Cambodia...tragically beautiful

So....day 2 of traveling in southeast asia. Feels like a lot longer already. So I am pretty blown away by Cambodia. Makes me realize how very little I knew about Cambodia before coming here. There architecture, language written & spoken, the food, etc....all surprised me. !!!
And I love it all. Christina, Megan & I are currently in a beach town called Sihanokville (spelling?). We had a full meal for the 3 of us for $5.50. Megan's beers are $0.25! Crazy cheap! Unreal! Yesterday we were in Phnom Pehn & it was pretty incredible. We went to the Killing Fields which blew my mind away, tragically sad. And the fact that it all happened not long ago is mind boggeling! I realized how much I DIDN'T learn about the Cambodian Genocide in school. It's really sad that much of the world doesn't even know who Pol Pot is & that the genocide even took place. I left yesterday feeling a bit nauseous. It was very disturbing. Everyone should go there sometime in their lifetime.
So we're gonna relax here tomorrow & then head out to Siem Reap to Angkor, super stoked about that. Then....off to Thailand! SWEET! Oh, & I may be meeting up with Travis Knight, a friend from college! So, all is good. Loving it here so far! More later! LOVE YA

Korea...Over & Out...For Awhile Anyway

So this Fall has been amazing! It's been so much fun having my bro around. I was getting a bit worried for him because it took him awhile to find a job...but, end the end he found one, & a pretty sweet one at that. So that's a relief. This fall has been gorgeous in Korea! We've done a bit of hiking, went to the Busan International Film Festival, trying lots of new food & lots of hanging out with friends. And even though my bro & I have been crammed in my tiny apartment, we've managed to get in zero fights!! I know...impressive!
So my time in Korea is coming to an end. I have 2 more days of teaching! Crazy! I'm soooo glad I'm coming back to Korea for a bit after I travel, so it's not officially goodbye. I'd be so sad if I truly had to say goodbye to my friends on Friday for good. But, no worries, when I get sick of travel (doubtful to happen) then I'll come back & stay with my bro a bit & then head back to the states for some weddings!! (Kacy Bear & Stacy Bear). All of the narr's are getting married (except for me of course). So I'm not too sad, but I am very sad to say goodbye to all of my kids! I did a ton of complaining about teaching while I've been here, but now that it's almost over, I'm realizing how much they mean to me. I will miss some of them so much (a couple of kids, not so much;).
So the plan for the next couple of months: I'll be traveling with Megan & Christina to Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia. Then my bro is gonna come join me in Indonesia for Christmas. And if I want to (& have the money), I hope to head back up to Vietnam, Laos & Phillippines to finish off the trip. Sounds amazing & exhausting. And we'll see...I may be getting in over my head a bit. But I am quite the budget traveler, so it's possible. I'd appreciate your prayers while I'm traveling. I hope to do some volunteering along the way. I just found out that Rachel Chester is going to Vietnam to visit an orphanage, so that's a possibility. If you know anyone or have any contacts....hook me up!

2 BJ's in Seoul....Watch Out!

So my bro FINALLY arrived to Seoul yesterday! It only took him about 11 months to get here! Better late than never I suppose. I'm SOOOOOO excited for him to be here! I've been wanting him to travel & see the world for years now! And he's finally doing it! My teaching contract is finished mid-Nov, I'm gonna go travel southeast asia, he's gonna come & join me during xmas break. Then I'm going to go back to Korea & hang out with him for awhile before returning to the states. And then what??....well, that's a little up in the air.
My whole plan for coming to Korea was to save money for grad school. I've already been accepted to Fuller Seminary, of which I will be studying Cross-Cultural Studies with a concentration in Islamic Studies. I've been deferring it so I have to start classes by summer 2010, or I will have to reapply. Maybe I'm just getting nervous about starting grad school, taking out more loans, etc. So Megan and I have been throwing ideas around. What about putting grad school off 1 more year & going to primarily learn Spanish & teach English as a means in either South American or Spain??? Something that is REALLY important to me is to be fluent in Spanish. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that I only know 1 language. So, I dunno. I've been praying about it & asking for clarity. So that's my prayer request. If you could pray for direction, clarity & guidance, that would be fabulous! I will go wherever God wants me to. I don't want to do what "I" want to do. Thanks & love ya!

