Sunday Adventure

3:11pm Seoul

Today has felt really long. I suppose that is because I woke up at 6:45am and couldn't get back to sleep. Up til now, I've been good about sleeping long enough and not dealing with jet lag. I don't know why I was so awake so early on a Sunday. But, I've gotten to do a lot so far today.

I got to talk to my mom for about 30 minutes, and Michael for about an hour. It was so great! I also watch a few episodes of Big Bang on the computer, took a shower, and got my breakfast at Paris Baguette again. Those pastries are addicting. While I was talking to my mom/dad, I was drinking a coke leftover from last night's pizza with Sean. (Side note: last night Sean & I tried out Korean pizza. Well, not really Korean pizza; we did ask for it with no corn!). It was about a 1.5 Liter bottle, but it was all I had. So I was drinking out of the bottle while talking to my mom and they thought I was insane. Which, I probably did look like.

While talking to mom, we decided that I really need to get rain boots. There is a typhoon warning for tomorrow, and rain in the forecast for the next 10 days. Since I have a 15 minute walk to school each way, plus need to teach after getting drenched, wellies are a necessity. All the markets are closed on Sundays; we decided that name brand wellies from a department store might have to happen. I've wanted Hunters for like 3 years, so I decided I would just get those. A bit steeper price than USA, but they will last me for the year, plus some. I won't need to get new wellies next rainy season (which is next June-August).

I looked up how to get to the department store Lotte. It is supposed to be huge and have just about anything you need. This seemed like a great place to look. I asked Sean if he wanted to come, just to get out of the motel. Not much going on today, so thought he might want to get out. He said yes, so we left the motel around noon.

The subway was much more efficient today, although there was one hiccup. The internet said to exit at Euljiro Station, but when we got to the subway, we realized there are 3 stops called that. We chose the first one, and got off. We figured if it wasn't right, we could probably walk. We got off the subway, and headed to a hotel nearby. Sean grabbed a map and asked the Concierge where we were. He circled the hotel and we found Lotte; it was not next door, but not too far either. 

We headed down the street and after about 10 minutes, checked the map again. We found where we were in relation to the huge buildings surrounding us. We had only gone 1/3 of the way to Lotte! Ugghh! But, we had already committed to walking, and I wasn't going to wimp out. It was not a hard walk, per say. Only it was quite hot and pretty humid. We kept going and finally found it. 

The place is like the Harrods of Seoul

We looked at the directory when we got in and decided to head for the food court first. We got to the basement level where it was supposed to be and found a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and a Lotteria Restaurant. We didn't see anything else, so headed for Lotteria. When we got close, we realized it was basically a rip off of McDonalds. Everything about the marketing and signage was exactly like McDonalds.

Lotteria aka McDonalds Wannabes!

I wish you could read the names of the menu items, but there is European Burger and Beef Extreme and Shrimp Burger and Veggie Burger that looks insane on the bottom right. Sean ended up getting the Shrimp Burger. And for a side...? Squid Rings. I kid you not.

No caption necessary.

Squid Rings

I didn't have anything worthy of photos; chicken fillet (aka: chicken fingers). The batter was surprisingly slightly spicy: proof that Koreans love things with spice. I got potatoes aka: french fries. I swear these guys buy from the same provider as McDonalds; these were Mickey D's fries if I've ever had some! It was a nice change from Korean food.

After lunch, we split up so I could find my boots and he could browse. I wouldn't make any boy but Michael sit through trying on and picking out shoes. That is a torture reserved for the man who loves me. ;) When I looked at a map to find Shoes, I saw that there was a HUGE food court on the opposite side of the floor we ate on. UGH. 

In shoes, I couldn't find the boots, so I asked. They told me go to Women's on Floor 3. I went up the escalators, and hunted around the countless name brands / couture clothes and finally found Hunters boots. The man helped me figure out my size, but when it came time to choose the color, I pointed to the pink ones (the only bright color they had). He shook his head no. Um, okay? Why the hell not? He explained in extremely broken English that they were out of that color. Double UGH. He showed me the colors they did have. Grey, Dark Grey, Black, Metallic Silver, Extremely Dark Green, Dark Violet, and Red. I was leaning toward Red, but really conflicted. I had decided on a bright color, but Red doesn't really count as bright. I wanted so desperately to call or text my mom, but had neither my iPad n or my iPod Touch, and had no wifi to boot. I decided to take a walk around the level and see if I could find any other brands.

Thank goodness I did, because I came across the RockFish display (another British brand of rubber boots). They had literally a rainbow of colors. Pink, Orange, Yellow, Apple Green, and many others. The lady was so nice, and I tried on Orange first, then she brought me my size in Green and Yellow as well. She insisted I try all the colors on before I decided. I came down to Yellow or Green. I used to have the same color green wellies with apples on them, back at home. I loved them so much, but maybe I should try a new color? I asked 2 other employees and one told me that Yellow was "cute" (she knew the word "cute"! Adorable...) I went with Yellow :)

I love the yellow!!

The best part of this: The Hunters were 198,000 KW, about $170. The RockFishs were 78,000 KW, but also had 20% off! Putting them at 60-something,000 KW. Woohoo! What a deal! I also got some socks that are made to go with the boots, they add some fur on the top for winter or cold rainy days. Those were an additional 40,00 KW, but in total I paid around 102,000 KW: so much less than the Hunters plus I got socks as well! I'm SO happy!

What they will look like with the socks!

The sales lady was beyond sweet, and taught me how to say Thank You in Korean properly. I already forgot how, but I said it right to her and she was so happy. Yay! 

When I was checking out with the interpreter, she told me to take the receipt to Tax Free Lounge. I wandered down to that on the first level, and they had me fill out a form and stapled my receipt. I was kinda confused with the whole thing. Later, I read the envelope they put the form and my receipt in; basically if you turn in the envelope, you get your tax back at the airport. Great! But, in the fine print, it must be turned in/claimed within 3 months of the purchase. Bummer. 

Oh well, I'm not sweatin' it. I got the boots I love, I got a great price, I got some bonus socks, and I didn't get lost!!! Great day!

Sean and I met back up and headed back to the motel. Yesterday on the train, I snapped this photo of an advertisement for SeaWorld. See if you can find what made me laugh out loud:

In case you missed it, the seal has Korean eyes. I didn't realize sea animals inherited human attribute from the area they are in. ;)

Saturday Adventure

Saturday, August 25 4:30pm Seoul

Well, my first free day in Seoul has been interesting... My body woke up at 8:45am, but I thought it was earlier since I forgot my window doesn’t let in any light, no matter the time of the day. I laid in bed and watched TV for a few minutes, watched the end of a Criminal Minds on the English channel. I got a quick shower and debated to use the crappy hair dryer in my room. I think it is damaging my hair, and I’ve only used it 2x. Is that possible? Maybe its a combination of the water quality, new shampoo, and a crappy dryer. I decided that today I should get a nice hair dryer. Being the princess that I am, I think that is one thing I could spend a little more on. I mean, I’m trying to grow my hair out, and if it’s all broken and damaged by the end of my year here and I have to cut it all off again, I’ll be quite unhappy. 

