I would just like to send out a quick thank you to the very first person to send me anything here in Jeju.  Christina Zweig cane through huge today with a surprise package waiting for me on my desk when I arrived at work.  The Sweet Mint and Valentines card were awesome, and definitely put a big smile on my face after spending an hour+ at the bank trying to wire money home as I watched my Korean Won losing out to the US Dollar.  Every second I was there, I was sending the same amount of Won home, but getting less Dollars for it.  Sucks for me, good for America, I guess. 

So THANK YOU CHRISTINA!!!

**Notice:  I did way too much stream-of-conscience here, so you might want to skip about half-way down for stuff more relevant to my experiences here in Korea**
-----------------------------------------------------
Well, I've officially been out of America for over a month now.  It doesn't really feel like it's been that long, and I can't say that I'm missing it a whole lot.  Sure I miss friends and family plenty, but at least I can still keep in touch with them on a regular basis if they are so inclined.  And I've really appreciated all the feedback I've been getting on this website.  It's been another beautiful week here in Seogwipo, and it's made it that much more enjoyable, but it's also brought back memories from the States.  I miss waking up at my place in Florida, laying in my hammock (in my bedroom), walking down to the beach for sunrise, going surfing with dolphins and sea turtles, having a drink and reading on a lazy afternoon on the beach, riding dune buggies with Rob, or just hanging out over at the Saunder's Casa.  I miss playing with Opie, our family dog.  I miss going over to Billy's to beat him in hockey on Playstation, eat some ice cream, then watch some of the Office.  I miss those 60-70 degree days that would pop-up when I was living in Charleston, and we'd dust off the grill, grab the season's first Coronas and cook up some dogs and burgers.  I miss working out at Magnolia with the DeeJ, and walking the gardens after work as the Plantation is losing the tourists, but the flowers continue to bloom.  I miss seeing my family, although living with them may be a little much.  I miss being able to see my grandparents and cousins, uncles and aunts whenever I want to.  I miss those afternoons with Dan when we'd finish work for the day and get to chill on a cart on the course somewhere having a beer, smoking a cigar or just BSing. I miss having a drink over at BP's (or the Turtle) to escape the house, and playing with Sean and Gabby.  I kind of even miss watching football over at Pete and Christian's Sty.  (Probably my convos with Christian more-so)  I miss talking to my little sister, and Amy whenever I want.  I miss riding around the county on my bike with Jesse.  I miss a nice lunch and a drink with Doc to talk about anything and everything, and a chance to have him convince me that I'm actually making good decisions in life.
   No matter what I've done in my life, I've pretty much always thought it through.  And I've analyzed every angle.  I've figured out how it was the worst decision of my life, and also how it's the best decision of my life.  I've figured out plans for the next 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, only to abandon them within days or weeks.  It's a blessing and a curse.  I've annoyed my friends (that still listen) to no end about what's going on in my life.  But I'll always be there for them to vent to.  No matter where in the world I am.  I worry about everything.  I can empathize with anybody.  But I can also let things go now.  It's taken 26 years, but I've finally learned to just not care.  To leave the worrying to somebody else.  No problem has ever been solved by worrying alone, and some times all you need is a walk, a drink, a swim, a surf or a sunset, and everything fades away.   Doc can attest more than most about my worrying.  He saw it near it's peak in high school dealing with girls, college(s), grades and anything else that I could think about.  And he always helped me to get through it.  He's a big reason I'm here right now.  It's just not in my destiny to lead a boring life.  I can't just stay in the States and bump from job to job, trying to find something to keep me happy.  I need adventure, I need change and I need something to keep me interested and excited.  Something like a new girl, or a new country. 
   Belize was definitely an eye-opening experience for me.  As much as college or anything else had been before then.  It was the first time I immersed myself in another culture (outside of America), with no safety net and loved it.  The friends that I've made in Belize in the past three years have come and gone, but there are a few that I don't think will fade anytime soon.  Alex, Celine, Christina, Rene, Gil, Nas, Oscar, (maybe Lorenzo), my favorite drinking partner; Eva the Gibnut, my first love; Mat Saunders, my brofriend; Boone. The illusive Christophe. All these people have definitely had big impacts on my life.  Mat is the reason I began teaching.  The reason I moved to Florida.  The reason I don't hate little kids anymore.  The reason I love Wii.  The reason why I'll continue to exercise for the rest of my life.  (Have you seen that belly recently?)  The reason I found true and utter dominance in Ultimate Frisbee.  The reason I met great people like Josh, Clark, Roger, Sue, Linda, Bill, Priscilla, Rob, J'net, Danny and Kerry.  And I'll never forget all the others from Belize that have left quite an impression on me.  The Drunk Jill, (especially my conversation with her friend at 3am in our house and the ghost her, Chris and I saw at Baking Pot), Julie, Myka, Jaime, Raf, Chris, Jim, Christy, Viona, Vicky and Ray, Luke, Lauren (the hole) and many others that I wish I could talk about for hours.   It's because of the Belizean experience, the nights at Pooks, the times in Caulker, the CPV, Faya Wata, and all those people that this summer, no matter how great it is, and no matter how much I experience, I'll still feel like something is missing.  I'd do anything to be able to be in both Belize and Jeju this summer.
  No matter how much I miss things I don't have here, I'm still so happy to be here, and it makes it all worthwhile making all these new memories, and meeting friends that I'll be writing about in the years to come. 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Now that I look back, that seems like way too much stream of conscience, and the few of you that read this regularly have probably tuned out already.  So for a quick summary, this past weekend, I had a nice trip to see the two upper pools of the Cheonjiyeon system, and the bridge and temple which I think are dedicated to the 7 nymphs that inhabit the area.  They were all stunning.  The temple and it's color and symmetry.  The magnitude of the falls, and how close they are to my house.  The top pool, how blue the water is and how amazing the basalt columns are.  It all just took my breath away, and I definitely annoyed my companions by taking way to many pictures, and running from place to place like a little kid. 
 
