Stress and Relaxation

I know you usually don't hear those two words together, but they pretty much describe the past week perfectly. After a busy last week of classes, I worked on Friday night until 6 and then decided I couldn't do anymore. It left me, however, very stressed about all that I had to do before Monday when our grades were due. For a little relaxation, Anna, Beth, and I went exploring Daejeon in search of a Thai massage. After dinner at the Mexican restaurant, we found a fancy little place and treated ourselves to an hour-and-a-half of the best massage ever! I didn't know I was so flexible! We were so relaxed after the massage that we laid there for who knows how long until Anna finally said, "Guys, I think we're done." Time went so fast and I was so content that I didn't want to get up! It was a wonderful evening! We decided that we should revisit during every grade posting time. :)

Saturday we had our first MS swim meet of the season. The entire bus ride up I was thinking about all the work I had to do (stressed), but the meet was so much fun. I love seeing our kids swim and be excited about their performance. After, we all walked to Itaewon (the international district in Seoul...I guess it would kind of be like Chinatown in the U.S, just opposite) and ate Quiznos for lunch (relaxed and happy).

Sunday I spent the entire day working, working, and working some more. I only took a break to go to HomePlus to buy supplies for cooking salsa, guacamole, and homemade tortilla chips in my classes. Monday in class my students proved to be excellent cooks. The 7th graders who came in after said that their guacamole was "the best I've ever had!" I agree, it was pretty tasty!

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the MS students participated in Service week. I love this time of the year because our students come up with such great ways to serve around the school, in the community, and even on a global level. They did a variety of activities: made gift baskets for the kitchen staff, grounds crew, bus drivers, etc; cooked soup and delivered it to homeless people at the train station; collected blankets to give away; made Christmas cards for kids at the orphanage; baked cookies for the HS students after their finals; made crafts to sell and give $ to North Korea; sewed a quilt to raffle and give $ to a Korean school in need; and read books they had made in Tech class to the 1st graders at TCIS. It's so awesome that we have an opportunity to teach these kids, many of whom have been blessed with so much (including cleaning ladies and nannies who do everything for them), about true service. It's a great week...but a very very exhausting one, too.

During the week we also took all the students to the theater to see Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was fun to share in the experience with my homeroom group (they are so awesome!!). I really enjoyed seeing the movie, quite a relaxing way to spend a Wednesday school day. We also had fun on Thursday watching the Coffee House in which the students showcased their many talents. I'm always amazed at what they can do.

Today, we were able to see our classes one last time. Many of them were spent playing the falling snow (It was so pretty), but I also have 3 students leaving, so many of my classes were farewell parties. I think this is the hardest thing about working in an international school; it is so transient! People are always coming and going. At the end of the day we had an assembly and the student council had someone come up and give a goodbye speech to those who were leaving. It was so nice, but afterward most of the students were in tears. Aww...they are so cute! But I will miss them, too!

The week concluded with the "Send grades to Edline" button. No more stress! Grades are done, comments are written, next quarter is planned......oh wait! :-P But I'm not going to think about that. We have the MS Staff Christmas party, then a goodbye noraebang session for Beth's last night in Korea, and in 2 short days I will be home!!!

December...winding down semester 1

December has arrived! Today we began the final week of classes. The next week is service week and then I will be boarding a plane for I-O-W-A!! I'm so excited to be going home for Christmas this year; I think I've been looking forward to it since last Christmas. I know the time at home will go fast, but it will be filled with many many good times: ugly sweater party with my family, Bethany and Ike's wedding, visiting college friends in DSM...I can't wait!!

Life is plenty busy in Korea for now, though. I am still doing the scoreboard at the basketball games frequently. The dragon teams are looking pretty good (we beat SFS last weekend, so that felt good). I proctored SAT again. Middle school swimming is off to a great start. We have our first meet next weekend and I'm really looking forward to it. Anna and I hosted our first annual Christmas party on Saturday. We made chili and potato soup, had a white elephant gift exchange, and watched Elf. We realized tonight that 6 nationalities were represented. Crazy! Next weekend some friends are hosting an ugly sweater party...so the fun continues! :)

I also have a lot of work during this time writing comments and sending in grades. Never fun, but with so much to look forward to, I can handle it. :) Hope December is off to a good start for all of you!

A Restful Weekend...finally!

Since volleyball has ended my weekends seem to have been just as busy as ever...until this one. I had a great day of catching up on my favorite TV shows, shopping for ugly Christmas sweaters, and am now getting ready to go to a Christmas dinner. What a great day!

So...what have I been doing that has kept me so busy? Well, I proctored SAT, have done scoreboard at a few basketball games--including a 5-game JV tournament : /, made a trip to Songtan for some Christmas gifts, saw a movie (Devil...I would recommend it), decorated my apartment for Christmas, and had fun playing catch phrase for many hours. It's nice to have some free time again...

Well, in one month I'll be home! I cannot wait to experience Iowa winter, see family and friends, and enjoy a break from school. Christmas is right around the corner! :)

KAIAC

Today I find myself super super exhausted, but I had a great weekend so I guess it is worth it. Friday morning at 7:00 the volleyball team left for our KAIAC tournament in Seoul. After suffering a loss, but worse than that, a poorly played match, on Wednesday, I was kinda nervous about how we would do. This season was full of ups and downs. We entered the tournament seeded 6th, but knowing we were a better team than that. It just seemed like all season we couldn't put everything together at once to pull out the wins. After falling just short so often, many times we felt frustrated and discouraged. I was still looking forward to the tournament, and yet not wanting to go at the same time. I knew I was behind on grading, had to write sub plans, and would lose more sleep (and I still hadn't recovered from APAC); however, I also knew that I would be spending 2 full days watching good volleyball and hanging out with a great group of HS boys.

