New Adventures

Hello!
An update is long overdue.
I like bullet points
. I made it home from China
. I made it home from Korea
. I totally enjoyed my trip to see friends all over the US and Canada
. I enjoyed my time at home
. Helped Nili make an award winning science fair project
. I embarked on my new 6 month contract aboard the Caribbean Princess
. Merry Christmas
. Happy New Year
. Life is pretty grand!


Ok . So. I am really enjoying life onboard the Caribbean Princess! My job is fun! My friends are awesome! I attend the Christian Fellowship (most weeks), I am (slowly) learning Spanish. But I am desperately trying to hold onto my Korean in case I ever go back. The days really fly because I never have a full day off, so there is not a lot of boredom. It is very expensive for me to go ashore. Taxi's and meals out and shopping... OH the shopping.
Funny story,
Today I had to go out and buy new black work pants because my other pair is ruined. I accidentally sat in glitter glue at work. (can you tell I work with kids?) My pants were ruined, and my bum was sparkly for the rest of the day, so I just tied my jacket around my waist and kept going.
Well, gtg. keep me updated!
Happy valentines day!
Lauren the Adventurer

CHINA

Hello all!
I know it's been a long time, but things have been crazy at work. I can't wait to come home!

News...

The giant 50 day trip to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia has been postponed indefinitely. But I am still saving up!

I got a JOB at Princess Cruise Lines as a FULL TIME youth staff! I am so excited! I embark near the end of October if all goes as planned.

I am coming HOME!!!! Around the 15th of September and I'm going to try to see everyone! But family first!

I got a NEW camera! YAY! I really needed one, my old one has been falling apart for years!

And in Final news and the reason I am posting this edition of my Blog is to document my little big trip! I am currently in the airport waiting for my flight which leaves in 30 minutes to go to China!!

So about the trip
I am spending 2 and a half days in Beijing. For the first day, I have hired my own personal tour guide (only 30 dollars for the whole day!) Her name is Jenny and she speaks nearly perfect English. Together we are going to see the Forbidden City, and Tienanmen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. Then we are heading to a silk factory to get a custom made evening gown. I am very excited about that! I have always wanted a gown that actually FITS! And I am going to need one for the cruise ship. I am thinking royal blue, asymmetrical design, with a lighter blue sheath over it. But we will see.
On day two I am taking a group tour to THE GREAT WALL! My tour goes to a portion of the wall that is supposed to be less crowded called Mutianyu. We will see how it goes! I will take lots of pictures!!
Then day three I am going to Shanghai around 2:00 ish. I'll arrive in Shanghai around 8:00.
ALL FOUR DAYS in Shanghai are going to be devoted to the WORLD EXPO!

This is something I am super excited about!
It's supposed to be amazing!!
Here are some links to sites and videos about the EXPO.

http://en.expo.cn/#&c=home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX_Wsh3MUpk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t02giLzaj4w&feature=related

Anyway, I am going to attempt to update this blog with pics and news about my trip each day.
So here goes!
DAY 1

I originally planned to fly out at around 7:00 pm on Saturday the 24th because I wasn't going to get out of the scheduled Kindergarten overnight camping trip till 2 in the afternoon on Saturday. However, it POURED all day on Friday so the Kindy camping trip was cancelled. Giving me lots of extra time to possibly go to China early. I thought about it and called China Southern to see if there were any earlier flights available. I found out that YES there were. They told me to arrive at the airport at 9:30 and I'd be able to transfer to an earlier flight. So I got up at 5:30 and got on a bus to the airport. Arrived at said time. Went to the China Southern Desk. They said, "is impossible due to codeshare with Korean Air. You must go to the Korean air desk." (this was after waiting in line for 15 minutes) Then went to the Korean Air Desk and the representative, (who spoke much better English) said, "You were misinformed, we can't help you at this desk, it's a China Southern Flight!" But she was very nice so she called China Southern for me and talked to someone. Then told me to go back over there and They would put me on the standby list for the earlier flight, which was already full. She also warned me that my chances of getting on did not look good. I told her no problem, that I was used to getting bumped because my mom worked for Delta Airlines and I have flown Standby my whole life. But I was resolved to try because if you don't try you certainly won't get on!

