After a month home.

I had planned my last day in Ulsan a month before it came. I had envisioned a morning of last minute cleaning, packing and mailing home a box. An afternoon of sipping coffee at a quiet coffee shop blogging and preparing my heart for America. Followed by an evening eating Shabu Shabu with a friend before getting on the night bus headed for the Airport.

Sadly, none of that happened! Due to many out of my control "Korean" events I spent the day running around the city (and country side) trying to get things accomplished that I had tried to do earlier in the week but was unable to do because of x, y and z.

I have now been back in America for a full month. I received a phone call from Samantha a week ago asking:
"Do you know what day it is?"
"Ah... November 5th?"
"It's been a month since you left Korea!"

I hadn't even realized how much time had past since I left South Korea. The 4th of the month had become a special day because I took time out of my day to sit down and blog about various experiences and get dinner with Meredith to celebrate another month of our adventure. Somehow the 4th of November passed as any other day of my life. I have decided to take time out of the 11th (one month of being back in America) to finally write the blog I had planned to write on my last day in Ulsan. Instead of sitting in a cute coffee shop sipping a "cafe latte" I am sitting on my bed with Moose next to me, sipping a cold cup of homemade coffee. I think my view has improved. :)

Things I wish I could add to my resume:

* Experienced bus surfer. 

* Skilled in American/Korean infusion sign language. 

* Can read in Korean the two most important words: Samgyeopsal and cafe latte. 

* Chop stick user. 

* Can stand my ground in a rush to be first on the bus. 

*The master of the Zombie (Jumbee) game. 

* Has the ability to use deductive reasoning while guessing what a student asked me in Korean and can shock a whole class by answering correctly in English. 

* Can give and receive directions based on landmarks. 

* Can say Ulsan University in Korean. 

* Programed my brain to bow whenever I see an adult and to use two hands when giving and excepting something. 

Things I will miss about living in South Korea:

* The cosmetics! (Skinfood, Innisfree, ect). 

* Family run coffee shops with the unique decorations  and a cozy atmosphere. 

* Sundays - lazy mornings, church, lunch, coffee and lots of laughter. 

* Nomaskar - Indian food. Yumm. 

* Family style Korean barbecue. 

* "Service" - free samples of meat, cosmetics, hand towels, ect. 

* Knowing what buses get to where I need to be. 

* Wifi everywhere I go. 

* Students bowing to me. 

* Hearing the same catchy Kpop songs in every store. 

* BUBBLE TEA!!

* Cheap and cute things (notebooks, planners, contact cases, ect). 

* My little apartment. 

* Fast and unlimited Internet!!

* Learning about different cultures. 

* The ocean and beaches. 

* Fast buses. 

* Discovering new places to eat or drink coffee. 

* The paycheck. 

* My church. 

* My sweet co-teachers. 

* Endless restaurants and coffee shops. 

* Kakao Talk with my friends. 

* The Cherry Blossoms. 

* Hearing my third graders trying to say my full name. 

* Buttons on each table to call a waiter over. 

* Heated floors. 

* Costco trips with Meredith and Loree. 

Things I will NOT miss about living in South Korea:

* Being looked at like I'm an alien or a piece of meat. 

* The drivers. 

* Short bank (business) hours. 

* Unexplainable logic - like leaving the windows open during winter. 

* Not feeling welcome in a restaurant. 

* Out of date tourist information. 

* Having to wait until 10 am for coffee shops to open. 

* PSY everywhere. (Please, don't ever play his songs when I am around). 

* The pushing.

* No lines (so people would walk right in front of me while I'm waiting to pay). 

* Not blending in.
* Too short and tight clothes.
* Open windows in the winter (yes, I will say it again).
* The humidity!
* Having to travel over an hour for a taco.
* Lack of communication.
* Staying in hostels.
* My bathroom.
* Living next to an arcade.
* Living far away from a (good) grocery store.
* Grammatically incorrect English on products and signs. (However, I will miss laughing at it).
* Unexpected cancelations.
* Korean dubbed children's movies.
* Out of dated times for trains and buses.

My lists haven't changed much since coming back to America. I do miss bubble tea but I love having tacos near by. I already regret not buying another planner. I am overwhelmed by the general politeness of Minnesota. I find myself responding with such a big smile on my face when workers ask how I am. I am also glad I came back in October because I have gotten to enjoy pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cheese cake and pumpkin M&Ms.

As this chapter of my life and blog come to a close I know that I will continue to learn from my adventures and misadventures I had in South Korea. I will continue to look back at my 23rd year of life as a year spent in a country completely different from my own. As a year spent with great people and learning important life lessons like flexibility and perseverance and which Kpop group has the cutest guys.

Bless friends.

finisheee

I have started writing this blog a few times but was never able to finish it due to many (typical) interruptions (like a Volleyball game, bus cancelations and having to leave my apartment a day early). The tense will change from present to past since half of this is looking back at the past. :)

***

I have finished teaching all of my classes at Okseo Elementary School (or as my students still say 'finisheee'). This feeling is like no other because my joy of seeing my family, friends and Moose outweigh the sorrow I feel for saying goodbye to so many people.

The students reacted differently when I told them I was leaving. Some were completely shocked. Some clapped (which I smiled at them and said I was happy to leave also, ha) and others were sad.

For fifth and sixth grade I taught them the song "Brave" by Sara Bareilles. They really enjoyed the lesson and that made my last three days at school easy. There is no grater feeling then watching "too cool for school" kids mouthing the lyrics to a song. Some of my 5th grade classes even started to sing together without me asking them to! Overall everyone enjoyed themselves - including myself. I hope they remember my lesson about being brave when they use English.

The process of leaving South Korea was just as confusing as coming to South Korea. There were many moments when I wondered "what in the world is going on?!" followed by a few frustrating tears and my newfound determination to persevere when life doesn't make sense. I also helped keep the post office and taxis in business my last two days.

Saying goodbye to my friends was the hardest part because I have grown so close them all.

On my last Sunday at church I was prayed over by many of my friends and I cried as their prayers of blessing flowed over me. I was truly blessed to be a part of such a close group of Christians while in South Korea. I always knew I had someone to spend a peaceful Sunday afternoon with and I am thankful for that.

