What Korea has done for our marriage.

Wow! I am just realizing that I haven’t written on our blog since April! I know most people are keeping up with all our adventures via facebook, but just thought I would give a much more detailed update.

As you can imagine, a lot has happened since April. We did decide to sign another contract! We are now staying here until November, 2013. However, I am sure we will sign one more contract to keep us in Korea for a total of 3 years! Thank you to all who are supporting our journey over here.

First off I want to say THANK YOU to everyone for “liking our pictures” and following our adventures. I have had countless people tell me how much we inspire them. Quite a few people say they are 'living their lives vicariously through us.' It’s a great feeling to inspire others with something you love to do. I have been getting many emails about people being interested in coming to Korea as well. I am LOVING that! So, please if you have any questions or are interested – do not be hesitant to ask. I have had close friends to people I haven’t talked to in years ask me about Korea. I love sharing this experience and wish more people would take the leap that my husband and I have.

The best thing Korea has provided for us is a solid foundation in our marriage. Cory and I have never been closer. There’s something about moving what feels like a million miles away from home that causes you to really depend on each other.

I remember the first month we were here – Cory and I got into a little spat. I ended up getting so mad that I left to go to a coffee shop to cool down. Usually, at home I would go to a friend’s house (like all we girls do) and vent! (Sometimes that is not the best option). However, there I go stomping off to the coffee shop. As soon as I arrived, I ordered a coffee and sat there for about 5-10 minutes just going over why I was upset. Then, it HIT me! “I have no one here.” I thought. It was the first time I truly understood that it was just Cory and myself (and all these Koreans) in this small town - out in the boonies no less. Cory was my only friend here, and if I don't have him... I really don't have anyone. Suddenly, I got up from the table and ordered my husband a coffee drink.  I felt like I wanted to rush home and jump into his arms! As I walked in, he greeted me with a smile and just simply asked if I felt better. I apologized for my behavior and gave him his coffee drink which made him so happy. I can’t even remember what our argument was about.

However, that was the first time I realized that communication is key – and more than ever – in our marriage. Since then, we have had a few spats here and there, just like any normal couple, but nothing major. Like I said before, we have never been closer. We tackle obstacles as soon as they arise. We communicate, learn from one another and move on. I can honestly say that Cory and I are best friends. We love each other’s company and truly enjoy doing things together. I am blessed to be his wife. This experience has been a wild ride for the both of us! I love that we can laugh together and try to figure out all the strange and peculiar things of this far away land. I think we will be talking about this experience for the rest of our lives!

As well, this has been a major blessing financially. Korea has provided stability and we are so thankful for that. We are FINALLY starting to make serious payments on our student loans. It has been a little difficult to fully understand how much we can live off and how much to send home. But, we have it figured out. I am so excited that we are starting to pay around $2,000 a month towards student loans, and we are able to live comfortably and travel Korea. What a blessing!

Overall, I love what this is doing in our marriage. We will have endless stories to tell our children and grandchildren someday. Mostly, I am hoping to inspire others to get out of their comfort zone and try something new that could potentially change their lives forever. It changed ours.

 Happy to say we celebrated our one year anniversary on August, 20th. Here's to many more!

Update on our lives

It has been a while since I last filled everyone in on our life here in Korea. There have been quite a few things that have happened since I last wrote.

First, let’s start with our vacation! Cory and I had the amazing opportunity of going to Malaysia and Thailand for 20 days. It was so wonderful. The warm weather, the people, the culture and the FOOD were all great.

Our first journey took us to Malaysia.  Cory and I did a home stay with a man named, Din (pronounced Dean). That’s where you rent out a bedroom in someone’s home. Din was the most heartwarming, hospitable man I have ever met in my life. As well, the room was very inexpensive ($11 a night!) Din showed us around Kuala Lumper (the capitol of Malaysia). He drove us to many places and almost seemed like our private tour guide. It was a great experience staying with him and I would highly recommend others to stay there as well. We stayed in Kuala Lumper for 4 days and saw the majority of the city plus more!

^ Here we are at the Kuala Lumper Bird Park :) Having a wild time!

