New Year...New Life January 1st 2011

So I am going to do a little back tracking because it has been awhile since I updated. I have currently left the Elementary school I worked for and am now working at the Gyeongbuk Educational Institute with 7 other foreigners. I am teaching students online and though it has its challenges, I truly feel blessed to have this opportunity. The program that we work for is brand new and from what I can tell it is kind of a big deal in our city. One of the other teachers I work with was actually recorded and broadcasted on television in Korea. I have my own little office so that is nice, plus I get to work with a good bunch of people. Andong has been very good for me and even though it is tough being away from home I am very thankful for my life here. I have heard some horror stories from other teachers about being stuck in bad situations. So I am happy that I am not placed in one of those.

This last Wednesday was my birthday and I went out with my co-workers and we sang karaoke...it was a lot of fun. My co-teacher from English camp (Jin Suk) went out with us, and we had a great time!! I love her, she is probably one of my best Korean friends and she has been super helpful to me since I moved here.

Tonight was new years and we all went out for drinks and to the local "booking club" where apparently if there is a table full of guys they bring you a girl! Interesting....But anyway I don't go there for any of that , I just enjoy going and dancing with friends and having a good time. For the rest of the weekend I plan on lying low....reading, cleaning, and talking to people from home. Sunday, I plan on going to church next door to my house. I believe that Pastor Kim is having a birthday party for me....how cute is that? I am really happy that I started going there, especially because it feels great to be surrounded by wonderful and welcoming people. I have been spending time with the girls who invited me there in the first place, one is my student from Bokju and the other is my landlords daughter, last weekend we went shopping downtown after church and got ice cream. I loved it~

I am excited for this new year and have a lot to look forward to...China in February, Hawaii in March, hopefully Thailand in the summer. I can't wait!!!! After all the great times and the hardships that 2010 has brought, I am looking forward to a new year. I am so happy with the way my life is going especially spiritually, I really see God working in my life and am so thankful for that. I hope that this year brings peace to the issues that are going on back at home in the states and that my family can feel the peace that I am experiencing myself. Happy New Year EVERYONE~~ I pray that its a good one :)

Today is the beginning of my new life

December 18, 2010

Tomorrow is a new day, I am excited. I am starting at Gyeongsangbuk-do Educational Research Institute. I have been very hesitant about this position and what it entails, but I decided today that I am no longer going to worry about it. I have been doing a lot of self-reflection lately, and it has made me realize that I have only been going through the motions of life and not fully living to my potential. I haven't been being completely true to myself, or my character....and feeling somewhat lost. It could be that I am a million miles away from home and everything I love. I guess I feel like I have been living only half-way, worrying too much, not making the most out of this amazing experience, sometimes forgetting my values and my worth. With much prayer and thought I now realize what needs to happen. I know that God has put me here for a reason and even though sometimes its tough, I know he has a plan. This is amazing to me, and I feel truly blessed to have this inner peace. So now with a better grip on things I am going to start getting involved in activities I am passionate about, I want to get out there and do what God intended me to do. I am starting on my new venture tomorrow (not only the new job, but something else I have been wanting to do), but I am going to keep it underwraps until I know the details. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

"All seasons are beautiful for the person who carries happiness within."

This too shall pass

(December 18, 2010)

You can sure get a lot of thinking done when you can't sleep from 3:30am until 8:00am because first someone calls you from home in the U.S. and because they do not understand the time difference they wake you up. Secondly, Anthony  stumbles into your room at 4am and falls asleep sitting up....finally you get him to wake up and send him stumbling off to his own room. Thirdly, your dear friend David  is snoring so loudly on your bedroom floor that you could have built a log cabin by now with all of the logs he has sawed. Lastly, there is so much on your mind that even if all of these things had not happened you probably couldn't sleep anyway.

Last day of school

Today was my last day at Bokju, it was sad and bittersweet. I will miss it there. It is also Friday night....not quite sure what the plans are, but tomorrow night we are having an ugly sweater party!

