Collection of Moments

So any time anything has struck me as funny or odd I have posted it on facebook. Since not all of you have facebook I'm going to combine them here...and for posterity's sake of course!

Shauna Morrissey
wants to know if it's really necessary that a huge cart of fish be brought into the office...stinks to high heaven in here!!!

Shauna Morrissey
thinks it's really awesome that people bring everyone else gifts (like yogurt) when something great happens to them...but can you imagine walking into an office in the States with an armful of individual Dannon's to celebrate that I bought ...myself a car? "Would you like Boston Creme Pie or Strawberry Banana? I bought low fat, don't worry!"

Shauna Morrissey finds it really disgusting that there's some video game that advertises all over the internet here with naked or mostly naked women...sick!!!

Shauna Morrissey thinks it's really awesome that I made all my co-workers laugh by screaming out in excitement "CORN DOGS!!!!!" when I entered the cafeteria. I just couldn't contain myself!

Shauna Morrissey knows she's not in America anymore when she sees a woman cutting off hundreds of fish heads from fish bodies in the hall sink!!!

Shauna Morrissey is glad that a 1) she had Japenese friends in college that taught her to use chopsticks, 2) she likes spinach b/c my school must buy stock in it, and 3) her will is starting to mold into God's.

Shauna Morrissey is going to have to take discipline matters into her own hands...this letting the co-teacher discipline is not working! I started the standing with arms up on a whole class this morning...good grief!

Shauna Morrissey spent a few hours at the park and now thinks Korean kids are the cutest little peanuts!

Shauna Morrissey is thankful for feeling better, finding a place that sells cheese in Seoul (via facebook) and that lesson plans are done! God is always with you, no matter where you go...

Shauna Morrissey loves that her mom sent her about 45 packs of gum!!!

Shauna Morrissey just sang We Are Family, We Will Rock You, We are the Champions AND YMCA karaoke style to entertian kids after a test...and they did not sing! This must be like what giving a concert is like!!!

Shauna Morrissey has a precious mom who gave her a fantastic care box...and is thankful for Cianti and Eric for looking out for me and being my first Seoul friends!

Shauna Morrissey just received a sculpture of me "Mist Cha-na" from a students...pictures to come soon!

Shauna Morrissey is going to the medical clinic all by herself...this should be an adventure fo sho!
*The doctor spoke very little English, but I was in and out with perscriptions in 20 minutes, cost less than $20 and I felt better!!*

Shauna Morrissey is chillin with the vice principal tomorrow while the rest of school is on "picnic"...I'm so sleeping in!

Shauna Morrissey thinks she just got her first Korean fat comment...that she knew of anyway. PE teacher says, "what do you eat at home? I am worried you are not getting proper nutrition." Ugh! This is the healthiest I've EVER eaten!

Shauna Morrissey really wants her friends that know Korean to help her translate her washer...PLEASE!!! After payday, I'll buy you dinner! :o)

Shauna Morrissey desperately needs to do laundry but can not read the Korean...sheesh!

Shauna Morrissey currently has 3 male students standing around her desk telling me awkward facts about themselves...it's cute!

Shauna Morrissey
so far has used the squatty potties twice, been soaked by the shower (after forgetting to turn it back to the sink side) three times, eaten Korean "sausage" made of pig intestine/rice/bean sprouts and soaked in soybean sauce to "diminish the smell" (sick!), and now is about to attempt to assemble a drying rack with instructions completely in Korean! This is fun...right?! :)

Shauna Morrissey starts to feel things are normal here UNTIL she finds out she has to pay large taxes on boxes sent here AND she walks up to her apartment building to find an older man peeing on it. (Oddly, that is common here...eww!)

Shauna Morrissey works with the Korean version of Wayne Newton...no joke! May have to do some undercover work to snap his photo!

Shauna Morrissey is eating a fruit I'm not sure the name of. Almost all food I eat here I don't know the name of. It's always a mystery....

Shauna Morrissey tried twice to post a video for you but it didn't work...bummer! I'm currently overhearing a teacher ripping a student a new one and paddeling him...NO JOKE!

Shauna Morrissey sucessfully pottied in the squatty potty today AND a co-teacher gave me a Korean Twilight calendar...YEEEESSS!!!!

Shauna Morrissey is so tired after a day and a half of walking and figuring out subways!! Oh, and being stared at...cuh-ray-zay!

