Just about 2 Months

This is how I make tea before bed! Love using this VERY old tea kettle and I love the quote on this mug. Very fitting for my life over here Out on a Saturday night. Those are "polly's kettles" You can take them on the street
A pup named Pickel. I have missed canine companionship
A friend's apt for a Saturday BBQ. It was such a lovely time, and the food was incredible!!!!!

It has been just about 2 months that I have been here in Korea! It doesn't seem like a long time, but then I think only 10 more months til I am home and that really doesn't seem too long. However, to put it in perspective I think about how Grandma....today is yours and Grandpa's 69th wedding anniversary!! That is a lifetime to most. I still think it is very romantic =)

I am getting a little more settled in here. I now have a cell phone, so that makes it so much easier to talk to people and to make plans. It is weird to have to be worried about if someone called or text messaged me. That part I don't miss. But I am growing closer with the teachers that I work with here, and I joined a gym yesterday. Granted it is very small, and has very little to no air con.....but it is a gym=) The familiarity of being in the gym is much more comforting than I had imagined. I miss my family and friends every day. More than missing you guys, I wish I could share this experience with you. I feel like living abroad is something that could benefit every person in a different way. Not too mention the food here is delicious! Sometimes it is a little too much for me, but for the most part AZ can't really compete with how fresh and non processed everything is. i just finished my 2nd cup of coffee, which means it is time to teach! Love and miss you.
xoxo

Phillipines 2010

I woke up at 3:30am Korea time and skyped my mom. I figured I would get in one last conversation with her before I left for vacation to make sure she didn't miss me too much. Mom informed me that Grandpa had passed away just a few hours before. I didn't know how to react to this, should I cancel my vacation? Switch my ticket and fly straight to New York since I have the week off anyway right. I thought it is only money, but this is life, this is family. There is nothing that could be more important. I immediately hung up with my mom and searched online to see if I was able to switch my ticket, get a refund on my hotel, anything....Nothing. No refund for the hotel or the ticket. I took this as a sign and set off for the Phillipines. I went with two other teachers, but was in a different room from them, and a different flight. I felt more alone than ever. I felt I had made a huge mistake, i don't know these people. I had noone to turn to , to cry to or look to for a hug. I decided to release my mind for the first time and let God take over. If God didn't take over, than a higher power did. I felt it. I felt more free than I have ever in my life.
I am sure that being in the Phillipines was a big part of feeling so good, but I can say that it was so freeing not over analyzing anything or worrying about anything. I was glad my family was together. So I started to enjoy myself.
The sand was white, the water shallow for a mile from the beach, the water almost as warm as bath water and as clear as a fish tank. I don't think it gets much better than that. I always thought I would want to experience a place like that with a man. Someone I loved or would make me happy. It turns out that it is much more fulfilling to create the romance and experiences I want from a relationship myself, to decide my own happiness each day.
Along with my two Irish teachers I went with, we met up with another teacher and his Korean friend. It was the perfect mix of people. Perfect amount of laughter, talking, discussing, sharing, and silence. I was able to read a book "A painted house", and bond with the teachers I see everyday. When we are working it is hard to form friendships because each teacher is trying to keep their own sanity, and make it through the hardships of being a teacher and get out each night with a smile.
Phillipino people are beautiful. The women are gorgeous, and then men are dreamy. Not to mention how nice they are. My favorite part was that they always called you "mom" or "sir"...."massage mom?" =) And yes I did get a massage on the beach....for about 10$ I relaxed for an hour massage. Everything was perfect there. The drinks were cheap and fruity, the food was to die for (ate a little too much), and the weather was perfect. Perfect amount of sun, and perfect amount of rain. It rained one day which forced us to stay in the hotel restaurant (which was outside, just covered) and this then forced us to talk more and really create bonds between one another.
My favorite part of the trip was helmet diving. I was the first one down, and it was such a rush! I felt like I was in a fish tank. There was no one else down there for about 45 seconds, and being alone walking along the ocean floor was wild! More than anything I have ever done, I would say that is my favorite.
I must say, I am glad our family was able to come together and be there for grandma and everyone this past weekend. I am so sad for the family, for Grandma, dad, aunt laurie, aunt terry, and uncle doug. My love has been extended across this world to each of you. My prayers (though it is rare they are spoken) have all been for the strength of our family.

