Christmas Eve

I am struggling to find a Christmassy spirit this year for some reason. Although it has never been a problem in the past, it has been really hard this time around. Tonight Jack an I have plans to go downtown for Christmas shopping. Afterward, we are going to have Justin over to make some eggnog in preparation for tomorrow. We aren't doing too much as we are away from family, but we are still trying to keep the spirit alive. We thought we would do so by having a cozy private x-mas morning and friends over for dinner and possibly a christmas movie. i am excited either way. I got my Christmas present last night. It is a brand new toaster oven. In a country where ovens are rare it is a big deal. :D

Also for your viewing pleasure I thought I would include a picture of my Christmas hat from Tour Les Jour. It is a Bo RoRo Hat!

Christmas time is here...

Here are a few clips of my kids singing random Christmas songs in Korean.

revised winter camp book

Around the World in 30 Days Curriculum

Winter Camp

Here is our winter camp curriculum:

Around the World in 30 Days

Around the World in 30 Days

Winter Camp Here We Come

Last summer's Harry Potter ESL camp was a huge success. As such, we have been asked to provide a curriculum for a winter camp. We have decided on an "Around the World in 30 Days" theme. Each day will be a country and the weeks will be divided with Europe and Asia having a full week each and Africa (3 days) , Antarctica (1 days), Australia (1 day), North and South America will split one week.

It is going to be a really great camp and we are looking forward to getting another curriculum published. We will be finishing the book sometime this week (so far we have 100 pages) also I have embedded a sample of a mock passport we made for the kids. It is the first draft, It has since had quite a few adjustments. I just wanted to give you an idea of our first craft day.

Passport Rough Draft

My students are so funny.

My students are such goobers. This week they discovered the English name for smelly pits. As such, this class now refers to everyone and everything as B.O. They use it in place of names, answers to questions in class, in response to accusations of speaking Korean, to say hello, and to reference Jack. I half expect them to give B.O. as an answer to a test question next week for their monthly test. I love this class.

Fall has fell

If Spring has sprung is correct then I suppose the correct saying appropriate for the week is fall has fell. The weather has been exquisite this week. It has been in the fifties every morning and evening this week. I am so happy that the heat is finally on it's way out. As if a literal monsoon season isn't enough, the hot was pretty awful. Not as bad as Florida, but still pretty rough. I cant wait until the leaves start to change.

Hello fifty?

My overall feelings from China were pleased but also very thankful I am in Korea. There is a safety I feel here that is simply non-existent there. Also the communist thing plays in a bit. Everywhere we went there were cameras. The peopleacted differently. They acted like they were being watched. (and rightly so I suppose) It was also a bit disheartening that I couldn't go to pretty much any of my favorite websites because they are all blocked in China. The shady factor was pretty high when it came to different people who approached us.

Despite all of the above, I had a really great time. The views were breathtaking and the amount of history I saw is hard to digest even now days later. You can see a full set of our pictures here, but below are a few of my favorites.

China Rundown

Well our trip to China is finally finished. It was super amazing but also one of the most exhausting and stressful vacations ever.

DAY I
We arrived in Beijing last Saturday and were quickly approached by a man in a leather jacket with the simple sentence, "Hello, fifty." It took us a while to realize he was trying to offer us a ride. Apparently Beijing has various "no stop" zones for their cab drivers. As such, we couldn't find anyone to give us a ride. We eventually reluctantly gave in as we were completely in the middle of nowhere and didn't even know where to walk if we had chose that option. We walked over to an alley, got in, and took off. I am surprised Jonathan and Justin didn't both just pee themselves... haha We finally arrived and turned in for the evening.

DAY II

The next morning we were off sightseeing. We saw the Temple of Heaven, Tienanmen Square, ate some authentic Peking duck, and then saw the forbidden city. It was enormous. It is literally the size of a small city. On the way out we bumped into a travel agency guide and she gave us a card for her company. On the way home we took the subway as close as we could get to our hotel and thought we would take a cab. Unfortunately we once again found ourselves in a no-stop zone. We walked back to the hotel and made it in just over an hour.

