This is awesome.

So this semester I was nervous because my 4 main Korean teacher friends who I eat lunch with every day had homerooms so they wouldn't be able to eat lunch with me everyday anymore and they are like the only ones who speak pretty good English! They are also all around the same age as me. So the start of the semester rolls around and the first day of lunch one of my English co-teachers eats with me but all the others stare on and smile hanging onto every single English word uttered. I almost felt like he felt obligated to eat with me cause my old crew now had to eat with their homerooms so I thought "this is going to be a long semester!"
Well about 1 week into the semester, a new Korean teacher comes into school and I think "oh she looks young!  But I bet she doesn't speak English."
Later that day, my co-teacher brings her over to my desk and she said this is going to be one of the new English teachers, and still I think I bet she has broken English when all of the sudden she shakes my hand and says "Hi, I'm Amy!"
I was literally shocked. So surprised that her name wasn't an extremely complicated Korean name that I couldn't pronounce and that she shook my hand instead of bowing. I was confused.
Well 3 weeks later, she is one of my new best friends at school, and of course my new lunch buddy.
Turns out she is 26 years old and has been working in NYC the past 2 years at a financial firm but had to come back to Korea to take care of her mother because she is sick. She is like my life savior at school because she pretty much speaks fluent English and I have not had that happen at school since I arrived last August! She can relate to everything that is different for me here and knows everything about NYC, so we have so much in common.
Oddly enough she worked with a few people who went to Syracuse University, so even knows where Syracuse is. I never in a million years thought I'd come to Korea and have a good Korean friend who knows where Syracuse is and has been to Boston. Most Koreans haven't even heard of it!

Another great thing is she is also studying for the GRE's to go back to Grad school at Columbia next fall. And I told her I was also planning to go back to grad school so I am helping her with the English part of the GRE's (as much as I can!)
One funny thing about Koreans is they get jealous very easily. And one of my old "lunch buddies," who I used to sit next to every day at school, but who now has a homeroom began to notice how often me and Amy hang out so she asked me to go for a walk one day. She kept asking so many questions about Amy like her age, if I thought she was pretty, how good her English was, and then said "I am sad! She is your new best friend." Haha, too funny, I felt like I was in junior high all over again. 

I literally felt like Amy was sent here to save me this semester! I couldn't be happier she is teaching with me at school. It's funny to think we were both living in NYC at the same time last year and then we meet here in Daegu, Korea a year later. Life is funny how it works out....

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 Another coincidence in Korea.

There is this older korean woman who cleans the halls and bathrooms everyday and she always gets sooo excited when she sees me walking down the hall. I think it took her a solid 6 months to realize I don't speak fluent Korean and can only have slow conversations cause she'd ramble off to me in Korean everyday and I would just smile and wave. Well she must have got her wires crossed when asking someone how to say Hello to someone in English cause now every single day when I see her she smiles huge and says "Bye, Bye!" and waves. Haha, it's awesome. 

I got this e-mail from one of my male Korean co-teachers regarding my parents upcoming visit...


Sheila~
I want to meet your parents. BUT I can't speak English very well.
If I meet your parents, I will black out.  ^_____^

I must have caught a stomach bug somewhere along the way from my flight from America back to Korea because I was the sickest I've been since coming to Korea my entire first week back teaching. The kids were all excited I was back so I didn't want to stay home from school so I kept on going and was literally exhausted at the end of the days. Being sick in a foreign country with only a few English speaking doctors really  is not the easiest. Luckily I have good friends nearby to help and such a nice and caring school. 

Second semester has officially kicked off. It's bitter sweet cause it's great to be back teaching again after winter break, but this also means it's my last 5 months here and I know they are going to fly by even faster than the first 7 months.
I hadn't taught since Dec. 31, so I was a little nervous going back into the classroom, but was greeted by cheering and clapping students as I entered each classroom which in my opinion is no better way to start a class.
If I had any doubts that I wanted to continue teaching back in the states after I finished up my year here before, now after my first week back I know I absolutely love it and definitely have found my passion in teaching and working with middle school kids. 

My 3rd graders have graduated and moved onto high school (sigh), and as much as I miss them, I just got all new 1st graders who somehow got even cuter and smaller and funnier this semester and are going to make it quite the adventure in the classroom with them. Some of them are literally so small they could fit in my pocket. Most of them haven't grown into their features and are all going through the awkward middle school stages which makes them even cuter. 
There is one student whose glasses literally take over his tiny face and I just want to take him back home to America with me. So precious. He stands up to answer any question and always has to hike up his pants before doing so cause I think they would fall down they are so big on him. 
I already know my 2nd and 3rd graders from last semester and they all have grown so much it's ridiculous. I didn't think that was possible in just 3 months. You can tell some of the boys have gotten a bit more confident now that they're a bit older in school and walk with a little extra hop in their step. And the girls care so much more about their appearance this year because they are in the same classroom as the boys and not seperated like last year. It's pretty entertaining to watch, but also makes them a bit more timid to answer questions in English out loud. 

I got some of the same hilarious questions from the 1st graders as I did when I first arrived in Korea. Of course the first few are always: "do you have boyfriend?" "what is your cell phone number?" "what is your favorite Korean food?" and then they ask me if I know all of their favorite Korean pop stars...sometimes I just have to lie.

