Happy New Year!!!

Happy (late) New Year to everyone!! The first 17 days of 2009 have been a blur... however, it won't take me long to get you all up to speed: I celebrated the New Year in Seoul where I was surrounded by thousands and thousands of excited Koreans and millions and millions of hand held fireworks (the words "fire" and "hazard" don't seem to translate into Korean), I have successfully placed a food order without using wild hand gestures or pictionary type skills a grand total of 0 times, I welcomed twenty, korean speaking, 6/7 year olds to their first day of school (ever!!), I caught my first of many colds from those 20 walking, somewhat English talking, incubi of germs, I have made at least 10 children cry just by saying hello and a hot water pipe exploded in my apartment at 7 in the morning a few weeks ago. It is going to be a good year!!

This is the temple at the NY celebration.

I managed to take some videos at the New Years celebration in Seoul. The videos are great but like all amazing experiences, you just had to be there!! The celebration was similar to the one in Times Sqaure. They had performances by the WILDLY popular korean groups The Wondergirls and Big Bang (however, I didn't know who they were until after when my kids freaked out) and instead of a ball dropping, a huge, historic bell rang 33 times (don't know why). You really can't hear the bell in the video, but it was there!

Count Down:

Listen closely.... you will hear my friend Chelsea trying to give me a crash course in Korean numbers... and you will hear my giving up at the end and just using the standard 5-4-3-2-1!!!

Here is a video of lanterns being lit and let go. Really cool

Here is a picture of my friend Chelsea and I waiting (in the cold!! Don't worry... not MN cold) for the celebration to begin!!

Food- The Essence of Life

I've eaten Korean food only once before this little adventure began. However, I'm arguing that it doesn't count because it was "Korean Barbecue" at a franchised chain restaurant. Hardly genuine.


I am here to report that traditional Korean food is fairly yummy! Galbi, which is marinated meat you cook at your table, is my favorite thus far!! I love the rice and vegetable side dishes you get with every meal. And it is cheap! I can eat comfortably for less than 6USD! Fusion restaurants, which are a combination of two types of ethnic foods, (i.e. Japanese and Korean foods) are becoming more popular in Korea and are delicious!


Kimchi, which is a fermented, spicy vegetable dish that is usually served at every meal, is something I am not as thrilled with. Below is a picture of me eating my first kimchi....



And here is my reaction to that first taste.

I guess it is something I will learn to love! Also, you may have noticed that I am not using a fork to eat my new love. If I want to eat any food while I am here I will have to perfect the art of using chopsticks. Korean chopsticks are especially difficult because they are metal. Metal chopsticks don't have an even distribution of weight, so holding them is difficult. Also, the food slips through the chopsticks easily!! Believe me... I know. Everything is eaten with chopsticks. Thus far, the most unusual and entertaining thing I have eaten with my new utensils has been ice cream. Oh... that was interesting.


I will be forced to learn how to maneuver chopsticks because here is a picture of the fork (singular) that is in my apartment...
And here are my new best friends....

Happy Eating!!

My Home

My new home for the year is in Dongbaek, which is a neighborhood in the city of Yongin, which is a suburb of Seoul. Confused? Join the club. Dongbaek is a nice, quite and quickly developing family neighborhood. On my days off (which are the weekends), as I am walking around town, I frequently hear "Krista Teacher, Krista Teacher" being shouted across the street by some of my very cute and friendly students. Here, I am ALWAYS Krista Teacher!


The Seoul subway line doesn't reach Dongbaek...yet! Fortunately, Korea has a great bus system in place so I am only a 40 minute bus ride away from Seoul city!



My apartment is about a 20-25minute walk from school or a 5 minute bus ride. It all depends on how late I sleep in! My apartment building is just around the corner from three other foreign teachers at the school. Soon, a new teacher will be moving into the apartment right next door!



Here are a few pictures of my apartment- before the makeover overhaul!








Yes... the shower is over the sink. However there is a drain on the floor so it isn't like I am literally showering OVER the sink. A little bit of a shock when I first walked in but it really isn't THAT big of a deal. Annette and my friends back home are having a harder time with in than I am! You just have to go with it!!

I am here!!! Just in case you were wondering!!

I am sorry it has taken me so long to update this! I literally got here and started working! I now have a break so I can finally fill you in on my travels.



Murphy's law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states, "if anything can go wrong, it will." This law governed, ruled and dictated my long trip to the eastern side of the world. However, another popular western saying must also be represented: it could always be worse. Let me start at the beginning....


Tuesday morning I awoke to a very typical Minnesota morning. Below freezing temperatures, a couple feet of snow... you know... the usual. However, I was flying to Korea today so the temperature needed to cooperate. I woke up early to put the finishing touches on my suitcases and was nearly finished when I realised I couldn't find my driver's license. Even though my passport is my main form of identification while I am abroad, they recommend having a second form just in case. Well.... I couldn't find it anywhere. The next hour was spent ripping apart my house searching everywhere for it. It was useless.... it was gone. Now... we are running late and we need to race up to the cities. However, we did manage to snap this photograph before we left. It is my leaving for Korea picture!! (Similar to the first day of school picture.)
We got to the airport in the nick of time. However, it will turn out not to matter. The gorgeous and always reliable Minnesota weather was about to reek havoc with my travel plans. The plane's engines were not working well with the cold weather, so they announced a 30minute delay. Then the plan was too cold on the inside for us to board. Another 30 minute delay. Then the plane had to be deiced. Oh yes... another 30 minutes. We are now on the plane. (Oh by the way.... 5 rows from the back) And the pilot announces that there seems to be some sort of mechanical problem (of course there is). He said it should be just a few more minutes. 3 hours later, with 2 Northwest flight vouchers and 2 free in-flight drink coupons in hand, we pull away from the gate and take off on our 13hour flight to Tokyo. Here is a picture of all the people waiting patiently (sarcasm).

We arrived in Tokyo 5 hours behind schedule. My connecting flight to Seoul was long gone. More than 100 people missed their connecting flights. On the bright side, if I had flow into, let's say Italy,this would have been a complete disaster. The Japanese are amazing! They had everything taken care of. They booked me on a new flight to Seoul and put me up in a VERY nice hotel where I had dinner and breakfast.

I arrived in Seoul on Thursday afternoon, only 15 hours behind schedule. Eddie, the school manager, picked up me and my two HUGE (overweight) suitcases. See… it could always be worse… I could have lost my luggage!

Packing a whole year into two suitcases... yeah...

So.... I finally admitted I am in over my head.

Going to a foreign country where they speak a language I have personally only heard spoken 3 times in my life, where canine meat is considered a delicacy that is misunderstood in other parts of the world and going to this place knowing a grand total of 2 other people is an absolute drop in the hat in comparison to shoving ten pairs of shoes, 4 seasons of The Office and 5 jars of peanut butter into a packed to the brink suitcase! I mean COME ON!!! How are you suppose to fit an entire twelve months of your life into 2, fifty pound bags? I am drowning here!!

Here is my travel itinerary:
-Leave Minneapolis, MN at 1pm on Tuesday December 16th
-Fly to Tokyo, Japan (14hr flight) Reminder to self, pop 2 extra strength Tylenol PMs before take off
- 2hr lay-over in Tokyo
- Depart Tokyo at 6:15pm on Wednesday December 17th
-Fly to Seoul, South Korea (3 hr flight)
-Arrive in Seoul on Wednesday December 17th at 9:10pm

**Needless to say I will be a bit off my usual schedule!

Thank you to everyone who came to my going away party at Figlio's last Sunday. I am really blessed to have amazing friends and family. I already miss you all! Here are a few pics I snapped at the party!