¡Cumple 25!

That's right...I have made it 25 years. A magnificent quarter of a century. This week I was reminded at how many people have influenced me and changed me along the way into the person I am today; how many friends have shown love and support; and how blessed I have been in 25 years of life. I want to thank many of you for the facebook messages, cards, gifts, dinners, and parties this week. By the end of it, I was actually "partied-out" if that's even possible. I also want to thank everyone for playing a part, whether big or small, in my life these past 25 years. They have been wonderful, and I honestly can't wait for what the next 25 hold.

Here's a brief summary of what my amazing friends here in Korea did to help make my birthday week special:

Monday: Dinner (TGIFridays) and movie (Adjustment Bureau) with Ellen and Anna
Tuesday: Papa Day! --> even though it doesn't really exist :P
Wednesday: Professional volleyball games...go Blue Fangs!
Thursday: Mexican dinner and Thai massage :)
Friday: The Goonies - which everyone felt was the necessary way to spend Friday night since I had never seen it. Plus, Sarah came to visit from Suwon!
Saturday: Leggings party which included dinner at Indy and a photo scavenger hunt around 둔산동 (complete with a leggings cake...pictures to come)
Sunday: Picnic lunch and Yaewon roof party to enjoy the 60+ degree weather!

I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday week. Although I'm pretty exhausted from having such a busy social calendar, everyone made me feel so special. A few of my friends even ate live octopus for me! :P It is now 8:16 and I'm heading to bed. That's what old age does to you! (kidding!) I need some energy to get through one more week and then spring break. What a great life!

Catch-up

I know I am getting so far behind in my blogging. Last week we had mid-quarter reporting for quarter 3 already, and I realized I hadn't updated my blog at all since I was home for Christmas! I really have been up to quite a bit, from professional volleyball and hockey games to a week spent in Cambodia. (Click here for the pics!) I

I will try to keep you updated as more adventures come my way: my birthday, World Language Festival, swim meets, and my spring break LASA trip to the Philippines. More details coming soon!

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

I am now sitting in the airport waiting to board the first of four flights I will take to get back to Korea. Wow, what a great break! I had such a great time at home this winter. Be sure to check out the pics if you don't want to read this whole post. :)

Although my time in the U.S. was short, I got to see many friends and family members. I arrived just before Christmas, so after a day or two of shopping, Christmas had arrived! Because of wintry weather, my mom's brothers weren't able to make it to Washington, but I did get to see almost all of my dad's side. We had a lot of fun since all of my cousins were back this year for the first time in probably 3 or 4 years. After our official Christmas on Christmas Eve, we all went to see Lil Fockers and eat at HuHot. Then, all the girls hung out at my sisters place one night. On Christmas day, 10 of us went sledding. It was a perfect day for it and we had a lot of fun. It was so nice to spend time with my family during the holidays.

After Christmas, things got busy quickly preparing for Bethany and Ike's (2 good friends from HS) wedding. The wedding set-up and actual event went smoothly, but it sure wore me out. Weddings are so much work! It was a lot of fun, though, and I got to see many friends from high school. Since it was a New Years Eve wedding, the guests stayed late...I haven't done that much dancing in a long time!

On New Years day, I went to Des Moines. My friend Adam's band was playing a show there, and I was so happy that I was finally able to watch him. It had been a long time; and the concert was great! So much fun! I got to catch up with many of my college friends who came downtown for the night, too.

Although it may not seem like it, I did enjoy some time relaxing at home. I watched numerous football games (including Iowa's big victory...GO HAWKS!!), and had fun playing wii with my parents and sister. Time at home always goes so fast, but this was an exceptionally good vacation. Thanks to all of you who made it that way!

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!