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!

Escaping Winter

Yep, that's what I'm doing...escaping winter. Saturday I will be leaving wet, cold Korea for warm, sunny Vietnam! We have next week off school for Lunar New Year, so 6 friends and I will be heading to Ho Chi Minh City as well as to Moi Ne beach until Saturday the 20th. I'm so ready for a break. Swimming has started up and after having to make some cuts (I hate cutting people!), the team has been named and practice has begun regularly. We have our first meet the Saturday after break and then the season will be in full force.

Last weekend I kept busy at 30 Hour Famine with over 100 middle school kids at SFS. The event was great, but we didn't get much sleep. All the girls were squeezed into a gymnastics room. They went to sleep better than last year, but we didn't go to bed until about 1:00 AM. Then, about 5 in the morning 3 different cell phone alarms went off. Grr...we had collected all the TCIS students' phones. Overall, the event was a lot of fun and really eye-opening for many of our students who have always had everything they've needed or wanted.

The next month is going to be pretty crazy. 3 weeks after the Vietnam trip, Tami and Colleen are coming!!! Then, the following week we have Spring break and I will be heading to India on a mission trip. I will try to keep you all updated on my adventures. Happy Lunar New Year, all!

Movies, Meetings, and Melting Snow

The title of this post pretty much sums up life since returning from my vacay. Not too much has happened. After a strange, snowy winter here in Korea, the snow is finally beginning to melt. On Wednesday, although rainy and foggy, the temperature broke 50 degrees to melt most of the snow that had been hanging around since I returned from warm, sunny South America. There are still some icy spots, but I think winter is almost over here! Sorry to all ya'll back in Iowa where winter always seems like it'll never end.

Since it has been cold, I have been filling my time with lots of movies. Last week I watched The Road (super depressing), 500 Days of Summer (LOVED it!), Up (what a cute, chubby Korean kid!), and one of my new favorites...Avatar! Finally. I know I'm way behind on this one. My friend Anna and I went to the movie after everyone told us we had to see it. Luckily, we found a theatre showing it in 3-D and I was not disappointed. Wow...what a great movie! I will definitely be buying that one when it comes out.

Right now I am enjoying a few weeks of rest without coaching. Basketball finished last week so I don't even have any scoreboard responsibilities. I have been able to get into the pool and spend some time with friends. On Saturday I made a quick $100 administering the SAT. It was interesting because we were told to be on the lookout for these four people who take the test for other people. Fortunately, my room was uneventful, and I didn't have to deal with anything like that. This week I have been working on getting caught up with work before the swimming season starts. Last week we had a team meeting and enough people signed up that we will have to have try-outs. Yay for having a full team this year! Well, tomorrow starts a new week so I should hit the hay. 안녕이카세요!

Pictures are posted!

I have posted most of my pictures from my South America trip. Click on the links below to view them. More from Santiago will be coming; as well as some pics and video from my rafting trip. Enjoy!

Buenos Aires
Bariloche
Patagonia
Santiago (to come)

¡Me encanta Sudamerica!

You may be wondering why I haven't posted for so long, but the reason is because I have just spent three fantastic weeks on a Spanish teacher's dream vacation. For those that don't speak Spanish, the title of this post is "I love South America!" From December 19-January 10, I was busy traveling around Argentina and Chile with the two other Spanish teachers at TCIS. We had an amazing trip and did tons of cool things. No, I am not going to say everything we did. That would take days to read. Instead, I will give you the brief (well, as brief as I can be) rundown of the highlights of the trip. Then, if you want to know more about something, send me an email and I will be happy to share some of the stories of the wild things we did, the incredible people we met, and the absolutely beautiful nature we encountered. Also, be on the lookout for pictures. I will be posting them soon! Ok, here we go!

Dec 20-25: Buenos Aires--Went to a local market; biked around the city; visited La Boca, a cultural, colorful neighborhood; saw Evita Peron's grave at La Recoleta cemetery; took tango lessons; went to Christmas Eve mass; watched fireworks (and heard them all night) on Christmas Eve; saw an Argentine movie; and bought so many books and maps for our classrooms that we had to buy an extra suitcase!

Dec 26-28: Bariloche--Hiked to a beautiful waterfall; went white-water rafting to the Chilean border (and flipped on the first rapid!), ate incredible food...as we did everywhere in Argentina, but here especially; and went on a Chocolateria tour (Bariloche is known for its chocolate).

Dec 29: Ruta 40, a road that stretches from Alaska down to Ushauia, the furthest South city in the world--We took a bus for 30 hours with a five hour stop in a small small town of Perito Moreno. The trip was quite an adventure since the road was gravel and we would travel for hours without seeing a town, house, or even a car. It was an amazing adventure and we got to see a lot of Argentina!

