Abscond!!!!

Hello all! I'm back...Are you proud of me?! After this post, I should be up to date. I know I've probably forgotten a few things...but I think you'll have plenty to read. This one is pretty long. Enjoy!:

A couple of the classes that I teach are private tutoring for the more affluent (rich, they’re just rich) members of our school. One such student is a kind, older gentleman, who knew, well, zero English when he started my class. He had already been taking grammar classes with Cindy before I came so I was a little confused why he didn't know anything, ah well. He's very diligent and wakes up early every day to drive an hour from Seoul for class. The only time he has missed is because he was sitting in an 8 hour traffic jam because Koreans don't know what snow is (haha), but I'll get to that later. So one day, Mr. Lee was reading a paragraph in the book, and I corrected something that he said. He was confused so I proceeded to explain in more detail. When he finally understood what I was talking about he said "ohhhhh!" in understanding and leaned back at the same time. I will always have his next look in my memory, the universal look of "oh my gosh I'm falling all the way down and there's nothing I can do about it!!" but depending on who you are, in more profane and shorter words. He attempted to grab the table but the floor was too slick so, down he went, hitting the wall with his head on the way. Now, Koreans are all about the pride, so I was a little worried about how to react. I ended up helping him up and asking if he was ok. He kept rubbing his head and nodding in assurance that he was. Mr. Kim ran in and said "what happened?!?!" Mr. Lee said something to him in Korean and he left. We didn't speak much more about it until 5 minutes later when I was explaining something else to him, and he again realized what I was saying but instead of responding with "ohhhh!" he nodded and rubbed his head and started laughing. Yes, he had just made a joke. Bravo Mr. Lee. Then we laughed for about 2 minutes straight. Tension relieved. Alriiight.
About a week later, wouldn't you have it, another student did the exact same thing. I had moved the table away from the wall on the side Mr. Lee fell for fear of someone hitting their head again. This student ended up falling on the opposite side and did indeed, land a blow to the wall. Blast. I can't protect everyone! Now, when they lean back in their chair (as oddly, several of them tend to do), I have to warn them about falling. I have to resist the urge to say "4 on the floor 4 on the floor!" as was learned in elementary school. They'll learn, they'll all learn. :)

The snow: Well, it doesn’t happen much in this area. Obviously it snows more in the mountains but usually Korea gets a few small accumulations a year and that’s about it. But like at home, it’s a different story this year. Jan. 4^th it snowed about 8-12 inches in one day, depending on where you were. The reaction though, was the same everywhere. They didn’t know what to do. People were using what they had to the best of their abilities; shovels, brooms, and dust pans (uhhh?). The snow stayed on the roads for almost a week before they started bringing back hoes, yes, back hoes, in to clear them. The sidewalks were an icy mess, because people were packing the snow down when they walked in one path formed by some brave individual. At one point I spotted some city tucks making a valiant attempt to spread salt over the snow on the roads, at 10:00pm. So that way, the snow would melt a little, and then refreeze that same night for an interesting morning drive to work. J The snow, three weeks later, is finally mostly gone, do you know why? Because it rained. HAHAHA!

When it snowed, I received a call from Holly after work. She said “Hey, whenever it snows at home, we always go out and play in it. Do you want to do that?” You guys know me….she didn’t have to say anymore! I was ready to go! So, after some confusion (namely, me lying in the snow, not in clear view so she could see me, oops) we found each other and had a fantastic time sledding down a small hill and making snow angels! Thanks Holly. J

In the last couple months that I’ve been extremely lacking on my blog updates I visited a kind of theme park called Aiin’s World. As I don’t remember when this was exactly, we’ll just say the week of….November. haha. I went there with Jackie and Shirley. It has very detailed miniatures of many famous world monuments, buildings, structures, etc. It was quite fascinating. You’re supposed to be able to stand in a specific spot and make it look like you were actually at these places. This seems silly, because you can’t actually convince people that you went to all of them. So we took some unrealistic pictures, which I’ll attempt to include… right….here--

In December I was able to go Skiing! It was very, very cold, but also fun! About 40 foreigners/native English speakers went on the trip. We skied in the afternoon and evening. Korea is the opposite from America in that the majority of people are snowboarders. So, being a skier, I slalomed around many, many snowboarders who liked to just plop themselves down right in the middle of the slopes. No collisions on my part! Whew! We stayed the night at a youth hostel right by the slopes and it was quite pleasant. I enjoyed the 5 other roommates that I had and one of our newly made Korean friends even ordered us Dominoes Pizza!! Very Yum. Holly and I will go back for Lunar New Year in Feb. Excited!

