Exam Time and a Book Recommendation

              I feel like I start every blog post apologizing for not being able to update regularly. The reason behind it this time is that I don’t have internet at site and finding it in town tends to be totally hit or miss (until this weekend). So, I'm sorry. From now on I plan to start writing out blogs ahead of time then post them when I get net. I wonder if I could even start a queue…

For now, I will just talk about how things have been changing since exams started. My usual day is a teachers’ meeting at 6:45 (including morning prayers and songs) with classes starting at 7:00 and ending at 1:00. I teach between five and seven classes a day for three different grade levels (see the last post). Now that its exams everything is the same but instead of teaching classes, one class is sitting in my room for to study from 7:00 to 11:30 when exams start. Each class has one exam a day that they study for during the beginning of the day. As you can imagine, studying for that long is a bit much for teenagers. So I’ve made a deal with the kids who sit in my class. If they behave, we study for, say, 20 minutes, then take a short break where they can get up and stretch or draw or read a book. Then we study for 30 minutes and take a longer break. And so on. I also play Two Steps from Hell music, which they LOVE. It’s been great because not only are they getting studying done, but it’s also given us time to bond more.

A few weeks ago Jaye Shaer sent us some books, which I will properly display once the term is done and I move them into the library, but for now they sit on my desk so the kids can read them during break. A girl named Esmie and I read one of the books together, Akata Witch buy Nnedi Okorafor, and I really recommend it for middle schoolers everywhere. It’s about a young Nigerian American girl named Sunny whose family moved back to Nigeria. She’s albino so she really sticks out and has to deal with the social stigma of looking different. One day after school, she has a chance encounter with a classmate who introduces her to another girl in their neighborhood. Sunny finds out that like her new friends, she is a Leopard Person, a witch, and with her friends she begins to explore the world of Nigerian and West African magic. But not everything is as calm as it seems. There’s a ritual serial killer on the loose and Sunny and her friends are tasked to stop him. The book was really fun and Esmie and I both loved it. 

Long time, no write!

I have tried writing blog posts for months now, but it just never seems to work out. Most of you who read this have probably heard that the whole Karasburg thing didn’t work out. I’ve moved to village closer to Windhoek, but on a dirt road the middle of no where. I actually really love it here. I walked to work this morning listening to goats bleating and rosters cock-a-doodle-do-ing. It’s super green and there are tall trees along the riverbed (pictures soon, I promise!). I’ve made so absolutely fantastic friends in the community who really take care of me. I now have a friend I buy fresh bread from, a friend I buy meat from, and another I buy seeds from to grow the vegetables I keep meaning to plant.

My daily life changes quite a bit as I’m adjusting to my new responsibilities. I’m now officially a teacher. I teach English and girls’ PE for grades 8-10 (junior secondary school). My kids are smart, funny, and creative as hell. They are also little demons when they are all in a class together and drive me crazy. One on one, or even in small groups, they are really fun to be around, but when the class has 44 students and at least 5 of them are competing for class clown with another 25-30 who just want to chat, it makes it absolutely impossible to get control. I’m struggling a lot with this. But I’m going to keep going. I’m alternating between being the horrible woman who gives detention and the awesome teacher who gives out rewards for good behavior. Lately I feel like the former is the most common side of me. My grade 8Bs were actually really good today though. I promised them rewards tomorrow. Same with one of the grade 9 classes. I teach five class groups in total.

Last night we had the school athletics tournament and it was really nice. Participation in athletics is mandatory for all able-bodied students (and some who lie and say they are, which caused a lot of drama last week!) and after a few weeks we have a school wide athletics tournament and the top three in each event become the official school team. I got to judge high jump, which, as most people don’t know, is by far my favorite athletics event. Some of the kids stayed around to help with raising the bar up and down and keeping everyone lined up. It was a great chance to get to meet some of the students who don’t usually come and talk with me, so despite having to sit in the sun for a few hours, I actually had a lot of fun!

Despite that, my favorite part of the athletics tournament was the community support. Thinking about it now almost brings tears to my eyes. Even though our tournament was rescheduled for a week day, tons of parents and community members came to support the kids. I talked with the parents of a few kids and the level of pride and investment in their kids was amazing. Back down in Karasburg, this just wasn’t a thing. Almost no one came to support the students at the girls’ soccer tournament and the few that did weren’t really there for the students. I talked to some of the teachers here afterwards and they said that this level of participation is typical and it warmed my heart to see that some of the kids really have a good support network at home. It’s probably because this is more of a farming community while the other school was in the Location. It makes me hope another volunteer will get to go back there and work with community development because those kids really deserve it (I obviously miss my K-burg kids a lot).

I’ve only been here a few weeks and it has been a crazy, roller coaster of a time, but as my principal asks each day, I’m still swimming. I’ve made more mistakes than I can count but I’m going to keep trying. I want to be a good teacher because I know no matter how naughty these kids are, they don’t deserve the disorganized wreck I’ve been the past few weeks. Right now I am open to any suggestions on classroom management and planning interesting and engaging lessons!!

I am grateful for...

I thought of trying to structure this post around the grateful game. For those who have never played, the game goes like this: people take turns saying things they are grateful for. When we play here, the woman that usually starts the game has a few extra rules she enforces strictly: no back-handed gratefuls, or don’t say something that is more negative than positive, and it has to be something you are really, truly grateful for, so don’t say something along the lines of being grateful for oxygen or something. So, in the spirit of the game and the extra rules, please read further.

