I can't say the number of times I have heard "you can do anything for a year..." from friends and family. So, with that in mind, I have moved from Colorado to Korea, and will be teaching English for a year. I hope to meet many wonderful people, get to know the Korean and Asian cultures better, and just have some amazing life experiences. We will see where it goes from there...I have created this blog to stay in touch with friends and family, so please say hi!
These are my adorable little ones! They are so wonderful! I love teaching them!!
The girl in the pink is my Korean teacher, Rachel. She is absolutely wonderful and such a sweet person! I spend the entire morning with these guys! It is really fun, and I am learning so much - it takes a lot to keep up with them! Posted with LifeCast
I am actually getting my hair done right now - and am able to make this post with my iPod touch. I love it! I don't know how I managed bofore! LOL! Things have been really busy the last few weeks. I changed my teaching schedule 3 weeks ago and I have just barely been keeping things together. Hopefully things will calm down in the next week or so, but being so busy does make time go by fast. I LOVE my little preschoolers. They are precious and so much fun to teach. I am learning a lot! I have never taught such young kids before, and it is not easy! Totally worth it though. The weather here has gotten much colder in the last week or so, and it even snowed a bit on Wednesday. Just a dusting, but winter has definitely made it's presence known! The fall has been really beautiful here, and now I am looking forward to a ski trip soon! There are several ski resorts a short distance from Seoul, and I am really excited to check them out. My next big activity here will be my trip to Beijing. I am so excited to see such an ancient city! I am also going to visit Xi'an to see the Terracotta soldiers! I have some friends who will also be going, and we are going to take the overnight train there and back - should be interesting. :) As the holidays approach, I have definitely been missing everyone at home! Things are great here, but of course, a little harder to be away right now. I am amazed at how quickly time is passing though! I have been here just shy of 5 months now, and I know that my cotract will be up before I know it. I will be VERY ready for some time at home by that point. Well, I am about to get the color washed out of my hair, so I need to go! The iPod touch has changed my life!! :-)
So, this week I started a new schedule at work. I am teaching at one campus in the mornings from 9-12:30, and then at my campus from 1:30-7:30. Yeah - gone are the days of 7-2:30 back at Trail Ridge! This is bit difficult - especially since my morning class is 8 4 year-olds!! I feel like I have worked a full day when I get done at 12:30! lol! They are sweet and adorable though, and I love them already! Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures soon, because you all will love them too! Directly after work I go to yoga, and then get home at 9ish. It is a long day, and today was only my second day! Oh, well. The way I see it, I don't really do anything during the week anyhow, so I might as well be making some more money. This weekend I am going to Cirque Du Soleil here in Seoul. I am SO excited - I have wanted to go see a performance for forever! Next weekend I am going to see Mr. Piano Man himself - the one and only Billy Joel! Pretty sure nothing beats a concert where you can sing along to all of the songs! lol! Since I won't be home for Thanksgiving, some friends and I are going onto the military base to have a Thanksgiving Dinner American-style on the 23rd. That should be fun - it isn't really that easy to get on base if you aren't military, so I am interested to see what it is like. I have never been on a base other than the Air Forces football games - and I don't think that really counts. :) The big news for me right now, though, is that I am going to Beijing for my Christmas break. I am really excited to check out the Great Wall, the new Olympics buildings, and all of the other amazing sites Beijing has to offer. The downside is that it will be freaking freezing. I am not thinking about that though - I am just going to pretend that it will be beautiful, warm, spring-like weather...maybe that will work! haha - I will be wrapped up in my ski coat hiking up the Great Wall - Nice! Tonight (today at home) is the big vote. When I wake up, at least we will all be able to envision the future a bit more clearly with whichever president we end up with. I know the media says that Obama has this in the bag, but I'm not really one to trust the media much. I am interested to see if it will really be the landslide that Obama thinks it will be. I hope St. Vrain's mill levy passes, although that seems highly unlikely with the current financial situation. Miss you all back home, and I hope you all go vote! xoxo
It has been interesting watching all of the issues that have surrounded the US over the last few months. I am observing these things from afar, and I wonder how different it might feel being at home right now. Here in Korea, I feel some trepidation. The Korean won has plummeted since my arrival here, and at the moment there is no visible sign of a turnaround. As the election approaches, I can't help but think about how the result will affect the world economy. It was shocking to see banks and financial institutions that have always been around crumble to pieces over the last month or so. Is there an end in sight? If so, how will America deal with this huge debt it has taken on? I would like to believe in the American spirit - that we as a nation will work together to create something positive in the face of these bleak times. That is a bit difficult right now, though, with the anger and lies and cheating that is rampant in this, as in any I can remember, political race. I feel very disheartened as I have followed these 2 candidates over the last couple of months. I don't feel truly excited or comfortable with either, but in less that a week, one of them will be directing our nation for the next 4 years. I hope that those 4 years will be healing for our country, but our nation is so divided by deeply ingrained and highly intolerant beliefs, that it seems agreeing to move forward might prove to be impossible as well. For now, I will keep observing, and hoping. I at least want the won to rally back to a stable place...so - here is to election 2008!
I have been super busy lately - being sick! Getting a cold is never fun for anyone, and I am a big baby when I am sick! I think I am on the verge of kicking this thing, but I feel like I have been beaten up! lol! Things are still good here, weather is very fall-like, it has been raining the last couple of days. I went to a nearby International School today and spoke with some of the teachers and the director - it was really nice to be in a school environment that I am more accustomed to - it is a really nice school. Otherwise, life is just pretty normal. I am very excited about going to Cirque du Soleil in 2 weeks, and then to a Billy Joel concert the weekend after that. Some of my friends and I are going to a Thanksgiving dinner, which will be nice. I hate being away from home for Thanksgiving - it is one of my favorite holidays to be home for! :( Time for me to get to bed - I have a meeting at 9 in the morning - funny that used to sound late...
I just wanted to say hi to everyone back home! Things are going really good here! I hear there has been a lot of snow in some places - I think that is something I will not miss this year! I guess it gets really cold here - but no snow really. Of course, if I really want snow I can always go to the mountains - and I definitely am planning on going on a ski trip here. It will mostly be just to say that I went skiing in South Korea, because when you ski at Vail, really?!? There can't be any kind of comparison! Anyways, I don't have much to report, just wanted to say that things are good! Miss everyone!
I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky...- Cesare Pavese
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
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