Officially hit my 3 month mark!!

Did Someone Say CHEER?

I have officially been in Korea for THREE MONTHS!! Woah! Let's just take a minute and soak that in...90 days (approx). It is amazing at how fast time flies by.  It's very exciting for me to finally hit this mark in my journey because this is the point that most people have said a person either decides to love Korea or hate it.  I have decided to love it and can now feel the drastic changes in my experience.  It's now my home, a place where I am learning about and meeting new friends (I finally met more CANADIANS, even one girl who knew my mother...weird right?).  I have officially lived through 3 typhoons, sang karaoke multiple times throughout the week, got new glasses, had Korean bbq on the roof patio of my school after work while drinking wine in the presence of all my coworkers and went to my first Korean baseball game.  I must address the baseball game...it is an incredible experience where cheering with your fellow fans seems to have more importance than the actual game (cheering is my forte, even in Korean aka I was in my ELEMENT).  I am having some really great opportunities and starting to get the hang of my new job and lifestyle.  It is now something that has become my life and no longer something that I can distance or separate myself from, this is my new reality and I am really enjoying it!

My Homeroom Kinder Class

This week has been fantastic and emotional for a variety of reasons but through it all it has allowed me to realize how much I really am enjoying my life here.  Through the turmoil, struggles and emotionally exhausting periods of the past 3 months, I have now come out of the storm and feel even stronger and better prepared for what the next 9 months have in store.  I wake up every morning looking forward  to going to school and seeing what my little munchkins will do today.  This past week the kids made me laugh hard every day and I am able to see how young they begin to develop huge personalities.  Watching the kids dance, communicate with each other and how thoughtful they are with one another warms my heart. 

My co-foreign teachers <3 Bye bye Jenn Teacher!

This past week was amazing but also emotional because this was one of my coworkers last weeks before moving back to the States after 14 months living in Korea.  It is amazing how after 3 months she has become one of my close friends and having her leave so soon after I have gotten here has been a challenge.  She was the teacher who trained me and my first real friend in Korea.  A group of people and myself went out with her last night and sang some rockstar songs, eating chicken and beer as we talked about how we would miss her.  Watching her say bye to the kids and my other coworkers was tough and emphasized a few things for me;

1) How amazing this opportunity is

2) The amount of influence I will have on some of these people and children

Baseball field <3

3) How quick a year flies by

4) How deep and real the friendships are here

5) How to make the best of every opportunity

The new foreign teacher came in this week and I was asked to show her the ropes, which was a new experience for me that has made me realize how fast things have gone by.  Sometimes I feel like I just got off the plane but in reality that was 3 months ago...wow.  I am looking forward to no longer being the new one and instead being able to test my abilities by helping teach the new teacher some things. 

One my favourite little ones :)

Next week is the last week of school before Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving) and I am super excited to have 5 days of chill time.  I am excited to spend some time with a cousin of mine who is passing through Seoul with her family as well as getting some time to sleep in, watch Disney movies with friends and explore areas of Korea...I am thinking I should climb a mountain next week or maybe go to a temple stay, possibilities are endless.  I feel that people from home have been so encouraging this past little while and I want to thank everyone for their support, emails, kakao messages and so on. 

I miss you all at home and cannot wait to see you again...after I have grown and developed into a better person in many areas of my life. 

Time for an update

So life in Korea is officially over the excitement of a foreign place and although I have a lot to learn and explore, it has now become my life.  I finally feel like I am slowly belonging more and more and finding my place in both the school and the environment.  I don't feel like a foreigner anymore, however due to my non-Asian features, I know I still appear as one. 

The weather is finally getting cooler which encourages my entire being (I am now able to walk outside without sweating like I have just run a 500km race).

Last week there were 2 typhoons (which I have just found out is the same thing as a hurricane), one was built up and all the schools in Seoul were closed.  Since all the schools were closed, my director decided to cancel school in our hagwon which meant NO WORK!!  I would like to say I was able to sleep in, however that was not the case.  The two foreign teachers and myself were afraid that we may die and didn't want to be alone, not to mention I live on the bottom floor of an apartment and if there was a flood it would most certainly be happening in my place.   We woke up at 8am and all met up at one of the other girls house, each bringing loads of snacks and wine in order to enjoy what may have been our last meal on this earth.  The typhoon was a complete fail, it didn't even rain let alone have strong winds...basically it was an unfortunate first typhoon experience (which is a good thing).  On a positive note, I AM ALIVE and well :).

Then two days after the first typhoon there was another, this one was much stronger and flooding occurred in the town I live in.  Of COURSE that day was one when we had to go to work and mission it home in the flooded streets (we took a taxi home and it only came out to 2 dollars, yay for Korean taxi's who don't cheat you!).  This week was most certainly memorable for a variety of reasons but the whole weather change is causing a change in the calmness of mother nature.  One thing is for sure, I am enjoying the change and CANNOT WAIT to walk around with a sweater and jeans in the cold winter weather. 

One of the downfalls in being a foreign teacher in Korea is that most people have contracts for a year and then they are headed back home.  Unfortunately for me, both of the other foreign teachers at my school have finished their contracts and will be heading home soon...we just started becoming friends too :( I just know that this means new people and new experiences so I am trying to put a positive spin on it.  I wonder if I will be able to train the other teachers, I don't think I know enough to do that but we shall see how the rest unfolds.

On another note completely, today I discovered another fascinating thing about Korea: they have specific underground floors for WOMEN parking only.  At first I thought it was for pregnant women but then my Korean friend told me it was a WOMAN'S only parking area because women are bad drivers and some men don't feel comfortable parking their cars in the same place. :O WOW feed into the stereotype why don't you!!! I laughed so hard and had to take these pictures as proof!!!  (Although I am no longer a visitor, things continue to amaze me!) HA!

I am enjoying working with my kids more and more each day, seeing more of their personalities and how much they love me makes me happy as well.  The other day my students kept telling the other teachers that "Erika Teacher is a very very very nice teacher", "Erika Teacher is a very good teacher and looks pretty today" they key word TODAY!  haha

I am REALLY REALLY looking forward to next week, not because it is the first week of September, which means it's closer to Korean thanksgiving (more holidays) but because my friend is coming to visit me from home for a week! I am SOOO pumped to have a taste of home and I feel like it is the perfect timing, God knows exactly when it is needed. I work next week so she will have to be a lone for most of the day HOWEVER I plan on making her weekend full of exciting Korean adventures (not sure yet but...something cool!)

The longer I am here (2 months and bit) I have realized that Korea may be one of the hardest things I have ever done both emotionally and spiritually but it is such a blessing in disguise.  I can see myself learning so much about myself and my personal journey to adulthood.  I am learning so much and cannot wait to continue to see what is in store for my future.  BRING IT ON (nice things would be appreciated :)!).