New Photos

I've been taking more pictures, but haven't been sharing many here on this blog (it's mostly for updated information about my life & random musings). Anyhow, I finally figured out a way to put almost all of my pictures from the last two years in Korea up so you can see them. Sound exciting? If so, please share your enthusiasm with me so that I will be encouraged enough to finish this daunting task.

I'm starting with the most recent events and working backwards. I figured it made the most sense. Keep checking back every week or two to see if I've added anymore albums under 2009.

If you want to visit my picture site, here's the link: whitefreeze.no-ip.org

Update on my week: I'm enjoying term break again. It doesn't seem to visit me often enough; but that's a side note. This week I went mountain climbing (see picture site), stayed up all night watching movies with some other teachers, and am going to Seoul for more chill time with friends and teachers.

I feel like I have to do as much as possible during the break, as there isn't a lot of other time to get out and do stuff in between. It's almost like work trying to enjoy the free time! Ha! That's so me. Home alone is peacefulness. Ah well, there's nothing wrong with being social, either. ~.*

The Passing of the Fridge & the Ice Cream

Hello. Time for a quick update. The sudden passing of my refrigerator has both shocked and inspired me to write. I have been trying to go shopping and buy actual food from the grocery store. It's still only stuff like, "boil for two minutes, mix and serve," but it's a definite upgrade from just rice (which is itself a step up from the minute-food I have usually been treating myself to in Korea).

Some things I will be able to salvage from our melted icebox, such as some noodles I'm going to make to night and the vegetables that don't really need to be refrigerated anyhow. Sadly, the ice cream, frozen bananas and cream cheese (that had been in the freezer since I moved here) didn't make it. Alas, parting must come to all of us. I can probably do without the late-night, ice cream freezer raids. My body will thank me later...

Time for a few pictures.

For Junior Vespers last week we had cake decorating! The kids had a lot of fun decorating the cakes for their parents. I got to plaster my pre-baked cake with as much whipped cream as would fit in and around its contours. All the effort paid off. It wasn't the prettiest, but it sure tasted good.^^

From my trip to the East Sea (aka: Sea of Japan). My group stayed at a place only 10 minutes away on foot from the beach. We found some fireworks and sparklers. I think it was the first time I've ever got to run barefooted on a real beach and chase the waves. The water chilled, but it was alright. Think I'll remember playing tag with those waves for awhile; quite awhile, actually.

Oh, thought I'd throw in a picture, too. Seems to make things more interesting. This is a view out the staff room window. It's the same vista I have from my classroom. I like the mountain in the background. It's adds a sense of tranquility to the scatter of buildings, steeples and cell phone towers.

This Second Week in August

This second week in August has been... hmm... Well, seemingly both better and worse than the previous week. I'd say better for a couple reasons. A. I'm much more accustomed to teaching juniors (the kids) than I was when I first came to Daejeon almost two months ago. B. I feel like I'm getting some things done and accomplished in my life this week, even if it is just a simple thing each day (such as buying some fruit, getting an electronics cord, finding an awesomely cheap {yet, delicious} new pizza shop, and managing the ol' finances online).

A few not-quite-so-good things have contradicted these simple positives, however. A. There was a new class of "juniors" that started and has lasted for about two weeks, but has felt closer to two months on the "emotional drainage" clock. I like kids... ones that listen (at least when I REALLY want them to!). This initial hour that kicks off my afternoon of children darkens the entire day. We'll leave it at that. B. More tired and more stressed because of reason A, which leads to more of B. It's a cyclical thing. Cheers..

Soooo... how 'bout that weather this week, eh? Wow, yeah. Pretty hot, huh? Who knew it could go from cool and pouring for a couple weeks to seriously hot & humid? Go figure.

