1 Month In...

Okie Dokie....so I have not written anything in my blog for a few weeks. One reason being that I have found myself incredibly busy lately. Not a bad busy, but not a good busy either. With the school year settling in and the routine becoming more custom, the weather getting nicer, my social life picking up, and my own time doing "my own thing" I rarely find the time to just sit and vegg online. So on this rare occurrence of boredom, here is a quick update on what my past fews weeks have been like.

 Lets start with work. I have recently been more engulfed at work with my training period being completed, being assigned new responsibilities as the school year is now getting settled, and also with myself wanting to really be a great English Kindergarten teacher. So far tho, work is proving to be very fun! I have been solo teaching on my own now for 2 weeks. I still split the morning lesson with a Korean teacher, but we both are in the came classroom and help each other with the lessons and activities. In the afternoon is when I am completely solo tho, and I really like it. I either teach beginning phonics to 6-8 year olds or teach Phonics level 3/speaking/ravensburger ( trippy German game to teach kids english). Altho I I do enjoy the littlest Korean tykes in the morning and I'm actually making a good bond with them, I love my afternoon kids. Mainly because the afternoon kids can understand me more because of their heightened level of English and we are able to talk to one another just as the kids in america and I speak. I seem to have found my place within the kids, and also with my coworkers. As I said in earlier posts, my coworkers ROCK. The other foreign teacher and I make jokes and playfully bitch and moan about Korean customs while the 2 Korean teachers that I work with are super sassy and have some serious attitude (the good kind). We all get along great outside of work and have dinner about once a week. It's nice to have fit in so well with my peers :)

Moving onto my social life....it's a blast. Thanks to nicola, the other foreign teacher, I have met many other foreigners here in Korea. I live about an hour travel time from Seoul via bus/train, but I have ventured into the city to take part in temple and palace tours, museums, typical tourist sites, and of course ... Itaewon, the foreigner district of Seoul. not gonna lie, Itaewon is one dirty neighborhood. But it is A BLAST!! With foreigners everywhere looking to have a good time the streets are lined with restaurants from all over the world. Mexican, American, Greek, Italian, Indian Kabobs, Mediterranean, Chinese, Japanese, and so on. It's a good place to go for some non Korean eats (made the right way!). Also, the bars in Itaewon open around noon and close at 9 a.m. the next morning! There is literally only about 3-4 hours in-between closing and re-opening. I'm not a big big partier these days, but I've had my fun in Itaewon (even rolling home at 7 a.m.) The partying wont become a habit, but I think for now it is necessary. LOL.
As for my "me" time...when I'm not with coworkers, at work, or with new friends, I have been trying to get out and explore things I truly like. Such as the nature paths that run along/through the mountains and streams that surround my suburb (and most of Korea). LAst weekend I went on a 2 hour hike by myself. I found myself meandering up and down and all around follwing a stream from my town of Suji to suburbs nearing the center of Seoul. It was nice to be able to literally walk 5 minutes from the main highway and be in almost complete silence amongst the birds and water flow. However once I made it out of the mountains and into a different suburb I explored the shopping and food scene of that town. (I believe I was in Songnam...maybe)

 Along with the hiking that I like comes the food that I like. Since moving here I have discovered that I LOVE squid! I had never had it before, but right now I am on a major squid kick. Boiled is my favorite so far, but I have had it fried, raw, and steamed. It goes great with a sweet/spicy veggie mixture and a side of white sticky rice. Also, cafe's and bakeries are the "it" thing right now and sampling Korean versions of baked sweets and lattes has been a joyful experience. So far my new favorite cafe drink is a Sweet Potato latte and my food of choice is some sort of weird hollow bread but the inside is coated with honey and ginger. I don't know what it is...but I could go for one right now actually!

Well...that is all the writting I have in me right now. I have an endless of stories and experiences to tell so far...but I just don't feel like writting a novel at this moment ;)

But here is just a preview of my next few weeks to come: (the weekends anyways)

* Cherry Blossom bicycle tour: April 13-17A friend and I are renting bikes and taking part in a guided group tour of the Cherry blossom trees in  Gyeongsangbuk-do. It's a more remote area of Korea about 3 hours away by car. We are going with the group Adventure Korea and will ride our bikes to temples, cemeteries, other ancient sites, and will be staying overnight in a pretty swank hotel. Of course though, there will be plenty of nature and cherry blossom sights to see! 

* Icheon Ceramic Festival: April 28- March 20At Seoulbang Park inIncheon. Huge festival with loads to do and we can also make our own Korean Pottery by hand.

*At some point, party again in Itaewon! 

Until next time, take care and love you lots.