Strep Throat

After two months of being sick, the doctors have FINALLY figured out what's wrong with me.

I've had strep throat.

I never heard of a doctor NOT being able to diagnose that on the first go-around.

You know what the doctor said to me the FIRST time I came in (after not being able to talk for 2 days)? "Your tonsils are fine, but your throat is infected. It's not serious."

I couldn't talk when I visited him. That's not serious? Wow.

Props to public health care for being cheap. What sucks is that the doctor sees you for 5 minutes. If you're lucky.

Thank God they finally figured out what was wrong!

Halloween 2010

Last year we were able to have a Halloween party at our apt... this year, we're all in different places and it makes me sad.

Also, I'm not able to participate this year due to being really sick from something the doctors keep saying "isn't serious."

Happy Halloween yall

New Job (Again)

As many of you know, I have had to change jobs again. Hopefully, God-willing this is the last time. I will be here another year, and have a better position than before! I am working at a private Christian elementary school as an English teacher with my roommate.

It's a little outside of the city, so it can be difficult to get to... but other than that stress (and the fact that classes start so early in the morning!), it's a better place to be. I feel like my work actually matters since I am at a real school and not an academy parents force their children to attend. I have walls I can decorate and crafts to give the kids, as well as a TV to show video clips or presentations.

I have grades 2, 4 and 6... and even though I feel the responsibility of teaching children... I can't wait till I'm teaching adults/college students. That's still my dream.

Having to sign up for another year has created a few future problems. My roomies are both finished in August, and so is our lease for the apt. I will have to find a new place by myself for about 7 months. I'm already anxious about it... but God has done so much for me so far. I'm sure He's big enough to handle this too.

Trusting God has been a struggle... but then I realize how independent I'm NOT in this foreign country with a different language and culture... and I turn to Him all over again. I'm just praying that I use this next year here wisely.

STRESS

Today, the day before I leave, very few things went right.

I tried to transfer money to my account back in the US and it didn't work. I thought I had dealt with that problem weeks ago with calls and visits to the bank already! Well, it was happening again... so I spent all morning on the phone with Citibank trying to figure out why it wasn't working with a Korean woman who spoke so quietly I could hardly hear her!

The most frustrating part wasn't even that. It was the fact that they had NO IDEA why it wasn't working. They told me "oh, it's because of this!" and we did something different and it STILL didn't work, so then they'd say, "oh, it's because of that!" and we did it all over again. I was on hold for 30 minutes, and then they called me back three times only to say we have no idea why it's not working. Actually, the reason they came up with in the end is that you can't send money to yourself, so that's why it's not working. Which is complete BULLSHIT.

Because of that I was late going downtown to meet my friends for lunch (and didn't even get to eat with them!), and because of that I was late taking my dog to the Animal Hospital for boarding, and because of that I was late to work and had to pay for an expensive taxi to avoid being MORE late.

And I didn't get to eat lunch.

The only thing that went right was that when I was downtown I was able to get my friends the presents I was looking for.

I JUST WANT TO GO HOME...! Ugh.

I'll Be Home for Christmas!

With only one more week to go before I'm HOME... I can't stop thinking about it. It's weird being in a culture that doesn't celebrate Christmas.

PEOPLE here celebrate Christmas... but the culture doesn't. There's a few decorations up in some stores, and one or two major streets have lights on them... but it's SO not the same. It makes me REALLY miss America. And so glad I'm going there soon!

I've been sinking a little into culture shock once again. (Not sure if that's possible...?) But getting definitely homesick with each passing day, and less tolerant of things I don't understand in Korea.

The first thing I'm going to do (besides see my best friends and family) is go to Best Buy and get my freakin computer fixed! I tried to figure out the process of getting it fixed overseas... WOW. It sucks. I'd have to pay for all the costs and then they'd pay me back in about 2 months. Yuck. I'm just praying they can get it fixed before I leave!

And then the next thing I'm going to do is go shopping at a drug store for necessities... that are in ENGLISH! And then I'm going to have something amazing for dinner. And then grocery shopping. And then Christmas.

Ugh... I am so homesick... I can hardly wait!

Church Retreat

We had a church retreat for a night. Not a whole weekend... just a night. And it was exhausting! But fun. However, I felt really burned out by it. Us girls (Tharine, Eli and I) volunteered to do the food... so we had to get up extra early. And we had to skip out on part of the service to start lunch.