Funny stories and Greetings to all!

Hello and happy new year, valentine's day, and birthdays to Mom, Dad, Urvashi, Paige and Evelyn. (By the way Andrew, I was SOO happy to get to talk to you! I miss you both so much! we need to be in better contact! Evy! I don't know why you don't like skype but I wish you'd get over it so we can communicate... It is so dull without you in my life! AND PAIGE!! I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU! YOUR ARTWORK IS SPLENDID, MAGNANIMOUS,GORGEOUS AND EVERY OTHER WORD I CAN THINK OF!!! Everyone look at this it's lovely!! http://roguedoe.wordpress.com/
Tracy and Ian, it has been over a week since our last chat, we are due! I miss you! and EMMA CONGRATS ON GETTING MARRIED!!! O LOVE YOU SO MUCH BEST WISHES CONGRATS CONGRATS CONGRATS!! )
So three funny stories from today about how much I love my kids (there is a distinction between loving my job and loving my kids, I adore my kids, my job is OK)
So there is the kid in the kidy program who hates school and never pays attention or speaks in class, unless it's in Korean and he is goofing off. BUT today he did the funniest thing!!! We were in Storybook, and we are currently reading the GREATEST Story by Eric Carle (same guy who wrote "The Very Hungry Caterpillar") It is called "From Head to Toe" and we were reading and doing the motions. (I am a monkey and I wave my arms. Can YOU do it? I CAN do it! ) And we were being crocodiles and wiggling our hips when this kid, who I remind you rarely says anything, gets up and yells, "I can Do it!" climbs onto his chair and stars doing this hilarious dance where he wiggles his knees and claps his hands by swinging his arms around and passsing his hands in front of his eyes... I can't even explain it! I belly laughed for a good thirty seconds before I told him to get down. Oh it was HILARIOUS! I had no idea he had it in him! Another hilarious thing happened when we were kicking our legs like donkeys... One of the kids shoes flew across the room because she kicked too hard and suddenly the air was full of shoes because all the other kids thought it would be a great idea to kick their shoes as high as they can also! Luckily we are in Korea, where their inside shoes are only soft slippers or it could have been dangerous! I belly laughed again (prolly 10 seconds this time) before telling all the kids to retrieve their slippers and mine and put them on again. THEN in my afternoon classes I mildly chuckled at a few things I saw and read. I have one class that is all boys about age 10 and they think they are the coolest things to strike the earth. also you must remember they re korean and cannot pronounce L's or R's if you paid them to. We are learning about -er and -or suffixes. and we were filling in sentences that had words blanked out of them. One of the sentences was, "I play baseball, I am a __________." and when all of them read it in unison they finished the sentence with, "I am a PLAYA" LOL It makes sense when you think about it, but it is funny! The other thing was in that same class we were reading a story about an actor who was coughing and coughing. It was to illustrate the concept that "gh" sounds like "f". well one of my kids has a very loud voice and when he reads he commands the attention of the room, but he does not pay attention to me when I teach. so he did not realize that "gh" sounds like "f" so when it comes his turn to read, he says in stentorian tones, "Then the actor began to COUCH. He COUCHED and COUCHED. Every COUCH made him bend his head to his knees." MANALIVE! poor actor! I would hate to be couching so hard that I bent my head to my knees!!! Any ways those are the funny stories from today! I will try to keep you posted!

In other news, my work computer DIED today, like take out the hard drive and have a funeral dead. So now I am sharing a computer with my co worker... which will be interesting! I am not sure how that will work! OH and Christine left and we got a new co-worker. He is very nice and his name is Mark. He is from South Carolina and is very deep south in every mannerism except for his accent. He is very cute, and very nice! But he is not a Christian, and a smoker, so he is not the guy for me. Sadness. oh well. He is out there somewhere! Oh also, I am planning to come home for two weeks in September. Somewhere between September 1st and September 20th. So Let me know what you're up to and we can hang out! FREE YOUR CALENDARS! I MISS YOU ALL!!! Then I am picking up another contract in or near Seoul. I am saving up for a HUGE 50 day trip in September of 2011!!! I am SOO excited about it!! Here's the URL!!

