weekend pictures

These pictures are from Itaewon, Children's Grand Park, my hike, and the last one is at breakfast on Christmas morning (it's a terrible picture but it's the only pic I have)

Already planning..

I am so bored and sick of work that I am sitting here planning my next adventure... Jennifer has planned a Seoul city bus tour for us on Wendsday and then Wednesday night we are going to Seoul city hall for the big new years eve celebration!!! On the bus tour we can get off and see a few palaces(Changyeogung, Deoksugung, Gyeongbokgung) and the blue house (like the white house I think), Seoul Tower, and the tradition Korean Villiage... I think it's going to be very fun! I will post pictures on Saturday because almost everything will be closed this week.... So finding a photo machine will be difficult... Maybe Jenn will upload my pics for me.... We will see...

Another weekend...

Another weekend went by way way too fast! I had quite an adventure... Saturday I taught a lesson then met Jennifer to go hiking... We finally found the mountain but the man made waterfall was turned off and the trail was blocked with gates... Jennifer did find another path but after the disappointment of the waterfall we decided not to go up... Instead we decided to go to Children's Grand Park... It was 6pm by the time we got there so it was already starting to get dark and the park was kind of closing... The streets connecting the park were so icy... I can't wait to go back in the spring because they had a zoo!!! We saw lions, goats and miniature horses... The lions were really cool because they were almost fighting right in front of us... Today I went to church then we went to Itaewon again... Jennifer had never been and we both needed to do some Christmas shopping... We ate at Quiznos which is one of Jenn's favorites too... I finally finished my Christmas shopping so I will be mailing a package Tuesday! I have to work Monday and Tuesday then lessons on Wednesday... I hope New years eve in Seoul works out... I'm really excited... More pictures will come soon!

Christmas in Korea

So Christmas in Korea was great! Friday night I raced out of work... went to homeplus to finish my shopping and then caught a bus to Kristina's house... We had fun just laying around, watching movies and drinking Korean style screwdrivers... One of my gifts to kristina and jenn was the new credit card monopoly... Too bad it was in Korean..lol... So we can't play it until Kristina's mom gets home... lol... We fell asleep pretty early! We all had to work and my day was super long! This morning we woke up and opened presents (Thank you to everyone who sent gifts!!!) and called our parents (mine didn't answer..lol..) At about 11 Jenn and I went to a church friends' house... She made American Style breakfast! Yum! French toast, bacon, toast, cheese eggs, ham! Yum Yum Yum... Kristina was packing for Hawaii so she didn't go... I offered to take care of her baby (dog) while she was out of town so now I have a new roommate (Peanut)! He is a very good boy! He is sitting next to me now in his very cute red jacket chewing on his Christmas treat! She will be home after new years so he will be with me for a little more than a week! Jenn and I went to the local subway station to go shopping and have Christmas dinner! I had pasta and !!!! Salad with RANCH!!!! Yum! I rare treat in Korea! So ya.. I just wanted to let everyone know that I had a wonderful Christmas with my Korean family! I miss all of you at home! I wish I was there but I know that 2009 Christmas will be twice as exciting as 2008! Merry Christmas! I love you all!

booooo

OK so Chistmas Eve was no that exciting at school... o well.. In 2 minutes I get to leave and party with the girls!!! I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas! I love you all and I miss you sooo much!!! xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Christmas Eve!

Hey hey... It's Christmas Eve! I'm so excited to see the excitement today! I'm up early so I can hurry and get ready so I can go to the store to buy some party supplies for tonight! Woohoo! Tonight is going to be fun but today is still going to be a busy day! Yesterday I was asked to do a one on one tutoring at work... So I have to go in early for a bout a week and a half.. It does take up some of my holiday but I'm looking forward to a little extra cash... So... ya... I'm spending the night at Kristina's house tonight so I won't be by my computer and tomorrow I am going to a breakfast party with some people from church... I will be on my Skype on your Thursday making 100 calls wishing everyone a merry Christmas... I am going to wake up early early because not only do I have to work but I also have 2 extra classes on Friday (your Christmas Thursday).... Exciting times... I hope everyone has a great day! I love you all!

More Everland pics

DMZ pics

Everland

Everland!

Everland was sooooo much fun! The rollercosters were amazing! Some parts were better than Disneyland but it was sad not being there with Tautona! Theme parks are not the same! They had a great fireworks show and sledding! I took hundreds of pictures and so did kristina, Shawn and jenn so I will be posting them ASAP! I am also working on a better blog about the adventure for everyone to read so this is just a preview.... Check out www.everland.com ... O! I also got my first grade A+ rip off purse... It is sooo cute! My new LV arrives on monday! Iwill be sure to send pics of my new addition!

another short update

Haha... I'm such a stupid girl.... The theme park is called Everland not Neverland... No Michael Jackson at this one... hehe... The plan is to go on Saturday morning.... early early weekend again! That's all I have to say... I'm sure I will have great pics on Sunday... I'm in the process of copying pics from myspace to my photobucket so ya'll can see.... Please be patient...

