Olympics in Korea

SO when the Olympics started and I was really excited! I was talking to my co-workers and was like, "We should all dress up in our countries colors someday!!!!" but no one was down for that. So on Monday, I wore red and white proudly and gave all my kids a Canadian nickel.

It was hard to catch the Olympics here since I worked all day, so I was really creeeepin the www.vancouver2010.com site....and I was always updating everyone I work with about the new medal counts especially if it's Canadian. Yet no one seemed to care. I found this weird. But maybe I was so obsessed because it was in Canada this year, but every year I am always excited and watch every sport even if I don't like it. e.g. Hockey. My co-worker Paul is from the States, and I am always sayin that we are gonna beat the US in men's/women's hockey!! hahahah He was prob annoyed at me since he didn't really care! haha



Korea obviously doesn't know our national anthem well!


Speed skating and figure skating are very popular here, Korea scored big in speed skating. They have one girl who is plastered on billboards everywhere here who is a figure skater, she's only 20 or 21 years old I think. So everyone was really pumped to see her skate. She won gold and it was the talk of the country!!
During the Olympic weeks I was done my one book with Stanford class so I decided to make an Olympics unit. We made a gold, silver and bronze medal. I tied ribbon around it and then wrote on the back what they won their medal in. Bobsledding was always a popular choice for them. Every morning I put the top 10 countires medal counts on the board for the kids to see. One day Korea was at the bottom and Lina was almost crying because Korea only had 3 medals. I said, "Some countires don't have any medals" she felt better then. It was so cute, she was so concerned!!!




Drawing with Stephanie!


My favorite sport to watch is the halfpipe snowboarding. I saw most of it before going to school one day so that was great!!

Hockey: Canadians here still LOVE their hockey! This Canadian pub called, Rockey Mountain Tavern held the mens Canada vs. US game at 5am so everyone could watch it live! A bunch of us Canadians went and I was exhausted and kinda like "ahhh overtime what???" But it was insane there, sooooo many people. Each side was yelling at the other. But obvi in the end we knew who would win!

Here are some pics of the night!!



Some of the boys there got really into it!



After Sidney Cowsby scored the winning goal!




It was kinda nice seeing each different country here cheer for their teams! It was weird cheering for 2 here...obviously not when they were playing against each other! It was a good night at RMT to just see all the Canadian love, where people actually cared about the Olympics and Canada!

Lunar New Year = Vacay to Busan

This past weekend was Korea's Lunar New Year (its basically our New Year holiday) but they gain a year to their life! So when I came here I was asked right away, "How old are you?" I said 24. Then they said, "Well you are really 25." I thought NQR darling I think I know how old I am haahha... but then she explained that in Korean when you are born you are 1 right away. So I delt with being a year older than I really was. BUT NOW with this new year holiday I am friggan 26!!!!! I really don't like it!

It's also really weird when Koreans ask you how old you are because if you are not the same age as them you CANNOT BE FRIENDS.... how NQR is that? So everyone I meet Korean is always how old are you, how old are you???? and now I am not sure of what age to say, so sometimes I just say I was born in 1985. Then they can figure out this mess for me! haha

Anyways, for Lunar New Year we had Monday off of school so my friends, Becca, Aly, Janna and Joanna (the last 2 are from pei, who I randomly met here) all traveled on a 5 hour bus ride down to Busan. Busan is soooo pretty and is a beach town. A place I want to MOVE to in the summa! There were so many western people I was going nuts! Even though there are tons in Seoul here too, but I never see them, so when I do see someone foreign I am always smiling and probably looking like I have never seen another one before.

We stayed at the Lotte Hotel... yep 5 BIG stars! it was pretty sweet too. We were on the 21st floor and it even had real live tigers in the hotel... or so they said, we couldn't find them! It also had a rain forest in it too (fake of course) and tons of great places to eat.



