Tuesday, April 27, 2010

** disclaimer: this post may not be for the faint of heart or those with weak gag reflexes. or fanatical dog-lovers. also, as always, i claim no ownership for these pictures. thanks to all of my friends who continuously allow me to steal their shots while i drop the photography ball. **

here's a quick mid-week post to address all of the questions i have recently received about my dog-eating ways. i did indeed have my first experience on sunday night. the best way i can describe it is: bizarre. i didn't really know what to expect, but we ordered it cooked 2 different ways: roasted meat & soup. here's the soup, which was really more like meat and vegetables in a thin broth:
and the roasted meat...don't ben & i look like we are eagerly anticipating our first dog-meat experience??to me, the meat tasted just like meat. nothing special. ben made some comment about it tasting like rabbit. he grew up on a farm and ate all kinds of weird things. i've never had rabbit to compare it to, but i trust his assessment. the taste was good, but the texture was a little much. the meat was very fatty and chewy, and excessively stringy. quote of the night: "are there any toothpicks in this place? i got some dog stuck in my teeth..." but seriously. it was too stringy and we were all picking dog out of our teeth for the remainder of the night.

i enjoyed the soup more than the roasted meat. mainly because the roasted meat had these pieces that looked like straight-up ears and it grossed me out. turns out, it was chunks of skin...which is no better. the roasted platter also had pieces of meat still on the bone. a little more adventurous than i was willing to be at the time. some of the guys seemed to really enjoy it, though. since we are in korea, the meal was served with plenty of accompanying vegetables...and of course, kimchi.

we had a good group of 10 that shared the experience together. here we are feasting (of course, traditional korean style: cross-legged on the floor):we couldn't let any go to waste. i was proud that we managed to pretty much clean all 3 platters...i think the general consensus at the end of the night was: we got to have the experience. now we can go on with our lives without needing another one. it definitely wasn't awful, and i know that i could do it again if i had to. but if given the choice, i'd probably take chicken or beef over dog. and no...i don't know what breed we ate. but i would imagine that they all taste pretty much the same.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

:::edited 4/27/10:::

it has been a really great week! i feel like i am always talking about the weather, but that's because it makes all the difference in the world to me. honestly, i have wondered before if i have that disease where the weather dictates your mood. if it's sunny, i'm happy as a clam and all is right in the world. if it's rainy or snowy or cold, i just want to stay in my bed and not see people. hahaha. seriously! fortunately, the weather has been beautiful here this week. springtime brings me new optimism. i have started walking to and from school, rather than riding the bus, when time permits. it's really relaxing and enjoyable...not to mention, i need the exercise!

today was a loooooong, but wonderful day. we made the trek (via subway) to a city called suwon to visit a traditional korean folk village. it was enormous and awesome. the entire place was set up like an old school korean village and was rich in cultural information. the day was beautiful and i got to spend it with about 8 other native english teachers and 2 korean friends. here's a shot of me & soo-in: (courtesy of gue-min & his nikon)and another with some big korean statue. the koreans kept calling it a grandfather and said that i should hug it? i don't really know. i just smile for the pictures. i have begun to think of soo-in as my sister! and a girls shot. the koreans told me i should touch the statue's nose? i didn't know why. but they told me later it means you will have baby boys. hahaha. i wish i had known that before i did it...here we are looking super asian. or at least i am...after we had walked like 3,000 miles around the village, we decided it was time to eat mexican food. soo-in has eaten it many times with us (i swear, she is like a real american!), but my new korean friend gue-min had never experienced it. i mean - to the point that he had to ask me what a taco was. it's hard for my mind to fathom that someone could go 20-some years without ever eating a taco! hahaha. i think he liked it, but said it was "different." he had no idea what to do with the chips and salsa. hahaha. koreans can seriously eat more than any other group of people i have ever met. when everyone else was already finished with their meal, soo-in, gue-min, and i were still going strong. hahaha. don't we look like a happy little korean family? hahaha. even with our different shades of gray...which i promise was not planned. we pretty much rolled out of that place after eating so much, but we were happy as could be!

