Mom in Korea: Part I

I was trying to wait until mom uploaded her pictures before I posted about her trip here, but she's been busy settling back in and playing catch up at work so I'll put some pictures now and do another picture post eventually when she posts her pictures! She basically has all of the pictures with my students on her phone, so the cutest ones will just have to wait I guess!

So as many of you know, my mom traveled 6,000 miles from Oklahoma to visit me for 10 days! When I would tell people she was coming on June 29th and would get a very similar reaction from every person I told, "I can't believe she's coming at the very end! You go home a month after she leaves! That's dumb!" (Okay, they never said the dumb part, but with the way they said it, that was exactly what they meant!) So yes, it was a little crazy to come after I've been here for 5 out of 6 months, but like myself, my mother had never been out of the country before this trip, so she was about due! I am trying to infect her with the travel bug. lol Just kidding mom! I'll do a quick long rundown of what we did while she was here and throw in some cute (and awful) pictures of us. As I said before, the humidity was about 80% or higher the whole time she was here, so as soon as we stepped out of my room or the hostels, we were automatically nasty looking. 18 days until that sweet, dry, Oklahoma heat!!! Thank the Lord!!! I never thought I would miss that stuff!

Friday June 28th:
Mom left from OKC Friday morning, while I was slaving away cleaning my house, waiting for her arrival. ....boring, I know..it gets better.

Saturday June 29th: 
I woke up early and headed to Incheon Airport!!! After a very long 18 hour plane ride, mom arrived! And an hour early on top of that! From Incheon, we made our way to our hostel in Seoul with all of mom's luggage. After what felt like hours of lugging around suitcases and bags, we finally made it to our hostel. Mom showered and freshened up and we hit the town. Seoul was really a blur, and we didn't get to do half the things I wanted to because of the time crunch, but I took mom to her first Korean BBQ experience. Unfortunately  I've had way better, so I was a little disappointed that I couldn't show her how good it could be.  After dinner, we stayed in Hongdae (which is where our hostel was) and walked around there a bit. It's always so full of young college people and foreigners, so it's always where we  stay at when we go to Seoul. Next, I attempted to find the part of Insadong that I had been on my first Seoul trip. It was a much more traditional area of Seoul, shopping wise, so I thought that would be cool to find, but turns out I didn't do very good at navigating. After that didn't work, we headed back to Hongdae and I showed her the park we always go to. In Korea, there are no laws about public drinking, so this park fills up on weekend nights with young people drinking and watching the performers  Mom and I watched some dancers and singers for a little bit, then headed back to the hostel so she could rest and recharge for the week ahead. I promise, it really gets better than those two days. lol Hang in there...funny and weird things happen eventually.

Mom, being a pro at Korean BBQ!

This is how small a normal Korean body towel is. It's about the size of an American hand towel! This was at our hostel in Seoul. 

Sunday June 30th: 
We woke up and went to my favorite breakfast place in Seoul, Butterfinger Pancakes!! (I know what you're thinking, "Oh of course, your favorite place in Seoul would be about Butterfingers.") Well, jokes on you because that's just the name. Unfortunately,  I have more Butterfingers here in Gunsan at my apartment than this restaurant does. They've inspired me to attempt to make actual Butterfinger pancakes when I get back to the states though...in 18 days!!! But I digress. Butterfinger Pancakes is located in Gangnam, which is the nicest part of Seoul, so that was cool that she got to see the difference in a party, college area and a nicer, more upscale area. And we got to say "Oppa Gangnam Style", which is a must. Thanks, Psy. After breakfast, we headed to Myeongdong for some shopping. We did some browsing, a little damage at Forever 21, and got some of Emilee's favorite street food. Mom also really liked it! After a long day of running around Seoul, we eventually headed to the bus station and got our tickets back to Gunsan.

Sticky, sweaty messes in Gangnam! Op, Op, Op, Op, Oppa Gangnam Style! 

Street food! Sausage and Dak (Korean rice cake!)

A couple of funny things in Seoul: 

Oma is the Korean word for mom. We could over hear people talking about us when they walked by or when were were on the subway across from them. The very common situation would be them pointing at us, then saying a bunch of things in Korean, including oma (which is about all we understood. lol). This actually happened everywhere we went, but it obviously started in Seoul.

A man on the subway told me to sit, in Spanish. So mom and I sat, because in Korea, you do what old people tell you to, even if it's in Spanish. (Thank you Jesus for that one year of Spanish class in High School. It's really paying over here in KOREA.) hahaha So after we sit, he looks at me and asks if I'm from SOUTH AMERICA. (In English this time, even though I would have totally understood if he asked in Spanish...maybe.) Really sir, South America? Well, at least you got the America part right I guess. So he proceeds to tell me that he thought I was from South America, which is why he used Spanish to tell me to sit down. Then he also asked me if I knew Spanish, because I understood what he said. No sir, I can say sit down in three languages, it's just ironic that you happen to use one of the very few phrases I know in Korean, English and Spanish.

