Say What?

It's been a long time since I've posted, and there's nothing earth-shattering going on at the moment, so I thought I'd post something I've been meaning to post for quite some time. From the moment I arrived in Korea, one thing has been quite obvious: Koreans don't have English-speaking foreigners proofread their signs before they translate them into English! I laugh myself silly nearly every day when I see something so absurdly written that it surely couldn't have been the original intent. Or Korean words that are translated into English letters and take on a brand new meaning. Here's just a few that I've found. Enjoy! (I'll explain a little when necessary.)


In case you can't see it, it says. "The Bird. If I am cautious like the flap of the small bird which sat down on the branch of the tree..." And...? Can't really picture a tough guy in chaps and tattoos on this thing!



Probably not the message they were trying to send. Humanitarianism, maybe?



First of all, "information" is both singular and plural, but it gets better. Apparently, there are many different types of heritages here on the grounds of the royal palace! And the list of what you can't bring in just cracks me up!



This is actually the cover of a blank notebook I bought at the stationary store. Maybe it was to encourage all those kids that are forced into academies by their parents.



This is written on the outside of my stationary. Not printed anywhere inside, just the wrapper. Could be a suggestion for what they should write inside! "Please always know that I love you more than anything else in the world. Ever since I met you, things are looking 'preety' good. Being with you makes me feel so happy."



Can we say "knock-off?" (This one's for you, Tamla!)



At Kraze Burger (pronounced krah-shey by Koreans). "Please, Remove the color fork before taste the menu. It might cause the safe problem." Get's me every time!



At a ritzy hotel's ritzy buffet. I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw the sign...and how disappointed I was when I opened the lid. Obviously, I didn't read the explanation.



The teacher in me is twitching.


That's all for now, folks, but there's plenty more where those come from! Stay tuned for part two!

Days like these...

It's days like these that make me love Korea. This week has been extremely busy, but absolutely wonderful. It's times like these that make me realize just how blessed I am to be living this lifestyle at this point in my journey. I think sometimes God throws weeks like this at us just to remind us that we're living in His will. He's a pretty great God! For those of you who don't know, my love-language is time. I just LOVE to spend quality time with people, and I feel loved when they want to spend time with me. Of course, God knows this, and this week I felt very loved.

Monday - After school, I went to teach my North Korean students. Normally, after the lesson, we go for a quick bite to eat upstairs. This day was different. The director was there and decided that everyone, every student at the school that night, would all go out for sam-gyap-sal, which is strips of pork cooked on a grill with a bunch of other things that are flavored by the juices of the pork. The director kept ordering more and more, and we sat and talked for hours.

Tuesday - A free night turned into visiting my Korean friend at my favorite coffee shop. I hadn't seen him in a while and we sat and talked for a couple hours. Then he drove me home (a whole block and a half!) in his brand new car. Haha!

Wednesday - I went to dinner with a dear friend from work (a Korean homeroom teacher), his wife, and his brother. We went to On the Border, the Mexican restaurant from the States. Koreans usually eat quick and go, so I was expecting an hour tops. But THREE HOURS later, after more laughing than I've done in a long time, we reluctantly decided it was time to go.

Thursday - Another free night, turned into an evening helping a Korean friend prepare for the ACT so he can go to university in the States. I got to spend time with my coffee shop friend again, and had a wonderful meal of Japanese noodles with a side of great conversation.

Friday - Had a lovely dinner of Japanese noodles, again, with friends from work. Best part, besides the people...it was literally steps from my apartment. My ACT friend showed me how to order there last week. Then afterward, one of the friends came with me to my coffee shop (I know, again). On the way, I told her it was like my Cheers, and boy, was it ever! She and I sat and talked for a while over lattes and a fabulous brownie. Then we were joined by my new Korean friend, Brown, who I helped a few weeks ago with an English job application. Then my friend, Min, joined in, and Brown was replaced by Min's friend who was dying to speak with us in English but was SO shy. Added in was a little sprinkle of the shy hello's from the other worker. And not only that, but my work friend came back to my place and we sat and continued our lovely chat. PLUS, she showed me how to work my rice cooker!

A week of friends and laughter and quality time. God's blessing manifest though people.

This, my friends. This is why I love Korea. I have officially finished my first month of my second contract. It's had its share of drama, but days like these put it all into perspective.

THAILAND!!!!

