stops away so she goes there often, but this was my first time. It was quite the experience!! There were the typical popular Korean stores, but they also had quite a few stores from back home. We ducked in a few, just to look around. We also did a lot of window shopping. We weren’t there to buy anything, so it was fun to just bum around. One thing that Mi-yeon and I both share is a love for scrapbooking! Cheesy, I know. Every time we saw a crafty kind of store, we just HAD to stop in and check out the fun ribbon, decorative paper, and fun cut-outs they had.

After a few hours, we headed back to the subway station….to go to the baseball stadium! This was my first Korean baseball game ever! For those of you who know me well, baseball is definitely NOT one of my favorite sports. In fact, it probably wouldn’t even make the list for a sport I would ever spend any time watching, playing, or even hearing about. However, in Korea, baseball is THE sport! I had heard that the atmosphere at a Korean baseball game is completely different than one found back home. So, I thought I’d give Korean baseball a try. Luckily for me, the company Mi-yeon works for was giving out free tickets, and she asked me to go with her! Because it was free, I could enjoy the game, and not feel like I wasted money in case I ended up not having a good time. Win win!

The baseball game was SO FUN!! The atmosphere was similar to the atmosphere at a football game back home. Everyone was standing the entire time, and yelling all during the game. They had chants for different things that were happening, and even had the vuvuzuelas and those inflatable bat things that you hit together. So fun! After about an inning or so, I was already picking up some of the Korean chants and joining in. Mi-yeon and I had a blast! Our team ended up losing, but neither one of us particularly cared. For me, it was all about the experience. And my experience was awesome. I will most DEFINITELY go to another Korean baseball game. And now that I’ve been, I know it’s worth paying for!

Disaster Strikes!

Today was supposed to be one of my easier days. I get to go into work late and leave early on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When I woke up this morning, I was anticipating a relaxing day. Little did I know how wrong I would be...

My first two classes I teach are Science classes. You'd think this would be quite simple, but here are the facts.
Fact #1: The A/C went out yesterday in the three middle classrooms, so since then, we've had to combine two classes together in the playroom at the end of the hall, rotating out every 40 minutes. The playroom is quite large, and you can probably imagine what kind of exciting distractions are in there...(slides, toys, monkey bars, Legos, sponge blocks...). Ideally, two classes go into the playroom and face in opposite directions, in the hopes that the lesson can still be taught and the children will be focused.
Fact #2: Science class doesn't involve a book of any sort, or even much discussion at all. It's purely hands-on, arts and crafts kinds of activities, where the students learn through making something and using it.
Fact #3: My students are 4- and 5-year-olds.
Fact #4: Today...we made bottle rockets...

As you can see, this was a complete disaster waiting to happen. I managed to keep my students focused for the first half of the lesson. We went step-by-step, only taking rockets pieces out of our bags when Jamie Teacher took them out of her bag. The students were SO EXCITED because I had demonstrated what their rocket would look like at the end. I even shot the rocket off once so the students would be more engaged and motivated to make one of their own. We had just finished putting all the pieces together, when the last piece came out of the bag. This piece required those sticky dots that come pre-stamped on a slip of paper. The students tried to take the sticky dots off themselves, but soon realized they would need my help. While I was helping other students, two of them decided they would wander over to the playground area and check out the monkey bars. I was able to call them back over and get them focused again, only to find that the students who had finished were now shooting their rockets off all over the room, with no care at all about the other class in the playroom. Students began arguing over whose rocket was whose, and then...the tears came.

I quickly managed to organize the class into separate lines, and we had everyone count down together from five. Then, one at a time, each person would shoot off their rocket, and we would measure how far it went. The kids were really into it and couldn't WAIT to have a turn! And then, I was saved by the bell! Another one of those Science classes was next, but at least I had learned from my first time around, right?

By the time I finished my second Science class, I was completely exhausted. Luckily for me, the students were having a great time making the rockets, and they were so happy. And...it was my lunch time. I went to lunch with Angie Teacher, the one who goes to the same church as me. We took a break and relaxed a bit after we finished lunch. Then, it was back to the school!

