I thought the first 6 months were suppose to be the hardest...

I keep on going....

Day by day, I look at my life like building blocks, everyday I add a block & I think wow, maybe I am going to conquer this (life) after all? Then the next day it might be a little harder than the day before, but somehow God has blessed me to put yet another block up even when I don't want to. Idk "how" I am going to make it, but I know I'll finish with all blocks UP! :)

I'm Back in the R.O.K (Rep of Korea)

Hello,

Well, I am back and all is well. I look forward to sharing more experiences with you all... we shall see what adventures I will partake in this semester.

Stay tuned for more crazy & fun adventures! :)  

Under construction, will be back soon!!

Currently, under construction, sorry I have been away on vacation... will return soon! :) I miss blogging with you all!

Galbi is What's for Dinner! Kimchi??? NOT!!! Part 2

Now, Nancy and I, will show you how Galbi looks when it is finished.  Nancy, is showing you how to prepare Galibi to eat, once it is finished cooking. 

Please click the link to view the video: Galbi is What's for Dinner Part II

Galbi is What's for Dinner! Kimchi??? NOT!!! Part 1

Nancy and I ventured out into Itaewon (Seoul) during Lunar New Year weekned! We enjoyed ourselves, watch us take you on a tour of "Don Valley" where we ate Galbi which is Korean Barbeque.  It was great! I hope you enjoy the videos!

Please click this link: Galbi is What's for Dinner...

Itaewon (Seoul), South Korea

Nancy and I were hanging out in Itaewon, on Lunar New Year! Lunar NY follows the Chinese calendar, yes I am still in Korea, but you will have to do a bit more research to see why Korea follows the Solar and Lunar calendar, that might be another blog in the future.  Please look at the video... we are having a lot of fun! : )

Hanging out in Itaewon (Seoul), South Korea

It's time I say thank you.... to all of you... "Followers"

I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for being a follower! I see I have 30 followers, some of you are family, friends, colleagues, classmates, teachers, and much more!! I want to say thank you for reading, commenting, and those that are not followers, but are reading thank you too and you should be a follower (he,he!)  All of you have truly been an inspiration to me in this journey and thank you! I appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your day, week or month to check in on my blog. It really makes the journey in Korea go by smoothly! I so appreciate you, and being a Mommie's little girl, I know I can speak for her and say she appreciates the encouragement you all give me to keep going.


And of course I am always thankful to God for making me who he has allowed me to be, and giving me the opportunity to see another part of the world.

I talk all day!! (Phone Tutoring)

I am sooo happy I received my first paycheck from phone tutoring this past week. It is still going well, and for those of you who made me the guinea pig can now go apply for a job lol!

I am sure some people want to know how it works, well to make it short and sweet, we can talk about anything, their day, the news, the weather, movies, etc... most students sign up to talk for 10 minutes a day M-F, and some sign up for M/W/F... You are paid a fee for each individual student, and you are paid once a month.  Don't ask me my salary, because I will say "Nunofurbizness" (none of your business) very kindly! :D The most frequent times you will speak to a client would be 6a-8a or 9p-12 am (Korean Time.)

Just another thing I am doing here, at nights, gotta keep the weekends free! ;) It's a blessing too! : )

***BREAKING NEWS*** EARTHQUAKE IN SEOUL!!!

Y'all know I am not scared lol, but there was an earthquake in Seoul, South Korea today. Read the article below for all the facts!  In case you are wondering I live an hour south of Seoul in Pyeongtaek or Songtan, South Korea, near the military base Osan AFB.

Click the link for the facts on the earthquake in S.K or read below: Earthquake in South Korea 

3.0 Magnitute Earthquake Shakes Seoul



A THREE-POINT-ZERO magnitude earthquake rattled Korea's capital Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province at around SIX P.M. today Tuesday that is.


The Korea Meteorological Administration says the epicenter of the mild tremor was around eight kilometers north of Siheung city in Gyeonggi Province.


Residents in Seoul felt buildings tremble briefly.


This is the third and biggest quake near Seoul since 1978 when the nation first installed such equipment.

FEB 09, 2010

Reporter : hyosun2@arirangtv.com

We Run it!?! Quick Facts

I am soooo proud to be an American! This is a great adventure for me...I am just popping in for a small fact update.

Did you know that Americans hold the highest number in population, for foreigner Teachers in South Korea?  We have the largest number of foreign teachers in South Korea.  By the way, I do get "bragging rights" on my blog, here goes.... when I was at the GEPIK Orientation, I won a prize because I knew that 54% of Americans make up the percentage of foreign teachers, that teach for the Gyeonggi-do Public School Province.

