PaTiEnCe

Hi Grandpa and Grandma!! I hope you guys see my blog and enjoy it! I wish I could have come out to NY and seen you before I came over here! Just wanted to say I miss you and Love you both!!!(now people will be jealous because they don't get a shout out in my blog)

Meet Harry. He is one of my preschoolers, I <3 him! He does not test my patience =)
My bathroom. Yep that is my shower above the toilet. It is not bad, it is nice to have such a big bathroom. I just have to make sure i remember to turn the shower off when I go to wash my hands!

I built a fort....that's how bored I am......=)
No this is how I dry my sheets!

My street! View of Seoul from my balcony

Patience is a virtue

The definition of patience is to tolerate delay. This has never been something that came easy to me. Now I am a teacher =) Teachers require a lot of discipline, and even more patience. Without knowing really what I was in store for over here in Korea, I have found my patience being tested daily. I struggle with this, and I feel like I struggle even more with it because I am a lone here. It is funny how you can be in a room full of people, or a city of 20 million people and feel completely alone. SO what to do? Wait it out? Find joy in small things? Run and hide? I vote for all the above. I am a firm believer in what doesn't kill you will make you stronger, as long as you let it. My kids can be very difficult, as are any kids between the ages of 4 and 10.

When my patience isn't getting the best of me, Korea really is a lovely place. I can't believe how new everything is. I have to make new friends, learn how to do my new job well, find my way around a new city, adjust to a new apartment, and try to learn and understand a new language!!

First real Saturday night out in Korea

This is the first night I really felt like a girl =)
It has been quite liberating not worrying about makeup or my hair here, but sometimes it is nice to feel pretty.

Ta-Da!! You just take a piece of lettuce, put some rice in there (rice comes with an over medium egg), some meat that Aidan cooked, and some delicious red sauce!!! It is so delicious! The best part about Korean food (besides the taste) is that is always comes out within 5 minutes of ordering it. I couldn't believe it. Below my friend Aidan that I work with was working with the meat they give you. You cut it yourself into the sizes you want, and then you flip it to have it cooked just the way you like. All the sides just come with the meal. We got all this food, and then 2 beers each and it was only 23 dollars. (also you never tip in Korea)

I learned that this was a drum circle. The music they made on these bongo drums was glorious! This was in the park in Hondae.

This was a live concert they were having in the park. I couldn't understand anything, but the energy was incredible!! I was having such a good time dancing along and enjoying the show.

Aidan, TK, and I at a small bar in Hongdae. You can get the drinks to go, and walk down the streets with them.

U.S.A!!! Had to take a picture!

This is my friend TK, those are my sunglasses, and I have his glasses on. He is Korean, but he lived in Australia for the last 7 years so he kind of speaks with a Korean accent.

Night Club in Hongdae with some teachers we met that night.

My friend Aidan and I went out for dinner and then took a cab to the town of Hongdae. A new favorite city of mine. It is where a lot of foreigner (teachers/military) people go.

A wonderful Saturday full of Shopping, bike riding, and 4D rides

This is at Wabar with fellow teachers......you push that button when you need the waiter. Don't worry mom, the smokes aren't mine!

I had to buy all three of them of course

The river that we rode our bikes along

The city we rode around was so open, and so relaxing. It felt like we took a holiday away from Seoul.

Rented bikes with my teacher friend Aidan who is from Ireland. It was gorgeous riding around for an hour.

First movie in Korean Theater...We saw Inception. It was AMAZING!!!! The theater was very classy and beautiful. Notice, the snack menu above at the theater....

OF COURSE I found a pizza joint in Korea =)

Korean Supermarket! Notice below...on my arm....octopus tentacle!

And yes I ate it! Right off my arm!

First Korean dinner! Not sure what it was, but it was spicy!

Apron was provided!
First Korean dinner with some teachers from my school! Love how they make it at the table

The Icheon airport!

My plane ride!! 12 1/2 hours!!!

KoReA

Well I made it. Every time I have tried to write a new post my computer wouldn't let me. So this is my final attempt. It is Saturday and I am in the midst of my first weekend in Korea. My flight left at 10 am last Saturday. My friends and parents met me at the to see me off. It was quite tearful, but I haven't cried since. I know those feelings will come, but I am keeping my head up higher than ever! My flight was long, I watched about 6 movies, but after the 4th movie I entered zombie mode. Now I have no interest in TV, and if you know me that is big. When I arrived in Korea I had to collect all 200 lbs of luggage and go through immigration where I was met by a woman who was holding a sign with my name on it. I felt pretty important. She didn't speak English, so conversation was out of the question. The apartment I am in now wasn't quite ready so I was put into a hotel. Not the nicest, but I had complaints. The hotel room was the size of my parents bathroom, with a TV that took up the whole room. I met my classes the morning after I arrived, and the rest of the foreign teachers. 3 Irish, 3 American, and a guy from South Africa. They were very receptive, and so welcoming to me. They have invited me out to eat and get coffee or drinks whenever they go. They have been so understanding that I am the "baby" there, and that I am in for some major adjustments. I feel blessed with the school and peers that I was placed with.
The kids......I have a feeling that they will be the main reason I smile each day....but also the main reason I cry or need a drink after work.. I have never spent much time with young children, or babysat so I will definitely have my work cut out for me. My kids speak a fair amount of English, and they're not allowed to speak Korean during class times which makes it kind of nice for me. My TA (teaching assistant) is Korean so she is able to help me when I need to tell the kids something that I can't translate. Another challenge I have found already is to remember that I need to teach things in a simpler manner. I notice that I read a little too fast, and need to think of multiple words to try to explain to them what something is.
These are all things that will become natural for me, and over time I will get better at it.

FOOD: So far so good. A lot of the places have a grill in the middle of the table where they cook the food right in front of you. One restaurant handed out aprons to make sure nothing splattered on us, I felt that was fun and thoughtful. We went out to dinner with all the foreign and Korean teachers, and I decided to try octopus. It was a whole baby octopus...bigger than calamari, and you take scissors and cut it up to pieces at your liking.....I ate a tentacle. It was very chewey.

I am new to blogging, so it has taken me some time to figure out how to post new blogs. I also haven't completely unpacked, so I will post pictures of my adventure thus far when I can find my chords!