Thanksgiving...Korean Style!

Happy late Thanksgiving!! I hope everyone enjoyed a day with family, yummy food, football, and getting up at 4am to go shopping.

Since Thanksgiving celebrates America, the Koreans didn't celebrate. I know, shocker. Haha. I did take the liberty of sharing with all of my students that it was Thankgiving in America and even let some of them say what they were thankful for! It was quite fun!! Since Kami and I are the only Americans at our school, we also got to share the holiday with our co-workers. Our boss lady was even so kind and got us fried chicken during one of our breaks so we could celebrate. That was so sweet. All of the teachers definitely liked Thanksgiving after that!!

Today we did have an official Thanksgiving celebration! Our group of English teachers (mostly Americans, a couple Canadians) got together for a Thanksgiving feast! It was quite enjoyable! There were many people there, beyond the Tongyeong English teachers. There was a French couple and two teachers from Busan and a guy from California that is traveling Asia. Kami and I made mashed potatoes for the celebration and I think everyone liked them!! I mean, who doesn't like mashed 'tators!! It was quite a fun day. Here are a few pics by Kami....she's the resident photographer!

In other news, Kami and I have officially applied for our alien registration cards so we will soon be legal!! Whoo-hoo!! That's quite exciting! We should get them at the end of next week or the following week. Yay!! Teaching is still going quite well. I love most of my classes and the kids are all just so amazing!! My co-workers are all really great and I think I'm really blessed to be here!

I think Kami and I might be going to Seoul for Christmas break with our friend, Amy. We get about 8 days off I think, so we're going to try to explore Seoul for a good part of it. I think it'll be a great way to spend the holidays. I can't wait!!

I think that is all for now! I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday break! Miss you!

Our First Visitor!!!

What a great weekend!!! My friend, Amy, from college (who is also teaching in Korea) came down from Asan for a visit! We had such a great time exploring the city and just being girls together. Amy has been here for several months, so a mini vacation to see fellow Texans was in order for her! We were definitely glad to host her and show her our wonderful town that we now call home!

Here are a few pictures from our few days together. Thanks to Kami for sending me the pics!

Besides the great company she gave us, Amy also served as our translator and introduced us to different things in the Korean culture. This is me getting educated at the street market.
We spend several hours along the coast...just admiring God's beauty. It's so amazing!!

In other news, my second week of school was a good one. I really love the kids...they are just so precious. I've enjoyed getting to know my co-workers and the other English teachers in town. I'm enjoying having my own apartment now and really feeling like I'm settled finally. I'm really happy here and think it's going to be a great year!

Happy Day!!! :)

Yay!!! Happy Day!! I moved into my apartment today!! I'm so excited!! No more sleeping on the floor and living out of my suitcases!! Whoo-hoo!! Now I can get settled!! I already unpacked all my luggage and am settling in! I'm so happy...now I can really feel like I live here and I'm not just visiting! I should be online more now so feel free to call!! :)

The past few days have been good ones. On Sunday, Kami and I joined one of our directors and her children and went to a get-together with another Korean family at their 'weekend home'. It was a really good cultural experience and I enjoyed myself. When we got there, the ladies worked on cleaning all the dishes and everything to get ready for us to eat.
And it was quite a feast...let me tell you. These people don't hold back! They had a little grill in the middle of the table and they just cook the meat and you take off little pieces. They started with some delicious beef and then got out some sausage. Think it's over?? Oh no...then there was some yummy pork and tons of seafood...crab, some kind of fish, so much stuff. It was insane. I quit after the pork but I was just so shocked with how much food there was. I still don't get how they are all so small here.

Here is the pretty sunset we witnessed while at the get-together. It was really amazing.

So besides our fun day with the Korean families, here are a couple other pictures from the past few days. This has become my favorite meal here. It's tuna kim bop...a roll with tuna, egg, spinach, and lots of other stuff that tastes yummy!! It's less than $2 bucks and it's amazing!!!

On our way to Lotte Mart (just like Wally World), we saw a stone that reminded us of Texas!!

That's all for now. I'll update more later! Miss you all! :)

I Survived!!

I can now say I officially survived my first week as an English teacher in South Korea!! Whoo hoo!! It's now Friday night and I'm just sitting at school waiting for Kami to get done with class so we can go home or somewhere...not really sure yet.

The first week teaching was a good one. The kids are just so adorable and they are so smart! Don't get me wrong, there are still some kids that are 'naughty' (they use that word a lot here) but overall they are just precious! This week was our intro week so we only had about three classes a day, but next week we start in full speed ahead with 6-7 classes a day! Yikes!!

I should be moving to my own apartment Monday night or Tuesday and then Kami and I can both really start getting settled into our new homes. I should have internet regularly then too so I can call some of you...don't worry, I haven't forgotten you!

I think Kami and I are going to visit one of the islands this weekend so that should be lots of fun! THE Amy Rice is coming to visit next weekend...can't wait!! :)

Have a great weekend! Miss you all! :)

I'm A Working Girl Now!!!

Hello everyone! I haven't forgotten about you, don't worry. I haven't had internet on my home computer since I'm at Kami's for now, so I just wanted to give everyone a quick update from the computer at work.

I'm officially done with my first two day of teaching at ILS!! Whoo hoo! It's been great so far and I'm really loving it. The kids are just so precious! I love it!

I'm teaching 2-3 classes a day this week but that'll go up after next week when Greg (the teacher I'm replacing) leaves. I think I'll have 6-7 classes then. This is definitely a good way to start though...not too overwhelming. All the people at work are really helpful and so nice, so it's been great so far!

This morning, our boss took Kami and me to the hospital to get our health check done so we can get our immigration cards and be citizens of Tongyeong. Everything was so easy there...they just took did basic stuff (height, weight, sight, hearing) and then we had to get a chest x-ray and give a urine and blood sample. Nothing hard about it. Good thing for us! :)

We're into Kami's apartment now, and when Greg leaves next Monday, I will move into his apartment and we can both get all settled. It's nice to be closer to our school and more centrally located in the city.

I hope you all are doing well!!