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

Last weekend, For reals!

The last post was actually about the weekend before last! But some people did not catch on to this...

Updates:
I am taking Belly Dancing lessons every Tuesday and Thursday with my coworker in Cheonan! I love them!! They are so much Fun!! And on my way home it automatically puts me next to the largest dept store in the city every tuesday and thursday evening, which is a blessing and a curse!

I am not smitten with this Erick guy... (so stop bugging me Mom) I think we would be great friends!

I did not actually leave the house today... I really wanted to go to this AWESOME event in Seoul, but somehow i just could not get out of the house today! But I did bunches of laundry and dishes and swept and decorated a bit and watched Mary Poppins! (I LOVE that movie!) It put me in a great mood! But now I will tell you about last weekend!

So last weekend I went to Busan and hung out with Erick (the new friend I met the weekend before last) We went to the beach and to the bookstore and then went to church in Seoul on Sunday. It was cool, the weather was Amazing. But I spent WAY too much money on that trip! The fares are ridiculously expensive! I won't be doing that again for a while!

I like Busan a lot, the fresh wind off the ocean is so beautiful! And the ocean itself was a sight for sore eyes! I really love to look out at that endless expanse of water and just sigh and feel the wind in my face and think about life, the universe and everything. I really do love the sea!

I just like being by it or on a boat on it, not a big fan of being in it.

Unless the water is really clear, then I am happy as a clam (ignoring the fact that clams like muddy water) I hate murky water, not only can you not see what might be about to swallow you whole, (I am skeptical that giant sharks do not eye humans hungrily!) but I also like to see what my body is touching BEFORE it touches me!!!

Nevertheless, and despite the freezing temperatures, we did go swimming, a giant piece of slimy seaweed brushed my leg and I practically jumped out of my skin! Then erick stumbled across a .... well.... just leave it at "something really gross" and we high tailed it out of the water. Then we laid on the beach for a while but the wind kicked up and buffeted us with sand, driving sand deep into my ears and into every hair follicle and forcing me to squint... so we went for a cake at starbucks and had tea that I had in my bag. it was delicious and warming after the cold water.

Then we rode for a while on the subway to meet a friend that Erick knew and to see a beautiful bridge. It has little lights all over it which are REALLY beautiful at night! But I am unsatisfied with the number of stars! We looked and only counted 5, 5! in the whole sky!! I am tired of pollution! The bridge was beautiful, but the friend was drunk and not very fun to talk to, he kept asking me why I was a christian when terrible things happen in the world... I was sandy and hungry and not in the mood for the conversation. and then Erick (in spite of saying we would be back at the apartment complex (I was staying in his neighbors apartment which was vacant for the weekend) by 10) We ended up back at the apartment by 12:30!!!! I was ticked! and we got up at 7 and were very late for church! After paying a LOT of money for a bullet train ticket. and taking an expensive taxi that decided to take a lot of detours "to avoid traffic" right....... anyway... It was a very nice Weekend... (I am reminded of the part in "Into the Woods" where Cinderella describes the prince and the ball...



[CINDERELLA]
He's a very nice Prince.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
And-?

[CINDERELLA]
And-
It's a very nice ball.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
And-?

[CINDERELLA]
And-
When I entered they trumpeted.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
And-?
The Prince-?

[CINDERELLA]
Oh, the Prince...

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Yes, the Prince!

[CINDERELLA]
Well, he's tall.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Is that all?
Did you dance?
Is he charming? They say that he's charming.

[CINDERELLA]
We did nothing but dance.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Yes-? And-?

[CINDERELLA]
And it made a nice change.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
No, the Prince!

[CINDERELLA]
Oh, the Prince...

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Yes, the Prince.

[CINDERELLA]
He has charm for a Prince, I guess...

[BAKER'S WIFE]
guess?

[CINDERELLA]
I don't meet a wide range.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Did he bow?
Was he cold and polite?

[CINDERELLA]
And it's all very strange.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Did he speak? Did he flirt?
Could you tell right away he was royalty?
Is he sensitive,
Clever,
Well-mannered,
Considerate,
Passionate,
Charming,
As kind as he's handsome,
As wise as he's rich,
Is he everything you've ever wanted?

[CINDERELLA]
Would I know?

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Well, I know.

[CINDERELLA]
But how can you know what you want
Till you get what you want
And you see if you like it?

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Would I know?

[CINDERELLA]
All I know is-

[BAKER'S WIFE]
I never wish-

[CINDERELLA]
What I want most of all-

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Just within reason.

[CINDERELLA]
Is to know what I want.



Sunday was better... After church and the free lunch and the free korean lesson.... I was taken out on the town by an older gentleman, his wife and two girls my age, It was super fun, they took me out to dinner and shopping and walking along the man made stream that runs through the center of insadong... At least I think it was insadong.... We stayed out till 6ish, but I still managed to get home by 9ish. I am going to try to get home earlier tomorrow. Well that was my weekend....
Oh and I left my Camera in Busan! That's why it is out of commission!
I miss everyone... Please contact me... I think I'm homesick, or maybe it is Culture shock... Not sure.