My new friend Simba



The hotel's rain forest


On Sunday we were all pretty tired, so we just turned on the TV and watched a ton of Olympics... cuz I mean there were 5 Canadians there. We were all really into it, yelling at the TV and dissing all the Americans obvi (sorry Jackie if you are reading this... my friend Jackie is American ... a cool one though!) and we were all cool with doing nothing while on this vacay and just watching that... even though it wasn't in English. Then we got over doing nothing as we were all starving, and went to a Mexican place and had the best meal eva! Later we went to a beach which really made me miss PEI. It was so nice to be near one again. After that we went to the Busan aquarium which was really cool. I've never been to one before so I was really going, especially when we saw the sharks. It was as close as I wanted to be to a shark, as they really freak me out for some reason. We had ice cream after that and went back to the hotel. We watched more Olympics and then had dinner at this English style pub at the hotel. I was pumped to see fish and chips on the menu! BUT when it came to me, I was shocked to see a few fries and 2 onion rings and 4 VERY small pieces of fish that looked like chicken fingers.... I was like nooo wayyyyy... ohh Korea and its food disappointments for me, when does it end hahah!




Haeundae Beach




The view from the left. It looked like we were in Greece or something!



Heyyyy Mom and Dad... (Dad here is a beach shot for ya hahaha)



This dog is wearing traditional Korean clothing....NQR.... his owner had a baby stroller with ANOTHER small dog in it ...and NO BABY...wearing the same outfit!!! It was realllllyyyy strange/funny!!!


The next day we came home and went to T.G.I.F's for dinna. SOOOOO GOOOD. gotta love the western chains! aka my home! It was nice to be home again but I would have loved to have stayed in luxury for a week or 4 more!

6 months...

....Seriously who took bets that I would be home sooner?? I did... Today is my 6 month anniversary here in Asian land. Yay!!!!! It really went fast. A treat to myself for lasting this long is to stay in a 5 star hotel (apparently the best of the best) with 3 other girls for the Lunar New Year this weekend in Busan. Holla!!! Gonna be ballin now! I hope I see some K-Pop stars in the hotel I would DIE^^^^

Also I got married in those 6 months!!!!!!!! This name is ㅓㅗㅇ라ㅣ어ㅓ ㅓㅏㄴ러ㅏㅣ no English name.




HAHAHAHAHAHA JUST KIDDING.... but that is something my Mom told me before I left... don't get married there... duhh Mom... I know your reading this!!! NQR... Actually there is a wedding cafe here and you can try on dresses...it was pretty cool. There was a random Korean guy there with some of his girl/guy friends, so we asked him to be in the picture with me. He looked totally freaked out to be standing by a western person ahahahha... it was hilarious though!!

Happy Lunar New Year^^^

"Sara Mommy's" kids

Well I guess it's time I talk about my kids! I am in LOVE with my kids! I work at a private school so my class sizes are very small compared to my other friends. I teach 2 kindergarten classes in the morning from 10-2 Harvard and Stanford class. Then in the afternoon I teach 1 kindgerarten class, HP class, and Master A class (grade 3).

Harvard Class- I only have 2 kids

Stephanie... She is the smartest girl at the school.
Sean.. he's a hooligan, but a sweetie!



Harvard Class

Stanford Class- This is my biggest class with 9 kids


Jane.. She is by far my fave kid in the whole school. She is always hanging on me or hugging me. Everytime I see her I smile. She also makes NQR animal nosies when I ask her questions???
Tony... Is super cute. He likes to pretend he left his books at home so I have to photocopy them for him, (even though I know they in his backpack) then at the last min he will pull them out and say... "fooled you teacher" ahahaha i love him!
Erica... Is very smart, and a cutie
Lina... Lina started calling me "Sara Mommy" I wasn't sure why since we didn't have a family unit, but I went with it. She always says good morning to me when she sees me or gives me a big smile.
James... James is always by my side to carry my books, he is the most obedient in the class
Antony... this one is not my fave! He never does his homework, but once wrote in a weekend story that he likes to "go to the public baths and see naken women" HAHAHHAA NNNNQQQRRRRRR
Mickey... I love this boy, he always gives me a hug in the morning and tells me something fun. Like he got a haircut or a hamster died "teacher hamster 1 die... i have 5 left" hahaha
Elieen... Oh Elieen what to say... she calls me "Sara gorilla monkey grandmother grandfather" ?? ya i dunno either
Amy... Amy is sooo quiet, she like has no voice



Stanford Class
Back- Lisa (my partner Korean teacher), James, Elieen, Antony
Front- Amy, Lina, Tony, Erica, Jane, Mickey




Jane- The next Korean President




Lina... She draws me as a princess A LOT!!