i had a really awkward encounter yesterday. i went into work a little late so i could go to the bank to take care of some business, so i was riding the bus at a weird time. it wasn't busy at all because most people were already at work. about 4 stops after i boarded, this older korean woman came and sat so close to me...practically on top of me! i was kind of annoyed because it was really unnecessary - the bus was seriously empty. but then with no regard to my ipod & earbuds, she just starts speaking korean to me about 1,000 words per minute. i swear she didn't take a breath. i had NO chance to tell her that i didn't speak korean and couldn't understand anything she was saying. and there comes a certain point in the conversation where you've allowed the other person to talk too long, and it would be unbearably awkward to let them in on the secret then. after about 10 minutes, we reached that point. so i finally just started acting like i understood and nodding my head and saying "yes, yes" in korean. i was seriously clueless. then she started pulling out tracts (all in korean, of course) and i realized she was trying to witness to me. hahaha. then she got out her cellphone and was looking at me really expectantly. i did not know this woman and wasn't about to give her my number, so i just said "no, i'll read this" (referring to the tracts) in korean. it seemed to satisfy her and she got off at the next stop. i was practically sweating by this point because i had just had a 20 min. "conversation" with this woman without her realizing i didn't speak korean. i talked to my friends about it that night and showed them the reading material she had given me. my korean friends started laughing and told me it was a good thing i didn't give her my number because she was a member of a cult. hahaha. oh korea! close call, right?

lucky for you guys, my boss required us to get pictures from the classroom to submit to the dept of education. here are a few shots: these next 2 pictures are from my english class for teachers. every other wednesday, i teach classroom english for a group of teachers at bongmyeong. i really love this group of "students." they are great english speakers and we have alot of fun!some of my kiddies at bongmyeong...this is one of my absolute favorite 6th graders at sinan. he always runs up to me and screams "WHITNEY!" really loud in my face, then gets his friends to start chanting my name until my coteacher yells at them. this shot was snagged mid-wrestling, which happens for about 10 minutes every hour during the break between classes. it gets really intense sometimes...like hardcore WWF.one of my sweetest 6th graders. she greeted me this particular morning with - "whitney teacher! i love you! give me some cereal."you can tell from the pictures why i love my job...which is something i never thought i would say. but my kids are great and make me smile everyday. i am really, really lucky!

i'd better run. off to study some korean before i go out to eat DOG tonight. it's my first experience, so i hope that i can stomach it! more on that next week...

Sunday, April 18, 2010

we are FINALLY starting to see a little bit of spring here in korea, and i couldn't be happier. saturday blessed us with an absolutely perfect day. a few friends and i decided to celebrate by attending a cherry blossom festival that is held at a local high school here in cheonan. i'd heard all about how beautiful these flowers were, but i was skeptical. my expectations were blown out of the water when we arrived. as always, i forgot my camera. the following are all straight from the photography mastermind known as my friend andy phelps. check his blog here. you should really show him some serious love, cause my blog would be picture-less without him. thanks andy. :) as you can see, it was a beautiful day with amazing flowers and wonderful people. this weather makes me so happy!

things at work are going decently well these days. there are always miscommunications and language barriers to overcome, but i'm happy overall. my teachers are starting to trust me a little more everyday and giving me more teaching time in the classroom. i love every chance i get to interact with my kids and it's good for them to hear a native speaker's english pronunciation. i had a sweet moment this week at my 2nd school when some of my 5th graders came into the office to hang out with me for a little bit. they wanted to see more pictures from america and hear some american music. they were overjoyed to see that i had some korean music on my ipod so we had an impromptu kpop singalong in the english office between 5th & 6th periods. hahaha. my kids are really cool (and some of their english is seriously impressive!) so i love the chance to hang out and get to know them both in and out of the classroom.

i have been meeting more and more korean friends every week and they keep my life exciting. unfortunately, this next week is midterm week at all universities in the area, so everyone is busy cramming for their tests. i didn't get to see any of them this weekend and won't be able to throughout this week. :( i'm really going through withdrawals! if this is any indication of what it will be like once i return to the states, we might be in serious trouble!

sorry this is a short update, but i've got to get some rest before the new work week starts tomorrow morning. i'll be back next week with more anecdotes. until then, enjoy the cherry blossom pictures! :)

