Christmas from Korea

This is my Christmas present to all my friends and family everywhere!
Love you all!

This weekend was fun. We celebrated Alicia and Marybeth's birthday Friday night. We had cake and chicken and soju. Lots of soju. Then we ended up at the booking club. again. The booking club is a place you go to "book" people. you see someone you think is cute and have the waiter send him or her over. It's expensive and crazy. However, It's got some of the best dancing. So, it's kind of a tradeoff. This time no waiter tried to feel me up so I had a better time.

Then Saturday booked tickets for Shanghai China. For lunar new years, I will be in China. You have no idea how excited I am for it.

Next I went to Daegu to visit my friend Jill from training. She was roommate and she wa celebrating her birthday. I think I went to all the major bars in Daegu. Plus I found a place to get an omelette..AMAZING!

So funny story happened today. I kind of woke up in a crappy mood. I didn't want to do much of anything except maybe eat chocolate and cuddle up in bed. Two things which are not possible. But so I finally got up, got ready, did some stuff around the apartment and then went off to go read at Dunkin.. However, about 200 school girls were at the bus stop. It was bad timing apparently. I just wanted to get on a bus and go. So I found my way onto one. the 453. Well, where the bus is supposed to turn..it didn't. and just went straight. My first thought was to press the button as soon as possible. So I did. The next stop dropped me literally on the side of the highway. legit. So not knowing what else to do..I walked back the way we come. I crossed about 6 lanes on foot and then walked the rest of the way to work after retracing my steps. hmm..NEVER take the 453. It leaves you on the side of the highway. On the bright side, there was a nice view of the mountains.

Oh, I also died my hair on Sunday. It's not that far off from the hair color I had before..there's just a bit more red. I kind of like it. When I take a picture..I'll put it up here.

The honeymoon is over

I just received a message from someone at home. The person and the events shall remain nameless as it's kind of personal. But let me tell you, if there are anythings that make me want to come home it's messages like this one. I read it and just started crying. and this is the first time I've cried since I've been to Korea. This message made me wonder why I would up and leave my friends and family for a whole year. No, i'm not coming home until September.. I refuse to. But I just want all of you to know I love you and miss you. Truly. I would not be half the person I am today if it weren't for you. The hardest part about being in Korea is not language barriers, not really any of those normal things you would think. The hardest part is not having you all here with me. Just so you know.

On another note, they say you go through stages being out here. The first couple of months you're amazed by things. It's like shock like "hey, I'm in Korea!" Well that stage is over for me. The honeymoon is over ladies and gentlemen. And now I'm onto the other phase, which I have to say is a little more negative. I don't hate it here.. I just definitely hate certain things about this place. On the plus side, they're teaching me how to swear in Korean. it's kind of fun.

Step into my mind for a minute

I fail at updating this thing...I knew I would. It's not that I don't have the time..I just find useless things to do with my time instead of updating it.

I've been here for over 2 months now and it feels like I've gotten into a routine. The work is pretty easy..At most 6 hours a day of teaching. Who would have thought I would only work 6 hours a day? I'm a workaholic. But yea..I like to go read at a Dunkin Donuts down the street from work for an hour a day..It's kind of fun..The ladies there know exactly what i get.. a bagel plain cream cheese and I switch up the drinks. I'm lacking in books though so if anyone has books send them here!!

Tomorrow I start yoga classes at the University. I miss exercise..I miss dancing and colorguard. Plus I think I'm getting a little chubbier..so yoga hopefully will help. I'm also hoping it will give me more energy.

I want to learn more Korean. I feel that I'm getting by too easily. and that's not good. I want to be able to come back to the states and have some conversations in Korean. That would be exciting. However, it was much easier to learn the French in classes then it is to learn Korean living in Korea.

