November in Review via pictures :)

mmm street food in Daegu! :) Ham and Cheese - why yes, thank you!

Brent - so thankful for this guy! Without him, I might not have made it to Korea.  He paved the way for me to have an awesome experience by introducing me to both my boss/friend, Rim, and an amazing group of friends!! Thank you, Thank you Brent!

Happy Birthday, Amy! :)

matchee! :) Even South Korea can appreciate great Universities like UK! C-A-T-S!

Horse Back Riding with a Korean Sports Hagwan! :)  (Thanks Leigh)

kiddos in line to ride the horses! :)

all smiles and peace signs! :) Kimchi!

Play time and Picnic with the kiddos after horseback riding! :)

haha :) we ordered a pitcher and got this! had to take a picture!

teaching the kiddos about body parts! :) pretty proud of my drawing!

Virginia and I @ Portobello's! :) love my Birginia!

Helena and I at school before class! :)

Roy and I! :)

so silly, but love 'em! :)

Turkey Day in Korea! :)

Happy Turkey Day! :)

 It's Christmas week and I haven't even blogged about my Thanksgiving yet! :) Let me catch you up! Turkey Day came at the perfect time! I was nearing my 4 month mark in Korea and it'd been a while since I'd tasted some of my comfort foods. 4 months without macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes - is a long time, even if I am 25.  Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly NOT starving in Korea - I actually really enjoy the food! :) Kimchi has even become a part of my regular diet thanks to my director and friend, Rim being my neighbor and her mom always sharing her kimchi! But after a long week of teaching students about Thanksgiving foods, traditions, history, and thankfulness, I did happily enjoy Thanksgiving delights - TWICE!

 

 

It's interestingly and awesomely different being a "Wagook-an" (Korean for foreigner) in a country that doesn't celebrate 2 of the the best holidays I've known throughout my life the same way (Christmas) or at the same time (Thanksgiving) that I've always celebrated them. What I love though, is that seeing that all of us (the foreigners) are far away from our families, we come together and make it feel like home. For Thanksgiving (see pictures below)  Tilt, a Western owned bar in Pohang, hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner! I was so excited about it, I took Teddy, my college student with me, so he could experience a true Western Thanksgiving! It's one thing to hear about Thanksgiving, it's another to experience it with 30+ foreigners who are away from home.

Hindsight: I'm not sure that people pushing each other out of the way to get to the turkey, green beans, rolls, cranberries, and THE largest vat of mashed potatoes I've EVER seen in my life was the most accurate depiction of Thanksgiving, but I think overall the night was a success.  :)

I knew I had a lot to be thankful for before crossing the "big pond,"  but everyday it becomes more apparent. The longer I'm away from home, my thankfulness meter, not my homesickness, meter goes up - I truly couldn't ask for more supportive and loving family members and friends (both the ones I left back home and the new ones I've made here.)

Truly blessed beyond what I deserve,
Emily :)

One of my fav students, Teddy! :) such an awesome guy!

Mandy - to whom I owe thanks for my scooter and guitar! love her!

told you it was the largest vat of mashed potatoes I'd ever seen! :) 

Wagookans in the masses! :)

Pumpkin Pie: my new favorite dessert! :)

Watch out Pohang, I am mobile! :)

So my 25th birthday came and went! I'm still rockin' my quarter of a century glow :) I haven't mentioned this in any previous posts, but I live in Ocheon - which is kind of the countryside part of Pohang, the city, I live in.  Most people live downtown or fairly close to downtown, but I'm a little on the outskirts.  And by outskirts, I really only mean about a 15 minute taxi drive to downtown (less then $8).  Which, considering how low my expenses are, is nothing! But...for someone who's had the luxury of being mobile since I was 16 (thanks dad!) taking a taxi to the grocery store, and to get out on the weekends is uncharted water.  Once again, I promise I'm not complaining - transportation is one of the only things I actually spend money on and it's really inexpensive, but I do enjoy my independence! So when I heard my friend Mandy was selling her scooter - my interest was piqued! But, I was a little under-confident in my ability to successfully drive a scooter.  Could I really drive a scooter? haha
 
So Mandy and I scheduled a driving lesson on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  I met her at her place, and my friend Leigh tagged along.  The 3 of us went to the practice parking lot. I was REALLY nervous at first.  Once I got a feel though, I was doing good.   I practiced starting, stopping, going up and down hills, and then starting and stopping on the hills. Though, the uphill I haven't mastered.  The balance took some getting used to, but like Leigh and Mandy said - going slower is harder than going faster. (Note the foreshadowing)

After about an hour of practicing, I decided I felt pretty comfortable.  We wrapped up and headed to the bank so I could get some cash.  I paid Mandy and then we went back to her place to pick up the guitar I'd also bought.  Leigh offered to drive that back to my apartment, and I was going to drive the scooter from Idong (where Mandy lives) to Ocheon (my house!) = about a 25 minute drive. So I paid her, we packed up the guitar, and the scooter helmets, and Leigh and I got ready to head to Ocheon. 