And then there is my dear friend Meredith or known by some as Meri teachuh. Her being on the same flight to South Korea and being placed in Ulsan at the same time as me was a God thing. She was the best kind of friend throughout the year. We went on so many (mis)adventures and food discoveries together. On our last night together in South Korea we went to a restaurant with our friends and then out for Korean karaoke. That was by far one of my most memorable nights of the year. We spent the whole time laughing and singing old songs from the 80s and 90s. Meredith and I finished off the night by singing "A Whole New World" as a perfect start to a new adventure back in America. 

Some of my last views of South Korea were on the KTX train while the sun rose over the mountains. I felt at peace about leaving and in awe of the blessings I received throughout the year. I spent the train ride reading the encouraging notebook from my church family and counting my blessings in my journal. 

Technology has kept me in contact with all of my friends back in South Korea and I have even had some students email me. I know I have made some lasting friendships and I look forward to planning trips to visit friends in Seattle, LA, and South Africa. 

Bless friends. 

The Whale Saga

I found this blog on my iPad and realized I never posted it! Sorry friends :)

*       *       *    

It's no secret that I love whales and dolphins. An obsession is an okay word to use as well. I feel such a peace and awe each time I see them. From Sea World to the Iceland they have proven to display Gods great creativity. 

However I have always had to work for my special moments with them. My first memorable experience was at Sea World when I was in 8th grade. My family and I went to the famous Shamu show and right before the show started a couple of workers were walking through the crowd. They picked a cute little girl to be a part of the show and I was so jealous. Why couldn't I be a cute little girl and be a part of the show? I did get my special moment with Shamu after the show. A worker asked if my brother and I would like a picture with Shamu. Yes, I would! That day I got my picture taken with my favorite animal and I was smiling from ear to ear. 

While on a mission trip in Mexico I woke up at 5am every morning to walk the beach in search of dolphins with a large group. By Thursday no one woke up to go with me, so I had to wake up the youth pastor and beg for him to take me to the beach. Our little group of five headed to the beach and there they were. Jumping and enjoying the early morning sun and low tide. I ran around the beach praising God for dolphins and for teaching me patience. 

In Iceland I went whale watching and we had to wait most of the trip before a group of dolphins started to swim along side the ship. I was so excited I forgot to take any pictures. Again, it was a glorious sight. 

This adventure was no different. We did our little research for the whale watching boat and picked our morning. We woke up extra early so we could get to the coast on time. We got on a bus near city hall and rode it to the end. The bus driver made us get off at the end and we decided to walk the rest of the way because we saw a sign for the whale museum. So we started walking and walking and walking. In the morning heat we walked through a factory filled area, it was not the best scenery in Ulsan. 

After about a half an hour of walking we start to wonder if we would ever make it (along with angry thoughts about why information was never correct in English here). A taxi finally drove by and we jumped in quickly showing him where we wanted to go on Meredith's phone. He drove about us about fifteen minutes in the direction we were walking and dropped us off at the whale museum five minutes before the boat was going to leave. Just our luck. 

Wrong.

We found out that there wasn't a 9:30 boat that left on Saturdays and the 1:00 boat was already full. We both were furious. Meredith even said "I give up. I won't come back again". That broke my heart because I still wanted to try. Instead we went to the whale museum and aquarium for the morning. It was nice and I got to see dolphins, but it wasn't what we wanted.

I decided to post on the foreigners page about our misfortune and that the English information needed to be updated. A lot of people wanted more information so they could go, which I couldn't give since it didn't work out for me. A Korean man saw the post and said he would contact the boat and tell them they need English options. A few weeks ago a special night is planned for foreigners to go on the boat for an evening on October 5th, the day I fly to Norway. Ha I'd like to think that Meredith and I had a little part in bringing that about. At least the company knows the foreigners want to be a part of their adventure. 

Thankfully our saga doesn't end there. 

I told my sad sad story to my friends at church and asked if anyone would like to come with me. I got a surprising amount of "yes" and then I asked my coteacher to help make a reservation for me and my friends. 

On the eve before our adventure I got a few text messages in Korean. My heart dropped because the last time I got multiple text messages in Korean my movie was canceled. After an hour they sent me a translation of their first few texts and I read the horrible news: my trip was canceled. However we could go in the morning instead. They called me before I could finish texting back and I tried to explain I needed to ask my friends first.. They didn't understand so after five minutes I just said "okay. We come. Yes". I then had to call everyone and beg for them to wake up early. 

Thankfully I have great friends and they were all up for the morning trip and I even convinced Meredith to join! We met at a coffee shop and walked to the bus stop we needed only to watch it and Meredith drive by. We quickly ran to a different street and caught a different bus to the whale museum. 

We got there in plenty of time (since we were finally on the right bus). We got a nice spot by the railing to look for whales and right away one of my friends was asked to do an interview about our experience (we had been on for only ten minutes). The camera man loved our group, all day he kept coming back to film us talking with each other. 

I felt such a peace because I was finally on the boat breathing fresh sea air surrounded by my friends. 

We didn't see any whales. The water was very rough which I'm betting kept the whales and dolphins in another location for the day. 

I wasn't sad about not seeing whales, I still had a great time and once again the dolphins taught me about perseverance and patience. That wasn't my day to see the whales but I will continue trying even when I get back to America. (Washington here I come!) 

Bless friends. 

The day I became a video game character.

Back in March I was feeling tired all of the time and I decided to try acupuncture (when in Rome, right?)

That Monday I went to an Oriental Medicine office with my co-teacher not knowing what to expect. He explained he would do a "power up" on me and that I should come in everyday until I felt better.

That day I got five needles in various places in my body and a piece of wood was left on my stomach giving off a relaxing aroma. The next day I went back and again the next day. By Wednesday I had seven needles in my body.

It didn't hurt as bad as you'd think. In fact, most places was painless as long as I was relaxed.

On Friday my doctor said the best thing I have ever heard while in South Korea: "You first come, face dark. Power low. Now face shinny. Power up."

He was right. I did have energy again.

Power up! :)

11.

