The end is in sight

I had a week like most others at CIS, simply a bit more hectic because I had to finish all the books I've been teaching. Mission accomplished on that front. Also, I was just trying to enjoy my kids for the last week, but somehow they got on my nerves even more than normal. I think we're both just ready to move on; as much as I love them, a year and a half is a long time. I'm excited to see them graduate tomorrow and get another step closer to becoming, like, real people. Crazy.


I'm also getting ready to leave Korea, my home for the past year and a half. That part's not so easy... I'm nearly all packed for my trips, which is amazing. Honestly, I didn't think all my stuff would fit. And it doesn't, but that's because the diabetic girl has to take two months worth of supplies along. Fun. So I just bought a carry on bag and I'll put books/diabetes supplies/a coat in there and then send it along when I get down under, I think. Speaking of sending things home, I think I'm going to send my beloved laptop home, too. I kind of need to cut the cord with the internet, and just really relax. I can always go to an internet cafe to check email and stuff like that. Just typing this is giving me a bit of a panic attack, but I'm dealing. I can live without the internet. I can.


At least, I hope I can because they're probably coming to turn it off tomorrow. Oh balls.

In weekend news, yesterday the parents of my kindergarteners took me out to lunch and got me the most amazing gift EVER. A Swarovski crystal necklace. Serioiusly, it's gorgeous. I almost cried when they gave it to me. And Joon, my little kid that left my class around September, came with his mom so it was great to see him too. Here's a pic of the whole table of beautiful ladies. Seven of 13 ain't bad.



The best part of the whole thing? Lucy's mom brought Lucy and baby sister, the cutest kid IN THE WORLD. Seriously. Look.



Seriously, I can't even stand it.


Last night I went out with school people (Rodney, SeetandJames) and some of my friends came as a sort of farewell last hurrah. Beer and nori bong were in order and it was a late but enjoyable evening. It's all getting very sad, though. Gah...


I hate change and wish everyone I love in the world lived in the same damn place. Balls.

Today I met with Jade, the lady I used to do Language Exchange with and whose wedding I went to. It was great to see her again and catch up. Then I went to church and now I'm home making the CDs for my kids for tomorrow. I'm putting the movie I made on a CD for them, after buying 38 CDs that don't work I finally got 15 that do. That is NOT awesome. But I'm watching Ugly Betty while doing it, so life isn't all that bad.


Graduation tomorrow, packing, packing, Thailand!! I'll try to update again when I can, but don't know how soon that will be. Definately by April...when I'm home. :)


Here's my kids' last Performance Theater from Thursday. Enjoy. ;)


Much love.

I'm still alive... don't worry!

I realize I haven't posted in ages but I'm still alive, I assure you all. I've been busy trying to get my travel itinerary together, buy plane tickets, find places to stay, all that garbage. Shoot, finding a backpack to take was hard enough work... BUT, I found one and I've (kinda sorta) packed it and now I'm just counting down the days. I doesn't seem real yet. It really doesn't. I mean, part of me is SO READY to go and part of me just wants to stay because so much of my heart is here now. I mean, there are 13 little babies here that I just adore, not to mention the co-workers and friends I'll leave. I need to just have a nervous breakdown about it all, and then I'll be fine, but it's just not ready yet.

As far as life goes, I had a really busy last Saturday, running all over town for a haircut, a backpack search and hanging out, too. I went with Phillip (and entourage) to a street fortune teller for fun and it ended up being hilarious. She told me I'd get married when I'm 30 to a guy who's a designer of some kind. So I guess I am destined to marry a gay guy! lol. Hmm, what else? Oh, she said I heard music in the womb, and that I have "music in my heart and hear music in my dreams." I don't know if all that's true, but it was nice to hear. I also took silly photos in a photobooth with Mark (and entourage) and then played Jenga at a board game cafe. It was a busy but super fun day.

I've also been running around trying to get last minute stuff done, which is tough cause I'm super broke til Monday when I'm (supposed to) get paid. We'll see if that actually happens. Plus I'm sending home an entire life and several seasons of clothes so the post office is my new hang out. Balls. And let me just mention that carting a crapload of stuff to the post office alone is NOT my idea of a good way to start a morning. I'm just sayin'...

