A month later....

Cherry Blossom festival in the Grand Park

So, I knew that I would be bad at posting, but a month is longer than I thought it would be before I wrote more...

I have been in Korea for about 3 months. It's hard to think that I am 25% done with my one year contract. The time has been flying by, well most of the time.

At school I am ending my first term which means tests, tests and more tests. In Korea much of the student's final grades are based on tests, and the kids are well aware of this. Today I will give my kids a 3 hour exam that will cover reading, writing, speaking and listening. While this is my first time administering the BIG test the other teachers tell stories of crying and frustration, it should be an interesting day.

Outside of work, I have made some great friends and our little Korean family, as we like to call ourselves, make a point each weekend to visit somewhere new. A few weeks ago we went to the Suwon Fortress and walked around a wall that used to protect the city. That proved to be an experience because Lauren and I got lost more than a few times, found out at later that we missed the best parts, and I left my cell phone and house keys on a public bus. On our way to pick up the keys the bus we were on was in an accident and at that point everything was just funny and there was nothing that couldn't happen. A few pics to recap the last month.

My friend Jamie had visitors from the states that live in Seattle. So along with Soju and nights out in Seoul, Lauren and I had fun talking west coast with these lovely people and hope to hook up at some point back home!

Ho Bar you ask? They don't sugar coat things here, or they don't know what it means....the jury is split on that one. There are like six of these in Hongdae alone and they are a common first stop for their 2,500 won tequila shots.

Note the enthusiastic Koreans in the background. If we had turned around and talked to them they most likely would have giggled and ran away, but this unnoticed hello suites them just fine.

We got our work out in Suwon hanging out with this taekwondo class that gave me flashbacks to volleyball stairs.

Best job ever!

This month we are taking a trip to Daejeon, a city that is a little outside of Seoul, to see what they have there and get out of the city. I am a city person but it takes a toll on a person to only packed streets for three months. It is still in the research phases but they have some beautiful hiking trails and temples to visit.

For the most part living in Korea isn't all that difficult. If you would have asked me the second week I was here I would have given you an earful of challenges, but now I am used to not understanding anyone or anything around me. I think it would be weird to go to the grocery store now and have the person checking me out understand what I am saying and try to converse with me.

In case you were curious. Here are some pictures of my spacious Korean digs. It is small, but livable....I hated it at first. It was cluttered with extra furniture and stuff, but today I was asked if I wanted to move and I decided to stay there....it may be small, but it is close to the grocery store and places to eat, a ten minute walk to the "town center" and super close to work which is super awesome.

This in the one and only room. I really wanted a couch so I wouldn't spend all my time sitting on my bed and this dandy piece of furniture was up for grabs.

This is were all the magic happens. It's a dinning room table, class prepping area, entertainment suite and crafting area. Note the stolen gossip poster on the wall.

The thing that has taken the most to get used to is this bathroom situation. It is so small that I can't even get a good picture of it. In one area with no divisions are the toilet, sink and shower. I have made some big changes to the getting ready process, so that my footsies aren't always getting wet putting on make-up and such. As long as the water stays hot and is never blue again.... I think I can make this work for the rest of my Korean career.