Well, it's been a long day to say the least. I left Dexter this morning Oct 31 at 2:30 Am and just arrived about an hour ago in Seoul at 9:00 PM on Nov 1. I enjoy flying, but I got SO antsy on the plane. It's such a long time to sit still. I met a lot of interesting people along the way. As most of you know, I like to strike up conversations with strangers :) At the Chicago airport an 8 year old Indian boy plopped down next to me because he wanted to practice his English. At the LA airport, I talked with a couple who was headed to a city in China that I'd been to.
On the way to Seoul I was fed Korean food. Good news, I like kimchi, picked cabbage. The bad news is that the dried minos were not good at all!
When I finally got to the hotel, no one was here to meet me, so I just went in by myself. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to turn on the lights, cause everything here is super high tech...and in Korean! I was quite proud of myself for figuring it out! There is a computer in the hotel room so that is what I am using to type. I couldn't figure out how to turn off the Korean characters and just type regular, but I think I figured that out too.
Two of the supervisors and one of the teachers took me to a bakery just a while ago. It was nice to meet them before tomorrow. Well, I'm headed to bed...
Man, I have a lot to learn! Tomorrow's my first day on the job and I have no idea what to expect!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
A New Adventure
Well, I just accepted a job offer in Seoul, Korea! I will leave in early November and will be living in Gangdong-gu, a district of Seoul for 12 months. I will be teaching Kindergarten students English. Thankfully, I've been in contact with the teacher that I am replacing and she says that I have the sweetest class in the school and they know quite a bit of English! That is great news. I've even seen pictures of my students and my future classroom. A year sounds like a long time, but I'm sure it will go by quickly. Thinking back on this past year seems like it was only a few weeks ago. I am nervous but very excited! I have never been away from home for more than a couple of months, so this will be a big, yet rewarding challenge. I have always wanted to do something like this and I knew if I didn't now, it would be too late. It is the perfect time for me to go, before I own a house and have a family of my own. So, I am trusting that God is leading me here, and it will be a great experience. I can't wait to write all about it. I think I'll be able to add pictures and videos too!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thanks!
Thanks so much everyone who read this blog. I know you could have found so many other things to do with your time. I really appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. I felt like you all got to experience some of what I did. Thanks again :)
Back on American soil
It was easier to say goodbye than I thought it would be. The students all left soon after the closing ceremony. I was so proud of them! Last night we had a dinner with our team. It was a nice time to talk and reflect with each other about the great session.
I really am sad to leave. It seems like I have been gone longer than 9 weeks. I really do feel at home here. The concrete floor and board bed, have been my home for a while. I really hope I don’t fall right back into the American way. It will be hard to fight it, I know. At least I have all of these memories, because I went through 3 journals! I hope the change in me will be lasting.
This morning I slept in a little bit. When I woke up and went outside of my room, there was a present there waiting for me. It was a journal from one of the students. June, is not even one of my students, but I talked with her a little bit. It was a journal, a picture of her, and a letter to me. She is so sweet.
I went to the bakery by bus for the last time. It is interesting that I think I will miss the bus. Before, I hated the bus, because it’s so hectic and busy, but now all of those annoying things, I think I will strangely miss.
After the bakery I went to get my hair cut. It was a 2 hour process! First I had to wait for a little while. Then it took the guy a really long time to cut it just perfectly. Then he called another guy to straighten my hair. It’s nice be able to wear straight hair again. I was getting tired of the humidity and curly hair. Then they called another guy to do the final trim. At one point, all three of them were doing something different with my hair. I think they just wanted to touch it because it feels different than their hair. I could tell they were talking about the color of my hair. Then they whipped out this book with a bunch of different color hair samples. They put it up to my hair and chose the one that was closest to my hair. I started to laugh. Then they got embarrassed and said, “Good!” I kept checking my watch, because I was afraid I would miss my taxi. I had to run back to campus, but I caught the taxi!
