How Do You Measure a Year??

I love rent. in cause anyone got that blog title.

Five days from today will be my one year anniversary in Korea!! Just in time for me to go home again...

I'm so extremely satisfied with how this first year in Korea has gone. Of course, there were some challenges, (um, hi...I'm a kindergarten teacher...I've never been a teacher before, and yet here I am!) That was me a year ago...but now I feel like a seasoned pro.

Seeing these little kids, who started last January with not much more than "Hi, my name is...", as tiny, little, English speaking people makes me so happy and proud. It was definitely a challenge at times, but also, I had some of the most fun of my life up there in front of those kids, singing, dancing, sometimes yelling, and teaching. I was the first foreign person that many of them had ever seen, and I hope that they will remember me for a long, long time.

Of course, I will still see most of them when I return. But, they won't be "my" babies anymore, they'll be someone else's! My replacement came Tuesday, and she seems like she'll do a great job with them. But I'll still feel a little envy when they go to hug her before me ...

Anyways, this year has passed so quickly, and yet it seems like I've been here forever!! Korea is home to me right now, and I'm happy with it that way. I hope that I feel the same way when I'm getting ready to board the plane to come back in January!!

But for now, I'll pack my bags, clean my apartment, and get ready for the Holidays at home with family and friends. And my beautiful baby niece! I'm super excited for our cruise too, it will be so nice to have our immediate family together for a week. It's been a loooong time since that happened!

I'm happy to have the next year or so laid out for me. My time in Korea is not complete yet, who knows if it will be by this time next year or not, but for now I'm so happy to be here for another year. I have some thoughts for the future, South America, possibly Europe again...who knows. I'm not gonna lay out any plans just yet...but I know that I won't be done traveling this huge, amazing, beautiful world we live in for a very, VERY long time!

Thanks to all of your for all your support in my many adventures...you have no idea how good it is to have people that believe I'm doing what's right for me right now...when all it seems like people my age are doing is getting married and having babies!!! I want that all some day....but my time will come, right mom??

I hope to see many of you over the holidays, but if not, keep in touch!!

Betsy goes hiking (yes...it's true dad, and no there was no boy involved!)

Last weekend...the week before Halloween, a group of girls from my village and I went on a hiking/leaf looking/Korean village stay. It was a blast, and so beautiful! We left late Fri night and drove to Juwonsan park...we stayed parked in the bus for a little til the sun rose, and then walked up a hill, to this...



Gorgous huh?? The colors werent even in full "bloom" yet...but it was soo pretty.

Next, we walked into the park, where we headed off on our 5+ hour walk. It was only about 1 hour uphill, but coming down was possibly even harder!! There were so many people, that at times there were lines to get around and see the waterfalls (not much more than some trickling streams). But...it was beautiful and soo nice to be out walking around.

After our walk, we drove another couple hours to this Korean village, where we got to stay over night in old traditional Korean houses, sleeping on the floors and all. It was a lot of fun, and meeting some of the people really took me back to when I was living in Brazil and was constantly surrounded by other students from different countries...It was a lot of fun.

the next morning we got to see a Korean mask dance, which was...interesting. then we headed back into Seoul. Got into Dongbaek around midnight...and then it was Monday again!! The week flew by, and Fri we had our Halloween party, which was fun and so cute to see all the kids in their costumes. This past weekend was busy also, I joined a friend of mine in Seoul at this international gathering of people...mostly Filipinos, and Koreans, with a few Europeans and Americans...we had a blast out at the clubs all night, and I met some really cool people. They do it every couple weeks, so I'm sure I'll see them all again!!

Can't believe its Nov 1st...wow. 6 weeks and I'll be home again, and then its back to Korea!! It feels like I've been here forever...but the individual weeks and months go by sooo fast. I'm glad to be taking advantage of it all...

Happy November 1st everyone!

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!

The Day has arrived!!

so, the day is here. I'm sitting in the airport in Seoul, hoping the next 20 hours pass quickly. I'll board the plane to Beijing in about an hour, and then it's a 5 hour layover there, then off to Chicago!! My anxiety is pretty bad right now, hoping to make it through the flights. May take some medicine to knock me out!!

There are no words to describe my excitment!! I can't wait to come home and see everyone, most importantly my family and new niece!! Our family will be complete again, for about a week, until I'm back in the Korea.

My 25th birthday was great, Thursday night we went out for some drinks, and the bar sang Happy Birthday at midnight. Friday was an easy day at work, we didnt teach classes, just had a fun game day in celebration of the Korean Holiday coming up. Chuseok is like Thanksgiving, everyone goes home and visits family. Then in my afternoon classes we had tests so no teaching either! Went out for Thai food, and then to the local watering hole for some drinks. One of the teachers has finished her contract, so we had a joint going away/bday party. All in all a great bday, and now I get the best present ofall, going home!!

Can't wait to see everyone!! T-minus 22 hours and counting!!

She's here! She's here! Sadie Jane is here!!

well, not HERE, here of course, considering here is South Korea!

But as I'm sure you all know, Joe and Gail welcomed little Sadie Jane last week. I hear she's just beautiful, and I've gotten to see a few pics, but I'm really looking forward to seeing her in real life and kissing her a lotttt!!

Things have been going as normal here, work during the week, days passing quicker than ever, and then fun things on the weekend. This Sat my small group from church will be hanging out to celebrate both my and another girls birthday. Can't believe I will be 25!!! ahhh....

but then the next day...I'm heading home! So excited, and I try not to think about it too much so it passes quickly, but I can't wait to go home and see everyone! It's gonna be a whirlwind week.

The weather's been cooling down...not much, but a bit. today was 80, but at least not humid and muggy!! And it was super sunny. Hoping that by the time I come back from the US it will have cooled down more!!

Can't wait to see all of you in a week and a half!!!