Fordpride

It is my bro's bday today. I am sad I cannot be there to celebrate with him and the rest of the fam. Real sad. Kris is really awesome. I mean, seriously. He has a heart of gold and more faith and dedication than I can even fathom. I'm a real lucky girl when it comes to having the most choice brothers, and Kris is no exception. So while I know its the end of your day, I hope your birthday is most excellent. And the next time we happen to be in the same place, we're doing sushi. Miss you love you!! happy birthday!!

As I sat here following the game of all games on my laptop in Korea, I had nothing but feelings of love and truth and happiness as my beloved Cougs beat the nasty Utes. I got homesick for LaVell Edwards stadium. I wish I could've sat there cheering for my team. But I think they heard me all the way from here. As I'm reading up on the game, some quotes from Max Hall really stood out. And when I say stood out, I mean he was pretty harsh. And I kinda like it. I mean, its his last regular season college football game. Max said: "I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything," Hall said. "It felt really good to send those guys home... "I think the whole university and their fans and the organization is classless," Hall said. "They threw beer on my family and stuff last year and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don't respect them and they deserved to lose."...

Hankook Mart: This is where I usually do my grocery shopping. The first time I went there I wasn't so sure about it. It's smaller (and therefore not really stocked full of American food) but now I go there probably at least twice a week. There is this random man whose job is to talk constantly into a microphone over the loudspeaker. I have no idea what he's saying, but he sounds like a game show host. Someone said he's just saying the big sales or discounts. But sometimes when I walk in and he starts talking and I see people laughing I have this fear he's warning the store that a white girl has entered. Anyways. This week, however, heaven came to me in the form of an even greater shopping experience: Costco Did you know there are six (I think) Costco's in Korea?! I love it. I went with some friends and we walked in with wide eyes and happy hearts. Like kids in a candy store. I'm not even joking. And its not like it's super close to us. It too...

I don't know if its because we just had a party in the theme of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or what, but this Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young is fantastic. I'm in love with him.

Since I used all my good turkeys in the post below, I don't really have anything funny to post. But I'm about to leave to go to a Thanksgiving feast with my church and I'm super stoked to eat good ol' Mormon mom food. I also wanted to say some of the things I am grateful for today: -Family -Friends -Faith -America -Korea -Candy And so many other things But really, I am super glad to be where I am. I've mentioned I've had some hard days, but they pale in comparison to the good days I've had here. And I'm positive there are many more to come. Happy Thanksgiving world! Eat some pie for me!

I taught a lesson on Thanksgiving to the boys. And I made them draw turkeys and write things they are grateful for just like we do when we're little! Suckers. They are a creative little bunch. Here are some of my favorites: The turkey bus going to hell This one gets a spot because of what the little bugger wrote on the bottom. If anyone can translate my nickname, let me know. And its good to know one can be both scary, fun, and likable! The next two are just the most random. And they have to deal with physical ailments. Which is usually what I think of when I think American Thanksgiving... Yes, skin cancer turkey and handicap turkey (complete with wheelchair) round out this boy band of drawings. Who even knew?

Today ended poorly, but there were some gems strewn throughout the day: -Sometimes I arm wrestle the boys. It gets them to shut up for a bit. Today I suffered my first loss to date. I'm not gonna lie. It was embarrassing. I became the loser. And so the whole class called me loser. Good thing I'm not still in middle school or my self esteem would have suffered. I went to talk to the winner a few minutes after it happened. He explained to me that he won because he was a young boy and I was an old woman. Ouch. -I tried doing a lesson on slang vocabulary. It stemmed from the fact that the only greeting they know is "how are you" in which they reply "Fine, thank you, how are you?" every time, which is fine, but when I see them and I say "hows it going" and they look at me confused or answer "to class" I get sad for their English. So I taught them other greetings, and the words 'awesome', 'hanging out', and 'big ...