The taxi ride was only supposed to cost 120 yuan, but the register said 146. Ok, I brought extra just in case. I gave the driver 150. Then he got angry and said that it cost 196 yuan. Shoot, I didn’t think I had this much. I started to panic, thinking, “What am I going to do? I don’t have enough!” I started desperately counting my ones and somehow I had enough. I have 2 yuan extra! Thank goodness, because the driver wasn’t the most gracious.
On the planes today I got to see two sunsets and one sunrise. I am living August 28th over again! So strange. I am home J It’s almost like China is a story now. It’s all in the past and a memory…
I really am sad to leave. It seems like I have been gone longer than 9 weeks. I really do feel at home here. The concrete floor and board bed, have been my home for a while. I really hope I don’t fall right back into the American way. It will be hard to fight it, I know. At least I have all of these memories, because I went through 3 journals! I hope the change in me will be lasting.
This morning I slept in a little bit. When I woke up and went outside of my room, there was a present there waiting for me. It was a journal from one of the students. June, is not even one of my students, but I talked with her a little bit. It was a journal, a picture of her, and a letter to me. She is so sweet.
I went to the bakery by bus for the last time. It is interesting that I think I will miss the bus. Before, I hated the bus, because it’s so hectic and busy, but now all of those annoying things, I think I will strangely miss.
After the bakery I went to get my hair cut. It was a 2 hour process! First I had to wait for a little while. Then it took the guy a really long time to cut it just perfectly. Then he called another guy to straighten my hair. It’s nice be able to wear straight hair again. I was getting tired of the humidity and curly hair. Then they called another guy to do the final trim. At one point, all three of them were doing something different with my hair. I think they just wanted to touch it because it feels different than their hair. I could tell they were talking about the color of my hair. Then they whipped out this book with a bunch of different color hair samples. They put it up to my hair and chose the one that was closest to my hair. I started to laugh. Then they got embarrassed and said, “Good!” I kept checking my watch, because I was afraid I would miss my taxi. I had to run back to campus, but I caught the taxi!
The taxi ride was only supposed to cost 120 yuan, but the register said 146. Ok, I brought extra just in case. I gave the driver 150. Then he got angry and said that it cost 196 yuan. Shoot, I didn’t think I had this much. I started to panic, thinking, “What am I going to do? I don’t have enough!” I started desperately counting my ones and somehow I had enough. I have 2 yuan extra! Thank goodness, because the driver wasn’t the most gracious.
On the planes today I got to see two sunsets and one sunrise. I am living August 28th over again! So strange. I am home J It’s almost like China is a story now. It’s all in the past and a memory…
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Party
Today we had a party in our class. The last few days, the students have been sneaking out to buy gifts. Thankfully they did not get caught :) Good news, the cake was ready for me when I went to pick it up! The students gave me a tea cup and a beautiful braclet. It was funny because yesterday, I was asked 3 times what my favorite color was. When I said blue, they said, "Are you sure it's not green...?" Hah, they had bought me a green bracelet. They wanted to sing me songs in Chinese. It was really special. Also, the thing I am most excited about is my new Chinese name! In China, everyone has a meaningful name. They created the name He Ting for me. It means holy and lovely! I was so honored that they would give me a beautiful name. They got a good laugh out of me trying to write it in Chinese characters! Tomorrow will be a tough day, the last day.
Each night me, Karissa, and Cherry (another student) sit out on the steps of our dorm and talk. We were sitting outside last night, it was sprinkling, and Karissa said, "I want to sit out here forever..." Finally we went to bed, because we must get up early. Last night, I thought, I am the luckiest girl in the world. I got to teach a high class, children, and a low class. It could not have been any better. I am so happy. Here there are no worries, no problems, just care free living. In a few days I will go back to school and get back to real life.
