Month 10: June 2010

Wayne is going to kill me for this image ...but I have a feeling he visits this blog once every 7 months, so maybe it will go unnoticed, serves him right I suppose!

I just wanted to give everyone an update as another month comes to a close.  We have yet to sit down with our boss and negotiate us staying on longer, so everything is very up in the air.  Ideally we are hoping (and only from a financial standpoint) to stay on for an extra 5 months, which would bring us home at the beginning of April, but our school has been going through a lot of changes and stress the past month, so I have no idea where that leaves us.  They are also the slowest people in the world to ever make decisions, so who knows ...we may just be on a plane in the end of September! I'm not sure which way my fingers are crossed.

On a side note we have booked a short trip during our summer holidays (unlike public school teachers, private school teachers teach through the summer with a 5 day holiday at the beginning of August ...because we cannot allow these children to be without education for less than 5 hours per day) to Jeju.  Very excited.  It's a Korean Island, and I have no idea what we are going to see/do there, but I just can't wait to lay by a pool, or on the beach and do nothing but read for a few days straight.  Heaven. It has taken me over 3 months to read my current book ...that in itself is a definition of how busy I have been.

And another update (and somewhat of an excuse as to why I am going to be completely absent for the next month) I am going to be taking my ABQ Course in Math so that when I come back home I will be a certified math teacher! I have no idea what to expect at this point, especially with the time difference but the website tells me to set aside 6-7 hours a day (online) ...and I'm sure with the extra 8 1/2 that I spend at school a day, my life is going to slightly end in July.  So sadly my weekly skype dates and email updates with everyone may need to be put on hold, but rest assured I will be back in August ...hopefully in a better position to come home!

Anyways, that's all for now ...miss everyone and can't wait to start my official countdown to coming home:)

xoL

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Everyday Fun at J&C

The ridiculousness that I deal with on a daily basis is out of control.  Honestly, I have no idea sometimes why I even put up with it, save for the fact that I love drama and thrive on it.  This little story isn't even close to the level of gossip and drama that is going on right now, but you are just going to have to enjoy this one and send me an email should you want more insight:)

One of my co-workers brought 2 boys into the office after class today to talk to the Director (Betty) because they were misbehaving in class and not doing their work.  (Typical.) After some serious verbal lashing from Betty, both boys went back to their classroom, one of them in tears. 

Once Tim (the one with the tears) sat back down in class, Dan (another boy in class with a bit of an edge) started to tease him, every so quietly.  It didn't stay quiet for long.  Tim - having had enough abuse for one day, stood up in class, picked up his book and hit Dan across the back of the head with it. Ummmm, yah.

Let's just say that the day ended (the day being Dan's birthday) with Dan in our office, sobbing for over 1 hour. Apparently he did not appreciate the irony of the situation.

I think that can be filed under the heading: 'What Goes Around, Comes Back Around.'

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Month 9: May 2010

April & May were definitely blessed with visitors.  One week after my parents left, Hallsy arrived and took up residence in our 2nd bedroom for close to 3 weeks.  I kept getting asked the question, "are you going to be able to deal with living with 2 boys ...especially when one is Hallsy?" knowing that he was considering staying up to 3 months if he could find work.  And I always responded, "absolutely, I love having people from home here, especially when one is Hallsy."

And I can honestly say, we loved having him here and were sad to see him go when he couldn't find work.  The only thing I will not miss is having every single cup in my cupboard used on a daily basis because the boy does not like to use a single cup twice. Seriously?

And now we are back to normal and to our quiet apartment, which is both sad and relaxing at the same time.  And starting into a new month.

We're also in the process of considering extending our contract for an extra 5 months.  I think we both completley want to go home and get back to normal life, but we also see the value (and I am talking pure dollars and cents here) in extending as long as possible.  We know that we have a deadline of April 9th (Carina's Wedding) on the horizon, on top of at least a small vacation at the end ...so we're in decision mode.  Hopefully by my next update I will have more information.

Until then, know that I miss home every day but that we are happy and accepting visitors anytime!

Oh ...and here's a little preview of exactly what Wayne & Hallsy spent 3 weeks doing ...

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Climbing the Mountain

You may be starting to think that my title is a very deep metaphor to the fact that we are in our 9th month here in Korea and there are days when it literally feels like we are climbing Mount Everest to make it through.  And that from a time perspective we have really reached the peak of that mountain and are now starting to descend.

