Friday, December 25th, 2010

Merry Christmas Eve~!! :D

I just finished the school year! Kids are on break and I might be teaching new students when they return. I start winter camp this coming week, and Ian comes to visit the week after!♥

I'll have time Sunday to post updates on the past few months. Sorry it's taken me so long!! I will post everything~!! Be prepared hahaha ^_^

*xoxoxoxoxo*

UPDATE

Just wanted to send a message to everyone that might be worried about me. I'm here, I'm okay, and I'm busy! School is still going on. No one seems to be in an uproar over N Korea at the moment and everyone is continuing life as normal.
To quote my friend Matthew (who's lived here longer than me): "To all my friends who are not in Korea: Don't freak about about this! This may be the worst so far, but North Korea does stupid stuff like this all the time, just to get attention. Nobody involved actually wants war. People in Seoul are annoyed about it, but nobody is really worried. Life pretty much goes on as normal here."

But, to be safe (and appease everyone worried about me) I registered with the US Dept of State (travel.state.gov).

Just keep Korea (both N and S) in your prayers. Love you all and talk to you soon~~

This is a Musical Post

Oct 17th was the Thrill Me performance/Jihoon Fan Event. I went with Mai and Kat. Before we all met up to get our tickets, Mai and I got together to shop for Jihoon and Jonghyuk (OJ). We wanted to get them gifts because we knew we would be able to see them after the show. I bought them both candy, tea, and scarves. ^^ It's just in time, too...it started getting cold the next week.
When we got our tickets, there was a drawing for the event for a picture taken with them. I thought it was just Jihoon, so when I won I gave it to Mai. She told me no take backs. haha~~
I had just gotten a cold at that time, so I really can't remember much about the show. It was still very good, of course. :) I remember Jonghyuk falling pretty hard during the scene where they argue. He's supposed to fall, but this seemed like it hurt. I almost laughed though because the fans were whispering a lot right after, they were so concerned. But, he seemed fine.
After the show, we went to figure where we were supposed to be for the fan event. Mai went off to get her group picture taken and Kat and I stood in line. I really wanted to be outside when OJ came out. When Mai got back I went outside to wait, and Kat came with. Mai stayed downstairs to wait for Jihoon's fan event to start. She would text us when it started. It was crowed around the stairs but when OJ came out I was closer to the door, so I ended up in front when he walked outside. He saw me and told me "Long time no see!" in English. Then he reached over and grabbed food from another fan who had a bag of snacks. It was so adorable. I would have given him the whole thing. :P Since we were crowded by the door, he walked out and around to the back of the building where there was more room. There were a lot of fans this time so it ended up being pretty crowded around him. Sometime while Kat and I were waiting, Mai texted us and said the event started, but I hadn't gotten to give OJ his gift so we told her we'd head down as soon as we could. Talked with some Korean fans that spoke English who loved that we were fans~~OJ was signing stuff and talking to everyone...he even teased this girl with the pen; she was holding the lid for him and when he went to put the pen back he kept "missing" and writing on her hand. It was funny. Finally got to talk to him and he signed my ticket with "good to see u" ^_^ LOL he also misspelled my name and went back to fix it; wrote it in cursive. He really is so nice even with the language barrier. I gave him his gift and took a pic with him and Kat. That's posted on my facebook, but it's too cute not to share~!

Kat and OJ were trying to make a heart above us, but the person taking the picture didn't get it in the shot. :P Still so cute! He was very happy to talk to us again~~
Finally finished meeting with him and rushed down to the fan event (we missed all of it!) Jihoon was on his way out and was giving signatures to those who didn't have one. Kat and I ran up and she got her signature, I gave him my present. He did this little dance thing to show his excitement. It was funny. After he left, Mai wanted to see if OJ was still around, so we ran back out to check. He was! Kat gave Mai's present to him but she wanted to go over and tell him about her present, as well as get a pic. She gave him orange juice (OJ) hahaha. :D He actually got the joke...I think mostly cuz she held up the juice and said "OJ!" He laughed~~
So we finally wandered off and I went home since I live so far away. They both kept texting me all the way home tho...they were having fun teasing each other and telling me. :P


Taal was the following Saturday (10.23) We (Thea, Kat, Krista, and Mai) met up around 10am for BRUNCH! I got to eat pancakes, sausage, eggs, and orange juice!!!! It was sooooo good, I ate everything. :P I wrote down directions to get there so I can go again~~It was a little pricey but so worth it. :D
After eating, we wandered off to the area we needed to be for the show. Ended up at COEX mall and wandered around trying to find someplace for coffee before the show. Sat around talking about kpop (of course) and being crazy.They're such a fun group to hang out with! Always making jokes and such. Reminds me of how Jan, Jill and I act together. :)
The show was awesome! I didn't understand anything at all, but they did a 2PM song! That was cool~~we all spazzed (Thea is a big fan) about it of course. The show seemed to be a Romeo and Juliet story, but with traditional Korean stuff thrown in. It was interesting and sad, but still really awesome. It was more dance based, which I enjoyed. The lead guy was a great dancer too.
After the show, we wandered around looking for a place to eat dinner. Ended up in the food court at COEX and I had french fries covered in cheese, chili, and bacon. :P I was very unhealthy that day. Went home sometime after that because I was supposed to meet some other friends for a birthday. Since I was still sick and exhausted from the day I ended up not going out.

Alright, I have a lot to say for Spamalot and the days events, so I will stop this post here. Musical Post Part II coming soon...

COSCTO Adventure!

The weekend after Rock of Ages, some friends I made at Orientation (and saw again at dinner) decided we wanted to take a trip to COSTCO to gather some yummy foods (LIKE CHEESE!). :D We met up around 12 and head off to Seoul...cuz of course there wasn't one close to our area. Got off at the right stop but I managed to take us the wrong direction. Luckily we were stopping for lunch first and didn't travel far before I noticed.
We managed to keep our purchases to a minimum...mostly because we didn't want to carry so many things back on the subway train. It was fun because there were four of us and one cart. It wasn't as packed as I thought it would be on a Saturday, which was nice. I bought a large box of instant oatmeal, CHEESE, salami, trail mix, and rice snacks. I still have all of the food and we're going again in a few weeks. ^^ There was a large pumpkin pie that I wanted. Maybe next time I'll buy it. :P
On the way home that day we had to transfer...but we were all so busy talking and missed the stop! lol I kept watching the signs but I had misread it at some point. We only had to go a few more stops and were able to backtrack to the right transfer stop. Didn't take too long, but we were already so tired! I think I got home around 6pm? It was definitely a long day.

Next post coming soon...it will probably include the next 3 musicals I went to (Thrill Me, Taal, and Spamalot!) It will be long so be ready! ^^ see ya~~♥

Orientation + Rock of Ages

Long time no "see!" ^.^ I've been so busy and really haven't made time to update this. But, here I am! (You can stop pestering Ian, Ashley~~hahaha)

The end of September, I had a 3 day overnight orientation for my prgoram (Gyeonggi English Program in Korea). It was a lot of fun! Of course, I learned a lot of new things to use in my classroom. ;) I even learned how to play traditional drums. That was cool~~ Met a lot of people close to the area I live in...some even right next door! It's great to know I don't always have to go to Seoul to hang out with friends. We even started a weekly dinner in our area. I have been a little too busy to go, but I went a few weeks ago when we went to an Indian restaurant. Yummy~ :P

The weekend after was a restful one. I think I went to see Resident Evil 4 that weekend. In 3-D! It was a good movie and the 3-D was not as difficult to watch as I thought. All the action had me worried I'd get motion sickness or something. It wasn't as good as the others, but I had fun anyway~~Sungmin was surprised that I even wanted to go.

The second weekend in October was Rock of Ages! It's a musical that was starring Onew from SHINee and Sunday from CSJH (The Grace). It was so fun! The songs were all classic rock songs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_of_Ages_(musical)) so I was able to pick up the story even though most of the story (and songs) were in Korean. I had fun watching Onew anyway. He's an awesome singer and was pretty adorable in this show. He plays excited in adorable ways: his voice got high pitched and he even cracked a few times. :P I'm not sure if that was intentional though haha. His singing voice is so distinct and he has a great range. He did "I Wanna Rock" and it was so different from his SHINee songs. He did the rocker voice so well. There was one point he even held this note for so long. We started clapping halfway through the note and by the time the clapping died down, he was still holding it! I melted *^_^* It was very impressive. The narrator is also the writer of the story. At one point he made Onew and another character start dancing for some reason (adlib change or something) and Onew did his Lucifer dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkvyT-8OUT0 watch this for the first 25 seconds). His moves were so sharp and quick, it was cool. The show was very interactive, too. We clapped and sang along at the curtain call and most of the show. We enjoyed ourselves~~
Waited after the show for him, but there were so many fangirls, we just hung around and watched other performers come out. We even talked to some and my friends got some pictures with them. Onew came out much later but there were so many people, we stayed away and just watched the van drive off. We didn't get to even see him, but we waved at the van as it drove off! Maybe he noticed the foreigners ;)

Went home after that and crashed, I was so tired. It was a Sunday night, so I needed to get to bed.

