What do You get When you put a Sick person..and a depressed person together?

Christmas flew by, and now the NY is fast approaching! Can't duck from it! :-)


I went to a Christmas dinner with some friends. We turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, stuffings, and veggies---it was wonderful.



My friend got an oven, so we made pizza, Italian bierlotte (spelling is wrong, I'm positive), and sugar cookies!!! It made me happy :-)

I'm going home in approximately 25 more days. I really hope I get to do some filming when I get home. I miss the people that I am going to work with, and it would be fun to pretend to be an annoying, mean and crabby receptionist for a little while :-) I need to steam off some of the stress I've been storing inside! haha

After that, I'm going to Egypt for 4 days. Two days in Cairo, and then two in Hurghada. Hurgada is on the East coast of Egypt, surrounded by the Red Sea. There, I will scuba dive!!! I'm so geeked! I'm going to try my hardest to part the Red Sea while I'm there. I'll let you know how it goes *cross your fingers for me*. I bet it will be more epic than Moses Schmoses.

AFTER THAT, I'm going to spend a day in Abu Dhabi, capital of United Arabs Emirates. That should be a super fun and expensive day trip!

Sigh.

There are some really great things about Korea---the food is cheap and yummy, my students are adorable, I have good friends here... I know. I know. I know I have a lot to be thankful for, but it doesn't erase the fact that really miss home. I'm excited to be back, even if it's just for a little bit. :-) Sometimes, I think adventurists just need to go home and breathe for a little bit :-)

Not all there/here/anywhere/-ere (mentally, physically, emotionally, anything ending in -ally)

One more week until Christmas.

One more month until I can go back home. :-)

The food here is great, the people are friendly, my friends are awesome, but it'll be nice to be back home, just for a bit.

Ahhh, I also wish there were more German speakers here, haha but I totally picked the wrong country for that!

chain my heart to an iron ball launch and it into the Pacific.

I was able to do some more hiking the previous couple of weeks here. It was nice (I was going to say "and relaxing", but that would be a lie). I went back to Seoraksan, and did a different route to Ulsanbawi. It was nice reaching the top and having the wind try to blow you off of it.

for visual purposes:


I just realized I never showed or talked about my classes. Here's a picture of one of my favorite 5th grade class. They're a lot of fun--the student in the blue to the lower right of the center is a huge trouble maker with the most annoying voice ever...but he's funny as hell.


Korean kids are super cute, haha.

I've almost been here 3 months! woot woot!

I've gotten to know some people here better, and I must say.. I LOVE it when people surprise me! Well, not just any surprise, but GOOD surprises! haha For example, I met a friend here who I thought was fairly interesting and fun to hang out with. He said he was interested in art (blah blah blah, everyone's interested in art, right?) and I just found out recently that he made this:

http://vimeo.com/3552576
(watch it, I say!)

He hand made all of the characters from clay, drew the background and shot the short music video for the song "Beautiful" by Gary Jules. Holy schmikes, I wasn't expecting that. Good surprise! :)

Another example. There's this guy name Bob who randomly hangs out with my girl friends and I sometimes, and I never gave much attention to him. Well, we got into a conversation for a little over two hours, and I learned about why he came here (to sum it up, it was because he has this friend, whom we will call Martin--anyhow, he's a fricking genius, but decided to give a way everything he owned and lived as a homeless person for a little over a year. Martin easily survived this year and randomly decided to come to Korea. Bob was fascinated by him and his decisions, and so he deferred school to come here also), his view on religions, what he's currently studying (Physics and Engineering, I think) and how all of that has affected his way of thinking, and most importantly, GUESS WHAT? BOB HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR. WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED THAT?!!! I thought the dude was boring and quiet goon with a non-expressive face and the dude just hangs around...you would've never expected those people to have a ..personality. BUT DUDE, I was wrong, and I loved it!!! :) surprises, surprises, I love that about people.

I enjoy making Lists.

DUDE! I love reading!
Thus far, I've read:

1) Eat Pray Love -- Elizabeth Gilbert
This book's a bit cliche and I can't decide if I think she's a normal woman, or if she's just another libidinous American woman in search of romance overseas. I already have in my mind how all the characters look like, so I refuse to watch the movie just yet! haha And YES, the book's title is not fallacious at all. It is literally about Eating, Praying, and Loving. Very original.

