Ormans 1st Christmas.

As all of you know, Cory and I are many miles away from a "traditional" Christmas season. However, our Christmas turned out to be amazing! Since we are in a different country and we are not really "gift people," we decided to write 10 favorite things/memories about each other. This gave us a chance to reminisce over our friend, dating, engaged and now married stage. Cory kept saying I was like a child on Christmas morning, I was so excited to open my box! :) We took turns reading our memories and encouragements from one another. As we were reading, both of our hearts were filled with love and joy. There might have been a few happy tears shed as well (from both of us). It's just so amazing to see where God has taken us. Not only has He moved us across the world, but He has made us grow so strong together. I think we were both reminded of that on Christmas morning. It was beautiful - something so simple turned into a Christmas I think we will never forget.

Vacation plans - MADE!

Yay! Cory and I just purchased our tickets for vacation! In Korea, school gets out in December and starts back up in March. From December until March, Cory and I will be working at English Camp. We work for 2 weeks, have two weeks off, work 2 weeks again and then 2 weeks off ~ and then school starts! Our working hours are from 9-5 even when we are at English Camp. However, English camp is only from 9am-12. So what do we do until 5pm!? We have DESK WARMING! Yes, my friends that's what it's called. Cory and I will be sitting in our offices until 5pm. We have the option of working on lessons, surfing the web, watching movies...etc. It's a little bit of a bummer, but a least we are getting paid for it. As well, we are getting a paid vacation, so we have decided to go to a few places! Check out the map below... 

From South Korea, we will be first heading to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia (you can see the red circle on the map). We decided to fly there because it was a lot cheaper than going straight to Thailand! Kuala is the Capital of Malaysia so therefore it is a big city. It has the largest twin buildings in the world and many sites to see! It is a very touristy place, but I think it will be a great place for us to check out. Plus, we are so close to the bordering countries. We would love to spend a little time in Singapore if we can figure out how to get there. Also, they have ferry rides to Thailand, so we plan on spending a lot of time there as well! 

Next, we will be heading to Thailand. This is the number one place we decided on visiting. Close to Kuala Lumpur, you can see Phuket, Thailand (green circle) Thailand is known for it's beauty and especially its beaches. We are so excited to unwind and relax there! Below I have a few pictures of places I would love to see while traveling! We will be leaving on February 18th-29th - it can not come soon enough! :)

> Petronas Towers - At a staggering 452 meters in height the Petronas Towers dominate the skyline in Kuala Lumpur. The Petronas Towers are the worlds "tallest freestanding" towers in the world housing an assortment of office buildings, a contemporary concert hall and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in the Petronas Malaysia Philharmonic Hall.

> Rainforest and canopy walkway tour -Take a walk on the canopy walkway which is suspended 30 m from the ground and is over 200 m long. You will enjoy a breath-taking view of the city and its greeneries. There are also lots of fun activities for the family like camping, picnicking at the waterfalls and jogging.

> The beach. Do I need to say more?

Like I said, we can not wait for vacation! :)

Lunch - always a surprise

The first week lunch was quite an experience. In Korea, teachers do no bring their lunch to school. You can, but they will definitely think you are strange. They want you to try their meals and they will watch to see your reactions. The first few weeks Cory and I only ate the white rice. Every thing else was either spicy (which Cory liked) or fishy. I definitely lucked out with my teacher being a picky eater though. She also does not like many Korean dishes, so she would not ask me to try them. By the end of our work day… Cory and I would be soooo hungry! Therefore, I challenged myself to keep trying the food. Then all of a sudden, one day I could not wait to get to lunch to eat KIMCHI! Kimchi?!? You have got to be kidding me?! But yes, I actually love it now; nothing like fermented cabbage in spicy red sauce for lunch. I can’t even explain it but I am now eating all of this Korean food and I actually like it! Before, coming here I could not even eat a hot Cheeto, and my have things changed. I am still not used to fish. I actually gag every time I accidentally eat it. I tell them I am allergic here… haha which I think throwing up in front of everyone kinda counts as being “allergic” ;) Some days lunches are amazing. We may have Korean curry, orange chicken, broccoli and cheddar soup, delicious fruit, beef, and of course kimchi. But, there are definitely the days when they plop a fried fish on your tray along with fish soup. Those are always the meals that the students love. Thank God for the white rice on those days :) Today I happened to eat a lot of my lunch and dare I say I am becoming a master at chopsticks! I have been getting quite a lot of compliments now instead of laughs and, “why don’t you just use your spoon.” Lesson learned – always challenge yourself to try new things!

