All Around Smiles

I am not sure if this is a Dunkin Donuts thing all over the world, or just a Korean thing... but either way, we thought this packaging was genius.

Enjoy:

xoxo,

Amy

Goodbye Season

One of the new and strange realities we have had to adjust to here is how temporary things are. Our contract is for one year. Our students have had a new teacher every year. Our friends (that are 99.9% foreigners ESL teachers) are here for one year. Our house will be our house for one year. Etc, etc, etc. Its been a totally new way of thinking for me.

When Bryan and I agreed to come to South Korea and teach, we signed a one year contract which is what all ESL teachers do to come here. I was so excited to take on this new adventure and see the world, but the phrase 'one year' was always such a daunting thing to me. Now, 10 months later, I have been able to reflect on it what it really meant to me.

All I could think about while signing that contract was how long I would be AWAY from home, away from my friends, away from my comfort zone, away from Mexican food (just being honest)... It didn't hit me until recently that I can now look at that "daunting phrase" in another light. Instead of AWAY, I can now see it as how long I have. The time I have to spend with the friends I have made here. The time I have to connect with and make a difference with my students. The time I have to learn about this culture. The time I have to learn about myself.

The friendships I've made here, and the connections to my students have all been amazing bonuses to what I expected when signing that contract ten months ago. To be honest, I did not know what to expect. I had no idea how many, if any, 'foreigners' lived over here. If I was going to be able to talk to anyone (I knew...and still really know ZERO Korean), or if I would even connect with anyone here besides Bryan. I distinctly remember throwing one of my "Sex and the City" DVDs into my suitcase and thinking, "Well...if all else fails, Ill still have Carrie". (pathetic Amy.. I know) And ps, I think Ive only had to turn to Carrie once, which is saying a lot!

Our contract started in August, but everyone's contracts are different. Starting last month, we had to start saying our goodbyes :(. Stephanie and Erica (in the picture above) threw a "Bling!Bling!Sparkle!" going-away party on the eve of their departure. During a video slideshow they had made, I had to count on all the sequins on my shirt to distract from my teary eyes. They are now both on new amazing adventures, and I am so happy for the being able to meet them and know them here in Busan.

Our dear friend Hayley leaves in just a few short weeks, and then after that the rest of us will all say our goodbyes to this country, this experience, and sadly, to each other. The people I have met here have truly been a gift. They have helped Bryan and I make this new crazy world a temporary home, and have created memories with us that we will always look back on with a smile. They have made me feel more connected to the world as a whole, and have dragged my booty far outside of my little Texas bubble :)

So, going into these final 8 weeks here in Asia, I will focus on embracing what I have in front of me and not what I am away from. I will try whatever crazy Korean food is put in front of me(and even try and smile as the live octopus squirms down my throat). I will embrace the energy that my students have during class, and appreciate being able to spend my days with funny little kids. I will wake up every day thankful to be here, and thankful for the people that I have met along the way- each of them being my teachers in their own way.

Love,

Amy

History Lesson

A man named Salman Khan has started an amazing online school called the Khan Academy, which is completely free. He is a graduate of MIT, who started tutoring his cousins who lived in New Orleans via Youtube. He made videos to help them with math or science at first. This idea caught on with others online and teachers. Now, he has delivered 60 million+ lessons worldwide....totally free. The subject matter covers everything from Algebra, Biology, and Physics to History, Finance, and Currency. This is a revolutionary concept in education for many reasons, but I want to urge anyone who has the time to check out the future possibilities for education. Listen to what Salman Khan and Bill Gates have to say about his new school at this link below.

The Khan Academy

Here's his brief lesson on the Korean War.

Commercials

A few months back, I led a "free talking" club for some of the older students at Reading Town. It was an optional additional class, and we did things like play games and do activities to practice English more freely.

One of the things we did was make commercials! I had each group (boy group, girl group) invent a product, and then they wrote a script. On the last day of the activity, I brought my flipcam and filmed the final products. Each group had 2 scenes.

Enjoy! (and ps..these kids are pretty shy, so you might have to turn up the volume to hear them)

The Magic Coat

(Scene 1)

(Scene 2)

Rocketship Gum

(Scene 1)

(Scene 2)

Have a great day!

xoxo,

Amy

Children's Day

When I was young, I remember thinking (and probably asking), "if there is a 'Mother's Day' and a 'Father's Day'..why isn't there a 'KID'S DAY'??" The response I got from the folks was most likely along the lines of, "Amy, everyday is Kid's Day for you!"

