Headed Home

Well sometimes things do not work out the way you planned. I have learned that is ok and sometimes wonderful things happen when you least expect it. My time teaching in Korea is now over and am headed home. I will miss my Kinder Kids and my great friends-new and old In Korea but am so excited about heading home.
I can not wait to see my dear, nephew who does not know I am coming home and hopefully will be very surprised when I show up to the busstop on Friday.
I still very blessed to have had time in Korea and teach there-albeit brief. The three little girls I taught Kinder to will always have a very special place in my heart and I will always think fondly of them. We laughed,smiled,learned alot and had a blast doing it.
No words can ever express what it meant to recconect with my friend Trina. Friends are a true treasure and so glad I got to spend so much quality time with Trina the last few months.
To my new friend Maria-you are such an amazing person and friend and I feel honored to have met you and plan to see you again.
I met so many,nice, friendly,helpful people along the way on my journey of Korea including the very sweet,man who has climbed mountains all over the world-that I will always remember.
I will never forget those weeks in July where I only worked half days and then explored all over Daejeon and saw so much and during that time truely fell in love with the city of Daejeon,it:s culture,history,people and the country of Korea too.
I spent this last weekend enjoying the beauty of Daegu and Busan. Busan is a truely,beautiful,special, amazing place I hope I get to visit again someday.
I did not cry after hugging Trina at he bus to depart to airport or while the plane pulled away from Seoul but as I write this I am now fighting back the tears a bit.
Thank you Korea for a chance to learn more about another culture and for giving me some beautiful,memories that will last a lifetime.
TTFN

Amazing Weekend with an Amazing Friend

My friend Trina and I had an Awesome Weekend together which we both needed.We stayed at a fantastic 4 star Hotel in Daegu(my bday gift to her). I got a great deal on the hotel as booked through Expedia and used my US debit card. The current exchange rate of USD to Korean Won is Fantastic but exhanging KRW into USD currently is awful-which is not good.We did not leave the hotel Saturday except to go get dinner at TGI Friday's-Yummy and take a nice walk. We enjoyed the huge, flat screen tv in the room, taking bubble baths-Hooray. Most people in Korean do not have bath tubs or even real showers. So it was lovely to have a real bath. We also enjoyed the view of the city of Daegu from our Hotel and room service for lunch-French Onion soup-another treat.
Sunday morning we headed to the nearby KTX train station and caught a train to Busan. Busan is on the Ocean and the 2nd largest city in Korea. Busan was just breath-taking and I got some great pictures I will be sharing soon. We got to visit the Aquarium and take a glass-bottom boat ride and feed sharks. We took a walk on the beach, visited a fresh fish market, did some shopping and just had an amzing time.
We had a very interesting taxi ride back to the train station which I will share later. Some of you know I somehow seem to attract strange, creepy, taxi cab drivers-well obivously it followed me to Korea-LOL!!!!
TTFN

Goldilocks is not cute!!!!!

The theme for October is Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes. This week's story was Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. Each day we have a daily sentence the kids practice reading and writing that has to do with our theme. Yesterday the sentence was Goldilocks is cute. Well later in the day the kids made a Goldilocks and 3 Bears Mini-Book. The quality of the copies was really poor. They looked like they were a reprint of a reprint and there were also rough and badly draw, simple illustrations. Well my kids took one look at the pictures and said Teacher-Goldilocks is not cute!!! I said ofcourse she is. They said look at this picture-she is so not cute-she is ugly. I am like oh-that's not nice-we do not call anyone ugly. So they said well she is ugly but since you said that is not nice-she is really not cute at all. I could not help it at this point-I broke into hysterical laughter and so did the kids. Kids can be so cute and funny!!!!!!
TTFN

4 day Weekend

Due to Chuseok-The Korean Thanksgiving or Harvest Festival I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday. I heard the grocery store would be crazy so I decided to head out early Friday morning right after it opened. It was not too crowded and I quickly got what I needed and headed home. Friday I also met my friend Maria for coffee and then we came back to my apartment and watched a move and got some Korean Soju/wine like liquor and enjoyed that.
Maria even brought me a gift for Chuseok-some traditional Korean Rice Cakes-Songypeon-and some huge,mammoth grapes. That was so very sweet of her-she is a nice, sweet, dear friend.
I was also able to catch up with family and friends by phone,im, etc like I do every weekend. I was also able to catch up on the literally insane amount of paperwork from September. Since we had a 4 day weekend my boss allowed us to have the weekend to finish paperwork-thank goodness.
It is currently Sunday so I still have today and tomorrow left of my 4 day weekend and am working on getting some writing down on my Children's Picture Story Book and Children's Poetry Book.
It has been a nice, relaxing, needed break. Hope everyone is having a Great Weekend!!!!
TTFN

Friends

I have some amazing and wonderful friends both here in Korea and back home in the states. I may not have a millon friends but the wonderful friends I do have are worth far more than a millon. I have been blessed to make friends with caring, warm, smart, amazing people who become like family.My friend Trina (she is currently teaching in Korea also) and I have been friends for like 24 years but had not seen eachother in 10 years when I came to Korea.
It was like we had seen eachother yesterday and am so blessed to have her here in Korea and so blessed to have her in my life. It is nice to have someone to call in the same timezone and laugh about funny things that happened when we were kids etc. She is a great listener, very creative and caring and such a amazing,special person.
Yesterday I spent the day with my Korean friend Maria. She is much younger and cooler than me so I am amazed that she wants to spend time with me. We have so much fun when we are together whether it is shopping, having lunch, going to the movies, having coffee in a cafe, having a Korean lesson, just talking etc. She is so sweet and willingly to help me in any way. She offers to make phone calls for me or go somewhere and transalate and when I thank her profusely-she always tells me to stop-because that is what friends do.
I miss my amazing friends at home(who I call, im, email, skype with etc.) but am so blessed to have wonderful, special friends here in Korea as well.
To all the special, amazing people in my life back home-I love and miss you all and so blessed to have you all in my life-Christie,Jessi,Allison, Marci,Katie, Kevin, Tam, Jace,Jen and anyone I forgot I am so sorry but I love you too.
Ehugs and love from Korea

Another Busy Week

I have not been good about blogging lately as September has been jam-packed with paperwork etc. I teach all day and then stay after school or come home and work on paperwork for several hours and then have been falling asleep while till work or with the tv on when I stop to take a break for a few minutes. My Elementary Class took their End of the Month test on Friday-so I spent Friday night grading it. The kids did pretty good on it. The paperwork has seemed as if it would never end this month from the test, to progress reports, lesson plans etc. I will be glad to see September go and get to start October off with a 4 day weekend-Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paperwork

