One down 11 to go.

Hello again my little blog readers! Ready for another rambling shamabling?

Its a beautiful sunny, Saturday in Seoul. The sunshine is A-mazing after a long week of bitter cold.

I can't believe I have been here for a month already! The last couple of weeks have been full of crazy children, snow, immigration ish, friends new and old, nuclear bomb drills, exploring, and the general day-to-day excitement of navigating a new life in a foreign country.

Daily life is still an adventure. Normal things that would seem so boring to report about, going to the grocery store, walking to school, riding the subway, ordering food at a restaurant, are all so complicated and exciting.

My little monsters/students are so cute. I love them! They are constantly making me laugh. The highlight of my teacher life last week? Teaching 9-year-old Koreans how to say refrigerator. So funny! Also, students choose English names at the beginning of the term and are allowed to change them every once in a while. Welp, I now have a class of five students, and three MUST be called Zombie, Killer Jack (not just Jack, but Killer Jack) and Brionna 2. Yes, a little boy now will not answer to anything except Brionna 2. I guess I will take that as a compliment?

Next week will be my fourth week teaching. How crazy is that? I am definitely getting use to the routine and time is going by so fast! I have definitely changed my sleeping habits. I use to live by the whole "early to bed, early to rise" adage. I think that this is largely due to the fact that I grew up on a farm. But ask anyone who has known me for a while and they can attest to the fact that my family is usually in bed by 10pm and up by 7am (at the latest!). Well sorry parents, my internal clock has been reset!! I teach from 4pm - 10 pm and I usually can't shut my brain off till well after 2am, and usually find myself falling asleep around 3ish. I wake up around 11 (gasp!) Sorry mom. =)

This last week I had to go through the hassle of becoming a legal alien of Seoul. What a freakin pain. Good news! After a few trips, a few chapters in my book (which is horribly strange, My Mother She Killed Me, And My Father He Ate Me, a book of new fairy tales if you are interested) and a few hours later I am now a registered alien, woop woop! I know you are excited for me, right? Ok, but something exciting did happen during this little trip through the Korean immigration system. While sitting in the waiting room, watching numbers click by slowly, praying for them to magically skip through all 40 ahead of me, I see a kid I know from college walk in. Completely random, and the second time that has happen to me here! Small world.

A little more exciting news, not necessarily the good type of exciting, this week Seoul had emergency nuclear bombing drills. I missed most of this, but I did hear all of the sirens and alarms from my apartment. It mostly affected students and people living near the DMZ. It did make the whole threat of war set in a little more. Every time I read the news there are stories about the North and South and the increasing possibility of war. Then I walk outside and no one seems to be concerned, just another day. I have talked to many different people and they are pretty confident that we are all very safe. So mom, I love you, and I really am ok! Please no more skype wake up calls telling me I am going to die! Also my head instructor did go over an evacuation plan with me, which places me somewhere in Japan or China, if something does happen. Life is dangerous, my friends, no matter where you are, don't let it scare you, don't let it stop you.

I have gotten a decent grasp on the extensive Seoul subway system and have been doing some exploring. Although I must say, the cold did keep me inside more often than I would like to admit. I did make it out to Itaewon, the international district. It was very strange actually. I took a taxi from my area, where I rarely see another foreigner unless I am at school, to Itaewon. When I stepped out of the cab I was standing in front of a Taco Bell and everyone was speaking in English, it was very bizarre, like some weird time...or culture warp. It was a really fun night! I met up with some fellow cougs and it was nice to be around familiar faces from my past life. I have been back to the area once to go to an English bookstore. I really wanted a new book, however after walking around for well over an hour I left empty handed. bah! English books are expensive! So for now I will finish my strange, strange book of fairytales. Any suggestions on a book that is worth my hard earned teaching wons?

Hmm... a few other small victories: I can now navigate the complex Seoul subway station with only the occasional hiccup. I found some great art stores in my favorite area so far, Hongdae. I found some great markers, which makes me really, really, really happy. I have so much free time and inspiration right now, its great! Oh and I finally found postcards! I love, love, love old fashion snail mail, writing and receiving. So check you mail boxes peeps! (if you gave me your address, if not its not too late to change your mind)

Ok. Good night, or Morning for you all on the other side of the world!

