The three hour busride home… to… YangYang?

16 Apr

The three hour busride home… to… YangYang?

Busride to …where?

A few weeks ago I got on a bus from downtown with the idea that ‘all buses go to my house.’ Life Lesson #1: Not all buses go to Melissa’s house.
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Easter weekend in South Korea

9 Apr

Easter weekend in South Korea

We taught the kids at school about easter. They are clueless to the holiday, most of the kids just liked dying eggs and hunting for them. Amy, Liz, and I dressed up like bunnies and hid eggs in cute little paper baskets we made in school (thanks to Amy’s creativity.)
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Skinning a sea snake

22 Mar

Skinning a sea snake

Amy and I wandered into a small restaurant after an after-hours attempt at finding the lamp shop. The woman who works in the kitchen invited us in after seeing us admiring the beautiful sea snakes slithering around in the tank outside the restaurant. We were wondering what the spiderweb-like membranes that floated in the tank were, to which a kind Korean couple explained in broken english it is their “shed skin.”
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The Random Saturday Ice-skating

16 Mar

The Random Saturday Ice-skating

I awoke this morning at 9 am. On a Saturday. If you know me, you KNOW I’m NEVER up at 9 on a Saturday, so automatically I have the understanding that things are just not right. My windows are foggy. “Why are my windows foggy?” I slide the window over just enough to see at least 3 inches of slushy white goodness covering the ground. “Quick! Close the window! It doesn’t exist if I don’t see it! Maybe I’m just dreaming!” My original plans for this happy Saturday were to walk two hours to the nearby beach. I guess ‘nearby’ is relative. But I was looking so much forward to it. So since I was awake I finished up some letters, had an existential chat with MF, and got ready for my jog to the Post Office.
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Shi Ne – Downtown and the Market

11 Mar

Shi Ne – Downtown and the Market

Amy, Liz and I adventured downtown to shop and mail some letters at the post office. We took the bus, which only cost 900 won, the equivalent of less than 90 cents.
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Teaching at LCI

5 Mar

Teaching at LCI

Goodness gracious. What a first day. I woke up early today with “I love you, you’re awesome, don’t worry it will be fine,” calls from mom and dad. Best parents I could ever hope or ask for. So supportive.

Well, their well wishes set me slightly at ease, but I got to school knowing that I still felt utterly unprepared.
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Goodbye New Jersey, Hello Gangneung!

28 Feb

Goodbye New Jersey, Hello Gangneung!

Let me start by saying, I LOVE THIS PLACE. Everyone I’ve met is overly helpful and nice. My school is tiny and close-knit. There are three teachers TOTAL (including me), a director, and an office manager. The kids are like anime cartoons… pigtails, overexaggerated facial expressions, and weird laughs. If they are bad I am allowed to make them stand against the wall and hold a chair over their head. !!! I’m excited for that.
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Squatters and the Concrete Cottage

1 Dec

Squatters and the Concrete Cottage

Life with Alessandro and Katrin has been supreme.
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The Birth of Lamby

28 Nov

The Birth of Lamby

So yesterday Katrina shouted something including “bambini” and “baaa” to me across the yard. I have no idea how I understood, but hurried over to where Ales was stooped. He held one hand onto a sheeps collar and the other onto its tail. Meanwhile, the sheep is bleating for dear life, and I notice what can only be described as a 2 year olds snot rocket just dangling there. Yes, out of the sheeps… well… backside. Within the gelatinous mucous I notices two very small hooves… OOH ITS HAVING A BABY!
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Half-Moon the Goatmaster

27 Nov

Half-Moon the Goatmaster

Ales and Katrin have a goat named halfmoon on the farm. He is quite a character, and my favorite of all the animals because he is the most hardcore. He norts and sneezes when he is mad, and is the total alpha male… trying to be romantic with all the shladies. He always runs with his horns bared towards whatever is near him… always on guard. So hes a hardcore goat, but me, Im twice his size. And i have a long ass bamboo stick. Im sure I can take him in a “to the death” gladiator-battle but my next task his to chain him to a tree. This is way more complicated, and involves distracting him with some food, sneaking up from behind, pretending to pet him, whilst hooking the caribeaner to the rope around his neck.
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