Last week was a verybusy week at school and with being sick I was exhauted everynight. September has been crazy busy and I have a mountain of paperwork to do-lesson plans for October, Endof the Month Test for Elementary (which consists of 100questions). Pictionary and Daily Sentence for Elementary Class for October.Weekly Kinder lesson plans, Quarterly Reports on all students and First Month Reports on students new to my class.
I can't believe it is almost October and I get a 4 day weekend off to recharge-get Friday October 2nd-6th.
Since it is Chueseok-Korean Thanksgiving and they presell Train tickets etc. I will be staying put and not going anywhere. Plan on getting some reading done, resting, maybe going to see some movies-like Fame (which I am so excited about)!!!! I also plan on spending some time writing -currently have several book ideas I am working on.
I spent this past weekend working on my End of the Month Test-so glad to have it finished and out of the way-now to get the rest of my paperwork done.
I am looking forward to the end of the September and the beginning of October and a few extra days off.
TTFN

First visit to the Doctor in Korea

For almost a week now I have been having trouble breathing, had very stuffy nose and head etc. Well my nose was red and sore and even with taking Claritin D eyes were still watering and not sleeping well. So everyone at school was comenting about me being sick but by Monday was feeling some better after resting all weekend. Well I found out that here in Korean if you are sick at all you go see a Doctor. I thought I might have had a simple cold or possibly very bad sinus/allegeries or a sinus infection.
This was something I did not see a reason to go to the Doctor for as I brought cold/sinus medicines with me from the states. Well everyone here in Korean did not understand why I did not want to go to the Doctor.
So Tuesday during my lunch break one of my bosses and I headed to the near-by Doctor's office. The people in the office and the Doctor spoke very little English so I was glad I had someone with me to transalate. From what I could tell the nurses etc. spoke no English and the Doctor's English was limited to-Open and say AHH!!!!
We had no appointment which from what I understand is typical in Korea but were seen very quickly.
My boss answered a few questions for the doctor, he tried to look at my throat but I started gagging when he shoved a metal tongue-depressor in my mouth and the doctor kept saying in Korean that no matter how I moved my tongue he still could not get a good look of my throat.
So he listened to me breathe for a minute with his stethoscope and pronounced it a sinus cold and prescribed 5 medcines for me to take 3 times a day for 3 days.
I have Korean Health Insurance through work and I pay half and my employer's pay half. The cost of the doctor's visit with my insurance was 3,500 won which is equal to like $3.50 in the US.
Yes I said I paid $3.50 to see the doctor and then my prescription was only $2.50. They put each dose of medicine in little small,invidually sealed, plastic bags-morning, afternoon, evening etc.
I was to take my medicine 3 times a day after eating and told the medicine could make me dizzy and sleepy and if I had any major problems to come back and see the doctor.
Well the medicine did not make me sleepy instead I had an awful time trying to sleep last night and in the middle of the night woke up way more congested than I had been in days and then could not go back to sleep.
This morning the congestion is still really bad-again much worse than it had been since before I started taking the Clartin D.
Ofcourse I have not taken my am medicines yet as I have to wait until 30 minutes after I eat.
Hopefully the medicines will start working so I will not have to go back to the doctor again during today's or tomorrow's lunch break.
TTFN

Sick

Sorry I have not been writing much this week everyone but it has been very busy at school and I have not been feeling well. I have a ton of paper work I need to be working on but am still not feeling 100%. I have been resting all weekend and drinking lots of fluids but still feeling icky. One of my fellow teachers suggested hot OJ with honey and that has helped alot. So I feel tired, achy and icky but feel like I should be working on school work but just don't feel up to it at all. I am feeling better than I did on Friday though so that is good. Well I think I am going to get some more rest and go take a little nap.
TTFN

Life

I found out the other day that a friend of mine in the states I had taught with died. She had Cancer but was young(late 30s), strong and had surgery. She had only known for two months and was also having chemo. The chemo was not working and her condition continued to get worse, I was shocked and saddened. Cancer SUCKS so bad-I have lost my Mom, my Brother-in-law and many friends and aquitances. I was very upset and distraught about finding out about my friend. Though I have lost many people I know to Cancer it never gets any easier of less shocking when it happens especially so quick like this.
I was really blue and upset about all this and was thinking about my Mom alot. Then one of my Mom's former students who I am now good friends with sent me an email with a picture attached. She is all grown-up now and been married to a wonderful man for the 3 years now. They recently found out they are expecting their first child together. They are so happy and excited and I am so excited for them.
The picture she sent was a copy of her first ultrasound. It was blurry and hard to make out but that did not matter. It reminded me that life is a never ending cycle of lows and highs and death and births etc. While I was saddened and shocked of the loss of a friend and I then got the first glimpse of a new little person who is coming into this world. My friend who is expecting the baby also said she wants me to always to be an important part of her baby's life and wants me to have the kind of relationship with her child that she had with my Mom or that her and I have.
This brought tears to my eyes-but not tears of saddness-Tears of pure joy.
Life is short and fleeting and a gift and we need to treasure every moment.
E-hugs to all.
TTFN

Giraffe Puppets

Every month we get a new theme book with a bunch of different theme activities and art ideas from the Kid's College Main Branch. This month's theme is animals and this week is Wild and Zoo animals. I got so excited when I was going through the theme book and found a pattern for a giraffe puppet. Anybody who knows me pretty good or at all for that matter knows I love giraffes and they are my favorite animal. Today we made our lovely, giraffe puppets and we thought we might have a new student joining my class today so I had an extra copy of the pattern. So I got to make a giraffe puppet too-YAY!!!! They were very easy to make and so fun and the kids thought it was so funny that teacher was making a puppet too. We talked a lot about giraffes while making our puppets. Giraffes Rock!!!!
TTFN

Hi!!!

On Saturday when we were at the Galleria we were walking past a very cute, little Korean boy who I would say was about 5. I thought I heard him saying Hi!!! and then his Mom said he is trying to saying Hi so I stopped and said Hi back and he was waving at me. It was so cute and sweet. I said to my Korean friends who were with me would it be mean if sometime when a little kid say Hi to me and assumes I speak English to say in Korean I don't speak English. They were both like that would not be mean that would actually be funny. I was telling my friend Trina this story and she said it would be even funnier if I said I don't speak English in Spanish-or just said Yo Hablo Espanol. If I ever to try either one of these things I will make sure to relate it on here.
I defintely have my Dad's sense of humor and am surprised that my friends actually thought my idea was funny.
TTFN

Labor Day

In my corner of the world it is already Monday morning. Back home in Kentucky it is Sunday evening and many of my friends and family are spending time together and grillin out etc. and will have Monday off for the Labor Day Holiday. My nephew is spending the weekend with his grandparents and I am sure he is having a wonderful time. He will be staying there until Monday evening as my sister is one of the few who does not get Labor Day off and had to work all weekend too. She even had to work on Sunday this weekend as her employee that takes care of the property after hours quit. She didn't a day off at all this week and infact has to work 8 days in a row. At least I had the weekend off to recharge a bit and spend time with friends.
Still thinking of Labor Day makes me miss the important people in my life and wish I was with them now. Ehugs . Hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day and gets to spend time with those who matter most in their life.
TTFN