While we were in grabbing the guitar, a truck parked in front of the W-I-D-E apartment entrance and exit.  So, the only other exit is a narrow, concrete baricaded exit.  Leigh walks his bike through and is coaching me on how to get my bike through.  I'm listening, but still so uncomfortable with maneuvering this heavy bike at slow speeds, I start to feel uncomfortable.  Simultaneously, Leigh is coaching me to slow down.  I frantically reach for the brake, only to find the gas, so I floor it,the scooter speeds out from under me, I not-so-gracefully end up the ground - my shoe ;ands 10 feet away, my helmets now on the side of my head.  It was an Emily sandwich with the scooter and the pavement as the bread.  :( Needless to say, I was mortified, but survived with only dented pride and a sore chest. Leigh and I drove home - I was shaky because of my fall, but glad I got back on. 

So, I am mobile :) sort of.  I did ride my scooter to school today.  The kids got a good chuckle at their teacher being an "autobike driver" but I'm working up my confidence!

Disclaimer - UK fans it's orange, but only out of convenience - I might be far away but am still a Cats fan! :)

At least I got the fall out of the way the first day! :)

Aging Gracefully in Korea! :) Hello 2-5!

Surprise Birthday Cake :) Anyong Haseyo (hello in Korean) Quarter of a Century!

Let me start off my saying I'm not a birthday person.  Please don't misinterpret that, I don't mind getting a year older, I just don't enjoy the "all eyes on me" part.  I mean in all honesty - shouldn't it be my parents celebrating? I didn't really do anything special that day. To give a little background on where I think this phobia started, here's a birthday nightmare - I vividly remember being at a restaurant in my hometown probably around my 9th or 10th birthday - I was out for dinner with my family at Toot's (for you Murfreesboro-ans). I'm enjoying my intimate birthday setting, and before I know it, I hear the waiters and waitresses marching towards our table clapping and singing "Happy Birthday." My stomach dropped and I immediately burst into tears. Since then, I've made my friends and family vow to NEVER - and I mean ever - have the waitstaff come to our table on my birthday.  I was lucky from years 21 to 24 because I had my birthdays in exotic destinations thanks to working really hard in the summer selling books. I turned 21 in Jamaica, 22 in Cancun, and 23 in the Dominican Republic.

Point being, I've had birthdays in fun places with great people! :) But this year might take the prize (minus not seeing family or my sweet puppy!!) It was a weekend and a birthday I'll never forget - thanks to all those who I saw in Pohang and all the sweet bday wishes I got from across the big pond - it really meant a lot! The weekend in review:

Friday was low key because I had to be awake early on Saturday for teaching training in Gumi,  a city about an hour and a half away.  They bussed about 40 foreign teachers at 7:30am to a "How to Teach in Korea" seminar.  Waking up early on a Saturday wasn't fun, but the seminar wasn't that bad. 

Then, Saturday afternoon there was a scavenger hunt from 4:30-9:00.  It was a blast!! It was a fundraiser for the soccer team in town.  There were about 20-25 English teachers that played.  Leigh and I were on a team and it was a picture scavenger hunt, so we'd have to do things like "help a stranger carry their groceries to their car" or "have a teammate do a handstand in front of the post office" and then take a picture of it.  There were about 60 things - we only got about 40 of them, but we laughed until we cried. At midnight I was surprised with a birthday cake and the entire bar singing Happy Birthday Korean style.  :) memorable and fun!

Scavenger Hunt Task: Picture of Teammates on Tandem Bike

Task: Picture with Clothed Dogs

Task: Pillow Fight :)

Task: Teammate Pyramid with Korean on Top!

Task: Takeover Street Vendors duties! (Korean pancake "hota")

Task: Tango with stranger!

Task: Have Korean do Heisman pose while holding head of lettuce

Task: Kiss stranger's hand

Task: Help stranger carry groceries to their car

Then on Sunday a group of us got together at our friend Kevin's house for a foreign Thanksgiving.  Koreans celebrate their version of Thanksgiving (Chuseok) in September.  Also, as you can imagine, the food here is VERY different from food from America - so I had macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and deviled eggs for the first time in almost 4 months!! yum! We played games and spent hours laughing until we cried.  I got a 2nd birthday cake there - thanks to one of the sweetest people I've met since I've been here, Tonic!
Honestly, I think this was one of my best birthdays yet!

I have a feeling 25 is gonna be my year! :)
xoxo Em!