 

 ^ typical Korean lunch

Cultural Differences - Students in Korea

 Students RUNNING everywhere

Another interesting finding in Korea is when you walk around the hallways in the school, you will ALWAYS see students running around – Never walking, ALWAYS running! It’s funny because as a foreigner, you are not sure if they are supposed to be in class. They are just running everywhere! I have observed other teachers and they just kind of laugh as the students run by – so now I have been starting to do the same. Of course, my Westernized teaching wants to tell them to stop or say “WALK” but it’s just what they do here. Kids fall down all the time, they bump into each other, they get hurt – but yet they hardly ever cry.  

Chores

As well, when walking the halls you will not only see students running, but they are usually carrying a broom! That’s right; the students are in charge of cleaning the school. They all run around with little brooms, mops and dustpans. Many times I see them smacking each other with them, so I am not sure how much cleaning is actually being taken care of. As well, the students clean the teacher’s classroom. I had a bunch of garbage in my office when I first got here. I asked my teacher where I could take it and she responded… “Have the students take care of it for you.” It’s so different than back home. I mean, it is kind of nice I suppose… but asking a little 10 year old to take my garbage out to the dumpster - I guess I haven’t had the heart to do that yet.

Showing Love through "Violence" ?

This is probably the NUMBER ONE thing Cory and I first noticed in our school. The first week of teaching, Cory and I saw a boy lying on the floor while another boy kicked him in the ribs. Cory broke up the fight (between two 7 year olds) and one boy ran away! Cory went after him… but the boy just kept walking and would not listen. In our minds, it seemed very disrespectful. Right away, Cory told his co- teacher and she just laughed and said “they’re kids.” We were a little in shock… a 7 year old boy getting his ribs kicked – it sounded pretty serious to us… but no. You see, in Korea they tend to be a little more aggressive. I want to say the word ‘violent’ but I can’t because often times the person that is being “abused” is not crying – they are simply laughing! Often times you will see students that are friends just smacking each other! In one of my classes, 2 girls kept hitting each other the entire class period. They even took turns! “Okay hit me as hard as you can. Okay, now let me hit you.” – is what seemed like was going on. Or, a student will just come up to another and punch them in the back, head, kick them in the leg…the list goes on! Hitting in the States does not fly in schools but here it is okay. Plus, the teachers don’t do anything about because it’s just part of their culture. Even in bus terminals or out and about, you will see teenagers and young adults hitting each other. It’s like how they show love? I don’t know…something I don’t understand and also can not find myself getting used to.

Student/teacher relationship 

This is VERY different compared to back in the States. I had a “freak out” moment the other day as one of my 6^th grade boys walked into my very small office and shut the door behind him. Right away I thought, “okay this looks bad.” My thinking just went back to: You NEVER have a student alone with you, especially one of the opposite sex. Of course, nothing happened. He simply came in to see what I was doing on the computer and to talk to me in English. In Korea, students and teachers have a completely different relationship. Teachers are viewed in an extremely respectful way (even though it may not seem that way when teaching) but outside the classroom, students usually treat you with the utmost respect. It’s funny to see my worst students in the classroom giving me a complete half bow when they see me. As well, teachers will sometimes drive students somewhere, or walk with them places… it’s just not weird here.  

Cultural Differences - burning calories.

Temperature in school  

One of the rather irritating/confusing aspects of Korea is the temperature in the school. Now, I sometimes can exaggerate but I made sure to ask Cory before posting this. Every morning Cory and I walk to school together. It is so wonderful that we are at the same school! However, you would think that when we reached our school we would be relieved by taking off our scarves, hats, and gloves… think again. One of the things Cory and I just can not wrap our brains around is the temperature in the school. As you walk around the halls, it is 45 degrees! I am not kidding, 45 degrees INSIDE a school building! On top of that, the students like to run around and open all the windows… that have no screens by the way. One of these days, I fear a student falling out of the window! Every day I wear MANY layers! – including my fleece and winter coat. There are times when I see my breath in my office (which is not heated) and times when Cory has come to visit me and my lips are purple! We have talked to the teachers about it and they said the classrooms have their own individual heating but not the hallways. It is due to budgeting, and is found in every school here in Korea. Luckily, I have a space heater in my office now.

