A Thai Excursion to Remember and a Random Collection of My Thoughts

So it would seem that I have been slacking on updating my blog.  Sorry about that.  I've just been too busy traveling or taking care of business that I have failed to write some updates.  I think that soon I may start doing video updates instead.  We'll see how that works out.

So the last update was about the cold.  Well, sadly it hasn't gotten any warmer, but in fact it has actually gotten colder.  I woke up Monday morning and it was one degree outside!  Haha...this is the coldest weather that I've ever had the privilege of enjoying.  Apparently it has been 30 years since it's been this cold in Korea.  Boy did I pick a great winter to spend here.  As cold as it is here, I was able to spend several days in Thailand last month.  I left for Bangkok, Thailand on December 24th, and arrived there in the wee hours of Christmas morning.  I went with several of my teacher friends and we were able to enjoy the cities of Bangkok and Pattaya.  It was so cool because on Christmas we actually went to a Christmas party at my friend's house.   It was nice to experience a warm Christmas for a change.

My hostess friend Kathlyn on my right

I think one of the really great parts of the trip was how many different methods of transportation we were able to experience.  Let's see:

1. Car taxi
2. Van taxi
3. Boat taxi
4. Truck taxi
5. Scooter taxi
6. Ferry 
7. Tuk Tuk
8. Subway
9. Monorail
10. City bus
11. Long range bus
12. Airplane
13. Horse carriage
14. Elephant

Wow!  I think that's all of them.  It was just fun to try so many different things.  Yes, I did in fact ride an elephant.  I rode the head!  It was actually kind of gross because it was all hairy and what not.

The elephant ride happened at a place called The Sanctuary of Truth.  It is a building that is completely constructed out of wood.  I forget how old it is, but it's 80 years or something like that.  

We also went to the Great Royal Palace, China Town, a really famous road (I bought some souvenirs there), and a really nice beach in Pattaya.  Thailand was most definitely a unique experience for me.  Our very first day there, it must have been 90 degrees, and we were going to take the city bus.  We were all waiting at a bus stop when a bus arrived.  There was a woman who was about to step off but she looked like she was hungover or really dizzy or something.  Anyway, she sort of falls/slides on the stairs of the bus and threw up then and there.  I could hardly keep from reacting myself and I was feeling pretty sick to my stomach after seeing that sight.  Of course, I can laugh now...HAHAHA.  

Both me and my other male friend were propositioned by some attractive women...obviously we had to say no because they just wanted our money lol.  One of my favorite parts of the trip was being able to eat fruit.  And not only eat fruit, but buy it because it was so affordable (buying fruit in Korea is absurdly expensive).  I ate lots of pineapple, watermelon, mango, and papaya.  My friends tried durian; you know that fruit that smells like poop and has an awful texture?  Yea, that one!  

Now for the fun part.  On December 26, 2010, my life would be changed forever.  Well that's a little bit of an exaggeration but it's kind of true.  My wallet was stolen from me at an outdoor market.  Can you believe it?!  Innocent little me...shaking my head (smh).  Anyway, upon realizing that my wallet was no longer on my person (it contained my passport, money, korean bank card, and korean identification card), my friends say that I was unusually calm.  I reason that I was probably experiencing some form of shock at the time.  I just couldn't fathom that it would happen to me =(  So I proceeded to back track my steps and search the premises.  No luck.  So we went to the police station to file a report and get some important papers so that I could acquire another passport.  Monday morning involved going to the American Embassy to start the process.  My emergency passport was ready by Tuesday, and then we all journeyed to the Thai Immigration office on the other side of town.  Unfortunately their computers were down, so they could not really help me.  Next was the Korean Embassy.  They notified the office back in Korea of my situation.  

The whole process, while a headache, was not nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be.  I was able to get through the Thai airport with little trouble and into Korea with little trouble as well.  I was detained at customs however because I had a knife in my luggage.  But after that it was smooth sailing all the way to my little home away from home.  My neat little corner of Seoul.  

I have recently been able to get another Korean id card and a new bank card.  Both those processes took longer than I was expecting.  In a few months I will get another passport and all will be forgotten of the "day" that changed my life.

