New job.

It has been exactly one month and three days since I last updated my blog. Ridiculous. I guess I've just been so busy, and life hasn't been very exciting...I do have a few updates to offer.

My one-year contract for teaching in Korea ends June 30, and I'm going back home...as in back to the USA!!! Originally, I was planning on re-signing a second contract with the same academy. However, some significant changes have taken place over the past two months, and the academy has taken a turn for the worse. Therefore, I've decided that I need to look elsewhere for another teaching job. I still feel called to be in Korea, which is awesome, so I know that my Korea experience will be extended at least for another year. As far as what that looks like, I'm not entirely sure.

I've notified my academy that I won't be re-signing with them, so they will begin the process of looking for a new foreign teacher to replace me. I have begun the search for a new job. I would like to teach in a specific area, called Bundang, so I'm looking at my options. I've been talking to a recruiter, and I have a phone interview with him sometime this week for a position in Bundang, beginning at the end of July. I have also contacted two other companies, and submitted applications to them for jobs in Bundang. I don't anticipate running into any problems actually getting a job. Now that I've already worked in Korea for one year, that opens up a lot of doors for me. The problems I'm anticipating are related to my work visa and documents. It was quite a chore to complete that whole process before coming here to first time, and I would rather not have to go through that again. Hopefully, I'll be able to just get my work visa extended for another year and avoid any complications. I'm looking forward to talking to the recruiter this week so I can figure out exactly what my options are.

There are obviously negatives and positives about this big change in my life. The negatives are: I will miss my kids so much. I've grown attached to quite a few of them, and will miss talking to them and teaching them. We have shared many experiences and memories together, and that will be difficult to walk away from. Also, my boss, Darren, is truly one-of-a-kind. I have been extremely blessed to work for someone as kind and generous as him. My friends here would also agree with me. It's rare to have a boss who is so helpful and accommodating to a foreigner. That's one thing I don't anticipate finding elsewhere. However, the positives to this situation far outweigh the negatives: I will be able to be home for longer than a week in July!! I will be home for at least two weeks now, depending on when I'll have to head back to Korea to start my new job. Also, I'll get to experience a new part of Korea, and be closer to my friends. Many of my friends live in Bundang, so that will be wonderful to be able to invest more time in those relationships. Also, working with new students and new age levels will give me even more experience than I have now.

I'm really excited for what God's doing in my life right now. A lot of things are really up in the air right now, but I'm hopeful for what He has in store for me! Everything will work out, and I'll end up exactly where I'm supposed to be. I would appreciate your prayers as I continue to make decisions. I'll do my best to keep this updated and not let another MONTH go by without writing.  :)

NANTA.

Last weekend was packed with fun!! On Saturday morning, I woke up early and headed into Seoul for my Korean class. I missed my first class last week because I was sick, so I was extra excited about going!! The class is not what I was expecting at all. There are five students total, including me, and the teacher is really great! She’s super patient, which is a really good thing because for the entire three-hour class, SHE ONLY SPOKE KOREAN!! Wow! I was surprised and slightly overwhelmed. After a few minutes into the class, I was a little more comfortable when I realized that my classmates understood just about as much as I did. We helped each other out as best as we could and became fast friends. The teacher laughed a lot and was really helpful. The one thing I like about her is that she is EXTREMELY picky about our pronunciation. This is a good thing because I want to be corrected when I’m saying something wrong. I know that I won’t ever have a PERFECT Korean accent when I’m speaking, but I want to learn correctly so I can always be speaking my very best.

The class was split into three parts over the three hours, with two breaks in between. I think it gave our teacher some time to recharge a bit before coming back in to teach us more! Anyway, the class went really well. We’re moving through the textbook quite quickly, so that’s good, too! I learned pretty quickly that it’s going to benefit us a lot that our teacher is only speaking to us in Korean. This is going to force us to pay attention and pick up phrases from her much quicker than we would if we were able to speak English to her in class. I know that our teacher can speak English, because she would acknowledge when we made a connection between a Korean phrase and an English phrase. I think it’s really good that we’re learning in all Korean because it’s kind of fully immersing us in the language from the very beginning.

When my Korean class was over, I met up with Amanda and her best friend from Canada, Anita, for some lunch. We went to a traditional Korean restaurant with a lot of options so Anita could decide what Korean food she wanted to try. After lunch, we wandered over to a coffee shop and sat and talked for a few hours. Around mid-afternoon, we walked a few blocks to an open market on the street. We wandered in and out of some shops and went to a few of the tables where people had hand-made things. I bought a necklace and a ring, so I was really happy about that!

