Korea.: January 2013

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

First 6 Months

I feel the need to update since I haven't really written anything about my "feelings" lately. I remember the last time I wrote about how I feel about Korea was before I had to decide to extend my contract or not (I did extend my contract). The plan is I will be going home August 2013.

I am trying really hard here to deal with the weather...the dryness and deadliness of the winter is really depressing. I think I feel more emotional every winter but this winter challenges me a lot. On my way to school, all I see are dead trees and frozen ponds. It really dampens my spirit. I want to be active but there are days when I just want to stay under my blanket and next to my heater. I am lazier to see people when it's -3* Celsius outside. As an extrovert, I get energy from talking and hanging out with people so this winter has been difficult... and it's not even close to being Spring yet. Spring will probably come late March or early April.

I do realize though that this winter also made me a stronger person. I guess I was forced to be stronger... there's really no way around it. Whenever I felt sad at home or feel lonely, I had someone to talk to but here, I suck it up and move on. There are times when I'm on the street and suddenly I wanted to cry so bad because I was so cold. I was so sick of being alone and cold, and I hated myself for putting myself through this. I hate how I have to wear at least 4 layers to survive. It's amazing how the weather can affect your mood.

On a good note, things at school has been good. The students are quite use to my style of teaching. I know their personalities and the dynamic of the classes so planning lessons has been easier. I love seeing the students and I think they are comfortable with me now. This month is winter camp so not all the students come; I took this chance to learn some of their names. I'm not good at pronouncing it but at least they know I try. We've been playing a lot of games and watching movies. I think they enjoy the relaxing schedule. Even I enjoy it so it's a win-win.

I do look forward to coming home and seeing my family and friends. I miss the variety of food that we have in California. Of course, I miss the weather. I know though that my extension will make home much sweeter!

January 31 will be the end of my first 6 months in Korea.

~ P.S. Don't visit Korea in the winter; you will be highly disappointed and extremely depressed.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Pen Pal Project

I had my Korean students write letters to my friend back in the States. Here's a short video of them writing the letters. I wanted to show my friends back home. I think they enjoyed the activity! They will be receiving letters back from my friends.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Snowboarding in Korea

Linh, Aaron, and I went snowboarding at Muju Resort this past Saturday. It was so much fun! It was Linh's first time and she liked it a lot. We got ski lift ticket and rented snowboard for about 60,000won each (about $60). We also had to rent clothes since we didn't have any. I would love to go again but we'll have to see since the bus ride there was about at least 4 hours.

I got so much more confident this time around. I only went snowboarding once before. I was so happy and excited to snowboard again.

Here are videos:

Strapping in and seeing the view from above.

Linh's first time snowboarding!

Linh and Aaron

Aaron's turn!

I look quite cool? hehe

Thursday, January 17, 2013

23rd Birthday in Korea

I have been dreading this day for quite a while. Today is my 23rd birthday (24th Korean age). I actually don't enjoy my birthdays as much because I get super emotional with all the attention and pressure of having to do something special.

Being in Korea, I know that I wouldn't have a birthday celebration with my family and friends. I was scared I would be sitting in my apartment, crying my soul out because I can't see the people I love. I tried to make plans to keep myself occupied and keep my emotions intact.

I woke up to birthday wishes (Korean time)..a day early for America. I thought "Hey I don't feel so bad". I guess it's because I was preparing myself to not expect anything, since I can't expect anything being 6000miles away from home. In my head, I repeated... no birthday dinners..no presents..no surprise birthday parties, no birthday cakes (quite sad right?) It's just part of living abroad away from family and friends. Knowing me, I had to prepare myself for this day.

It turns out I had a pretty good day. No expectations is good because when something happens, you're extremely grateful and happy. My students did not know today was my birthday. No one at school knew, but when my first grade boy (quite a rowdy boy) gave me his game card....I asked him "for me?" and he nodded. I kept it in my pocket the all day because it was a gift! He had no idea... I felt appreciated because kids usually treasure their toys a lot so giving up what he likes meant a lot to me.

After I got home, I spent some time talking to my parents and emailing thank you notes to close friends from home. I then got ready to go to the sauna with one of the TaLK teachers. I wanted to go relax in a warm place...since it has been so cold (it snowed today..). This is my first time at the sauna and I had no idea we had to be completely naked... (of course women and men were separated). I was like...uh awkward..naked in front of my friend?? But it was actually not too bad. The sauna was nice..I relaxed in the the hot pool and went into one of the really hot sauna rooms. I was sweating like crazy but it felt so nice. One of the room was 70* Celsius! There were a lot of older women. It's common for women to go to the saunas... they rub off their dead skin after relaxing in the hot pool. I'm thinking of going back whenever I'm bored. I will have perfect white skin by the time I get back to the states. hehe

Don't expect to see any pictures of this part of my day... ha

After the sauna, we went to get dalk gang jeong (chicken mixed with this red sweet sauce). It was really good since I was really hungry after the sauna. My friend and I got some bakery goods also. It was a good dinner. I ended the day with my favorite coffee, caramel machiato, from Dunkin Donuts.

I got back around 7pm and felt it was enough. I didn't need to do anything else.

~ A shoutout to my beloved family and friends. I feel blessed that you thought of me on my birthday. It means a lot that you took the time to say Happy Birthday to me! I can't really express how grateful I am to be loved and cared for by so many people. Thinking of you all. ~

E-card from friend back home.

Game card from my 1st grade.

Dalk Gang jeong

Had birthday dinner the day before with Bible/book group.

Polaroid and Thai food!

Gift from a friend from New Zealand, who went to the sauna with me!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Winter Break

Phuket, Thailand

Charlie's Angels, Phuket

I've been on the road, the plane, on the boat, on the train, on the bus, ...on an elephant for the last few weeks. It felt like I haven't been in my apartment for so long. After Nami Island with my host family and after Christmas, I left for my vacation in Thailand. After Thailand, I went back to my host family for a few days. This past weekend, I took a bus to Gwanju to visit Linh and Ellis. Now I am visiting Connie and her family in Jeonju.

Thailand was perfect timing because I really needed a place with warm weather. The cold makes me feel more lonely here. The snow is beautiful but it could be dangerous and extreme weather usually changes things (bus schedules...school schedules). I felt like a tourist and I felt relaxed. I got to feel what it's like to be an adult ...using my own money to go on vacation. I did all the typical things people do in Thailand. We visited the temples, relaxed on the beach, rode elephants, canoed to the islands, ate exotic fruits and pad thai, ...drank thai tea. It was a well-spent trip.

The one thing that really strikes me about Thailand is the people. Everyone we met were very friendly and helpful. Strangers who saw us looking at our maps would come over and ask if we needed help. The people in Phuket were more personal. They would give us hugs and one of the guys even bought us a snack for our trip home. I definitely felt welcomed and they all told us to come back to visit next time and not to forget about them. It felt a lot of like Vietnam for me... the people, the food, the weather, and the openness. I felt like guests to their country and they were being good hosts.

The thing about Southeast Asia is that the people are still very poor. Thailand is a bit better and more modern compare to other countries in the area but poverty is still very evident. We were really afraid of being ripped off ...and we bargained a lot. Still, we didn't experience any pick pockets or witness anything horrible. In Phuket, we were more cautious with our money since it was more on the countryside but we really didn't need to be. In Vietnam, the locals can pick out the tourists really easily and they would bombard the foreigners with items they want to sell; we didn't get any of that in Thailand.

I really wanted to see the floating market but we didn't have time.

I am lucky because I got a really long break. I got to do everything that I wanted to. Now, I think I am ready to just relax at home and go back to the same routine.