No Internet

Sorry everyone. Because I lack internet I haven't been able to post anything and I really still can't. But bear with me I shall return...

Some pics...

So finally I have gotten around to taking pictures and posting them here. Sorry it took me so long. I also started my first day of teaching yesterday. It went pretty good I think. I loved the middle schoolers. They were so much fun to get thinking. Hopefully the school thinks I did ok. I varied a slight bit from things both times but not in a huge way. Everyone was also very helpful with everything at branch. Next I have a prep class to teach tomorrow. I met some other very cool people on that side and actually the apartment that I move into tomorrow houses a few of them.

The place I am moving into isn't big but it is big enough for lil ol' me. It is a bit of a mess so I will be massively cleaning all day tomorrow to make my place liveable. I'll post pics of my before and after. Unfortunately it didn't come with furniture so I will be getting all of that in time. Maybe with a bit of my first paycheck. I met C today who lives in the building across from mine and he is going to help me go to E-mart tomorrow to find some supplies. I don't have a picture of the emart but it is right across the street from me.

Enjoy the pics of my new area Pyeongchon. There will be more coming soon=^^=

Yay!!!

So after a long stressful week I have finally finished training and start on Monday. I was a bit worried about the mock teaching and passing my quizzes but I actually did a pretty good job. Especially because I took the time to prepare and re-prepare my lesson plans. So now that training is over I can rest for a bit/party a bit. I actually went noraebang for the first time last night and experienced getting home after the subway shut off. The cab ride was very cheap. I have been working on riding the subway on my own. Haven't gotten too lost yet, lol. Unfortunately I also got a bit sick last night. Stomach ache, light fever, didn't keep my food down. But I feel much much better now.

I'll have pics and such to put up tomorrow. I'm still fighting off jetlag and getting sleepy now. But I promise I will put things up here to show how much fun I have been having. Bear with me for just a bit and you will have fun things to come.

Awake at 5am

Ok hopefully sometime soon I can get my sleeping schedule to fix itself. Jetlag is no joke. Back home I pretty much followed a schedule Where I went to sleep right after I finished talking to Leon because many times he was out of town on business. I'd be in bed by 11pm or so and be up around 9am depending. Yeah, that isn't working here. I was going to take a nap and wait for D to get off work at 10pm and then head out for the night on the town BUT when I got her phone call at 10:30pm I was already firmly in the grips of sleep so I was the party pooper of the night. Then I woke up at 1am...again. Thankfully I managed to fall back to sleep pretty quickly but then I woke up again at 5am. Really going to work on this whole sleep thing in earnest today. If I nap then only during the day right after training and then up until 1am.

At least this morning I have things to do this early. I have to prepare 4 lesson plans for our mock teaching this afternoon. I usually don't enjoy standing in front of people my age and older but I suppose I should get used to that now...damnit. I have about 2 1/2 lessons done so time to get crackin on the other 2.

Yesterday was a pretty good day though. My parents and Leon finally figured out how to call my Korean cellphone and I enjoyed my first taste of soju in Korea. Though since it was on an empty stomach it only took me and a coworker 1 1/2 bottles to get a bit tipsy so we decided to head out for food. We ended up going to a restaurant that was a Korean version of italian pizza and pasta. Honestly it wasn't very good for the price but the service was great. After that I just crashed and party pooped. I'm starting to get a bit worried about finding a place to live. I'm being encouraged to move out to Pyeongchon but I don't know if I want to yet. I like the area I'm in now but it is way too expensive and the living price in Pyeongchon is cheaper. I don't mind commuting like 30mins since that is what I had to do at home but I don't want to be too far. We shall see.

I have pictures that I've taken that I need to post but I still can't find my camera cord. I'll post them soon. Especially the ones of where I am staying. The place is awesomeness=^^=

Awake at 6am

So I've been here for just a little over a day and I'm already having fun. I'm the only girl at the hotel where some of us from CDI are being housed but the other guys are awesome. My hotel room which I actually think is an officetel is pretty sweet. I did a little video to show you guys since I can't find my camera's cord to attach it to my computer. I'll upload that later today.

