9 Months in the ROK

That's right! I can't believe I've been in Korea for 9 months!

To quote my mother, "I know... I didn't even think you'd make it 9 minutes..."

To be fair, she's right. I almost didn't get on the plane because I was so nervous. I doubted everything I'd decided and thought I was crazy for thinking I could pick up my life and move across the world. And then I said, "You know what Christina, this is going to be amazing. It's a great opportunity, you can travel, you'll do amazing things and see great stuff, and if you don't go, you'll regret it." And 9 months later, I have to say, the only thing I regret is that I didn't eat at Anderson's more before I came. DAMN I miss roast beef.  And, you know, I miss people and stuff.

As you may have read in my last post, I passed my open class evaluation and so I'm on the way to renewal! I was really nervous about my class on Monday, but it went really well! Their homeroom teacher gave them a stern talking to and told them they had to be really good for my class, I think, and they behaved well and participated actively. My principal liked my materials and I think they like me a lot, so I'm happy that it's looking like I'll be here another year! 

That is, if I don't melt during this heat in the summer. It's already supposed to be like 80 degrees this whole week. Nooooot super excited.

Anywho, aside from Monday, I had a pretty low key week, besides being busy with Korean class and stuff.

Except I've been really tired this week. Want to know why? Check out this video I made (I told Lauren I'd make it if it happened again. It did- watch to see what IT is)



SO LOUD WHYYYYYYYYYY?!?!? CAN'T THEY WAIT ANOTHER DAMN HOUR UGH.

But really, aside from that, life is pretty swell and I really can't complain.

Some roses on the walk to work

So much Korean, and only a couple red marks
for mistakes!

Here are some pics of my Korean class. My teacher was wearing a super cute outfit so I wanted to get a picture. I'm such a creeper.

that's right. I'm learning stuff.

not an uncommon site- old people collecting
cardboard

 We did role plays again with my 4th graders. Young Ah and I wrote the scripts, so they involved witches, iron man, and some classics like peter pan and cinderella. 

Iron man. And a clown?

He was supposed to be Wendy in Peter Pan
so he chose this wig haha

He lost Rock, Paper, Scissors, so he had to be
cinderella. He chose to wear "Christina Teacher
hair"

And then he had to 'dance' with the prince

Thursday was Teacher's Day! I didn't get too many things, just a few students brought me small stuff. Lots of them wished me a happy day, and they're pretty sweet most of the time, so I wasn't too sad.  

Present from a 6th grader, Da Eun. She gave me a sweet card
last Christmas

Apparenly she really likes Harry Potter, so she
learn a lot of English from it. I think she's pretty
good!

These are on my walk to school. So pretty!
I saw them on Thursday morning and
really wanted to take a picture.

carnation from one of my 5th graders

Our treat at lunch- Apple yogurt?

a card from one of my 4th graders. She told
me she hated English until I started teaching,
and that even tho her test scores weren't great
she wanted to work really hard. I was touched.

I think I walked by a protest? I can never tell

This is how my kids take tests...

SNACK TIME- It's a type of chocopie
esque thing. It's a cake with cream filling and
an outer coating of chocolate.
Aka DELICOUSNESS

Friday afternon snack time- ddeokbokki,
fried foods (twigim), kimbap and
sundae.

Diner with sarah- all of this for like $12 total

It's time for cute new sandals! 

On Sunday, I met up with Lauren, Sarah and Janell for brunch. We decided to start trying a bunch of brunch places around Seoul. Because who doesn't love brunch? 

This place is called "Egg and Spoon Race"

the decor was cute!

my omelette filled with potatoes and lots
of veggies. SO GOOD

Janell and Sarah

Lauren and me!

Sarah's spoon was a ghost!

Cool glasses!

Delicious strawberry iced tea

Yummy!

After stuffing ourselves silly, Janell, Sarah and I decided to wander around the Edae area a bit, and thought we should check out the campus of Ehwa Women's University. It's super cool and pretty! 

Imitating the tigers. Yeah, those are
Joseon dynasty era tiger statues.

Edae is a good shopping area, so we wandered around to get ideas for what to buy on payday haha.

AND THEN I FOUND THIS

We also decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Hapjeong to see the YG Entertainment building, home of some of my Kpop favorites like BigBang and 2ne1. Janell suggested it on a whim because yesterday was her favorite Bigbang member's birthday (his name is Youngbae, but his stage name is Taeyang, which means sun).

Janell's note was still there! Sometimes they paint over
the wall

signing for ourselves

There was some cool street art near YG as well

one last cute one with the building
that doesn't look important unless
you know what it is haha

Then we went to the shopping center near Hapjeong:

Kids playing in the fountains. 

AND WE FOUND GELATO!

So, all in all, a less crazy week and weekend. I needed it after all the stress and anxiety of planning and doing my open class!  My school's birthday is this Friday, so I only have a 4 day week this week! Score!!

Today marks 9 months in Korea, with many more to come. I'm still having an amazing time, and I'm so excited about what my future holds here. Except for the humidity... ugh. 

*(Also, for any of you that remember that I am a horse racing enthusiast, yes, I have been paying attention, and I know that California Chrome, winner of the Kentucky Derby, also won the Preakness. I would LOVE to see a Triple Crown winner!!! Maybe I'll try and live stream the race so I can see it if he wins the Belmont....)

Anywho, sending lots of love all the way home!

In honor of my visit to their entertainment company HQ, here's another one of my favorite BIGBANG songs, Bad Boy. Sarah and I hear this song all the time when we're out in Seoul, and we always have to stop and jam out (tho we jam out to all the kpop songs we hear when we're out. And people think we're crazy. Oh well!)