sa rung heyo korea!

so, my sister kristen has decided to try her luck with an adventure in south korea - crazy girl! haha well her adventure has been the reason for my reminiscing about my time in korea. i've dreamt about it, thought about it, and talked about it quite a lot lately, so i thought i'd do a little "i love you korea" post :)
there is A LOT that i loved about my adventure in korea, but i narrowed it down to a few specific things that i love and miss like crazy, and there are pictures to illustrate of course!

my kids
oh how i miss my kids! i taught quite a few classes at my slp school. i had ages from 3-12, and i loved every single one of them! some of my favorite memories are with my kindy classes, especially my 3 year olds. they loved their lyndsey teacher as they called me and if they only knew how much i miss walking into our classroom and having them tell me about the weather and how they were doing each day. june and ruby were my favorites (even though i never would have admitted that over there!), and we just loved reading books and learning our abc's together. i LOVED being a teacher, and i miss dancing with my kids and just seeing them every day. i know they may kind of look alike to you, but they each had their own little personality, let me tell you! haha

oh....the food!
there was some korean food that i miss like crazy and loved, but there is definitely some that i don't miss at all and really don't ever want to see or smell again in my lifetime! this first little collage is full of goodness - TGI Fridays, bulgogi, and dolsot beebeembop (my fav), but as you can see, there are some serious scunched up disgusting faces in the second one. there was fish all over the place - understandable as i was in korea - but i am not a fish lover or a smell of fish lover so ya...not so cool. there are also some maggot type things boiling and a pig face and ya....oh the food!

the "crazy" things
crazy is a word that translates as like mentally challenged over there, so i didn't use it a whole lot, but there were some weird things over there too! here you can see my little guy june with his hands in the air - that's how they punished kids over there. he had to stand there for like 1/2 hour with his hands in the air, and the korean teacher would get a stick and hit at his feet if he lowered his arms. aww, so sad eh?! then, there is a guy selling bras in the street and what better way to sell them than to model them! and the pills...ya i got sick and had to take this many pills 4 times/day. i guess they make sure you don't pick up any other sickness along the way! and they only have $10 bills over there, so that little wad of moola is what i got paid every month. i felt like a millionaire!

the bathroom is an all in one i guess you could say. you close up your shelves and make sure your toothbrush is put away and move the hose from the sink to the shower head and shower right there by the toilet. i sat down on the toilet actually, and that was that. there was a drain in the middle of the bathroom, and it kinda sloped in - i forgot to switch that hose a few times and got drenched when i didn't mean to though! all the kids wore these little masks all the time - don't wanna get sick i guess! and there is a normal change room over there. you put on a big skirt over your bottom half, then take off yours and try on the new ones. saves on space which is something they do well over there!

the teachers
i taught with some of the greatest teachers at my school! esther teacher didn't speak english, but were best of friends, and everyone just got along so well. we had lots of fun in the staff room and helped each other out in the classroom, and they just made work so much fun :)

the holidays
oh my holidays! this was a family from America (as they call the USA over there), and they were my family away from family. i went over there to eat and to hang out. i babysat them and got advice from them and just couldn't get enough of them! they had 4 girls at the time and have since added another one, and those girls are amazing! we had so much fun together, and not only did i get a great bunch of holidays, but i got home cooked meals in and oven and carpet in a house and stairs to climb and grass to play on - all things i didn't find anywhere else, and i just loved every minute of my time with them! i miss you holidays, and hopefully we can see each other again soon :)

my girls
amelia and chelsea were my everything while i was in korea. we did everything together and were pretty much hooked at the hip when we weren't working. we had so many great adventures together including mud fest, getting rained into a subway station, shopping, thailand, and just the every day adventure of being big and white in korea! haha there is something special about being away from your family and everything you know with 2 amazing girls, and it brought us soooo close! i couldn't have chosen any better people to ride the korea ride together with chickees, and i miss and love you guys forever and ever! sa rung heyo :)

2005 in korea was one of the best times in my life. i grew so much and learned to be comfortable in my own skin. it prepared me for the rest of my life, and i am soooo happy and grateful that i decided to take a chance :) now kris is there, and i'm jealous and so happy for her! i hope you're enjoying it as much as me kris, and korea..............sa rung heyo!!!!