Stair Master Deluxe

So the past 2 weeks have definitely been interesting. I came down with the flu and have honestly never felt so sick in my life! I thought I was going to die! Being sick definitely made me miss home and so it put me in a mood. I was beginning to get really irritable and just wanted to go home. I thought maybe I was finally entering the culture shock stage of living in a new country but I'm out of it now, now that I am feeling better! I missed quite a few days of work because the school didn't want me to be near the children but it gave me plenty of time to rest up for the trip I had planned for this past weekend!

A couple of friends and I signed up through Adventure Korea to go to Mt. Seoraksan which is in my province. We left Seoul on Saturday morning and started making our way to the park. We stopped for lunch and then headed straight to the park. Now, I knew this hike was going to be somewhat challenging but I didn't realize it would be like entering the stair master hell. Miranda and I ended up hiking it together because everyone split up and hiked at their own pace. It was nice hanging out with her and doing this hike together because we encouraged each other the whole way! When we started off, the path was nothing but rocks and so we knew we were in for a long hike. We got about halfway up when we saw the stairs. We wanted to cry but we knew we had to finish the hike because we didn't start it for nothing! We made it up the rocks on our hands and knees and finally reached the stairs. It was seriously like climbing a ladder. It was so steep!! There were approximately one million stairs (ok maybe not that many but it sure felt like!) And I was pretty sure my knees were going to fall off. It was so high up and so steep that I began to panic a little bit. My heart started beating fast and I started to shake but I knew I had to keep going because it would be worth it in the end.

We finally made it to the top!The view was amazing and we got to take our picture with the Korean Flag. We couldn't stay long because we had to get back down to the bottom before the bus left. We began our trip back down and it was just as scary going down and it was going up! Once we got down the stairs and rocks it was a much easier hike! After 4 hours of hiking, we met up with Garry and Stewart at the base. We sat and talked about our hike some and then got on the bus and headed for the hotel. Everyone on the bus fell asleep. It was pretty funny! Once we reached the hotel we got cleaned up and went to dinner. We had Korean BBQ which was delicious as usual. After dinner we went to pretty much the fanciest Noraebang ever! We stayed there for a bit but Miranda and I were so tired we ended up leaving before everyone else. The next morning we went on another hike. We were told it was a nice leisurely walk but obviously whoever said that was not in pain from the hike the day before. Yes, usually this hike would have been considered easy but I could hardly move! After an hour and a half we finally finished that hike. We went for lunch and then packed up our things and headed back to Seoul.

It was a great weekend of hiking and hanging out with friends! I must say though, the next time I head to Mt. Seoraksan I will definitely be taking the cable car up the mountain!

xoxo,

Whitney

It's a Beautiful Chaos

Disclaimer: This entry is pretty long…I’m sorry!! I promise I will become better at updating this thing more often.

The title of my blog is Korean for Beautiful Chaos. I chose that name before I came here to Korea because my life was exactly that, a beautiful chaos. I had just graduated from college with no clue as to what I wanted to do with my life. I chose this job in Korea because I didn’t particularly want to stay in the States and I figured it would be an amazing experience. I can now safely say it is the best decision I have ever made. While I miss and love everyone back home so much, it is so great being out here. I have been given the chance of a lifetime. Not many people can pack up their things a leave on a whim. Also, not many people get the chance to set out and find who they really are. Life back in North Carolina was great. I have so many great friends who will always be there for me. I have the most amazing family ever who would do anything for me. However, being in NC meant that things were the same as they always were. I was living the life I had lived for 22 years. It was time for me to leave home and find a life of my own. Coming here was one of the scariest things I have ever done. I didn’t know if I would be able to adjust to life on my own in a different country. I am well surprised at how well I have adjusted. I have definitely had my bad days but they have nothing on the good days I have had here. I have met some pretty amazing people and I hope they are in my life for years to come! Even though I have only been here for 2 months, I have learned so much about life. I have learned that it’s okay not to have a plan. I still have no idea what I want to do with my life but I am perfectly fine with that. I have stopped planning life and have started living it because life never goes as planned. With all of this said, I hope that my family and friends will understand if I don’t come home for a while. It’s not that I don’t want to see you, believe me I miss you more that you will ever know, it’s just I have realized that I need to live life for me and not for others and what they want. I don’t know what will happen in the months or years to come but just know that no matter what happens I will always be able to come home and visit!

