Thl me what turns you on

This is the T-shirt one of the ladies in our Administration Office wore yesterday! I guarantee she had NO IDEA what it said!!! WOW!

Winter Camp Gift!

One of my 3rd grade students, Danielle, came to class on my last day of Winter Camp for her grade and handed me a beautifully wrapped, Korea style gift. I opened it and found these handmade Korean doll / cell phone charms. She said she picked them out at Nampodong for me... How sweet is that?!

Crazy to think...

... that this time, NEXT WEEK, I'll be on the beaches of Bali, Indonesia! As my Korean kids say, "wwwwaaaaaaa!!!"

Hello new decade!

2009 was a very long lesson in trust, balance, love, loss, boundaries, self awareness, patience, perseverance, and serenity. I'm relieved it's over, and am even more thrilled to be starting a new, fresh decade!!

Living in a new country, working a job I love for the 2nd year in a row, having the possibility of traveling to countries throughout Asia, and living life with friends I adore is a pretty great start to a new year, and has been more than I could ask for... I feels as if, with every deep breath of fresh, crisp, freezing cold Korean air, I exhale with a sigh of relief and smile that I'm here. God has provided for me in ways that I've only ever heard of this year, and I've been able to experience a genuine delight in the simplicity of my life here and the friends I've made to share it with. I've had enough visitors to not feel too lonely... and have embraced and cherished the times I've spent alone. I've found plenty of time to take walks, have meaningful conversations, play games, watch movies, exercise, read, blog, knit, sew, explore my city, listen to music, share meals, hike, relax, shop (of course), and invest in new hobbies like healthy cooking (Mom, can you believe it?!) I'm addicted! I have finally found a balance between overextending myself, striving for perfection, knowing when to not sweat the small stuff, and resting. I've never known myself more than I do at this very moment, and I'm pleased to announce that I'm proud of, and happy with, the woman I've become! Whew, what a relief that is!! While I didn't make any resolutions for 2010, I do have a few expectations for the year. I expect it to be filled with more contentment, excitement, and love than I've ever known in my life. Thanks to the wonders of email, facebook, skype, and blogs, I have already begun to experience those things from you!

In a nutshell... I am truly happy. Cheers to a new decade; or as we say in Korea, "Gumbeh!"

Love,
Jillers

(Thank you Bri, for the inspiration to put this all into writing!)

New Years Day Fun!

It was way too cold New Years morning to go outside and do anything active, so I decided to do a little knitting instead! This is my 2nd scarf of the season!

And what's New Years Day without a little football?! It just felt like the right thing to do.

Then, when I started going stir crazy in my tiny apartment, I went Ice Skating!!! The original plan was to go with Aaron, Jess and Carlos on New Years Eve, but Jess is actually in Chicago right now, with her stepdad, who is scheduled to have his transplant surgery this week. She found out and took the first plane out of Korea to be with him. What a good daughter huh?! Aaron and I were looking forward to going so much, that we went ahead and went!

All bundled up on the bus ride!

When we arrived at the building, we rode the elevator to the 5th floor, and jumped out, so excited about what we saw! First of all, they had these metal things that helped young kids, and some adults keep their balance and learn to skate! I loved them (can you tell?!) Absolutely genius!

Within minutes of entering the rink, we had lots of elementary age girls hanging on us! They were all adorable and so excited to meet a foreigner. Yes, I'm wearing a helmet - partially to be funny, but more just because I thought I might fall on my head!

One of them let me borrow her metal thing... not that I need it (wink wink!) Here's a video!

I was sitting, trying to get my camera out of my bag when these two girls came up to me and asked my name. (This is a typical question for young Koreans. It's one of the first things they're taught in English) After I said, "My name is Alexis" they counted in Korea, "Hanna (1), Duel (2), Set (3), and then put their fingers together to make a heart and said "Sarang heyo (I love you)!"

Skating here was sooo funny, because they never used the zamboni, so the ice looked like it was covered in a layer of freshly fallen snow!! Have you ever tried skating through snow? YIKES!

Here's a video of me skating!

I know I look like a real pro... (wink wink) After this video was taken, I tried chaneling my inner Michelle Kwon by doing a single axel. Bad move folks! I ended up eating it on the ice and slid 6 feet, straight into the wall, ramming my knee with such force that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!

Aaron quickly skated over and pulled me up, laughing at me, of course!!! I decided it hurt really bad, but that laughing was probably okay! :)

The kids, and Aaron, were picking up ice shavings off the rink, and making snowballs to throw at each other! I got a couple thrown into the back of my jacket - And yes, it was freezing!

By the end, we were practically pros, with only one badly bruised knee!