At around 6pm, I got on the subway and met up with Mi-Yeon. I was staying the night at her house, so I wanted to drop my bag off. We hung out at her house for a little while, and then went out in search of some dinner. We ended up meeting up with one of our friends from church, Khong, and had some BBQ. After dinner, we met up with Reuel and Wendy and went to a gelato place. DELICIOUS! At around 9:45pm, we headed to the theater…

There was a St. Patrick’s Day deal for foreigners, for a really popular stage show in Korea, called NANTA. Tickets are usually $50, but the St. Patrick’s Day deal was $30 per ticket, plus a few before-party with food and drinks. We jumped on that deal right away! We went to the before-party and hung out. I ended up running into a bunch of friends that I knew from different places, so that was pretty cool. We got some friends food and free drinks, which is always a plus! Finally, it was almost 11pm…time for the show to start!!

NANTA is a stage-show put on by only 5 people. The show is acting, singing, dancing around, comedy, beating on drums, and flashing lights…just incredible!! There’s a basic story line, and there’s a lot of humor thrown in. It’s really popular for foreigners because there’s barely any talking. They maybe only said three or four Korean phrases the entire show, and the rest was completely non-verbal. It was amazing!! They pull people from the audience, they throw things at you, they have you laughing the second you sit down. I didn’t have any expectations for the show because I didn’t know much about it. I was definitely surprised when it was over by how much I loved it! It was well-worth the $30 for sure!!

The show ended just after 1:00am, so we were all exhausted! It didn’t even seem like I had been to Korean class that same morning, so weird! Anyway, Reuel, Wendy, Mi-Yeon, and I all caught a taxi back to Mi-Yeon’s place. Because we were in Seoul, it would be an insane taxi ride back to Suwon, and all the public transportation (subways and buses) stop running after 11pm. Mi-Yeon was nice enough to open up her home to all three of us! The second we got home, we all crashed.

On Sunday morning, we all woke up pretty early, even before any of the alarms went off.  GO US!! We got ready for church in record timing, considering we were all sharing one bathroom! Something that we haven’t had to do in awhile….We hopped on the subway and headed into Gangnam. We went to Dos Tacos, our usual lunch, where we met Michelle and Arri. It was really great eating together with everyone because we all got to catch up with each other! When we finished eating, we went to the coffee shop and got our caffeine fill before church.

Church was great as usual! The worship was especially good, which is particularly awesome for me. During worship is when I feel most connected with God. After the service, I left the pack and headed home. I had tons of stuff to do, and needed to start clearing my to-do list. When I got home, though, my bed just looked so inviting….so sleeping is just what I did!

Sick, sick, sick...

On Saturday, I woke up feeling very sick. I couldn’t get out of bed, and just felt plain miserable. I’m still not sure what I had or what knocked me off my feet. On Friday afternoon, I wasn’t feeling very good, so I went to bed feeling under the weather. When I woke up, my sick feeling had multiplied. No fun. I’m really disappointed because I missed my first Korean class…bummer. But, by Sunday morning, I was feeling good as new!! I didn’t even take medicine or anything, so it was pretty incredible how quickly my sickness passed. Woohoo!

On Sunday, I planned to meet Mi-yeon for coffee before church. She ended up being a bit late on the subway, so we had to run to church, with no time for our coffee date. After the church service, Johnny met us in Gangnam and the three of us went to The Butcher’s Cut. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s a really yummy hamburger and fries place. It’s seriously the best hamburger I’ve ever had, even from back home. (And because I don’t like to experiment much with food and prefer the plainer hamburgers, you can take Johnny and Mi-yeon’s word for it! The get BBQ Bacon burgers, a little more exciting than my plain cheeseburger, and they said their burgers are incredible, too!) Anyway, after lunch, we wandered over to a gelato place nearby for some dessert. I got a coffee and they got gelato. (Luckily for me, I got to taste-test both of theirs…)

After that, we decided to see a movie, so we went to the theater to check out movies and times. We decided on John Carter, the new Disney movie. (And I say “new” meaning, new to Korea. We’re a bit slow on this end when it comes to getting recent movies…) Anyway, Mi-yeon ordered tickets from her phone for a bit later, so we wandered in and out of some shops to kill some time. At dinnertime, we stumbled upon an Italian-type restaurant. It was delicious! It was the first time I’ve had white cream pasta in Korea-YUMMY! By the time we finished eating, we had just enough time to get to the theater, get CARAMEL popcorn and sodas, and head to our seats. It was a great end to my weekend, and it definitely made up for doing absolutely NOTHING on Saturday!

Yesterday at school dragged by, so I think it’s going to be one of those weeks…Some fly by, while others drag on and on…I have some exciting weekend plans to look forward to though, so that’s good!

Sinsa.