Ok, now that I have gotten that out of the way I will update everyone about what has been going on here in Korea. It’s been a while since I updated so I will try my best to fill you in with everything. I believe the last thing I left off with was telling everyone that some spear fishing was going to happen. Well, Garry and Miranda came to my house for the weekend that weekend. We went to the beach and then came back to Imgye and hung out. The next day we headed to the little river outside of my apartment to try out spear fishing. As expected it was pretty unsuccessful. It was still a lot of fun and very entertaining!! Miranda caught a leaf on her spear and that was about all that was caught that day.

The first weekend of October was Chuseok which is the Korean Thanksgiving. I got off of work at 12:30 that Thursday and headed to Incheon to see Miranda and Garry. The bus terminal that day was crazy hectic! There were so many people and the tickets for the buses to Incheon were sold out but luckily there was a later bus I could catch. I arrived and Miranda and I went and got some Korean BBQ…I love me some Korean BBQ!! We then met up with Garry and then the three of us went to the Star Wars bar…it was hilarious. You would just have to understand Miranda and I to get why we think it’s so funny. We met up with a group of people later on and all just hung out. Friday, Miranda and I went shopping and we both bought some new shoes and clothes! Friday evening, Garry and I went to dinner and then we went to Donghae which is in Seoul. We met this couple who is in the US Army and are stationed here. We hung out with them for the rest of the night. It was a lot of fun…they are really awesome people!! The next day, the four of us tried to find Everland. It’s a zoo/amusement park. We definitely never made it so we just went to dinner and hung out. I started to feel really sick and had a really bad fever so Garry and I left and called it a night. On Sunday, I was really sick so I went to the hospital and found out I had tonsillitis. So I slept most of the day on Sunday. Monday, it was time for me to head back to Imgye. My classes were cancelled for that week so it gave me time to recover.

I was starting to feel better and so the next weekend I headed back to Incheon for the Dream Concert. It was so much fun!! Miranda, Andre, and I sat in the World Cup Stadium for 9 hours just to see Big Bang perform. There were 14 other bands but we mainly wanted to see Big Bang. They were awesome! Miranda and I were acting like little middle school girls but that’s okay because we were the only ones there who weren’t actually middle school students so we fit in pretty well ;).

This past weekend Garry headed my way and we went down the Donghae/Mangsang Beach for the weekend. It was probably the best weekend I have had here so far! We arrived at Mangsang Beach Camping Resort on Friday evening. It was about 10:30 so that meant we would be setting up our tent in the dark. Yeah, everything was going well until we had to deal with the rain flap thing. It was huge! We couldn’t figure out why it was so big and engulfing the entire tent. We gave up and just tied it the pegs and stuck them in the ground. Oh and the spot for the tent was a wooden platform so the only thing that was holding down the tent was the rain flap! We went and got some dinner then headed to bed. Sometime in the middle of the night the wind picked up and I thought we were going to fly away. It was crazy! The pegs came up out of the ground and the rain flap was flying all over the place. Garry got up and saved it and tied it to the platform. It worked pretty well from then on out.

Saturday, we ventured off into Donghae and went to this cave. It was so cool!! They gave us hardhats to wear because the top of the cave was so low. I didn’t have a problem because I’m so short but Garry kept hitting his head! After the cave we headed to the mountains. We went on this hike that was absolutely beautiful! We ended up at some waterfalls and it was really peaceful. Once we made it back to the bottom of the mountain we headed back to the campsite and got dinner. We went to this restaurant on the strip. We thought it was Korean BBQ but it turned out to be some seafood soup bbq thing. I don’t even know how to explain it! Anyway, we ordered some kind of fish and the waiter walked over to the fish tank next to us, with a bucket, and grabbed a fish out. He killed it, threw it in a bowl of soup, and placed it on a grill thing on our table. I was a little nervous about eating it but it turned out to be really good!!! Once dinner was over, we went and found a swing that was on the beach. We sat there and watched some fireworks that other people were shooting off. It was a really cute spot! We then just hung out for the rest of the night.

Sunday, we went out onto the beach for most of the day. It was a super nice day! The weather was great and we were basically the only ones on the beach. It was really relaxing to just lay there and talk. It was time for us to go and take down our tent and head home. I didn’t want to leave at all!! It was such a great weekend and I wish it could have lasted longer!

This weekend I am heading to Seoul with Lindsey and I finally get to see Angelina again! All of my closest friends will be there, Miranda, Garry, Angelina, and Lindsey, so I’m super excited about this weekend!!!

