A great weekend!

I had a wonderful weekend! Saturday I did some street shopping... On the way to meet Chauntee I caught a cab to the subway... On the way I noticed that it was snowing! It was soooo cold! On the way home I stopped at Costco... I spent alot of money in one day but it was soooo worth it! On the street I got a pretty pink scarf... At Costco I bought water, rice crackers, oatmeal, chicken and cheese.. Yum! Today I met a friend who I found on this blog site for church! It was a very very small church but it was very nice... The pastor was on vacation so we had a guest preaching... It was very nice to hear Christian music and meet Christian friends... I was invited to go to a small group on Friday night... The group meets about one block from my house... So i will be able to go home on Friday night then go to meet everyone at the small group a few hours later... After church i went to Homeplus and I found cheap puzzles at the bookstore... I've been looking everywhere for a puzzle but they are very very expensive here... I paid $15 for one 1000 piece puzzle... o well.. it's something I can work on when I'm bored and too cold to go outside... I also bought a book about Korea culture and a really cool tourist book... It divides the country up into small pieces and lists all the things to do with really great pictures and maps as well as descriptions of everywhere to go in the different cities... I'm very excited about planning my trip to my grandfather's plane because now I know exactly where to go... I hope this week goes by quickly because I really would like to a temple next weekend! I will let you know more details later...

This weekend!

So I finally got my heater fixed! Well... sort of... The dial is broken so I have to flip a switch under the sink.... lol... high tech... I'm about to head out and catch the subway to go shopping... Hopefully I will be able to stop at costco on the way home... I will share my adventure with you when i get home...

Hello Blog World!

Sorry my blog was so short yesterday... There were alot of people in the office and I couldn't write message without being interupted! Thankyou to everyone! I really appreciate you reading my blogs! It makes me feel like I am talking to everyone everyday! Well once again this week has flown by! It seems like last weekend was yesterday! Offically I have been on Korea for almost 4 weeks! WOW! One month down and 11 more to go! :) Things are settling down... My apartment is a mess just like my dorm room and my room in Riverside! Mom is shocked!!! hehehe I am checking out a church on Sunday! I hope I will meet alot of really nice people there! I hope they have small church groups other days of the week too! I really need to work on the friend department because there is a hostility at work... I'm sure you all know about that!!! I got a cell phone and a bank account yesterday so I feel like I'm all settled in Bucheon! I have a full weekend planned! Saturday I am going shopping with my coworker Chauntee, Sunday I'm going to church and I'm going to try to go to costco! That will be an adventure! I'm going to take the subway so I better give myself alot of time! I hope to stock up on snacks for the house and food that I can eat on the weekend! I can't wait to have a chicken bake in the food court! I know it will make me sick but I've been looking forward to it for a couple weeks now! I am looking forward to going to DMZ (the north korea boarder) on December 13th! That will be alot of fun! At the end of December I am planning a trip to the bottom of the country to the museum where my grandfather's plane is displayed...

Korean Thanksgiving

So Korean Thanksgiving SUCKS! No turkey, no stuffing, no cranberry relish, etc.... Today I worked as usual... One of my coworkers actually asked me to teach a private lesson as I was typing this blog! Extra cash! Shhhh...

Bad day

I had a bad day... Thank god the week is almost over!

I'm an alien

I got my alien registration card today! O is it lovely! I will take a picture and link it later! It is nice to know that I have my passport back... It was very strange being in a foriegn country without a passport! Still no package from mom but I hope it will come today! :) Have a wonderful day!

It's my birthday again

I think I like the idea of having two birthdays... Hehe. So today is Tuesday... Boring!!! I think this week will go by fast... On Tuesdays I actually get an hour break... I usually get one everyday but instead of teaching middle school I have to teach test prep... I guess there is a huge test for middle schoolers in Korea... I don't really know if i'm teaching it correctly but i'm doing what I am told... Tomorrow is game day so it will be very easy.. During my Wednesday visiting classes we play the picture game and hangman... The say goes by fast after you have played hangman in 5 classes... Thursday always goes by fast because it's almost Friday and on Friday I will give speaking tests and for the first time I will do counciling which is like parent teacher conferences... I have no idea what is required for that but I guess I will figure it out... Kang's language school is kind of a learn as you go atmosphere.... Not the best idea but it will work out in the end..

birthday birthday

Not to self... Never try to try a new route home after work with your hands full of birthday cake and bags... I decided to see where my bus goes after my stop.... It took 30 extra minutes... lol... o well.... So... I had a pretty good birthday.... My students made it worth it! My coworkers were very nice and a few bought me small presents but my students were very happy that I was excited about my birthday... I took a picture with my EV class so I will be posting that soon... My adult class was so nice.... My discussion topic today was birthdays of course... Joy bought me a necklace, Sara (named after my sister) bought me Korean doll fridge magnets, and Sophia brought me a rose... It was very nice... I didn't get the package from my mom or my alien card but I hope it will arrive tomorrow... :)

Birthday in Korea

Woohooo! It's my birthday! I wish I was going to Disneyland and eating yellow cake with chocolate frosting but i'm in korea.... I can't wait for the kids excitement today!