Over Christmas break, Sarah, David, Holly and I visited Namsan Tower in Seoul. This tower is a very popular spot to visit for tourists as well as Koreans. Many couples visit with a padlock. They lock it on a fence together and then throw away the key to signify that they will be together forever. Hmmm…ok. You can ride the elevator to the top and look out over Seoul. Very beautiful at night. Before Namsan tower we ate at a Mexican restaurant (not even CLOSE to El Pueblito!) and went to Sherlock Holmes (which I thought was great). The interesting thing is we saw another couple, at all three places. Haha! They should have just joined us! On the way back to the bottom of Namsan is a very steep hill. At one point I said “Man! If I started running right now, I wouldn’t be able to stop!” and Holly replied….”Umm…I kind of feel like I can’t stop right now!” hahaha! After that, everything was extremely funny. We were tired, or happy to have someone to ride all the way home with, or both. But as soon as we were shoved onto the VERY crowded subway, and Holly said “I feel like a COW” …Koreans in the same car as us could have thought we were drunk, and we would have had no way to prove that we were completely sober. It made for an interesting and fun ride home!

The next weekend was New Year and I had a blasted cold. I didn’t feel like doing anything strenuous. Sarah and David had a longer break so they were in Japan, and Holly, God bless her, was kind enough to let me tag along with her. We went to some of her coworkers’ apartment and brought in the New Year with cake and sparklers. I barely made it. I blame it on the cold. Lol. Holly and I spent the rest of the weekend watching movies and just being generally lazy, which was so perfect. We did visit the gym (sauna really) a couple times as well as an interesting trip up Mount Okgu in the dark to investigate some mysterious lights. We scaled some rocks, got stuck in some thorns and I may or may not have had a quite hilarious fall (“before I laugh, I need to make sure you are ok…”). The weekend was absolutely great, making that next full week of class almost unbearable. I hate that.

I’ve decided that you know you miss home when you’ve kept an empty tube of American toothpaste near your bathroom sink for the last month. Luckily, Nicole, amazing Nicole, sent me two more tubes. Thank you so much! And thank you to EVERYONE who sends me care packages! You don’t know how much I appreciate them!

A couple weeks ago we went to see Avatar in 3-D and vibrating seats. It was amazing. This movie is now near the top of my very long list of favorite movies. Touché James Cameron.

Last weekend was my ice fishing weekend. It was a fantastic experience! We were able to try our hand at breaking a hole in the ice and trying to catch fish with fishing pole-ish things that thousands of other Koreans were using. None of our group (90 total) caught anything but we had very short attention spans. There were so many other things to check out and we had little time to look before our barehanded fishing slot at 3:00! We saw sculptures, ice bowling, ice soccer, sledding, four wheeling, go-karting, ice skating, and a sleigh competition. Then we headed to the barehanded fishing area and dressed in the shorts and t-shirts they gave us to wear. We had 5 minutes to catch three fish. The water was FREEZING and many people jumped out right away before they even attempted catching a fish. I only grabbed two before my hands got too cold to get that third one. Dang! I’ll also try to include a video….

The next day we went hiking and sledding. A tree stump hiding under the snow attacked my leg on the way down, but it’s almost healed already. J

Yesterday after class we got to the car and saw that someone had hit the mirror on Mr. Kim’s car. They were kind enough to place the mirror on the hood of his car but that’s about it. He was a little upset and kept saying “the abscondess!” and asking me if that was right. I told him no, the word was just abscond but he didn’t listen. I’m simply amazed that he even used this word. This is how Koreans learn English, they study vocabulary over and over. Learning words such as abscond and cordiality, words that many AMERICANS wouldn’t even know let alone use, unless of course your name is Caleb Eastman. Then you use them on a daily basis because you are a genius. J I will now attempt to use the word abscond in my daily vocabulary. Holly and I parted from out Tues. Thurs. breakfast club by shouting “ABSCOND!” because it’s funny.

I hope you all are having a great week. I am now up to date on my blog. Whew! Long one!

You are not American.