I don't completely remember...smh

See the sign in the back?  Yup, Pattaya City!

See how sneaky I can be?

I'm not gonna lie, I wanted to scream with those fish biting me.

Observations

• Koreans often have chapped lips
• It's really cold here but women still wear skirts from time to time
• I am now "Obama Teacher"  and not "Chocolate Teacher"
• I miss my friends
• I got up at 12 AM Monday morning only to watch my Seahawks get spanked by the Bears (it was a very surprising season nonetheless)
• Koreans are really good looking (it could be that I've been here for 5 months)
• My younger sister has her first boyfriend...yay for her! I guess maybe I should join the dating club sometime in the next few years...

My next blog post will be about the things I've experience recently.  It should be interesting.

Until next time...

Bitter Cold

I had to make mention of the recent weather here.  It is most definitely 10 degrees Fahrenheit right now!  Just ridiculously cold.  I woke up this morning to tap water that was so cold, it easily could have been mistaken for Antarctic sea water.  Anyway, we weren't able to take showers this morning because of that.  Our heating system may have tripped during the night so it was not only cold in the apartment, but then we couldn't warm up using hot water.  Yesterday we had a high of possibly 22 degrees but it felt colder.  Today's high should get up to 31 degrees but that seems less than likely at this moment.  I HATE COLD!! I can't wait to go to warm Thailand next week.  Only 8 more days...

December? Really?

It's December!  It has been a while since my last post, so I apologize.  The busy life of a foreign teacher, or in my case, a teacher with not that many things to write about.  I've gone on my occasional outings with students, but nothing spectacular.  Pictures can be found on my Facebook =)  Tomorrow is Monday and we're going to be heading into the home stretch starting this week.  We have term projects and final tests this week, so I'm sure the students will be stressed to no end.  The good news is that Term 6 is almost over.  This means I'm that much closer to Bangkok, Thailand!!  I'm eagerly awaiting my departure.  Anyway, I just wanted to give a brief update to those of you who have not talked with me recently.  I will be back next week for another update.

As far as the previous post is concerned, I want to apologize.  I can't seem to upload my video here for some reason.  I have tried numerous times and now I've just given up all together.  The video can be found on my Facebook page.

Blessings!

Bungee Jumping in Cheonpung (River Land)

After being utterly disgusted by the notion of bungee jumping, somehow I found myself jumping.  How does one go from being disgusted by the thought to eventually jumping?  I really don't know what changed, and now all I can say is that I'm happy that I did it.  It proved my manliness lol even though on more than one occasion I can be heard screaming on my video footage.  What an experience it was!!  The rush!  The adrenaline!  The body aches days after!  The praise from friends and colleagues.  For those of you who have known me for any amount of time, this feat would seem so unlikely for me, and I wholeheartedly agree.  Now for the details...

Celebratory picture!!

Looking up at the platform

Sunday, the 14th of November, my life was hanging in the balance.  The whole idea of doing this happened rather precipitously.  I was thinking less of the danger of the whole thing and decided to focus more on the fear that was consuming me.  We arrived at River Land on the crisp and beautiful morning.  There was a subtle breeze flowing through and it was enough to get all 156 lbs of my lean figure shivering.  As I was gazing up at the platform, I began to realize what was about to happen.  I was with two women and I was sure I couldn't back out because I mean, how embarrassing would that be?!  I'd prefer to save face so that wasn't about to happen.  Anyway, Lindsey (my jumping partner) and I proceeded to sign the paperwork and get our ankle gear on.  I'm glad she was there to translate because there would have been no way of knowing what I was signing.  After that, we both waddled over the elevator and began our journey upward.  The elevator was annoyingly loud and I began to feel my uneasiness growing with each passing meter.  Scrreeeeecch!!  We made it to the platform and out we walked.  The view was breathtaking and the fresh air was definitely much needed.  A man proceeded to speak Korean to us as he was getting the ropes in order.  He asked us who would go first and Lindsey immediately pointed in my direction.  I was okay with that because I wanted to jump as soon as possible before I changed my mind.  So I did my little penguin walk over to the attendant.  He connected the carabiners and rope with my ankle gear, and then I was ready for take-off.  I gingerly stepped to the edge of the platform...

