Under the [bamboo], out of the sun...we'll be having some fun.

Buddha's birthday at the temple

Knives are beating out a rhythm that just makes you want to dance and vegetables are flying everywhere. As you watch, multiple stories are unfolding, winding and intertwining.  Laughter erupts as the principal cast of Nanta complete their outstanding acrobatics, dance and, just plain fun, performance. This was the highlight of a very wonderful holiday weekend.

Don't we look professional!

 

A couple of weekends ago, for Buddha's birthday, I went to Seoul to visit my friend, CG, and, then, further south with some other friends to see a Bamboo forest. On arriving in Seoul, after a quick lunch at Misoya, we headed to a nearby temple (Bongeunsa Temple, line 2, Samseong station) that was decked out in lotus flowers and lanterns. A sombre reminder of the recent tragedy was evidenced by ribbons of yellow and white. The temple, though small, had lovely grounds that consisted of a little wood, a giant statue of Buddha and several small building. As we passed these, you could see shoes outside, a very real reminder that these temples are not just places to sightsee but also where people come to worship and pray.

As we were leaving the grounds, I remarked to CG that I wanted to do a temple stay at sometime and I was really looking forward to learning how to make the lotus flowers. A few seconds later a lady called us over to a booth to do just that. We may not have been the best students but we were both proud of our flowers! Mine currently sits on top of my TV for all to admire.

 

 The rest of the weekend was spent sightseeing at some local tombs, partying it up in Hongdae, and wandering around Seoul Grand Park Zoo with some other friends. The highlight though of that trip to Seoul was definitely Nanta which we attended on the Saturday night. Despite the presence of very few words, the energy, acting and comedic timing that the performers have echoes through the theatre. There are several teams that perform the show, but each team has the same characters - the Manager, the Nephew, the excellent Head-Chef, the Sexy Guy and Hot-Sauce. We saw the performance by the black team and if the rest of the teams have even a fraction of their joie de vivre, what a treat one is in for! We went to the Myeondong Theatre (Myeondong Station, line 4, exit 6) for the 8pm performance. Afterwards, you can get items like t-shirts and mugs signed by the cast. Although I bought a mug I decided not to get it signed - I could just see me dropping it or it being smashed to smithereens on it's way back home to Ireland.

I returned to Jochiwon late on Sunday. Bright and early the next morning, BexC, Jules and I headed by KTX to Gwangju. There we got the bus to Damyang Forest. It's hard to tell how long the journey took as we were stuck in traffic for easily over an hour. It was Children's day so families were out in droves, add in some fabulous weather and I think we were lucky to get to the forest at all! After waiting in everlasting queues to get something to fortify us, we finally got to sit down and try some local cuisine which included bamboo rice (daetonbap). We also tried bamboo hoddeok, which is like a sweet filled pancake and bamboo ice-cream. The ice-cream had a slightly bitter taste, reminiscent of green tea ice-cream which I cordially dislike but it is ultimately much sweeter.

Juknokwon!

My beautiful travel friends....and yes, I'm that short.

As the sun beamed down, we proceeded to wander down the river awhile admiring the lush greenery and debating on whether or not we should get a family bicycle (as the short one, they'd have had to drive me around, maybe I should have encouraged the suggestion?). Eventually we made our way to Juknokwon which is the Bamboo forest. Despite the crowds, I felt a sense of peace there. I love being under trees and just looking at the patterns their shadows make. One thing I thoroughly disliked though was the amount of people who had, and were, carving their names into the bamboo. It just seems really cruel. After about an hour wandering around, it was time to find a bus and head home. This journey was much faster, but we made the mistake of getting off at the bus terminal in Damyang instead of going all the way back to Gwangju. We'd hoped to get a bus back to Daejeon or Jochiwon but it wasn't to be.

My flower

As the sun beamed down, we proceeded to wander down the river awhile admiring the lush greenery and debating on whether or not we should get a family bicycle (as the short one, they'd have had to drive me around, maybe I should have encouraged the suggestion?). Eventually we made our way to Juknokwon which is the Bamboo forest. Despite the crowds, I felt a sense of peace there. I love being under trees and just looking at the patterns their shadows make. One thing I thoroughly disliked though was the amount of people who had, and were, carving their names into the bamboo. It just seems really cruel. After about an hour wandering around, it was time to find a bus and head home. This journey was much faster, but we made the mistake of getting off at the bus terminal in Damyang instead of going all the way back to Gwangju. We'd hoped to get a bus back to Daejeon or Jochiwon but it wasn't to be.

