I have the best family and friends in the world!

I've been pretty up today. Mondays are my day off of training, the kids were great, and David will be with me in 8 days.....actually now its closer to 7 days. To top it all off, I got a package today from Krissy and my second mommy.

This is the fourth package that I have gotten in the past two weeks and the director at my school asked me today if I was very popular back home. Nope. Just extremely lucky to have such a supportive set of family and friends. As soon as I get the package I have to open it right away...I can't wait. Which means that my students start crowding around saying "teacher, teacher! this is what? this is what?" They try to get in to the box first to open it, and I practically slap their hands away..."This is Anne Teacher's Box!" Whatever is inside, they are dying to touch...they also know that if there is candy or gum inside, I will probably share a little with them so their eyes start twinkling and they start opening and closing their mouthes like baby birds. Its pretty freaking adorable. We tore through the peppermint moose munch today while we listened to Christmas carols on the internet...Krissy also put a stuffed panda bear in the box and I couldn't keep the kid's hands off it. I have plenty of pictures to prove it.

So, I'm learning Korean. Its true. I doubt that I am going to be conversational or even close to adept, but I have decided to make a committed effort towards learning. The best place to start is the alphabet, and within an hour I had most of the characters down. The next day on the bus ride to work, Sarah teacher was impressed with the way I was sounding out the signs. Honestly, I sounded like a 4 year old. "Suuu....no, wait....saaaahhh Sahhhhhh maaaaaan."

At school there is a No Korean rule, but sometimes we give the kids vocabulary lists with the definitions written in Korean. I looked at the list and for the first time I was able to make some sense of the words... 달 'Daaaahl'....I looked at the kids for approval..."Month is 'Daahl?'" They about wet themselves. No Joke. We give out stickers for achievements at the school, and Candy said "Teacher! You get THREE stickers!" Now I know why we give out stickers. Those stupid things made me feel so good.

Marathon training is going well. This week marks week four for me, so I am still fresh, yet deep enough in that there is very little chance of me backing out. I have been fortunate in that there have been no hints of any injuries thus far. Knock. On. Wood. Yesterday I had the best run. Sundays are long run days and this weekend I had a 12 mile run planned. I was a little discouraged due to the fact that my Nike+ sensor had died the day before and I have some sick need to see my runs on the website, but I set out anyways. First few miles my right shin was tight and I wanted to turn back, but at mile 5 everything was really smooth. At mile six it started snowing and I turned onto a different route. I was deep in the countryside and I ran up a ridge to find a trail running along a branch of the Pyeongtaek channel. Old men were fishing through the ice, snow was falling all around me and these really amazing tiny birds were darting in and out of the brush all around me. (one of the birds had a little yellow mohawk, no joke.) On my way back in, the snow got really rediculous and started to build up all over my clothes, my hair, and even my eyelashes. So freaking hardcore. The old men on the trail were actually clapping and cheering me on.

In one hour it will be 7 days until David is with me.

Seriously.

I love you all, i miss you all.

Well Hello There

Long time, no type.

I have been feeling a massive case of guilt over the fact that it has been more than a week since I last wrote. . . it took my mom's guilt trip to actually make me sit down and do it though. Leave it to my mom. No seriously, just leave it to her. She can make me do just about anything - except make me not go to Illinois for college and Korea for teaching. Selective disobedience is key in a Catholic household.

So I went to Seoul again last weekend. I realize that there are tons of really fun stories that I would have regaled you with, had I sat down and typed this the day after, but life move on. I had a really great time hanging out with three of the other teachers at my school. I saw an incredibly beautiful palace that was built around the same time that the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower, got lost and walked for about three miles in an underground Mall, ate Korean burger king, and had several glasses of red wine and champagne to celebrate Arthur teacher's birthday.

Really, to be honest, Korea is starting to grow on me - and I don't even mean in the I-have-to-put-on-a-brave-face-and-lie-through-my-teeth-to-people way anymore. I feel like I belong now. Don't get me wrong; I am still a circus attraction to strangers on the street, but at work and in my neighborhood, I feel like a fixture. I get thumbs up from the same people on the running trail each night, I am setting up a comfortable routine for my students at school, I got a huge grin when I finally spoke a few words of Korean to the two women at my tiny supermarket's register, and it seems to me that the same awkward 15 year old school boy searches me out at my bus stop every Thursday after work. I guess when everyone told me to just wait a month for it to get better, they were actually speaking the truth....huh....imagine that.

