...remember how we live in korea?

I've been thinking a lot lately and I just need to throw out an idea... What if, in a little over 10 months, when we leave Korea, Ryan, me and all my friends and family move to Santa Barbara where it's beautiful and warm all year long? ....Who's in? ....Brandon?

This week has gotten better, but on Monday and Tuesday I was ready to pack our bags and come home! We never would, but the thought of pulling a "midnight run" (sneaking out of Korea in the middle of the night) sounded pretty appealing Tuesday. Our week got better when we got a Valentine's care package in the mail from home, loaded with chocolate and microwavable popcorn, tortillas (on special request), etc.

..Overall our experience here in Korea has been good and we know it's good for us, but sometimes I wonder why we chose to be so far away again... in a place we'd never visited... for a whole year.... Other times it's great and Ryan and I laugh really hard.

We know it will get better and we can't wait for spring... my mom is coming to visit, it will be light out when we get off work and hopefully warm so I can take off my coat and mittens. it isn't snowing here, but it is really cold and I'm getting tired of seeing my purple sweatshirt and Northface in every picture we take. (see below)

Meet Our Friends- we're at the zoo

Far Left: Nick is from Davis, California. He's leaving us next month. He's dating a Korean who's currently attending UC Berkley.

Left : This is Janny's best Korean picture pose.

Far right: Curtis is from Kelowna, B.C. He recently graduated with a computer engineering degree. He's funny and laid back- great addition to the Wonderland crew.

Right: Megan is also from Kelowna, B.C. She's dating Curtis. She teaches at another school so, unfortunately, we only get to see her on Wednesdays for foreigner dinner night and on the weekends.

Costco- The World is Flat

Costco is basically the same as in the States except for the Kimchi in bulk. It took incredible self-control not to load our cart with everything Kirkland. Our favorite find was a block of Tillamook cheese- we cherish every slice. Cheese is very hard to find.

Field Trip- Sledding

Today we went on a sledding field trip. Since there is no snow in the surrounding mountains they make it. This small amusement park makes snow on several little hills. It was a pretty fun day. I kept getting into trouble for not sledding right. I'm still not sure what I was doing wrong. Employees of the park kept instructing me in Korean on proper sledding techniques and shaking their heads.Janny and Lindsay
Lindsay recently joined my class. Her parents wanted her to learn English so they had her live with relatives in Canada for a year.
Janny and two girls from her class making a snowman.
Ryan, Martin, and Lindsay at the top of the hill. Martin's the one with the mask on. Masks serve three purposes in Korea. 1) Keep out pollution 2) If you're sick, to stop spreading germs 3) Warmth. It's pretty common to see several if you're out and about.
Me and Martin about to sled. Martin's an awesome kid. Most of the Korean kids are serious about studying even at age 5. Martin seems to be your typical American 5 year old. He's excited when there is no piano or English tutoring. He gets really tired during math class and explodes out of his seat for P.E. He's also really generous and kind. About twice a week he gives me candy and says, "Oh, here's one for Janny teacher."
Me dancing to Korean gangster rap on the hill. The only line in English was "kill, kill, kill.... murder, murder, murder." It sounded like it came out of the Korean version of Compton.
Henry

Wonder Girls- Tell Me

Keagan e-mailed us the other day and asked us if we like Korean music. Great question Keagan. The answer is... yes. This video should explain why we like it. As far as we can tell, this is the most popular song in Korea right now. We hear "Tell Me" probably twice a day. At the gym last week, there was a dance class replicating the Wonder Girls signiture moves. A fifty year old woman in red leather stretch pants was a notable participant. Moments like those help me learn to love or at least appreciate Korea a little more. Janny and I are planning on attending dance class next week to learn the dance. Keep posted for some Park Jin Yung videos- equally awesome.

Bet You Wish You Lived Here!

Apartment view from the kitchen. View from the mud room.Kitchen. Bathroom: Notice- the shower head comes out of the faucet. There is a lever that switches it. If we forget to pull the lever after using the shower we get sprayed with cold water our backs, faces, or both.

We have so much respect for teachers!

This is Sami. ...at first I wasn't so sure about him, but he is quickly becoming my favorite student.
This is Plum class, they have the most energy and personality of all my classes. They have some of the cutest, but most piercing voices you've ever heard.We have so much respect for all the teachers we know, especially the elementary teachers! ...we have at most 10 kids in all or our classes, usually between 3-8. I can't imagine having 30!!
This is Sami's class, Grape class. They are the smartest kindergarten classes I have. Ryan and I both have two kindergarten classes that we teach each morning. In the afternoon we have kindergarten through fourth grade. The afternoon kids go to Korean school in the morning and then to our school to learn English in the afternoon. Most of the kids go to school on Saturdays as well. Usually they wake up go to Korean school, then to karate, then to English school, then either home or to piano, etc. I can't imagine being 7 years old and being at school from 9am-6:30pm every day!

The other day I told one of my favorite afternoon classes about the U.S. school schedule; three months off for summer vacation, two weeks for Christmas break, one week in the Spring, etc. ...they were speechless, I think they thought I was joking. I felt bad for telling them so I quickly changed the subject.

Paparazzi

We were walking downtown the other night and saw a huge crowd of teenage girls waiting by a tour bus. We tried to find out what was going on, but no one knew English. After several minutes a posse of Korean hotties walked out of a tunnel. I began running with the crowd of screaming girls and holding the camera above my head trying to snap photos. It was fairly challenging because I had now idea which guy was famous. I brought the pictures into school and asked the Korean teachers who these guys were. Apparently, the one closest in the picture is a big movie star in Korea, a genuine Korean heartthrob.