A Craggee 10 Days!

Whew, it has been a crazy (Koreans say crazy, "cra-gee" and now I say it like that) 10 days.

• 10 days ago we were in Korea.
• 7 days ago we were loading the U-haul.
• We have seen so many precious people in the last week!
• We are finally over jet-lag (for the most part).
• We have about 20 more wooden stirring spoons than we need.

Okay, so the last one is not that interesting, but it has been fun/interesting to unpack all of our stuff and see what we have.  We have a lot of stuff (to say the least).  My stuff from college + Ian's stuff from before we got married + Stuff we got from the wedding + Stuff from Korea = lots, and lots, and lots of stuff.

Before we left Korea, some of my fellow waygooks asked me to blog about reverse culture shock.  Here are the things I have noticed since coming back into Western culture:

• I feel an overwhelming sense to say, "You speak English so well!", especially if I am talking to someone who looks Korean.
• I feel guilty if I take something from someone with only one hand.  I still do two hands or the-hand-on-arm if I hand people stuff.
• America.is.huge
• the people are huge (vertically and horizontally), 
• the cars are huge, 
• the parking lots are ginormous, 
• our kitchen is huge, 
• and Target is about 3 times bigger than I remember it being.
• Along with hugeness, there are a lot of big open spaces where you can see forever.
• American shopping carts are annoying to push. The wheels only go forward or backwards.
• I almost cried when we stood in front of the cheese aisle.  I seriously was getting emotional in the cereal aisle.  Groceries are SO cheap :)
• I still feel like we are going to go back to Korea next week.  I feel like we are on vacation or something.
• Americans do not know what Gangnam Style is...so don't start doing the dance that goes along with music video.

 

•  I say Assah! (awesome) and Jinja? (for real?  or really?) more often than I thought I did.
•  Ian says that my voice is more gravely since we moved back (don't ask me).  I think it is the dry Colorado air.  I am thirsty all.the.time.
• The food is nooky-hada (greasy) and ma-chee-sigh-yo (delicious).
• I miss public transportation.
• Lots of Americans/Coloradans run. 
•  No one points, whispers, or stares when I run past them.  
• No one covers their children eyes' either.  
• I was super excited about running in a sports bra, but it is cold here.
• Speaking of which, I had to carry a sweatshirt everywhere we went for the first week, because it was freezing inside all of the restaurants/stores/homes.  It is August and I have jeans on -craggeee!
• Everything is huge! (Maybe I said that already).
• I stare at people. 
• Ian and I got used to people having no idea what we were saying in public.  It has been hard to remember that other people can understand what we are saying - hahahahaha.  
• Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow  - not necessarily culture shock but a good truth to remember when you are feeling culture shock.  God knows Korean culture and American culture.  Jesus was the ultimate waygook (foreigner) and we are foreigners too - no matter what country we are in.  Heaven in our real home. 

Thank You Chingos

Dear Waygookin Chingos,
First I must say I always want to call you chingas, but that is because my brain mixes Korean and Spanish together.  If you get nothing else out of this post, please get this:

Thank you for journeying over the last two years with me.  I know that some of you may have only been here for the first year, or I may have only met in the last few month (or somewhere in between).  Regardless, you have been a blessing in my life.

You have made my world a bigger place.  I know understand so much more of the world from meeting all of you.  You have made me want to travel to places I never even knew existed before we moved to Korea.  I want to eat your food, meet your family, and see your hometown.

And by making my world bigger,  you have made my heart bigger as well.

My heart has grown to love countries and people I never knew.  And my love for people has not only grown wider but deeper, too.  I am so grateful that I met each one of you and we have touched each others' lives.  You understand my life in Korea because it is your life too.  You have left your home, become a foreigner, and understand the fun/crazy/weird/lovely Korean culture that we find ourselves in.  I seriously (seriously) can not imagine my life without ya'll.  I really can not believe that we will be leaving soon :(  but we will go with our hearts full of love and our minds full of memories.  

A day in the life... {Summer English Camp}

I love day in the life posts!  LOVE THEM.  I did one last year (part 1 and part 2) and I thought it would be fun to do another one this year before we leave Korea.  Some of my friends (this one and this one) have done them recently and I decided to jump on the bandwagon...I love jumping on bandwagons :)  (I apparently love to use the word, "love" as well).