Also, since we have to take our shoes off -many students are running around in just socks and get this…barefoot!!! They even run outside like that. This is just so interesting because I remember teaching Kindergarten last year in the States, and if it was a tad cold in the classroom…the students would cry! Therefore, you had to walk into the closet and press an “imaginary button” to “heat” up the room. Differences between cultures are so interesting to me. We are learning so much here!  As far as the frigid school, we are getting used to it… but its still one thing I don’t know if I will ever fully understand.

Hey- at least I am burning calories by shivering so much! ;)  

My new best friend! The Space Heater :)

.Too RiskAy for Facebook.

This weekend Cory and I went to Suncheon! It's exciting that we are really starting to understand the bus system here. Our friends from orientation planned this trip to all meet in Suncheon, which is about an hour bus ride from our small town. There were about 15 of us so it ended up being a BLAST! It was so nice to just relax and talk to people normally. Cory and I have been a little nervous that our speech will be a lot slower when we arrive back home. When talking to Koreans all day, you need to speak slowly and use the most simple words. I give them so much credit though! I mean here we come in not even knowing ANYTHING in Hangul (Korean). It would be like a Spanish speaking person coming to the USA not knowing anything at all (and I mean anything) in English. And it's up to YOU to communicate to them in the little Spanish  you may know. Seriously, I give them props! Anyway...enough with that tangent.

We went to Suncheon and checked into a "love motel." Now this explanation is a little too "saucy" to put on facebook, so I thought I would explain it here. In Korea, a love motel is VERY nice! It was $50 bucks a night and let me tell you, it was snazzy! Anyhoos, my teacher's friend explained to me that a love motel is where young people go to.. well I guess do "love things." Koreans live with their parents until they are married so a lot of times when they go out to the bars or on dates, they do not have privacy. So they check into a love motel! So with that being in my previous knowledge, we finally arrived.

The motel was called The Greece Motel. It was super duper nice. We opened up the door and were amazed. For $50 a night, I was expecting a single mattress on the floor that we would have to share.

BEST PART: We ended up looking around. The motel had free internet, a mini fridge, a flat screen t.v., hot and cold water dispenser and a shower with HOT water :) Then, I headed toward the bed and saw a remote control next to it. I am too curious to not push buttons when I come across them so I did. Right away I heard this strange noise. "Where is that coming from." I had never really heard anything like that. Then, right before my eyes I saw the middle of the bed moving UP and DOWN!!! There was a machine built into the bed! Cory and I were dying of laughter. We sure were at a love motel all right! Plus, they gave you a goody bag when you arrived with condoms...oh my. They are serious about these love motels.

I'm sorry if this post is a little too riskay but I could not pass up the humor! It was so hilarious, so I hope you got a laugh out of it :)

 The view on the way to Suncheon.

The Greece Motel

Our room :)

snapped at for saying "Thank You."

Today was a funny day. I absolutely love Korea, but some things are just so strange. It's funny how in the States I took a lot of things people said to me straight to the heart. But, in Korea...I am beginning to understand how to take things more lightly. It's a good thing :)

For the last 4 days Cory and I have not had hot water or heat in our apartment. It's been 60 degrees in our apartment and our water feels like ice.  For "showering" we have been warming up water with our kettle and taking "sponge baths." -well at least I have ;) It's been quite the experience. That's why we were so happy to visit our friends in Suncheon and stay in a motel for a night. At least we could have a decent shower!

Well, arriving to school on Monday, I told my teacher about the heat problem as soon as I arrived. She and Cory's co-teacher wanted to help us right away. They viewed it as an emergency situation which was very thoughtful of them! So, My teacher ended up calling the "boiler/heater people" to fix it. Cory's teacher took me to the apartment to check out the boiler, then she drove me to buy an electric blanket, THEN she took me to the Kindergarten (Yu-Chi-won) I teach at to discuss lesson planning with the teachers that do not speak English. Of course, all throughout the day I kept saying, "Thank you." I mean they dropped everything to help us! It seriously means so much. Well, after pulling back into the school parking lot, I sincerely told Cory's school teacher, "Thank you SO much, I really appreciate all your help." annnnd she said "Stop saying thank you!!" I was a little taken back at first, but as I know Koreans are VERY blunt, so you have to try not to take it so personally. I told her I was sorry, and then it was like the look-- dont say sorry! Oh man... Soon she explained though that in Korea, saying Thank You is a VERY honorable thing to do, and what she is doing is not honorable but it is simply her job.

