Holidays galore!! Let's begin with X-mas!

This year's Christmas was very different than I've ever experienced, but was still very special in so many ways.

Each year in the past, my family has had consistent traditions. For example, on X-mas eve we open our small gifts from our siblings, then pack all the relative's gifts into the car and head to one house (we alternate each year) to celebrate X-mas eve with a big dinner, gift-giving all around the tree and everyone opening their gifts at once, then treating ourselves with numerous choices of cookies, pastries, and other desserts. The next morning is then spent opening Santa's gifts (or if u want to take the fun out of it, "parents" gifts), and spending the rest of the day relaxing and having dinner at our grandparents house next door.

This year, Christmas for Keith and I was spent on a island (but cold) in Korea! So what was it like? Well, if it wasn't for the big and tight foreign community it would have been just another day. See here in Korea, even if you are a Christian, the holiday is more for couples or for very small children. Usually the family will have a big Korean dinner, along with a cake to celebrate the holiday. And small children might be given a few gifts, such as a scarf or gloves, shoes, or maybe money. However, most families don't have x-mas decorations up or even a tree! It is a funny thing, because students have off of school and it is a holiday celebrated here, but the excitement for the holiday and going crazy over decorations, gifts, x-mas songs, x-mas movies, etc. is almost nonexistent here.

But of course, I did not let this difference in how we celebrate dec. 25th change the way Keith and I spent the holiday. We had a cocktail party (at Kyla and Mike's apartment...2 floors above us) with all the foreigners in our building plus a few. Everyone brought a wrapped gag gift, along with a type of liquor. I also made more puppy chow and brought some for people to snack on. We had everything from White Russians to Dirty Santa's...there were about 15 recipes on their kitchen wall to choose from! This seemed tempting and very fun (until the next morning). The whole night was fun and it was special to be able to have a big group who we're all close with to celebrate. Once again, our friends here on Jeju all felt like a lil family getting together for another holiday. (Of course, it could never relate to my real family at home in Chicago that I was missing so much and wishing I was with). We played "white elephant" with the gag gifts we brought. Fun game! You can exchange gifts with others before and after the gifts are opened to choose the gift you want. The gift I opened I stayed with because it was a bunch of massage tools...one for you back, one for your face/noise?, and one for your feet! Keith also kept his gift, which was a few big knives for the kitchen.

The next morning was pretty rough, which is unusual for x-mas morning. I realized that I have never gone out drinking the night of x-mas eve, and in the future I hope to keep it that way, because it took foreeever to get out of bed to open our x-mas gifts under our lil tree. We first went back up to Kyla and Mike's place around noon for a nice big American-style brunch. We had eggs with onions, lil sausage wieners,hashbrowns, fruit, toast, etc. while watching Elf. Magda, our neighbor who lives above us, is watching 2 lil adorable shitsus for her friend who's visiting the Philippines, so they also came to visit for a while. It's nice having animals around. I miss that. The rest of the day was spent opening our gifts from our family at home, eating Fannie Mae meltaways and pixies that Keith's mom sent, along with hot chocolate. We listened to x-mas music and watched x-mas movies all night...a few of my faves include Elf, A Christmas Story, the cartoon movie of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Love Actually. We also ordered pizza from our lovely and convenient around-the-corner restaurant, Pizza Maru, that we can now somehow order from on the phone. But we ordered in so that we wouldn't have to cook and could snuggle in our warm bed with our new heating pad on high! It was a nice, relaxing night. Also, Keith opened my gift, which was a backpacking bag for our upcoming trips, chocolate chip cookies,a few hallabongs (which is an expensive and popular + delicious fruit on the island/ a mix between a grapefruit and an orange), and also an air bb gun, since his friends Mike and Paul have some so it's his new lil toy! :) haha