It's funny because I have been around the Chinese for so long that I catch my self using Chinglish, and bad grammar. To them we speak so simply and slowly. When I go home, people will look at me strange when I say, "Hhhiii. Mmmmyyyy nnnaaaammmmeee iiiiisssss Ssssaaarrrraaaa!"
One more day!
Each night me, Karissa, and Cherry (another student) sit out on the steps of our dorm and talk. We were sitting outside last night, it was sprinkling, and Karissa said, "I want to sit out here forever..." Finally we went to bed, because we must get up early. Last night, I thought, I am the luckiest girl in the world. I got to teach a high class, children, and a low class. It could not have been any better. I am so happy. Here there are no worries, no problems, just care free living. In a few days I will go back to school and get back to real life.
It's funny because I have been around the Chinese for so long that I catch my self using Chinglish, and bad grammar. To them we speak so simply and slowly. When I go home, people will look at me strange when I say, "Hhhiii. Mmmmyyyy nnnaaaammmmeee iiiiisssss Ssssaaarrrraaaa!"
One more day!
Monday, August 24, 2009
The lasts
As each day gets closer to the end, we all get more and more sad. Yesterday I had all of the students write a letter to me. Today they gave them to me, and they were beautiful. One lady came and sat next to me. She is very quiet, because her English is not good. She wanted to read her letter to me personally. She began to read. At the end, she said, "There is A LOT more I want to say to you, but I can't. It's too hard to find the vocabulary. I'm so sorry..." She cried. In general, the Chinese people don't show affection. They hardly ever say "I love you." To hear that from so many students really is special. I opened one letter, and the equivalent of a $100 bill fell out! The woman said she wanted to get me a gift, but she is not allowed off campus. She said, "This is the best that I can do for you right now." I know that is a lot of money for her! It's almost like the words "thank you" aren't good enough.
Four more days and I will be home! So close. I'm excited for the airport and the plane ride, even though it's 13 hours. I like to fly. I will go start packing :)
I ventured to a Bakery to buy a cake for our class party on Wednesday. It took me 20 minutes for the woman to guess what day I wanted it on! Then it took another 10 to tell her what time I would come to pick it up. Hopefully there really will be a cake for me when I go! I suppose if there is no cake, I will run to the store and we will celebrate with Hostess upcakes, with chopsticks of course :)
P.S. My favorite student's name this session is Dinosaur. Hah!...Dinosaur...You can hardly call his name seriously.
Four more days and I will be home! So close. I'm excited for the airport and the plane ride, even though it's 13 hours. I like to fly. I will go start packing :)
I ventured to a Bakery to buy a cake for our class party on Wednesday. It took me 20 minutes for the woman to guess what day I wanted it on! Then it took another 10 to tell her what time I would come to pick it up. Hopefully there really will be a cake for me when I go! I suppose if there is no cake, I will run to the store and we will celebrate with Hostess upcakes, with chopsticks of course :)
P.S. My favorite student's name this session is Dinosaur. Hah!...Dinosaur...You can hardly call his name seriously.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
One more added
I am reading the journals again, and I have some that I must share. These are their exact words.
On August 20th, Alice said, “I feel like time is driving so quickly. Now I wish it would go slower. I don’t want to come to the end.”
August 18th, Betty said, “ I will have a daughter. I have a son now. If I have two children they can play together. They will share their happy and sad things…But our Chinese are allowed have only one child every family. So this is only my dream. I think it will never come true.”
August 20th, Susan said, “ We talked a lot of things in our classroom. Sara let us disguess (discuss ) some questions. I think it is hard to say befor. I have never thought these gueses (questions). From today I know so many things about myself.”
August 17th, Carolyn wrote, “Our teacher returned last week’s journal to us. She writed down, ‘You’re doing great! You can do it!’ When I saw these I’m very happy. I know my oral English is very poor, but my teacher is very friendly to me. I can hear clearly these encourage. I will remember you told me, ‘You can do it.’”