Ah People do love me!

Thank you for all of the comments posted yesterday! My family (Esther you are included like it or not...) does love me!!! I will post DMZ pics today! They will be on myspace and as soon as I get home from work I will transfer them to my blog...

Wednesday is over!

Thank God! One more full day of class then the week is over.... I think I am going to an amusement park on Saturday... Neverland... Isn't that what Michael Jackson called his house? I hope it's not the same... So... ya... That's all.... Ya ... no exciting news... I'm boring...

Does anyone read my blog anymore?

ok... i'm sad... no one ever comments on my blogs anymore... :( so ya'll are over it.... O well... I got my Christmas package today! I am going to try very hard to wait to open the gifts but it will be very very hard! Sara and I always opened the gifts before christmas morning when we were kids...hehe... remember the TV sara? anyways.... Another busy day at school... It will be busy until next term which is after jan break (dec 31st- jan4th? 5th?) because my coworker will be out... well... Open House (Open class) went well! I only had 2 moms show up so that was good... I'm hungry as usual... the desk teachers are walking in with dinner... eww... Kimbop for the 2nd day in a row... Gross.... O well... I will write more later....

Crazy Monday

So today has been soooo crazy!!! My coworker charlie got chicken pox from one of his students and he is in the hospital... My manager says he will be there for at least one week maybe two... Koreans take illness very seriously... They go to the DRs for everything even a cold but after I saw a picture of Charlie's face I knew it was really bad... While he is out all the teachers are splitting his work... Everyone is working super overtime(without pay.... hehe... I don't mind because we need to do whatever we can for oue coworker but it is very crazy around here... Tomorrow is open class so all the parents are coming... Now I know how my elementary school teachers felt when the parents were sitting in the back of the classroom watching... I think it will be ok... I have a great group of kids who are really smart! Today we talked about food in my adult class so I am officially starving! I'm craving chicken and rice or pasta... I bought butter last night so maybe I will make mac and cheese tonight! Yum!!! Speaking of butter,,,, The only butter they had was I can't believe it's not butter and it was $6 for a small container! I will use it sparingly! I scrubbed my apt yesterday but it is once again messy.... grrrr... I hate small living quarters...um... I think that's all I have to report... I hope your monday is better than mine... I love you all more that anything in the world! I miss you soooo much! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

where did the weekend go?

I have no idea where the weekend went!!! I feel like I just left work on Friday night... o well.. thank goodness the week passes quickly... Yesterday after church I saw twilight.. it was good but a little too teenage drama for me... Kristina, jenn and I made more plans for Christmas and Jenn and I are making plans for the holiday break... We are going to try to see a temple jan 2,3 or 4th.. I think... I will let you know when I have more concrete pans.... I hope everyone has a wonderful week! TTYL

DMZ

OMG so DMZ was great! We went on the perfect day! It wasn't too cold and it was very clear... So first we went to lunch.. It was my first experience eating on the floor... Well... Sitting on the floor... It wasn't very good so I ate rice... We got back on the coach and went to a memorial... It was really nice I got my picture taken next to a memorial sign thanking the US for their service... I will post pics ASAP... There we also got the OK to go closer to the border... We all got the OK...lol... Next we went to the 3rd tunnel... This was a tunnel that the North Koreans dug to invade and attack the South... WOW what a journey... first we got our hard hats then we walked downhill into the tunnel... We got to the end and we were a few feet from North Korea... The end of the tunnel looked like a steel door with a cameras watching.... Barbed wire was thrown in front of the door so we didn't get to touch it... Signs of DANGER and KEEP OUT were the only warning.... The hike back up was a treck! OMG it was terrible... I stopped a couple times but it was ok... I was happy to make it back to the lobby area in one piece.. And.. yes Krash... I had my picture taken with the hard hat on! hehe... Finally we went to the observatory... The observatory was really cool... Basically it was a area overlooking the Demilitarized zone and then the North Korean Border fence.. There were about a dozen coin operated binoculars... I saw the fence, a bunch of lookout towers, a few little city like areas, the North Korean Flag tower and I think I even saw one N. Korean Soldier... o.. one more thing... We also went to a train station... I got 2 stamps for my passport... This station was build to connect the tracks from South Korea to North Korea as well as China and Europe... After N Korea closed their border last month development hit a standstill... There are empty inspection buildings a good storage centers waiting to be used... I'm afraid they will stay empty for a few more years... The tour guide was obviously frustrated with the prez of South Korea for not looking out for the best interest of his people... The station is very nice but nothing really goes through there... There was one train that arrived but I'm not really sure what the purpose was... ok... so the pics will explain alot of this so wait a few days for those to be posted...