My mom always says, if you can read, you can do anything. No one else knew the answer, and it was right in our Dr. GEPIK book, which I had been reading since I arrived in South Korea! So, I won a cheap little prize! Actually, it was delicious, it was a Kit-Kat and not a Kit-Ker cause they do have those as immitations. (Don't waste your money.) Hehe! YAY! : )

The numbers below are for ALL of South Korea, not just the GEPIK Program, which I work under.

As of October 2008, the number of E2 visa holders by nationality was reported as: (E-2 Visas are for Foreign Language Teachers)


What is the nationality breakdown of English Teachers in Korea?

15,238 Americans "WE RUN IT!!!" (In a nice way... )  :)


10,111 Canadians


3,021 Britons


1,412 South Africans


1,162 New Zealanders


1,158 Australians


1,051 Chinese


978 Japanese


626 Irish


56 French

 Note that these figures do not include those teaching in Korea under other visa categories such as E1 or J4. (It doesn't matter "We still run it" LOL!)

The information was provided by http://www.korea4expats.com/

More Musical Chairs during Winter Camp

Musical Chairs with the 3rd and 4th grade during winter camp! This is just a quick shot of my kids loving the game and single the song in "English"...this may seem like minimal studying, but its building their English vocabulary by using English on a daily basis.

Please click the link to view the video:  Musical Chairs 3rd & 4th grade

English Winter Camp "Directions" Game

This game helps build the students ability to speak, listen, and it builds their receptive skills, when conversing in the English language. This teaches them how to use directions in real life situations, and the game is fun for the students.

Please watch the video below. ESL "Directions" Game

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

The kids love the song they made me play it over, and over again, then they pretended as if they didn't want to sing. Well, half of them pretended they did not want to sing.

Please click the link to see the Video!  The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Care Packages are exciting!

My friend from high school whom I am not close to, but we were still cool in high school. Well, we chat on facebook quite often. We have fun clowning around, and chatting back and forth.  Well, one day I think we were talking about life here in Korea, and she decided to ask me what I like or what I would want.  To my surprise she sent me a care package! How sweet? How thoughtful? I was so thrilled I wanted to share with you how blessed I am. I took pictures of some of the items she sent me.

She sent me boxes and boxes of hamburger helper, gravy packets, kool-aid, she also packed chocolate chip cookies, double chocolate chip cookies, and some other goodies! The baked goods were delicious too! I am just soooo blessed and happy for the support I have received before coming here and during my present time here. Thank God for that, and I thank you all for your prayers and comforting words.

Now post some comments.

Today's special shout out goes to Kristin!!! Thanks again! :D

P.S - It is a must that I add my Mommie has been on it too, making sure her baby has what she "wants"! Thank you! Much Kudos to you! Love ya!

HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!

My Life

God is good! I won't elaborate, the pictures will speak for themselves. This is why you are NOT suppose to sleep with a heating pad. This was underneath my pillow when I woke up in the morning, not sure what happened. All, I know now is that my life was spared. I am glad I did not have a burn on my body. God is good!! :D

GET UP!!!!!!!!!!! (Sleepin & Commutin...take 2!)

Caught Sleepin' & Commutin' again, but this time on the train! HAHAHA!

He is laid out!! HAHA! I can only laugh. I might be wrong for taking the pictures, but you ought to not put yourself in those predicaments LOL!

Musical Chairs in Korea

What will I do without my SIXTH GRADERS!!!!? Oh they are so bright and funny! Watch them play musical chairs, they are learning English by listening to the song, by listening to me. I am shouting "Reverse" "Skip", "Hop", "Jump", "Run", etc. It helps build their receptive skills. When learning a new language it is just as important, to have excellent receptive skills, as it is to be able to speak the non-native language.

Note: "Anja" means "sit-down" or "chair"

Busy Bee, That's Me

Hello All,

As usual I always have an excuse as to why I have fallen behind in my blogging. For starters I know I will NOT blog daily, but once a week would be a good idea.