Oh, another good thing: I got the TV moved into my room tonight. I'm kinda psyched because now I can just listen and "watch" TV. I say "watch" because as though I will be looking at the screen, I will not be comprehending half as much. So maybe I can say, I'm now able to listen and stare blankly at the TV. I figure it'll be a good way to improve my pronunciation and listening comprehension, even if it's just on in the background. I hope the housekeeper doesn't mind. This could be a problem, because well, this house is more like hers, and we're (the foreign teachers) just the temporary guests that just move in and out. I wouldn't be overly surprised if I come back later to find my room tossed and the huge TV back in its place in the living room. My roommate doesn't mind. I asked him, don't worry. So, no problem there if you don’t count the aforementioned manager/housekeeper.

She's actually kinda nice now, but scary at first when she points at stuff in the apartment and strongly tells you to do or NOT do something. I never knew that cereal boxes didn't belong on top of the fridge before... But maybe that's why I was sent to Daejeon so that I can learn knew and valuable lessons such as this. Meh. We're more chummy these days, so give the good one more point, k?

Oh, if you feel that I've been ignoring you personally.. don't. I'm not. It's just me. I love your emails/text messages/facebook messages! But excuse, excuse, emotionally drained, excuse, excuse, lonely, excuse, stressed, excuse, excuse, tired, excuse, excuse, excuse, etc. Oh, and sometimes I'm just lazy. But I love and miss you! Really.

But now as I look at the clock, I may have let guilt get the best of me by writing a long blog post instead of going to bed a couple of hours ago (not that if I hadn't written I'd have done it differently, though. *sigh* ). It's about 2, and I need to get to work earlier tomorrow than I have been recently (i.e. - on time). Oops, one more point for the bad things...

Sleep will come quickly. I hope that not matter how much good or bad is affecting you right now, that peace will still give you rest. Pleasant dreams.

Update: My Monday.

I'm still sick! Yes, I know... but I finally went to see a doctor today! One of the secretaries went with me to help with the translation sometimes (usually) needed. She (the female doctor) gave me lots of drugs. So I think I'm on the edge of recovery! I've got Rest, hot water AND medicine! ...Oh, and a new inhaler, too; the one I had expired in 2003. I was desperate enough to use it last week (probably not my best idea), but it helped a little... and made me feel like I was floating slightly. But hey, don't tell the doctor, okay? Our little secret: capeesh?

So yeah, after visiting the doctor this afternoon I have been feeling better and stronger. My voice however has been getting worse, even more than last week! Something must be wrong with me or something because ever since I came to Daejeon my voice has progressively gotten worse throughout the course of each class period. It goes from "okay" to "are you okay?" within the hour. Meh.

Maybe I should take voice lessons so I can practice projection and using my diaphragm more. My theory is that because my classes are smaller, I'm not talking as loudly. Hence, I actually strain my voice more because I try to force the smaller volume out, instead of doing the opera singer thing. I actually kind of got the hang of it in Ilsan. For some strange reason, though I had to physically touch my throat with my hand to get it to work: but it did. I'll have to try it again.

About the weather: It's been pouring since the end of last week! Apparently there has been some flooding in Korea because of it, too. Something about 10 cm (~4") in one day. The news was in, of course, Korean; so I'm still not sure if the flooding part was in China or Korea, but all indicators point to Korea. It just seems like all the big natural disaster have been happening in China recently, that's all.

Back to me: minus one morning running to work, I've been managing to keep basically dry. Mental note: get an umbrella that works.

Well, hope you read the last post and comment. I love comments! (thx Trinity^^)

Mental note #2: get a BIGGER umbrella that works... yeah, sheesh.

New Place

So, you may have noticed that I didn't post any new pictures like I said I was going to 3 or so months ago... my apologies. I would like to mention that I was recently blessed with a new "opportunity." This was not so much a choice, as it was a requirement for my position as a teacher/mission here in Korea.

I have lived and taught in Ilsan (일산) near Seoul for a year and a half. I have grown to love the place and its people. There are many people I got to know and will miss very much. Hopefully I/we can still visit each other often!