I was listening to the radio today at work and this song came on. I think it’s so great! It really makes me miss my Mom! It's definitely worth a listen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1lTWXa0oyA

I will try and update this more often so it won’t be just random long entries all of the time! If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!!

xoxo,
Whitney

A New Found Appreciation

The title of this blog serves for a number of things. I have a new found appreciation for meals that don't have faces, western toilets, civilization, but mostly my appreciation goes out to my high school teachers!!! I honestly don't know how any high school teacher stays sane and still loves their job. Teaching high school students is scary! Most of them are very nice but they are your typical teenagers...and not to mention most of them are bigger than I am and it's intimidating. I still wouldn't trade this job for anything though.

It's been a while since I updated this thing so I will try to fill everyone in on what's been going on here in South Korea. I began teaching about 3 weeks ago. I love my middle school classes. Most of the students here in Imgye don't really know that much English so it's like starting fresh. I find it difficult speaking to them slower and remembering that they have no clue as to what I'm talking about. I'm not a slow talker so it is definitely something I am trying to get used to. My students are very sweet but very loud!! They are so energetic, it's crazy...but I love them! My coteacher doesn't actually teach with me so I have the whole class to myself. It's nice but sometimes it's frustrating when the students don't get something and there is no one there to help translate. Tomorrow, I have my first day at JEEC which stands for Jeongseon English Educational Center. I am very excited about this! It has different parts in the building that are built as a stage for children to do role playing. It has an airport, movie theatre, and restaurant. It will be nice to get away from my desk and interact with the children all day!

I went and visited Miranda last weekend in Incheon. It's about a three hour bus ride from here to there. I left straight from work and got there Friday night. We went to Pizza Hut and it was definitely the best 40 dollars ever spent!! After that we went to her friend Mark's birthday party. It was a lot of fun! I met a lot of cool new people! The next day we went shopping and then sat in her apartment listening to music until it was time to go meet up with some people for the night. We ended up meeting some of the people from the birthday party the night before and this guy from Scotland who wasn't at the party also met up with us. His name is Garry. We went and grabbed some food and hung out for a while and then we went to Noraebang which is Korean Karaoke. It was so much fun!!! They have so many songs to choose from...it's great! After that, Miranda, Garry, me, and this guy Jayme who lives in Miranda's building all went back to Miranda's apartment. We hung out and talked forever...it was nice! The next day I had to catch the 2:40 bus in order to be able to catch the last bus that goes into my town from the city which is outside of my town. It's very confusing but anyway, we didn't get to do too much on Sunday because I had to leave early. Miranda took me to the bus station and I headed back to the sticks.

This past weekend I stayed around here. Lindsey and I went into Gangneung (the city near my town) and went shopping. I bought a lot of new stuff for my apartment which I am very excited about! I will post pictures of my apartment once I get everything set up and looking nice!

Miranda and Garry are coming to visit me this weekend! I am soooo excited!! I'm going to take them to the nicest beach on the east coast of Korea called Mangsang Beach in Donghae. Then we are going to go to this cave that is in the middle of the city...it looks really cool! After all of that we are going to come back to my apartment and attempt to go spear fishing in the river next to my apartment. Anyone who knows me, knows I have this thing about spear fishing...I have always wanted to do it!! We will probably be very unsuccessful but I am still super excited! It's going to be a good weekend!

Other than the things above, not too much has been going on. Just working and living! I will definitely update next week and let you all know how the spear fishing went! I will also post some pictures on here soon! I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you guys bunches!

xoxo,
Whitney

Seat Belts on Buses

I now know why there was a section in my predeparture package on why you should take advantage of the seatbelts on the buses. The bus drivers here are crazy!! At least the one I had last night was. Lindsey and I were on our way back from Wonju and he kept swerving all over the place and laying down on the horn pretty much the entire trip!

Anyway, I suppose I will tell you about my tip to Wonju rather than ranting about the bus drivers! Lindsey, Angelina, and I decided we would go to Wonju this weekend to visit Tim and get a taste of civilization! Lindsey and I left my town at 7pm to head the Gangneung which is the city on the coast...when we got to the bus station there were these men that were acting pretty weird so it was a little sketch but we survived! We got on the bus to Wonju and made it in about an hour and a half! The entire way there, there was this little girl who was sitting begind us playing this song over and over again. So Lindsey and I decided we would join in the fun and sing along...it was very entertaining haha...we needed to keep quiet though because we had already been yelled at on the first bus by the bus driver for being too loud! They don't mess around here in Korea.