Shauna Morrissey got lost trying to find her apartment from the subway and had to take a taxi home...ey yey yey!!! :) Praise the Lord for the man who knew who a little English and helped me hail a taxi!

Shauna Morrissey loved having tons of Korean middle school girls tell me I was beautiful today!!! :) Though staying in the teachers' office all day long SUUUUCKED!!! Here's to 4 more days of boredom!

The end...sorry if it's long! Hopefully entertaining, none the less!

Starting to Settle

This week has been a rollercoaster, but ever so slowly (like slug pace) I'm starting to settle.

I believe part of this correlates with the fact that I got to hang out with all sorts of people.

I also believe this hanging out made me sick. I had stomach issues earlier this week and had my first visit to the doctor's office. The doctor spoke about 10 English words, so that was an adventure. And then Saturday I had a fever, I think due in large part to exhaustion.

However, Saturday morning I hung out with some of the coolest Christian ladies that really blessed my heart! We met on the roof of a hotel that was breathtaking! The views were gorgeous and they had so much nature up there! Also, the ladies brought food and it was like being at home...I had a breakfast casserole and brownies and egg salad sandwiches! Delish! The whole morning was precious!!!

Friday I had dinner with my friends Kelly and Brendan...we went to T.G.I.Fridays with a combined tab of $125...all we got was three meals and three drinks. Of course, the cheapest meal on the menu was a small $24...WOAH!! Needless to say we decided not to eat there again, especially since it wasn't that great! Thursday I got a package from mom, so thankful for that piece of home and my mom's giving heart!! I also met friends Cianti and Eric by their house to get a cellphone! Phones make life so much easier in a big city! They live near the U.S. military base here so have scads of American-ized places around them. I got a cellphone from a guy who was almost fluent in English, had a heavenly cheese burger with mushrooms, and got to see Cianti and Eric's loooovely apartment. (I'm being sarcastic...they basically have to walk up a mountain to get to their place and the inside is a throwback to the 60's.)

Wednesday morning I became a legal alien and that afternoon my co-teacher came and picked me up from the school and we went to her house. It was her high school friend's Birthday so we celebrated with some Korean dishes, but also fried chicken and chocolate cake! Yummo! They then took me to a place, Insadong, where the roads are "traditional" cobblestone and all the shopping is hand crafted. It was nice, even though I had no money!
I honestly don't remember Monday or Tuesday because I really wasn't feeling well.

That's this week. Today (Sunday) I'm staying home hoping the illness will go away with rest! I had sweet time with the Lord this morning. He is really ministering to my heart through my loneliness and I am thankful for that!

Three gifts, One weekend

As of Friday morning I was crying because I had nothing to do this weekend and no one to do it with. But, I was given three gifts.

#1. My friends Kelly and Brendan had planned their weekly dining experiences around me so that they could experience some Korean Mexican with me. The food sucked big time, however, the company was amazing! We went back to Kelly's place and drank Korean beer and Soju (their hard alcohol that everyone drinks.) Conversation was excellent as was the walk home! I made it back to my subway terminal and it was pouring...but the streets were far less crowded and all the sudden Seoul was peaceful. My soul connected to Seoul!

#2. Saturday I was supposed to meet a girl to see a Renoir exhibit but could never find her...so I went exploring. I heard a parade of sorts and followed it. To my pleasurable surprise it was a demonstration of the traditional changing of the gaurd. Amazing! After the show I just happen to run into a couple I had met at orientation. I spent the afternoon/early evening wandering around with them and got to see two festivals and a beautiful little river!

#3. Sunday I visited the same church I went to last week and the message with just for me. It was covering David and Goliath but it was a much better sermon than I had heard on this passage. David wasn't judging the problem by the external, in fact he didn't find a problem because He was too busy focusing on what God wanted! God wanted glory...David fought Goliath for the glory of the Lord and all problems were nothing. It was poignant for me. Stop looking at the calendar, at your loneliness, at your culture shock. How can you glorify the Lord?

Three blessings...gifts from the Eternal One! I needed all three.

oDdBaLl OcCuReNcEs

Weird stuff that's happened thus far...

Came home to an older gentleman peeing on my apartment building.

Had to use the squatty potties twice...so challenging!
Paid $70 in tax for a box my mom mailed to me.

Found a men's lounge at a mall...complete with cushy chairs, foosball, and pool table!


Soaked myself because I forgot to turn the faucet to the sink side instead of the shower...THREE TIMES!!