I want to say thank you to the family and friends who sent x-mas cards and gifts from home. We definitely did not expect you to send packages to Korea and it meant a lot that you thought of us overseas! We miss all of you! Keith's mom did a great job choosing all of our favorite snacks and health food, including Grape Nuts, Kashi wheat thins, and protein bars...all of these we miss so much since we can't get them here! We have been starting our health kick right this year by enjoying all these healthy snacks, and it allowed us to not have to do much grocery shopping for the next few weeks! Thanks Mary! Keith's dad, Tom, and his wife Bern, sent lots of x-mas decorations that made our apartment look more festive, as well as a sweet hand-painted Chicago Bulls bags set (for the game "bags). Great idea to use for our winter camps and for a fun indoor activity during the winter, or on the beach once it gets warm. Thanks Tom and Bern! And my parents sent us our very first x-mas tree, along with our 1st puppy! hehe We put all the wrapped gifts from our family under this lil tree (my parents also sent decorations for us to hang). The x-mas puppy barks when u turn it on, as well as rolls over! It's so funny to watch and cracks me up every time. They also sent us x-mas stockings, with chapstick of course (which is given to me in my stocking each year)and a Japan travel book and language book...which will be great when we plan our trip to Japan, which will hopefully be either this summer or next year. My brothers sent me a fun and really creative gift. It's a shirt that says Global Trotter on the front with a picture of the world globe. On the back of the shirt it says where I started my trip (Chicago) and where I ended (Korea) and the number of miles that I traveled. I will continue putting all the places I travel to on the back of this shirt...it will be a great travel gift to always carry with me. Love it!! Thanks Tom and Rick!

My co-teachers also brought me gifts the last day of school, Dec. 23rd, before we were on break. Mrs. Kang gave me arm warmers...which is like looooong gloves that cover most of your arm and most of your hand (I'll show u with a picture, but they're popular here). My other co-teacher, Eun Mi Lee, gave me a box of spealized Jeju chocolate from the popular coffee/chocolate house, Chocolat, along with little Korean souvenoirs that you can put on your phone. She had also given me a really nice long black pea coat about a week or so ago. She told me her Aunt who lives in Seoul had given it to her, but it did not fit her since she's so short. It actually fits me perfectly, except the arms are pretty short...and I think this is why Mrs. Kang gave me the arm warmers to cover up my long arms when I wear the coat:) My co-teachers are so kind and thoughtful, and I didn't expect anything from them either. Somehow I feel like Koreans always outdo a kind gesture. For example, if you bring a gift to them or do something kind, Koreans will show the same kindness x 10!

Well, I felt spoiled this year with Christmas gifts and treats and just all the people who showed they really care and are thinking of us while we are living overseas and made it possible to celebrate x-mas here. I hope my family also enjoyed their gifts and cards that I sent home.

Miss you all back at home! Merry Christmas to everyone! xoxoxoxo May the season be warm and filled with happiness!

GIFTS!

Tis the season to give gifts! So I was finally able to bring my teachers' gifts to school (after holding myself back from bringing them too early...I tend to do this because I get so excited about the surprise). Giving Christmas gifts is not very common among teachers, or even in many families, so the teachers were very shocked and literally speechless when they saw that I had brought them a present.

I found these cute x-mas/holiday cloth gift bags that I put each of the gifts in. All my co-teachers, principal and vice-principal all received different things, such as a cute animal beanbag cell phone holder, mittens, or x-mas decorations for their houses/school. My vice-principal actually put the wreath I got him on his desk hanging on one of his computer speakers. haha All the teachers stopped by and were smiling and giving me the thumbs up:) I also included a picture frame & picture of me and the co-teachers...which they all have on their desks. Cute! Of course, I made my special home-made x-mas cards that I make each year, for the teachers, and added the hot chocolate/ snowman poop joke with the marshmallows. I think they understood the joke...but I guess I'll never know!

It was interesting seeing the Korean teachers all try the puppy chow I made and to try and figure out the meaning of the name..."Puppy chow", which I wrote on a sign by the treats. After explaining what "chow" means, one male korean teacher actually backed a lil away from the treats, and looked at me as if hoping it wasn't really puppy food. hehe
For the most part, Koreans do not like sweet treats and they think it is for the kids. However, by the empty bowl of puppy chow that I brought home at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure they all enjoyed the sweets.