Our first game was Saturday morning against SFS, our biggest rivals. Traditionally, TCIS never beats SFS. Until this season, SFS hadn't lost a volleyball match for 2 years. And I don't think they had beaten TCIS since the 1999 season. We were ready though. We had been mentally preparing for the match-up, and I personally couldn't think of anything better than sending SFS to the bottom half of the bracket, where the best they could finish is 5th. We knew that this was the year we could do it; we could finally win. We battled through an awesome 5-set match to beat SFS with all the other teams in KAIAC watching and cheering for us. Finally everything fell together. It was awesome. Even though it was the first round, it felt like the championship. After, I felt so happy that I didn't even care how the rest of the tournament went (of course, I wanted to do well, but I knew even if we didn't finish where we wanted to, we would be content knowing we had won that game). In that moment after the game, I felt like all the tough losses and down times we had faced during the season were worth it. I was reminded of the importance of patience and waiting for God's timing. It was a good lesson for us all. Things don't always come easy. :) I felt so proud of the guys. For the first time they showed everyone what we knew they were capable of all along.

Later that afternoon we played SAHS and lost in 4 sets. It was a well-played match, though. That night we stayed at a hotel in Suwon, ate at Outback, and set out again in the morning to play our last game. We arrived around 10:30 and were scheduled to play around noon. However, the match before us went to 5 sets so the tournament was running behind. We took care of our sister school, GSIS (the 5th time we've played them this season!), in 3 sets for 3rd place. Then, we were done and just had to wait for the awards ceremony. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) the next 3 matches all went to 5 sets, including an amazing championship game. It was fun to watch, and you always had someone to root for (whoever was ahead so that they could win and we could go home faster! haha), but the ceremony didn't get over until almost 10, which means it was almost midnight when we got home. What a long day. But it was a very successful tournament and a great season. Yay Dragons!

APAC!

Last weekend I spent 3 full days in Kobe, Japan at Canadian Academy watching a lot of good volleyball and eating a lot of good food for our annual Asia-Pacific Activities Conference (APAC) tournament. It was a great weekend. The guys played so well; we ended up getting 3rd place! But better than that we were awarded the Sportsmanship award. I'm so proud of them. :) I have lots of pics so be sure to check them out here. Also, CA did a great job of streaming the games live. It was great to have so much support back home from people watching our games. They will keep the website live for a year, so if you want to check out some of our games (I would suggest watching Friday, Oct 22 around noon--our game vs. CA) click this link and them find the games in the ELAC. The Awards ceremony is also posted. It's so fun to watch when we are playing well!

I always love going to APAC events because I get to know coaches from around the world, and the students get to know other international students. It's such a great event. This year, our sister school, GSIS, was invited to come. It was awesome to have another school from Korea because we cheered for each other...well, up until the 3rd/4th game when we played them. haha

Tomorrow we return to school after two Professional Development days. We have a game tomorrow night and then we head to the KAIAC tournament up in Seoul. Hopefully we can take the confidence and momentum we have gained and keep it going through this last week. I will let you know how it all goes in about a week!

A Very Happy Chusok! (so much to be thankful for!!)

I know a post is long overdue, but I just returned from an absolutely FANTASTIC vacation. 3 friends and I rode our bikes around the perimeter of Jeju Island, a volcanic island south of mainland Korea (essentially, Korea's Hawaii). Not only was this vacation completely meant for me, but we were blessed in so many ways along the journey. We left not really having a definite plan at all, but God provided for us and took care of us every step of the way in crazy ways; like getting my only flat tire a block away from a bike shop, or like when we wanted to eat pizza but nothing was open because of Chusok and when we finally found a restaurant open it was a delicious locally-owned pizza place, or like staying at a golf resort and not paying a cent when we expected to be staying a budget hotels and jimjilbangs all trip. I have many more stories about how amazing the trip was, and I am going to give you a day-by-day overview. I'll try to be brief, but if you don't want to read it all, be sure to check out the pics that document the incredible views we saw as we circled the beautiful Jeju Island!

Day 1--Saturday, Sept. 18, Daejeon to Mokpo to Jeju
- 4:00 AM we packed our bikes into a school van and drove to Mokpo
- 9:00 AM we boarded a ferry (that was also more like a cruise with restaurants, souvenir shops, karaoke rooms, saunas, massage chairs, and an upper deck to view the surrounding islands) to Jeju.
- 1:00 PM we arrived in Jeju and called the bike rental shop, who came to the terminal to pick us up.
- 3:20 PM we set out for Yesol Jung's (a TCIS 10th grader) grandma's green tea farm with our bikes all loaded with our luggage
- 5:00 PM we arrived at an organic green tea farm, but not Yesol's grandma's! They gave us directions and helped us find our way.
- 6:00 PM we arrived at Yesol's grandma's (할모니 we called her), who had an incredible meal prepared for us. We tried some new things, too, like abalone and fried green tea leaves. Seriously, if we would have been paying it would have cost at least 100,000 per person!
- 8:00 PM our translator took us to a golf resort and explained to us that 할모니 has gotten a room for us here to spend the night and that he will pick us up again at 8:30 the next morning. Wow! It was so nice. We showered and watched TV before heading to bed early and getting a full night's sleep.

