The end has arrived

It is hard to believe that I have been in Korea for over a year. When I first arrived I honestly did not think that I would last four months and now it has been over a year. Time really has flown by in a blink of an eye. I have had the most amazing twelve months in Korea, filled with hard times and great times. The new teachers arrived this week, which made it all the more final that my year is up.

I have spent the week cleaning, packing and just enjoying my final days. I know that I will be back in Korea in five weeks however it feels so strange to leave. Once I return I will have the same Kinder class but all of my elementary classes are going to change. Ann, one of the new teachers, will teach my class during August then start teaching a new class once I return. I wonder what it will be like to leave and return. How will things have changed? Will the students be the same and will they seem a lot older and wiser?

Today was my last day teaching three of my classes that only come to LCI on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was hard to say goodbye to them yet it didn't seem real. It is even harder to believe that I will be home in three days! I know that my time in the states will fly by and soon I will be back in Korea!


My third grade class on my last day teaching them. I have been teaching this class for my entire time in Korea.


One of my third grade classes on my last day teaching them.


My first grade class on my last Thursday teaching them.

Middle of July

It is very hard to believe that it is already the middle of July. I was warned that my year here will go by quickly but I was not really ready for how fast it would past. In just a few days I will have been in Korea for one year!

This past few weekend I headed down to Pohang. Josh came with me. We left on Friday after work and headed to the train station. The weather was a little rainy on Saturday so we spent the afternoon at the movie theater. We then had some western food, sandwiches and fries, for dinner before heading to the beach to light off fireworks. On Sunday we relaxed, had lunch and packed up. I filled my hiking backpack with most of Fred's winter clothes and carried his huge winter jacket in my arms. We have been trying to move most of the stuff he will be keeping in Korea to my apartment. I will then pack it into boxes and carry it to Josh's place to store for a month. Overall it was a great trip and I cannot believe that I will only make the journey once more!

The previous weekends Fred had came to Suji. We spent a lot of our time, including the 4th of July, in Seoul buying a few gifts to take back with us. It didn't feel like the 4th since there were no American flags, red, white and blue, grill outs or fireworks. Last year we were in Maine counting down our final days in the US. It was hard to believe that a year has already passed! We also went to the COEX mall and visited the aquarium. We later found out that one for Fred's kinder moms had seen us at the aquarium but was too shy and unsure to approach us.

Today is the morning of my second to last Monday. This is my last Monday before the two new teachers show up. It is going to be a busy final two weeks!


Johnson and I


Jacob and I


Young and I


Fred and I shooting off fireworks on the beach this past weekend

Kinder Video

Here is a video that I took one morning. We were about to start "Show and Tell" which Young had this morning. Toward the end of the video the kids start touching his dinosaurs so he begins screaming, "no touching!" Enjoy!

Suji goes to Pohang

This past weekend I headed down to Pohang to visit Fred again. Some of my co-workers have chosen to come with me for the past few trips. Last weekend was no different. After work on Friday Christine, Shauna, Britney and I headed to the train station. The girls got to experience my usual travel itinerary as we had to take two trains and a bus to reach Pohang around 12:30am. We met Fred at his apartment and the girls checked into a love motel right across the street. We were all wide awake and ready to see the ocean. We decided to take a quick walk along the beach. We walked to the beach, about a three minute walk, and enjoyed the night lights from the steel mill. We then walked to a food tent and had some stuffed squid. Britney and Shauna enjoyed it however Fred and I had much better on our two trips to Sokcho. We all then headed to bed.

On Saturday we woke up to sunshine. This was a very welcome surprise as the forecast had called for a rainy weekend. We had a fast lunch before heading to the beach. We enjoyed the day as we talked, read and made numerous coffee/smoothie runs. After a few hours, and sunburned body parts, we all left to shower before dinner. Fred and I took the girls to our favorite restaurant in Pohang (and possibly in Korea) which is a clam place right on the beach. Christine does not enjoy seafood so she had a different meal before joining us. We had two orders of clams as we relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After dinner we walked on the beach and shot fireworks. This is how I really love spending my Saturday nights in Korea! We then decided to head to the local foreign bar, Tilt. We met up with a few of Fred's friends for a while before going home.


