it’s your birthday…

Well, well, well little seeeesssterrr, it is past 12AM on the twelfth of March, here in Korea – which means, it is officially your Birthday!!!

I guess I can start celebrating now; so, 13 extra hours to celebrate this day of you turning twenty-something years old.
Last night, I got semi-lost, or more like I couldn’t find the place I was looking for; so on my long walk home, I took 13 pictures to share with you in honor of the 13 extra hours of celebrating your day of birth this year.

i think they’re singing to you!

 

pink frogs, maybe?!

 

do you think the animals are oblivious, they look so happy?

 

birthday bacon!

 

you can write your own caption for this…

 

Unbelievable, it’s your birthday!!

 

l could get you this notebook, if you want…

 

do you remember the big Hello Kitty in NYC?

 

“oh baby, oh baby baby”

 

look, it’s your car

 

does your bank have these giant pin wheels?

 

today IS special!

 

 

these two wanted to wish you a happy birthday, as well

 

And because this blog (and your birthday) is not complete without another photo, here is one of my favorites:)

yep, a classic

 

Happy happy birthday!
Enjoy all 37 hours of it:)

 

much love!

 

in my kitchen

I had intentions to write about something else tonight; but, as I shopped for and ate food, this is what I was thinking…
Boy, am I thankful I know how to cook.
Since I was little, I have been in the kitchen, A LOT!
The kitchen is a place I relax and have fun; experimenting and trying new things with whatever is available for cooking.
Tonight was no exception.
These were the ingredients I had to work with:

garlic, mushrooms, squeeze tube tofu, and brown seaweed

 

my not so large cook-space

 

Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the finished food, that was eaten much too quick:)
But, I can show you my empty bowl and chopsticks as evidence of a meal well enjoyed:

better than it sounds and I expected!

 

Since being in Korea, I have eaten out more than I typically ever do.  But, it is so much fun for me to cook with foods I have never cooked with, and sometimes don’t even know exactly what it is.
Thank you to my family who taught me at a young age how to cook and not to to be afraid to fail in the kitchen:)

 

much love!

 

getting ready for school

The rate I had been going with blog posting, some of you have probably expected another blog or two by now.
I’m sorry for the delay.  The last week has not only been busy preparing for school to start on Monday, but I have been sick.  Still not feeling 100%, but I know I will get there eventually:)

In preparing for the new school year to begin, and teach my own classes, I have had the opportunity to shadow the other foreign teachers to see their teaching styles and how they run different classes.  I think it was helpful to do that and to be able to ask them questions about how to handle different aspects of class.

My mornings and early afternoons will be filled with teaching various English subjects to two different 6 year old (Korean age) kindergarten classes.  The rest of my afternoon will be spread between two after school kindergarten classes, and three after school elementary classes.

This week we were preparing for all of those classes.
Making sure we know our schedules and what we’ll be teaching each class.
Do the foreign teachers understand the material?
Then there is preparing the classrooms for the morning kindergarten students – decorations!  After talking with one of my Korean co-teachers, she wanted me to handle much of the decorating because she has been busy, so I found things, printed, and laminated yesterday.

pile of laminated decorations

 

our class tree I made – we will place each students’ picture on it

 

There are still a couple more signs I want to make and preparations I need to make to feel ready for Monday; but I am feeling much more ready than I did when I stepped off of the plane a couple of weeks ago!

 

much love!

 

i made it

Before, I had mentioned that me getting this job and preparing to go to Korea was a whirlwind.  Well, leaving America was no different!

I had been waiting for my visa, in order for a ticket to be purchased so I could leave for Korea. Tuesday afternoon, my passport with my Korean visa was back in my possession.  That night, my ticket was purchased for Thursday afternoon.
Wednesday, I finished packing, while it kind of sunk-in that I was flying half way across the world the next day.
Thursday morning, one of my friends took me to the airport, then I spent the next 24 hours or so traveling to my new home in Daegu.

waiting for my bus to Daegu at the Incheon airport Friday night

 

on the bus – yes, I need sleep!

 

and when you need sleep, sometimes the fisheye camera and funny faces come out:)

 

Saturday, we had orientation, all day.  I thought it was going to be orientation for the teachers, turns out it was orientation for the parents about this upcoming school year.  In the morning it was parents who have been with the school before; after lunch we had the same program all over again for parents new to the school.

I might still feel a little lost and like I have no idea what is going on, but slowly by slowly that feeling is dissipating.

It has been good to meet my fellow teachers and to get a little bit better understanding of what the school is like.  Also, to unpack and make this room feel a little bit like home.

my room

 

the view from my room

 

much love!