Sorry It's Been So Long...

I know it has been awhile since I have posted anything. But things are going...I feel like I am finally starting to get into the rhythm of living out here. I feel the novelty of Korea wearing off and it's starting to feel less like a vacation and more like a temporary living situation. In fact, I have to remember that even though I am going to be here for a year I am still a visitor and I need to take pictures. Nevertheless, I still and will always miss friends, family, and my boyfriend back home. It has also hit me just this week, that wow I don't have an oven. And it just made me think of all the delicious food I used to cook using an oven. T.I.K. (This Is Korea) I can barely go on allrecipes.com because it just makes my mouth water. But what can I do? I try to make the best out of my little hot plate and rice cooker, which is pretty handy for boiling things.

Everyone keeps telling me that this is an experience I will appreciate after I experience it and I truly agree. Right now, I am going in and out of the "I hate Korea phase" and the "adjustment phase" of my culture shock. Ups and downs, if I didn't know the meaning then, I do now. However, I am really greatful for one of my co-teachers; she has gone out of her way to make things so much easier for me. The other day she took me out to dinner and a movie and I made the mistake of picking Final Destination 4, it was a tough call because nothing was really playing that I wanted to see, the other two choices were The Gamer and The Surrogates. Yeah...I honestly forgot how gory and bloody Final Destination is. I felt so awful afterwards for making her sit through it, but we joked about it and had a good laugh. We both agreed that a romantic comedy is a safe choice for the next movie. It was refreshing to have an outing with her, because I always feel a little distant from the teachers at my school. I don't know maybe it's my paranoia or maybe not, but I felt like this was an icebreaker. Plus, it's always convenient and awesome to go somewhere with a Korean and not have to play a game of charades everywhere you go because you can't speak the language.
Other than that, not much else to say...I'm almost at my two month mark which will be on Monday the 19th; two months down ten more to go!

The Week Was Hell, So Heaven Sent Seoul

This week was hands down one of the worst weeks in my life. Dawn and I were both robbed; she was robbed on Sunday and I was robbed on Wednesday. It was so obvious that the bastard singled us out because we were foreign, knew our schedule, and has been watching us for quite some time. The whole week I went from depressed, to scared, to pissed. A million thoughts were racing through my head a mile a minute. SHould I go home? Should I quit my job or offer them some ultimatum? I felt helpless; here I am a 22 year old adult, and I cannot even call the police because of the language barrier. Inadequate and vulnerable I sobbed for many days and went through the motions at work waiting for the weekend to come around. I have never felt so lonely and lost in my life. I asked God "when am I going t catch a break?"

Sure enough as He always does God came through and showed me one of the best weekends I've ever had since I came to Korea. On Saturday we went to Seoul, which is the NYC of Korea. Talk about reverse culture shock, I could not believe how many black people I saw. I felt like I was back in Atlanta. In Seoul, there are several military bases and because of this it is a melting pot of foreigners from around the world. As one could imagine I felt right at home, enjoying my Western meal and meeting so many people. Thanks to some awesome friends (Keethia and company) we did so much in one night: Icebar, S Club, Sensations, street gyros, and hookah. We went into one club and it was like all black people, I thought wow this is possible...in Korea. WHo would have thought? Plus, a friend of mine went to a salon ran by Koreans of course that specializes in black hair; dreads, braids, weaves, perms, you name it! Seoul was literally exactly what my soul needed to get me back on track.

Also, my school has had the locks changed on our doors and had management put up cameras in the hallways. They are also working on getting us moved to another safer building. Positive thinking is going to get me through this rough patch along with awesome friends I continue to make. Thank you God for showing me light at the end of this dark tunnel.

It's the Eyeballs!!!

Most people think the fear of public speaking comes from the amount of people in the room, or who's in the room, but really it's the eyeballs that freaks people out. During my EPIK training one of the lecturers pointed this out to us, and I thought it over and she was completely right. I've taught 3rd, 5th and 6th grade, and even Korean teachers; it is the same no matter which group is in the room. Everytime I'm about to present I get that queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, and my mouth gets real dry and starts to feel like cotton. I have that mental conversation with myself, "c'mon don't freak out" and I feel the calm before the storm until I make that first initial eyeball to eyeball contact. Now, that first eye contact can be crucial, especially if you fear public speaking as much as I do. The eyes can meet and you can have that friendly look like, "ya you're doing great, I totally agree" or you can have the eyeballs that give you that smirk like, "what the hell are you saying up there. "If you feed into it too much it can bring you down real fast, and before you know you're stumbling on all your words, constantly saying "yeah and um, and like, and you know..."and worst case scenario you totally blank out. However, the friendly eyeballs can give you that boost you need and you can totally breeze through the rest of the presentation. Whatever, the case I've learned you have to be ready for whatever eyeballs come your way. Man did I have some set of eyeballs stare me down today. Today was nerve racking because it was a Friday, and so naturally I'm like "TGIF" I have no classes and I can just sit at my desk and work at my own pace. However, today was different because it was the first introduction/lesson for my English Club with the Korean teachers at my school. I felt as though I truly did my best to present the material in a way they could understand without being condescending. But I had a mix of eyeballs; many people nodded there heads in agreement, others had interesting looks on their face. Mainly, I was worried about everyone understanding me and if anyone would come back next week. But, after my presentaton my co-teacher Bo-mi told me that I did a very good job and that she thinks they understood for the most part, what I was saying. She said I just need to slow down. Nevertheless, this is going to be a very interesting "conversational" class; there was not much conversation going on during this first class. I will give them a chance to warm up and plus I have to remember that Koreans are EXTREMELY shy. These people did not even want to introduce themselves, I thought that maybe there English was just terrible, but after they made there introductions I was pleasantly surprised to find that everyone's English was fairly good. Aside, from the awkward tension at the end and in between me talking I was pleased I made it out alive! I guess I'll just have to wait and see who comes back after today, hopefully it's not just Bo-mi and I! Anyways, to wrap things up, my week was exhausting but rewarding. I'm starting to feel more and more like a teacher; every week I get more comfortable speaking and interacting with everyone at my school. There is hope for a public speaking phobic, stick it out, don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself, because it will happen; especially if you're an American in Korea. I'm taking life lightly, laughing at my bloopers and living in the moment. The second picture in this post is Expo Bridge, a very famous and beautiful bridge in Daejeon, next to the Science Expo Museum. Daejeon is famous for science and technology. Also, friends and family please continue to leave me comments even if it's short and sweet, they really are pick-me-ups when I've had a bad day or am feeling homesick. I really appreciate them, thanks!