What allows a human to convince themselves that jumping from such a high distance is okay?!!  My legs began to do a little dance of their own.  I was just hoping my legs wouldn't go limp and resulting in my falling off the platform as opposed to jumping kk...Initially, I was frozen in fear and was not yet ready to take the plunge.  He asked if I was ready and I quickly responded with an immediate NO!!  Politely of course...I then signaled to him that I was ready.  He began counting in Korean...set...dul...ha na...bungee!  Off I went.  No hesitation on my part.  Immediately on my departure I felt sheer terror!!  I let out a blood curdling scream.  I thought to myself..."self, why did I just jump? how did that happen?"  My abrupt descent quickly followed.  The water was creeping up on my face very fast.  And all of a sudden...yank!!  I was pulled back up and I was finally able to relax.  "The rope caught me. Thank God!"  After that I was overcome with a sense of accomplishment.  50 meters (164 ft)?!!  That wasn't so bad...I DID IT!

Fly Like An Eagle

I did it...happy to be in the boat

As I crawled into bed that night, it seemed like every muscle in my body was angry.  I was extremely sore.  I popped some ibuprofen, hazily reflected on my day of excitement, and drifted off into a deep slumber...the end.


The video will come soon...

A Realization of Sorts

I went to Itaewon this afternoon to finally get a much needed haircut.  While I was over there, I also ate some delicious Taco Bell for dinner.  Anyway, I was doing my traveling during a peak rush hour time, 4-7 PM.  Missstaaaaake!  The subways were so crowded.  It was kind of ridiculous actually.  I would say that I was bouncing around in between people as I stood there, but that just wouldn't be an accurate representation of my experience because there was no space to bounce around!  I was surrounded by old women, business men, and many college age women (made for a more pleasant experience).  Anyway, I was highly uncomfortable the entire time because I am a person who likes space, more specifically, my space, and people were all up in my business kk...

That was my random experience for the day.

P.S.  It was nice to have the extra body heat though because it was cold =)

Back to the Drawing Board

It's back to the drawing board in the morning.  Bright and early at 7 AM!  I'm sure this term will go just as fast and my first one, and Christmas is around the corner as well.  It stinks that I will miss my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, but I'm sure I'll survive :p

I finally feel healthy, well rested, and ready for new challenges.  Continue to pray for me as I begin this new term.  I will try to be more faithful with writing for my blog even if they are just brief updates.

Over my term break I was able to play some competitive basketball, visit the Seoul Grand Park Zoo and the Coex Mall & Aquarium, eat Mexican food in Itaewon, and get convinced by my housemates to go bungee jumping soon.  Yup!  I'm going to go bungee jumping soon!  It's getting pretty cold now so maybe I'll wait until it's warmer, but this much is sure, I WILL BE JUMPING.  I decided that potentially wetting my pants is not a good enough reason not to do it kk...so, I'm ready for the adrenaline rush.  I will let you know how it turns out.

Oh, before I go, I must tell you about my care package.  Well if I'm honest, it was really a suitcase that my mother and some family friends put together for me.  I was very thrilled to get it.  It had a variety of nuts, candy, oatmeal, granola bars, vegemeat, vitamins, clothes, toothpastes, and even toothbrushes.  It was definitely Christmas come early for me.  I'm going to be set for quite some time.  My housemates were quite jealous, but I assured them that I'd be kind and share so maybe that eased their pain haha...Anyway, I'm very thankful that I have people that care about me.

My last note...I miss you guys dearly.  Some of you I talk to regularly, others...not so much :(  So continue to stay in contact and send me the emails, facebook comments/messages, snail mail, or what have you.  It's always good to hear from you.

The Journey Continues...and oh yea, I'm exhausted!