Hello all. As you have gathered, I’ve been extremely negligent to my poor, poor blog. I apologize to this inanimate object, as well as my readers, who, I can probably imagine, are waiting in agonizing anticipation for my every entry. Hahaaa….that was a joke. I would hold it against none of you if you simple gave up even checking to see if I’ve stopped becoming a lazy bum. As I have so much to tell you, I shall be writing this in installations. The first of which will consist of a few funny things that have happened or been said in the last month. The next ones will be about my exciting, silly, and sometimes stupid adventures in South Korea. And as always, I miss you. You know who you are. J Here we go!

I spend copious amounts of time at my school, so, the people who I have the most frequent and interesting situations, happen to be, yes, my boss and his wife (Cindy). Here are a few:

-I’ve been tutoring Cindy so that she can start a beginner’s free talking class. We had a conversation about favorite foods. She asked me what my favorite food is and if you know me, you will understand that I really like pancakes. A lot. Mr. Kim and Cindy also know that I really have a soft spot in my heart for bread (oh carbs, how little I care) because when they go to Costco, and I am fortunate enough to tag along, I buy the most delicious bagels I can find in Korea. So when I said that pancakes were my favorite, she laughed and said; “oh! Kaley! Bagels and pancakes! You are so cute!”

Now, when you look at Kaley Eastman, I think the word “cute” is pretty far down on the list of ways to describe me. But as you can see in the next story, in Cindy’s eyes, I must be cute. Though, I am getting a sneaking suspicion that when she says “cute”, she’s actually meaning, “silly girl who’s strange mannerisms and preferences are just as odd in Korea as they are in America.” Let’s just hope all she means is Merriam Webster’s “attractive in a dainty way” but I don’t think so. Lol.

-Time: after work, getting ready to go home- “Oh no, we have a parking ticket on our car. I don’t want to pay it, do you see the parking officer?” ~Mr. Kim

“No…” ~ Cindy and I

“Ok! Quick! Run!” ~Mr. Kim

“Oh Kaley! You run so cute!” ~Cindy

So then we run to the car, hop in, and drive away. How much money did he just save? 3,000won. About $2.75. High fives all around.

- “Have you seen the news?”~Mr. Kim

This is a confusing question to me, as are many questions that I am asked. It has such a vague feeling to it, that all I can say is…no. It didn’t take me long to realize that something important usually happened, relevant to me, for him to ask me this. Such as, the shooting at the Army base in Texas, or the big snow all over the nation in Dec./January. Every once in awhile though, he’ll ask me this, and then tell me a completely random fact like, “A woman had a baby while she was in a weight lifting competition.” WHAAAAT?! Why would I have seen that? I mean, honestly, after he tells me these things, I try to find them in the Korean Herald, or the NY Times on the internet, but….sometimes, I have no idea where he is getting his information. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep a straight face in this environment.

- “Kaley, just you and I are going home tonight. Mr. Kim has an appointment.” ~ Cindy

And “an appointment” means that he’s going out drinking with his pals. Lol. Oh Korea.

-Even though Mr. Kim studied in California for a year, he still has some very interesting, and let’s face it, funny way of saying things in English. Such as “What is wrong with your brain system?” and “Why are you giving me that smile?” Both of which were said in a joking manner, and both of which I laughed at. Quite hard actually.

Some interesting stories involving my students:

-one student has recently been having troubles with between his company and a Chinese one. Apparently, the Chinese company made a safety regulation device but all the devices are now breaking, putting his company behind on shipments. He has begun referring to the Chinese company as “the bullshit company.” I swear I didn’t teach him that.

- I was recently told, as a joke that the reason one of my students comes to this Hogwon (private school) was because of two reasons. 1. It’s flexible hours and 2. Because I’m so beautiful. Lol.

- Another student asked me “Kaley, do you understand me when I speak English?” to which I replied “Most of the time. Sometimes you only have problems with your pronunciation, otherwise you speak English quite well!” He then said “Well, you don’t count. You are not American.” He meant that I had been in Korea long enough, that I was used to how they talk and could understand, even when they mispronounce words. They won’t just accept a compliment! Lol. He likes using this phrase now. “Kaley, what are you doing this weekend?” “I’m going ice fishing!” “oh! You are not American!” hahaaa.

love and hugs!

AH HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Are you ok?

eYes. I know. I have not written a blog in awhile. I have to come clean and say that my naps have been taking up all of my time. :) I'm sorry, I'll do better (ahem, melanie.)