I felt like Santa all week because today I brought the puppy chow, yesterday I gave all the x-mas gifts to the teachers, and yesterday I also pulled 10 students names for their lottery. The students who won all came down to the my office and were allowed to choose one prize (first come, first serve) from my bag of mystery gifts. I had lots of fun things....a baseball, frisbees, the puzzle dice that you have to match up all the colors...can't remember the name of it, a small English dictionary, Simpsons' notebooks and pens, an ornament, a few US dollar bills (these were the first to go/ very popular!), cute Korean socks with names of their favorite music bands on them, etc.

So I'm officially done with teaching for the semester!! I feel so accomplished to have gone through so many changes successfully...first real teaching job, first apartment shared with my boyfriend, first time living in a foreign country (and I must say I am very proud of the fact that I came with only three suitcases and no hairdryer/straightener!! :), first time away from family and friends from back at home, and first time paying for all the bills and being an adult! Plus now I am used to the students and staff that I will again be working with in the spring semester, and have so many lessons prepared, creative activity and game ideas, plus am in better control of classroom rules, management, discipline and how to modify lessons according to ability and grade level.

To continue talking about gifts, Keith had four of his co-teachers over for dinner last Friday. It was delicious...we ate this incredible bruschetta that Keith made on his own...he used fresh and cooked tomatoes, onions, garlic, a teenie tiny bit of bq sauce, plus this powerful cheese on top. In addition, he served three types of cheese (that he got from a specialty cheese store in ShinJeju) with crackers as an appetizer. For the main course, we had an olive oil base pasta with tons of vegetables (mushrooms, brocolli, garlic, peppers, onions) and grilled chicken, with garlic bread on the side. He was going to make this otagi pancake for dessert (pancakes that have cinnamon baked and melted on the inside), but of course, we were all so full so he's going to postpone that to a breakfast for the teachers at school one day this week. The whole night was fun and his co-teachers were funny and interesting people! All very young with a great sense of humor, and we all had a lot to talk about. It was nice that they could see our new floor table setup, as well as all the x-mas decorations our wonderful family sent us from home. Well, since Koreans love to give gifts whenever you do something nice, and because it's a tradition to bring a gift when you visit a home for the first time, Keith's co-teachers brought us a huge, warm, soft comforter for our bed, as well as a huge box of cookies! The funny thing is that I felt like that was the one thing we still needed for our apartment since it's getting colder and to make our bed more comfortable. It was like they read my mind! So with our new heating pad and new soft, warm comforter, it's very very difficult to get up out of bed and out into the cold wind to go to school in the morning!

Keith also had gotten a gift for his kickboxing instructor. He got him hallabong, which is a type of tangerine/ grapefruit. It's huge, very very delicious and also very expensive. The very next day, his instructor gave him a gift in return...a Muay Thai kickboxing shirt that he had received in Thailand during a match. What a cool gift to get! Such kind people here. Another funny thing I have noticed is that I feel like every single time I am doing something nice for someone, I randomly see a kind gesture in return from someone else. For example, when I was buying the lottery gifts for my students at a toy/arts/school supply store, the owner gave me a big discount. And when I bought a treat for one of my co-teachers one day at a Family Mart, the owner gave me a Christmas pin. Also, not sure if I already mentioned this in an earlier blog, but when I was buying all the food for when I was having my co-teachers over, I was going to take a cab back to our apartment, but instead a random generous lady (also a teacher) who spotted me in the grocery store (and who had sometime seen me before at our apartment area) insisted on waiting for me to finish my shopping and then drive me back to our apartment. I haven't seen her since, but maybe she's seen me?? lol

Another lovely gift is those randomly given on some cereal boxes. We have gotten everything from lil fleece blankets (yes blankets!), bowls, spoons, mugs and tea cups, lil garbage bags, plates, pancake flattener, to dish soap and tissue paper! It is so funny and we laugh every time because these large items are just stuck onto one side of the box. So sometimes we have to decide whether we are choosing the cereal we prefer or the gift that's on the cereal box! I wish we had known about these gifts before stocking our shelves with kitchenware!

