Funeral for Apple

This morning, Aaron and I went to my school and had a nice little burrial ceremony for Apple in the garden. We used one of the heart rocks we found in Bennegol as her tombstone and picked some flowers to lay on her grave. It was a nice form of closure for both of us. Rest in peace sweet girl...

In Loving Memory of Apple...

I am heartbroken this morning...


I woke up, excited to play with the bunnies, and opened their cage to find that Apple was laying in a sprawled out position. I was immediately worried, as I had never seen her lay like this before. I watched her breathing begin to slow, so I picked up an old t-shirt and swept her up into it. I noticed at this moment that she had broken her neck. (I think she had probably tried to jump out of her cage and landed on her neck...) I knew at that moment there was nothing I could do but hold her and comfort her until she passed.

I held her, talking sweetly, and petting her soft fur, for about 20 minutes, and then she passed, in my arms. I miss her terribly this morning...

Korean naval ship sinks...

Many of you probably haven't heard... or if you watch the international news, you probably have... A South Korean naval ship with 104 crew members sunk last Friday near the border of North Korea. 58 people have been rescued to date, leaving 46 dead in the fridgid waters. Apparently a South Korean vessel fired at an unidentified vessel towards the North. It hasn't been confirmed yet, but the teachers at my school seem to believe it was torpeedod (sp?) by North Korea.


All that to say, the entire country has been mourning the sinking of this ship and it's deceased crew members. They have cancelled festivals throughout the country in order for "a proper mourning" to take place. It's almost as if they punish themselves in a way... Korean's mourn for months, and sometimes years, over things like this, much the way we in the US mourned over the happenings of September 11th. The teachers at my school (myself included) have been wearing these pins on our sweaters, which are written in Chinese, but mean that "I am very sad."


Today is a very sad day in Korea, because the searching for the 46 missing soldiers will stop and a ceremony commemorating their lives will take place. Every school in Korea, at 10:00am this morning, had a moment of silence... Sirens roared throughout the city of Busan, reminding people of this sad occasion.

It's a sad day today...

I came to school this morning and Ella told me she had sad news... Kristen (one of my closest 6th grade students),'s mom died this morning of liver disease. What's even more devastating is that her dad passed away a year and a half ago, and she and her sister (junior high age) are now all alone. My heart is absolutely breaking for her today, as I'm sure she's heartbroken and scared... Kristen, who's Korean name is 유라 (pronounced Yura), is such a sweet and happy girl! I hate to see this happen to any of my students, but especially her.

She is always with me, but hates to have her picture taken... so this is an old picture that I took last year. Tomorrow, Ella, Lee (Kristen's current teacher) and I are going to attend the funeral after school. If you are a person who believes in prayer, please pray for this sweet girl and her sister!

Who's that?!

Yesterday, I was looking at old pictures of Indonesia on my work computer, and one of my students was standing over my shoulder, looking with me! She saw this picture and immediately asked, "Alexis, Is this your mom?!" hahahahha!

Is your neighborhood this safe?!

My neighborhood is REALLY safe in Pusan, but I would still never, ever, ever, let my 5 year old daughter walk home from school alone, in the dark, on a busy street!

Seriously, Where are her parents?!

Music Monday

Group Name: AFTER SCHOOL
Song Name: BECAUSE OF YOU

Give it about 45 seconds... It'll pick up and gets really catchy!

Carlos is in the hospital!

Aaron and I stood on a crowded bus for almost an hour to go see Carlos in the hospital yesterday... and for whatever it's worth we would have stood all day on a crowded smelly bus with ajumas pushing us out of the way, any day, just to see him! (wink, wink)

When we got there, he looked great! He and Jess had just finished a yummy hospital dinner! (Insert sarcasm here!)

Remember his last hospital room?? Well, talk about an upgrade! This place was sooo nice and included a fridge, TV, computer, fold out couch, and a beautiful view!

We brought him and Jess apples and some Ghana chocolate (a Korean brand that is TO DIE FOR!!) to cheer Carlos up and to compliment Jess for being such a stellar and supportive wife!

