Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Christmas Carol Countdown

Do not let the title deceive you, it is actually a Christmas Song Countdown, but I adore alliteration, so the three c's it is.  And let me say that I like tons of Christmas songs - I have been listening to Christmas music for the last month.  Really, I wanted to do something festive for my blog, since South Korea celebrates Christmas a little differently than America.  I love the Christmas season!  It is the best.  So without further ado....

Christmas Carol #15:  All I want for Christmas is You!
This is such a fun song to sing.  Every time I hear it, my heads starts bobbing along with the tune and I start to hum along.   I think this year, this song is true in my life (I never thought I would say that as I always have a Christmas wish list.)  Our apartment here is pretty small and anything we get will end up going back to the States which will be a hassle, so spending time with my hubby and Jesus is all I want for Christmas this year.  If you have not heard this song this Christmas season, go listen to it on youtube.  It might get stuck in your head though :)

Cute Baby!
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
In other news, my amazing husband and I had a pretty fun weekend.  We babysat for one of his co-workers.  The baby was sooo cute!  He was maybe 6 months old and could not crawl yet, so it was perfect.  Just put toys near him and he was a happy camper - no chasing around a crazy crawler.  He did not cry really at all and once we got him to giggle he did not stop.  We also decorated our apartment this weekend with some hand-made snowflakes.  My roommate and I did this all four of living together during college, so I thought the tradition should live on.  I do  not think I will ever have amazing snowflake making abilities, but it was fun.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

This by far is the oddest Thanksgiving of my life :)  No turkey trot to run, no Macy's Day Parade to watch on TV, no oven to cook Thanksgiving dinner in, and no days off of school.  I am thankful that I have to work today.  It is far better to busy than to sit at home and have a pity-party for myself.  This morning while my amazing husband and I ate breakfast, we started on the annual Thanksgiving Thankful list of 2010 (you can click here to read the entire list).  Every year I write a list of 100 things I am thankful for.  My amazing husband made me chocolate-chip banana pancakes for breakfast today.  I added peanut butter instead of syrup - they were delicious!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, back to the making of ze list :)  I simply asked, what are you thankful for?  And he started listing off (to me) the most random things.  Then I realized that he was looking around our kitchen naming off things he saw.  When he got to number 44 and stated "Chick flicks" I raised my eyebrows and asked why he was thankful for chickflicks.  His reply, "What movies would I take you to, if there weren't chick flicks?"  Yup - he is a keeper!
We only got to number 80 by the time breakfast was over and we had to get ready for school.  So I finished the list today while I was at school and typed it up.

Tonight we will eat dinner with other Americans and watch a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Youtube.  Not what I ever imagined my first Thanksgiving married to be like, but then sometimes life throws you surprises and things unexpected.  Do I miss home?  Most definitely.  Do I miss my family and friends?  Even more so.  Am I thankful that my amazing husband and I are growing closer to each other and God through this great adventure?  You betcha.  Will I bore my children some day with stories of my first Thanksgiving married to their father?  Sure thang hahahaha.  Suggestion: go make your own thankful list :)  (it is fun, I promise)

2010 Thankfuls

Every year since I was like 10, I have written a list of 100 things I am thankful for on Thanksgiving. The tradition began one year when I was bored while riding in the car to Grandma and Grandpas. It is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving now. To read the story about this year Thanksgiving list click here. My amazing husband was a great sport and helped me out with the list this year.

Thankfuls for Thanksgiving 2010:

1.) Jesus, his love, his mercy
2.) Food – my amazing husband (a.k.a. MAH)
3.) Chocolate chip banana Peanut Butter Pancakes
4.) Coffee – MAH
5.) Microwave – MAH
6.) Cutting boards – MAH
7.) Hot water - MAH
8.) The gym – MAH
9.) Gym trainers that cook for us – MAH
10.) Co-teachers – MAH
11.) Powerpoints – MAH
12.) Touchscreens – MAH
13.) My Amazing Husband
14.) My mom, who emails me all the details of American life
15.) Good books – MAH
16.) Bible – MAH
17.) Pastors – MAH
18.) Coffee presses – MAH
19.) My Dad, who always provides for my family
20.) Warm weather – MAH
21.) Porch Swings – MAH
22.) American sized coffee cups
23.) Sister-in-laws who are more like sisters
24.) Long emails from friends, written like they are talking to you
25.) Emails from family
26.) On-line sermons – MAH
27.) Good roommates – MAH
28.) Care packages from America
29.) Warm clothes
30.) Locks on our doors – MAH
31.) TV – MAH
32.) Computers – MAH
33.) Brothers
34.) Cars – MAH
35.) President, our leaders – MAH
36.) Those serving in our military – MAH
37.) Those serving in South Korea’s military
38.) Love Packages (http://www.lovepackages.org/)
39.) Finding familiar things in unfamiliar places
40.) Origami – MAH
41.) Math – MAH
42.) Psychologist – MAH
43.) Gravity – MAH
44.) Flowers – MAH
45.) Watches with alarm clocks
46.) Chick flicks – MAH
47.) Butchers ­– MAH
48.) Dish soap
49.) Microscopes – MAH
50.) The printing press – MAH
51.) Colors – MAH
52.) Good smelling candles
53.) Paying off debt
54.) Translators
55.) Art – MAH
56.) Slippers – MAH
57.) Tea – MAH
58.) Presents – MAH
59.) Dove Chocolate
60.) Mail – MAH
61.) Forks – MAH
62.) Finding western style toilets in public restrooms
63.) Ice cream
64.) Cupcakes
65.) Warm blankets
66.) Running
67.) Really great in-laws that spoil me
68.) Recycling
69.) Blue Skies – MAH
70.) Rainy Days – MAH
71.) The wind – MAH
72.) Boats – MAH
73.) Airplanes – MAH
74.) Clouds – MAH
75.) Rivers– MAH
76.) Wildlife – MAH
77.) Laughter
78.) Games, like Asia games – MAH
79.) Games, like Scrabble
80.) Garbage bags
81.) School Lunches tasting good
82.) Good variety in school lunches
83.) Coloring books – MAH
84.) Learning to be flexible
85.) Christmas music
86.) Christian music
87.) Budgets
88.) A good marriage
89.) Websites that let you watch American TV outside the US
90.) Lori Wick books
91.) Pumpkin cinnamon rolls
92.) Freerice.com
93.) Sudoku puzzles
94.) Skype
95.) Writing letters
96.) Second hand stores
97.) The way stickers motivate Korean children
98.) Good memories
99.) Season of Advent
100.) Thanksgiving traditions

Friday, November 19, 2010

New Rule: No live birds in the classroom please

So today, I had an interesting situation arise in my classroom.  I noticed that one of my students was sitting oddly in his chair today, so I went over to see what was going on.  He was sitting on the side of his chair, on the other side of his chair sat a furry gray animal.  As the mature teacher, I screamed and ran away.  Then I said (from the other side of the classroom), "is it alive?"  The little boy said yes.  Still trying to be the mature, in-control teacher, I got as close as possible (realizing that it was a bird, not a mouse as I thought).  I (in my state of distress) started speaking at a normal pace (thus none of the kiddos could understand me and they were starting to crowd around the desk of the furry animal).  However, we eventually got the bird released back into its natural habitat and hands washed.  Then we continued on with our English lesson.  Enough excitement for one day.


We also got to learn about an interesting "tradition" of South Korea on Thursday of this week.  Some of the high school students had a really big test.  It is similar to the ACT or SAT, but a much bigger deal is made over it.  Anywho, we got to go to school work late!  Why?  I do not know.  My co-teachers just said that because the students were taking the test, we got to come to work late.  Woohoo - we got to sleep in!  We did take a moment to pray for those taking the test as it determined their future in universities.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Pepero Day

November 11 may be Veterans Day in the USofA, but in South Korea it is Perpero Day.  Pepero sticks are thin cookie like sticks covered in chocolate.  People say that 4 Pepero sticks resemble the date (11/11).  Pepero day is essentially a scaled back version of Valentines Day.   We have heard that some parents are concerned about the healthiness of pepero sticks.  I think they should go to America and witness Halloween or Easter or any holiday for that matter :)  American kiddos definitely eat way more unhealthy food than Pepero sticks.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Teacher's Field Trip

All of the teachers at my school got to go on a field trip (without the students).  We went to the Temple of Haeinsa on Mount Kaya.  We hiked for a couple of hours.  It was really fun to go hiking with co-workers and talk about something else besides school.  I laughed so much - some of the teachers did not know how boisterous my laughter can be...they found out.  I acquired a Korean name during the course of the hike: Sun Young.  It means good forever.  I have a hard time saying it sometimes hahahaha.  Ian had a similar outing with his teachers.  They stayed in Daegu and went to Palgong mountain.  
One of the 3rd grade homeroom teachers.