MY BIG TRIP!!

Skype me! I miss you!
Lauren

Hilarious!!

I just saw the most hilarious and TACKY thing for sale on the internet!!



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wait for it!!


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A CHIA OBAMA!!!!


(collapses into paroxysms of helpless laughter)


OMG!! AND IT GETS BETTER!!!!!

https://www.americanchia.com/flare/next?etag=CBS

Go to this site and laugh till you burst at the placid announcer telling about showing pride and support with the special edition presidential CHIA!


Great American Presidents and a great American symbol (they mean chia)


Now with convenient drip tray!!
(collapses into further paroxysms of helpless laughter)

Now featuring
Washington
Lincoln
Obama
HILLARY
and the Statue of Liberty!!!
All with a nice "crop" of hair!!!

(collapses into further paroxysms of helpless laughter)

You can display it on your desk!
Show how proud you are to be an American with Chia today!!!

(collapses into even further paroxysms of helpless laughter)
I love our country!

changes

Ok I lied... This will be a novel...
So things at work have been nuts since I stopped posting the first time. My boss implemented a homework policy meaning we have to create over 28 worksheets each week and also make tests and quizzes and grade all these things. The other foreign teacher became dreadfully ill and everyone was up in arms on her behalf because the bosses would not let her miss work even though she had a high fever and coughing and sneezing and general misery times 1000. Meanwhile I am traveling to Seoul every weekend to attend church which I love! And I have just been given the responsibility and joy of teaching a children's Sunday school class in English. I went on an AMAZING weekend trip which I halfway blogged about. So back at work every one is angry and the other foreign teacher is just starting to recover. I teach my first and second sunday school class and go to my first movie in Korea (2012). Then everyone started fighting. Several of the kids caught swine flu and we closed the school for a week but we still had to come. My two korean co-workers got screamed at for no reason and gave notice, my boss threw a phone across the room, and my other boss smashed a window with his hand. Then things got more tense as my korean co-workers got royally screwed over by both bosses, ending up having basically worked the entire last month for free. Then a Christmas pageant was created and our lives began to revolve around Christmas speeches, songs, dances, and plays. Then they changed the entire schedule cutting out all phonics and learning to focus entirely on the Christmas pageant... While the bosses and the korean co-teachers continued to rage at one another and new teachers began to parade through the office... Leaving me nicely caught in the crossfire. A week ago I was ready to quit.... Then something inexplicable changed (I have no idea what) I am now blithely going to work each day in a relatively happy mood. (It might have something to do with Christmas being so near) The co-teachers are leaving tomorrow... and we are having subs till the new teachers start on the 21st... my five year olds have memorized their lines... almost... and I can now speak in sentences in Korean! My Sunday school class is going very well. And I love my church! The new teachers seem to be very nice. My boss even seems to be fairly decent. My sisters are coming to visit me in a few weeks and I am so excited!! In short everything is changing in a few weeks and we shall have to see if they end up being good changes or bad changes. I miss everyone! Merry Christmas! Skype me!
Lauren the Adventurer

So... I promise I am going to post more often!
I will just post my musings and if you want more info you have to contact me! It was daunting to think of writing a novel each time I sat down... so I stopped!
Today's musing
It is interesting living in a country where healthcare is so cheap. I have been wondering whether to go to the doctor about my knee for about a month now. I fell down on Joowangsan while hiking and bashed it on a rock... it still hurts... But not badly. It just aches whenever it is bent for too long and aches when I put weight on it while bent, and aches when I kneel, and also when I go down stairs... Again, not badly... Its just annoying. So I brought it up to my Boss today and he said, Of course you should go to the doctor! We will get an X-ray and see what is wrong! I said, are you sure it isn't silly to go to the doctor for something so minor? and he said, in a country where it costs 300 dollars for a doctor visit and almost that much for an x-ray, it is very silly, but here it is so cheap you don't have to worry, just go! So I am finally going to find out if there is anything wrong with my knee! It is very interesting that we have developed a whole culture at home of self-medicating because health care is so expensive... There are people who won't go to a doctor unless they are dying... and some not even then... And we wait until it gets "bad enough" before we will even thinnk about going. But here people don't think twice about going for the minorest ailment... I think they are more healthy for it! Interesting... I wonder what it will be like if the health care bill is finally passed back home... Will things change? or is the culture of self-medicating so deeply ingrained that going to the doctor will never be flippant?
Happy December from
Lauren the Adventurer