Lauren the Adventurer

sleeping i am not!

Just a quick note to say how much I DESPISE yowling, fighting, snarling cats!!!! I wish I could throw shoes!! I want to sleep and sleep is NOT gonna happen till the cat chorus dies down! It's been going for a good forty minutes already! You would think they'd lose their voices!!
ERGH!
Goood night!
Lauren the (sleep deprived) adventurer

The weekend.... That was interesting

So last weekend was a little nuts... I came home rather exhausted....
ANd no pics, my camera is currently out of commission, one of the reasons for the long wait... but I will post pics in a frenzy later!!
Crazy Weekend (the 12th and 13th) Updates....
I started out the day at my friends place getting ready to go to the cool market she told me about, however then I find that the market is completely across town from the taikwondo exhibition and I don't want to miss that! So I skip the market and head to the taekwondo exhibition, unfortunaetly my friend lives on the far side of town from everything, so the subway ride was an hour long. Good thing I had a good book. Then I emerged from the subway just in time for a GIANT Thunderstorm! Lightning almost hit where I and the other would be taekwondo watchers were huddling. so we huddled back farther under shelter and watched people shreiking and running to get out of the rain. Watching people in the rain is very interesting.... There are four main attitudes I noticed, all of which come with a different walk.
1. EEEK! Its raining, This will RUIN my outfit and my brand new HEELS!!!
walk: a high stepping sort of run (like a stork on crack), you can imagine that each step is
accompanied by a tiny squeal as their shoes get wet.
2. It's raining, I am late for business, I will put up my umbrella and ignore it.
walk: a very quick walk, not bothered by the rain but not loving it either... boring
3. Oh no, I don't have an umbrella, I had better use whatever is in my hands to cover my head and get where I am going fast.
walk: They don't walk they run, full out, heads down, books, purses, or coats over heads to
"keep them dry" (yeah right, not in this rain) these are the people who run into other people,
their only thought is to get out of the rain.
4. I don't have an umbrella, and I'm wet, I'm just gonna get wetter, so why worry
I love these people, they stroll along like nothing is happening and just enjoy being wet...
its great... can usually be found carrying shoes in their hands.

So we all sat and watched the rain and the wet people and had some great laughs. Then the rain quit, just like that... and the sun came out! so we all headed over to the temple to see if the exhibition was still going on. It was but it was severely delayed. we all sat down in chairs and then were told to move so the chairs could be moved. then they moved the chairs and we sat again, then we were told to move so the chairs could be wiped down.... ergh!!! we waited in the chairs and watched the dress rehersal for the giant show that evening, called Korea, Sparkling. It looked very interesting, but it coincided with the wedding so I decided to skip.
Finally they put on the taekwondo and it was AWESOME! thinnk people flipping over other people smashing through boards and making applesauce out of raw apples with just one kick!
Trulty amazing, and in between each segment these traditional korean dancers danced with fans and drums and it was beautiful! I loved it!
So I left there and decided I had just enough time to explore the bookstore that I had heard was right nearby, so I headed on in....

....


....


....



can we say heaven on earth?

LARGEST bookstore I've ever SEEN!! I ended up buying a good number of books and enjoyed looking at several others.

So then it was time to head back to my friends apartment, (which is a one hour subway ride away) to change and then head to the wedding, which was on the same subway line.

So I got to Monica's apt. and she is not home and I have the code for the door, but it is NOT working. I tried it about ten times and each time the red light beeped and it buzzed angrily, but then the 10th time it (the lock) started yelling at me in korean!! So I backed away slowly and decided to attend the wedding in my slacks and shirt... It was an ok looking outfit... but not quite fit for a wedding... I ran for the subway station, still lugging my umbrella (though the sky is now quite cloudless) my purse, and my giant stack of books! I hopped on the subway and went to Nowon station.... Which thankfully was only two stops away.... and looked around for the next landmark. . . . . . . . . Kris had told me to go straight out of exit six and I should see a glass building with parking in front. that is the building for the wedding......... It's not there..... and it's 15 till 6!!!! I begged a cell phone off a street fruit vendor and called the number Kris gave me. My co teacher picked up and said "Lauren!!! Where are you?? " I say... I got off at Nowon Station, I exited at exit 6 and the building is not here? is it around the corner or something? She says, "NOWON STATION!!!! That is NOT THE RIGHT STATION!!!".....................

.....................


...................


OH!!!
..................


...................
So I missed the wedding, yes..... I got off at the wrong subway station!!! I was told to take green line 7 to Nonhyeon, WELL.... I almost did, I took Green line 7 to Nowon. (rolls eyes and looks frantically defensive) HEY...The two are VERY similar in sound. But Not only was that the wrong subway station but it was the one all the way across town, on the complete opposite end of line 7, we are talking a 55 minute subway ride from where I was supposed to be!!! In fact, the correct station was right next to where I had been hanging out all afternoon!!!! ARGH!! so I got there just in time to have some food and see the happy couple off. Another exercise in wedding frustration.... so sad!!!