I have more to post about, but I'm gonna make them all separate posts so I can keep them a little organized. See ya~! :D

Amazing week

I climbed a mountain!! But let me go in order of events haha...

Didn't do much the first part of the week. Met with Sungmin and some of his friends who wanted to meet me (or maybe just any foreigner haha) on Monday night. It was fun. Just hung out and talked. All of them spoke English! But Sungmin talked to me more than the rest...I think everyone else were too nervous. Most Koreans I meet think their Eng is horrible (when it usually isn't!).

Slept in some on Tuesday? I really don't remember anything other than it was so rainy that day! I did venture out to the store when it died down. But, I had to go back out to buy sneakers so I could run and also go hiking Thursday. It rained a lot! I also spent just a little too much for shoes, but they looked good! :) They're black (and pink!) so they'll stay clean longer, and they didn't make my feet look huge. The guy was also super helpful even though he didn't speak any English. They were only 70,000won ($68) compared to all the other shoes that I liked that were $100 or more!

Wednesday woke up super early and got on the train by 8ish to meet Mai and the rest of the gang at Lotte World by 9:30am. I was running late actually cuz it took me longer to get ready and eat. Mai was running late too actually, so it wasn't a big deal. :P Met up with her and another friend I hadn't met yet. We were the only ones there (the rest of the group were coming later) so we went ahead and bought our passes. I think because of Chuseok, there was a discount! We paid 22,000won for the ticket. The ticket, by the way, paid for all of the rides as well~~~ :D There was only one ride we went on that didn't take the ticket. Nothing too special or different from your typical amusement park. ^_^ Rode the scary rides of course, ate too much junk, and bought useless cat ears. haha They're cute~~



Finally headed home around 8pm? I got home and was in bed around 10 I think. That was later than I wanted since I had to be on the train in the morning by 7am!
Joey and I ended up leaving later than planned from Ansan. Left around 7:20...didn't get into Suraksan Stn until 9:20am! But we met up with Matthew, Sunna, Dan, and Kyujin, ate a quick breakfast and headed to the mountain. It was a nice hike in the beginning. The weather was cool, sun was shining, and there were trees and water! :D It was so pretty. The climb got a little tricky but we were all excited...that is until we got to the top of the first part. Then we looked up and saw the rest of the mountain. It was so high! We also could see people were climbing up using ropes that were attached to the rock with steel posts. That was very intimidating, but before we could talk ourselves out of it we kept going (I actually led the way...don't know what I was thinking hahaha). Here's the first part:

That mountain in the distance is I think the highest point. We were heading for it!

Here's what the ropes looked like. Pretty sure this was after the first climb.


It was fun for awhile, even if it was a little scary for me. But, I was able to stay focused and not pay attention to the height. Except the one part where there was a sheer drop to the left and we had to be right next to it as we climbed up using the ropes/posts. I got myself a little worked up and had to take a longer break than everyone (I'm sure) wanted. I was just too scared. Even through all of it, I could tell that it was just a beautiful sight. These nice ladies gave me grapes cuz I looked so discontented. ^_^ haha food makes everything better.

We kept going!! Finally made it to the top and it was awesome! I have a bunch more pics, but I'll post them to facebook and share the public link again. Here's one of us all at the top. We actually look okay. Joey and I were the only ones scared actually (he's in the red shirt). But we did it!


Going down took just as long...but our group separated cuz Joey and I wanted off the mountain and this nice man was helping us go the best way. :) So, it was Joey, Sunna, the man, and myself heading down. We took a break to eat and he shared some food. It was so nice! We bought him a drink after we got to the bottom. It was crazy! We didn't really expect to be climbing as much as we did. We really thought it was just a hike. But, I definitely am glad I went! It was awesome. :D
That's the mountain we climbed! ^_^

After all that climbing we met up with the others and went to eat and drink. :) Had Korean BBQ and some Kimchi Chigae Then we went to another place to try this Korean veggie pancake and some rice/soju drink. I loved the pancake. We also ate a ground bean soup. The texture was like a porridge, but it was so good. Ate so much food~~~but finally went home and took a needed shower. :P Got to bed around 10pm and woke up today around 9:30.

Today's plan doesn't include much until later. I'm meeting up with Joey, Sungmin and some other friends around 7pm. I still need to buy a miniskirt for the Rock of Ages musical next month...but I'll probably try to do that this weekend.

I have training next week for 3 days. I'm actually bummed I'm missing school for it! But, it'll be a nice break and a way to meet some more people living in Korea. :)

Gonna run~this was a long post! Hope you enjoyed~~~~♥!

OM NOM NOM

I had Mexican foooooooood!!!!!!! YAY~~
We went to On the Border some time after the church event (it finished at 5!) and stopping by my friend's place. It was the best I've ever had. Ok, not really but I was totally missing Mexican food more than I thought. Like, we walked in the restaurant and I started squealing and stuff. Mai was like "Are you okay?!" I was apparently more excited to be there than I thought. It was funny. We ate so much food and I felt so full. But it was so worth it. ^_^ I also have leftovers~!

Church was interesting. I managed to pay some attention...I was mostly trying to keep up and see what words I could recognize. Not much. We were in Luke, the parable about the son that returned home after losing all of his inheritance. I knew some of the hymns too!! Could remember some of the chorus in English, but mostly I sang in Korean since I could read it. It was nice. I am going to actually try to find a church in my area now. I didn't want to before cuz I don't know enough Korean.
The event after was alright. I thought there would be more singing from Lee Jihoon, but he sang 3 songs and just talked the rest of the time. Since it was such a small event we were able to say hi to him afterward. He asked if I understood anything today, and I said no. He laughed at me...I think it was more of an aww, how cute *pity* HAHA. I went more for the church and Mai, honestly. Even though he is nice to look at and listen to. ;-)

Went home after dinner since it was after 8pm by this time. It was an eventful ride towards the end. A fight broke out (it's really not common) cuz I think this guy was drunk. But he definitely lost...it freaked me out cuz the first guy gave some serious hard punches. The other guy was bleeding, it was horrible. I was pretty shaken up after it, but there were others who stepped in to help get the drunk guy off the train.

Anyway, not much planned today other than laundry and cleaning. Maybe going to run an errand. I forgot a few things from the store the other day. Also need to get running shoes...going to an amusement park all day Wednesday, hiking Thursday! Some shoes with support will be a good idea. I also wanted to start running some.
Also meeting my friend Sungmin tonight. Possibly for dinner? I'm not sure, he gets off work just before we're meeting so I think that will probably be the plan.

Off to finally start laundry~~hope you all have a great day!!

the life of an english teacher...

Finished the week, finally! It wasn't long or anything, just tiring now that I teach extra classes. But, I made more overtime than last week! yay~~

Friday was a good night! Went to Korean class, learned and practiced a lot. I am learning how to make some basic but useful sentences! I tried it out in an email today~^^ We even got distracted at the end talking a little about language and which are more popular. Also talked about English speaking countries and their dialects and such that make it hard to understand.
Went out to the club with a friend from Korean class. It was her bday and we went out in Ansan dancing. It was awesome~! I actually went to this place before but it wasn't as fun cuz the friends I went with didn't dance. Alyssa loves to dance so we spent the entire night there dancing till our bodies hurt. :) We got there around 11 and didn't leave til 3:30am or so. Got home and finally crashed at almost 5am. Crazy!! But so fun. We stood out, of course...but also because Alyssa and I were dancing so much (and I dunno about myself, but Alyssa is a good dancer!) The live band was fun too~~

Went to Home Plus today, finally! Alyssa and I met up there for lunch and to buy groceries. I bought food, and even found some indoor shoes for work finally. Also caved and bought a very cute pair of boots. I'll share a pic soon. :) Might wear them tomorrow since I won't be out all day. They'll be better when it cools off more.

I have this coming week off for Chuseok. Not much planned, but so far I have some things to do!
Sunday- Meet Mai for church (finally!) in Seoul. Also an event is going on after that. The church we're going to is the one Jihoon attends (guy from Thrill Me musical). He's performing a bit in the afternoon. Finally getting to Seoul again! I need to check my tmoney card to make sure I still have money on it for the subway...

Monday-nothing til the evening. Meeting up with my new friend Sungmin (LOL not from SuJu.) probably for dinner. I should ask since we're meeting at 7:30. Met him through my friend Joey last weekend when we went out. He wants to practice his English and I will attempt to practice learn more Korean. Yay more friends in Ansan (Alyssa lives in the area too)!!

Wednesday-LOTTE WORLD!! It's one of the big amusement parks. Going in Tuesday night most likely, so we can go super early. :P Wooooo~!!

That's it for my mini-vacay (for now!)...but the following week I'm heading to Seoul for 3 days for a training workshop. I'm bummed I will be missing school (do you see this?? MISSING WORK! I am so happy that I love teaching again~) but Alyssa is going to the training too! I'll know someone yay~~It'll also be a nice break and probably a fun time. Hope I can make some more friends to do things with in Korea.

