More Backpacks than Blue Jeans

New Posts and Updates

2010-11-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

OK, so I have decided to try and make this site active again. I can't possibly post everything that I have missed in the last 3 or 4 years, since blogging from behind the Great Fire Wall frustrated me enough to make me stop...but I will try and get some photos posted from the second half of my time in China, from Thailand and my second tour in Korea...so keep checking in.

Also, having been encouraged by many friends to write down the crazy stories I tell of my adventures in various countries...but not really thinking that I am an author, I am going to create a new section called Stories...and here you will find them. I will try to post one a week or so for the next little while.

Enjoy,

Teaching Overseas

2010-11-04T21:05:00.000-05:00

I often get asked for advice on jobs teaching English in Asia. Very fair, since I have many years experience. And my experience combined with that of my friends has made me fairly knowledgeable, but it makes for very, very long emails and lots of typing. Since I have finally gotten tired of doing that over and over, I decided to put a summary up here. First I will give brief overviews of the countries, and then I will post details about types of jobs, and I will finish off with general info. All are fabulous cultural experiences, each with it's ups and downs, which you can read about anywhere...so that stuff has been left out (for the most part).

Countries

Japan -- You make money that translates into real money at home, but the living costs are high, and often they are not as well supported as in other countries. Contracts may or may not have end of the year bonuses. Contracts are generally followed and honored.

Korea -- The best to make money. The cost of living is low, and even lower because the schools pay travel costs to arrive/leave, and rent. You can easily save money. The government requires all employees who work a full year to receive a month's salary on contract completion. Companies are not always honest (many are, but not all). Do your best, by asking questions, to make sure rules are followed, and all will be good.

China -- Varies greatly from countryside, to small city to places like Shanghai and Beijing. You really don't make a lot of money, unless you are a trained teacher (but that would be a whole other post), but you can if you want to spend a few years there. China has sooooo many opportunities, not just in education. You do have to watch for contracts not to be followed, and lying to staff in general. You also need to keep in mind that you will be behind the 'Great Firewall of China'.

Thailand -- Paradise -- Ok, the teaching is not perfect, but the country is so wonderful. It is a country full of laid back people, if you are easily stressed it might not be the country for you. Most jobs outside of Bangkok are with public schools, and are hired through recruiters. The only downside is that the money you make does not really translate well into dollars (of any kind). The kids as a large group are the sweetest, kindest, most comfortable in their own skins, kids and teens I have ever met (this does not mean they are perfectly well behaved -- no kids are)

Vietnam -- One of two that I will mention that I have not worked in myself. This is an emerging EFL market. To try and standardize things they seem to accept only people with really good TESOL certificates like CELTA (basically month long programs). It sounds like there are some good jobs there, and the money is better than in Thailand, but not yet at the level of Korea or Japan.

Taiwan -- The second country I have not worked in. It seems like you can make almost as much as in Korea. It also seems to be similar to Korea in trustworthiness.

Job Types
(generalizations to for all the countries unless otherwise stated)

International Schools: Real schools that only hire teachers who are certified to teach in their home countries or that have special qualifications (like music). They usually pay very well and treat teachers quite well. They do not post ads on sites like Dave's ESL. They will hire EFL teachers, but the pay is less and they usually have a fair number of applicants so they hire from people already in the country.

Quasi-international schools: These are popping up more and more. They say international somewhere in the title, but most of the students are local, they charge less in tuition than proper international schools, and they have fewer hiring standards than proper international schools. They feel superior because they call themselves international, but really they are a lot like academies with more normal hours. They are the most common in China, but they are popping up in Korea and probably exist in other countries too.

Universities: Are usually considered to be among the most reputable EFL jobs. They often look for a masters, some even want a PhD (but they rarely find people like that so usually settle for a masters). They will hire people with the bachelors, but again usually from within the country when you have a local reference. For the most part they pay less, but have great paid vacations, and usually opportunities to earn more with camps or extra classes.