I should have written these posts as it all happened, because now I'm forgetting it all, but I'll add more funny things later as they come to me. In the mean time, it's bedtime, so keep an eye out for Mom in Korea: Part II!

-Kyla

24 Days!

 I don't want to post about mom's time here until she gets back to America and has time to upload some pictures! I will say that the weather was pretty much crap the whole time that she was here, and was SO humid the whole time, so we look like we didn't shower all 10 days, but I promise we did! So I apologize if we look awful in the pictures! We had a lot of fun and I'm really glad someone got to come over and see what I've been blogging and talking about! Until that post though, I'll update you on my remaining 24 days!!!!!

Side note: Mom left at 4:30pm Sunday, Korean time. The plane crash from Seoul to San Fran happened on Saturday Korea time, so we're safe there. Continued prayers for her safe trip, and for those in the plane accident as well.

I officially have 24 days left in South Korea! And on top of that, only 12 teaching days! It seems unreal to think that I've been here for 5 and a half months, but it happened and it was a great experience. I'm so close to going home that it's almost all I can think about! I just keep thinking about all the people I'm going to get to see, all of the delicious food I'm going to eat, all of the Target shopping trips I'll get to make, driving my car, having a dryer, not being sticky in this awful humidity all the time, and all of the fun little trips I have planned when I get back!

I have a 3 day teaching week this week because Friday is our Farewell Reunion Trip for the program I'm in, so that'll be fun. One last chance to see everyone before we head to all different parts of the world!

Then the next week I work all 4 days, but then that weekend is the Mud Festival. It's apparently one of the biggest, most popular festivals for foreigners living in Korea, so I'm really excited about that. Plus it'll basically be a mini-reunion again since almost everyone I know in Korea is going to it! Should be a good time of covering ourselves in mud.... haha I'm not sure, but it's really popular so I'm going with it!

Then, the next week is my last week with my kiddies :( It's bittersweet. Especially when I look back and think of the ones who almost had me in tears a few times at the beginning. It's funny how those little ornery ones are some of my favorites now. That weekend I plan on making one last Seoul trip to hang out with my friends in Seoul!

Then, that Wednesday I board the plane back to the US!!! 24 jam packed days, and it doesn't even stop there. As soon as I get back to America, I have to get things ready for school, find somewhere to live, and do all of the things I listed above, plus a Taylor Swift concert and a float trip!!! Now you can understand why I'm dreaming about America everyday! Can't wait to see you all! T-minus 24 days!

Mostly sweet 2nd graders! Little cuties! 

Sweaty messes because the classroom is hotter than ever and we can't use the AC, but my sweet 5th grader girls!

-Kyla

More Funny Things That Happen Daily

While most of North and South American's can be known as sun worshipers (guilty..), here in my new home, being tan is a less than desirable trait. Fair skin in Korea (and most other Asian countries I believe) is a sign of wealth. It doesn't mean you're particularly rolling in the dough, but you have a good enough job to not be a laborer who works outside all day, every day. This thought goes way back , but conflicts with the newer idea that if you have money then you can afford to go on beach vacations, ultimately leading to a tan. That's where things get tricky. Koreans combat this in a funny way. Long sleeves on the beach is a norm. Possibly one of the craziest things to me, because I do love a good tan. I just can't imagine traveling all the way to a beach (80% of the reason I love the beach is the sweet tan I get!!) just to sit in a long sleeve shirt, sometimes pants, inside a tent or under a huge umbrella. Oh! and the visors these people wear! It's almost always older women, but man! Those visors are big enough to shade a quarter of the beach you're on! And they aren't even just worn on the beach. These larger than life visors can be seen anywhere the sun is shining. These people don't play around when it comes to the sun.

Benchwarmers, anyone? 

Some of these visors can be accompanied by something I can only compare to a beekeepers uniform. Here I am, breaking the law by wearing a tank top, and the lady next to me on the bus is showing nothing but her eyes. I'm talking visor, shade thing attached to the visor, long sleeve, pants, tennies, and gloves! and it's like 80+ degrees plus more humidity then I ever knew was possible! I don't understand! It's so humid and muggy and all those other words that mean the same thing!

Similar to an older Korean woman's outfit on a midsummer's day.  All you need is hot pink, bright purple and  a sparkle/lace umbrella. 