2) Life of Pi-- Yann Martel
This book starts off slow...but dang!! the book is gripping! A young boy (Pi's his name, obviously) survives living in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a hyena, chimpanzee, zebra and tiger. Pi's story of survival makes you question how a person so young and innocent (yet, wise!!) still has hope despite losing nearly everything. He's also extremely intelligent and has a passion for learning about God and animals...I won't spoil the ending for you aside from the fact that he DID survive, but still, it will leave you dumb-founded. I hear that Director Ang Lee is going to make a film out of it sometime soon. Exciting! :)



3) Pride & Prejudice-- Jane Austen
I think Ms. Austen is an extremely talented writer, and I totally understand that in the period in which the book was written, marriage was a big deal, but, HOLY SCHMIKES! These women need to get their minds off of boys and find a hobby or SOMETHING!

4) The Alchemist-- Paulo Coelho
OMG! This is my favorite book so far!! After reading this, I just want to go out and find my Personal Legend... if only I knew what it was!!

5) *The Origin of Species-- Charles Darwin (the ONE book during my college career that I swore to never read because I hated Biology, hehe) So far, Darwin is surprising me in that...he's not boring as I had anticipated a man of his intelligence to be.

(*=currently reading)

I love books that have the ability to change my views on issues! If you have any suggestions, shoot them at me. :)

Ahhhh. I ran across this list that I once made of things that I wanted to do. The ones that are italicized have been accomplished, but alas, Sigh, I've still got a long ways to go…and every time I see the list, I keep adding, so the list just keeps growing!! haha

1. Step on all 7 continents
2. Meet a celebrity!!
3. Bungee jump off of the highest bridge in the world (located in South Africa)
4. Skydive!!
5. Make a New Years Resolution...and stick to it, dammit!!
6. Run a marathon!
7. Learn to play an instrument...preferably the piano.
8. Road trip across America
9. Backpack throughout Europe
10. Learn a foreign language
11. Swim across the English Channel (yeah...who am I kidding)
12. La Tomatina in Bunol (near Valencia, Spain)
13. Get my PhD and become a professor
14. Make a difference in at least one person's life
15. Marry the love of my life!!!
16. Run with the bulls in Spain :)
17. Attend the World Cup
18. Become a triathlete
19. Be the BEST sister I could possibly be
20. Swim with dolphins, whales, and sharks.
21. Adventure Grand Slam..Look it up.
22. Oktoberfest, Germany!!!
23. Bike across a country! :)
24. Watch the apple blossoms in Japan.
25. See the Aurora Borealis!
26. Live like a local in a different country for a year
27. Scuba dive in Thailand and the Great Barrier Reef..
28. Buy my mum & dad a car
29. Learn to love and forgive quickly.



(the Aurora Borealis....beautiful, huh?)


YAY for being ALIVE & WELL!!!!! :-D

When in Incheon...

ALRIGHT. I'M HERE.

So I've been here for a little over 6 weeks. By "here", I'm talking about Incheon, South Korea.

One of the main reasons I chose Korea is so that I'm able to do a lot of hiking- which I'm pleased to say that it's happening! I've been able to hike Seoraksan National Park (and going back again in a few weeks!), and a smaller mountain in Seoul. The Koreans are very avid hikers...I'm pretty impressed by the fact that they can down 3 Sojus at every stop they take on the way to the top. (Soju= uck!)


A day in the life of Choua:

7:08 a.m.- wake up after hitting snooze twice
7:10 a.m.- shower. If I feel like it. If not, I sleep some more.
7:20 a.m.- check to see if my mom e-mailed me. She does, often. :)
7:30 a.m.- toast and cereal. I've eaten more cereal in the past 6 weeks than I have ever had in the last 22 years.
7:40 a.m. - run around trying to find something clean to wear
7:50 a.m. - making sure I have everything I need to be an ASA! teacher ;)

okay. That's the first hour of my day....

8 a.m. - Walk 25 min to class :)I'm thankful for this time.
9-12:10 pm- Teach 4 classes. They're either 3rd, 5th or 6th graders. I'll go in details later.
12:10-1 p.m. LUNCH. :-D
1-4:30 - Desk warm.

4:30 -walk back home.
5:00- try to cook.
5:10- come to the bitter realization that I can't cook,and then call up a friend to see if they feel like going out to try new Korean food. By "new" Korean food, I mean, bimbimbap.