Public Schools: These seem to hire mainly through recruiters (JET -- Japan, various in other countries), but not exclusively. They generally are larger classes (~30ish), the largest in Thailand at 50 students/class. You usually teach very little, as classes get canceled for various reasons. Also you do not get to go through too much material, because there are a lot of students at a variety of levels. They usually pay well for the country, and are usually trustworthy to stick to their contracts.
Kindergartens: Many countries have private kindergartens (ages 3-6). These are of 2 main types, where you have 1 class all day, and do lots of stuff in English, or you have an English class with several different classes throughout the day. The second option is usually exhausting, but there is little planning, because you can reuse a lot of stuff. The first option involves a lot of planing, but more in class supervising rather than the more crazy active individual class lessons. There are pretty common in Korea, China and Taiwan, and seem to be becoming more common in Japan.

Academies: Every country has their own name for these. They usually run unusual hours (but they become normal for you). The hours usually are from afternoon to evening and into the night. Some have split shifts to teach business people in the mornings (these should pay more). They generally have smaller classes (<12) that are separated by level. You may teach any age at an academy. Class lengths vary as do philosophies, so it is good to ask lots of questions before signing on. These are probably the most common jobs especially in Korea, Japan and Taiwan, but they have a huge range of quality!

Other factors:

Recruiters: Some are good, some are not, but if you are working with a recruiter (I have only used one for Thailand), make sure you get to talk to your school directly. This is the one major downside to the public schools is that you often cannot speak to the school you will work for, and so it is hard to judge what they will be like. Some public schools are great, others are crap. Try to get as much info as possible. Public school or not ask your recruiter questions. Remember they get paid not by you but by the school, so keep in mind where their incentives are and go with your gut.

Questioning schools: When I talk to a school I ask to have contact with at least 2 teachers, one who has renewed in the past and stayed longer than a year, and one who will still be there when I arrive. I figure they will give me the best idea of what the place is like. I ask the teachers questions about materials, curriculum, computer availability, reporting, books, library facilities, pay (on time, mistakes)...all the stuff you might worry about with a job.

Contracts: Most (I think) schools follow their contracts. Many problems result when people do not read their contracts carefully. Pay close attention to sections on hours and how they are calculated, holidays, pay, pay days, bonuses, work hours...Just read it carefully. If you don't like something ask for a change or a clarification in writing.

Hours:

Day time hours are 8 or 9 to 4 or 5, at public schools, universities, some kindergartens, international schools and quasi-international schools.

Academy hours start between noon and 3 and finish between 8 and 10 (sometimes midnight!). Often academies pay a salary based on a maximum number of hours a week and then pay overtime if you teach more hours of class. You want to make sure the hours are calculated weekly (or daily but that is very rare). Also pay attention to if classes are counted by the minute or if a 50 minute class counts as a hour. (usually they ask for 25-30 hours a week -- 30 is a lot, you will not get much overtime with that). Also some Hagwons have split shifts... early morning, large break, evening classes. These shift usually are for teaching adults before work and should be very well paid.

Pay: Varies with each country, and also you need to think about where you will be living. It is best to ask a current teacher what an average person in the area spends.

Other Benefits:
Flight -- Korea, Japan and Taiwan usually cover this, but they may pay it after you arrive, and they may wait until you are nearly finished your contract to pay for the return flight. China and Vietnam sometimes cover this cost.

Housing -- Varies from country to country, but the costs can be high if this is not covered. Korea almost always covers this cost, as does Thailand.

Bonuses -- Read this section of your contract carefully. Varies from country to country.

Health care -- Japan, Korea (and I think Taiwan) provide national health care which is quite good. No problem there. In the other countries the companies usually provide private health care, at least for basic coverage. You can look into this if concerned. Teachers do get sick.

Kids: Asian kids are not the perfect little angels you see on TV. They are kids. They act like kids. The older ones can be rude (although not quite as bad as in western countries). They are often spoiled (especially in the country full of government mandated only children). They are also cute and funny. They will make you laugh everyday. If you don't like kids find and way to teach adults (university or other adult classes).

