Dream come true~~

I'll post later about MT...BUT I HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET YUNHO AND CHANGMIN♥♥♥♥

Who are they you ask? (Since a lot of my friends seem to not know) They are 2 members from my all time favorite Kpop group, Dong Bang Shin Ki (TVXQ or DBSK). This group was the group to get me into Korean music, language, and culture. They are the cause for wanting to come here! :D No matter how indirect it may be, I do often think of them when I realize where I'm at now.

Anyway, on to the fansign!!! I rushed home after MT, showered and rushed out to get to the other side of Seoul by 4pm. My friend Krista and I both got in, so I was able to enjoy it with someone. We met by 4 and took a taxi over to the venue, got our tickets after some confusion (apparently they can't figure out what order to read the names in English), and ran off to grab a bite to eat.

The signing started at 6pm. We sat around for a bit kind of interacting with those around us (not many fans can speak English, or won't speak it) and freaking out as time came closer. We were asked to write our names on a post-it for them, but to write in Korean. Luckily I know how to do that! :)

The boys came out...looking gorgeous, as usual. Changmin had on a nice blazer, Yunho had a grey sweater over a button up shirt and a cute heart pin~! Yunho is my favorite, but Changmin is definitely more gorgeous than Yunho. Yunho comes across more handsome. Both looked fantastic though!
We were lined up almost immediately, being in the second row. I didn't have time to really process being there, but I probably would have just psyched myself up too much and been to excited. :P
Krista and I were babbling about how gorgeous Changmin was and how Yunho was going to be the chatty one, as always. His line was already starting to get longer (he takes time to talk to everyone and will listen to you)
Anyway, it was my turn. I was slightly surprised I didn't get a big reaction for being a foreigner but they are used to having foreign fans, I think. I walked up to Changmin, we both bowed and said hello, in Korean. He asked me another question in Korean...I'm pretty sure it was "Where are you from?" but my brain shut down at this point and I was prepared to only say hi and thank you. I responded in Korean "what?" then he asked me if I spoke Korean (Again, brain shut down and I knew I would be rushed so I was having trouble with simple sentences) I told him I know a little. He might have said something else, but I'm pretty sure that was it. He told me thank you, twice in Korean both formal versions and smiled. I replied in Korean and walked over to Yunho's line.
Freaking myself out even more by this time. I just attempted to have a conversation with Changmin and now I was going to be meeting Yunho! I was so nervous. I walked up to him, said hello. He looked at my name, read it slowly then realized it was an English name and repeated it with less of an accent. This is where I died. LOL It was adorable! He asked if I went to Inkigayo (they performed there just before the fansign, and won!!) I told him no. Again, I forget if there was anything else said here, mostly because I was distracted with watching him sign (he added a star next to his ^^ smiley face). He and I said thank you and I went back to my seat.
We stayed to watch the rest of the signing, mostly because it didn't seem like it would take too long to finish and we might not have been able to leave early anyway.
Few highlights from the event:
~Changmin was either resting his voice or getting sick, but he spoke so soft and quietly. It was really nice to listen to, though because it came out slightly lower than usual.
~Yunho was smiley and chatty, as expected. Hi line was getting so long!
~He was also distracted by a fan that had her young son there (he was maybe a year old~so cute!) Every time the baby would make noise, he would glance over and smile. *^_^*
~Two boy fans! But one was awesome cuz he asked Yunho to hit his hand and that made him dance. It was cool! Everyone cheered for him. :D He danced another time and walked off stage with the hugest grin ever.
~Boy fan got a shout out from them, and Yunho even pointed and gave a thumbs up to him at the end. Boy fan was on cloud nine after that! (pretty sure he was crying later~♥) It made my day just to see that. Yunho is awesome~~^^
~Yunho dropped his pen before everything started because he was twirling it in his fingers. :P

We had to wait to leave, because they wanted to get the boys out of there before the fans could get outside and follow them. I went home (took forever! ugh i was so tired from MT) and crashed. I'm sick this morning thanks to the limited amount of sleep I got this weekend. But it was all worth it. ^^

Small update, sorry it's so short!

Hey all~~~ I don't have a lot of time right now. I have to meet the Salsa club at 3pm for the MT (Membership training AKA "party time") ^_^ Basically, it's a chance for those involved in the club to get together and have a nice weekend. On the agenda: Soccer or Kickball, FOOD, dancing (of course!), maybe some karaoke, more food and hanging out. All from Sat evening until Sunday afternoon-ish. It's gonna be fun! and tiring...I woke up this morning with a terrible sore throat so I hope I'll be okay. I would cancel, but already paid the money and am super excited to go~~~ I'll just make sure I sneak to bed as early as possible? :P Which will be hard with all the exciting things going on. I can probably nap tomorrow once I get back home.

More things to update on but I only have ten minutes before I should head out. Have a wonderful weekend, I'll try to update soon!!♥

work dinners.