Nice Saturday with friends

Yesterday I met my two friends Maria and Sol near the Galleria in Daejeon. We had lunch at a Japanese Noodle place and then went to Starbucks. I had been hoping that they might have Pumpkin Spice Latte. No they did not. I got a Green Tea Frapucino instead. It was very good. I had my friend Maria ask in Korean if they would be getting the Pumpkin Spice Latte at all and they told her they had her for a Limited Time not very long ago and now they did not have it any more and their were no plans for them to get it again. I was really hoping they would get it sometime this Fall.Enjoying a yummy Pumpkin Spice Latte is one of my favorite things to do in the Fall.
We had a short Korean lesson while we were and Starbucks and I learned a very important phrase-Hanguk mal motheyo. Which means I don't speak Korean. I sometimes have people come up to me and ask me questions etc. in Korean . The other day someone did that and from what I could understand they needed directions. So I think in cases like that Hanguk mal motheyo will be very helpful.
My friends joked that I pronunced it so well and said it so perfectly that some people I say it to will be like Yes you do speak Korean-you just did-LOL.
After Starbucks we went shopping at Galleria. We just looked around as most things were very expenisve-so nothing was bought but it was nice to look.
Then my friend Sol needed to leave to go meet her family for a Birthday Party. Maria and I went to get her hair done at a nearby Salon. I enjoyed looking at Korean Vogue and listening to the really good music that was being played in the Salon. The music was a lot of great 80s and 90s Music in English-it was very nice. The salon was upscale and you could get free Lattes and icecream etc. They even had cocktails. My friend got her hair dyed red and got a really great hair cut.
We then headed for the bus and I now know how to get home by bus from the Galleria area.
We ran into a nice friend of Maria's on the bus and had a pleasant bus ride. It was a nice day with friends.
TTFN

I love Miso Ramen

Yesterday I met my friends Maria and Sol at the Galleria and we went to a cute, Japaanese Noodle Place for Lunch. So the title of each dish was in English and Korean but the descriptions of everything was only in Korean. My friends ofcourse who are both Korean were kind enough to answer any questions I had. Well I saw Miso soup on there and I have eaten a lot of Miso soup in my day and love Miso soup so I figured that would be good. My friends said it was traditional Miso soup base with Ramen type noodles. Ok that sounds good. Then underneath that on the menu was SinMiso. My friend Maria was like I think that is really hot so I decided on the MisoRamen. Maria ordered for us and then right after she did a guy standing behind a counter near the kitchen area asks Did you order the Miso? I shake my head yes and don't say word like he just spoke Korean and I understood when he just spoke beautiful and perfect English. I was so shocked at that point I did not even speak-LOL. He then says I was really worried you were going to get the SinMiso and that is Super Hot and I don't think you would like that!!! The Miso is good and I think you will like it!!! Wow!! Ok thanks-you could of told me that before I almost ordered it-LOL!!!!!
The MisoRamen came and it was fantastic!!!! I love Miso soup but with Ramen like noodles and hardboiled egg-it was even better!!!
The prices were very good, service was great-the atmposphere was lovely and I will defintely being go there again!!!!
TTFN

Nice Morning Catching up with Friends and Family

I spent this am as I do many Saturday morning catching up with the people in the states who are special and important to me. Ofcourse I got to talk to my nephew who had to tell me some very important news-He has a wiggly tooth-YAY!!! So that will be tooth number #2 he has lost. He lost the first one just a few days before I came to Korea. I can't belive he has another loose one already. He is such a big boy now. Boy do I miss him but love getting to talk to him. My sister was teaching him how to play card games and dominoes and said he was quite good at it.
I got to talk with my sister while he went off to play his Star Wars game on his DS and ofcourse now and then he came close to the phone and said I got a new character or Aunt Katie I still love you and still miss you etc. Oh I love that boy so.
I also got to talk with my good friend Allison who is now selling Premier Jewlery besides being a teacher. So if anyone in Louisville would like to have a Premier Jewlery Party please email me and let me know as she is fantastic and got to help my buddy out.
It was very nice catching up with everyone and make me feel so much closer to those so far away from me right now.
TTFN

Exhausted

It 's Friday night and not quite 9pm and I think I will be going to bed soon. I had a great day with my Kinder class but my Elementary and After Kinder were very talkative and off-task today. I really had to get on them more than usual. I felt like the Wicked Witch.One of my students said Oh Angry teacher-yes because you will not stop talking Korean while I am giving instructions. I nipped the off-task behavior in the bud and got everyone under control but was at the end of the day was pretty tired. Home Plus-the huge grocery store I go to is always packed on the weekends so decided to go tonight to grab the things I needed.
I got in and out of there pretty quick but was totally exhausted when I got home.I can bearly keep my eyes open at this point. Well I am going to head to bed soon and get a good night's rest. Hope all of you have a great Friday and Weekend!!
TTFN

Sweet and lovable

My Kinder kids are so, so sweet and lovable. We were to have a fieldtrip today but it was cancelled by the health department due to the fact that some students in Daejeon have gotten the swine flu. We watched a movie called Muzzy which is great for Esl learners for one class period since the fieldtrip was cancelled. One of my kids was sitting next to me and she moved to the edge of her chair so she could rest her head on my arm. She then put her little hand inside my hand .It was so sweet.
At lunchtime they all hugged me and said they would miss me during lunch.
Our last period of the day today was Library. Today the kids took turns being the teacher and reading stories to the class like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Whoever was being teacher would sit in the teacher chair and read the story. I sat on the Library benches with the students and had one student sitting on each leg . The kids did great with being the teacher during Library. They did very well and had lots of fun. I have read stories such as Brown Bear Brown Bear and Hungry Caterpillar so many times to them I know they surely know all the words of the story by heart.
After the kids finished reading we had a big, group hug-it was so cute. My little Angels are so sweet and lovable and such a joy to teach.
TTFN

Morning Message

Every Morning I write a little note on the board for my Kinder class and we read it together. I list what activities we have planned for the day, who will be line leader etc. The kids enjoy it and are doing most of the reading now. I mainly point at each word and then help with sounding out words when needed. It is always signed the same-Love, Ms.Kearns. My Mom use to do a Morning Message with her class the whole time she taught and her kids loved it too. Ofcourse she signed it Love,Mrs.Kearns. She used to say it was important to let the kids know that you care about them. She was such an amazing teacher and I know her kids she taught felt very loved. I am still in contact with one of my Mom's former students. She is a very close friend. She is now all grown-up and married and is expecting her first baby. My Mom would be so proud of her.
Everyday when I write the Morning Message and read it too-I think of my Mom. I also hope my class knows how much I care about them. I was so blessed to have a teaching mentor like my Mom.
TTFN