Day 2--Sunday, Sept. 19, green tea farm to Pyoseon.
- 8:30 AM our driver came to get us and asked what we wanted to breakfast. I decided on cold green tea noodles. It was good, but I couldn't eat that much food after such a large supper. While it was cooking, we took a tour of the green tea farm. It was really beautiful, and 할모니's house was on a big hill in the middle of the farm. From the top you could see Halla Mountain (the highest in Korea) and the ocean.
- 9:00 AM we had breakfast with 할모니. She told us not to eat too much because next she took us to a cafe in a cave and gave us green tea cookies, green tea ice cream, green tea muffins, and more! I think there we about 50 things out on the table! We ended up taking the treats to go and eating them for breakfast the rest of the week.
- 10:00 AM we got some directions from 할모니 at her house and drank some water out of super expensive bowls from the Silla Dynasty (!!!). Then we said our good-byes and left. What a nice lady!
- 10:30 AM Jana got a flat tire about 100 meters away from the green tea farm. Luckily, our translator saw and drove her to the bike shop while the rest of us went on. What good luck!
- 12:00 PM we were all reunited at the next destination...the Lava Tube Caves. They were really cool and we walked in them for about a kilometer. The cool air in the cave felt good, too.
- 2:00 PM we went to a maze very close to the caves. Sarah and I beat Rob and Jana out so they bought us some ice cream before setting out again.
- 3:00 PM we started riding again and came to shore road for the first time. The view was unbelievable. And we got to ride along this route for most of the trip. We all agreed this is the most beautiful scenery we had ever had on a bike ride.
- 5:30 PM we arrived in Pyoseon and find the Kask's on the beach. We found a super cheap motel right on the beach, get settled in, and then met up with them again for dinner.
- 6:30 PM we ate a tasty dinner of black forest pork (apparently a traditional Chusok meal) with the Kasks and their friends from SFS. Mmmm!
- 8:00 PM we all returned to the Kasks 6-star hotel (Haevichi) and use the awesome indoor/outdoor pool and hot tubs. It felt great after a day of riding.
- 9:45 PM we returned to our hotel for another night's rest.

Day 3--Monday, Sept. 20, Pyoseon to Jungmun
- 8:00 AM rode local bus to Seongeup Folk Village and explored for awhile
- 11:00 AM checked out of hotel and kept riding!
- 1:00 PM arrived in Seogwipo, ate Chinese food. (I <3 Jajang!)
- Afternoon we visited many tourist sites in the area: waterfalls, World Cup Stadium
- 5:30ish PM arrived at Jungmun beach, the major resort area of Jeju. We "swam," aka watched the waves because the beach isn't open for swimming past August. Silly Korea!
- 7:30 PM we found a hotel, completely exhausted after a hilly day.
- 9:00 PM had galbi tang at a local restaurant. Delicious as always! Then went straight to bed.

Day 4--Tuesday, Sept. 21, Jungmun to Hallim
- 8:00 AM got an early start! It was much cooler...and flatter. :)
- 9:00 AM came to Mt. Sanbang and had an amazing view of the mountains and ocean from a smoke signal tower. We also saw a temple and large Buddha statue.
- 12:00 PM we had been riding along gorgeous coast line with really nice weather all morning. Unfortunately, I got a flat tire, but fortunately I was a block away from the bike shop so it didn't slow us down much. At noon we arrived at Gosan, a smaller town where we found some egg salad sandwiches for lunch and shopped at a large GS25 mart before setting out again.
- 1:30 PM we came to a beautiful white sand beach called Hapyeong. We swam there for a few hours and enjoyed a wonderful day.
- 4:00 PM left the beach and rode the last 5 km to Hallim where we met up with a family Jana knows. They let us shower at their place.
- 6:00 PM ate another incredible meal provided by the family. Galbi and fried pumpkin. Mmmmm!
- 7:00 PM watched the sunset. :)
- 7:30 PM rode to Happy Day hostel and met Korean women's professional b-ball player. We played cards, watched professional volleyball on TV, and rested.

Day 4--Wednesday, Sept. 22, Hallim to Jeju City
- 8:00 AM started riding early...2 days in a row!
- 11:00 AM grabbed a snack at a convenience store and ate it at a pagoda on Iho beach, just outside of the city.
- 12:00 PM searched and searched for a food place that was open. We really wanted pizza, but it got to the point that we would take anything open. Finally, near the bus terminal, down a side street, we found a pizza place that was actually closed, but the lady make pizza for us anyway.
- 1:00 PM found a nearby hotel and took a nap. We made it! :)
- 3:00 visited Dragon head rock
- 4:00 when the art center was closed, we walked to a small amusement park at rode the Viking (similar to the Galleon for you Iowans). 
- 4:30 returned Sarah's bike and my rack to the bike shop, and had a conversation with the cutest middle schooler ever. (well, after all mine, of course)
- 5:00 parked our bikes at the ferry terminal
- 5:30 caught a cab to a Mexican restaurant called Zapatas. It was delicious and cheap. Probably the best I've had in Korea.
- 7:00 we tried to see a movie, but none were showing in English so we went to a DVD bang and watched Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller.
- 9:00 returned to the hotel, got cleaned up, watched some TV, and called it a night.

Day 5--Thursday, Sept. 23, Jeju City to Mokpo to Daejeon
- 7:15 AM left the hotel to catch the 8:00 ferry. It seemed like plenty of time since our bikes were already there and everything, but we were almost late thanks to a long line at the terminal and another line for immigration (or something like that; we didn't need our passports). We did board the boat just after 8:00.
- 1:00 arrived in Mokpo and had lunch at Home Plus food zone

- 2:30 departed Mokpo for Daejeon.
- 6:30 arrived in Daejeon. It took so long due to some congested roads because of Chusok traffic.


It really was a wonderful trip! My travel buddies were great, so adventurous like me! The weather could not have been better, and the people of Jeju were so friendly and hospitable. I would not have wanted this trip to be any different, nor can I think of a better way to spend my Chusok break! And I didn't even have to leave Korea. :) Again, check out the pics here!!

Month 1 Update

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated you all on my adventures in Korea. I was having camera issues and was waiting to get them solved so I could post the pictures when I posted to the blog. Anyway, Month 1 has been great! There are lots of new people who are willing to try lots of Korean things so my roomie and I have been having fun showing them around. We went to the jimjilbang, doctor fish, movies, various restaurants, bowling, the baseball game, and more!