My marathon training probably had a huge hand in making me feel better about life. Having a schedule and a goal set months down the road has forced me to make plans for the future in Korea - not to mention the endorphin rush that I get after my runs....Oh! And the weight loss is cool too, but that could just be the fact that Koreans eat the healthiest stuff in the entire world. No baked goods, cheese, cookies, or cakes? Thats like 3/4 of my diet in the states. Recently, as the weather is currently below freezing for the high, I have been questioning my sanity for deciding on a March Marathon, but once I am actually out on the trails, I feel like such a badass. Only hardcore people run in the freezing weather. i am so hardcore. Aaaaand then I lose feeling in my face - - - Suddenly, I am not so hardcore.

I got paid today. In cash because I don't have an alien registration card yet and thus, no bank account. 1,000 Korean Won is approximatly the equivalent of one American dollar. Imagine how street it feels to be holding a fistful of 50,000 won bank notes. I could almost imagine they were dollars. Almost.

So I guess that's it for now. I feel much better.

I love you, I miss you

Seoul

Hey guys,

Today I woke up on a mission. Seoul was calling my name, and I was was going to heed that call....and then I saw that it was raining....again. Dang, I was not about to let the rain stop me - maybe delay me, but not stop me. Quickly I looked up the hour by hour forcast for Seoul. Okay, the rain was going to end by noon. I could handle the tail end of some rain, I would just go for my run before I left. I changed into my running clothes and ran out the door. I ran right into a brick wall of wind. An icy gale which originated in Siberia and had been whipping down the Korean peninsula until it finally reached my apartment's door. I swear, during my way out, when I was running into the wind, I felt like I was running in slow motion. Which was bad, because during marathon training, Saturday runs are supposed to be done at "race pace." I didn't quite reach that goal, but I came pretty close, so I was pleased. On my way back in, I kept getting hit in the face with these weird droplets of something....snow....for a split second I thought about how the snow in Korea is actually acid snow, which made me sad for the kids who have to play in it, but I have to admit that I loved it. Soon, the snow had picked up and it was blowing sideways, pushing me forward, swirling around me. The view of Pyeontaek from the countryside with snow all around should be a postcard.

As soon as I got back to my apartment I jumped into the shower to wash the acid out of my hair, I grabbed a bite to eat, and headed out the door to the taxi stand. "AK yeok" I told the taxi driver...or 'AK station' for all of you Americans out there. ( I didn't say 'please' because apparently in Korea, please is only used when you are begging for something ) I strode confidently up the stairs, headed straight for the train station, and stopped dead in my tracks when I realized that I didn't know how to read any of the information on trains. How was I supposed to buy a ticket if I didn't know the name of the Train route that I was supposed to take? How was I supposed to know what Train Route I was supposed to take if I couldn't read the little information boards? I walked around aimlessly for a good 10 minutes until I saw another white person get into a line in front of some counters. I followed him stealthily. I suppose I could have just asked him, but I was all embarassed. I listened to what he said to the lady at the counter and copied him. "Seoul." That was it. I just had to say the name, give them some money, and they gave me a ticket. Numbers are obviously the same so I went to track 5 and waited.

While waiting for the train I saw an American that I recognized. I had only met him once, he was a friend of a teacher that used to work at my school, and we had run into him and his Korean wife at the movie theatre in AK station the week after I moved here. Normally, I don't think I would have remembered him, but when you only see 1 or 2 white people a week, they tend to stick out like they have a sign on their chests saying "I'm a little piece of home!" I walked right up to him and said hi. He and his wife only vaguely remembered me, which I didn't surprise me, but we ended up talking for a while and exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. If only for that reason, that I made two more contacts in Pyeongtaek, I was grateful that I had decided to stick out my journey to Seoul.

Once on the train I met two more English speakers - Canadians who were both English teachers in a nearby town. We actually hit it off pretty well as well. . . . it really is odd. There is something about being in another country or totally out of your comfort zone that makes you lose all inhibitions or social mores that restrict conversation in the States. I was sharing emotions and feelings with two total strangers and it didn't bother me a bit. They were on their way to the embassy to get a visa into China, but before they left, they helped me get a subway pass card and helped me find the line that I wanted to take. We also exchanged email addresses.