That's it for now~~~need to go pick up some water and juice since I didn't want to carry a fourth bag from Home Plus. ttyl♥

busy week!

I'm updating! I haven't been doing anything major during my weekends, so there's not been much to update with.

I started my Korean class this week on Monday. Got moved into the intermediate class that's on Tues/Fri. I was super nervous...we took a test to determine our level and I didn't know a lot of it. Some I could kind of get through because I understand sentence structure. I got a 42! :P Yeah it was better than I thought I would get. But it also meant I could stay in the class. If we got below 40, she recommended we take the Mon/Thurs class. Still wasn't sure if I should stay in it, but last night went well! There were only 5 of us in class (probably cuz it was a FRIDAY night). We learned about sentence structure and how to use honorific form. Our vocabulary focus was family. My vocabulary is poor, but I pick up quick on how to create the sentences. I just need to practice my vocabulary more. Time to make notecards~! :-P

School was so busy and tiring this week. Tuesday, I teach 5 classes, so I'm done at 2pm. However, something happened with the English after class and Faa (5th grade co-teacher) and I were asked to step in until November or so. This isn't the kind of afterschool class you might be thinking of. This was two classes that ranged from grades 1-6. Each class is 80 minutes long and meets twice a week (Tues/Thurs). basically from 2pm until 4:40pm I am now teaching. On Tuesdays I teach from 9:10am until 4:40. Thursday, I actually get a break from 1:20-2pm.
It was a little overwhelming when we were asked to take over this class last minute. And I mean last minute. But, things seem to work themselves out and I am getting overtime for it. ^^ It's not too bad...I am so lucky to be teaching it together with my co-teacher!! She's awesome~

Even though I was tired, I still managed to go to Korean class, and it was fun. :) I met a girl the first class who is into Kpop and Korean dramas, so we get along well. She was there on Friday and we talked about a concert coming up that she's going to see. I'm not going cuz it's too much money and I already paid for three musicals for next month. Which reminds me, I need to buy a skirt for one of the shows. We get a discount for wearing a miniskirt. :P

Nothing else that I can think of. It really has been a busy week. I hung out with Yunkyu and met his friend on Tuesday. Of course he doesn't speak much English so Yunkyu has to translate for us. I feel bad, but I'm learning so hopefully I can communicate more. Going to meet some friends for lunch in an hour. YAY~ I haven't been hanging out much on the weekends, so I miss it. It's just a lot of time to go to Seoul to see my friends. Hopefully I can find some things to do here so I can convince them to come out to Ansan.

Anyway, gonna run! I should probably clean up my place a bit. But I wanted to do a big clean of the whole place, so I might just wait til tomorrow. :P

Take care, love ya!!!
~xoxoxoxoxo~

Current Weather

It's pretty windy and rainy out there today! Apparently Typhoon Kompasu is coming close to Seoul today. I don't live in Seoul, but it seems to be affecting us in Ansan, too. There's weather advisories as well as school was delayed for two hours. I don't go in until 10am.


Quoting the small snippet from a long article from weather.com:

"There are two active systems in the western Pacific Ocean. Radar is showing that Typhoon Kompasu has made landfall northwest of Seoul, South Korea. Kompasu will weaken rapidly. The heaviest rain will fall over North Korea but some strong thunderstorms are likely over parts of southeastern South Korea."

I'll keep you all updated~~

schedule

My schedule for the next few months is going to be a little busy!

September thru December:
-9/2 Meeting Sun from KORVIA (my recruiter) Thursday! :) We haven't met yet~
-Korean Class Mondays & Thursdays (7-9pm) *Starts 9/6
-Teaching English to Gojan teachers Tuesdays & Thursdays (3:30-4:30) *Starts 9/7

September 9-14:
-Online Course (Teaching English in Korea)

September 18-26:
-Chuseok vacation! :)
*I need to plan some sightseeing/shopping during this time:
~Insadong
~Namdaemun Market
~City/Palace Tours

October:
-9th Thrill Me fan event
-10th Rock of Ages Musical (ft. Onew from SHINee)
-30th Spamalot Musical (ft. Yehsung from Super Junior)

not really an update

Nothing new to post really...it's only Monday and the 2nd day of teaching since break. It's still fun! I love working with my 5th grade co-teacher. :) We work very well together and she always has such great ideas for lessons! I definitely need to take notes haha~

I realized I haven't written any postcards like I said I was going to! Break sure does make me more forgetful as well as lazy. :-P I'll work on sending postcards out soon! I hope to get a bunch sent out later this week. I'll do my best to get them all sent, but knowing me, I won't! I'm so forgetful...

Hope everyone had a great weekend!! Have a great week, too~~

delay in picture update.

I updated a lot of my pictures onto my facebook (email me if you still need that public link!) but I have about 200 left to take care of. However, my computer has crashed on my three times in about one week, AND my external harddrive cannot be accessed at the moment. So, no picture update until I can get to my files. :(

Luckily, I have an awesome boyfriend who is so smart and loves me and is willing to help me fix this. ^_^ I just need to order a new external. Luckily those are inexpensive now!

As soon as I can, I'll get those pictures up!

Last night, went out to dinner with the Principal, Vice Principal, two head teachers, my co-teacher and the other American English teacher. It was...interesting. Lots of food and talking in Korean, which I didn't understand. But, I seemed to respond well and acted accordingly (to Korean tradition/culture). I still don't like soju haha.

Anyway, gotta run to class in a minute! ~XOXOXOXOXO~

UPDATE 8-23-2010

It's really hard to believe it's already near the end of August!! I go back to school this Wednesday...finally. I have been missing it a lot. I like the break, but I really wish I had planned a little more. It got a little boring and I messed up my sleep schedule some. Oh well, I'll just have to adjust this week and probably during the weekend as well.

Anyway, Saturday was the SMTOWN concert. It was amazing! I won't go into detail here...I'll just post that at my Livejournal and if you want to read it let me know. I'll prob post a lot of pics on my facebook anyway, so you'll get to see that.
I still can't believe I actually saw Changmin and Yunho from DBSK!!!! and SHINee! and SNSD!!! It was just awesome. ^_^

Oh, I posted a lot of pics on my facebook. I'm almost caught up!! I probably still have a hundred more to resize and post. Actually, more now that I went to the concert. I took so many pics/videos my camera battery died (it was a 6 hour concert)!

If you can't access the facebook page, please email me so I can send you the public link. I don't want to post it here, cuz then it wouldn't be so private anymore. :P

That's all for now! I went and paid all my bills today at the bank! It's so convenient. I should probably have asked about setting it up to automatically take it out, but I don't know if the bank can do it. I may have to contact the actual companies. Luckily, the bank is super close, so no problem there. :)

Gonna go work on finishing those pictures! I am determined to get them done. Also, I will try to get those postcards out to everyone soon!! It'll be a little harder once I go back to school, but I've been so lazy this break. Being back to school will help with my motivation I think. ^^ I still need to buy more postcards, too! But, if you don't get a postcard, I'll try to send a letter. I have some cute stationary to use! :)

Love you all~~~talk to you soon!!! ♥

Thrill Me musical. Take...3!

This was my third time seeing Thrill Me. We had some nice seats! We were seated on the balcony, left side. Apparently we were on the wrong side, but didn't discover this til the end of the show...no one sat in that area at all, so we just thought we got lucky. :P They had asked for our tickets but the show was starting as we were searching for them and she said it was ok and left.

The seats were great though! We could lean on the railing and peek over in the parts that were too far downstage, right. The perspective of the show from up there was a nice experience. I really enjoyed it.

Their performance has gotten so...amazing. I love the singing and their harmonies are stunning. I am so impressed with their acting too. The younger one is getting more and more creepy. He's supposed to be, but it really showed last night. I still find his character adorable. Even when he's being creepy, his still the slightly obsessive fanboy of the older one. :P just a little immature, but it fit. I felt like this gave him a little more pent-up rage, cuz all he could do was idolize the other one. Their chemistry is awesome.

Waited around at the end to meet them again. I bought the photobook, it was the newer one with Jihoon and Jonghyuk in it (the ones we came to see). I had them sign that.
Met Jihoon first, he was wearing my friend's hat she gave him! We both spazzed about it, he looked good in it. I wanted to say something in Korean to Jonghyuk anyway, so I told the same thing to Jihoon ("You performance was really good!") I think he understood me. :P I got a little nervous, but he was patient while I attempt to pronounce it well.

After we got stuff signed, I wanted to go see Jonghyuk. He looked like he was about to leave so Mai ushered me closer to where he was. He turned around and I was right there. :P His response was the most precious thing ever! He turned, saw me and went "OH!" 'O' (<--that's his face hahaha). It wasn't the "OH! A white girl" face like last time...it was the "OH! SHE'S BACK!" face. He seemed so excited to see me again. I basically lost it after that. I didn't expect that kind of reaction, so all I could do was giggle and spaz. ^_^ He signed my book and I was smiling so much, I failed at the Korean so Mai had to translate it. >.< He was still so nice about it though. He signed my book and as an afterthought, added "Thank you!!" in English. :) The pen we used apparently was too water-based so it smeared a lot on the train ride back to Mai's. I took a pic, in case it comes off completely. :(

I am still so amused by his shock over me being there. I forgot about getting gifts for them, and Mai probably wants to go again, so I might just go one more time. I'm such a sucker for musicals. :P I also want to see Jonghyuk's reaction again. hahaha! I might not have time though, since it's so far from Ansan and ends too late for me to get home. Their shows are all on weeknights, it seems.