Korean Wedding
One week after school started we went to a Korean wedding for my friends Christine and Scottie, both of whom work at TCIS. The wedding was held in a fancy hotel here in Daejeon, and the majority of TCIS staff attended. It was a great event, Christine looked beautiful, we had great food, and I learned a lot about the traditional Korean wedding. I have posted pics on facebook so be sure to check them out. 

Hanwha Eagles Baseball Game
The Hanwha Eagles are the professional team in Daejeon. They are having a really bad season and hardly ever win, but on Saturday a group of us decided to check it out. We arrived and learned we could get in for free. They also gave us a free towel (which doubled as a napkin while eating fried chicken and a towel to wipe away the sweat). The stadium was packed! I had only seen it that full one other time on Easter Sunday. Like always, there was lots of chanting and energy. At the 5th inning stretch, we noticed that this wasn't a normal game when about 12 police motos escorted a fancy car onto the field. We all were like, "Ooh, there must be someone famous here," because everyone was waving the towels at whoever it was. Then, the announcer came on and said something about Koo Dae Sung, who is a relief pitcher for the Eagles, but also a parent of a TCIS 8th grader. We soon learned that the entire celebration was for him! Apparently he is a national hero. There was a little ceremony and then Koo Dae Sung and his family (Including Eric!! We were trying to get his attention by yelling T-C-I-S, but it was so loud in there he didn't hear) took a couple laps around the stadium in the fancy car before exiting and the game resumed. It was so cool...I feel like I kinda know someone famous. :)

Volleyball
An update on volleyball, which has officially become my life for the next two months. We had our first game Saturday morning against a division 2 team (a smaller school than us) and it was a lot of fun. Both the boys and girls teams won, but better than that was we had the chance to take some risks and practice running some of our plays. Most of the guys had an least 1 good kill, so hopefully they will have a bit of confidence (but not too much!) as we head into our first conference game on Wednesday vs. Daegu American. 

Yeongdong Grape Festival
Yesterday 5 of us went to Grape Festival in Yeongdong, which is about 1/2 an hour train ride from Daejeon. It was like a grape-themed county fair, complete with grape exhibitors, lots of free samples, and grape games. You could even stomp grapes and squish them into grape juice/wine. At the same time in the same place was the Korean Traditional Music Festival, where we learned how to play various traditional Korean instruments. It was a lot of fun. I have pictures of this posted as well. 

September
I know that September will be a really busy month, not only because I will be coaching a lot of volleyball, and traveling to and from Seoul a lot for games, but also because in just two short weeks we have our first school break, Chusok, the Korean harvest holiday. This year Chusok is on a Wednesday so we have a week off school. My friends, Sarah and Jana, and I are going to Jeju Island (like Korea's Hawaii) and spending about 5 days biking around it. Each day we are planning to do 30ish miles and then spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beach or visiting the sites. Things are going well at school (not sick of it yet :-P), but I can't wait for this vacation!!

I hope things are going just as well for you all, wherever you are!

Summer is officially over!

It's true.  We start school tomorrow (it's a school night...yikes!). I have been busy working all week planning and preparing my classrooms. I was happy to see that most of my students will be kids I taught last year. I can't wait to see them; the first day of school is always so exciting. The kids are generally happy to be back and see friends that they didn't see over the summer. Many of our students live outside of Daejeon and many take classes at hogwans all summer so they like school much better.

In other news, my roomie is back! I'm so happy to have her here. :)

Be sure to check out my pics from the summer. There are some from our family vacation to Lake Okoboji and the Grotto of the Redemption, some from my weekend spent in Madison, a few from various family get-togethers, and some from Ashley and Christian's wedding. Enjoy the rest of your summers!

Goodbye Home, Hello Home

On Sunday I once again boarded a plane...well, 3 to be exact, and returned safely to Korea. Whenever I come back I don't really feel sad or excited or much of anything really. It's a strange feeling, but I think it's because, although I am leaving home, I am also returning to another home.

Sorry I took such a long hiatus, but somehow the summer becomes so busy that I never remember to post. This summer was fantastic. I was able to spend 7 weeks in Iowa and was reminded of how awesome it is! Although the weather wasn't the best, I loved being with my family and seeing friends. I feel like I got to see almost every one of my relatives and friends (many more than once) at some point over the summer: weddings, helping Grandma move, 4th of July, a trip to Adventureland, church, the county fair, RAGBRAI (check out the pics!), and countless dinners spent catching up. It was soooooo great to see everyone, and I am already excited to return in December to see them again.

Coming back to TCIS has also been great. I arrived on Sunday evening and by Monday night I had unpacked all of my suitcases and boxes. I LOVE my new place, but am anxious for my roommate to get here. She is in Switzerland finishing up her master's. She graduates on Friday (Congrats, Anna!) and comes home on Sunday. I think I'm so ready for her to be here because most of our other friends didn't return to TCIS this year. It was so weird to walk into breakfast on Tuesday and see so many unfamiliar faces. On Tuesday, however, we took an all-staff trip up to GSIS--our sister school in Suwon--and spent the day getting to know each other, worshiping and praying together, sharing meals, and participating in some rec time. I played volleyball and really felt like I got to know a lot of people through that; plus, it was so fun! I hadn't played at all since spring.

This afternoon I finally got into my classroom. I can't believe classes start on Monday already!! We had meetings all morning during which we met all the new middle school staff. I was kinda worried about how the dynamic of our group would change since so many people left last year, but their replacements fit in so well. It's funny to see them come and not know what to expect and have questions about everything. It's weird that even though it's only going to be my 3rd year of teaching, I'm one of the "experts." :)

This year I am again assistant coaching the boys volleyball team. The season kinda got underway today with a camp led by the coach and some of the players from Asbury College in KY. A couple of the girls are staying at my house this week. I don't have to be there or help with the camp, but I did stop in to see the guys. We have so many trying out this year (and I hate having to cut people!), but it's good to see the interest and the dedication of coming before school starts to practice. Try-outs will be next week and then it will be go, go, go until November.