Look what I found today at the grocery store! And in case you can't see it, its not just normal Cheetos. It's hot and spicy Cheetos! If you know me, you know I love them. They are a more recent addiction and they were basically the snack of choice this past summer. Naturally, thoughts of the Sanchez Sanchez family ran through my mind as I bought these suckers (three bags to be exact). And sooo cheap. Also, you don't have to tell me how good I look in the picture above. I think it speaks for itself. I shouldn't have let my hopes get so high. Because they were soon destroyed. The moment I opened the bag and saw the color of these Cheetos, I knew they were not going to be the same as the ones I love so dearly. They barely even leave any cheet on your fingers, which we all know is the opposite of real flamin hot Cheetos. Also, hot and spicy is a lie. You'd think in a country where they put red peppers on everything, they could have at least made these a little...

I might have the best family in the world. Scratch that. I definitely have the best family in the world. They sent me two birthday packages of love. And love did overflow from them. So happy. My spoils. It includes cake, popcorn, candy!, like 10 Reeces peanut butter cups, crazy straws, yarn and knitting needles (booyah) and peanut butter. Oh thank heaven for peanut butter. I eat peanut butter on everything now. Currently (at this exact moment) it is a topping for my Hershey kisses. But like I told my parents, I'm trying to ration it so it lasts longer. So this is a shout out to you family. Thank you a bijillion times! (PS For a late birthday present, I would like you to get rid of the cats/dogs by the time I get home-thanks!)

Alternative Title: "Blessed by Pastries" I have said it before and I'll say it again: I love Koreans. I've been here long enough to know my neighborhood, and it seems like they are getting to know me too. I have my own neighborhood grocery store, my own path to school where I pass the same people every day, I say hi to the bank teller when I see her outside of the bank, I have my own food stand around the corner from my apartment, and I have my own local convenience store run by the nicest woman on the planet. And while I only speak a few words in the language of these people, we have become friends. They are the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. There have been rough days for me here. I've had days where I've mapped out my return flight home. I've had days where being sick made my homesickness 80 times worse. I've had the most job related frustrations ever. And each one of these days when I've just wanted to hide from the worl...

My students always participate and listen in class. Oh wait. No they don't. But sometimes when they're not paying attention, they do funny things. This is what happened today when we played a review game. Love it.

Yeah. I'm looking to be a 'hip-hop scholar' Who's with me?

If any of you have ever gone to General Conference in Salt Lake, you'll know what I'm talking about: Yes, even in downtown Seoul, there are people giving out free hugs. You better believe I ran into these arms real fast. And the following 'I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU' didn't hurt either. PS did you see the new bsb video?

Why are BSB and I so connected? Seriously. Check this out: They are in Japan. Do you know how close to Japan I am!? How did I not get wind of this filming?! Good news though: BSB is supposed to be doing a few tour dates in Japan the beginning of next year. If this is true, you know where I'll be. I would seriously DIE.

First off, I appreciate all the birthday love in my life via fb, gchat, and email. Am I really 24? Wild. It was a pretty awesome bday, minus my outbreak of hives that helped me experience the Korean clinic sans a translator. Ugh to that. But, other than that, it was awesome. First off, I had to teach all day. So why not teach them about birthdays? I brought in a little treat for every student (which turned out to be more than I was thinking) and we tried to do a little activity but they stopped paying attention to me so I just made stuff up. I also forced each class to take a photo with me. Suckers. two things: 1. my outfit-i'm sorry 2. yes it is hard telling them apart-but i'm getting better This class was more excited about life, so I made them sing to me. Bahahaha. My bday night was spent with some peeps from my church-we grabbed some Indian food for dinner, which is my favorite and I'm craving some more right now. And then I met up with friends in Songtan for a g...

