Take A Chance, Take a Chance, Take A Chance...

Hello to all of my sweet readers! Thanks for taking the time to read this today. I am so sorry I missed out on yesterday! Just know that I am having so much fun and I will always be back to play catch up! 

The past two days have FLOWN by! I cannot believe that a week ago today I was just flying into South Korea. It's seemed so short and like so much time all at once. Only 25 more weeks! (For those of you, counting down! Haha)

Yesterday started off in a very interesting way. We had our TaLK Medical checks. Not exactly sure the purpose but I know that they check for Hepatitis, AIDS, and drugs. We had to have blood drawn, give a urine sample, have a chest x-ray and a full write up on vision and hearing. It was quite the experience! After that, we had quite a bit of free time so I caught up on Skype and homework. 

We went ahead and all went to lunch. If these is one thing I love about here, it is the people I am with. All the new friends I have made through this process are people I will never forget. They are so loving and kind. They will do anything to make sure I never feel sad or alone. SO thankful for them! We learn from one another and enjoy one another. Here is Lizzie at lunch, teaching Laura how to say a sweet message to her boyfriend in Korean! We sent it to him once we got wifi... Haha. He loved it, of course! 

After lunch, we had some really great Korean cultural activites to attend. Emilee and I began in paper craft where we made these beautiful little Korean dolls from paper. They are so cute! Here is my completed doll. I cannot wait to get her home and put her on my bookshelf! 

We then moved on to Korean painting... if you know me at all, you know my ability to do anything artistic is pretty limited. It's seen here. Haha. The end product was supposed to be a flower. Mine looks like... well... not a flower. But my name in Korean is on the left. So, that's cool... right?

I then got a BEAUTIFUL picture from my friend Leslie. She's such an incredible artist. 

Trying to be cool and follow Leslie's lead, I drew a self-portrait. Well, drew a self-portrait is a severe understatement. Butchered a self-portrait might be more correct here. 

What can you do? I'm just glad I am here teaching English and not art! 

After our cultural classes, we then moved to dinner where we had meat and potatoes! Granted, it was a beef steak (kind of like Salisbury steak, but not) but it was still better than fried pork. BLEH! 

Then, as any foreigner would who needs things would, we took a taxi to HomePlus. Only this time, HomePlus held what might be the happiest moment of my life. (No, for all wondering. I didn't meet Nick Collison... some day soon!) 

So, Kyla, Brittney, and I are just walking through HomePlus and I see the most beautiful baby in the entire world. She is wearing animal pajamas which are VERY popular here. It is basically a body suit made of fleece. This little girl, in her dad's arms was dressed as a sheep. I wanted to die. So, as I would, I hold up my camera and ask the man for the photo. (This is something I find hard to recommend... Some people I have met here LOVE it when you ask for their photo. Some hate it. It's a iffy situation.) Luckily, the man says "NEY!!" Which is a "YES!" in Korean. So, Kyla runs up and I nab her photo with her camera. So of course, I have to go next. I run up, and Kyla takes my photo with the sweet family. 

Then, out of no where, like a miracle from the baby gods, the man looks at me and gives me his baby. Let me repeat that. The man looks at me and GIVES ME HIS BABY!!!!! After this moment, I knew I could die happy. I got to hold this brand new baby and play with her for about a minute and a half before she began to cry. I gave her back to her dad, of course, and we thanked them more than I have ever thanked anyone in my entire life. I now know I need a Korean child to be happy. Here I am playing with the sweet little one! 

HomePlus Visit= Life Changed

Take that, Kiyra Baird! 

After the happiest moment of my life, we came back to the University and worked on homework until an early bedtime. A wonderful day for sure! 

Now onto today! Today is Saturday, February 9th, 2013.

Today started off with no bang or spark. For those who don't know, my purpose for being in South Korea is to teach English. The plan of the South Korean government is to encourage English speaking in order to add into the success South Korea is currently undergoing as a nation. I am here to make a difference in the life of a child who maybe wouldn't learn English another way. It is such a humbling experience. 

That being said, I can start my day. We started off, and ended the long, long day with a Practicum. This is almost even too funny to talk about because for my education degree, all we ever hear is practicum, practicum, practicum. Being here and doing these things is great practice for what I am up against when I get back home. Today, the entire TaLK population presented ten minute "mini-lessons" over an English lesson. I did my lesson over lowercase letters (how to write and pick out these letters). It was an okay topic. It's just so different from home because here, they want you to use a game to cement every topic. At home, it is not that way. Here, it is almost a criticism if you do not use a game. It's just very different. 

Okay, so now for the fun part of the day! After practicum was over, we decided to go out for dinner and see Jochiwon on a Saturday night out on the town! Our first stop? A Korean BBQ Restaurant. HOLY COW! Such an incredible experience! It is just as it appears in photo and film. What happens is, you walk in, take off your shoes and sit around two large grills, depending on the number of friends you bring. Here are my sweet friends at the dinner table/stovetop. 

Then, you begin the meal. The restaurant owner came and gave us some instruction on what to do, as well as started our grills and the grease product we were using to prepare our grills. (Imagine, a large square of Crisco). She then puts on the meat and a few veggies just so you can see how it is done. Then she lets you have free reign over your meal. Beef, Onion, Mushrooms, Kimchi, Beansprouts, etc. A GREAT dinner! Here are some more photos:

See those men there at the end? On the right? He asked one of our friends, Trevor, if I was his girlfriend. Trevor responds with "an ney yo" which is "No" in Korean. He then looks at him and then me and points to me and says, "Why? She is a pretty." It's wasn't very great English, but I think it was the sweetest comment I have ever received. This all happening while the owner brings us three bottles of Pepsi and calls it "service". This basically is a welcome to the country and restaurant. It was just three bottles of Pepsi, on the house, but I have never been so shocked and surprised by a gesture in my entire life. 

Have I mentioned how much I love it here?

We then rely on sweet Emilee to pull out her Korean handguide (literally, written on a single sheet of notebook paper) to ask how much for our dinner. It was the perfect ending to a great meal with friends. 

However, we should have known then that the party was not over! We then headed out to find something we have been looking for all week, the 노래방! (Karaoke Bar). Since they are on every corner here in Jochiwon, we found one in no time flat. 

A Karaoke Bar is the U.S. is not the same as a Karaoke Bar here. In fact, they are hardly similar at all. Haha. Here, you walk into a lobby and the receptionist shows you back to a room in a hallway full of rooms with just doors. It's kind of creepy now that I think about it. Haha. Anyway, she shows you into a room with a giant flat screen television, a giant table and couches lining the walls. It is AWESOME! You order drinks (in our case, Cass and Soju) and begin! We had SUCH a fun time today with Karaoke! Here are some photos! 

The back of the room! 

Alex, working the Korean out! Haha

We might be singing ABBA at this point. Haha

Laura and Kyla, rocking it! 

They have food at every turn here. It's nuts! 

The girls are eating peaches with their Soju! 

Definitely ABBA. Haha

Such cute friends! 

Whenever we finally figured out the light situation.

Even though today began less than fun, it evolved into something great! That is something that I am hoping continues during my time here! I cannot believe I have been gone a week, but I am already so excited for the next twenty-five. 

Goodnight, Good Morning to you, wherever you find yourself today. 

Enjoy the day. It's beautiful. (I would know, I already lived in it.)

Kiyana in Korea