I understand, but still how am I going to stop saying thank you!? I can't, and now I am SUPER self-conscious. She said I need to stop because she does not know how to respond. Remember, his teacher is a GEM! She is so sweet. It's just some things sound blunt because of the limited amount of English one may know. I guess it's just kind of awkward for them to keep saying "you're welcome," or "don't mention it."

So, I guess I learned a new lesson that I never thought I would - stop saying thank you...?

*Highlights of the Week*

We figured out the Bus system! Now this was quite the task. It's so funny living the life of having no idea what you are doing. Cory and I showed up at the bus station and we bought our ticket successfully. But, the whole not being able to read anything else is a whole other story! The best way to figure things out is to keep asking people until someone gives you an answer in English. Cory says I am pretty brave for talking to all these strangers. Well...I guess I am my Father's daughter :) So, we knew we had the right ticket but we did NOT know:

1. Where the bus terminal was

2. What time the bus would be leaving

3. When the last bus came back to our town.

At this point, we needed to figure out 1 and 2 so that's when the questioning began! To our wonderful surprise I recognized a teacher that works at our school AND she speaks English. We just stuck with her and she explained the whole process. We knew how to get to Gwangju... but understanding how to come back home... I guess that was something for Future Cory and Future Michelle to figure out... 

With that being said, I am happy to say that we did make it back! It was not easy and we ended up looking for hotels in case we couldn't understand, but we got on the right bus and were back home shortly! 

Figuring out public transportation in a foreign city- Definitely a highlight!

McDonalds! It's so funny how we crave McDonalds as soon as we know we can not get it. However, we found it in Gwangju! Just a 40 minute bus ride away- haha. For the record, this happened to be the best McDonalds we've ever had. All the wrappers said "made from 100% beef"... not sure if that's true or not but it was mighty tasty!

^ T.V.s as you are riding down the escalators of Homeplus ^

HOMEPLUS!!! We finally found "Walmart"!!!!  

Homeplus- my my my what a breath of fresh air! Imagine living in a town where the closest Walmart or Target is 40 minutes away.... that's our life right now. I know it sounds bad, but you get used to it. It gives us the opportunity to take weekend trips to the city which is a nice break from the routine!

Seriously though- Homeplus... HUGE highlight of the week!

One of the first things the teachers noticed when arriving to the airport in Korea was all the couples matching outfits! Seriously, you will see couples DECKED out in matching EVERYTHING! You will see guys wearing teddy bears and hearts because their girlfriend is wearing it. The new thing now...couples Underwear! hmmm might have to buy some ;) 

Had my first Peppermint Mocha of the year! It was divine!!! Unfortunately, the lady taking my order did not understand the size I wanted and gave me a baby cup. Still it was sooooo good and reminded me of home :)

We visited the department stores which was an adventure in it of itself! Everything was tooo expensive but we had fun taking pictures of course :)

 FOOD!!!! Other than fish :) Yep, we definitely purchased these. In Gwangju, we went on a huge grocery shopping spree. Even though we had to carry 2 heavy boxes on the bus and back home with us...totally worth it!

 Fun in E-Mart. In the cereal aisle they had girls dressed up like "Post cheerleaders??" Well she helped me find the cereal I was looking for :)

Curtains! Yay, our curtains were put in today! I wanted something basic and I think they look great! Our school purchased them for us which is a BONUS! I am happy our apartment is turning into a home :)

.Funny Signs.

This weekend Cory and I ventured to Gwangju City! It was about a 40min bus ride, so not that bad! We only have small shops in our little town of Gokseong so when we saw these stores/brands we were very amused! Enjoy :)

We have read it over and over...and still have no idea what it means.

In case you were looking for the bathroom.

???

Soup - a brand for lingerie. haha

NOTHING funny about this one. SO happy we found one :)

My favorite. The men here are tiny...what a perfect name :)

what's up with the islands??

this just sounds disgusting.

Dunk me baby one more time. Brittany Spears meets Nike outlet store.

Another favorite.

I am sure we will have more to come! 