Can not find one red hot place to get a pedicure, but I thought Asians were all about the nails...bad misconception, I guess.

Every day having to literally air dry my hands after washing them with soap on a stick.

Getting really strange looks after saying "Bless you!" to those who have sneezed.

Being told that if a student is sleeping in class it's probably because he doesn't know any English so, "go ahead and let him sleep." Really???

Witnessing the dance exhibition of Korea's "Biggest Loser". Apparently they did ballroom dance to lose weight, so at the National Dance Championship of Ballroom, (that I just happened to catch at a mall) I got to see these people...never did see the actual professionals.

Also seeing this guy at the mall...
Love from Korea...:o)

The Land of Middle

Before coming to Korea I got to request an age group of preference...I chose middle school and got middle school.

Week 2 of school (and now teaching) I realize culture holds no bounds on the mind, stature, or action of a middle school student. This is a cross-cultural phenomenon.

You have your typical kids who have already grown into their adult bodies in the 6th grade and those in the 8th grade who have yet to hit a growth spurt. (I sympathize completely with this group.) You have the "cool" kids that are so snotty to those not in their circle you could literally ring their necks. You have the quiet, shy kids who won't speak up and don't want to participate in any group oriented activity. (I was this kid, believe it or not!) You have the crack ups who constantly want and need attention and will do whatever it takes to get it. And you have the suck ups who know every answer and offer to carry all your items to and from class. I've seen them at all Munchung Middle School...just in 7 days...and I love them already!

Of course, I've already pinpointed a few of my favorites who ironically are the ones I most relate to. Maybe it's because I remember back to my middle school days. A few incredibly awkward and horrific moments stand out to me from my past...most of them seem to be in P.E. class.

*Square dancing unit day 1: Girls stand on the wall, boys pick a partner! "Ugh! Really, I have to dance with him?" Day 2: (Even more mortifying!) Boys stand on the wall, girls pick a partner! "Are you kidding?"
*Soccer unit: Teacher says, "everyone must play goalie for 30 minutes." This is part of the reason I still have a phobia of balls. I got hit in the face more times than I can count in middle school.
*8th grade formal: Yes, I'll go stag because I'm too cool for a date! (There was a repeat incidence in the 10th grade too!)

It wasn't until I found my worth and confidence in who I was created to be that I drew out of the painfully shy and self-conscious kid I was. I think that's why I'm here...or at least for right now. To love on those kids like me. While I love the tall boy who is obviously the class clown singing, "You are so beautiful...to me!" in the halls, he won't be my favorite. My favorites will be those that sat by themselves, those that asked to sit out of the game when no one would grab their hand, those that came and introduced themselves and then quietly did everything they were told with a timid smile on their face. These sweet kids are why I love middle school! What an important and precious time in a child's life. I am glad I get to be a part!!!

Love from Korea...:o)

Inta-rrresting, vedy inta-rrreesting

Everything intrigues me in this small (a mere 14 million people) town!

*Tanks of fish line the streets to buy...eels, crabs with spikes, sharks!!!
*Kimchi (the big veggie of choice, it's like cabbage soaked in a pepper sauce) is not only the staple, it's infused into everything...every meal has kimchi, the streets smell like it, so do the subways and every Korean's breath.

(Here are the peppers found on most roofs to add to the kimchi and in those brown pots is kimchi soaking in the peppers.)

*Koreans brush their teeth constantly...my friend Anna would fit right in!
*Koreans have the ability to poop while squatting and wearing pants...this mystifies me!
*Pizza is gift wrapped in a pretty bow and comes with sweet pickles and hot sauce.
*The Koreans who give me the dirtiest looks are wearing shirts with English sayings.
*Koreans can squat for insanely long periods of time, but I have noticed many elders are severly hunched over.
*The subways have no A.C. and are constantly packed with people...and every station looks different! (A post on subways will come.)
*Every store says they "give me discount" but I have no idea why or if they really are giving me a discount because there are rarely prices posted.

But, this is an interesting place. Right now I'm having a hard time, but I'm founding outlets to enjoy myself. Before I came to the PC bang I took a long walk around...every street holds a new experience...you go from big city to the ghetto in a matter of seconds! I really wanted to find this park that is supposedly close to my apartment, no luck yet (hence the really long walk)!!!

Anyways, I must be off...didn't bring much moolla for internet. I'm leaving you with a happy thought...or add rather that I found in the subway! Use your imagination...

Love from Korea!!! :o)