I had an extremely packed and productive weekend!! I woke up early on Saturday morning, 9am, and caught the subway into Seoul. I officially signed up for my Korean class, which will begin next weekend. The class is from 10am-12:50pm every Saturday. I finally got the motivation I needed to sign up for an official Korean class. I want to get better at reading and speaking, and this language institute I'm going to has come very highly recommended. I'm so excited!! Signing up for the class only took about ten minutes, so I got right back on the subway and headed home. I was back by noon, which was awesome. I still had the whole day ahead of me!

When Johnny got off work, (yes, he works on Saturday mornings now, as most academy teachers do...but not this girl!!) we met for pizza at Pizza School. Pizza School is a really yummy pizza chain that's all over Korea. It's not actually a school of any sort, and you don't learn how to make your own pizza either. Very deceiving, I know. Anyway, a pizza is only 5,000 won, which is just under $5. Pretty sweet deal! After pizza, we went back to his place. He played some computer games, and I bummed around on Netflix. I'm so excited that Netflix finally works here!!

Around dinner time, we met up with Tommy and tried a new chicken and beer restaurant in the neighborhood. It was DELICIOUS!! It ended up being way too spicy for me...but we're definitely planning on going back! We're going to try something a little less hot next time... :)

On Sunday morning, I met Arri at a coffee shop close to church. We grabbed some drinks and then headed to church. The usual pastor had the morning off, so the associate pastor did the sermon. It was a completely different feel than normal, but the message was perfect. Just what I needed to hear. After church, Arri, Reuel, Michelle, and I all went to Dos Tacos for lunch. It was yummy as usual. After lunch, we were trying to make a plan for the day. Some ideas were thrown out here and there, and then "Sinsa" was mentioned. Sinsa is a place really close to Gangnam (where the church is), that's really great for food and window shopping and coffee. I mentioned that I had never been there, and that's all it took. Our plan was made. :)

We grabbed a taxi and headed to Sinsa. We walked in and out of a lot of shops they had, looking at clothes and shoes and books. We all bought a few things that we just couldn't resist. :) We ended up at a coffee shop at the end of the road. Because all the tables were taken, we got to go into the private room by ourselves. Lucky us!! We all ordered a drink, and Reuel pulled out Bananagrams! Now...if you don't know that game, you definitely need to play it! It's very similar to Scrabble, but you have your own pieces and your own game space. You're basically competing with everyone else to get rid of all the pieces on the table. We ended up playing for HOURS!! We played individually a few times, and then rotated so we were all partners with each other. Not to brag or anything, but...every partner I was paired up with ended up winning. I would like to officially declare myself MVP of Bananagrams.

By the time our game-playing was finished, it was dinnertime. Again, we had conversations about where to eat. Japanese, Indian, and Thai food were all thrown out as options, but no one could decide. I mentioned that I had never had Thai, and again, the decision was made. We collected our things, and headed for the Thai restaurant. We all ended up getting a different dish, so we could share. All the food was so yummy!! We ended up with seafood fried rice, pad thai, curry, and some kind of crunchy noodle things...very odd. Anyway, it was really good! Great food and great company.

When we finished eating, we decided we needed something sweet. Obviously. We ended up at a coffee and cake place. I got a chocolate smoothie, Reuel got some kind of fruity tea, and Michelle got a slice of chocolate cake. YUM. Arri said there just wasn't any more room for food.

This weekend was perfect. I didn't expect to have a girl's day on Sunday, so that was a pleasant surprise. Now, I feel really well-rested and prepared for another week of school. Today officially starts our new schedule. Kate and Sue, two of the Korean teachers, have left, so it's only Amanda, Jessica, Iris, and me. All my classes are new, so I'm excited about teaching other students. I like that we change schedules every three months because it keeps things interesting. Well, here's to a new week!! :)

Cursive Writing.

Only two more days, today and tomorrow, until two of our teachers leave. We're having a party for them on Wednesday night after work. We're going to go out for dinner and drinks, and probably end up at a nooribang (a karaoke room) after that!! Not sure what's in store for Wednesday night, but we're definitely going to be celebrating for sure! And luckily for us, the next day is a bank holiday so we don't have school. Woohoo!

Our first round of pen pal letters came in from Camelot, so we're so excited! I already opened the package to see what was in there...and boy was I surprised!! Almost all the letters from the students were written in CURSIVE WRITING!! That wouldn't normally be a problem, but no one here can read them except me!! I passed a few around to the teachers, and even THEY were struggling with them. So, I asked Darren if he wanted me to type up the letters that were written in cursive, and he said..."I'll think about it. I have another idea." So I didn't worry about it.

Well, yesterday Darren told me that he wanted me to teach all my elementary and middle school speaking classes how to write in cursive. SO EXCITING!! The kids were ecstatic!! Even my classes that I expected would complain about the lesson ate it up! They were all little perfectionists and kept asking me to check their handwriting. Even when the bell rang for break, some of the students were still working hard on their handwriting, trying to finish. It was great!!