Ain't Got Nothing but Love For You

I downloaded Whitney Houston's new CD from itunes the other day. She has not had a new CD in 7 years. I have always loved Whitney's voice and she has had some amazing songs over the years and is a good actress too. The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack and Movie are both in my all-time favorites list.
The new Cd is fantastic. Her voice sounds as good as it ever did. There are lots of great,upbeat dance type tracks. I think the song that is currently my favorite and speaks to me and is going to be my new motto is Ain't Got Nothing But Love For You.
She sings about how sometmes she sits and thinks about all the things she has been through and how there were times that she thought she would never make it through but she did. With the Angels to guide her this is time t say that she Ain't got noting but love for her family and friends etc. She also has nothing but love for people who have done her wrong and hated on her too. She says there have been haters since this world has been round but she is not even trying to hold onto that now. I could hold onto to pain but that is not what my life is about. I don't blame no body if I Ain't got my stuff worked out.
She says she ain't got nothing but love for the givers and the takers, for the goers and the stayers and for herself for sticking with me. For the one's who I am missing above-for anyone who has ever been apart of me I ain't got nothing but love.
This song truely spoke to me the first time I heard it and think we should all have nothing but love for her eachother. Life can be hard enough sometimes without us hating on others or others hating on us.
Well it is Friday morning and I need to eat breakfast and get ready to leave for work.
I ain't got nothing but LOVE for everyone out there and hope everyone has a Great Weekend.
TTFN

Science Fun

I teach Science Class once a week with my Kinder Class-every Thursday. Each month the school gets a kit with the Science lessons for the month and all the materials needed. Well today was Thursday, September 3rd and we had still not received the Science Kits for September.During lunch all of the teachers and our principal talked about what to do for Science. We decided to take black construction paper and roll it up like a telescope and tape it. Then cover one end with this special colored plastic that makes everything look that color. So if you choose red plastic when you look through the telescope everything looks red.
Well it was very cool and lots of fun and the kids were putting sheets of plastic over eachother and making new colors-it was great. We took the kids outside and let them take their telescopes into the courtyard in front of the building. It was a beautiful day and the kids loved looking at the things outside through their telescope. They were so excited. Look this rock is yellow and this one is red. One of my little girls was running around saying I spy a rock-I spy Miss.Kearns-etc.-so, so cute.
We were so worried because the Science Kits have not arrived ontime but this last minute, spur of the moment Science Class turned out to be a Wonderful,Pleasant Surprise.
TTFN

Pumpkin Spice Latte-I miss you so!!!

My favorite drink of all time from Starbucks is The Pumpkin Spice Latte. As soon as they become available I start getting them and usually get it into the Winter months or when ever they run out. I received an email from Starbucks the other day that as of Septembr 1st Pumpkin Spice was back. That was the same release date as last year. I will never forget that as that was the same day NKOTB released their long awaited New CD-The Block. I can't believe it has been a year since that amazing and wonderful CD came out.
So I took a chance that they might have Pumpkin Spice Latte available here in Korea. I went to Starbucks after work and no Pumpkin Spice Latte. I got a Carmel Marchatito-which I also really like and it was wonderful. It wasn't my Pumpkin Spice but it was still a yummy and wonderful treat from Starbucks. I am really hoping that they will get the Pumpkin Spice Latte here before the end of Fall. I am going to go to a different Starbucks on Saturday and see if they could possibly have it there. They probably will not but it is always worth a try.
TTFN

Singing and Soju Cocktails

At the Western Bar on Saturday-a large group Of Korean Bussiness sat at a table next to us. They kept trying to be friendly and kept asking if we wanted to join them. They spoke some English and even wrote a note to our table in English. They were obivously drunk and would not give up trying to talk to us even though we kept saying No. They were getting kind of in our face and agressive about it and we firmly told them No. They sent over another note and one of the girls at our table took out her pen and decided to correct the English in the note. The rest of us just wanted to get out of there but one girl at our table didn't see why we couldn't at least be nice about not wanting to have a drink with these guys. Well these guys just didn't get it that No means No as we were heading out the door to leave they continued to try to talk to us and one even handed one of the girls in our group his bussiness card.
We were all glad to be out of there and then headed to the nearby Su Norbon. My friend Lindsey goes to that Norbon often. Since it was her birthday and she was leaving in a few days to go to Vancover she asked two of the sweet, cute guys that work there if she could have her pic taken with them. They were more than happy to do it-it was so adorable and the pic turned out great.
We had a great time singing as usual and laughed and really enjoyed ourselves.
After the Norbon we got a cab and headed back to Lindsey's apartment. We talked for awhile and then Lindsey, Trina and myself headed downstairs to the bar on the 2nd floor and got some sweet and sour pork and Kiwi Soju Cocktail. Soju is a little strong for me but this was so good.
It comes by the pitcher for about the price of one magritta so it cheap.
Cheap but oh so good. It was a cute, little bar with good music, good drinks and a great atmosphere.
On Sunday morning I said goodbye to Lindsey and Trina early in the am as I needed to get home to grade the Level Test. I wished Lindsey a safe journey back to Vancouver.
It was a wonderful weekend.
TTFN

Mexican Food and more

After I got my hair done on Saturday my friends Trina and Lindsey and I hung out for awhile and then we went to meet some other friends at the subway station in Cheonan. We all dressed up since it was Lindsey's birthday and I wore a new dress I bought a few weeks ago in Cheonan. It was totally different from anything I would normally wear-short and kind of on the lowcut side but everyone loved it and I gone a ton of compliments. We rode the subway to a town right by the Army base about 30 minutes subway ride from Cheonan.
We did some shopping before dinner as things were super cheap here and they had lots of brand name stuff like famous named purses and jeans at discount prices.
We went to dinner at a nice Mexican Resturant and a friend and I spilt the Fajita Dinner-so good. I also had a very yummy Pina Colada and a few sips of a friend's Strawberry Magritta-YAY for yummy Mexican drinks!!!!!
Lindsey got some really nice gofts including a really, cute pink checkered purse(it was her first ever purse). She normally carries a backpack everywhere so she has enough room for her Korean Study books etc. but now she has a chic purse.
We then got the subway back to Cheonan and went to a Western Bar. They were playing some really good music including some Billie Holiday. My Dad loved Billie Holiday-she was one of his all time favorite singers. The song she was singing was As Time Goes By fromCasablanca which was one of my Dad's favorite movies. It brought back nice memories of Jazz playing in the house when I was growing up and of the Classic Movies my parents loved.
I miss my Mom and Dad so much sometimes but I have so many precious, wonderful memories of them and for that I am truely blessed.
More on the rest of Saturday night later.
TTFN

Goodbye August-Hello September

Every morning we do calendar activities in my Kinder class. For the last few weeks the kids have been saying-it is still August. They realized it was August 31st the other day and got so excited. It will be a new month tomorrow right???-they asked. It will finally be September right???
Yes, my little sweeties indeed you are very right!!!
Well today before we could even start the calendar-they are all like-Today is the first day of September. When we went to do the calendar they were all like Goodbye August-see you again soon. Hello September-we are so glad you are here. OMG!!!! They are so cute!!!!So smart too!!!!
I can't believe it is already September. August was fun but now it is done. Welcome September!!!
TTFN

I love John's Hair Salon!!!