Day III

May I just say TGFTC (Thank God for travel companies!) Our tour guide picked us up in a really nice van and whisked us away to various locations in the city. They varied from a jade and silk factory to the oldest tea house in Korea and the Great Wall of China. It was an intense day. The wall was amazing. And may I also say, GREAT. It was so freaking huge. The steps were incredibly steep. I felt like I was dying by the end of our trek. My legs are still feeling a bit like jello even four days later. The wall was my favorite site of the trip. The tea house was my favorite experience. We had a personal tea lady come in a teach us about the various teas and brew up various kinds for us to sample. When we finally made it home we just grabbed some McDonalds and went to bed.

DAY IV

With a better grasp on the city we felt a bit more prepared to go out and face the wilds of the city life in Beijing. We hit the streets after a late start and headed to the Beijing zoo. We saw a few sections of it and then grabbed some lunch. We ate at a Dairy Queen. Afterward, we went to the Pearl Market. It was pretty awesome. I am surprised I didn't get pick-pocketed. I bought a pair of knock off boots for the winter and the guys bought some random stuff as well. We caught another shady black car or illegal taxi and headed to the theater so we could see the Kung Fu Show. The theater didn;t allow us to take pictures or video, but I managed to sneak a few things. You can see them on Picasa. :D

DAY V

We woke up around 7 to head to the airport for our 11 o'clock flight. Little did we know that Jack accidentally switched the arrival time with the departure time. Thus we missed our flight by two hours. We managed to get another flight without being charged, but it was not until the next day. The following 24 hours consisted of us randomly meandering through the incredibly depressing Beijing airport. Needless to say it was a pretty restless day.

DAY VI
We finally managed to make our flight. We boarded and zoomed back off to Seoul. We grabbed some lunch in Gangnam. Jonathan and I went to Dos Tacos, potentially the best Mexican restaurant I have ever eaten at ( and I have been to Mexico) and the boys went to Butterfingers (the greatest breakfast joint ever that is known for its chocolate pancakes) The boys spent the rest of the day sightseeing in Insadong. I lovingly informed them that if I walked any further my feet my actually detach themselves from my body and go on strike. As such, I split off the pack and went to the JimJilBang for the afternoon. It was pretty relaxing. I spent the after noon in a hot tub while the guys foolishly ran all over the place. We met up later that night in Itaewon for dinner at a Austrian place. We had snitzel, beef tips, and steak. It was awesome. :D

Last Sunday for a While...

As you may know, Jack and I were working at Eun Gwang Presbyterian CHurch in Gwangju. We were working as English Pastors. This week they hired a full time staff member from the Philippines to take over the position. It is a bittersweet transition. We will have much more time to relax and focus on school, but we will miss our students and congregation greatly. This Sunday will be our final interim service before the new pastor comes in full time.

We have had fun in the meantime. :) It was a fun time, but we are very welcoming of a break. We have had back to back services for seven months with only two services off. I am not going to know what to do with so much extra time on the weekends and so few obligations to stay in Gwangju. We will be traveling a bit more on the weekends as a result. We have yet to go to the Eastern sections of Korea. I am marking it down on my to do list. :D

We have also heard of another English service on the weekends in Gwangju that happens at 2:00 in the afternoon on Sunday's. I though it might be interesting to check out as well. I believe the pastor is from Germany, so that could be interesting. I don't know honestly, but we will see. :D Mr. Han mentioned potentially starting an English service later on in the year or maybe even next year in three or four months in Sang Mu but there is nothing set in stone. As for now, sabbatical here I come!

A birthday in Korea

Jack turned 24 today. I am afraid that we are getting old. haha. His birthday this year is full of presents, but few are things he will get to keep. His best friend is coming to Korea on Friday to visit for two weeks. Also, we are going to Bejing in two weeks during our vacation. I almost feel guilty like I should get him a card since I don't have anything to tangibly hand to him. I am thinking of buying him so hand-held weights that he mentioned he liked from Lotte Mart, but I am still undecided. I am also thinking maybe of just having some people over this weekend for food and a movie or something equally cheesy. We will see.