I don't know how well they'll be able to read their pen pal letters, but at least now they have the basics behind cursive writing! I'll definitely incorporate cursive writing into future lessons for those students who are interested and want some extra practice. Either way, I'll probably be reading tons of letters all day! :) That's alright. I'm just really excited for them to read their pen pal's responses.

BIG CHANGES.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. A new teacher at Johnny and Tommy’s school arrived on Friday, so we met her. Her name is Coleen, and she’s from Boulder, Colorado. Based on the stories she told us, she’s pretty much a world traveler. I think she will adapt just fine to Korea. We showed her around town a little bit, and got her acquainted with all the basic places she would need to know.

On Sunday night, Johnny, Coleen, Lisa, and I all went to Suwon Station for dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant, which was delicious!! That was my second time going, and it was just as good as the first time! It’s actually owned by people who are from Nepal, so the food isn’t REALLY Indian food like you would expect. It has a hint of Nepali in its flavors…Either way, it was yummy!

So, there are some big changes happening at my academy. Currently, there are 4 Korean teachers (Sue, Kate, Iris, and Jessica), and 2 foreign teachers (Amanda and me.) Sue and Kate’s contracts are ending on March 1^st, and they were asked to not re-sign new contracts. They are both excellent teachers, but the owner of the academy decided to just have four teachers total, 2 Korean, 2 foreign. The schedule is also changing a bit, and the classes are going to look completely different. It seems really overwhelming right now because I teach 8 classes a day with one break, so I’m not sure how my schedule will look beginning in March. I’ve talked to my boss, Darren, and he seems really optimistic about the new changes.

I decided a few months ago that I want to stay for another year here. This whole time I’ve been thinking of just re-signing another contract for this academy. I have had a wonderful experience here, the kids are great, Darren is really understanding and accommodating…everything has just been wonderful! Now that these new changes are taking place, I’m not quite sure how I will like it. Technically, I’m supposed to tell Darren in March whether I want to stay here another year or go elsewhere. I talked to him on Friday and asked him if I could have the entire month of March to decide. He agreed.

I’m hoping that these new changes will be really good for the academy and won’t be stressful, like I’m anticipating. I definitely want to stay here another year, but maybe I will have to start looking at other academies in the area. I think I’ll know pretty soon what my decision is. I’m really hoping I can stay here, but I don’t want to completely burn out. That will defeat the purpose of teaching overseas in the first place. It will ruin my experience if I’m constantly stressed out at work.

So...on THAT note, send some happy thoughts and prayers my way as I make a big decision!! I'm trying to stay positive about all this. Sue and Kate will leave on February 29, and our new semester begins March 2.

"Are you lonely?"

Yesterday began a week-long lesson about Interviewing. (I know I've talked about this in previous blogs, but it's that time again!) Our elementary students are given the opportunity to interview the foreign teachers and ask anything they want to. I told my students that I will answer any questions they ask (brave, right?!), except, "who is your favorite student in this class?" That question is completely off limits. It would normally be seen as a joke to ask that question, but because of the competitive school culture here, feelings would definitely be hurt since they are all striving to be the best and the favorite. Anyway, yesterday began Interviewing. These are a few favorites from yesterday:

-Do you think you're pretty?
-Do you have many money?
-If you don't eat, what is your feeling?
-Are you going to be a soldier?
-How old are you?
-If you want one age, what will it be? (This mean, if I could be any age right now, what age would I want to be.) :)

These were from all my classes across the day, but it was funny because they all had the same theme:

-Can you jump from your house window and not die?
-Can you dive from a building?
-Would you jump off the Eiffel Tower with no parachute?

In one of my favorite classes, a boy came to the front and asked, "What is your favorite picture?" After a little help from the rest of the class and some Korean being tossed around, I finally figured out that he was asking, what is my favorite pose in pictures? So it turned into a really funny few minutes of all the students standing up and making their favorite poses. I really wish I had my camera with me in THAT class!! (They're so photogenic and crazy that I'm sure they won't mind re-enacting it later this week.) That just NEEDS to be documented. :)

The last class I was in, one of my girls asked, "Are you lonely?" I was really caught off guard by this because I thought she was saying that I looked lonely or sad. But, when I asked for further explanation, she said that because I was living far away from home and couldn't see my family for a whole year, she thought I would be lonely. I told her that I had made many friends here and was still able to talk to my family and friends back home. It sparked a really great discussion about living abroad and traveling and being on their own. It was an older elementary class, so it was a very mature discussion. We went a little off topic, but it was a really productive rabbit trail. Those are always the best. :)