My tearfest...

It's been a long time since I've cried... Life has been really great, and I've had no reason to feel the need to cry, but today, at lunchtime, I couldn't hold back the tears...  

I was feeling discouraged, disheartened, and more than anything, just plain lonely today after lunch. Lately, I've been becoming frustrated when my co-workers invite me to tea time, or a breaktime "get together" and then only speak Korean!  They will tell jokes and everyone laughs, or a sad story and everyone is concerned, but no one translates it to me, and I sit confused and out of the loop!  I study their body language and pick out a couple words here and there, but honestly, 98% of the time, I have no idea what they're saying.  Can you imagine working somewhere where EVERYONE is speaking a language you don't understand?! (Remember, I am the only foreigner at this entire school.) As I began to think about this, I could feel the tears welling up, and then before I could even grab a tissue, the tears came flowing out. 

Ella (my korean co-teacher) was immediately concerned, as I'm not the type to complain, be in a sad mood, or cry in the lunchroom.  I explained to her how I was feeling, wiping tears galore from my face, when Crystal, one of the 1st grade teachers overheard us talking, and wrote a korean word on a piece of paper and handed it to Ella.  It said "팔 지?" which means "bracelet?"  Ella nodded "yes" and smiled back at her then turned to me and said, "Crystal has invited us to her classroom to make bracelets after lunch today because she feels bad for you."  I was so humbled and thankful for her offer of kindness.  I smiled at Crystal and thanked her profusely for her invitation. Her response, "I hope that it will change your sadness, Alexis."
 
... and it did! 

hard at work... (Ella:English teacher, Crystal:1st grade teacher, and April:music teacher) ... and the 4 of us spoke English the ENTIRE time we made bracelets, granted it was slow, and their grammar was horrible, but it was English none the less!

I know Ella and April hate making things with their hands (because we talk about it all the time), and I KNOW they only did this to make me feel better.  I was honored with their friendship today.

I was told the other teachers will be jealous if they find out we had this secret bracelet making time, so we assigned different days of the week to each other of when we're allowed to wear our matching bracelets.

Everytime I wear my beautiful, hand made, pink crystal bracelet, I will always remember the way my Korean co-workers took time out of their incredibly busy schedules to do something with me that would make me feel included and appreciated as their friend!
My cup runneth over!

It's good to have girlfriends....

especially the kind that speak your language....
 literally!

Thanks for the fun girls night ladies!

Spontaneous Island Getaway!

Next week is Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), and my school and Aaron's school have both decided to give everyone 2 extra days off (Monday and Friday), so that the staff can have an entire week off of work!  Thank you Gamjung and Yeongdo!

Aaron and I had tossed around a couple ideas of places to visit during the 9 day vacation: Taiwain, Japan, China, maybe an adventure through the Korean countryside... but today, on a whim, we decided to stay in the country and head back to Jeju Island, Korea's pride and joy, and this time we're bringing SCOOT along!!  

We went to the Busan Ferry Terminal tonight and reserved 2 spots in a 10 room dormitory (with no beds - just a dirty floor to lay our heads - very Korean style!) on a quasi-cruise ship!  It'll take 12 hours to get from Busan to Jeju and we'll be departing this Friday night!  We're not sure how long we'll stay, or what we'll do while we're there, other than lay out on the beach and bask in the forecasted 82 degree weather!  We're just happy to be taking advantage of the time off and heading back to paradise!

“Winter vacation, Plastic operation”

Due to the fierce competition to get jobs in this country, some korean parents actually encourage their children to have cosmetic work done in the same way they encourage them to study harder!  My friend Gill has a 4th grade student who is always absent for class on Tuesdays.  When asked why she's always absent, her young student replied, "I go to the hospital.  My mom makes me get injections to make me taller."  Parents are relentless here!

Another one of my girlfriends was shopping in the mall one day and noticed the most beautiful little korean girl. She walked over to say hello and told the little girls mom how beautiful she thought her daughter was, and was shocked at the mom's reply.  "No she's not!"  If little girls aren't tall and skinny with pointy noses, big eyes, and glistening white skin, they're not beautiful to their mothers.  Some mom's would never admit this openly, but I've even seen some of my co-workers make comments about the flaws in their child's appearance.   

Studies show that approximately 70% of korean women have had cosmetic surgery! 

What's even more shocking is that many of those patients are high school students!!  Some are given cosmetic surgery as a graduation present from their parents, while others are doing it without even consenting their parents!  As in the rest of Asia, South Korean's primary cosmetic obsession is with their eyes.  Having bigger eyes is every little girl's dream around here, and for only $800 for the operation (a small incision is made above their eyes to create an artificial double eyelid), teenagers as young as 14 are doing it! 

Cosmetic surgery clinics are busiest during winter vacations, when high school seniors are preparing themselves for college, or for entering the workplace. The majority come for the eyelids, but nose jobs are also becoming popular among teens!  ... and apparently liposuction is done so often, that even dermatologists and gynecologists are doing it as a ‘lunchtime’ procedure!  I knew koreans were skinny for a reason!

Korean people are nearly obsessed with superficial appearance. I read one article where a young girl stated, "It's becoming ingrained in people's minds that unless they look good, they can never amount to anything."

I still don't understand why, but Koreans will do anything to obtain pure white skin as well!   The whiter the better!  This is a before and after photo progression of a korean woman who underwent a chemical peel to obtain whiter skin!  This process is more common than you think and I'd bet a lot of money that a few of my fellow co-workers have done this!  

 I'll leave you with this...  I read this blog post from a fellow native English teacher working in a Korean public school who said:

"I walked into class earlier this week and asked one of my ten-year-old students why she had been absent the previous class.  She told me she had gone to the dentist, but her classmate quickly added, "She cut her tongue."  I asked her why and she told me it would help her speak English better, and insinuated that my Korean co-teacher had said it would help her pronounce 'S' better. This student has never had any noticeable problem pronouncing English words (it's her shyness that hampers her more than anything), so the fact her parents would do something so unnecessary left me shaking my head in disgust."

***

Wonderful Sunday!

Aaron and I had a wonderful Sunday!!  We watched football, then scooted to Gwangali Beach to East Village Coffee shop for some iced coffee!  I love this place.  It's eclectic, modern, cheerful, cozy, and right on the beach!  It doesn't get any better in my opinion!  This is my favorite nook in the cafe... unfortunately it was already taken. :(

   

Everything is better when he's around! :)

After coffee, we headed over to Thursday Party Bar for the monthly foreigner BBQ.  My friends Anne and Crystal buy and prepare all the food for everyone, and we only have to pay $5.00 to enjoy it all!  Thank you girls!  

Me, Anne, and Aaron. (Crystal was in the kitchen, slaving away, cooking the meat skewers, which were delicious by the way!)

I was really excited that Truchen and Gill (who are both from South Africa) ended up coming to the BBQ this time!  They had never heard of it until I told them!  The 4 of us spent the whole time together telling funny work stories and getting to know each other over yummy drinks and great food!  It was as if we were the only ones there.  Sorry to anyone reading this who felt ignored!!!

 I feel so blessed to have met such funny, deep, caring, outgoing, and hilarious girls... and of course, I thank Jesus everyday for my sweet Aaron!