Taking It All In

Reuben and I grabbed one of our last dinners together. Sad times. He was one of my first friends here in Korea! It's an ending of a short era. He will be leaving in June and heading to China in the fall. I'm so excited for him!

After dinner, I took a quick trip to my other favorite place in the city. It is a temple in the heart of the business district here in Seoul. It is almost Buddha's birthday, so the lanterns have been put up all over the city. It is one of my favorite holidays in Korea for that reason. Lanterns are fabulous, especially at night.

I got tad choked up as I entered the grounds of the temple. It was late. I've never been there when it was so quiet. The darkness of night brought a sense of calm and peacefulness to my soul that I needed. The lanterns were more vibrant than I remember them to be. It seems like all my senses are on overload these days. I'm trying to take everything in. I want to take a mental picture of it all in hopes that I won't forget anything. It is exhausting. Thank goodness for pictures.









xoxo

Sunday Bun Day

I have a tradition here in Seoul. Every Sunday is Bun Day for me. Bun Day is a day where I get a bun. Cleaver, eh? I think so. It should be an official day of appreciation for them. Buns can be described as bready heaven filled with numerous concoctions of meat, kimchi, red beans, and other unknowns. My go to bun is filled with pork, veggies, and kimchi. It is AWESOME! I also really love the sweet red bean ones as well. Red bean is my favorite Korean staple. A few weeks ago I went to get a bun on a Sunday (duh!), and I didn't even have a chance to order before they told me they were sold out for the day. It was then that I had a realization of my bun addiction. I also felt a tad old. I don't know many "spring chickens" who eat a particular food on a certain day of the week and get bothered when their food routine gets disrupted. Don't worry though. I'm perfectly ok with my "old soul ways". I mean.. I am practically 30. :)

Anyways, this past Sunday was a wonderful day. I spent the afternoon in Olympic Park with Eryn and Jeff (my BFF from MN). The weather was beautiful. We had a picnic of BUNS, wine, and korean snacks. It was great to be able to show them one of my favorite places in Korea. I'm so happy that we will always have the memory of Korea together.


fashion forward





BUNS!




My brain hurts. It's awfully early. I must get ready for work. It's Tuesday. 5 more teaching days. A lot going on this week. There are so many people to see and last minute things to squeeze in.

Weee!

xoxo

Sweet Spring Aroma with a Splash of Ramen

Hi, Friends! Well it was an incredible weekend away from Seoul this weekend. The scenery was beautiful with the blooming cherry blossoms, the country side, fresh air, and great company. We left Seoul at 6:30 AM on Saturday morning and took a 4-ish hour bus ride to Gyeongju with about 100 other foreigners. We immediately got bicycles and then headed out on an all day adventure. My friends and I were not really paying attention (go figure) to all the instructions and advice that they gave us before we arrived. I was half asleep and thought someone else was listening. Clearly I have friends who are somewhat similar to me. We took a leisurely stroll through the city and around a giant lake. We stopped many times to get coffee, snacks (ramen), ice cream, and other treats. All was grand until we decided to head out and find our hotel. We didn't realize that we would be traveling up a small mountain or TWO to get to it. We also didn't plan on getting lost for over an hour on our bikes trying to find our way. It didn't help that we only allowed 2 hours to get to our hotel before sunset, but who wants to waste a perfectly lovely day back at the hotel. I sure don't. We clearly should have checked out the map beforehand to see how TERRIBLE it was and asked for better directions. My friends were a little stressed. I should have been, but I thought it was hilarious and I was just taking it all in. The landscape was beautiful. I was in Korea. Honestly, I didn't care. We made it there literally as the sun was setting. It turns out we weren't the last ones there, but there were only less than 10 rooms left. Everyone got lost, but they just gave themselves extra time for that. We gave ourselves extra time for food. I think we had our priorities right on.




Plus, the sunset was awesome. I like awesome things. I'll be practical tomorrow.
























All in all, we rode about 20 miles this weekend. My body is sore. My cheeks hurt from laughing. My head is spinning less. My belly is happy. My heart is heavy.

2 weeks. I can do this.

Because of you.

Thanks.

You're awesome.

Hope you are all taking time to enjoy spring and the people you are blessed to be around.


xoxo

ME = Annoying

It's April. I have 15 more working days and 3 weekends left. Time is moving at lightning speed. I've noticed it sometimes takes me leaving a place for me to truly take it all in and appreciate everything in a whole different way. I'm not sure if that is something strange or human nature, but it is my nature. It's actually starting to annoy me. I keep having these feelings of panic every time I hangout with friends or experience anything Korean. My mind immediately thinks this may be the last time I experience that here in Korea. This also occurs when I go to restaurants. I think I need everything because I may never eat it again or that they may run out of it before I leave the country. Good thing I have a gym membership that I use "all the time". At this rate they may need to roll me on to the plane.


