So we began our trip on Friday, August 6th. Shadi and I left early for Seoul and met Erin in his town since he was able to leave work early. After getting some lunch and exchanging our money, we headed back to his place to wait for Renai to finish with work. When we got to Erin’s apartment, he had a notice on his door that a package had arrived while he was out, and he could pick it up at the post office. He set out alone on his bike while Shadi and I waited. The package wasn’t there yet, so he and Shadi played Dragon Quest on their DS’s (It’s important I tell this part of the story because of what happens later).  So we get on the bus and head over to the post office so Erin could get his package. Erin was so excited to get the package that he couldn’t wait until we got to Renai’s place to open it. Inside was some memory cards, plug adapters, and most important, a pair of vibram five finger shoes. What are those you ask? Well, how about I just show you:

Erin and Shadi have been going on and on about these shoes and Erin was so excited that he found them for only $30 on deal extreme. So we soon arrived at Renai’s apartment, Erin made sure to have the shoes on to “impress” Renai (I hope all of this goes without saying that Renai and I think the vibram shoes are hideous and we are both less than impressed with them).

After she relaxed a bit after getting home from work, we decided to head out and get last minute things for our trip and get some dinner. We went to a super awesome Italian restaurant and I had the best fettuccine alfredo I’ve had in Korea. After that, we were so stuffed that we decided to just walk around for a bit before we got some delicious ice cream. After getting ice cream, we decided to go to a norebang (or singing room). Erin had never been to one, so we thought it would be a fun thing to do since we had nothing else going on. I only enjoy going to the singing rooms very rarely, but we had a super great time singing and being silly.

The next day I was expecting a late start since we didn’t need to leave until about 1PM to get to the airport, but we were having a crazy lightning storm. Korea doesn’t usually get many storms with lightning and thunder, so we were all awake pretty early. So we left for the airport around 1PM to get there 2 hours early. After getting our boarding pass, checking in our luggage and going through security, we had to take a shuttle to a different terminal. As we were running to make the next shuttle (no reason, but Erin decided we should run), I was left behind because a worker stopped me and said I had to wait for the next one.

After wandering around and looking for the group, we finally found each other and headed for our gate. We decided to take some silly pictures of each other while we were waiting for our flight. Renai has a super nice, professional camera, and she got a remote to take pictures with and we kept trying to get a picture with us and the plane, but we were too far away so I’m sure those pictures came out really funny.

We soon arrived in Shanghai for our layover. We had a delay for some reason, but there was a woman standing near us who was asking us about our travel plans. She asked where we were staying and what we planned on doing. Once on the plane, there were a lot of women sitting behind me chatting. I noticed they were all speaking English, but with a strange accent. One tapped my shoulder when I brought the ebook reader out to read with. She said she was in the market for one, and I explained why I love them so much, and which one I had. I asked if all the ladies were from Kuala Lumpur. When they said they were, I said that I was very surprised to hear how perfect their English was. They informed me that everyone in KL speaks English. How wonderful! We all had a nice chat together.

So we didn’t end up arriving in KL until after 2AM on Sunday the 8th. So we arrived at our hostel shortly after 3AM. In the guide book Shadi and I bought, it said that there was a club below the hostel (or next door, I don’t remember) and said to bring earplugs if you were a light sleeper. Well we arrived and our room was basically a dungeon. No window at all, and the entire room was flooded with horribly loud club music. We figured it was almost 4AM and it would stop any minute, but when we awoke at 7AM, it was still going on! It was a nightmare.

After we got up, we decided to go to the Batu Cave, which is a cave outside of KL city. At the Batu cave is a very popular Hindu temple with monkeys. So after we arrived, we came upon a huge golden statue and a massive amount of stairs. After getting some pictures of the outside, we decided to head up to the top. One of the women on the plane told us that if you touch the first step and then kiss your hand, you wont have any problems climbing. So we did what she said to do and headed up. Along the way were a few monkey’s on the railing and along some lights that were strung up near the lampposts. We stopped a few times to take pictures and catch our breath, but for the most part, the climb wasn’t so bad. Most of the Hindus went with no shoes! It was very interesting.

After we got the top, the rock formations were incredible with the statues all around. We spent a while walking around the huge cave, taking pictures, watching the ceremonies going on, and observing people and just enjoying the cooler weather in the cave and the beautiful site.

After we came down, we were super hungry. When we were going up, we noticed people selling coconuts. Renai and I had never had coconut milk before, so we decided to get one. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I don’t care for coconut, so the taste was surprising to me. After that, we noticed a vegetarian Indian restaurant nearby. We headed over and ended up having one of the best meals we had on our vacation. I had eaten Indian food once before, but this was just amazing. We all had the same things and just couldn’t get enough of it. There wasn’t any food left over!

After we got back to KL, we went to the central market to do some shopping. Shadi and I ended up buying a really awesome mask that I kept seeing all over the city for sale.

For dinner, we decided to get some delicious Middle Eastern food. We shared lots of hummus, tabouleh, fattoush, grape leaves, and so much more. I ended up getting the chicken, and Shadi got the lamb, so we shared. It was so delicious and I wish I could get my hummus tasting that good.

