More Updates

As of right now, here are some activities that I've been busy with at Jeju Dong Middle School (my school):

-My students are writing penpals to a teacher (a friend of mine, Monica) in the Chicago suburbs area
-It is my last week of teaching for the school year! We are playing a review Super Mario game this week to review all lessons for half of the semester. It' a lot of fun...just like a real video game, so the kids are enjoying it. I was lucky to find the template on a teacher's website called "Waygook.org". The teacher who made it must have spent hours and hours designing it and adding the animation and music.
-Next week, the students have their finals in which I'll be desk warming (sitting in the office at my desk) What should I do during this time? Besides preparing for grad school, planning some lessons and planning our winter trips, I'm thinking of seeing if I can run around the school and do some yoga/ exercises in one of the classes instead of just staring at my computer all day. Hmmm I wonder if they'll let me....
-Then the following week and a half they will be watching Christmas movies and playing some Christmas games/ making Christmas decorations.


Other things that Keith and I have been busy doing:

-date nights
-planning our winter trips (Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines where we plan on getting our scuba diving certificate)
-applying for grad school (we're currently putting our documents together and getting recommendations from other teachers/administrators)
-being active (Keith is still doing kickboxing, along with badminton, ultimate frisbee, rugby and basketball sometimes) (I have been running, going to the gym, doing yoga, pilates, and hiking Sarabong). We also have a bowling tournament/fundraiser coming up. We just hiked Mt. Halla (7 hour hike) and we plan on hiking more olle trails (4 hour hiking trails around the coast). Luckily the weather has been still pretty warm and sunny so we want to take advantage before the cold winter arrives.
-I am doing a hair show in a few weeks (something random that Keith's co-worker asked me if I'd like to do)
-we are signing up and planning our winter camps in January (which we get paid extra for and which are only half days)
-we've been Christmas shopping and sending gifts home
-I just visited my friend Cynthia (who's from Canada) and her new baby twins! She lives with her Korean husband in a pretty little house in the woods/a forest area right outside of Jeju-Si. I wish I had taken a photo to show you (next time!) but her Korean Canadian twins are adorable! I had fun holding and feeding them. Being a mom will be such a wonderful experience in the future! I can't wait... except I can for a few years! :)


I can't believe it's already December 1st!! This weekend, on December 5th, it will be St. Nicholas day. This is the German Christmas holiday in which you put your shoes by your front door the night before and St. Nicholas puts candy and other little things in your shoe. My parents always celebrated this holiday since we were kids so I think I'll make Keith and I put our shoes by the door and see if he comes this year! :)

This week I get to put up our Christmas decorations! Luckily, last year my parents sent us a small Christmas tree with ornaments and a Christmas singing dog toy, and Keith's dad also sent us some Christmas decorations, so it will feel a lil more like Christmas. I think our building/neighbors are also going to do a bunch of holiday activities each Sunday to bring more of the Christmas spirit here to Korea. For example, we're going to do a secret santa, a cookie exchange, a Christmas cocktail party, and a Christmas movie night, etc.

It should be a fun month!

What's new with you?


Oh and Keith has been scaring the bajeebers out of me. Lately, he is a magnet to freak accidents. I'm not sure if I mentioned the slice in his ear last year (from dancing, slipping his hand on a table, and then hitting his ear and slicing it in half! He needed 13 stitches!), but lately bad luck has been hitting him again! He was playing b-ball last weekend and he jammed his pinky so badly that it got bent backwards. His friend had to rotate it back in place. It's healing but pretty bruised and sore. And then there was the day last week that he came home from badminton with blood gushing down the top of his head. I realized it was dried blood, but couldn't stop myself from gasping. He stood up and hit his head on a lower ceiling in the locker room of the gym. Poor Keith! Be careful babe!

Hope everyone is healthy at home and avoiding freak accidents!

Beautiful Mt. Halla -2nd time around

This Sunday Keith and I hiked Mt. Halla- the highest mountain in all of South Korea, 1950 meters tall- for the 2nd time! We went with 3 of our friends, Kyla, Leanne and Avy. We took a different path this time, which was called Baengnokdam, and we found it to be a much more pleasant hike with amazing views and beautiful scenery throughout the whole 4 hour hike up!

We got a late start, beginning our hike at 9:10am and got to the top by 1am. The way up was pretty warm, since we had so many layers on and we were pretty hot from our hike, however the top was freezing and very windy! There was even some snow at the top, but no water in the crater this time. We got very lucky because there were barely any clouds in the sky so we were able to see all over the island in the distance. Keith and I pointed out Sunrise Peak, Udo island, Iho beach, our apartment and Sarabong mountain from the top view to Avy, who is new on the island. We couldn't believe we could see so clearly off in the far distance. We only stayed at the top for a few minutes because of the cold weather and since everyone was told they had to start heading back down to make it to the bottom before the sunset. It took us about 3 hours to head back down, which made it a total of 7 hours for the hike. We reached the bottom at 4:30pm, then headed to our favorite mexican restaurant, Zapatas, for their huge burritos. Keith and I then headed to chocoart for a small chocolate treat to reward ourselves for conquering the difficult challenge!

