Katie's Wandering Seoul

Since I have been seriously slacking on the updating of this blog I figured I should attempt at making a come back. I went home in February for 2 weeks.  It was amazing to be home and to see everyone again. I sure was busy for those two weeks making sure I saw as many people as I could but still make sure I spent a ton of time with my mom, my brother, my aunts and Uncles, and of course the little cousins.  I did had a dinner with each of my aunts separately to make sure we had time just one on one.  Seeing all my cousins was great too.  They are all so cute and I just love spending time with them.  It's hard for them because they know that I am gone but don't understand really how far I am from home.  It was amazing to see all my friends and my family of course, but I also loved seeing my cat and dog.  I sometimes see B when i skype with my mom and he does know my voice, but I was amazed to see that how much he remembered me.  As soon ...

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 ...

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 a...

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 Christm...

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...i...

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...

I have learned a few things in my week here in Korea, here they are... 1.  Korea is very cute (they wrapped a bow around my pizza box)! 2.  I will most likely offend someone here very soon...they have very different ways and traditions! 3.  I apparently am not from America, because I do not look, act, or talk like an American. 4.  No one knows where I am really from, and it's really starting to confuse me. 5.  I know a few words in Korean (hello, thank you, and idiot are down pat!  They are all useful words!) 6.  Wilson is a very fun name for my co-teachers to say, they are absolutely loving it and I don't think I have a first name anymore! 7.  I am in love with South African accents....I should probably live there so I can hear it all the time! 8.  There is a soccer team in my city, which I am very excited for! 9.  Korean people are some of the nicest/sweetest people I have ever met. 10.  I am terrible at atte...

Well...the contract arrived in the mail last week, my flight was booked on Tuesday, and my application was sent out for my Visa on Wednesday.  Guess this adventure really is going to happen.  Although I'm really excited and I think it is going to be an experience of a life time, I'm really starting to freak out now.  Hearing that I got offered a position was exciting but, I don't think I realized that it was actually happening, that I would actually be moving to the other side of the world in February.  I am having all kinds of different feelings, and I'm starting to stress out a little bit.  I know I will be fine and I will enjoy my time in Korea however, it is still very scary!   Now the stress is...how am I going to pack all my stuff to go there?  How do you pack a years worth of stuff in basically 2 bags?  What if I miss my connecting flight (since I don't have very much time between any of my flights)? Is my Visa going to make it ba...