This weekend was great. I went to Cheonan for my friend Lindsey's Birthday and had a blast. Lindsey met me at the KTX on Saturday morning and we went to John's Hair Salon to get our hair done. John goes to Lindsey's church and came highly reccomended. Well he is fantastic and my hair looks amazing and have gotten a ton of compliments . I will defintely be going back to him.
He looked at my hair and the red dyes he had and said he thought he should mix the colors or they may come out too bright. In Korean Lindsey told him to do whatever he thought was best. He speaks some English and Lindsey speaks good Korean so communication worked out well. While he was putting the color on my hair Lindsey's eyes got so big. I said you looked worried and she said surely you hair will not come out that color. John said not to worry so I trusted him and relaxed. After putting the color on my hair he wrapped my head in saran wrap and then put a black cap on my head that he plugged in to an electric outlet and it got nice and warm and toasty. He then worked on Lindsey's hair and then rinsed the color out and my hair was a beautiful red color-very close to the color I have been using at home.
I was highly impressed and then John flatironed my hair and it looked even better and I was even more impressed. Then I went to pay and it was super cheap and I just could not believe it.
John was so nice and talented and prices were great and he has a very cute salon. I am so glad I went to get my hair done there. I love John's Hair Salon.
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Test

My Elementary class took a test on Friday over everything we have studied in July and August. They did not have to take the test in July so this is the first one they have taken for me. The test was 100 questions and over 6 area-Phonics,Reading ,Language Arts, Journal, 100 words you need to know to read and P.B.L(which is theme activites)-currently on Clothes.

I spent hours making the test and was really worried about it. I think it turned out ok and the kids did ok on it. The kids scores range from like 50 to 83. Here in Korea if a kid gets a high score on the test then they move them up to the next class because they want them to have a bit of a challenge. If the kids are in the right class they should score around a 70 or so. I think some parts of my test may have been too hard as all the kids did badly on certain parts and some parts of the test were too easy. This was only my first level test and next month I will have to make another and will use what I learned about this test to make an even better one.
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We Love Jellybeans

Well today I decided to do some activities with the jellybeans my friend sent me. We counted the jellybeans and separated them by color and then made a tally chart of how many jellybeans of each color we had. The kids were so excited and had so much fun.
As soon as I showed them the bag they got all excited and said-Wow-Jellybeans. Thanks to the Alligator's All Around story by Maurice Sendak my kids know exactly what a jellybean is. We have been talking about using our senses so the kids also investigated the jellbeans by using their senses such as touch,taste and smell. Thanks to my friend who sent them to me-they now know exactly what one looks like, smells like, feels like and taste like.
Then the kids finally got to taste them. They liked them and wanted more. They said they taste fruity and were chewy and not like anything they had ever had.
Some of the kids thought they were too sweet and some thought they were not sweet enough. One of my kids thought they were the best thing she ever tasted. When I asked the kids what they thought they said We Love Jellybeans.
Jellybeans are great teaching tools and my friend rocks for sending them to me-YAY!!!!

Rainy Thursday Morning

I woke up before the alarm to the sound of rain storms. It has not rained at all so far this week and that has been nice. When it rains it usually last most of the day and can be very hard and intense for long periods at a time. It is currently hailing which I am not looking forward to going out in to wait for the school bus I catch to work. It is a very gray, dark, gloomy Thursday morning. I did not go running this am as I really don't like running in hail and thunder storms. I was hoping it might let up or slow down so I could get a quick run in but don't think it will.
The weather has been so nice the past few days. Just a tad cool in the am-perfect for running and it starts to cool down a bit as the sun goes down. So it is perfect to take a nice walk or run after dinner when the weather is like it has been this week. Last night after dinner I took a nice, long leisurely walk and then went to Home Plus to pick up a few items it was very nice.
The hail is really picking up and getting really heavy now. I am hoping it stops or slows down just a bit while I am out waiting for the bus. Thank goodness I brought my raincoat and umbrella from the states with me. They will both come in very handy this morning.
Well need to eat some breakfast and finish getting ready to go to work.
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Care Packages from the US Rock!!!!

A really good friend of mine sent me a care package full of lots of goodies. I received it today and my friend mailed it about a week ago so it got here pretty fast. I was so excited to open the big box of stuff-it was like Christmas.
There were several Sharpies (which you can not find in Korea at all). Even a retracable sharpie-which totally rocks!!!!! I don't know why I love retractable sharpies so much but I do-I love them. I had several that I bought to bring with me to Korea but somehow they did nor make it here. I am not sure what happened to them but was so happy to see the retractable sharpie today.
There was a ton of glitter(which is almost impossible to find in Korea) in every color imagineable. Some very cool foam letters and numbers that stick to paper etc. The kids can make words and just have a blast.
There were a few health and beauty items that I needed such as Intution razors (which are one of the best inventions ever!!!!).
There were also jellybeans(which my kids have never tried) and wanted to after I read them a story that mentioned jelly beans.
My friend had told me that they were going to send me a Dvd but I couldn't think of anything I wanted to see. My friend said that they would pick something out and surprise me. I was a little scared as we don't always have the same taste in movies.
Well when I pulled the Dvd out of the box I started to get misty-eyed. The dvd my friend sent was A River Runs Through it. Which was one of my Dad's all time favorite movies and that movie always makes me think of him fondly. It is an amazing and wonderful movie and believe it or not I did not own it on dvd but now I do. It was such a nice and thoughtful choice.
The best thing in the box was a sweet and funny note from my friend.
I am truely blessed to have great friends who care so much about me.
E-hugs to all.
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Olives!!!! Olives!!!! Everywhere!!!!

I went to Home Plus tonight-the huge, three floor store that has everything. I needed to buy some more olives and had no trouble finding them tonight. I actually found them in 3 different places. I also found green olives, black olives, olives stuffed with almonds, olives stuffed with peppers, olives stuffed with anchovys. I found almost any kind of olive you could imagine.
I think this is very funny as several weeks ago I looked and looked for olives at this same store and couldn't find them. I also had a Korean friend with me that day and she asked several people who worked there about olives and we still never found them.
Now I know exactly where to look and know I can find almost any kind of olive you can imagine.
This makes me very happy and tomorrow night I will be having tuna salad with olives for dinner. It is so simple yet so yummy-YAY!!!
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Music

I love listening to music. It motivates me when I am running, it can improve my mood etc. I am a big fan of a wide variety of music. A few weeks ago I was watching Korean TV and they showed a commerical for the singer Craig David. He was going to be performing in Seoul. I would have like to seen him in concert but the concert was on a week night so it was not possible. So I decided to check out itunes and see what Craig David music I could fine. I did not currently have any Craig David songs in my itunes library. Well I downloaded The best of Craig David and have been jamming to it ever since.
I forgot how much I really like his music and have been enjoying rediscovering it.
I follow some of the members of the group New Edition on twitter and the guys were also in Bell Biv Devoe better known as BBD.
Well BBD was in Chicago a few days ago for a concert. Hello Chicago-I got some awesome friends who live in Chicago and nearby there. Anyways that made me want to hear some BBD so I downloaded some off of itunes.
I love itunes. I have been jamming to Poison, Do Me, Thought it was me and more the last few days and really enjoying it-YAY!!!
Also I sent a twitter to one of the members of BBD about wishing I could see their show but being so faraway in Korea. Guess what he sent me a twitter back and told me to be safe over there-too cool.
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Quiet Weekend