 Next, it was off to the Batu Caves. When visiting these caves you could literally see monkeys everywhere you looked. They were NOT afraid of people one bit. Cory and I LOVED this part of the trip.

Lastly, we visited the famous Petronas Towers. Below is a huge shopping center. These were amazing to see at night!

  

Next, it was off to Thailand! Cory and I could not wait to get to there! We took an 8 hour bus ride from Kuala Lumper to Hat Yai, Thailand. We ended up playing UNO the entire 8 hours. It got pretty intense :) I recall winning 13 games in a row…

When we reached Hat Yai, we stayed the night in a very low budget hotel. Let’s just say we were happy we were only staying one night! The next day, we took a 5 hour van ride to Krabi. We absolutely LOVED staying in Krabi. We decided to stay in town for a few days because it was a little cheaper compared to staying close to the beach. Our hotel was $12 a night… not bad at all. With our room being so cheap, we were able to do MANY activities. While staying in Krabi we went: elephant riding, jungle trekking, kayaking, snorkeling, white water rafting, and ATV riding. It was AMAZING! My favorite by far was kayaking around some of the most beautiful islands in Thailand – absolutely breathtaking. 

After Krabi, we decided to slow down the pace and head to Koh Lanta. Koh Lanta is a calm island. There are still tourists there but not as many as the more famous islands in Thailand. Since it was a little calmer, we were able to rent a motorbike and go motor biking around the island. It was soooooooo much fun!  Other than that, we relaxed and went to beach most days. One night we did end up going to a Muay Thai fight. It was so crazy to see 6 year olds to grown men fighting each other. I actually enjoyed it…and of course, Cory loved it! The greatest thing about Koh Lanta was the people we met. That’s the greatest thing with traveling: You meet people from all over the world. We made friends with this young couple from Sweden and a girl from Holland. Even though we only spent a few days together, we became good friends. It was so fun talking about our different cultures and life experiences. Koh Lanta was a fantastic trip!

After 20 days in the sun, it was time to come back to our home in Korea. The vacation was much needed and we loved every minute of it!

As soon as Cory and I got back from vacation, we started planning our next trip! That’s the thing with traveling; once you start you do not want to stop. Good thing our school grants us one vacation a year. So we are looking forward to February 2013…. Australia and New Zealand! Here we come!

Getting Lost in a Foreign City!

There is nothing quite like getting lost in a Foreign City! It may seem overwhelming at first, but in the end it always turns into great story telling!

Cory and I were so excited to finally have a vacation. Like I have stated before, we have not had a day off ever since we got here. Good thing Christmas was over the weekend - but we still had to go back to work the following Monday. We were needing a break. Therefore, we decided we would head to the second largest city in Korea - Busan! It's population is around 3.6 million people! Needless to say, it was going to be quite a change from little Gokseong.

Cory and I decided to take the train. We weren't really in a rush so we chose the train that took 6 hours to get there. If we were to take an express train, we would have gotten there a lot faster! 6 hours is a long time, so I think next time we will consider the faster route.

Anyways, when we arrived we really had no idea where we were going. I had found a few cheap hotels online and thought if I told the taxi driver he would know what I was talking about - he didn't. He ended up dropping us off in a downtown area and pointing to a hotel we might like. However, that hotel ended up being very pricey! We started searching and searching and finally found the perfect motel a few blocks away from the Happenin' Downtown. It was perfect AND the right price :)

Vacation was here at last!

Day 1:
I think this was my favorite day because Cory and I woke up in a Foreign City, we had an agenda, but had NO idea where to go from there. We were in a big city. Were we suppose to take a taxi, bus...subway? No clue. Our main goal for the day was to get to the Busan Aquarium, the largest aquarium in Korea. First, we decided to get some breakfast, and to our fabulous surprise the college student that was working spoke crystal clear English! She really helped us out and said to definitely take the Subway! Therefore, our next mission was: Find the Subway!