So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

Keeping with my "Sound of Music" theme, I must inform you that I have reached the end of my 2nd year of teaching! The end of the year is always bittersweet, but especially so this year. There are tons of students and staff not returning next year; which made for a pretty somber mood around TCIS. There was plenty to do and plenty of fun in the last week, however, to help us forget.

On Monday we met with each of our classes one last time. 3 whole classes of students I will not teach again. :( On Tuesday, I had a workday so I got caught up on my grades while the students cleaned out their lockers, took surveys, etc. In the afternoon was a Creative Arts Show where the students perform the plays they have been doing in Drama class and show off their artwork. Wednesday, we had field day. I led some water games; we even made a slip 'n' slide on the main lawn. We also did some service activities. I had a group of about 20 students who picked up trash around the neighborhood. Those of you that have been here know how dirty the O-jung dong is outside of our campus. On Thursday we took an End-of-Year whirlwind trip to GSIS, our sister school. We had chapel together and then spent the day...well a couple hours at least...doing a variety of activities from scrapbooking to swimming. It was a fast, but fun day.

Which brings us to Friday! On Friday morning the students had another time of service. I took a different group of 20 kids to the train station where we passed out ramen and water to homeless people. It was really cool, and the kids did such a good job in what could be an uncomfortable situation. It was great! When we arrived back at school, the mentally handicapped kids from Nuri Rehabilitation Center (who we have been visiting throughout the school year) came to TCIS to watch our talent show. The talent show was over 2 hours long and gave the students a chance to display a whole lot of talent. The Nuri kids performed an act, too. It was nice.

In the afternoon we had the awards ceremony and then final goodbye parties. There were lots of tears, but I managed to hold off. I am really sad to see some of my students going though. We are losing some really good ones! Their leadership will definitely be missed next year. I think all of them did come find me and give me an appropriate goodbye though. :)

Besides students leaving, many teachers and friends are leaving this year. I've already said many goodbyes and many more are coming. On Tuesday my friend Anna and I had a goodbye party for our friends Jenn and Lyndsey. In true TCIS fashion we had a banner made with their names on it. haha. We had a goodbye barbecue for another friend that night. This week I have been trying to spend as much time with departing staff as possible, which means I have been doing lots of fun Korean things that they want to do before they leave: Manna house, jimjilbang, noraebang, etc. It has been fun, but it is always hard to say goodbye. Especially to such good friends; luckily we have lots of great memories. 

Saturday teachers had to work, but I managed to get all my stuff cleaned up by lunchtime (which is a miracle since it was so dirty with so many papers I thought I would never see the desktop). When work was finished I began the daunting task of packing and cleaning up my apartment. I now have everything packed up ready to be moved to my new place. There is still some cleaning to do for tomorrow, but it will definitely all get done. I may even be able to squeeze a bike ride in before I leave.

I can't wait to see all you Iowans! I will be leaving my place at 6:30 AM Tuesday and arriving in Cedar Rapids at 6:30 PM. With the time change that means that I have a good 26 hours of travel ahead of me. Ick! But it will be worth when I get home and see all of you! 2 more days!!

The halls are alive...

...with the Sound of Music! I just had to share this video clip with you all! My co-workers are awesomely fun! We performed "How do you Solve a Problem like Mr Moimoi (our principal)" dressed as nuns in front of the students to advertise the Middle School Talent Show. It was funny! And a blast!

The Last Monday

Today was the last Monday of instruction for this school year. I can't believe how fast it is coming to an end. I can't say I'm disappointed, though. I can almost taste the end now. I'm so excited for the summer; I will be home in just over 2 weeks!!

I have been trying to make the most of these last few weekends because many students and staff are leaving TCIS. The past two weekends I have been to Taecheon Beach, about 1.5 hours from Daejeon. I can't believe I hadn't been there before. It is such a nice beach and so close.

The first weekend I went with 90 middle schoolers for Middle School Retreat. We had wonderful weather and stayed at a lodge right on the beach that is owned by our school. It was so nice to enjoy being outdoors and spend time with each other. We played games, sang, made skits, had quiet time, and even roasted marshmallows around a campfire. Here is a video of the kids during a worship time singing their favorite song. :)

This past weekend I went with my 4 best friends here in Korea. Sarah came down from Suwon, and we went on a road trip! Anna got a car this week so we all packed in a drove to Taecheon Beach. Although the weather was cool and rainy, we had a great time. We managed to avoid getting lost and found plenty to keep us entertained. We went to noraebang, had mud massages, and watched movies. It was a great getaway before we all get really busy with grading and packing and life. It was even better to spend the weekend all together for probably the last time since Lynz and Jenn are leaving TCIS after this year. I have attached some pics here. Enjoy! And see many of you soon!

May Madness

Wow. It's May already. One month from today I will be arriving back in Iowa! I'm so excited to see everyone from home, but it is bittersweet leaving knowing so many friends won't be returning. I have been making the most of the rest of the school year, though. Since my last post, I have been to the baseball game, had a cookout (yay for warm weather...finally!), went noraebanging, played some great staff volleyball, and attended I-Fest (International Festival).

I-Fest happens every year at TCIS, and it is such a fun event. There is lots of great food, plus tons of fun things to do like a dunk tank, shopping, henna tattoos, and tie dye. The highlight this year for me was the big inflatable slide. It was so fun! Be sure to check on the pics here. Unfortunately, I-fest couldn't have it's annual fireworks show to end the event because of the month-long mourning period for the people who died on the warship that went down in Korea last month. Instead, there was a guitarist who used to play for Kenny Rogers and some other well-known musicians. He was pretty entertaining.