Today I’m moving from Outjo back to Okahandja where we have training and I’m pretty sad about it. Not tears-streaming-down-my-face sad, but just sorry to leave. I’ve really come to love it here in Outjo. Even things that were difficult at first (mostly, figuring out how to navigate my host family) have become just normal parts of my life here. After two months in Namibia, I had finally gone from the numbness created by being unable to process all the changes happening around me, to a relatively functioning human being once more. While here in Outjo, I woke up at 4:30 AM every day with no complaints and a smile on my face for my 40 minute walk to work. And I loved it. I taught a class of 40 with no lesson plan on my first week, and I loved it. I learned how to make lesson plans and execute them effectively. I learned when the planned lesson is not working and how to change pace on the spot. I (hitch)hiked for the first time. 

I was a minor celebrity around campus, with kids from grades I had never taught greeting me every day. I made the best Irish stew I’ve ever cooked for my host family (and they ate it). I went to Etosha, the largest game preserve in the world. I got really good at braiding my hair in the morning. I figured out how to unlock the two doors and gate to get out of the house every morning. I had real coffee. I practiced Damara with people I didn’t know. My kids would greet me in town. I met half the town. I managed to live on hardly any money. I made friends. I found out one of the guys on my program is related to me (or that we have a recent common ancestor). I stargazed using the map my friend gave me. I saw a ton of bats flying around and listen to them echolocating every night. I finally found a place in my host family. I painted my host mom a picture and she loved it. 

The list goes on. 

For the past four or so years I was in school, I have been constantly stressed about a number of things. It eventually became so constant that I didn’t even realize I was stressed anymore until now. While there is obviously still a lot of pressure being here, I just don’t feel it the same way I did back in Minnesota. I don’t want to get too deep here, but I really want to emphasize how good a decision joining Peace Corps was for me. Even though I’m the one who is supposed to be the teacher, I’ve been learning so much from everyone around me, Americans and Namibians, young and old. I am so overwhelmingly grateful for the experiences I’ve had so far and I can’t wait to see where this journey will take me. 

I’ll briefly wrap up with an explanation of the photos scattered in this post, since there are a lot of them. I took all of these my last day. Most are of my students in the 5^th and 7^th grades. 7^th grade was by far my favorite class. Those kids are so awesome and I hope for the best for all of them. One is of the woman who sells us fat cakes every day. One of the good things about Okahandja is my access to fat cakes with disappear, so I hopefully I can go back to losing weight! Some are of the San kids from the cultural club. One of them was one of the orneriest kids we had to deal with, but we all loved him anyways because while he was a little brat, he was really smart and would usually try pretty hard. He’s also a fantastic dancer! We were thrilled he found an outlet for all of his energy! There’s one of me and one of the other Minas at school. Mina is a very common name in these parts. There’s one of me and our co-teacher Mrs. Kabajani as well. 

I guess I’ll sign off for now! In Okahandja I will not have reliable access to internet again, so I may not be posting pictures for a few weeks. On Monday I will try to briefly post about where I’ll be moving to (we find out site placement at last!) and on the 15^th is our swearing in ceremony. The 16^th is when we will move to our permanent sites. Hopefully by then I’ll have figured out a way to obtain semi-regular access to working internet so I can post some pictures! 

CBT in Outjo

Today marks the beginning of my last weekend in Outjo, so I figured I should give some details about my life here! Last time I updated I talked mostly about irregularities in my schedule, so today I will talk about the excitement of my daily life. Usually, I worry that these sorts of posts are a little dull, but I love my day to day life so much, I really want to talk about it.

As I mentioned last time, I get up around 4:30 every morning so I can be ready to leave at 6:00 and be at school by 6:40. When I leave the house each morning, it’s still dark and the stars are still shining overhead. I usually don’t see anyone until I get out of my neighborhood and into town. As long as there’s not a ton of people, I try to greet everyone I pass, which is a bit thing here. None of us have quite figured out the procedure for when to greet and when not to, so we usually try to greet as often as possible. People seem to really like that. With adults, I always great them in Khoekhoegowab, students I always greet in English since I’m supposed to be an English teacher. When you greet someone in Khoekhoe, it usually goes like this (for mornings):

Me: Moro moro!

Them: Moro moro!! Matisa?
Me: !Gâi ge a! Aitsama mî re?
Them: !Gâi ge a!

And at some point they have started smiling a lot because a white person is bothering to learn their language. Knowing local language earns you huge brownie points, which is probably part of the reason that Peace Corps is so popular here compared to other volunteer organizations. Lately a lot of people have been asking me “Mapa du ra ī?” or “Mapa du ra hâ?” The first means “Where are you going?” the second means “Where are you staying?” I usually get the first one, for which I know to respond either “Maarseen skoli //kha,” or “dorb //kha”. Occasionally I get the second, which once I accidentally responded “Maarseen skoli //kha,” which means “to Maarseen School,” instead of “dorp !nâ” which is “in town.” Sadly, I haven’t been getting a lot of language practice besides that. Everyone here speaks English very well, except the occasional white person, who then usually speaks German (of which I have enough of a basic understanding to speak to them in German). Naturally, I speak Japanese with the Japanese volunteers.

