한국을 좋아해 - I like Korea

안녕! Life has been good these past few weeks. I was having trouble with my afterschool 3rd/4th graders, but I'm trying a new angle. It's so true to adapt your lessons to their needs. They love to run around and be active. So I'm trying to be more creative in planning. It's definately been a challange. But overall, I'm having fun teaching. We're teaching the 6th graders occupations this week and its so good to see the light bulbs click and they remember something. Plus in my 5/6th grade afterschool class we're watching HSM3 & Mulan. Life is good :) I had my 'open class' last week, which means that the principal, vice principal, parents and other teachers can come observe my class. It went pretty well, I had a few teachers come and one parent. Today I met with the principal and vice principal to discuss how I did. Through generous translation by my co-teacher, I believe I did well. The vice principal asked me to teach her a sentence a day though...I'm not exactly sure what to do yet, or when to do it. But anything to get on her good side sounds beneficial to me. Plus she is really sweet to me, so I don't mind. However, I now have to find her a book or make up worksheet/handout thing for her to practice. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Earlier this month I ran a 7K with 5999 other women. And like 5990 of them were Korean haha. We turned the first corner and everyone was walking...I was so confused. Then everyone started taking pictures with their iPhones. It was ridiculous! I spent the whole race dodging people. They needed a walking only lane. But Lauren and I had so much fun. Definitely a good experience! I'd like to run another race here if I get the chance.

Let's see, what else have I been up to..I"ve been trying out different churches. I'd really like to 'settle down' so to say at one, but I"m enjoying exploring and meeting new people still. Plus, I'm not sure I've found the right one yet. There are still a couple more I want to try and one is at the University right next to my house. Church is a little different here. There are so many churches so they are usually smaller than churches back home. And most services last at least an hour and a half if not two hours. Sometimes its a little overwhelming though. We'll see where God leads me next =)

Over our last vacation, which was Korea's memorial day basically, my friend Lauren and I decided to try to get to an island near Incheon Airport. However, we didn't quite make it there. We got to Incheon though. Instead we spent a few hours at Wolmido which is a part of Incheon off the west coast of S. Korea. There are a couple small 'fair type' ride places and a park/hill to walk up and a stree with all sorts of restaurants and shops and street vendors. We made it a good day even though we didn't get to where we wanted. We decided to try again the next week. We suceeded then! It's a little complicated to get there. We had to take the subway to the commuter rail (subway) to the Int'l Airport. Then we took a bus to the ferry terminal. Then we took the ferry to the island. Loading the ferry took longer than the actual ride haha. They could prolly build a bridge instead. You could basicaly swim across. Anyway, then we had to take another bus to the beach haha. It was a long process, but so worth it! We had amazing weather and it was nice and relaxing. Definitely something to do again. And the tide was crazy! Every hour I swear the tide receided 50ft. On our way back to the ferry there were boats just beached in the middle of the harbor. I've never seen anything like it before. The tide was so low you could walk to some of the smaller islands. I think we'll have to go back and try that sometime. One of my favorite Saturdays so far!

This weekend I"m not sure what I'm gonna do. It seems to be monsoon season so raining a lot. Or I learned this yesterday 창말 비가 means it's really raining. The forcast shows rain, rain, and more rain haha. I'm gonna need to find some rain boots and then something to do inside. I may go see a movie or shopping or something. I need to make sure to get out of my apt though. Otherwise I'll end up watching Korean Dramas all day. They're seriously addicting, but so so good! I'm watching one now called 'Boys Over/Before Flowers' depending on the translation. It has English subtitles so I can understand everything. But on Monday I found another one on TV with the same actor. I got hooked even though I can't understand everything. It's called City Hunter...yea I need to get out tomorrow. Hope everyone is well at home and enjoying their summer!

~Krista~