Dinner with the Mayor!

So today is finally Saturday :) We tried to sleep in but ended up waking up at 8am. We decided to have a lazy morning, and Skype with family. We showed them around our new apartment :) After Skyping, we decided to explore a little bit more. We walked around our small town. We went inside a few shops, bought a few groceries, and bought Pringles!! :) That made me happy. After we decided to see how far the road took us- it's a very small town. So we headed toward a sign that said Gokseong Train Station. We know our town in known for the train station so we thought we'd check it out! As we got closer and closer, we heard music and saw a LOT of people. It looked like some kind of festival going on. We weren't exactly sure but decided to go in! To our lovely surprise it was a Rose festival. There were roses everywhere! A lot of people were snapping photos and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Also, there was a concert going one so we decided to go check it out. After strolling around for a little while, and definitely being stared at, a man came running up to us! "You need to meet some people! You need to meet the Mayor!" We agreed and soon cameras were all around us, many people were asking us questions, they asked us to dance...it was just like WHAT IS GONG ON?!? People came up with cell phones bowing to us and asking if they could take our picture. It was crazy! Then, the Mayor asks if we want to have dinner with him. SUREEEEE!!!! haha he was soooo nice! So we headed to dinner with the Mayor, Vice Mayor, and about 20 other men. In Korea it's not like you order for yourself... so meals here are always a surprise. To our WONDERFUL surprise it ended up being our favorite meal! Beef, lettuce, garlic, sauce...all wrapped up. It was Divine! The men just wanted to talk to us, ask us questions and welcome us to Gokseong. It is amazing how hospitable they are here. It ended up being an amazing day! Plus we left with 4 melons which was a gift from the Mayor! haha. So much fun today! Now the Mayor considers Cory his new son and me his only daughter :) So sweet.

Our first work week!

Tuesday we started teaching. We are so happy to be teaching at the same school- JungAng Elementary! Cory is in a place called English Town (one floor above my classroom). English Town is a little different compared to regular school. Monday through Wednesday Cory helps teach students from different schools, that come to our school. It's basically a classroom that only speaks English which gives the students a chance to be immersed in the language. Then on Thursday and Friday he teaches the students in JungAng Elementary all in English. He sees a LOT of students which is hard for him because you can't really build a relationship with them. The PLUS side is everyone that works with him speaks English! That is honestly like a breath a fresh air to be able to communicate with someone in the work place.

I on the other hand, am in a regular classroom. I am the co-teacher for 5th and 6th grade. My co teacher thus far has been preparing all the lessons. She just tells me to do "small talk" in the beginning of class. Which is like, "Hello. How are you? What day is it today? What month? How are you feeling?" Anything else, they don't really understand-yet :). Other than that, she has me read the power points so the students learn how to speak English with the correct accent. It's CRAZY though. Koreans can read and write English very well... but when they hear me speak it, because of my "accent" they don't get it. AND sometimes, my co-teacher doesn't understand so she can not translate. It's quite the challenge to figure it out, but fun and rewarding when they finally understand what you are saying. The good thing is I teach the same lesson 4-5 times a day. I know it can get boring but the day goes by so fast. PLUS, I have my own private office so my teacher lets me go in there a lot to just to hang out, go on facebook, make coffee, eat crackers, and of course plan lessons...haha. It's quite nice. The office has NO heat though so it is very cold. Soon we will  buy me a space heater!

The first week went very well! We love the teachers we work with! It has been a lot of adjusting but always a good experience. We are so ready for the weekend though :)

Walking across The Bridge in the Sky

The teacher picnic we went on our first week! This was their way of welcoming us to Gokseong :)

Our crazy first day in Gokseong

My oh My...again where do I begin!?? This is where the true CULTURAL experience sets in. On Monday it was our last day with all of the teachers we met. It was time to meet the Korean co-teachers, visit the schools, and move into the apartment we will be staying in for a year!

Monday ended up being one of the CRAZIEST days of my life. All I can say is at least Cory and I were together! The day was spent meeting our teachers which to our relief, Cory's spoke English really well so we had a lot to talk about. My teacher on the other hand can speak English but I can't really understand her accent, so it's a little more challenging. The great thing though is that she is the sweetest thing and tries so hard! We are blessed to have the co-teachers that we do because they either make or break the experience for you. So, our day was spent with them. They introduced us to all the teachers and principal (which is like a KING in Korea). They took us shopping for a comforter which was an experience as well. When we arrived at this little shop the women were showing us neon pink, purple, green, flowers, mushroom printed comforters. We didn't like any of them! We felt so bad we so we ended up buying the most relaxed pattern we could find. Finally, it was time to see our apartment for the first time! The moment we have been waiting for!!!!

