Merry Christmas!

Well...it's almost December 24th here in Cheonan and so I figured I'd go ahead and wish all of my friends and family MERRY CHRISTMAS since I might not have a chance to get back on here before it's actually Christmas.
This has been an interesting holiday season...my first time out of the States for Christmas and it has kind of just snuck up on me. As I said before, I haven't really done much this year; I've let my kids at the hagwon color some pictures and we've watched some Christmas videos on YouTube, but I just haven't gotten "into" the season. It did snow last night which made it feel a little "Christmas-sy" so I feel a little more into the spirit tonight.
Maybe one the reasons I feel like this is because I can somewhat relate to Toby (from The Office) so just watch this clip and get a good laugh. The first 20 seconds are why I've posted this, but you can watch the whole thing if you just need a good laugh http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=VO87KW-jM9A Sometimes being single this time of year is kind of a bummer and being 7,000 miles from my family also makes Christmas seem a little less exciting.
Anyway...I don't mean to sound like a bum and honestly I feel ok, just haven't really had much of any feeling about Christmas. I have thought a lot about some of the past Christmas' I've had and some of the wonderful memories I have. One of my first recollections is that my Uncle Bill used to go and cut a Christmas tree for all of the families when we were kids. I remember one year he brought ours and we didn't cover it with a tarp and I think it had snowed a bunch, so there was snow and ice all over it. Well...I had really wanted to put the tree up and I remember coming home from school and asking Mom if we could put the tree up. The problem was we had to wait a day or two with it in the garage to thaw out so we could take it inside and I remember how bummed out I was. I remember how excited I was on several occasions when Gram Langston would come stay Christmas Eve with us and how fun it was to have her at our house on Christmas Day. I miss her! I remember all the time we'd open our presents and then go over to Shawcroft's house and see what they got, and then make the scary trip up to Somerset to Aunt Laura's house. I always just knew we were going to slide off the road and into the river and die on Christmas Day! HA! I remember how slow my dear sweet Mother would always open her presents (and still does) as all of us kids were waiting to rip open another present. Mom has always been so sweet though, and I've never met anyone who could seem more genuinely happy about receiving a home made soup in a Mason jar from her visiting teachers. I remember she would always write down every gift she got and from who...she might still have those lists, so if you're interested in what gifts she got in 1986, just ask her...she could probably tell you! HAHA...I just have to pick on my Mom. I remember the first year I was in St. George and I got fly home all the way to Grand Junction. I thought I was such a big boy back then...18 and all. I remember how sad I was when I had to leave to go back to Utah and as always many tears were shed at the airport. Back then remember your family could sit and wait for a plane with you and of course say "goodbye" and "I love you" 53 times before boarding the plane. I remember stealing candy from my Mom's glass Christmas tree containers one at a time and hoping she wouldn't notice. I really loved those Reese's mini cups and I'd eat as many as I could until I started to notice that you could see there was some space in the little tree. I'm sure Mom always knew it was me! I remember the little tiny Santa boots that we set out each year...with the marked "M", "B" and "R" so we could tell them apart. I remember the year Mer and I were bound and determined to catch Santa Claus and we were going to set up fishing string by the front door with some bells on it so he would get caught up in it. We planned that for a few weeks, but never did have the guts to do it! I remember getting up with Mer at about 4-5AM and putting together our Cliffhanger race car track...that thing was so cool with the cars climbing the wall. I remember drawing names each year and hoping I didn't get my Dad...I never did know what to get him! I guess I still don't and once Julie joined the family I think she's had him several times and he's always loved her gifts, so thanks Julie! I remember last year making a quick trip to see my family and then being stuck in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport all day!
I think the thing I think of each year though was how sad my Mom always is when the season is over. I remember she hated to take the tree down and put all the stuff up. As I got older I felt the same way, and I think I've got a lot of my Mom in me. All of the fun and food and friends...and it seems sometimes once the tree is down, and the lights are all rolled back up and put in the garage...well, people sometimes just go back to the daily grind and forget all those good times for another 11 months. Plus, the poor tree always looked so sad sitting there by the trash can with silver icicles on it.
As you can see...I have so many awesome memories of Christmas, and I'm thankful for wonderful friends and family that I've had to share them with. I pray that each of you remember that the birth of Jesus Christ of really the reason that we celebrate this time of year. I know it sounds cliche, but it is sooo easy to forget.
So...Merry Christmas to everyone and have a happy and safe New Year. I'll post some New Zealand pics when I get back in 2009!