Also want to mention some winter activities we have found while we have this cold weather....sledding, snowball fights, making snowmen and snowangels; an indoor fitness center near our apartment that has swimming pools, a basketball court, an indoor gym with treadmills, bikes, weight machines, free weights and a room to do abs, yoga, etc.; a new invented sport by our neighbor Paul, called Purling (a cross between curling and putting. You buy green putting turf (very inexpensive, maybe 10,000 won/ $10, a putter, and about 18 golf balls and color half of them different colors to make two teams. The closest ball to the hole gets a point, as well as the other two that are closest to the hole, and a match is when you reach 5 points on your team, which means your team wins the game. Multiple games are played with nine shots hit for each game by each player until one reaches 5, and 2 matches won out of 3 means you are the winner. This will most likely be a new indoor game that we'll play at each other's apartments until we can play outside again on the beach! :)



I was just informed as we speak that today is officially a red bean day. This means that Koreans will eat red bean soup, and other food/treats that have red bean cooked into it. It is a special day that happens each December 22nd to scare the bad spirits away. Very interesting. I wonder if Mrs. Hyun is saying this to encourage me to go each the red bean soup for lunch. Unfortunately, I have been having less and less of an appetite to eat Korean-style food. So for the last few days of lunch, I have either brought some food or snacks or go to lunch but nibble on everything. I am hoping this is just a phase. Some other EPIK teachers have gone through this at different times of the semester also...trying to get used to the food or taking a break and eating more western food. Luckily, Keith has not had a problem with his appetite. hehe He's always hungry for more pork and spicy food!

Good news, just had lunch and ate a delicious bowl of Indian curry (chicken with vegetables and rice)= probably my favorite lunch we have here! Hooray, it's another good day. Happy red bean day!

Sledding on an Island??!

Yes, we really did sled on the island. Although Jeju is supposed to be the Hawaii of Korea, tourist advertisement is mistaken about their winter weather. With the wind whipping hard in your face and with it getting to about -3 degrees celcius (25 degrees fahrenheit), it has been getting pretty chilly and hard to handle here with the few winter clothes I have. Fortunately, I bought a warm peacoat, a few hoodies, boots, sweaters, a hat and gloves...all for reasonable prices. Some days its warmer too....I think this wednesday it will get up into the high 50's/ lower 60s degrees farenheit. But this past Sunday (after a few days of resting from the cold weather and from being sick), we were lucky enough to go with our neighbors, Kyla, Mike, Paul and Sunhi to Mt. Halla where we saw all the beautiful snow and made a snow day out of it!

We took long winter wonderland walks in the beautiful snowy forest area, where the beautiful galdae reed still was blowing in the wind around the mountains. There we found a private area to sled and in several different places on small hills tried to make a fast sledding lane. Keith used his powerful strength to pull me as fast as he could down each mountain and on the way to the next place to sled!! Talk about a fun way to hike Mt. Halla! We also all made snow angels, and had some snowball fights, and also had a competition...girls and guys to make the best snowman. Curvacious (the snow"woman") against Big Head (the snow"man")! They both ended up looking great! Check out the pictures from our snow day! The night ended with hot chocolate, a steamy hot shower and getting cozy and warm in bed with our new soft comforter and heating pad on the highest temperature! :)

Finally a video of our apartment! Take a look!

OMG! OMG! OMG!

"Realize your youth while you have it. Don't squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you!"

The students at my school have finished their 3rd day of finals and have one more to go! Wahooo! It's nice because I have this time off from teaching, so while all the other teachers in the building are running around with test packets and scantrons, I have peace and quiet in the office.