After a long day of working, I finally have the opportunity to sit down on my pink sheets and update my blog. These last few months have really flown by.  I feel like I just landed when in fact the new orientation group arrived last week!  I feel like someone knocked me out and I can't remember anything.  I can't get over the fact that it happened-so-fast!!  For that I am thankful that time doesn't seem to creep along here.  I've been sick for the better part of two weeks, and I'm limping to the finish line of the term, but I've finally made it.  Yes, I have finished my 1st term at the Seongbuk Institute in Seoul.  I have grown in so many ways over the term.  The students have taught me much about how to teach English more effectively, how to communicate with sounds (lol), and yes, even how to speak a little Korean.  


I now know that I am spoiled for life when I go back to the States.  My students consistently say that I am handsome, good looking, a good teacher, that I have nice teeth, etc...point is, I get so many compliments.  So rightfully so, I can't say that my self-esteem has ever been higher ha-ha.  I was feeling pretty good about myself until the last two days...


My last two weeks have been a real whirlwind.  The term was winding down and there were many different things that needed to be done; especially over the last two days.  I have had to do the tedious job of adding all the attendance and grade records into the computer system so that final grades could be tallied.  With this comes the revelation that some students needed to be repeated (failed).  Gosh!  That's the last thing I want to do!  Deliver bad news.  Most people know I hate conflict or uncomfortable situations, but I just had to bite the bullet and deal with it.  Each time as I would pull a student aside, the disappointment would sweep across their face as quickly as the cold weather just swept across Korea (which is extremely fast, lol).  Obviously they are disappointed because they've studied and worked so hard to pass the class.  Some understood that they needed more practice and others just didn't seem to get why they couldn't go to Level 3.  It's safe to say that maybe I'm no longer the "nice" teacher they thought I was.  Anyway, I felt really terrible repeating the students and then having to tell them to their face...boo!  I think up to this point, that has been the most difficult thing I've had to do, and that's saying a lot.  Either way, as much as those students were bummed they didn't pass, the others were on the other end of the spectrum!  Some would say..."teacher, realLY?!"  They would have a really high pitched really (mostly women) and I couldn't help but chuckle.  


So today, the last day of the term, we had Party Day.  It is an optional day for students to come play games, eat, and just hang out with the teacher.  Students brought all different kinds of Korean junk food and even some healthy food.  We had donuts, crackers, bread, subway sandwiches, sweet potato, watermelon, persimmons, tangerines, tok (rice something...), and some other things I can't remember the names of.  We had a great time playing 20 questions, 2 truths 1 lie, and even DUTCH BLITZ!  I took pictures of my morning classes, but I had to use my computer because I forgot my camera.  



Now the 5th term of 2010 is over.  I will be on vacation until next Tuesday when the 6th term begins.  I will have new students, new levels, and new challenges.  I'm looking forward to meeting a new group of students.  While I'm physically drained and exhausted, it was all worth it.  I thank God for keeping me through the term and for giving me continued strength.  Now if I can just make until December 24th...Bangkok, Thailand here I come!  I will attempt to get some tropical weather for my holiday this year =)  Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers...

Some of my 10 AM class

A small portion of my 7 AM class

Two 11 AM students posing for the picture

Hwanseongul Cave, Samcheok, and Others

We didn't have class this past Friday at my institute so my director decided to take the foreign teachers and staff on an excursion.  And on an excursion we went!

I

We left Friday morning at around 9:30 to begin our road trip.  It took about three and half hours to get to our destination.  There were 9 of us crammed into a Korean style van.  To say the least, it was a very uncomfortable ride for my aging knees :p  When we got there it was sprinkling a little bit, but it was ok because we were going into a cave anyway.  The cave was pretty awesome.  I tried to take pictures but it was just too dark.  There were a variety of lights along the railing in the cave.  Lot's of stairs too (which I'm really starting to get tired of)!  We spent a little over an hour in the cave.


After the cave it was time to head over to the coast to use some rail bikes.  I've never seen nor used a rail bike before but it's a fantastic way to view a landscape!  It was a little cold to enjoy the beach, so we stayed off of the sand and looked from a distance.