Without further ado: Thursday, August 2, 2012

5:15 A.M. - wake up
5:30 A.M. - go for a run (Tempo Run Thursday!)

Before I went running...notice the smile

6:25 A.M. - get back from running, do circuit: squats, lounges, push-ups, arm circles, abs, burpees, etc (read: it usually ends up that I am just laying on the floor trying to stop sweating from running)

After I went running...I was focusing on holding the camera and not letting it slip out of my sweaty glistening  hand

6:50 A.M. - eat breakfast, shower, check email and FB, make lunch, wash dishes, have a *dance party (having a dance party while washing dishes, makes the task way more fun), get ready for school, read the Bible, tidy up
8:10 A.M. - leave for school
8:38 A.M. - get to school, find out about the schedule for today and last minute changes etc. (I am doing
 summer camp at a different school this week.  There are 5 other foreigners there besides me.)
9:00 A.M. - camp starts!  Today I am teaching a 45 minute lesson on rhyming (that goes well), 45 minutes 55 minutes spent teaching the kiddos how to make god's eyes, impromptu *dance party, and 90 minutes doing "study-sports" (don't ask me what study-sports are...I did a spelling game with the kids in a different teams)

Some of the kiddos with their craft projects

12:30 P.M. - Lunch!  PB&J, dried plums, and water (yum, yum, yum)
1:30 P.M. - Spend an hour with the kiddos practicing for the talent show tomorrow.  I realize that they do not know the song without the lyrics and try to decide how I am going to fix that.
2:30 P.M. - clean the classroom with the kiddos
2:48 P.M. - FREEDOM! Run errands: add money to my transportation card, stop at HomePlus (the Korean form of Wal-mart) to pick up posterboard, go to Bank #1 to close out one of my accounts before we leave for America, go to Bank #2 and try to figure out how to get money from our Korean accounts to our American accounts after we leave the country

I told them that I would take their picture...so they hung their god's eyes from random body parts 

4:00 P.M. - Get home, talk to Ian, start working on writing out the lyrics to the song for the talent show tomorrow on poster board
5:00 P.M. - meet my co-teacher from last year (Meyong-Joo Teacher) to get a ride to dinner.
5:30 P.M. - Arrive at Ashley's (western style buffet).  Tonight is the last time I get to see most of my co-teachers - so sad!  Thankfully Myeong-Joo Teacher's daughters were with us.  They definitely kept us laughing all evening.

From left to right, Na Kyeong, Ji Young, Ian, me, Myeong Joo, Ji Yeon, and Myeong Joo's kids: Dana and Olivia

7:30 P.M. Take pictures with co-teachers, say good-bye see you later, and head back towards home with Meyoung-Joo Teacher.  So glad she lives near us and is willing to drive us around.  Her kids are sooo cute!
8:00 P.M. - Get home, finish writing out lyrics for tomorrow.
8:34 P.M. - Tape a box together and start packing it, so it will be ready to mail tomorrow, talk to Ian, tidy up
9:00 P.M. - try to find {American-centric} Olympics on TV...I ended up watching Judo for the 853rd time and falling asleep.
11:49 P.M. - hear Ian come to bed, so I get up to brush my teeth, gulp some water, put on my pjs, make sure my alarm is set, kiss the hubs, and go back to sleep.

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*Just in case you were wondering, here are the songs currently on my dance party mix:  Call Me Maybe, Americano, Walkin' On Sunshine, Share it Maybe, The Invasion (Hero), Hot Summer, What Time Is It?...

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Yay!  Today is my Grandpa's birthday.   He is currently recovery from knee replacement surgery, so I am not sure if he will see this or not.  But if you are reading it, can you say a prayer that he will continue to recover well?  Thank you :-)

LOVE YOU GRANDPA!

Do you know what they say about birthdays?  The more you have, the longer you live.  (I think my Grandpa writes in my birthday card every year)

And to sign-off, I will leave you with his wise words (that he ends emails with): Don't do anything you wouldn't do on a bicycle!