A lot of Koreans really do wear shorts and short sleeves, I'm being a little dramatic, but there really is far too many still dressing like it's winter in order to protect their skin! Another example which is mind blowing to me for some reason, is the Korean who decides to wear a short sleeve, but puts on separate sleeves that go from wrist to bicep, making your short sleeve and automatic long sleeve, except the sleeves are made out of Under Armor type material, so they're skin tight and look SO uncomfortable. What's the point of throwing on the short sleeve if you're just going to cover up the skin that's showing with more sleeves?! 

While Oklahoma is finally coming to an end to the awful tornado season (I'm hoping!), crappy weather season is just beginning here in Korea. Monsoon season has begun, and is in full force until the beginning or middle of July. In girl language, that means constant ugly hair and no point in wearing make-up because it runs off as soon as you step outside. It's more muggy and humid here then anything I've ever experienced. Yuck! It's out of control!
With that being said, I'm going to name this Umbrella Season. I personally find umbrellas really annoying and have never owned one until I came to Korea. (and I only have to here because I don't have the luxury of a car, so walking in the rain is a bit obnoxious. My umbrella is not making the 6000 mile journey back home, that's for sure!) But lets take it back to the protecting the skin thing for a minute. Korean women (usually older women), remember the ones in the full, head to toe sun shielding outfits? Well, they also bring out umbrellas in the sun! Korea is a very crowded country, making walking space limited in some areas, and giant umbrellas don't help the situation at all. But now, these ladies are using umbrellas when it's sunny out too?! Gotta hide as much as possible! I can always tell how the weather is by looking out my window and observing the little ladies outside. If it's a normal, waterproof umbrella, it's a rainy day. But if it's a flowery, lacey, sequiny umbrella, it's a beautiful sunny day that I would be taking advantage of if I had a pool.

Another thing that I don't understand is that hospital patients just wander the streets near hospitals, saline drips in tow. I've walked by the coffe shop next to the hospital by my house more times than once and have seen hospital patients wheeling in their drips, ordering a cup of coffee only to sit in the coffee shop and enjoy it for a little bit before heading back to the hospital. Why are these people running around the streets?! It's also very common for a ton of them to be down in front of the hospital taking a smoke break or walking across to the convenient store and getting a snack in their hospital uniforms. It really grosses me out for some reason. haha I can't even go in that coffee shop because I feel like only sick people go there, when in reality, these people look completely fine. haha it's the strangest.

Well, I'm down to 42 more days left in little 'ole Gunsan. Even though I'm going to miss a lot of things about Korea, I'm pumped to get back and start up my old life again. I also have a ton of activities planned the first couple of weeks I get back, so that's not helping the countdown go any faster! My mom gets here in 10 days though, so that's exciting. I can't wait for her to see all these funny things. For those of you who aren't visiting, I'll attempt to get pictures of some of these crazy things so you can have a better understanding of it all.

-Kyla

Soju, Beer and Clown Cars

I'm pretty sure that if I lived in Korea for the next twenty years, I'd still be amazed by things every single day. Here are a few that have happened to me lately.

My co-teachers birthday was last Friday, so what better week to do a birthday lesson than when we have an excuse to have a birthday party?! I bought her a cake and it had to refrigerated so I took it down stairs to the teachers workroom/vice principals office to see if I could store it there before class. They said yes, so I go over and open the fridge up. What did I see? Well..have you ever been to a fraternity house and looked at their fridge? It basically looked like that. Rows and rows of nothing but beer and soju (Korea's super cheap, 20% alcohol, liquor). My elementary fridge is more stocked than a liquor store! Who is drinking this crap! Now I see why so many teachers hit the workroom after lunch. hahah jk.. I've never seen anyone drinking it at school, but it's there so it belongs to someone.

Okay, now remember the days of Super Kids Day? Or whatever you school called it where the students do relay races and games all day outside? Well Korea has a similar day called Sports Day. I say similar, because there are a few differences. The biggest one I can think of is an example from one of my friends. This is a true story, ya'll! At my friends school, there were 3 other schools involved in their Sports Day. My friend had to drink a glass of beer with each of the principals at this Sports Day. So while the students are running around playing, the principals and my friend, and probably other teachers, and sitting on the sidelines drinking beer. In the middle of the day. At a school function. Korea, you crazy!

