April Fools!

I love April Fools Day! It's the only day you can say something completely outrageous and get away with it! How could you not like a day like that?! Today I played 2 April Fools jokes on my students (4th graders).

The first 4th grade class came in and sat down. I told them we were having a very big English spelling test and that I would grade it and give it to their homeroom teacher! They were all freaking out, and really nervous because they can't spell very well! I said, "Okay, # 1: Dinosaur" There was a group sigh, as they realized they had no idea how to spell Dinoasur. Then I said, "#2: Excavator" haha. Then came, "Cyber, Halucination, Procrastinator, Gruffalo, Station, Information, spinach, and ambulance!" It makes me laugh, just thinking about it! Their faces were so funny! They were really stressed out! I should probably tell you that they barely know how to spell 3 letter words! Ella kept saying, "We taught these words to you last class. You should know them!" They kept looking at her like she was crazy, knowing that they had never studied these words before! Finally, when I had said all 10 words, we shouted, "April Fools!" They all bursted out laughing! It was perfect!

The second 4th grade class came in and sat down. I did my normal intoruction and then proceeded to tell them that today was my last day of teaching and that I would be flying back to America tomorrow morning. They looked at me with the most adorable puppy dog faces and couldn't understand why I was leaving. One of the students, very concerned, asked Ella, in Korean, "How will we learn English if Alexis leaves?" Another said he would write me a letter, and one girl said she would ask her mom to let her call me with her international calling plan! haha. They were all so sad... But we had apparently taken it too when sweet little Robert started crying - real tears! Ella and I noticed him, so she asked, "Oh no, are you sad that Alexis is leaving?" He nodded and another little tear ran down his cheek! I quickly ran over to him, threw my arms around him, and said, "April Fools!" They all started laughing... but this time it was at Robert expense, because he was fooled! :) Ella and I are such good actresses, huh?!

Oh, and to those of you who fell for my facebook post about me quitting my job and moving back to America, all I can say to you is: APRIL FOOLS!

Now that's a Bible Study!

This is April! She is the music teacher at my school, one of my closest friends at work, and she is also a devout Christian.


During lunch today, we started talking about her bible study that she attends at her church. I was really interested in the differences between bible studies in America and Korea (considering Koreans love studying everything, every moment of their day!) So, here's a little glimpse into how her's works!

1. She has to pay $10.00 a month to be a part of it.

2. She has to read 100 pages of the bible each week! (That's a LOT!)

3. She meets with her bible study group, at her church, once a week from 8pm -10pm (That's pretty normal)

4. She has to answer 40 in depth questions, each week, about what she's read! (Wow!)

5. She has to turn in her questions each week... Her answers are then graded by the pastor! (I've never heard of a church grading bible study questions!)

6. If she "passes" her bible study at the end of the year, she will get a prize! Wanna know what the prize is? She will be given a certificate and a Christian book!

*** I've been a Christian for a long long time, and have always enjoyed studying the bible... but it would take a serious amount of discipline, on my end, for me to read 100 pages a week and answer that many questions! Uh oh... Am I a slacker?!

Dried fish snacks!

Koreans love, love, love their dried fish snacks! Here is an entire display of them! Any dried fish, squid or octopus you could ever want to eat, is here! mmmmmm

Jeju Island!

It's on a whim, and the idea came to me today... What better way to spend my birthday than on an island!?

Flights have officially been reserved to Jeju Island (Korea) for my birthday weekend! I had so much fun traveling with Aaron in Indonesia that I invited him to come along! So, he's coming with me! We're hoping to bring you all lots of fun pictures, adventures, and stories from the island!

April and May are when these yellow flowers bloom all over Jeju! I'm hoping to be able to romp through a huge bed of them like this! :)

If we have enough time, I'm hoping to be able to hike Mt Hallasan (a volcano!) Better pack my tennies!

I'm pretty sure this will be an unforgettable birthday! ... Now how will I ever top it next year when I turn 30!?

Korean Pizza!

Long gone are my days of eating regular cheese or pepperoni pizza! In Korea, it's unheard of to order a pizza with just cheese! The look on the workers faces when I ordered cheese and pepperoni one time, was of utter confusion and disbelief! Why you ask?! Well, because here are some examples of what Koreans believe pizzas should look like!

The more toppings, the better! Yes, the center pizza has waffle fries on it!

Pretty fancy, huh?!

Sweet potato pizza!

This is a seafood pizza!

And lastly... This is an ad for a korean shrimp pizza! Looks pretty yummy huh?!

I've learned to try a lot of new things living here and have surprised myself by the way I've loved most of what I've tried! Case in point, I drank another cup of coffee during tea time today at school! That's 3 cups in 3 days! (The only 3 cups of coffee I've ever drank!) All the teachers keep telling me, "Alexis, you are becoming Korean!" While I'll always be an American at heart, I'm definitely a little Korean too now! :) Anyone wanna meet for pizza!? Flights to Korea are only $800 from LA right now! Tell you what... If you pay for your flights, the pizza's on me! :)