In order to completely document our visit, I needed a picture of Aaron and I! Unfortunately, everyone laughed when Jess took the picture because Aaron said I always tilt my head over his face, which is soooo true, and soooo not on purpose!

So, this was our 2nd take! :)

As a side note, we all got onto the subject of where we'll be next year, and Aaron and I are both interested in possibly teaching in Vietnam! It's in the very, very, very early stage of talk... but it's something we're both considering! It would be so fun to experience another country, and to be able to do it with my best friend! I wonder if I could bring Apple and Togi?!

I'm a Bunny Mama!

I've been talking, for a while now, about wanting a bunny! They're so cute and cuddly, and fairly easy to take care of... So, when I saw this guy selling bunnies out of a box in the subway, I knew I needed to adopt one! Aaron was with me, and shook his head and first, but then once he knew I was gonna buy one, he said, "You really should get 2!" haha!

So, I paid the man, and my two beautiful baby bunnies were put in a shopping bag with a little baggies of bunny food! Aaron picked the gray one, I picked the black! They loved each other from the start!

Our whole purpose of being in that subway station, was to go to the Casino in Lotte! So, since I was carrying my new baby bunnies in a non conspicuous shopping bag, we went ahead and brought them in with us! I'm sure the employees were all wondering why I really wanted my shopping bag in this picture! Little did they know that I was documenting my bunnies 1st trip to the casino!

As it turns out, they are pygmy bunnies, so they will stay this size forever... which brings me to my next point - I have NO IDEA how old they are!

This was their first taxi ride! They did so well, and just cuddled in our hands the whole time!

As soon as I got them home, I whipped out a bag of lettuce I had in the fridge and they were big fans! We named this one Apple, because he loves my laptop (which is an apple). He/She jumps across my keyboard and stares at my screen when I'm using my computer!

... and this one is Togi! (It's the Korean word for rabbit!)

When it was bedtime, I layed a blanket in this basket, and plopped them both in there! They loved it and went right to sleep, cuddled up next to each other! But then, at 1:00am, I woke up to the Mac trying to nuzzle under my chin! Which means, they jumped out of the basket, AND jumped on my bed! Either way, I was happy he missed his mommy!

I knew they needed to be somewhere safe for the night, so I layed a towel in my recycling can and placed them in here! Low and behold, the darn bunnies jumped out of here too! These kids have some serious hops!

So, then I decided they could live in my sunroom. So, I plugged in my heater, slid the slidding glass door closed, and wala... I found them a suitable home! They snuggled up by the heater all night!

When I woke up this morning, I opened the glass door, and Mac came jumping (which looks a little more like running) right over to me! He loves me! What a little schmooch huh?!

More to come... :)

Making Cookies!

Every 4th Saturday of the month, there's a cooking class for all of the afterschool English students who take class with Susan! Some of the kids invited me to come, so I called Susan and asked if she wouldn't mind me sitting in as a student for the day! She was thrilled, so I went! :)

We each got a turn at stirring the ingredients! They all thought I was the best stirrer. :)

Then it was time to add the "choco chips."

Then Susan and I taught them how to scoop the dough and lay it on the tray!

"Hold the spoon with your right hand and push the dough off with your left." You'd be surprised how many kids had no idea how to get the dough off the spoon! That was my big Martha Stewartt Moment of the day!

In Korea, most apartments don't have ovens (like mine for instance!) So people have to buy these counter ovens! Susan brought hers from home!

Waallaaa!

Next month we're making chocolate cake! :)

Wanna meet for coffee?!

This is a question that I have never, in my entire life, ever, ever, ever asked someone! That being because I've never drank coffee before... But now, all of that has changed! I'm an addict! I drink a cup everyday at school in the morning, and sometimes another cup after lunch! eehhh, I know!

But today was a REALLY exciting day for me... because I ordered my very 1st hot drink (other than hot chocolate) at Starbucks! Granted it was a "White Chocolate Mocha," I still did it! Here's my cup of sweet deliciousness! (all 390 calories of it! Eehhh, I noticed that after it was already ordered!)