Vancouver and the Alaskan Cruise

2007-09-10T07:37:00.000-05:00

So, at the party for my mom's 60th we all pitched in and bought her an Alaskan cruise. She flew out to Vancouver, and I met her there and we went on the cruise together. My mom spent a few days with good friends of hers, then some more days with family, when I joined her, then the cruise and back to her friends' place. The the photos start in Vancouver: Diane and Ray.
A Stellar Jay -- Diane feeds them peanuts so they come pretty close and are really loud when they haven't been fed.
The Vancouver skyline.
Stanley Park
The first evening.
The first formal night, at dinner.
The inside passage.
Juneau, the capital of Alaska.
How to make shadow puppets, from a poster in the museum in Juneau.
My mom with a totem in Juneau.
The ship.
The ship again. This contraption removes the snow on train tracks so the train can travel from Skagway, Alaska into the Yukon.
The giant town of Skagway (pop'n: 800, number of passengers on one cruise ship ~2000, number of cruise ships in port at the same time 3-5). Talk about a tourist town! It did have great shops.

The Hubbard Glacier. This is a very large glacier and it is just north of Skagway. We were able to get very close to it, as the next few pictures will show. In the glacier the blue colour comes from the density of the ice. The more dense and well formed the ice the deeper the blue. Therefore the whiter pieces have more air.

Our dinner companions, from back to front, left to right: My mom, myself, Sam, Cheryl and Robin (Sam's mom & Cheryl's cousin)
Our waiters Michael and Ovidio.
The beautiful shoreline of the inside passage.
Creek Street in Ketchikan, Alaska. This is the old red light district.
Dolly was the most famous madam of the time. Amazingly she is still with us today and her house has been made into a museum of sorts.
A very interesting totem pole.
The coolest fountain I have ever seen. All the taps were turned on a different amount from drips to slow trickles -- very interesting.
The most unique maple I have ever seen the leaves were green on top and purple on the bottom.
More totems.
I really liked this newer one.
The funicular to get to the top of town.
Ketchikan, Alaska
My mom and I.

The next few photos are of the midnight buffet. The theory was that this buffet was to showcase the talents of all the chefs, which it did. The problem was that I couldn't even think about eating anything while looking at all of this beautiful food, beacuse I had only finished a huge dinner 1.5 hours earlier. One thing a cruise does not lack is food!
It was beautiful, but I didn't stay to try anything.
My mom looking for whales. We saw a few dorsal fins that were probably orcas, but not much else.
This wonderful view comes from the area around Vancouver Island.
My mom giving me the 'why are you taking a picture now?' look while we were enjoying some sushi as a between lunch and dinner snack.
Our last night had a fantastic sunset. It was so nice I got up from the dinner table to take some more photos of it.
So that was the cruise. We had a blast.

Back in Vancouver we spent a couple of nights with friends and went to visit my great aunt Rose.

Me, Aunt Rose and my mom.
Me, Ron, Dianna and my mom.

That's it for now. I will soon start a China page and you can check out there for pics.

Ottawa (an along the way)

2007-09-10T05:50:00.000-05:00

So I know it is pretty sad that I have travelled to more than 10 other capital cities before my own -- especially when I grew up only 5 hours away from Ottawa -- be there goes. I finally got there this year, and really enjoyed it.

On the way there we stopped in Brockvill to visit friends, Barb and Paul:

My mom and I met Meena in Ottawa. While in the city we played the roles of tourists very well visiting the parlament buildings, the Museum of Civilization and the Military Museum. Meena and I aslo went on a hounted tour of town.

Lots of groundhogs in Ottawa:
My mom and I both iked this cool spider, but we didn't get time to go to the art gallery that it sit outside of. Next time....

I love Bill Reide's work.
Meena in an old prison.
Where they used to hang people in Ottawa -- this is part of the HI hostel in town -- I want to stay there just for the fun of it.