School is quickly coming to an end. I counted today, and I only meet with each of my classes 7 or 8 more times. There is a lot to get done before the end of the year, but overall things are finishing strong. I gave proficiency tests last week, which is something that takes a lot of planning and time, so it feels great to have that done. Now it's just one final push to the end.

May is always such a busy month around here. Next weekend I am chaperoning the Middle School Retreat. This year we are headed to Daecheon Beach, which is nice because it is much closer than our destination last year, Sundae Beach. A LOT of kids are signed up so I'm sure it will be a crazy weekend. :) The next weekend I am returning to Daecheon Beach for a final hoorah with some close friends. We are taking a road trip--hopefully we don't get lost!

This month we also have graduation, a few more volleyball open-gyms, end-of-year trip, MS Talent Show, and Faculty Farewell (which I'm sure will be VERY long this year). Plus, I'm 99% sure that I will be moving in with my friend Anna next year, so I will have packing to do. Plus, now that the weather is nice, I have been going on a quite a few bike rides. Hopefully I can get in at least 100 miles before I start training for RAGBRAI at home--on my new bike! :) I would really like to do a triathalon in the fall, so I will have to split time I spent last year biking, with time spent running. My friends talked me into doing the 5k tomorrow so I will officially be starting my running career. Pray for me! :-P

KAIAC ㅋㅋㅋ

On Friday morning the swim team headed up for the 2-day conference meet at Seoul Foreign School. The girls swam so well! In every meet this year several girls finished just outside of placing for points, but this weekend we placed in 6 of the 13 events! Many had their best times, and we finished 6th overall (right where I wanted them to be). In other meets this year we have been close to Osan and sometimes ICS-Uijongbu in total points, but we were very convincingly ahead of them. We had the most points we have scored all year, and I think everyone had a great time. Yay Dragons!  I'm so proud of them. (be sure to check out the pics!)

Despite being exhausted and spending some much time stuck in Seoul traffic, I had a lot of fun. We stayed overnight at a guesthouse on campus and had a team dinner with the guys team and then a shopping trip to Forever 21 in Myeongdong. It was a nice bonding time for the team, and the girls really enjoyed it.

I think the best part of the weekend was the coaches relay. All of the coaches participated--and most were faster than I was expecting. Anyway, after the last event all the swimmers gathered around to watch "Event 27." We were paired off in schools; so two coaches from each team made up a relay team. We were paired with GSIS, our sister school. It was so fun...I love competing! Our relay team got second overall, losing by just 2 sec. I swam anchor and did all I could to catch the SIS coach, but she swam a 30.00! The girl who won the 50 Fr. swam a 29.00! I was happy with my 31.00 (this is meters remember!) even though I didn't catch her. It was a blast; hopefully it becomes an annual event. :)

Another highlight was the awards ceremony. Not only was the weather absolutely beautiful so we held the ceremony on the soccer field, but also (thanks to some rule changes) 3 TCIS girls and 3 TCIS boys received all-conference and/or all-tournament awards. It was great because usually we sit there and watch Seoul American HS accept every award. It was a great end of the weekend to see the girls so excited and happy to be represented on the conference team.

Now that swimming is done, you would think I would have more time. That, however, is not the case. Things just keep getting busier as we approach the end of the school year. I can't believe it is almost May! We have 5 weeks of school left, which translates to 10 more classes (since we see our classes every other day). So much to do, so little time! I also found out that I am moving in with a friend next year so I will be busy packing in addition to all the other end-of-the-year activities. I will try my best to find time to keep you posted!

Spring

Time for another update on life in Korea. The weather is finally starting to warm up, and the trees are blooming. It is so pretty; definitely my favorite time of the year here. On Friday it was finally nice enough for me to enjoy my first bike ride. I had ridden to the pool about a month ago and got a flat tire. I finally found where I could get it fixed and had my bike all tuned up while I was there. Last week, It had a pleasant ride along the river. I think I rode around 10 miles and felt really good...not a bad start. I wasn't even sore the next day!

Things have been busy around TCIS. Last weekend we hosted APAC Girls Soccer. This was the first time that TCIS has hosted an APAC tournament, but from now on we will host 2 per year. There were about 100 girls from international schools all over China and the Phillipines who came to Korea. They stayed with TCIS families, which from what I've heard was a positive experience for all parties involved. The tournament itself was a lot of fun, too. It started with an opening ceremony and all the 8th, 9th, and 10th graders were invited. They had traditional Korean drumming, a pep band, singing, and more. To make it even better TCIS placed 1st after the round-robin play and ended up 2nd in the tournament! A lot of people came out to watch the championship game (complete with painted faces and even some painted chests. hehe). Our swim meet was really short this weekend, so we even made it back for the game. It was great!

Well, there is one week of swimming left. On Friday morning we will go to Seoul for a two-day KAIAC meet. It will be fun to spend the night with the team to end the season. Last week TCIS was hit hard with sickness and many of the girls got it. Hopefully they will regain strength, and I can whip them back into shape this week. :) The team was swimming so well at the last few meets so hopefully we can finish strong. A couple of the swimmers are in the running for some all-conference awards so that's exciting, too.

I am really starting to look forward to the end of the school year. It will be especially sad this year since many staff members and friends are leaving, but I'm so excited to go back to Iowa. I arrive on June 8th and will be there until the end of July. We only have 6 more weeks of teaching so I know it will be here before I know it!

Adventure

This weekend, Stacey, a student teacher this Spring, and I went to the Southern coast of Korea for a little adventure. We spent a day/night in Mokpo and another day in Jindo. We didn't plan the trip at all and didn't know what to expect. Check out the pics here. The captions pretty much describe the trip. Enjoy!

