The past few weekends I've spent in Seoul, which is such a breath of fresh air. Though I love Cheonan and it's smaller, intimate feel, the big, international and eclectic city is a fun place to visit. And, it's only a 30 minute train ride.
A few weekends ago, we went to support Josh in an art auction (fundraiser for unwed mothers in Korea)  in which he had a couple of his pieces. It was an excellent art show that included a spoken word section as well. The speakers were very passionate and talented. After the event, we stayed the night in a jimjilbang (a public bathhouse). Jimjilbangs usually have more than one floor. The first floor is usally the bath areas (one for men and one for women). The other floors are a common (not quiet area with restaurants etc) room, a common sleeping room and seperate male and female sleeping rooms (all on mats on the floor). Jenny, Josh and I decided to stay in the common sleeping area and figured it'd be the best bet. It was so loud and brightly lit and a few weirdos sleeping way too close for comfort. For only 8 bucks, what can you expect?

This past weekend was beautiful. We spent the afternoon out in the warm sun exploring Hongdae art market. Jenny, Josh, Julie and I got little caricature cloth dolls of ourselves... they are very cute and creative. Hopefully Josh will be able to bring his art to the market soon. Afterwards, we went on  boose cruise along the Han River. No one really cared for the music, which was a downer, but it was such a clear, crisp spring night on the water to enjoy. Afterwards, we went to a burlesque show. It was a good show with good music to dance to. And again, we slept in the jimjilbang, but we made sure to do it the smart way. So, we said goodnight to Josh and went to sleep in seperate male/female sections. These sections are basically like 40 little dark caves on the floor for people to crawl into and sleep in individually. I find it really cozy and safe, but of course a little hard on the floor. It's actually kind of fun.
The next morning, waking up at the jimjilbang (bathouse), I had a place to shower, get in the hot tub and enjoy a little time in the sauna before starting my morning. It's very refreshing. We all went to All American Diner for breakfast. We got free refills on coffee, which is such a simple but delicious American pleasure!
After breakfast with everyone, I seperated and met up with Sohee in an area called Meyongdong. The shopping there was exceptional and I found a Forever 21! We had coffee in the cutest little place. Really the place is meant for couples because there are tiny, seperate, curtained off rooms on the floor with a tv, a small table and lights that dim (wink). After coffee, catching up and shopping, we got a very delicious Japanese dinner that I'd never had before called Omurice. So delicious!
I took the train home and here I am... off to another work week!

I'm almost famous. One of my student's father saw Jenny, Josh and I on the Korean KBS sports channel for a televised volleyball game. Maybe famous is a bit of an overstatement, but this is the first step... air time on Korean television... few years later rolling with the big dogs in LA.

Jenny and I started watching volleyball games while running on the treadmills at the gym a few months back but never realized Cheonan had a team. We are the Cheonan Skywalkers!!! Our trainer, Lee, told us about the games and we've been to about 5 of them. We're pretty big fans. And as far as the foreign crowd, I'd say we're the biggest fans in Cheonan. For some reason volleyball is extremely popular as a national sport and it's quite a hit with the teenie boppers. After the games the young schoolgirls (sometimes still in uniform) chase after the players and wait at the team bus for them. I may or may not have chased after a few players myself just like the rest of the giddy schoolgirls...

Because of our enthusiasm last Saturday, we were even interviewed by a woman that works for Hyundai (the sponsor of the Skywalkers team). I was estatic!

As sad as I am about the change of semester, having to say goodbye to my very first kinder students (Gemini and Aries), I'm excited about the next six months with my new classes, Leo and Pisces. They are 7 year old, first year students, so they speak very little English, not much beyond the ABCs. I met them on Friday and fell in love already ! :) I guess I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to teaching adorible little kids every day! In Leo class there is one little boy named Lion. What a cute name! They are all so sweet and well-behaved (fingers crossed). There are only 7 students in Leo class and only 6 in Pisces! This is going to be a breeze compared to my last group of students in Aries and Gemini. I'm also glad that these students get to start the year with me so that I can set rules and boundaries my way rather than picking up halfway through the semester like I did with Gemini and Aries in September. I'm looking forward to this new change!

Lately I've been feeling really comfortable and very aquainted with Cheonan. It feels like home here, not like a year-long vacation. Not to say I don't love Cheonan. I love it more than I ever have. It's my six month mark here in Korea and I have six more left. I'm neither excited nor bummed that I'm halfway through my contract. It's almost as is this experience is starting to feel like less of an exotic getaway and more like my life. I don't feel like I have a time limit here (which realistically I do). It's as if I'm at home in Virginia living life one day at a time, which I think is why I haven't written in awhile.

This past month has been very busy because the change of semester happens in March, so all the teachers are tying loose ends and figuring out curriculum for new classes. My kinder classes graduated last weekend. I've never seen such a big ordeal for a kindergarten graduation. It was exhausting. All of the classes performed plays. Gemini class did Three Bill Goats. They pulled it off very well, though during practice in classtime they drove both me and my Korean co-teacher, June, insane. They recieved little diplomas and big yearbooks with a blown up 11x8 picture of me and each student.  Insane. At the end, the parents rushed up and gave us flowers, took pictures with us and their kids, and thanked us. It was very rewarding. But over the top and weird.

