Let's celebrate!

Yesterday was our last day of teaching for the 1st semester, so after work, all of the teachers went out to dinner at an oceanfront sashimi restaurant!   Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of raw fish, but I'm always okay to eat the side dishes.  Monica went above and beyond though and ordered me a special bowl of abalone jook (porridge), which was very sweet of her!  :)

After dinner, the "Chilsung group" headed over to Cafe Bene for some gelato, coffee, and yummy Korean style honey bread and whipped cream!  This was not all for me!  Everything that was ordered was shared amongst the group - it's the way we do it here in Korea! Regardless, it's not great for the summer body!

Whenever the 7 of us all get together, we always each pitch in 10,000 won (about $10.00) and share whatever food or drinks are ordered.  Then, whatever money is left over atfer the bill is paid, gets carried into our next outing together!  It's Korean style and I actually really like it! 

 Gyung Wha, Okk, and Monica...

MinJung, Me, HyunJung, and Hahnna!  All night, they wouldnt shut up about how tiny my face is (a sign of beauty in Korean culture), so when we took a picture together, they made me sit way forward so their faces wouldn't look so big next to mine!  Haha!  Hence why I'm the only one completely out of focus!

Luckily I'll see Okk the next two weeks because we're teaching summer camp together, but I probably won't see the other five girls until September 1st!   It's gonna be a long 5 weeks without my ladies!!

Did you know?

I was thinking about all the things I am experiencing here, and realized you may not know a lot of them, so this post is dedicated to telling you the itty bitty details of my life in the form of a "Did you know?" list!

So, with that said, did you know....??

July 30th will be the 2 year anniversary of the first time I met Aaron... I'm coming home (NC, CA, and AZ) for Christmas!... I live on the 2nd floor of my apartment building, which used to be a love motel... yesterday I ran 1.35 miles around my neighborhood, in the rain, (the longest I've EVER run without stopping!)... I just started tutoring a middle school student, near my apartment, three times a week, and am making $30.00 an hour!... I eat rice and kimchi everyday!... I am no longer addicted to diet coke! Hallelujah!... I have a gigantic TV in my classroom that I am encouraged to use... I am on my school's TV show every Wednesday for an English broadcast... I listen to Cornerstone Christian Fellowship's church service, on my iphone, every Sunday night with Aaron... I haven't owned a car in almost 3 years!... I live above a Samgyupsal restaurant... My school is 5 stories tall and I work on the 5th floor (105 stairs up!)... I'm completely obsessed with this season of the Bachelorette and am rooting for JP because he reminds me so much of "A" (minus the jealous side)!... I don't have a TV, microwave, dryer, bathtub, or oven at my apartment... I've written over 1,000 blog entries!... I bleach (weave) my own hair in my bathroom at home and save about $90 a month by doing it on my own!... I live less than a 1 minute walk from the ocean... I can read and write Korean... I go by Chelsey at work because Jill means vagina in Korean!... I teach 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade english... my favorite iphone apps are Words With Friends and Train Conductor... I have a wall full of windows in my classroom/office with a beautiful view of a mountain, the village, and the ocean... I feel even closer to my family since moving to Korea! :)... I'm going to Vietnam for 16 days, with Aaron, in 3 weeks!!!... 6th grade is my favorite grade to teach... I'm asked to do my female co-worker's hair, in up-do's, at least twice a week!  This morning they coined one of the styles "the Chelsey!"... I'm totally in love (as if that wasn't already clearly obvious!)... When I teach, I speak English and Korean... My best friend is getting married in 23 days and I live in Korea, so I can't be there!  Uuugghhh... Sometimes I lean out my classroom window and pick gingko beans off the ginko tree!... I walk a 1/2 mile to work everyday and wave to the same 5 people... I give seashells that I've collected from traveling, as prizes to my students, when they get perfect test scores.  You'd think they won the lottery!... I really miss eating Taco Bell double deckers... If I don't sit by my Principal at lunch, he thinks I don't like him! It's kind of an issue!...  I just started driving the scooter on my own!  I drove to the grocery store twice this week!... I have 3 different indoor slippers for school (because we can't wear our shoes inside the building): 1 brown, 1 black, and 1 white pair! It's important to match my clothes!... I really miss Target!... My utility bills are only about $30 a month!... Sometimes trucks drive up my street selling socks, fruit and veggies!... I'm thinking about staying another year to work at a University!... My helmet got stolen off the scooter last week, so I bought a new one. That one got stolen too! I think I live in the Korean ghetto... I really miss cupcakes (actually, just the frosting!)... I pay my bills at ATMs...  My apartment is about 300 square feet, so it only takes me 10 minutes to clean it!... I drink a cup of coffee every morning at 9:30am... I'm completely obsessed with making lists and keep track of everything I spend, everything I eat, and every time a class is canceled!... I'm a western size 6, but everything I buy in Korea has to be an X-large!... I check facebook at least 5 times a day... I'm supposed to teach twenty two 40 minute classes a week, but I usually only end up having to teach between 14-16!... I listen to the Dave Ramsey podcast everyday to learn how to be even more financially savy... I have a keyless entry for my apartment... I've traveled to 7 countries since living abroad... I only have a mini fridge at my apartment... at the end of every class, my kids stand up, and simultaneously bow to me and tell me to keep working hard!... My co-workers compliment me the most when my skin isn't tan... I never wear my shoes in my apartment! (It's just habit now)... My cheeks usually hurt at work because I smile and laugh so much!... I love my two co-teachers, like sisters!...I can hum the tune of the Korean national anthem, but don't know all the words!... The bell at my school sounds like an ice cream truck... and more and more, everyday, I feel like the luckiest girl alive!  

