My Ajumma Friends

Way back in April while drinking with my principal in Jeju he touched on the idea of me teaching a ‘parents English class’.  Not wanting to be rude I sounded interested but upon returning to school didn’t’ really bring up the subject with him.  Staying after school for an extra hour on Thursdays, even with extra pay, to teach parents didn’t sound like my idea of a good time.  A few weeks later someone or thing must have jogged his memory because he was once again on the subject, and thus my ‘Ajumma class’ was born. 

Not your Typical Friday

This blog post is a bit, and by a bit I mean closer to a month, delayed, but hey - better late then never right?  I'm not really sure what I've been busy with that delayed this post, like seriously, i'm not really sure where I've thrown my time in the last few weeks.  Sure outside of school I've fully immersed myself back into yoga, friends, a little running, oh and lots of sweating. But at school I haven't had much to do - movie watching, game playing, oh and the little bit of grading speaking tests of few weeks ago.  Hell, I don't even have an intense summer break to be planning for so I guess it's a mystery, where has my time been going.  Safe guesses go to Facebook, Instagram, Yoga  articles , oh yeah and reading various travel blogs dreaming about future travels. Okay so anyways back to the point, a few weeks ago I was told I wouldn't have classes on Friday but instead could choose between three things 1. Volunteering with the first grade 2. Brain meditation with the second grade or 3. Sit at my desk all day.  It was presented as a choice but any retard that can read body language and knows Korean culture would know I was meant to join option 1, and so that's precisely what I did. 

Published! [Kind of]

Well as many of you know I volunteer regularly at Samsungwon orphanage in Gumi, South Korea.  Recently the founder of KKOOM asked me to contribute to their blog, sharing my experience with the children.  I encourage you to check out the original post here.  Then while you're at it browse through the website to learn more about the amazing things KKOOM is doing for kids here in Korea.

Or if you're too lazy to click that link you can just read this copy of my blog post:

Breaking Down

Living in a foreign country definitely has it's ups and downs, if someone asked me to explain my life here in one word i'd probably say roller coaster (damnit that's two words).  There are definitely days and weeks that fly by with excitement, field trips, energetic classes, weekend outings, good weather, I think you get the idea.  Then there's the days and weeks that seem to n e v e r end it's like all the stars align and everything that could go wrong, does.  Thankfully I haven't experience many of those, sure I have the classes from hell, or a rain day where I forgot my umbrella, but that could happen anywhere.  Another thing that's interesting while living abroad is noticing those moments when you've transitioned from a visitor to a resident, not "legally" per say, but that moment when you're new country really feels like home.  I've had that feeling on more than one occasion, and love it, but this past week I had a whole different experience that made me realize I'm not just floating through Korea as a tourist.  Note: Scooter break down :( 

That cost me a pretty penny 

A Trip to the Valley

Despite the fact that I've gone somewhere every weekend for the past month I was feeling the itch to get out of town last weekend.  The summer heat has set in so something refreshing sounded ideal, preferably with water included.  I've heard from many students and friends about weekends in the valley so figured I should take advantage of these magical places and go find one for myself.  I recruited my friend Sara (always up for an adventure) to join me, and also asked Shaun if he wanted to tag along.  

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