OH! I hung out Tuesday night with Yunkyu. We played at the arcade/sang noraebang (karaoke). It was pouring rain just as we were ready to leave, but neither of us had an umbrella (yeah, I know I said I would never be without an umbrella, but I was running late). So we ran over to a traditional style bar/pub. I ate cow stomach! :P It was actually pretty good, but a little chewy. I liked it!
I am still working on resizing pics, so that one will get posted sometime soon. I hope! I have break until next Wednesday, so I'll make sure to take time tomorrow or later in the week.

Talk to u all later!<3

SUPER SHOW!!!!

Plans include meeting a friend and her friend for lunch, then getting ready to head out to Seoul late tonight. I'm meeting friends late so we can be up way early and head to the lines that are gonna be at the ticket booth! We're waiting in line most of tomorrow to get tickets to SUPER SHOW (Super Junior's concert)!! ^____^ I hope there's still someone who wants to do standing...they're going to the concert tonight, as well so they might be too tired to be in the standing section. I think that I'll get tickets anyway! I really want to be as close as possible! But the seating might even be better. We'll see! (posted: Sat 8/14)

*COMMENCE INCOHERENT POST*
SS3 WAS AMAZING!!! I HAVE NOT BEEN TO A BETTER CONCERT...except maybe HANSON, but they cannot be compared! Hanson relies a lot on their instruments and voices, since they are not a dance group. SuJu relies on their singing and dancing...and all the lights! *_*

(WARNING: I will do my best to keep it short and sweet, as well as keep it in order! But, a lot of things will pop into my head as I write.)

OK, so the day started off wayyyyy too early. Arrived at the venue by 5AM (yes you heard me right!). Got in line, while 2 friends started a number system. Some fans will attempt to cut. We also had to wait in line until 12pm, so being able to keep your spot while taking a bathroom break is helpful! Luckily this day wasn't pouring rain like Saturday. Anyway, we waited around, ate some snacks and finally got our tickets. Then, we had to WAIT SOME MORE. The venue didn't open until 3ish and the show didn't start until 4pm. We started being let in around 3, but a friend and I were in the last section of standing. But, because the standing is a large area, we would be able to move around and attempt to get close to the stage. Standing back from the crowd helped to see the stuff that was further away from me, too.

Dealt with some issues cuz last minute some girls complained because we wouldn't let them stand in front of us. We apparently were supposed to be in line in ticket number order, but no one told us that and we were first in line. None of us in the front were going to move so we just let the girls stand in front of us. I felt bad for the girl that worked there tho. She seemed frustrated, but it would have been nice if they told us to get in that order in the first place! They only said to make 4 lines.
Anyway, walked into the venue and WOW. It was so big! I started freaking out a little cuz Super Junior is my second favorite group. It's also my first concert here.

There was plenty of space in our section, so we were able to move around most of the show. That was helpful, especially when a member was in another part of the stage and there was room to get closer. Just had to be a little quick. :-P

The show started off in the center, with lots of lights and music. Out of this center contraption comes a member flying in the air (Donghae for those of you that know/care). His haircut is gorgeous~~ Oh, there was a vid at the beginning too...it got everyone excited for the show. The first song was Sorry Sorry. I think Eunhyuk was on our side of the stage, he came out of the floor before it started.

I realized this could take a long time if I go into any more detail, so I'm just gonna talk about some highlights for me. :)

Shiwon was one of the second members to come to our side. I think him along with Donghae, Sungmin, and Shindong actually...But this could have been at any point. I think most of the members ended up on my side at least once!
-Shiwon is gorgeous! He is a lot smaller than I imagined. He is pretty broad shouldered and built, but his waist is so small! It was surprising. Oh and he's now my new favorite (Sorry Hangeng)...he's actually a Christian (he tells everyone lol) and his solo song was "Looking for the Day." I hadn't heard that song in so long. He did a beautiful job and was just so absorbed in the music and in praising God. I cried, I'll admit it.
-Sungmin is precious!! He is cute and short, and I just find him so adorable. He also knows how to work it...his dance solo (I was bummed he didn't sing!!) was pretty hot. he also played the guitar for Ryeowook's solo. He's a fantastic guitarist. Oh! He got his shoes stuck in the stage trap door thing. It was hilarious, cuz he finally gave up and took off his shoes then wandered over to a rail and stuck his leg on it, trying to be sexy/silly. It was hilarious. Kyuhyun went and retrieved his shoes for him and even helped him put them on. ^^ They also wore giant vegetable suits during their song called "Cooking Cooking" Sungmin was on my side and I noticed he counted the steps before he walked down and counted them as he walked down, so he wouldn't fall. He was a giant pumpkin after all. http://pics.livejournal.com/midorihaven/pic/002d0xtk <--see? :D
-Heechul really is as pretty as he looks. I mean really. I don't think I have ever met or seen a guy more beautiful than him. He knows it, too. Which kinda makes him seem stuck up, but I don't care. He was fun to watch. Especially when they had these cold air guns they were spraying at us. Heechul just wandered around, smacking his gum, nonchalantly spraying fans, and other members. His solo was AMAZING! He's such a diva...he did Lady GaGa's "Pokerface" It was basically amazing. :)
-Ryeowook wasn't on my side too much. But he is almost as pretty as Heechul. His solo song was gorgeous. He has such a beautiful voice. It's flawless~~At the end, he was wearing cat ears! So cute.
-Donghae's hair looks so good on him. It's shorter. He's also a pretty awesome performer. His singing has improved a lot and it shined in their TROT song (brand new song!). The style fit him well~~ One point they all wore costumes and Donghae was in an English guard uniform...someone threw his giant hat at him right after he came out. :P
-Shindong is one of my least favorite members sometimes...but he actually looked good during this show. He's also a great performer, he knows how to hype everyone up. :)
-Eeteuk is the leader, and he's sometimes not a fave, either. But, he's pretty adorable. He's got a cute voice and can be pretty hyper. He was on our side a few times and was pretty interactive with us. At one point he gave a big arm heart and looked in my area...I gave a hands heart at the same time! I'd like to believe it was the only time I got their attention. :D Just leave me in that belief HAHAHA.
-Kyuhyun is the youngest member. He's a little brat! It's funny tho...when they had the air guns, he shot the cold air in one area like four times in a row. Poor girl. I laughed so hard at his face while he was doing it. :P He also attacked most of the members that were around him. Oh and his solo was pretty. His voice is so nice. I was watching the screen cuz he was too far to see. It was close up and you could see his scar from the car accident. It was just nice to see that they really aren't as perfect as we'd like to believe. He was still so handsome~
-Yehsung I think was on my side only once or twice, but I don't remember him doing much. His solo was flawless though. He's got one of the best voices of suju in my opinion. He had us sing with him during parts of the song, too. It was actually one I knew, too! Well, only the chorus^^
-Eunhyuk is another least favorite member. He's got amazing dance skills, though. He also is a great TROT singer. He did the low, gravelly voice so well. I loved their new TROT song, it's called "Tok Tok Tok" (knock knock knock). OH!! I almost forgot...along with SHindong and Donghae, they did Beyonce's "Single Ladies" COMPLETE WITH COSTUME. Yes, they wore dresses and heels. It was a little disturbing to be honest, but funny nonetheless. They are still awesome dancers! I cannot deny it, even when they're prancing around in wigs and tight dresses. Heechul"Gaga" joined them during this, too.

I covered most of the highlights talking about each of the members. I know none of you know who they are, but I have a few friends that do. So, someone will appreciate this! ^_^
OHHHH! I almost forgot! The Trax came to perform with them! They're a kpop/rock group that were big during DBSK's time (They were in DBSK's video "Triangle" too). Heechul played drums with them the first time they performed! It was awesome. I was stoked they were there, but not as excited as I could have cuz my friends mentioned them being there, so I wasn't surprised.
They did a tribute for Kangin (he's a member that's in the army right now). I was a little annoyed they didn't do a tribute for the missing Kibum and Hangeng...but those two members did choose to leave the group. Kanging had no choice really. He's also a big part of SuJu, I guess. He's pretty loud when present. Anyway, the tribute was pretty! They pretended to play instruments and projected a giant Kangin behind each of the members, in turn. He saluted and blew a heart kiss in the video. I kinda teared up...Eeteuk was close to breaking down, you could see his eyes were wet.
Oh, they did two of their older songs (U and Dancing Out) as a rock version. It was awesome and so fun. I was in standing with one friend out of the group of us going...and all we did at the end was sing along and dance like crazy. It was fantastic~
The talking part (at some point) was awesome cuz Shiwon spoke in English and Chinese!!! They spoke to the fans in Korea, Chinese, Thai, and Japanese. I was stoked to hear Shiwon. It made me miss Hangeng (he was the Chinese member). I think the talking in English made me love Shiwon a little more. haha~
The end was fun. They still had the air guns and were goofing off with those, making it look like they were breathing fire or something...Shindong made it look like he farted (yup, he's a dork) and Ryeowook pretended to hold his nose. That was cute. :) Shiwon tried to blast Heechul but something didn't work and Heechul ran around in a victory pose. They also pulled out water bottles, and of course proceeded to attempt to wet each other when they each were talking to the fans. Eeteuk got water poured and spit on him. It was funny cuz he giggled and squealed. It was adorable.
That was the end, basically. The were exiting on our side area to walk around and go out the front/center area. But none of them seemed to look in our direction. I was sad. Oh, Kyuhyun had someone's cell phone too. He was talking to them too! It was cute...he handed the phone back and ran off to catch up with everyone.

