Brrr....

December has arrived and it brought it's windchill with it.


Today was the first sign of snow flakes. They only lasted a few minutes and melted before they made contact with any type of surface, but they were there...


On Monday I started my last semester at Chungdahm. Where does the time go. It's been over a year now that I've been in Korea. It's always interesting (and can be depressing or inspiring) to look at what I've accomplished in the past year. "What can I do to make next year better?" "What am I thankful for that I did this year?" "What have I learned about myself, friends, family, and strangers this year." I find it overwhelming to think about the year ahead of me though. Where will I go? How will it all work out? Where will I be in December 2010? How can I be a better person? But then I just breathe.... :) (and grab hot tea and biscuits.... :)

Anyways, things are going well in Korea though. Enda will be taking off in a couple weeks to do an ice trek for 3 weeks in Leh...(a little envious... but thankful he gets to have this experience!) I will be staying here and finishing out my semester. Then I'll be off traveling with my little ole backpack and passport.... :)

Here are a couple pics to show what I've been up to. Some are of a lantern festival from a couple weeks back, and others are of Jongmyo park, and randomness. Check out my flickr if you want to see more.


Busy man....too many people to call....

Jongmyo....gorgeous place.




The lantern festival was cold, but beautiful. It was good to practice with the camera again... Practice makes perfect....or just a little bit better in my case :)

Why I like living abroad....hmmmm....

Well I'm writing this post partially because I' haven't written in about 2 months....and partially in response to an e-mail I received from Aclipse Chungdahm Learning, which requested that I write about 5 reasons why I like living overseas. Well...let's see. I've been living in Korea (mainly Seoul) off and on for about 2 years now. There are times where living in this city and culture can be very tumultuous. This may be more so the case for me because I'm a country girl at heart...but who knows. But in response to living overseas in general, it definitely has it's pro's.

1. You're constantly learning and observing a new culture. Even if you don't speak the language, just by observing the people and their demeanor fills you in on a lot. How the youth act around their elders, boyfriends around girlfriends, children around parents, natives around foreigners etc... Granted, your conclusion may not always be accurate due to the cultural barrier, but you can still learn a lot. Everyone has a different experience.

2. It's an achievement. The fact that you went to a foreign country not only to visit but to live in, is quite an accomplishment in and of itself. It takes guts.

3. One thing I've really enjoyed is being in a country with a long and interesting history. Coming from a country that was only discovered roughly 500 years ago is nothing in comparison to one that began in 2333 B.C. It's interesting to see how the history is integrated into the modern society.

4. New experiences...obviously. It's great to learn new sports, experience new food, new drinks, new ideas. It was great studying a martial art in the country where it was orginated. The fact that you are living in the country gives you more time to fully embrace the new experiences.

5. Easy access to other countries. The worlds your oyster. While I've been living in Korea I've had the opportunity to travel internationally during vacation. Granted it depends where you are living, but Korea is a great central location to access other countries. A lot of teachers go to Japan for a couple days. Personally I went to Vietnam, China, and N. Korea when I had time off.

Okay, this has been a longer entry than I anticipated. I'll write a new entry in a couple days when I have more time and more pics! :) Hope this entry helped for those that are debating about living abroad!

New semester :)

So half of September has disappeared already. I don't know where it went.
The new semester has begun at CDI. Fresh faces, fresh curriculum, freshness all around. I'm only teaching 4 days a week now, so that's been a nice break. A lot of the students are coming back from their international trips, so it's always great to hear their improvement on the English language (as well as their adventures).

These past couple weeks have flown by. I don't really remember all that I have done...I'm currently training for some 10k's that are coming up in a couple of weeks, so that's been keeping me busy. Enda and I will be running our first race together, so that should be exciting! (the nike human race in Seoul-10k).

The weather has been cooling off a lot, which is great! I'm actually currently wearing my hoodie for the first time this season! Yay! It can't get much better than tea, internet, and a hoodie :) Everything else in Korea is going smoothly. I have about 5 and a half more months here, so a long but short time.

Enda and I will be taking a vacation over chuseok (Korean thanksgiving) in about 3 weeks, so it will be a nice break from the city and work. Hopefully the leaves will be out by then and I can get some nice photos. The ones below are a couple I took this past weekend...walking around...ya know, trying to feel inspired :)



I guess that's all that's really happening here. Work, sleep, play on weekends :) I'm trying to practice my pool skills in the picture below....working on accuracy...oi... :) I believe the 1st pic is actually Enda's hand...not mine...