Go for a run & learn some German.

MY LIFE IS SO EXCITING.

No, but I'm really happy that I have a lot of free time. I want to make good use of it. By the end of this year, I want to:

1. Read, write and speak German.
2. Run a marathon (!!!!)
3. Read lots of books(On my 3rd one already! whoot!) that I never had time for previously...
4. Hike all the big national parks in Korea!
5. Visit Japan & AUSTRALIA! :)

This is going to be an interesting year :) I know that I'm being stubborn right now about a lot of things, but I can honestly say that I'm learning a lot about myself, my environment, and my level of tolerance to other cultures.

I do want to share with you some things that I find especially interesting about the Koreans:

1. The students take really good care of their schools. The teacher and staffs make them clean the classrooms (at first I was shocked to see the students get down on their knees and scrub the floors...but I got used to it) so that they can appreciate and respect their schools more. They're also required to bring slippers to wear inside of the school. :) It's super cute, I find.



2. Most of the Koreans that I've had one on one interactions with are some of the nicest people I've ever come across. They're very humble (hehehe I will go in details on this in later blogs), generous, and extremely welcoming. For example, my next door neighbor gave me a bunch of grapes (which is a big deal, because fruits and vegetables in Korea are expensive!! I'm talking double digits dollars here!!), and one of my co-teachers gave me a bunch of food to buy my forgiveness when he forgot to take me to church. Umm, yeah. I guess anyone who gives me good immediately gets on my good side. But seriously, some of them are really great people. ( the picture above shows a bunch of random Koreans helping us set up our tents in Seoraksan! See what I mean? :))

3. Koreans do not sweat. It's so weird.


Welcome to Korea. Where all the streets (and people, yah yah yah) look alike.

Europe!

This is my first blog, in...God knows how long!

Okay, the low down on this chick. In the last two months, I've been blessed to be able to travel to Germany, Spain and Italy. Let me tell you, AMAZING! Europe is simply amazing. I love the culture, food (of course), lifestyle, people, and fashion! hehe

Germany. To be frank (no pun intended), I flew into Frankfurt from Chicago because it was the cheapest route. I had no intention to stay in Frankfurt (or Germany for that matter) any longer than I had to because I had many negative assumptions about the country (which I was proven wrong shortly thereafter). I sat next to a very well-rounded man in his late 60s on the plane ride. We spoke for most of the 10 hour plane ride. He told me about his life, how left Germany in his early 20s to come into the USA, how he only received his High School Diploma, but has been able to become a pilot, own numerous properties, and even made some appearances in some featured films...the man was simply brilliant! I was so impressed. :) (this would continue to happen, as I soon realized)
(Bulls & Bear Market)

I stayed in 5 Elements Hostel in Frankfurt. I had some difficulty locating the hostel because the streets were arranged differently from the USA and were more...curvy, I suppose. Whenever I pulled out a map, Germans around me would ask, "Are you lost? Do you need help?"

I got settled in, and went on a Frankfurt on foot tour with an Aussie (which I later found out that at least 1 out of 5 Aussies are abroad at all times...they love their traveling!) name Morgan. As much as I love Australian accents, I had some difficulty understanding them. For instance, when he was trying to introduce himself to me, he kept on saying "My name's Moooeee" to which I reply "Moe? Really? You don't look like a Moe" "No, Mooeeeee.." "Moeeeee?" "Nooo" "Sorry, can you spell it for me?" "M-O-R-G-A-N" "OOHHHH, MORRGAAANNNN". (see what I mean?)

Frankfurt is, as I was told, the bank capital of the world. I can see why.

Ahhh, overall, the Germans definitely impressed me. Nearly everyone was well dressed, no one tried to rip us off, and the streets were very well kept. Everyone walked. Everywhere. Ah, and they also smoked like chimneys. (No wonder they're all so thin! Expensive food + smoking = German diet!!!) They were so friendly!!!


Spain.
Okay. So I came to this country mainly because of the World Cup. :) Yes, they loveeee their futball here!! Literally. As much as I love Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, they LOVE their futball. I went on a tour to see the Futball Stadium, the beaches and the Sagrada Familia buildings. I enjoyed it. However, the Spaniards weren't as friendly as I had anticipated...to which I can completely understand, to a degree. If I lived in a town (such as Barcelona) and was constantly approached by English speaking tourists, I would get annoyed as hell too!!!