Went home that night after eating with everyone. Crashed as soon as I got home, fell asleep as soon as my head hit that pillow. Was sore for the next two days after, but it was so worth it. I am going to SMTOWN Concert this Saturday too!!!! This one has SuJu, SNSD(Girl's Generation), SHINee, Changmin and Yunho from DBSK, BoA, The Trax, Kangta, and f(x). I am soooo stoked to see Yunho!! He's my fave from DBSK. BoA just had a comeback, too so it'll be epic with her there. I am also just getting more into SHINee, so that'll be awesome too. Girl's Generation are my favorite girl group, too! This is basically gonna be one awesome concert. I'll prob post about that one too. I hope I can take pics! I couldn't at SuJu, otherwise they'd kick you out. :(

Alright I'm gonna go make a separate post about my day yesterday. Went to the musical Thrill Me again...

-XOXOXOXO-

picture update 8-13-2010

These are pics from my school, most during the fire drill! It was really cool~

Thrill Me Musical~~and everything in between!

Finally posting about Sunday! :-P (OK so this was in the draft section forever! I already went and saw this show again!)

The morning was full of chores, so I'll skip that. haha...but I met up with Mai at around 3pm to head to the exit where The Stage was located (that's the place where the musical was gonna be). Found it after Thea showed up and pointed it out to us. It was a little further down than we thought. woops!
Went to a Pho restaurant, cuz Mai was craving it...I've never had it! It was so good!! Of course, it has a sauce that's spicy, so of course. :P I think I should have ordered the dish that had more meat tho. It was kinda lacking.
We had time to kill after that, so we ended up in UNIQLO (which apparently is a Japanese-based store?? anyone help me on that one? I dunno). But, there were some great sales! t-shirts for 10,000won (less than $10)! I bought 3. :-D Two are the same style, just different screen design and color. But so cute! Now, I just need some skirts/shorts to go with them.

Anyway, went to the show, which was pretty much awesome! I was lost during the whole thing, but the music was very emotional. I could follow along that way. We had some nice seats!! A little off to the right side (facing stage) a few rows from the front. It was small venue, but still good seats~

Since it's been so long since the first time I watched this, I am probably forgetting some details I wanted to mention. It was awesome, so I'll just move on!:D

Waited around after the show cuz my friend Mai has been a fan of one of the actors for a long time. He walked up the stairs where we were waiting, and I didn't recognize him of course. :P Mai gave him a present and then he walked outside to meet up with the fans. We headed out there, too. Thea and I kinda stayed behind, since we didn't know who he was. But, we eventually went out to watch Mai. Jihoon was super nice! He was talking to everyone and started shaking everyone's hands. He even came over to Thea and I (we were off to the side, watching everything). :) He shook our hands and said thank you in English. He's very charming, I felt myself getting slightly flustered. That's all I can really remember, so I'll end here.^^

As we were going to head out, the other actor (Jonghyeok) came out with a bunch of his fangirls. It was amusing, they were fanning him and all crowded around him. I was still very excited to see them perform again (I decided to go with Mai two more times after this one!)


I was gonna end this and finish a separate post about my events after that weekend, but I'll just keep it here. I guess I'll test out if this has a word limit! :-P

Anyway, the rest of English camp went well!! I had to make some improvements halfway through, but I was getting tired and not putting much effort into my work. The kids seemed to respond a lot better after that. I can't think of anything super fantastic about camp. It was fun and I'm excited for a bit of a break! Today's my first day on break~~I go back in about two weeks, on the 25th.

Last weekend I finally decided not to plan anything at all (except for some cleaning, laundry, and watching tv). Thursday, I get a call from an acquaintance I was put in touch with earlier (He's the grandson of someone from Emmanuel Baptist). He was gonna be in Seoul and wanted to go on a bus tour on Saturday. Grant and I met up around 11:30...I got a little lost on one of the transfers and ended up on the same line I started on. Which just meant I had to take the longer way to get there. Anyway, we met up and decided to take the City Tour. There was a palace tour, but there were a few other things on the City Tour that we were interested in (and still some palaces), so we chose that. It was only 10,000won! The trip was around 2hrs if you don't really get off the bus, but they run past the stations every 20-30minutes, so we got off a few times.

First stop we made was the National Museum. I forget that time passes too quickly at museums, so we kinda wasted 2hrs and only saw half of two floors. So, we headed out and finally got on the bus. It was raining off and on all day, but it actually wasn't too bad~

The second stop was the Traditional Korean Village. It was so cool! I love the style of homes here, you don't get to see houses much here. So many people live in apartments. The rain had decided to take a break, which was good~~We had to be outside in order to visit the houses. I am now a token white girl hahaha. A Chinese girl asked to take a picture with me! I was tempted to get a pic with my camera cuz I was so amused by it! It was precious, I even took one with her dad. She couldn't have been much older than 13. I knew they were Chinese cuz I heard them talking before and her dad even thanked me in Chinese. :)

Our next stop was the N. Seoul Tower. It was amazing! I was pretty scared, since it was so high over the city, but it was a great view. My camera does not do it any justice. The have this cute tradition where there are locks all over the fencing there. It was really cute! I took pics, those are to come tomorrow. Probably in a separate post. :)

We were running out of time, so we decided to skip the palaces. :( I think I'll try to go on the Tour again and make sure to visit the palaces and the war memorial museum. Our final stop was Insadong. It's a popular outdoor place with a lot of traditional stores and souvenirs. It seems to be a big tourist spot. But, it was so cool! I want to go back, mostly cuz I need more postcards. It's the only place I can figure out where to get postcards. It's such a nice area, I'm definitely going there for gifts (if you have something you might want, give me ideas!!). :) They have a lot of crafts and jewelry and antiques. It's a shopper's paradise haha~~

We left Insadong around 8pm and got on the last bus of the night to take us back where we started. Hadn't eaten since lunch (I had Kinchi Chigae~~tasty and spicy!) so we went to a BBQ place and stuffed ourselves. ^^ I am certain that is one meal I will never get tired of here. Left sometime around 10pm and headed home.

Sunday was a relaxing day. I got up, talked to my dad (in New Mexico) and said hi~also talked to a few ppl online for a bit. I also worked on getting addresses from people so I could use the postcards I bought. Took most of the morning...finally went out to pick up some kitchen stuff. Decided it was too hot to stay out, so I went home and took a small nap. Went out to get groceries sometime around 6. It was still sunny and hot out, but I didn't want to wait too long. I dunno how early it closes on Sundays.

The rest of camp flew by so fast this week. I felt like Monday barely came and it was already Wednesday! Everything ended smoothly, I'll miss them! But a lot of my kids are actually students at Gojan. I'll see them in a few weeks:)

Yesterday I went home and packed my things. I was gonna meet Mai to see Thrill Me again! I traveled with Yunkyu (my friend from the subway-he lives in Ansan) since he was heading to class. Met up with Mai around 7:40 and headed to the show. We were in balcony this time (2nd row). We were a little worried cuz downstage was down far enough that we knew we were gonna have trouble seeing some of it. But, the girls in front of us stayed pretty still and most of the show seemed to be center and upstage. It was a really cool view this time! I was really worried it wouldn't be a good seat.

The show was so much better for me! Mai gave me the music to the OST, which is in English, so I was able to catch on to the story. I also looked up some of the outline of the show on Wikipedia. That, and Mai translated some of the parts that she understood.
The story really is a dark topic, but it was performed so well. I really enjoyed their chemistry and singing ability. The blended so well~~~ The ending was super cute. When they were doing their bows, the younger one (Jonghyuk) tried to bow to the older one (Jihoon), but Jihoon stopped Jonghyuk by putting his hands on the sides of his head.
We went out afterwards to meet Jihoon. He came out early but didn't stay as long as before. He signed stuff this time though! All I had was my ticket stub. This girl noticed me of course and had me write my name on a post-it so he could write my name when he signed...but he still asked me how to spell it! I think he was making small talk. He seems so personable. I felt nervous this time! But he was super nice and when he was leaving he shook my hand again and told me "See you tomorrow." :D I think it was the only English phrase that came to mind, but he also might have assumed we were coming to the show Thursday too. I wasn't much better...I didn't know how to respond to I said "Yeah!" or something. :-P I'm gonna practice some Korean so I can tell him the show was awesome, next time. I'm going again next week.