The next day we decided to buy a Hop On/Hop Off bus pass that goes around the entire city. We drove by the National Palace but decided not to get off and Renai gave me a lesson on how to use the manual settings on my digital camera to get better quality pictures.

After that we got off at the national museum. We got to see a lot of traditional fibers and how they are made, traditional tools, and lots of other cool things that museums are filled with. We also got to see a lot of tombs and how Mayla were traditionally buried.

After that we ate lunch, which wasn’t very good, but headed off to the National Mosque. I had seen a couple of mosques before, but this was the first mosque I was actually able to go inside of (of course not the prayer room). Everyone visiting needed to wear the proper attire, so everyone who isn’t Muslim had to wear these big purple robes to cover us from head to toe. It was really quite interesting.

The mosque was beautiful and very peaceful. Everyone working there was very friendly.

After that we headed over to the Islamic art museum. We got to see a lot of models of different mosques from all around the world (and some mosques that aren’t even around anymore). It was really interesting seeing the ones from China and Japan because it didn’t look anything like a mosque. We also got to see beautiful tapestries and rugs and clothing, Qur’ans, boxes, and furniture. It was quite an experience.

After that, everyone wanted to head back to where our hotel was so we could eat at a fish and chips place nearby. It took us nearly 2 hours to get back to the hotel because of rush hour traffic! It was exhausting. We had a delicious, and expensive, dinner on our last night in Malaysia.

The next morning we got up very early to head over to the Petronas Towers. If you don’t know what the Petronas Towers are, the were once the tallest buildings in the world, but now are only the tallest twin towers in the world. A few years ago, a skywalk was built so visitors could come and see the view from the middle. Apparently you can see the curvature of the earth from there. Well, we were told to get there early to get tickets, so we headed over early…only to find out that all the tickets were sold out…before they even opened! See, the tickets are free, and you can get as many tickets as you want (one person can get over 400 tickets). We were so disappointed! We really wanted to go up and see the view of the city. Visitors aren’t allowed to go up into the towers because they are only for business workers, but there is a mall behind it with a beautiful garden area.

So we decided to make the best of our time there, so Shadi and Erin went off to look for a geocache  while Renai and I went walking around the mall and doing some window shopping since all the shops were closed. After that we decided to get some coffee since we had so much time before the boys were to meet us, and I had a bunch of Malaysian money left, so I treated Renai and I to Starbucks.

As we were finishing our coffee, we saw the boys hanging around the pond area, so we made our way over to them. Shadi was covered in mud (apparently he slipped because his stupid vibram shoes have no traction), and needed Starbucks to make himself feel better. So we took some pictures of the back side of the twin towers and enjoyed the beautiful trees and flowers.

On our way back to the hotel, our taxi driver was so kind. He was telling us about some people who pay taxi drivers to stand in line at 4 or 5AM to get tickets to the skybridge and that he refuses to do it. I wish they had a better system or only allowed one ticket per person. That would make it more fair for those who don’t have a lot of time but really want to go up to the top…or charge a small fee or something. Oh well!

We got back to the hotel and waited just a short time before getting a taxi to the airport. On our way there, Shadi pointed out a Dream Theater sticker on someone’s car! We’re both big Dream Theater fans, so it was nice to see another fan in Malaysia!

I have to admit that I didn’t really care either way about Kuala Lumpur while I was planning this vacation. I’m so glad we went though! I think we all were very surprised and really enjoyed our time. See the people there was just incredible. Everyone was so friendly, and it was so interesting to see Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists living so harmoniously together in one city. We saw a lot of women wearing a full face niqab and it wasn’t a big deal. I don’t know what everyone in Europe is freaking out about. Oh well!

That is all I have from Malaysia. For those who aren’t on my friends list on facebook, you can view all the pictures from Malaysia here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shadimirza1/KualaLumpurMalaysia?authkey=Gv1sRgCK7Vk7jEp-LIJQ&feat=directlink

Halfway through the pictures I started playing with the camera settings. I haven’t gone through to edit out the repeats and get rid of the bad pictures, but there you go. I hope you enjoy them. If you have any questions about the pictures, let me know and I can explain it in further detail if you need.

So that is it for Malaysia, next up, Phnom Penh!

Love,

Kathleen

I’ve been really bad about exercising last week. I did a lot of walking, but I didn’t do my normal workout and I feel unmotivated to get back into it this week. I’ve been trying to walk, but the weather has been horribly hot and humid. It wouldn’t be so bad if I came home and the apartment was nice and cool, but alas, it’s hot as well. I need to get going on exercising because we’re going on vacation in a few short weeks. We have about 20 days left of the school semester, and I so can’t wait for the summer.