I felt I had the most difficulty getting around in Spain, but I also understand I need to stop relying on fricking English and learn their language!!! But Spain was pretty great in its own ways. I also attended Tomato Festival, in Bunol (about 30 min train ride from Valencia). Let me tell you....no, let me show you. It was a riot. :)



Italy.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Did I mention, beautiful?
Milan, Florence, Rome....I love the history behind this country. I love that they care enough about it to still keep it around to this day. I can't even describe it...gelato (omgawd, heaven on earth!), pasta (i'm dying here thinking about it), pastry shops (shoot me)....the people...everything about Italy is perfect.



I went to the Vatican on my last day there...as amazed as I was by the history and the art shows, I was a bit disappointed on my encounter with the Sistine Chapel. In all the pictures that I've seen, it's supposed to be this unbelievable piece of art (which it is!) that's breathtaking (which it is!) in all its aspects...but...damn. When I entered the room, it was full of hundreds of tourists who couldn't keep their mouths shut for 3 seconds to enjoy it in peace and quite-ness. The security guards working had to keep reminding everyone to "shut up!" and "it's a holy place!"...some people just didn't get it. I wish it weren't so crowded.

Europe was everything I had expected it to be, and so much more. A lot of surprises. :) I made a lot of assumptions that eventually made an ass out of me (not "u"! hehe)I think I'd like to learn German, seeing as it's the 2/3rd most widely spoken language in Europe (after English and French, if my memory serves me correctly). I'm definitely looking to return sometime soon. Heck, I might even live and work there after graduate school. But don't tell my parents, they'll freak out. :) Per usual, right?

Anyhow, I'm very blessed. And thankful for this experience.

Now South Korea.... deserves it's own blog. Which I will post up shortly. :)

2 more weeks.

I'm sitting in my room on a Thursday evening with 2 weeks left until I'm done with "college".

One of my boss today at work asked if I can help do a presentation about Thailand for a bunch of high school students tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. If you know me...you know I can't say "no".

At least I can say I'm learning a lot doing all this research :)

Sigh. So the fact that college is coming to an end soon isn't really sinking yet. Either people are sad, or super happy. I don't really feel either way. Some people are trying to get the last nights of partying done before they enter the "real life". Some are trying to catch up in their classes that they are currently getting a 1.5 in...or both. I don't know.

I haven't drank in 2-3 months. I don't even enjoy going out anymore. I think that my mind is somewhere else, somewhere far beyond "college". I know you may be thinking that I sound like a 40 year old Presbyterian woman...and I don't know, I probably do. I think the last couple of months hanging out with the close friends that I have, and really trying to appreciate every person in my life has opened my eyes to a lot of things. A lot of random things.

I've been running 10-20 miles every week this semester. I'm starting to realize how important m health is to me. I'm so blessed to have 2 arms, 2 legs, a somewhat sane mind...so many people would die to have "simple" things like this. I only have one body and one life....if not now, when am I going to start taking care of myself? I really enjoy running. And sweating. And bathing in my own sweat. mmmmmm. :)

I'm looking forward to what this summer and the upcoming year brings. It seems as if..whenever I plan on doing something, it never goes my way, so I'm just going to chill out, and let things happen. :)

So I think I've learned a lot of humility the last couple of months. I've learned to not talk or make decisions when I'm angry. I've learned to be more observant of when I'm wrong, and admit it upfront. I've learned to be less stubborn. I've learned that I want to do better in a class when I like my professors/TAs. I've learned that sometimes it's more important to save friendships and relationships than to be "right".

I know that all of these lessons are extremely simplistic; something we should've all learned in Kindergarten. I guess it just took me a lot longer...Or maybe these are lessons that as we grow older, we think we know it, but the more we live, the more we are able to understand it in a deeper way. It's like a set of rings that has the smallest one in the middle, circled by a larger one, which is circled by a larger one, and so on. When we're in elementary school, we learn about treating other people in a broad way, encapsulated by the largest ring. Then as we grow and reach another point in our life, we understand it in a deeper way, thus moving us from the outside ring a step closer to the middle.

Anyhow (yeah that paragraph above was ..different). I'm going to really try to enjoy the last 2 weeks of school. I'm going to spend it with people I really care about, and I'm going to do well in my classes...because I really like my professors this semester. :)