Once we got to Wonju we got off at a random bus stop and had no idea where we were! I called Tim and he couldn't figure out where we were either so we got in a taxi and headed to a school Tim told us to go to. We finally made it and Angelina and Tim met us there! On the walk back to someone's apartment we got completely lost and had to call someone at the apartment to come find us! Finally we made it and there were a bunch of people from orientation there! It was so great to see familiar faces!! I was talking to this guy Paris who was from orientation and he mentioned he is from Davidson! So we began talking about life in North Carolina and he said he went to this preschool over off of Eastway Drive in Charlotte and it is definitely the same preschool I went to! I was so excited because not only is he from NC but we went to preschool together!! We left the apartment and went to a bar and just hung out for the rest of the night...it was a lot of fun seeing everyone again!

Saturday we went shopping a little bit and then went and played basketball with some guys from orientation...that was fun! I totally suck at basketball but it was still a lot of fun. Lindsey, Angelina, Tim, and I decided to go watch a movie. We saw Last House On The Left....it sucked!! It was so confusing and gory! After the movie we were all just silent and were kind of like what the heck did we just watch?? We went and got some dinner then went back to Tim's place and watched some TV and hung out for the rest of the night.

Sunday we went shopping some more for stuff to put in our apartments and I finally got a comforter! I was so excited to finally have something for my bed! Tim and I also bought new cameras!! I love it...it's so nice to have a camera that actually fully works!! After that we went at got some lunch and then hung out until we had to catch our buses.

We said our goodbyes...which was sad because it was back to the sticks until the next time we meet up! Which will be pretty soon but it's still sad! That's pretty much all that happened this weekend and now I am just sitting at my desk because my classes were canceled this morning...I wish I could start teaching already! Hopefully tomorrow! Miss you all!

xoxo,
Whitney

Shrimp with eyes...it's going to be an interesting year!

So, I've finally made it to my final destination here in South Korea. I am living in a small town called Imgye which is in the province of Gangwon. It's in the middle of the Taebek Mountains and only 30 minutes to the beach!! The beaches here are beautiful as well as the mountains! There is a river that goes through the town that has a path along side of it to go run on. It's so cool! It's a fairly small town so there isn't a lot to do in my spare time but there is another EPIK teacher here who has been here since April so I have another English speaking person to hang out with! The food is also interesting too. Most of it I have enjoyed so far but some of it I refuse to eat! Such as the Dog Soup!

Anyway, I will tell my stories of what has happened so far since I have been here in Korea. This may be a long blog so I am just warning you now!

I began my journey on Monday, August 18th, 2009. I had some last minute problems with getting international things such as converters and my phone but it all came together and I was packed and ready to go! I left for the airport at 3:45 with my Dad, Sister, and Brother. My stepmom met us there. I was pretty nervous by this point and was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into. I had packed just enough stuff to where I didn't have to pay for any baggage fees so I was pretty stoked about that! I was all checked in and it was time for me to go through security. I started hugging my family goodbye and that's when I lost it. I couldn't hold back the tears because I was nervous, scared, and sad all at the same time! I quickly got over it though and went through security with no problems (which is rare for me) and then I went to the gate where Miranda and her family were waiting. I got my last meal at the airport which happened to be Bojangles which was awesome! Then I just went and sat at the gate and waited.

It was finally time to board the airplane bound for Los Angeles. Miranda said bye to her parents and it was time for us to get going. We found our seats and got settled in as much as possible on those ever so lovely coach class seats! There ended up being no in-flight entertainment and no food so we decided to make our own in-flight entertainment by watching He's Just Not That Into You on my computer. It drained my battery so that meant I would have no computer for the flight to Seoul. The flight to LA ended up taking us only 4 and 1/2 hours to get there. We found some dinner in the international terminal but it was pretty disgusting. Little did we know it would have been an amazing meal compared to what we were about to be served.

We went to our gate and boarded the flight to Seoul, South Korea. We did not have seats together so I had to ask someone who only spoke Japanese to switch places with me. It was difficult but she finally figured it out and switched so I could sit next to Miranda. We took off and 30 minutes into the flight we were already bored. We knew then it was going to be a very long flight. I ended up falling asleep for about 4 hours and when I woke up they were serving dinner at what would be 3 in the morning east coast time. Dinner consisted of some kind of meat with this pasta marinated in something that didn't taste good haha so we didn't eat much of that meal.

After everything was cleaned up, Miranda and I decided to play Yahtzee for basically the rest of the flight which was about 8 more hours. That game is addicting when you have nothing else to do! They eventually came around and served breakfast which was Baked Bean Omelettes. Again, this is where we knew starvation was going to be a part of our lives for the next year. We had about 3 hours left in the flight so we played Yahtzee some more. We finally landed in Seoul after 12 hours in the air. We were very tired and nervous and hungry! All of this combined makes for very irritable girls!