My final day of my wonderful holiday weekend was spent relaxing, watching TV and sitting on my friend's rooftop eating good food and chatting to some wonderful girls.  It was the perfect way to wind down from a busy weekend.

So you might think I'm mad to wish I could wipe Nanta off my accomplished list on my bucket list. Why? Well, I wish I could capture the excitement I felt watching it for the first time again. I'm really glad I went to see it and I am delighted that this long weekend afforded me the chance to accomplish two bucket list items. I'm even happier that I got to complete those bucket list items with some pretty fantastic friends.

PPS - I have lots of photos from this wonderful weekend which I will post in a gallery soon. In the meantime. I hope you like these. Also, if you go here you can see more photos in the original post. For those who don't know, Maggie Blogs and this blog are the same thing. From June I will include extracts from the full post on this site, which will then redirect you to Maggie Blogs.  

PPS the title of this post was inspired by The Drifter's "Under the Boardwalk". Admittedly, I've only ever heard the Bruce Willis version.  

Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah and why don't you and I [drink wine]

I love cooking. I may have mentioned this before but just in case I haven't... it is one of my most favourite things to do in the whole wide world! It's such a nice way for me to unwind and relax. I love the chopping, dicing, slicing, stirring and mixing. I love following recipes and creating them. I love making mistakes and figuring out how to fix them. I love realising what spices and herbs go with food item I'm cooking and I love surprising myself when something I made up turned out just right. (And yes, I do despair when I make up something and it's just mank!)

In other parts of the creative world, I don't excel as much - sewing, knitting, crocheting and pottery have all passed me by. So, you might be surprised but I am a novice wood-turner. I did wood-turning for a few terms and it was one of my favourite hobbies. The only reason that I stopped the class was that I had decided to do my TEFL and to move abroad. It was one of the hardest decisions I ever made and the first time that I realised that following your dreams can mean sacrificing things that you love. Whilst the course itself was not expensive it was an entire evening every week dedicated to wood-turning would have cut into my study.

Coming to Korea initially, I let my interest in crafty stuff disappear in the excitement of wandering, travelling, eating and experiencing. However, once winter set in, I found myself craving some crafty time. I am pretty nifty with a scissors and some glue, and on top of being able to draw (and I like to draw), I found myself trying to find ways to while away those long winter hours. So,  I started drawing hands, again. When I took art many moons ago for my Leaving Certificate, my teacher informed us that for our first couple of classes, and for homework, we were just going to draw hands until we could do it perfectly. This exercise is a favourite of mine whenever I come back to drawing after having been away for a while. If I can't draw a hand, I can't draw that elaborate picture I had in my head either! Once I had my hands perfected to my satisfaction (they may not have quite pleased my Art Teacher!), I started to think of ways I could expand my horizons.

Although Korea has a lot of Christmassy ornaments in Daiso and Homeplus (and other shops too), none of them really reminded me of home. My favourite decorations that we have are our little wooden ones that I believe my mam got in Germany many years ago when she was au-pairing there. Over the years, I've started my own collection of ornaments from beautiful glass angels to little wooden decorations. I even seem to be following in my mother's footsteps with a slowly growing collection of nativity scenes.   Thanks to my travels these ornaments are beautiful reminders of trips with family and friends as they hail from America, Italy, Ireland and Scotland. My love of Christmas decorations is so well known by my family and friends, that one year, in a work Kris Kindle, I was absolutely delighted to receive a gorgeous carousel and some glass angels. I was so excited that despite our Kris Kindles supposed to being anonymous, my friend (once more a million thanks, Presc) had to tell me that it was her as I kept telling everyone I met that day thank you! Sadly, I don't have any of these things here with me in Korea. Firstly, I've too many to take on one trip. Secondly, some are too breakable for such a long journey. Thirdly, I don't want to lose them here in Korea.