Friday, April 16, 2010

i have never been an overly emotional girly girl. if you have ever met me - even just once - you know that this statement is as true as they come. i've always fit in better as one of the boys. i hate to wear make up or heels. i hate to cry. i've been dubbed as a fairly even-keeled individual, regardless of the situation - good or bad. but there is something about being in a completely strange and foreign place that brings out another part of your personality. the ups and downs of everyday life seem to literally span from the mountaintops to the valleys in a matter of seconds. there's something about being totally clueless and vulnerable in a new culture that will take a normally balanced person and turn them into a total drama queen. i'll go ahead and admit that i've seen a piece of this transformation taking place over the past couple of months. i'll also admit that i really hate it. i like to keep my feelings and emotions to myself, so it kills me to allow my friends to see me cry or to own up to the fact that i'm not really always as happy as i let on. i'm just another person who gets happy and sad and has good days and bad days. i prefer to be the comforter, rather than the comforted. my ego really gets in the way and tells me that the tough facade is much more appealing than the real weak me. i am fully aware that this way of thinking of unhealthy and totally stupid, but it's the way my brain works. that being said, i think that my time here in korea is really worth its weight in gold. i feel myself being stretched and grown in every possible way. i'm beginning to see different facets of myself that i didn't ever know existed. i'm developing and changing and maturing every day. it's really exhausting and frustrating and rewarding and wonderful all at the same time. i hope to leave this place a much better person than the version of me who stepped off the plane in january.

Friday, April 9, 2010

this week has been alot of awesome and alot of not-so-awesome all wrapped into a few short days. as the not-so-awesome is a total downer that nobody wants to read about, i'll just suffice it to say that my headteacher and i had a misunderstanding (over something totally stupid. of all things -- milk!) and she got really mad at me. hahaha. which really isn't that uncommon here because koreans can be pretty temperamental about minute details. i think we're ok now, but it was shaky for a short bit. drama-rama. pray that that dumb spell blows over quickly!

last saturday, a friend from church invited me to her house to cook korean food. i was so excited! hyeon-hee is a really sweet woman (maybe in her 30s?) who lives really close to KNU and actually works on campus. she picks me up and drops me off every sunday for church. her english is a work in progress, as is my korean, so communication can be really difficult at times. at first it was kind of awkward, but we have developed a really neat relationship over the past couple of months to the point where we are really comfortable in the silence. there are sometimes long stretches of time where we don't verbally say anything, but it's totally OK. in a really loud world, i have come to really cherish this friendship. we work out language when necessary, but do without when possible. we spent several hours together on saturday, and it was really enjoyable -- almost soothing. we prepared 2 dishes: kimbap & rabokki. (refer to older posts for pictures + descriptions). the kimbap requires rolling a bunch of ingredients really carefully into a seaweed wrap. i was terrible at it and hyeon-hee got some good laughs out of watching me struggle. hahaha. i improved as the day progressed, but i was still really bad by the time we finished. gotta work on that, for sure. we had a great time together and the food was absolutely delicious. she asked me to come back next month to make japchae with her. really looking forward to it already!

saturday evening, i was able to meet up with a new korean friend for tea. song-hoon and i were introduced through some mutual friends several weeks ago, but had not been able to coordinate our schedules to work out a second hangout until almost an entire month later. (pathetic!) he stays really busy as a 3rd year religion major at KNU and my workload has picked up a bit between my 2 schools, so time is tight. the first time we met, he talked only a little and was a tad shy, so i really thought that his english was minimal. i was 200% wrong. when we met on saturday, he started talking immediately and didn't stop for the entire duration of our 3-hr teatime. hahaha. i was amazed! his english is really, really impressive...and mostly self-taught. he watches 20 min of CNN everyday to practice his listening skills, and in the process, has picked up alot of news about america. he initiated a really in-depth conversation about president obama and the new healthcare plan...i was so shocked that my initial response was laughter. he looked at me like i was crazy and i just said - "song-hoon...i think you know more about america than most americans!" i was seriously impressed. we had a really great time talking about all kinds of things, and i was really interested to hear his opinion on some american hot topics. he made some really great points and had good insight...i could tell that he had really thought it through. we are hoping to get together again once he recovers from his current ailment. he did a serious prayer fast over lent (i hope it's ok to share this???) and has since had some significant health problems. he dropped alot of weight (10 kg...over 22 lbs!) and his stomach doesn't really know how to handle food anymore. please keep him in your prayers the next couple of weeks as he works to return to good health. his english is good enough that he has picked up on a few idioms. at one point in the conversation, i was telling him about how all of my friends here say that i am becoming more korean with every passing day. it's getting to the point where they really can't distinguish me from the other koreans in a crowd. hahaha. it's kind of sad, but mostly hilarious. i always have to yell or call them to get their attention. anyways, song-hoon and i were laughing about it and he said - "what is the expression? act as romans?" i started laughing and explained the background of "when in rome..." to him. you know you're getting good at a 2nd language when you can correctly apply an idiom to the situation!