Insomnia

It's 2:45 am, I have to be at work in 6 hours....I can't sleep! Tomorrow is my 2nd to last day of 3rd grade and I am really hoping I will have the energy to make it through the day. I am sure I will  because the kids are always so happy to see me that even if I was in a bad mood they would cheer me right up. The good thing is I am leaving at 12:30 after my classes so I guess I can sleep after that.

I miss Talia, my down pillowtop mattress pad, Gooie's oatmeal and oven hotcakes. Man do I miss those things. Ahhh, the comforts of home....

I did have some really good baked spaghetti at dinner tonight after the English camp final awards ceremony. Thank you to the Gyeongbuk Office of Education for picking up the tab! I think I am tired now, so I am going to sleep :) Oh I posted a picture of Jin Suk and I, she is my co-teacher from English Camp! I love her she is so helpful and a great friend!

My last week at Bokju :(

Hello everyone, it has been awhile since I have posted....sorry for that. I have been side tracked and actually didn't feel I had much to write about. I am now beginning a transition from my current job to a new job.  I love the elementary school I work at, I am only a  10 minute walk away...the kids are great...and I have met some great people here. I am sad to leave, my final day here is on Friday. I start my new job at Gyeongbuk Educational Research Center on Monday the 20th. My hours there will be very different (1pm-9pm) than from my elementary school where I currently work 8:30-4:30. I actually don't mind too much about working the later hours because thats what I worked back home, but it will be an adjustment. Today was the final class for my 4th grade students and I have received a couple hundred letters and cards from them today. Some of the cards are written in Hangeul (Korean), but I told them it was okay because it will give me that much more incentive to study the language so that I can read them. Yesterday and today for our final class I took pictures of the students and put them into an Elfyourself video that I found online. They didn't know that I was doing it so you can imagine their surprise. I have never heard kids laugh so hard in my life. It was amazing, and I am happy that they had such a good time in class. Tomorrow I have my last day of English camp as well. We are doing individual presentations as well as having the students sing a song. It should be a lot of fun. After that the leader of Gyeongbuk Center for Education is taking me, Ellen, and our co-teachers from camp out to dinner. Thursday and Friday will be my last 2 days at Bokju where I will be teaching my 3rd graders. They are so cute!!! It will be hard to say goodbye, but I am hoping to come back and visit since I do not live too far.

Onto the next thing, this last Sunday I was invited by my landlords daughter and one of my students to go to the church next door to my house and have lunch. I had lunch and talked with the pastor who speaks pretty good English. I then read the kids a book and played dodgeball with them. I had the best time ever!! Plus there were cute little babies in the nursery. I am hoping that I will be able to help out there every once in awhile. I am planning on going there again this Sunday, I know that the sermon will not be in English but it will be nice to be surrounded by good people who were nice enough to invite me over for lunch. I am truly thankful for that.

It is really cold, and I am finished with school for the day so I am going to head out. Hope to talk to you all soon!

Wants nothing more than to be lying on a beach sunbathing...for just a few hours thats all I ask. November 29th 2010

Winter is here, and it has been here for awhile. All the colorful fall leaves have fallen and all that is left are baren stick like trees, nothing like the vast pine trees of Washington. I am craving sunshine like the worst alcoholic craves alcohol. Vitamin D deficiency has to be high in this country, especially when I don’t think they believe in tanning beds or vitamin supplements. I would give my left leg for some hot weather right now, but only my left leg because it doesn’t work so well anyway. In order to escape the bone chilling cold I will be visiting my family in Hawaii hopefully this March. I have come to the conclusion that I was not made to live in cold weather, so it will be nice to get some sun especially when it includes traveling to Hawaii (one of my favorite places). For now I will have to settle with cranking up my heat in my room and dealing with a $50 gas bill. I guess that it’s not too high of a price to pay for a little comfort when you are a billion miles away from home and warm weather.
On to a happier note, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I gathered together with about 30 other teachers in Andong and celebrated. We each brought a dish (mine:garlic mashed potatoes). I have had my share of pumpkin pie for the year thanks to the people who went all the way to Costco!