So back to Christmas in Korea....Daiso and Homeplus didn't have what I was looking for (reminder to self: Maggie you are in KOREA not GERMANY), so after a few minutes of anguish, I decided to make a game plan. I picked out a few things that I liked - some lights, baubles, snowflakes, beads and I got some very thin tinsel (my tree is tiny and I don't like big tinsel in any case). . I am not great at origami so a friend of mine helped me to make some penguins whilst I cut out tons of snowflakes. I like making snowflakes so much that I did this with a lot of my classes last year and I would make about 5 to each of my students one snowflake!. I spent hours folding candy canes, drawing ornaments and researching different advent calendars and  paper decorations. I spent so much time on it that my house for about 3 weeks looked like a stationery shop had exploded with all the paper, glue, stickers, bits and bobs. For the rest, I decided to make my own. A stack of origami paper later I was sitting in my house making old fashioned paper ring chains, Chinese lanterns and these beautiful stars.


That was last year and I saved most of my decorations both bought and homemade (St Joseph disappeared on Christmas day and has not been seen since). This year, I cleared my desk and made it my "Christmas corner". Boxes that held my Christmas presents last year now hold all my decorations, last year's advent calendar is up and pinned with an item a day (and in some cases several items a day). The crafty gifts I got for last year's Christmas are up there waiting their turn to be sewn, glued and/or painted.

Crafty folk

Crafty folk 

Crafty folk

Crafting is so much fun, but it is time consuming and, in my case, very messy for my small space! I struggle with trying to balance the hours of fun that I can have doing it with the state my apartment gets in while I am doing it (and stays in for days after). I struggle with knowing that the minute I start I may not be able to finish before bedtime, so that means I know I'll be up until 1.00a.m. With this in mind, I've tried to create a balance this year: for Easter, I only made these origami Easter bunnies and for Hallowe'en I only spent a few evenings working on my projects. The things I made were easy - bats, ghosts and pumpkins. The more elaborate designs (witch, wizard and crazy killer girl) were still made in a couple of hours. With Christmas approaching and the fact that is is my favourite holiday, I knew I'd be way more easily distracted by crafting. Luckily my friend and I had discussed setting up a Wine and Crafts club a few months before and with this thought in mind the first meeting of this club began on December 5th.  This meant, that not only could I spend some time crafting...I also got to do it in a controlled environment! There were 10 girls at this first event and that meant I just couldn't spread out the way I am wont!  Well, I could...but then I'd have spilt the wine! Despite this curtailment on my space, I still ended up making this gingerbread house with some help from one of the other girls:


So you might think
 I'm mad to have chosen doing TEFL over my beloved Wood-turning. You might think I'm mad to mix wine with crafting and you might think I'm mad to not just buy all the decorations I found in Daiso and Homeplus (some of them are quite nice, btw). Well, the most important concern there is around wine - the worst that can happen is that it spills on a craft. And yes, I could have just bought all the decorations but now I have memories for keeps and plenty of ideas on what to do with my students in afterschool classes and, hopefully, with my own children some day. But yes, I think part of me was mad to give up wood-turning in favour of TEFL. It was one of the hardest decisions I made when I started my journey to move to Korea. However, I can always take it up again and in the meantime, I can see the pieces I made anytime I go home!

PPS This post was inspired by my favourite holiday, Christmas, and my love of crafting.
PPS This post was inspired by the "Let's get together" song from The Parent Trap starring Haley Mills and a great night at Wine and Craft Club. Here's to the next one!
PPPS: No wine was spilt or crafts destroyed in the making of this post.

I roll[ed] out of bed in the morning and [threw] on what I wanted and [went].

At 4.20am your alarm clock goes off, quickly followed by several other persistent alarms from your mobile. Groaning, you drag yourself out of bed onto the stone-cold floor as the bright fluorescent lights from the convenience store opposite softly permeate the room. Stumbling around you are incredibly glad that you planned your outfit AND set out your clothes for this morning. Once dressed, you double check the contents of your backpack: flight reservations, passport, change of clothes? All ready!You head out the door to the stillness of the night: you have finally found a quiet hour in 조치원. On  the 2nd November, this was me as I made my way from 조치원 to Seoul and then Osaka, Japan.

Fantastic poses! Photos courtesy of Katetastic.
A link to her blog is at the bottom of this page.