I will say one thing before I go to bed.....Family reunion summer of 2011!!! I am all in....as long as it is after July 18th =)
xoxo
This was very theraputic. Helped me find peace when I was so far away from home in a time when I needed family the most <3>

Our sand castle calendar

Dancing with the Sun

Helmet Diving. The coolest experience of my life

Midnight swim in the ocean

Aidan and I

Banana Split and a good book!

Orange juice with breakfast overlooking the ocean

True Paradise

This buggy picked us up and took us to our hotel

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Grandpa,

It is August 12th here in Korea. This means that you are 93 over here! Can you believe it?! I have heard that toward the end, people start to think about the begining. Aunt Laurie mentioned that you were thinking about when your parents passed. I wonder if you knew back then that you would have a whole clan of Bruces behind you, supporting you and being your biggest fan.

I had a weird sense of deja vu yesterday while at school. It was triggered by my sense of smell actually. I had a quick flash of a memory of being in your old house, the one in Rochester I believe. I remembered sitting up in Aunt Laurie and Aunt terri's old room with Mikayla as we would vigorously write in our journals. Of course she was probably writing something meaningful or poetic (as that part of the family has the "creative bone" in my opinion), whereas, I was writing stories...stories about being able to morph into different animals. These stories were written over and over again in that room, and in the backseat of the car during the 8 hour drive to vermont. I miss vermont. I miss that old house, and the feeling I felt whenever we visited either of those places. My memory was quickly interrupted by one of my kids Lucy....asking me "Koban teacher, people spelling what?" SO I reply, "Lucy is that how you ask koban teacher?" She quickly changed her verbage and then said again, with a little more hesitance this time "Koban teacher....how...do...you spell..people?" =)

When I went home that night I was going to make a sandwhich of some sort and found some mold on one of the pieces. I immediately thought of Grandma....now I know this may seem strange that mold reminded me of such a lovely woman but let me explain. One time at the old Rochester house, grandma made me a peanut and butter sandwhich to eat, and I pointed out to her that there was mold on the bread, therefore we must throw it out and figure something else to eat. Grandma dismissed this thought quickly, and just told me to eat around it, or she could cut it out. I thought to myself...Eat mold!!!!!!???!!!!!!! Is she crazy!! But living to be in your 90's, I am begining to think maybe not so much. I still don't eat the mold, but sometimes I will just cut it off. (rarely)

I loved reading Z's letter, she is a beautiful writer, and I am amazed at how connected this family is, and how everyone has been able to express in different ways how they are feeling and what they think about our families. So far...everyone has been right on point with how I feel, and I love that everyone can express it more creatively. =)

We are truely unique, and a blessed family. I used to think that our family was great because we would go on cool family reunions. Then I added to the list (why you wish you were a Bruce), because we got along. Each of us. Z was correct in the fact that we have a wide variety of different people, but our differences have never gotten in the way of enjoying each other's company. Of course with getting along comes the games, singing, cherades, cooking, performing, jokes, etc. As I got older I added to the list, our education. We are a large group of educated and opinionated people who are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in. I love the debates, I love the questions, and the challenges that each person brings to the table. As I got older, I also started to hang out with my family and cousins outside of our reunions. Going on trips together, or spending weekends mixing our friends, or staying connected vie email, or facebook. This is a major part that my friends noted, and were mostly envious of. I admire how our family has grown together through respect and friendship. I mean seriously, what family honestly makes T shirts for a family reunion?

Grandpa I hope you can enjoy a glass of birthday scotch =)

I found some quotes that remind me of our family and the way I feel, and also my favorite quote from the musical "wicked". And below are somepictures of the beautiful empire that you and grandma have built =)

"Who can say if I've been changed for the better, but because I knew you...I have been changed for good.

You'll be with my, like a handprint on my heart"

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are ....you need one"

Family faces are like magic mirrors looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future. Family life is full of major and minor crises....the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce. All kinds of characters. It is tied to places, events, and histories. With all these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality. It's difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul. "

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family.....in another city =)"

"I think that people that have a brother or a sister don't realize how lucky they are. Sure, they fight, a lot....but to know that there's always somebody there...somebody's that is family."

"The family.....That dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor in our innermost hearts, ever quite wish to."

Good looking Family right here

Look at that smile!

TOASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!