Fair enough.

But, Korea has not picked up on that yet (or, we are behind the times). In Korea there is "Children's Day" and "Parents' Day" (about a week apart from each other). Children's Day is a national holiday that everybody gets off from work and school, so I was ALL about it :)!

We celebrated the day before at Reading Town by playing games with all the different classes and having a 'snack party' the last 20 minutes of each class. We also had the kids spend the first 10 minutes of each class writing 'Thank You" letters to their parents which they would give to them the following week for "Parents' Day".

It was a super fun and light hearted day which was much needed in the usually highly structured and...rigid?..Hagwon (private English school) environment.

I made a TWISTER board on the ground for the lil kiddos:

For the middle aged kids (8-11) we did Bingo and Parent Letters:

For the oldest kids, we did an "Around the World with Reading Town" activity which turned out to be pretty fun. Each of the teachers were in a different classroom, and the students would rotate amongst us and practice 'real life' dialogues. The classrooms were Taxi, Airport, Hotel, and Restaurant. Once they memorized the line from each 'place', we gave them a stamp in these little passports we made them. I wasn't able to take pics during this, but it was a lot of fun :)

All in all, my first "Children's Day" was a hit, and I hope that America will catch on to this one day :)!

xoxo,

Amy

Remember Lil Lilly?

Well, let me just start out by breaking the bad news:

shortly after my introduction to this adorable child...our tutoring sessions came to a halt. You see, she is like 3 years old, and I get out of work late...so the late night song sessions weren't really A-OK with the parentals...

But, whenever I have a rough day, nothing cheers me up more than watching these little clips of our fun times together (am I sounding like a creep or what??).

But really, tell me this doesn't brighten your day?!

xoxo,

Amy

Playing Catch Up...

Hey yall!

I realized today that its been awhile since Ive posted on here... and there are a handful of things that have happened and have gone... un-blogged (gasp!). So, pardon the delay, and stay tuned for some more bits from Busan!

xoxo,

Amy

The Good Life

We topped off our mini-vacay with a night of dance tunes at the luxurious Club Ellui.

Diplo, an America DJ who I've been a huge fan of for quite some time, just happened to be visiting Seoul the same weekend we were. Amy and I were lucky enough to see him once before at Speakeasy in Austin. His show in Texas was amazing. However, he brought the goods Sunday night at Ellui. He performed for 3+ hours, and played almost every genre of dance music out there. The light show and waves of confetti from the ceiling along with his amazing music kept Amy, John, Soo and I dancing the entire 5 hours we were there.

Thank you Mr. Diplo...that dance party was much needed.

Monday morning, we grudgingly left our hostel at the noon checkout time and headed for Itaewon. Our destination was Dillenger's brunch. A full plate of American breakfast: hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, eggs (cooked to your pleasure), salad and BLOODY MARYS!

I could've died. Everything was the perfect temperature and spiciness.

If you happen to be in Seoul and need a good drink with breakfast..go to Itaewon, walk out of the subway exit #4, straight about 300 meters...on your left, the yellow awning is Dillinger's.

DMZ

DMZ stands for 'Demilitarized Zone.' It was created by the Soviet Union and America after the Korean War as a barrier between the two countries. In order to avoid northern invasion, roughly 1 million land-mines were dropped by the USA throughout the area between these countries. So, no one has been there in nearly sixty years. The DMZ is about 2 km wide, and has actually turned into one of the few places in Korea where wild animals flourish.

Amy and I went on a tour of some spots along the DMZ. It was as intriguing as it was emotional. The first stop on our trip was at the Freedom Bridge. This bridge leads to the north, but was blocked off during the war. It is a symbol of the connection that remains between friends and families that are separated between the north and south. Thousands of families visit this place every year to put up ribbons and pictures of loved ones trapped in the north.

There is also this train engine, which pulled a train from the north to the south, but was shot 100,000 times. I didn't stop to count.

The next stop on the tour was at the Third Tunnel.

