Winter Vacation

Hello,

Winter vacation is slowly coming to an end. :( The beginning of the school year starts March 2nd. Korean school year is a different then ours. They start in March, then have a spring vacation in May. Then summer starts in July (not quite sure if it is mid or late July) and they start back at the beginning of Sept. I was a bit surprised of the long vacations because I read that Koreans have a longer school year than us. They go to school every other Saturday, so maybe that's why... who knows.

Let's see... since my last blog I have been skiing a couple times, went to Andong (my birth city), the beach, saw AVATAR is 3D, had a goodbye party for a few teachers (:( one of my co-teachers is leaving), and said goodbye to a few friends. Wow, I can't believe I've been here half a year, and now I'm having to say goodbye to friends.

Skiing... I went skiing for the first time, and I think I did a decent job for my first time. I was a bit nervous, but got the hang of it after a while. One day one of my friend's got a free condo for a night, and a group of us went skiing and then hung out. It was a lot of fun!

A few weekends ago, my friends Derek, Steve, Sang-Mi, Seo-Young, and I went to Andong and then a near by beach city. We had a blast! Andong is 2 and 1/2 hours away from Seoul. It is famous for having traditional villages where people still live today. It was fun to see the old houses, and see people still living in them. Of course they have updated the houses a bit... refrigerators and tv. We then ate Jjim dak. It is sooo good! I loved it! It is a famous Andong dish. It has chicken, noodles, carrots and potatoes. It was so good we had it twice! We then went to the city area of Andong, which is very similar to the suburbs of Seoul. So, we decided to drive to the beach that night. We got to Uljin around midnight. The drive from Andong to Uljin was not nice to my body. I was starting to get a bit sick with all the windy roads. Luckily I was able to fall asleep and not feel most of it. Well when we got to Uljin, we found a hotel to stay. We then went to a convenient store in the hotel building, got some food and fireworks and went to the beach. It was a bit chilly so after the fireworks we went back inside. The next day we spent the whole morning hanging out on the beach. It was a really nice day. Derek and Sang-Mi went into the water, but I opted out on that one. We then had lunch and headed back home.

So I've had to say bye to a few friends in the last month. :( I can't believe that my year here is half over. Time goes by so fast! Most of my friends in Korea are going to stay for another year. I know if I stayed here another year I would enjoy it, but I still plan on moving back to the US and meeting up Rachel (college roommate) in Chicago.

Last week, we had a goodbye party for 3 of the teachers at our school. One of the teachers is my co-teacher. I am sad that she is going because I enjoy teaching with her and she really has become one of my friends, but we will keep in touch. She still plans on playing badminton on Mondays so that will be nice.

Well that's all for now! I have posted two posts of pictures, and maybe more to come!

China

a motorbike that they turned into a cab

inside the bird cage (olympic stadium in Beijing)

night market with lots of different food and things to buy

Allan and I at a duck restaurant... very delious

cutting of the duck

Mmmm... I believe I'm eating a scorpion.

Tiananmen square

the Great Wall

Arriving in Beijing (Allan, Kevin, Me)

Entrance into the market

At the bird cage.... during the blizzard

Mmmmm snake, scorpion, and more

Andong and Uljin

This is a museum of the day that Queen Elizabeth II came to visit. I thought it was quite funny. For example, this was a shovel that she used. For what... I don't really know. I guess I should have read the description. They also had a chair she sat in, the places she visited, and etc. We were quite amused!

It was the first time a Queen of England had visited S Korea.

Me, Sang-Mi, Steve are at the beach.

Here is inside one of the traditional houses, where people still live.

A view from our hotel!

Welcome to Andong (the city I was born in)!

Sitting inside a traditional room!

A satellite dish... they may live in traditional houses, but still watch T.V.

Hello! I am peeking out a rooftop made of straw.

Mmmmmm! Delicious! Jjim dak! It is famous in the city of Andong.

In our hotel room.

Beach.. the city was called Uljjin

Hello 2010!

Hello Everyone!

Life in Korea is going really well, and it really does seem like a second home to me. I'm enjoying my job, and have a good set of friends here (although don't worry... I miss all of my family and friends back home, and do intend on returning next Sept).

(Left: Christmas Eve Dinner, Right New Year's Eve Dinner)

Well in the last few months I have experienced my first birthday, Christmas, and New Years away from home. It was hard not being with my family and friends, but I was able to talk to everyone back home through skype and vid

eo chat, which have helped a great deal. Christmas was probably the hardest, but I spend a string of 4 days with friends here in Korea, which helped a lot. So, don't worry I wasn't alone crying in my bed or anything. On Christmas Eve, I went to a friends apt in Suwon and we had a get together with other foreigners and some Koreans. It was a lot of fun. We had a nice big feast with some traditional Western food. Yum! We also taught the Koreans some traditional college student games like flip cup. They seemed to enjoy it. On Christmas, I went to another holiday party with lots of food and other Americans. The whole weekend I basically just hung out with friends, eating and hanging out.

I was able to catch my family on Christmas morning during breakfast. It was nice talking to them while they wer

e all together. I was a bit sad I wasn't with them, but what can you do..

My 24th b-day and New Year's Eve were also good times. For my b-day we just had dinner and went out in Seoul. For New Year's, we went to the ringing of the bell, which is sort of like the dropping of the ball. Everyone buys fireworks and then sets them off. You can buy sparkerlers and roman candles on the streets, which we did. It was fun to experience and see, plus fireworks are always fun.