Another crazy thing, on field trips, teachers bring ice chests. What's in the ice chests? Beer and Soju. Not sandwiches and juice boxes for the little kids, but beer and liquor for the teachers. haha At least they aren't sharing it with the kids, I guess. (I assume... lol)

Okay, enough about that topic. On to ambulances and fire trucks. I feel like I've mentioned this before, but it deserves the spotlight again since I've now seen this firsthand. I wish I would have video taped it on my phone but I was too busy standing there dumbfounded to do anything but stare. Okay, let me paint you a picture. We're at a four way intersection. An ambulance AND firetruck are at a red light, about five cars back. No one in front of them are moving, or even acting like they hear the obnoxious sirens that are right behind them. The traffic on the intersecting road is going like nothing is happening as well, obviously. Eventually, enough people in the ambulance line go right on red or just straight up run the red light. (Red lights don't mean much here. If there's an opportunity to go, you don't look at the color, you just go!) So finally the ambulance is at the front and inching his way out into oncoming traffic. The cars that have the green light are STILL not stopping or even acting like this huge ambulance is about to pull out in front of them. All of a sudden, the ambulance rolls down the passenger side window and shakes this little red lightsaber looking thing at the on coming traffic. That was their attempt at making those cars stop. Luckily, there were no more coming so they got to go, but I was just in shock! Clearly there was an emergency, but no one cared. If I need to be rushed to the hospital, throw me on the back of a fried chicken delivery moped/motorcycle thing and get me to the hospital! Those things know how to maneuver that traffic.

I swear there are no rules in this country! Except one that I know of, actually. You can be fined (I think it's 50,000W, which is about $50.00) for showing your shoulders or cleavage in public. So silly!

Okay, I know I've talked about carseats before and carseats are a subject close to my heart in America too, so this just breaks my heart. Buckle those sweet babies in, and do it correctly! There's no need in losing a babies life because of it being strapped in wrong. But in Korea, it's not uncommon to see a tiny baby (so small it can't even walk) riding shotgun on his mom's lap, along with the dad and two other toddlers all in the front of this single cab truck. That's entirely too many people in one tiny car, and three of those five people should be strapped in to a carseat! I've seen this too many times, and every time it breaks my heart. Especially since I've seen how they follow driving laws (or lack there of). The other day, I saw this tiny baby, probably 6 months, being held half way out of the window at a stop light in the back seat of an SUV. This is not the time to be letting your tiny baby sightsee around Gunsan! What if a car rams you from behind and your baby flys out the window!? Come on people, use your head!

But the real reason I brought this up is because of what I saw leaving the gym the other day. Again, I was too awestruck to videotape it, so I'll just have to paint the best picture I can. You know the clown cars where the clowns are stuffed in the car, then they all get out of the car and it seems like it's a never ending train of people exiting this tiny car? Well I witnessed that in real life, except substitute the clowns for tiny, 2 year old, adorable Korean babies. And substitute the clown car for a van. A van that possible holds 8 people, maybe 7. I'm talking a normal, everyday family caravan. Not one of those huge economy sized vans that the Duggar's or John and Kate, Plus Eight need to haul around their absurd amounts of children. I first got distracted by this situation because of a couple of tiny two year old Koreans in matching uniforms. That's just something you can't help but stare at! So cute! So then, more and more keep climbing out of this van and attaching themselves to the little line of kids in front of them! Obviously  I just stopped and stared at this for a minute. Actually, I stared long enough to count the number of kids that got out of the van. You know the game where everyone guesses the number of marbles in a glass jar and who ever is closest wins? Well if we were playing this game and you guessed sixteen two year olds and three adults in one normal sized seven to eight person van, you'd be right on the money! If you're lacking in the math department, like myself, let me just show you the totals. One van, we'll say eight seats, just to give them some help, and NINETEEN people. Yes, the two year old Koreans are smaller than my right leg, but that doesn't give you a free pass to stuff them in a van like a can of sardines and drive for who knows how long to take them to a movie! Oh, the things you see!

One last thing that isn't really about Korea, but is totally Korea's fault. I, Kyla Brown, can not access Target.com anymore! WHAT!!! Yes! I know, I'm so sad too. I like to browse occasionally just to see what cute sandals and other things I'm missing out on (I know, that's like putting salt on an open wound, but I can't help it) So I go on there a couple of days ago only to find that it says Access Denied! What in the world!? How is my access denied?! I'm a Target VIP customer. I keep Target in business when I'm in the country, and would to continue to support them from 6,000 miles away if I knew how to write my address in Korean! hahaha So I shared this sad news with my friends and Emilee claims she can still get on their website, so I'm not sure what's going on, but it makes me very sad and I hate it. Only 56 more days until Target and I can reunite and I can restock my wardrobe from head to toe!

Okay, thanks for listening to my ramblings! Tomorrow is Virginia and Emilee's birthday, so we're doing some birthday things tonight, and heading to a beach down south for a few days! I'm sure I'll only be filled with more interesting stories, so stay tuned!

56 days!

-Kyla

Hey! I Don't Know About You, But I'm Feelin' 23!!!

It all started on Friday when I got a birthday package from Kelsey!!! What a great start to a birthday weekend! Mail is the best, but birthday packages are just the icing on the cake! lol See what I did there?

Birthday presents with instructions! that's exciting! 

And its contents. All of my favorite things!