I was hesitant to the idea of leaving at first, but as time has progressed, I'm beginning to think that if ever had to leave Ilsan: now was the time. Perhaps I was becoming too comfortable... I mentioned to my dad a few weeks prior that I was feeling something akin to "senioritis." Yes, my motivation and effort were ebbing, even if ever so lightly.. o.O Something like that... yeah.

So anyhow, I moved from the "big city" to the "not-so-big city" of only 1.5 million people. I didn't think it could be true, but I'm getting a distinct feeling that's a bit more "country" than I had expected. Apparently Seoul is the standard in Korea. My new city is Daejeon (Taejeon/대전). It is located roughly in the center of South Korea. Here the city is less dense and more spread out. There are more mountains popping out from betwixt the buildings; of which, amazingly, not all are high-rise apartments (although, there's still enough of them).

I'm feeling a bit more lonely, stressed, and today: sick. The anxiety of a new city, institute, teachers, staff, apartment and surroundings has been adding up. My schedule, while still technically the same amount of hours, is more spread out and basically consumes my day. I have 3 classes in the morning, which start at 7 A.M. In the afternoon I teach juniors for the first real time. No longer one here, one there, but 3 hours of kids! I've actually been afraid of teaching munchkins for... well, since before I came to Korea. But, so far... I haven't died. No, really, it's almost fun: almost. The kids are... interesting. For some reason they like "high fives" more than stickers. Perhaps this is part of my current "sick" status, perhaps. So yes, the students are always the best part (as it's always been), it's that pesky teaching part that gets in the way... *chuckle*. Just kidding... sort of.

Tonight I have the vespers program (Table Cafe/F.N.F/Friday Night Fun/No One Comes). Last week only one of the Korean teachers came. For comparison, at Ilsan we usually had at least 10, and sometimes 20 or 30 students Friday night. My branch here in Daejeon is called Nae Dong (내동) and is one of three institutes in a 20-minute radius. Ours is the smallest apparently. We less than a total of ten adult classes: I was shocked. I used to have 7 or so adult classes myself, plus the 3-5 other teachers. This is different. I'll leave it at that, for now.

Tomorrow I have the role of "translating" the sermon. It's more like I read the English script the pastor gave to me and the he translates it. It's kind of backwards, but I agree that this is probably the best way to do it without and actual translator, as such. I already did this for the first time last week; my voice was halfway hoarse. Got through it, anyhow.

As I mentioned before, I'm more lonely here. Before, I'd had enough time to meet people and have some friends. This starting over thing isn't easy and it's a bit hard for me to make friends in the first place, you know.. me being a bit more reserved and all. *Non sequitur rant* Wow! This blog thing is a great way to dissipate some of this stress! I might have to write more "next week!" *ends rant* So yes, I have about 20 students from all of my adult classes put together. Most of my friends I met in class, so this means I'll have to amend this approach. The only other people of similar age and interest of the junior teachers and secretaries here and at the other two institutes nearby. Most are pretty nice, but being nice and hanging out together can still be completely different things all together. I'm hoping this won't be the case... I'm lonely! See? I'm actually writing in my blog! This should tell you something. *sigh*

Well, I hope this helps make up for the past three months a bit. I know there aren’t any pictures in this post, but too bad: maybe next time. I miss home and my friends in Ilsan. If I don’t always call or write, don’t think I’m not missing you. It’s just (my poor excuse) that if I call or write, I will have to think about how much I am missing everyone. I’m sorry if I’ve been cold or distant; that is part of the reason.

Wherever you are: may the skies be blue, the stars bright, and the thoughts of your loved ones held close in your heart.

Almost Class Time

I'm alive. That's all for now. Need to get some grub and head-off to class in 45 minutes. I was planning on giving a bigger update than this, but I had an urgent request and most of you are aware of my lightning speed for almost anything. I'll post a few pictures this week, okay? ^^