Before I did anything, my goal was to get online. Jamie stopped by my room as I was packing up my computer. We walked to the coffee shop around the corner, but she decided to leave. We discussed shopping and agreed to meet up in an hour to go. I got to post a few blogs and check my emails. Surprisingly, despite being around 8-9pm back home, I didn’t get to talk to many people. 

I sat in the same coffee shop as the other day, but got some breakfast from Paris Baguette across the street. I found a delicious pastry with blueberry and cream cheese. It also had a glaze on the top that reminded me of the Colombian pastries Michael and I had in Miami. Anyway, it was delicious! I will be back for more... I also got a sugar donut twist, which was pretty good. 

After my hour was up, I headed back to meet Jamie. She wasn’t back yet, and Sean was still out running, so I sat down to watch a Big Bang Theory episode (thanks, Moon!). Jamie came by and watched with me when she got in. We had a knock on the door and I opened it to find 2 white girls I hadn’t seen before. It ended up being Chantal, a coworker who is also in the Kindergarten area (Jamie had met her before) and her Canadian friend visiting for the week. She invited us to accompany them for some sightseeing. Jamie and Sean decided to go, but I declined. I’m not good in groups anyway, and with the addition of 2 more new people, I knew I would be uncomfortable. Besides, it had started raining last night and continued through the night which prompted me to go searching for rain boots and a light rain jacket. I had heard of a place called COEX Mall, so I decided to try there. 

So I set out on my quest. Maggie, the teacher I am replacing, gave me one of her T-Money cards (subway money cards). It is like a charm that can go on your cell phone, but had broken off. It still works, just doesn’t have the string to attach it to anything. Anyway, it saved me the $5 buying a new card. I left the motel and started heading in the general direction I thought the subway was in. As I rounded the first corner, I saw an American-looking guy. He fell in behind me, but I was too nervous to say anything to him. I passed the bus stop, and kept walking. It was pouring by this point and my shoes were soaked. I had an umbrella inherited from Maggie as well, so I wasn’t too wet, but I also didn’t know where I was going exactly. I decided to turn around and ask at the 7-Eleven. I suspected you could load money on the T-Money charm at the 7-Eleven, and I was right. I put 10,000 KW (~$10) on it, and asked where the station was. She kind of explained where to get the bus. I set off again, still unsure of where I was going. And suddenly, I see the American guy again! He was a few feet in front of me, so I ran and caught him. I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around and said Hello! I was so happy he actually spoke English, my first question was “Are you an American?” HA! He said yes, and I could have cried of happiness. I was at the point where I was pretty frustrated with not knowing where I was going, and being quite wet. I found out he is also from Texas, Austin specifically. He works at a public school, but lives in the apartments right next to mine! I told him I didn’t have a phone number, but I wanted to get connected to him, so he found me on Facebook on his phone. Finally, he explained, IN ENGLISH, exactly how to get to the subway. I was so happy! I felt like God was really looking out for me at that point. He is the first American that I had met who did not work with me, and he came along at the exact moment I was in need. God is really watching out for me; I know I’ve got some amazing people praying for me back home, and I can promise you all that I feel the love and I know He is on my side! 

I walked across the street to the bus stop which would take me to the closest subway station. I could walk there, but with the rain I would just take the bus. Unfortunately, I had just missed a bus, and had to wait for about 20 minutes. When I finally caught one, it was about 4 stops til the subway; everyone on the bus got off there, and I just followed the masses of people to the entrance (thankfully I was in a crowd, otherwise I don’t know if I’d have found it as easily). 

One cool thing about Seoul’s public transportation system is that, besides being cheap, if you take a bus, then transfer to the subway (within a certain amount of time) you will not get charged for both. So, I scanned the T-Money card when I got on the bus (charged a flat fee, something around $1.50), again when I left (no charge), when I entered the subway (charged $0) and when I left the subway at my final destination (charged an extra $.10 because I went kind of far). So I just think that is pretty cool!

Well, my first experience on the Seoul subway was not the worst, but not the best either. My feet were squishy with water and if you know me, you know that wet feet/shoes/bottoms of pants/etc annoy me to no end. So I was walking all over creation in wet shoes, soaked feet. I had to change lines twice on my journey, and it was not the easiest trying to figure out which direction on the line you should go. At one station, I think I walked like half a mile in one direction before realizing that it was the wrong way. 

On one of the subway trains, I was sitting and I noticed that these 4 old Korean women were staring at me and talking to each other. I gave a small smile, and one of the women said something in direction. I smiled more, but had no idea what she said. They are all giggling at this point. She motions to her face and smiles so big; I think this meant that she thought I was beautiful (or, I look weird as hell. I’ll tell myself it was former) It was so darn cute. They were so giddy over me. I felt like the Joy Luck Club was across from me, Korean style. Haha!

Well, when I finally made it to the final station, I exited where I had read to go. I came out in this nearly empty plaza in the middle of huge skyscrapers. I walked around for a while, getting more and more frustrated, having no idea where to go. Usually, in America, if you’re looking for a huge mall, you look for the big building with lots of signs. Well, in Korea, that doesn’t work. Everywhere is a big building, everywhere has lots of signs, and I can’t read them to boot. I kept wandering, debating if I should ask someone (I am almost scared to try!), when I saw a security shack. I headed in that direction. It was empty, but the security officer was leaning on the edge of a short wall that looked like it was overlooking something below. He was looking down, so before talking to him, I looked down too. There it was! The mall was underground. I headed to the stairs at the far end, and made my way down. I saw Bennigans, Baskin Robbins, Cold Stone Creamery, and some other American brand food. I found an entrance to the actual mall behind all the food, and there were the stores! Finally! 

I found the shop I was looking for that I read online had “Wellies” aka rain boots. It is end of the rainy season here, so they were all on sale. However, they were not my size. Bummer. I went down a few stores and saw some more wellies in the window. I tried those on, and they fit great. They were too cute too! They were khaki color with dark brown trim and a ribbon bow in the back. The ONLY thing that stopped me from buying them was that they had a slight heel. When I tried them on, the slight incline put me off. I don’t mind heels, but rain boots just seem wrong with a heel. They were on sale for ~$45, so I decided to look some more and come back if I wanted them. 

I wandered down the hall and saw a sign for “Hyundai Departmental Store”  - that sounded interesting, so I went that way. When I walked through the doors to the store, the first thing I saw was about 50 food stalls. If you’ve ever been to Harrods, their food court is what this reminded me of. I walked along one of the asiles and looked at all the food and people eating. Everything was Asian, of course. Winding my way through everything, I spied a juicer. 

Now, at this point, I’ve been traveling for about two hours (from leaving my motel room) and I was getting “hangry” (my word for being angry as a result of hunger). I decided to get a juice, since that was healthy and safe. The sweet lady behind the counter was sooo nice. She helped me decide on which fruits. It ended up being more of a smoothie than juice, but oh well. It was something in my belly and tasted great. It was a little expensive, ~$8, but at that point I needed something. 

With juice/smoothie in hand, I headed to the escalators. I went up about 7-8 floors of high end cosmetics, handbags, shoes, designer clothes, and even a grocery store. There was a Mac store there, too! I noticed they do NOT have my specific type of foundation, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I knew I would not find my wellies there, so I headed back downstairs to the mall entrance. I thought I would try another hallway, but it lead back to the one I’d already gone down. Apparently this mall is quite small; the Hyundai Dep’t Store is the main attraction. I made a beeline for the subway and retraced my complicated route home. 