Now let's move on to the photo portion of the program. First, my haircut. I got a different style this time, and my boyfriend who cuts it said I should be a hair model about 5 times. I'm just saying... :)

It's a little shorter than it should be, but he cut it short 'cause I'm traveling. So yeah... a gay boy told me I look like Liza circa the Cabaret years, so I'm okay with it.

Next are a couple of funny ones. This first one is on the back of a van in the parking lot of the apartments where I live.

Um... it's called grammar. Check it out.

And this one is a sign on a clothing store in Suyu. It may not appear funny, but the humor's in the placement of the space. Really.

Awesome. And finally, here's the video I made for my kids. It kinda makes me cry. Whatever.

Okay... don't know when my internet's gonna be shut off but I should be able to update once more before I leave. Which is in a week. For Thailand. To lay on a beach for 10 days. And then go to Hong Kong. And China. And Australia. Oh, and New Zealand. Because that's how I roll.

I can't wait!

Much love.

Seeing some sights

Wow. I had a jam-packed Saturday! I went to the Military Memorial Museum, an art show called From Van Gogh to Picasso, then I went out dancing with Phil and Seeta and it was an all-around great day.


I got up and went out to the Military Memorial War Museum, which is located behind Korea's Military Memorial, which I saw in my early months here. The museum is basically about all the wars Korea has fought, from the years 100 right up until the Korean and Vietnam wars. It was really interesting to see the ancient military tools and battles and learn a little bit about that part of Korean history.


The section on the Korean war was really moving, and it also led me to a greater understanding of why Koreans do some of the things they do. Many of the common behaviors I see actually have roots in the Korean war. Plus there was this sadness about it all; Korea is one of the world's only divided nations (if not THE only, I'm not sure) and it's a shame. If I feel the sadness of the situation, what must it be like for them? I can't even imagine.


This museum also had one of the most moving tributes to fallen soldiers I've ever seen. It's a big, circular room with a giant stone basin in it. In the basin is a pool of water and the water bubbles in the middle. Above this bubbling section of the pool is a hole in the tall ceiling, where one simple beam of light shines down and makes the moving water sparkle like something from another world. I tried to take a picture of it, but of course it pales in comparison with the real thing. You can't even see the beam of light. But trust me, it was really, really beautiful.



I took a couple of other pictures around the museum, so here they are. This one is me in front of this huge, old boat they had. It kinda reminded me of the boats I saw in Vietnam. Can't remember what they're called...

And a closer side-view...

And finally, the view from the entrance to the museum. Pretty cool in person.

You can't really see them there but next to that giant thing in the middle are some statues. These items are the war memorial part of the place.

Okay, so after that I came home and ate lunch and changed my clothes only to leave again for the art exhibition. I went with Phil (an art guy) and Lance (Jody Gore in Korea) so basically it was the funnest thing ever. I love me some homos, let's be honest about it. Other than my excellent company, the show itself was pretty amazing. I got to see works by Degas, Van Gogh, Monet, Toulouse-La Trec, Renoir, Picasso... Pretty much ANY artist you've ever heard of. It was seriously amazing. I can't believe I've seen a Picasso and a Van Gogh up close!

Here are just two of the works I got to see. This is Poplars at Saint-Rémy by Van Gogh. It's a pretty famous one.

This is my favorite painting in the whole show. It's called The Secret Life and was painted by Rene Magritte.

It may not look like much, but when you see it for real, you can't stop staring at it. It's mesmerizing.

The show was great, especially as narrated in Southern commentary by Lance. Each time there was a painting with a person who looked a little... strange, Lance would go, "We don't talk about it but..." SO funny. And I loved the moment when he BURST out laughing at something I said, and everyone was staring at him. Awesome. He is my new best friend and it sucks that I'm leaving in two weeks because he's kinda my favorite person.