I'll leave you with the lyrics to "Here was a Man", one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs:

Here was a man a man who was born in a small village the son of a peasant woman
He grew up in another small village
Until he reached the age of thirty he worked as a carpenter
Then for three years he was a traveling minister
But he never traveled more than two hundred miles from where he was born
And where he did go he usually walked
He never held political office he never wrote a book never bought a home
Never had a family he never went to college and he never set foot inside a big city
Yes here was a man
Though he never did one on the things usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself he had nothing to do with this world
Except through the devine purpose that brought him to this world
While he was still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him
Most of his friends ran away one of them denied him
One of them betrayed him and turned him over to his enemies
Then he went through the mockery of a trial
And was nailed to a cross between two thieves
And even while he was dying his executioners gambled
For the only piece of property that he had in this world
And that was his robe his purple robe
When he was dead he was taken down from the cross
And laid in a borrowed grave provided by compassionate friends
More than nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today he's a centerpiece of the human race
Our leader in the column to human destiny
I think I'm well within the mark when I say that all of the armies that ever marched All of the navies that ever sailed the seas
All of the legislative bodies that ever sat and all of the kings that ever reigned
All of them put together have not affected the life of man on this earth
So powerfully as that one solitary life
Here was a man

Random thoughts...

I can't believe it's only 10 days until Christmas...this year has flown by and I think back to the times when I was a kid and older people would tell me that each year goes by faster...well I think I have to agree with that. Hard to believe that just a year ago I was sitting in the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport all day Christmas since there was a massive snowstorm in Denver (which delayed all of the flights into Dallas-Ft. Worth). I'd had a great 24th with my family in Prescott, AZ and was heading back to Charlotte...what a boring and horrible day that was. Well, this year I'll also be in the airport most of Christmas, but probably a little more excited...I'm so excited to be going to Auckland for Christmas this season. I have wanted to go there since I was just a little kid, and so this is sort of like a dream come true...I'll try to take plenty of pictures and add them here for everyone to see.
The weather here has been weird...it's really really cold for like 4 days and then it gets nice and is pretty warm for about 3 days and then continues the cycle over again. It's not bad except for the nights I'm riding my bicycle back from the hakwon (Kids College) at 8 PM...then I do miss my Maxima and heat! Other than that...I've had a pretty good relationship with my bike. My tires had about gone flat the last few weeks, and I finally got some air in the tires, which has made riding back and forth to school ridiculously easier...amazing what some air in a tire can do. I had meant to get them pumped up, but the tire stems here are totally different and I couldn't figure out really what to do...so I just kept riding as they got lower and lower. I finally went to the bike shop where I bought the bike and got it aired up and the lady checked out my tube for any leaks...the cost was a whopping 3,000 Won, (about $2.25)...so I've been riding around on nearly flat tires the last two months to save $2, pretty smart! HA!
So I finally tried oysters the other night...not the best thing I've ever had. They were on top of some kimchi when I went out to eat the other night and I thought "well, I've never had oysters, so why not try them?!" It tasted kind of like how it smells when you go near a lake after people have been fishing and gutted the fish and left a few hours prior...at least that was my take on it. Almost all of the Korean food I've had here though has been awesome and I really love it all.
So as much as I love Korea there are a few funny things I've noticed here:
People love to honk their horns. I don't really know why or what causes it, but I can be riding my bike crossing the street 50 yards in front of a car, and I can guarantee that the car will honk their horn at me. At first it really would tick me off...now I just kind of laugh and think it's ridiculous.
Koreans love "fake brands." When I first got here I was baffled at how many women had Louis Viton hand bags...they were everywhere! I knew that they were expensive and so I couldn't really understand why I saw so many of them. Well...in the Seoul subway you can buy anything, and I mean anything...well, I finally figured out why there were so many "Louis Viton" bags, they were fake! They're like 10,000 Won ($7.50) for a purse, and so it all made sense then. I bought some really nice "handmade silk (wink, wink)" ties, 2 for 5,000 Won! HA!
Koreans love microphones and blaring their voice to everyone. It's nothing to hear the the apple or tangerine truck rolling by at 8AM on Saturday with a recording just blaring over and over, giving the prices for the fruit. I go to the local grocery store and there is a dude who just walks around with a headset on, talking non-stop about all of the different sales and pricing...I think a nice sale flyer will suffice! HA
Anyway...as most of you know I love Korea, and those are only a few funny things I can really find here. Most of the people here are very kind and appreciate foreigners who try to struggle with some seriously broken (maybe busted is a better word) Korean. I have had a lot of fun learning Korean, but I'm always so hesitant to actually speak anything since I think my pronunciation is so awful...but every once and a while I'll try to break out some new Korean I've learned from my book!
So...anyway, I just had a few minutes tonight and wanted to just say some random stuff...I don't even know if any of it made sense, and althought I usually give in to my OCD and read, then re-read, then re-re-read my post, tonight I'm just going to post it and forget if there are any grammatical errors, or things that just don't make sense!