My next two classes were Arts and Crafts. I TOLD you Tuesdays and Thursdays were supposed to be easier for me, right?! No. Way. I taught Arts and Crafts, and we were making caterpillars today. I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar book to the students first, and then we made our own caterpillars. Of course, we can't possibly just have a pre-cut caterpillar with glued on legs. Nooo....We have to use scissors (a skill that my students have yet to fully master) to cut out the bubble-shaped caterpillar body. No straight lines, all curves. After we finish THAT, we can't just glue on some legs and be done. Nooo...we have to use metal brads and individually attach each leg to the body, without poking any extra holes in the caterpillar or tearing a leg. And, obviously, my kids can't do this on their own without ripping anything. This Arts and Crafts activity quickly became the Jamie Teacher activity, while the students lost interest. Wonderful. Perhaps next time I'll have to create my own caterpillar that's much easier for my students to put together. At least their mommies and daddies will be proud! :)

After Arts and Crafts, I had a break. Lisa Teacher and I escaped to a coffee shop close-by. We talked about how ridiculous these Science classes and Arts and Crafts activities are. They are very impressive when they're finished, but definitely not practical or age-appropriate for our students.

My last two classes of the day were older students who had BOOKS!! :) They went by very smoothly, and all the students were really focused. In my last class, we finished reviewing for their test later this week, so we played a board game. It was really fun, and I realized how competitive they were! They took the game very seriously and didn't cut each other any slack if they mispronounced a word or used strange words in a sentence. Little did they know, I had created this board game as another way for them to practice for their test. I think it was so effective, I'll start using these kinds of board games on all their review days. It proved to be quite helpful!

At 5:15pm, I was basically running from the Teacher Room to head home. It had been a long, exhausting day, and I was ready to relax. I went home, made dinner, and watched a movie on my computer. When my movie finished, I got up to wash my dishes. Washing dishes soon turned into completely cleaning the entire kitchen, going through all the cabinets, and reorganizing the shelves. This was a task I had been putting off since I'd moved into my apartment. It was a complete mess, and I didn't know where to start with any of it. For some reason, I decided that tonight would be a good time to do it. Two hours later, I now have a clean, organized kitchen. I'm even more tired, but it's been a really productive day. I'm thankful that my Tuesday's over, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow!! :)

Scrapbooking.

Today, I met Abby in Gangnam for lunch at Dos Tacos before church. Mi-yeon was supposed to meet up with us, but something came up, so she had to miss church. After lunch, Abby and I went to church. As usual, the service was GREAT! I walked away with so much to think about and pray about this week. I love it when that happens.

When the service was over, the church staff reminded us to sign up for the white water rafting trip that's coming up in two weeks. Abby and I both had our money with us, so we went straight to the table to sign up. While I was there, I signed up Johnny (and Mi-yeon since she couldn't make it) for the rafting trip, as well as myself. For $40, we get a day of rafting, including a BBQ lunch and transportation there and back. Sounds like a good deal to me!

After church, Abby and I went to Kyobo Tower. She needed some pens and things for school, and I needed a scrapbook. While I was home, I went on Snapfish (shout out!!), and printed off about 300 photos from my last year in Korea. I wanted to make a scrapbook, but hadn't been able to find one since I'd been back. Kyobo came through, as usual, and I found the exact kind I was looking for! A big one, with enough for three photos per page, and in pink. :)

While I was in the bookstore, I ran into Reuel, who I haven't seen in ages! I saw her about a week before I left to go home, and when I got back to Korea, she left on a vacation...So it was a lovely reunion after being apart for over a month! We chatted for a bit, I introduced her to Abby, and then we all parted ways, with promises to keep in touch and potentially meet up this week.

I was SO PUMPED to go home and start working on my scrapbook!! I stopped for dinner on my way home, so I wouldn't have to interrupt my scrapbooking time when I got hungry. (I'm serious when it comes to scrapbooking!) :) I called Johnny, and we talked for about an hour. Then, I started on my scrapbooking. I worked on my scrapbook for HOURS, seriously, while watching TV shows on my computer. It was a great afternoon/night in to myself. I really enjoyed going through all my photos and reflecting on this past year. I'm hoping this year will be another year of success, great friends, and good experiences!!

DVD Room.

Today, Saturday, I woke up really early with no alarm. I took my time getting out of bed, and then texted Amanda to find out what she was doing. She had no plans, so we decided to meet in Gangnam for lunch and a movie.

At 1pm, we met up and walked to the theater to see what movies were playing. We wanted to buy our tickets early, in case the tickets sold out quickly. Unfortunately, only the Batman movie was playing. All the rest were Korean movies that we weren’t interested in seeing. We knew of one other theater in town, so we walked over there to see if they were playing anything different. Same thing. So, we decided to find somewhere to eat and make another plan for the afternoon.