As for now, Happy Birthday love.

I am glad you were born. :D

Burn RUbber to Discover!

So today I had the eerie joy of watching the Magic School Bus in Korean. IT WAS STRANGE! ha ha It comes on everyday an I normally flip right over it, but it was one of my favorite episodes from when I was younger, "The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System." I laughed so hard watching all these super nerdy white kids rattling off in Korean.

Just wanted to share. Thought it might make you smile.


and yes, they do play the theme song with people singing in Korean. Sorry I couldn't find it online. It's great!

A New Chapter

Well, my life in Korea just got considerably more complicated. It is in the best possible way, so i am not upset. This week marks the beginning of my pursuit of my Master's degree. I am working through Liberty University in Lynchberg, VA. Also, I have just finalized all of my plans for China during my vacation in September for Chuseok. Chuseok is like a Korean version of Thanksgiving. I have almost a full week off from work. Jack and I decided to go to Bejing for the week. Along with Chaos of traveling out of the country and school beginning, I am also about to have an influx of visitors to Korea. We have two new teachers arriving in early September. They are not only new to our school, but will also be helping at our church services. I am so excited to have them arrive.

Also, the following week my husbands best friend Jonathan will be arriving from Florida. He is a staying for around two weeks. During his visit he will also accompany us to China. I am really excited to see him and get some news from home. Also it is always nice to have someone to talk to to who understands what you are saying. Overall, the next few weeks are going to be fairly overwhelming.

I think I am up to the challenge. Well, I hope I am. Today I began looking over my class assignments and I almost had a heart attack. It is going to be a long eight weeks. The thing that scares me is not the work. It is the little sentence at the end of each of the assignment descriptions. It says use 3-5 additional resources. Well as you know, there aren't exactly an overflow of theological studies book written in English in my city. I am hoping to download Logos (software biblical library) as a secondary option, but hopefully it will be enough to settle my worries and help me get through the course without a real library.I know my professors in my undergrad didn't like it. Hopefully, my new teachers will be a bit more understanding. :)

Summer Camp So Far... A photo Diary

To see all the photos from camp so far you can click here.

TGFSB- Thank God for Summer Break

It has been a great year so far. I cant say it hasn't come with some difficulties as well as a few surprises, but all have been worth it. With that being said however, I am so happy it is time for summer break. Starting Friday, our summer break begins at a pivotal time of rescue. With summer camp going full force plus the added classes we picked up when Peter and Leah depaarted, we welcome this little oasis in the summer. We are heading out Saturday morning super early. First I have a dentist appointment (I found a really great dentist in seoul who speaks English and practiced in the states for years and has a lot of awards.) I am quite picky about dentists as my last one butchered my teeth and also fused two of my teeth together when he did a filling. What a hack.

I am thrilled to get some time off. We not only have a break from the Hans, but we also were given this Sunday off. I am so happy. Mr. Han surprised us on Sunday and announced that there would be no service next week. I guess it may seem weird to be so pleased not to have to go to church, but everyone needs a little time off every now and then. Soon, once Tyler and Lyndsay arrive, we will get one Sunday off each month. It will be a nice change of pace. We have had only two Sundays off in six months.

Jack and I decided we are going to go hit up Seoul for the weekend. We are staying near Gangnam just outside of Samseong station in Seoul at the Hawaii Hotel. We stayed there once in the past when visiting friends and we really liked it. Plus, it will be nice not to have to stay at a love motel again. haha I really want to go to Coex next door (one of the biggest malls I have ever seen), so it works out great.

Hopefully lots of pictures will follow and we will have a load of fun.

Sang Mu Sauna

I guess I should consider renaming this blog "Korean Sauna" at this point due to the surplus in relevant posts, but what can I say? I freaking love the sauna. We had a mishap this week and lost some money. We aren't sure where or how exactly. Our guess is it fell out of Jack's pocket or it may simply be lost in the abyss masquerading as my dirty laundry hamper. As such, we are saving money this week. I couldn't bring myself to pay the 6,000 won each way to go to the sauna I am aquainted with in Kumho Dong. Thus I went on a new search. After searching around a bit for a sauna closer to our neighborhood, I discovered their is actually one hidden behind the coffee shop across form our building.

