Why hello there!

It's been a while, as it usually is, so I figured it's time for an update.

I have now been back in Korea for three months and am living in Busan.  I absolutely love it here. Please see the photos below:

A palm tree that is in my neighborhood.

Most of these were taken at the beach that is about a 20 minute walk from my apartment.  I feel it is necessary to pinch myself several times a week to make sure that this is where I am actually living, it is quite beautiful.  On top of living in a wonderful city I also have a rather lovely apartment!

This is my view, Mt. Jangsan is in the background.

This is my bathroom sign.

I have a real shower!!!!!

Lola is still wonderful.

My kitchen.

The whole place.  It's kind of small, but I dig it.

Next, my new students and my new job.  First of all, my new job is great.  I have such supportive managers who are willing to help and make sure my time in Korea is nothing but enjoyable.  I also have a much more dependable employer than my last job.  Korean business is odd and, especially not being Korean, means that I am very easy to take advantage of. My last employer was not always the most dependable when it came to paying on time or making sure that I had health insurance, but I couldn't really do anything about it.  My current employer goes above and beyond to see that everyone is taken care of and we're happy, and that is something that I truly appreciate.

When it came to my new students I was a little weary at first.  I felt like I was cheating on my old ones by liking my new ones because, if you have read my previous posts, I was and still am absolutely in love with my first group of kindergarten students.  I still keep in touch with them and was even able to see them I first came back, it was wonderful.  My new students are just as great and I have been able to love them just as much. Here are some photos of the new group of little terrors who are filling my days with laughter and sunshine:

This is Wendy, she is probably my favorite.

Sarah and Annie are pretty silly.

Emily, on the far right, is a little princess, seriously.  One day in the middle of class she just said, "Teacher, I am beautiful," and then started dancing around. 

This is Yuni.  She didn't want her picture taken, though I wish she would have because she has the cutest most pinchable cheeks in the world.

These kids have come to call me Jungle Teacher or Lion Teacher because of my hair, which is now more often than not pretty curly.  They also are quite witty.  I still wear the necklace that I made at a temple stay as a bracelet, and my kids love to play with it.  They also wonder why I wear a necklace as a bracelet, "Teacher, do you wear you necklace as a bracelet because your head is too big?"  Wow. Talk about keeping you humble.  My oldest students are also pretty funny.  One day they were trying to coax me into not giving them homework so one of the boys, in an attempt to flatter me, said, "Teacher, your skin is like milk and your hair is like lemon spaghetti."  I still gave them an assignment that night. My oldest students also have decided that my insulin pump is not actually an insulin pump, but a device that I use to communicate with North Korea, because they have decided that I am a North Korean spy. 

I have also made that decision that this will be my last year in Korea, for now.  So I am prepping to take the GRE on December 15th and hopefully be back in Milwaukee in August of 2013!  Busan is full of lovely coffee shops, which provide for some lovely study environments.  My favorite part of the city is called Nampo-dong, one evening after studying I was walking back to the subway and stumbled upon this:

A group of old Korean men playing John Denver's, "Country Roads".

There was also a rap battle going down, I couldn't understand much, but there was a lot of talk about love. 

Usually I don't post too much about my personal life, especially interactions with the opposite sex because, well, there hasn't really been too much to report.  However, I feel this story is worth sharing and hopefully the humor in the situation will translate well when written.  The other night I was out with a few friends and when they decided to leave I was talking with a guy who I will call John, because his real name is far too unique to say without risk of him someday coming across my blog and know that I was talking about him. Anyway, John and I were talking about Lance Armstrong and my utter disappointment in his titles being taken away, I have watched the tour since I was pretty young and think quite highly of Lance, so I am not happy to hear this news.  We were sitting outside while we were talking and it was getting pretty chilly so we decided to go get some Korean BBQ and keep the conversation going.  Then our conversation about the Tour de France took a turn for the worse, and he started crying, yes CRYING to me about his ex girlfriend.  I don't really care that he was talking about his ex, he didn't seem like someone I would pursue, so his talking about her is not what bothered me.  What was weird is that HE WAS CRYING, to a complete stranger.  Then, he asked me if he could tell me a story, I said sure.  So he begins, "There is this puppy, and the puppy just loves his family.  But the owners come home, sometimes pet him, feed him, and then ignore him. But he loves his family, even though they don't pay much attention to him, he just loves them, and they don't love him the same."  The story continues for a bit, but it was pretty much him saying the same things, the puppy loves the family, the family doesn't pay much attention to him, blah blah blah.  Then I stop his story, and ask, "John, are you the puppy?"  He looks at me with tears in his eyes and gets out a, "Yes," through his sobs.  It took so much strength for me to not burst out laughing, perhaps that is mean of me, but come on dude, you just made up a story and in the story you made yourself a puppy. So, that happened.

My social life, is not always filled with men sobbing to me about their ex girlfriends, last night I was on a pirate ship! It was a halloween cruise, and it was pretty cool.

Here is a picture of the ship.

Here is my friend Meagan and myself.  I was dressed up as the Morton Salt girl.

Well, I feel like that is a pretty solid update for now.  I am off to go study!