¡Amigas Aquí!

I was so excited in my last entry to tell you about my trip to India that I forgot what happened before that. Tami and Colleen spent an amazing week in Korea. Although the weather was a little chilly, I had a great time playing hostess. I took a few days off work which allowed us to do just about everything there is to do in Korea all in one week. The trip began in Seoul where we stayed in an ondul--traditional style--room where you sleep on the heated floor. We spent a day shopping in markets, drinking tea, and visiting a palace/museum, and going up Seoul Tower.

Tami and Colleen were so brave! They ate everything I put in front of them. :) We ate shabu shabu (similar to Korean BBQ, but in a hotpot), bulgogi (cooked meat), mandu (dumplings), dongas (pork cutlet), samgyetang (whole chicken in a ginseng soup) and bimbimbap (mixed veggies with rice). We also visited friends from Central and had a couple little reunions. Crazy! Tami and Colleen observed classes at TCIS on Thursday and Friday while I had to teach.

One of the best things about the week was that Tami and Colleen came when school was actually in session, which meant everyone was here. They met most of my friends, and we enjoyed doctor fish and going to noraebang, coffee shops, and photo sticker booth; all things I love to do here. On the last night we did something I've never done...slept at the jjimjilbang before the girls went to the DMZ.

In the middle of the week we took a day trip via KTX to Busan to see the fish market, cliffs, and ocean. We also met up with our friend Zach (aka G) from college. It was so fun to hangout and have G show us all around his city.

It was so fun to have my amigas here, but it has been a busy couple weeks. I'm definitely exhausted now. And, I'm having quite a bit of trouble sleeping...well, being able to fall asleep especially. Stupid jet lag!

Yesterday and today was World Language Festival, which also may contribute to my extreme sleepiness. Like last year, the Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish students all got together to play traditional games from the target countries. The year 1 kids enjoyed it, but the year 2 students enjoyed it even more. Their theme was food, and we cooked doekbokki (rice cakes in hot sauce), mapo tofu (yummy yummy Chinese dish), and quesadillas. It was a huge hit, and a lot of fun. Next year, when there are year 3 students, we are planning to have a section of music and dance. Looking forward to it already!

I'm happy because tomorrow is a half day of teaching, and since I don't have class until 10:40, I only have students for 40 min. Unfortunately, the half day is due to parent/teacher conferences, meaning I have to be at school until 8:30. Yuck! However, Thursday we get to sleep in and Friday there is no school thanks to good Friday. Yay! Happy Easter!

I ♥ India!

I just returned from a fantastic week at an orphanage outside of Bangalore, India along with 14 others from TCIS (11 high school students and 3 other adults). We spent the entire week at the orphanage playing with the 68 kids who live there. We worshiped together,  did crafts, played games, and spent time just talking and hanging out. It was a great experience. We lived in a guesthouse at the orphanage, ate wonderful food prepared by some of the older girls, and took bucket showers. And in every other moment of the day we were with the kids. It was exhausting, but so incredible; they taught us so much! From new games and songs to being grateful for what we have to having a childlike faith. The children there are wise beyond their years and are absolutely beautiful inside and out. I know the trip made a great impact on some of the members of our team, because on the last day everyone's eyes were full of tears as we said our goodbyes to our new friends. I have been on many mission trips, but I've never been on one like this where we see the same kids everyday and really know them by the end of the week. We also had a really great team, and by the end of the week had grown close, too.

Although we spent the majority of the time at the orphanage with the kids, we did experience a bit of Indian culture. Each day we took a break for tea time...I'm assuming this was started because of the British influence in the country. We had the chance to watch a couple of Indian movies with the kids; one of them My Name is Khan was sooooooo good and very interesting. I would recommend it. I learned how to count to 10 in Kannara, the language spoken in that part of the country. One night we had a dance show, so we watched some Indian dances and performed some Korean ones for them. We also spent half a day in the city of Bangalore shopping. I bought a beautiful Indian purse and shirt. (Their clothing is gorgeous! Very colorful and decorative.) We also had dinner in a restaurant before heading to the airport for our long trip home. As you can see, I had a wonderful time. Hopefully I can go back and see those kids next year. I miss them already!

Check out the rest of the pics here!

Jealousy

It's snowing here! And not just a little snow, but really snowing! We are forecast to get 7 inches in Daejeon, but I don't think that will happen. I thought spring was almost here, but then winter got jealous of spring (as they say in Korea.) Crazy weather! I hope it warms up before Colleen and Tami get here!!

March

Wow, it's March already. I'm hoping to get a few more posts this month, but I know time is going to FLY by. Since Spring break the weeks have been passing so quickly and now in just a couple short weeks quarter 3 will be over and it will be one last push until the end.

Here is an update about what I've been doing and will do. Enjoy!

The weather has been pretty nice so last weekend my friend Laura and I went hiking at Bomunsan, a mountain I had never been to but is actually in the city of Daejeon. After walking 15 or so minutes you get to a lookout where you can look down on most of the city. It was nice to rest, watch, and enjoy the weather (plus take lots of goofy pics). Then, we walked around the mountain about an hour before heading home. I really enjoyed it because it wasn't like normal Korean hiking where you walk on a cement path or up rock stairs. The trails were more natural...and thankfully there were way less people.

This weekend, next weekend, and last weekend was/will be filled with swim meets. Last weekend we went to SAHS--going to SAHS is always exciting because we get to go on the base and eat Taco Bell and toasted Subway sandwiches and get all kinds of good candy out of the vending machine :)--for the shortest meet in KAIAC history! I don't know if that's really true, but we were done before noon. Next week we will be on the base again at OSAN.