Here I am again writing a blog post on the 4th of the month. I have been in Ulsan, South Korea for eleven months - crazy! The time has just flew by (with a few moments of snail like slowness). I believe this month will be over before I know it and then I'll be on a plane for Oslo, Norway! I am so excited to spend a week with my mom traveling around Norway. I think it will be a good way to rejuvenate my soul and help ease jet lag.

One of the oddest parts of teaching English in South Korea is the sporadic hiring system. Since people are hired at different times, often it is someone's last month. I experienced that back in November for the first time and it has continued throughout the year. During people's last month they try to see last minute landmarks, eat at their favorite restaurants, and say their final goodbyes to those staying behind.

Now it's my last month. I have every weekend full of fun things to do and I even have a few trips planned. Hopefully I won't have too many mishaps along the way (fingers crossed).

Last weekend started my conqueror-the-to-do-list expedition. Meredith and I FINALLY got brunch at London Tea and it was delicious. I was so happy that they were back from vacation. I will miss that cream cheese filled french toast. After brunch we went to Grand Park, rented bikes and rode around the park. It was a beautiful day and the best part was the cool breeze! After the bikes we sat on a bench and just enjoyed the moment. Then we went to Lotte and rode the ferris wheel. Supposedly it is the highest man-made height in Korea. It was great to see the city from that height. We also got to redeem my free curry stamp card (thanks mostly to Samantha who helped me get four stamps before she went home). Yep, it was a lovely day.

I look forward to more lovely days in Korea. Bless friends.

Souvenir 6.8

Another adventure I likely won't forget happened on our Jeju Island trip in June. Meredith had planned the trip since I didn't have time with Samantha visiting right before we left and one thing on her list was to visit a green tea farm. When we finally reached the other side of the island we had already missed our submarine tour and so we decided we might as well go to the green tea farm first. The hard part was getting there. 

We figured if we got in a taxi and said "greena tea farm" we would be golden. Sadly the taxi driver didn't know so we showed him on the phone where we wanted to go and so he starts driving. Then he calls his friend to ask where it was and the taxi turns around and drives the other way. We silently watch on google maps as we drive farther away from our destination. He calls his friend again and we decide to call the farm ourselves and have the taxi driver speak to whoever answers. We finally were all on the same page and got to the farm. It was a gloomy day but the rain had stopped and we were warmly welcomed into the little tea house were we sat on the floor and drank green tea from traditional mugs. 

We then wandered around the farm and in the green tea maze. I bought far too many souvenirs there but I couldn't help it! I love tea and tea cups. 

We weren't sure how we were going to get back to the main city but we decided to walk to the road and pray a taxi drove by. As we were leaving a car drove up and a man rolled down the window saying he would drive us back to the city. I'm sure most of you are thinking "run away" but this is Korea and we figured this was part of our "service". So we got into his car and told him where we needed to go next. His English was low and our Korean is low so we struggled through a conversation about our jobs and Jeju Island. He drove us along the coast and took us right where we needed to be for the submarine tour. It was lovely. 

Here is Meredith with our driver. He wouldn't accept any money. I'm so thankful for friendly people who are willing to help poor confused waygookins out. 

souvenir 2.21

This event happened over five months ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. 

The winter weather was starting to clear away and I had teacher training with all of the new teachers. Meredith also had to go but for some reason Loree didn't (the lucky duck) but we decided since two of us were already close to my neighborhood that Loree should meet us there after school so we could finally try Hungry Kitchen. 

In January I had a I-need-a-real-burger-now-or-I-will-go-crazy meltdown and started to research the best burgers in Ulsan. There were two burgers that tied for first. One was near the beach an hour away and the other was in my neighborhood. 

When we got to Hungry Kitchen we had to wait a half an hour before the burger would be ready. Since Meredith and I needed cash we decided to quickly run to the ATM while Loree saved our seats. 

I should give a little forward about how awful Meredith's week had been. Nothing seemed to be going her way and even the taxi driver who brought her to training that morning couldn't read the address so he just drove around until he found it. Plus she had a cold. 

I got my cash out with no problem but Meredith's ATM wouldn't spit out her card. It was stuck. We tried calling the help line using the phone there but they hung up as soon as we spoke. 

We tried hitting a few buttons but nothing worked. That was when Meredith started to freak out (rightly so because she was leaving for Hawaii in two days and she needed that card to buy things). 

The only thing I could think of doing was calling my coteacher. So I called her and explained our situation and that we needed help. She then called the bank and told us that someone would come in five minutes to get the card out. Well we waited and waited. Many people came in and took cash out of the same ATM that ate Meredith's card. We were very confused. After about fifteen minutes someone came and saved the day. He went behind the ATMs and pulled out Meredith's card! 

We can back to the restaurant and sat down in time for our hamburgers to be set in front of us. We weren't able to laugh at the situation that night or even after Meredith got back from Hawaii but we can now. That situation could have ended in many terrible ways but it didn't. Instead we got the card and made it back in time to eat one of the best burgers I've had in Korea. 

Bless friends. 

Vacation

I had a week off in August and it was lovely to be quiet and when necessary, lazy. I was able to do one fun thing that Meredith and I had been wanting to do since the winter- visit the trick art museum. The museum travels to different cities and during the winter it was in a city we had never visited and the English information said we would need to take two trains to get there... So we never went. Later we found out there was just one train to get to the city but by that time the museum had moved on. This summer it moved to Busan and we were very excited about that! Busan is one city that we are really getting the hang of. The subway system isn't confusing and we now know where our favorite places to shop are. 

I had mentioned the museum to my friend Yeoung Hee and she was very interested in going as well. She found us a coupon for the museum on a Korean type groupon website and we were ready for our adventure. 

We got Indian food for lunch and spent a lovely afternoon in the museum taking funny pictures and laughing. I think the idea of this museum is brilliant because all of the paintings are two demential but when you take a picture with the painting it becomes three demential. They had classic works like Starry Night that you can be in and also modern funny paintings like helping superman. 

It was a fabulous way to spend an afternoon. 

