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.

Christmas Eve occured a little earlier in Korea. Seeing as it hit on a Friday, I had to teach, but I loved every minute of it. It was basically a big party with kinder. We decorated cake and sang songs. I gave them little gifts that they marveled over with such appreciative smiles. I love them. They were so happy over something so small. I couldn't stop beaming.

They started to stir a little as the day went on. but thankfully Korean Santa came to visit! Korean Santa happens to be a good friend of mine, Canadian Joshua Rae. I had to contain my fits of laughter as he acted the part so magically for the kinder bunch. Again, did I mention? I love them!

Then, we had to perform our dreadful play and song. I was worried because they honestly act like zoo creatures when we practice. Aidan acts like a weird jumping zombie and Danny does flips, flailing to the floor. They pulled it together so beautifully for Jingle Bell Rock. They really, truly "rocked the night away". They were a big hit!! I couldn't have been prouder. I had the biggest smile on my face all day. I love my little Gemini class! They graduate and leave in February... I can't fathom the idea :(


I got quite a few Christmas cards. Of the bunch, some were too priceless not to mention. One from Emily, " Emily teacher you are a great teacher. at first you were not like a great teacher, but you got better and better. and you are a great teacher right not." WOW! such honesty! thanks Em. Also... from Sharon, " Your not alone. You have a snowman your not alone." Thank god for that snowman. I'm not alone this holiday season!

Again, I couldn't love them more!

Off to Singapore! Merry Christmas!

I'm slacking on the writing because there are a million things to do over Christmas season at SLP. I'm currently preparing another dance for our Christmas play tomorrow. I am in my prime for teaching child dances. We are singing Jingle Bell Rock. The class all insisted we do the "sexy dance" from the movie, Mean Girls, that they'd seen on the internet. Innapropriate to say the least, so I decided to stick to my more childish moves. Besides that, a million crafts and projects are in order. And presents.... I have to buy a little something for them, but it's been taking some time putting each little bag together and writing an individual card for every little one.

Christmas season has been making the kids very giddy. Like Halloween, Christmas is a big ordeal at SLP. Our friend Josh, who does not work at SLP, will come as Santa and deliver presents to the "good" children, while we decorate cupcakes and sing carols. I'm just as excited as they are!

All week long we've been doing Christmas related activities. Suprizingly, I had to teach the story of Jesus. It is a Christian school afterall. At lunch we always pray, "God is good. God is great. Thank you for the food plate. Thank is what we say for the food we eat today. Amen." Still, there is not a huge emphasis on Christianity and a lot of students are Buddhist, so I was a bit taken aback by that lesson. A lot of the Christmas activities bring out funny answers from the students. I think some of the bad little boys are getting nervous becuase in letters to Santa, they've been fessing up to being little nightmare babies. Some of the things they ask from Santa are so amusing. One of the worst, but funniest and most creative students, Jeff (in Aries class) has repeatedly told me and Santa that he wants "a baby Jeff". When I asked if he wanted a little brother, he said no, really, a little baby version of himself. My head almost exploded with the thought. Santa better not be real because I could not handle two baby Jeffs!!

Aside from the Christmas hussle, I'm preparing to go to Singapore on Christmas day. Beautiful 85 degree weather compared to Korea's 28 degrees!!