We had a busy week this past week as Eric continued to work his long days, adding yet another job (proofreading and editing professional English papers) to his long list of jobs, and I spent my afternoons, packing and mailing boxes and selling some things on Craigslist. We were able to get two boxes in the mail this week going surface mail which will take about 60 days to get home, but is about 3 times cheaper than airmail. I sold a few more of our small gadgets this week and today we were so happy to have someone come and agree to buy our refrigerator! We still have the small fridge that came with our apartment so today we plugged that one in for the first time in almost a year hoping it would still work (it did) and moved everything from one fridge to the other. We got the big one defrosted and cleaned up and it is scheduled to be moved out tomorrow evening. We are very happy about that because it was the one big thing we knew we had to get rid of and Eric has been very adamant since the day he and a friend carried it up to the fifth floor that he would NOT be moving it back down from the fifth floor when we moved out! After I take one more box to the post office this week we won't really have any more packing or cleaning out to do until right before we leave. We will keep adding things to Craigslist and having our friends take away some other stuff not worth selling but other than that things on the moving end will start to slow down a lot.
This Thursday is the first day of the three day Lunar New Year holiday so we both only have to work three days this week and then get a four day weekend. The Lunar New Year (Seollal in Korean) is one of the two biggest holidays in Korea (the other being Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving). Just like with Chuseok, everyone travels to their home town, the country is full of heavy traffic jams and Seoul is like a ghost town. Someone told me that usually it takes them about three hours to get to their parent's hometown near the southern part of Korea, but this week when they travel there it will take about ten hours. That's how many important the holiday is! We don't have much planned other than having some friends over to hang out and maybe play some poker and watch movies. We're not counting the days until we leave but every time Saturday comes around we know how many weeks we have left here and it's not many so we must enjoy every day we can!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Packing and Shopping
This last week I spent some time during my afternoons starting the packing process. Anything big and heavy (like our video game systems and souvenirs) and clothes we can live without for the next couple months are starting to get packed. We plan to send the majority of our stuff home via surface mail which can take as long as 60-90 days (the Pacific Ocean is really big). So anything we can live without here, on vacation, and for a short time after we get back home is going to be sent out very soon. We've also started to list some things on Craigslist in hopes of selling anything we don't plan to keep, but also don't want to just throw away. We've had a little luck with some of the smaller things, but so far no luck with anything big (which is the stuff we care most about selling!).
On Saturday, Eric and I went to a popular spot for souvenir shopping as we were in search of a couple things we want to take home with us. After doing our shopping, I went to meet some friends and then Eric and I met up with two of our other friends for dinner. It was a busy Saturday but nice to spend it with a variety of friends!
I have a week and a half left of teaching English camp (I really enjoy these short days!!! I'm not sure I'll be ready to go back to full days in February!). Last week I did an Angry Birds theme with my 4th grade group which they absolutely loved. Instead of focusing on intense English instruction, I planned different crafts and activities for them centered around the theme which allowed them to be creative and have fun. I realized they don't get to spend a whole lot of time being creative in their regular classes (and English camp is free so I don't have to please any paying parents!) so I let them be creative and they still got some English practice in as well. I'm doing the same theme with a group of 5th graders this week and a couple days next week so hopefully they will find it just as enjoyable!
On Saturday, Eric and I went to a popular spot for souvenir shopping as we were in search of a couple things we want to take home with us. After doing our shopping, I went to meet some friends and then Eric and I met up with two of our other friends for dinner. It was a busy Saturday but nice to spend it with a variety of friends!
I have a week and a half left of teaching English camp (I really enjoy these short days!!! I'm not sure I'll be ready to go back to full days in February!). Last week I did an Angry Birds theme with my 4th grade group which they absolutely loved. Instead of focusing on intense English instruction, I planned different crafts and activities for them centered around the theme which allowed them to be creative and have fun. I realized they don't get to spend a whole lot of time being creative in their regular classes (and English camp is free so I don't have to please any paying parents!) so I let them be creative and they still got some English practice in as well. I'm doing the same theme with a group of 5th graders this week and a couple days next week so hopefully they will find it just as enjoyable!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
7 Weeks
Our January has been rather low key so far, though the reality that we will actually be leaving Korea so soon is starting to really sink in: 7 weeks. We decided the two things we really need to do during the next two months are eating our favorite Korean foods and taking one last trip to some of our favorite places around Seoul. Last weekend we went to one of our favorite parks and walked along the river and yesterday, after eating at one of our favorite restaurants, we went walking along the river near our first apartment. We spent a whole lot of time walking along that path during the seven months we lived there but haven't really been back since we moved.