At school, I usually teach one or two classes a day. If I co-teach, I might get four or five. Before we had worked out a solid plan for teaching, I could end up teaching surprise classes, but this week we made clear outlines so all the 5^th and 6^th grade English classes would be taught by volunteers. For our last week I will only be teaching 5^th grade English, which is awesome because we are reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and they kids LOVE it. We usually read a chapter or two a day and then use words from the text to build their vocabulary. We are trying to implement a Word Wall in the room, where vocab words are posted alphabetically for students to see throughout the day. This is a great learning and teaching tool because it not only lets students constantly have access to words, but it also allows for a lot of activities for us to do. For example, last week Andrew and I led a game called Guess My Word Wall Word. First, Andrew and I each picked a word for students to guess. Then they would ask us questions like “is it a verb/noun/adj?” “How big is it?” “What color is it?” and so on and so on. Sometimes the kids get a little out of hand. There is one of the 5^th grade classes that every teacher agrees is the worst class. There are almost 40 learners, most of whom have strong personalities. They are all really smart, though, which makes it even more frustrating. On Fridays, however, everyone is a little rowdy. I taught last period on Friday this week and it was horrible. I’ve never had so much trouble keeping control of a class, and it wasn’t even the naughty one!

I’ll end with a little bit about my school. As you may notice from the pictures, my school is really green. As far as low income schools go here, mine is really amazing. It was built because there were so many young kids roaming about the Location with nowhere to go. The school is run incredibly well, something else we have found is really rare for schools that we will be working at. A lot of the staff really care about the kids. A lot of money went into making the school environment beautiful in an attempt to make students more interested in coming. We have a nice garden and pretty green buildings because of that. The first grade classrooms are covered in learning material to engage the children where many schools have bare walls. One of the kindergarten teachers spends her own money and petitions organizations in the community to donate resources to the school. Still, students are extremely poor. They can’t afford their own books and pens, so the school provides for them. Some of them can’t eat at home, so they also can get food after school. A lot of the kids, we found out, are not Damara (the dominant ethnic population in town) but San (more commonly known as Bushmen). The San people are one of two groups that still live semi-nomadic lives, the other being the Ovahimba. The students at my school are mostly recently settled San people. I haven’t gotten to talk to them about it and probably won’t, but the teachers say that one reason for the low performance or general problems at school is because a lot of the parents don’t value education. Though the staff and teachers are definitely not without problems, I really appreciate how much some of them do care. 

I AM ALIVE

I hate rain.

Both the Han river and the other river by my house are still horribly bloated, but not as bad as they have been. The flooding here is intense. Some of the subways flooded and when it rains. . . just stay inside if you can. Koreans have been saying this is the worst weather in 100 years. Look, I grew up in Kansas, where fierce thuderstorms happen all the time, and I'm still going "wtf!?" Anyways, it's still cloudy today, but it isn't raining now so I'm happy.

Now that that's out of the way, I guess now I'll appologize! I've been really busy the past week!

Last Wednesday, Akira, Emma, Alexia, Emma's host sister, Akira's penpal and I all went to the Everysing noraebang in Apgujong. Why is it so important that I tell you the exact location of this noraebang? Because Kim Heechul filmed his M&D music video there. Our room was in the video and we got to see the room he was in!! ^.^
Celebrity spazzing aside, noraebang was really fun! Emma's host sister spent the first 10 minutes playing Super Junior songs so that Emma and I would get up to sing/dance to them. . . except we didn't know the words xDDDDD
We stayed there for well over an hour (maybe two?) and afterwards went to the store downstairs, which was a mini shrine to all the pop groups under SM Entertainment (except Amber Liu, as Akira and I wish to point out). I bought a Yesung cellphone charm and a clearfile! Alexia and I took sticker pictures where you could make it look like various SME celebrities were with you. I now have sticker pictures with Yesung and Hangeng~!

On Thursday, my support group met up with Akira's and we went ice skating. Interesting fact: Gayoung happens to be taking skating lessons over summer break. So she was there! Akira and I skated around, yelling at my supported, Sungwoo as he skated circles around us and literally pushing us to go faster. Towards the end of our session, Akira and I found him on his butt and it went something this:
"Seungwoo! I thought you were good at skating!"
"No! nonononononononono! I'm good! just-" at this point we were just laughing. Revenge!
That night, I met up with my long-time penpal Sohyun and we went to Super Junior Kiss the Radio(Sukira or KTR) at KBS together. Sukira is a radio show hosted by Super Junior's Eeteuk and Eunhyuk. They usually have guests and that day it just happened to be Jungmo from TRAX (a korean rock group I like) and who helped Heechul with the M&D project ^.^ He played guitar in the studio and I have waaaay too many pictures.

That weekend, we went to Bucheon for a camp. My host family went to Busan because of family issues.
In Bucheon we met up with Korean high school students and went on scavenger hunts around the city. After dinner we had free time and we played Korean games until after 2 in the morning when they finally told us to go to bed!
The the next day we had a talent show, where both NSLI-Y kids and the Korean students preformed. I have lots of videos, but my I had my small memory card in so I didn't get full videos. And now my flashdrive is full so it's way too hard to upload them >< I'll go buy a new flashdrive or something. . .
Sunday night my host family wasn't going to be back until Monday, so I went with Akira's sister to jjimjilbang again and had fun! But I think her sister thinks we are crazy.

Monday my host family came home, so I bought them a cheese cake.