I met up with my friend TY yesterday to get a phone and a T-card. I also had my orientation yesterday which went ok. I have training all week though I do have tomorrow morning off so hopefully I can get my bank account set up to transfer the rest of my american money over. It is god awafully humid here. My hair as gone crazy and I'm too tired to fix it as of yet. I have explored a bit. Went to technomart yesterday where I got my phone and then had 'bulgogitang' not sure how to spell it but it was really good. After that I just came back and crashed though I now wish I would have met up with D again to make myself conform to normal hours. Also went to Lotte mart yesterday. Lord it was a mad house but I did enjoy trying all the samples. Now I kind of know what I want to buy for food when I go back. I've slightly figured out how to navigate the Gangnam station and green line which I did with TY yesterday but the bus system is another story. Met two girls on the plane and in the airport that I exchanged email with and one girl J is near me and she called last night so hopefully we will meet up soon. I haven't yet noticed being stared at though I did have a taxi driver ignore me when I wanted a ride. Didn't really bother me though since that has happened to me more than once in New York and I quickly found another taxi driver who was so nice and helped me out although he didn't speak english and I don't speak korean so we used hand signals. Other than being tired from jetlag everything here is pretty friggin sweet.

Now I have to get ready for training though so shouts out to everyone and hopefully meet up with you all sometime in the near future.

SEOUL HO!!!

That's right I called you a ho....just kidding. But I did finally arrive in Seoul last night after a long ass flight where I almost missed my flight to Korea because the flight to Japan was a bit behind schedule. But thankfully I arrived. When I got here I definitely passed out in the cab but was wide awake when I got to the hotel. Whish is a good thing because somehow they put me down as being a guy and had paired me with another guy in the program....yeah totally a chick. So last night I got my own room but they are going to switch me I think to share with another girl in the program. Damn I wish I could've stayed alone. But oh well. Met up with my friend D as soon as I got in and figured out how to use the phone and my international calling card(took me 45mins...seriously). We headed out to the Gangnam area and grabbed a bite to eat and then some ice cream before coming back to my place and watching some tv until 3am. Forced myself to sleep for a few hours but now I am right back up again. I'm probably going to crash tonight from lack of sleep...but I'm also meeting up with my friend TY to go get a cellphone and bank account.

I still can't believe I am here! Granted it has only been a few hours. But still! UH-mazing, Well time to get ready for training, the medical exam and then finding my way back from that. I got a card from the hotel so I could catch a cab if I needed which is great. I honestly don't mind shelling out $$$ on a cab to get back...at least not until I can get a cellphone and maybe let people know that I am wandering around lost.

This little country girl just got to the big city! SEOUL!!!

D-Day

So I have finally left my home on my way to a new adventure in Seoul. I'm currently sitting in St. Paul, Minnesota airport with a 4hr layover before I board the plane to Tokyo before getting in to Seoul tomorrow night. It'll be nice to finally get on the plane so I can sleep. I woke up at 5am very anxious and was sick for about 20mins before I made myself do last minute packing to get to the airport to see Leon since he was flying to Arizona as well. I didn't cry...too much anyway, when he left to go to his gate. Everytime we looked at eachother we would both have to look away. But counting down 5months before he comes to visit me and I see him again. Well now that I have some time I'm going to find a place to recharge my laptop before I get on the plane. I also got a new laptop yesterday! It is so shiny and new with built in webcam. It is also muuuuuch lighter than my old laptop that I sold to my cousin so it makes me happy. OH! Found somewhere to plug in my laptop! Sweet!

=^^=

2days...