When I finally got to my neighborhood, I decided to look in BauHouse (the department store near my motel). I’d been in before, but only on the ground floor. They had a rain jacket on sale for ~$35, but I held off in favor of looking at a market for something cheaper. It is the end of rainy season anyway, so I won’t need it for too long. I explored the ~12 floors of wares. I found a blowdryer, but they were all similar to what I’ve already got. I need something a salon would use. Hmmm I might have to get creative in where I look for this. I discovered that the very top floor of BauHouse was a movie theater!!! Crazy! I’d never have known. 

By then, I was absolutely exhaused, so I headed back to the motel. That brings us to now; I’m eating dried veggie chips from Target (one of my plane snacks that didn’t get eaten). They are particularly good; I think I am just extremely hungry. One of the teachers mentioned going to a buffet tonight; Korean BBQ but you pick the meat from a display and you get as much as you could possibly want. It is a little more than I want to pay for a meal, ~$20, but I guess that’s a good price, since the only place similar in America is quite a bit more than $20 per person. We’ll see. Hopefully that happens because I’ve not eaten much today. 

Right now, I think I will watch a movie. In a little bit, I am going to talk to the front desk guy at the motel and see about switching rooms to the front room because it gets an internet connection. Woohoo! I feel like there is so much I haven’t talked about, but at the same time, I feel like I write extremely long blogs every time! Yikes! Well, for now, my hands hurt from typing....

Chelsea Teacher

11:53pm Seoul

I can’t wait until I can post these as I write them. But, I know my mom and others want to know everything, and I’m happy to oblige. Writing as things happen definitely lets me remember more. And since I want to turn this into a book for myself after the year, I am happy to record everything.

It’s the end of Day 1. Thankfully I started work on a Friday, which means that I got out an hour early (8pm), not to mention I get 2 days off immediately following my first day. Sean and I went out to “explore” the neighborhood a little in the morning. We found a coffee shop and got wifi for about 15 minutes. The other afternoon teachers met up with us to take us to work around 12:30pm. We stopped at Paris Baguette and I got a bagel. I was a bit nervous to go until 8pm with only a bagel, but oh well. We got to school right on time (1pm), but classes don’t start until 2:50. 

My school! We are on the 4th Floor

A few basic things about the school and the style of teaching. For me, I have 4 classes that are 40 min each, (with a 10 minute break between every other one) followed by 2 classes that are 1 hour each, also separated by a break. After my last class ends at 8pm, I have 1 hour of time to prepare for the following day or work on report cards. The curriculum is basically set, the teacher just administers class. I’m happy about this and not having to make up my own material. Another thing is that teachers change classrooms, while students stay in the same room (at least for a few classes at a time, if not all). I have the same classes M-W-F, and a different set T-Th. They are all different, no two the same level or students. Each group of students has many levels depending on ability. The groups are “New Hi, Kids” “Reach Out” “Step High” “Leap High” “SAP” and one other that I forgot the name. Those are basically the order they go as far as age/ability. Within those groups, there are levels 1-6. Each level has a certain amount of units. Each unit takes 1 month (more or less). I started on Day 10 (out of 12) of the unit with most of the classes, so by the time we start the next unit, I will be their real teacher. Don’t worry if you are completely confused by the organization of students with these groups - I am still confused. The foreign teachers (including myself) are pretty much hired to do a lot of speaking with the kids. There is a Korean teacher who comes in before/after me in a class to teach Grammar, Phonics, etc.

Today, I followed Maggie Teacher around her classes and she introduced me. I will be taking over her classes so I got to meet my students. The first class is pretty young, they are New Hi, Kids! They are level 2 I think. There were 7 in class today, but we were missing 1, so 8 total. They were such cuties! There was 1 that was a little snot; I will be having a few stern chats with the lad, to be sure. He inspires rebellion in the other boys, but generally the class is pretty good. They do a LOT of speaking with me! The point is for them to be constantly talking. If I am checking papers, they should be reading something out of the book. That kind of thing. 

Second class, I honestly don’t remember much of. They were slightly older than the first class and did the same sort of lessons. We had a 10 minute break, then 3rd class was a slightly higher age group, but they were doing Presentations, so instead of shadowing that, Sean, Jamie, and I all had a meeting with Kellie Teacher who gave us the lay of the land. We also talked to the Director, Mr. Choi, for about 2 minutes. He is very nice, but doesn’t speak much English (ironic, being the head of an English Language School). 

Kellie Teacher is the most senior foreign teacher, but leaving in a week. She is in charge of helping us settle in, but she does Kindergarten, so doesn’t help as much with Sean and I. She basically went over the rules which went something like this “Don’t wear tops that show your boobs or you’ll be looked at like a slut. Don’t show your shoulders or you’ll be looked at like a slut. Don’t talk about your drunken escapades or you’ll be looked at like a slut. Don’t mention if you smoke or you’ll be looked at like a slut.” I kid you not. She was actually very funny in presenting this information, even doing an impression of an old Korean woman tsk-ing at us on the street. Another cool thing she told us is that there is NOT a “no touch” policy with the kids like there would be in the states. We can hug them, muss their hair, pat their shoulders, even give a little kiss on the head. I think this is more important for the Kindergarten teachers, as they are with their kids for much longer periods of time, and become attached. 

She also let us know that we will be getting our health checks on Tuesday afternoon, and to eat beforehand since they do take quite a bit of blood. The health check take around a week to process, after which we can apply for the Alien Resident Card. Those take another month to get in, after which we can set up our bank accounts. This being said, our first pay is Sept 14, but it will only be for this week and in cash, since it’s a month in hand. Our first proper paychecks will be Oct 14th and should go to our new Korean bank accounts we will hopefully have set up by then.

The rest of the classes for the day were basically the same, with each class having slightly higher ability and age. There is one class that we see every day; 4 girls in an intensive immersion-based program. They are the most advanced and talkative: proof that immersion is the best way to learn a language. They are cute as buttons but I think they will be a trick to handle since they are so chatty. 

In each class, I felt like there were 38 different nuances to learn about that class (ie: SAP2, the immersion class, have Book Club every Friday where they go to the library to get a new book. Another class, I forget which, has vocab quizzes every day. Etc). By 5th block I was exhausted and my brain was slowly shutting down from too much information (much the same I’m sure yours is right now reading all this). 

By the end of the day, all I could remember is my name is now Chelsea Teacher, and Monday I have to get to work at noon rather than 1pm since we got an hour off Friday afternoon. 

Quickly, to wrap up, we got a taxi home since it was then pouring, and had dinner around the corner at another Korean restaurant. It was family-style cook-on-the-table chicken in a spicy sauce with rice noodles, sweet potato, cabbage, and sesame leaves. I actually enjoyed the sauce and noodles, and the bites of chicken without tons of fat. I ate more than last night, so we’re making progress... Tomorrow, my mission is to get some rain boots and a rain jacket. I feel like there is so much more to tell, but I’m sure I’ll fit it in next time. Now, I’m exhausted and ready for bed... 

Our dinner being cooked: chicken with spicy sauce and rice noodles. 