August breeze

Well things are starting to cool down here finally. The showers are bringing a freshness to the air and the mosquitoes are subsiding. Life in Korea is going on as usual. Intensives at CDI are finished. No more Catcher in the Rye for me, and the semester is about to come to a close. It will be sad to see some students go, but it is always refreshing to get see fresh faces and new curriculum.

I had a relaxing birthday this last week. I will never understand where all the time goes. It's amusing to think back and remember where I imagined I would be at this age. Oh how life never seems to go as planned.

While walking around a newly finished pedistrian lane on Gwangjin-gyo Bridge (Gwangnaru st. L. 5 ex 2) I took a couple of pics.
There is a section in the middle of the bridge that you can walk under. It is like a flight of stairs that circle around and brings you to an observation like room. There is a little concert hall and a section where they have windows on the ground where you can see the beautiful green han river water :) (See below)
Anyways, it's something different I suppose :)

Enda and I enjoyed a nice evening of dinner and a Korean show (Part of the Korean Fringe Festival in Hongdae). Both enjoyable. And this past weekend a couple of us went to play in the Poker Tournament at Walker Hill. I played my share of Black Jack as well. Good fun all around. It's amazing for me to see crowded Black Jack tables with a min. 200,000 Won Buy in. (I played at the 5,000won buy in table:)

Enda also bought me a new lens for my birthday, so I've been having fun with that. I finally got my Flickr account up and running again. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lpoortenga/

Amazing that Fall is fast approaching. Hopefully next semester I will be teaching 4 days a week and will be able to take more photos while hiking/traveling on the weekends. Should be good.
Ta ta for now :)

August...here and hot.

Well, amazingly enough August has arrived. Rather quickly, but expected. I'm currently spending my Sunday in a cool cafe, drinking my ice caramel macchiato, listening to Norah Jones, and looking at the hotness outside...

July flew by. I think each month disappears much more rapidly than the previous. How does that work? .Work is dictating my life, but that is what I signed up for I suppose :) We are in the intensive month of the year. Korean parents continue to send their children to Hagwons during the summer..oh and why not have them take an extra class in the morning? Brilliant! :) Oh Korea.

Anyways, Monsoon has passed of which I am grateful. I'm looking forward to the cool autumn weather with the gorgeous mountain leaves.... This past month has been good though. Exploring Seoul one section at a time.


Random pic of the day:
Okay. Short and sweet entry.

Unexpected but welcomed

Well the month of June is here along with its mosquitoes and sunburn. Since the last writing much has happened. The end of the semester was much welcomed. We had an unexpected 9 day vacation with our Institute, so no complaining there! :) A perfect break for both the students as well as teachers!

So I spent most of the vacation catching up on the "To do" list and crossing out as much as possible. Overall, pretty productive. I was able to spend a good deal of time experimenting with my much neglected camera. I enjoyed a good game of Monopoly with some friends---over a nice brownie and ice-cream while I built houses and motels on Boardwalk.... I forgot how long that game takes... We were at it for 2 hours and just starting our infrastructures.

This picture I was just experimenting with water...and how to take pictures of it.... Still need to work on that :)


Anyways, there was also a good deal of exploring Seoul more. The city continues to surprise me. There are so many people. So many places. So much construction!

I was also able to stay up and watch the United vs. Barcelona game with some buddies without having to feel the effects of the 4 a.m. game too harshly. Unfortunately the results didn't come out as wished or hoped, but such is life. On the up side I was able to work out my play station, fussball, and photography skills that night.

This picture was taken in an alley way near my friends' place....around 2 in the morning....or three.... Still working on night shots as well.
Enda jamming on the guitar. Me, jamming on my camera.

Enda and I were also able to hang out in a couple parks in Seoul. The weather has been nice out and it was great to finally be able to enjoy it rather than just see it.Enda took a nice picture of the bee below. The guy kept hidding from him, but Enda found him eventually :)

Anyways, that is about all for now. My third semester has begun. Let the games begin!!! :)

pics

So for some reason the pics are uploading fine now so here are some from this month.
It's a rainy day. Perfect for posting up pictures... :)


Let's begin with Busan. Enda and I took the train down (the slower...roomier one...that took 6 hours :)

Us chillin at the Busan Giants game. It's fun to be a Busan fan. Even though their team was losing by 6 in the 8th inning, the fans were still strong. Cheering away with their newspaper pom-poms....ahhh

Can't go wrong with Baskin Robins....mmm...chocolate.... :)





Here are are some pictures of my experiments with the camera last night... This is of a flower on the overpass...working with random zoom experiments..That's all for now folks...Adios-Aufwiedersehen....Ahnyeong