A Korean Thanksgiving

This week was a week full of "misses." Being the first Thanksgiving away from home, I certainly missed the traditional hangouts and catch-ups with old friends on Thanksgiving Eve, my Mom's cooking, and of course spending time with my family. Lucky for me I had 15 other friends to celebrate turkey day with this year.

At school on Thursday, I gave the kinder classes a lesson on the story of Thanksgiving. After, each student was asked what they were thankful for. I heard "I'm thankful for Jenn Teacher" from Nuri in Clifford class, and my heart just sunk. Kids can be so sweet sometimes.

On Saturday two of my lovely friends hosted a Thanksgiving potluck dinner. So myself and fifteen of my closest friends celebrated Thanksgiving complete with stuffing, potatoes, pumpkin pie, and chicken. Unfortunately we couldn't find a turkey, so we compromised with chicken. We spent the whole day together eating, playing games and of course drinking lots and lots of wine. It was such a great day! Since I missed Thanksgiving at home, this was just what I needed :)

There is so much I have to be thankful for this year! Just to name a few: I have a family that supports and loves me, I have amazing friends who keep in touch even when I'm 7,000 miles away, I have a great job with great co-workers and 35 little ones that are happy that I'm there, and last but not least I get to experience a new culture, as well as travel to places I never thought I would.

So all in all I should say that I'm ONE lucky girl :) I miss you all!

-Jenn xoxo

A Whole Bunch of Randomness

Tis' the season for heated floors, hot chocolate and Christmas lights. I've been pretty busy these last couple of weeks getting into the holiday spirirt and seeing new sights of SoKo. Last Thursday after work I made a visit into Seoul to see the Seoul Lantern Festival. It's an annual festival that was started in 2009 that showcases artists from all over the world down the famous Cheonggyecheon Stream. There's also a spot where one can light a lantern as a symbol of 'hope and friendship'.

That same night, Sarah and I decided to walk around this particular area of Seoul a bit more since we have never been there to enjoy it at night. To our surprise we found CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was. Christmas is my favorite holiday!

This past weekend I ventured to the eastern part of SoKo to visit none other than a penis park. Samcheok, which is where Haesindang Park (penis park) is located, is about a four to five hour bus ride from Seoul. Sarah and I woke up at 4:30 am to catch the first bus into Samcheok. Before going there, I researched the area quite a bit. I did not realize just how beautiful Samcheok was until I arrived. Because we did not plan to stay the night, we only had time to visit Haesingdang Park. I'll definitely be planning a trip back to Samcheok in the springtime to visit some of the other sights there.

For all of those who are wondering why in the world there is a penis park in South Korea, here's a story to give you the details. According to a late legend, a young virgin threw herself into the ocean, and drowned. About the same time, the local fishermen began to notice a decline in the numbers of fish they were catching. It seemed as thought all the fish had disappeared. Concluding that the young girl’s spirit was haunting the ocean; angry and frustrated after dying a virgin, the locals decided to take drastic action to appease said spirit and built this park.

To add to this post of randomness, yesterday South Korea practiced an air-raid drill around 2pm. The drill is practiced about two times a year to prepare in case North Korea attacks. Pedestrians in open and public areas are suppose move to nearby buildings or subway stations as they would when seeking shelter in an actual event. All drivers/vehicles on the road have to pull over and come to a complete stop. After watching videos online of people who were outside during this drill, I got goosebumps and a little scared of the reality of a possible attack.

No worries y'all! I'm as safe as I can be :) I miss you all so so much <3


-Jenn xoxo

The Most Magical Place in the ROK

This past weekend called for gloomy and rainy weather, so I took it upon myself to make indoor plans. After a nice brunch at Butterfingers with Lauren in Jeongja, I took a ride on the new Sin Bundang line (신분당선). This is a new subway line that just opened on October 28th and connects Bundang to Gangnam, which is a popular part in Seoul. It was developed to cut the total travel time by bus from 60 minutes down to 16 minutes. What's also neat about this line is that the trains are completely computer operated, so there's no conductor on board.

After my speedy trip into Seoul, I went to visit Dr. Fish. Dr. Fish is a semi-upscale coffee bar/spa. For 2,000 won you can experience the tickling of the Chinchin as they eat at your feet. Some may think this an absurd and disgusting idea, but it's actually pretty neat. Essentially the fish are used to exfoliate feet and toes for the most natural of spa experiences.

To add to my indoor plans, I went to the most magical place in Korea...Lotte World. Lotte World is the world's largest indoor amusement park. It's almost a small replica of Disney World with it's own version of the Magic Kingdom, otherwise named "Magic Island." I felt like such a kid as I walked into the park. The inside was lit up with colorful Christmas lights and Christmas themed parades. It was the first time since I've been here that I felt like was home in the States.
 

Magic Island

Indoor skating rink with Lotte World rides surrounding

There will be another "magical" place I will be visiting next weekend. I'll be sure to post about that!

Miss you all!

-Jenn

Three Months In...

Today marks my third month in Korea. Holy cow! Time is flying by so fast. Only nine more months until I'm home though. Wahoo! Things sure have been picking up here in Korealand. 

Last weekend I dug out the inner daredevil in me and went zip-lining in Mungyeong. Mungyeong is a city surrounded by beautiful mountains and is about three hours from where I live. The Fall colors were amazing and they reminded me a lot of the mountains back home in Virginia, which of course made me miss home that much more.

There were nine courses and each course got a little higher and longer in length. The highest course was 360m or about 1,000 feet. I definitely recommend trying zip-lining at least once to whoever is looking for a thrill. There's nothing like the feeling of basically flying from tree to tree and taking in a pretty awesome view at the same time. Next on my list...bungee jumping.

Saturday night I celebrated Halloween with some friends on a Halloween themed cruise. It was hands down one of the best Halloweens ever! The boat was massive and held close to 800 people. Props to the event planners for putting on such a successful night. Going to these kinds of events really makes me miss planning events :(

A 1920's flapper, the Cat in the Hat,
Minnie Mouse, White Trash and Nicki Minaj

Today our school celebrated Halloween with a costume party. Anna Teacher asked me to be the MC for the day, which meant I had to greet the Moms and keep everyone on schedule. It sure was a fun day! We had games,  pumpkin carvings and don't forget the trick or treating.

Ralphie?

Tweety and Elmo class