There were signs that said Nampo Subway so we were pretty proud of ourselves when we found them. However, when headed down the steps we entered into an underground shopping center! We walked up and down and no subway! We were laughing and joking about how we were never going to get to the aquarium! Our next idea was to get in a cab and tell him to take us to the Subway. The taxi driver thought that was HILARIOUS and told us we were standing on it! We were so embarrassed but were laughing it off. Were we ever going to find the subway?!?! After about an hour or more of walking the streets of Busan we found another sign that said Subway. As we headed down those stairs we in fact FOUND IT! It was quite a humorous journey but at last - we were headed to the aquarium!

Busan Aquarium:
As MANY people know, I am absolutely terrified of sharks! I may be over exaggerating but I feel as if I have had hundreds of nightmares about them ever since I was a little girl! With this fear; I am deathly afraid of going in the ocean, seeing sharks on T.V. and yes...going to aquariums that have sharks! This was a big step for me. We gazed at all the sea creatures and finally at the end was the shark exhibit. I don't know what came over me but I was actually excited to take pictures with them. I felt like it was time to face this fear - I mean it's not like they were going to attack me through the glass... right?!?! Cory was very proud of me, but I must admit I did scream really loud one time in fear! After taking quite a lot of pictures, Cory asked if I would go in the boat with the glass bottom! It floated over the tank of the sharks. Of course I was nervous but I agreed. I had already come this far! When on the boat I was feeling very proud of myself. A few sharks swam right under the boat and I was smiling away. I know it may seem small, but this happened to be a big....huge...MONUMENTAL step for me. I just kept thinking that God does not give us the Spirit of Fear. With that, I was able to face mine. It ended up being a fantastic start to our vacation!

Day 2:

This ended up being our relaxing day of the trip. Our initial plan was to go to the largest department store in Korea. When arriving we saw that all the stores were closed. Then it came to mind that it was the Korean New Year! Everything was closed besides.... the Movie Theater! We were pretty excited when we found out they had a few movies in English to choose from! We first saw a 3D movie Journey 2. It was some Disney family film with The Rock in it - but it actually turned out to be decent. After, we didn't know what else to do so we headed to a different movie theater and saw ANOTHER movie! We were just movie theater hopin'! It was relaxing and fun at the same time. We were perfectly fine with this low-key day :)
Day 3:
Since the shopping centers were closed the day before, we decided to head back and make this our shopping day! We headed to the largest department store. We enjoyed walking around and people watching, oh and being stared at. The clothes were ridiculously priced!!! We are starting to see why foreigners love shopping in America. I was dying to find a cheap store like Forever 21. Scarves were priced at $60 dollars in Gap...sheesh maneesh! We bought very few things, after all we are not millionaires. But it was fun to explore! I ended up getting a new coat that was reasonably priced. That was our find of the day! After, we were ready to head back home and relax!

DVD room:
A few nights after exploring, Cory and I would head to the DVD room a few blocks from our motel. You basically pick out a movie and are assigned a room to watch it in. When entering your room you find a bed and a few blankets. They shut the door and your movie appears on the wall. These DVD rooms are used for dates and "privacy," but I promise you Cory and I just watched the movie. It was a really nice place and a fun thing to do when winding down at the end of the day.
p.s. We watched Memoirs of a Geisha - seriously SUCH A great movie!

Day 4:
When planning this day we thought of going to a Korean spa, aka a public bath. We have heard a lot of things about them. They were great places to relax with tubs, saunas..etc. However, we found out we would be split up for the day and had to be NAKED! That was not something we were comfortable with. I felt as though we were already stared at enough, the thought of being naked was like a horrifying nightmare. Instead, we decided to go to the Busan Tower.
Yet again, we weren't exactly
sure where it was so we went exploring! We finally found it and it was a beautiful sight to see. You overlook the HUGE port where you can see tons of boats. It was beautiful. After, they had tons of pigeons around so Cory and I bought chips to feed them. It was a fun and beautiful day.
After, we headed to the underground shopping center. We bought a few art pieces for our apartment. They are awesome! We are starting our collection to bring back home with us :)

Wrapping up, this vacation is exactly what we needed! Even though Cory and I work together every day and enjoy spending time together, this trip brought us closer. We were able to unwind, have fun, and take a break from the routine. Cory was making me laugh the entire trip! It was a blast!