Korean basketball

Sorry I've been SOOO horrible writing, I always have good intentions and then just don't write and then the days go by and then I just kind of forget or figure the stuff I was going to say is old news now. So...I'll be honest, these pictures are a few weeks old, but I guess they're still new, right?! HAHA

I had the chance to go to a Dongbu Promy basketball game a few weeks ago. I was actually pretty impressed with the skills the guys had...we're not talking LeBron and Dirk here, but still they were actually pretty decent. I have seen some of the guys balling at the playgrounds here, and I can say in all honesty that as much as I love Koreans...they are awful at basketball for the most part. They can certainly kill me in badminton though. Anyway...my friend bought some tickets for the game for 6,000 Won, which is about $4.50 and we actually had some pretty good seats. As I said over the summer after going to the Doosan Bears game...Korean sports fans are amazing. There is never a dull moment and they had a dude out leading people in cheers about 20 minutes before the game even started! In Charlotte we were lucky if there were fans 20 minutes AFTER the game started. They had balloons for everyone and they waived them around and cheered like crazy. Dongbu is by far the best team over the past 6 or 7 years, they had like 4 championship banners up in the rafters. In the Korean Basketball League each team is allowed 2 foreign players, I guess so the league isn't over run by foreigners. There were two really big dudes from the US and then some speedy Koreans. The game was pretty fun to watch and Dongbu pretty much dominated the game and destroyed K.C.C.

As I said, these pictures are a few weeks old, so I'll also include some pictures of the leaves changing.

I promise I will do better with this thing...that's one of my resolutions...so I'll do better for a few weeks and then not write again, kind of like my journals! HAHA

Thanks for reading!

Tongyeong

I had a chance last week to experience a "package trip" tour in Korea and I must say it was quite an experience and one I won't forget anytime soon. HA! Dana (English name, her Korean name is Mi Sun) who is our director at Kids College asked Sam and I if we wanted to go with her on a package trip down to the sea. Of course I said yes and so she said she would plan the whole thing. She said there would be a few stops along the way and people would try to sell us something, but then we would go to the sea and we could do whatever we wanted there. The trip was quite cheap because of course they are hoping to sell people on stuff along the way, and so to get them on the bus they make the trip quite affordable (20,000 Won). I figured what the heck, I can't really speak much Korean anyway so what do I have to lose...I could just look at the person and shrug my shoulders or say "molayo" Korean for "I don't know." We left Cheonan at around 7:30 AM, they fed us some kimbap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimbap on the bus, it was actually quite good. I had brought my MP3 and was hoping to get a little sleep on the way, however...as I have said before Koreans LOVE to talk on microphones, so our hostess started talking on this microphone and of course there was a big speaker right about my seat. I assumed she was welcoming all of us and telling us about the days events. I swear she talked for 30 minutes and went on and on. Right after she finished, she turned on this AWFUL music and of course had it cranked up...so there went my chance to get any sleep. We were riding along on the bus and then took an exit in a very rural area. After a few turns on a dirt road we pulled up into this little place that, much to my surprise, had elk in these little tiny corrals. All of them were de-antlered which was quite a surprise to me. So...we go into this little building and the guy starts to talk. I asked Dana what they heck he was talking about and I found out that Koreans (well some) like to drink the juice from elk and deer antlers...it is some sort of a health drink I guess. Of course since Sam and I were the foreigners he wanted us to drink it. He handed both of us some and usually I am cool with trying new stuff, but at 9 AM I didn't feel like drinking antler juice so I passed it back to Dana. After his presentation (which lasted about 35 minutes) they brought in all of these ladies to try and get us to buy this juice. I found out it was 350,000 Won for a supply! No one bought any and the guy was upset and so was our "guide" lady. So...we all piled on the bus and headed to our next stop. It was a Korean Black Ginseng place. They brought in some famous Korean wrestler guy (I don't speak Korean, but I can usually figure out what people are talking about) and he was trying to sell us on how great this product was. After him, another true salesman came in and talked for about 30 minutes. Of course...once again Sam and I being the foreigners he wanted us to drink some ginseng. I actually did and it was ok, but not all that great. They were trying hard to sell some ginseng and one lady bought, but that wasn't enough. So they started throwing in all of these free products. Well, the lady was upset then and she wanted the free products too, and after a little bit of talking they decided to give her the free items as well. Two other people bought the ginseng (for 500,000 Won! around $425) and so everyone was happy. Finally we were on our way to Tongyeong.