Both of us agreed. Western food. After eating Korean food for every meal all week, we are both ready to eat Western food by the time the weekend rolls around. We decided on Dos Tacos, (which is where I’ll be going tomorrow for lunch, too!), but I don’t mind. They make some YUMMY burritos!

After lunch, we walked next door to Kyobo Tower where the big bookstore is. I wanted to find another Korean study book, and Amanda wanted to look for a book as well. We spent a little bit of time in there, and we both found exactly what we were looking for! I’ve been needing a new study book, and now that I’m back in Korea, I’m motivated to start learning and pushing myself again.

After we bought our books, we decided to go to a DVD room. Amanda has gone to plenty in the past, but this was my first DVD room experience. I was pumped. We found one near the restaurant and headed upstairs. When we got inside, there were walls of movies, any movie you could want. Korean and English, and in every genre. We decided on a Liam Neeson movie. We were both in the mood for something action-y and scary. We took the movie up to the counter, paid our money to rent a room, and we were escorted into our own personal movie theater.

There was a HUGE couch and a wall-to-wall flat screen TV!! We had brought snacks with us, so we broke those open, made ourselves comfortable, and waited for the movie to start. It was so wonderful! We had an air-conditioned room with comfortable seating AND a ginormous TV all to ourselves. Well done, Korea!!

Amanda says she sometimes gets some of her girlfriends together, and they all have a movie night. What a great idea! And it’s cheap, too! When the movie was over, it was dinnertime, so we both headed home. Amanda had plans to meet another friend, and I wanted a night in to myself. What a relaxing and wonderful Saturday!

EVERLAND.

On Thursday, I went to Everland, the biggest amusement park in Korea. I met Fahmida and two of her co-workers, Allen and Steph, in Gangnam to catch the bus. We met early so we could get to the park and be at the front of the lines. Also, we purposely chose a Thursday because we figured it would be less busy that day since everyone would be working.

We caught the bus around 9:30am, and headed to Everland. The bus ride was about an hour, so it wasn’t bad. Fortunately for us, we all got seats, even though the bus was packed. Some people were standing up in the aisle and holding onto the handrails the whole way. That reeks!

When we got to the park, we showed our ARCs, Alien Registration Cards, and were told we would get a discount. So exciting! When the cashier rung us up, it ended up being a 50% off discount. WOW!! So, you know how much I paid to get into Everland? $20. Yep. Truth.

We immediately headed to the back of the park where all THREE roller coasters are. We rode them, which were fun, but not as exciting as we anticipated. We rode some other spinning rides and rode the log flume twice. Those were as expected. I didn’t have any expectations because I come from the land of Disney World. However, this park was pretty boring, to be honest. At the end of the day, we all agreed that we were happy it was only $20.

Back to Suwon.

On Wednesday, I woke up early and went to the National Police Hospital to do my health check. I did this last year when I first arrived in Korea, so I didn’t think I would have to do this again. However, because I went back to the States on vacation, it was required. Luckily for me, the hospital was only 20 minutes away by subway, so I arrived there in no time.

When I walked in, I went to the information desk and asked where I should go for the foreigner health check. The man pointed me in some direction behind him, and moved on to the next person. Helpful. I wandered in that direction, eventually going down a hallway. I had NO idea where I was going, and there were so many different signs at every doorway. I finally just decided to choose one and hope that someone spoke English.

I walked in and there was a younger man at the counter. (Normally in Korea, that means they probably speak a little bit of English, since the language is becoming more popular to learn, especially around University age.) After giving him my passport and telling him I needed a foreigner health check, he asked me to call someone who could speak Korean. I called the secretary at my school, since she is working this whole week. When she answered, I asked her to talk to him. They worked everything out, and it turns out, I was in the right place after all! Apparently, the man was checking to make sure I needed a foreigner health check for working and not a foreigner health check the military. Those are two different things, requiring different tests. I’m really glad he double-checked!

Once I was checked in, I went from room to room, with NONE of the doctors speaking English! They didn’t use any hand motions, and they talked really fast, so I had no chance of trying to understand anything they were saying. In the first room, they weighed me, checked my height, and tested my hearing and eyesight. In the next room, they took a full-body x-ray. In the last room, they took my blood and did a urine test. When I finished everything, I was sent back to the original room where I was checked in. The same man helped me. When I was standing at the counter, he was giving me my passport back and giving me information about when to pick up my test results. I immediately started feeling dizzy and sat down right away. I think it was from the blood test, because I’ve never really handled blood well.