Overall, the hike was very difficult, leaving us very, very sore that night and the next day. However, the experience is a perfect example of how amazing Jeju's nature is, as well as how much there is to do each weekend on this island. It was a fun and relaxing challenge and I really enjoyed seeing the pretty forest trees, plants which were still alive, and hearing the birds singing all the way up. I also love the fact that I could enjoy nature while also getting to know some really nice and down-to-earth new EPIK teachers. We shared lots of stories and experiences of the places we've traveled to and lived at. It's always interesting to me to hear about others' adventures in life and countries that we have yet to travel to.

Another great weekend with my husband in Jeju!

Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! We first started the weekend out by seeing my parents on skype Friday morning early at 7am before we left for work. Since it was Thanksgiving in America, all of my relatives were over at my parents house having Thanksgiving dinner. It was so nice seeing all of them and catching up by talking with them through the webcam. We also had a nice chat on skype with Keith's mom Sunday night and hope to talk to Keith's dad soon.

On Friday night, we had everyone in our building over to our place for Thanksgiving. There were about 10 of our friends and we had a potluck style dinner. Everyone brought a different dish. Luckily, everyone in our building can cook really well. We had a delicious tomato veggie soup made by our friend Dominic, who's from New Zealand (it was his first Thanksgiving ever!). We also had a broccoli, almond, raisin salad, delicious home-made pumpkin pie, deviled eggs, chicken teriyaki veggie sandwiches made by Keith, a yummy macaroni dish, scalloped potatoes, cheese and crackers, corn, chicken, shrimp and veggie skewers, and a few other delicious dishes. What a feast!

After dinner, everyone stuck around late to play poker. We all had a great time!

Things I am thankful for:

-my AMAZING husband!
-our dream wedding come to reality
-My family for being supportive of my traveling and living overseas
-All my friends at home and new friends in Jeju
-skype!
-a wonderful job
-the many opportunities that living overseas has brought me
-the endless activities on Jeju
-Parmesan cheese here in Jeju!
-my health
-happiness each and every day!
-the new lil kitten, Sam, that my neighbor just got! :)
-traveling, learning and trying new things!
-safety from living on the farthest island from North Korea
-the beautiful nature and outdoor activities here in Jeju
-Mt Halla, olle trails, sarabong
-the amazing people I have met here and while traveling
-my wonderful co-workers, students and school
-the respect that teachers are given here
-my freedom and rights as a US citizen
-my ability to speak English and my teaching degree
-being able to live life to its fullest and follow my dreams











All our neighbors at our apartment for a Thanksgiving potluck feast!











Cheese and crackers for an appetizer.

















Pumpkin pie, stuffing, corn, potatoes, broccoli salad, cranberry sauce, macaroni dish, etc. I was really impressed with our neighbors' cooking talents. It was all so delicious.
















































Plenty of wine and juice.
























Keith cooking in the kitchen. He made chicken teriyaki sandwiches with grilled veggies.

















Cheese and crackers, wine, juice, chicken/shrimp and veggie skewers, croissants and deviled eggs.












Kyla and Abby!













Sam, our neighbor's cute lil cat.












Playing poker.

San Kumburi Volcanic Crater

What a fun weekend! First, on our way home after teaching on Saturday, we saw three little Korean kids dressed up in front of our apartment in the traditional Korean clothing, hanbuk. They must have been on their way to an important event or celebration (maybe a wedding?). They were so cute! After saying hi to them and then grabbing some dulce bibimbap/Korean food for lunch, we went with our neighbor Abby to San Kumburi Volcanic Crater. The small orum/crater is popular at this time of the year and is especially well-known for its fields of galdae reed. Honeymooners come to this hiking area/park to take walk the paths that surround the beautiful galdae reed. It's a great opportunity for newlywed photos.

With Keith leading us, we decided to venture off the beaten path. And what did we find? Horses...all pregnant horses! They were beautiful horses, all different colors. One looked like Black Beauty, while the others were black and white or brown and white. The horses had big bellies and were shorter than the horses you would find back in the US. We spent a good amount of time petting them and feeding them grass, which they loved and padded the ground with their hooves for more.

I love animals so I was very excited when we saw them. Actually, I was most surprised since they were far off in the fields and Abby's whistle and Keith's deep "horse" call, attracted their attention and brought them over to us. This is when we found out that Abby's family back in Indiana live on a farm and actually raised several horses and still have one today. So Abby knows lots about horses and can read them very well. No wonder they came over to us. They must have sensed her knowledge and love for them.


That night Abby went back to her place, and Keith and I met up with our other neighbors, Kyla and Mike. We went to our favorite sushi restaurant and then went to the movies and saw the new Bruce Willis movie, Red (also starring Mary-Louise Parker and John Malkovich). It was a good action movie but hilarious at the same time!

On Sunday, I shocked myself by finishing all my Christmas shopping! It was the quickest x-mas shopping that I've ever done! Keith also finished his Christmas shopping. We still need to make our x-mas cards and then we can send everything home by mail.

How's the weather in Chicago? It's getting colder here. It's coat weather and soon-to-be hat and glove weather. What's getting my mind off the cold though are the vacation trips we booked for this upcoming winter break! We're taking a 9 day vacation at the end of January to Malaysia and Singapore. Then for about 7 days at the end of February we are going to the Philippines where we plan on getting our scuba diving certificate. So much to look forward to! I can't wait!

Hope to hear from all of you through e-mails! Please keep us up-to-date on your own lives in Chicago! Miss you all!