Time in TO

2007-09-10T05:17:00.001-05:00

I actually didn't spend a lot of time in the city on this trip home. A trip to Centre Island with my nieces a couple of visa trips and going to see the Chinese Laterns at Ontario Place, here are the pics: The girls swimming in Lake Ontario.
After the swim we went for a ride around the island.
TO's skyline.
The skyline in the evening. I do love that those windmills are starting to appear. I know that they don't do much when there are so few of them in the city -- but a few is better than none.

Ade and I at the Lantern Fest -- it was good to be able to really visit with each other again.
Ade with the pandas.
The foot juggler, she was very cool.
More pandas, can you tell what was our favorite lantern?
Aren't they cute?!
More acrobats
TO at night.

Home

2007-09-10T04:52:00.001-05:00

Here are a random collection of pictures from my uncles house in Whitevale where my mom now lives, and where I stay when I am home:

The main entrance to the house.
The 'backyard' The view of TO from the back yard. Some garden flowers
Sunset one evening.

While I was away my cat got sick and died. By the time I got home she had only been gone about a week and a half. A week after getting home I took this picture:
Only 2.5 weeks and the mice were bold enough to come out in the open during day time. Hmm I think we needed a new cat. Here he is. Splotch came to us as an outdoor mouser, who had been let in during the winter. He discovered that the indoor life is a good one and he is fully enjoying being a spolit indoor cat now -- but he does still do his job by keeping the mice at bay.

Sushi night mmmmm...

For lack of a better post in which to put this picture, here is my beautiful cousin on her wedding day. I was very happy to have been home for this wedding, since I have a tendency to miss weddings.:

Raku

2007-09-10T04:40:00.000-05:00

My mom has gotten really into pottery in the last few years and while I was home this summer she and her pottery friends had a raku firing. I tagged along to help out. It was quite interesting as raku fired pottery looks quite different from regular pottery:

The glazed pieces before firing.
Pieces in the kiln before firing.
Spraying pieces with water to cool them down.
Some finished work.
The heat from the kiln.

Summer Update -- Mom's B-day

2007-09-10T04:31:00.000-05:00

My mom turned the big 60 this year! So we had a big surprise party. It had to be a surprise, because otherwise she would have protested. It worked out great. My big sister picked her up to go garage saling and I took my neices and we went to get the hall set up. Pretty much everyone was there. And my mom was dwfinately surprised. I need to get some more pictures from the day but here are a few to start:

Present opening...
More present opening....
Flowers that Julie gave her.

Long Time No Post

2007-09-05T05:48:00.000-05:00

Ok so it has been forever, but I will start getting caught up soon. Now that I have internet at home, and it is at a resonable speed I can upload pictures again. So here are a few from the summer:

Sunset in Bobcaygeon shortly after I got home.
The front do to the house.
My uncle's poppies.

More to come as soon as I figure out why I can't view my blog, it may be because I am in China...I need to check it out.

I Hate Slow Internet

2007-07-31T07:58:00.000-05:00

So I haven't posted in forever. That is beacuse I created this in order to post pictures, but with my dialup connection that takes way too long. So I have a bunch of pics to post from the summer, but I probably won't get to doing that until I reach China (which really isn't that far away). Today I am heading away for a few days, that will end in Ottawa, then home again for a bit. On the 15th I fly out to Vancouver, visit with friends, before the Alaskan cruise I am going on with my mom. Then a few more days of visiting in Van before flying to China on the 26th. From there I will be looking at apartments, and hopefully moved in to a nice one by the 28th or 29th. Then I will be able to post stuff again, and I will be settled for a year -- as much as I love living out of a bag that sounds really good about now.