Pre-Work Day 1

Friday, August 24 9:47am Seoul

The view of my road. You can't see all the lights, but it's bright!

I fell asleep almost immediately last night after writing my last blog. I’m not sure how I did it, but I think I avoided jet lag. Like I said, I took several small naps throughout the 24 hours I was traveling, so I think that sustained me enough, and when I finally got to a bed, I was pooped. I set my alarm on my iPad for 8am; I could probably have slept much longer, but I want to start getting into a routine. 

The far building is my future apartment; the closer one with the overhang is my motel.

I won’t go into work until 12:30 today, but I wanted time to get ready, get some food, and relax before my first day. When my alarm went off, my room was pretty dark. I have 1 tiny window, which looks out into a parking garage aka: no light. I was very disoriented when I woke up. I was dreaming, although I don’t remember what exactly, but that made me even more confused waking up. When I finally remembered where I was, I hit snooze for 10 more minutes. I couldn’t really get back to dozing during my snooze, just watched the alarm. 

I got up at 8:10 and turned off the A/C which is very effective. It works by a remote, which is kinda cool. The one thing I wish I’d brought so far is a robe. I got in the shower, which was again amazing. Great hot water! The shower area is not open like what my apartment will have, but it still doesn’t have a shower curtain. There is a tub area though. Before the shower, I found my face wash, which was great since last night I had to wash my face with shampoo for lack of face wash. 

After the shower, I turned on the TV in my room and found 1 of 3 English channels. It was showing Night at the Museum II with Korean subtitles. I got ready watching that. The motel provided a hair dryer (thank goodness) so I was set. I took my gummy vitamins (remembering how poorly I ate yesterday, and will likely continue to eat) and headed out to find breakfast. There is a dunkin donuts around the block, so I went there. 

I am already wishing I spoke at least minimal Korean, but oh well. I got a “cheese bagel twist” for ~$1.50 (1,600 KW) then went over to the 7-Eleven for something to drink. I got chocolate milk, since I could tell what it was. I would have prefered skim milk, but I wouldn’t have any idea how to identify skim from full fat. I went through the park across from my motel/future apartment to get to the motel. That brings us to present. 

The park across from my apartment.

I’m now watching CSI:Miami and writing this. I’m not sure when I’ll get internet to post these. I’m really missing instant access to information and communication with home. I keep thinking how lucky I am that I brought the Airport Express to setup a wifi network in my apartment. Of course, I would be okay hard wiring into my computer, but I have the iPad and iPod Touch that I want to use for phone calls home. 

Speaking absolutely no Korean is quite hard. Most of the Koreans I’ve interacted with are nice when I say I only speak English, but I wish I could even say Hello and Thank you. Hopefully my coteachers will help me out with that today. At least I have some food in my belly and rest. I have some time to kill, so I might watch a movie from the hard drive. 

I’m not really nervous for work yet, but I think I will be once we are on the way over. Apparently it’s about a 15 minute walk to school. I think the teachers who are picking us up are taking Sean and I to get some lunch first. 

I am so thankful that my moment of freaking out is gone. I’m sure I’ll have more of those little episodes, especially when I’m overwhelmed. Especially with people. I get intimidated and close up when I’m around too many people I don’t know. I’m glad there are only 4 upper level teachers, and 2 of us are new. I’ll be in the same boat with someone, and there are only 2 others who know what they are doing. I’m not all alone! 

Sean has come by, and we are going to look for wifi before work...

A bakery Sean & I found while exploring, shortly after I wrote this blog.

Emmigrating Part II

Thursday, August 23 - 10:45PM in Seoul (brain too tired to calculate any other timezone...)

Well, I arrived!! My flight landed at approx. 5:20pm, which was 3:20am in Houston. The flight was long, but also kind of short. I only watched the one movie, and attempted to nap (only succeeded once or twice, very short amounts of time). I ate next to nothing; I don’t trust airplane food, and this was particularly questionable. I drank 2 cokes which ended up being a problem... later they handed out sandwiches which I believe were Ham&Cheese, but smelled like they had mayo, so I didn’t eat that either. The last meal (they fed us alot, huh?) was “lunch” and I had chicken with rice. The chicken was less than appetizing, but I ate the whole portion of rice... with another Coke. 

By that time we were like 2.5 hours from Seoul, and the lights in the cabin were back up. I gave up on sleeping. We passed over Japan, and I think I saw Mt Fuji! I could be wrong, but it was by far the biggest in the vicinity that the map said we were near to the volcano. Anyway, you can see some photos I excitedly snapped. 

First sight of Japan

I think this was Mt. Fuji

When we got over Korea, we were so high and the clouds so thick I couldn’t see anything. Finally we lowered enough so I could see. I saw the bay area that is to the west of Seoul & Incheon. 

As you can see, Korea is not as pretty as the Japanese waters!

When we exited the plane, I headed straight for the bathroom (there was ALWAYS a line on the plane!) After that was Immigration, which had zero line for us foreign passport holders! They were so nice and gave me a stamp, even though I already had a visa (or maybe that’s protocol, I have no idea). 

Then to baggage claim! As soon as I got to the carousel, I saw my bag that I gate checked, so ran that down. I got a cart and then almost immediately saw my small suitcase (the original carry-on). Then I waited for my big suitcase, the REALLY bright floral hardshell that no one in their right minds could mistake for their own. And I waited... some more, and finally the carousel stopped going around. 

I asked a guy that I was pulling off unclaimed luggage, and he pointed me in the direction of “Lost/Found” - I filled out a report, giving my Director’s name and phone number. I think it’s pretty funny that this happened since while sitting in SFO waiting on the flight, I read all these great things about Incheon Airport - one of them being their excellent baggage handling stats. It claimed that the likelihood of getting your luggage lost in Incheon was 0.0001%, and you had a greater chance of getting struck by lightening. And yet... no bag. I was surprisingly not mad or frustrated or distraut. 

I headed to customs, claimed nothing, and got some money changed. I headed out of the doors, and immediately saw my name on a sign. The guy looked right at me and nodded his head like “yes, I can totally tell this is you, American girl!” Then he explained to me, in Korean, that there is another girl we were waiting on, and to follow him (No, I did not understand a word he said, but managed somehow to figure it out). We walked down the terminal a few gates, then he taped her sign on the pole, and told me to wait, that he would be back in 1 hr. This “conversation” took a lot longer than I am describing because as I said, it was conducted exclusively in Korean (and some Sign Language). 

I waited for 45 minutes, until approx. 7pm. The girl, Jamie, finally came out the gate and saw her name. I explained to her that the guy would be back very soon, and mentioned my lost bag. I said it was funny because the bag is so OBVIOUS; she asked what it looked like and I explained to her. Her eyes lit up and she says “I’m pretty sure I just saw that bag on my baggage carousel!” Ahhhh! Her flight was also from San Francisco, only on Singapore Airlines. 

I trekked down to Asiana Customer Service, but they only understood “lost bag” and wanted my ticket stubs, which I had already given when filing my report. She didn’t understand that I wanted her to call back to the baggage claim guys and just have them check the other carousel. Oh well, they assured me they would call tomorrow, so I’ll just have to wait until then. 