The sauna I went to today is located behind Tom and Tom's in Sang Mu. It is attached as part of SM Fitness, a very overpriced gym in Sang Mu. The sauna itself is not huge my any means, but the layout is nice. As you enter you remove your shoes, grab a locker, and pay the desk clerk for your scrubber and day at the spa (roughly 5,000 won/ $4.85) You go to the second floor, find your locker and strip. I looked around the sauna and it had all the stops. Varying temperature dry saunas as well as a plethora of hot tubs to soak in after you are finished. The scrubbing stations mirror those of almost every sauna. Comfy little seat accompanied by a regular spicket and hand held shower head. I enjoyed the tubs at this sauna much more the location in Kumho Dong. There is a cold one for swimming and it has a spout that shoots down at phenomenal speeds for a great back massage effect. There are two other pools. They are 39 and 42 degrees Celsius respectively. The saunas also range in temperature. The two I saw were 70 and 76 degrees Celsius. For my American friends who don't know the conversion rate, just know that is boiling hot. You break a sweat almost as soon as you enter.

It was great. After about 15 minutes of sweating away the pounds and internal toxins, I jumped to the regular showers lining the right side of the sauna and then took the plunge into the various pools. After another 30 minutes or so of soaking I headed to the scrubbing station and wrapped up my day at the sauna. I definitely think this is going to be the thing I miss most about living in Korea. I have already mentally integrated a sauna-esque portion into the home I want to build someday. I love it!

For the foreigners who may be a bit standoff-ish, dont be a coward. This might be the best thing you do while you are in Korea for yourself. The cultural barriers will have to fall quickly, but when they do, you will be glad you took the risk. :)

I am published...

My school has decided to publish the workbook that I created for our Summer ESL language program. It was centered around a Harry Potter theme. I included writing pages (O.W.L.s), puzzles, games, arts and crafts, grammar pages, and a weekly potions class.

I think I will like potions class the best since included in the line up are the awesome Coke + mentos experiment, making our own butter beer, a fun ice cream punch recipe, and something I called "Dragon Tears" which roughly turns out to be carbonated Kool-aide. Over all I think it will be a success. i am really proud. I love Korea because I was actually able to use pictures from the movie with disregard for Copyright issues. You gotta love foreign countries. It looks awesome. We even sprang and got the cover in color. It is really lovely. I am super proud of it.

I also included some super cheesy slogans throughout, but the stuff sells like hotcakes here. FOr example, somewhere on the cover it reads, "Where learning is a magical experience..." haha I thought that was pretty funny myself, but they loved it. Also in some of the worksheets the students are racing to save the magical and muggle world from improper verb tense and incorrect capitalization. How can you go wrong with that? My favorite however whast the section with Mad Eye Moody for the worksheet choosing I (eye) or me with a huge picture of his weird eyeball thing. I was amused while doing this to say the least I hope you enjoy.





To see the book in color you can view it on my post below. :)

Here is my book

Harry Potter ESL Workbook.

Everything is going to be Okay.

It is official. I now know I can make it in Korea for as long as I need to. This past week Justin found yellow label tea. It is a lipton brand. I am pretty excited. It has a little different taste to the lipton family style bags specifically for making sweet tea, but it is pretty freaking close. Closer than anything else we have found here.

We tried a couple of times to get the perfect amounts. So after a few trial runs we have now judged the appropriate amount of teabags as well as sugar content. I feel like I am back at home with Iced sweet tea. It is a nice comfort drink for homesick days and because it feels like it has been a million degrees outside the last two weeks. :) Regardless, it is a welcomed reminder of home.