Eric went back to work the day after New Year's and I have finished two weeks of English camp during the winter vacation at my school. The first week I taught 1st and 2nd grade and last week I taught 3rd grade. I will say that I felt probably the most encouraged I have the whole time I've been working at the public school this last week. After spending a week with 1st/2nd graders who couldn't understand a single thing I said all week, teaching 3rd graders, who I've been teaching all year, seemed to be a breeze! They were able to understand SO much more than the younger kids and I realized that maybe they had actually learned something from me this year after all (even if most of it was just the listening and comprehension piece!)! I'm enjoying the break from the regular schedule and especially my afternoons off. I've been filling my time with some errands and organizing around the house, as well as some actual meal planning and cooking for our dinners! It took me nearly two years to figure this out by I realized last week that going to the grocery store in the middle of the day is so nice!! Normally I try to avoid needing a cart and try to run in and out as fast I can in order to try and avoid getting run over and bumped into by as few people as possible. Going shopping on a weekday afternoon is more like going shopping the day before Thanksgiving back home, which I will gladly take any day now!
Last week I dropped off our passports and tourist visa applications at the Vietnam embassy so that we will have those in hand when we travel there in March. We have all but one of our hotels for our vacation booked now and just need to reserve our bus tickets from Cambodia to Vietnam and apply for our Cambodia tourist visas before it looks like we will be all set for that adventure! We were able to get a couple small things sold on Craigslist this weekend and are hopeful that the bigger items we have to sell will be sold just as easily. Tomorrow I will be going to the post office to pick up some boxes and the packing will officially begin in the next week or so...
We are still having a rather mild winter compared to last year. It got pretty cold the last couple days, especially with the bitter wind chill, but after what most of the U.S. went through last week I guess we can't complain too much. In 7 weeks we will be in the tropics.
Eric went back to work the day after New Year's and I have finished two weeks of English camp during the winter vacation at my school. The first week I taught 1st and 2nd grade and last week I taught 3rd grade. I will say that I felt probably the most encouraged I have the whole time I've been working at the public school this last week. After spending a week with 1st/2nd graders who couldn't understand a single thing I said all week, teaching 3rd graders, who I've been teaching all year, seemed to be a breeze! They were able to understand SO much more than the younger kids and I realized that maybe they had actually learned something from me this year after all (even if most of it was just the listening and comprehension piece!)! I'm enjoying the break from the regular schedule and especially my afternoons off. I've been filling my time with some errands and organizing around the house, as well as some actual meal planning and cooking for our dinners! It took me nearly two years to figure this out by I realized last week that going to the grocery store in the middle of the day is so nice!! Normally I try to avoid needing a cart and try to run in and out as fast I can in order to try and avoid getting run over and bumped into by as few people as possible. Going shopping on a weekday afternoon is more like going shopping the day before Thanksgiving back home, which I will gladly take any day now!
Last week I dropped off our passports and tourist visa applications at the Vietnam embassy so that we will have those in hand when we travel there in March. We have all but one of our hotels for our vacation booked now and just need to reserve our bus tickets from Cambodia to Vietnam and apply for our Cambodia tourist visas before it looks like we will be all set for that adventure! We were able to get a couple small things sold on Craigslist this weekend and are hopeful that the bigger items we have to sell will be sold just as easily. Tomorrow I will be going to the post office to pick up some boxes and the packing will officially begin in the next week or so...
We are still having a rather mild winter compared to last year. It got pretty cold the last couple days, especially with the bitter wind chill, but after what most of the U.S. went through last week I guess we can't complain too much. In 7 weeks we will be in the tropics.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Happy 2014!
Our New Year's Eve and Day were pretty low key but nice for the two of us. Since Eric is on vacation this week and I leave work at noon now we hung out at home together for most of the day on New Year's Eve. We enjoyed a yummy crockpot meal and an evening walk before settling in for the night. We didn't even feel much like watching a movie so we ended up having a Boy Meets World marathon and reminiscing about this last year while we waited for midnight. Shortly before midnight we turned on the Korean news and watched the live coverage of the countdown (and hundreds of thousands of people) outside one of the palaces near City Hall. It was a quiet way to ring in the new year but also one we will definitely remember. It was the first time we have spent Christmas and New Year's in Korea. It was also the first year we counted down in Korean! We spent New Year's Day at home as well. We even watched the ball drop in NYC on live TV this afternoon and we got our favorite Chinese/Korean fusion take out for dinner.
2013 brought us many joys, as well as some challenges in a year that seems to have flown by. It was a year that we spent living in Korea, learning and growing together, and making countless memories; a year we will definitely never, ever forget.
2014 already promises to bring us many new adventures and likely some challenges as well, as we will be leaving behind this chapter we have created in Korea and beginning a new chapter at home in just two short months. We cannot wait to see what all it will bring as we begin this exciting new year.
2013 brought us many joys, as well as some challenges in a year that seems to have flown by. It was a year that we spent living in Korea, learning and growing together, and making countless memories; a year we will definitely never, ever forget.
2014 already promises to bring us many new adventures and likely some challenges as well, as we will be leaving behind this chapter we have created in Korea and beginning a new chapter at home in just two short months. We cannot wait to see what all it will bring as we begin this exciting new year.
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