This semester has been really hard on me. Last year my problem was with the third grade, which was easily fixed by having the students who didn’t want to come to class stay in their classroom. I’d love to have my third graders from last year back if I thought they were terrible students. My first graders this year are horrible. There are about 5 or so students in each class who really want to be there, but are annoyed and bored because I spend the majority of my class telling students to stop talking, taking notes that are being passed around, and taking food away. It’s annoying and overwhelming. There is a Korean teacher in the room, but he’s the Chinese letters teacher and he sits in the back of the room with his back to the students, reading a book. What is the point of being in my classroom? Then when I’m to the point of kicking a student out and sending them to the principal, he gets involved. I think it wouldn’t be to bad if I didn’t have 3 of my 4 first grade classes on Monday…back to back to back. I just feel really bad for the students who really want to learn and be in my classroom. Oh, I forgot to mention two of my students (in different classes and on different days) have shouted, “F-ck you!” I just lost it. Needless to say, those students are now attentive in my classroom.

It’s just so frustrating. All of my other classes are good. Of course they get loud and talkative, but it’s because we’re all talking together and I can always calm them quickly so it’s not a problem. I just don’t understand what is wrong with the first grade. Is it me? It can’t be since my 2nd and third graders are fine…and we don’t even have a Korean teacher in the classroom. I think it’s just those students.

Yesterday my co-teacher told me he got my new contract for next year. I’m sorry to say this, but I’m really happy that this is our last year. I really like Korea. Koreans are warm and friendly people, the food is good and it’s easy to save money and travel, but I don’t want to teach. Actually, I should say that I don’t want to teach anyone under the age of 18. Even when I worked for the preschool and did substitute teaching, I never thought of myself as a teacher, or felt like it was something I could do. I’m sure if I took some ESL classes or classroom management classes things would be better, but for me, teaching just doesn’t feel right. I’m so thankful for the opportunities Korea has brought us (paying off my student loans in 2 years, saving money, and traveling around the world) and I don’t regret our decision to come here, I just feel it’s finally time to go. I miss my family. I miss holidays together. I miss being able to go to the movies anytime we feel like it. I miss being able to find food and being able to cook it.

On the flip side, I am really happy with the changes we’ve made in our lives. We’re exercising more, and making promises to do the same when we go home and when we have children. We’ve taken beef out of our diet almost entirely. We’re using almost all natural products, and being more conscience of our spending and wasting. Overall, Korea has been good for us. I just know it’s time and feel ready to go back.

So last week Shadi took the Foreign Service Officer exam in Seoul. We wont have the results until around his birthday, and I’m sure the wait is going to kill me. I know Shadi just feels glad it’s over and it’s done with. He now has some time to just relax and do whatever he wants to do, which is pretty much veg. So since we were in Seoul, we decided to spend the time with Erin and Renai. Renai was kind enough to let us stay in her apartment while she stayed with Erin in his apartment. It was nice to have our own space and not have to pay for a motel.

Friday night we went to our new favorite place to eat Mexican food. I had the taco’s again and those are the best freaking taco’s I’ve ever had. Saturday morning was early for me because I got up to call my family on Skpe. I got to see my grandmother and other family members and it was really nice to see everyone. After showering and packing, we called Erin and Renai and we left shortly after that to get some breakfast. After the long subway ride to the center of Seoul, we did some shopping. It was quite a miserable experience because it was pouring rain the entire day. We had expected a little bit of rain, but nothing like what we got. I was wearing a skirt, and some leather shoes. They are kinda nice shoes with a strap going around my foot…so lots of water got into my shoe and all over my bare feet. I’m a little sick this week because of it I think.

So Shadi has been looking for some barefoot shoes for running/walking/hiking. He wants these really ugly toe shoes (like the toe socks) but since they don’t have them in Korea and you need to try them on for the perfect size, he settled for Nike Free shoes. They are pretty much the same, but Nike and without the ugly toes. I wanted to buy the same shoes, but they were sold out. After shoe shopping, we went to get some food. Shortly after that, Renai and I went to the H&M and did some shopping before our knitting meeting. Erin and Shadi went off on their own for some sightseeing.

Saturday was Worldwide Knit in Public Day. I’m apart of a large knitting community online and I frequently talk to many expats living in Korea through that community. We had originally planned on knitting outside, but since it was pouring buckets, we went to a nearby coffee shop. It was a lot of fun! We met a lot of people and I also got some free yarn. One person was giving it away, so of course I had to have it!

After knitting for a few hours, we made our way back to the boys who were waiting at the bus station. We quickly ate dinner and Shadi and I left on the 8PM bus to Yecheon. We had a super great time!

This weekend, it looks like both Shadi and I have English camp on Saturday. Sunday morning we’re going on a tour of the DMZ with a bunch of people. It’s going to be a busy weekend, but I expect lots of fun.

Hopefully next week’s blog will be full of pictures. Bye for now.

Kathleen

For those of you who don’t know, my grandfather passed away on Monday, June 7th. I realized just today that it was one month to the day before his 86th birthday.

Just a week ago he suffered massive strokes and was admitted to the hospital. From what I gather, he never really woke up again. He passed away peacefully with my grandmother, his partner of 63 years, and some of his children by his side.

He was one of the most incredible people I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. Life wont be the same without his big wet kisses, comforting hugs, and his smile that lit up the room.

I will always cherish the fond memories I have of him. He was a great story teller, and I enjoyed listening and learning about his life. He was such a wonderful person, and the world is truly a sadder place without him.

I love you grandpa!