-Paintballing! Ahwoooo! What a complete blast. Korean's call it "Survivor game." I figured that out when they asked me what I was doing for the weekend and they thought I was going bowling with paint. We had to meet at 11:30 at the Subway stop nearest the paintball field. Unfortunately that particular subway stop was FOREVER away from me...so I left about 8:00 hoping I would get there in time. I ended up arriving 30 minutes before everyone but that's ok. The early bird gets the worm? Or...yummy, warm, bread, walnut snack things that were near the entrance of the subway. mmmm. Tangent...sorry....SO we (29 foreigners) CRAMMED onto a tiny local bus which took us near the field. We then walked another 10 minutes, grabbed all the gear that needed to be taken the rest of the way up the side of the mountain, and divided into green (yeah green!) and yellow teams. I would be lying if I denied that our green team had our rear ends KICKED by the yellow team the first two games. But little did they (and we for that matter) know that we were just warming up! We played last man standing, capture the flag, and keep the medic alive (for lack of a better name). Last man standing was the first two games that we brutally lost. The yellow looked like they knew what they were doing. Then we switched to capture the flag, and after about two minutes, one of our guys pulled a Leroy Jenkins and just took off after the flag. We were caught a little off guard but then regained our composure and layed down some cover fire. Success! We then won the next 6 games or so. The last game I actually stayed in without getting hit and even marked several people with my paint. Sweeet. I ended up with 4 kicking bruises from the paintballs. It was a cold day so they didn't really break when they hit... The first game I was actually hit twice, after the first one hit my leg I stood up with my hand in the air to let people know I was out but someone "Forrest Gumped" me and I ended up with a nice shot in the butt. Thanks guys. Tired, sore, slimed and happy, several of us then went to a Brazilian restaurant. Delicious.
I had a funny conversation with a fellow foreigner who has been here almost 3 years teaching in the middle of Seoul. This is how it went:
"You've only been here 2 months? Get ready for a cold winter!"
"Oh I'm used to it. I'm from Kansas."
"But it gets really cold, like, 10 degrees."
"I'm from Kansas."
"The thing that makes it so bad is the wind though. It's so cold!"
"I'M FROM KANSAS!!!!! Where are you from?!"
"Florida."

lol!! Silly guy.

-Two stories about my awkwardness:
1. I was at the gym. I was walking by some weight lifting machines...very obvious, big machines. What happens? I walk into one so hard with my thigh that it literally stops me in my tracks. I hop around in a circle laughing (so I don't cry) and making sure no one saw me....luckily no one had. It developed an immediate bruise the size of a softball and two weeks later, is still there. Alllll riggghhhhhtttt!!
2. My washing machine is in my bathroom and it drains out onto the floor which then goes into the drain in the floor. The floor is slippery when wet. I was washing clothes. I forgot that I was washing clothes. So I stepped into the bathroom to get something...and fell so hard, that I reset the washing machine. HAHA!! How great is that? It didn't even hurt...was just surprising and made me laugh...hard. It made me really wish that someone was there to experience the laughter with me, and then, after we regained our composure, they would ask me if I was ok. Isn't it funny the order that comes in?

-Also about my washing machine...it's in Korean. So I really don't know what happens when I wash my clothes. I pretty much just push buttons and hope for the best. The clothes smell good when they come out. That's ok right?

-On my way home from work one night I saw a couple waiting at the cross walk. The boy had bright blond hair, cut into an elaborate Mohawk, and piercings all down his ears. I don't like to judge but the way he was dressed and with his piercings and hair, he seemed like a pretty "on the edge" kid. My eyes were then directed to what he had on his hands, and yes, they were mittens, shaped like cuddly little bear heads. Oh Korea.

-Sarah and I went shopping in a town called Itaewon 2 weekends ago. We went into a shop that was selling boots because we both needed some. I saw a pair that looked cute and warm. The shopkeeper came up to us and said "We the only shop that has big sizes!" Because everyone has smaller feet in Korea. I didn't know what size I wore so the worker brought me the "Biggest size we have." I tried it on anndddd....it didn't fit. My toes were curled near the top. "They don't fit." "What?! Yes they do!" "No really...they are too small." "But that's biggest size we have! They do fit!" "No! They don't! haha! REALLY!" but they wouldn't believe me. I might have to have mom send me some boots. Blast.

-I recently rode a subway train with the WORST SUBWAY DRIVER EVER! It's hard enough not to fall over on someone when they start and stop...but after they get going it shouldn't be jerky right? WRONG. I would have hopped on another line if I had the opportunity. I was flying all over the place! Speaking of subways, the workers have been on strike for 6 days now. Korean truckers joined about 3 days ago so a lot of the freight and cargo trains aren't making their destinations. We'll see how that turns out.