A few weeks ago, Katetastic and I were talking about how close Korea is to some other countries like Japan and Taiwan. We discussed maybe going there for a weekend or to Jeju which is an island off the coast of Busan, South Korea. That evening I started searching for tickets to Jeju, Japan and Taiwan. About a week after we booked our tickets (Kate, Rucy and I), my brother told me he was coming to Korea and that his visit here would overlap with our Japan trip: three became four. Our flight was at 10.25 from Seoul Incheon airport, hence the early start and we arrived in Osaka a little after noon. It took a little while to get to Osaka itself as we grabbed convenience store food and then, inadvertently, stood in the wrong line for a good 30-45 minutes before Rucy figured out our mistake and went to check if we could take a different train. The train journey itself was smooth and uneventful - except that during it, Rucy managed to perfect the Korean technique of falling asleep and only waking just as they announce your arrival at your station. When I take subway or train naps, I knock out! If it wasn't for my alarm, I would find myself in Busan on many occasions!

After dropping our stuff at the hostel and discovering nearly everything we wanted to do that day closed at 4, we proceeded to the Ebisucho subway area to see the Tsūtenkaku tower. Initially impressive looking, the tower itself was a bit disappointing. We found ourselves underneath a quite diminutive tower with a 45 minute wait. However, the street from the subway station to the tower was lit up and filled with interesting shops. So instead, we wandered around the area taking in the lights, colours and smells of Osaka. Sadly, this was quickly done and we found ourselves at a lost of what do do until 8 when we were meeting our friends who lived in Osaka. During our wait, we discovered one big difference between Japan and Korea: WIFI. I never realised just how prevalent it is and how much I appreciate it when I am in Korea until we had no access in Japan and couldn't change our meeting place or times. I don't mind not having WIFI but when you expect it, it is definitely a bummer to not have it!

On meeting our friends, we proceeded to our second tourist spot of the evening: Dotonbori. This place was light filled, hip and a clash of Western and Japanese stores. There were plenty of places to eat and tons of things to look at - from cosplay girls to interesting shops and fascinating buildings. We visited the iconic billboard and ate Okonomiyaki, Osaka's best known dish. It is cooked on a grill in the middle of the table. However, unlike Korean grills it is one flat sheet. It reminded me more of the Mongolian Grill I went to in Council Bluffs many years ago. This dish is considered a Japanese pancake. Like Kimchijeon, it is a savoury pancake and it very tasty. This is the third Asian country I have been where they have a food that is like a savoury pancake but that has it's own unique twist (Vietnamese Banh Xeo).

Takoyaki - Photo courtesy of Katetastic.
See below for link to her blog*.

The most impressive sight that we saw was Osaka castle. The grounds were spectacular and even from outside the castle it made for interesting viewing with its deep moat and high, unscalable walls. It reminded me of the view of Edinburgh Castle when it is viewed from Prince's street! When we were there two guys came over to invite us to some show that they were doing that night. We weren't able to go but we got a photo with them nevertheless. While I found the exhibition in the castle a little disappointing (I think I was expecting what you'd see in Edinburgh Castle!), it was still interesting and the grounds more than made up for it, especially since we got to try Takoyaki - which again was popularised in Osaka.

So, you might think I'm mad to go to Japan for one night. You might think I'm mad to eat octopus considering I really don't like seafood and you might think I'm mad to consider going on another weekend trip. Well, I kind of think that I am mad too! I am exhausted. I don't think I've been so tired in an age. However, I also know that my lack of recovery from this trip is not really due to having gone to Japan but having had to get up really early and having had some sort of Saturday school every weekend for the last few weeks and next coming weeks. That is what tires me out and makes me non-functional for a week! Or at least that's what I prefer to believe - the other option is that I am getting old and travel tires me out. NEVER!

PS. This post was inspired by my trip to Japan and by Beyonce's If I were a boy. 

PPS: Katetastic's blog can be found here. It's a fantastic one, so read away! Thanks, Kate for letting me use your pictures!

Masquerade! Every face a different shade!

On the weekend of October 5th and 6th, I went to Andong, which is in the Gyeonsangbuk-do province of South Korea, for its annual Mask Festival (bucket list item). I love masks and I have a dream that someday in my house, I will have a red-painted hall lined with masks I've collected on my adventures.