Some comments worth noting: 

When a picture of a pig came on the powerpoint in class one student screamed out: DELICIOUS!
When showing pictures of my winter travels in Malaysia, Singapore and Bali, I showed many pictures of the monkeys we saw and there was one particular photo of baby monkeys and a mother monkey laying on the ground next to them and one student stands up and says "Baby monkey hit Mother, and baby win!"

The random comments they come up and the way they say it in English truly make me die laughing. I think I am just on the same maturity level as them at times...

I desperately need to catch up on here. Been at least a month since I last blogged and so much has happened. Just got back in Korea after coming back from Malaysia, Singapore and Bali, Indonesia and then wrapped up my final weeks of my winter vacation in good ol' Uhhmerrrrrica. Amazing time in each place and so different. Once I figure out which timezone I'm in I'll post pics and fill ya in on it all....

In an e-mail about my upcoming trip...

"You have a tremendous adventure ahead of you.  Use your eyes and take it in, use your heart and feel the spirit of the places and use your voice and celebrate your good fortune of being a global traveller."

A wise woman!

In about 3 days, 14 hours, 30 minutes and maybe 24 seconds? we will be on our long awaited plane heading to Malaysia, then Singapore, then finishing off the trip in Bali....to say I was excited would be an extreme understatement.
Usually nothing ever hits me or sinks in until I'm either on the plane or actually at my destination. Like when I went to China last year I kinda just treated it like any other day and wasn't even that excited on the 14 hour plane ride over but then when I landed it's like a tick goes off in my body and finally allows it all to sink in.
I'm not sure if it's because this upcoming trip has been planned for a few months, or the fact I'm going with 4 of my best friends in Korea, or the fact I am finally going to my dream place Bali, but It's still a few days before we leave and it has already sunk in, I AM SO EXCITED!
Even when I had to pack up my entire life in two suitcases to move to Korea for the year last August I waited until about midnight the night before leaving to start packing. Same thing would happen every summer before going back to college; at about 5 a.m. the morning we were leaving I would still be packing up last minute things in the car. I think I wait until last minute because I know it will all get done so what's the rush?
Well either I've grown up a bit or maybe my excitement has taken over, but its 3 days before the trip and not only am I packed, but have all my documents printed, have researched adventures to do in each country, hotels and hostels booked, laundry done, apartment clean , vaccination shots received and my outfit for the airport laid out! I hardly even recognize myself. It's actually caused me anxiety because I am NEVER this organized before traveling, so now it's given me too much time to think if I've forgotten something or need something else which has made me buy unneccessary items to stuff in my already full backpack. Maybe I should stick with my old ways??
Anyways, we are off to explore, discover and possibly take over these 3 countries on a trip of a lifetime. I think even before reading the book "Eat, Pray, Love" I have always dreamed of going to Bali. I can't think of a better way to end the vacation. I hope it's everything I'm expecting and more...! 
    The days leading up to vacation are spent "desk warming" as they call it, which is pointless hours spent sitting at my desk at school just browsing the internet and getting paid to do it because no students are at school since it's winter vacation. By law us foreigner teachers still have to come to school in order to get paid because it's in our contract. Maybe that's why I'm so organized? All this extra time? Gotta make use of it somehow.
Anyways, stay tuned! I'm hoping we make it back to Korea and don't stay on the beaches of Bali forever...but then again that wouldn't be so bad.
I literally think my fear of wild animals or animals in general can be classified as a phobia these days because that is my biggest fear going into this trip. My friends think it's funny that I literally die when I see a stray cat or dog here in Korea because I instantly think it can sense my fear and is gonig to launch at me any minute and attack me. Yeah, weird, I know, must have been attacked by an animal as a kid? When I tell people I'm afraid of animals they look at me like I just told them I hate Christmas or rainbows or chocolate. I get it, everyone loves animals, but not me.
Anyways, one of my friends who is going on the trip with us use to be a zookeeper so needless to say she and I are opposites when it comes to animals and she loves them so this should be an interesting mix! One day on the trip they want to hike through the jungles of Malaysia...either I man up and where a bubble suit to protect me or lay on the beach and wait for them to return!
One of the last things I just read about this temple we want to go see in Bali says, "Uluwatu Temple is one of the key shrines on the island of Bali. The holy sanctuary, like Padangtegal, has a feisty monkey population, so hold on to your hat and digital camera."
Yeah, enough said. If a monkey comes after me, I'll die of fear. I told them if I see one snake I'll swim back to UHhhhmerricaa. Dramatic? I realize, but we'll see how it all turns out!
I hope these countries are ready for us....here we come!

When my sisters and I were born my mom kept a diary about each one of us growing up; through our toddler years, through childhood, and up until middle school. She would tell us all about our little selves. What we looked like, funny things we did, our favorite foods at the time, how we interacted with others, our first words, first time going to preschool, kindergarten...every little thing about us. At Christmas 3 years ago, my mom gave me this diary; to this day it's one of the best gifts I've ever been given in my life. It's being given the gift of the past, getting a sneak preview of myself back when I hardly even knew myself. It's like a little time machine.