Tuesday, is a very special date for many reasons. I met up with my friend Dayun, the damn rain from hell started, and Yesung's family opened a cafe, so naturally I went! Let me tell you in great detail about htis event so that you can understand why I now hate rain.
Akira, Alexia, Emma and I get off the train and are standing in the exit of the station. It looks bad out, but we figure it'll be okay if we just run into the Tom n Tom's not 100 yards from the exit. We put up our umbrellas and go for it. . . It was like someone took the biggest, deepest bucket they could find and dumped it over Seoul. Even with umbreallas, we were soaked. For awhile we were standing under the awning of Tom n Tom's, then it started too look suspiciously like it was gonna blow off. So we moved inside. Eventually we met up with Dayun and the rain stopped enough that we made it to Handel and Gretel. It was pretty packed and we waited more than 30 minutes for a table. Why is that bad? It's a coffee shop! Who waits for tables at a coffee shop?
But we got one. The coffee was amazing. I ended up buying two plus a sandwich. Apparently not long after we left, Yesung showed up. I missed my chance T.T But it's okay. The coffee is good enough that I'm going to become a frequent customer. There is hope!!

Wednesday we learned Talchum and I learned to hate rain even more. Talchum is traditional mask dancing. It's actually really fun! We got to make masks and learn a little about the culture behind it. The activity was actually fun enough to make it worth the hell we had to go through to get there:
Most of Seoul, by this time, was flooded. It was about a two mile walk from the station to the school where we learned. It was pouring down rain, and the roads were rivers. By the time we arrived, even the girl with the rain coat was drinched. It was disgusting! I felt like a drowned rat!!
That night, Akira and I went out with some Korean friends and learned the words for colors (because this had not been taught in class yet) and also had a good discussion on the differences on Korea and America.

Thursday Akira and I met early to get coffee and a muffin and Handel and Gretel. It was amazing, as usual. I'm getting really good at order coffee in Korean. After class let out, my host mom took the two of us to this huge bookstore and we bought comics to practice reading! We also have gone through our entire textbook, and the teacher said we aren't getting new ones, so I guess I'll go buy the next set from the Sogang book store because my grammar is still pretty limited. I also guess that means I'm past Korean 2 in high school and Korean 1 in college. WOO!

And now, I want to study a little!!! I'll try to get pictures up, but if I can't save them anywhere, it's a little more difficult ><

Sorry to be so late!!

What's Up With Me, and a Few Pros and Cons to Living In Korea (Pt. 1)

After my last post, Aunt Lee and I went up to Insadong. Insadong is pretty much a tourist district, with lots of expensive, handmade Korean goods! Many traditional looking trinkets are for sale at prices that make you shiver and are sold at every street vendor for the next mile or so! For the most part, Aunt Lee told me to wait to buy something because we are going to Dongdaemun this weekend~! YES. Cheap shopping is my best friend, and there is a lot of it in Korea!
Aside from shopping, Insadong also has an art gallery that we went through, displaying many traditional arts that are still practiced by people today (see the pictures). A lot of the artisans working that day were really friendly (from the Korean I could gather) and the kind ajuma making horse hair hats even insisted for a photo with me! The hat I'm wearing? Yup. That's horse hair!

The ajuma in the picture is wearing a traditional korean outfit called a hanbok. I really really want to wear one sometime, so if I do, I'll definitely upload some better pictures!!
Another really interesting fact about Insadong is that all the shop names are required to be in Korean. There are subtitles for most things to help out foreigners, but where in other parts of Seoul you will see shops like Tous Les Jours and Tom n Tom's Coffee, you won't in Insadong. English (and other languages as far as I know) aren't allowed. For instance, this is a picture of the Starbucks there, which is (supposedly) the only Starbucks in the world where the sign is not written in English!

While we were there, we met up with Aunt Lee's brother and his family. Together, we ate patbingsu which is a little like shaved ice, but with a little more oomph (still working on food post. A better description will be there!). After that, we went to this really cool roofless shopping mall, where instead of having steps up to each floor, the whole building is a continuous spiral. At the top is a cafe and an outdoor eating area. I think I've mentioned this before, but one of my favourite things about Seoul is that there are huge, forested mountains right next to the city. In Insadong, the buildings go up and up and suddenly BAM! there's a mountain! I love it!


Monday before school, Akira and I met up for coffee and Tom n Tom's, which is pretty much a Starbucks knockoff. It's good though, and they have this bread that's cheap and it's a pretty decent place to study. Both of our families are gone in the mornings, so we get pretty bored after awhile and usually meet about an hour before classes start.
After classes, Akira, Emma and I went out for patbingsu because Emma hadn't had it before (I don't know that Akira had either actually. . .). It was delicious, as all Korean food is, and we had a good time talking about various aspects of Korea.
Emma lives about an hour and a half from Sogang, so she had to leave when we finished. Akira's family wouldn't be home until around 10 that night, so she and I went to Paris Baguette after that. I ended up buying a small cake for my host family and she got a sandwich. The bags are really cute and say "Mon Amie, Mon Amour, Mon Paris Baguette." Yes, I'm keeping it.
On the subway home, we stopped by a magazine stand and I found the recent issue of W Korea, which has pictures of Super Junior in it from when they were in Paris. Don't worry, I bought it! I really like the photography in general of Korean magazines, so I was really happy to get this ^.^

When I got home, Gayoung greeted me at the door (which is rare) and gave me a hug. This girl is adorable, I tell you! Anyways, I managed to hid the cake from her, before I took my shower, slid it onto the table. Not five minutes later, Gayoung came into the kitchen and went "Cake!?" Mission: success.

Later that night, I decided to take a few pictures from my apartment landing.