Jihoon left, and we finally realized Jonghyuk was outside, surrounded by a bunch of fans. We went over and realized he was signing things, so we pulled out a pen and our stuff. My ticket was covered in Jihoon's signature, so I grabbed my small notebook that I carry around. He was so nice, and pretty adorable. :) He kept bowing and using his hands to bow (like he was praying). He also looked so shocked every time he looked at me. I was the only white person there! He also started taking pics with fans, so Mai and I took pics w/him (I'm lucky I grabbed my camera!). Mai and I decided that I should tell him it was nice to meet him (in Korean) since he was already so shocked I was there. I didn't get the guts to do it till just before he left and right after I took the pic with him. I didn't think a person could look anymore surprised! ^.^ Next week, I decided I'm gonna tell him something a little bit longer just to freak him out. He was really amusing with how surprised he was.
Let's face it, I'm just amused all over with how much I get stared at here. I kinda know what the celebrities feel like now. :-P hahaha~

Ok, I am now caught up (minus the pictures). I will be posting those tomorrow, probably do another set of video slideshows. I'll try to sort them, too! I have a lot of stuff to catch you all up on. Sorry! I have had busy weekends since I arrived. But, tomorrow I will make sure to at least get half of the pics posted. :)

Oh! One more thing. I got a package this week!! Ian's family put together a bunch of stuff and sent it to me. I got so many things~! It was amazing, I cried.^^ I knew I was gonna get a package from Ian, but not his whole fam! It was a great surprise~~Thanks guys, I love and miss you~!!

Now, I'm off. I didn't get any laundry done but I have no plans to be outside tomorrow, so I'm good. :-P Expect to hear from me again soon!! I really will try to do my best with posting more often. That way it won't be such a massive post!! ~XOXOXOXOXOXO!~ ^_^v

I bought a Red's shirt!

Halfway thru summer camp! :D It's been so busy these days cuz we have to plan new material every day. We spend our afternoons working on lessons, finding/making worksheets or powerpoints and copying things. It's fun though! This weekend I actually need to do some work at home. We were supposed to be putting our lessons in a certain outline but we were able to wait on doing it for a bit. But now they need those plus the worksheets we've used by Monday! It's hard to get it finished during the week when we're busy planning everything. I just don't write it in the format while I'm planning cuz I do a step-by-step list. I'm sure it won't take too long and I'll go in early Monday to get organized. Let's hope I can get stuff done this morning! I need to be in Seoul around 3pm. I'm going to see a musical in the evening and we need to eat beforehand.
I'm already doing laundry, so I think I'll be ok~ :-P

Yesterday I went into Seoul to meet some friends for lunch, then we went to a coffee shop and hung out the whole afternoon. I bought an iced chocolate (basically choc milk?). It tasted like melted ice cream! So yummy~~
After that, I went with Matthew to Dunkin Donuts. Yup, they have those here! ^_^ I tried a rice-cake honey donut, a sweet potato, and a mangosteen filled one. I loved the mangosteen one cuz it was a little tart while the outside was covered in powdered sugar. The honey one was good cuz it wasn't completely a rice cake. So it was a little chewy. The sweet potato wasn't very sweet and they put seeds in it and all i could taste were the seeds.
Met another friend with Matthew for a bit and got invited to go to Myeongdong for some shopping. It's a pretty expensive area though, so I only bought a Reds shirt for 5,000won. It's the World Cup team, and even though I missed the games, I really wanted one! It's got a mask on it and the team chant in Korean. Love it! I think I'm gonna wear it today, so I'll take pics hopefully. :)

I'm sure there was other stuff to talk about but I can't think of it right now. I really need to try to post a little more often! It's just hard to remember and I'm usually too lazy to take extra time to post something. It always turns out to be so long!

Also still needing to work on resizing my pictures so I can make another video. Or figure out how to make a slideshow online. I have internet now!! woo~~~so it might even be easier to post stuff. :) I'll hopefully get a chance this week to get some stuff organized and posted. If not, the next weekend for sure! I'm pretty sure I have no set plans for next weekend, so I'll try to take one of those days and not do anything but post pictures. ^^

Have a great evening all!! I'm off to finish laundry and clean! Look at me being responsible...hahaha. LOVE YOU ALL! <3

a day of experiences

We started summer English camp last Wednesday. So far, it's been fun! The class size is small and it's good experience for me to teach on my own (which can get tricky since they don't often understand me and vice versa). But, I have learned some useful phrases: "Let's go home!" (So they know it's time to clean up and go home).
Overall, it's a great learning experience. I have to remember this is a lot more like summer school, cuz there are certain guidelines I need to follow for the lessons (such as vocabulary and target phrases/sentences). Which is of course important since we are teaching English. I just got a little distracted with making it more interesting and fun.

After work, I relaxed a bit then met the other English teacher from my school. Taylor and I decided to eat out for dinner (my veggies went bad) at this place she loves. It's a Indian food place that's in this Asian district in Ansan. It was soooo good. I'll need to remember how to get there and home so I can take others to it later. :) We had curry chicken w/spinach, a spicy chicken with a pesto dipping sauce and yummy bread (pan?) with garlic. We were so full. I was worried I would bug her to much by trying to hang out a lot or ask questions, but she seems to want to invite me places and is willing to give me tips. She's been here a few months already and had been on her own, so she knows some of the area well.
But the other experience was taking the bus to get dinner. Ok you might think it's just a bus, but oh my goodness they are crazy drivers!! The treat this huge vehicle like it's a compact car, weaving in and out of traffic, making suddens starts and stops. I thought it was hard to stand up on the subway... I had to hug the bar to keep from falling! It was slightly amusing.

Went out for the night (it is Friday after all!) with the friend that helped me get home last weekend. Yunkyu and I went to some bar, ate some food and went off to meet his friends. They apparently were excited to meet me, but none of them spoke much English (it was pretty much no Eng haha). Yunkyu had to keep translating, but there were a few words and sentences I picked up on. They wanted me to introduce them to my co-workers from school. The girl co-workers. :-P It was funny. Oh! This was the other experience I had: I ate raw cow meat! When we met up with them, they had already ordered food and were drinking. I tried the meat, it tasted like the sauce it was in and was only slightly difficult to eat. I think mostly cuz I was so full from dinner (and lunch) and knew that it was raw meat. But, it didn't seem bad at all. I think I'll try it again when I'm not full. They finished eating and trying to talk to me and we went to a karaoke bar (Noraebang). I got to start the night singing first, but I fail so horribly at karaoke unless it's a song I really know, which isn't a lot if I don't have the song to sing along to. But, it was fun anyway. We ate more food of course. That's pretty much common here. Drink and eat. I was thinking I would lose weight here, but not not so much. There's just always food to eat.

Got home at like 3am? Talked online a bit then crashed. I don't have much planned today until later this afternoon when I go into Seoul. Meeting friends for some concert cuz I need to spend the night with her tonight. We're going to Inkigayo tomorrow (basically a music show/mini concert)!! I am so excited cuz I am pretty sure this is the weekend the leader from CNBlue is gonna be one of the MC's. It might not be sure we get in, but I hope so! :D Also that evening we put our names into a raffle for a fansign with SHINee! A lot of you have no clue what I'm talking about, but basically it all is involved with kpop. :P I am super excited!!

Need to do a few chores and buy food. Better run before it gets later. Hope I can get pictures up this week. I'll try to do them in smaller batches. Maybe that will be easier! We'll see~~

Hope you all are doing well. Love you!!!
~xoxoxoxoxo~

weekend update~

I had to leave around 10:45 to meet up with Mai and a friend in Isu at 12. We went to see Eclipse! :) I was a little excited, mostly cuz I was hoping this one would be better than New Moon...or at least just as amusing. XP It was a bit of both! I really liked it and there were a few parts where we made comments and it was hilarious~ :D

After that we went to SPAO. I bought an SNSD shirt there and upstairs at the fangood store (forgot the name :P) I bought a Hangeng folder, SNSD mousepad. I wanted something else, but I didn't really see anything else I thought was useful. :P I'll probably go back to get a SUJU shirt. They still had some from the Sorry, Sorry days (all 13 YAY!). I think I might even know how to get back there! Might...
*these are k-pop bands i listen to, just in case you were confused haha

Got food, went into a place that only served cold noodles so we left. It was raining all day yesterday so we weren't in any mood to eat cold food. Went to a place and had some yummy food! I need to write them all down so I don't forget the ones I like lol...it was cooked at our table but was more soup-like. It had meat, a few other veggies and onions, which made it taste sweeter. But it was tasty! We also had the Korean dish that's similar to Japan's Okanomoyaki (sp??). ^^ Basically, a veggie pancake. :) Oh I bought an umbrella somewhere along the way. The one I brought already broke. It's a clear one yay! I love those~ only 3,000won (around a $1?)