-Last week my hot water heater stopped working. I went 4 days with cold showers until my boss scheduled a plumber to come look at it. What do you know...miraculously, before the plumber showed up, it started working. Oh hot water heater how you mock me.

-Thanksgiving was a little sad for me. Columbus did not discover Korea (because he's a SLACKER! lol) so it isn't celebrated here. I was able to call and talk to my wonderful family on Thanksgiving day though, which was great! I love you guys! On Sunday we went to an American Air Force employee house who is stationed near the Military Base (he has a dryer AND a stove!). He had the opportunity to purchase a couple of turkey's flown into Korea from the U.S. About 15 foreigners got together and had delicious turkey and played Apples to Apples. It was enjoyable and I had some very tasty leftover turkey for lunch yesterday. mmm!

-My friends Jon and Jordan are going to have a baby in July! Congratulations guys!

Well I miss you all and you'll probably be hearing from me soon! love!

-Return Poke- I missed you too blog...

I've decided that getting on a bus in Korea is the likeness to getting on a ski lift. It's coming quickly, it's barely stopping, and if something goes wrong you are holding up a whole line of people and most likely a whole line of other buses too. Lovely. So when you get on and scan your card, you sure as darn better hope the stubborn piece of technology, as we all know technology can be, is working or you get to feel really embarrassed! yaaayyyy.

On Halloween, I was supposed to go paint balling, but because it rained incessantly, it was postponed. (to this weekend...woo!) So instead, Jackie and I went on a Scavenger Hunt. Several things (I'll throw out the number 78 just for kicks) were on the list to do and the goal was to get as many done with your group as possible. The tasks ranged from finding a dog in a Halloween costume (didn't happen, I don't think we even saw a DOG) to making a human pyramid with a Korean on top (success!) to eating live octopus (yes, I did it, and it latched to the inside of my check while I was frantically chewing it....gross). Without bragging, I'm just going to say that our group was awesome, and we won. The prize? A bag of American Sour Patch Kids...totally worth it. I also obtained a surprisingly detailed lion mask for the task "Have your whole group come back in costume." It sits on the top of my dresser, occasionally making me look twice in surprise. I'll probably be relinquishing to my little brother.

Last weekend I went to The Time Travelers Wife (good movie) with Sarah and David. The theater was almost completely empty besides us but this couple came in and sat....right next to me. This is an unfortunate pet peeve of mine. If you have ALL this area to sit in...WHY pick the seat next to me? huh?! Give me some spacceeeee. I looked at Sarah and she said "They have assigned seating in theaters Kaley." How did I miss this? AND WHY?!?! Kind of dumb, I won't lie.

Daylight savings time: proposed as a joke by Benjamin Franklin so people might save candles and actually put into effect by William Willet, doesn't happen in Korea. So people, I'm 15 hours ahead of you now!

Last Monday and Tuesday it was very cold. Sarah and David didn't have school because the government shut many of them down in lieu of the increase in Swine Flu cases. I DID have school but my break in the middle of the day allowed me to join them on a quick tour of a traditional Korean Palace. I walked to the subway and grabbed a tasty, warm green tea latte out of the vending machine while I waited for it to arrive. I assumed it would be about 10 minutes because I heard the one before leave right before I went up the stairs. To my immense surprise, the next train arrived only 2 minutes later. Standing there with a very hot drink, too hot to gulp down, and never knowing if it was OK to get on the subway with liquid...I froze (probably with a silly look on my face) with indecision and just decided to hope on, it was too yummy to throw away. I sat down and was on my way. Then an odd thing happened...the train started to slow down....it was moving at a crawl. I probably could have walked to the next station faster....so instead of being a quick 2 minutes between the next stop, it was more like 6. When it DID stop at the station it opened the doors like normal (letting a big gust of cold air in) and I sat there, waiting for them to close....and waited, and waited, and waited. Apparently, the train was ahead of schedule....so the operator decided to take it easy for 12 minutes or so to get back on schedule. They sure did pick a heck of a cold day to leave the doors open for so long!!! Gah!!

