He said whaaaaa??

My kids were just cracking me up today, so I had to write about what they said before I forget. First, Carson came in today with a perm. Yes, a five year old Korean boy, with a perm. Since his hair was not too long to begin with, it didn't do much more than just give him thicker, fuller hair, but it was definitely noticable. Carson pointed it out to me, and then Kenny, who is like the master of geography and knows more countries' flags than I do, asked if he could stand up and point to a flag. When I let him, he pointed to the Indian flag. I said, oh, that's the Indian flag. Kenny says, "yes, I think Carsons hair looks like Indian people's hair." I was RED in the face. Snorted out loud. Tears nearly streaming down my cheeks. Not only was I amazed that Kenny knew the country by pointing to the flag, but Carson did, in fact, have this thick hair that looked more like something you would see in India than here in Korea. And then Jane pointed out my ridiculously red face, and we all had a laugh for a few minutes.

In my next class, Charlie (who has always been and will always be my favorite) and I were arguing during lunch about some Toy Story lines. Yes arguing, in English, with a four year old Korean child. Cool huh?? Anyways, he kept saying "You infinity, and beyond!!" and insisting that this is, in fact, what Buzz Lightyear says. I argued back, but then he told me that in the second Toy Story movie, there is a "fake" Buzz, and that this is what the fake Buzz says. "Real Buzz say, To infinity, but not real Buzz say, "YOU infinity!!". So, can anyone help me out here?? I've never seen the second, but Charlie was dead set on this. Either way...having a normal (somewhat) casual conversation with a four year old (whos native language is NOT English) over lunch pretty much melts my heart and makes me realize how much I love my job...

North Korean borders and South Korean zoos

Last Saturday, the SLP teachers took a little trip to North Korea. Well, not really, but we did get closer than I'm sure most of you have been!! The DMZ, for those that do not know, is the Demilitarized zone. The 2 km north and south of the border dividing the two Koreas. We got on a little tour bus that took us to the train station that goes to North Korea, then to another building where we got to stand behind a line and take pictures of N. Korea, and see the competing flags (N. Koreas is higher, btw). Then we headed to the area where we got to explore the 3rd tunnel, the 3rd of 4 tunnels that N. Korea dug in preparation for the attacks on S. Korea. Luckily, the ROK discovered the tunnels (well, these 4 at least!) and we got to walk down into one of them. It was really interesting visiting there...it's heartbreaking to see the difference in these 2 countries, but the hope that the S. Koreans have for that one day the two will be reunited is really uplifting.


sure is pretty and colorful for such a serious place eh?



The next day, two teachers and I set off the the Seoul Zoo. Unfortunately, we got there pretty late in the afternoon, so we didn't get to see too much. (and we missed the dolphin show!) But the fall colors were gorgous...



I got to see a lot more colors this past weekend, when a group of us went on a hiking/folk village stay several hours away, but that post will be coming soon!!

Home Again, home again, jiggity jig!

So, I'll fill you all in on my quick, but most needed, trip back to the US of A!

I arrived cheery eyed and bushy tailed at OHare around 4pm on the 18th. It was a wonderful reunion between my mom and I, and then we were on our way back to Sycamore. We stopped at home, where we met my dad, and then headed to Genoa for Tim's show at the Genoa Oktoberfest. After a beer and a brat, we took of for Joe and Gail's, where I got to see my first niece!! I'm sure most of you have seen lil Sadie, she was just breathtaking, and I was instantly in love.

After spending a bit there, we went into Sycamore for the block party, only to see that it had been seemingly cancelled! We stopped by Taxco to see if Jesus was there (he wasn't, he was at Blumen Gardens, where the block party was taking place!). So we had a margarita there, then took off for the party, which was a like a Sycamore reunion for me. I hadn't seen that many white people all together in a very long time!! But got to see a whole lot of people that I used to work with, and then I headed to MVP's with some friends that I used to work with at Parkway.

The next day, mom had a party at our house, where I got to see both sides of the fam. I was extremmmmely jet lagged, so I apologize for seeming out of it!! Haha that feeling didnt really go away until Wednesday or so. The following days were filled with lots of dinners, lunches, catching up, and running around. I had to renew my license before I could drive in the US, so on Tuesday I spent a good part of the morning at the DMV. Welcome to America! haha. I also had stuff to get together for my new visa for Korea, and had to take a trip into Chicago on Friday for that too. Tuesday was the surprise anniversary party for mom and dad, which went super well, and I'm grateful to all who made it out!! It was kinda a last minute thing, but mom and dad were happy, and so was I. 30 years!! That's quite an accomplishment these days. Hoping that someday I'll be doing the same with my husband!!

Saturday morning was back to the airport...like I said, it was a very quick, but wonderful trip home. Knowing that I would be back in less than 3 months made leaving again quite easy. I arrived 12 hours later in Seoul, at 4pm Sunday afternoon!! Going back to work the next day was surprisingly easy. Haven't had time to be jet lagged really, which is a good thing!! Yesterday (Sat) we had a mini-Olympics with our kinders. All the moms and dads came, and we had a big day of relay races and fun games, with lots of prizes and singing too!! We taught the kids the chicken dance and Take me out to the Ball Game, which was absolutely adorable to see them sing!! I'll have to get a video of them singing it to show you all. It was a lot of fun to see the parents, I've met most of my kids moms, but havne't met any dads, so that was cool to see them all having fun together. Today was a lazy day after church, probably a good thing, considering I haven't had time to clean or do laundry since I've been back!! In a few weeks we'll be going to the DMZ, the area between N. and S. Korea, and then the week after that I'm hoping to be going on a little hiking trip up in the mountains to see the fall colors. Hope theres nice weather!!!

I've been looking into doing a volunteer program in Mexico for a month when I'm home this winter. We'll see if I can get placed in time...but if not I'll just have to think of some other trip to take while I'm home!! 2 1/2 months of not working will drive me (and my mother, I'm sure) crazy. We'll see...I'll keep you all posted though!!! Im gonna try to upload a few pics from home....





I have some more that I havent yet uploaded to my comp, so I'll be sure to add them soon!