So after that, I headed on out to the california pizza kitchen for a language exchange.... really enjoyed that! made some great new friends. and I learned how to order food in a restaurant in korean... That was the lesson, so it made sense to have it in a restaurant! After the language exchange we all headed to No-Re-Bang!!! LOved it! sang "Somewhere beyond the sea" and "Believer"... and just had a great time... then it was 11 and I thought I'd better head back to the apt... so I can get the subway all the way before it shuts down!

guess what... subway had already shut down!!!
I wandered around inside the subway station and looked lost for a bit.... then this weird korean guy attached himself to me and started telling me that he wanted to be my friend because I was beautiful woman and what was I doing tonight cause he knew a great spot... and he followed me.... ergh... so I hopped in a taxi and said the name of the station at my friends apt. and was away....

thirty minutes and twenty five thousand won later. I am at my friends apt.

I realized that the combination i'd tried earlier was the apt number AND the code.... so I tried the just bottom part of the code and got right in.... the lock didn't even yell at me once!!!

so... weird part. My friend never came home.... I wish she had told me she was planning on staying out all night..... I would have slept in the BED!!! Not on the floor!

Woke up the next morn. called my friend... she's fine.... at the boyfriends.... of course....
Went to church and really enjoyed it!!
I think this is going to be my new home church!
I really like it! and All the people are SO kind!!
NOt only that but after church is free lunch every week and also a free Korean lesson!!
I think they might want me to teach an English language Sunday school for the little kids!
It is amazing! I am glad to have found a church home!
So one of the guys from the church took me out to a famous shopping spot after church and it turned into dinner and a leisurely walk down the street. We really hit it off...

then happened the cool story that I posted earlier.

so what do you think about my weekend?
let me know.... my email is lsk04@ymail.com

Lauren the Adventurer, Signing out

So.. God's pretty awesome

OK so listen how God took care of me the other day!

It was SO COOL!

So I am hanging out in Seoul for the weekend, which is about one hour from my home, the only way to get home is by bus or train... its Sunday night, I have to work the next day... but I was assured by a friend that the buses run all night, so I have no qualms staying out late... then I find out the last bus to my home left at 10 pm..... I am just starting to freak out when we run into some other friends from the church I just started attending... They said.... are you seriously stranded and need to go to CHEONAN? We are going there RIGHT NOW, you just caught us on the way to the car, it is over there! We'll give you a ride... no prob. I spent the whole 1 hour ride listening to awesome gospel music and they dropped me off right at my building! So I got home that night and was not late for work the next day... SO AMAZING! The coolest part is we just ran into them on the street!! We could have missed them so easily! AND they were originally planning on leaving hours earlier, but were unexpectedly delayed till right at that moment!!!

Longer post is coming

I have dubbed it...

last weekend... the cool, the annoying, the great and the ugly

made it to seoul

Just wanted to let all worrying people (mom) know that I made it to seoul safely and I am safely and happily sitting in my friend Monica's apt. having a glass of pineapple juice. I will begin my second grand adventure tomorrow morning. Oh and my boxes arrived. Thank you thank you thank you!! I am so happy to have all my stuff! especially the photos!! and my sneakers, (I hiked last week in borrowed shoes) and my purse strap and ALL THE TEA!!! WOW! so much tea!!! Thanks!
unfortunately customs spilled the cinnamon all over everything so I now have a very spicy sweater, but other then that, everything is here! I love you all! it is midnight, I am going to bed!
Lauren

This week so far!

So I am continuing to settle in to korean life and my school. I love my classes! All except for one... the children are in a book that is way too advanced for them and it is painful looking at their blank faces and wondering how to help them complete the workbook page when they don't understand a word on it. But that is a worry for another day, I only have that class once per week and it is over.
I have now officially done each class at least once. I have been working for one week and i really love it. I would like to find a really quality masters teaching program and go to it as soon as I rid myself of the debt from the undergrad degree!!!

Ok so cool things

I discovered the roof of our building today! My coworker goes up there to smoke, so i thought it would be just a nasty roof, I never bothered to check it out, but I did today! It is so beautiful! the whole roof is painted white and there are planters and benches and you can see as far as the smog will let you! which today was pretty far! really nice new place to spend breaks!

I went to No-Re- Bang with all the foreign english teachers in town tonight!!! It was SOOO amazing! Think kareoke, but in your own private room for your group, with tambourines and drums and funny hats and boas and dancing lights all over the ceiling and a disco ball! Along with all the drinks and food you wish to pay for!!! How great is that!! I sang two songs, Hello Dolly, and Fly me to the Moon, and I rocked both of them!! It is charged by the hour and you and your friends can all split the cost which is negligible anyway! OOOOH it was SO much fun! All the other teachers were very drunk, and they were Sooo funny to watch! I am definetly hooked on No-Re-Bang! I wish we had this in the states!