One day this week was waiting for the elevator in my apartment with my trusty (broken) bike. I was listening to my Ipod which was on shuffle. As the elevator doors opened a song by Avril Lavigne (female rocker extraordinaire) came on. I wheeled my bike into the elevator and stood there...rocking out to the song...with my eyes closed. Soon the doors opened, and thinking it was my 4th floor I turned to get off. I was horrified to find that a man was looking at me...and I was still on the 1st floor. We kind of looked at each other while the doors closed (he was laughing at me). I realized that, in my own little world, I had not hit what floor I wanted to go to, and elevators, not being in the business of reading minds, refuse to go anywhere if you don't tell them to. Embarrassing.

One of my evening classes told me that since they had to pick English nicknames, I needed a Korean one. They then proceeded to name me Yun Mi. Yun-meaning melody. America- Mi Guk means Beautiful Nation in Korean so Mi-meanings beautiful. It was nice! Now I just have to remember how to write it!

The back tire on my bike is wobbly....I thought "maybe it just needs to be tightened" so I took it to the bike repairman on the side of the road. What I gathered from his gesturing and the only word in English he could get out..."bearing"...and his unwillingness to just fix it...I think I have a permanently broken bike. Awesome.

Last night, seven people were going downstairs at the same time after work so we all squeezed onto the smallest elevator I've seen. As I looked up to see what floor we were on...I, for the first time ever, saw the words "FULL" right by the number. Hahaaaaa! They should probably put to words "TOO FULL" on there also because I have a feeling that's what it would have said. Ooops.

Love!

"Mr. Lee, where are you going?" "Lightening Tomorrowwww"

Last Saturday I traveled to the Incheon Global Fair and Festival with my boss (Mr. Kim), his wife (Cindy), and their friend, (one of my students) Mr. Lee. We didn't leave until 4 pm because tickets were less than half price after 5. When we got there we parked almost a mile away. It was the last day so there were many people there, also, Mr. Lee didn't know where he was going and we could have parked in the lot near the gates...but that's ok. Cindy told me that the area where we parked actually used to be the West Sea 10 years ago. They have actually built a dam and moved sand and dirt in the create more space to expand the already large city...and oh my goodness were they expanding! I'm putting picture on facebook but I could see at LEAST 20 very new, very tall buildings almost finished and several more being constructed.

If any of you have been to the Kansas State fair, the part of fair that has all of the buildings and expo halls is how you should picture this fair. When we arrived there were people going through the lines to get in...but because I was in the group (oops) we had to go through the "Foreigner" line. I'm not sure why they had this line...who can say whether too many foreigners visited the fair. It was the last day so they weren't doing temperature checks but we did have to wash our hands, get our hands sprayed, and walk through an ultraviolet light doorway thing. We went through a huge flower garden, saw the robot/space expo, a future/economically friendly "what Incheon and other seaport countries will look like" expo (which was CRAZY futuristic...but supposed to be done by 2020), watched a short 3-d movie, ate, and studied pictures of Korea taken from the sky (neat).

Next stop! Little sister! I mean.... A cool light/water show put on by Samsung!

Ok...so when we got to the water show area there were already a lot of people everywhere. It was like the last *bang* the fair was going to get before they closed...also...it was being sponsored by the biggest company in Korea!! It had to be good! We made our way to the front, in front of all the chairs...our first mistake and not my idea. The ground was a little wet from the previous water show but only slightly damp. We (I) had to kneel so people behind us could see over the abnormally tall American. So...let me just say I don't kneel...it's not phyically possible for more than 5 minutes. Not kidding. I've tried. I finally had to say "oh well" and just sit on my rear, a let it get wet. The show finally starts (15 minutes late) and a song plays that is in Korean with the words "Lightning Tomorrow" thrown in every 10 words. Who knows why. The water goes off...we get a little damp from the mist...no big problem. BUT THEN...I look in front of me and realize...we are in the absolute worst spot anyone at the Fair could be at the moment. This isn't an overexaggeration people...like when you're at something like this and people say "Man am I glad we aren't were THEY are." that was us...we were "they." I look...and there is a considerable sized pool of water rushing right...towards me. GREAT!!! So I have to hop back into my excrutiating kneeling position, letting the ant size tsunami wash over my shoes and not enjoy the show at all...which was pretty cool so far. There was a mixture of water, lazers, fire, and music. Luckily, after my 5 minute time limit of kneeling was almost up, some genius set off some fireworks BEHIND US!! Yesssss. Everyone at this point stood up to try and watch the water in front, and fireworks behind. Any other time I would have been annoyed....who separates two cool shows in opposite directions, making it impossible to watch both?! But today...I didn't even care, I didn't have to KNEEL anymore!! Afterwards, with my wet knees, shoes, bottom and head, we walked the mile back to Mr. Lee's car.