To all the hard-working 1st and 2nd graders who studied so hard and now are facing the 4 day test...Congrats!! Poblecitos:( Poor little things! However, they all seem to be in a good mood with the weather not too cold and the sun shining. As I walked outside today for some fresh air, all the boys'

classes had their windows opened and all I could see were their heads sticking out the window and all yelling "Hi Tina Teacher! I love you!" And meanwhile, I see another boy who actually climbs out the window (this is from the 3rd floor), onto the ledge to grab his fallen sandel (their "slippers" that they wear in the school). Oh, those silly boys! The things they can get away with! :) Kids would never be able to climb out of the window in the US! Well, anyways, the kids are so cute and it's been a nice day.

During these days off of teaching, I have perfected my winter camp lessons that will be beginning the 1st week of January. I'm very excited to have my own small class of about 8-10 well-behaved students. Plus I have lots of fun activities and games that I'm even looking forward to! The last few days have also consisted of me spending two 45-minute classes with three of the top students at my school who will be going to the foreign language high-school (which is difficult to get into) next year. I

chose a topic each day and we had a good discussion. It was interesting when we talked about inventions today. We discussed the meaning of

civilization, the powerful and life-changing impact of

the light-bulb and of stitching. The students also explained what they would like to invent for the future. One student said a robot to carry her heavy bag to school. Another student said something to control her dreams so she cannot have nightmares. And another student said a vending machine that served free food, drinks, and clothes to everyone. :) Smart kids! We finished the class talking about the positive and negative effects of inventing the airplane, school, and plastic surgery. I was impressed with their answers. I love talking about the future and thinking about how things might be, as well as the impact inventions bring. Friday we talked about movies and TV and the positive and negative influence they bring. Tomorrow, our last day of discussion, will be centered around friendship...the meaning, the definition, the influence they bring.

This past weekend was full of relaxation, yet was ironically very productive as well. Keith and I finished our planning for our busy 4 countries winter vacation. After speaking to other English teachers who have already visited these areas, and doing lots of research online, as well as reading some travel books, we now feel like we know the places we want to see, the fun activities we want to do, and we understand how to travel efficiently and how to manage our time while on our trips. After being at the coffee shop for several hours, Keith left early to head back to the apartment, while I did a little x-mas shopping for my co-teachers and other staff at school. Keith went back to finish preparing an early b-day/x-mas/2 year anniversary surprise he had been planning for me with the help of his co-teacher, G-Won. I was so excited and when I finally was allowed to come back to the apartment, I went inside to see a really nice smoothed and polished mahogany shade of brown low table for our apartment with comfy seats/chairs to match for sitting on the floor Korean-style. There was also a plush velvety rug to match our apartment underneath the table. It was the perfect gift.......a place where we can eat, have our special tea or coffee time to chat, or for me to use when I'm working on my laptop, or to watch movies from, etc....it's pretty sweet!! And it will always remind me of being in korea for my 24th b-day. Along with the gift, he also got me a heating mat for our bed since I'm always cold. I'm in love with it!!! After receiving a gift like that, I honestly feel like an adult. Furniture for my b-day? A huge gift like that? What happened to a picture frame and a rose? It was so thoughtful of him and compliments our place....it feels like home and it's so nice for us to finally say we have our first little place together. And now it's nicely decorated and we're living comfortably.

My x-mas/b-day/2 yr. anniversary from Keith! :)

So to catch you up with more events going on in my life right now, I can just tell you that my head has been spinning! I've had a hard time falling right to sleep because there's so many exciting things on my mind and celebrations approaching! I just finished X-mas shopping for my teachers and making their home-made X-mas cards. I am giving little gifts to my principal, vice-principal, and my four main co-teachers. Plus I will make a huge bowl of puppy chow for the entire staff the last day before winter break, as well as giving them a packet of hot chocolate with marshmallows (very, very difficult to find here!) with a little note that says, "You've been bad so here's the scoop, all you get is snowman poop." Hopefully my teachers won't think I'm crazy and will understand the humor!

Keith is having his co-teachers over for a home-made delicious Italian dinner on Friday, so I'll be there by his side, helping him host it. Can't wait! And now we have a place to sit Korean-style on the floor!