It was also my Korean co-teacher's birthday on Thursday, so all week in class we learned about birthdays and months and ages, and then Friday when Hyungkyung came to class, we surprised her with a birthday cake and cards from all the kids and I taught them American birthday games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey. It was such a success! I was too wrapped up in it to get pictures though :( I only got one of my kids playing balloon volleyball. lol

The birthday girl, her cake, and some of the 3/4 graders! 

Balloon Volleyball! 

 I'll be honest though, I was a little skeptical about my birthday in Korea. Besides the birthday package, it got off to a rough start when the beach trip that I planned ended up being cloudy and a little chilly. The weather said it would be cloudy until the afternoon, then sunny from then on, but it didn't get sunny until about 5pm, which also happens to be the time we pulled back into the bus terminal in Gunsan. lol So the beach was a no go. But we found starfish and other unknown sea creatures and people watched for a while, so it wasn't a total waste.

We got back to Gunsan and started getting ready for a night out on the town. I put on my new party dress and Laura and I met up with everyone at one of my favorite Korean restaurants and had dalkgalbi! It was amazing, as always. That'll probably be my most missed dish when I get back to America, so hopefully I can find a good Korean restaurant that serves it in the city.

After dinner, we went to our favorite bar, TLC! I was promised a free fire shot  from my favorite bartender, Billy. (He's the one who does the fire breathing trick in the video!) We hung out at TLC for a while and played some darts. As always, TLC was a good time, but we wanted to try and venture off to a club we had heard about called SL. (I know..so many letters...lol) So we get in a taxi and he takes us to SL. We get there and head straight to the restroom. After that, we go to the front door only to be told they just closed! It was only 1:20am! That's like 5pm in Korean bar/club times! Bars and clubs don't usually close until 5am or later, so we were completely shocked to see that they were closed so early. Knowing me though, I pulled the birthday card and they said, "Oh, birthday! You can go to the bar!" hahaha Score! So I go in and he tells me I can only have a beer. Yuck.. so I got it and we shared it between the four of us and danced in this empty club for a couple of minutes. We were clearly not wanted there though, and can take a hint, so we left and stopped at Lotteria (basically a Korean McDonalds) for a little midnight snack, then called it a night.

My sweet lady friends! 

Before the fire! 

During the fire! Sometimes little things like sparklers make me wayyyy too happy! haha

This was a magic trick. I eventually wrote my name on a card...then...

BOOM! This was on the other side!!! SO FUN! 

And here he is now...Don Harva AKA Magic Man! 

Billy! Now known as the fire breather! (the one in the video!)

Dragon boy! 

Today when I woke up, which was my actual birthday in Korea, I was feeling pretty sad. I just wanted to be in America doing America things like going to Target, eating Mexican food and a snowcone while laying out next to the pool. Then, Laura came over and surprised me with a beautiful, delicious birthday cake! After our little snack, we decided to go explore the lake/park by my house. What a gem that little place is! I'm so sad it took me four months to discover it!

Story break... Happy four month anniversary to me and Korea today!!!  Four down, two to go!

So we walked around this beautiful park and saw lily pads and lilies, coy fish, a ton of cute Korean babies and a rock wall! I didn't take my camera so I didn't get any pictures, but next time I'll document it for you guys. It was such a good find. I'm glad I found it before my mom got here. I can't wait to show her! (26 days until she gets here!!!!) It was such a nice day outside today, so I was happy to get out of my house and explore! Afterwards, Emilee came by and brought me a whole tub of my favorite Baskin Robbins ice cream and my birthday gift. These girls know me too well. lol She also brought me birthday gifts from Virgina and Lizzie.  I am just so happy to have them all here. Days like this make me sad to be so far away, but I was lucky enough to have these sweet ladies treating me like a birthday princess all day! We topped off the day with a restaurant we call "The Cheap Place". Clearly you can tell how wonderful it is by it's given name. lol It's another place I'll have to take my mom. Nothing's better than delicious, cheap Korean food!!

Birthday face masks! and my favorite Korean gum, some TLC money, and a Korean chocolate snack! 

Beautiful and delicious birthday cake! 

Birthday Dr. Pepper!!! YUM! It's not as hard to find in Korea as all the blogs I read before I came here said it was, but it's still a rare thing, so I was extra excited for this! 

ICE CREAM! 

Favorite fruit chews and granola bars! 

I'd say overall, it's been a great birthday. I celebrated 22 on the beach in Destin last year and 23 on the beach in Boryeong this year, so I'm excited to see what beach I have in store for next year. I also celebrated my birthday for entirely too long, which isn't technically possible I don't think, but since Korea's 14 hours ahead of America, I'm celebrating my birthday in Korean time and American time!! I've also gotten a ton of Facebook birthday wishes, so those are much appreciated and keeping a smile on my face!

