Field trip and a little first hand experiance of culture differences.

Okay so I have something interesting to talk about later in the post, but let's first talk about the field trip. So we went to a traffic school with the kids in where they were taught how to cross the street. This trip lasted for about an hour and a half and was super boring. I felt bad for the kids. After sitting and listening to a powerpoint for an hour about raising your hand to cross the street, where to cross and why it was important. They then went to a little small street area and practiced crossing the street like 15 times. I felt so bad for them. Anyways I have some pictures.

They hated it to say the least. Poor kids! Other then that we practiced hospital play. They are so tired of it and so am I, but we have our open class on Wednesday so I hope they do well so my boss can stop freaking out.

Anyways on to my interesting story. Now I had dinner with one of my Korean friends on Friday. We usually go out to eat dinner and then to a coffee shop to have pat-bing-su (red bean sundae). While we were at the coffee shop we talked about all kinds of things and one questions she always and I mean always asks me is if I have a boyfriend yet. Now in Korea my age is 27 and that is old for Korean standards. At this age I should have a boyfriend and I should be thinking about marriage. Anyways, while we were talking about this and what set my friend off on a rant about this was when I told her that I want to have kids, and even if I am not married at age 30, (and can afford it) I want to adopt a child. This freaked her out, because that is not heard of in Korea what so ever and not so much in America either, but it is much more acceptable in the States.  At this point she went into this long lecture about how her and I are old and that I need to get a boyfriend and get married soon. Now trust me I have known about this mentality in Korea way before this, but when I told her I doubted that I would get married since I have never had a boyfriend or anyone interested in me except a creeper, she was shocked. So along with telling me that I need a boyfriend she wanted me to join groups and activities in Korea. I told her I don't speak Korean well enough to do things like that and she told me to meet a foreigner. Now in my head I was laughing because the odds of me finding someone from Colorado here that would like me are very slim. I mean come on! She also told me not to date a Korean. So in my head I was laughing because all her suggestions don't help me find a guy. She did tell me I should dress up more, wear make up and lose more weight. Which okay I should maybe, but I do wear make up much more here then I ever did in the States. I also dress nicer here too, but not nice enough, because well I am fat. There is no denying that. Now this conversation did make me feel a little awkward, because I didn't know what to tell her because she doesn't really understand American culture and it isn't always easy to explain to someone. Now I know she has very good intentions and means well and it made me feel good that she cares. I mean she even told me she will pray for me to find a boyfriend. This is serious business here. Dating is no joke in Korea. haha I think she picked up on my awkwardness though, because I just kept nodding my head after awhile. Anyways, it is the first time in my time here that I really felt any culture shock. I think apart of it is just my awkwardness when it comes to boys and dating or anything of the sort in regards to me, just because I don't know much about it. Anyways it was interesting to say the least. lol

Anyways that is all I have. I am going to go to bed soon since I have a lot of things to do this week. Wish me and my kids luck for open class. Oh man I hope it goes well! Have a good week everyone! Besos!

crazy week and seeing my kids

Well I don't have too much to say about the past week. It has been super stressful with preparing for open class which is a play. My kids are putting on a play about the hospital. They weren't doing too well, but now are better. I won't go into detail, but to say the least I got yelled at by my boss because my kids did bad on Monday. It is not a happy story and not worth the stupidity that was displayed by my boss so lets just leave it at that. They are better now and that is all that matters.

Speaking of my kids I was so happy to see them on Monday! Man did I miss them! They missed me too! Some of them cried when they saw me! It was so nice to get all the hugs I did from them! I love them so much. Sadly I have no pictures because all we did all week was practice script. I brought them candy though and they loved it!!! So did my elementary kids. They were happy to see me and all hugged me. It is nice to know they missed me. My old Einstein and Edison class were happy to see me too! They ran and hugged me and told me they missed me. This includes Emily who never says how she really feels. I missed them all. I didn't realize how much they have become apart of my life and how much they mean to me. I love them all so much. As for the weekend I relaxed and saw Haris. It was a lot of fun. Well I am off to make some memory sentences and get some sleep! Have a good week and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there including mine!! Love you daddy!!! Besos!!!