Mr. Lee, it turns out, is a person who doesn't like to wait for traffic. So..ignoring his GPS beeping at him, he took a detour. Mr. Kim kept asking him "Mr. Lee....where are you going?" To which Mr. Lee replied with a surprisingly bad rendition of the "Lightning tomorrowwww" phrase of the light show song. I also heard Mr. Kim say, "slow down man!", "you violated!" (which means he broke a road law) and " are we going to get home before tomorrow?" Mr. Lee just laughed and kept going. At one point...he randomly honked at some guys by the side of the road eating dinner. All I could do was sit in the back and laugh. So a fairly eventful 6 hours on Saturday made up for the uneventful Saturday morning I experienced.

miss you.

And then nature decided....It was Fall.

Because I walked out one morning...and all of the sudden, it was. And it was beautiful. I think that I get to enjoy fall more than other people who live in the city on a day to day basis because I have a strip of park right outside my apartment. There aren't many trees in the more downtown area. For some reason, the park "workers" we'll call them for lack of a better name, have gone all out. There are flowers EVERYWHERE in pots. It's like spring almost. Strange. Today on my run there were people everywhere taking pictures. I must have missed something.
It's strange how I never realized how much my sense of smell was a huge part of Fall as well. In the U.S. I noticed the smell of the fallen leaves after it rained, the smell of the crisp mornings, and my favorite, the smell of the fires in the chimneys when it got cold enough. Here, even though it's beautiful, there is always a smell of exhaust unless I go to the mountains on the weekend. And I think the closest I'm going to get to a fireplace smell is a pile of burning leaves. There are no houses here, therefore no fireplaces.

I love the Bakery's here. They are as numerous as coffee shops with one on practically every corner. The 2 main Bakery's are Tous Le Jour and Paris Baguette. I think Paris is my favorite. You walk into the store, grab a tray and tongs, and place whatever you want on the tray as you walk around. They have everything. It's pretty amazing.

An unusual and suprising treat here is called the red bean. It's a very popular thing to eat. Now, I have an aversion to beans so I was reluctant to try it but Sarah bought me some dough balls with red bean filling inside at a subway station not too long ago. WOW!! So good. She also told me to buy a red bean ice cream treat shaped like a fish next time I saw one...and I did...and I LIKED it! The bean has a sweet taste to it and only has the slight consistency of a mashed up bean. I think they make drink out of it too.

I went to McDonalds after I got my first paycheck. I ordered a Big Mac meal. I know some of you don't like McDonalds...but...can I just say how delicious it is to eat something you know they have America? I'd also be willing to bet this McDonalds was cleaner. :) They also have a nifty way of giving you your drink to go. They just slip it in a plastic sack with handles that was made the perfect size to carry your cup. Handy!

I'm thrilled to say that all of my socks still match. No one here to get them confused with. ;) though I did find a Wall-e chew hole in one of them that I hadn't noticed before I left. I guess he wanted to give me something to say goodbye too. Thanks Wall-e!

Two days ago, on our way home from work, my boss was driving. Him and his wife said to me "Sorry Kaley, I have to drive aggressive sometimes." I hadn't even noticed. (I was getting used to it?) Yesterday my boss went out after work so his wife drove us home instead. I kid you not when I say I ended up in Han's (secretary) lap on one of her turns. I said "Now THAT'S aggressive driving!! You should drive every night!!" We laughed the whole way home. It's great when people in the same car barely speak the same language and we can all be laughing about the same thing.

I went to the Olympic park with Jackie last Saturday. It was amazing. It's where the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics were held. I love the Olmpics. Even though all of the buildings were locked we were able to see how large all of them were. We walked on the same sidewalk that hundreds of thousands of people would have walked on more than 20 years ago. Interesting sculptures were everywhere around the park and the fall leaves made it even more awesome. We found all the country flags, the fire was still lit under the huge peace gate and we walked through the Olympic museum. There was a small room that held information about this years Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I'm excited to watch them as the winter olympics are my favorite. Maybe that will give me a reason to turn my T.V. on. I hope the announcers are english though...

This part of the Blog will be used to tell Melanie Dawn good luck! She's eagerly awaiting her baby boy to enter our world and I'm so excited for her! I love you!!

