It's my birthday!

It's official.... I am now 23, which isn't old at all. However, I did get to spend 4 days celebrating! Woo Hoo!

Honestly I wasn't even sure what I would do for my birthday, because it was on a Wednesday and everyone does different things on the weekend. My ideas of a small celebration turned into a marvelous birthday.

Wednesday, my actual birthday, I had some good old fried chicken with my friend Callie. It was such a blessing, because I didn't even have plans for that day, but she called and asked what I was doing. A HUGE thanks to Callie for being a great friend. I am excited to return the favor when her birthday rolls around in March.

Thursday I had two Korean friends from Jinju come and surprise me. It was so much fun! We went out for dinner and then went to see the Changwon Philharmonic play. I had so much just being silly and enjoying my birthday with Fred and Daniel. They are both close to my age, which makes it easy to relate and relax. I am excited to go to Jinju for Daniel's birthday in December. and celebrate with them again.

Friday I went out to eat with Jay, the Korean I do language exchange with, and it was very nice. We also were able to kill two birds with one stone and enjoy dinner while we did the language exchange. It was quite nice!

Saturday was the big celebration! I thought it would be fun to go to Korean style karaoke 노래방 (noraebang). When you go to 노래방 it is not like bar style karaoke in front of strangers. You go to a 노래방 and you get a private room for you and your friends to use. Also, there are couches, food, and drinks to make it very relaxed if you just want to chill and sing some songs. I invited some people and told them to bring their friends, because the more the merrier. It ended up being quite the global celebration with people from ALL over the world. Including: America, Canada, Poland, France, Germany, Russia, England, India, Spain, South Africa, and of course Korea. We spent a rousing 2.5 hours singing and drinking, which was a blast. Then we headed out to the local bars and finished our night there.

All in all, it was a splendid birthday and better than I ever could have imagined. Also, I don't know if I ever wrote about this in my blog before, but I booked my trip to Thailand for New Years :) I will be going to Koh Chang, Thailand for 5 days and I am really excited. Koh Chang means elephant island. There is a mountain in the middle of this island and apparently you can take elephant rides on the mountain... AHH. Anyways it should be quite exciting.

Time to meet some Koreans

Since I have been living in Korea for about 2 months now, one might ask, "Have you made any Korean friends yet?"

I can now say that I have. At first, I though this would be a an easy thing to do since I am living in a country that is home to Koreans. However, my idea of having Korean friends was met with some difficulty. 

First and most obviously, there is a language barrier. Although I know a few Korean phrases, it doesn't make it easy to communicate. I have found that many Koreans know a little English too, but they are SO shy when it comes to using it. Some even apologizing after they speak English saying, "Oh sorry! My English is so bad." Then I remind them their English is quite good, because nearly all the things they are saying in English, I cannot say in Korean.

Second, there is a cultural barrier. I want to learn so much more about Korean culture and simply by living here I have learned a lot. But it doesn't replace interacting with the people and having discussions with them about life around the world.

Luckily, in the past month I have met Koreans brave enough to use their English skills and spend some time with me. The first people I met were Fred (Seung Hun) and Daniel (Changhui). They were friends with other foreigners in Changwon and they helped us around Jinju for the lantern festival. Both guys attend college in Jinju AND it was nice to meet people my age. (I have met foreigners my age but many are a few years older.) These guys have awesome English skills and I am excited to hang out with them in the future.

Fred and I

Daniel (yes he likes to be silly and make jokes)

Next, there is Hojun Kim, an orchestra conductor in Changwon. I met him after a concert I attended in October. He approached me and ask why I was at the concert and I told him I studied music in college and just wanted to enjoy some music. He was so impressed that I had studied music, so he gave me his business card and told me to contact him. I emailed within the week and he was thrilled. One Saturday, we went to a play in a town outside of Changwon and had some dinner. It was so fun to talk with someone about music and to know they understand what you are talking about... and they don't think you are nerdy for knowing those things. He is a funny middle-aged man and I am excited to talk music with him again.

Last, there is Jay Jung, an english teacher. Jay grew up in Changwon, but after college he met a Canadian woman and moved to Canada for 7 or 8 years. Now he is back in Changwon teaching English privately. I met him through some other friends in Changwon, because he was looking for some to do language exchange with. Now we meet 1 or 2 times a week and trade language skills. Since he is fluent in English, I just assist/correct his language when he makes mistakes. I have also helped him learn many American English idioms. In return he helps me to develop my Korean skills, which is great to have! The other day I even used my Korean without even thinking about it, which was so COOL! I was only introducing myself, but it just rolled off my tongue before I even thought about what/how to say it.

There are many others I have met in passing and through school, but these are the ones that I would consider my Korean friends. They also provide such great insight into Korean culture that I would not know without have native friends. 

Also, my birthday is this week and the weather is still in the 50s. WHAT? This would never happen in Minnesota for my birthday. I have decided I am going to take part in a big Korean trend and go to a 노래방 (noraebong). aka: Korean style karaoke. When you got to a noraebong, you get your own room with your friends. You can bring in drinks and food as well. Then you get your own little karaoke party. 

Halloween

I almost forgot about Halloween until a staff meeting at school when the director told us we would have an all day Halloween party at school. YAY! This reminded me of my days of elementary dressing up, playing games, and eating copious amounts of candy. She also said that the students AND teachers would have to dress up all day. I almost wanted to jump up and scream with excitement, but I decided to save that for Halloween.

On the 27th was when I celebrated Halloween outside of school. Numerous bars were having some parties and an extravagant fireworks show was scheduled to happen in Busan that day. My friends and I thought it would be a wonderful way to spend the holiday. Costumes and fireworks! I found a great costume rental shop in town and decided I would be Snow White. 

Snow White, Lumber Jane, and 50s Housewife

(aka Britta, Allie, and Lesley)

That day we met at the bus station to head to Busan. It was nearly pouring rain, but we had heard last year it rained on the fireworks day and they still happened. Although we were suspicious, we decided to go for it and have some fun. Jan, our German friend, also came with us to Busan. The traffic was awful, and a normally 40 minute bus ride was soon an hour and a half. Once in Busan, we hopped on a Subway and headed towards the beach with the fireworks. Just 3 stops away a Korean woman informed us that they fireworks were post-poned until tomorrow. NO! We decided to make the best of it and treat ourselves to a burger and fries at a foreigner bar. 

While in Busan, I was able to see my friend from Concordia Ellen Raaen. She had just arrived in Korea two weeks before Halloween to begin a job similar to mine in Seoul. She had come to Busan for the holiday, I was thrilled to see someone I had known more than a month.

Snow White and Thing 2

(aka Britta and Ellen)

We got a chance to catch up and spend time talking to a friend. I cannot wait to take a couple trips to see her in Seoul.

We ended up going back to Changwon later that night and seeing our local friends in some lovely Halloween costumes.

When the 31st rolled around, it was time for our school party. I was so excited to see all the students dressed up and to spend the day having fun. During the day many games were played as the students travelled from class to class to collect their candy. The majority of costumes were Disney princesses, witches/wizards, ninjas, and superheroes. 

Here is the Lions class (my class) all dressed up for Halloween.

Birthdays were also celebrated during our Halloween party and I had three students with October birthdays, Ben, Sally and Sean.

 Ben, Sally and Sean

Our students left happy and full of candy. I was so pleased to just spend a day relaxing with these kids... After all, they are just kids who like to play.