I have had a nice and quiet weekend. No exciting trips etc. I stayed home and rested and worked on a test I am making for my Elementary Class. I talked to several friends and my family on the phone. I got to talk to my friend Marci and her sons Ryan and Chris. I had not talked to her except by email since I had come to Korea.
It was so nice to talk to her. I had a Skype Video Chat with my friend Allison and also skyped with one of my New Kids buddies that was in my VIP group in Chicago.
I also chatting on messenger with several NK friends.
Ofcourse I talked to Ryan-my nephew and my sister. Ryan misses me and wants to know when I am coming home. Ofcourse he also said I couldn't come home without a present for him-LOL.
Today I went and had coffee with my friend Maria at Cafe Ti-amo and a Korean Lesson too. While we were there I ran into the Pastor and his wife from the Church I have been going to here in Daejeon. Then a few minutes later the other two American teachers from my school whom are married came in to get some gelato.
Well I need to get back to working on making the test.
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Happy Monkeys!!!!!

I just love the reading series we have for my Kinder Class. There are different themes that go together , with CDs that read the story, have song and chants and great work books that have very cool activities.
The books are so cute and fun and the kids look forward to Reading time twice a week.
Their favorite story so far is called Happy Monkeys!!! The kids make a cute, little mini-book of each story to take home and read to their parents.The kids have read Happy Monkeys so many times they have memorized all the words. I have too.
We started a new story this week called Beach Colors and the kids were like we want to read Happy Monkeys again-please.
After we finished working with Beach Colors we had a few extra minutes so I let them read Happy Monkeys again.
They were all so happy and it was so great to hear them all read in perfect unison.
Happy Monkeys Rock!!!!
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I finished Intenstives on Monday. I enjoyed teaching the phonics class and the kids in the class were great but was getting very tired and worn out. I was having to be at work over an hour earlier than normal. Then teach my regular classes as well. Some days I had to go to training workshops after school or stay after to prepare lesson plans and materials which I usually did in the mornings but couldn't do with teaching the extra class.
It has been a good week so far my Kinder kids just amaze me sometimes. They are so smart!!! My new little girl was telling me all about her trip to Disneyland when she lived in the states. She was very detailed and spoke in complete sentences-that is just amazing for a 4 year old-let alone one who is not speaking in their native language.
We have been working on the sentence I have this week. I give the kids flashcards of items such as a dog, cat, car etc. They then go up to the board and write I have a and whatever word is on their flashcard. Well after phonics yesterday we had a few minutes before the class period was to be over and I decided to write some I have sentences on the board and see if the kids could read them.
They were reading them almost before I finished writing. I decided to make the sentences a bit harder and add some describing words. I wrote-I have a green frog. As soon as I wrote the g I heard I have a green frog. Then I wrote I have a black dog. Again they got it.
I was so proud of my class.
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My nephew goes back to school

School just started for my nephew back home in the states a few days ago. He is in First Grade this year and was so excited about it. Last year I was the person that picked him up from the busstop after school most days. On his first day of school he was really on my mind. I was thinking about him a lot and wishing I could be there to pick him up from the bus. My sister said on the way to school that day he asked if I would be home from Korea in time that day to pick him up from the bus.
My sister was like no-she is halfway across the world. I just thought that was the cutest thing ever. On Friday night I talked to Ryan on the phone and he said he really liked First Grade. He said his teacher is very nice and pretty too. Also he has some friends in his class.
He was so great to talk to him and hear about his first day of school.
He was also excited to play an Audio greeting card on the phone to me that I had sent to him. Hallmark has the coolest thing now where you can personalize a card online and then they print it and mail it for you-very cool. I loved making it for him and it was great to hear how excited he was to play it for me.
He is such a wonderful little boy and I can't believe he is already in First Grade as it seems like only yesterday he was a baby.
I miss him very much.
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Tired

I had a great visit in Cheonan and then this afternoon decided to take the bus home instead of train as I have a long trek back to my apartment from KTX station and thought the bus might get me closer. Also the bus ticket was half the price of a KTX ticket.
The bus ride was quick and only took about an hour but when we arrived in Daejeon-we were in an area I did not know and not where I thought it would end up.
I thought we would be close to the metro but we were probably 20 minutes or more walk away from the subway. I literally had no idea where I was and decided to get a cab as there were a ton outside bus terminal. I got in the cab and said Chungham University chuseyo and soon realized the area where the bus stopped was a long way from my apartment-probably about 30 minutes.
When I got to my apartment my door would not open and the lights on the keypad did not even come on.
I went downstairs to see if the matience man was there and he was not. So I called my boss and it took me awhile to get a hold of her. She called a locksmith and called me back and said he would be there soon.
I was sitting outside my apartment door waiting for the locksmith to come when one of my neighbors who is also American and speaks very good Korean came out. He asked what was wrong and I told him. He informed me that on the inside of my door there was a panel I could take off and change the batteries but would have to get in first.
The locksmith then came and used a 9volt battery to get in my door and charged me $2o for that . My neighbor translated for me to the Locksmith which was a big help and showed me how to change the batteries on the lock once I got in which was very helpful.
I feel like such a stupid girl right now. I had no idea that the batteries were on the inside of the door or that I would have to change them.
I assumed that it was taken care of by the matiene man and was on the front of the door. I was wrong. I wished my boss or the other teachers at my school would have told me about this.
I am so tired and worn out and think I will be heading to bed early tonight.
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Olives

