I know it's been a REAL long time since I've last written on my journal!!! But everything is still going just as awesome as before! Since I've last written, so much as happened!
My family and Alice Anderson came to visit me in March, which was incredible! It was the first time that I saw my entire family all together in such a looooooong time. Perhaps Christmas?? Although I had to work the week they were in Korea, I got to see plenty of them. I booked them a hotel/officetel near LaFesta in Ilsan so they were real close to me. They were able to see everything that they wanted to see in Korea their second/third time around. We were even able to stay in a traditional Korean house near Anguk the first weekend they were here. That was real interesting and I'm happy that I was able to experience it, even if it was only for one night. ^^ My friend Lim was gracious enough to take my family out for a traditional Korean dinner one night and then my brother, sister, Lim, and our friend Nic went out in Namsan, Itaewon and Hongdae afterwards.
My family was even able to sit in some of my classes. My mom, dad, and Alice sat in my first two kindie classes and most of my afternoon classes. Luckily, my students were well-behaved! (Maybe it was because I told them they were the American police and they were here to watch them because they didn't do their homework...haha ^^) My dad was especially impressed by my 7 year old students who were able to tell me the life cycle of a butterfly and were also able to spell "chrysalis" with no problem! I think my favorite part was with my favorite student Mickey. I denied my dad an M&M (because they're for the students!!! haha) and he offered one of his to him. How cute!
Well, about a month later I was able to go home to the States for 10 days since I finished my first contract year and just about to start my second. It was so nice of my company because not only did they give me a vacation but they also paid for my airfare. NICE! There was sooo much that I wanted to do and so many people I wanted to see while I was home! There just didn't seem to be enough time!
I arrived on my birthday and my family had planned a Homecoming/Birthday shin-dig at my aunt and uncle's house in Minneapolis. And my friends wanted to take me out for my birthday afterwards. Knowing this, I knew I couldn't be toooo jet-lagged so I decided to stay up until 5 am the night before my flight to make sure I slept the entire way. Let me just say that it worked like a charm!! I recommend this to everyone who is traveling on an airplane for longer than 7 hours, by the way. haha ^^
My party was so nice! I was soooo happy to see all my friends and family! A big THANK YOU to everyone that showed up!!! I had a great time visiting with everyone and eating BRATS! I seriously gotta find a way to get brats shipped to me in Korea...
I stayed in Minneapolis with my friend Paige for four days and then we both came to Wausau for the rest of the week. Surprisingly, I didn't experience as much reverse culture shock as I thought I was going to. I think the main things that really got to me was how loud Americans really are! haha And now after being in Korea, I was surprised to find that I was beginning to think Americans were more rude than I had previously thought! ^^ Other than that, it seemed like everything was the same. Maybe it's because I'm just used to living away from my family and friends and only seeing them a few times a year~ But I guess the most surprising thing for me was that I actually really missed Korea and was anxious to come back! I guess that's a good thing since I'm gonna be here for at least another year!
I don't really have much planned my second time around. I do plan on going to Japan in July...if there are flights still available. I'll be going to Tokyo to visit my friend Ricky, who is teaching English there. And I do plan on learning more of the Korean language and grammar! And hopefully, I'll save more money this time around!!! ^^ Can't wait to see what this year will bring me!!!