We found out we were on the 3rd floor with no elevator. I was used to that with going to North Central ;) They warned us that our apartment was very old. But when we walked in we were very happy. Our apartment has 3 bedrooms, a FULL size fridge, an oven (which is unheard of here) A huge and extremely comfortable bed, 2 verandas (porches), heated floors, and an ENORMOUS closet! They must have known we would be living here :) We love it. Of course it has it's little quirks. After rearranging a little bit though and unpacking, it's definitely starting to feel like home. I will put pictures and a video on facebook soon!

So....after seeing our apartment for the first time they asked us to go somewhere with them.We locked our apartment and went to take care of a few more things. Finally, 8:00pm rolled around it was FINALLY time to go to our apartment and settle in. Oh did I not mention that they wanted us to teach the next day?!?! We were REALLY hoping for at least one day off...

So our teachers dropped us off and said "Goodbye, see you tomorrow!" As we drag our feet up the stairs and pull out the keys to finally enter into our apartment... the key does not work!!! We are completely locked out of our apartment, we have no cell phones, and no one in our town speaks English! Luckily, Cory's Korean teacher ordered us food that was being sent to our apartment. The delivery boy was our only hope! When the 16 year old finally arrived we asked him to help us, but he didn't know English! Therefore, I had to act out what our problem was! "Key not work." Horrible English but he understood! He knew to call the Korean teacher that ordered our food and she came to our rescue!!! Thank God. We were locked out for about 2 hours and thought we were going to have to sleep in the hallway..since we had our comforter with us! She called a locksmith and they fixed our lock! So THAT was our first night in Gokseong. Absolutely insane but a story to tell for the future :)

Our first week in Korea!

Wow! Where do I even begin??? We knew it would be an adventure and that is EXACTLY what it has been so far! Our first week in Korea was spent with 40 English speaking teachers at orientation. That week was filled with meeting people from all over the world. There were English teachers from America, Canada, Scotland, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK! It was so wonderful to all be in one place and talk about the differences between our own cultures. Also, that week we woke up every morning to a very "Americanized" breakfast. Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, cereal...etc. NOT bad so far...basically it felt like being in a Hilton :) Not much of a cultural experience so far. Therefore, we were all itching to get outside and actually feel like we were living in Asia. Our nights were spent checking out the "hot spots" downtown Gwangju! Gwangju is a lot of fun... it's a very young city and a lot of foreigners are around checking out all the shops. PLUS it's like shoe heaven, so I love it there. We visited some Noraebang (karaoke- my personal favorite!) night clubs, bars, and restaurants with the teachers. I was nervous because a lot of people in Korea like to drink but Cory and I prefer not to, but everyone seems to respect that about us :) phew! I was a little worried.

Also, that week we went on our first hike which was practically straight up the mountain that was right outside our hotel. It was about a 40 minute hike and being someone that hardly breaks a sweat... I was soaked. It felt good though to make it to the top and enjoy the AMAZING view! Later on in the week we visited Beosong which had the MIRACULOUS green tea fields. I have never seen anything like that in my life. Plus the green tea was amazing! After visiting the fields we headed to an authentic Korean restaurant where you sit on the floor. The meal was amazing. Our favorite meal so far has been a lettuce wrap with meat or pork, rice, onions, garlic, and sauce. You wrap in all up in the lettuce and put the whole thing in your mouth (or at least try to)..It's DIVINE! All of the other meals have been... okay. Lots of fish soup which just freaks the heck out of me. I am trying to get used to it though. That has been by FAR the number one thing we miss...FOOD. Hamburgers, french fries, sweet tea from McDonalds, but we'll survive :)

With all of our adventures we have met a lot of great people so far! I am a little sad that we will be living about an hour if not more from all the teachers we met. We all became like a little family, relying on each other... but now we are separated. The good thing about it is it gives us a GREAT chance to tour the country and visit everyone :)

I think that about wraps it up! The first week was AWESOME! We are so excited to see where we are headed next!