The other day I had a lot of trouble sleeping because I kept thinking too much. So Alicia told me to make a list..maybe it will help. So here's my list:

*TRAVEL I want to see anything and everything. Being n Korea has made me realize how much we get stuck in these routines that we hardly venture out of and we miss so much of the world. There is sooo much out there and I don't want to miss it.
*Learn Korean
*figure out how to send more pics home in an easier manner
*Christmas presents- though I had an idea yesterday that might solve most of them.
*Consolidate loans or else starting the end of December I HAVE to pay about $800 a month for them...and I don't want to bound to that.
*eat healthier I never eat right and I know that's a problem.
*Exercise more
Then for kicks
*figure out the rest of my life....

but other than that I'm happy. I miss everyone at home, but t's not the kind of missing that makes me want to come home and not stay the year. It's the kind of miss that makes me tell everyone at home to come to Korea. Anyways, much love and I hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving!

Gyeongju and the Old Ilsan Lighthouse

So, I haven't updated in a month. I moved on Thursday to a new place in Mooguhdong which is better. It is much smaller, only a one room place but there is no landlord walking in whenever he wants. it was a problem with the landlord having too much access and we feared for his safety.

While moving I was able to find my mp3 finally and the cord to my camera so I decided I would share some pictures. The one on my left is some of us from training in Seoul where I was able to experience soju for the first time.

There's one of a guy in a band. They had the Ulsan Music festival a few weeks ago. I went to two nights of it. The second night this whole band showed up at the Wa-Bar afterwards. We chilled with them for a while and took pictures. The band is pretty cool. They call themselves ideladap.

There's another picture of some people on a beach. That beach is Hyundae Beach in Busan (about an hour bus ride away from here) It was about 4am when the picture was taken. I went to Busan with some co-workers to go to the World Film Festival. There we saw a Thai film called Orz Boys. It was very interesting.

There's another picture of some Korean pop and lockers. We were just walking outside somewhere near Lotte Department Store and there was a stage with all the bikers. WE couldn't figure out what they were there for but we decided to watch them for a bit.

Of course I had to ride the ferris wheel on top of Lotte Department store. It's a ferris wheel on top of a building...not much can beat the awesomeness in that.

1st Update in Ulsan!

Hello all!

I arrived safely in South Korea on Sunday the 21st and got to my hotel, the Coatel, by 8:30 at night. I decided to find myself food at that point and ended up getting lost. However, I made it back to the hotel. There I had two wonderful roommates who were going through training with me as well.

Training was intense. It was a long week of training, studying, eating, and sleeping. They were very strict and two people even dropped. My training group became like family though because we were all going through similar things with each other. I don't know how, but I made it through.

As soon as training was done, I signed my contract. Then they put me in a van which brought me to the bus terminal and I hopped a bus for four hours to get to Ulsan. There was a kind man who spoke English who bought me dinner during a break and helped me know which stop to get off at.


Once I got to my terminal, a man named Sonny (English name) met me and brought me to this apartment. the apartment is bigger than most, but I have a roommate. The director decided, I guess, that we looked like we needed to live with someone. She's been showing me around a lot since she's been here for about a month.

Last night we went out for some drinks. We went to a bar called Temptations where we met many of my co-workers. We then progressed to the Karaoke rooms which were fun. They have actual rooms you rent out and then you just sing to your hearts content. After karaoke, a couple of us popped over to another bar. We left shortly after and I discovered how to take a cab back home. It was fun.

Anyways, we're going to pick up a tv from someone right now and then I need to do a lot of prep so I can teach my first class tomorrow.

Plane ticket!!

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I am proud to say I am a graduate from UMass! I must, say, it feels weird not going back to school, doing marching band, and participating in sorority things, however, I'm glad to be done.

My next venture is a trip to South Korea. There I am to hopefully pass a week of training and then move into Ulsan with my own apartment and teach English. My contract is a year. I am wicked excited for this opportunity. Not many people can say they traveled to such a beautiful place for their jobs.

With this blog, I hope to leave updates, pictures, and the like so friend and family can see what I am up to.

Currently, I am set to leave for Korea on Sept. 20. There I practically spend the whole weekend on a plane and will arrive in Seoul at 6 pm with a large amount of jet lag. At this point I am waiting on some information other than that but I hope to find out soon.