Who knew that when I was 22 I would move 6,000 miles away and teach English to some of the cutest little kids in the world? Here's to making my 23rd year even better! Cheers! I can't wait to see what 23 has in store for me.

59 days and counting, people!

-Kyla

Buddha's Birthday and Other Happenings

After a not so hot week, today was great from start to finish. (It's not actually over yet, but with a wine and queso/board games party on the agenda for the rest of the night, how could I not assume this night is going to end great? )


I feel like I only share the good on here (except that one time I had to give the North Korea speech), so I'm going to get real for a minute with you guys if that's okay. ....if not, skip this next part. lol As always, I'll be sure to end with the happy and the good. It's extra good this time, too. :)

Let me preface this post as I have already said so many times before. I really do love Korea. It's a great, beautiful country and the people here are wonderful. I don't regret coming here at all, but when 6 months is up, I'll be running to the airport to get on that plane. It's the teaching part (ironically, the part that I'm here for) that gets me sometimes. The Korean school system is so different from the American school system. That's to be expected obviously, but sometimes it's just too much. I won't go into crazy detail, because really there isn't any, but it's very frustrating 3 out of 5 days. Looking at it from the Korean student's perspective though, I can see where they are coming from. If I was a tiny elementary student in America and got stuck in a room with 15 of my friends and one crazy Korean lady (or any other ethnicity that doesn't speak English) for 40 minutes every day and she didn't know anything in my language, I would find it difficult to want to listen and be there too. I get it, but from the other perspective  it's my job to teach these kids and I want to help them but it's close to impossible hard most days. Sometimes I wonder if it's just because I have been in so many American classrooms and I want mine to run that smoothly and for my kids to understand, but it's freaking hard when they understand about 2% of the words I say. I will say that my good days are great and I love it on those days. I've been asked if this experience has ruined me on teaching. My answer is, and always will be, no! I love teaching and I can't imagine doing anything else. BUT, as some people can teach children who don't speak their language, I prefer mine to speak my language. It's so much easier to control them. I know I'll have bad days when I have my own classroom in America too, but I know it will be different than this. And if it isn't whats another 10 years in college. lol jk..

On top of all that, my best friend moved to Arizona this past week. My little sister finished her freshman year of high school and my little brother finished his freshman year of college. (which isn't sad, but still..it happened and I wasn't there.) If you do the math, they're both on pace to graduate college before me. hahaha jk...I hope. Tornadoes ripped through Moore, a mile away from my boyfriend and his roommate's house. Luckily the house was untouched and they were at work when it all happened, but that's way too close for comfort. It also destroyed many of the places we like to go when I'm visiting them in Moore, as well as schools, homes, and the lives of innocent people. It breaks my heart to be 6000 miles away when all this is going on. I wish more than anything that I could be there to help with the clean up. My aunt also had her roof blown off her house, so prayers there as well. Your prayer list, if it's anything like mine, is probably so long you don't have time to sleep, but keep praying.

With all that out of the way, I think it's time to move on to something a little more light.

I can't remember if I said this last time or not, and I'm too lazy to go back and check but...my mom bought her plane ticket to come visit me!!!! I can't wait to show her all the amazing things I've discovered!!!

Last weekend was Buddha's birthday. Even though I'm not Buddhist, I love an excuse for a long weekend. My group of Oklahoma girls headed off to Busan on Thursday night. Busan is kind of like the Florida of Korea. Beaches, restaurants, bars, shopping. All the great things we needed on this long holiday weekend. On top of all that, a lot of foreigners,  especially from our program, were going to Busan as well. Reunions with these people are always fun! It was nice getting to see a lot of familier faces. We stayed at an amazing hostel and felt like royalty all weekend, got sunburns at the beach, stayed out entirely too late making new friends and having Korean soup for breakfast, shopping, visiting the aquarium* with possibly every other Korean in Korea and eating all that good Western food we'd been missing. It was a nice, relaxing weekend and I'm so glad we got to go. I didn't get many pictures for some reason, but here are a few I did get. I also got the sunburn of a lifetime.


*If anyone is reading this and planning on visiting Busan, personally, I think the Busan Aquarium is something worth skipping. I am no aquarium professional, but it's up there on my list of things I love right next to Butterfingers. I've been to a few in my day and this one claims to be much cooler than it is. It wasn't bad by any means, but for the amount of people and the price, Coex Aquarium blows this one out of the water. No pun intended. Maybe during a weekday it'd be better.

Haeundae Beach

Freezing water and a cute Korean girl laughing at us for being dumb enough to get in...to our ankles. 

Korean sun: 1   Kyla: 0     well played, Korea. 