I had the best dinner!

Last night I left work at about 8pm and I was sooo hungry... Usually we get a lunch break but instead we had to hear the most pointless presentation... They said it would be in English but 3/4 of it was not...lol... I was told that it was going to be the author of the text book giving us tip but it was the author just selling his book... So after my last class we had to do new student testing so I basically asked random questions to about 5 different kids.... Pointless... What is your favorite color? Animal? yadayadayada... So we went to the dept store but nothing looked good so we found the new place that i've been wanting to try... At first we stood outside with one of the watresses trying to figure out what they served... Then we decided since she spent so much time with us we had to go inside and eat... The food was sooo good... It was BBQ... We chose pork... I will post pics of it later... Best part of the meal was that it was sooo cheap... 12,800 won for 2 people... Where can you eat in the US for $6 each? it was so amazing... And I think i finally have the chopstick skill down!!! So when everyone comes to Korea to visit me I have a great place to take you!

Hi Everyone!

I'm going to North Korea today so I won't be online this evening... I think i will get home around 11pm so that is 5am Saturday your time... I will talk to ya'll soon...

Thursday is almost over!

Hey everyone!
Well... Today is almost over... I had a pretty good day although I am very tired today... I got up before my alarm again and got the day started early... I got my house cleaned up before taking the bus to work.. Instead of going to lunch with the gang I went to Home Plus and made a picture CD.... FINALLY!!!! It was 5,000 won but very worth it... All of my pics are posted on myspace so please go check them out... I will post a few on the blog soon... But it is very hard todo at work... I taught a few classes but I still have 3 more to teach today... um.... I'm really looking forward to this weekend! I think it will be fun... I don't think I can go to bible study on Friday because I need to go to bed early so I can get up around 7 for my DMZ trip... I will be going to church on Sunday so that will be ok... I think that's all I have to say for now... Please check out the pics when you get time... Love, Abby/Jazzy

News about Alex

Alex will be arriving On January 12th... I will be Ice fishing that weekend but I'm sure we will see eachother the next weekend! I'm very excited!

Great news!

My neighbor from college is moving to Incheon! I am sooo excited! Do ya'll remember Alex? Shae's roommate? She was recruited through the same agency as me... I don't know exactly when she is coming but i'm sure she will respond do my message soon! Incheon is soooo close... I think it's like a 20 minute subway ride... Shorter if we meet somewhere in the middle!!! This makes me soooo happy!

Pay day is tomorrow!

WOOHOOO!!! Payday is tomorrow! I'm so excited! I still have money in my account but it is very nice to finally get paid... Is all this work worth it? I have to give a presentation tomorrow but it is soooo easy! It's just like my teacher classes in college... The Korean teachers are thrilled with anything I do... They are sooo nice... I'm just worried about what the other western teachers say and what the boss CoCo thinks... They judge my work very harshly sometimes... Well I have to say that I am spoiled rotten! I got another package from mom today! Thankyou for the pjs and the gorp from Janet! Yum! I'm going to freeze it because it it better frozen! Well I guess I could just leave it on the counter and it will freeze in this weather... Actually it was pretty warm today.... I went out in just pants and a sweatshirt... Yesterday I tried on about 6 different sizes of shoes to try to figure out what my Korean size is and so today I bought a pair of black boots... They are lighter than leather but a little better than uggs... And no sara... I am not posting pics of them! The desk teacher just walked in with mcDonalds... I think public schools need adopt this tradition.... Bring dinner to the teachers everyday! Ok... Enough for today! I need to do report cards! I love all of you! bye!

another day another dollar!

Well... It's Tuesday... Monday flew by as usual... Nothing really to report... I get paid tomorrow! That's exciting... No more snow in the forecast but lots of rain... The rain makes the streets very slippery... Most of the way home is a smooth tile so I have slipped a few times... Kind of embarrassing but people already think that Americans are nuts... That's all I can say... Nothing else to report... I'm still pretty happy here but I do miss everyone back home... I can't believe a month has already past... 2009 will be here before we know it...

Snow Pics

Let it snow, let itsnow, let it snow!