Before No-Re-Bang, we all went out for dinner complements of the owner of the other english school in town. We were invited because it was a farewell dinner for the two teachers who are leaving tomorrow and we are friends with them, even though they teach at the other school in town. (It is called Appleseed and they are much bigger than our school, but I think we are better.) I really enjoyed dinner! It was my first korean barbeque, they give you trays of raw meat and you grill them right there on your table. I always wondered what these restaurants were before I went to one tonight, because there are shiny metal hoses hanging down from the ceiling over every table! I could not figure out what they were... They are vacuum chimneys, they suck the smoke up from the barbeque so it doesn't bother the patrons. It was absolutely delicious! I had the korean equivalent of a hamburger, you take a lettuce leaf and put it in your hand, then you put on a few pieces of grilled garlic and a few grilled onions, then comes the meat, you just place it on top of everything. You wrap the lettuce leaf around the whole pile in a bundle and take a bite. It was delicious! Then they kept coming with more and more food, side dishes and noodles and rice! I was so full by the time I left!

I got skype!! My name is koreadventurer so email me your names and we can actually talk!! It would be so awesome if you all could get skype cause I miss you so much!! My email is LSK04@ymail.com, if you email me your names we can set up a time to talk and I can video show you my apt.

I am going to seoul again this weekend. I have many things planned! I wil be headed up there on Friday night, and staying the night with a friend. Then on Saturday morning we will go visit an awesome marketplace. At 1:30 I have to be at a Taekwondo demonstration at a royal palace. Then there follows a tour of the palace and a taekwondo lesson. That lasts til 4 then at 6 I will be going to my co-directors and fellow teachers wedding!!! Kris and Heather are getting Married and I've been invited! I am excited to see a korean wedding, although it will prolly be just the same as a US wedding. After that, if there is time, some friends of mine are doing a language exchange with some koreans and then doing norebang!! Well I've found out I love norebang, so I m excited! Ten on sunday I plan to go to Kumnan UMC which is the largest Methodist church in the world with over 120000 members. It is 12 stories and so huge! the english language service is at 9 I think and I plan to go to it. Then I might possibly meet some friends to hang for the rest of the day. or I might go home and collapse!

Also, tomorrow is the staff dinner for our school! It is sort of in honor of my arrival... so that will prolly be fun! they are having at a seafood buffet restaurant in Cheonan. I love seafood but not squid, I tried it today, not a fan! But the tofu soup I can handle!

OK so best and coolest news for last! My director has invited me and Christine to go on her weekend family vacation with them!!!!! They will be going to an island south of the peninsula ad chillin on the beach all weekend on the 19th. She invited us!!! I AM SO EXCITED!! and it was so funy how she asked me to come. She started describing how here family went there last year and how beautiful it was and how not crowded! (for korean's whose 50 million people live on a peninsula 3/4 the size of florida, no crowds is the ULTIMATE escape) she tried to tell me why it was not crowded, and apparently it is because this island is the migration place for about a million giant blue crabs this time of year. So no one goes there. But for Koreans it is very difficult to differentiate between the B sound and the P sound, so she ended up telling me that the island was "covered in crap, many crap, ooh sorry, must have s.... craps, it has many craps, many blue craps." I thought it was hilarious but I knew what she was trying to say so it was ok! But anyway, I am very flattered to be invited and really looking forward to it!

Anyway thats all the updates!!! Hope you all have great days!! I look forward to receiving your emails with your skype names.... Tracy ,I know you gave it to me already, but I forget.... email me again...

Lots of love!
Lauren the adventurer!!!

the craziest weirdest and best weekend EVER!

OH MY GOSH!!! So this weekend was INCREDIBLE!! Let me give you the blow by blow. (You might want to cancel your plans for awhile, this is a long one) Woke up at 6 am on Saturday to catch a taxi to the KTX (bullet train) Station to the catch the 7:17 KTX to Seoul. On the train I got my first glimpse of exactly how polluted the air I'm breathing is! Man the visibility is super low! and it was a clear sunny day! Things just sort of fade away into a mist. but I passed some really great scenery while on the train. Here's some pictures from the train ride. This is what Korea looks like, at least the countryside version. I think you can shift click on them to open a new window with each of them super big if you want to look closer.

so after a 45 minute train ride I arrived in Seoul at Seoul station around 8. I transferred to the subway with plenty of time to spare. (I was supposed to meet the meetup group at 9:15) I took the subway to one of the last stops on the line, I figured was on the right train when lots of hiker looking people started getting on the train. We were supposed to meet right outside the subway station so I exited the station.... in the middle of a group of construction sites..... and wondered if I was in the right place. Wandered back and forth and looked lost for about two minutes till a girl came up to me and asked if I was here for the hiking meetup group... I said yes I was and she said Great! I've been here for 15 minutes already, I over estimated how long it would take to get here. So we both sat and talked until everyone else arrived. Then we all hopped on a bus to the trail head. When we got there, we all gathered in a circle and stretched out, I should have known right there it would be an advanced hike! So.. When I envision hiking, I envision flat! Or at least just hilly! NO no NO! This was mountain climbing! I said... Where's the trail? They said, "UP HERE!" And this was supposed to be afour or five hour hike!!! I can walk at a steady pace on flat ground for 5 hours easy, but this incline? For FIVE HOURS!!! OH well, Hakuna Matata! How bad can it be right? Sometimes you just have to GO FOR IT!!