So, let’s get to the good stuff. The reason I have been busy with other activities is because I have started Phone tutoring, it’s a small part time job that doesn't take up too much time, but my nights are not as free as they were. The new position is so refreshing, and to be honest it is not hard. I work a total of 1hour and 20 minutes or less per day (weekdays only.) I enjoy being able to speak to people, but I am yet teaching them. All of my students right now are in South Korea. The good thing about this gig is that I can take these students with me wherever I go, so when I return home if the agency still likes me or needs my assistance and I want to continue teaching. I should be able to do so with no issues! :)


I am excited about this new venture because it is an opportunity to be able to start my own business as well. I won't go into further details about that today, but what I want to tell you is God is continually blessing me even when I am not patient or worthy enough to receive His blessings. I will say that I must continue to strive to have a better relationship with God, this is no excuse for any of my choices or actions, but I will say I do love God and want to have a better life with Him. With all of that being said, the job in itself is a blessing... Why? Well, I don't really even know how I stumbled upon the job. All I can say is that I am a computer geek and a hustla, so after researching and talking to different people I decided to apply. I received a call back maybe a week or less later, I wasn't even expecting it, not that I wasn't, but when I received the call I was surprised because the timing was quick, especially in Korea, because they are on CPT (color peoples time) lol. Whew! They can move in slow motion, for real lol! After, receiving the call the agency's coordinator was suppose to send me an email, which she did, but she told me to respond to it, which I did. However, once I responded to the email I never received a response back with my clients/students or start date. After a few days, I called, and she said well maybe we didn't have a position for you. Haha! I was like, but you called me she said ooooh I am so sorry, lol so again after I spoke with her I didn't receive the email, so the next day I called her back again. I told her the situation and she was like well maybe it's because you don't have phone tutoring experience. I am like um...lady you kind of already hired me, she was like ok well let me send you an email. I am thinking, um yeah right this is so "Korea" (when I say that don't be offended, it is truly the way the culture moves, in slow motion. Koreans have also expressed this too.) The next thing I know she calls me back, says let me explain your pay, how the phone tutoring works, and then I will text or email you your clients name and phone number. Haha! Finally! We are on the same page! The way it played out was so funny. If I had not lived in Korea I would have thought something was wrong, but trust me this is the way the culture operates.


I really like the agency coordinator, and had a good feeling about tutoring. I was just concerned if my first student would like me. Guess what? She loves me! :) The first day went well, so the next day she calls me with another student... I am like wow I have 2 students, so again I was concerned if he would like me, but he does. He has a dry sense of humor and he makes me laugh too. Now, since the first week of January I have 6 clients. The funniest thing I have encountered about having new clients is make sure you do NOT misdial the phone number. If someone answers saying "Yeoboseyo" Um you probably dialed the wrong number, "Yeoboseyo" means "Hello" if you are on the telephone. The student is expecting you to call at a certain time on a certain day, so they won't answer in Korea! Haha! I did this my first or 2nd time and I was adamant that I dialed the right number, so I kept trying to speak in English, "augumai" (older lady...i.e. "ma'am) hung up on me hahaha! I was thinking that she was the mom or grandma of my student, and didn't know that her daughter or granddaughter was taking English lessons. Nope! It was me dialing the wrong number tehehe! To make it so bad I have done it 2 times since then, not for the same client, but for new clients sometimes I mis-dial....Oops! HAHA!


Now, to tie in how phone tutoring is a blessing? Well, obviously its more money in my pocket, but the main reason I consider this a blessing is despite the little confusion during the initial process. I am the only person to get a call back. A few of my friends have applied, but have not received a call back. I feel that this position was meant for me. The other reason this position was meant for me is out of the 6 clients that I phone tutor only one client requested to speak with me Monday through Friday for 20 minutes a day, which is the normal maximum amount of time. Guess what? She is a Christian...God knows what we need when we need it MOST!! All of this is a blessing for me inside and out! I am grateful!


I am really enjoying myself meeting more and more people from all over the world. Teaching all ages, meeting new teachers. It is awesome to have a support system. Yes, the teachers I meet here are my support system, but the students are too!

Signing out....till next time! :)

GEPIK Lesson Practice "Action Verbs"

We are practicing teaching to our Korean students, but of course since we are practicing we are giving lessons to other teachers, then we received feedback from each other. Stephen, is my partner in the video, he works at a school that is also located in Pyeongtaek.

Watch the video and enjoy! There are 2 parts to this video, click both links below, please.

 GEPIK Lesson Practice "Action Verbs" Part 1
GEPIK Lesson Practice "Action Verbs" Pt 2

Say hello to the GEPIK Teachers, November 2009

GEPIK IntroductionsYes! I am late posting this, but I still wanted to introduce some of my friends, and show you some of the highlights of the GEPIK Orientation 2009! We really had a good time and it is unforgettable.

Watch the short video of a few friends.  GEPIK Introductions