Edit: Here is his obituary with details about his life, and the viewing/rosary/funeral.  http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?n=john-stephen-hoza&pid=143450665

Anyway, last Tuesday, our friends from Seoul came to visit. We had such a blast! After they arrived, we went back to our place to drop their stuff off. We spent a little bit of time there for them to relax because the drive from Seoul can be pretty tiring. In the late afternoon we went for a short hike up one of the small mountains around town. It was a reminder to me that I need to get back into shape! *more on this later*

So after we did that, we walked around a bit more and went to a bibimbap restaurant that is pretty famous in our town. We even took a video:

What is bibimbap? Well bap in Korean in rice. I’m not sure what bi bim means, but altogether, it’s rice and vegetables mixed together with red pepper sauce. That place is really delicious and is super cheap for how much food we get. It’s under $5 a person.

After that, we went to a coffee shop. We had some coffee and were surprised to see two foreigners there. We haven’t seen any of the foreign teachers in town in a long while, so it was nice to see them.

After we had some coffee, we got some ice cream and then headed home. Once we got home, we decided to watch a documentary on the porn industry. I’m not sure if we liked it or not…I don’t think it was edited very well and it was hard to follow at some points. We had some good laughs though.

Wednesday morning was super lazy. Erin and Shadi went to hike a mountain in Yecheon while Renai and I stayed back and started planning our Southeast Asia trip. It was so nice having someone else there actually helping me. It looks like we are going to have a super great time too! I’m so excited I can’t wait!

We got a super late start on Wednesday and stayed in for lunch and watched a movie. Renai had never seen Orgasmo, so of course we had to watch it! It’s one of the funniest movies ever. After the movie, we walked downtown to get some cash for Erin and Renai, we put them in a taxi, and off they went. It was a great two days and I’m glad they were able to come down and visit us.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Saturday we went for a hike up to the mountain top where Erin and Shadi went a few days before. We made sure to bring out video camera, but it was so windy:

It was such a beautiful day. We’re going to try to climb the mountain every weekend. That was the just the first peak, so we’re going to try to climb the whole thing at least once a week. I’m sure we can do it, we just need to motivate ourselves to get up early and do it each day. It’s hard on the weekends because those two days are our sleep in and relax days.We’ve been trying to talk every night and it’s been working out nicely, especially since the weather is so great. It’s important to get back into shape so we are ready for our vacation.

This weekend is teacher’s day. All of the teachers in Yecheon county have to go to Shadi’s school Saturday for a volleyball tournament. It should be fun, but last year it lasted the entire day because my school won.

Next Friday is Buddha’s birthday so there is no school. That should be a lot of fun and the students are really excited about the 3 day weekend.

The weekend after that we are going to Daegu to meet up with the girl I shared a room with at our orientation when we first came to Korea. We’ll be seeing a movie, eating some food, and catching up.

So Shadi has officially signed up for the foreign service officer exam. He is taking it Friday, June 11 in Seoul. That weekend since Shadi will be in Seoul all day on Friday, we have decided to spend the weekend in Seoul with Renai and Erin. We’ll be doing some shopping and final planning for our vacation. At the end of this month I’ll be buying the plane tickets for everyone, so it will be nice to get last minute needed items (like shoes) and iron out all the details. I’m so excited!

Well, it’s Wednesday afternoon. Lunch was great and I ate too much, but that’s okay. I hope everyone is well, and enjoying the blogs on a regular basis. I’ll try to get Shadi posting a bit too. Don’t forget to check out his haiku website!

Kathleen

On Saturday Shadi and I went for a long walk around town. We bought a new food processor ($81!!) so we can make hummus and other various things. Then we went to the bank to transfer some money for our Costco order. After that we went to our favorite restaurant in the world: Nakcheon Galbi. Last time we went, we tried making a video, but the battery died! This time we made sure the battery was fully charged, so please enjoy a look at our favorite place to eat in the whole world:

After lunch, we went to the biggest grocery store in town. They were having some sort of sale going on and it was a total mad house! We ended up spending a lot of money, but we also got some free stuff as well, which is alwas cool. I also got to see a lot of my students. One of my students, her father is the manager at the grocery store. She was there with a basket full of ice cream! I was telling her she shouldn’t be eating all that, and a worker there came up and told her the same thing in Korean. haha I’m such an ajuma!

So the rest of the weekend was pretty tame. Shadi and I really don’t like going out on Sundays. It’s our day to clean, do laundry, relax and prepare for our upcoming week.

So today is Monday. The weather is really nice but apparently we have a 95% chance of thunderstorms today! Totally crazy. We don’t get a lot here in Korea, so when we do have them I get pretty excited. Today and tomorrow are exams at my main school. Remember on exam days it’s only a half day so we can leave after lunch.  Today though, my co-teacher is going to help me prepare for a trip to a river that is so curved, that soon it will become an oxbow lake! What is an oxbow lake you ask? Read about it on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxbow_lake

I learned about these a few years ago when I was taking a summer geology class. I really liked that class. http://en.ycg.kr/open_content/tour_excursions/tourist_attractions/natural_tourist_attractions/

That is a link to the river in our county. I’ve been there with my students with Maureen when she came to visit. We went in November, so spring time should be really pretty. We are planning on going Wednesday. Our AZ friends from Seoul are coming tomorrow afternoon since they have some time off during the week. Wednesday is a holiday, so we’re going to have a mini adventure! There is a cool Buddhist temple and a huge statue of Buddha at the lookout for the river, so it should be a fun little trip. We’ll take pictures and video.