What a view!
Aunt Lee said there was an even better view at Mapo bridge, so we hopped on our bikes and took the Hangang trail to Mapo! Seoul at night is so beautiful!

Tuesday we met with our supporters and studied. It was interesting. After class, I went home and we went to a restaurant that served Korean style soup. The waitress was one of Aunt Lee's friends who was in Gapyeong.Her daughter, who is my age, also came along so I got to make a Korean friend~! Gayoung was being silly and Aunt Lee would tell me how to scold her in Korean, which made everyone laugh. The food was really good and I really want to go back sometime!!

Wednesday. . . here is were things start to get complicated! On Wednesday I was planning to post (actually, I had written most of what is before this Wednesday morning!) but then, while randomly surfing on facebook, I noticed on the the RD's (Gooseul) for the program posted a picture of everyone doing Taekwondo. I was suddenly very very confused because I had no clue it was so soon. Well, it turns out the other RD had been sending out emails and text messages about it all (none of which I got), and it really was today. Naturally, I got very upset, very quickly. I'm not usually one to cry, but ever since I heard we would being doing Taekwondo in Korea, I'd been looking forward to it.
I checked my email again multiple times, and then went through all the documents we had been given since coming here. Sure enough, in the handbook it was printed that we were doing Taekwondo today. Sadly, I still had absolutely no clue where to go. At about 10:30, Gooseul called me and asked if I was coming. I managed to tell her that I had no clue it was today and didn't know how to get there. She told me to hail a cab and then call her again. So I quickly through everything together for class and dashed out the door. I learned how to hail a cab and after some confusion, I was able to get there!! The cab driver was really nice especially considering I speak very limited Korean. Also, please understand that in Korea, traffic signs are more of a suggestion than a law. Red lights only mean look both ways before crowwing the street. . .He got me there in under 20 minutes and I got to actualy participate. We sparred a little, which was a blast, and then they had us break boards. We wrote down dreams on them and one by one broke them in two. It was really great! I still have my wood in my suitcase!
After that, my friends Sofia and I went to lunch at one of the bakery/coffee shops near Sogang. I bought a sandwich, but only ate about a fourth of it (remember this sandwich!)
When we got to school, Emma and Sofia were moved out of my class so it was just me and a girl named Katrina sitting at our table. During break, I ended up giving Katrina the rest of my sandwich.
That night, my childhood ended. Heres a little surprise. I had thought all along that Harry Potter came out the 14th here. This is a lie, and I must not tell lies. It came out on the 13th, so naturally, I asked my host mom if we could go see it. Turns out, she and Gayoung love Harry Potter, so on the 12th, we reserved tickets.
Quick fact about reserving tickets in Korea. Actually, quick fact about trying to sign up for anything online in Korea: YOU MUST HAVE A KSSN (Korean Social Security Number). In other words, you must be a ressident of Korea. Or you can't sign up. This is uber annoying.
Regardless, on the 13th, I literally ran home from school and barely made it home by 6:00 (our movie is at 6:20). After lots of confusion we made it to the theatre!

Oh my god. If I typed up everything I had to say about this movie, I would make this post so long none of you would read it (if you are still reading this far, I aplaud you!). For the last time, I was sucked into the world of Harry Potter, the world that I've grown up with. Watching the actors on the screen was like seeing old friends after a long time, seeing how much they had grown, seeing what they had become. It was all very moving.
It also gave me a really warm feeling inside. Here I was, sitting in a movie theatre in Korea, half a world away from where I had seen every other movie, and yet, it felt exactly the same. People still gasped, laughed, and cried with every scene. The only difference, really, was that I was the only non-Asian (most likely non-Korean, but I can't be 100% sure) in the theatre, and there were Korean subtitles on the bottom that I couldn't help but read every so often.
After the last scene faded, I realized that was it. There wasn't anything else. it was over. It was time to grow up a little more, and move on, taking with me the happy memories to cherish forever.
Although. . . it bothered me a little bit that there wasn't a "The End." before the credits. . . I really wanted it to say that . . .

So, then came Thursday. Well, I was supposed to go to norae bang with my group, but remember that little sandwich? Yeah. It gave me food poisoning. So I spent the morning miserable in bed waiting to feel well enough that I could go to school. I learned that in Korea, why your stomache hurts, you drink warm water. Aunt Lee would also come in from time to time and massage my stomache and body, which, actually, helped a lot. By the time I had to leave for school, I was feeling well enough to go.
After talking a little before class, I found out Katrina had the same thing the night before. Oh little sandwich. . .
During that class period, a very odd thing happened. Katrina said her foot was hurting a little where she had a blister, and by the time it was 5:30, her ankle had almost double in size. Turns out, a boy in another class had a similar issue with a cut on his hand.
After some thought, and talking it over with various people, we've sort of decided there must be some kind of bacteria that isn't in America that is making people sick/swell (I'm not the only one who's been sick).

Friday morning rolled around and I still wasn't feeling well, so I went back to the doctor. I have four different meds I'm now taking, but they do make me feel a lot better. However, one is really weird. . . It's like toothpaste thats sat in the sun so its gooy... bleh. I would like to add, however, that my two trips to the doctor plus my medicine still haven't reached more than 50 USD and that is without insurance.

Other than having no appitite and being rediculously tired all the time, I'm feeling a lot better now. Hopefully, I'll be up and running again soon so I can do more than sit at home!!