It felt like it all went too fast and was too hectic. My favorite part was the campfire we had when we first got there. That was the only time we could all relax.

I now feel really sympathetic to the people who are ALWAYS the ones putting things together in the church. You don't get to sit back and enjoy!

Keepin' Busy

Sometimes it feels like all there is to do now is stay busy. And wait.

Wait for a change of residence. Wait for a change of jobs. Wait for opportunities to come my way.

I'm trying to keep myself busy with my amazing friends from church and soon-to-be roomies. It helps (but I still miss Jin).

Tharine (one of my new roomies) stayed over for a few days this past weekend since she's inbetween places to live at the moment. We can't move into our new place for another week, and her school let her go at the beginning of the month. And since the schools usually control the housing... yeah, you're homeless. I think both Tharine and I are really happy that we're going to "own" our own place. If something happens to our job, we'll still have a home.

The other really nice thing is that Tharine and I will have this place the whole next year we have our contracts! However... Eli's (my other roomie) is finished next year... She's not sure what she'll do yet.

It's definitely nice because more and more this church and its people are becoming a family to me. Even though I know it's not permanent here, I don't feel like I'm drifting... and that's nice.

It's so double-sided because I love traveling to new places and seeing/experience new things... but I miss having a home. A stable place where the people have known you for years and love you and want you around. I guess right now home is still Florida... with my parents there and some of my dearest friends... I guess it will be for awhile. I just still need to figure out how to feel "at home" in a foreign land. I think I'm learning...

Mud Fest!

1. Muddy
2. Cloudy
3. Rainy
4. Monsoon-y
5. Drunk people-y
6. Ridiculous house party
7. Still Fun


Even though Mud Fest was all those things, Jin and I still had a good time. We made the most of the weather by walking around and exploring the rest of the beach-side town after they closed rides down because of the rain. We did a few things before it started raining, too. I "made" a mud/clay pot too! When it's delivered, I'll take pictures and post them on here. We also played a few shooting games and other arcade games at a little Korean amusement park. It was kinda like the run-down ones you see all the time in America.


The two things I would probably change next time though are the housing situation and transportation. For this first time, it's ok because I didn't know enough to organize it myself. However, next time I think taking a train will be just fine. Especially since almost everyone on the bus was drunk on the way to the beach at 8 in the morning. And a 3-4 hour bus ride with drunk people is not the best way to travel, let me tell you.

The house itself was good... and it was nice to be in a house even though everyone was crowding in. But I forgot how drunk people have no sense of decency or courtesy for other people. Jin and I would leave the house to come back and find some drunk person crashing on our stuff. Yuck. Drunk people also don't know how to close doors when people are sleeping. Sheesh. The house party went till 4am (at least), which was to be expected... but still, next time I think I'll go camping and just wash myself off in the ocean. It's not like I took a shower in that nasty bathroom anyway. (What is also a mystery to me is how couples could go into that nasty bathroom to do nasty things... it's the size of a very small closet!)


Anyway, the ride back was not bad. We left early due to a monsoon warning and them kicking everyone out of the water. But the waves were fantastic to watch! (I did feel bad for the lifeguards though... there was more than one hungover/drunk foreign skinny dipper. The ones I saw were all male, and I think I've had my fill of white butts for awhile.) But the bus ride back did take 2 hours longer than normal... mostly due to the heavy rain. It was kind of tedious, but I still enjoyed it overall because of Jin's company.

Maybe I'll go back next year...

...

I think I'm experiencing culture shock.

Festival Frenzy

So that's the story folks. All that practice for the festival down the drain. As Jin says... "Welcome to Korea." Ha.

Good news: They were stressing us out, so if we had gone anyway... it would've not been very good.

More good news: I'll do the performance for a party in 2 weeks, so I'll eventually get to do it!

Bad news: All dressed up and no where to dance.

2nd Frustration

Ok... one more thing I do NOT like about the Korean "private education" system:

If you belong in a level 3 class, but you're in Middle School... they will stick you with the rest of the other Middle School kids who are in level 8 JUST because it would be "shameful" or "embarrassing" for you to be in the level with the kids who are 7 years younger than you. Where you belong.

UGH.

On the one hand, I feel bad for them... it's their parents who are doing this to them, and they don't have much say. On the other hand, the freakin hogwon should grow some balls and politely say "Sir, your child is not English-savvy." Humph. I wish.