   I also took a bunch more photos of my students that I'll be posting.  Since Weebly doesn't seem to have a photo tagging system, please ask if you have any questions about them. 

  Today I got my first Korean haircut, and I was definitely nervous about.  I didn't want the 'Korean Fade' where they trim right around your ears and neck very tight, and then fade very quick to the top.  I think it's a pretty common haircut for people with Downs as well.  And that's not a joke, but for some reason whenever I see this fade, that's who it reminds me of.  So the haircut happened.  They also washed my hair for about $7US.  I'm content with it.  I think my brother Kory gave me a better one back in December, but I can't really complain.  I also definitely like the Korean custom of never tipping.  It makes life so much easier.  Fair cab fares are common.  Restaurant service is not that great, but you use a 'bell' system to contact them and bring them to your table.  No tipping.  They'll even chase you down in the streets to give you the money you 'forgot'.  Refreshing, but I'm assuming they make a little more hourly than the F&B people back in the States that bust their asses for $2.13/hr and $0.00 paychecks.  (If I mentioned all my friends from Charleston, I'd be writing for another couple hours)
Other Korean customs I love/hate:
- The affection between boys, and it not being considered gay: I've had boy twins kiss in my class, I've had guys play a kiss-on-the-cheek tag.
- The fact that if you are invited out by a Korean for an evening of food and drink, you don't have to pay unless you insisted ahead of time.
- When you are walking around, you'll get bumped into, sometimes hard, and the other person just keeps on walking.
- How people will hand you things with their right hand while holding their wrist with their left hand as a sign of respect/dating back to days when they wore robes that they had to keep closed.
- How people will take things/hand you things with 2 hands to show respect.
- How I can't take a bottle of water into my classroom because parents may find it rude...
- How I constantly hear people coughing up lungs and spitting in the streets and in the adjoining rooms like it's nothing.
- The way girls/women cover their mouths when they are laughing or embarrassed.
-  How people actually wait for the light at cross walks
- The way kids draw pictures of themselves always winking or with half-moon eyes.
- The peace-signs and face-framing in pictures
- The way you have to take your shoes off before entering many traditional restaurants, schools, buildings and homes.
-  How it's pretty common to see men and occasionally women fall-down drunk, stumbling through the streets.
-  How I often get pointed at or stared at in the streets, and how much that will increase when I have my visitor in about 8 weeks...

That's about it for now.  Thanks to everybody that made it through all that, and thanks to everybody I mentioned, and those of you I forgot because it's been a long day of school.

This past weekend was pretty incredible, and definitely my best couple of days that I've spent on this island yet.  Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my month here on Jeju for the most part, but I've been pretty sick and the weather has been pretty nasty.  This past weekend the weather was great.  50's, sunny and just beautiful.  On Saturday, our wonderful friend and co-teacher Christina took Paul, Meaghan and me to Mr. Pizza for a potato and bacon pizza, and then we walked down the hill to the Cheonjiyeon falls and the Oediogae cliffs.  As taking nature pictures is one of my favorite pastimes, it made the weekend even better.  Cheonjiyeon, though crowded, was gorgeous.  It has been built up, and turned into a tourist destination, but still retains some of it's natural beauty.  From there, we walked to the harbor, looked at some of the squid boats and took a taxi up the hill to the cliffs.  The view from the cliffs was stunning.  All the turquoise blue water, light gray cliffs, and green vegetation.  I can't imagine how it'll look in the spring when everything starts blooming again, and how fun it'll be jumping off the cliffs into the ocean in the summer.  I even noticed some bolts on the cliffs, so there's obviously some climbing in the area.  I plan on joining the bouldering gym in town, and maybe if I get back into shape, I can find some people to climb with. 
    On Sunday, I got adventurous and took a walk down to the Jeongbang falls which are just a few kms to the east of the other falls that I saw.  Jeongbang falls are something like 22m high, and the pool below is supposed to be around the same depth.  (There are also some smaller falls about 200m east of Jeongbang that I took some shots of and are a nice place to visit since they aren't half as crowded as the other falls.)  At Jeongbang you can even see a shot of the Haenyo divers out on a rock.  Haenyo are female divers that will dive for up to a couple minutes on just the air in their lungs, and they can apparently reach depths of 20m+.  Pretty impressive.  These women (a lot of them being over the age of 50 it seems) collect local seafood delicacies that they sell at market, or even on the beach to people stopping by. 
     All-in-all I think I got some pretty good pictures, and the fresh air definitely improved my health and spirits.  It's amazing that there are these beautiful sights within walking distance of my apartment, and there's so much more to see on the rest of the island.  It's going to be an interesting year getting to explore as much as possible.