In Korea, Christmas is not a huge holiday and people don't get much time off work for it. This came as quite a shock to my teaching mentality of having at least two weeks off at Christmas time. My students actually had to attend school on Christmas Eve! It was only a half-day, but still! Well, I only got a week off, which was absolutely not enough to go home for Christmas. What is one to do when they are without family for the holidays? They travel! I was lucky enough to travel to Thailand with my wonderful friend, Tamra. We spent four days on the island of Phuket (pronounced poo-ket), and four-ish days in Bangkok. Here's a photo log of the amazing journey.
My computer is having formatting issues, so I apologize if the pictures seem to be in a strange order. Also, this is only a fraction of the pics. If you want to see the rest, you can check my Facebook account.
This yummy goodness is nothing but ice and watermelon. It costs about a dollar, and I drank my fair share of them.

This is Karon Beach, and in the distance, in the trees, is Karon Cliff, a hidden oasis of quaint bungalows far enough away from downtown to be relaxing, but close enough to walk there for dinner or a Magnum bar.

Sunset on the beach.

At the hotel, this is where we sat every morning for breakfast. Seriously, it was like a dream.

Though Thai food is at the top of my list of cuisine that I like, the culinary highlight of the trip was at our hotel. Every Sunday night, they have an open-grill buffett. Ribs, chicken, fish, hamburgers, potatoes, garlic bread, Thai dishes, and salad for about nine dollars.

The first adventure was elephant trekking through the jungle. Our elephant was Sadah. She was four years old. It was a great time. Something I never thought I'd do. It was followed by a visit to the Big Buddha at the top of the mountain. Visiting those types of monuments always makes me a little sad.

































I have family friends who loved to get things tailor-made in Thailand because it's so cheap. Well, I can't really buy clothes in Korea and I didn't have a cute coat to wear with dress clothes, so I figured I'd just go for it. It was strange being fitted for a winter coat when it was 95 outside, but I loved the outcome (This is not a final photo. It actually turned out to be about two inches shorter. Doesn't sound like much, but it makes a huge difference.)









Thai massages on the beach. One hour for nine dollars. This is the life!















Next adventure. A three island tour (no, not a three-hour tour). First was Maya Bay where the movie "The Beach" was filmed.






























Next: Phi-Phi Island (yes, pronounced with two p's, not two f's, and no one giggled). This inlet is called Monkey Beach for obvious reasons. Each time we disembarked, we had to wade through knee-deep water to get back to the boat. This time, going back, the mixture of rocks and the currents caused me to lose my balance and my camera went into the water for a fraction of a second. It's ruined. This is the last picture I took. But Tamra is a good friend to me, and let me take whatever pics I wanted with her camera.


The third island was Kai (which means egg) where we ate a great lunch and relaxed on the beach for the rest of the day.













Next stop: Bangkok. New Years Eve began with a ride in a water taxi. It was interesting, but a bit of a let down with the smell of diesel and the murky water.












The reason for the water taxi was to visit the royal palace and temple. This was one of my favorite parts of Bangkok. Quite beautiful. This pic is the temple...
















...and this is the palace.













New Years Eve night was spent with some people from Seoul. Tamra met them at orientation a year ago. I thought it was pretty amazing to be with other Seoul people in Bangkok.

















New Years day was spend shopping, shopping, shopping. I'm not a huge fan of shopping, but I LOVE haggling for a good price. It's my drug of choice.

































Magnum Bars = heaven. I found these with Dad and Anneli in Finland, then again in Spain. They aren't sold in the States, and are, in my opinion, much better than a Dove bar. I bought one nearly every day.


Next adventure: The Floating Market. This is literaly a market place on water. We were taken in by boat to buy goods from other people on boats. Amazing. This is also where I saw a kamodo dragon in the water! Holy cow!
















A stop to see the bridge where the Japanese transferred it's POW's from coutries all over Asia and some from the US.














Final adventure: Tiger Temple. Tigers everywhere! Not sure if they were drugged or actually sleeping on their own. I'm hoping the latter. This is reportedly where monks take in abandonded or injured tigers in order to restore them back to their natural habitat. They make a pretty penny while the tigers are there. It was really cool to touch one, though.
































At the airport, not so ready to go back to freezing cold Korea. But the trip ended the way it should...with ice cream. And from Dairy Queen, no less! It was truly an adventure. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to see this amazing country and with such an amazing friend!