So there I was. In Seoul. . . I took the subway to Myeong-dong. This neighborhood is supposed to be one of the "hearts of Seoul" The narrow alleys are, for the most part, clear of cars, and jam packed with shops and shoppers. (In Korea, its called Eye shopping. Not window shopping. ) The firsts few things that I noticed about being out in Seoul was that one: My puffy coat was not cutting it. I needed a scarf and hat asap....and Two: Oh my gosh there was a three story Forever 21. I headed in to get out of the cold, and bought a scarf and hat. I felt a little guilty about buying things at a store that we have in America, but Forever 21 was the first store I saw, I was seriously freezing, and it was cheap. Feeling much better, I Eye Shopped for a while... I kept myself from buying anything frivolous ( I kept on thinking about how I want to be able to go home and buy a new-er car, move out, and pay off student loans ) I got lost for a bit, went around in some circles, and finally found the building I had been looking for - drumroll please..................

Myeong-dong Catholic Cathedral. I had read about it, found the history interesting, and knew that mom would just about cry if she knew I searched it out. This cathedral is the head of the Diocese of South Korea. It was built in 1898 and according to my books, it has recently become a rallying point for anti-government demonstrations. When I walked in through one of the side doors towards the back, I saw a lot of people in the pews and I heard someone speaking Korean so I figured 'Huh, mass is going on. It might be interesting to see what the similarities are'....I was incorrect. It was a wedding. Oh. Man. It was too late to back out now, I was already pretty far up in the church and to turn around and walk out would be the height of disrespect, so I sat down and watched. Much to my surprise, another American and two Koreans walked past me on their way to sit down, one stopped. He asked me some questions about why I was there. My face must have been red. I tried to explain that I was just watching, but he told me that the bride was his niece and that I must join them. Oh. . . . what does one say to that? So I stayed. Talked with the American for a bit. He was from Florida; also a teacher. Turns out he was teaching at the same school with the Uncle's wife. The ceremony ended and I made to escape, but the Uncle asked me if I had eaten. That's right, y'all, I was invited to a traditional Korean Wedding reception by a man I had met only 15 minutes before...and my only regret is that I didn't take any pictures of the buffet line. That chef cutting into the tuna that was the size of me was intense. So Uncle, His Wife, His son, and the American teacher and I sat eating Kimchi, sushi, noodles, and drinking Hite...quite the experience....we exchanged numbers and email addresses, and I went on my merry way.

Next stop for me, and what I thought would be my last stop, was the Seoul Tower on top of Namsan. Namsan is a small mountain park in the center of Seoul which is another "heart" of Seoul. I took a taxi around the mountain to the hiking trail...supposedly you can take a ski lift thing to the top, but I was all hardcore and figured that I could handle it. Boy, was I ever wheezing by the top. I was still exhausted from my run this morning and despite the cold, within five minutes I was sweating like a pig. The view was amazing. 360 degrees of Seoul. On one side you could see the mountains, and on the other the Han river. Well worth the hike. I bought some postcards for a ridiculous price and an adorable homemade ring for a really cheap price and started back down the mountain. I took a different trail down the mountain because it seemed less winding and more people were on it, but I forgot about the fact that I had no bearings once I got off the mountain. I walked over a bridge and into this really cool district full of tables and yelling people. I somehow bumped into an information stand and said the word "map" to the lady inside. She handed me a brochure to Namdaemun Market. No. Way. Namdaemun was one of the places that I had wanted to go, but never thought I would be able to find. It was getting too late *read* dark for me to stay and look, so I just passed through, mentally noting the subway stop for next time.

the ride home was uneventful, and if it was eventful I wouldn't tell you about it because this post is OBSCENELY long and I am soooooooo over typing.

I love you all. I miss you all. Seoul rules.

So Guess what Happened to me today!

I got MAIL!!!

Here I was, freaking out that no one loved me or that all my mail was somehow magically lost, when really all that had kept my mail from me was that no one from the school checked the letter mail (as opposed to the package mail). One of the other teachers walked into my classroom while I was teaching and handed me five envelopes. I may or may not have teared up a little. So thanks to those people who wrote to me...I have already written you back (We shall see when I actually get to the post office to mail them!) but it really meant a lot to me. You are officially my favorites.

I started Marathon training this Monday. I really meant to start a long time ago, but what with moving to South Korea and all, I only managed to set it all up on Sunday. Do you know what one of my favorite parts of living in Korea is? Going running. See, when I run I get thumbs up from all of South Korea's grandfathers who are speedwalking on the Tongbok river trail, I get to explore small towns on the outskirts of the city, and I get to glide through the the rice paddy fields that edge the river. One week down, only 15 more to go!

Well, I'm sort of burned out on writing right now due to all the letters...does anyone see this anyway?