The beautiful coast

And then is what I did last weekend.  On Saturday night I enjoyed some fireworks on an island with some of my new Korean friends.  They aren't students at SDA, but I met them through a mutual friend.  One Korean is from Argentina, another is from Brazil, and another spent over 10 years in the U.S.  So we had several things to talk about and I was also able to brush up on my Spanish.  Then on Sunday I was able to attend my first Korean wedding.  It was definitely more westernized in it's appearance and process but not nearly as long.  It was about 30 minutes in all!!

The bride is a Korean Junior teacher here at Seongbuk.  She looked beautiful.

After the wedding there was a buffet...and boy was it a spread!  There were at least 5 different kinds of chicken!  Baby (tiny) octopus, squid, shrimp, crab, beef, and an assortment of other things.  Any meat eater would have been thoroughly pleased.  Aww...the life of a picky vegetarian!  I actually found some rice and vegetables to nibble on.  My plate must have looked very odd to all those sitting around me.

Rail bikes

  

The Crew

That is all for now.  I hope to update soon.  Thanks again to all my readers!

Some more randomness

Time is going by so fast!  I don't have time to regularly update my blog.  Anyway, not much has happened since the last time I posted.  I've really been enjoying myself though.  I spend time with students every weekend.  Either on a Saturday night or a Sunday afternoon, but I make sure to spend time with them outside of class.  This mission is about building relationships and becoming friends and that's exactly what I'm trying to do.  I finally got a cell phone on Saturday night and now my co-workers and especially my students can contact me.  A cell phone is really helpful here because it has a map of the subway system and it's very difficult to spot people in the crowds of thousands that are always roaming around the city.

There are so many people here!  HAHAHA...really all I can do is laugh because it is kind of absurd.  The Koreans here have stated on numerous times that there are too many people here.  It seems like everywhere is crowded i.e. subways, buses, streets, sidewalks, malls, coffee shops, etc...It is definitely interesting to be a part of this culture.

We had Korean thanksgiving (Chuseok) last week for 3 days and I was able to spend that time with my foreign friends.  We had an American Thanksgiving gathering and there were about 15 of us in total.  It was nice to be around native English speakers and have "adult" conversation lol...Side note, if you ever have questions about the culture or my life here, feel free to ask questions in the comment section.

I received my first care package from the U.S. today...THANKS MOM!!  It has lots of goodies and useful things.  I'm not homesick yet, because I'm so use to going off to college, but I am frustrated by the inability to find things that I really want.  And even if those things are here, I don't know how to read the signs or even how to ask just yet, so I really need to stop slacking on learning the language.  It seems like I learn a new word or phrase everyday but they aren't the most useful for what I need at this point in time.

Anyway, things are continuing to go well here.  Thanks for all the support from my blog readers and well wishers from around the globe.  Your thoughts and prayers go a long way.  Until next time...

P.S. Pictures can be found on Facebook!

Insadong and a bunch of randomness

Wow!  Has it really been a week since my last post?  Time just seems to fly by here.  Also, I've been extremely busy and I haven't even had time to think about my blog, yet here I am =)

My last few days have been quite normal.  Over the weekend, I went to Insa-dong with two of my 7 AM students.  Insa-dong is a part of Seoul that houses the traditional shops, foods, people, etc...We had a great time together.  They met me at the institute so that I would have no problems getting to our destination.  I have to say it was quite nice of them.  Anyway, we got there and walk around for a bit.  Then we ate at a traditional Korean restaurant, and I enjoyed some authentic pimbimbap.  It is rice, vegetables, raw egg, and meat.  I obviously got mine without meat.  In Korean you say cogi ppego which means no meat.  It is brought to the table in a scorching hot bowl and the patron is suppose to stir it all together.  The bowl is so hot that it actually cooks the egg!  It was quite delicious and I was satisfied.  They were great company and asked a host of good questions about my family, America, me, movie stars, and just general things about English.  After dinner, we went to a little cafe for tea and treats made out of rice.  Overall, the whole experience was a pleasant one and I'm glad I went out with them.

On another note, my last few days have consisted with me trying to keep up with all the sports going on back home.  I quickly just want to give a shout out to the Huskies, Seahawks, and Storm!!  They all had a good weekend and I supremely enjoyed watching the Huskies romp Syracuse =)  Just made my Sunday.