Also, I just bought a bunch of cute gag gifts that I will be giving to the students who's names I pull out for their lottery next week. Starting this wednesday until next tuesday, all my final classes will consist of me watching a Simpson's episode 19 times (oh my!!)since my students have earned their English "TV Show Day".

Then, once break is here, it's already Christmas Eve, then Christmas. I think my whole building will be having a small celebration. There's about 9 of us in the apartment complex and we're talking about each floor making a different cocktail, and everyone sharing food and holiday treats, while watching x-mas movies, listening to x-mas music, and maybe fitting in some x-mas games as well, plus doing a secret santa....just a little holiday spirit with a x-mas cocktail party. Then the next morning we'll be getting together again for a late brunch on x-mas morning.

For my birthday (only 2 weeks!), I think we'll probably go out for sushi rolls at this Japanese restaurant called California Sushi, with a group of our friends and then head to the bars for some white russians:)...plus then the next day is new years...which is hUGE here...their biggest holiday! Then I have 3 weeks of my winter camp, and wahooooooo our first big winter vacation is already here!!!

These are only half the things going through my head!!! Can you understand now why I can't sleep?? Well, have to go now because my school day is over and teachers are starting to head off, but will finish writing next time!

This is the cute x-mas dog that my parents sent! I brought it to school and had the janitor (who works in the copy room and takes care of other things) help me unscrew the back with his screwdriver and then when he put the batteries in, he was laughing so hard and liked it too! Then, when I played it at home for Keith, the dog was rolling all over our wooden floors and into my arms.....we were both cracking up! We love our new puppy Doof!! He's our goofy X-mas dog, Doof!! :)

Doof, our new Christmas puppy!!!!

Dooooooof!

The Dream Match + Korean pop concert

Last Friday I saw New Moon! It just came out here and I was super excited about going, especially since I've read all the books and have been looking forward to all the movies. I went with friends in my apartment and two English teachers at my school, so there was about 8 of us. It was wonderful! Won't give anything away, but all the shirtless actors did an amazing job! :)

On Saturday, Keith and I got a ride from our neighbor, Paul and his girlfriend, down to the soccer game in Seogwipo. This specific game, called The Dream Match, was supposedly a big deal and one of the biggest events on the island this year. This is because they were playing a Chinese team which was made up of mostly people that came from North Korea. Since Jeju's soccer team is really bad, there were tons of free tickets given out at Family Marts (convenient stores) and on the street by the Tangerine mascot himself. We were able to get tickets, but they did go fast because the game was also supported by about 9 new and popular Korean pop bands. I have no clue how all of this was free and how the soccer team/singers were able to earn anything from this??? But it worked out that this event that all of our friends met up at and where I would be able to watch my very first concert (s) overseas, was all FREE. :) This makes up for all the money we spent on fancy meals last week. The game was a little boring, but we won 2-0, it was a nice social time and we got to see very popular Korean bands (and I knew the songs too because they're always on the radio, bus, playing by my students, etc.). From what my students told me, some of them went and most of them watched the bands on TV. The singers were crazy though! They were wearing shorts/skirts on top of thin leggings and it was frickin cold that day and very very windy! It was cute though, because so many kids (and some of the singers) were wearing huge animal paw mittens...this seems to be in right now, along with animal hats, like lions, pigs, bears, etc. It's so cute! I might have to get some.

That Saturday night, after watching this hilarious and disgusting Japanese Horror Film called The Machine Girl, at Paul's apartment, we all went to Open Mic night. It was at a bar about 20 minutes away, and they only have these nights once every 2 months. There were about 50 people all in this tiny relaxing bar with couches and tables. We knew most of the people (almost all foreigners), and it was neat to see each person perform something different. Some people sang, played guitar, read poems or stories. And Paul's girlfriend's brother, who supposedly won a huge contest in all of Jeju, did a Korean rap song, which was so cool to watch. Had no clue what he was saying, but I could tell he definitely knew what he was doing. It was a good night of catching up with people and enjoying the music.