After a stop for a cup of tea (Where we watched with rapt attention while this girl gave the group of guys she was with a dressing down. I could just hear the "Well? What've you got to say for yourself?" in her Korean. Awesome.) we met up with Seeta and ate some Mexican food (YUM) and went off to drink and dance the night away. It was a great night. I got to meet the most famous Korean gay actor! Granted, he's only the "most famous" because he's the ONLY Korean gay actor (that's out at least) but still. I just spent the whole night laughing and talking and dancing with people I really enjoy, and how often in life do I get to do that? Not enough, recently. Oh man, good times. But let me just mention that gay boys in Korea (foreign or Korean) are WAY hotter than gay boys back home, which is tragic for me but not so much for gay boys. Sometimes a gay bar can be quite depressing. :)

Let's see... Oh. I changed my travel plans. I'm now going to Thailand, then Hong Kong and Macau, then Beijing, then onto Australia and New Zealand. I decided laying on the beach for a week would be KEY and that's what I'm gonna do. An open invitation to meet me in Thailand is officially extended to anyone reading this. Seriously. Come hang out with me.

Much love.

Christmas and other varioius items

It's safe to say it's been a while since I updated. I've been... busy. I had Christmas Performance, then my trip home, then my trip back and some semi-brutal jet lag which I overcame yesterday.

So I'll begin at the beginning. Christmas Performance. I was really proud of my kids and I feel like they all did their best, so that's all I really care about. After the show, I got a bunch of flowers from my kids (one bouquet was literally the size of one of my kids) and felt like Miss America between the flowers and the million pictures I took with my class. Pictures with each kid, each kid and thier mom, a couple kids, a couple kids and their moms... Gah. Anyway, I guess that's the price you pay for looking nice and teaching the same kids for over a year. After the show, the teachers all went out to Pizza Hut (the principal wanted to take us ous somewhere but we all hate her and had already made plans) and had a nice lunch. Nothing really outstanding or special to report, so here are the pics. A couple of my class in costume on the stage. I think they're singing "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" in this one.

And this is Pitt, Jenny, Grace and Lucy singing "We Three Kings."

Finally, one of me and a few of my kids and their moms (and my new supervisor who snuck in...Balls!).

I love Lucy's mom (second mom in with the white shirt). She is UBER cute and makes me earrings. Fab.

Now onto home... I don't really wanna talk to much about it because then I'll start to miss everyone again (I didn't feel how much I missed them until I saw them, funny enough.) and I just want to live in the memories for a little bit longer. But anyway, here are a couple of pics from my trip.

I spent Christmas Eve with my dad's family (like we always do, and it was great) and I ate Cuban food and it was SO GOOD. Seeing everyone again was great, although it was a one-time deal 'cause they all went to Florida soon after the New Year. My cousins are nearly ladies at this point; they've grown so much in a year and a half. Anyway, a picture of Abita with Lancelot, whom EVERYONE loved.

He's such a good baby and he LOVED all the attention.

Christmas Day at home (monkey bread, mmmmmmm) and then to Mema and Grumpa's. It was pretty sad, though, not having Grumpa there but I understand why Mema decided not to bring him home. We did go visit him around dinner time, so Mema could feed him and we could all see him. It was pretty sad to see him the way he is now, compared to how he was when I left, but he's doing the best he can. He didn't know me at first, because of his bad eyesight he couldn't see me, but after he did he goes, "Hey, I love you." It was really sweet. Everyone knows I love HIM more than life, so I was just happy to see him and hug him again. Here's a picture of Mema, Grumpa, and Lancelot, who cheered up a lot of people at that care home.

I love that my dog's the only one posing. lol

Um, the rest of break was a whirlwind of seeing friends and eating and laughing and remembering. A couple more pics, then I'm calling it quits. Here's one from the Fab Reunion, the first time we've all been together since Annie moved away.

I'm not really sure what I'm about in that one but oh well. We haven't shared pictures yet so this is what you get. Also, I haven't stolen pictures from Facebook yet either, so you're stuck with these couple from New Year's Eve weekend. This is one of all the usual suspects at the Y.J., home of my old friend the Pink Drink. I felt like I was in college again.

And here's a last one of the VanCooter family. We're gonna use it for Christmas in July cards this year, or so I hear... ;)

Don't we look happy and functional? LOVE the Christmas sweaters. They were all extremely bad in such a good way.

In a lot of ways, I wish I didn't have to leave. I feel like I lost a little bit of my steam when I came back, and now I'm just... blah. But I paid in full for my trips to Australia to New Zealand, so I really have to go now. All I need now are plane tickets and a more concrete plan for China.

I'll see you all again in a couple months!

Much love.