Steve's video page

http://www.youtube.com/teacherinkorea

Check out the featured video... It's a nice tour of my school... I teach most of the kids shown in the video... Can you find me?

Korea

Photobucket Album

my crazy adventure

So the plan was to go to a bar to celebrate the Friday before my birthday and just relax after a long week but my coworker Steve decided to change the plans... Instead he decided to go to Dongosomething.... lol... I was told that it was the largest night market in the area... So we got on the subway at about 8pm after work... Steve had been a couple times but we still got a little lost... Most of the market shops oped at about 10 or 11 so we were planning on taking a cab home.... Well first thing he noticed when we got there was that a huge field where the majority of the market was last time was closed off... So the inventory was very limited... I'm guessing there was about 100 small stands selling everything from socks, scarves, shoes and knock off bags... We decided to get food first so we found a row of stands... The ladies in plastic pink aprons were yelling at us... SIT SIT SIT... Steve finally yelled NO because we couldn't even talk to each other or think.... We ordered 2 different "chicken" dishes but what came out was not just chicken... My first bite was NOT chicken! Steve guessed it was squid... The second dish was chicken but was not worth 10,000 won.... The lady totally riped us off... Then we walked through the streets.... I've never seen a whole dept. store floor full of socks! Then another full of scarves! The place was sooo packed that we had to walk sideways down the aisles.... We finally decided to head back to Bucheon at about 1am... I really didn't think that the cab driver knew where we wanted to go and when he asked for 40,000 won up front I was pretty nervous... Nervous for no reason.... After about a 45 minute cab ride we arrived home! Thank God! Another exciting day... I got about 6 hours of sleep then I decided to spend my whole Saturday being very lazy.. I figured out how to use my dryer and I watched movies all day! At about 5 I went to E-Mart and took a risk with precooked packaged rice (it was pretty good) and bought a few other items to stock the fridge... Tomorrow I'm going to try to go to church and maybe watch a few more movies... Lazy Lazy birthday weekend! I love it!

OMG!

I had an adventure tonight/this morning!!!! I bet you can't wait to get the info.... you're going to have to wait till tomorrow... It's 2:22am and I finally got home... I'm going to bed!

It's snowing...

So I promised my sister that I would write another blog today... I had no idea what it would be about but when I walked outside to catch the bus I suddenly had a wonderful topic! It is snowing! And although I know this weather will get very old soon, it is very very exciting right now.... When I walked out of my apartment building I saw that the ground was very wet. At first I was very irritated because I thought it was raining... I would have to get to the 7th floor again to get my umbrella and back down to catch the bus in about 3 minutes. After a few moments of looking like a stupid American, staring into the sky, I realized it was snow!!! A smile appeared on my face and I knew it was going to be a great day... As soon as the snow hits the ground it melts, so there are no piles of snow building on the ground yet... I'm sure that will come soon... Maybe that is when I will begin to hate it.. All I can think about now is the question... will the children be wild and crazy todaybecause of the snow like children back home are when the winds kick up? We will see... My dream has come true.... I was wishing for a white birthday!!!

I know this is my 3rd blog today

So I have 2 exciting pieces of news! First I got my first bit of mail today! My wonderful mother sent me a package! I had forgotten all of my pictures and a few other items... I put several pictures of everyone who reads this blog above my desk... Everyone noticed and commented on how beautiful the kids are, how much I looked like my mom and how hot my sister is...lol... Watch out Ryan! Second, my coworker Judy showed me the bus route today! It will be sooo much better and warmer to take the bus!! Once the winter passes I will be able to start walking again... o... one more piece of good news... I found a English speaking church! My coworker Judy goes to an English speaking church on Sunday at 2pm... So I will be going this Sunday! My mom will be very happy with all of this news... This cold is giving me a terrible headache so i'm going to bed! Goodnight! I miss you all VERY VERY much! Love, Abby

Esther's blog

So I gave a shout out to esther's blog in my last post but I'm not sure if you can find it or not... So this is the link.... http://erydzik.blogspot.com/ I'm not sure if she wants me to send out this link but here you go... It's her fault for telling the funniest stories!

