Yaaay for kids

Today I had my first day at the elementary school. Those kids are sooooooooooo cute. So, I walked there, it took me 35 minutes of walking relatively fast. The last stretch was the toughest because it was up a really steep hill. It's a super nice walk, so I don't mind it. I first had the 3rd graders. There are 21 students in that class, which is great. Not too many. They were really into my lesson, and were very curious about me. They are very competitive and competition will be the best way to keep them active. Next, I had the 4th graders who were super adorable. They all seem to understand English very well. They don't speak a lot, but they understand most of the things I say. That class has only 13 students, so it'll be very easy to do things with them. I was sitting in the back of the class observing, and they kept coming and asking me questions. Then, when the class finished they all came and swarmed around me and were saying one word in Korean. Then one said "Lunch time". Aaaaaah. Then one girl grabed one arm, another one grabed the other arm and then two other kids started arguing because they wanted to hold my hand, so here I was being escorted by a crowd of 11 year olds to the lunch room where they were talking and talking and talking. One kids asked me if I have a boyfriend. I said no and he said he'll be my boyfriend. HAHAHAH! Sooooooooo cute. Then we all went in, they showed me where to go, and we all sat together and ate lunch. One of the kids told me I had to eat all my food because otherwise I would get a red sticker. A red sticker is bad. I said bye and they all were very sad and were waving and saying bye bye until I was all the way down the 3 flights of stairs and they couldn't hear and couldn't see me. My next class was the 6th graders. As soon as I walked into the class, all the girls were all over me. Hi, hi, hi, hi, what's your name, nice to meet you, hi, hi. Then they usherd me into a chair and showed me the game they were playing, then it was my turn. They were cheering and uhing and ahing at my skill to throw up a little rock and pick up the other 4 off the ground. I did my intro shpiel and when I finished I was going to sit down, but they all wanted to introduce themselves. I was surprised at how well behaved they were, how well they listened and how interested they were. Now, this might all be wrong and just my first impression because it was my first day. In any case, I had a very good first impression and I'm really excited about starting to teach there next week.

More stories, including pictures to come :).

I love my place

Yay!! So, I've finally gotten my apartment in order. All that is left is doing the dishes, sorting the things in the cupboards and finishing my laundry. Then it's all ready :). Then I have to start cooking and get some more alcohol because this weekend is Chuseok, the Korean thanks giving and we have a long weekend. So, some of the people that I met at my orientation in Seoul are going to come visit for the weekend. So, from Friday until Monday all these nice people will be staying on my floor. I can't wait. There might be either 8 or 10 people, depending if one couple come. I haven't had a party at my place in a long time, and this time it actually is my own place. After cleaning up and organizing and throwing out the garbage, it looks so neat and spacious and clean and whoaaaaa!! I will take pictures and upload them up here soon so you can all see how I've changed the apartment around. 3 more days and then it's party time :). I'm going to make a whole bunch of things and then hopefully people are going to bring some things and they can cook some things as well and we'll all just have a feast :). Alright, off to bed with me :)

New moments

This is for growing, this is for learning, this is for loving, this is for sharing, this is for discovering our true selves. This is for an end and for a beginning.

Decisions...

I'm holding on to the flutter board, kicking the water away in this really nice and very modern looking pool, and I'm thinking about what person in my life should be the most important: my parents, my sister, my friends, or MYSELF. Is that being selfish? I don't think so... and then I was wondering why I was putting in so much energy, time and effort for an idea? Is it making me happy, not anymore... The balance of good and bad is gone, and not in a good way. I'm getting close to giving up on trying.

My town/village

The cities in red are the ones I've lived in. Before, I was living in Seognam, and now I'm in Geojin. It's pretty far up north, but it's very beautiful.

I have also updated the map with other locations I have been to in South Korea.