Apparently it can be pretty bad!

I ended up being the last one in the group, I wanted to turn back so many times but the group had an official "end man" who would not let me. He also never left my side no matter how far behind I fell. I wasn't the only one so far behind, there were three other out of shape Americans with me. One of whom threw up from over exertion I assume. He didn't even let her go back, he said the only way down was up and had her sip water slowly, gave her some saltines and some mints told us all to sit and rest for 20 minutes and then continue at our own pace. Then he called the leader and had the rest of the group wait for us. That's what I love about Korea! Everyone is so nice, and there is cell phone service everywhere! The end guy's name was Alex, he was probably 35-40 and in way better shape than anyone I've seen, he was going up and down the trail, running ahead to deliver things to the head guy then coming back down to encourage us and end the group. So this is me at around 60 meters to the top, two hours into the "hike"

I was already so exhausted i could barely lift one foot in front of the other. But Somehow By God's grace I MADE IT!! The Top was SO beautiful, bar the pollution of course! And when we got up there we were able to relax and eat and socialize, or in my case collapse. For a good hour! Then we moved along the ridge to another peak, stayed there for a good 15 minutes, then moved on to another peak, etc. We must have visited 7 seperate paeaks as we moved along the ridge of mountains. the views from each peak were subtly different and all beautiful! I took so many pics I couldn't possibly post them all here. But here are some of the best!

We began the descent at around 3:00 after doing a big round of group yoga on the last peak. This helped to loosen our already cramping muscles. (BY THE WAY, I can't move.... at all, but more on that later) The way down was SO much easier then the way up but it was much scarier! There were places where we were clinging to those steel cables and decending almost vertical surfaces! with dropoffs at the bottom of course. But then our handy dandy climbing guides were always there (clinging to the sheer rock face with no gear.. of course. ) telling us exactly where to put our hands and feet. One thing is for sure, I am not going Hiking without an experienced guide! there are so many ways you could get hurt if you don't know what you are doing! It took over 2 hours to get down, so by the time we got there, most of us were starving and thirsty and all of us were DISGUSTING and hot and sticky and just UGH! Well guess what we found at the bottom of the trail!!

A wonderful SPRING!

needless to say, we all lost the socks and shoes, rolled up our pants (guys lost the shirts too) and jumped right in! It was reletively shallow and had a gravelly bottom that felt AMAZING on our tired feet. It was so cold and refreshing! We all felt super rejuvenated and sat down in the tent restaurant that is right next to the spring and had a wonderful Korean meal! They brought the main course food to the table and cooked it in front of us. Also there was rice and tons of side dishes and as much water as we could drink! It ended up being around fifteen per prson for pretty much all you can eat and drink! It was Such a wonderful ending to a great hike!! Oh and one of my fellow out of shape americans was named John and is a professional Opera Singer! he regaled with beautiful music while we dined on delicious food!
Then the wonderful organizers of our trip hired vans to take us the rest of the way down. by this timeit was around 7:30. So, I am seriously thinking of staying in the city for the night. I have heard that you can stay overnight in the Korean style spas. They are called Jim-Jae-Bongs I have had an amazing day so far, I might as well continue with an excursion into real Korean culture.

WOW!!!

Was it ever an excursion! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! I might even do it again! I am feeling so liberated!! LOL... let me elucidate... Ok, so first of all, the mens and womens spas are separate, but... completely nude!! No clothes allowed... and the towels are TINY, no coverage there. so you just have to be comfortable and just ... walk around... everyone else is... but that almost makes it worse. I would have skipped the spa part and gone right to sleep, but I was REALLY smelly! I REALLY needed a shower, but the only showers are a line of shower heads on the wall of the huge room that is the womens spa. It encompasses a full service dressing room with combs and brushes, hairdryers, lockers, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, and toothbrushes and various foods and other necessary goods for sale. The wet portion includes a warm pool, a cold pool, a massage table, ( closed due to the late hour) several shower heads, a sauna, a steam room and was very nice... its just the naked people.... but it was ok, I just kept my eyes on the floor and took my shower and tried to pretend I was in a private shower. Then I jumped into the provided bright orange PJs and headed to the sleeping room. It is just that, a sleeping room, you just collapse on the floor and sleep. you can use one of the funky asian wooden neck pillows or you can fold up some towels for a pillow. Then you just sleep. there were actually two sleeping rooms one was very warm, I think it was a semi-sauna, and the other was air conditioned. That part was co-ed, but everyone was clothed, and snoring, and I felt quite safe because most of (clothed) Korea is on closed circuit TV, including this sleeping room. So I just picked a corner and curled up. Yes, the floor was hard. Yes, I woke up several times. But... then again.... I only paid 8 dollars for a Great hot shower, amenities, and a place to sleep for the night! It was quite the experience!!

