Katie's Wandering Seoul

Orphanage fundraiser MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Well Christmas came and went pretty quickly here in Korea.  It's not quite like at home, and it didn't really feel much like Christmas until Christmas day.  Korea isn't a place that really has a lot of Christmas decorations, trees, or lights.  In fact only about 1/3 of my students actually celebrated Christmas, and even the ones that did did not celebrate quite like we do back home.   Singing Christmas songs Snowball fights I tried to bring the Christmas feeling into the classroom as much as I could.  I had Christmas lessons, sang Christmas songs, and made snowflakes to hang in the room.  The students did seem to enjoy talking about Christmas and how it is different here in Korea.   Presents! This Christmas was my first Christmas away from my family, and it was a bit strange and sad.  I'm used to being around my family all day long and cooking and eating and playing with my little cousins.  BUT th

Since starting the entire process of coming to Korea EPIK and my recruiter have done a pretty good job on helping me to prepare for this adventure.  From getting interviews set up, helping me with all my documents, lesson planning, teaching, and Korean culture they are all things they we were told about.  No, nothing could really prepare any of us for the adventure we were beginning but everyone involved tried really hard to help us along the way. Since coming to Korea I have found my little Korean family.  I have met so many people these past 9 months and I'm thankful that I have found a family in Korea.  We speak on a regular basis, we see each other daily or weekly, we have traveled around Korea together as well as to different countries.  Being away from your family and friends at home is scary and hard, but having this adventure with all these people has been and I'm sure will continue to be an amazing time together is something we all need to cherish a little I think.

Since being in Korea I have noticed that they tend to do things to the extreme.  This includes many different things:  school (going 12-14 hours a day is a tad ridiculous in my opinion, but what do I know?!) and the weather seem to be the big ones. We will just focus on the weather part, because what else can you say other than children should not be in school for 14 hours a day and then have to go home and do homework?!  It still just blows my mind that these kids are able to function throughout the day ( I know there is no way I could) I know this because I am sitting here writing this solely because I am running on about 3 hours of sleep and this is one thing that will keep me awake.  No way I could do this everyday like them. Ok now really time to talk about this weather thing!  Korea really doesn't do the in between thing.  When it was about a million degrees in the summer they are blasting the AC.  Yes, I'll admit it felt good at first, but after about 5-10 minutes  I

As I wrote in my last post Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Although, it was a depressing time because it is my favorite holiday, I still had a good Thanksgiving. It was nothing like any other Thanksgiving I have ever had before.  There was no big family meal, no little kids running around me, and no turkey.  I did however spend Thanksgiving and the entire weekend with some really great friends, which is what the holiday season is all about really.  Spending time with your friends and family, and here in Korea my friends have become my family. I also got to Skype with my family at home, so I got a little bit of the things that are the most important. Now it is the Christmas season and I'm very excited for it.  I do think that I will be a little depressed being away from the family, but we are already planning our Christmas day.  Many Koreans have Christmas yes, however it is not as big of a holiday here as it is at home.  I will only get Christmas day off, from the looks of it I

It is now the week of Thanksgiving even though I am away from home and it may not completely feel like Thanksgiving to me, I'm still going to do my best to celebrate. It has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster this week, not being home for Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, and I love that my family always does whatever they can to have all of us together.  It will be my first big holiday away from home, and it isn't going to be easy.  I hope to skype with my family while they are all together for the holidays.  While I know it will make it a little rough for me and I'm sure I will get emotional, I still want to feel like I'm there celebrating with them.  I want to be able to see all my little cousins and try to talk to them for a few minutes.  Now if they could just send me some of the amazing thanksgiving food that would make things a little bit better. Now if you asked me last week, I never would have said this...in fact I thin

It's funny how things can change so quickly here in Korea...or I guess just life in general.  In the past month I have gone from being at the top of the world, crashing hard very quickly and then coming back out on top. With Lucy in Class Mr. Kang introducing them to the school The end of September was a time that I had been waiting and literally counting down the days for for months before it finally arrived.  My family finally got to come to this crazy place I call home and see how we live our lives here in Korea.  I was so excited to actually have them here.  I get to talk to my mom often, and I see her face through Skype on a weekly basis but its just not the same as having them here in person.  They arrived on a Friday, my school let me out early to go and pick them up from the airport.  I was so excited when my mom walked through those doors.  We immediately ran to each other and a few tears made an appearance.  They were all totally exhausted from their f