I had to get up early - my train was at 8.25 from Osong Train Station which is about 10 - 15 minutes away, in a different town. Although my body was extremely reluctant to be up that early, I am really glad I took the train when I did as it gave me lots of time to enjoy Andong and appreciate the journey I took to get there.
On arriving in the train station, my train was slightly delayed, so I headed down to the platform to wait. I noticed that there were quite a few people in hiking gear but thought nothing of it. I was taking the train only as far as Jecheon (which was my connecting point to Yeongwol when my brother was still living there). The carriage I was in was full of Koreans all in hiking gear. I took my seat all the while taking in the lurid colours of my carriage - I've never been on such green seats in my life and the doors to each car had stain glass in them! I opened my ereader and started on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,  when next thing some Korean guy was standing beside me and handing me a lunch bag with water, a banana, a gimbap roll and a biscuit. I thanked him and kept reading. A few minutes later a lady came looked at me curiously, sat down beside me and after making some statements in Korean, grabbed my backpack and hand and propelled me towards the front of the carriage: The food was in exchange for giving up my seat so all the hikers could sit together!  Despite this initial awkwardness, the rest of this leg of the journey went smoothly: I was even able to charge my phone battery!

In Jecheon, I transferred to the train bound for Andong. I luckily had a window seat as the scenes on my way there were spectaular. Beautiful hills and mountains of greens, small hamlet villages and rivers of bright blue lay before my wondering eyes. I kept gasping in delight and I am sure the poor man beside me thought I was the most annoying companion to have on that journey! I took some snaps hoping to capture some of the beauty of what I was seeing. Unfortunately, snaps from a moving train do not give justice to nature's majesty!

After finding my hostel, I was starving and decide to wander towards the festival site and look out for some food. However, it was much closer than I anticipated and before I knew it, I was wandering under tents filled with everything from donughnuts to shwarma and shoes to mobile phone covers. Escaping this fascinating display, I found myself at the festival grounds and proceeded to wander around the booths where you could decorate your own paper mask, build a 3-D puzzle, do archery or pottery. There were several stages with performances on them, including one that was a competition stage. At first, I thought this was the main stage and I was a little creeped out by young girls dressed like candidates for Miss America dancing like belly dancers and making moves that I would be too embarrassed to make even by myself in the privacy of my own home!

After wandering the booths for a while and making purchases left, right and centre, I parked myself at one of the mask shops and proceeded decorate this mask.  The paint that you use is little tiny dots of colour that you smoosh in your hand. Luckily, the paint doesn't actually stain your hands at all, and if someone of it stays, just take the smooshed bit and dab at your hand until it re-attaches to it. This sounds weird but it's true! The end result makes is really interesting and leaves a kind of roughness to the mask. I had great fun blenidng colours and deciding how I wanted the mask to look. I had chosen a butterfly shaped mask but you could choose more traditional shapes, if you wanted.

Eventually, I found the main stage and 7,000 won later* had a ticket to see Hamsesang, a story about a tiger and a family. I'm not quite sure what it all meant but it was funny and beautiful. It seemed like a mix of Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood.

The following day, I went back to the festival to see some international performances by China, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. These were stunning. The costumes were a mixture of simple and elaborate, the dances were both masked and unmasked and each told a different lyrical tale. My favourite performances were the Malaysian ones, and of their performances, the Peacock dance was the one that I liked the most: the fluidity of their movements really reminded me of those majestic birds. 

Peacock Dance

So you might think I'm mad to have had this experience by myself and without anyone else. Sometimes, it was awkward to be by yourself, especially when I sat down to make a mask - I was the only person at my own table! However, with no one to accompany me, I lost myself in the beauty of the dance, the masks and the festival itself. I had so much fun and I spent as much time as I wanted at each activity. While I would definitely have loved to have shared this experience with my friends, being by myself gave me a chance to dwell in the experience and that is something I am glad I got to do. 

Water feature in Andong downtown area.

*I believe the cost for an entire day's worth of performances is 7,000 won. I didn't find the main stage until around 3.30 and only decided to attend one performance at 5pm. The next day, I only had time for one performance.

PS The title of this post was inspired by The Phantom of the Opera song Masquerade.

It's time to play the "Glad game"

A few months ago a friend challenged me to keep a gratitude journal. I took her up on her challenge but after two weeks, life got hectic again and my gratitude journal fell off.

So you might think I'm mad to even want to try doing this again, but I really like the idea of saying what I am thankful for in my life. One of my favourite stories, and movies, from childhood is Pollyanna. The simple joy that she had as a character came from understanding that if you are thankful for everything in your life you can not be unhappy.