This past weekend was one of the first really beautiful spring days here. I spent the afternoon riding my bicycle along the Han River, which runs through the entire length of Seoul. The river was jam-packed with tons of people. They were decked out in all the latest athletic clothing and equipment. Many people wore their ninja masks/head coverings and gloves to protect themselves from the poisonous sun. I saw a man playing soccer while holding a sun umbrella. He was quite the multi-tasker. I was impressed and felt embarrassed for him. He needs to live on the edge and not worry about tanning his skin. People were also wind surfing on the river, which makes me cringe just thinking about how polluted that water is. I would imagine it is as clean as the Hudson River in NYC. Those people are brave and possibly crazy. Anyways, we rode for about 3 hours throughout the city and stopped at a park that we stumbled upon. We stayed true to the Korean outdoor food tradition and bought some ramen noodles ( with a slice of cheese for added nutrition) for a snack. It was delicious! Ramen is so much better here, I swear! Then we people watched, played some games, and discussed how good the ramen was.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the day!













I love this city so much! Even terrible smells are lovely these days. I guess it's the perfect time to leave. :)

On a unrelated note, my kindergarten students told me they had a vampire party over the weekend where they drank blood. They wouldn't give me more details. Apparently they are "vampires" now. Interesting.

This next weekend I am headed to Gyeongju. It is the old capital of Seoul. It is supposed to be amazing and the cherry blossoms will hopefully be blooming as well. It has been on my list of things to do here for the past 2 years, so I'm so excited to finally get to see it! It will be nice to get out of the city one last time with some fabulous friends.

I hope you are all well. I miss you all very much! Sorry for the lack of communication these days. I literally have something planned every day, so it makes it difficult to catch up on Skype. I hope you understand!

xoxo

Ch-Ch-Change

Well I have officially made it through the first week of the new school year. It has been a pretty chaotic few days. I would use a few choice words to describe it all but it wouldn't make me look like the mature and sophisticated person that I am. Our school bought another floor in the building for new classes (which means more students) and decided to change around the entire kindergarten program without being at all prepared for the first week of school. It has tested my patience everyday, but it has been doable. I actually have enjoyed walking into the classroom and finding out the kids have none of the books that are needed for the class I was supposed to have taught them. It has kept me on my toes and brought a lot of laughs. I just have to keep reminding myself not to show my students the frustration I am feeling- they have nothing to do with it.

I LOVE my new classes but I miss my old students. My new kindergartners are babies. They are so tiny. Then I remember they were only in preschool 2 weeks ago. They are totally confused by the amount of brown spots on my body. We had a 10 minute discussion about how they are not chicken pox. Now everyday whenever i go near my student Sophia, she always rubs my arm and says, "They aren't chicken pox." I think she is trying to reassure herself. Clearly I didn't explain myself very well. Another girl in my class is very curious about them and asks to see my body every day. Apparently, seeing my face and arms covered in them is not enough. My favorite kinder logic goes something like this. "Teacher, I think you were made in the dirt. That is why your sparkles are brown. You have a lot of dirt but you need more." (Then they started drawing on my skin).

I'm trying to soak in as much as I can in this last month of teaching. I am going to miss teaching this age level where they actually like their teachers. I live for the hugs each day from my old students who come to say hi (or when i go find them b/c i'm a stalker) or my new ones who think i'm made of dirt.

I'm doing my best not to stress about the future. No job? That's ok.... errr.... There could be worse problems.

I'm currently trying to find reasons to hate Korea and my life here. It will make it easier to leave. So far I haven't come up with many things other than that you all are not here with me. That is a GREAT reason though.

I hope you are all doing well and spring is finally arriving where you are. I hope it brings you new adventures, happiness, and bust-a-gut kind of laughter.

xoxo


Kaila and Therese. The three of us will be conquering Nepal and India starting April 27th. WATCH OUT SE ASIA!

I'm a Hot Mess

This past week we had kindergarten graduation. It was a hard day. I have been dreading it for weeks. I have gotten so attached to these children this year. They have taught me so much about myself. They made me a better teacher and a better human. I fell in love with these children- even the ones who drove me nuts on a daily basis and brought tears of frustration. I had tears in my eyes when I said goodbye and melted when they gave me hugs. It has been an amazing year of ups and downs teaching them, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I will get all new classes tomorrow. I will be teaching kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, and 4th grade for the remainder of my time here. I'm sure it will be wonderful and I will love my new kids as well..... but just not quite as much. :)













xoxo