After that, we went to some shops in the subway in MyeongDong. I bought an SNSD phone charm, and some Yunho postcards. :) (That day seemed to be a k-pop type of day) The postcards actually had two copies of every pic, so Mai and I could have split the cost lol~ oh well, I can maybe send one to someone who'd get a kick out of it. :P Oh! My friend Caitlyn is in town...I could give the copies to her. She might like em~

Last for the night with Mai, met up with some other girls and went to Noraebang!!! (karaoke in case you have no idea what i mean) It was actually Everysing in the SM area (SM is the big k-pop company)~ So fun! I met another Hanson fan friend!!!:D We sang Penny and Me~ Also a bunch of K-pop song, of course.

I left at 10:20 to meet my friend Caitlyn who just got into Korea. She was coming with Jason, whom I met a few times before through another friend. They unfortunately were running late (AND I STILL DON'T HAVE A CELL PHONE) so I got worried about getting stuck in Hyehwa and took off around 11:30. I got on the very last train from there but it only went as far as Sonbon. I knew I would take a taxi but I was pretty stressed by this time (II thought my friends would probably worry about where I was and I was tired and trying to get home)...a guy noticed it and asked me with his phone if I was okay (translated on it). Turns out he lives in Ansan and speaks pretty good English! :) We talked and exchanged emails and he helped me get a taxi home. It was so nice of him~~I'm glad I made a new friend. He's gonna help me get a cell phone, next week. I was worried cuz of the lack of Korean I speak would make the task a little tricky. I don't want to buy a phone that's too expensive or a plan that I don't need.

So, even with the slight stressful trek home, it was a great day and a fun evening! I really think I was so concerned because I don't want my friends worried about me. I think I'll finish getting ready for the day and if they still haven't gotten a hold of me I can call my friend's hotel/guesthouse. My other friend knew where she was staying and gave me the info. I want to hang out with her today, so hope it works out!! The week is usually so busy for me, so weekends are better.

Anyway, I'm gonna end the long rant. Hope everyone has a great day/evening! ^^

finally another update!

Hey!!!! It has been busy this week, and I haven't made much time to post here. I still have a lot of pics to post! This weekend will get even more busy...my college roomie Caitlyn will be here for part of the week!!! So excited~~~ I'm meeting up with them Saturday night and will probably just crash with Cailtyn since the subway trains stop running around midnight or sometimes earlier. I'll need to remember to bring clothes! :P

This week (Tues and Wed) I had to teach without my co-teachers! It wasn't so bad with the 5th grade, I was able to get them to understand my instructions. The 3rd grade on the other hand...that was interesting~~ they understand very little English, so to try to explain to them that we are doing role-play was a bit of a challenge. Luckily, the homeroom teachers all stayed in each class I taught. They figured out what I was asking and helped to translate. :)

Today was even easier~ My second class was cancelled because of a test, and the third class because of the fire drill. WOW, that was the coolest fire drill ever! haha~~ There was some sort of smoke/dust coming out of the building (not fire smoke!) while the kids were going outside. There were two bins in the middle of the field that they lit on fire and had some students help put it out with the extinguishers. The firetruck even came by and knocked over the bins with their hose. It was super cool. I took pics and video, so I'll make time to post it tonight (if my internet cooperates).

Currently using wireless that I can pick up, but it's been messing up this week. I'm gonna give in and buy internet for my place. It'll make posting the pics easier, as well. :)

I also need to buy a phone, but I may wait until my friend Matthew is back in town. He can help with translating things. :) I'm not in a rush anyway. I get paid Friday, so I can get the phone next week. I also get paid from LPA one more time next week. That money will go to my loans, so I don't have to worry too much about making any transfers anytime soon. I also should get reimbursed for my plane ticket this paycheck! woo~~ that means I need to keep my spending in check. :-P It's so easy to buy things here.

I'm sure there was more to tell, but I was distracted by the fire drill and haven't updated in awhile. I'm sure I forgot about something.

Anyway, I have one more class today and then lunch! This afternoon I need to start thinking about Summer English Camp. It's already next week (Wednesday)! The lessons are pretty much planned, but I want to at least have the first week detailed and organized so I am prepared in case I have extra time or something doesn't work. Talk to you all later, love you guys!!

another update!!

So, yesterday I taught 3rd grade. I only had 4 classes. Today was the same, but I will teach three 3rd grade and one 5th grade.

Yesterday didn't start of as easy as the other classes. I have a different co-teacher for 3rd grade. She had me teach from the start, without me observing or really discussing with her first. But, I did ask her a few questions before the day started and also learned as I went along. :) It was very tricky (I felt like it was!) my first class, but it started to go better after that. I just followed the book as best as I could and figured it out along the way. Today was much easier, in my opinion. We had the same lessons as the previous days with new classes. So, all I had to do was remember what I did yesterday. We ran into a few snags because one class didn't have a working tv (all classes have a tv, computer, and those projectors that hook to the tv and don't use transparencies). So, I used the board and wrote down all the phrases we needed to practice. It was a little awkward...I could get used to relying on technology! :)

I forgot to talk about lunch time! I buy my lunch here, instead of packing a lunch (since I'm a little low on groceries) and it comes out of my paycheck. With the dollar->won conversion, it's in favor of dollars when I spend money here (10,000 won is about 8 dollars). I think it's 2,000 won for lunch here. Anyway, the lunches are of course, traditional Korean meals. Every meal so far has included rice, a soup of some kind (seaweed soup, something w/fish flavor, and another w/dumplings I think), and side dishes. We have had kimchi most meal, too. It's hard to explain since I recognize most of the common dishes, so I'll have to maybe take pictures (but maybe without everyone around...I stand out enough). Basically, lots of food. :)

Another thing I am getting used to is all this extra time I have at school. The latest I get finished is around 2:00pm, but all teachers are required to stay at school until 4:40pm. That's nice when I need to plan a lesson, but even then, I don't need all that time to work. Luckily the other eng teacher here says it's ok to be doing non-school stuff. Maybe I will study my Korean during this extra time.

Yesterday, I went out on my own again. I needed a few things for my place, as well as a gift for a teacher's birthday this Friday. I found a small market in downtown that seemed reasonably priced. I bought some stationary (send me letters so I can use it!! ^_^), shower shoes --the one's left in my apartment wouldn't come clean-- wrapping paper for the gift, tape, and scissors. It was only 11,000 won...I think I was charged for a plastic bag so I'll have to remember to buy some reusable ones. Then, I went to the big dept store called New Core. It has department items as well as grocery items. I only visited the 1st floor because I was looking around and decided to try to find a watch. I bought one! But I have to return it because the second-hand is stuck. I don't know how I didn't notice before I left, but oh well. I figured out what to say in Korean (Thank you Matthew!) when I go to return it, but my co-teacher offered to go with me. She has to visit that store anyway. I think now it will be easier to return it. Maybe they can fix it because I really like it!

I think that was it for now...if I think of more I will post again, soon. :) When I have time this week/weekend, I will upload more pics (I took some at school!). Talk to you all soon~~please leave me comments telling me what you think AND how you all are doing. I miss you!!

Monday, July 5th

My day is almost finished! My last class was at 2pm today, but I had to collect paperwork from the hospital for my ID card (I had to get a health exam the other day). Also I needed another photo for the documents I need to turn in at the Korean Immigration Office. We went right after my last class to collect the paperwork and to get my picture taken.

My classes went great! I had 5 classes, all of them were 5th grade. We started each class with me introducing myself and they asked questions. It is common here to ask some personal questions, like how old are you, how tall are you. They even asked how old and tall Ian was. :-P One class asked about my best friends' names (yup, that's you Jan and Jill!!^^).

After introducing myself, we got right into the lesson (each class is only 40minutes). Today, the lesson was called: Let's Go Swimming. The phrase "let's go __." was taught with pictures and examples (such as swimming, shopping, hiking, skating, etc.) and the students had to repeat together. We also did some games to practice the phrase. They also learned responses to it, such as "Sorry, I can't." or "Sounds good!" Another activity was fill-in-the-blanks while listening to a video.

I already started teaching! In some classes, I reviewed the phrase "let's go_." and the picture cards of the words (swimming, shopping, etc). I helped check on them while they were playing a kind of tic-tac-toe game to practice all of the phrases. Also, I reviewed with the whole class the answers to the fill-in-the-blank worksheet to check their answers. If they got the answer right they get 1pt (or 1dollar). Their reward system, from what I observed, is used for winning an activity and getting answers right. I'm not sure yet what they can do with the "dollars" they get. But, I like it! I will probably try to use it for activities and such when I teach in AZ next year.

Everyone here is sooo nice!! ^.^ The kids all seem to love me, mostly cuz I'm the new teacher and because I'm American. One kid stared at my face until he noticed I had blue eyes~ :) It was cute. I also surprised some younger students by saying hello in Korean. They are all very impressed when I use Korean, even if it's just one word. :)

The school is very nice, and very big! It's a relaxed school, there are no uniforms. They do need to wear different shoes for indoors than outdoors (I have to do the same thing!). I am allowed to wear any shoes, but I do have a pair of shoes that I haven't worn yet, so I will use them for now. The teachers also seem to wear semi-casual, as well. I can even wear jeans, from what I observed.