Anyway, today I woke up, went to a beautiful catholic mass, (food for the soul) starbucks, (food for the body) and then an amazing royal palace called Gyeong- Bok- Gung! (more soul food) It was GEORGEOUS!!! Making one of the best and most interesting weekends I've ever had! But I will tell you all about the palace tomorrow, because I am exhausted and I can't move! My muscles are SOOOO sore! Even though I drank water like a fish all weekend. I hate muscle soreness, but the views and the experiences coming down were so worth ALL the pain and agony going up the mountain and now!! I would do this weekend again in a heartbeat!

TA TA for now!
I love you all!!

Lauren the Adventurer

Teaching and my students

This is the teacher's office, where I spend much of my time while at school. We (teachers) come into the teachers office to chill out between classes, to make copies, to find handouts on the internet and to prep for class. The two other teachers in the picture are Layla (in front) and Ronnie (in back). The school is so cute because each room has a completely dominant color. There is pink, purple, blue (the kids lunch room), yellow, and green (the teachers lunch room). I love it, you walk into a room and you feel like you are in a cloud of that pastel color. And in the afternoon when we close the blinds (which are of course the right color) the room glows in the color. The other rooms are the kids playroom, the teachers office, and the library/ meeting room for new parents. That's it... it is a very small school that only takes up half of one floor of an office building. My first day of teaching it was phonics day, wednesday and thursday are phonics days. and so I got all the books I would need and headed off to class. My first class was awesome. We went through several pages in their workbook with them. My second class was awesome too. They are little ones, 7 and 8, so they were learning less advanced stuff, it was so much fun. But some of the kids in the classes are at different levels, so it is difficult to see those kids struggle with a lesson on phonics, when they barely know their alphabet. The last class was not so much fun, they are in a book that is WAY too advanced for them, but the school won't let them switch books, in fact, they have to finish this book by the end of the month!!! So it is really difficult to push them along through this book, reading them the sentences they are supposed to be able to read themselves, and giving them the answers when they stare at me for long enough with completely blank looks on their faces. That one is HARD. Then my last class on that day was a one on one lesson with boy named charlie who is super quick. I must have finished 12 pages with him. I don't know why he is in the book he is in! It's too easy for him. And that finished out my first day. It was wonderful to be up in front of a class and teaching them about consonent digraphs and vowel digraphs. We played a game where I would point to a letter real quick and they would have to tell me the sound the letter makes. Then I would switch or try to get them to make a mistake by pointing to the same letter twice or switching real fast or whatever, it was fun!! Then yesterday was the same idea, but with an entirely new set of students. I have one set on monday wednesday friday and another set on tuesday thursday friday. (I know I have friday twice, we see all the students for half classes on fridays.) Anyway, I gotta go get ready for school.

Okee dokee!! Long post coming up! I am loving teaching so much!! My first day of actually teaching by myself was partially taken up by a field trip to a grape farm. How the day works is during the first part of the day, from 10:00 till 2:30ish, we have two kindergarten classes. these are the five year old class, (Jimmy, Hugh, and Dennis) and the six year old class (Sally, Henie, Mickey and Jessica) They all choose english names since this is an english language institute. (in the afternoon we got some great ones like Rabbit and Sun) In the afternoon we have different groups of elementary schoolers each hour who just come in for that hour before they rush off again to piano or taekwondo or swimming or whatever afterschool lesson they have next. These kids are so hardcore about their schooling!! they spend ALL DAY in some sort of school. anyway, today the kids had on their special field trip uniforms and were SO adorable!! I took about a million pictures! We arrived at school and all piled into the school van. Kris, the co-director, drove us through farms and down back roads till I was COMPLETELY lost! Then somehow we ended up in the middle of this HUGE grape arbor / farm. The cool thing about where I live in korea is there are GIANT apartment buildings, I'd say upwards of 30 stories high, in the middle of a HUGE field. They need every inch of growing room they can get so the farmers live in apartments. Also in the city, well at least in baebang, which is where I live, there will be front yards full of corn and squash, a divider fence of hot pepper plants and a carport with climbing watermelons all over it. Every where you look there is food being grown! It is so cool! if the US did this we would have enough food to feed the world! There is almost no grass on my walk to school, just city streets and crops. anyway, the grapes. We all ducked into the grape canopy (the kids could stand upright) and each child got to snip off two bunches of grapes. We explained to them first that the bunches they picked had to be all black, or they were not ripe. Then we took group photos and left for the day to go eat lunch. we ate l
unch, all food that was provided by the school and was ALL delicious, none of it was spicy at all! We went to a georgeous park and spread out shiny mats that we put the kids backpacks on to stabilize. It was the most lovely fallish day and we just ate outside. I took some cute pictures of the kids eating with their trainer chopsticks... (THOSE are adorable) after lunch we all laid down on the mat for a nap in the sun, but instead of a nap it turned into a giant ticklefest!! It was so great! on the way back to the school, two of the boys had emergencies, so we just pulled the van over and they went on the side of the highway! when we got back to school was when my actual lessons began. but I will post about that some other time, just know it went great!!! I am so psyched about teaching as a career! I am really really
good at it!! love yu all and miss you all!
Lauren