Then we visited one of our favorite cosmetic shops, Too Cool For School. They were very excited to see Meredith and I return (we are hard to forget) and they got to ask all the questions they wanted in Korean because Yeoung Hee was with us. Common questions are: what do we do in Korea and where do we live. The workers there are so sweet and try very hard to explain each of their products. I'm going to miss their shop. 

It rained the last three days of my vacation and that has really helped change the weather, it's like overnight the evenings decided to cool off. I'm now able to open my windows and enjoy a cool breeze again. I even hear crickets singing when I wake up. Those poor animals must have been hiding for a month because of the heat. I think every bug that flew into school over break died from the heat because every day I walked the halls a new bug would be belly up on the floor. Poor little things.

Bless friends.

Birthday Celebrations

In June I visited Jeju Island with Meredith over a long weekend and as we were leaving for the airport to go back to Ulsan we talked about what else we wanted to see before going back to America. One thing on Meredith's list was to see the Hand of Harmony on her birthday at sunrise. 

My wonderful friend pursued that dream with persistence that only comes from living in South Korea. There was not a ton of English information on the Hand of Harmony and there was not any English options for booking a hostel or hotel. Thankfully I have a wonderful friend from church who is Korean and he booked us a hotel that we found that said it was "near" the Hand of Harmony. 

The day of our departure came and we made the bus to Pohang just in time. We found a taxi once there and went to our hotel. The driver took a long and twisty road along the coast and we were very impressed with out situation. I was starting to think that this would be our first trip with no hiccups. There was a college student working at the desk and she spoke perfect English and while she showed us our room she asked what we were going to see in Pohang. Meredith explained about the hand and that was when we found out that "near" actually meant a 20 minute car ride. Thankfully she helped us call a taxi that night and arrange for it to pick us up at 5am so we could get to the Hand in time for the sun to rise. 

5am came way too quickly and soon we were in another taxi continuing on the twisty road along the coast. There was a decent size group waiting near the Hand to watch the sunrise when we got there. We found a spot near the rocks and waited for the sun's grand entrance. It started off slow and red but soon the sun lit the sky yellow. It was breathtaking. After seeing the sun shine through the fingers of the hand we turned around and the crowd was gone so Meredith and I were able to enjoy a quiet morning walking around the coast drinking coffee from a tin can. 

We called our taxi driver back around 7am and went back to our hotel to enjoy the comfort of tv and a bed for a few hours before once again getting back into the same taxi and head into the city. We spent the rest of the day at the beach reading and making new friends. 

It was a lovely vacation and an excellent way to spend a birthday. It has me wondering what I'll do for my own birthday in October. I love the idea of seeing the sunrise for mine as well. 

Bless friends. 

Summer Camp

I think I have finally recovered from summer camp. In all honesty it wasn't as stressful as winter camp because it was only two weeks long, the classes were shorter and I knew what to expect. 

My classes were much quieter and I didn't have many discipline problems. I worried I'd have too quiet of classes because my afternoon classes ended being 3 students and 1 student. I also had a first grader come and listen to both classes. I felt bad for him because he had no idea what was going on. I ended up printing off color by number worksheets for him so he could stay busy while I taught. 

This camp's theme was pirates. I enjoyed it but I think the students liked the Harry Potter theme better (I know I liked it better!) We had two field trips and I was excited for the one to Hyundai Mortars Company but it ended up being a let down because the factory they typically show was under construction so our tour was given on the bus while we drove around the company and a worker explained in korean about each building. There wasn't a whole lot of English used that day but I guess they had fun. We also went to the Ulsan Museum again and it was similar to our winter camp experience. 

Here are some pictures from camp. We made candles one day and a korean dessert another day. 

Bless friends

10.

Somehow I've made it to my tenth month anniversary of living in Ulsan, South Korea. The month of August has started out hot and sticky but I fixed my little fan a few weeks ago and I've been able to have cool nights for sleeping.

The school semester ended on July 26th and I can tell that the summer holiday has officially started in Ulsan. The buses are slow and packed full of people and the traffic is bad. The hardest thing to get used to is random businesses being closed for vacation.

I had three days off at the end of July and I wanted to visit this cute little brunch cafe near the park with my friends. We all met up and walked to the cafe only to find a sign in Korean on the window and dates 7/29-8/29. Really? You're on vacation for a whole month and your little cafe will be closed? That was frustrating mainly because we were hungry and hot.

There are a few places near my apartment that are closed for the week too. A cell phone store that is a part of a big chain in Korea is closed for four days and a Korean restaurant will be closed for the same days. It is interesting to think that people close their whole store just because they won't be there.

I'll be very busy the next two weeks with English Summer Camp. For this camp I picked a pirate/survival theme. I hope the kids will enjoy learning how to speak pirate and tying ropes. This camp is only 9 days long and I'm so thankful for that! Winter camp was 15 days and I was so tired that when my vacation finally started all I ended up doing was sleeping.

It's hard to believe that I'll be home in a little over two months. I have some important decisions to make, like should my first meal be Jimmy John's or Chipotle... or both? ha.

Bless friends.

Dynamic

Every city that I have been to in Korea has an English phrase that is plastered all over. Deagu: Colorful Deagu. Seoul: Soul of Asia. Ulsan: Ulsan for you. Busan: Dynamic Busan. I'm not sure how accurate those sayings are. When I visited Daegu in December I didn't see a colorful city, not even from the tower that overlooks the city. I just saw a lot of gray roofs. Asia is a big place so I'm not so sure if Seoul is really the soul of Asia but it's a creative saying. I guess Ulsan is for me but with how many things don't go my way I think Ulsan should have the title dynamic. I like Busan as a whole and even though I've gotten lost there I haven't had things randomly closed on me there. I'd prefer Busan to have the "for you" saying.

In the foreign community the country as a whole has been tagged along with Busan's phrase. I've heard over and over again, "this is Korea" or "remember this is dynamic Korea". The definition of dynamic is a very accurate account of my experience: Characterized by constant change, activity, or progress.

This is a blog entry about the constant change in places that change doesn't happen back home.

A common hobby of mine is looking at movie times on Thursday or Friday afternoon because I like watching movies and the movie theaters here are great. The seats are huge, they rarely show previews before the movie and you get to pick your seat when you buy your tickets, which means that movie planners like myself get great seats and don't need to arrive early!