I really like olives-especially green ones in my tuna salad instead of pickles-so yummy. Tuna is really popular here and very easy to find good quality canned tuna at a very cheap price. A few weeks ago I went to the huge Home Plus store with a Korean friend and tried to find olives with no success. She even asked 3 different people who worked at the store where to find olives and they sent us to several areas in the store to look but we never found any. At that point I then figured they were just not available in Korea.
The theme for this coming week in Kinder is Ocean and Sea and we decided to make tuna salad as our cooking activity. I told my boss about my quest for olives and she told me she had bought them before and that she thought they were with peppers and hotsauce etc. So on Saturday morning I headed to the Home Plus to find olives so i could make tuna salad for lunch. I got to Home Plus 9am and they were not open yet. I had never been there at that time before so was not sure if that was typical or if it was because it was a holiday-Korean Independence Day. Korean Independence Day celebrates Korea's independence from Japan.
I was sad and a disappointed and returned home not a very happy camper.
A few hours later my friend Trina called to tell me she had found a new teaching job in a different town starting on August 25th. Her current job ends on the 24th and just found out about this a week ago and was really worried she would have to go home to the states but she found another job. I was so happy and excited. She said she was going to have some friends over for dinner to celebrate and she wanted me to come too.
So I got a few things together and headed to the Metro station and was very surprised to find out it was free to ride the Metro due to the holiday.I then went to the KTX station and got a ticket to go to Cheonan.
Trina met me at the KTX station and then we headed towards her apartment to get things ready for the Dinner Party. I had bought a box of nice sweet breads at the KTX station to bring as a gift for being invited to dinner. Trina was very excited about the sweet breads and could not wait to try them.
Right by Trina's apartment there is a very cute boutique that I have been wanting to check out but had not yet. Trina said we should go in there as their clothes were very cute and a good price.
They had the adorable tank tops and shrugs and I decided to buy a cute black shrug. Trina bought a beautiful light pink tank with lace and ruffles as a gift for me. I was so happy-it is so cute!!!! It was so sweet of her to do that. I also bought a cute little dress that would be good for going to dinner with friends,wearing to church or school functions.
We then went back to Trina's apartment and started getting things ready for the Dinner Party. I asked Trina if there was anything I could do to help and she said I could go across the street to the store and buy some paper plates and plastic cups. So I headed across the street to the Lotte Mart and decided while I was there I would look for olives. I easily found them and was so very happy. It is funny how happy the simplest things can make you sometimes especially when you are far from home.I found the rest of the things Trina needed and then headed back to her apartment to help her prepare for the party.
The Dinner Party was wonderful. Trina had 6 really nice friends show up-most who I had met before. She made Chicken Alfredo, stuffed mushrooms, and pan-fried garlic bread. Dinner was excellent and the night was filled with lots of fun and laughs. All the other guest had brought gifts to Trina too-such as coffee and chocolate truffles.
After dinner we went for a nice walk and then stopped at cute little coffee house and then went to the Singing Room.
It was a very pleasant and enjoyable evening and I was so glad I had decided to come.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend.
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Busy Week

It has been a very busy but good week. I got a new student in Kinder who is doing wonderful. One of my Kinder students had her birthday this week and we had a lovely party that was great fun. Our theme this week was Camping and we made a pretend campfire out of newspaper and construction paper. It turned out very well. We made what they call a Japanese Lunchbox-rice with vinegar and spices stuffed into tofu pockets for cooking. The kids ate those in-front of our pretend campfire and we used flashlights and told stories-it was a blast!!!
Today we did a cool Science Experiment with flashlights and animnal shaped picture cards. The kids put the picture cards behind a piece of white paper and then flashed their light behind that. Their partner would then guess what animal the card was by it's shadow. It was very cool and the kids loved it.
Intenstives are almost over just two more sessions and we are finished. I have had some training and workshops after school this week.
I have had a lot of planning and paperwork etc. to do this week and had to go to the bank twice this week during lunch break which takes almost my whole break to go there.
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New student in Kinder

On Monday I got a new student in my Kinder Class. She went to preschool in the states and her English is very good. She is a very sweet and smart little girl. She ofcourse was very shy at first but quickly and easily got comfortable and fits very well in my class. My other two little girls really like her and she likes them so I think it is going to workout great.
My boss said 10 kids took the test to get into the 2nd semster of 6year old Kinder but only two passed the test. The rest will have to wait until we start beginner classes over in the Winter as right now they are only letting new kids in who are at about or close to the same level as our current students.
Each Kinder class has a name-Flamingo, Yum Yum and Angel. My class is called the Angels and I think that name suits my class perfectly. They are three, sweet,smart, wonderful, little girls and they fill my days with learning, fun and laughter.
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Another Great Weekend in Cheonan

I went to Cheonan to visit my friend Trin this weekend. I had not seen her in a month as she went home for a few weeks to visit her family. I was so excited to see her again. On Friday night Trina,Lindsey and I went for what Trina calls the Triple S-Saypypsa(pork you grill at your table), Soju(very strong Korean liquor that I only drink a sip or two of) and Singing.
I love going to the Norbu with Trina and Lindsey. It is a Karoke room where just you and your friends are in there-it is great. I ofcourse sang some NKOTB and Joey McIntyre Stay the Same.
We then went back to Trina's apartment and she got me the cutest Tink bracelet and earrings while she was in the states.
On Saturday we went and had coffee and buns and then went to a Dvd room to watch Twilight. It was my first visit to a Dvd and I loved it. You pick the movie you want to watch, then go pay for it and it is fairly cheap too. Then you and your friends go into a nice room with leather couches and a movie theatre type screen(just a bit smaller) and you have your own private viewing.
Twilight was awesome. I really had no desire to see it but knew Trina wanted to see it . Well I loved it and now I am hooked and want to read the books-Wow!!!!!
Then we went and had lunch at the Yawoori Food court and had some cool sticker photos made and did some shopping.
We went to dinner at Outback to celebrate Trina's friend Grace's Bday and had a blast-it was so nice!!!!
We went to Trina's church today which I love and then went for a nice lunch at a pasta place with a bunch of cool people from Trina's church.
Then I headed for the KTX station and home.
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Blast Off

I have been trying to teach my Kinder kids to count backwards this week and they have been having a little trouble with the concept. I thought about how they count down Space Shuttle Launches so came up with an idea that has been so fun and worked wonders. We hunch down on the floor and start counting backwards from 20 to 0 and slowing start rising and then when we get to 0 we jump up in the air and yell Blast Off. The kids have loved it and can now count backwards and anytime we get done early with a project and have a spare minute or two-they say Let's do Blast Off!!!
Truth is I think I like doing it as much as they do and love that they enjoy it so much!!!!
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Kinder Classes back in session and more

Kinder Classes started back on Wednesday and I was so happy to see my kids. We talked all about their vacations and had a very fun cooking activity-making fruit smoothies-very yummy.The day went by very quickly. I can't believe it is already Thursday and actually closer to being Friday at this point.
Today we worked on making our August Calendars, phonics, Math, Writing time, working on speaking English in Complete Sentences etc.
I had a long talk with the teacher of the little boy I had in Kinder Intenstives today and she said he is doing wonderful. He is doing great with understanding directions-such as go get your pencil or open your book. He is doing amazing with phonics and is working very hard to speak in Complete Sentences and has not used Korean once the last few days-YAY!!!! I was so glad to hear that he is doing well. Everytime he sees me he smiles and runs up and hugs me-it is great!!
Tomorrow will be a very long day so am planning on going to bed soon. I have my extra phonics class, my Kinder class, Elementary Class, After-Kinder Class and the a 2 hour workshop training at school and then am heading to the KTX station to go see my friend Trina in Cheonan.
She has been in the states and I have not seen her for about a month-I can't wait to see her.
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Last day of Kinder Intenstives

