Life changes so quickly

It's been a while, I know. I wish I could say I've been too busy to update, but I can't. To be honest, I just haven't gotten around to it. It's been over a year since I last updated, and let me tell you, times have changed.

I think the biggest change in my life is that, as of a few months ago, my program pulled all high school teachers from schools (which is where I was) and moved us all to elementary. I was nervous, sad, angry, and just plain disappointed. I loved my high school. I loved my students. I loved my teachers. I loved it all. But I have to say, I'm not disappointed any longer. Yes, I still miss my old students. Yes, I still miss my old teachers, but I go visit from time to time. But I love my new school. And the little bouncy ball students that I teach are absolutely adorable. They are so energetic and full of life. I honestly can say I'm just as happy here.

Another change huge change in my life was the tiny addition to my family. My baby girl (who isn't such a baby anymore), Kiki. It all started one day when a co teacher and I decided to join the local animal shelter dog walk. The day before we were going, I mentioned that the visit to the cat shelter was before, so we could just meet everyone at the dog shelter after the cat visit was finished. But when she expressed interest in going to the cat shelter as well, I (reluctantly) agreed to go. But once I was there, I was in love. These cats were so fluffy and adorable. I instantly realized that getting a cat was the solution to my pet-withdraw problems. Usually, I'm a dog person. I've only ever had dogs (mostly because my dad and I are both allergic to cats), but I realized my life is to crazy for the responsibility that having a dog brings. So after doing some research on how to manage living with cats while having allergies, I decided I'd adopt.

The first step was asking my landlord if I was even allowed to have a pet. So my co teacher went off to ask, and came back with an answer I was not expecting. "He says 'yes' you can have a cat. And he has a kitty for you." Huh? What? He HAS a kitty for me? Wait, kitty? Kitty as in cat? Or kitty as in kitten? "Baby cat!" Uhhh. I don't know if I'm ready for that. I've never raised a cat before, much less a kitten. "Just come see and then you can decide." Wait, what? It's here? At school? So we set off down the hallway, abandoning my newspaper students in the classroom to do their own "self study". I should've known. Who can look at an abandoned kitten and not take it home? Well, not me. They take me outside to our soccer field and unlock the equipment room door. And there she was, down in the bottom of a trashcan meant to keep soccer balls and hockey sticks, was my scared and shaking baby girl, no food, no water, no blanket. Just this tiny kitten. So I instantly scooped her up, wrapped her in my scarf, and whisked her away.

Once I got back to my classroom, it hit me. Uh, what have I done? What am I supposed to do with this? I found a box, put her in with my scarf, then took a picture, quickly sending it to my friends. "Um, this just happened." Luckily, Adrienne's boyfriend (who is Korean) was in Daegu, so after school, we met and he took us to the vet then to the store for all the supplies.

7 months and one bout of ringworm later, I've got the best cuddle bug in the world. Yes, she's still a kitten at heart, but when she isn't trying to chew off my hand or toes, shes the best companion I could've asked for.

Other than acquiring a family member and moving to a different apartment and school, not much else has changed. Friends departed, which was extremely hard, but we still keep in touch. And other friends moved to the opposite end of the city, but we still hang out regularly.

I've traveled a ton, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Myanmar (aka Burma), Japan (twice) and around Korea (partially with my mom, who visited in October!). But I'll get around to posting about those places, I promise!

Blooms and Blossoms

Every year in late March and the beginning of April, the most beautiful trees I've ever seen blossom here in Korea. Cherry blossom season. The time to enjoy these beauties is quite short, usually lasting from about a week and a half to just a few days. It was a shame that, this year, it was a pretty short cherry blossom season, with a cold front that came through coupled with some rain, but I did have a few chances to enjoy their beauty.

Cherry Blossoms outside of my school

Magnolia tree near my school

Sometimes I wondered if, because I was a foreigner that just stood in awe while everyone else looks at me like I'm an idiot. But we visited Keimyung University, a local university only about 20 minutes from my house. When we got there, we realized that it wasn't only us that thought they were so beautiful. Koreans were lined up everywhere taking full blown photo shoots. Not only was it wonderful seeing the beauty of the trees, but also great entertainment watching all the things these Koreans do to get pictures. They sit in the middle of roads, they climb in bushes and they do mass jumping pictures. It's hilarious. There really is no describing the beauty of these trees in words, nor with pictures, but I'll upload a few anyway.

Beautiful Keimyung University

 Don't worry about cars...

 

Me and my friends can't even coordinate 4 people jumping at the same time.... 

Of course some people needed the token picture with Wagooks

Malaysia

My first international trip since I've been to Korea (other than going back home for Jen's wedding)... Malaysia! At first, I didn't know where to go or what to do, I'd be traveling for 12 days by myself, but wanted to see something new! A new country, a new culture. So I decided to go to Malaysia.

