We went to the Beach!!!

After going to the Andy Warhol Exhibit in Seoul on Saturday, Em and I headed down to Pusan to spend some time with my sisters and visit my grandpa in the hospital. Here are a few pictures from our visit to Pusan! We were really lucky, and the weather was perfect. :D

I wokeup from a nap and saw this outside... I almost thought I was home!

Dynamic Pusan!!!

The sisters!

Fishing at Camellia Island.

A pretty mural at the APEC Memorial.

at the bbudaejjigae restaurant, looking at photos.

Ong Hee

Chuya

Me and Shortcake!

Sisters Unite!

Em at Gwangalli Beach

Halabuji<3

blogging is hard, thats why i never do it. i apologize for my lapse in posts, here are some pictures from the past two months.

delightful mandu

this is the only time you'll ever see this! i am not a resbian.

my not so baby cousin. get out of that monster's mouth!

my other baby cousin, and emo.

everyone sleeps everywhere in korea. i thought this was adorable.

ood Zone? poo zone? sounds yummy!

igloo girls on the han!

ryo and cullen take a stroll down to the han.

my girls waiting for the train to seoul.

my pictures are out of order, but aren't they cute?

blogging is not for amateurs.

koreans are big on palm reading... emily is anxious to hear about her long, unprosperous future... joy!

our TA friend is sitting next to me, followed by tsunami and jenny.

where's waldo???

spongebob is an english word, right?

my eskimo friend, fully equipped with polarbear gear.

dear anxious readers of cam's blog,

this is em. cam is a very busy woman, what with all the ice skating practice she's been doing on our way to work. she has agreed to post unattractive photos of me on her blog, and i have agreed to write an occasional entry for her. no wonder my mom thinks we're married and have joint bank accounts....

moving on, a work update: we are done with our intensive schedule and so, we get to start sleeping in again, and cam will be much happier and her hair will be much straighter. it is also starting to warm up here (will and kathy, you won't need to bring two parkas. maybe just one). it was a whopping 40 degrees fahrenheit here for the past two days, and so we're only wearing one pair of pants instead of four :)

i think it's safe to say that the past three months have tested every aspect of our patience, strength and determination. we have overcome more than we anticipated we would be faced with and everyday, we realize it would be easier to go home but our kids are depending on us! we work for them, we stay positive for them, and we laugh through it all because if we don't, we very easily could lose our focus.

ps-cam is the best. i don't know what i would do without her.

here is my friend, dog face. don't tell em that i posted this, she will probably kill me.

everyone sleeps in korea.
the ajushee in the background is sleeping on the subway door,
seconds before it opens. i found this quite amusing.

new friends in myeongdong. 핫이 = hottie? haha.

Jenny and Em on our trek to Seoul in the snow!

my dryer conveniently dries clothes in 2 days flat!

This is where I live.

my little christmas tree! thank you parents

my fancy wallpaper. i quite like it, it reminds me of sea urchins or something..

Desk! It is still messy, but not this messy.

my bathroom. it's not actually as small as it looks.

kitchen and laundry in one. i have not cooked too much, but i have mastered tea making. haha.

untitled (:

Now that I'm a baller I'm buying this piece, move over jay-z.

So... upon receiving my first piece of mail in my mailbox at the apartment I brought it in to school yesterday and in the middle of an intense game of LIFE, I asked one of my students whether she could translate it for me. She said that it was an oil bill, due November 20th (before I moved in). I was quite confused, yet assuming that it was already taken care of I didn't think I would have to worry about it. Thanks to Richard (the korean teacher that sits next to me and helps us with everything in the world), I now know how to pay bills... you do it at an ATM type machine and it really only takes a minute. You can do this at almost any bank, however since I missed the November 20th deadline, some limitations apply and I can only do this at my own bank.

Assuming that I had 25,000 won in my bank account I checked the balance just to depress myself about not being paid until the 30th, and to my surprise WE GOT PAID!!! I am so happy about this. Everyone send me your Christmas wishlists now! I gotchu.

I had 2 elementary classes today, one of which I really enjoy and the other that I almost despise. The 4th graders are fun and upbeat, and the 6th graders are tired and lazy and I feel like getting my ruler out everyday (thanks ma). The rest of the evening I will spend working on my syllabus and listening to hawaiian music that makes me think of the sunny escapade I wish to be on right now.

p.s. - em is great!

After a whole week of training and a couple shots of soju I feel so much smarter. This week was very interesting and I am much more comfortable with my employment as an English instructor. Not only did Em and I observe classes and ask dozens of questions, we also were thrown into the mix and had to teach a class on our own due to an ill elementary school teacher. Though the kids were not impressed with the toothpaste tasting redvines, we learned that they love stickers and hate detention!

Avalon Youngton Ivy Academy



This was the first class we observed, taught by the writing teacher whom Emily will be replacing. She's gotta step up her art game reaal quick.


Em passing out stickers to the girls. They liked those much more than the redvines.

"I saw you both once. But I forgot what you look like. Sorry" - we already have fans!

Danny did a 20 minute presentation on the Yamato , a Japanese battleship...
next time he does that I'm sending him to detention for sure.

"P.S. Nate is SO LAME!"

Gettin my caffeine fix in... I better not be a coffee drinker when I come back.

The max score that you can receive on the TOEFL is a 120. Apparently Avalon students score 112 to 116 on this test. I got a 20 (out of 30) on the speaking section... which I will be teaching. This is great news. I hope my kids don't fail.

On a more positive note, I scored 103 total, Emily got a 102. STEP IT UP HOMIE!

p.s. - The PC방 that Em and I frequent is very pink. They always give us service (free) coffee or green tea, and I do enjoy it. I just asked for more hot water for my tea, and the girl returned with a glass of grape soda... it tastes like carbonated cough syrup. thanks Korea, thanks.