Starting today, for the next 30 days, I will be updating this post on a daily basis with all that I am grateful or "glad" for - whether it is mundane or exciting. After all, so much kindness happens all the time in our daily lives and a lot of time we take that kindness for granted. I recently decided that beauty maybe in the eye of the beholder, but kindess is in the eye of the receiver and the heart of the giver. I think that Pollyanna would be very glad of this view.

“... there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it.”  - Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyana

September 3rd, 2013.
I am grateful for the school bus driver. Today my bus from Jochiwon did not get me in with enough time to make the walk from the bus stop in DaePyeongRi to the school bus (around 10 minutes walk and I would have had about the same time before the school bus left) and have time to get a coffee. I chose coffee and to get the city bus to my school. Whilst waiting on this city bus the school bus driver saw me and picked me up! What a nice start to today!

September 4th, 2013
The second day in a row where I am able to post first thing in the morning! Today when I walked in there was a big envelope on my desk. Recognising my brother-in-law's handwriting, I got that thrill of excitement. I noticed that on the packet it said "Jumper" and immediately I remembered that I had left my jumper at home (it got lost at some point!) and so I thought it my jumper. So imagine my surprise and delight when it wasn't my jumper but a lovely one from my sister and that the envelope contained a lovely card from my sister and a beautiful drawing from my nephew! Another great start to my day!

September 5th, 2013
Today, some of my students, who are preparing for a contest, weren't focusing very well in our class. This made me a little frustrated until I remembered that they are just kids. Despite being Korean age 12, they are actually only 10 and no matter how good they are at English,they are entitled to be giddy and unfocused. So, I'm glad and thankful that today reminded me that kids are kids. On a different note, today we celebrated one of my friends' birthdays. She had her birthday whilst the rest of us were on holiday, so today was my gift to her - Mexican inspired food! So, today I'm thankful for good friends, weird chats, funny stories and lots of laughter. I'm also really grateful that my friends think I'm a good cook! Thanks to their encouragement and enthusiasm, I keep cooking elaborate meals on a one ring stove!

September 6th, 2013
Today, I am grateful for many things: I'm grateful for great friends who share an interest in learning and sharing our faith - Bible Study rocks! I'm grateful for FINALLY deleting Facebook from my mobile phone. I have decided to do this for a month and then I will decide if I want it back on my phone. On a different note, on Wednesday I was asked if I'd stay a 3rd year in Korea. I told my co-teacher that I wasn't ready to make that decision now, but that I think I want to move on to another country. As my contract finishes mid-semester, I offered to stay on until the end of August 2014. Sadly, we found out yesterday this wasn't possible. Due to my disappointment, I wasn't originally able to find anything to be glad about. Now I have: What a great way to make a decision - either I stay or go. If I go, a whole new world of opportunity is at my finger tips! Lastly, my sister, Ms Adventure, is currently conducting cake bakes in our local parish to raise money, football boots and school uniforms, for children in Liberia. €125 sends one child to school for a year. She worked there for 3 months last spring and is now headed back again. My brother also went to Liberia to volunteer with the same program. I am so grateful and proud of both of the and their wonderful gift of giving. They inspire me to be so much better than I am.

September 7th, 2013
I'm grateful for new friends and old, good fun and lots of laughs. Thank you, Swaglu for organising the scavenger hunt. I'm grateful for Saturday lie-in's and Skype chats with my family ~ especially my Aunt and Uncle who I haven't seen in a long time!

September 8th, 2013

I'm grateful that I woke up early this morning and was able to get a walk in right away. Today, some friends and I went to Bear Tree Park which is quite a famous park in Sejong. It's even one of the things on my Korean Bucket list, too! I was really enjoying walking around and seeing all the different walkways and plants. It's really well laid out and beautiful. Unfortunately, when you get to the bears your heart just breaks. There are about 100 bears in a really small enclosure. Seeing the amount of room that they have, really gave the trip a sour note for me and my friends. Despite this, I'm still glad that I went there as it gives me an opportunity to inform people of what they are supporting by going there: a huge park full of beautiful trees and plants but only the most minimal space is given to the bears that this park gets its name from. I think that this is extremely sad and hopefully someday soon this changes. I am going to try and find someone I can write to about this.