Jamie and I found our cab driver, who took our bags out to his van. We had a long ride into Seoul; probably an hour and fifteen. Tons of traffic - by the time we got into Seoul it was around 8pm, and it looked like rush hour! When we finally got to our destination, he carried our bags in and we got our motel rooms. Sean, the other new hire, was also there. He took us to go meet Kellie, the girl who is leaving in a week and training us / helping us transition. She took us to dinner around the corner from the motel at a traditional Korean  BBQ place. 

At this point, I had a “moment”. And by that I mean, Jamie and Kellie are talking about work and food and where’s the closest this-and-that and I’m sitting there wanting to throw up at the thought of spending a whole year here. It didn’t hit me on the plane, or saying goodbye to mom, but sitting in that restaurant I wanted to cry. Kellie just thought I looked tired (I”m sure I did!) but it took everything in me not to cry. Somehow I managed. I was starving but I could only manage to eat 1 slice of BBQ - it had SO MUCH fat on it! The kimchi for the table was RIGHT in front of me, and while I didn’t mind the smell so much, the look and thought of eating it made the feeling of “what did I get myself into” even worse. 

About 10 minutes later, 3 other teachers walked in to join us. This did nothing to appease my fears. They were all chatty BFF-ish and I felt more alone and overwhelmed than ever. Kellie mentioned that Jamie would be taking over her classroom of Kindergartners in the morning, but Sean and I would be working with the slightly older kids, anywhere from 7-13, in the afternoon. When she told me that it was Sean, me, and another guy and girl that were not at the table, I felt better. I’m not sure why... everyone was so nice. But sitting there made me feel out of place, and knowing that there were only 4 of us to work afternoons together made it better. 

After that I tried something on the table to eat, a rice paper wonton wrapper thing, and while it was certainly not a meal, it was something and I was trying. I do have work tomorrow, but I won’t have to go in until 1pm, which is my usual start time. So, while I had my first moment of regret and fear, I overcame it, talked myself down, and did not have a mental breakdown in the middle of a family restaurant in Seoul. 

After dinner, Kellie showed us the local 7-Eleven only 2 minutes from our motel and our future apartments (which are next door to each other). We came back to our rooms, and I got a shower. I think that shower has been my favorite part of the day. Haha! Now I have gotten my iPad charging, my sound machine working with the converter, and have determined that I am a genius for bringing my airport express, since Kellie mentioned that you must hardwire ethernet into your computer in the apartments (no wifi available) - so, I’ll just create my own! I love being an Apple nerd ;) 

My alarm is set for 8am, so I have time to get a shower and look decent, find food, and maybe get some wifi to post this :)

Emmigrating Part I

Wednesday, August 22 - 6:25pm Houston, 7:25pm Miami, 4:25pm California, 8:25am Seoul

Part one of my trip is complete - I made it to San Francisco, and am now on my next flight to Seoul. So far, fairly uneventful. I woke up at 4:20am and did my hair, but skipped the makeup since I figured it might be coming off later at the airport. My parents drove me to the airport, and I ended up checking both my large suitcase and my small suitcase, and moving the essentials to a handheld duffle. $70 extra but my parents were kind enough to pay the fee. (thank you dad!) 

Saying goodbye to my parents was a little easier than I was expecting. Everyone was determined not to cry, and although I can’t say there were no tears, it was reasonable. Only when I hugged my mom right before security did I start to tear up. As soon as I turned away from them, some more tears came, but I dried up for TSA since they might get all weird on me if I was bawling in the metal detectors. My silly parents waited on the  other side of the glass while I got through security, and I had one last glimse of my mom before I left. That also brought tears to my eyes. 

Mommy and Me saying goodbye!

Then, there was the two mile trek to my gate. (It's always on the other side of the airport, isn't it?) The duffle on my shoulder, as well as the 15lb in my backpack were beginning to dig in. When I got to the gate, they were announcing that the flight was very full and encouraging people to gate check their carry-on rolling bags. I asked at the gate and she told me that they could check it all the way to Seoul. I wouldn’t be charged for an additional bag (thank goodness). So, I decided that rather than try to carry around the duffle through SFO (San Francisco Airport), I’d just cross my fingers that everything makes it to Seoul. I grabbed my fuzzy socks out of my duffle and stuffed them into my backpack (which I was of course keeping on me). 

When called, I handed my boarding pass to the woman at the gate, and she stopped me and said I had a seat change and handed me a new boarding pass. Since I had paid extra in order to choose my own seat, an aisle, I wasn't why I would have a seat changed. When I got to the seat, I found it was a window, exactly what I did not want. Not only was it a window seat, it was the worst window seat I’ve ever seen. Next to me was a plastic panel, and the only windows I had any view from were basically behind me and way in front next to the seat in front of me. Hopefully you can imagine this; I think I explained it poorly. But, basically it was a terrible seat. Annoyed, I called my mom and told her to request a refund, since I was not given the seat I paid extra for. After about 10 minutes I realized I probably got more annoyed than I should have, since I got the extra leg room anyway. 

The woman sitting next to me ended up being nice, although I had my doubts at first. She was funny and we made fun of United and how dated plane we were in was. The flight was almost an hour late in taking off, but am I surprised? No, United sucks. We commiserated about that some more, talked a little of Korea, and I went to sleep. I took about 3-4 20 minute naps that flight. For some reason, airplane noises put me to sleep. I’m definitely not complaining, I only wish that there hadn’t been a baby behind me that kept waking me up. Thankfully, it was not a horrible screaming brat, but only made a few sudden loud noises that would startle me from sleep. 

When we were getting close to SFO, we hit a bit of turbulence. The captain came over the speakers and pointed out Lake Tahoe, which my window seat allowed me to glimse about 2” of. Regardless, it was neat. I’ve always wanted to go to Lake Tahoe; at least now I can say I’ve seen it! 

We landed in SFO, which was pretty neat since the runways go out on the bay; it looked like we were landing on water at first. We were only 20 minutes late in landing there, so I still had a fair amount of time to get to my next flight. I was starving so once I got the general vicinity of my gate, I found a food court and got a little pizza (overpriced of course). I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was (or maybe I was just so hungry?) After I snarfed that down, I followed the arrows to my gate. 

As I turned a corner, I was suddenly smacked in the face with ANOTHER security checkpoint. I’d already gone thru security at IAH, so I wasn’t expecting that. And, it was kind of a long line (I’ve seen worse, but still...) I started to freak out a little bit, but ended up getting through it in about 15-20 minutes. At this point I knew they wouldn’t stop me about anything in my bag since I’d given up the bag with my toiletries in it. 

Once I got through, my gate was very close. My seat-mate in my previous flight advised me to ask for an upgrade on my international flight, so that’s exactly what I did at the counter at my gate. All the upgrades were claimed, but she put my name on a waiting list for an aisle seat. I ended up not getting it, but Asiana is way better than other flights I’ve had and I am pretty happy with the leg room I’ve got in my window seat. (Hey, at least it’s not a middle seat!) 