Last Thursday I saw something that made me super excited! The animation movie Turbo was going to be shown in English AND in 4D. Most animation movies that come through Ulsan are dubbed in Korean so the little kids don't have to read the subtitles. 4D is the amazing crazy experience offered in Japan and now South Korea that includes a movie with 3D glasses and graphics but also has moving seats built with the capability to spray water in your face and air at the back of your neck. It is the full body movie experience. When I found out about the 4D option at the new theater in Ulsan I knew it would be something I'd want to do before leaving Korea but I wanted to pick the perfect movie so I wouldn't get sick or scared. Every weekend an action packed movie with fight scenes was offered in 4D until last Thursday.

I was so excited about the possibility of finally seeing a racing animation movie in 4D that I asked a bunch of friends if they wanted to see it with me. On Friday it was decided that I would buy the tickets online with my co teacher's help and we'd see the movie on Saturday. So I bought five tickets online and happily left school. Later that night I had a few missed calls and a text message in Korean. The only things I could read in the text were CGV (the movie theater's name) and 27 (the day we were going to see the movie). I sent the text to my co teacher and she told me the movie had been changed. I checked the movie times in the morning and saw that ALL of the Turbo showings in English were canceled. All of them. They just vanished even though they were there the day before and I had bought five tickets for the show.

I was speechless. I was shocked. I was angry. I was confused. I was a paying customer and my movie had vanished!

I decided to go to the movie theater and ask what had happened because I had spent a lot of money on those 4D tickets (each ticket is 18,000Won which is around $17) and I wanted my money back or switched to the only other 4D movie option, Pacific Rim.

My wonderful friend Meredith came with me and together we went to the counter and I showed the worker the text message I had received. She then had us talk to a different lady who seemed in charge and she explained that the movie had been changed and we could see it at a different time. I asked, "In English" and she sadly looked at us and said no. I then decided to ask if we could switch our tickets to Pacific Rim. She told us the first showing was at 9pm, which was fine with us since Turbo in English wasn't going to be shown until 8:30pm anyways. After she printed out our new tickets she told us that the movie was free. Free? Free. I asked, "my money will be on my card?" She said, "okay". I walked away with our "free" tickets surprised by our luck and confused by her "okay". I checked my bank account today and the tickets were refunded! I'll take a free movie any day.

The 4D experience was great. I was worried about Pacific Rim because I knew the movie plot was big robots fighting giant aliens that come out of the sea. There was bound to be a lot of seat shaking and water spraying. When we sat down in our seats an advertisement for 4D started to play and the chairs started moving out of control and all five of us couldn't help but make noise. My first thought was, "this is going to be a long movie". Thankfully the actual movie wasn't as theme-park-ride-crazy as the preview. In fact, I think the 4D added a whole new wonderful quality to an action movie (besides the water spraying in my face). We all enjoyed the movie and want to watch another 4D movie soon. I may never be able to go see another movie in America again (that's a lie - there are too many great movies coming out in November and December).

At the end of the day I wasn't angry anymore at dynamic Korea because, like they often do, things worked out.

Bless friends.

Victories

I have never been good at celebrating victories because there always seems to be something else off in the distance that needs to be done. Today I want to acknowledge two victories I've had in the last week or so. They aren't huge or dramatic but having lived in Korea for almost ten months now they are as close to a victory as I'll ever get.

On one of my few all-day-desk-warming days I brought my laptop with so I could make a movie of my Sports Day pictures. It was a great way to spend a few hours and I think it turned out great. I was very excited to show it to my students and to have a solid ten minutes planned for each class.

After finials I showed the movie to each grade. The responses were pretty similar, lots of laughing at their friends and hidden faces when their picture came up. Last Friday one of my 4th grade classes asked if they could watch the movie again. I didn't have anything super special planned because the textbook was finished so I decided to show the movie. As the movie progressed I noticed one boy sitting under his desk. When he saw me looking at him he crossed his arms to make an X (which is the common body language of "no" here) and said "no teachuh". The students in the class started to make a drum roll on their desks and I realized they only wanted to watch for one reason - to laugh at the boy under the desk. I knew he had a close up picture of himself in the movie (and I still remember him asking me to take his picture) and that the students must have planned this little humiliating act. Right before the boys picture came up I turned off the tv so the boy wouldn't have to endure that torture. You would have thought I'd murdered someone right in front of them by the noise they made. "TEACHUH NO" "BACK TEACHUH BACK". The little boy under the desk gave me a big smile and he sat in his chair. The students continued to yell at me and when I turned the tv on so they could watch the rest of the movie I explained that their friend didn't want his picture on the tv so they need to be nice to their friend. That caused a great shift in the yelling and the class started to yell at the boy in Korean. I didn't know what was being said but I could tell it wasn't nice.

I knew I wouldn't be able to convey to the students why I did what I did and I knew they wouldn't understand my reasoning even if they understood my words because the standard of bullying isn't the same. I have been in far too many classes where the whole class picks on one student and the teacher does nothing to stop it, as if this is part of everyday life and the kids who are difference should get used to it. It broke my heart when I first got here and it still does.

After the movie finished my Co Teacher could tell that the tension was still bad so she came up and started to speak to them in Korean. I could tell she was using her "mom" voice and by the end of her speech a few students were looking shamefully at their desks. I was very surprised by the turn of events. There I was feeling proud and shameful for what I had just done because it was against the grain of what I've seen teachers do here and my Co Teacher seemed to pick up on what happened and translated for me.

When class was finally over the little boy who hid under the desk ran out so fast I couldn't tell him I was sorry for showing the movie. I told my Co Teacher that I didn't know they were going to tease the student or else I wouldn't have played the movie again. My Co Teacher then continued to surprise me by explaining that she told the students that this was my culture (turning off the tv because someone didn't want to watch it) and that they needed to respect my culture. She then told me how she thinks the American culture is better because if someone is hurt then they won't do it but in Korea everyone will still do it even if someone is crying.

I was totally blown away by what happened in that hot classroom. I still am. I don't think we ended that classes' ability to bully each other but at least that little boy wasn't totally humiliated by his class and maybe they will remember what my Co Teacher said about considering everyone's feelings.