PS HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CAROLYN!!!! I love you sis!!

WOW! I am actually posting!!

Well... You all probably thought I dropped off the face of the globe! But I didn't, My boss implemented this new homework policy that means i am working very very much harder than I was. So, I've just been too tired or to annoyed to post... most nights. Really life has been pretty boring, just work and home and then work and home and then work again and home again! But I've gone on a couple of cool trips since I posted last... And today something interesting happened.

So I went on an AMAZING trip last weekend!
It was the night before halloween, we took the kids trick or treating to their parents houses. We would ring the bell then yell trick or treat, and then the other teacher would turn on the CD player and all the kids would sing for their parents. Then we yelled trick or treat again, the parents gave all the kids candy, then we all posed for about 15 photos. then we all piled into the van and drove to the next apartment building and the cycle begins again. By the end of the evening I never wanted to hear either of the songs we sang ever again!! and the teachers didn't get any candy! (NOR ANY DINNER) and this event lasted till around 10 PM!!! But anyway, I went to the school, changed out of my costume and grabbed my overnight bag and my purse and my boss drove me to the train station. I've become a pro at taking the bullet train and the subway. I grabbed some dinner at the station and I hopped on the train. I was supposed to be in Seoul at a specific meetup location at midnight.

The promised trip was
an overnight bus ride
amazing lake at 6:30 Am
breakfast
Five hour hike at 8:30 am
lunch
Mask dance at a folk village at 3:00 pm
relaxing evening cookout and sleeping at said folk village
next day, relaxing morning and cookout breakfast
bus at 10:00 am
lunch
Famous caves at 2:00 pm
Dinner at AMAZING korean beef town
then back to Seoul!


It was everything that was promised AND MORE!!!

It was SO AMAZING!

And the fee for the whole weekend (not including food) was $75!!!

I was pretty excited!

let me just show you the photos! Behold!! The Lake! ( I don't actually know which lake this is or where exactly in korea we are, but isn't it PRETTY?)




Then after the lake, we went on a beautiful hike! I almost died on the way up again! But the view at the top was so worth it!


HMM,.... I don't know why, but the blog website won't let me put any more pictures on this post... Which doesn't make sense....

So... To be continued!!

Oh.. but the story from today!
So, the door latch broke on one of the classrooms, locking my co teacher Christine and about 8 students inside the classroom!! There is no other exit from that room and my boss and all the korean teachers were practically going crazy trying to get it open! They were shaking the door and jabbing at it with screwdrivers and videochatting on their cell phones with the various males in their lives who were all trying to give them different advice. After several atempts the door still was just stuck!! it would not come open! We dismantled the doorhandle and tired again... now there was no way it would work. if the handle wouldn't turn there was no way the little square stick was gonna turn easier. But they were trying with a pair of pliers anyway.
I tried several different things too. but when nothing worked, I walked over to the door across the way and began dismantling it. I took apart the handle and saw that there should be two silver things moving when you turn the knob. and on the stuck door only one was moving... so I slid a pair of needle nosed pliers to Christine under the door and had her grab the silver thing and pull while I turned the door handle as hard as I could on the outside. It WORKED!! They were free!! A couple of the teachers hugged me and one said I was a hero... but I was just being calm and the solution was evident, if you knew where to look, in the other door! It was kind of fun for a few seconds, but then I got embarrassed and we all just sat down to have lunch.

Anywho.... Thats my life! I have a ton of fun on the weekend and work each week... but sometimes work gets interesting like today!

Lauren