So, that is it for now. I’m really on a roll with blogging. Oh I almost forgot! Shadi started a Haiku website. You can check it out here: http://icanhaiku.com/

Kathleen

Next week the majority of schools in Korea have exams. My schools starts on Saturday and ends on Tuesday. Wednesday is a national holiday: Children’s Day! That means no school! Woohoo! Two of our Arizona friends might be coming down from Seoul next Tuesday and spend some time out of the country. They haven’t been outside of Seoul yet. One of them describes Seoul as “Northern Virginia”. It’s really funny because…it’s sort of true. Those who live in Seoul don’t see how the rest of Koreans live. I sure hope they are able to come down and spend some time with us. I’ll just have to figure out what to do with them!

Last weekend we went to Seoul to spend some time with them. We had a fantastic time! I’ve known Erin for 7 or 8 years, and I actually hadn’t seen him in a number of years. It was my first time meeting his fiance Renai. We had been talking on facebook for a number of months and on instant messenger, so it was nice to spend some time together! They are the ones that are going to be traveling with us this summer. Everything is up in the air right now because of what is happening in Thailand, but hopefully we’ll have solid plans by the end of May, when we need to buy plane tickets.

So Saturday morning, Shadi and I got up at 5. We quickly showered and headed to the bus station. We got on the first bus to Seoul at 6:20. It’s a 2 1/2 hour bus ride, so by the time we got to Seoul it was around 9. It took us nearly an hour on the subway to get to Itaewon, a popular foreign area. After getting some Starbucks coffee, Erin and Renai arrived. We sat for a bit drinking coffee, and then we set out to look for What the book. What the book is a bookstore that sells English books. They also import books from America if you can’t find the book you need. Shadi and I have been volunteering this school year at in2books and we needed to get our final book for the school year.

After the bookstore, we went to the Middle Eastern area of Itaewon. We found the making for hummus!! I’m so happy. We didn’t find any bread though. After doing a little bit of shopping, we headed over to the mosque. It was really beautiful. It was prayer time, so we weren’t allowed to go inside, but it was really nice to visit it.

After the mosque, we headed back to the subway to head out and get some food. Oh, I forgot to mention that there were so many foreigners walking their dogs in Itaewon and I was so nice that everyone let us pet their dogs. Koreans don’t really understand dogs and most of them are just accessories and the dogs aren’t friendly at all. It was so nice being able to pet all the dogs. It makes me miss Bailey even more!

So after that we headed over to Tomatillo’s. Tomatillo is pretty much the Korean rip off of Chipotle. It was so freaking delicious! It was expensive, but delicious and so worth going.

Everyone was really happy with this place, and I’m sure we’ll go back when we go to Seoul again. After lunch, we walked over to the American Embassy which was just around the corner. We also got to see some statues of a famous kind and general. After that, we went to a famous shopping area of Seoul. Coming out of the subway stop we got to see Dondaemun. Dondaemun is the East Gate. The gates around the city are part of the old city. They are all that remain. One of the oldest gates was destroyed in a fire a few years ago.

We went into a building that was only textiles, fabrics, ribbons, and buttons. It was amazing. Renai is an artist and also a knitter like me, so we were in heaven. It took forever to find the yarn section (the building is like 9 floors and goes on forever), and it took us even longer trying to find good yarn. We finally found some and Renai got a ton of yarn at a great price. We then walked a bit further and went to a huge shopping center. Shadi got a new pair of shoes and I got some new flip flops. I didn’t find any shoes, but thats okay.

After that we rushed back to make the 6:40 bus to Yecheon. We missed it and decided to have some dinner before we left on the 8PM bus back to Yecheon. After dinner, we headed back to the bus terminal and headed home. We got back to Yecheon at 10:30PM. It was such an exhausting day, but we had so much fun. I think the next time we go to Seoul we’ll end up staying the night. It’s just a long day and Sunday we were just so exhausted we didn’t feel like doing anything (of course I did laundry and cleaned the house, but I didn’t want to).

So our weekend was great, and I really hope Erin and Renai are able to come down next week. Maybe I’ll take them to a temple. Apparently it’s supposed to rain next Wednesday, so it depends on how the weather is. Either way, we can figure out what we will do this summer, eat some local food here, and maybe play some games.

That’s all for now.

Kathleen

When we were home in Phoenix in February, I found out my cousin is having a baby! She’s the first of the girls in our family to have a baby! Three of my male cousins have had children (all girls) and my cousin is expecting a girl as well. I’m so happy for her! I also found out that two friends of mine are expecting their second child; also a girl. I’m so excited to make blankets for the new babies. I’m also going to try a few new techniques as well. I’m going to try to make soakers. Soakers are covers for diapers. I know for a fact my friend is considering using cloth diapers, and apparently soakers are great for them. It’s good she’s trying it out first because I have been thinking of using cloth diapers and if she likes them and the soakers, I know I should make them for our baby (whenever we have one).