My last victory is on a much lighter note. I showed my 5th grade "What time is it" from High School Musical 2 for their lesson titled "I go to school at 8". The song really has nothing to do with the lesson but it is July and those poor students are sick of school. They really enjoyed it because it has dancing and they could understand "what time is it? summer time!". My Co Teacher liked the song too and I guess has been showing the students the song every class period since.

So during story telling yesterday I walked into 5-5's classroom and when a few boys saw me they all turned to the clock (like in the movie) and started to chant "summer. summer" just like in the song. That was a very happy American pop culture moment I was glad to have.

Today is the last day of the semester (finally) and I get to sit at my desk in the air conditioned room (YAY!) all day.

Bless friends.

Free

There are perks of living in one place for nine months. One of those perks is finally filling up a punch card and receiving a free cup of coffee. You may be wondering how a coffee lover like myself took a whole nine months to fill out a punch card, simple - there are too many shops! Back home I had two choices: Starbucks or Caribou, but here there are about six major chains in Ulsan and many more small shops that also have punch cards. I have eleven punch cards for coffee shops (I had twelve until yesterday when I finally got a free cup of coffee) and I'll probably finish three more before heading back to the States.

Another perk is having a handle on the bus routes. Yesterday Meredith and I decided to meet by City Hall for coffee and to find the Thrift Store that accepts donations. I didn't need to look up online what buses went past the city hall because I already knew! So as my time for departure got closer all I needed to do was open my Korean Bus App and type in the bus numbers to see what bus left my stop at a decent time to get me to the City Hall at eleven. Now before you get too impressed I can't read the Korean on the App, I have just memorized where my bus stop is on the APP and look for the time it comes. I do believe that is a big kind of accomplishment that has somehow become part of my routine.

Bless friends!

9.

Happy 4th of July!

Missing this holiday feels weird. As I sit at my desk I really wish I was going home for some sweet corn on the cob and watermelon. It took me about ten minutes to remember what I even did last year! I about missed the fireworks with Heidi and Kyle because we couldn't find a place to park, and the year before that my family did miss the fireworks because they started early and somehow we were the only four in Cottage Grove who didn't get the memo. This year I'll be celebrating the 4th as well as our 9th-month-in-Korea-anniversary with Meredith. I wish our night involved corn on the cob, but a good ol' hamburger will have to do.

Let's talk about summer.

This is the first summer that doesn't feel like a "summer" for me and I think that's because these kids are still in school. The semester ends on July 26th and summer camp starts August 5th. That means I find myself behind the desk planning away. The only difference between planning this camp and the last camp is the heat. It seems like a sweet sweet memory that happened forever ago when I was wearing my winter jacket over many layers of clothing. I don't think I'll ever be allowed to complain about the weather again after this year in Korea because this was the coldest winter I've ever had and this is by the far the hottest summer I've ever had. At the moment Ulsan is in the rainy season but the only rain I feel comes off my own body. The humidity. Do I need to say more? I don't think I do.

This past month was pretty basic besides one Thursday four weeks ago. I got to the classroom and tried to sign on the computer but it wouldn't let me. So I waited. When the students and my co-teacher showed up I found out that the computer had been rebooted and so the password was new (a piece of information I would have liked to know before hand, oh well). Then as I start to set up my lesson my co-teacher tells me, "Lesson 7 is for next semester. Do you have something else planned?" Wait... what? There are still two months left of the semester and we are done with the text book?

And here is the amazing part. I didn't freak out. I didn't panic. I literally looked at her and said, "okay, I have one game then." The game was for lesson 7 but I didn't care about that little fact. Somehow (by the grace of God) I let the lack of communication roll off my back and I conducted class like nothing inconvenient had happened.

The real kicker was the kids LOVED the game. Every time we finished the game they would yell, "Again, teachuh again!", I just smiled and said, "Okay!" By the third period the game had become a trend and the student's ran in asking, "juambee game teachuh juambee game?"

That was four weeks ago and my third graders still ask me every class, "juambee game teachuh?" That Zombie game has become a legend and I plan on keeping it on my USB forever because surprises happen and I never know when I'll need a good "juambee" game to keep the kids occupied for 40 minutes.

Bless friends.

The Magic

While Samantha was here we talked a lot about Korea and the differences between here and the other countries we have been to. I explained to her that I  hadn't found the "magic" yet. I can easily recall times when I was walking around Reykjavik and the magic was flouting through the air in contagious whispers.

One day when I came back from school Samantha told me:
"I found it."
"Found what?"
"The magic."

A few days later she took me to the river that runs through the city so we could look down from the walking bridge to the fish below. When she explained about this magic I assumed it was coy, you know, the large orange fish that people put in outdoor ponds. So we walked to the spot and we looked below. All I saw was gray fish that sometimes their scales reflected the sunlight back to me. I stared for a moment or two and said, "I don't feel it". Samantha tried to convince me that there was magic down there. We stayed for ten minutes or so and I never had any luck feeling the magic. That is, until a few days ago.

Last Friday I hopped on a bus with Meredith and we headed to Tongyeong, which is a smaller coastal city at the South tip of Korea.

One of my favorite parts about being in a car or bus traveling is looking out the window. From Minnesota I've been able to drive though Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois all during the summer before coming to Korea. The midwest has very distinct features to its landscape. There are roads covered by a canopy of green trees, evergreen lined roads, rolling hills with tan rock, and a lot of farm fields that really aren't that bad to look at. Iceland had a very distinct landscape as well. There were volcanic rock everywhere and it was almost impossible to drive anywhere without seeing a mountain. While on a bus in Sweden between cities I felt transported back to farm country, it was amazing.

Let me get back to the magic. Now that it is nice outside I'm actually looking out the window while on the intercity buses. I've noticed some common landscape features of Korea (once you are outside the city). The roads are lined with squares of rice fields covered in water and behind the fields are green mountains. These little villages are scattered among the rice fields and a high rise apartment complex is never far off in the distance. Another constant is red neon crosses on top of steeples, they are always red and neon, that glow bright in the night.