That flight was also slightly late in taking off, and the ambient noise was so loud that I fell asleep just waiting to get to the runway. Man, what is it with me and airplane noises? So, now I’m somewhere over the Pacific ocean, maybe near Alaska. My original attempt to sleep during the initial hours of the flight were thwarted by my need for a drink (pizza has way too much sodium...) so that kept me awake. Then they served dinner. I was rather looking forward to trying the Korean dish, but I was informed that all they had left was beefsteak. Oh well, I’ll take it. I ended up eating half the side dish and a cracker. Well, maybe some cheese too. I didn’t even touch the questionable looking entree. I’m probably being a diva, but I wasn’t into it. I also watched most of the Hunger Games during this time. 

So, that about brings us to the present. I don’t want my iPad to die, it’s at about 60% right now. And I’ve got another 8-9 hours to go. I want to sleep, like I said, but I’ve also drank like 2 Cokes. Even if the caffeine doesn’t keep me up, the need to pee will soon hit me. So, I decided to chronicle my trip so far... nothing too crazy or exciting. I’m tired, but emotionally, I’m just avoiding thinking. Of anything. Although, on takeoff from SFO, I did have a moment of “this is the last time my feet will touch American soil for a year.” 

Oh, speaking of which, the girl in the seat behind me is also going to Korea to teach. She of course was telling her seat mate about it and for some reason it annoyed me. Maybe I subconsciously resent her for the attention; I’d like to be the special one. I can’t think I’m the only one doing this though! There's hundreds of schools and thousands of teachers hired each year. Anyway, airplane noises drown her out thank goodness. Annnnd the guy in the seat in front of me just put his seat back and now I can hardly see my laptop screen. I guess I’ll update again when I’ve actually landed! 

Not-Goodbye-See-You-Later Party!

Last Thursday, I had my going away party. Aka: this-isn't-goodbye-just-see-you-later party. I decided to keep it small, only my very close friends. I'd love to say goodbye to everyone in my contact book, but that's just not feasible, or an enjoyable attempt. So, 7-8 of my ZTA sisters headed to Luigi's Pizza, a BYOB pizza joint in Midtown Houston. We cracked some bottles of wine, reminisced over old memories at the House, in class, during Recruitment, at meetings, and many many parties... It really reminded me of how great my friends are.

Since I moved back out to Baytown aka Hell, I haven't gotten to see much of my sisters. Some are still in the collegiate chapter, others are moved on to bigger and better things. Either way, we don't see enough of each other. This party was small, but had more than enough love and memories and sisterhood. After dinner, we went out on the town. I won't get into any specifics, but we had a great time. Here are some photos from dinner, taken by my little Katie.

It's my party!

Pledge Sisters: Fall 2008

Eek! My cute little: Katie! Miss Photographer

So I drink champagne...?

Caught in the act!

Me & Jessica

Little #1 Lara

Pledge sister Kelly & I

Me & Steph

Brittany & I

Dreaming

I just have to share this dream I had last night...

*In my dream...* I was working at vet's office, and walking past a shelty on an exam table. As I passed, the dog bit me. I looked at it's paperwork, and realized it was in because it was rabid. I tell the vet, who informs me that *in my dream* there is no cure, rabies shots are only good before you get bit. So, in a few days I will go rabid as well. 

He tells me that I have a choice: wait it out and go rabid, or come back in in a few days and get euthanized. I decide that I'd rather not suffer, so I schedule a time to come back to be "put down." *how horrible, right?*

So, at this point, I'm like, "I need to spend as much time possible with my mom!" And proceed to visit friends, do everything possible with mom, call Michael, etc. When I see people, I don't want to tell them I'm about to die because I don't want to look like an attention-whore. 

Don't worry, I woke up before I died.

I think this dream was hilarious mostly because apparently modern medicine for humans and animals was the same. But also, quite poignant, since I am in the process of leaving life as I know it in 2 days. I am doing absolutely EVERYTHING with my parents possible. Things I wouldn't usually enjoy. Even helping teach at children's church this morning. Yikes!

It's kinda sad, kinda funny. But, it's appropriate. And with that, I'm going to go watch a movie with my mom. :)

Packing

I guess I can no longer avoid the inevitable: packing. I've been putting this off for, oh, 3 weeks. "But, seriously, how am I supposed to pack that far in advance? I'll need stuff between now and then!" Alas, "then" has arrived...

My plan involves 1 checked bag, less than 50lb, 1 carryon suitcase, and 1 personal item (backpack!) Since I will be living in a motel for the first week and a half til I get my apartment, I decided to pack my essentials in my carry on, and avoid getting into my checked bag until I get to the apartment. And all my valuable technology goes in the backpack.

In the 3 weeks I've been starting to pack, I've been just dumping things on the spare room bedroom as I remember I need them. Today, I had to sort thru the mess and actually get it in a bag. Thank goodness my dad is a Tetris master, and packing is basically the same thing.

I kept feeling like I hadn't chosen too much to take. I know that there will be plenty for me to buy there; I wear a small enough size clothing that I will find my size there, and shoes are also available for my size 7. (Shoes only go up to a women's size 8 there...!) Toiletries will be fairly easy to find as well. I am making a point to take my Bumble&Bumble hair products and 3 sticks of deodorant. Supposedly you can find it easily now, but I'd rather pay $0.88 at CVS than $10 at E-Mart in Seoul.

Basically, I'm attempting to bring enough of everything (or almost everything) and not too much of anything. I figure, I can bring what I need, when I run out, I'll buy more there. If I can't find anything I do need, I'll have enough time with my small supply to order more online or ask mom to send to me. Must be smarter than the suitcase...

I decided to try the "Army Roll" for my clothing in my carryon. Here is the link if you want to watch the video on this... It worked pretty well, but I'm not convinced that it created a significantly greater amount of space than my usual space bags. Oh well. No harm, no foul. For my checked bag, I packed normally....

In my carryon, I also packed several small bags, a tooth bag (toothbrush, trial size toothpaste, floss, etc), a hair bag (trial size shampoo, conditioner, testers of hair products, etc). I also packed an extra pair of shoes. The ones I am wearing on the plane are great, but I'd like to have an extra pair for that first week.

Speaking of shoes, I packed only like 4 pairs. I am wearing silver snakeskin flats on the plane (totally worn out, will prob throw away before returning home), packed my silver crochet Toms in my carryon, and in the checked bag, 1 pair of Sperry's, 1 pair of worn out New Balance, and ... well, I think that's it! I plan to buy my fall/winter boots there, as well as rainboots and hiking shoes. Luckily, I will be living in the same neighborhood as Dongdaemun Market, where I will have access to 24 hour shopping at 23 malls, 30,00 vendors, 50,000 manufacturers. Um, Yes.... this is real. And all within 10 blocks. *heaven!* So, being a "normal" Korean size, I am confident in my ability to get cheap, fashionable shoes in my neighborhood.

I also decided to pack my Canon Rebel DSLR camera and extra lens in my checked bag. I'm not so sure about this decision, but my dad says he got it extremely snug, it's in it's special packaging, and my suitcase is a hard-side. So, cross your fingers it stays safe.

Once I got everything stuffed in my checked bag, sorted out what to put in the carryon, we attempted to weigh this sucker. The limit is 50lb... this stupid thing was 55lb!!! So, we had to eliminate a few things... most of this consisted of vitamins and medicine, school supplies, and some electronic converters and stuff. My mom says we will just pack the stuff up and mail it out this week. So, I'll just have to wait for it and hope I don't need my Aleve Cold and Sinus between now and when it arrives. I think I'll be okay!