And here it is empty! mmmm! All in my tummy!

So, Anyone wanna meet for coffee this weekend? Now, before you immediately say, "I can't come all the way to Korea for coffee Jillers!" Let me remind you... If you have skype, and you live near a coffee shop with wifi, we can make it happen!

So, I'll ask again, "Anyone wanna meet for coffee?!"

Surprise Sleepover!

I knew Carlos and Jess were going to be in town this weekend, because Carlos was getting another knee surgery... but I didn't know they were going to surprise me by sleeping over last night! It was sooo fun to see them! Aaron took this picture of us all cuddled up on the bed with our PJ's on! (He took it with a slow shutter speed and a laser pointer)... Fun huh?!

We stayed up until midnight, talking, dancing, eating, and laughing together! This morning, when my alarm went off, I could barely contain my excitement that all my friends were at my apartment! As soon as Carlos got up, I serenaded him with my own version of a "Happy Surgery Day" song! Who doesn't want one of those to get their surgery day kick started! :) Best Thursday night I've had in years! *** Thanks Perlazzas!

Fieldtrip Day!

Yesterday was our 1st fieldtrip of the school year! We took the kids to Gyungsangnamdo Forest!

When we go on fieldtrips, we don't mess around! We ride in style...

...and comfort! Sure beats a yellow school bus huh?! We even had a coffee machine, karaeokee, and a big screen TV to watch SHRECK 3!

These are some of my 4th grade girls!

Before we walked through the forest, we met inside for a "meet and greet" from the Principal and Vice Principal! You would think they were giving a seminar to college students! These kids were not interested in the least bit, and frankly, neither were the teachers! Stella said it's tradition and that's the only reason why this happens!

Speaking of tradition, after the meet and greet, each class stood with this banner to have their picture taken! Total time of all these shananagans was 1 hour and 30 mins! Horrible, huh?!

There were thousands of different species of flowers throughout the forest, and over 1800 species of trees! These are the 1st graders in the museum portion of the forrest.

Marie and Andrea! (5th grade)

1st graders (Kristen, ??, ??, Addison, and ??) I taught Kristen and Addison in kindergarden last year!

This was so funny and resourceful! Wherever there was grass, they had layed this green plastic netting to make the grass look more green! (Grass doesn't grow well here for some reason!)

Lunchtime is usually my favorite time during fieldtrips! The classes all sit together and the students lay out their picnic mats, pull out their lunches, and share their food with each other! Yes, that's right... THEY SHARE! Everyone's food is everyone's (including me)!

Lindsay found this dragonfly!

My 4th grade girls on a big rock! :)

These are some of the flowers we spotted on our walk...

This one was my favorite of the day!

This tree was filled with tiny fuschia roses! It was gorgeous!

Some of the kids were smart and brought their own little magnifying glasses to get an up close and personal look at the flowers!

Our tour guide asked each kid to pick up one of these mini pinecones...

... and she taught us how to make bracelets out of them! Nothing like a pinecone bracelet to add to the jewelry box!

She also told us that these trees are 1400 years old!!

After walking through the forest, it was time to stop in at the petting zoo! This is Anna and Lauren (6th grade)!

We saw goats, donkeys, monkeys, all kids of different chickens and turkeys, gorgeous birds I'd never seen before, owls, volutures (which are ENORMOUS!), baby deer, ostriches, boars, pharrots, and peacocks! :)

I still have no idea how he got this feather, because it's one of the ostrich's feathers! (It had this above it's butt... We saw them when it spread its colorful feathers!) Either way, it was really soft and kinda cool to touch and see up close!

Somehow I got stuck with the adventurous 6th grade boys who wanted to do things like feed this ostrich their snacks! Have you ever seen an ostrich try to take something from someone's hands? YIKES! Don't worry, no one got hurt! :)

after this, we all jumped in the bus and headed back to school! It was such a great day and so nice to spend it outside with all my favorite kids!