Saturday, December 19, 2015

Day 38: Life

Hello readers! (aka Mom ;) haha just kidding, maybe one or two other people read our blog too...)

It's been two weeks since the last time we blogged, but it feels like 2 days. Our time here has absolutely flown by. I'm sure it will slow down, once the novelty wears off, but we have very much settled in here. Work is going really well. I really like the kids. I'm finally getting to know them well enough to joke around and have fun with them. On Friday, we had our first test of the term. If they finish the test early, they can draw. Max, one of my trouble makers, drew this lovely impression: 



He likes me though, I can tell. ;) 

I've been studying Korean a lot more, which is good. I'm understanding a little bit more of the routine, daily conversations. If anyone read my Japan blogs, you'll know that I LOVED going to the post office. I think it'll be the same here. We had to go and return a package of things that we ordered for our apartment. I was so excited to understand the post office lady when she asked me where we were sending the box. She also complimented me on my writing (Hangul), which I'm sure was B.S., but I understood! When living in a foreign country, you have to focus on the little victories. :)

 I can also pick up bits and pieces of the kids' conversations. The other day, I could tell that some of the girls were mad at the boys. Like, fuming. It was break and there were only girls in the classroom. I shut the door and said, "Just girls today! We don't need no men!" (Yes, I used less than "standard" English.) They all totally understood me and cheered! It was great. With all the lessons about "Mom is in the kitchen," I have to sneak my feminist agenda in there whenever I can. 

We finally hung out with another person this weekend! Yay! Her name is Brittany and she is one of the other foreign teachers at our school. Now that we've met her, I think it will be much easier to "network" through the ex-pat community and make some new friends. 

Another highlight of this weekend was figuring out how to online shop. I know it sounds ridiculous, but we've had such a hard time trying to find affordable furniture. A couch isn't something you think too much about unless you don't have one. We found a great Korean discount site that has an English version. We ended up buying a small sofa/futon, a rug, and a small table for like the equivalent of $90 or so. Our apartment will soon feel much more like a home. Here are some pictures of our apartment and some of the surrounding areas:  

Bedroom

Living room with mattress pad as makeshift couch...

Kitchen

Our little Christmas tree with presents from Steven's parents :)

From the outside.

Our closest outdoor "gym" - right next to a freshly plowed field.

One of the roads we often run.

One of the mountain roads.

The gravel road along the mountain ridge that we often run.

The view from the same road.

The neighborhood from our roof.

We have a short week with Christmas this week! And we did find a church to go to for a Christmas service, which will be great. We are also starting to get really excited about our little trip to Cambodia! One week from now we will be enjoying Angkor Wat and 90 degree temperatures! :D

2 comments:

  1. Looks like you are having the time of your lives... Merry Christmas ...we love you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the posts, Sarah. I've been reading them. . .Merry Christmas to you both!

    ReplyDelete