So instead of finding a computer to post my pics I was invited to go out with a few friends from church! So I went! We had sooo much fun! We met at the mall and did a little shopping and had dinner... Then we walked down the main strip trying to find a place to have cocktails... It took us a while to find somewhere that didn't serve just beer! I got home at about 1:30 and crashed! I was sooo tired! I woke up this morning at about 11am to snow! The streets are already cleared but the sidewalks and cars are covered in snow! The sun is out now and is shinning so I assume most of it will melt today! It is very exciting because this is the first now that did not melt before it hit the ground! I will take pics today! The plan for today is to go to church then a group of us are going to costco for dinner..lol... I think we made plans last night for Christmas eve! Kristina, jenn and I are going to get together and watch a movie and I assume we will have dinner... I think that will be fun! Jenn and Kristina are very fun to hang out with! I'm glad I found nice friends! Well.... It's time to put away my laundry! BTW... mom... I bought swiss miss hot chocolate and warm sweats yesterday so I'm not too cold! Love you all! TTY soon

Friday is finally over... It's 12:45 on Saturday morning

So small group was interesting.... E-mail me for more information about what was very annoying... I got a HUGE package at work so I couldn't go to the store on the way home... That was the plan... So I took the bus and I went to 7-11 to find something for the potluck... lolol.... I bought little chocolate cakes... I cheated.... I went to small group and the made homemade guacamole! mmmm so good! We watched a film of a sermon in Atlanta about how small earth really is compared to the rest of the universe! It was good... The host and her daughter had the heater cranked all the way up so it was soooo amazing! Why do you ask? Because it is 12 degrees here! WOW!!! No snow but very very cold!

Friday morning

Ok... so I heard that my sister went to Woodcrest CHRISTIAN high school yesterday and gave out info about this blog... If she didn't the title of this blog would be very different! I HATE winter in Korea! One... I woke up freezing... Two... I couldn't figure out how to use the ATM to check my balance.... Three... I slipped on Ice on my way to work today.... Four... when mud, leaves and cigarettes are frozen together on the sidewalk it looks so gross!!! Today is Friday here so I hope the short day will go by fast... Afterwork I need to figure out what I am bringing to the small group potluck for church.... Thank goodness it's very close to my house.... For all of you who are waiting very patiently for new pictures... I promise I will post them this weekend!!! Do you want a picture of the ice patch that I slipped on? hahaha no........ No exciting plans for this weekend... I'm going to do laundry and maybe going to a movie...

Thursday Morning

Crazy night.... It rained so hard that it sounded like someone was trying to break down the windows... So.. my sister was upset because I didn't post anything because Wednesday was pretty boring and just a regular day... I went to work.. boring... then I walked home with the gang... I went to Emart and I spent about $50 on 2 rugs for the bathroom and for the living area... I hope they will keep the house a little warmer... I also bought a wall clock to keep on California time... I put it on the wall infront of my computer so I won't have to change the computer clock over and over again... Friday I am going to a small group meeting for church, Saturday I need to do laundry and have a relax day (maybe a small adventure to a temple), and sunday I will go to church... That's it...

Exciting news!

WOOHOO!!! I've just signed up for another trip! I'm going ice fishing in Hwacheon in Gangwon-do! It should be very fun! It is a 2 day trip on January 10th-11th!!! It includes a charter bus, meals, fishing, Ice fishing competition, sledding contest, sleigh making contest, ice skating, sleigh riding, and a Hike to Mt. Hwaak... All of this for under $100! Great deal!

I'm dreaming of a pink Christmas!

OK... so when you think about Abby or Jazzy what color comes to mind? Well after lunch we always go to HomePlus... Usually I buy a peach Ice tea or a coke but today I bought a christmas tree! There were several sets of decortations but I decided to pick the set that I would never be allowed to pick in the US....PINK!! Yes! so this year I will have a pink christmas tree... I bought a little 4ft fake tree that will sit infront of my windows. All together I think I spent $40... Totally worth it! I need to find a topper.... Maybe I will try to find some pretty ribbon to make a bow... I didn't but lights because there are maybe 2 plugs in my whole Apt but I am really looking forward to going home tonight and setting up my Christmas tree! wooohooo!

OMG

It's going to be 27 degrees on Friday! OMG! Just for those of you who don't know the computer lingo... OMG means o my goodness! lol means laugh out loud! JK means Just Kidding... That's really the only words I use...lol...

Monday

So Monday is the same in every country! I wish it was different... Although weekdays fly by they still exaust me! The only way I get throught the week is to plan the weekend! THis weekend I have big plans... I found a great travel book that I will explore with... Friday I have been invited to a small group for church... Saturday i'm planning on trying to find a waterfall or temple to go to... I need to figure out how to get there.... Sunday I will be going to church and spending the rest of the day reading or working on my puzzle... Busy busy weekend! Now if only it was Friday! This week i'm also planning on uploading pics from my camera and trying to find the post office to mail a bunch of christmas cards and post cards! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! tty soon!