We got there at around 1 PM and it is a really pretty place. It is right on the Korean straight and there are tons and tons of little islands all over. The spot we went to had a gondola ride up to the top of a little mountain (this was included in the package trip) and so we hopped in the gondola and went to the top. The view was amazing and I really wish that my pictures would have turned out a little better. It was a little cloudy but still a really pretty view. Dana said on a clear sunny day that you can see to the Japanese island of Tsushima (well, with some binoculars. They had some set up that you can pay and look through it) which I think is about 70 miles from Tongyeong. I was happy to finally have seen the sea, as Korea is surrounded by water and I still hadn't even seen it yet.

We hiked around up on the mountain for a while and got some cool pictures and then had to head back. The bus ride home was quite long and so to make the time pass by some of the older Korean men broke out the soju http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soju and offered it around the bus. Of course I don't drink so I declined but Sam helped himself to some. Most of the people on the bus were in their 50s (I was the youngest person) and they were all having a good time and wanted to start dancing. So they out on some music and people started dancing in the isle of the bus...it was hilarious. There was a car accident and so we had to sit in traffic for a while and all was well until our tour guide announced that they would NOT be serving us dinner as they had earlier promised because of the traffic delay. Well...all of the drunk old men were NOT HAPPY and so they started yelling at the lady. It got a little tense but after some shouting and arguing, everyone calmed down and we made it back to Cheonan around 9PM. Wow...what a trip! HA! Dana said that was the first time she had been on a package trip and it would be her last too!

