so, it's been a little while.

I realize it has been a little while, but now that I am settled in and figuring things out here I actually find myself with things to do!

The last time I wrote was right before mud fest and mud fest was just like the name says, a festival for mud.  It was a lot of fun and full of foreigners and mud, lots and lots of mud.  There were giant inflatable things covered in mud to play in, buckets of mud to throw on yourself and others, and areas where you could paint yourself in mud, it was wonderful.  Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera because it was raining and I didn't want to ruin it, but here are before and after pictures that I took from a friend:

We made sure to get covered.  I also discovered that mud in the eyes is a very painful thing, especially when you wear contacts, I would not recommend it to anyone. 

This past week in school went well, my kids are still wonderful and saying funny things.  The other day when I was leaving my kindergarten class the ENTIRE class decided to give me a hug, which resulted in my falling over on top of students and throwing my basket of teaching stuff everywhere.  Luckily no one was injured.  

We also went on a field trip to the beach on Thursday, it was a good time, and I got a little sunburned.  One of my students, Sky, is an expert crab catcher and ended up with about 7 or 8 to bring home, he said his mom would think it was a wonderful surprise.  The kids were surprisingly very well behaved and we didn't lose any! I would say the day was a success!  Here are some photos from the field trip:

Not the best of visors to wear on a field trip, at least not if you want your child to come back.

Sky was very excited.

A bus full of screaming children.

They were very well behaved!

Blaze just being Blaze.

Griffen being adorable.

Sky and his first crab, Pincher.

There were about 7 or 8 in this bottle by the end of the day.

Crab hunters. 

I told Phillip that this is how they wear visors in America.

So Jamie wanted his visor to be like that too.

Phillip wanted to take a picture.

We lost one crab, Spot, on the bus ride back to school.

This week I finally got my alien card! Now I have a cell phone, a bank account, and I will be getting internet this week! So many exciting things.

This week also brought my first norybong (Korean karaoke) experience.  It was a great time, and I think I may have earned myself the postion of lead tambourine in my friend's band.  Success. 

I went to Seoul on Saturday with a group of friends, it was a really good time.  I didn't do any touristy things, though I certainly do plan to go back and do that. We hung out during the day with some friends of my friend and then we went to Hongdae, which is an area of Seoul that has a pretty large University, for the night and stayed at a hostel, a good time was had by all.

All is well and I am certainly starting to get pretty comfortable here.

fish market video!

yay! Here it is, just click the link, unfortunately I could not just upload the video from my computer.  You don't quite get the full picture, perhaps if you sit on some damp concrete and smell a can of tuna that would help...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOE_bOzp0Ig

Also, my kids have been full of wonderful things this week!  One day we were talking about the word soft, so I asked them to list things that were soft and one of the kids said that hair was soft.  Another student then replied, "But Simon Teacher's hair is not soft, he has too much gel in it."  Today, while grading some assignments one of my students was standing near me and he said, "Amy Teacher, why your teeth like beaver's?"  Awesome.  These kids have no filter, and it is hilarious. 

Mud fest this weekend. I. Can't. Wait.

the fourth of July, mountain climbing, and other assorted things.

On Monday I walked into work and one of my coworkers told me she was going to look into getting some fireworks for that night...I thought that was cool, but what was the occasion?  Oh, it was the fourth of July...oops.  So we celebrated!  First, we grilled on the roof of our apartment building, I was surprised at how tasty the brats were! 

This is Cassie and Sabrina, they work at my school and live in my building!

Not too bad of a spread!

After grilling we went to the roof of another teacher's apartment, there was a great view and some pretty awesome fire works!

Cassie and I were the only Americans present of the seven of us there, but it was certainly a lovely celebration!

That night I also discovered a giant hill (it's a mountain if you ask me) with a lookout tower on it!  I climbed it the next day and it was pretty cool!  Once you get to the top there is all sorts of exercise equipment and different paths, getting to the top is a bit of a workout, not too bad though, and then you can workout a little more once you're up there!

here are a few pictures of the views and the equipment:

I really dig this place and will probably venture up there often!

I was also fortunate enough to purchase and taste the worst ice cream in the world.  Seriously, it was terrible.  It was a cold rice and milk something, I guess I'm glad I tried it, but I will never EVER have it again.

I've also met a lot of the other foreigners who live in Seosan!  They all seem like some pretty cool people.  I had a social gathering of sorts at my apartment on Friday and there was quite the turn out! The Korean police even came to let me know how awesome of a party I was having, it was a stellar event.

Last night I ventured out a little and experienced some of the Korean night life, it wasn't anything too crazy but it was a good time.  There is a bar called Halloween Bar that seems kind of intriguing, and the area where the bars are are kind of looks like Vegas.  There are neon lights and flashing signs EVERYWHERE. It is pretty intense.  

My students are surprising me everyday with the things they say.  The other day in class we were reading Frog and Toad and talking about best friends.  I asked my students if they had any best friends and one of my students said, "Yes, Solomon (another boy in my class) is my best friend, and I will walk through fire with him."  My students asked me if I had any best friends, I told them that I do and they asked me who they were.  First I told them that my sisters were two of my best friends Rachel, a girl in my class,  said to me, "No Amy Teacher, they are your sisters, your sisters can't be your best friend."