One fun thing that I have done was make Kimbap (similar to California rolls). It was very easy, and can't wait to make it back home for friends. I really do love Korean food. I want to learn how to make all my favorite dishes, so I can make when I leave Korea.

(Here is a picture of the Kimbap I made.)

Earlier this month I went to China with my friends Allan and Kevin. It was a lot of fun! I loved the Great Wall! It was my favorite thing in Beijing! We actually went during a snow storm. It

was the worst snow Beijing has received in like 5 decades. The snow slowed us down a bit, but we were still able to see all the main things in Beijing that I wanted to see. We went to this one market, and we ate scorpion and snake. They weren't that bad really. I think it was more the idea of eating that made me a bit freaked out rather than the actually taste. The forbidden city was so enormous and beautiful. Let's just say, they were living the life in this palace back in the day! We took these taxis on a motorbike, which different, but got the job done. It was very difficult hailing a cab in Beijing, so when we were able to get the moterbike taxis, we were quite happy. The food was really good! I LOVED the Peking Duck. The skin melted in my mouth! Mmmmm! We also had lots of delicious street food.

I went skiing for the first time! It was a lot of fun, and I think I did fairly well for my first time. My friend was very helpful teaching me how to ski, and staying with me while I skied. I only had one big fall, but it did hurt. My shoulder was sore for 2 days. I plan on going a couple more times before the end of ski season. I really want to try snowboarding, but that may have to wait for next year.

A couple weeks ago, I went to a cabin with some friends. Sang Me's family has a cabin, and was nice enough to invite all of us to come. It was so much fun! We made Korean food, and just hung out for the weekend. They taught us some traditional Korean games that they play, which were quite fun and entertaining.

I am currently teaching Winter English Camp. I am really enjoying it! I have small classes of about 15 students. The students are high level English students, so they can understand me pretty well. We have themed days such as, Sports, Science, Art, Animals, and Movie day. I like teaching by myself. It makes it feel like it is my own class. I'm really getting to know the students a lot better. It is nice seeing the same students everyday. (During the regular school year, I teach classes with 30-40 students, and have a co-teacher to help. I also teach about 20 different classes grades 3-6.)

Well that's what has been going on with me in the last few months. I will try to update more often, and will post photos soon.

November!

Wow! I can't believe it's already November! Sorry, it's been a while since I've posted anything. So much to tell you guys. Well every week that passes, I feel more comfortable here. I'm learning more and more about the culture, and all the little mannerisms. At first, some of the differences in clothes and their approach to things... I would think oh this is different. I guess I need to get use to them. Now, I'm starting to like them and even doing some of them myself! haha! I'm loving the food, movies, tv shows, music, and LOVE the clothes. Don't worry friends... I will return to the U.S.

Let's see... what to tell you guys...hmmm?????

I went to a festival in Suwon and the Suwon Fortress. It was fun. There was a parade, lots of delicious foods, music and more. There was a taekwondo show. I'll share a link and some pics!

Look! I can fit inside a rice box! We actually fit two of us, but I don't have that picture. Let me just tell you it was a tight squeeze with two.

Traditional Korean Dance... (only a short portion of it)

So many palaces, fortresses and such. Most of them are actually re-built from after the Japanese bombed Korea, but you can get an idea from the replicas. They are built to look very similar to the original. The Suwon fortress did have one building that was original. It's fu

n visiting the touristy things, because I learn a little bit about Korean history.

A few weeks ago, I went to a free Korean pop concert at Kyunghee Dae (univeristy) in Suwon. My friend knows a student that attends the university, so we were able to get close up seats. Yeah!! It was so much fun!!!! I love K-Pop! When I first got to Korea, I thought this reminds me of 1998! I mean I loved it when I was 13, but I don't know. It's very N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and Jessica Simpson, but updated with a Korean spin on it. It's played everywhere, in stores, tv, and on everyone's cell phone (Korean's say hand phone). It just grows on you, and now I'm constantly finding myself humming the K-Pop tunes. I'm starting to love it! I found videos on youtube that has English subtitles, Korean Hangul, and spelled phonetically in English. Yeah! Now I am able to sing a few lines in Korean! Did I tell you I LOVE IT!

This is T-ara & Supernova...singing T.T.L. I wish I would have gotten this on video, because it is one of my favorite pop songs right now. Here is a link t

o the song I highly recommend taking the time to watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U267ouy0Wck

Here all ages like K-Pop. Of course elementary school girls, but also adults, even grandmas. I'm not for sure if it's just girls or if guys like it too. I'll have to check into that. I'm also getting into other genres of Korean music, such as rap and rock.

(I forgot the name of this band, but I really liked them. The lead guy was a really good preformer.)

I'm trying my best to learn Korean. I can read, so that's a start. It does take me a long time to read one word. So, I decided to enroll in a Korean class. A friend of mine sent me information on a 5-week class at Kyunghee Dae. It's two days a week from 6:30-8:30. I'm excited to start! I'll let you know how that goes.

Oh! I met someone in my town last week! Yeah! I live in a very small town, so meeting another foreigner is amazing. During the week, I still tend to get bored a bit. Mondays I have badminton, and I've been meeting up with friends once during the week, but it will just be nice to know someone within a walking distance of where I live.

(This is a picture of a night out in Seoul. We were celebrating Nathan and Jessica's b-days! We were waiting for the Subway.)

Other than that, I've just been touring the city, shopping (love korean style and clothes), meeting new people, and going out. Well, that's all for now!

There are so many pictures and videos I'd love to share, but it takes forever to upload. Maybe I'll create a flickr site or one of those photoshare sites, and then post a link.

Here are some photos!