Well, there is about 1hour left in my day. I am being introduced at the assembly today! I am very nervous, but I think it will be okay. I wrote down what I will say. :) Wish me luck!

I'll tell you about the rest of the week soon! I also think that this week there will be a dinner/party for me. They had one for the other Eng teacher (she's been here 2months). Hope you all have a great week!! Love and miss you~~~

Picture update

Finally put together another video slideshow~~ this one has music! But, no text so ask questions if you want to know something. :)

This is a way i can contact you guys for free~! :) so when i'm online i can answer calls and even get texts! *PLEASE email me to set up a time so I will be at home and online. It is 16+ hr difference for AZ. :)

Thursday July 1, 2010

Yep, it's already Thursday here! Takes some getting used to. I still seem to have a bit of jet lag, but I'm working through it. Went out yesterday to meet some new friends (and one I already know) and got tired pretty quick~~~but I made it till 11 to head home! But, the subway ride home is about 1hr from where we were hanging out. Got home and to bed finally around 1am.

And here I am awake at 8am. :-P

Anyway, yesterday was awesome! I got to chat w/Ian (love you bb~!) in the morning than I had to leave for the subway to meet some new friends for lunch. The subway was pretty easy, cuz a lot of things are in English, but I had to figure out how to get the T-Money card so I could put money on it. That wasn't to easily explained. But an attendant (i think) came around and directed me to the store to buy the card, then showed me how to put money on the card. I had already known how to use the card, thanks to some research I did. :)

But, I got upstairs and wasn't sure it was headed the right direction and so I got myself all confused I didn't get on the train that came. So I waited for another person to arrive and I asked her. Of course she didn't seem to speak any English, so I just said the name of the place and pointed. It was the right train, so I waited for the next one.

The train ride was easy since I was so distracted by the view and the ride (it was an hour long). Got to my meeting place and it got confusing again. I was supposed to meet friends at a certain exit, and I wasn't sure I was heading the right way. Turned around and starting seeing numbers (the exits) and made it out fine. Now, I'm totally a pro and was able to get home last night, no problem! I am glad I can read Korean tho, it makes me more comfortable, even tho a lot of signs are in English, too.

Met two friends for lunch, and wandered around the area. Bought a phone strap and a headband. Also went and had some tea before going our separate ways. It was cool, cuz I tried to order in Korea. Went from there back a stop to meet my friend from NAU. Then from there, we went to meet the others. We went to the University area, so it was busy! But it was awesome. Went to dinner at a bbq place (not like in the US) and then we walked around to find something else to do. Had tea and ice cream at a shop nearby. It was fun! I was being all touristy of course (taking pics) and we kept laughing about it. I told them it was cuz I was a foreigner. hahaha~ But everything was awesome during the day, and even better at night!! It all lit up, like NYC but cooler. ;) After that we went to get drinks but I was exhausted so I took the subway home. Got back no problem! I was a little worried about heading back so far alone, but it was fine. Everyone on the train were sleeping or ignoring each other and the walk home was easy.

Went to bed after checking email and facebook and such. Woke up today around 7 so I can get used to being up tomorrow. I start school tomorrow!!! It's my first day so I won't teach but I will be introducing myself to everyone and probably observing in class. Monday is a field trip, so I go in but only do planning, I think. Next week I am still observing possibly. But I will try to help as much as possible during lessons. :)

Anyway, better get ready for the day. Still need to clean a little. I also want to be used to getting up early for work tomorrow! I'll be posting pics later, but I wanted to update while I thought about it and still have time.

I'll update a lot this weekend, I'm going out Friday night and Sunday. :) Talk to you all later!!! Love you~~~~

Greetings from KOREA ^.^

Helloooo~~! Hope everyone is well. I am great! Tired a little...

I'll start from when I got here and hopefully, I won't leave anything out! :)

I got into Korea at 3pm. No delays or anything! The flight was looonnnggg. Even if they did show movies and shows, it was still pretty hard to sit still. I was so tired, thought I would sleep well last night. Nope. crashed at 7 or 8pm then woke up at 3am. I'm crashing now and it's only 9pm. I'm worried I'll wake up early again.

The only thing that helped with that was the TV in my sleeping area! Yup, I have cable!! lol

Got picked up by a taxi and drove to Ansan. Seemed like it was a short drive, but I was also distracted.

Met my co-teacher at my apartment, discussed a few things and she left me to rest and settle in. I really wanted to wander around but once I got comfortable, that was it. I fell asleep at 7pm Korea time, and woke up at 3am. It's a good thing I have a tv with a lot of channels! I was able to do something with minimal effort. I do get some channels that show American shows/movies. But, I do like watching the crazy game shows (like face soccer!).

I got up and started unpacking/cleaning at around 6 or 7am. Very cute and simple place, but I like it a lot!

Sometime last night, I also realized that I will be here for an entire year, not just a few weeks or a few months. It was a little overwhelming, but also exciting. :)

I'll do a video tour of the apartment soon. I just need to finish putting clothes away.

Wandered downstairs to grab some food. Got the money mixed up but the cashier was so nice, he showed me the correct amount. Luckily, I learn quickly. I'm sure I won't always run into someone like that.

Ate food. Cleaned some more. I think I took another TV break at some point. Got bored again and wandered around the neighborhood, trying to see what was around the area. It was pretty cool! I didn't go too far, I wasn't sure what time it was and I didn't want to get myself turned around and lost. Had quote a few people basically stare at me. But, my co-teacher explained that they are fond of Americans and don't often see them here. It's not too hard to notice me since I am blonde. :-P I had one guy stare at me for some time while he walked passed. I was amused.

Went with my co-teacher to start the process of getting my ID. That was a fairly easy process. I impressed her with my observation/listening skills. They were talking about the table at the entrance and I mentioned that we came in that direction and it was right in front (they were talking in Korean, mind you). I had no idea what they were saying, I just figured it out by the gestures and such.

Found a bank that has a global atm (KE BANK). Took out most of the money and spent it at the Lotte Mart nearby. I had a few extra things to pick up (food, rice cooker, hangers, a fan, etc etc). It seems to be a little expensive here. Maybe it was because of my list. Next time will most likely only be groceries.

Also found out I start school Friday. I won't have classes since they are testing, but I will be introducing myself. So, I will have to prepare that, I guess.

Monday is also a field trip and the rest of the week is watching and probably helping my co-teacher. Then, I will start making lessons and teaching!

Anyway, finally got this finished! My internet died on me last night, so I had to wait til now to update. Uploading all my pictures will take a long time until I figure out how to resize and such, so I made a video slideshow! :) Enjoy~~and look forward to a video tour of my apartment later this week (maybe today -Wed for me- since it's raining). ^^

Enjoy the video. There isn't any sound, next time I'll try to add some music or me talking so it's not so boring. ;)

Feel free to comment and ask questions! love you all~!!

address in Korea

They sent me my address the other day! It's a little complicated, but I will figure out exactly how to write it, soon.

WELL. . . I'm a little nervous about posting my address here, especially since I can't seem to make it private, so please email me and I will respond with the address.

musicsporty1@hotmail.com

clairelizabethprice@gmail.com

Final update before Korea...I hope!

So...I bought my plane ticket today!!! It now really feels more certain that I'm going...it made it more real for me, like it's finally starting to set in that I AM GOING TO KOREA! OH. MY. GOODNESS. *^.^*

I leave Tucson Sunday, 6/27 at 6AM (so not fun). I make one stop in San Diego around 11 or 12, then head to Seoul, South Korea (a few hrs later) and arrive 3PM on Monday, 6/28!

I'm only a little nervous about when I arrive. My recruiter told me a taxi will be arranged, but I thought they said someone will be there...I dunno!

At least I arrive at a decent hour. The other flight I wanted had me arriving in Seoul at 9PM! That would make me more nervous to travel at night.

Anyway...there was something else I wanted to mention, but it has escaped my thoughts :P I better get to bed. I still have a lot to finish before next weekend and I want to finish as much as I can tomorrow!

*g'night! ~xoxoxo~

Stuff for sale and free!!

I apparently have a lot of extra stuff I want to get rid of, so I'm selling a few big things and making a list of some smaller stuff I'll just give away. Didn't have time to have a yard sale.

4 SALE:

Most prices are negotiable :)

- futon w/2 matresses $15

*there is a bar on the bench part that broke off, but I still have that piece.

- coffee table $10

*it's fairly lightweight

- TV w/built-in VCR $20

*I'd sell it for more, but the VCR is a little dirty from an old VHS AND the plug cord somehow was chewed when in storage, previously.

- Small desk $20

*I'm pretty sure it's a kids desk--too small for a large desktop computer.

FREE!

- recordable VHS tapes

- keychains

- angel figurine

- mice in teacup figurine

- wine opener set

- CD case, holds about 72 cds.

Monday 5-17

This is my blog to document my year in Korea from July 2010 thru about July 2011! Pictures, posts, and such will be posted when I have the time. Feel free to comment!! ^_^