Funny things in my week

1. So I have a student named Andrew... he's really smart, and really sassy. A few things about him:

• If I say something to him, he often replies "That is your opinion". ('lil punk)
  
• He told another instructor he wants to take a bomb and blow up the city he'll be in.
• He hates girls. I mean REALLY HATES them. He refuses to talk to them, play on the same team as them, and definitely not sit by them.
• I have nicknamed him 'Cham Chi' which means tuna in korean.
• He has nicknamed me 'Saury' which is also a fish.
• I once was on the same train as him and he gave me a death stare for being in 'his' territory. I told him he better hurry, because I might beat him to the exit. He'd have none of that and he booked it through the station. HAHAHAHA it was so good to watch his little legs go as fast as he can... just to get away from me.
• He laughs like a little girl. I told him so and he said "It's because it has not cracked yet. I am no man"
• He gave me 200 won (about 20 cents) for my birthday and told me it's because "to keep the economy is important"
  

Anyways, I got him good this last week and dished out the whole "that is your opinion" to something he said, and the class was in an uproar. AHH the sweet feeling of revenge with a 12 year old.

2. My new gym rocks - it's a bit spendy, but I'm excited for all my yoga, step and "play with the ball" classes

3. The Olympics unite us!

• My cab driver turned on the gymnastics because he thought I might like it :) Yep... he was right. It brought a sense of unity and excitement in the car. I loved it.
  
• While doing my stretches at the gym, I suddenly noticed about 15 sweaty koreans staring at me. Feeling a little self conscious, I just kept going... until more started watching. After feeling REALLY self conscious, I got up to look.....
  

...... only to see the 9th inning of the Korean/USA baseball game was being broadcast right above my head.

I'm excited and looking forward to my friend Stephanie's arrival next week, the end of intensive classes and the beach this weekend!

Be blessed! Ahnyoung!

Rough Waters Ahead....

I really could use everyone's prayer and support right now... the next few weeks will be nothing but absolutely intense. My time and my energy will be stretched farther than I think it has in my entire time in Korea... It's looking like 13 hour workdays for quite a few of them at work. Partly my job responsibilities, partly because of the extra classes we've got until Aug. 20.

And somehow I'm supposed to celebrate my birthday in the midst of the chaos? Really?

I'm thankful that God's grace sustains...

Thanks in advance for the prayers and support.

Be blessed!

A peek into my last few weeks!

GET READY FOLKS! IT'S JAM PACKED!

(P.S - this post does NOT include my farewell to my closest friend here in Seoul, Sharon. For her... she gets her own post within a few days.) It also doesn't include my move into my new apartment. So yes, if it seems like I've been busy, you're correct. I've barely had time to breathe! But God is good and so gracious and humbling me and encouraging me along the way.

ENJOY!

Upon returning to Seoul, I decided I just couldn't get enough of the beach.... and I realized I needed some alone time and so I decided to go on a personal adventure. WEEEEEEE!

Instead of running a ton of errands and getting caught up, I decided to take advantage of the clear blue skies (rare in Seoul, first of all... second... the rainy season was destined to come any day)

I headed down to Muui Island (a small little island located off Korea, near the airport which is about 2 hours away) I had to take a ferry to get there. 

After a few ferry rides...

a trek pretending not to be lost...

exploring a famous "drama" (soap opera) shooting set...

meeting a random Korean man (Willis) who acted as my tour guide...

some great sea shells ...

and saying hello to some sand crabs...

I finally made peace with being back to a place I call home... yay Korea!

That weekend I headed out with all my friends to attend MUD FEST in Boryeong (about 2 hours south).

Here's my friend Linds on our bus ride down there:

The whole gang - SO MUCH FUN!

Me, Rach and Hil

MUUUUUDDDDD!

Next up? The DMZ. What an amazing experience. Here you see S. Korean soldiers outside. They wear glasses not only to intimidate, but to protect themselves from making eye contact with N. Korean soliders.

These are N. Korean guards (taken with a telephoto lens)


Spying on us - the window is slightly open on the left with a guard looking through binoculars. We were instructed to not make any movements or gestures to the N. Korean guards at any time.




You can't really tell from this picture, but they stand only halfway exposed in case of a situation with gunfire, so they can be protected and not easily harmed.

I'm standing in N. Korea in this picture... this S. Korean guard would stop me if I tried to pass, because if I do, I'd be nabbed by N. Koreans.





And last but not least... My amazing Friday Bridge Listening class.... they knew about my ice cream fast during the month of June (and how much I hated it) and I decided to celebrate with them after class one night.