The man came out from behind the counter and gave me some water. He took me to a room where there was a bed and told me to stay in there for a few minutes and rest. I stayed in there for about 15 minutes until my head stopped pounding and until I cooled off some. When I started getting dizzy earlier, my whole body got hot really fast, so I’m pretty sure I almost passed out. Scary. Anyway, I drank a few more cups of water, and then left the hospital. After that, I went home and took a 3-hour nap. I was completely wiped out after that health check.

Around 2:30pm, I left my apartment and headed to Suwon. I was going to my old school to visit Darren and my previous co-teachers. The only person who knew about my visit was Amanda, and she kept it a secret! Now that I live in Seoul, it takes me FOREVER to get back to Suwon and to Johnny’s area of town. While that is really lame, I REALLY love living in Seoul!!

After a 30-minute subway ride and an hour-long bus ride, I finally arrived in my old neighborhood in Suwon. I stopped by a donut shop to get some donuts for the teachers. When I walked into the school, Darren and Gun were so surprised to see me! It was really great to catch up with the teachers and see some of my old students! The students were so surprised and so many of them were taking out their phones and asking for pictures. I felt like such a celebrity! When the teachers had to teach, I sat at the front desk with Darren and caught up with him. It was great to see him.

When classes were finished at 7:45pm, Darren, Amanda, and I went to a local BBQ place and had some dinner. We stayed there for a few hours and ate and drank and just talked. It was really good to see both of them and to catch up on the last month. They are planning a work dinner for Abby, the new girl who replaced me, and Darren asked me if I would go. I’m so excited! That will be fun. At around 10pm, I decided that I should probably head home, since it was a long trip back. Darren ended up paying for our dinner, so that was a really nice surprise! I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again soon.

Moving Day!!

Tuesday was my first day of summer vacation. While my friends were sleeping in and relaxing, I was preparing for a big day…moving day! Before I left for the States, I moved out of my old apartment so the girl replacing me could move in. Darren helped me move all my stuff, (since he has a car!), and I had a TON of stuff. I had a few suitcases with clothes and shoes, kitchen stuff, and bedding, including a comforter, memory foam pad, sheets, two pillows, a Spiderman body pillow, and two blankets. We managed to fit all of this into Darren’s car, with plenty of room to spare. Anyway, I moved all of this to Johnny’s while I went on vacation back home. When I moved into my new place here in Seoul, I had to somehow get my stuff from Johnny’s to here.

I mentioned it to my new director, and she immediately called a taxi company and scheduled an appointment for me. So, I took a combination of subways and a bus to get to Johnny’s house on Tuesday. Unfortunately for me, he wasn’t on vacation yet, so I had to move all my stuff down 9 floors by myself! It only took me 7 trips….I waited in the lobby until the taxi driver arrived at 2pm. However, when the taxi driver arrived, I told him I had bags and asked him if he would help me. He seemed surprised to hear that I had bags, but it didn’t register at the time as being a big deal. When I showed him my pile of belongings in the lobby, he immediately got angry. Every bad word I know in Korean came out of his mouth, and he was not happy.

When we carried the first load out to the car, he opened his trunk, and I realized the problem. His trunk was completely full with random boxes and bags. So, we had to squeeze everything into the back seat of his taxi. I kept apologizing over and over, but he wasn’t having it. When we were finally on our way to Seoul, I texted my director and told her that the taxi driver was really angry, and I wasn’t sure why. She immediately called my phone and asked to talk to the taxi driver. Come to find out, the taxi company never told the driver he would be helping someone move, so he didn’t know he should have an empty car. If he had known that, another taxi driver would’ve been sent to help me. All in all, I think it wasn’t a big deal, but the taxi driver was just upset that he hadn’t been informed. After he and my director talked, he was perfectly fine. He just needed an explanation, and my Korean obviously isn’t good enough to express the situation.

When I got to my apartment, the driver helped me unload my stuff, and one of my co-teachers, Ian, met me. He helped me carry my stuff up to my apartment. I told him I owe him a coffee one of these days for helping me move on his vacation. After that, I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and organizing my apartment. It wasn’t the smoothest day, but at least I got it all finished. Now I can officially get situated and start making this apartment my home for the next year!