JiriSan Hike

Yesterday I had the day off at Kids College for Foundation Day (Gaecheonjeol in Korean), which basically celebrates the very start of the Gojoseon Kingdom in 2333 B.C. Jacob had invited me about a month ago to hike JiriSan (지리산) San means mountain in Korean. It is generally considered to be one of the three most important mountains in Korea. We took the train Thursday night after work and left Cheonan at around 8:40 PM and arrived at Guryegu Station at just after midnight. We stayed at a little motel very close to the train station, it was pretty cheap...about 25,000 Won (around $23) but it was a Korean motel, not a western motel which means you pretty much sleep on a blanket on the floor. HA! But we were able to get a shower and sleep, so it was fine. We woke up at just after 5AM and took a taxi over to the bus station in Gurye. The bus left for Jiri San at 6AM and we rode the bus for about 30 minutes up to the parking lot. The road was really really windy, but it was a beautiful, clear morning and the ride was very nice. After we got off the bus we started our hike...it was quite chilly and I had worn shorts because I knew later in the day it was supposed to be sunny and warm, so once we started hiking I was ok, my legs were a little cold, but not too bad. I have to say Koreans LOVE to hike, and they all dress the part too. They wear very nice hiking clothes, all have nice hiking boots, and most of them also have the hiking poles. I would assume that most of them spend around $500-600 on their "hiking outfits" which include the clothes, boots, poles and backpack. I felt a little under dressed in my shorts, t-shirt and Nikes! HA! Here is a map for a little reference to where we went yesterday http://www.san-shin.net/Jiri-Map.html If you scroll down about 1/3 of the page you can see "NogoDan Peak", well go just a little to the top left of there and you can see the "P" for parking lot. That's where we started at around 6:30 AM. The trail up to NogoDan was very steep, but pretty wide and it was paved, I think that National Park vehicles drive up the road. Near the top there is a shelter and we saw a lot of people that had slept out the night before and they were waking up and eating a typical Korean breakfast, which is the same as a typical Korean lunch or dinner, which includes rice, kimchi, seaweed, etc. They don't really have "breakfast food" as far as I have been able to tell. There is cereal and stuff at the store, but I don't think that most traditional Koreans eat that for breakfast. Anyway...we reached NogoDan at maybe around 7:30 because we stopped and relaxed for a minute at the shelter. As we got to NogoDan it was such a beautiful morning, the sun was just coming up over the mountains and the air was clean and crisp...a little cold but with the sun starting to shine it felt great! I wish that the pictures could accurately describe the beautiful scenery, it was amazing! On the map go to the right and up a little and you will see Banyabang Peak. We hiked to there and I must say, that is by far the most difficult hike I have done. Korean hiking trails are very steep and pretty much go right up the mountain as opposed to most of the trails I have been on which wind their way up the hill. Banyabang is the 3rd highest peak in Korea, and if you click on the name (on the map) you can read a little more about it and see a few pictures from some other guy who hiked it too. We took a short break at the top and ate our lunch and just relaxed for a little while. It is interesting to me to see all of the little rock formations that people make in Korea...they take little rocks and stack them on top of each other to form a little rock tower. They are all over and I think they look really cool. I asked my friend to explain and I think it is just sort of luck a good luck thing, similar to how people might throw a coin in the water. I am not sure, but I really think that they look cool, so I took a few pictures and there was a little tower near the top that you can see in the background. The view from on top was amazing and we relaxed there for a little while and then headed over to Samdo Peak (삼도). Sam is three in Korean and it is where three peaks all come together, you can also click on the name on the map and read a little more about the peak if you are interested. It was also a spectacular view down into the valley and Jacob told me that most of the valley was burned during the Korean war, so most of the trees are only about 50 years old (Korean War was 1950-53). The last part of our hike was all downhill so I thought it would be easy...I was WRONG! When I say hiking down a Korean trail is steep...that is a real understatement! HA! We hiked from Samdo down to Piagol Valley (straight down on the map from SamDo). It was such a difficult hike down that trail and today my legs and knees are definitely feeling it. The hike was beautiful though as the trail went right next to a small river that ran down through the valley. We caught the bus at Piagol at around 4:30 and headed back to the train station for our 6PM train ride back to Cheonan. We had pretty much hiked for 10 hours straight...we took a few breaks here and there, but for the most part we were on the move all day. I have no idea how far we hiked, but it was a long way! HA HA! The weather was so beautiful and it was an ideal day for a hike and I am glad I had a chance to visit one of Korea's most beautiful places!

Wonju Music Festival

Sorry I have been so lazy in doing my blog...I have meant to write and just haven't...so sorry!

Well, the last few weeks have been OK...teaching has still been very difficult for me, but there are some good days mixed in with some bad days.

I have pretty much just went to Seoul and stuff the last few weeks and not really anything unusual, but this past weekend I went to Wonju (about 2 hours away) and went to the Wonju Music Festival. It was really fun, there were some bands from all over the world (Australia, Canada, USA, Singapore, Ireland and of course Korea) and there were just different muscial performances. I also went to hike Chiaksan http://chiak.knps.or.kr/Chiaksan_eng/...and it was SO beautiful. The weather here this time of year is amazing and it has been really really nice the last three weeks.

This weekend is Chusak, which is basically Korean Thanksgiving...so, I get the day off Monday from Kids College and Friday, Monday and Tuesday at the middle school...so that will be nice! :)

I am doing well though...I guess I have just sort of fallen into the groove here of going to work and coming home, and that's about it.

So...sorry my blog is behind and this post isn't that exciting either, but at least here are a few pictures for you all!

Gagwonsa and Korean Independence day

Yesterday we celebrated Korean Independence Day and so NO SCHOOL!! I must say I was a little disappointed that there wasn't much going on as far as Independence Day celebration (at least nothing that I found or heard anyway), like I had hoped maybe for some fireworks or some kind of a big celebration...maybe there was somewhere and I just didn't find it.