Dec 30-Jan 2: El Chalten--Now in southern Patagonia, we went horseback riding and had a delicious lunch and wonderful afternoon talking with an Argentinian family on their farm; admired the picturesque views of the snow-capped mountains that surrounded the town; had a fancy New Year's Eve dinner and then went to a local party (El Chalten only has about 600 people and I'm pretty sure all of them, as well as all the tourists and temp workers, were there) where local bands played to celebrate the new year; hiked 26 km (15 miles) on 2 hours of sleep; trekked on a glacier and even climbed part of it using our crampons and ice picks!

Jan 2-3: El Calafate--Shopped; ate at buffet for our last meal in Argentina with good friends we had met on our travels; and visited Perito Moreno glacier, the only glacier in the area that is advancing. It advances 2 meters a day. The glacier is huge...70 meters high, 14 km long, and 5 km wide. The coolest thing was watching--and listening--to chunks of the glacier fall off. It sounded like thunder even when the smallest pieces fell off.

Jan 3: Travel day across the border to Punta Arenas--We got in pretty late so we took some pics by the Magellen Strait and then went to bed because we had to catch a 6:00 AM flight the next day.

Jan 4-8: Santiago--First thing we did...took a 5 hour nap (We had been traveling a LOT!). We also ate hot dogs with guacamole (a Chilean specialty); shopped at a market; watched a Chilean movie (super interesting about the U.S.'s part in the overthrow of Allende); took a double-decker bus tour; saw mummies at the Precolombian Art Museum; visited Pablo Neruda's house; took a day trip to Valparaiso where we rode elevators and trollies; laid on the beach at Reñaca; visited the Stock Exchange; and spent an afternoon relaxing at the gorgeous Santa Lucia park.

Jan 10: Back in Korea. After 40 hours of travel we arrived just after midnight to a snow-covered Korea...not exactly ready to start teaching again the next morning, but it was soooooo worth it!

We had an absolutely incredible trip. Our travel, though much, was smoothe. We stayed in great hostels with very friendly owners. And, not only was it a ton of fun, but we learned a lot about the culture of the countries, observed language differences, and practiced and improved our own Spanish. Plus, we met many great people everywhere we went. It was definitely an experience I will never forget!

Swimming, Grading, Service, More Grading...

Last weekend was busy, but enjoyable. On Friday after classes I helped out in the middle school dorm until about 10:30. I always like going to the dorm because it's great to see the kids in a different light. I can just hangout with them watching movies, eating, sharing music. We even had a pillow fight. haha. Middle schoolers can be crazy sometimes, but they sure are a lot of fun!

After working in dorm I unsuccessfully tried to do some grading. I had so much work to do because 3 of my classes had just turned in final reports. Writing always takes a long time to grade, and on top of that I one student hand in his paper in English, one student type paragraphs into an online translator, and two others who did not complete the report at all! [That is, until I forced them to write it on the way back from the swim meet. Luckily they were on the team! hehe] We were supposed to have everything done by Monday morning (including comments for each student). I was fairly certain I wasn't going to make that deadline so at midnight I gave up and went to bed. I awoke at 5:45 to be at the school for a 6:40 departure for the last swim meet. The swim meet was great! Not only was it exciting because we were on the base (meaning more Taco Bell and Subway!), but also because our swimmers did great! We actually won some events for the first time ever. I think everyone cut time in at least one event, and several placed in the top ten. It's so much fun to see the kids accomplish their goals. I think it's the #1 reason I enjoy coaching so much.

When I returned from the swim meet it was back to grading. Same on Sunday until 6:00 PM when I hit a wall and just had to leave my apartment. I walked to my friend Anna's and wrote more comments while we watched a movie. The social interaction and food intake gave me a burst of motivation. I finished the rest of the Spanish comments that night.

Today began Christmas Service Week at the middle school. Today, the entire school took a trip to Nuri, a disabled children's rehabilitation center. Parents send their kids to this place because they aren't able to provide the care they need at home or because they are ashamed of their children. I know it sounds awful, but it was only about 10 or so years ago that people would admit to having a disabled child. There were over 100 kids at the center with physical and mental disabilities. Most of them were autistic. Our students split into grade groups and attended information sessions about the services of the center, performing the Himelech Manuever, and the difficulty of using a wheelchair. After lunch, the kids had time to play with some of the kids at the Nuri center. I was so impressed with the TCIS students. I think it was a great experience for them. They played basketball, soccer, 조꾸 (like kick volleyball), and dodgeball with the kids, as well as danced the macarena. haha. Everyone had a great time, but the day went so fast, we all wanted to stay longer! Tomorrow service week continues by making and delivering soup to homeless people at the train station, making thank you cards for the people at Nuri, giving the high schoolers--who have a break in their finals--hot chocolate, and delivering coal to people who live in the country so they can warm their homes this winter. I hope these service activities have a great impact on our students, all of which are so privileged and don't even realize it.