Sauna part 2

Well, as I stated in the past, the sauna has become a pretty frequent tradition for me. On Saturday I take my shower bucket (consisting of shampoo, conditioner, face wash and mask, and anything else I might need) and head to Kumho Dong to go to the sauna. I choose to go outside of my neighborhood so as not to run into my students. (since people of all ages go to the sauna)

Last Saturday I had a pretty funny encounter while at the Sauna. I was going about my business in the hot rooms, pools, and scrub area when a worker walked in my area. You can usually tell who the workers are because they wear clothing of some sort. In her case just underwear. I was at the sauna alone this week. The worker came over and asked me something. I was unclear as to what it was, but I shook my head and smiled politely. It was at that point she took my scrubber out of my hand and proceeded to give me a rub down.

Aside from my mother and one other foreigner, Katherine who ventured to the sauna with me once, this was the only other lady to ever scrub my back. Koreans are very thorough. She scrubbed my back for a solid five minutes or so. Lets just say it was a cultural experience I am not soon to forget.

Justin arrived

After a grueling flight, Justin has arrived in Gwangju. His arrival was on Sunday evening. Then in typical Korean style, Monday was his first day at the school. He didn't actually have to teach. He simply shadowed the other two foreign teachers who he was replacing. As it was an exam week, he had little to observe. Tuesday was the first full day of teaching and lets just say it was "uncomfortable." haha Some quick thinking and a typed out survival guide did the trick. Justin is now relatively settled in his apartment and had begun his first full day of teaching without having the expected few freak out moments all foreigners experience the first few classes.

King's Feast

This is our friends, Peter and Leah, last full week at school. So Mr. Han decided to take all the teachers out to lunch. We went out just a little from Sang Mu to a traditional restaurant. It was really nice with a great atmosphere. I think everyone had a really good time. I have yet to muster the courage to tell our boss that I don't like seafood. As a result, he piled the fish on my plate. Along with the slow cooked fish was sting ray, crab, seaweed based soup, and a few other dishes.

I don't want to offend so I swallow it down always quickly followed by a swig of tea or water. This has nothing to do with Korean cuisine. I know many foreigners who enjoy seafood so they love it. I just don't enjoy seafood in any country. haha Regardless, I can usually find something nice to fill up on. Today my dish of salvation was a cool mash potato like dish that had nuts in it. It was pretty good and rice and ddeok-galbi (which is a mixture of pork and beef galbi) as well. Another thing I really liked was a tomato based salad. It was delicious. Over all it was a fun lunch a nice farewell to Peter and Leah.

Korea Red Devils

One thing I have come to really love about Korea is how they are so supportive of all things Korea. Whether it be the validity of Kimchi being eaten at every meal to national sporting events, Koreans show their complete and total support. Last night Jack decided to see just how serious they were.

At 3:00 am our time Korea faced off with Nigeria. Although, it wasn't an outright win, Korea was able to win the advancing nod from world cup officials. They advance to the next level of play. Throughout the country people came out in droves to watch the game. No crowd was greater in Gwangju, than that of Guus Hiddink field. Gwangju's world cup stadium was filled with 20,000 people last night all just to watch the game on the huge monitor. Vendors lined the streets surrounding the field. Fans donned their red flashing horns and body paint and the game began. It started at a sleepy 3:30, but by dawn everyone was wide awake again with the news of advancement. I threw Jack's pictures and video clips together into a quick youtube video for you to see. Also I took a few pictures from Seoul to add some flare at the end. :) Enjoy.

Yuseong Spa

I did it! I have officially taken part in a public bath.

I didn't think that I would ever get up the courage to go to a public spa but today was the day. Jack declared June 19th Crystal Day. (I am still not sure as to why, but hey, who am I to complain?) He whisked me away on a trip today. Lunch in bed. Yes, I do realize that for normal people who wake up at appropriate hours it would be breakfast in bed, but I like to sleep so don't judge me. Jack brought me Kraze burger and then we headed off to Seojeong-ri KTX station. It is the fast train that goes up to Seoul. We arrived in Daejeon and hit up Costco, E-mart, and then headed off to Yuseong Hot Springs. It is a Spring popular throughout the city. It is said to have healing properties. It is high in alkaline minerals such as calcium, and potassium, sulphur, carbonic acid, silicic acid and radium. There is a legend that during the Baekje dynasty a young soldier was completely healed by the hot spring. His mother first saw an injured crane dip its broken wing in the water and then fly away. She took her son and he was instantly made whole.