So, at this point, I have successfully got everything confined to 2 suitcases (1 significantly smaller than the other), and a backpack. I still have a few things to put in: makeup, hair products, all stuff I need on the morning I leave to get ready. And a few tops are in the wash, so they will get stuffed in the carry on as well. That checked bag is not getting touched, 49lb is incredible!!!!

At this point, I am trying to soak up every moment with my parents possible... and, trying to not have a panic attack.

What's there to be scared of?

In my Korean Countdown, I only have 8 days left. That's right, I leave 1 week from tomorrow...

I think I have been doing myself a disservice recently. Of course, anyone I talk to wants to know about my trip. When do I leave? Am I nervous? etc. etc. I answer their questions, and recently my stance on the "nervous or excited?" question has been "a lot of both!" I also use the word "scared"... but why is that? What do I have to be scared of?

I am leaving my friends and family - well, yea... but growing up means leaving them anyway. And I'm lucky enough to have both friends and family who support my decision and want me to live my dreams. My mom is willing to FaceTime at basically any point during the day, and Michael has not complained once, always telling me he's proud. I'm very lucky...

I won't have access to modern amenities - in fact, this is not true. South Korea is extremely advanced technologically, and considered a first world country. Yes, things will be different (hello, wet showers!) but, I'm not going back to the dark ages.

I won't be able to communicate with locals - most of Korea is pretty English-friendly. The subway system is marked in Korean and English, many Koreans want to practice their English on you, and the culture is extremely hospitable. Even if they can't say the words, I'm confidant that most people I meet on the street or in the shops will make an effort to be understood. Furthermore, I will be working with other foreigners, we will all speak English, so that will be a relief.

I won't know anyone when I arrive - technically untrue. I've been able to get in contact with Tab, a girl from my hometown who is teaching in Seoul as well. She got there last week-ish, and has already been a big help on my packing situation. Also, I was lucky enough to sign a contract at a school who only hires awesome people. I know this because my recruiter put me in touch with Sean, another American who signed a contract to start at the same time as me, at the same school. We've been emailing, and he is awesome.

I can only pack so much - well, this is very true. And I'm still not sure what that looks like as far as quantities of items... my spare bedroom is my drop off point for "ooh, I'll need this!" moments. And, so far, I don't really have that much. I was smart enough to mail myself a few of my essentials that are on the bulky or heavy side (aka: mattress topper and towels). Currently, my suitcase contains clothes (duh), a few pairs of shoes, medicine, hair products, school supplies, and a few other this-and-thats.

I will be lonely - damn, this is true. I get lonely when my parents go to Baytown on Sunday afternoons and leave me at the house! But, my coworkers will be living in the same apartment building as me (including my buddy Sean), Tab will only be 2 subway express stops away from me, and I've got a checklist of things to do. I will have to force myself out of my apartment sometimes, but I know I will be glad I did. Plus, looks like Tab has already started exploring the bar scene and has found it to be good. I know she will make me go out!

I am the pickiest 22-year-old I know - I honestly don't know how I will manage a diet of kimchi (fermented cabbage) and seafood, but I must find a way. That way probably includes Amazon Grocery shopping for super sized packages of Mac&Cheese, but we shall see...

I won't get paid for a month, at least - I've done a fairly good job of saving for this rainy day month. I will definitely have to make and stick to a budget, but I think that is possible. My problems will probably come from wanting to eat out all the time, but Sean is excited about the cuisine options, so maybe he will force me into going native. PLUS my mom found some good websites where I can find secondhand furniture or other things I might need. It looks like I can get a lot of things for pretty cheap! This is bueno; I like a deal!

I've never taught before, and I'll be responsible for lots of children each day - well, no, I've never taught. And no, I don't have any idea what I'm doing. But, something like 200,000 teachers come over to Korea to do this, each year! (Okay, I made that statistic up, but it is a large number...) so, if all those other people can do it, I sure can. I don't want to brag, but I'm pretty awesome ;) Plus, education is in my family... and, my dad lent me some books. Ha!

I'm a certified princess - Well, I never thought I was until the prospect of moving somewhere where Western comforts were at a premium came about. Like I mentioned before, I was diligent in researching the culture, and found a creative solution to my problem (IE: mailing myself the mattress topper and towels). If there are other things I need, mom can order and ship to me :) Plus, I just KNOW that my loyal fans and wonderful friends out there, reading this, will send me lovely care packages!! :P

It's a WHOLE YEAR - Actually, it's JUST a year. My parents have always told me that I can do anything, even things I don't like, if I can see an end in sight. A class I hated in college - "You can do anything for a semester", a position that gave me headaches and want to punch people I loved in the face (*cough, cough*) "You can do anything for a year"... you see what I mean. So, really, I CAN do anything for a year! (I just proved it in ZTA)

So, I guess my conclusion is, there's really nothing to be scared of. There's some initial things I am a bit nervous to get sorted (living in a motel for a week before getting my apartment, actually getting my apartment and figuring out how good or bad it is, etc), but all in all, I chose a great country, and a city that is particularly Westernized. I'm getting good money, and have a nice setup with my rent covered. I know I'll see my mom in November when she comes to visit, and Michael is looking at flights as we speak... so really, what's there to be scared about? My focus now is excitement...

Baybrook

This blog is not about Korea.

I got to go to my old store today, and see some coworkers that I had missed. One of them reads my blog, and I want at least her to know how much it meant to me to see everyone today.

I went for an appointment to get my phone replaced for a friend to borrow while I am out of the country, but getting to see my friends was an amazing blessing.

I've only been gone from the store for a little over a month, and not much has changed. I know things are happening internally, and I probably shouldn't know these things, but the faces are the same and I miss those faces. Even the first step in the door, I got a smile to my face. I really loved my time at Baybrook.

When I left my job at the store, I was on the brink of seeing my boyfriend, Michael, again after a few weeks without him. I was so excited that leaving the store didn't have as big of an effect on me. I think today it really hit me how much I miss it.

They don't even know, but the friends and relationships I made at work over the past year meant so much to me. I grew in my time there... emotionally and mentally, professionally. I learned about life and  work... And those were the people to help me through it all.

This blog isn't really to inform anyone about anything... it's simply a reflection. Sitting in my store, I was shaking. It wasn't exactly nerves or excitement, but an emotion I can't put a name to... sadness and a certain loneliness and feeling like I was back among friends, but had to leave them again. I don't know... but I wanted any of my coworkers who read this to know that you all meant so much to me. Your friendship was treasured and our time together was incredible.

I'm on the cusp of leaving everything I know for an opportunity to push myself even further in life... I pray that my future coworkers have half the intelligence, charisma, companionship, humor, and love for each other that I felt at Baybrook. If I can have even that, I know my time in Korea will be worth it.

I miss you all, Baybrook. xxxx

School Supplies!

Something I've noticed in my endless digging through teacher blogs and expat websites is that Korean kids love American school supplies. They go ga-ga over stickers, kookoo for posters, etc. Since it seems to me like getting such things is not too easy in Seoul, or that their selection is limited, I decided to track down some good ol' American goodies...