When my friends had their first baby (a boy) a few years ago, I made a blanket for them. Since I’m making something for baby #2, I want to make something else for baby #1 so he doesn’t feel left out. So, I’m going to attempt my very first sweater. I’m picked this really pretty bright green color so their other children can always wear the sweater when #1 grows out of it.

Both babies are due in August, so I’ve got a lot of knitting to do! The blankets will take no time at all. Also, the burp cloths I’m planning on making, and hopefully the soakers as well wont take very long either. However, I’m worried about the sweater and how long that will take. Hopefully I’ll have them all finished by July though. I better get knitting soon!

Shadi and I are going to Seoul this weekend to meet with two friends who came to Korea from Arizona! I haven’t seen my friend in a few years, and I haven’t met his girlfriend yet, so I’m really excited. We’re planning on doing some shopping, eating some Western food, and perhaps seeing a movie. We’ll also be talking about our summer plans. They are planning on coming to Southeast Asia with us. We’re also going to be coming up with a plan B in case things get really bad in Thailand in the next month or so before we buy our plane tickets. I hope everything works out well for us. Keep your fingers crossed!

That’s it for now.

Lots of love,

Kathleen

Vacation:

We took a lot of trips in 2008. We went to Taiwan, China, various places around Korea, and of course our trip to America. The winner is: China!

Almost a year ago, Shadi and I had a short break from school. We decided to take 3 days and go to Beijing. It was so worth it! I have to say my favorite part of the trip was of course, The Great Wall. Trying to describe it is nearly impossible. You really can’t grasp the ingenuity and just how impressive it is until you are there. Driving up to it, it was just amazing to see how huge the mountains are. We went at the perfect time. The weather was perfect, and we went right when it opened, and there were hardly any people there when we were first starting out. All in all, we had a fantastic time in China. However, we wouldn’t go back to Beijing. I think if we ever go back to China, it’ll be to a more rural area and see the landscape. I’m tired of visiting cities. The worst part of our city was how tired we were. We walked so much in those 3 days that we needed a vacation for our vacation!

The worst vacation we went on was to Taiwan. It was so boring and all the books we had for the country was terrible. People weren’t friendly at all, everything was dirty, and we just didn’t have a good time. The best part of the vacation was the zoo. Taipei has an amazing zoo. Also, the Taipei 101 was really cool too, and we got to ride our first bullet train, which was fantastic.

Best Album

Easily for me, the best album of 2009 is Dream Theater’s Black Clouds and Silver Linings. I’m a huge Dream Theater fan, and of course, I was so excited for the new album to come out last June. The album mainly deals with fear and loss. Usually of the band members contribute lyrics and music. This album however, all but one song are about personal experiences by the drummer, Mike Portnoy, and the guitarist, James Petrucci.

Four songs are written by Petrucci, three about personal experiences. A Nightmare to Remember is about a horrible car accident he was in as a child. Wither is about his song writing and his fears of writers block. The Count of Tuscany is about an experience he had in Tuscany, where he thought he was going to die. Finally, he wrote A Rite of Passage about the Freemasons.

Here is the music video for A Right of Passage. It’s not the full song because they had to cut it for the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZNZAgbgMeY

Wither was also made into a music video. It’s a slower song, and most of you might like this one better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpMDEQSwXjw&feature=related

And one of my personal favorites, The Count of Tuscany. The song is 19 minutes long, but it’s amazing, and the story is very amusing if you listen to the lyrics. This is part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbuCNSm3Tb0

Portnoy wrote two songs (and when I say songs, I mean lyrics. All of the band members write the music for all the songs together). A little back story: Portnoy is a recovering alcoholic. He wrote 5 songs spanning several album about the twelve steps of alcoholism. The first song was released on their album that came out in 2002, and is finally finished with The Shattered Fortress on Black Clouds and Silver Linings. I have to say, this is another personal favorite of mine on the album. Especially the final line, “I am responsible, when anyone, anywhere reaches out for help, I want my hand to be there.” It gives me chills every time I hear it.

The last song Portnoy wrote for the album is The Best of Times. He wrote the song for his father, who was diagnosed with cancer before the album was written. Luckily, Dream Theater was able to record the album, and Portnoy was able to play the song for his father before he died. I love this song. It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. It’s so sweet. “…a young boy and his father, idol and best friend. I’ll always remember, those were the best of times!”

You can listen to A Shattered Fortress part 1 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4oA3nuxs7E&feature=related

And The Best of Times part 1 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGsLTSsQk4&feature=related

I don’t have a worst album of 2009…mostly because I’ve been obsessed with Dream Theater. Another album I like from 2009 is the Glee soundtrack. I love that show…which brings us to….

Best New TV Show

I have to say, the best new TV show of 2009 was Glee. I love that show! It’s about a high school glee club, and all the drama from high school. It’s a great show, but it’s not for everyone. I’m not much of a fan of musicals, but they have some real talent on the show, and I laugh at least 3 times during each episode…which is hard for a show to do. Glee airs Tuesdays on Fox.