I haven't posted in quite some time and although we have been busy there really hasn't been much to update on...until now.   This past weekend Ange and I went to a city within our province called Gyeongju.  We wanted a little change of pace from the usual drinking scene.  Gyeongju is about 2 hours away from Sangju and along the western coast of the country, and honestly quite difficult to get to from Sangju.  However, it was well worth our trip! Gyeongju is the Silla ancient capital of Korea.  It is a great place to really learn about the history of Korea and why it remains such a traditional country.  The tradition and culture of this country is something that has always been beyond amazing to me.  They are so proud of their history, where they have come from, and how far they have managed to come as a country.  Gyeongju is one city that managed to stay in the possession of South Korea for most of the Korean war.  However Gyeongju was very much a part of the war in 1950, a

Well it's been quite some time since I have posted anything on here. I'm currently sitting in Manila airport so might as well post a quick one while I wait... My week in paradise has sadly come to an end. It was a wonderful week spent in Boracay. We managed to survive the madness that the island handed us and the typhoon that rudely interrupted our vacation. It was an amazing trip spent with friends, some old and some new. Met some awesome people in the little island of Boracay, some I'm sure I'll see again in Korea! As a group we managed to accomplish a lot and I know the trip in the Philippines will be something we will never forget! Our accomplishments: Met new friends Spent a week on a BEAUTIFUL island! Some got arrested Others got fined Some managed to find themselves prostitutes I think everyone lost at least one of the following: books, cameras, clothes, phones, glasses, and their dignity Broke a bone or two Survived a typhoon Didn't let a st

Korea really is a pretty cute country.  They put so much thought into just the little things that really seem to make a big difference.  You go to a coffee shop and they draw cute little flowers, hearts, or other random drawings...yes all for you to drink it!  I have bought pizza and they tied a cute little red bow around the box for us.  The biggest thing that is pretty cute (but I just can't ever see myself doing this!!!!) is that the couples wear matching clothes.   I have done a little research and have read in many different places that the couples wear matching clothes because public display of affection is just not a very big thing here (although I think that is changing watching some of the younger couples out in coffee shops and other public places) so they wear a matching outfit to let the world know that they are a couple that is deeply in love with each other.  There are pictures all over the internet of Korean matching couples and I even snapped a quick shot of a

I realize that it has been quite some time since I have posted a blog on here and talked about my travels.  I'm happy to say that I really don't have too many complaints. I have gone at least 2 weeks (maybe more) without being talked to or corrected about my clothes or my classes!!!!  I'm taking that as a huge step with my relationship with these teachers I work with.  I also have more teachers, not English teachers, speaking to me...in English YAY!!! Beth and I outside the station! Since my last post the Sangjuers have traveled a little more around the small country.  We went to Busan at the beginning of the month.  It was so great to spend time on the beach! We did a little shopping, spent a while on the beach having a few drinks, had a really good dinner, and then had a night out at bars and clubs.  I always love going and watching the Koreans dance...it's just very different than the way we dance at home, but I love it.  We did see a fire while we were there

I am calling this country the ugly duckling country because it has seriously turned into this beautiful country in the past week or so.  The cherry blossoms were out a few weeks ago, lasted about a week and then they all fell off the trees.  BUT now flowers are starting to bloom and all the trees have their leaves back.  I went hiking yesterday with Beth, to the same mountain we go to every week (2-3 times a week) and it was seriously like we were in a totally different place.  We stopped a few times and said...is this even the same mountain, I'm not sure I know where we are.  Needless to say we did manage to make out way down the mountain safe and sound and never got lost, so don't worry. I'm really looking forward to my next couple months here in Korea, because our little Sangju group has so much planned around Korea.  This weekend we will be going to Busan to enjoy a little beach time.  I'm very excited seeing as Busan was my number one place that I wanted to live