So I just got back from Atlanta last night with my shiny new visa!!! Well, it isn't shiny but it is new. After walking in circles in downtown Atlanta for 20mins I discovered that the hotel I was staying in was connected to the tower where the Korean consulate was located...yeah had a dumb moment...for 20minutes. But anyhoo, I had my interview Tuesday morning which was pretty chill and the guy was very nice. My mom was busy reading all of the magazines about Korea that she could and even stole a few I think. The next day I came back to the consulate and they had my passport all ready and waiting for me. It was grand.

So now I am repacking because I'm a bit over the 50lb weight limit and steeling myself for a 14hr plane ride. Geezus. I hate planes. But I've got a 600page book and my ipod. I'm ready for it. Also thankfully there is someone picking me up at the airport to take me to my hotel. And that night I think I'll be meeting up with a friend of mine if I am not too exhausted for hopefully late night snackage and to see how far I'll be from them.

I'm getting more and more excited though I did have a bit of a crying breakdown Tuesday night while on the phone with Leon. I'm not a crier. Actually, I've been told that I don't show much emotion at all except for maybe hyperness. So I don't think Leon much knew what to do when I started crying on the phone. In the hotel lobby no less! A bellhop guy came over and asked if I needed help and such when he saw me. Very embarrassing. But I got my act together and the last 1 1/2hrs of Leon and my conversation was all laughs and butchered Vietnamese on my part. I think getting an email from my friend who recently flew and is staying in Hong Kong, who also has a boyfriend in the states definitely helped my mood. Hell, 2days left before I fly I better be excited.

=^^=

I leave tomorrow night to head to Atlanta and I'm starting to get a tiny bit frazzled as far as packing goes. I haven't even unpacked from my weekend in Kentucky and now I have to pack for Atlanta, do laundry and pack for Korea. But I did get to see my friend get married this weekend and meet up with my other friend who came from Seoul just to be a bridesmaid for the wedding. We made plans to meet up as soon as I get into Seoul and I am starting to get excited. I had a great time in downtown Louisville with Leon. We bar hopped on 4th Street where there is a blocked off area with clubs, restaurants and bars and you can walk around with your cup of alcohol rather than staying put in one club. Needless to say I got a bit tipsies and didn't get to sleep until 5am. But it was a fun time. Went to see the fireworks on the 4th with some college friends that are still in town. Also much fun. Took a massive amount of photos so I can have them when I feel homesick and remember my good times while making new ones.





Kind of an awesome weekend. This week will be busy but I am looking forward to getting everything done and starting my journey to Seoul.

One step closer...

So I scheduled an interview for next Tuesday morning at the Korean Consulate. I'll be able to pick up my passport with my visa inside that Wednesday afternoon. After I have that I'll just have to finish packing and get the last bit of info on how in the hell I'm getting to wherever the hell I'm going and I'll be set. Actually I never realized how much you can fit into a suitcase. I've already put in about 3/4 of the stuff I am taking in one suitcase and it is only 35lbs! Kind of UH-mazing. I need to have most of my stuff already packed or at least organized to be packed by this Sunday because I'll be in Atlanta from Monday until Thursday morning. So much to do and I'm not even sure what I'm doing....meh.

I'm finally actually getting myself mentally ready to be away from everything that makes me comfortable for a year. It helps to already have friends in Seoul, especially one friend, B, who is from Seoul and will help me by translating until she goes back to the US. Then D and T who work at the same company I do though not the same branch. I've already had one crying night earlier this week but I think when I see Leon go down to his side of the airport and truly realize that I won't see him until next January, I'll probably be a sad little Kristen listening to sad Vietnamese ballads until I finally pass out on the 14hour plane ride.

Pyeongchon here i come...

So I found out I will be working in Pyeongchon. I got really confused about whether or not i will be going to Gangnam for training first or not so I need to email that question. I'm a little more excited now that I have some idea of where I'll be working and I have my plane ticket and have started packing and storing items. I'll be working in Pyeongchon but not sure where I will live yet. But I was told the area was cheaper than central Seoul and since i am broke, then that is a good thing...for now.