Since the 1970s, South Korea has found four separate tunnels dug under the DMZ by North Korea. When I first heard about it, I figured it was some poor souls trying to escape....not quite. Under the DMZ is nothing but pure granite, which must be blown away with dynamite. It turns out that the North Korean military has been trying to find secret ways to stage invasions on Seoul. The most recent tunnel was found in 1990.

The Third Tunnel is the biggest and closest to Seoul. Therefore, it was considered the most dangerous. The tour guide said that an estimated 30,000 North Korean troops could've run through the tunnel in one hour.

We strapped on our hard-hats and descended hundreds of meters under the ground. It was very cool and damp. The tunnel went on for a very long time, where we finally got to the point where the South closed it off.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures; but here's a diagram!

After tunneling, we went to an observation building on the very edge of the DMZ. We were not allowed to take pictures past a certain point. They said that if the North could see cameras shooting pictures, they sometimes feel threatened and shoot bullets back.

We followed the rules.

Through binoculars, we could see a 'city,' with many military installations. I looked for a long time, but only saw two people and one car moving. All of buildings looked empty. This was in the middle of the day on Sunday. We think that this 'city' is quite possibly only there for appearance to the South.

Yup, those are some buildings in North Korea. I took this one behind the line...don't worry.

Another bizarre aspect to the view was a MASSIVE flag atop a very high flagpole. Apparently, the South and the North have competed over the height of their flagpoles. After spending thousands of dollars, South Korea finally conceded to common sense, and let North Korea have the tallest flagpole in the world. That's right, it's the tallest in the world. They spent thousands of dollars on it...and they can't feed most of their people.

One of the good guys.

The last stop was at a brand new train station. Thousands of South Koreans donated the funds for this station that will eventually go to Pyeongyang. This station was built with the hope of unification in the future. Some day, hopefully sooner than later, the Korean families separated by this horrible situation will be able to take a subway to see each other. If and when that day comes, I will be coming back to take a ride there too.

Last Train to Seoul

Korea's Memorial Day is just after ours in America, on June 6th. There aren't many lakes and we don't know anyone with a boat, so, Amy and I got to take one last trip to Seoul for the long weekend!

We stayed at the new addition to the Hongdae Guesthouse, nicknamed 'The Yellow Submarine.'

The hosts and facilities were the best I've seen in a hostel, and even better than some hotels.

When in Seoul on a budget, stay at the Hongdae Guesthouse. It is cheap, friendly, clean, and smack-dab in the middle of one of the most exciting parts of Seoul.

Our first adventure of the Ju-mal (weekend), was to Myeong-dong for some shoppin' and ramen. This district of Seoul is home to any kind of shopping you could ever want to do. From souvenirs of Korea and cheap sunglasses to high end fashion boutiques or knock-off Louis Vuitton, Myeong-dong is a great place to get anything. It is also a great place to people watch. Amy and I did not escape a crowd of less than a thousand people until we left.

Another must-do in Myeong-dong is the Tum-Sae Ramen House. This was recommended by our friends Sean and Lauren, who visited Seoul last year. It may sound odd to westerners, but there are ramen restaurants. Tum-Sae is the best.

They only serve two different kinds: spicy and not spicy.

Amy got the non-, I got the spicy. Now, being from Texas, I eat a lot of spicy everything, but let me warn you....Tum-Sae spicy Ramen is no joke. It is delicious, but equally painful. That meal was one of the most intense flavor experiences of my life. I proudly finished it, but only after some sweat and tears. I literally teared up.

Amy's was not spicy at all, but also delicious. Their secret is in the broth.

It would be impossible for me to tell you how to get there, but everyone in Myeong-dong knows it. So, just ask any vendor, they will point you in the right direction.

That night we were lucky enough to meet up with many of our Seoul friends: Maddie, Matt, John, Soo, Ying-Ying, and some of Maddie's friends met us in Itaewon for dinner 'n drinks. Maddie and Matt were amazing in showing us Craftworks!

Craftworks is a microbrewery restaurant in Itaewon. They serve 5-6 kinds of house-made brew. I tried their: Kolsch, Pilsner, California Golden, and Stout. Craftworks also serves a Hefeweissen. We were just four days early for their release of an India Pale Ale. So, if you go, get one and let me know!

They also have a plethora of fantastic western food, like: hand-made pita chips w/spinach dip, chilli fries, chicken salad (not as popular as you might think in Korea), and wonderful burgers on wheat bread.