Hey all! OK so Yesterday went a ton better than the day before, I brought a book to read during my breaks and I really knew what was going on during the classes a lot more, so it didn't seem so extremely long! Today is my first day of teaching on my own and the entire first part of the day will be taken up by a field trip to a grape farm!! YES! but I will have to teach the older kids when they arrive in the afternoon. I have a couple of ideas, but I think I am just going to feel it out he first couple of days and do the workbook pages till I really get the hang of the basics, then I'll branch out and try my own things too. I had another idea for the kindys, I thought it would be so great to make craft airplane with the last part of a word family on it, then the propeller has four different letters on it and when you spin the propeller (which is attached to the paper by a brad) the letters line up to make words, like mop top and hop. The kids are not at the point where they are reading yet, they are just making words with letter families. Thank you all so much for your teaching ideas. I will look at them and try to figure out what fits my group. So I had the meat pickle and rice mixture again last night, one more night should do it, it should be all used up. It's great because I only have to feed myself for breakfast and dinner, lunch is included in the day at school. It is usually a rice mixture, kimchi, a salad and fruit, I like everything so far except the kimchi! It is so gross, because it is not actually spice with flavor, like hotwings have flavor to them, this is just plain HEAT!! No flavor to make the heat bearable, just heat!! And what it is on is just fermented cabbage.... and that flavor is....UGH!I went to the store yesterday and got more hangers (third trip for hangers, boy I brought a lot of clothes!) I also got salt, pepper and butter! YAY! I have not taken any pics of my apt yet, but I'll do so this evening. I promise!!! I am going to bring my camera on the field trip today and take pictures with the kids! That will be fun! I miss you all! I have to get ready for work now!

Hello all! So my first day of school was pretty good, but it looks like I am going to need to bring something to do each day. We must be there at 9:30 every day and on some days my first class is not until 1:45! I cannot come later in the day, I just have to sit in the office and plan, when I finish planning, I twiddle my thumbs! ( seriously, you can only plan for so long!) Also, I am going to have to find a way to make the classes stimulating for myself as well as for the children because all we do is go through a workbook, I read the page aloud and then the students repeat what I say, then I correct their pronunciation, then they all get out crayons and color the page. example," Ned and Ted are dogs. Ned and Ted run in the mud. Ned and Ted jump in the tub. Ned and Ted sit in the sun. Ned and Ted hop in bed." So there is an opportunity for me to use my creativity, as once we finish the lesson, I don't think I will have them color, like the current teacher does. Mybe we will do something else, like act it out. Some classes are very small, like three students, and there is no class larger than 6 students. They all wear uniforms and are very cute! I love my students already and don't want them to be bored!

Anyway, so meat is super expensive here, I got less than a pound and a half of ground beef and it was 10 dollars! So, i may very well be a vegetarian when I come home. I cooked it into a bowl of rice and then looked in the fridge for something that might give it some flavor, all I had was some pickle relish and strawberry jam, so I added a small spoonful of pickle relish to the pan thinking it might add a zing, and surely the meat flavor would overpower the pickle flavor.... NOPE! THE WHOLE DISH TASTES LIKE PICKLES! GRR!! Things not to do while cooking by Lauren Knabel
1. don't add chicken to a crockpot without deboning it first!
2. don't cook rice in a crockpot.... EVER!!!
3. don't add pickle relish to 10 dollar meat if you don't like pickles!!!
4. cinnamon is not a savory spice, don't add it to stew, unless you want to eat it all by yourself!
etc...

Anyway, I sat outside with several of the other teachers and they drank and smoked and talked while I listened. Most of the other foreign teachers are not nearly as clean cut as I am. They all have tattoos, drink, smoke, talk about their escapades with drugs in the past, etc... but they are nice people. So we were all sitting in the park talking and just enjoying the outdoor evening. And an old lady came up to sit on the bench next to us, suddenly there were two guys who ran up to her and started talking to her very fast in Korean. They took her away and happily settled her on the bench across the park from us. I guess the gist of what they were saying was don't sit next to the foreigners! HMM...

So I am still constantly waking up at 6 every morning. but maybe that will fade with time. I miss you all. Have a great day!

The first Post!