September 9th, 2013
Today was a quiet day but I still am thankful! I am thankful that one full week of eating breakfast every morning has been accomplished! I usually don't eat breakfast so this is a huge accomplishment for me. I am thankful for a great lesson with my intermediate level class 3rd - 5th Grade. Lastly, I am thankful for chatting with my sisters and getting the good news that almost €4,000 was raised for Liberia Mission Inc. Well done to my family, I am so proud of them and so grateful for the generosity of people!

September 10th, 2013
I'm grateful for my brother whose birthday is today. He's a great kid and really has a good heart. He alsoworked at Liberia Mission Inc for a few months. I'm grateful for excellent students and that all my classes went well today. I'm grateful for lifts from my school to the bus stop - it means I can get home an HOUR earlier than if I wait for the school bus!

September 11th, 2013
The last few days have been about the little things! Today is no different, so far! I'm so thankful one of my classes is cancelled as I can work on some things that I didn't think I'd get to today! The rest of my day was fantastic - my Beginners English class was so much fun and the kids lapped up doing The wheels on the bus. Looking forward to the next class. This evening was spent making crepes, drinking tea, eating chocolate cake and choux with good friends. Cheers, a cailíní!

September 12th, 2013
Today, again, has been great! Wow, I'm so lucky! All my classes this morning were excellent - even the one where the computer decided not to work. The students liked doing the phonics in 3rd grade and could tell the difference between b,p and f,v - we still have some work to do but YAAAY ...go me and go students.

September 13th, 2013.
Yesterday I left my phone in work and I didn't discover it at home. Whilst this is a big inconvenience and annoyance, I am glad to have no phone today as it helps me to appreciate how easy my life is when I have one. Furthermore, no phone = nap on the bus - both ways! Lastly, I'm grateful for a nice dinner and chat with two of my co-teachers in my 2nd school. It was a lovely evening.

September 14th, 2013
I'm thankful for my good friend Rucy Bear and lots of funny chats. I'm really glad that we were able to hangout this weekend go see The Mortal Insturments: City of Bones. It was like being at home with all the Irish accents creeping through and all the Irish connections even by some of the British actors.

September 15th, 2013
I'm grateful that I finally did my laundry! Again, a great day with Rucy Bear - shopping, books and lunch! Plenty of chats and laughs. Yay for weekends and yay for friends.

September 16th, 2013
I was supposed to meet my friend Aletia today but sadly it didn't happen. I did find something to be glad about though...that means I've something to look forward to next week! Can't wait!
I'm grateful for my 추석 present from my school - soap and shampoo galore! I'm grateful for tea and chats with friends and public swing sets. Swinging is so much fun!

September 17th, 2013
I'm grateful that I got home at a decent time today and that I was able to go out for dinner and drinks with my friends who remained in Jochiwon. We'd a great time and a lot of fun.

September 18th, 2013.
Today we left for Seoul. Whilst we had standing tickets some kind old man gave us his seat and an old lady some paper to sit on when we had to sit on the floor. A beautiful day was spent in Insadong and a funevening was spent in Hongdae. Despite getting hit in the head by a shoe (yes you read that correctly!), I'm glad that it happened as it meant I walked back to the hostel with company. For some bizarre reason the guy from the hostel thought it would be a good idea to attract my attention with a shoe!

September 19th, 2013
Today saw us at Lotteworld which is like Disneyworld (so I'm told)! Right down to the shape and style of the logo! It was fun day and despite not being a huge rollercoaster person I had a lot of fun! The girls were great sports and understood my fear! I even managed two rollercoasters - one called the Comet Express, that was actually pretty cool, and Atlantis, which I barely opened my eyes for and I couldn't open my mouth to scream as I thought my stomach would fall out! We headed for Indian afterwards but unfortunately with it being Chuseok nothing was open. We got chicken and beer which always makes for a lovely meal!

September 20th, 2013
A day at the beach was my plan - sitting down, reading and soaking in the view. Unfortunately the beach I chose for us to go to was not very clean....after about an hour we headed back. I got some reading in though - I spent the day finishing a Jeffrey Deaver book which I really enjoyed called the Stone Monkey.

September  21st, 2013
A day reserved for Gauguin! Sadly, this did not surface! The exhibition is there but it would have been a two hour wait to get in! So sad - but there's an excuse to go back to Seoul next weekend for the last stint of this exhibit!