We went to the spa hoping to use the outdoor pools that are coed and fully clothed but it wasn't available. I was really bummed. I found out the indoor spa was still available. I paid a cheap 5,000 won and went into the spa. It was very different for me to be in a crowded room full of naked women. haha I know it sounds pretty crazy to the average westerner, but here it is no big deal. No one seemed to worried about the fact that I was there and so I wasn't worried about them. I enjoyed the hot showers, the multiple hot wet and dry saunas, the jade rock room, multiple pools with different minerals and temperatures. I must say the cold pool was quite refreshing after hitting the first sauna. I felt like I was going to pass out from the heat. There was an awesome pool with High pressured waterfalls as well as jets in the warm and hot pools. It was amazing. After I showered off again, I headed back out to meet Jack.

I was completely worn out from just laying around in the heat and pampering myself. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. I really liked it. Despite my super modest history and awkwardness around naked people I must say I will be finding a sauna in Gwangju to frequent as well.

We finished the day eating out at Bennigan's. It was like a little Irish/American haven right in the middle of Daejeon. After devouring my two entrees (that's right, I said two- once again don't judge me), we headed back to Costco to pick up the super comfy bathrobe I spotted earlier today.

All in all, I'd say the first annual Crystal's Day was a success.

42.2km Jack's Marathon Challenge

This upcoming week starting on Monday Jack is going to work on a week long marathon challenge. So, some people can run that in one day but come on. It isn't bad for a person who has no real running experience before this year. Jack has over the course of the last three months has lost 40lbs (19 kilograms for the non-Americans-haha)

He is an unstoppable force. It is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. I am really proud of him. One of the main benefits of being in Korea is the lack of readily available comfort food and personal transportation. We walk everywhere. Add those factors together with a gym membership and you get my substantially skinnier husband. He is doing great. While I cant say I will match his distance ran next week I do promise to at least hit the gym with him when he goes next week. :)

Good Luck!

황사-Hwangsa YELLOW DUST

It has been a grueling few weeks. Spring has sprung and along with it came the kicked up dust storms. The storms are a phenomenon that originate in the Mongolian desert, Northern China, and Kazakhstan. The winds carry the dry soil particles over both Koreas, Japan, China, and even parts of eastern Russia. Along with the thick air of the season comes a slew of respiratory problems, itchy eyes, sore throats, and an onslaught of other problems.

Ways to avoid problems:

Stay indoors
Wear a mask
Wipe down hard surfaces in your residence near windows and entryways
Wash any exposed skin when you come in from outdoor activities (face, hands, etc.)
Clean all produce that may have been exposed

World Cup Soccer

Tonight was a fun adventure. Korea went head to head with Argentina tonight. It was not a pretty picture. Things looked a little hopeful at the half as Korea scored a goal to bring it to 2-1 just before the half. They could have brought it back but lets be honest. It is Argentina: the best team in the world.

The best part about the game was all the interesting and resourceful places I was able to watch the game. It began in the classroom. I said it. I watched TV in my classes tonight. My students did their work at super sonic speeds to be able to watch the game for the last ten minutes of class.


Along with the classroom, I also watched the game from a makeshift outdoor theater in Sang Mu. People were camped outside of Tom and Toms watching the game. Following that Jack and I headed out to go get dinner. We watched from the cab. All the taxis have tv Once we arrived at the bus terminal, we heard shouts from inside. I whipped out my cell phone and opened my KBS station on my phone.


You have to love a country where you can get network tv on almost every phone (not just on phones that cost over four hundred dollars). We finally arrived inside at U-square and got into TGI Fridays and requested a seat at the bar so we could watch the last half of the game. It was a nice evening, well until they lost. haha