So, there you go!  Now you know! :)   

Saturday in Ulsan with Okk!

Okk's older sister lives in a neighboring city called Ulsan, which I had never been to, so she invited me to go with her to visit her sister and ride bikes around a huge park for the day!  I of course was all for it, so yesterday we had a nice little mini girlfriend vacation!

We met at the subway and took line 1 to the very end: Nopodong station... then jumped on a city bus to Ulsan, for a total of 2 traveling hours, and about $3.00! 

Luckily her sisters apartment was just a couple minutes from the bus stop, because it was REALLY hot and sticky and we were both in desperate need of some "air con!" We stopped in at a little grocery store to buy her some peaches, (a common thing to do when visiting someone's home - even family!)  and spent about an hour hanging at her sister place, playing with her adorable 16 month old baby girl, Min Ju.  Then, I, Okk, her sister, sisters husband, and MinJu all walked down to the local coffee shop and sipped on some yummy coffee before heading to the park!

When Okk and I got to the park, we stopped in at the bike rental counter, and for $3.00 an hour, rented a cute red bike with a basket for my purse!  PERFECT!

First stop on our ride around the park was this little waterfall area, where tons of kids were playing and catching waterbugs in little plastic bags!

Okk and I

We jumped back on the bikes and headed further down the bike path to this part of the park with this!!  AMAZING!

The park was gigantic and I don't think we could have riden around the whole thing if we tried... although we did ride for about an hour and a half, in the heat of the day!  We were both sweaty messes by the end!

Okk borrowed her brother in laws tiny little foldable bike for the day!  We laughed about how it was the perfect size for her, cuz she's so tiny!

We may, or may not, have done a little off roading into this field of wildflowers!

Did you know the blood supply to nearly every organ is connected to your feet?!  I didn't!  Okk explained it to me, how this part of your foot's (pointing) blood supply is connected to your heart, stomache, etc...  She said Koreans are very concerned with their body's blood circulation, so if I look more closely, I'll notice these little pebble walkways all over the place!  So, we walked the foot path, which is a path containing all sorts of different pebble formations, spikes, wood planks etc, to help your body's circulation!

This is actually really painful!

While we were riding our bikes in the park, Okk's sister called saying she wanted to take us out to dinner before we went back to Busan, which I thought was very thoughtful and generous!  We went to a fantastic Indian curry restaurant and feasted on the most delicious chicken and shrimp curry!  YUM!

After dinner, we went back to their house for some watermelon, and then said our goodbyes and headed back to Busan!  We both had such a great time, and laughed more than usual, which is a lot!  So glad she had the idea to go and invited me to come along!

Party Time... Communist Style!

When I was a little girl, I had a terrible time sharing my snacks! Heck, who am I kidding? I STILL have a hard time sharing them! ...When I first started dating Aaron, I would give him the look of death if he took any of my food from me! You'd think I was starved as a child or something! I honestly don't know why I'm like that! I'm obviously still a work in progress! The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?!

So, today, when my after school English Club students came to class with their snacks for our "last day of class party," I was shocked, when they asked me for plates, so they could divvy up what they brought for their friends! Tell you what, I've got a lot to learn from these oober sharing kiddos of mine!

"Taken with Instagram for iphone"

No thank you!

While walking in Nampodong on Sunday afternoon, Aaron and I found a secret escalator that lead to a gigantic underground arcade!  It was like a magic little world under there!  Inside one of the rooms was this gigantic spinning ride, set on hydrollics, with NO seatbelts!  You couldn't pay me enough to get on that thing... but there were tons of Korean kids and teenagers paying money to give it a try!  

No Thank you!