The last few days of class, I taught the kids the expression "Let's keep in touch". They loved it and applied it to everything. When they wrote letters to their teachers, a lot of the kids wrote "Keep in touch" to me and my coteacher. Danny, however, wrote "Let's keep in hand". Cute!

I got to celebrate Valentine's Day with kinder the last week we had together. I got lucky in that I celebrated so many holidays with my very first kinder classes (Chuseok, Halloween, Christmas and Valentines). They loved the valentines and candy hearts my mom sent. On Valentines Day in Korea only the men receive candy from their women. On White Day, the men in return, celebrate the women only. And for all those lonely, miserable singles there is... drumroll please.... Black Day. How dreadful a name. I can't imagine how me and all my single Koreans will celebrate this dismal dark Black Day. I hope I'm not expected to buy myself chocolate.

Aside from the busy days at work, life is good. I am constantly meeting new people almost every weekend. I've been hanging out with a few new girls, Monica and Allison. It's so easy to make friends here because the foreigners all pick each other out because there are just a handful of us in Cheonan. And as far as making Korean friends goes, it's equally as easy. They are some of the kindest people I've ever met... very generous and appreciative. And a lot love practicing English, so why not be friends?

Speaking of Korean friends, my friend Daria is all torn up because her foreign boyfriend left to go back to California. She cried over a few beers with Jenny and I a couple weeks ago. It's a lot harder on her because her Korean friends and family don't take her relationship seriously because it's a foreigner. No one seems to understand why she is so upset over a "foreign fling" except for us. On top of that, the language barrier is so tough for them that a long distance communication is impossible.

Joe came to visit again to get off his airforce base during Seolnal (Lunar new year) vacation. We went to Seoul with my coworkers to get away from Cheonan and to give our coworker, Andy, a send-off back to the USA. It was nice seeing Joe again. It was a very spur of the moment visit... text Thursday night and done deal perfect timing by Friday for dinner with my friends.

It's hard to believe it's almost March...one more week. The weather is improving here. It feels like spring! I can't wait to see all the cherry blossoms in bloom. I'm so excited for the next six months. If I could struggle through Korea's cold weather in the best of spirits, it seems only natural I will do the same but with beautiful weather to look forward to!

I was prepared this weekend to be sleeping on a freezing, hard, floor, in a tiny room, huddled with all my friends, robbing them of their body heat. As fun as that sounds, the weekend turned out a bit differently.

When our friend Daria invited us to take a pension trip with her, we blindly accepted without any idea of what exactly pension trip entailed. A little taste for adventure got the best of us, and we jumped at the opportunity. We were told that these Korean pension trips are like camping, so we were honestly expecting to rough it.

We were very pleasantly suprised when we arrived at our condo/pension at Daechon beach (up north about an hour from Cheonan). Except for the lack of beds (Korean style...sleeping on the floor), it was just like a cabin getaway you'd find at a nice mountain lodge in the U.S. It was much more spacious than I expected, with several rooms , TVs, a nice kitchen and a couch. Though there were no beds, there were more than enough mats, pillows and blankets we threw into the living room. It was like sleepover stlye straight out of a Babysitter Club book. It was very comfortable and cozy. Outside, we had a tent with a barbeque and table to have ourselves a little winter cookout.

Before settling in, the women (Krystin, Jenny, Daria, Judy and myself) scurried to E-Mart to get grocceries for the weekend. Daria and Judy are Korean so they bought a lot of Korean food to make for us. They were wonderful hostesses! Meanwhile the men (Josh, Andy, Ben and Beagle (a Korean bartender friend)) lazed around, while we shopped. I suppose in a perfect world they should've been chopping wood or something manly.

After shopping, Daria drove us girls to see the ocean. It was absolutely freezing, but beautiful. There is something very calm about a beach in the wintertime.

Daria and Judy really did a nice job taking care of us, organzing the whole trip, preparing amazing meals throughout the weekend. When they weren't cooking and we weren't eating their amazing cooking, we talked, goofed off, relaxed, slept, just passed the time leisurely until nightfall.

Saturday night we had a Korean style cookout. It was delicious, but nothing like a cookout back home. To give you an idea, just picture a big green leaf instead of a bun, little strips of pork instead of a huge hamburger patty, and a spicy sauce instead of ketchup. Oh and of course, throw in some rice. Who am I kidding... there's always rice. And any Korean cookout has beer and soju (comparable to watered down vodka). That is where you can find a similarity between Korean and American cookouts... booze... lots of it.

Once we were so cold that we couldn't feel our toes anymore, we headed back inside. Somehow or another a big dance party extravaganza ensued. I, for one, was in heaven. I love to dance. We all goofed around until we wore ourselves out, laughing so hard, we were falling to the floor in fits of laughter. Though Daria, Judy and Beagle don't speak much English and us foreigners are worthless in Korean, there is no barrier when it comes to genuine smiles, laughter and fun. I will keep these memories with me for a lifetime.