Returning to Korea

Well my time at home was really nice and I enjoyed seeing everyone. I really enjoyed being with my family.  I flew out on Friday morning Colorado time and arrived in Korea at 3 in the afternoon Korean time (midnight in Colorado). I came home to a messy apartment. The teacher that was covering for me stayed in my place. Let's just say he left it a big mess that took hours to clean. I went to dinner with a bunch of teachers. It was really nice to see everyone. I cleaned and slept most of the day. I am still tired and will go back to sleep in a few once I finish writing this. I finished packing up candy and gifts. I hope everyone likes them. I am so excited to see my kids tomorrow. I hope they will but happy to see me! I can't wait!!!! :) Well I am off to bed. I know it is short, but next week I am sure it will be longer! Besos!

Graduation party and seeing friends

This week was filled with seeing friends and my sister's graduation party. I had a lot of fun seeing my friends and eating or shopping with my mom. On Friday I spent the day cooking and cleaning the house for the graduation party. My mom, aunt and grandma did most of the cooking. We are having remodeling done to the bathrooms in our house and the guy who worked on the first bathroom didn't connect a pipe so when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom in my bathroom downstairs it was flooded. The roof was about to cave in so no one was very happy in my house. It turned out that most of Friday we didn't have any working bathrooms since mine was flooded, one is gutted and the other one was leaking. It was crazy.

The party was very nice though. My sister had a lot of people come and congratulated her. It was nice seeing the family too. On Sunday we went to Estes Park! It was so nice to go walking in the mountains. I bought some taffy for my kids. I also got them post cards so they can see what Colorado looks like. I am excited to give them their stuff.  Anyways I leave in a couple of days. I am sad to leave here, but happy to see my kids again. I do miss them. Well everyone have a good week! Talk to you soon! Besos!

My sister's graduation

Sorry for the late update! Been very busy since I have been home. I've been spending a lot of time with my family and friends here. My sister's graduation was on Saturday. I am so proud of her! I have pictures to share.

My sister and my grandma

My sister and both grandmas

My baby sister!

 On Sunday I had friends over to my house to eat and hang out. It was a lot of fun to see them all. I enjoyed talking to everyone and seeing everyone! It has been really interesting adjusting to being in America again. I have had a hard time not speaking Korean here or bowing. It is really funny and weird to hear English all the time now. 

Other then that I have just been hanging out with my family and seeing my friends. My sister's party is this weekend so it should be fun. That is all I have for now. Have a great week everyone! Besos!

Teacher's Day and coming back home

Well first off I am late in posting. I am sorry about that to whoever reads this on a regular basis if there is anyone that does. Anyways I was jet legged yesterday so I am sure this post would have been odd if I tried to right it then. So I will start off by talking about teacher's day. In Korea (and many other countries) they have set dates to celebrate teachers. Well usually teachers are given carnation flowers or other gifts. I received many gifts this year and I am very touched that the parents spent so much on me. I am grateful that my kids like me enough to want to give me something. I am very touched and I of course took pictures of my gifts. :)

From Alex

From Alex

From Lumi

From Melissa

Melissa wrote me this card

Alex's gifts together

From Matthew

From Joey

From James

So my teacher's day was very lovely and I am grateful to my kids for the beautiful and lovely gifts. It made me feel special. I also for teacher's day got a message from Aiden. He told me he loved me which is something he would never admit when I was teaching him. He also wrote Jocelyn, Catie and I a letter for teacher's day. I was touched, because he was supposed to write it for his new teachers, but instead he wrote to us. He English has gotten worse, but I am sure you will be able to understand it.

He sent me this from the motor show he went to. :)

 So since Thursday was my last day with my kids for the next three weeks we went to the dream park and I took pictures of them. To be honest I already miss them. I know I am so lame! haha

Well I miss them already and I hope they are doing well with Matt. He is covering for me right now so I hope they are listening to him well. On Thursday before I left they kept telling me "Tara Tr no go." So I hope they are being good.

Well now let's talk about being home. To be honest it is very weird and surreal to me. I left Korea on May 18th at 5pm and I arrived to Colorado on May 18th at 5pm. No there is no typo there I just traveled 15 hours which happens to be the time difference between Colorado and Korea. It is weird for me though. When I go back I will lose a day. As far as adjusting goes I am doing pretty good. They first day was tough, and I woke up at 4am, but today I woke up at 7am. So not to bad. I feel good right now. I did get altitude sickness my first day here. It has been so long since I have been this high up, my body was having a hard time. Now I am getting better. So hearing English everywhere is so strange to me. I have a tendency to want to speak Korean. I bowed when I got off the plane both times. I also have been speaking Korean to my family and my dogs. haha It has been interesting to be home. It is nice to be home and I look forward to the weeks ahead with my family. Well I am off to play with my dogs. Have a good week! Besos!!!