this is a good time to insert a note about korean culture. in america, you can generally estimate one's life stage by knowing their age. for example, most people my age are just finishing college or beginning a new job. maybe relocating for work or beginning their marriage. this is not the case in korea. age is no indicator of what stage of life a person might be in. a 22 year old could just be beginning university or already working a professional job. and korean males are required to serve 2 years in military service...but they may choose when to serve it. this also throws off the age/life stage thing because some choose military before university, and some choose after. for example, song-hoon chose to serve his military time prior to entering university. so (in korean years...which are TOTALLY different from american years!) he is 27 years old...but still in university! it's totally normal in korean culture. so a 27 year old could still be in the college stage, while a young-un like me is already working a professional teaching job. it's really confusing!

i had a really funny experience on monday. many of you have heard about or even met my friend, ben. he was one of the first friends i made at trevecca freshman year and we remained close all throughout university. he's like a brother to me and has come to visit my home in ohio several times. he came to korea earlier than john, patrick, and i...back in sept 2009. he works in a different program than the rest of us, but in the same city. it's called an english village, and is like an intensive english camp. students go there for a week at a time to receive training, so he sees a new group of students every monday. anyways, i knew some of my students were going to be gone from my classes this week, but i didn't really know why. you don't often get alot of details here, so you just learn to deal with the information gap and eventually stop asking questions. come to find out, my kids were at ben's english village for the week. what are the chances?! there are so many schools and so many english villages in cheonan - it's really unbelievable that something like that would happen. ben was talking to his first class on monday, getting to know them, etc, and he asked - "what is your english teacher's name?" and they all answered "miss whitney!" he started laughing in disbelief and said - "is she a korean american?!" since they are 5th and 6th graders with less than exceptional english skills, they all answered - "no!" hahaha. confused, ben asked - "is she white?" and they replied - "no!" really baffled, ben said - "well...what does she look like?" they thought about it for a second and started looking and pointing at each other and said - "she looks like us!" hahahaha. my kids are hilarious! ben started laughing and explained that we knew each other and had been 친구 (friends) for a long time. korean kids' reactions to most things will be laughter. but not a chuckle. more like pure hilarity and chaos. he said they started screaming and laughing their heads off til they were really out of control. and when he said "friend," they all inferred "girlfriend," which only added to the insanity. all kids love to think they have a handle on their teachers, like personal details about their life, so i can only imagine what i will have to deal with this next monday morning. hahaha. i expect my desk to be completely swarmed with 35 crazy, giggly girls who will want to know all about "ben teacher." it's gonna be nuts.

there is a long and unnecessary story behind this picture, but here is another shot of me & soo-in. she and i met just a little over a month ago, but quickly became really great friends. i have mentioned her several times before. she is a university student studying english literature, and her english is AMAZING. really! so impressive. she is near and dear to my heart and we spend alot of time together now. we are planning a trip to a strawberry (딸기) festival tomorrow, weather permitting!

i'd better get to sleep before i fall asleep on my keyboard. i hope that all of you are well and enjoying the great spring that i have been hearing so much about. please drop me a line if you get a chance and let me know how you are doing! it's been awhile since i last posted my address and contact info, so here it is again:

Whitney Casey
Special District of International Education
Korea Nazarene University (Attn: Jenny Kim)
#117 Faith Hall (Miteumgwan)
456 Ssangyong-dong Seobukgu Cheonan City Choongnam
331 718 South Korea

email: whcasey@gmail.com

please write/email/facebook as you find the time. i really, really, really love to hear from everyone back home.

take care and have a good week, ya'll!

