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