Tony "the tiger"

Some of these kids fight with others for me... seriously Jane is the best fighter in class.. she will push some kids if she doesn't get to hold my hand or sit on my knee, she HAS to be touching me... Lina too. In the classroom they fight over who sits beside me. Lina/Jane/ Mickey always fight... they will say, "you sat by her last time, my time... teeeeeaaaaachhhhherrrrr my time" hahahah

I like the morning better than the afternoon because I am Sara Mommy in the morning. hahaha... I am seriously going to steal, Jane, Lina and Tony to come home with me. I love them!

My afternoons are chill...

HP Class... 3 kids... this is my only class that aren't the best at English, but they know they are NOT allowed to speak Korean.


David... David is so cute, if someone in the class doesn't understand I let him tell them in Korean. He also hides in the same spot EVERYDAY before class thinking I don't know where he is hahaha
Marissa... I made this girl cry on my 1st day alone... yup! hahah But she is fine, just needs more help than others... I don't think she actually knows my name, I am just "teaaachhhha"
James... James is really smart, but he's a hooligan like Tony


Master A Class... I have 5 kids... Its my oldest class, 10yrs old. They are prefect.

Andy... He is wild, but will do anything for stickers.. I am pretty sure he got a perm hahha, but I don't wanna ask him, cuz he is a crier
Charles... has a Canada sweater so he's cool.. he is the smartest, really chill.. calls me Sara Jane
Eliza... She is really cool this girl has the same phone as me, so we always talk phones and stuff on break!
Sohpie... is really quiet, but sweet
Monica...is extremely smart, she is so much fun, we both have a love for the Korean boy bands!

Those are my kids! My morning ones graduate Feb 25th, and I am dreading that day, because I have to say bye, unless some enroll for afternoon. If my Stanford class doesn't I don't know what I will do!! :( :(

Christmas in So. Ko.

A few weeks before Christmas my friend Jackie introduced me to her friend Becca (who is from Barrie, Ontario), then a bit later Jackie and I ran into Jen (a fellow UPEier, from Charlottetown)... we all became fast BFF's.

A few days before Christmas, I went for a walk and thought... this doesn't feel like Christmas at all. There is no snow or decorations NQR!!! A few days later Jackie, Becca and I went on a ski/snowboarding trip to this place called High 1 from Dec 25-27. We took a bus which had TONS of other really cool Canadians. By this point I had only met a few Canadians and really wondered if there were any fun ones out there!



High 1 Ski Resort




Moi in my rented everything (coat/pants included)

It was really nice to go snowboarding again. And of course NQRness was around me... Koreans like to dress alike especially if they are dating. I mean they have matching snowboarding outfits and stuff... and these outfits are usually BRIGHT!!! I kinda loved it! Also young kids and older ones (our age people) wear these hats with animals faces on them and they are super warm, yet they are NQr. I wouldn't be caught dead with one of these guys on my head, even if it was a blizzard and -40 out! ...well who am I kidding I am totally gonna come back to Canada decked out in Korean attire!