Enjoying our clam dinner


Fred and I with our fireworks on the beach


All of us after shooting fireworks on the beach

On Sunday we woke up to more sun. After lunch the girls headed to the beach and Fred and I went to get our bus tickets home. We then shopped around for a while in order to avoid the beach and worsening our sunburns. In the afternoon we met up with the girls and then sadly we had to leave. We took a 5:10pm bus back to our area. The bus takes about four and half hours with a little break at a rest stop about halfway through. I had a fantastic weekend and I hope the girls did as well. I can't wait to get to Pohang again!


Enjoying the beach on Sunday before coming back to Suji

Cheering on South Korea

Here are my students cheering on Korea the day they played Argentina. Too bad Korea got smashed, 4-1.

Tay-hahn-meen-guk

Tay-hahn-meen-guk! This roughly translates to Fighting Korea! We heard this a lot this past weekend as we prepared for Korea's first game in the World Cup. The entire country was decked out in Korea gear and covered in red from head to toe. Everyone was wearing red horns in support of the Fighting Red Devils. It is so exciting to be in a country that actually cares about soccer during the World Cup.

This past Friday, Steve, Josh and I headed down to Pohang to visit Fred and enjoy the game there. When we woke up on Saturday we headed straight to the beach. Most of the foreigners in Pohang came out to play beach softball. After hanging out on the beach for a while we headed back to Fred's apartment. On our way we stocked up on our Korean gear for the game. We got t-shirts, bandannas, red devil horns and tattoo stickers. We then headed to the favorite foreign bar called Tilt. As we walked cars and taxis were literally slowing down as we passed to shout Tay-hahn-meen-guk. We got numerous shouts and fist pumps for other street walkers as well. Tilt is owned by a Korean-American from WI who went to St. Cloud State. He had bought some American hot dogs and brats and made home-made potato salad for a grill out. The game was being shown on a jumbo screen on the beach but we thought that it might rain so we stayed at Tilt for the game. The bar was packed with foreigners and Koreans. Korea ended up beating Greece 2-0. It was so much fun!

We ended up staying for the middle game as well. We filled our time with the soccer game and our own card games as we waited until the 3:30am start time of the USA-England game. Finally, after hours of waiting, the game started. I didn't think that it was possible but more people had squeezed into Tilt. There were a handful of teachers from England thrown into the mix as well. This made it very fun. It turned out to be England and Canada vs. US, Ireland and Scotland. (There are foreigners from many more places in Pohang then in Suji. There are also many South Africans.) Our 'team' was elated with the tie and the English team was upset and shocked. Around 6am we finally went to bed! We woke for lunch then took a 3:30 bus back to Suji. Overall it was a great weekend and I cannot wait for the next Korea game on Thursday. I hate to say it, but I officially cheering for the Fighting Red Devils! Tay-hahn-meen-guk!!


Outside of Tilt during our BBQ before the Korea game


Fred and I waiting for the game to start


Fred and Steve

Johnson's Birthday

On June 10th we celebrated Johnson's birthday. He turned Korean 6 which is US 5. It is crazy to think that I still have a few students who are US age 4. I still remind myself that even though they are in their second year of English they are still so young. Soon they will all have turned five. Johnson's mom showed up to LCI with a chocolate cake, candies, watermelon, Capri-Suns, bananas and cookies. We all sang happy birthday and took the usual pictures. After the students stuffed themselves with sugar we opened presents. Johnson's mom stayed for the entire party. They had lived in Texas for a few years so her English is very good. She would yell at the kids to speak in English and even answer their Korean questions in English. Usually during birthday parties the kids can speak Korean with the moms but not at this party. It was so funny to see the kids reactions when she spoke in English. I think they were very surprised!

