Happy St. Patricks Day!

To celebrate St. Patricks Day, Gill and I headed over to Thursday party at Gwangali Beach, for a couple drinks and some girl time!

While I'm not a beer drinker, I will say, I kinda wish I liked it, because Thursday Party had green beer for $2.50!  Very fun and festive for St. Pattys!

We ran into Anne and Crystal there too, which was a great added bonus to our girl night!  These 3 girls are some of the funniest girls I know!  It's nearly impossible not to smile when you're with them!  I love it!

Cheers to great girlfriends and an extra cheer to the late missionary and Bishop of Ireland, St. Patrick!

"I am Patrick, yes a sinner and indeed untaught;

yet I am established here in Ireland where I profess myself bishop.

I am certain in my heart that "all that I am,"

I have received from God.

So I live among barbarous tribes, a stranger and exile

for the love of God."

My news debut!

As a young child, I had 2 lofty aspirations - I was dead set on either becoming a maid (no joke) or a news reporter!  I couldn't think of anything better than cleaning and being a famous person on TV!  Who knew I'd become a teacher in a foreign land and actually live out 1 of my aspirations!

Every elementary school in Korea has a news broadcast in the mornings, run 95 % by the students!  They fix the mic controls, man the cameras and give the signals throughout the broadcast!  It's amazing to see children with such a big responsibility!

On Wednesdays, Okk (my co-teacher) and I have our own little 10 minute English broadcast!  I'm l-o-v-i-n-g it!  I guess I am a sucker for attention!

Here we are this past Wednesday, after the show, with the 6th graders who run the program!

Okk and I taught about American culture our 1st week!  I spoke in English and she translated for me!  

My news reports may be for an audience of 470 Korean elementary children and consist of "story telling," American history, breakfast foods and making smoothies, but I'm still living out my dream, right?!  Man, I love this job!

Sound the alarms!

I'm always alarmed when I hear the alarms!  (No pun intended!)  Once a month, Pusan does an emergency drill, where they blast alarms and announcements, through loud speakers, all over town!  Literally, no matter where you are, I guarantee, you'll hear it! 

Growing up in Fountain Valley, we never had anything like this, so I'm always super shocked when I hear the alarms go off...  But to be honest, I'm really impressed with the way Koreans are able to instantly spread pertinent information; especially when Tsunamis and gigantic earthquakes have been happening nearby.  Today I shot a video out of my window.

So, trust me, if something happens in Korea (a war, a tsunami, a fire, etc...) I'll instantly know about it and run for cover!!  Praying that'll never really happen, but glad things are in place, just incase.  :)

Stella's Back!

I'm ssoooo happy to have Stella back from America!  As you may or may not know, Stella was my very first co-teacher in Korea back in March of 2009!  She and I instantly hit it off and became the best of friends... and have stayed close ever since!  But she's spent the last 6 months living and working in New Jersey as an English assistant teacher in a 1st grade classroom... She even spent a couple weekends with my sister Amy in Manhattan!   That was fun to share my Korean friend with my American sister!

Tonight we met up in Nampodong, at one of our favorite Korean restaurants, for delicious, grilled at the table, thinly sliced pork, sprouts, and some other yummy rabbit-style-food mixed in! 

We picked up right where we had left off, which was sooo fun! 

I'm beyond excited to have my sweet Stella back!

Happy White Day!

It was White Day today, one of Korea's many holidays where men buy their girlfriend's gifts to celebrate their love!  According to wikipedia, White Day gifts are traditionally cookies, jewelry, white chocolate, white lingerie and marshmallows!  My co-teachers were especially counting on Aaron to give me some yummy chocolate, which I would in-turn bring to work tomorrow to share with them!  
Luckily, Aaron does NOT dissapoint!  He bought me a box of chocolates (mostly because I told him Okk and Monica were counting on him!) to go along with our date night to see Black Swan!

  

Thank you A!  I love you... and so do my co-teachers!