Love and miss you all so much!

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

-e.e. cummings

finding my way.

Monday morning. Drinking fake, sugary, yummy, Korean coffee. Listening to This American Life (about people who find themselves in situations far from the beaten path, where there are no guidelines and no useful precedents haha). I am a happy girl.

Thought I would take a minute to update you all with the latest in my new Korean life.

Last week was my first official week teaching. I LOVED IT! I teach the most adorable children ever! Sure some drive me crazy. And some force me to desperately try to find my serious side, when all I want to do is bust up laughing, but I have to maintain classroom management, bah! Most teachers pass out candy like there's no tomorrow, I have yet to adopt this form of classroom management. I'm not sure if it has more to do with the fact I feel guilty shoveling candy into children's mouths, or if its more because I am too cheap to buy mass amounts of candy. But I am afraid that I may have to break down and start the candy bribing routine, I don't want to become "that teacher" haha, the stingy, mean one.

Teaching is so much fun. I love when the kids can't find the English word or phrase they need they go into this huge, animated, miming explanation of what they are trying to say. It is hilarious! Very creative kids. I love that they add extra syllables, most commonly ah and ie to the end of every word. And I love that they have no filter. They will say just about anything, this isn't much different from any other child, but its still hilarious.

During some exercises the students must create sentences using a given structure. One sentence was ________ prefers_____because______. Most kids say things like I prefer ice cream because it tastes good. However, one kid stands up and yells out "My dad prefers to hit me because he likes it." And then continued to yell out how, and with what, like it was no big deal, and the rest of the class, including the teacher I was shadowing, just carried on without hesitation. Another time we were talking about hugging. I asked one boy, about 8 yrs old, who do you hug? Do you hug your parents? His answer: "Not my dad, my dad, (animated mocking of someone drinking, a lot!) then he (very, very animated imitation of puking) and then he stinks, so I don't hug my father." OK, moving on, haha.

Another thing that never seems to grow old is that fact that I have my nose pierced, or that fact that I am single and live on my own, both are shocking really! My name has also been a great topic. "Bri-onna" "Rhi-anna?" "No Bri-onna" "Vienna........Vienna Suasage!!!" "Piranha......AHHH Piranha!"haha, this never gets old.

Another highlight of this past week was a trip to Costco with my co-workers. It was interesting to be in such an american store in Korea. I only bought a box of cereal. There were somethings I thought about buying, pepperjack cheese, trail mix, and a few other hard to find items, but then I realized that the bulk size would last me a year, or go bad before I could eat half of it haha. But it was fun to go out with my co-workers, which is something that rarely happens at my branch. Hopefully this changes.

Also worth noting, I will be moving soon!! YAY! Not far, just a short distance from where I am now. My co-worker is moving home after being here for 2 years. She is leaving behind several things, and has a BED! This is very exciting, and will save me money. Now I only have two more weeks of sleeping on the floor, so happy! (and for those that have been asking hopefully I will know my address soon!)

What's the best way to end a great first week of teaching? Go out and explore seoul of course!!! I was originally suppose to go out with two of my co-workers, but was late because I lost my subway card, and meeting up without cellphones is difficult. So I talked my temporary roommate into going out with me instead. And its really funny how things seem to work out. We decided to go out to Hongdae, a very lively, energetic area. Its a university district, tons of people, bars, clubs, street vendors, and neon lights. It was so much fun. We danced our way from place to place, just soaking in the whole experience. So much fun! Towards the end we randomly decided to stop into one last bar. It was a good choice because I ran into an old friend from college!! So random but totally made my night! We stayed and met cool people and danced late into the night. I quickly learned that its very easy to lose track of time when bars don't close and you are having fun! By the time we made it into bed the sun was coming up. Apparently this is a very normal night in Seoul.

Great end to a great week! I definitely feel like I am beginning to settle in. I am slowing finding my way in this crazy part of the world and I am so very happy.

I love and miss you all very much!

"What will we make of this time? What will it make of us?"

-Gregory Maguire