The other day, my co-teacher asked if I wanted to join the "fellowship" that the school has. I guess it's like a Union, but the money we give to the program pays for dinners and other outing events for the teachers to take part in. I decided to join the fellowship because I will be staying one more year (I haven't officially signed, but have spoken to my co-teacher that I want to stay).
Korea is a very close-knit culture and doing things together is a big deal. I've had many a times where my Korean friend, Sungmin, has had to cancel on me because he has a work dinner. Now, I understand why he has done so. Tonight was my first official work dinner. It was interesting, fun, tiring, confusing, and great. I of course, enjoyed the food, as always. :) But, this time, I spent the evening talking to many of the 5th grade teachers. Some of them do speak some English! One of the male 5th grade teachers decided to test me on my Korean reading skills. He kept handing me a new bottle to read! :D It was fun. I supposedly get a prize tomorrow, for that. haha~
In Korea, towards the end of the meal, you are supposed to travel around to other tables and share a "shot" with your co-workers. It can be Soju (alcohol), cider (sprite), or water. I chose Soju for the most part, because I felt like it was important to do so with my principal (i guess I wanted to impress him - we were also running out of cider!). I managed to share drinks with a few 5th grade teachers, the head 5th grade teacher, the principal, and another high in office teacher (3rd in command??). It was such a nice night, getting to know them and practicing my Korean - or lack thereof!! I am thankful I decided to join in this because I didn't want another year of being the waegook (foreigner). I even have an invite to the 5th grade teacher's office to do my nails. :P (The head teacher is female, and really good at doing nail art)

Here's to a fun second year~~~chan! (cheers!) ♥

South Korea

Here's a video someone I know posted. It explains a lot about Korea, more than I ever could! There are a lot of things in this that I've seen firsthand, others I haven't had the chance to experience yet. But, I love it! The video is a little long, but you can skip a bit, if you want.

http://vimeo.com/18114813

concerts, culture, and...tacos!

Eric Clapton concert was a few weeks ago. It was awesome. Not at all like the other concerts I've been to here, it was very chill. I had a good time listening to all the different styles. His band had some neat tricks! And of course, Clapton was a genius on his guitars. I enjoyed it. My favorite part of the night was definitely when he did "Layla" acoustically. It's my favorite Clapton song. :) Met up with some other friends after the show and headed home together, chatting about the concert.

I started another dance class last week, as well. It's soooo hard! It's a hip-hop class, but I think it's intermediate. XP I have no idea why Pedro (my Jazz dance instr.) recommended I take that one. But, I'm definitely getting a workout! I'm gonna look goooooood. hahahaha

Last Sat was supposed to be a packing day with my friend Sarah, but Fri night I went out to celebrate another friend getting a new job. So, We didn't meet up til late and ended up going to get breakfast in Gangnam. Butterfinger Pancakes is soooo good! I ordered the waffle set - comes with eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes. YUM. I even finished some pancakes that my friend couldn't eat. XP I am such a pig. lol
After that, we met up with Katie and Soo and went to see The Mechanic. Not that great of a movie...of course it was rated R and starred Jason Stathom. I need to stay clear of his movies; they're gonna be full of a lot of fighting and killing. Normally, I like action, but this was just painful to watch and gave me a headache.

Sunday I woke up to rain...and another headache. So, I stayed home and did more laundry.
Sunday night, I met up with some friends in Ansan and went to a tradition Korean Restaurant. We had this huge 3-4 course meal with wine. :) The place was awesome~It was a gorgeous place (I'll share pics once my friend posts hers-my camera died). The food was delicious! Even all the seafood was enjoyable. I tried everything. But, definitely a good experience, I'm glad I decided to deal with the rain and venture out.

On to my day today. I did more laundry (I got lazy this past week/end) and went into Seoul to meet a new Korean friend. On the way, I made another mental note to comment on the culture. As in most (if not all) areas, there are people who are poor or homeless. I have often seen someone kneeling/bowing on the stairwell, with a basket laid in front of them. I do see people give them money, but more often than not, I feel like they are just ignored. I've always been uncomfortable just giving money (thanks, Dad) to those in need, and I also don't quite understand the culture well in this situation...so I just walk passed.
On the subways, there are usually people walking from car to car, placing a typed up note into your lap. Now, the first time I received one, I didn't think to observe first and just placed the paper in my purse. As I paid more attention, I noticed that most people will completely ignore the note in their lap. Some will pull out a few bills or coins to give to them when they return (after they give out the papers, they walk back collecting the papers).
I also have noticed that those who are blind will walk from car to car with a basket and music playing. The music is usually some sort of hymn that you can hear before you see the source. People will subtly move further away from the center to keep away from them. I don't think they are despised, just someone people are not comfortable being around. It seems that way to me.

Anyway, that's all for the culture today. I'm sure more will come to me as I continue experiencing Korea.

Today was a day off --It's Independence Day for the South. I met up with a new friend and we chatted about ourselves over coffee and tea. We met after she decided to add me on Facebook. We were both invited to a graduation party in Hongdae, at one of the clubs. After tea, we went over to the mexican food place I discovered a few weeks ago. I enjoyed another burrito and Gracie had a taco. Randomly talked to a foreigner there who was from Phoenix! Small world, even in Korea. I didn't know her, but we talked about how wonderful the restaurant was. :)

Went home after deciding with Gracie we need to meet up for tacos more often. She enjoyed the meal. ^_^

Oh! Before I forget, it's not official, but I am most likely staying another year. They want me to resign and seem to be optimistic (my co-teacher is, at least) about me being able to get some extra time off for my friend's wedding. I also have another friend asking me to be in her wedding, but the date is not certain. I'm hoping for the summer so I can be there!!

I get new students this week! The new semester starts Thursday; I'm assigned to only teaching 5th grade this year but I have a few more English classes. I'm excited to get some new students and the chance to work with just one grade. It means I'm more included as a 5th grade teacher, so the Korean teachers are going to invite me to more things, I think. :) We had lunch together last week when all the teachers were in to set up for the new year. It was nice~! I'm hoping this will help me get more into practicing my Korean. I hope~~~~

Ok, gonna run. I think my clothes finished drying. Love and miss you all!!!♥