Comments:

Bryan: You beat Mum AND Jillian! Congradualtions!! I have to say, your comment made me laugh. And I haven't found it yet. I've been on about 5 different subway lines but no luck yet. . .

Shelbi: I just go to the local place with my host mom. There is a pharmacy next door.

Mrs. Dossey: Not a problem! I harrassed her about it the other day, so maybe she'll put some up soon!

Mom: I've missed you and JT talking to eachother through comments xDD And Gayoung is adorable! ^.^

Uncle Mike: English is taught here starting in Elementry school. My host sister already knows quite a few words and phrases and studies English for about an hour every day. English and surprisingly French are pretty popular. Though I don't know anyone who speaks French here, it's on lots of clothes and many shops have French names.

Aunt Nancy, Lena, and Grammy: I have so much to say about Korean food that I'm working up a whole post about it (with a little help from my host mom!) I have lists of things I've eaten and I've been tryign to take as many picture as possible!! Breakfast here is pretty much a smaller version of every other meal. We have rice, some type of main dish, and then side dishes. Lots and lots of food!

Mrs. Sharpnack: I'm so happy you are reading!! Studying isn't so bad. Though I haven't memorized every piece of vocab, but I usually start to pick it up after a day or two. The pace of our classes is super fast. We cover a unit every two days.
As for slang. . . yes and no. Korean has three (four?) ways of speaking formal, polite, and plain. Plain is considered super rude to speak to anyone older than you or people you don't know well. So when I speak, I always try to use the polite, but sometimes my host mom corrects me when I talk to Gayoung and asks me to use the plain, which then usually messes me up and I'll speak plain to people older than me. It's really confusing and I usually end up repeating myself a few times to make sure I'm not being rude!

And typing this tl;dr has completely exhausted my energy reserves. Today, Aunt Lee said we would just stay home so I can rest.
Next time, hopefully I won't be suddenly, and randomly busy/sick and I'll update sooner~!

Subways, Hello Kitty, and Gapyeong

Okay, so I haven't posted in almost a week because I was waiting for something really interesting to post about.
My past week has pretty much gone like this:
Get up, eat breakfast with Aunt Lee and Gayoung (Jaehak leaves super early), see Gayoung off to school, then find something to do until 12:40 when I leave for school. I've decided I don't like afternoon school. Not one bit.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays we meet in groups with a Korean supporter who gives us extra tutoring sessions and takes us around Seoul. My group members are Sarah and Peter, our supporter is Seungwoo. Seungwoo is hilarious in a very dorky sort of way. He obviously isn't comfortable with his English, so he tries to make a joke out of it (even though his English really isn't that bad. . . .). On Tuesdays, we meet him at his university to study and on Thursdays, we go somewhere. This Thursday, we went to. . . somewhere (I can tell you the subway stop, but not the town ><) and made traditional Korean paper fans. Then we went to another place where there is a giant market for lunch. I got to see pig heads. . . Sadly, I didn't get any pictures ><

As for school, it's pretty great. Monday we took a placement test, and somehow I managed to end up in intermediate. Tuesday was a complete joke. We pretty much just reviewed hangul, the Korean written alphabet, for 4 hours. Wednesday it picked up a little and Thursday we got our textbooks, and we are actually learning things now~! Yaaaay!!! We also have at least 10 pages of homeowrk a night (record to beat is currently 20 pgs).

Monday, since it was the 4th, Akira and I went out to "celebrate". We went to Tom n Tom's Coffee, one of the thousands of coffee shops in Korea. (Basic layout of a Korean street: coffee shop, make-up shop, cellphone shop, restaurant, coffee shop, clothes shop, cellphone shop, make-up shop, stand selling iphone 4 cases, coffee shop.) We ordered italian sodas and apple cinnamon bread/toast. We were expecting the usual, Starbucks size scone or something. . . holy crap we were wrong! It was huge and we didn't even finish it >< Pictures posted.
After that, we roamed Sincheon and went shopping! We found this super cute clothes store and I bought two dresses and a long shirt for less than 25$. I love it. Otherwise, we didn't find much else. . . .
When I got home, Gayoung, Aunt Lee, and I went for a walk on the Han River. I think I may end up dedicating a whole post on the Han River, because it's so beautiful. I cross is every day on the way to school, and it's my favourite part of the ride. I'll have to take some more pictures. . . Anyways, on our walk, I finally saw fireworks on the 4th for the first time in 3 years. I was pretty darn happy!

Tuesday evening I went to get a new phone because mine liked to shut off when ever it felt like it, and Thursday was my trip to the doctor. I'm happy to say I can pretty much hear again!
Wednesday, Emma, Akira and I went to Ewha where we saw the most offensive shirt we've ever laid eyes upon, Korea hipster, and more cheap clothes. Afterwards, we went to McDonalds, which, I must say, is a must while abroad.

Friday, Akira and I met up for lunch, since we live super close and have nothing to do in the mornings, and then met up after class and went to Hongdae. There was a very particular reason we were going to Hongdae: the Hello Kitty Cafe.
We took the subway to Hongdae and within 10 minutes, got lost (well, we could get back to the subway, just not the cafe). Akira had been there before, but they had gotten lost on the way there as well, and we went in a lot of circles. We asked about 5 different people how to get there and eventually found it. OH MY GOD HELLO KITTY CAFE ALKSJFLAKSDJLAK.
Yeah. That was pretty much my mind then intire time. We ordered caramel macciatos and waffles shaped like the cat herself! It was super yummy ^.^ Then we navigated home and found a much quicker route from teh subway, so we can get there easier next time!