This guy was the life operator (I loved his outfit), everytime we went up he was always waving at us or saying "beautiful"


On Christmas day we got our snowboarding/ski gear and went for lunch at this Korean spot.... maybe I should point this out now... I DO NOT LIKE KOREAN FOOD.... if you know me, you know how picky I am.... I wonder some days why I am still alive here^^! (that's a Korean exclamation mark) ^^^^^ well the food looked/smelled NQR so a bunch of us went to the GS 25 (Beckers/ 7 11/ Needs type of store) for lunch... ahhh so my Christmas lunch was juice, pringles, and some pastry crap. Yummmm... Then we went snowboarding and were treated to a dinner by our snowboarding company people. It was bbq pork, but it wasn't cooked really... soooo Christmas dinna for me was my most fave thing... CHIPS! hahahhha... I still laugh at how funny my meals were that day! I missed my Mom's food!!!! We went to a karaoke and went home. The next day we went snowboarding all day! We came home the next day and it was snowing... WELL, it was a light snow, and it was as if Koreans had NEVER seen snow before. They had cars stopped in the middle of the road, they were pushing cars. We were like OMG really??? It was sooo weird. So our bus ride was supposed to be 3 hours, and it took 7 hours!!!! Gross! I was so hungry, mostly because I barely ate anything that weekend, that we went to a Western spot after we got off the bus, that I ordered a ton of food and it was SOOOO GOOOD!!!!




Christmas Dinna




This was the "fun" group on the trip!!

It was a differet type of Christmas, but it was a good one. I was really shocked at how I wasn't homesick at all. Thank you for all the Christmas cards/ presents I got in the mail. The cards are all displayed on my wall^^

First Asian Summa

August 12th, 2009 was the day I left everything that seemed normal and began my NQR journey!.... I packed my 2 small suitcases and sadly left a TON of fun stuff at home.

My parents dropped me off at the Toronto airport and waited with me until I left. Once on the plane I put my ear phones in and started listening to my Korean mix I made for my ipod. I sat beside a Korean man who DID NOT look happy to be sitting beside a Western gal... I smiled... he looked away and I thought well, only 18 hours to go! Looking around I saw that these rannnndom girls were wearing these masks... and not the fun African kind.... like sick masks, and that was my first NQR moment of the trip.

Everyone Asian on the plane sat so still and slept and didn't move... and I mean really DIDN'T MOVE unless to go to the bathroom. I was like geeeze, as I was continually moving around and was uncomfortable.

The 18 hours went by slowly, and finally we arrived in Toyko, Japan where I had a 2 hour wait until I would fly to Korea. I couldn't figure out how to call home to the fam to say "Heeeeyyyyy I'm in Japan, jealous???" So I made a few collect calls, hoping they wouldn't mind. After that I was sooooooo HOT since it felt like a sauna so I went to change into shorts and a tank top. WELLLLL... did I get some looks, it was as if Japanese people had never seen shorts/ a tank top before... I was like OMG!! They all had jeans or something on, but it was seriously so hot I didn't care!

Anywho, I finally got to Korea and was picked up by a random taxi driver, who brought me to my school. I was met by some work peeps and they took me to my hotel (where I stayed for 3 days). By the time I got to So.Ko. it was really late at night, so I went right to bed, and was told I had to be at school the next day by 9am.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... the first month of school I literally worked and came home to bed. Jet leg was killa!

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If anyone doesn't know, I work at a cute little school called Wonderland (which makes me think of Toronto ...but its not THAT fun haha) I teach 7 and 10 year olds. All my children are amazing and beyond cute. My fave class calls me "Sara Mommy," and I won't lie I kinda LOVE it! At playtime my fave class "Stanford Class" come into theteachers room and play with me-- sometimes with my hair, they sit on my knee (sometimes 2 at a time) or hug me... they really make me feel loved! I also work with 2 other foreigners, Paul- from the US, and Hayley- from England... we have 4 other Korean teachers who are all really great, and speak English very well!

I live right across from my school which is great, and the subway is extremely close too! My place is the biggest that I have seen compared to other teachers... not hatin that!

In September/October I was really sick and went to 4 doctors. They all said different things so finally I went to one I liked, he said I had bronccitis, which seemed about right. By the end of all that I was r\pretty homesick and wanted to go home to Canada. Also at this time I was working on my Education applications for UNB (freddyville)and Laurier, so I was kinda stressing/sick.

Even in October it was super hot here, and i thought omg when will it cool down?? But soon enough it did. And just like that it was freezing here (or so I thought)



The city at night




Long Stairs... I take the escalator