That's all for now.  Not too sure what will be going on this upcoming week, but I am going to the Korean Mud Festival this coming weekend and I am ridiculously excited for it. 

the pc cafe.

Well, I did have a big post planned for today, lots of pictures and stories and things...but, obviously, it isn't happening.  I am at a pc/internet cafe, this is my first time going and I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I was hoping that I would pay a fee and use the internet on my computer. Well, that is not the case.  I am sitting in a giant room filled with computers and sweaty smelly boys playing World of Warcraft or some ridiculuos game...So, unfortunately, I do not have the ability to upload photos and I would much rather tell the stories with the pictures to accompany them.

I'll work on this for tomorrow, plus I believe I am going to experience the Korean night life for my first time this evening, which should hopefully make for some interesting stories as well!

short and sweet.

Just a short little note about some school stuff!

First, I am getting along with all of my kids now!  I totally understand why teachers make seating charts.  When I was in school I thought it was just to ruin my social life, that is exactly what they are for, AND IT WORKS!  I switched around the seats for some of my older students who don't behave very well and put the main cause of the problem on his own and BOOM! I have productive class time. success.

Today in my first morning class I had the kids drawing a picture about the story we read, despite their being only six years old they are very intelligent and very clever...but not the best at drawing.  The story that they were drawing pictures of involved a little boy and some tigers, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw that one of my students was drawing a bunny...so I went to the student and asked him..."Philip, this looks nice but, why are you drawing a bunny?" Philip answers,  "I'm not...it's a tiger." I learned a lesson today, I will now only compliment pictures, not comment on their content. 

Also in the same class today, I was using this tacky clay stuff to make some flashcards stay on the board, my students asked me why the clay made the cards stick, I told them it was magic, they laughed.  Then a boy in class said, "No Amy Teacher, it's because they are kissing."  

Seriously. Where do they think of these things?

I celebrated the fourth of July last night! Not quite like in the states, but we had beer, fireworks and a grill, all in all it was a splendid fourth!  

I will post pictures soon, I am off to climb a mountain!

...well, it's really just a hill, but it looks like a mountain to me. 

all moved in!

Finally! I am settled into my apartment!  It feels so good to finally be moved in and have a space that feels like mine, it certainly makes Korea feel a little more like home.  Here is my new place:

This is my wardrobe that is located on my balcony.

laundry, also located on my balcony.

here is what the whole space looks like.  not huge, but there is a decent amount of space.

living space.

sleeping space.

the whole living/sleeping room.

dining space.

cooking space.

view of the whole area.

my bathroom.  the I heart Elvis stickers were already there, so I left them.

my entryway. 

I like this apartment much more than my old one, and now that I am all settled in it certainly feels much more like a home and like I am actually living here now. 

This week went really well!  My students are still awesome and even the older ones are starting to come around and realize that I am not the devil, I just want them to pay attention and learn something.  

On Thursday I had my first Korean BBQ with some other foreigners, it was sooooo tasty!  On Saturday I did some more exploring around my town, I went to a really cool park that has awesome statues all over, here are a few of them:

Oh, I also got my hair cut,  I was a little nervous.  I walked into a shop where no one spoke English and handed them a picture of what I wanted, here are the results:

I also wanted to use this picture as an opportunity to show off how good I am at using chop sticks.

Now that I have lived here for almost two weeks there are a few things that I have discovered about Korea...first, it's dirty.  There is far more trash on the streets than what I am used to and there doesn't really seem to be many cleanliness standards in place either.  Take the fish market for example, there is raw meat just sitting out in the open, nothing to cover it from flies and most of it isn't even on ice!  I'm not too sure that I will be purchasing anything from there... Also, the cars own the road...and the sidewalks, and anywhere they can fit.  As a pedestrian I have to yield to cars and will be honked at if I do not, and traffic signals are more of a suggestion than they are law.  If cars are at a red light and the driver gets impatient they will go right through if the intersection is clear, and sometimes even if it isn't...

They also park wherever they want.

Even on sidewalks. 

Aside from the dirt and needing to be extra careful around cars, I do like it here.  The people are very friendly and super helpful.  The first time I used an ATM I couldn't find the money I withdrew, I went to a nearby coffee shop in a panic and asked one of the workers what could have happened, she wasn't sure so she called the bank for me, definitely above and beyond the call of duty.  Turns out there was an error and my debit card will only work in certain ATMs, but it was still very kind of that woman to call the bank for me.  

I also really like the set up of Korean showers and would like to have one when I return to the US.  I am starting to get the hang of chopsticks and really enjoy using them, probably something else I will bring back to the states with me.  Oh, and there pizza is tasty! Well, I only had it once and it was from a place that was recommended, but it was so good and their flavors are much more creative than back in the states. 

Here are a few more pictures my adventuring this weekend:

This is a giant digital sign by the park I went to.

This is me in front of a giant inflatable something. 

I just thought this was funny.

Some art on the streets.

I pass these on my way to school everyday.

As always, more to come!