Then, yesterday I went with Gayoung and Aunt Lee to Gapyeong! Gapyeong is up in the moutains and I'm not really sure how far away it was because on the way up we were stuck in traffic and on the way back, Aunt Lee got lost!! But we pretty much went up to this little area where you could rent a super small house and stay for a bit. There was a stream that was so clean you could drink from it, and lots of trees and mountains. It was very lovely!! We ate a late lunch/ early dinner with some of Aunt Lee's friends on an outside, traditional table. I felt like Anthony Bordain, except, I wasn't allowed to drink. Sorry Anthony. There was a TV on a covered platform next to us (there are pictures so you can look for a better description) and they had Music Core on, which was interesting to watch. I picked up a few works here and there and over all had a good time! On the way home, Aunt Lee got lost and we didn't get home umtil after 10:00!!

Now, in this post I've talked a lot about the subways. Why, you may ask? Because they are amazaing. I walk about two blocks to my subway entrance and once I'm on, I can get pretty much anywhere in Seoul. It's absolutely wonderful!! Aunt Lee gave me a little pocket map I can keep in my purse which makes transfers super easy! The only thing I don't like about the subway is the fact that it is a subway. Except for crossing the Han River, it's all underground, so there's no view >< But it's still very convienient!

Now to reply to comments, since JT is so desperate for them! ^.^

Ellen: I'm sorry >< I will have to check with you before I post something about language again!!!

Mom: Come on! Leave more of a comment than that!

Zach: You will love this: my trip to the doctor and my two bottles of antibiotic cost me less than 25$. And that's without insurance! And I'm actually not teaching English (you have to have a degree to teach) but I'm going to a university here to learn Korean. Thank you so much for reading though!!

Emma's Aunt Susan: I'm sorry!! But thank you for reading!!

Jen: Thank you!!

Jt: :p this better??

Where`s Mina!?

Now, Just to be cruel and unusual: guess where I`ve been the last two days! For those of you who guessed a Japanese high school, you`re right!!!! I started attending Inagakuen yesterday, and let me tell you, it`s been an adventure! But before we get started on school, lets talk about Sunday!
JT, just to piss you off more, I went to Tokyo again!! After church, Ayumi and I went straight to Tokyo to hang out! We ate okonomiyaki, which is probably my new favourite food, and then purikura! XD I`m addicted to purikura. Afterwards we went to Ayumi`s school, Aoyamagakuen. There we saw the bands spring preformance. (Ayumi is usually in band, but her instrament is broken so shes not at the moment.) I don`t remember having EVER enjoyed a non-rock music preformance so much!! I really hope it found it`s way to youtube!
It started out with Ayumi`s band, the high school, and they played a song, which was amazing! I wasn`t sleepy throughout the whole thing (I`ll tell about that in a bit)!! Then a smaller band played. . .they were okay, and then the middle school. . . again, only so so. Then it was intermission. After intermission, Ayumi`s band came back, dressed in the coolist outfits. Each section had their own graphic tee, that they disgined, and we all rocked out! They playe3d a bunch of upbeat songs, and had different acts the did! It was AMAZING. I wish Bonner could do something that spectacular!
And then we went home, I was in awe.
And the next day, SCHOOL!
I had to be there early to introduce myself to the teachers, so I took one of the earlier buses (not really that early, but again, I`ll get to that later) and made it school school about an hour before it started. My introduction went smoothly, and then I went back to my class, where a few students were, and I was introduced to people, very few of whom I can remember!
Then The bell rang, and we all got up and went to P.E. which was actually fun! We played handball, but with basketball hoops. I was pretty good, and even scored for my team! Next was English II. I did some of the work, then it turned into kanji, and I got to chill the rest of the time (writing JT!!). After that I had double Japanese. That was interesting. I am enrolled in Japanese for forgeiners, so the class is me, a girl from Germany, and a girl from Swizerland. Both speak Japanese fluently(or so it appears) and would only try to comunicate in Japanese. The teacher was kinda scarey, he gave us work (I worked on work book pages, I think they were writing speeches). I ended up taking that home and having Ayumi help me....
Then lunch! I went back to home room and ate lunch with my new friends! It was raining, so we ate inside. I had a yummy bento, and some tea.
Then English writing. Guess what, I already know that. And the teacher, who speaks English pretty well, knew that. He had me help some in the beginning, and then I got to write and doodle for the rest of the double period. remind me to show you my adorable drawings of the twins when I get back. I tried drawing Geo to, but I had to much trouble. . . During the second period of the class a gurl from Oregon came in and helped the class. It was nice to speak English, but afterwards I felt bad. I realized that I was here to learn Japanese and study Japanese culture, not talk with Americans.
Then Long Home Room (LHR). That was a blast!! Usually, they just have class meetings during that time, but since I was there, we played games!! When you won, you got snacks! So when my friends and I won, we would share snacks with eachother!! And the end, I won two rounds of class Jankenpo (sp?) and got two mini cookies that I brought home for Ayumi and me. I studied most of the night.
During supper, I was introduced to a new game! Sorta like a top. . . yeah. . .
And today! I gto to leave a little later! And first, double P.E.!!! Handball tourny, our team lost first round, so I sat a chilled for the rest of the hour. At the beginning of second period, we went to another room and everyone studied for their tests. I read my book. JT tell you parents its great and thanks for lending it to me (Mila 18 for those who dont know)!!! Then we had Classic Japanese Lit. This was another class I couldn`t really participate in, seeing as how I know a total of about twenty kanji, and the whole class is about reading ancient kanji..... So I read and wrote a little. Studied some.
After that, computers. I really wanted to play on the computer, but they didn`t have the log in info for me, so more reading. The nice girl next to me, Saiko(or Seiko....) showed me that she was reading Angels & Demons, and said it was good.
Then lunch! We got to eat outside!! Totally check out the pictures!! There were a lot of ants, but otherwise it was great!!
Then English Oral. haha there was an actual English speaking woman there too. The class was giving speeches, so not much for me to do. We graded their presentations. Then during the break (another double period) my friends in the class decided that we had to go to Tokyo Disney Land. So when okaasan gets home I`m suposed to ask!
Then SST. Which is hard to exlpain. Pretty much, you go to whatever class you like, and learn something. I ended up in French. You really learn a lot when absolutly NOTHING is in English. The work was all in French, the instructions all in Japanese. And they leanr different stuff then we do, so I was little lost! But it was still fun!
After that two VERY nice girls, Riko and Midori, gave me a school club tour. We went and watched many clubs! They have so many!!!! The soccer team is HUGE, and they have two baseball teams, plus a girls team. Handball, rugby, basketball, gymnastics, then Japanese sports like karate, kyuudo, and kendo. And I`m supposed to join just one! We didn`t get to see all the clubs, so they said that another time we could do another tour. The best thing about Riko and Midori, is they speak English very well, and they are really good at helping me with Japanese. I can calmly ask them questions without them screaming `KAWAII!!!` or `TSUGOI!!` and they answer them. I hope to get to spend more time with them so I can ask questions.