This week we had the first 10-team meet. It was at YISS and it was a great day! TCIS swam so well. It is so cool to see the improvements my swimmers have made since last year. A good chunk of them have cut 7-10 seconds on their 50 freestyle times (which is totally crazy)! The meet got off to a good start when both the girls and boys relay teams passed people on the last leg to win their respective heats. Another cool...well, probably the coolest part of the meet was that Gil Stovall, an Olympic swimmer was there! He is apparently best friends with the new aquatic director at YISS. He was hanging around the whole meet so we got some pictures and autographs and asked lots of questions about the Olympics and training and Michael Phelps. haha. Then, at the break, he swam an exhibition 100 butterfly. I have never seen an Olympian swim live, so that was really cool. To the swimmers out there who will find this amazing; he took 6-7 strokes per lap! And he was so smoothe in the water. Watch the video below to see what I mean. Anyway, after the meet he talked to us about his journey to the Olympics, where he was went in seeded 2nd right behind Michael Phelps in the 200 fly, expected to medal, but woke up sick on semifinals day and missed the finals heat by .01 sec. He talked about how his faith had kept him going through his entire swimming career, and how when he looks back on that day, he realizes that God was teaching him that dreams of the world can disappear, but God is constant and never leaves. It was a great message and we all really enjoyed listening to him.

Besides swimming, not too much has been going on. I have just been preparing for Tami and Colleen, who will be here 1 week from today!!!! I cannot wait. They will be here all next week and then the following week I will be in India. Be looking for a post after that for sure! :)

Funny Story

The weather this week has been beautiful! I think it hit 70 today. Because the spring-like weather put me in a mood to exercise, I decided to ride my bike to the pool. I had a nice swim and then walked my bike (I got a flat tire :( ) back...like my own mini-triathalon. hehe. Anyway, that's not the funny part. Today at school one of my fellow teacher friends asked if I went to the pool last night. I hadn't seen him there, so I was quite confused. I guess one of his Korean swim friends was there and had this to say via text message:

today very amazing in pool - white woman are very well swim;

3:21 PM white woman..very .... good swimer..al the people stand and cheer loudly;;

  (my friend asked why - he said)

  why cheer? because, Caucasian woman! very swim player! very amazing  

HAHAHAHA! This cracks me up (and the broken English makes it even better)! I didn't even know this was happening! I saw a team chanting and I thought they were stretching or something, but apparently they were cheering for me. lol. As I was swimming yesterday I remember thinking I really liked swimming in Korea because everyone is pretty good...I didn't have to pass anybody and nobody passed me. But apparently I was amazing, and they were all quite surprised. hehe. Anyway, it totally made my day. I feel so cool. :-P

Happy Lunar New Year in VIETNAM!

I returned to Korea on Sunday morning from a very interesting trip to Vietnam. Not too many places I visit surprise me anymore, but Vietnam was still able to do that. And for that reason, I loved it! The most shocking thing was the traffic. I just could not get over the madness of thousands of motorbikes weaving in and out of cars and pedestrians. It was quite a sight! I also enjoyed learning the history of Vietnam. I guess in the north there is still some hostility towards Americans, but we didn't experience that in the South. It was definitely eye-opening to hear about the war from the other side. We spent two days in Ho Chi Minh, where we were able to spend some time in a beautiful park, eat lots of phó (Vietnamese noodles that cost about $1), see a water puppets show, and visit the CuChi tunnels. Anna, Lyndsey and I crawled through the entire thing. Parts of it were so small that we had to crawl on our hands and knees. And it has even been made bigger for tourists! The entrances were also very small and well-hidden. Our guide also showed us some traps that were used during the war. Very cool to see.

After a couple days in the city, we spent two days touring the Mekong Delta area. As a part of the tour we visited several small villages, traveled everywhere by boat, and did lots of crazy things: held a boa constrictor, ate "elephant ear" fish, drank honey tea, tried all kinds of new tropical fruit, slept in an...interesting hostel, bought pineapple from a boat at the floating market, and even saw a water buffalo.  The tour was relaxing and gave us the chance to meet some fellow travelers.

For the last few days of our trip we headed to the beach at Mui Ne. We arrived at about midnight, went to the hotel, and discovered that are booking was not received. Because of Lunar New Year everything in the country was shut down so people had a week-long vacation. It turns out that everyone goes to the beach during that time! We were told by the hotel owner that there were no rooms available anywhere because of the newear. The security guards helped us by calling a few hotels and finally said that the Saigon Mui Ne, a large resort, had one room available. The 7 of us then piled into a taxi to snatch it before someone else did. However, when we arrived we were told that they were completely booked. By this time it was approaching 1 AM, and I was prepared to sleep on the beach. As a last resort Jenn and Anna when one way and Lyndsey and I went another asking every place we came to if we had room. After walking for about 20 minutes (and feeling like we could relate to Mary and Joseph) Lynz and I were about ready to turn around when a woman ran out to us, pointed towards her guesthouse (it was dark and we hadn't even seen it!) and asked if we needed a place to sleep. We said yes and she led us to a clean, large room (2 queen size beds...enough for at least 6 to have a bit of mattress). She even had another room available for the next two nights. So at 2 AM we found a place to stay for the duration of the trip. Whew! It was quite an adventure!

The rest of our time in Mui Ne was very nice. We swam in the warm ocean, laid on the beach, watched kite surfers, visited sand dunes and went sand sleddin, creek-stomped in a beautiful stream, ate more yummy food, shopped, and played mini-golf. It was fun and relaxing. I felt so disconnected from school and work; it was great!

Now we are back in class for three more weeks until our next break. I will be going to India for a mission trip with a group of high school students. I am sooooo excited because I have wanted to go to India for quite some time now. We will be working at an orphanage near Bangalore. The week before that Tami and Colleen will be here!!! I can't wait! March will be here and over before I know it!

Click here for pictures from Vietnam. Also, check out the video below. It is incredible!