I so happy to say, last night I received a new sister in the family of God! One of the first nights of this program, I went to this room and met a girl named Kerensa, which she pronounces Karissa She is not one of my students, but from then on, we always had some sort of connection. She is 32, and has the sweetest and funniest personality. Last night she came over and we sat outside on our dorm steps for a couple hours talking. She said, “You have such a big heart. You are the best kind of beautiful.” She asked why all of the Americans here are to kind. I told her maybe because we are Christians. She said, “When I go home, I am going to read the Bible so I can be like that too.” It’s a long story, but somehow at the end of the night, she made the decision to become a Christian. Her teacher, my roommate, came out after, and I asked KArissa to tell her teacher the good news. She smiled “I am a Ch, Chris, Christian!” She couldn’t even pronounce the word, but it was the most truly joyful moment for me. She just kept saying, “I believe. I believe.”
When I started talking to her last night, I had no idea that’s where it would end up! I was totally caught off guard. I guess that’s the difference between my timing and God’s timing. She said, “I am so full!”
At the beginning of my time here I thought I would get to share a lot about being a Christian. I realize that the opportunities are few and far between. But if she was the only one, it would be worth my time here in China. She is truly special. It makes me sad to think about her, a brand new Christian going back home. She will stuggle, I know…
My roommate left today. It was so cool to get to know her here. We don’t know everything about each other, but it didn’t matter. She was a kind of friend I’ve never had before. We went through so much together. We are the only ones who understand each other because we had the same experiences. So many memories. I will probably never see her again, but it’s ok, because we shared everything. We were much needed friends during these two months.
On August 20th, Alice said, “I feel like time is driving so quickly. Now I wish it would go slower. I don’t want to come to the end.”
August 18th, Betty said, “ I will have a daughter. I have a son now. If I have two children they can play together. They will share their happy and sad things…But our Chinese are allowed have only one child every family. So this is only my dream. I think it will never come true.”
August 20th, Susan said, “ We talked a lot of things in our classroom. Sara let us disguess (discuss ) some questions. I think it is hard to say befor. I have never thought these gueses (questions). From today I know so many things about myself.”
August 17th, Carolyn wrote, “Our teacher returned last week’s journal to us. She writed down, ‘You’re doing great! You can do it!’ When I saw these I’m very happy. I know my oral English is very poor, but my teacher is very friendly to me. I can hear clearly these encourage. I will remember you told me, ‘You can do it.’”
I so happy to say, last night I received a new sister in the family of God! One of the first nights of this program, I went to this room and met a girl named Kerensa, which she pronounces Karissa She is not one of my students, but from then on, we always had some sort of connection. She is 32, and has the sweetest and funniest personality. Last night she came over and we sat outside on our dorm steps for a couple hours talking. She said, “You have such a big heart. You are the best kind of beautiful.” She asked why all of the Americans here are to kind. I told her maybe because we are Christians. She said, “When I go home, I am going to read the Bible so I can be like that too.” It’s a long story, but somehow at the end of the night, she made the decision to become a Christian. Her teacher, my roommate, came out after, and I asked KArissa to tell her teacher the good news. She smiled “I am a Ch, Chris, Christian!” She couldn’t even pronounce the word, but it was the most truly joyful moment for me. She just kept saying, “I believe. I believe.”
When I started talking to her last night, I had no idea that’s where it would end up! I was totally caught off guard. I guess that’s the difference between my timing and God’s timing. She said, “I am so full!”
At the beginning of my time here I thought I would get to share a lot about being a Christian. I realize that the opportunities are few and far between. But if she was the only one, it would be worth my time here in China. She is truly special. It makes me sad to think about her, a brand new Christian going back home. She will stuggle, I know…
My roommate left today. It was so cool to get to know her here. We don’t know everything about each other, but it didn’t matter. She was a kind of friend I’ve never had before. We went through so much together. We are the only ones who understand each other because we had the same experiences. So many memories. I will probably never see her again, but it’s ok, because we shared everything. We were much needed friends during these two months.
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