I miss everyone!
Love!

Beware the Subway and elevator doors! (And more observations)

'Ello loved ones! It is I again! This one consists of a few stories, some things I miss, and some more Korean observations. Enjoy.

-On Saturday, I was travelling to Seoul with my friend Sae-rom. As we transferred from the blue to the green line...we walked down the stairs and Sae-rom exclaimed "That's the one we need!" So we ran over to the train and I hopped on. Well as I turned around, I noticed, to my dismay, that the doors were closing and my large bag had prevented Sae-rom from hopping on after me before the doors closed. Blast!!! She made the universal "thumb and pinky to ear I'll-call-you" sign...but my phone was dead. Soooo....I thought "i'll just get off at the stop we were going to meet at and wait for her, no big deal." but I soon noticed that I was in fact, not on the right train, but going in the opposite direction than I needed to be. Double blast!!! So I jumped off at the next station. Luckily, Sae-rom caught the next train and we found eachother with no more porblems. Boarded the correct train, and succesfully, if not timely, made it to Seoul.

-Elevators- the doors! They close SO QUICKLY! None of this stay open for 20 seconds stuff. It's literally a 3-5 second open and close deal. If more than one person is getting on you have to actually hold the <> door open button so they have time to get on. It's very interesting with a bike in tow let me tell you. ESPECIALLY when the elevator is tiny. I have to take my bike up the elevator at my school so it won't get stolen... I push the button, rear my bike up on it's back wheel, hold the back brake handle so it doesn't go anywhere, and shove myself in with it. Joy and rapture unforseen. Every day. It's almost as much work backing it off the elevator into the hallway before the doors shut on me! HA!

-Touch- Koreans display emotions by touch? This statement is partially untrue because it's not like they go off and smack eachother in the face in a dispute. (that I've seen) An example, my boss's parents rode home with us on Friday night because they were staying the weekend. His mom grabbed my hand halfway through the car ride because they were talking (in Korean) about how I was far away from home and I must miss my parents. Mr. Kim explained to me that this was normal, and not to "be alarmed." Which I wasn't. It's just much different than in America. Also, I noticed that Korean girls walk arm and arm or hand in hand much of the time. It's perfectly normal. One of my friends does it to me as well...but I think that she is also partially steering me, because I don't know where I'm going much of the time...lol.

-In a discussion about North and South Korea in class the other day, one of my students stated that he thought the North Korean government would fail within the next 3-4 years. I asked him "What do you think will occur when this happens?" to which he replied "I think you should not be in Korea when that happens." HAHAAA! No problem.

-This same student was asking me about what I watched in my apartment. I told him that I had only been able to find one English channel the first day I was here because I only had cable, so I hadn't turned on my TV since then. He said that there were more English channels on satellite TV and did I want it? I said no...I was doing fine with having the internet. "but I can get it for you, for free." lol.....oh my... nooo.....thanks. ha.

-Koreans age AMAZINGLY well. They have a game show where people try and guess the ages of the contestants. Almost every time, the guess is way too low. I saw a man who looked 35, but he was actually 61. My goodness.

-Ordering in resturants/ eating- Usually food is ordered, and then shared by all people. You just eat from the same plate. It's not a bad idea.

-I can't even stress how much I took a dryer for granted. Washing and drying clothes is much more of a process since you can't just throw them in the dryer. My clothes aren't as soft either. *sigh*

-Many Koreans brush their teeth after every meal. They just have their toothbrush with them always. Oral hygiene. Alright!

-High heels. "Everybody's in stilettos! Guess I didn't get the memo!" -song...sorry....but really. Everyone where's high heels. It's crazy! I would literally fall on my face, I'm already clumsy. Not to mention I would be taller than everyone else. Good thing I'm an American and can be forgiven (or so I assume) for wearing flip flops around...lol.

-I'm going to have to start liking spicy FOOOOD! AH!

-Roti buns- delicious. Warms buns that are slightly sweet with a buttery gooey center. My gosh.

-Liquid yogurt- people LOVE it here. And I have to admit...it's quite yummy.

-Waiting a whole month to be paid-Not my idea of a good time.

-Had some Mcdonalds french fries friday night. My first American food since I've been here. And can I just say....they were heaven. And unlike Disney World...I was not attacked by birds while eating them...but I think that's just because Brad wasn't here to taunt them by holding one in the air....lol.

I miss everyone!
Love!