Leaving for Venezuela

2007-01-25T09:35:00.000-05:00

I'm ready to go and leaving this afternoon. I finally finished getting everything yesterday, so my life has been a bit of a circus for the last week or so. I have been visiting with everyone I had not seen at Christmas and trying to finish getting ready. For example, I read a couple of weeks ago that I needed a tourist visa for Brazil. So I went to the consulate in Toronto. It was closed (at 2 pm); they are only open until 1. So I went back the next week (Jan 9). I got there, and needed to leave again to get a money order -- nothing else was acceptable (even cash!). The woman behind the desk was such a witch. The next problem she had was that I don't have a plane ticket home, I explained that I didn't know when I was coming home, or from which country. Finally after lots of arguing she allowed me to write all my plans down (I am flying into Venezuela traveling by bus to Brazil, then continuing on to Argentina and Chile also by bus and so on...). She accepted that, and looked at my ticket to Venezuela and said that the earliest my visa could be ready was the 24th (I leave on the 25th). This had me quite worried, because I thought they may have to send it to the embassy in Ottawa to get the visa. But no, she is just a mean lady, I picked up the visa yesterday with no troubles and it was ready on the 12th!!

Then last night I decided that I should verify that I do not need any other visas (that i cannot get at the borders) for any other countries (I have looked this up in my LP guides already). So just to be sure I checked the Government of Canada website. Looked up the country forms for each place I am going to, and checked to see if there was any other helpful information and I got great tidbits of advice like: Always cross at official border crossings; Don't climb a volcano without a guide. I love how helpful the government is!

Oh well, now everything is done and done! So I am ready to go. Once I get to South America I will start posting more pictures.

Chritmas and New Years

2007-01-03T15:32:00.000-05:00

It is always nice to be home again, and here I am for Christmas and New Years -- yea! Sadly we do not have a great Internet connection (the main problem with living in the country) so I cannot post very often, as I am not patient enough to wait for slow Internet. But here goes...

I got home on Dec 23th and on the 25th we had 10 people over for dinner. We had a great time, and it was pretty relaxing as most things were done before hand. We spent the rest of Christmas week visiting friends and family.

My brother and hi girlfriend.

My mom and uncle.

My best friend Meena.

My uncle Larry, me and Jill (my uncle Phil's girlfriend)

Dessert time mmmmm...

Something's funny...

Dave, Phil and Jill, as we all play a little Monopoly after dinner (Dave and I won :)

Dec 26 -- A party at a family friends'. The group of us in the picture haven't all been together at a Chritsmas party in many many years.Dec 27 -- My Big Sister and nieces came to visit (Don't the girls look great in their hanboks (Korean clothes)). Dec 28 -- My aunt came for lunch. Dec 29 -- day off -- time for shopping, cause all my good pants are in the mail and I need to go to a nice restaurant on the weekend -- yikes! Dec 30 - Jan 1 visiting with a friend of my mom's and her daughter up near Bobcageon (about 1 hour north of where I live). It was great to have a nice relaxing New Years, since the last few week have been crazy.

Back Home for a Merry Christmas

2006-12-29T16:08:00.000-05:00

I am now back in Canada for a month before heading to Venezuela and the rest of South and Central America. I leave Canada on the 25th of February.

Christmas was great. Much more relaxing this year than last, which is always a good thing. This is just a very short update, promising more soon, with photos as soon as I am using a computer with real Internet access.

8 Days Left

2006-12-14T20:07:00.000-05:00

Today is Friday, December 15, being a Friday it should be a good night. Tomorrow I am going into the city (Seoul) for my leaving party, as it is my last Saturday night in Korea. On Sunday I am going on a short newly opened hike at the northern edge of the city. Monday is a pretty normal day. Tuesday I am having a going away party at work. Wednesday is my last Wednesday Night Dinner (with many foreigners in Osan). Thursday is my last day of work. Friday I have off, so I will go do some last minute shopping. Then next Saturday I fly home -- how crazy is that!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

2006-12-02T07:58:00.000-05:00

It is slowly starting to become a reality. I took down the pictures and art that I have had on my wall for the last 2 years this week, so my apartment is bare. I have sent home a box of stuff and I will decide this weekend if I need to mail home one more. It is still unreal that I am leaving here probably forever. I have become very comfortable in Korea. But I am very happy that I'll be home for Christmas :) I will be on a plane 3 weeks from today!

5 weeks and counting...