Another great show from 2009 is Flashforward. Flashforward is about what happens after the entire planet blacks out and sees the future for 2 minutes. It’s a pretty fun show. You can see Flashforward on ABC on Thursdays.

The worst new TV show of 2009 is Stargate Universe. I tried to like SGU…I really did. I love love love SG-1 and Atlantis, which Universe is based on, but I just hate it! It’s just like Battlestar Galactica. It’s not even a Stargate show! It has none of the charm of the other two series, and I’m giving it one more episode before I give up on it altogether. I hate the shaky cam from BSG, I hate all the stupid “drama” and horrible characters that no one cares about. I also hate all the stupid camera angles. It just doesn’t have any charm, and really forced plots.

Best Movie

I don’t have just one favorite movie from 2009. I saw a lot of movies, and some I really liked, and some I hated.

I think my favorite movie was Up! I love Pixar, and I couldn’t get enough of Up! The movie was so fantastic. It touched a lot of sensitive subjects (i.e. death and absent parents), and the story was just amazing. I cried 3 times during it. Don’t let the idea of a “child’s” movie make you think twice about this movie. It’s amazing and reaches people at any age in life.

Other movies I recommend you see:

Gran Torino: Yes, technically it is a 2008 movie, but it had a wide release in 2009

Martyrs: It’s a 2008 French horror film, but I saw it last year, and was released in Korea in 2009. It’s really depressing and apart of the French “torture” movement. It’s brutal.

Precious: this movie is really depressing, but really well acted and the story is good.

Zombieland: really really fun horror flick.

District 9: a great flick from South Africa. I was totally blown away.

Food, Inc: a scary look into the food industry in America. Buy local!

The Blind Side: It’s good, but I don’t think Sandra Bullock should have won best actress.

Paranormal Activity: I was very surprised by this movie. It scared the crap out of Shadi and I. Watch it with the lights out!

Julie and Julia : Only for Meryl Streep. She’s amazing.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil : It’s a documentary about the band Anvil! Never heard of them? Not surprising. Just watch it to see how pathetic these guys are.

I also want to mention a 2008 Australian film called Lake Mungo. This movie only recently got released in 2010 in America, but I want more people to see it. It’s totally unpredictable. I had no idea where the movie was going, but it was terrifying (in a spooky way. There is no gore in the movie).

The worst movies of 2009 are: Knowing,  Friday the 13th, Last House on the Left, Drag Me to Hell, The Unborn, Angels and Demons, The Broken, The Proposal, The Reade‘, Revolutionary Road, The Invention of Lying, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Sherlock Holmes, I Love You, Man, The Princess and the Frog, The Hangover, Star Trek, An Education, and The Hurt Locker.

That is it from 2009. I hope you enjoyed my list. Again, sorry it’s so late!

Kathleen

Some good things and some bad things have been happening since school started back up. First though, I should talk about February.

In February, we came to school for one week for graduation week. During this time, the students clean the classrooms and the school really well. The third graders go to their high schools and take entrance exams to see where they will be placed for the new school year. At the same time, the elementary 6th graders come to our school to take the entrance exams for the new school year (remember, the school system is different. Elementary 1-6, Middle 1-3 and High school 1-3). So, graduation was good. I almost cried when I had to say goodbye to my best student. For the past year, she came to talk to me every day after lunch to practice her English. Well, the effort paid off! She got into the best high school in our province, and questionably, one of the best high schools in Korea. She is going to a foreign language high school, and is going on the track of going to an American university (Three languages: English, Chinese, and Japanese. Each language has two tracks: one for Korean universities, one for foreign universities). I’m so proud of her, and I know she will do well.

Right after the last day of the work week (Friday, February 12th) we raced home after lunch and finished packing our bags. We flew to Arizona for Randy and Sarah’s wedding. We were only there for about 11 days. It was a very quick trip, but it was so much fun. The wedding was great, and it was awesome spending time with good friends and getting to see our family. I also got to get lots of snuggles in with Bailey. I miss that dog every day.

So, after we got home, we had just a few days to relax before the new school year started. First, I have to say that the school year is going by very quickly. It’s much faster than last year. The first semester is the longest because we have very little days off compared to the second semester. However, it seems to be flying by now.

I’m not too happy with my first grade students this year. My schedule is very different than last year. Monday’s I have 4 classes back to back to back to back. My first class of the week is the worst class I have: 1-2 (First grade, class 2). They are my worst students. I never smile, I am always yelling, and I’m always in a really foul mood going into the class, and when I leave. I’m again without a Korean English teacher because we only have two of them. It’s hard on them because they have extra classes but it’s just as hard on me because even though I have a “teacher” in the classroom with me, they either ignore what is going on and read, or they are actively learning during the class and not disciplining the students if they get too rowdy. It’s frustrating.