So last week I had a Korean kid call me an interesting name...he called me Chocolate Teacher.  I think he likes pointing out that I'm a different color because he has been calling me that more frequently and even as recently as this afternoon haha...he's an interesting character so I let him slide.  

I'm starting to get frustrated and angry!  I have the most difficult time staying asleep and I haven't felt rested in weeks.  I go to sleep tired and wake up tired.  It's a vicious cycle.  I feel like a could simply fall asleep at any point during my day.  It's somewhat discouraging because I'm just so exhausted...so please pray for me.  I have my first vespers sermon this Friday night too so I'm trying to muster up the energy to finish that on top of what I'm already doing.

Until next time...

My Address!

This will be my mailing address;

Sanmaek plaza, #147 Dongsomun-dong-6ga, Seongbuk-gu
Seoul 136-036, Korea

If you feel inclined to mail packages, refer to this list for good things to mail:

• Deodorant  (old spice)
• Razors (shaving)
• Pop tarts
• Popcorn
• Stickers
• Candy
• Oatmeal

Those are just a few things.  Anyway, I will update soon about what has been happening this week.

Emperor's Palace, Interviews, and Great Italian Food

It has been a great weekend thus far.  Vespers and church went well and they are not anything like I was envisioning.  There were a few people that came to each, but that will not be the norm.  There will be maybe close to 20 or so on a regular basis.  Anyway, I can now rest a little easier knowing there is not as much pressure.  It helps that my director is a really cool pastor and quite easy to talk to.  It is making my transition to my new school a lot easier.

After having potluck with the students after church yesterday, I went out to tour the city with two other new teachers, Brian and Jonathan.  We went the Emperor's Palace!  It was blazing hot and we were pouring down sweat but we wanted to have fun so we continued on.  It was a very beautiful place.  We were even able to practice our Korean several times while we were there.  We would ask locals questions on how to get certain places or things like that...

The picture on the right is one of the many buildings at the palace.  That is Brian on the left and my other friend Jonathan on the right.











Also, before we even entered the palace I got lucky.  Some really cute Korean girl wanted to interview me for her English speaking program on tv =)  It is geared towards people who are learning English.  She says she routinely asks foreigners a question of the day.  Mine had to deal with how I like my eggs.  Then she asked me some other questions as well...here we are...

It was so HOT!  I was dripping sweat during the interview.  Anyway, she was really nice and her English was amazing.  Before she approached me I sneezed and I heard a bless you from like 20 feet away.  I looked around and she came up to me and started talking to me in superb English.  She was so nice that I figured I would help her out.  While I was doing the interview my friends were laughing. Who knows why but I was giving her some wild answers lol..




After our little excursion, we went searching for food.  In the midst of our journey, we stumbled across the US Embassy and like 10 huge police buses.  There were guards stationed everywhere too.  It was pretty cool to see.  I quickly snapped a photo of the American flag and we kept moving.  We eventually arrived at an Italian place to eat and it was delicious.  I had gnocci with marinara sauce and mozzarella ...yum!  After dining like kings we ventured to see what else we could do.  Eventually we landed in an upscale part of town where all the Gucci and Dolce & Gabanna stores were.  There were actually waiting lines to get into the stores.  It was kinda funny to see.  Only a limited number people were allowed to enter at a time.  Anyway, we stayed at the building and went to see a movie.  We went to our homes after that and I simply knocked out...

First Two Days of Teaching

Yes, I have finally started my teaching!  It has been an interesting two days.  My first class is a Level 2 Adult English class that begins at 7:00 AM.  I have approximately 18 students.  I was not expecting to have that many!  They are a good bunch though.  They were very nervous the first day, as was I, but they were definitely talking more by day two.  I have a religion class scheduled for 8 AM that I don't begin teaching until next Thursday.  My next two Level 2 classes are at 10 and 11 AM and they are considerably smaller.  Less than 7 students in each.  I have Yes I Can (YIC) 1 and 6 in the afternoon.  Yes I Can consists of junior students anywhere from ages 6-9 I think?  I'm not all that sure...