I arrived extremely late to my hostel, the Reggae Mansion which was highly recommended by many of my friends, but luckily I was able to sign up for the 7 Wonders Tour that they offer through the hostel for the next day. So I work up early, ate a nice, filling breakfast, and met up with the group of about 14 other people for the tour. We visited the KL City Gallery, which was actually a nice start to the day. Our tour guide quickly pointed out the interesting architecture, blending modern, colonial, Islamic and Asian styles. It was really interesting to see spread across the entire city. We then headed to the National Memorial Site and National Palace, where we could take pictures with the guards and horses. Some of the people I was touring with were from Canada and they were in awe of the horses. Apparently they aren't that common in Canada? Something I had never really thought about and I guess took advantage of being from Kentucky. We then headed to the Thean Hou Temple, which was preparing for the Lunar New Year (aka Chinese New Year). It was beautifully decorated with lanterns and smelled of incense. And it was nearly empty, which was great. As we walked down the back of the temple on our way to lunch and ran across a TON of turtles in a little pond. It was crazy!

Lunch was spent at a really good and authentic curry restaurant in Little India. It wasn't fancy, but it was pretty full, lots to choose from, and out doors. Of course, I would spill chicken curry all over my Khaki shorts on the first day of vacation. Go figure. We then had a little time to explore Little India, then were off to our next destination, the National Mosque where we were required to dress in provided robes and head scarves. The next stop was the Pewter Factory, something that doesn't sound so great, but was pretty fun and interesting to see. We were able to watch the workers hand carve and polish individual pieces, getting to see the whole process from start to finish.

But they definitely saved the best for last. The Batu Caves. This Hindu temple/shrine was definitely the highlight of the day. The statue outside was enormous and the climb to the cave was pretty difficult, but once inside the cave it was great. The main cavern opens to the sky, a wall of greenery covering one wall. But my favorite part, the monkeys! There were monkeys EVERYWHERE. They were so cute. Sometimes someone would put food on the ground in the cave, and it was like wolves descending. The entire wall was crawling with monkeys coming down to eat. Then, when they were finished, they all went back up, the entire wall seemingly fluid. Watching the monkeys was quite entertaining. They would steal a plastic soda bottle from someone and work for a while to get a few drops out, all the while having to fight off other monkeys. The cutest part was seeing the baby monkeys cling on to their mother's tummies as they ran around and played. That night, I grabbed a quick bite to eat on the rooftop bar at the hostel and went to sleep quite early, completely exhausted.

The next day was spent exploring by myself. I went to China Town, which was interesting to see in the morning when many of the stalls had yet to be opened and you could actually see down the road, then headed to see the twin Petronas Towers before going to explore the Central Market and then grabbing dinner back at China Town (where I got to see a fun performance with instruments and dancing dragons for Lunar New Year).

The next morning it was back to the airport to grab a quick flight to Langkawi Island. This island was pretty... rural? But beautiful. The beach and sunsets were amazing, and the food wasn't too bad either. However I have to admit that I didn't quite enjoy my stay on the island, due to the fact that I got sunburned the first day and had to spend the rest of my time hiding from the sun (which was difficult to do). So the next day I rented a scooter from our hostel and explored the island, loving the ability to stop whenever I wanted and explore beaches and coves all by myself. But Langkawi wasn't the place for me, so I decided to end my stay early and head to my next destination early, Penang Island, via ferry. The ferry ride was interesting, we couldn't walk around the boat and if something had happened, the door was blocked by luggage. But the most interesting part of the journey was their choice of entertainment. They decided to play two very graphic movies, one about military and one about pirates, both including a lot of blood and swear words. I thought those were quite inappropriate for public transportation.

Once in Penang, I had to find my hostel, then decided to walk around for a bit and explore the city of Georgetown. I have a student that lived in Georgetown for 3 years and he said that I would love it. Unfortunately many things were shut down because of the holiday week. But it was still a beautiful town. Once hungry, I stumbled upon this open air hawker stall food court that ended up being really famous. Thankfully I stumbled upon it my first night, because it closed the next day for the holiday, otherwise I'd have gone there every day. The next few days I spent going to different temples and shrines, I went to the National Park and saw a bunch of cute little monkeys, and enjoyed hunting down non-existent fireworks. But the highlight of Penang (other than the great Indian food) was Lunar New Year's Eve, when we went to the Kek Loksi Temple and were able to see all of the lights, that are only lit during this time of the year. It was beautiful, something that I'll always remember. I loved the zen feeling that the temple grounds gave, light music playing among the many lanterns and flowers.  It was something that not many people in the world can say they have experienced.

 

My last full day in Malaysia I packed my bags once again, headed back to KL and spent the day shopping and hunting for street food (which I never found). So instead I grabbed a crepe then headed to the Petronas Towers too see the light show. Being my last night in Malaysia, it was a wonderful way to spend it. The weather was great and the light and water show was amazing, and the towers were beautiful, lit against the black night sky.

My trip to Malaysia was amazing. I didn't get to do quite as much as I'd wanted, but I met some great people along the way and was able to see the wonderful mix between Islamic, Malay and Chinese culture, and eat some wonderful food.