On Sunday, Keith and I walked over to a nearby church with our neighbor Kristin. This was the first time going to this church, but really enjoyed the service and have decided to continue going to this one. Not only is it 5 minutes to walk to, but there's an actual English minister and service which is in a separate room than the Korean service, so there are many foreigners and some Koreans that speak English very well. I even bumped into one of my students in there! I was so impressed that she could listen to the English service and was practicing her English skills this way! Wow. Devoted! I love it. Also, the people there were all so caring and I can just tell this is the kind of community I want to be around when I go to church. They will also be starting small groups in January if I wanted to join one. Keith and I then went out with a friend from EPIK that also goes to our new church, for Hobang Toast...this amazing little restaurant that cooks the most delicious egg, onion, ketchup sandwich on a type of whole wheat bread. It's what I look forward to each weekend! ha

The rest of the weekend was relaxing, catching up with groceries, laundry, cleaning the apartment...the usual for Sundays. I also went to check out this gym that's right next to Sarabong, so very close to us. I loved it. It is only 1,800 won ($1.80) per day, so I've decided to go there a few times a week during this cold winter on the days I don't want to run outside, and for weights, swimming (they have a pool!) and to play b-ball with Keith maybe on the weekends at the b-ball court they have. I was so happy to find this gym, because after skipping most of last year's winter b/c of student teaching in Texas, I forgot how difficult the cold weather can be. It makes you not want to go outside and workout. Fortunately we have our winter trips to warmer places, so we'll have to just look forward to these dates.

I just found out my parents are going to Costa Rica during the winter! Good for them. It's amazing when people take the time to travel and enjoy themselves. It will be good for them to get out of the cold Chicago weather and get some sun.

This week is my last week of teaching for the semester. I can't believe how fast time flies. I prepared review games for the beginning of this week for students to be ready for their finals. Finals are a big deal here and teachers as well as students take it very seriously. Sometimes students will study a month or so in advance. After the finals next week, most of my classes have earned their TV Show Day. I am going to try to find the Simpsons show with Korean subtitles because all of my students loooove that show. Then it will already be Christmas time and then my birthday and New Years! So many celebrations.

I also just got a package in the mail yesterday from my parents. I was speechless because I was so surprised to find a small Christmas tree, decorations, a Christmas singing dog stuffed animal, Christmas socks, stockings for me and Keith and little Christmas presents for under the tree. It was the sweetest thing ever! My co-teacher was smiling and laughing as well and guessed that my parents probably miss me. I just put up the tree in our apartment (me and Keith's first tree! aww) and put the wrapped Christmas presents from my parents and from Keith's mom underneath. I think this Christmas will be very different because we won't be at home and will be missing everyone so much, but we will just have to make it special and keep the traditions going here in Korea.

So I found out great news. EPIK teachers are supposed to teach winter camp(s) during the students vacation period...last week of December until March 1st. Fortunately, I will be teaching a winter camp only for the first three weeks of January. It will be for 14 days, for only 2 hours a day for only 10 students...the highest/smartest in my classes. Plus, I am using the same chapter book that I used for my early reading class, but just adding on many comprehension and vocabulary activities and games. I'm super excited because I only have to go to school for those 2 hours a day and then we have our vacation time the last 10 days of January and February and instead of having to teach at another school (which our EPIK company could make us do because we're getting paid during the winter break), my co-teacher will have me work a "teacher's workshop". This pretty much means that I will be meeting the English teachers a few times throughout February at a coffee shop or a restaurant, or one of the teacher's homes, and will hold discussions to practice their English and teach them about America. How much fun does that sound?! Much better than teaching at a random school for students who you don't know and who most likely do not want to be there during their break. It will be another opportunity to get closer with my co-workers and learn more about Korean culture, while seeing the similarities and differences with the US.

Well, time for me to get some sleep.... this is hard sometimes because this has been such an exciting year, and will continue to get more exciting so I always have so much I'm thinking about!! ahh Gotta enjoy life while you can!