Well, every week I feel like they get worse and worse. Today? I thought things were going really really well, until the last 5 minutes of class. I was just finishing something, and going to look at my paper, when I heard a student shout, “F-ck you!” I have no idea if it was to me, or someone else, but I kicked her out of my class and told her to go see the vice-principal. Of course she didn’t, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

So, after my first class (1-2) I am always irate. My second class of the day is my 3-3 (3rd grade, class 3) class. They are so funny. I always ask my students how they are, and they ask how I am. Always, I’m angry, and they yell about how bad my first graders are. Then, today, one of the students told me I should hit the students that are bad. In Korea, you aren’t supposed to hit students anymore, but it still happens. I personally don’t mind it. I’ve seen a few get hit hard, but the students really respect their teachers and think twice about doing something because they are worried about getting hit. Lets be honest; detention in America doesn’t work. Especially when parents can overrule a teachers punishment.

So after lunch, I was walking around the field back to the school with my teacher (for health), and one of the third graders told my co-teacher what the first graders did. He asked me if it was true, and I told him yes. He found the student, and punished her. He didn’t hit her, but boy she looked so pissed standing in the teachers office. Vengeance was mine! haha I just don’t know what to do with that one class. For the most part, the other first graders are really good. One of the classes tries to get me off topic by asking random questions throughout my lesson, but it’s okay because they are speaking English, but that 1-2 class…I’m just fed up.

So, other than that one class, everything is good at work. I like having freedom to teach what I want. The book is horrible, so I just try to take the themes from the chapters and make my own lesson to build on what they are learning with their Korean English teachers.

Last week was a very weird week. The second graders left early Wednesday morning to go on a three day school trip to Seoul. On Friday, the first and third graders when to Daegu. Since Shadi had the day off from school (his goes to his second school on Fridays and they were having a “home experience day”), he came with us! First we went to a war memorial just outside of Daegu. The memorial is the place where the North got before foreign troops came to Korea to help push them back. I was really surprised to see how far they got before we got involved. At the site, there were a lot of tanks, missiles, guns, and airplanes. The students thought it was boring, but Shadi and I really enjoyed it.

After the war memorial, we went to Woobong Land. It’s like the Korean Disneyland. I don’t really care for amusement parks (I don’t like roller coasters), but we had a great time. After arriving, there were cherry blossoms EVERYWHERE! It was so beautiful! Once we got into the park, it was covered in tulips and other types of flowers. I’ve never seen so many tulips in my life. They are super pretty too. We first had lunch with the teachers. It’s so interesting to me how in Korea, it’s totally acceptable for teachers to drink on the “job”. The teachers and students separated before we even got into the park. The students went first, then the teachers. It’s totally acceptable. In America, we couldn’t go anywhere on a field trip without the teacher. So at lunch, of course the teachers were drinking beer and traditional rice wine. It’s so funny. Teachers even drink it at school. Teachers also smoke on campus. So strange!

So there were so many people that wanted to talk to us. We got to meet a lot of students from the Daegu area. Their English is a lot better, but mostly because every since school has a foreign teacher. English is always better in the bigger cities; it’s sad but true.

So, onto the important stuff! Shadi has decided he is going to take the Foreign Service Officer exam. He is applying for the Department of State. He’s been preparing for some time now by reading the newspaper everyday, and reading lots of magazines. He also got some books to help prepare for the exam. We found out that he can take the exam in Seoul, and the date is set for sometime in June. This is a very important decision for our family. We both love America, but don’t feel like we want to live there. We like living abroad. I also think for our family, it would be a great opportunity.

This past year, Shadi and I have been volunteering our time with In2books. This program has “pen-pals” read a book and write to their student who is reading the same book. Shadi and I have been appalled at the books that our students are reading. The level of books are so low, and our pen-pals are 3-5th graders. Education is so important to both of us, and we feel like if we live in America, we are running the chance of our children going to a school which wouldn’t challenge our children. We’ve talked about private schools and what not, but what if we don’t make enough money to send our children to a good school? It’s something we take very, very seriously.

Well, when (if) Shadi is accepted into the department of state, not only would we have a wonderful opportunity to travel the world and learn different cultures (not only for ourselves, but for our children’s benefit) we’d get money to send our children to schools…and apparently they are excellent schools. We also get housing provided. I just think it’s a great way to give back to our country, and do one of the things we love: traveling.

When (if) Shadi is accepted, I would have the opportunity to work at a military base or in an embassy doing whatever needed done. I could also tutor someone in English, or do something like what I’m doing now. Teaching isn’t something I thought I’d do for a career, but I’d do anything for my family. The best part of it though? I wouldn’t have to work while our kids are young. We’d make enough money and have everything we needed to live on if only Shadi worked. It’s important to me for one of us to be home with our children when they are young. The first few years of life are so important, and I want to take full advantage of it. Once the kids are in school, then I could get a job. The only negative thing about this job would be being away from our family and friends. But, it’s an excellent excuse for them to come and visit us wherever we are living! All they (you!) would have to pay for is getting over to us. Hey, if you’re interesting, you can do that now (while we’re in Korea! Korea rocks!).

We’ve been planning on going to Southeast Asia this summer. However, with everything going on in Thailand, I’m worried about flying in and out of Bangkok, and with traveling around the country. I know they’ve been having a lot of problems in the past, but I just hope things can shape up before we go. Otherwise, we might have to go somewhere else. I don’t want it to be like last summer when the airport was closed and people couldn’t leave for weeks.

So, that’s all I have for now. I hope everyone is well!

Kathleen

Edit: Enjoy some pictures!!