On the way to Tongyeong there was mist rising off the rice fields due to the rain that had happened earlier in the day adding a sense of mystery and magic among the villages and neon crosses. I stared out the window until the sun had fully set marveling at the fact that Korea had some magic after all.        

8.

As predicted the month of May flew by and the time seemed to speed up as soon as Samantha landed in South Korea.

I don't think I'll ever be able to find the words to describe how thankful I am that Samantha came to visit me. It was such a blessing to have a familiar face around to share my "Korean Life" with. She got to meet my co-teachers and visit some of my favorite places in Ulsan. Now when I need to vent or share a funny story she will be able to truly understand because I'll be honest, sometimes you just need to be here to understand how things work. She even got to experience one of my classes getting canceled while I was in the middle of teaching.

Samantha's adventure started off with a confusing bang (as it should be, this is Korea). The bus she was on didn't stop at the stop she needed, but keeping her cool she walked back towards the stop I was waiting at. The only problem was - I was at the wrong stop too! (the map was not very specific on what side of the street I should be on). I was sitting on a bench with my friend Mikaela trying to decide what to do because the bus monitor said Samantha's bus wouldn't be here for another hour. A few minutes later Mikaela said, "I see a tall blond girl walking towards us." Mikaela's response sums up Samantha's whole visit. The reaction Samantha got was priceless and some of my students about had a brain aneurysm trying to comprehend how tall she was (and then factor in her blond hair and blue eyes I'm surprised no one fell over.. although there was one 6th grade boy who stood inches from her feet staring at her for two minutes with his mouth wide open). The best way to share our wonderful 12 days together is through pictures.

Do you remember a picture I posted back in January in front of this palace? Well I finally got to go inside it! One thing I do appreciated about South Korea is their history and how well they preserve their history. The historical sites are all so cheep to visit as well - 3,000 won to visit this beauty. 

It was Buddha's birthday on May 17th and the city was covered in paper lanterns. 

Samantha's first Korean meal - bulgogi.

I took Samantha to Ilsan beach and we decided we needed to recreate our Lake Michigan picture. 

This lady grabbed Samantha and wanted to take a picture with all of us so a man with a large camera took our picture. I have no idea where the picture ended up but I decided to have him take one on mine as well. I have never had this happen before. 

Our days involved a lot of coffee. 

And a trip to the bamboo forest. 

Of course I took her to get samgipsal. 

And the most important thing: BUBBLE TEA! I think Samantha visited the little bubble tea shop around the corner from my apartment everyday. She went so often that she got a free one!

Once again, it was a great 12 days and I slept for a full 12 hours the Saturday after she left. I was so tired from all of our adventures. Samantha left with a suitcase full of Korean beauty products, her tenth country marked off her visit list, and many memories of Korean life. 

Now life is back to "normal" and I'm preparing myself for my last 4 months in Korea with a final "to do" list. 

Bless friends!

5/1

Remember when Korea was winning every "battle" of tourism? Well the winning streak continues. On May first we all had the day off because of Korea's new Labor Day for contract workers. Not wanting to sit around Ulsan on a day off Loree, Meredith, and I decided to take a bus into Busan for another day of site seeing. Chris met up with us because he also had the day off but he got in later so we had an hour or so to kill before meeting up with him. We decided to get on a bus and visit this "moon road" that is suppose to give couples a good future if they walk it during a full moon. We read the directions a few times before getting on the bus but we still missed our stop and ended up riding the bus to the end of the line - a first for all of us. We all got off the bus laughing at ourselves and waited for the next bus to come. The bus driver gave us a discount because I think he knew we were lost. With our very limited Korean skills Loree and Meredith read the bus line and discovered where we were suppose to get off. Once we were off the bus we looked for the sign pointing to the road (according to the website there should have been a sign) but we didn't see one so we decided to do the next best thing - ask jr high students where to go. They laughed and spoke in Korean for about three minutes before one student bravely said: go straight and turn right. Well we did that and still didn't see the road. Finally we gave up on the directions and got into a taxi, which turned around and drove us up a hill into a beautiful treed area with small shops. Chris ended up beating us there! We all laughed and walked around. That hill overlooked the ocean and the wooded trail had a Minnesota cross country feel. If I had been placed in that area, I don't know if I would ever want to leave. It was so peaceful. It was the perfect mix of woods and ocean. 

After that we decided to go to this temple along the ocean and not trusting our skills at directions we got into a taxi and said where we wanted to go. Taxis are always tricky because the slightest difference in pronunciation can be the difference between success and failure. We thought we had said it right and he seemed to understand. But then he kept driving and I felt like we were going in the wrong direction. The view was great and he took us over this beautiful bridge and we all got our cameras out and started to take pictures. It wasn't until we saw Busan Station that we started to question this taxi trip. He was certainly taking the long way. Meredith pulled up on her phone where we wanted to go on google maps and we were most deferentially going the wrong way. He ended up dropping us off at Busan Tower, which in Korean the parks name sounds exactly like the water temples name (well at least it does to me).  We decided to make the most out of it and we walked around and took pictures. 

Not wanting to let Korea kill our plans we got in another taxi (this time we showed on our phone where we wanted to go) and we sat in rush hour. The taxi driver tried to explain to us in Korean about the traffic and we just all nodded and said "naaaee" (yes). After what felt like an hour in traffic we got to the water temple. It was breath-taking to see such an old building by the sea. There were lanterns everywhere in preparation for Buddhas birthday. 

We left Busan very tired and our pocket change distributed to various taxi drivers. 

You win again Korea but it was still a great trip. 

Bless friends.

English Drama

I thought I'd write a little blog about the process of the English Drama.

I was asked the first week of school if I would write the play and then a few days later I was asked if I'd help out with the play. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

After writing and rewriting the play we held auditions. Over 20 students turned up for the auditions and we (my 6th grade Co-Teacher and myself) were able to pick the top 12 (6 girls and 6 boys) for "The Table Fairy Saves the Day".