The weekend before a bunch of us went into Seoul to celebrate Josh's birthday. We had Mexican for dinner then went to a few bars before coming back to Suji.

May Field Trip

Sean, from my old class, and I


My class and I with my supervisor Michelle


Samuel, from my old class, and I


Gimbap: traditional lunch that most of the students brought. It is similar to sushi but usually without fish


My class and I

Last Thursday we took a field trip to Seoul Land. Seoul Land is an amusement park outside of Seoul. We visited the flower gardens and the zoo. We all arrived at LCI around 9:40am and waited for our kids to arrive. Once they did we took them off of their small LCI buses and put them onto one of three coach buses. On my bus was my class, Josh's class and Nathan's class. We rode about 40 minutes to Seoul Land. Once there we walked around the gardens then through the zoo. The animals were minimal but the kids loved it. We saw moneys, rabbits, turtles, horses, sheep and dogs. We then had a picnic lunch. All of the students came with a packed lunch and the teachers were given food from the school. Many of the kids had extra food, or even entire extra lunches, for us teachers. We then walked around some more and took photos before getting back on the bus to Suji. It was a very tiring day. It is not easy to walk around a huge place with only about 15 adults and 100 kids who are 6 years old and under. To add to the drama, the kids had to carry their backpacks with their lunches. When we got back to LCI our owner bought all of the teachers coffee to liven us up for our next 4.5 hours of classes. Overall, it was a very successful field trip.

Simon's Birthday

This past Wednesday we celebrated Simon's birthday. The kids were so excited. They all came to school with gifts and lots of energy. As Simon came into the room they all started singing to him. He was such a proud boy. He leaned over to me and said, "teacher secret, piano cake. Chocolate piano cake." It turns out that his mom had indeed bought a piano shaped cake. We also ate watermelon, candy, cookies, yogurt and even a coffee for me. We took tons of pictures and then opened presents. It was a very fun morning!

Buddha's Birthday

This past weekend we celebrated Buddha's Birthday. It is one of the most important national holidays in Korea. This year it fell on a Friday so school was closed. On Thursday after work, Steve, Josh and I took a night bus at 9:30 from Seoul to Pohang. We arrived in Pohang a little before 3am. The bus normally takes less than 5 hours but there was a lot of traffic leaving Seoul. Korean people usually work 6 days a week and there are only a few national holidays which results in a lot of people leaving Seoul when they get the chance.

Right away on Friday morning we took a bus to a neighboring city, Gyeongju. It is very significant in Korean history and has one of the most famous temples in Korea. We decided to try and beat the rush, which worked but the area was still packed with people. The temple was covered in lanterns. There were people everywhere, both for religious purposes and for tourist reasons. After walking around one temple we took a bus ride up a mountain to another. The bus was packed so we had to stand, being swung around as we made our way up the road. Once we were close to the top, the bus broke down. Instead of waiting we got out and walked the rest of the way. We walked around a smaller temple then continued to walk to grotto. Inside there were stones everywhere. There were large Buddhas carved out of gigantic pieces of stone. In the center there was an amazing Buddha. It was one of the coolest things that I have seen in Korea but we could not take pictures. We then took a bus back to Pohang and relaxed before dinner. Fred and I took the boys to our favorite clams place on the beach. From there we shot off fireworks on the beach. It was a very fun day.

On Saturday it was very rainy. We had lunch then decided to go see a movie. We saw the new Robin Hood movie and then walked around downtown for a while. We just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday was also rainy so we went to the Pohang Museum of Steel Art. Fred and I had been there before but most of the art had changed. From there we had pizza and watched a movie before we had to leave. We decided to take trains home to avoid the traffic on the roads. We took a train from Pohang to Daejeon and a train from Daejeon to Suwon. We got back around 12:30am. It was a very fun weekend and I can't wait to get back to Pohang.