2006-11-21T09:37:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how fast this is going. I was sitting watching some of my students doing some work today realizing that very soon I will be home and not coming back. It is really becoming real because I have started telling my students, and preparing lessons and schedules in advance -- I usually prepare for no more than a day ahead.

I still have a list of things to do -- but some of the important ones are starting to feel done -- which is good. Like my hostel for Carnival is booked -- yea! I cannot believe I am going to Carnival!!!! I still need to book a ticket to Venezuela and my first nights hostel.

I can't believe it.....but it is slowly becoming real!

Update of the last 2 months, and what's to come...

2006-10-30T08:11:00.000-05:00

Sept 1 - Oct 31, 2006:

2 countries
8 provinces
10 cities
3 mountains
2 beaches
1 cave
1 World Cultural Heritage Site
1 theme park
1 acrobatics/horse show
1 house guest
3 festivals
6 airports (each 2 times); in 4 countries
60 airplane/airport hours
2 weddings (one that I spoke at)
and...
only 5 days off work!

For the next few weeks, I have 5 more things on my list to do (but those are all close to home -- Osan, Korea) . I hope Ade will come to visit. I want to get to one more mountain that is not on my list. I need to go on a last Adventure Korea trip. I need to say bye to all in Korea, including my students, and finally come home in time for Christmas.

Man am I ever going to sleep through Boxing Day or what!!!!

Only 8 more weekends

2006-10-26T06:47:00.000-05:00

Kids measure time in sleeps, these days I measure time in weekends. My weeks go pretty fast, I love my kids and teaching is usually a lot of fun. But it is on the weekends that I get out and do new and different things, which is kinda the point of this travel and teach gig (for me anyways). I only have 8 weekends left in Korea. That is not much time. I'm sure I will get everything on my list done, but I am not sure if I will get much else done. No matter what it has been a great 2 years, and I am looking forward to being home for Chirstmas.

My Whirlwind Tour

2006-09-28T09:05:00.000-05:00

So coming home for Adrienne's wedding, meant that I got to see as many people as possible in one crazy weekend. So I arrived home at about midnight on Friday, September 22 so not too much that night. I exploded in the living room and got to do a little show and tell.

The next day I woke up around 9, nice I slept through the night (always good after a long flight). My mom and I relaxed and had a nice breakfast, then got ready for the wedding. That ended Saturday as we got home in the wee hours of morning. (See the post below for pictures from the wedding)

On Sunday I slept in -- oops! We had a crazy day planned, and we needed to clean and get going. So needless to say that was a bit rushed. But we did get out nearly on time, and our first stop was Sue's place. She has known us long enough, that being 30 minutes late was not a huge surprise to her :)

Yea time with my nieces! My Big Sister's kids. They are too cute!

From left to right: Shaeleigh, me and Shawna. They are great kids. They both demonstrated dances that they have been teaching themselves and showed me the gymnastics that they have also learned on their own. Including Shaeleigh's ability to do a handstand and fall into a bridge -- she taught herself -- craziness!

Here they are with my mom:

We only got to spend a couple of hours with them, before having to rush home for activity number 2 -- dinner with my brother's Big Brother's family. So we got home and Meena (my friend and essencially family) arrived (she had just finished a half-marathon). So she was exhausted and decided that she didn't want to drive all the way back to Montreal that night. Then my brother showed up and his girlfriend. At about 4 Marc and Patti arrive with their 4 kids, plus one additional for the evening. We had previously decided to head to Swiss Chalet, prefect place for 12 people including 5 kids.

Dinner was great. Those kids are so much fun. And afterwards it was time for dessert, back at the house. My mom had bought wonderful b-day cake -- yummy!

After dinner it was time to get the kids into their pj's. Here are Nicole, Natalie and Patti.

Here is Luc. He has amazing patience for anything, including video games! I tried to get a photo of Matthew, but he was getting changed at the time and it didn't work. So here is one from last Christmas:

In this picture are Natalie, Luc, Jordan (my brother), Matthew and my mom.