Today was the last day of Kinder Intenstive and I am very proud of the progress my students made in such a short time especially the little boy that was struggling with English. He now knows all his intial and ending sounds and a and i long and short sounds. He is attempting simple sentnces like I am hot and May I got to the bathroom? He has come a long way in a short time. He can look at pictures of items such as a wagon or pot and says that is a wagon and you spell it w-a-g-o-n. His Mom has been working very hard with him at home and it shows.
My Level 1 Elementary Class started meeting again today and also my After-Kinder Class.
My Level 1 students enjoyed their break and were rested and ready to be back and learn some more English. Time flew by and we worked on reading which the kids love as we have a great reading book series we are working with.
My After Kinder kids were tired and did not look too happy to be back. After awhile they started doing better but we took the pace kind of slow and easy today. We spent some time listening to stories and songs so we could kind of ease back into our routine. One of my students made a story about his vacation at the Beach complete with photos and also brought in some shells to show the class. It was very cool and the other kids loved looking at it.
It was a good last day for Kinder Intenstives and good first day back for Elementary and After-Kinder.
Tomorrow Regular Kinder starts back.
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NKOTB Goodies

A few weeks ago I searched the Nkotb online forum for fans in Korea. I found a bunch and sent them friend request. A few accepted the friend request. I then wrote on their walls thanks for the add and that I was new to Korea etc. One fan-Miya sent me a message back and we started emailing. She is very cool and went to see the guys VIP in Frankfurt,Germany. She also is a very talented artist and has drawn some awesome pictures of the guys.
She informed me that a bunch of the Korean fans (about 5,000) had been campaigning to get NKOTB to Korea and had made some buttons, stickers, cell phone charms etc. So Miya said she would send me some of the stuff if I gave her my address.
She sent me an email a few days ago to let me know that the package was on it's way and that she was moving to the Holy land to go on a pilgrimage. I am really glad we got to start emailing before she left and hope we will be able to email while she is on her pilgrimage.
The package arrived today-I was so excited!!!! There were stickers, buttons, a cell phone charm-really cool stuff. Cellphone charms are really big here and I have been wanting to get one and now I have the perfect one-YAY!!! My other favorite thing that was in the package ws a button with a pic of the guys in black suits with sunglasses on and it says New Kids on the Block-Korea is Ready!!!
Trying to figure out where to put the button like on my purse or backpack where it can always been seen. Yay for getting packages and Yay for cool New Kids stuff.
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My Weekend-Korean Lesson and more

On Saturday I met with my friend Maria for brunch and a Korean lesson at a near-by Coffe House called Caffe Ti-amo. We decided to get a waffle with gelato to share as the waffle comes with two scoops of gelato. I picked green tea gelato and Maria chose blueberry. We went and sat down and started our lesson and a few minutes later our waffle and gelato was brought over. It was covered in Chocolate Syrup-Oh No. I am allegric to Chocolate . Maria knew I was allegric but did not realize it was going to have chocolate syrup. She felt really bad and went and got some more green tea gelato with caramel syrup. The gelato was so yummy.
We had a great Korean lesson and I learned some important phrases I am allegric to chocolate. After awhile Maria said she wanted a glass of water and thought I should go and ask for in Korean for her-kind of like a popquiz.
I went up to the counter and said Sil le hab nida mul hanchan chuseyo? Which means excuse me can I please have a glass of water. The server went and quickly got me a glass of water and I carried it back to Maria. She was so proud of me and I was so proud too.
We then went shopping so Maria could buy some presents for the kids at school because
she has decided not to work there anymore and wanted to get the kids goodbye presents.
She found some really cute erasers for the kids and sent them with me to take to the kids this week.
I am sad Maria will no longer be working at my school but glad we became friends and will keep in touch and continue to have Korean lessons.
On Sunday I set out to find a church that has English Services. I found one online that was to be near the Costco. When I asked about it at work-they said Oh that is so far but there was metro instructions and it was only about 15 to 20 minutes on the metro and then five minutes from the metro station . I thought that is not bad and will be easy to find. Indeed it was very easy to find.
The people at the church were very nice and welcoming and I enjoyed the service and will probably go back. I also learned where the costco was on this journey as well.
It has been a great weekend and hope everyone had a great weekend as well.
TTFN

Locked In and more

The kids were really tired and dragging today so we took it a bit slower today and did some fun stuff like going to computer. The computer program we currently have at school is great and the kids love it. The part we are currently on concentrates on beginning sounds and matching upper case and lower case letters.

After computer time it was time to get ready to go home and since it was Friday and the kids have done a great job this week they got stickers as a reward.

After the kids left I had a few things I wanted to get done -writing some sentences to be used for the kids for homework, researching some ideas for a craft projects for our camping theme in a few weeks.

I was working in the Teacher's Lounge about 40 minutes or so and then started to get my things together to head home. I start walking down the hallway and I don't hear or see anyone and realize all the lights are off. I start to round the corner and head towards the front door when the Alarm starts blaring. Everyone is gone and I am locked in with the alarm blaring.

Great I set the alarm off-I was so afraid the Police were going to come and only speak Korean. So I go back to the teacher's lounge and go to get my phone out of my backpack so I can call my boss when I hear someone calling my name. It is Jay my boss's husband who is the Facility Advisor and he also teaches some classes there. The security company had called him when the alarm went off and said someone is in the building. They thought about it for a minute and realized I must still be there so sent Jay to come get me out and invite me to lunch.

They thought I was already gone for the day and locked up to go to lunch.They felt really bad about locking me in and not realizing I was still there. So we went to a place where you sit on the floor on the little mats and had yummy spicy, fish with veggies. It was so good. It was a catfish from the sea and they also had a stew with the fish too. They brought us all plates with a little dab of green paste and I asked is this wasabi and everyone is like yes. How do you know about wasabi?? My wonderful sister who introduced me to sushi and adores wasabi-Thanks Christie.
You mix the wasabi with some soy sauce and then can dip pieces of your fish in it-delicious.
Lunch was very fun and then I headed home and my boss and the Korean staff headed back to school to do some more work.
It has been a great week and can't believe it is already Friday!!!
TTFN

Hanbat Arbortuem and more from the Art Musuem

Today I went and visited the Art Musuem again as well as the beautiful Arbortuem that is right across the way from the Musuem. I found a much quicker and easier way to get to the Musuem area from the Metro. It took about 20 minutes versus 45 minutes going the other way-YAY!!!!

The arbortuem is just amazing, beautiful plsces to sit and enjoy the surroundings. It would be a wonderful place for a picnic. Even with a ton of people there it had some quiet spots near water etc. to sit and relax. It has such a nice and peaceful vibe. I think I will be visiting there again and again. It would be great to just take a book and find a nice quiet spot there to just read and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. I am so glad I discovered the arbortuem-I had such a lovely day there.

TTFN

Today's Adventures

Today's Adventure was to the Art Musuem and got some great city shots with my camera as well on my way.The Musuem was very cool and so cheap-500 won-which in USD is like 5o cents. I was able to get some pics of the some of the cool sculptures but was not allowed to take pics of my favorite exhbit-which was all paintings of Mountains. Some were 3D and textured and just AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was a very cool sculpture made up of tvs, radios, car parts etc-that I did get several pics of-it was huge!!!

Well it is getting very late and I need to get to bed to be ready for the adventure of teaching tomorrow morning.

TTFN and E-hugs

Pics from Daejeon Museum of Art