Another cold cold day

Hi everyone! Thankyou for being in my little blog world! I wish I was brave enough to ask someone to take a picture of my getup today... I walked to work as usual today but I must have looked like a eskimo! It is sooo cold here.. My internet weather website tells me it is -1 which mean's 33 degrees F! WOW! Walking down the street I wore a thick wool coat, gloves, my thickest dress pants, thick socks and my cashmere scarf that was my aunt jane's... Good thing I've lost 15 lbs so far because I don't want to look even fatter with all of these layers!!! But thank goodness I'm not a twig because I would freeze even more! I'm still fighting off this cold so I think I will deal with the weather better when I am well again.. My Korean coworker Judy scouted out the bus route for me today so I think I will be taking the bus more often! It will be warmer... Just for everyones info... Esther also started a new blog so please check out her adventures too... It is sure to entertain! Check out the follower section for a link!

Sunday.... and mom may have been right...

So mom may have been right..... Don't tell her.... I bought a chair today! Although i have a nice chair to use while using my computer I don't have a desk... minor problem... So as you can see from the pics I have my computer on a very very low table... Sitting on the floor was not the most comfortable situation... So i bought a chair that gives a little extra padding and alot of back support... Now I can sit here and write super long blogs about chairs..lol... Today I went to go see the new 007 movie... it was very very good! Go see it! I've decided that since I'm in a new country I should start trying new things... New movies without being forced by Krash... check.... My coworkers had invted me to go with them but i never got a message online from anyone and I was starting to get annoyed with my apt so I went by myself... My coworkers have been bugging me about the food issue for 2 weeks.. So tomorrow I will try something new at lunch... I will be sure to bring my meds... lol... i'll let you know how it goes tomorrow....

Saturday

Hey everyone! If you have myspace please check out my pics there! I will try to get the pics on my blog this weekend... I didn't make it to the club last night because I wasn't feeling very good... I think it was the Mc Donald's...lol... had to be the western food...lol... Today I'm going with Chantee to the Coex mall... I have no idea where it is or what is there so I will fill everyone in on it later... One of the frustrations of Saturday is the lack of decorating shows... Instead of snuggling on the sofa and watching HGTV or TLC I have to watch the stupid football game because I only have one station... lol.... Dad asked me today if i'm going to stay in Korea for another year... Just so it's clear... no...lol.. If I go anywhere in the future I'm going somewhere warmer! It's going to snow in December, Jan and Feb... maybe even march.... o lord.... So my plan right now is to make the most of this year (I'm going on a day tour of the boarder with Steve on December 13th)... Then come home to finish school then maybe go somewhere else (south America?)... somewhere warm... ok.. well i better get ready for today's adventure! TTY soon....

Thank God it's Friday

I'm really looking forward to this weekend! Actually i'm just glad it's Friday...lol... Today is going to be a short, easy day! Thank goodness! Everyother Friday I give tests... So in my traveling classes I give speaking tests and in my class I give a vocabulary test and a speaking test. I think this will make the day go quickly! This weekend Chantee has invited me to go to a mall in a nearby town... On Sunday the plan is to go see the new 007 movie... Normally I wouldn't go see this movie but I'm interested to see where the english theater is and how many westerners go see the movies... I'm very surprised that there is an english theater in Bucheon.. Chantee says that it is in the mall only 2 blocks from my house! o... and tonight there is an Event called Rock Bucheon at the local westerner bar... One of chantee and steve's friends is doing a belly dancing performance so we are going to support. Should be a very busy weekend!

new discovery

So my coworker Steve was sooo nice and burned my pics on a CD for me but I discovered today that the computer in the Westerner's bar also will download my pics... It will now be easier to upload! Today the boss sat in on my middle school class... It made me sooo nervous! The managers had a meeting with her after work so I'm sure I will get an update tomorrow....

Settled in Korea

Hello Everyone! Thank you to everyone who has been calling, texting and sending e-mails! I really appreciate opening the e-mail inbox and seeing an e-mail from someone back home! I hope I have responded to everyone! Today I will start being better about updating everyone Via this blog. I wonder if people can leave comments here? Well I guess I will have to figure that out. Korea has been OK so far. The first night was very very terrible because I was so overly tired! Everyday since then it has gotten a little bit better. My friend and coworker Steve has been very nice showing me around the city. Last weekend we went on the subway and went to Itaewon. Itaewon is the town that is most like the US. Everywhere around me I saw military people and thier families. I also found a bookstore. I'm planning on going back soon. Teaching is very very different here. The only thing i've been given to teach is a workbook for each class. Teaching from workbooks alone is something that my 4 years in college has taught me not to do. I hope in time I will be able to be more creative. My first class starts at 3pm. For the first hour I visit Korean classes for 20 minutes each. At 4 I have a group of really great 8 year olds! They are so smart. They are very good speakers but their writing needs alot of help! I hope I will be able to help them improve. Next I go back to my visting schedule. At 6 I work with another great group (6 12 year olds). I dread going to 7 and 9pm classes because they are middle schoolers who are very hard to modivate. 8pm is my adult class where I am teaching conversational English. I think I finally understand my schedule but it is very hard to stay awake till 10pm teaching everynight.. Well... Everyone is arriving at work... I will write more later....