If the title sounds familiar that's because I decided to create a story about a beloved character that came out of the Crazy Campaign my church hosted when I was in 10th grade. Way up high in James Brown's office one night birthed the Table Fairy and my wonderful and crazy bother brought the character to life one unforgettable night in an Arby's. It was so much fun to work with this character and I think the student we picked for the part was perfect. He was so cute, one day he came to class early and told me he googled "fairy" and only saw girl fairies. I was then able to share with him about where the Table Fairy came from. I think he left thinking my brother and I were crazy. :)

Play practice started 8am sharp every Tuesday-Friday for 40 minutes. Those mornings weren't as rough as I thought they would be because I did enjoy practice (once we got past the reading of the script and actually performing). The students started to develop their characters and started to call each other by their play names. We had two afternoon practices when the performance got closer and I could tell some nerves were developing in some of the students.

The morning of the performance we were in the middle of a run-through when the vice-principle called to say she wanted to watch the play now. So we had to move practice from the English room to the gym. I didn't get to watch their run-through because I had story telling but when I went to the gym after the students were being given advice by the vice-principle. I just stood their watching their faces. I could tell they were all nervous now.

After lunch the group met in the entry way and the vice-principle came again to speak. She ended by putting her fist in the air and say "fighting" and all of the students followed. I'm not sure of the history behind "fighting" but it seems to be a common saying. I didn't get to go with the group for reasons that are still confusing (and frustrating) to me. So I sat by my computer watching the clock tick. At exactly two I had all of my stuff together and I was standing by the door. However, my 5th grade Co-Teacher was not ready. I have never been more frustrated by the cultural differences. I stood their trying to calm the fire in my eyes but deep down I was yelling, "hurry up! I can't miss the play! I have worked too hard to miss it!" But we didn't leave right away. We had to go say goodbye to the vice-principle and they chatted for five minutes and then the vice-principle followed us out. Then we went to say goodbye to the principle and then the vice-principle continued to walk with us. I wondered if she was going to take a taxi with us. We ended up continuing to walk until we got to an auto mechanic. Can you feel the heat coming out of my ears? We had to wait until the vice-principle's car was brought out. I did my best to stand far behind and keep a straight face. Once in the car everything seemed to move in slow motion.  For a few minutes I didn't think we'd ever make it their because my CT and the VP kept talking in Korean in a hurried worried tone and the name of the school we were driving to kept popping up.

We finally got there and ran into the school, found school slippers to wear (the things that slow you down in Korea) and followed the signs to the English Drama room. My 6th grade CT was standing by the door and told us that our school was next. I breathed a big sign of relief. We hadn't missed the play. We moved to the front of the room and watched our students.

I personally thought it was the best they had ever done. I was swelling with pride the whole way through. There were a few mistakes but the students covered them up so well. The foreign judges laughed at all the right parts and I even heard one say to the other, "this one is really good". I left the room walking on a cloud. I was so proud of my students. Their English was clear and their actions were in tune with the words. They had made so much progress from the first practice.

My 6th grade CT wasn't so confident. She told me that two other schools were better. She was right. Two days later she told the drama students and I that we got 3rd place (out of 7 schools). They seemed very disappointed and sad that it was over. If we would have gotten 1st we would still be practicing for the final round with all of the other 1st place schools. (40 some schools competed in groups of 7 and the top finishers perform at the end of this month with costumes and props).

That day I was in a funk because I felt so sad about the outcome. I thought they did so well and brought the Table Fairy to life. I had to remind myself that this experience was about learning English and not about winning. This was suppose to be about having fun while using English. In those regards my students succeeded. They always seemed to be having such a good time in practice and on stage. I'm still so proud of my little English Drama Students.

They and this whole experience I will treasure forever.

If you'd like to watch the performance you can find the link here:
http://www.okseo.es.kr/index.jsp?mnu=M001006004&SCODE=S0000000325&frame=&search_field=&search_word=&category1=&category2=&category3=&page=&nPage=&cmd=view&did=27540

Bless friends.

7.

This seven month anniversary slowly crept up on me. I celebrated this morning by making pancakes. This past month I have moved away from Korean food and it feels good to be taking the time (and spending the money) on food I enjoy. I have had so far two lovely lunches at my desk. It is so quiet but its what I need.

These last seven months in Ulsan have been interesting to say the least. I have seen so many new shops, restaurants, and coffee houses pop up and then just as quickly disappear. I swear every weekend when I walk around my neighborhood a new place has opened up. It is great that businesses can open up so fast but on the down side they also seem to leave just as quickly. For example my favorite tea place closed in February and I was just a few stamps away from getting a free cup of tea. It had these great black and white pictures from the owners travels around the world and it was always quiet (that should've been a sign). I have stumbled upon a few amazing coffee houses that I enjoy stopping at, so that makes the departure of the tea place a little less painful.

Some new places that have popped up are: a coffee house that has cubbies like in preschool where you can sit on the floor and enjoy your coffee and friends. A Papa Johns! A new sandwich/panini place! A Dasio in my neighborhood (a great, pretty much dollar store). And a French Fry place. Rumor has it there will be a mexican restaurant opening soon (on that day I will do a happy dance).

The greatest edition to Ulsan is a new "department store" (they call malls that are tall department stores) called Up Square and inside is the first H & M in Ulsan! I am beyond excited. H&M is the only store that I have shopped at in Korea (besides Forever 21 in Seoul) that has clothes that fit me the correct way. I feel so happy over the fact that I can buy shirts with sleeves that fit and pants that are long and big enough. I had one too many depressing days in Korean fitting rooms trying to jump into their biggest size of jeans and still not being able to zipper them. Now I am a quick 30 minute bus ride away from one of my favorite stores. I went there yesterday with Loree and Meredith. We were surprised to see not many foreigners there. We figured it would be packed with them but maybe it was today.

Now I will need to practice the important virtue of self-control. I do not need to buy every cute thing that fits me just because I have money. I have to keep in mind the fact that I need to get everything I have BACK home.

I sent my first box home via "surface" which means it will take trucks and boats back to America. I am curious to see how long it will take. For the price of 17,000 Won I don't care if it takes 5 months because that is the best deal ever!

May should be a great and sad month. I will be saying goodbye to two great friends I have made in Korea and my best friend, Samantha, will be visiting me for two weeks. I am beyond excited to show her around Korea and that I will have a friend back home that will really "get" what Korea is like.

Bless friends.