But no.  I actually meant that I climbed a mountain.  The mountain that is right behind our apartment and has been staring at me for almost 9 months now. 

So, on Saturday morning when I woke up fresh and alert (having been too exhausted to cope on Friday night, and by cope I mean drink & socialize) I decided to have my own little adventure, equipped with only my running shoes and my new camera.  In retrospect a phone (had I not broken mine last week) and a bottle of water may have been wise as well ...but well, I have never been much of a hiker and I really only intended to climb a hill and then call it a mountain, and it ended up being ...well, a mountain.

Here are some of the beautiful sites:

And I will answer your questions here:

• 
  
  Yes, I have added the caption 'lori eldridge photography' for a couple reasons.  First and foremost, I am the one who took the pictures, so it could not be a more true statement, and number 2, I have been playing around with my new flickr account and there is nothing more fun than the effects
• 
  
  I was nowhere close to alone on this mountain, there was without a stretch of truth at least 2-4 Koreans per 20 metre area
• 
  
  Yes, there is advertising even in the middle of the forest in Korea, I have told you - no boundaries

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Muuido

Well ...the long weekend was a bit of a bust ...for a couple of reasons.  Number one of course being the fact that it rained all day Saturday, Sunday & Monday.  That being said, our long weekend started on Friday which was one of the most beautiful days that we have seen this season.  Unfortunately, we did not 'see' this day until approximately 3pm in the afternoon, which was the time that we literally pulled ourselves out of bed, into the shower and to lunch to get our day started.  This might have something to do with a little soju and a 5:30am bedtime the night before.

Regardless, it was an interesting and fun weekend - and even though we got rained out and had to come home early, I'm still happy we ventured away from home.

Muuido is a small island (only 400 people actually live there) close to the Incheon Airport, which isn't too far from where we live.  The island is so close to the mainland that if you were to line up 3 ferries beside each other, you would be able to walk across. 

Once you get off the ferry, you need to hop onto a bus that will take you to the beach which is about a 20-30 minute bus ride away.  Sadly we did not know this.  We got right off the ferry, started following the closest people and then realized about 30 minutes later that we were still walking and were now alone.  Over 90 minutes later we arrived.  Another tiny disaster - we had, had a Korean friend help us book the 'hotel' where we would be staying (dammit, I just realized that we didn't take any pictures of where we stayed, details to come!) and somewhere around the 45 minute walk portion of our afternoon we realized that she had booked the wrong beach, and we aren't even sure to this day that she even booked us into a place near the beach ...or in Muuido for that matter.

Here are some pics from our 'hike'

Anyways, I was a bit panicky at this point.  The place was absolutely rammed.  It was a long weekend and foreigner/tourist city on this beach.  We watched as couples went up to the booth and were turned away, we even watch a couple fight for a room that they apparently booked, but was not left open for them. Thankfully (once we were told that they were full) we found a park that had vacant rooms.  And by room, what I mean is a little hut (and that's really not the best word for it, but the best that I can do) which essentially had 4 walls (2 walls were just windows,) 3 moldy pillows & 2 blankets for the 5 of us.  Do the math ...even without the dirt factor it wasn't great.  Not that sleeping on the floor is ever my first option.  Apparently I did not need to bring my straightener or hair dryer - there would be no showering in my future, or running water for that matter.

But we absolutely made the best of it ...even when everything we ordered on the menu at the one restaurant that didn't serve fish was sold out, and even after we watched an extremely drunk bunch of foreigners (I swear, sometimes they make us all look horrid) flash each other, while yelling obscenities from across the beach.

But we only lasted one night.  It was an incredible beach, and so nice and small that it was almost quaint ...but as soon as the rain started pouring on Saturday, and we looked up into the sky and saw no chance of reprieve, we called it a day and packed it in.  And after 3 bus rides and a ferry ride home, we were completely soaked to the bone, but happy to be home, drinking wine and showering:)

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Mom and Dad in Korea ...the Photobook

Click here to view this photo book larger

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Pen Pal Buses

I have always known that 'boundaries' are not the same in Korea as they are at home ...but I don't think I have ever seen anything quite as funny (or downright ridiculous) as when I walked out of our school and was confronted with over 5 different buses with banners covering the entire length of them.

They are actually using something that Wayne & I put together to get the kids excited about writing, to sell the school.

In some ways, I absolutely cannot believe it ...but in others, it completely figures.  .

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