Here is my first post which will be neccesarily massive!! But the others won't be so long! Ok so I arrived in Korea the day before yesterday super late at night, but the director of my school came to pick me up at the airport. I got to fly business elite across the ocean and it was amazing of course, the food was incredible, I had some kind of ginger pork stir fry, the seat lay flat, but t was actually more comfortable to sleep on the non-flat setting. I watched two movies, X-Men Origins, Wolverine and My Life In Ruins. They were both great!! Tokyo airport is so beautiful!! It is calm and bright with plants and lots of glass and light! The gate agent was very apologetic when she called my name, it scared me, I thought she was gonna say, I'm sorry you've been bumped, but no, it was so interesting, She said, "I'm sorry, We can get you on the plane if you can go in economy, is that ok?" I said "of course!" The flight from Tokyo to Seoul was wonderful, I was in coach but it was fine. I had a great conversation with a soldier who was stationed there and then fell asleep so I had to rush to fill out my immigration forms before landing. So I arrived, and everything went as planned, Seoul airport is beautiful too!!! Look it up online, it is so gorgeous, but from the outside it looks like some kind of crazy alien mother ship!!! It's all made of glass!!! It was actually good that I stayed up on the plane because I would say that I am already acclimated to the time change. Since I arrived so late at night and I was SO tired when I arrived, it didn't matter that it was near noon at home, I just wanted to sleep and I did, I slept all night and woke up well rested for my first day in KOREA! The city I am in is way in the country, but it is interesting, It's a mixture of high rises and rice paddies, you will look out the window and see tall buildings but in between them is a random field with workers with traditional flat straw cone hats!!! Then off in the distance are beautiful mountans!! so interesting!!! spent the morning this morning at my directors house, just chillin and watching korean tv with the family. Then their kids put on cinderella 3, which is actually very cute!! And they put it on with english subtitles for me. Then the director took me to the store and got me a microwave and other home supplies, their store is JUST like ours, except it is five stories, and the escalators are more like moving sidewalks, but slanted steeply! to get to the next floor all you do is push your cart in front of you onto the slanted moving sidewalk and the cart automatically locks into place, i think it is magnetic!! It does not even move if it is full of stuff! Amazing that the cart does not roll off down the moving sidwalk, smashing into things. anyway, they have every food we have at home plus some really nice ones that we dont't, I ate three meals there yesterday, breakfast was cereal, lunch was noodle and seaweed soup, (DELICIOUS!) that was successfully eaten with chopsticks and a spoon! and dinner was a kind of black rice dumpling with pork and veggies inside, I managed to eat them with chopsticks too, but it was harder than the noodle soup, because the dumplings were so fragile, I kept poking holes in them and then the whole thing would unravel. I have found many things to eat that are not spicy! I woke this morning and a strange sense of loneliness, See, I have never woken up and been all by myself before, i mean except as a fluke. I am truly by myself in my apartment, which is kind of cool, because I get to make all the decisions about decorations and organization and when to go places and stuff, but also very weird because I don't get to go out to the kitchen in the morning and say hi to everyone. I am just on my own. HMMM, well it will be something to get used to. My apt is amazing, its so... asian!! two sliding doors with decorated frosted glass, a little depression by the front door where shoes go, shoes are not to be worn inside period!! and a little outdoor/indoor balcony thats really just an enclosed porch with a washer. I have never had a place that is wholly MINE! I love it!! The bathroom is weird!! There is no shower, only a shower head conected to the sink! You switch the water flow to the shower head on a hose attached to the sink and you just close the bathroom door and shower in there next to the toilet, It gets the bathroom all wet, so the floor is lowered to hold the water and there is a drain in the floor and apparently this is the traditional bathroom style because they consider the whole bathroom dirty and it is traditon to only enter the bathroom wearing special sandals. I'll get used to it! They also wear special slippers or bare feet to be inside the house and different shoes to walk outside!! MANY shoes!! I also have a low table that I sit on the floor to use my computer and a high table that I eat breakfast at. There is no closet, but there are two nice wardrobes. and all my clothes fit nicely in the first one, so I only use the outer one for storing the tv and my bathing suit and other things I won't be using often. The korean people love cute things! My bathroom/ shower is decorated with giant roses, my wardrobe is covered with flowers and the sliding panel doors are decorated, and the wallpaper has roses on it too! so cute! my director got me pretty pink bedding and my bed is fairly comfy. its all very new and strange and cool and exciting! OH guess what! internet is included with the apt! so I can use this high speed connection as much as I want, free of charge! My director is SUPER nice, Her name is Elly, and she is a young mom of two kids, both of whom attend the school I am teaching at. The only thing that is a little annoying is that my view out my window is a little depressing, just grey city and a few construction sites. I am in a different part of the city than my director's beautiful place of course. I guess thats what you get when you live in a city. It is raining today and the sky is grey, maybe that is why everything looks grey and gross. I'll see what it looks like tomorrow. But in any case I am having an AMAZING time!! And I can't wait to tell you all all about how cool my school is! And I am going to post some photos of my apartment.