New Experiences, To Say the Least...

This has been a really fun week!  I've done a lot of random shopping, LOTS of eating, and went to  noraebang a couple of times, and went to this Nanta performance (like a comedy based on cooking, and using cooking tools to make music).  

Some friends and I at the Nanta performance.  

And that's the first piece of clothing I bought in 

Korea! It's so Korean, I love it, haha:

Nighttime right outside of Ori Station, where we go to get on the subway and travel to Seoul.

Supposedly, it's the cool thing to do to take pictures of your group in a mirror.  This is a group of us in Ori Station taking a picture together.  Man, we take a TON of pictures together.  Or shall we say, we take "heaps" of them.

This is a group of us singing karaoke at the noraebang... p.s.-- almost everyone in these pics are kiwis (new zealanders), including me... ; )

Also, I got to use a squatter toilet for the first time at Ori Station.  It was kind of awkward...

But much more awkward was going to the jimjilbang... which is a bathhouse.  Four of us girls decided to go.  At first, we were very modest, since we had to be naked in front of each other!, but then we remembered the whole reason we decided to go was the embrace Korean culture!! haha... so we did : ). Then we slept over at the jimjilbang on thin mats on the floor, with hard, rectangular pillows.  Despite how not that fun it may sound, we LOVED it.  We plan to do it again!! haha.

At the end of the week, we split off into our separate provinces for a week orientation there, and then we will go to our separate schools and begin teaching!  It's getting closer and closerrr... : )  I'm excited.  But of course sad to separate from my new friends.  But, a bunch of us plan on getting together at least once a month in different cities to explore, so this won't be the end of it!  

Please pray that above all, I put my relationship with God as my priority.  I just want to place everything else into His hands.  It's been tough, but He's been challenging me and convicting me, so I thank Him for that!

Love and miss you all at home!!

One Week Down!

So, I have been in Korea for a week!  We started classes, which run from 9am-8:30pm, although we get lots of/long breaks.  So class is only in session for 7 hours during the day.  We are learning about how to be effective and fun elementary school English teachers.  Some classes are boring, but in most of them, we have been learning practical things like how to control the classroom behavior, and we have played lots of example games that would be good and fun to play with the kids.  We also went on another field trip on Saturday.  

First, we went to the Blue House, which is like the Korea white house.  So it was really high security and we couldn't take too many pictures.  I'll upload one of those pictures later, so I can finish this blog before my next class!

The second place we went was called Insa-dong.  Basically we went there to eat at one of the

many restaurants, and

 to shop around.  Here is a picture a friend, James Park, took of me in Insa-dong:

And at the end, we went to Gyeong Bok Gung Palace.  It was really pretty, and we basically just took lots of pictures and looked around n stuff.  Here is a picture of my friends and I jumping in front of the palace, lol:

Then on Sunday, a few of us went to Jubilee Church, which had an awesome message (in English!) about using our money and gifts from God to serve Him and love people around us.  Really blessing and it challenged all of us.  I also ran into a friend from UIUC (Matt Wachtor) and Susie, who Ken told me about that I should meet when I am in Seoul!  It was pretty awesome.

And my friend Kitty and I went around Seoul and visited Myung-dong, and Namdaemun Market together by taking the bus and subway.  We felt pretty hard out being able to figure out where we were going!  We had some street snacks, shopped around, and walked a TON.  It was fun : ).

Well, I should be off to class now!  My next class is called "Theories and Practices of Team-Teaching".  We'll see how it is!! : )  I love and miss you guys a lot!!  Please keep praying that my main goal continues to be seeking God and loving people around me.  <3

Partyin' Times~

I am having so much fun! I just arrived in Korea last night, and after a 13 hour-long plane ride, we took the bus an hour and a half to reach our dorm building. It's really nice, with three people per room and a bathroom in each room. And there is a computer lab, pool, ping pong, sauna, a nice cafeteria, and everything. And the best part is that the people are so funn!! They are from all over the US, New Zealand, England, and Canada. There may be people arriving from other places like Ireland or something, but they haven't come yet.

We went on a field trip today to see a Korean Folk Village, and an Art Center. They were really cool, and I got to hang out with and meet lots of new people. We were all practicing accents and teaching each other our accents, haha, it was hilarious. Anyway, we begin the actual orientation tomorrow, and I am so excited to begin learning, and to continue to get to know the people here.

This orientation will last three weeks, and then we will go our separate ways to the different locations where we will teach! I'm hoping to create friendships that will give me reason to travel all over Korea to visit, and a place to stay would be nice, too! : )

재미있었어!!! 안녕!!

Feb 1

SUNDAY... I am leaving for Korea on Sunday.  Craazzyy!!  I won't be able to go to church on Sunday cuz I leave at 11:20 : (.  But it's okay... I'm going to Korea!!!

Two Weeks

It has been a stressful process trying to get everything together for going to Korea, but now there are only two weeks left until I go!  I am going to teach English to elementary students in a rural part of South Korea.  The program is called TaLK... Teach and Learn in Korea.  The reason it has been stressful, is because my family wants me to be very comfortable and earn as much money as possible, which makes this program very unattractive.  Living out in the country will be uncomfortable, and there won't be nearly as many English-speakers (p.s.--I barely know Korean!), and the program does not pay as much as I could make tutoring in Seoul.

What's cool about the place I am going to is that it is close to the city where my family grew up: Kwangju!  So I have some family there, and I get to see where my momma lived many years ago.  It may not be as exciting to live far from Seoul, but being by the sea, and in a beautiful country, hopefully I'll be creative and mindful enough to take advantage of everything around me!

If you are looking to pray for me, please pray that everything will work out smoothly with my family, or at least that I would have the courage to get through the tough stuff.  Also, pray that I will be open to new people, food, and experiences, and that no matter what I do, I honor the Lord.

Yo

Not sure if this is a website I'll keep.  Just trying things out... ya know, putting off studying for my exam tonight!!  Ahh!  Not good!  Yeah, I'ma get going now.

: )