So back to this week one more time. I have a fever blister bigger than Texas and so I was really nervous to go to school. It's bad enough to have everyone asking what happened, but it's a whole new level when I try to explain it to people who don't know the words fever blister. lol What did I do about that, you ask? Well, I told my 2, 3, and 4th graders I got bit by a lion. hahaha they believed me I'm pretty sure, and it was hilarious. They all said, "OH, TEACHER! A LION!!!!" So mean hilarious! Anyway, on Tuesday I called in sick because the fever blister had me feeling very under the weather, so my classes were cancelled. Today, one of my sweet second grade girls came to class even more excited than normal and hands me this....

Deer Teacher

I said, "Oh, for me?!" and she said, "Yes!! Open!!!" She was so excited, and I will admit that I was too.  So I opened the little home made envelope and pulled out this little gem....

Just wait, it gets sweeter. So then I open it and read it, trying to hold back tears. What a sweet little girl. Moments like this make all the other bad days okay. This also happens to be the smartest little girl I've ever met. Her English is better than most Korean college kids who have had English since 3rd grade. She's amazing and tells me her and her mother practice English at home all the time. Clearly that's a true statement. I guarantee this little girl wrote this letter without any help. I was so impressed. Read on...

It reads:

Deer teacher

Yesterday, do you have a sick? teacher, I want you'r health. Well, Good By

I love you

That's also a picture of me, clearly, and the speech bubble says, Hello? I'm Kella. lol Good try, kid.

Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever read!? Koreans have a huge emphasis on health and are very concerned about exercising and staying healthy, so in the second sentence she meant she wants me to be healthy. lol

And here she is now...Sarah! She's the little angel behind this sweet letter. Isn't she so cute?

Then there's this...

What is that, you ask? Well..remember the sweet old ladies who are outside sometimes when I walk to school? And remember how I gave them a little snack a couple of weeks ago? Well they were outside again today. I walk up to them and bow, saying hello. They say hello and then a few things in Korean. I don't understand what they're saying..still, until one of them pulls that candy out of her pocket for me! I take it with two hands, which is how you're supposed to in Korea to show respect and I bow and say thank you a couple of times in Korean. They laugh at my Korean attempts again, but you can tell they appreciate it. Sweetest little ladies. They really give me a good start my day when they're out there.

Okay, that's all for now! Thanks for reading. Love you all and praying for America, Oklahoma, Moore, and everything else.

-Kyla

Seoul Weekends

It's been a while since I've updated, so I'll go over the highlights of my last couple of weeks.
Speaking of highlights, my hair turned out great! haha I love it and was very pleased with my hairdresser. His English was good and we even talked about Kim Kardashian, so I was a happy girl! I'll give you a small glimpse of our conversation: (his name is Michelle, so for the purpose of this he'll be M and I'll be K.)

M: Oh, is this your first time getting your hair colored in Korea?
K: Yes! I needed it so bad!
M: Oh, you are sooo nervous?
K: No, I read a lot of good things about you before I came here, so I know you can do it.
M: Oh no! Now I have to do good! Scary!!    haha he joked like that a few times.

M: So, no orange hair?


K: PLEASE NO ORANGE!
M: (laughs) Okay, I will try to make no orange hair.

Four foils away from finishing my whole head:

M: I think I will make your hair lighter, okay?
K: Uh, yes please. That's what I wanted you to do.
M: Okay good, that's what I do.

hahaha Good thing that's what I wanted.

Michelle looking at a fashion magazine:

M: Kim Kardasian. She has baby with Kanye. Kim Kardashian no more. She ruined that now.
hahaha I loved it! He also serenaded me the whole time he was doing my head. Guess that's why he couldn't tell me about making my hair lighter until 4 foils away from the end. Totally understandable. lol He also took a break to go eat ramen. "It is my lunch time now, you wait." So I sat in my foils and waited like I was told. lol So glad it turned out well!

Look at that blonde hair! 

After getting my hair done, I explored Seoul all day by myself. It was actually really relaxing and nice to go at whatever pace I wanted. I was a little worried I would get lost bored by myself all day, but somehow I managed! That night, I met up with one of my new friends, Tab. She's from Texas and has been super helpful with Korea things since before I got here, so we met up and went to one of her favorite bars. We ran into two of her other friends and hung out with them all night. I met a ton of new people and the girls were so much fun. I eventually turned in because I had been up for so long, I was pretty tired. We all met up the next day for some pizza and getting ready before the concert that we never made it to. lol But that's okay, because we still had an amazing night in Hongdae. Those girls are so much fun! I can't imagine living in Seoul, it's so much fun! We ended the weekend with some much needed On the Border. It was Children's Day here in Korea, but obviously we celebrated Cinco De Mayo instead.

Three of the four new friends before a night out!