We finally got our luggage and made it through customs and got our money converted. We then had to find a restroom to get ready to meet our leaders. It was 4am and I felt and looked like a hot mess. We got as ready as we could and then found some calling cards so we could call home. I called my mom, stepmom, and grandparents. They were all very excited to hear from me! Once we were done talking to our parents we went to find the buses that were going to the university we were staying at for orientation.

After 5 and 1/2 hours on the bus we finally arrived at Jeonju University. The dorms are very nice there!! We went to our room and I laid down and didn't get back up until the next morning at about 3:30...jetlag is a horrible thing! We started orientation that next day and the options for food were not great so we ate some crackers for almost every meal. They had a welcoming dinner for everyone where they served octipus and shrimp with eyes. Yep, just not my thing. We spent most of the first week sleeping which was probably a bad idea because it took a while to get over the jet lag! Once classes began I started to get really excited about teaching! I met so many cool people and it's so great to have new friends here who I can rely on when I'm feeling lonely or need somewhere to go on the weekends! A bunch of us went to the downtown area of Jeonju and hung out, it was a lot of fun! Orientation was coming to an end and it was kind of sad! I found out I would be placed in the middle of nowhere but Lindsey is near me so it's not too bad! I was sad to leave all of the people I had just met but I knew I would see them again!

It was time to load up the buses and head to our places. I said bye to Miranda as she was heading off to a CITY and I was heading of to Green Acres, South Korea. The bus ride to Gangneung (the city at the beach) took about 5 hours. When we arrived there our school leaders were waiting to pick us up. It took about 30 minutes to get to Imgye which is where I live. I went to the school and met a whole bunch of people who I can't remember any of their names :/. Everyone was very excited to meet me and they took me out to dinner. We had pork belly which was actually pretty good! After that they took me to my hotel room and I suddenly felt lost and alone because everyone left and went to the city. I tried my best to figure out where Lindsey was living so I could go see her. I finally got ahold of her the next day and hopped on a bus (which is interesting when you have no idea what the symbols are for where you need to go) to go spend the night with Lindsey. When I got on the bus I said a little prayer and prayed I would get to the right town. 15 minutes later I arrived in Yeoryong and I found her hotel! The guy she is replacing took us out to dinner and we had fun just chatting about life in Korea. The next day he took us to Jeongson and showed us around the market and everything. It's a nice little town! I went back to my hotel and started preparing for my first day at school.

I got up Monday morning and walked to school. I came in and had to introduce myself in front of the entire faculty and staff. It was nerve racking but it wasn't too bad! Then the rest of the day I moved into my apartment and then sat on FB. It was pretty boring. My apartment is nice but I don't like where it is located so I am moving into town soon! Maybe as soon as tomorrow! I'm very excited about that because I will feel much more safe living in town then in the basement of a farmers home back in the woods!

Monday evening I met the other EPIK teacher who works at the Elementary school and we had dinner. She is very nice and I'm excited I will have someone to go workout with and have dinner with!

Tuesday I went into school and they led me to the gym where both the high school and middle school students were along with the rest of the faculty and staff and they told me that I need to go to the stage right then and give a speech! I started to panic a little bit because I had no idea what to say!! I got up there and began to talk realizing none of them probably had no idea what I was saying! So someone came up and translated for me. I'm pretty sure he made a short joke though haha! After that I went back to my office and got on FB (story of my life right now) and then someone came and got me and took me down to a van and when I opened it there was Lindsey and Erika and a few other girls from orientation in there! It was great to see them! We went to Donghae for the day to get our Alien Registration Cards and we got to eat an American meal and do a little bit of shopping too! It was a fun day! Once I returned to school all of the teachers took me out to dinner...it was a lot of fun. There is nothing like your wasted boss trying to get you tanked! They are all about their drinking here!

Today has been pretty uneventful besides trying to figure out a new living situation. I am staying the night at Monique's apartment and then hopefully getting my own apartment tomorrow! This weekend I am going to Wonju to see Tim...and Angelina and Lindsey are coming too, I am sooooo excited!!!

Now that I have posted an insanely long blog entry I will go. May God bless anyone who made it to the end. I appreciate your dedication! I'm sure I will be updating more frequently now that I have the internet at work. I will definitely update everyone on how this weekend goes traveling away from Imgye!

I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you all!

xoxo,
Whitney