Well, you probably won't be hearing from me for awhile now. I leave on Saturday morning for my Christmas holiday in South America. The two other Spanish teachers and I will be going to Buenos Aires, Bariloche, El Chalten (in Patagonia), and Santiago over the three-week trip. I'm sure I will have many stories when I return! It will be strange to be away from my family for yet another Christmas, but I have many packages from them. Plus, I have my house all decked out for the season so I'm still celebrating here. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Samsung Bluefangs

I just had to write a quick post about how I spent my evening. Lyndsey and I decided to cancel our Korean lesson again this week and instead we went to a professional volleyball match. It was awesome! I have posted a video so you can virtually experience the craziness of the game. Go Samsung! I love Korean sporting events. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it's a bit late, but I wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. This is always the most difficult time of year to be away from home. I miss Grandma's cooking, seeing my family, and watching football. It's a holiday that holds so much tradition for American families that usually most people get down a bit this week. Luckily, I have so much to be thankful for! I had a fabulous holiday: two feasts, shopping, and many Christmas movies. 

Here at TCIS we have to work on Thanksgiving, however, on Thursday Sheila, a fellow MS teacher, cooked dinner for a few of the single teachers. The food was delicious...she is an amazing cook. I had been waiting all year for that caramel pie and it didn't disappoint me! On Friday we had a half day of school, so at noon I went home and decorated my house for Christmas. My Christmas tree and lights were up, and I was in the Christmas mood, so after cooking some strawberry banana bread (while listening to Christmas tunes), I decided to watch "The Holiday." When it finished it was time to head to Thanksgiving dinner at the school. Just like last year we had an abudance of food and I ended up coming home with almost a whole loaf of banana bread. After dinner a group of us headed to the movies to watch "A Christmas Carol" for my friend Mike's birthday.

The next morning, Saturday, I woke up early to catch a school trip to Songtan, the shopping area outside of Osan Air Base. We spent the whole day shopping, except for the stop at the Mexican restaurant for lunch. I got all my Christmas shopping done, but it was a long day...we didn't get back until around 6:00. I invited everyone to my house to eat 치켄마요 and watch some my new DVDs. We watched "Four Christmases" and "Christmas Vacation" before calling it a day. It made for the end of a very happy start to the holiday season.

Weekend fun

Despite the fact that I came down with a nasty cold on Saturday and spent all day Sunday in bed, I had a wonderful weekend. Friday night I helped with a 7th grade Thanksgiving party. We are attempting to unite each grade by doing various social events and this was the first of the year. I spent the evening playing Uno, Blackjack, Boggle, and "Piggy" (like pig in basketball, except more letters. hehe. I guess they've never heard of horse.) with a great group of middle school students.

When it finished I headed to bed because Saturday morning the swim team departed at 6:00 AM for SIS. Our first jamboree was a success; there are some really talented 6th graders this year. Others on the team have improved so much this season so it's fun to see them so proud of themselves! Overall, a great event and everyone had a good time...although it felt like I spent the day in the tropics. It had to be 90˚ in that pool!

We returned to campus around 3:30, so I headed straight down to the gym where the annual Christmas Bazaar was taking place. I bought some DVDs and books from MS STUCO (Student Council), chatted with some people, and then had intentions of resting. However, by the time I got home it was after 4 and I had made plans to meet friends for dinner at 5. I basically dropped off my things and met up with Anna and Ben for some Korean BBQ. Yum!

After dinner Anna and I got all dressed up for some fellow teacher's "Halfway to 90" b-day party. All guests were supposed to dress like they thought (or hoped) they would look like when they were 90. We raided the drama dept's costume closet and found some great pieces to wear. The party was a blast! Everyone was so into their role, the food was great--candy "pills" and many desserts since "we don't have to count calories anymore"--and the games were "age appropriate" as promised. My favorite part was that they gave everyone a sticker on their back related to a funny problem people have when they age (dentures popping out, not hearing well, wandering off, falling asleep at random, not being able to see, etc.) and we all interacted accordingly. It was a hoot!

This weekend looks to be another busy one. Although Thanksgiving isn't really celebrated here, I am having Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and Friday (Yes!). I will miss the football and parade, though. We do have school on Thursday, but we get Friday afternoon off to cook for our Friday evening feast. I am going shopping in Songtan on Saturday (in line with Black Friday in the U.S. :-D) and planning to catch the new Christmas Carol movie, too. Oh, it's time to set up my Christmas tree. I hope all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving! There is so much to be thankful for!