Monday, April 5, 2010

i got to have a chat with my friend david tonight and our conversation turned to life experiences and how we got to the place we are today. it all started because my headteacher made the remark today, "any american could come here to korea and make a fortune. i don't think it's fair." i stopped and thought about it for awhile, then had to agree with her - it really isn't fair. if i were in america right now, i'd probably be an unemployed bum. honestly. but instead, i'm here in korea, living the dream and making a ton of money. the government treats me like royalty and i live really comfortably with no expenses. all because i happened to be raised in an american home, speaking english. it really started making me feel a little bit guilty. i didn't do anything to deserve the privileged title of 'native english speaker.' i just happened to be born to a really poor korean family. and they loved me enough to allow me to be adopted. and i ended up with a family in america, and i was raised as an english speaker. and my mom's mom was nazarene, so we attended a nazarene church, too. and after growing up in a nazarene church, i decided to go to a nazarene university. and that university was connected to our sister nazarene school in korea. and that korean school happened to be recruiting native english speakers to teach in the public schools. and i saw an advertisement in the student commons and decided i might as well apply because i couldn't find a job anywhere else. then i was actually accepted. and then my life came full circle.

it's kind of mind-numbing, right? to think how one decision or circumstance can change the whole course of direction. have you ever had an experience of being in the 'right place at the right time?' maybe you won a free chicken sandwich or got a discount on your haircut. i feel like my entire life has been a case of 'the right place at the right time' on a ginormous scale! my time in korea thus far has gone way above and beyond my expectations. alot of people had real (and legitimate!) concerns about my returning to korea, but those were blown out of the water within the first few days. i have been seriously thinking and praying about it and finally realized that guilt isn't the correct response to all that i have been given. and i mean - ALL that i've been given. instead, i think my eyes have been opened to see this entire experience for what it is: true grace and mercy in action. i mentioned earlier that i didn't DO anything to deserve all of this. i think that's the most beautiful part of the entire situation. we aren't given things or people or experiences because we deserve them, but because the Lord sees fit to bless us purely out of an absolutely undeserved grace. the way we live out our humility and thankfulness for the gift is the real test!

i would encourage you to sit down for a minute and reflect on your life. connect the dots. i think you will really be amazed! after i kind of mapped out the path i've traveled, my brain hurt. i couldn't believe how much my decisions and actions had really affected the next step and the next step and maybe a step that hasn't even happened yet. after i traced it out, i saw 'coincidence' go out the window and 'divine intervention' fill its place. take a second to think it through, then live accordingly. i think you will see humility and thankfulness taking on a whole new meaning for you.

Friday, April 2, 2010

let me just start this post by saying that i totally missed the memo about easter coming up. i think it is celebrated in korea, but it is not 1/4 of the occasion that it is in the states. i felt like a total idiot - who misses something like that? i do blame part of it on the fact that we're still experiencing winter here...so my brain hasn't kicked into spring-mode yet!

last night i started taking korean lessons. woohoo! there is a KNU alum/current employee who is giving FREE lessons to our new group of teachers. the last time he charged 100,000 won per person (maybe around $90 USD) but he decided to absolutely bless us with FREE this time around. his english name is hank and he is going to work us hard. we are only able to meet for an hour and a half each week so we will cover ALOT of ground each class. he will allow us to speak korean only during classtime - no english! and he expects our full dedication. if there is ever a time when attendance dwindles below 50%, he will start charging us for the lessons. and if we absolutely HAVE to miss a class for some reason, he will only excuse it if we send him a text message in full korean with a really good excuse. last night was just orientation, but between now and next week, we have to get the book and be squared away on the first 60 pages! we're talking slave-driver here. but it's absolutely what i need! i have definitely stagnated on my korean studies the past few weeks, so now's the time to get it into gear. i hope i can learn alot these next couple of months...it will involve ALOT of serious studying, but this is too great of an opportunity to pass up!

i mentioned before that healthcare is really inexpensive here. same goes for eyewear. my dear friend soo-in helped me get some new specs this week. the eye dr actually laughed at me during the exam - i think partially because i couldn't speak korean, partially because she was absolutely amazed at how terrible my eyesight is. everyone thinks i am way younger than my 24 (korean) years, so they couldn't believe that such a young "kid" could be so blind. because my prescription is so high and my lenses are so thick, my glasses are much more expensive than the average joe's. and by that, i mean i paid 80,000 won - or around $70 USD. hahaha. they're super quality and fit great. i got a really cheap pair in america right before i came to korea - i mean, really...a piece of crap. and they cost me over $100! one more reason to love korea. here i am looking super asian with my new glasses and a peace sign on my face: these came at just the right time because the yellow dust has really been irritating my allergies and making it difficult to wear my contacts all the time. my eyes get really itchy and watery sometimes, so i needed a good pair of glasses to wear on the bad days. check!