I have many friends who are teachers, most of which teach youngsters like mine. I posted on FaceBook with the question: "where should I get teacher supplies?" - several commented that I should check out the Dollar Store. I was surprised, and skeptical... but, why not?

So yesterday when I was on the nice side of town (aka: not where I live) I decided to see what the local Dollar Tree had in stock. I walked in and the first aisle I happened to check was the teachers supplies (and students' supplies down at the end).


First thing I found were rolls of "motivational stickers" (like, Great Job! on homework, etc.) I started looking around the box for the price, and my friend informed me that, unlike many other "dollar" stores, Dollar Tree ACTUALLY only has one price - $1. My eyes lit up! The whole roll of 180 stickers was only $1... I grabbed 5. (Hey, they had a variety!)



The next of my finds was posters... a Happy Birthday banner. You know, each month, swap out the names? Well, I wasn't too convinced I needed that, but I kept digging through the posters and found some that WERE what I needed. Each pack had two posters. I got "Opposites/Positions" to learn things like "in/out" or "happy/sad" - these could be great for vocab lessons, right? Right behind that was "Animals" with one poster being marine life and the other wild life (think African safari...) Some of these animals might be a little more complicated in their names, but it won't hurt! Plus the pictures are GREAT! Finally, the jewel in my poster-crown... the name chart. You know what I'm talking about... A chart where all the names go down the left side, and accomplishments across the top. Each time one of the students completes something, they get a coveted STAR. I LOVED this when I was in school... I couldn't wait to see my stars kick all the other rows of stars' butts! (Call me competitive...) Luckily, right after grabbing that set of posters (the other side was a Happy Birthday poster with each month and a box to write the kids names, much better than a banner...) I happened upon packs of foil stars! Goldmine! I grab two boxes of 440 stars each, and considered another, but decided to hold off...

My last finds were some cute motivational erasers (prizes??), some Mickey Mouse flashcards for colors and shapes (gotta know that stuff, right?) and finally, "Grow Your Own" capsules... wild life variety. I figure kids like that kind of sciency weirdness, and we can do them when learning animal names. :)

Man... these kids are so lucky that have an awesome teacher like me! ;) I spent a whole $15 on them! LOL I'm pretty proud of my spectacular finds... I'm sold on Dollar Tree!!

Lazy

Since I got home from Florida, I've been simultaneously lazy and overwhelmed. I want to revel in my soft and comfy bed, cook the foods I want to eat, and watch all the Netflix and Hulu I can handle. Unfortunately, I need to be preparing for my imminent departure in, oh, just like, 20 days.

AHHHHH!!!

Some things I've been doing this week to prepare (which doesn't amount to much...)
- Throwing random little things I want to take, such as adaptors, converters, power strips (I think those will be very handy!), medicine, and some spices (Italian seasoning, garlic powder, rosemary, etc), into a suitcase laying permanently open on my bedroom floor.
- Mentally putting together outfits which I think would be appropriate for work, and also noting which clothes I couldn't live without (aka: Victoria's Secret PINK Boyfriend sweatpants for lounging around my apartment).
- Begging insurance to let me get my annual eye exam 2 months early and not pay for the appointment or order while abroad (BTW the answer was no... but if I can get an itemized receipt in English they will cover a whopping $35...) The good thing is I think medical care there is relatively inexpensive. Maybe I won't go broke getting contacts...
- Ordering replacement heads for my Clarisonic face brush. These are way too expensive but I found a twin-pack on Amazon with free shipping, so that will last me 6 months then I can ask my mom to send me more hehehe
- Making a massive list of the movies and tv shows to get put on an external hard drive for me. Nothing illegal here, folks. Just a friend doing me a favor... So far, the list is 1 page, 3 columns, 12-point font...
- Making sure my laptop is up to date with all my files and music and photos from my iMac.
- Researching places in Seoul such as an eye doctor, a church, where to buy cheese, etc.
- Emailing with a guy who is also going to teach at my same school. My recruiter (bless her heart) gave me his email and he seems like a nice guy. We're even Facebook friends, and he doesn't seem to be creepy so that's a huge plus! ;)
- Picking the brain of my friend Tab who leaves for her Seoul adventure TOMORROW! We grew up in the same small town in North Texas, but were put in touch by a mutual friend. I'm so happy we could talk before we got to Seoul, and we will have each other to keep us company all those lonely times.
- Attempting to decide what items are of emotional or symbolic value that I must take. So far, I KNOW I must take my turquoise blue embroidered ZTA blanket from my Big, Kristen. My pillow (nothing beats it), and trying to determine what best reminds me of Michael. I would love to take photos, but I hate not having frames - I would need to buy frames over there, and would hate to print photos in a size they don't have frames for in Korea. I'm mildly OCD about this, but frameless photos annoy me for some reason. My mom crocheted me some winter slipper booties, and I must take those. Also, she made the cutest little scarf and I talked her into letting me have it :) After all, she will probably need it far less than I will.
- Turning off my Verizon cell phone service. Good thing I broke my phone so close to needing to cancel service anyway. I have gotten a Google Voice number and finally got Talkatone and Gmail set up to allow my iPad to function as my phone for the next 14 months.
- Selling my car. Well, not actually. I told my mom to sell her car and take mine. She's always loved my car and still has payments on hers; I am such a nice daughter :) Haha! So, no more mode of transportation for me!

Well, for now, that's what I am up to. I can't wait to hear from Tab once she arrives in Seoul and gets relatively settled. Hopefully she can give me some advice!

Comment if you have a recommended movie or tv show I should take with me!

Chick-Fil-A

With how frustrated I am over all the Chick-Fil-A business going on with Facebook today, I almost don't want to write this. But, it's my blog, so why not!

I've known since I was like 11 that Chick-Fil-A was a Christian-founded business. I thought it was cool from the start that someone in society actually stood up for their beliefs. So suddenly, in 2012, why are people getting up in arms about it?

The guy simply said what he believed. He never said "we don't serve gays" or "we give sub-par service to homosexuals". He simply said that his family doesn't support gay marriage, and they choose to give Sundays off to their employees. Big, freaking, deal!

What I want to know is WHY it's such a big deal for someone with conservative, religious beliefs and values to exercise his right to free speech, to say what he thinks, but if he had said the opposite, it would have been championed as free speech.

The thing is, people who think that Chick-Fil-A is evil are pissing me off, but the people who are smearing this whole thing over social media are also upsetting me. Christians are called to love everyone, but this campaign is making us look like the bad guys. I'm not apathetic to the issues going on, but annoyed by the outrage that Christians are yelling about on Facebook.

The way this started, a simple call to support someone who had courage in the face of a society against him, was just. But now, "sticking it to the gays" and "fighting for conservative values" - I'm sorry, when did how much money a company makes have any effect on someone's lifestyle. And did I miss the "vote" for gay marriage when I walked into Chick-Fil-A today?

I ate Chick-Fil-A today because I get great service and good food. I do think EVERYONE has the right to say how they feel and what they think, no matter who likes it or doesn't. (I've been offended by the left wing party and anti-Christian organizations many times) But, this whole messy business is ridiculous.

Eat where you want, believe what you want, just love everyone. Speak kindness, no matter your opinion. This goes for both "sides" of this ordeal...