It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS! :)

So I realize I haven't blogged in a while and there are no excuses other than...I just haven't.  I am not sure if anyone reads this other than my family HOWEVER my mom got on my case about not posting so I thought I would start a new one.  First of all, the Winter weather is the highlight of my life!! I love the cool Korean weather!  Everyone wears large coats which also helps me not feel like a giant...haha! However I have begun to go gymming so maybe now that is a constant life thing I will not be so giant-like in the future!

On another note, the other day when I was walking home with my coworkers I saw snow!! It was only about 40 flakes HOWEVER it was snow and landed in my friends black hair which made it look more magical :) I took a photo of the first snowfall of my coworkers (Note the Dominican-Korean not enjoying it) haha :P I am super excited about Christmas and the month of December for a variety of reasons:

1) I get two days off in December (1 for elections and another for Christmas day)

2) It is Christmas and I LOVEEEE the sparkly lights and festive spirits

3) I get to go to Japan with some friends for 5 days

4) At the end of the month I will have reached my 6 month mark! Halfway...wow times flies! 

I have bought a little Christmas tree for my house along with some lights to turn on late into the night, when I bought them I didn't know they were the blinking ones that sometimes make me feel like I live in a dance club...oh the joy of not knowing what you are buying/ordering.  It helps me to appreciate the little things!

As I am writing this I am sitting outside on a lovely December day at a cafe sipping on a Vanilla latte! It is truly amazing how much has happened and how much has changed since the last time I posted.  Life in Korea is finally becoming my second home.  I am falling in love with the people, the lifestyle and my job on a daily basis.  I can proudly say that I am now able to make a few Korean dishes...and by dishes I mean seaweed and rice! haa I am figuring out how to embrace the culture and make the experience here like home.  Too often I have found myself saying things like "I miss home because of my mom's cooking" or "If I was at home I would totally be doing ______________ right now."  Then I stopped and realized that ALTHOUGH my life in Korea is different than home, there are still so many things I can do here that I would do at home.  It is amazing at how overcoming the mind is one of the largest challenges and yet makes ALL the difference.  Since I have made that decision to make Korea more like home I have become EXPONENTIALLY happier.  Korea is no longer a place that I work in or a travelling experience, it is becoming my home! :)

Only in Korea do these little glitches go unnoticed :P ha 

So, let's see all the things that have happened in the last little bit...hmmm well one of my friends started dating a lovely man, 2 of my friends got baptized AND three of my friends got engaged and their weddings are next month! Crazyyy right!??! Life in Korea is becoming more and more blessed the longer I stay here and I am just amazed.  I feel like I am living in a wonderful dream, however there are hard times and the amount of people all the time can sometimes be overwhelming.  School is very busy lately as some our kids will be graduating in February, so there are many things to plan such as a musical I have to write for the kids as well as speeches to perform  (It should be an interesting experience).

I am learning to do more things while being here and feel that I am gaining many talents that I will be able to take home with me.  It is incredible how much I see myself growing in a variety of ways including independence and yet how needy I can be at the same time being in a foreign culture and not speaking the language.  I have learned sayings and can speak enough to get by which really enhances my conversations with people.  I have also discovered the wonder of translation phone devices.  It is amazing at how well I now know my fitness trainers because of their glorious cell phone devices! :) I am starting to build a lot of routines which are becoming joys to me, running into the same people, having people know what I like or don't like, challenging me and pushing me to be my best...things are looking up.

One of the sad things though is that I have many foreigner friends who are also here on contracts and it is getting closer to the time when they leave.  One of my best friends in Korea is leaving in February and that saddens me, however I know that this is part of life and I will be heading to South Africa to pay her a visit before I come back to Canada.  Oh Korea, how I love you.  The idea of only having 7 months left is crazy to me, I feel like the time concept in Korea is strange because I feel like I have been here for years and yet time goes by sooo fast!  I am so grateful and blessed to be here, have met the wonderful people I have, given the opportunities I have and the list goes on.