Today was Wednesday. But not just any Wednesday. It was a half day at school!!!!! BOOYAH. My half day was fine. I had all intentions of getting the Korean Tiger recorded. I brought my camera up to their classroom and was all ready for it, but when I got there and started talking, I looked back to him and he looked sick. I called out his name "Korean tiger!" and his feeble attempt at the Korean tiger made my heart hurt. He had his head down the entire class. Poor kid. Maybe next time. Also, I really miss my class schedule. I've become so used to teaching each class only once a week that its totally throwing me off having the same students multiple days in a row. I hope COT comes back soon. In one of my classes today, I decided to see if I could recreate the "Boom Boom Pow" moment. Which, I don't know if it could ever be recreated. So after my pathetic excuse of a lesson, I had each table write down their favorite song or artist and decided to work ...

Today I got to school and was excited for my day. Mondays are my 3rd grade (or 9th grade in American terms) only day, so the kids are older and speak English better and aren't afraid to laugh at me as much. I had my lesson plan all ready and the song of the week pulled up on my computer and was stoked. Then: BOOM. Another Korean English teacher comes in and tells me that COT is sick and so I'd be taking over her class schedule until she returns. And my normal classes would go to the assigned regular coteacher. (So each class I teach has an assigned coteacher. These coteachers usually just make sure the students listen to my lessons and aren't too crazy. Sometimes these coteachers come, other times they do not.) So I was sad I wouldn't be with my typical 3rd graders. And I was more sad that I didn't have lessons for these new classes. So I had to make some up real fast. Not that awesome. I teach a couple classes and then I have a period off...but then my norma...

A student told me today that this singer is his wife. (it really just means he thinks she's beautiful) And maybe we watched this in class. As a class exercise of course. They had to explain to me what the song was about. Kinda. Anyways, it is pretty cute. And sad. (in case you don't figure it out, the boy dies)

Beautiful.

Ok so the actual video is pretty stupid. But this is worth posting just for the headline. I would've been valedictorian with this deal.

Of all the cookies and treats I've had here, I'm pretty sure these are my favorite. Do you remember those small koala cookies that were in the hexagon box and they had chocolate inside of them? These remind me of those. And I'm obsessed with them. I probably have a box every other day. Go ahead and judge me. I will hold onto these treasures from heaven. I mostly enjoy the pictures they put on each of the cookies: umbrellas, gloves, hearts, and a spatula, among other things. Also, in some of my classes I've been teaching a review on the body. The boys know most of the basic body parts but I've been shaking it up with words like "bellybutton", "palm" and the personal fave "armpit". Interjection: Before I came here I read about how I should bring a year supply of deodorant because they don't really wear it. I wasn't sure about it, but I followed these instructions and have like 4 sticks waiting to be used. Anyways, the a...

Sorry I've been so boring lately. With the flu and then my lack of preparedness for class, I've felt like my time has been sucked out of me. Lucky for you, I'm feeling better and I'm ready for some more adventures. Well, pretty much everything I do here is some kind of adventure. But you know what I mean. I also am now excited to bring you regular blog posts from my bed. Yes, I've upgraded from the drying room corner to real internet access that I can get from anywhere in my apartment. Booyah. It took me long enough. I'm still waiting on a phone but I feel like COT and I have made some progress there so I'll take it. ----------------- The other day at the palace we visited in Seoul, there was a time travel machine wherein I went back in time and culture and became a Korean hair model. Here are photos from that epic trip. before after As you can see, there is good reason for me not being born Korean 200 years ago. There's no way I would've bee...

But still kinda pathetic. I ventured into the city on Friday night for a magical viewing of the Michael Jackson movie This Is It. Verdict? Would you be mad if I said that I LOVED it?! I was entertained the whole time and I felt like MJ and I really got to know each other better. Really though. He seemed like a nice guy. And I was tapping my toes the entire time because who doesn't love a good MJ song? My favorite part was when he talked about how we need to save the planet. Legit. My only question is how did Kenny Ortega get such a big deal in life? One minute he's working on Hocus Pocus and HSM and then the next he's being BFF with MJ. Which was also entertaining for me. Because MJ would suggest something and immediately Ortega was all like "yeah MJ I was thinking the same thing" because really, who would disagree with MJ? Also this weekend they've been playing random action/suspense movies on TV here. Against my better judgment, I wasted hours wat...