My new appartment

So, now I am in Geojin. A super small town/village on the east coast of Korea, close to the DMZ. The DMZ is the border between North Korea and South Korea, so there are quite a lot of army bases and soldiers around. The area is very beautiful. It's quiet and there isn't really much to do, but the beach is 5 minutes away, the mountains are not too far, fresh fish can be bought at the pier every day, everyone says hi and I recognise my students all over the town. I am teaching at a Middle school. The students are grade 7, 8 and 9. They are super cute and I haven't been nervous AT ALL about dealing with them. I am very happy with pretty much everything so far. My co-teacher is a nice but quite absent-minded little old lady. She is very cute and I can see is trying to do her best to help me get everything in order.

This week I'm not teaching, I'm only observing and hanging out in the teachers lounge at my desk. I did have to teach a class today. It was very last minute and I wasn't prepared at all, but it was ok and I managed a class of 35 students all by myself as the first time new teacher. I was impressed with myself. I can't wait to see how I'll do when I'm all prepared and have a nice lesson plan and games and activities all laid out :).

Ok, enough talking, here are some pictures of my apartment and area. (These pictures are in reverse order)

So, this is the playground in front of my building.

Reminds me of the one I used to play in when I visited my gramma in Romania.

The front entrance.

That's me :).

This is the east shore of the country. You can see it out of my balcony and it's only a 5 minute walk from my place.

Beautiful beach and beautiful water. Can't wait for next summer.

This is my living room. The bed has been moved into my bedroom now. Once I finish moving everything around, I will take more pictures and post them up on here.

My couch. That's right!!! I HAVE A COUCH :D.

My super amazing balcony.

Two HUGE wardrobes just for me. I hope all my clothes will fit in there :).

The view from the front door.

You can see the bedroom there.

And my bathroom with a bathtub. It's pretty rare to get a bathtub in Korea, so I'm very excited to soak in there.

And here's a full shot of my living room. Nice eh?

Orientation Trip (August 2008) (very late pics)

Wow, this is so long ago. I found them in my pictures folder on my computer, and I thought I'd put them up here so as not to forget this or loose the pictures somehow.

So, this is the orientation trip from when I joined the EPIK program. We had a 10 day orientation in Seoul before being sent to the far corners of this tiny country.

That's me and Cabby. She only stayed for one year. She's from Tasmania. 

On an evening out, we went to a soju bar in the area. On the left is Sandra, also from Tasmania, who stayed in Korea for 2 years and now is back in Australia.

The ladies. Oh how I miss them. Sujata is on the far left. She's from the States. 

Oh wow, I had earrings back then.

They all went back home to pursue their goals and follow their dreams.

Pictures

So, after 17 days of wandering around South Korea, I've finally come to the end of my vacation. I have learned to be alone, I have learned to be OK with it, I have learned how much I want to be with someone, , I have learned how to navigate around Korea, I have learned many things. Now, I'm starting a new chapter in this experience and well, we'll see how things go from here.

Here are some of the pictures that I've taken in these last 2 weeks.

Dangjin, morning after buying my sweeeeet iPod.

Marvel at my super amazing chopstick skills :).

Eating in Dangjin.

Big BIG bottle of beer at a pub in Gwangju.

This was the sauna I stayed at in Busan. It overlooked the ocean. Very beautiful.

First view of the ocean in Busan.

Getting closer.

Oh, the classic feet shot. The sand was super nice.

And then the water.

And then more water.

Then I went and ate eel. The poor thing, it was still alive you know.



Mmmm, so delicious. This was all for me.

Now that we got the beer, now it's ready to be eaten.

The view from my chair on the edge of the beach.

I can feel my skin burning...

That's my 2 piece brown swim suit i bought in Korea. I actually found my size. It was very nice :)

The water was sooo nice.

North of Dongdaemun area in Seoul.





My hair is sooo long.





Korea National Library. It wasn't as impressive as it sounds.

It was very big though.

My side of the room at Konkuk University.

The room at Konkuk. So nice to finally have a bed :)