i was able to catch up with a friend of mine from TESOL this week. we haven't seen each other since classes ended back in february, so it was wonderful to share a cup of tea together and swap teaching stories. so-ra teaches at a hogwan (private institution) in the evenings. she says that she has to be a mean teacher, but look at this face...could you imagine her hurting a fly?! ok, maybe that crazy photobooth picture isn't the best indicator. but trust me - she's the sweetest! she said she will be moving soon (still nearby), but once she gets settled, she wants me to come over for dinner and tea. wonderful!

did i mention that i am teaching an english class FOR teachers? we meet every other week and i teach the 2-hr long class...bleck! talk about intimidating...i'd take kiddies over teachers anyday. i was seriously dreading this class forever, but lo and behold - it's become something WONDERFUL! we have about 7 or 8 regulars and they are the sweetest, most willing students ever. they are so kind and complimentary to a rookie like me, and genuinely interested in what they can learn from me. it's still really weird filling this role of "teacher" but i am learning to really, really love it. i am anxious to see how this class develops. this wednesday, i taught on cultural differences between korea & america - that was a really long PPT! hahaha. but we had so much fun together and they are really willing to open up and talk freely in english...such a blessing! most koreans are so shy to use their english...i am infinitely grateful when i meet one who is willing to make mistakes and not run away in embarrassment. and now i have a whole class of them!

speaking of teaching, i'll go ahead and admit that my 5th & 6th graders have got me wrapped around their little fingers. i really do think that i have the best students ever. it makes my day to see them every morning...they are always so excited to run up to me and yell - HELLO TEACHER! i will have to get some pictures of them soon so you can see what i get to deal with everyday...i don't understand how i get this opportunity AND get paid for it! i had a really funny experience with one of my 5th graders this week. she came up to me and said "hello teacher! how are you?" i replied: "i'm really well, thanks! how about you? and don't answer 'fine, thank you.' think of something else" ("fine, thank you" is the standard answer taught in schools here. i discourage it so students actually know what they're saying. i keep asking until i get a "good/bad/so-so/tired" so i know that they understand what they are telling me.) the 5th grader thought for a second and answered: "i'm a tiger!" i just looked at her with this really strange look and said - "a tiger?" and then she died laughing. i found out later that she was trying to tell me that she was tired. close...but not quite.

i have to utilize public transportation daily here. it's totally different because back in the states, i just cruised town in my little car. ohio isn't necessarily known for it's great public transportation system. anyways, korea is a really busy place. everyone is busy and has places to go, people to see. there's no time for chit-chat. and the commute is almost like breaktime - a time to just be quiet and relax for a second. (not to say it's relaxing to ride a city bus - more on that another time. these drivers are crazy!) koreans, especially the older ones, really like the subway car or bus to stay pretty quiet. and most of the older ones kind of hate english, too, so it's especially recommended to stay pretty quiet. i learned this pretty quickly when i kept getting dirty looks from the ahjummas & ahjussis. they are more tolerant of white people talking loudly in english, because they just write them off as ignorant waygookin (foreigners). but i have learned the hard way that they do NOT like it when a korean is disturbing the peace by speaking english. i go back and forth between letting this bothering me and just dealing with it. part of me says "i'm just as american as my white friends," but the other part of me thinks, "true, but it's just confusing to people who don't know you." this is a small thing, but part of what i experience daily. i definitely have things to think about that the other native english teachers do not have to. my korean face makes it easier to offend or anger someone unintentionally, who doesn't know to give me the waygookin grace. just a day in the life!

tonight, i got to spend some time with soo-in shopping downtown. it was a hilarious experience - we always have so much fun together! i told her that when i go back to the states, she MUST come to visit. that way all of you could meet her, too! after shopping, we met up with about 10 of the native english teachers to eat indian food. it was AWESOME. soo-in and i shared this dinner special, that basically consisted of one of everything off the menu. we really feasted and were rolling out the door by the time we went to leave. hahaha. with that said, my belly is content and it's time for sleep. tomorrow, i will meet a friend from church who invited me to her house to cook korean food! i'm really looking forward to it. i'll let you know how it goes. i also met a new korean friend last week, so song-hoon and i will meet up for coffee tomorrow evening. gotta rest up for the weekend's adventures. you all enjoy the weekend and the easter celebrations. eat some extra reese's eggs for me! :)