The After-Effect

I knew this would happen... Mom comes and I live on cloud 9 for a week. And now, she is gone, and I'm back to living in reality. And reality is only a few hundred square feet of living space, a 20 minute walk to work in freezing temperatures, and hundreds of screaming Korean children. *Sigh...*

I need to fill you guys in on what's been happening at work recently. It's a mess but it will make my current state of depression more understandable...

Abby in Seoul Part III: What to Expect When Visiting Seoul

(Blog posted by Abby) I've been in Seoul for 6 days and I will be leaving tomorrow to fly back home to the States. Since I've now experienced it, I thought I'd give some information to those of you who plan on coming to visit Chelsea, or even those who may have stumbled on this blog and would like information about visiting your child or your friend who is Teaching English in Korea. I capitalized that because it deserves it.

Abby in Seoul Part II: So Many Steps

I'm writing this post without seeing Chelsea's blog because she wanted to write her blog and then have me write mine and kind of compare our viewpoints. I am positive I won't be able to remember everything and in the right order, but it will be fun to see her post after I write this one.  I actually won't even TRY to list everything, I think that could be kind of boring!

Whirlwind Weekend

Well, as you saw from the previous entry, my mom is in town!!! She arrived on Wednesday night and it was fabulous! I was eagerly awaiting her arrival when the taxi driver called me. I figured he wouldn't know how to get to my building exactly since it is on a side street, but I looked out the window at the front of my building and there was a van and a little blonde standing next to it looking around! I flew down the stairs faster than I've gone in a long long time, and into my mommy's arms!

Abby in Seoul Part I

It's Abby here, Chelsea's mom. I have finally arrived to visit Seoul, South Korea, but really, my daughter! Thanks Chelsea, for allowing me to be an author of a post on your blog.  I've been in Seoul about 24 hours now. Of course, the trip here lasted nearly 24!  I flew out of Houston on Tuesday morning, and arrived in Seoul on Wednesday evening. Sounds super long, but it's especially that way because I "lost" 15 hours on the trip over. I think I'll "find" them when I return next week.

Preparing for a Visit from Mom

Well, in 24 hours my mom will be in Seoul!!!!!! I didn't realize I would be so desperate for a touch of home only 3 months into my year, but her visit couldn't have come at a better time. It is beginning to be holiday season and seeing my favorite mom is just what I need!

No. 2233 to Dongdaemun Night Market

Thursday (that'd be yesterday) was an unexpectedly awesome day. Wednesday was just plain crummy; the effects of cold weather and living so far from my family and friends wearing me down emotionally. I woke up feeling much better in general on Thursday. Tuesdays and Thursdays are just automatically better, thanks to a free period and generally much more awesome kids.

About Teaching

Mostly I write about my life outside of work. Sometimes I write cute stories, but mostly I stick to what I think people will find "interesting" ... aka: what I can illustrate with photos! But, since this is also partly about me and my journey, teaching is what I do and I need to debrief (so to speak).

Winter Woes Part 1

I'm sure that the harsh, cold, dry Winter will bring many woes upon my Southern heart this year. The past 7 years living in Houston where temperatures in the 40s induce panic and unending Facebook statuses remarking on how frigid it is will certainly make living through a South Korean Winter verrrry interesting.

Korean BBQ

This week is going fairly better than last week, so far. Although, it's only 2 days gone by, so I can't really say for sure. Last week was tons of tests, and therefore tons of report cards to write. That is probably the worst part of my job. Writing comes easy to me, and if I still have a hard time then it must be pretty bad, I'd say. This week has been fairly unremarkable as far as work goes. Finishing up report cards that were delayed due to retests, etc.

Seoul Lantern Festival

Today was probably one of the best Saturday's I've had in Korea. I was productive, got out of the apartment, but I was not stressed out or in a rush or hiking a mountain. This is a particularly good feeling, since the last few Saturdays I've felt were wasted by having to do one thing or another, rushing here or there, etc. Today, I allowed myself the luxury of no alarm, waking up gradually, as my body allowed. It was bliss.