September  22nd, 2013.
I'm grateful for doing nothing. I laid in my bed, I ate leftover pizza and I watched Supernatural for most of the day. It was wonderful! Also, I'm 2/3 of the way through this challenge! GO ME!

September  23rd, 2013
Today was a mixed day. I said goodbye to my sister as she leaves for Liberia. Whilst I'm sad about this, I'm also really glad as she did an amazing job raising money for the children to go to school and got lots of supplies. The goodness of people really touches me. In other news, I'm glad we finally met for the VIP Festival we have on Saturday. Myself and one of my friends are the MC's - this should be interesting! I'm grateful for 5 minutes of swing time in the playground.

September  24th, 2013
I'm grateful for my open class being over with and that it went quite well. I'm grateful for stumbling across biscuits that taste like Jacob's Lemon Puffs and I'm doubly glad that I've never seen them in the shop or I'd be in trouble!

September 25th, 2013
I'm grateful that despite having rehearsal for the VIP English Festival on Saturday, I was able to go home have a little walk and actually do some dishes and reorganising! They feed us pizza which any Italian friend of mine would shudder to eat, but I'm just glad I got food!

September  26th, 2013
Even though I love teaching, I'm glad I had no classes in the morning! It makes for a relaxing day! I'm grateful for my friend, Wishbone, bringing us to a place that has roast duck! Yes, roasted meat in Korea! So wonderful - and it was stuffed with rice, pumpkin and some nuts and veggies! I'm grateful for the same friend introducing me to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Had a great time watching it! Lastly, I'm grateful for my really kind co-teacher who brought me home.

September  27th, 2013
I'm grateful for a really fun day with my students - all classes participated well and had a lot of fun doing simple relay reading games and roleplays. I found out though at 1.05 - 10 minutes before I started teaching for the next 4 hours that I had to do prompt cards for tomorrow's event. I was extremely frustrated as I wouldn't get to do this in school as I teach until the end of the day. However, it was done in the end which meant I could enjoy my relaxation time - How I met your mother with Becks and the swings with Rucy.

September  28th, 2013
I'm grateful that the VIP English festival went really well and that the organisers thought we did an excellent job MC-ing. I'm grateful for time to just hang out with my friends and a little walk with Rucy.

September  29th, 2013.
Suwon fortress was finally seen! Jules and I went here for the day today and had a nice time despite the dampness and sprinkling rain. We didn't do the whole fortress wall as it would have taken more time than we had. We got a little lost, so I am very grateful for people who gave us directions and a fun time at the Toilet Museum! I'm also grateful for getting my floor completely cleaned :)

 

 

  

 

 September 30th, 2013
Well, today was just lovely. I'm glad for the whole day! Even though I do LOVE teaching it always nice when you have classes unexpectedly cancelled! The weather was amazeballs and I found out that not only do I have Thursday off but I have field trips on Wednesday and Friday! Lastly, thanks to some brilliant friends for a lovely evening of chat, laughter, cake, doughnuts and chai tea lattes!

October 1st, 2013
So much to be grateful for: I was slightly productive in the morning and on returning home from school, my classes all went well and the kids actually enjoyed relay reading. My phonics class highlighted some work that we still need to do but that's great as it means we can do a few game days using "R". The bus ride home was fantastic as Katetastic and I laughed our way through a Buzzfeed article. The evening was spent catching up with old friends and meeting new ones as we sat outside CU drinking and chatting.

October 2nd, 2013
It's the last day. I've really enjoyed this challenge especially since I did stick with it right to the end!  There's a lot to be thankful for and today is no exception. I'm glad that I spend most of my time teaching and not on field trips. Don't get me wrong, field trips are great and it allows for a better camaraderie with my co-teachers and shows me just how much fun and generous my students are. However, I find it way more exhausting to go on a field trip than to teach all day. As soon as we got back to school I had to slug back a coffee!

So, this challenge is at the end and it's been a great achievement! I really enjoyed doing the 30 days of gratitude and it has given me a new appreciation of just how lucky I am. I recommend this exercise to everyone!

Thank you to everyone who has read these posts, participated in making the last 30 days so gratitude filled or encouraged me in this endeavour! Cheers!

PS This post was inspired by Swaglu's challenge and by "glad" Pollyanna.