Now to cover other things! Like how I`m tired all the time. It`s getting better, but it used to be almost every time I would sit down I would get so tired! I was almost always tired! The YFU handbook said that was normal (Its really useful). And I think I had cultureshock for awhile. I think I snapped out of it when I met the guy from Oregon. So for now, all is good!

And to JT, you need to understand that Tokyo isnt a city like NY or SF. It`s HUGE! Divided into many different sections. H&M is in Harajuku. I`ve only been in Harajuku once. There is supposedly one in Ginza, but I haven`t been there. I`ve been in Shibuya and Aoyama mostly.
And Molly, I want you`re phone......
I`m uploading pictures. Theres a lot. 67, including two videos I think.....
oh! And mom! I do think my Japanese is improving, but just alittle!!
and thats all for today folks!!! much love from Japan!!!

So much!!!!

Okay, so a lot has been going on! I wanted to post two days ago, but I didn`t have time, and last night I was catching a cold, so I went to bed early and slept alot!
But let me try to recap:
So I`ve been working at the kindergarten with all the kids, who are amazing. But yesterday was my last day, along with the three university girls who were working as interns. there was a good by party, and they played the song from Totoro on the hand bells. Tanaka sensei gave my the piano music for it, so Molly, Mrs. Emily, we need to find a piano so we can learn it one Japanese class!! And Michael, I promise to play it for you when I get back.
Last night we went to Inagakuan, my new school, and its pretty impresive. THe school itself has 6 buildings, and all of their clubs (sports etc) have one national awards! They don`t have a girls soccer club, so I was thinking of joining track (yes mom, they have tennis, but I can do that in America!!) but the my regional YFU lady said I should do a Japanese clud. So now I`m debating between Kyudo, Karate, and Kendo. Anyways, the school is so prestigious, that they are even lending me a uniform to wear, and man is it awesome!! I will try to get pics later! There are two students who will elad me around, Rikako and Ami. They are both really nice, and Rikako lives close by, so on days when she doesnt have lacrosse practice, see and I will go and leave school together. On day she does have practice, I will ride the bus.
And after that we went to grandmas! Where a wonderful meal was waiting! I love Japanese food. and her house was very traditional and cool!! Only problems was: i was sick! At kindergarten, we played in one of those kiddy pools, and i got very wet, then I walked around with wet hair, and BAM! Cold. So I was sickly, and a went to bed as soon as we got home! And this morning, I slept a lot, and now, it:s not so bad.
And today!! wooo!!! We went to Tokyo to see a very popular TV show called Shoten. I didnt understand most of it, but it was still interesting! Afterwards we went shopping and I got to eat Ramen!! yuuuuummm!!! Ayumi and I went into a Shonen Jump store and it was interesting. . . Ariel I thought of you!
On the way home we picked up shoes and socks for school, and then we have just been chilling here. There has been more im sure, ill write later.
to add, I called home. it was good to hear fluent english XD I helped Ayumi translate a letter from her host family in Suisse, she leaves in August. and life is pretty sweet!
Molly, sorry I forgot to answer in my last post, but the bikes arent too heavy. They are by no means light, but I`m used to my hulking mountain bike. . . so....
And Jacey, if your reading, I just found out that you really can just pop the memory card into the computer. My host father just showed me.... i was laughing inside
And Ariel, yesterday, I asked a friend what the date was and she told me the 19th... and I went `oh god!!!!` So heres my way late shout out: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! YOU OLD WOMAN!!!!!!! love you and hope it was great!!!
And Jilly (man to many shout outs...) I have been working on the story. I got to listen to the CB song, its great. And cant wait to hear the TH songs!!!!!

love you all!! so much!!!! look forward to your comments! feel free to tell more of what you are doing!! i would love to read!!!
and also I didnt upload pics. . sorry.....