Now we are counting down the days until Malaysia/Thailand.

 I think we are ready for another adventure! 

Church in Korea

Yay! The day had finally come where we were going to church! I can not even describe how excited we were. We had to wake up super early – 7:30am, which is the same time we have to wake up for a workday, but it was totally worth it! After waking up super early, we headed to the bus station hoping for a bus that would get there in time. The service started at 11am. We were so happy to catch the 9:15 bus. We would be there a little early but it worked out perfectly! After the 1 hour bus ride, we arrived in Suncheon, and took a taxi to the church. 

We had no idea where to go really…so luckily we ran into a foreigner from India. He explained to us that we were in the wrong building and that the English church met somewhere else (that could have been bad). So, we followed him and immediately were welcomed into the church. We met so many people who lived in different parts of Korea and were also from different parts of the world! It was awesome. 

The church/room was a small room with basic chairs, nothing fancy and could hold maybe 100 people max, but it was just what we needed. Worship and the Message were all in English so it was wonderful :) The most beautiful aspect of the day was sitting in a room and knowing that people were all from different parts of the world but yet praising the same God. I can not even explain how amazing that felt. It’s amazing to think that God has no boundaries. Even though we all knew English in the room… it’s awesome to think that God knows every language. As well, He created all of us. As you look around you see people from all over yet He made us in His image. How neat is that? :)

Needless to say, church was inspiring in so many ways. We are so excited to go back!

Right outside of our new church! Reppin' Minnesota Twins all the way across the world :)

Suncheon Orphanage.

Two Sundays ago Cory and I volunteered to help out at the Suncheon Orphanage. Honestly, one of the hardest things about Korea is not having a church family. We miss everyone from Crossroads! Shout out to all of you :)  But seriously, it has been very hard.

With that being said, we knew we needed to make a change in our lives- we needed to find a church! It had been 2 months since we had gone and for those of you that know me – I HATE missing church. Sundays are my favorite day. We were told that there were English-speaking churches in Gwangju and Suncheon, both of those cities are about an hour away. We weren’t sure of the exact location so we continued to find out more information. Then, I saw a post on Facebook about an Orphanage in Suncheon! Cory and I have talked about volunteering in an orphanage over here…and I had a hunch we would find other Christians who would help us with our church search! Long story short- we signed up to help once a month at the orphanage!

On the first Sunday we could not wait to arrive at the orphanage. We were meeting other foreigners which is always fun too! It’s great to see where everyone is from. So far we have met people from all over the world. (America, Canada, England, Scotland, New Zealand, India, Egypt, China, Thailand, South Africa...and I am sure there will be many more). It’s amazing learning all of these cultures. The kids at the orphanage were just precious. Our job was just to observe and play since it was our first time. There is usually a lesson for an hour and then you play with them for an hour. It went great! People donated hats and gloves for all the kids so it was so wonderful to see each child receive their own. We are so excited to go back again!

Oh and about that hunch I had?? We DID happen to meet other Christians at the orphanage. A man invited us and actually drove us to the English-speaking church so we would know where it was. How nice! We headed there the next Sunday and already feel welcomed into a new church family!

God is good :)

Brief update.

To give everyone an update, Cory and I are loving our life here in Korea. Sorry it has been a little while since I have typed any updates. Basically we are wrapping up with English Camp. The students' school year ended in December - right before Christmas. They start back up again in March. However, we have been teaching Winter Classes. It has been very busy actually. We had to come up with our own lessons and they all had to be 80 minutes long. It was a lot of fun though! Cory was able to teach American Football and I was able to teach Juggling! They had never seen either one of those!!! We are so excited to share our talents with the students over here. 

Other news: We finally have a vacation coming up! We have not had a single day off since we have arrived so we are pretty pumped! We are headed to Busan - the second largest city in South Korea, and maybe a few other places in Korea. I will make sure to update everyone with more exciting adventures as they arrive :) 

 here my students are learning the beginning stages of juggling. It is called wall juggling. I was so impressed! Proud teacher :)