We went out for Reuven's birthday last night. It was an ordinary Wednesday night out at the bar until about 11:00. The bartenders were mixing drinks, showing off with a little cocktail flair. Then out of nowhere, regular customers started coming up to the bar and adding their own special ingredients such as spit, socks, cake, you know the works.. and thank god, tons of alcohol to get rid of all the bacteria (yeah right). Anyways, like a big dum dum, I thought they were just doing this for fun and games. Why they would mix a big bowl of nasty was beyond me, but so clear to everyone else that it was intended for Reuven to drink. I started to catch on when the bartender, Pooh, filtered this concoction through his own sock and into a nice martini glass. I've seen this kind of thing take place before at army events I have catered to and thought it was beyond odd. But since the army is cult-like, frat-like, I took it for what it was worth. Initiations and rights of passage are all the rage in the army, but to see this kind of thing in your average local bar in Korea was a shock. In a country so conservative at times, I had to ask myself how this was an acceptable social norm.

I've been back from vacation for a week now so I could have written, but January's cold has turned me lazy. If I had a choice, I'd watch Sex and the City episode after episode, which I do anyways in whatever time I leave myself.

As to not bore my remaining loyal readers, I will keep my trip short, only highlighting the main points. Singapore is absolutely gorgeous. It is the cleanest city I have ever seen. They have a strict policy on smoking in designated areas. Chewing gum is not sold, and if imported, Singaporeans are fined 500$. A world without chewing gum? Get real! I can't imagine it, especially as a citizen of a country where we take pride in a wall covered in old, grimy, chewed gum. Check it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubblegum_Alley.

A beautiful river runs through Singapore, with two main nightlife areas on the water known as Boat Quay and Clarke Quay. They were amazing, full of life. The climate was tropical, but mild, around the 80s. Unfortunately for me, a sun worshiper, it was rainy season. A local bartender told Krystin and I on our first night, "December is the worst month to come to Singapore." No regrets. Rain or shine, this city-country still had it all.

Singapore is a British colony, so most everyone speaks beautiful English as well as Chinese and a few other languages. A lot of the younger generation are bilingual and speak their own colloquial English, Singlish. It was amazing to hear everyone speaking in English.

It is a very walkable city. I learned this quickly from my 8am morning strolls, while waiting on my fellow travellers, Krystin, Reuven, Andy and Dennis to wake up. "Like mother, like daughter"...it couldn't have been clearer during this vacation. As much as I've resented my father calling me my mother's clone over the years, I have finally accepted it after this vacation. I didn't lose a minute of travel time. I will never be a museum/cathedral junkie like my mother, but I will soak up every minute of the day exploring. I've inherited her sense of adventure. I'll finally admit it.

On the other hand, I can't see my mother, even in her 20's, dancing till five in the morning in one of the biggest night clubs. I certainly did not inherit party life and late hours from her, that would be thanks to my father, Wild Bill. Holla! Singapore has an outstanding economy, but a beer or cocktail go for roughly 15$ a pop in the more bustling areas, such as Clark Quay. So, when the opportunity presented itself for five free drinks on Ladies Night at this huge club, Attica, I jumped at the opportunity. Plus, I'm a sucker for dancing my life away. Korea isn't big on dancing, and my body was aching for it! Unfortunately, none of my friends were up for it, but that couldn't deter my plans. I went alone, met the nicest Singaporean girls, they took me under their wing, and the rest is history! It was my best memory there!

Eventhough I was up till an unruly hour, I was still buzzing with energy, woke up at 8am again and took off to a teeny island called Pulau Ubin. It's known as the original Singapore, what it used to look like before booming into a modern beauty. The natural beauty of Pulau Ubin far surpassed the modern marvels back on the mainland. I love both areas for different reasons. I rented a bike for 5 bucks and toured around the whole island for a few hours. It was amazing how many different changes of scenery there were. At one point, I was zooming down a hill in the rainforest, monkeys overhead. Next thing, I'm in a big, lush, green field that ends at a rock quarry. A little later, swampland appears out of nowhere and breaks into a beautiful rocky coast, boasting clear, torqouise water. It had a very rustic charm: old, rundown, colorful houses and stores, rusty bicycles forgotten in overgrown grasses, tiny fishing boats tied to rickedy docks. It was such a simple, natural wonder.

Despite Pulau Ubin being my favorite, back in the city, there were phenomenal Buddhist statues everywhere, amazing shopping deals and fantastic food (especially fresh fruit!). One of my favorite areas was Chinatown because of my extreme passion for fashion (aka shopping). We hit the jackpot because during the Christmas season, a very central road known for high fashion shopping, Orchard Road, was decked out in the best display of lights I've ever seen.

Singapore was a wonderful choice, a country I knew nothing about. I hadn't even heard much about Singapore until I flew Singapore Air to Korea. Even then, what did I know... Singaporean flight attendants wear pretty floral pattern uniforms... quite the educated traveller. Such a small country, I really felt I did get the opportunity to educate myself and explore most everything Singapore had to offer.