Anyway, my stomach has been in knots the first few days.  I haven't had much of an appetite due to nervousness.  I am no longer sick so I will blame it on the nervousness lol.  My co-teachers have been really accommodating and have been showing me tips and telling me new ways of doing things.  Our building is really nice.  We are located on the 3rd and 4th floor of a downtown building.  I really feel like a BIG TIME teacher because I have my OWN classroom.  Yeah, true story!  It gives me a sense of ownership and I definitely like that.  Well, time for me to go prepare for class but I will write more later about my duties and my housing arrangement.

Seongbuk Institute

So after much deliberation and many phone calls, I have finally been assigned my first placement.  It is my understanding that it is only 2 subway stops or so from the main institute where I am currently.  They tell me that it is a very new school.  Actually, it's been around for about two terms (4 months), so I'm going to continue helping the institute build it's reputation in the community.  It is a three teacher (missionaries) school which means I will have several opportunities to do vespers talks and sermons on sabbath.  It wasn't my dream to be speaking so much but we'll see what happens.  I'm just happy that I finally have a placement.  All the other missionaries received news of their placements tonight as well.  I head to my institute early tomorrow morning.  I will be picked up by the pastor there and then he will show me the nearest grocery store, bank, post office, etc...  MY MISSION IS NOW BEGINNING =)

Now...onto the cockroach.  A matter of fact, I just saw another huge one about 10 minutes ago!  My housemate Brian had to kill it.  It certainly was NOT about to be me lol...I made something likened to a screaming noise and he came jetting in from his room.  It was actually quite funny.  Anyway, this cockroach from the other day.  I was going into the bathroom and I flipped on the light and...I see something jet across the bathroom floor.  And I had already spotted cockroaches outside so I was immediately suspicious of whatever was in there.  So I picked up a slipper and chucked it in its direction, and out scurries a huge cockroach.  I mean that thing would have made a normal cockroach look puny.  I'm talking David and Goliath stuff here ;-)  Anyway, I just knew that I had to have a picture for a keepsake.  I closed the bathroom door so it wouldn't get out and ran to my room to grab my camera.  Enjoy the evidence!!

Yeah, that JUST happened!

I had more training this morning but it had nothing to do with teaching.  It was sermon preparation and vespers training day.  AHHHHH!  They were trying to equip us with as much advice and resources that could best help us prepare and do a good job.  They aren't suppose to be just regular talks or sermons.  They need to include english pronunciation practice, powerpoint presentations, and culturally relatable details and examples.  My first few sermons and talks will definitely require much research and preparation.  Prayers will be greatly appreciated.

That ended our training for the morning and we were off to do whatever the rest of the afternoon.  I walked about half a mile down to a basketball court near the river.  Three other guys from my orientation group came along as well.  Not long after we arrived there it began to rain.  And this was not like normal rain...oh NO!  It was quasi monsoon rain.  It-was-epic!!  We tried to wait it out but it just would not let up.  So we just said whatever and proceeded to play in the rain.  What a great decision that was.  I have not had fun like that in quite sometime.  We were all drenched from head to toe. It was extremely difficult to play because of the terrible conditions, but we couldn't stop laughing =)  Several Koreans were taking solace under some shelter right next to the court and they were looking at us like we were crazy.  I think they enjoyed watching us flail about in the pouring rain.  I would occasionally see them crack a smile or even chuckle.

It has been a very pleasant day.  We capped it off by attending vespers and then facilitating the afterglow program with the students.  It was our (new teachers) first time in a classroom with students.  I think we all did pretty good.  I was with my new buddy Jason and some other teachers.  Initially he led out and then I took over.  I was the leader of hangman!  The students and teachers were great participants and the whole experience turned out quite well.

Anyway, it is time for me to hit the hay.  I'd like to wake up at a reasonable time so that I'm not late for breakfast and/or sabbath school haha.  Side note...pictures will be showing up on the blog soon.  I've got a little story about a cockroach and there needs to be some visuals to help you understand.  Until then!!