First Asian Race

So I ran my first 1/2 marathon this past weekend. I wasn't too nervous about it. I ran 10 miles the week before so I figured I could do the last 3 miles on adrenaline. Lots of people were "suppose" to run it, but only about 7 of us ended up going through with it. So it started in Sincheon (where I live) on the Han River & we ran all the way to Mapo & turned back to finish where we started.
I woke up at 6am to ran. But turned out not to be so bad, it was a cool day, perfect for running. There were about 9 foreigners total, the rest Korean. Donna, who ran with us, said that asians are really fast! So I was a bit intimidated at first. Joel & Julie showed up, what a sight! Julie was in a bumble bee suit & Joel was in, well, some type of bunny outfit. Hilarious! People LOVED him! They were practically lining up to take pictures with him!
So the race started. I ran my normal pace the first half. Then, this older Korean guy came up running beside me. I recognized him because I had passed him earlier. He started talking to me in Korean. It was crazy. He wouldn't let me slow down. He kept talking to me in Korean, I think he was telling me to keep going, great job, how much time we had left, etc. If I started to slow down a bit he would look over at me, slow down a bit, then make me catch up to him & run fast. We were HAULING!!! We went over 5 miles at the pace I usually sprint at the end of my run! If he wouldn't have been there pushing me, there's no way I would have run that fast! It wasn't too comfortable.
So, we finished, I wasn't sure my exact time or how good/bad it was. Before I knew it, they slapped something around my neck & ushered me up on stage. Turns out I got 5th place for the women! Jeff & Joel finished & spotted me up on stage getting my awards & they were like what are you doing?? I got a trophy, plaque, & ceramic dishes! heheh...it was hilarious!
My favorite part of the race was the post-race food. It was...tofu! It was a fun run! I think we're gonna run another 1/2 in Busan in October!










(ya see the #5...yep, that's right;)

Jordan & Tiner's Summer Visit

So Jordan & Christina booked a random flight to Tokyo & decided since they were going to be all the way over here in Asia they might as well book another flight to Korea, pop in & say hello! They came on a Thurs & left on Sun, short but sweet trip. It was SOOOOO good seeing them! I took them to Shabu Shabu when they got in. I had to work on Friday but sent them off with plenty of things to see in Seoul. We went out for Korean BBQ Friday night (they LOVED IT!) & met up with some of my friends in Gangnam. Saturday, let's see, we went to Gyeongbok Palace, Insadong, Samcheong-dong, & Namdaemun Market. By this time, Jordan started feeling sick. We went home. Jordan was going to stay in but Megan, Tiner & I were going to go to Hongdae. We got out there then Christina started feeling sick. Poor girls, they both got something. I'm still not sure what it was. The next day Jordan felt better so we went to Dr. Fish. Since I had done it before I thought I'd be a pro & show here how it was done. Yeah right! I totally freaked out! The fish were HUGE this time! But it was AWESOME! Then they had to catch a flight back to Tokyo. They weren't 100% when they left. Even though they didn't feel well in the end, it was still SOOOOOO great seeing them! I love those girls. Even though we aren't able to see or talk to each other that much, they are still my girls! And they always will be! I'd do anything for them & I know it's the same for them. I'm SOOOOO happy they came & can't wait to see them when I get home....whenever that is!

Summer Vacation With Mommy Bear

Grrrrr...summer break is over, back to the grind tomorrow:( My mom came here for the break. Was awesome. We packed a TON of stuff in. Perhaps too much. By the end of each day we were so exhausted. But I LOVE spending time with my mommy bear. Let's see, what all did we do? We did TONS of shopping. I took her to markets, malls, you name it. I drug her all over Seoul, poor thing. We went to Dragon Hill's jimjilbang. I thought she might be 'weirded out' by all of the naked people, but nope, she was fine. We got a body scrub & an oil massage! NICE! I had her try ALL kinds of Korean food. SHE DIDN'T LIKE RICE CAKES!!! She said she didn't like the "texture"...what the heck? We went bike riding along the Han River. We got a 2 seater bike! Was sweet! We went to Jeju for a couple of days. I had no idea Jeju was so big! It was hard getting around because everything was so far away! We didn't get to do a couple of things because we ran out of time. The people were SOOOO friendly & helpful! We did, however, manage to get fried at the beach, see some beautiful waterfalls, do a TON of walking, go through a maze garden, eat some of the local delicious food & see practically the entire island by bus.
We also got to go to our first Korean wedding. My boss got married. Was "interesting" to say the least. We were in & out in 1.5 hours. I found it odd that we were eating while they were walking down the aisle & saying their vows. But it was an extremely nice wedding. She got to eat some Korean BBQ. We went to the Seoul Tower & Lee & I took her out on her last night out on the town! We went to Hongdae & had a great time. I'm pretty sure I have the best mom in the entire world. Yep, even better than your's;) She is an incredible woman & I'm so blessed to have her as my mom. She is the most selfless person I know. I can only think of 1 flaw...she can't use chopsticks for the life of her. I've been trying to teach her for YEARS! I don't understand how she can't use them. It's like it's physically impossible for her to use them. Oh yeah, & she doesn't like rice cakes. Other than that, she's pretty amazing. I think this trip opened her eyes up to what asia is like. She found Koreans to be very friendly & respectful. I miss her already.

iSponge Kids

World's Best Birthday Cake. It's an actual rice cake 'cake.' Heavenly. It's ALL made out of rice! Guilt free cake! Can you say delicious??!! Unfortunately that was still during lent, so I couldn't have any. But a couple weeks later I got one for Dianne for her birthday & I got to induldge on hers:)

Dorothy's Birthday Party

Sandy, Angie & Lion...precious.

Easter/Pajama Party
Don't ask me how the 2 fit together, but for some reason, we made a day of it. Celebrated easter in our pajamas...nice.

St. Patty's Day
Morning Kindergarten

Cancer Kids

Pisces Kids