Monday was the start of the school week AND finals week!! It also marked the last week of college for many of my friends! Special shout out to Kelsey! I'm so sad I couldn't make it to graduation, but you made it and I'm so proud! Give me 5 more years and I may graduate too! hahaha But finals week ended, and it is officially Summer break for this girl. It doesn't really feel like summer break since I did all online classes and I'm still teaching all summer, but that didn't mean I didn't want to celebrate by going to Seoul! haha

After school on Friday, Laura, Emilee and I set off to Seoul. (Can you tell I really love Seoul? Because I do. haha) We made it pretty early and decided to go to Taco Bell for dinner. Ironically enough, we ran into two different TaLK scholars while at Taco Bell. Obviously we are all missing that crappy "Mexican" fast food. lol But what's even more mind blowing is that in a city of 11 million people, we somehow manage to run into TWO people that we know?! HOW?!? I love it!
We ended up going to Zen Bar for a little bit and meeting this awesome Korean couple. They were so funny and their English was pretty good!


The next day we woke up and went to N Seoul Tower. It's a huge tower that overlooks the city. It was pretty cool, I'm glad we went. We took a cable car up the hill to the tower, then saw the Locks of Love at the bottom of the tower. It's so cute. There are fences with thousands (or millions, I'm bad at estimating) locks and other things with love confessions written all over them. The story goes, you and your significant other are to come to the bridge together and put a padlock on the fence with a message attached. When you lock it, you put the key in a box so that the lock is never opened, because obviously that would cause your love to end. There were all kinds of different ways to express your love. We saw cell phone cases, pictures, a wooden spoon with loving words written all over them. So sweet!

These, my friends, are love benches. They are purposely slanted so you can sit as close as possible to your loved one. 

Writing something....

Left my mark on one of the Love Benches! 

Couples leaving sticker pictures of themselves. 

Picture locks! 

Cell phone case locks! 

This was so much sweeter in person, but this dad was pointing to things and telling his son stuff. I'm assuming he was giving him life lessons about love. It was so cute! 

Millions of locks! 

Seoul Tower in the background

N Seoul Tower

We went back after the tower and rested before going out that night to the Lotus Lantern Festival. This festival is in Buddha's honor and held in Seoul every year with millions of lanterns. We made it to the parade and saw a lot of cool lanterns  then made our way down to some river that was lined with lanterns and had so many onlookers it was crazy. But that's the way it always is in Seoul, I guess! We ended up meeting back up with my friends from last weekend and hanging out a bit before calling it a night.

Parade of lanterns! 

A fire breathing dragon lantern float! 

The river was lined with beautiful lanterns. 

On the river

Lanterns and people as far as the eye can see!

Sunday we woke up and headed to Itaewon for brunch. It was so good and western! yum!!! It was much needed. lol After a delicious breakfast, we walked around in Itaewon for a little bit, then headed to Gangnam. We went into Coex in hopes of finding a jacket I had been wanting, but no luck. We eventually headed back to the hostel and rested before dinner. We found so many good places this weekend. I can't wait until my mom gets here and I can show her some of them!

Look at that plate of American goodness! 

Today is Monday, and our schools were on vacation so we stayed in Seoul last night. We woke up and took our time getting around and then headed to a little restaurant called Butterfinger Pancake! If you've been keeping up with the blog, you'll understand how pumped I was to go check this little gem out. Unfortunately the closest Butterfinger was still about 6,000 miles away, but it was such good food! I was too excited about it to take pictures. lol I highly recommend it if you're ever in Gangnam! Imagine the deliciousness of a Butterfinger pancake though...omg. That may have just moved up to the top of my list of this to do when I get back to America...in 79 days...not that I'm keeping track.

We finally made it back to Gunsan and are preparing for a super short work week. I'm always off on Wednesdays, but school was also closed on Monday (today) and Friday we have off for Buddha's birthday. I'm not exactly Buddhist, but man I'm glad to have the holiday time! Thursday night we're making our way down to Busan to lounge on the beach and do some shopping. Should be a wonderful weekend! This white girl needs some sun and some cute new summer clothes!

Love you all, thanks for reading and have a good week! :)

-Kyla

Just a normal time trying to exit the subway station

Found this little lady! 

Also found this! What in the world!!! 

And this! KD!! OKC represent!

And last, but definitely not least....check on this chunky little Korean nugget. omg I'm dying. I love him so much! We danced the night away in confetti covered streets! He was totally into too, if you can't tell by the excitement on his face.

Okay, the last two sentences are a lie. I may or may not have scarred him for life. He will likely hate foreigners forever, but I'm not even mad about it. He was too cute not to dance with. Omg I melt every time I look at this picture! Unfortunately, our feelings towards each other were not exactly mutual. haha

OMG! Look at those cheeks! Korean babies are the cutest!