It's Spring Time!

"April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks go."
~ Christopher Morley

Spring is here and the weather is warming up! Outside is turning more and more green, especially with the light rain showers we get every few days. Gardeners are out in my neighborhood cleaning up their plots of land and getting ready to plant their chili peppers and other vegetables. Cherry Blossom trees are in full bloom and strawberries have taken over the fruit stands in the markets. The temperature is so perfect and quite refreshing! What could possibly make things any better? ...
A BIKE!
A teacher named Liam in the neighboring dong, Chamdan, gave me a great deal on peddle bike that's practically brand new and even has a lock and a cute bell! Usually, I walk everywhere or wait for the bus, but now I can get to where I want to go in half as much time. I feel as free as a bird and so alive (partially because stop lights don't necessarily mean stop here so pedestrians and bikers have to be even more careful with crossing the roads). It's quite exciting! I've used it every day this week and have given it the Korean name, Go Young Sun.

Work is going well. I love my students and they still impress me everyday with their humor and playfulness. Mo Ju Won has been showing me how to perform a few magic tricks! It's amazing what you can pick up from students! Since I don't plan the curriculum, my schedule can be feel quite repetitive, but it is nice not having to bring any work home. My free time is totally mine to play with. Socially, there is so much to do, but this year has also been a wonderful opportunity for me to devour books to my heart's delight. I've accumulated quite a few books, plus, it's great swapping with foreign friends. With four movies and no cable, books have become therapeutic for me and a great escape when needed.

I have been given a class of two adult gals (ages 25 and 26) who wanted to work on speaking and pronunciation. They are really great and a lot of fun to talk to. We have a book, but having discussions and a chance for them to talk seems to be what they need most. They work from 8am till 11pm with only an hour break for lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday. Korean culture pushes people to work so hard. Wendy and Sara (which are their English names they just gave themselves) use their afternoon break to come to my class three times a week. Soon, one of their managers will join them. He is excited to practice his English as well. It is such a new experience teaching adults in comparison to kids and I am looking forward to this opportunity and to make more friends!

Volley ball is still one of my favorite things to do here. Recently, I played back row for the Sangam men's team at a tournament in Naju, an adorable picturesque city just south of Gwangju, because they didn't have enough players. The competition was intense and every game was so close! Our team didn't go far in the tournament, but I thought every game was a blast and the volleying back and forth was excitingly competitive. Digging those hard hits are my favorite! They don't expect that from women! Our team became known as the "Global" team, because I was a foreigner. Ha! It was fun!
Yesterday, we had a small women's tournament. Our team did really well towards the end and left with one loss and one win. I really enjoy the volley ball folk. They are such nice people who take care of each other. Plus, it's nice to be on a competitive team again.

Another activity I really picked up is running. Five days a week, I meet up with three gals: Jenni from Indiana, Anne-Mari from South Africa, and Erin from Canada. Early in the morning, I ride my bike over to Chamdan to Erin's house where we all meet and run for about an hour taking different routes each day. With four running foreigners, we can be quite a show for some people on the streets! When we run laps around one of the parks, people will start counting our laps and making supporting gestures at us. Sometimes it is overwhelming having that "zoo animal" feeling, as jenni says, but overall, people are quite harmless and friendly. Jenni, Anne-Mari, and Erin are awesome gals and it is so outstanding that we are almost all at the same pace and training. We signed up for a half marathon on June 13th on Jeju Island. It will be a glorious run right along the northeastern coast. Woo Hoo!

It is such a rewarding feeling knowing that I have survived living in another country for seven and a half months now. There are challenges and still I go through mini stages of culture shock, but overall I feel proud for setting and making a life in such a densely populated area. South Korea is the size of the state of Indiana, but has a population of around 50 million people. What makes the statistics even more impressive is that 60 percent of the land in South Korea is covered in mountains, which are hard to build on so most people live in the flatter areas or cities. There are huge apartment complexes everywhere! I love my little apartment~ it is so pretty (I posted pictures below in an earlier blog).

Goodness.... only four and a half more months with my kiddos! Yikes!