It's here! It's here!

My blog book arrived in the mail today at my school and I am so excited about it! It turned out really beautifully, if I don't say so myself!

Printed on the back cover:

"This book is a memoir of my 1st year living abroad, teaching English in S. Korea. During the year, I traveled through Korea, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, learned a new language, lost love and found new love, ate foods I never imagined I would ever try, walked and rode a bus to work, attended funerals, weddings and birthday parties, had a beloved pet die in my arms, hiked gorgeous mountains, shared soup with strangers, found a love for writing and photography, laughed at Konglish T-shirts, bought my food from outdoor farmers markets, learned new games, wore slippers at work, fell in love with coffee, realized I'm great with kids, and ultimately found myself in all the adventure!"

Here are some random pages for you to get a little peak at:

I'm hoping this book remains in my family for generations to come, and is a way for my great great grandchildren to get to know their grandma Jillers! I can't thank Aaron enough for this incredibly thoughtful birthday gift!

Politics... Korean Style!

So, we're in the midst of the big election season around here and things are starting to get a little rowdy! :) On every street corner, you're bound to find men and women, dressed in matching outfits, doing a little jig in support of their candidate!

Watch this!!!

If that's not enough to get you to vote for their candidate, maybe this will pull you to their side... a makeshift truck, decorated with the candidates pictures, and sometimes adorned with dancing voters! Not only do these trucks sit in parking lots, blasting karaeokee style songs about the candidate, they also drive slowly through neighborhoods at all hours of the day blaring reasons why you should vote for their candidate!! Lovely, huh!

Good news is, June 2nd is election day, so I get the day off!

Just in time...

I got to school early today, hoping to have some time to look over my lesson plan and check my e-mail! Unfortunately, I got here just in time to break up a fight between a 4th grade boy and a 6th grade girl! (As a side note, the idea of "boys shouldn't hit girls" doesn't really exist in Korea! It's more of a free for all!) Anyway, their classmates were all standing outside the door to the classroom while the 2 of them went at it inside. "Miss Alexis, Help!" was the first thing I heard when I turned the corner to my hallway... I threw my stuff down and entered the firing zone!!

I softly yelled, "Ya! Ya!" which means, "Hey!" then I separated them and made them sit on their knees with their hands in the air! I apparently didn't get there fast enough because the girl had a fresh black eye! She probably deserved it! She's a real B! I stared them down for about 2 minutes, as tears rushed down their cheeks! (No Korean student wants their teacher to stare them down.) Once I felt like I had adequately embarrassed them infront of their classmates, I sent them back to their classrooms, and that was the end of it!

No principals office, no detention, just a simple stare from me is enough punishment for them!

Boracay, voted #1 beach in the world!!

... and I'm gonna be there in July! That's right, for 14 days, I'll be relaxing on the white sand beaches, snorkeling in the crystal clear water, eating delicious Phillipino food, and probably reading books, while sipping on my 20 cent diet cokes!

I'm doing it EAT, PRAY, LOVE style, since I'm going alone!

I'm excited for the chance to travel alone and see what experiences it brings! :) I did my homework, and found an incredible deal! I saved myself over $300!! For a measley $458.00, I'll be on my way to Paradise and back!

It's moments like these that I realize how lucky I am to be living here in Asia, and how much I was meant to travel! I just can't get enough of it!

I still can't believe I get to go to places like this for my vacations!

Music Monday!

Group Name: GIRLS GENERATION
Song Name: OH!

If you didn't think Korean girls were cute before... Think again!