So with any day off here I had to take full advantage of it and so I wanted to ride my bike up to Gagwonsa ("sa" means temple). It was a beautiful ride, but I must say at the time of writing this blog my knees are quite sore. It was a quite a ride, I would say maybe between 15-20 miles round trip, and some pretty nice little hills too! It was a really pretty ride though...there are quite a few fields out that way and since it is a little more rural, just a totally different feel to it. The bike path led up the mountain by a small stream and there were a lot of birds and flowers as I rode past...the countryside here is amazing.

With it being a holiday it seemed like there were a LOT of people there worshipping, the parking lot was clear full and there were quit a few full sized tour busses as well. There were quite a few different worship buildings and then I think the huge building is like the main place of worship. That was where most of the people were and the Buddhist monks were singing and playing their little drum and handbell for what seemed like an eternity. I wondered if they get sick of doing that, because I swear it seemed like they played for well over an hour. I heard that the Buddha statue there was a the biggest bronze Buddha in the world, since then though there has been a bigger one built somewhere in China...I don't know for sure though. I DO know that the Buddha statue was huge and really cool...you could see the head poke up over the trees. I enjoyed walking around and just seeing all the beautiful sights and hearing the sounds. Little things like that have made some of the best memories for me. One thing I thought was really cool is that there is a cafeteria there and I believe the food is free...I had read somewhere that most Buddhist temples offer a free meal. Well...I had my bag of chips and water and was sitting there just relaxing and I had two different people say something to me in Korean and then gesture towards the cafeteria as if to say "go eat there!" HA! I thought it was really kind, but I just feel like that food should be for the people who have travelled there to worship and really might need it...but I did think that was very kind. As with quite a few of the trips I have made, it started to rain on my way home. It was a light rain, and as soon as I made it about 2 blocks from my house it started to rain...and REALLY hard. I was glad I had made it back just in time!

Gyeongbokgung

Ahhh, another Saturday! What a wonderful day Saturday is! I left for Seoul this morning around 9AM and headed off to Gyeongbokgung, a palace just north of Seoul. It was constructed in 1394...but like most other historic sites in Korea, it has been destroyed by the Japanese 2 or 3 times. The pavilion that is surrounded by water on the west side of the palace (called the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion) appears on the back of the Korean 10,000 Won note. One of the most amazing things at Gyeongbokgung is the changing of the guard ceremony which occurs several times a day. Cheong Wa Dae...the Korean President's "Blue House," sits to the rear of Gyeongbokgung and on the original grounds of the ancient palace. It was established as the Korean president's residence in 1948. Gyeongbokgung also houses the National Folk Museum. When the Japanese occupied Korea, they constructed their governor-general's house in the middle of Gyeongbokgung to show their superiority over the Korean people. After the Japanese left, the Koreans used this building as their national museum, but it was finally torn down in 1993 to restore the palace to its original glory. I can't remember which pictures I posted from when I went to Independence Hall, but pieces of the governor-general building were sent to Independence Hall (after it was destroyed) and I did get some pictures, I will post one with my pictures from today. One thing I thought was cute was that there were a bunch of groups of Korean kids who were with their hogwans (learning institutes like where I work, they have them for math, science, music, etc. Koreans are hard core with education) for a day trip I assume. Well...I guess their teachers assigned them projects to talk to English speaking people because I was approached three times today by kids...it was cute, they were all really nervous and said they just wanted to ask me a few questions if I didn't mind. They asked very basic stuff like "Where are you from?" "What is your favorite food in Korea?" etc. I am amazed by the talent from some of these kids...I have tried to learn just a LITTLE Korean and it is hard to learn another language, much less when you are like 9 or 10.

Seoul is an amazing city and I always enjoy being there...it is fascinating. After leaving Gyeonbokgung I went to Insadong...it is a cool place but there are so many Miguks (Americans) and for some reason when I am here, I feel weird and almost uncomfortable seeing other white native speakers, regardless of where they are from. Anyway...Insadong is a cool place, tons of people and just some shops and basically you can buy about anything in that area you might want. I just walked around for a good while sweating...I never really buy anything...just look. I don't think anyone can have buyers remorse more than me, and if they do, I truly feel sorry for them! HA HA! I swear...at this rate I won't have anything from Korea when I come home...and I'll wish I had bought more stuff...I have no idea why I am like that so bad...but anyway, that's a whole other post! :)

This week in general was OK I guess...I picked up a summer class of beginners and so that was interesting. I had a chance to go with the missionaries on Friday night, it was a lot of fun.