Dessert time was great, because a few people came over ad I was actually able to chat everyone I usually only get to see once a year! This year I will be seeing them only 3 months apart! Sue came over, so I got to talk to her, since I had missed that part of the visit to her place earlier, being too occupied with the kids.

What a fun day, albeit a little crazy.

Monday was slightly more relaxed. Shopping, then sorting mail, packing(stuff into boxes to stay at home), packing my bags to go back to Korea (easy -- nothing to go in them) and then dinner. There were a few things I cannot get in Korea, lobster, scallops and lamb -- yum!

Then at 11:30 pm I got on an airplane to head back 'home'.

Adrienne's Wedding

2006-09-27T06:16:00.000-05:00

I may have been called crazy many times in the last month after telling people that I was going to fly home for my best friend's wedding, but it was so worth it. She was beautiful, they are so in love, it could not have been more perfect.

The wedding was on Saturday, September 23, 2006 at 3 pm, about 15 hours after I arrived home :) I knew I would be reading a scripture, but I didn't know when. Adrienne called to tell me on Friday, but my mom didn't check the messages until about 10 minutes before we left the house. So that is when I realized that I would be reading during the ceremony, right after Ade's parent's gave her away -- good way to make me nervous :)

The reading was good and the wedding was perfect, here are the pictures to prove it...

The wedding started with these 3 cuties!

Adrienne was escorted down the aisle by both her mother and her father, looking radiant.

Can't you just see the love!

Time for the exchange of rings!

They are now officially married :)

Here are Adrienne and Joe with with their respective parents.

Here is the whole family on each side, including Adrienne's brother, sister, and brother-in-law, and Joe's brothers.

Here is all of Ade's family and their pastor who performed the ceremony.

Here they are looking beautiful.

Here I am with the happy couple.

And here are I am with Adrienne.

They took about a million photos in this beautiful garden and then we moved inside for the rest of the party.

Everything inside looked beautiful. She had created a very Asian feeling at the wedding, since they have both spent the past year teaching English in Japan.

Then it was time for speeches, here are Ade's parents thanking everyone.

This speech brought me to tears, when Ade thanked me for coming. Sooo glad I went.

After dinner it was time to cut the beautiful cake.

It is much better I think when the cake is not just for show, and it actually is eatable, and it only is meant for wedding (unlike at Korean weddings). This cake was delicious.

Then time came for the first dance. Followed by lots more dancing. Including a Filipino tradition, a money dance. What a great idea! The new couple dances, and you pin money on the bride or groom to dance with them :)

It was a great night. Both my mom and I had a great time

Adrienne and Joe, I wish you all possible happiness in you future together.

Getting Excited

2006-09-03T04:15:00.000-05:00

I'm getting excited about going home for Adrienne's wedding. This is going to be fun -- I just bought my dress and shoes today. I even found shoes that may not be too uncomfortable; what a concept! I love shopping in Korea, especially when I go to foreigner areas where clothes fit, yea! It is crazy only 2 more weekends and I go home (only fore a few days -- but it is still exciting).

Time Flys

2006-08-24T19:36:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe how fast time goes here. This weekend I am heading to a nearby pottery town that I have been meaning to go to since I got here. Then the following weekend is my coworker's wedding. After that is my birthday and then there is only one more weekend before I go home for Adrienne's wedding. This all means that that time will be here sooooo fast. Once I get back I only have 3 more months here. I cannot believe how fast things are going. My weeks fly by 'cause I love my job and my kids. My weekends fly by 'cause I do something fun most of the time.

Looking forward to seeing everyone that I can when I come home in September, and everyone else in early January.

:)

My tatoo

2006-08-05T08:04:00.000-05:00

Introduction

2006-08-05T07:40:00.000-05:00

Hey guys -- I hope to keep this blog better updated then before -- since I plan to write less and put up more pictures -- so it should take less time -- and maybe I will do it more often. We will see how much work I can get done this weekend since I have planned a weekend of doing nothing -- yea!