Halloween In Korea

A picture that made me smile from back home :) My puppy dressed up for Halloween in her authentic Korean "hanbok" I bought in Seoul! :)

In Korea, they don't celebrate Halloween. But, I work at an English hagwon, and since Halloween is celebrated in Western countries, we celebrated it to let the students experience Western culture! The week of Halloween I taught the kiddos about costumes, trick or treating, jack-o-lanterns, witches, ghosts, vampires and all other ghoulish Halloween customs! It was a lot of fun. Since Halloween fell on a Sunday, we celebrated Friday afternoon. The kids were invited for a party and a market day. The students are rewarded for good behavior and completing their homework with signs or stickers on a "sign card". On Market Day, they can use their "signs" to buy toys, candy, and food. At the party, I was in charge of the "Culture Room" which was a pumpkin carving room and I'd planned a craft where we made felt bats out of the students' handprints. The pumpkin carving was HILARIOUS because in Korea the pumpkins are a little....different than typical American pumpkins. I was thinking orange, round, and hollow. But here, some of the pumpkins are green, some are orange, some are not hollow - they're actually more like the texture of an apple, and some aren't even round. I think one of the students brought a cucumber! You'll see pictures of a fellow foreigner, my friend Caspar, who helped a student carve not 1, but 2 faces on said cucumber jack-o-lantern! :) Fun times, I think the students had a blast, and honestly they've never really seen American pumpkins in person, so I guess non-hollow and cucumber Jack-O-Lanterns totally work. Enjoy the pictures! :) Many of the students dressed up in costume - it was adorable!

Helena :)

Tim, Andy, and Rim - the VP of our Hagwon

Sarah

Tim, Gin and I doing the Kimchi pose! :)

Caspar was sooo nice to come and help! He teaches some of the same students at their public school.

Face #1 on Cucumber Pumpkin

Sunny (on right) :) awesome costume!

Sally carving her non-hollow pumpkin

Rim - VP of school again with students! :)

Tim with his "best friend Tom" - direct quote

all smiles! - Happy Halloweeeen! :) Jane, Kelly, Gina, and William

Do I really get paid to hang out with such cute kiddos?


Em :)

Sickness in Korea! :) Special Thanks to amazing Friends & Family!

Moving to a new country entails experiencing a plethora of unfamiliar things. I'd like to think I've adapted well thanks to being flexible and embracing the differences in Korea, but still there are things that have taken some getting used to. There are the big differences like the food, the language, and the culture, and then there are the smaller things like the air, the water, not having a dryer, not having a shower booth, public baths, having to bring your own toilet paper to the public bathrooms, etc. I could go on for days. :) Even though mentally and emotionally I've adapted really well, living in a new country finally took its toll on me physically. Soon after my last post, I got a bladder infection - pretty normal, would not have been a serious ailment in the States. Usually I would have visited a walk in clinic or my Dr. and been given antibiotics. I would have felt fine within 24 hours. Here in Korea, things panned out quite differently.

I visited my first doctor on Thursday, October 28th. He took my temperature, asked about my symptoms and prescribed a bunch of white medication - still not sure what exactly it was - you don't get medication info here. All I know is by the next afternoon, I was feeling much worse. I was light headed, had a fever, and had terrible pain in my abdomen and left side/back. And we just so happened to be having a Halloween party this afternoon. :( Towards the end of the evening, I let my friend Rim know I wasn't feeling well. I suggested we go to the doctor, but since at this point it was 7:30pm on a Friday - we had to go to the hospital.

Visiting the hospital in Korea was interesting. Patient confidentiality is pretty much out the window since everything I said had to be translated through my director. Also, the ER is a big room with 35ish beds and you can see what's going on with everyone. My first visit they suggested running all these tests - I found out I didn't have health insurance and was a little nervous about the costs and the fact that I'd feel silly if nothing was wrong. I was really stressed out and a little scared I guess, so I actually cried for the first time since I've been here. I declined the tests. They still hooked me up to an IV for 2 hours - loading me with fluids and an antibiotic drip. It helped with my fever and 2 hours later I headed home.

Saturday I was in bed all day - still feverish with no appetite. Around 9:00 that night, I decided my body was giving me multiple signs that something wasn't right and that I probably shouldn't risk it. So, I headed again to the hospital - this time by myself armed with my English to Korean dictionary. When I got to the hospital, a few of the nurses from the night before were there. They remembered me as the girl that declined medical attention, but were still very kind. This time there was a nurse who spoke excellent English (such a blessing)!! So, I went ahead with the tests and was again hooked up to IV drips for the next 2 hours. I left with 1 day worth of medication and instructions to see a doctor first thing Monday morning.

Monday, I went back to the hospital - note from the ER in hand. The doctor spoke very little English and in hindsight I think he just prescribed some medication and wanted me out of his office. He didn't run ANY additional tests, despite my symptoms changing AND worsening. The pain was now in my legs, still in my side and back, and now my neck and head were hurting terribly and I'd thrown up. I was worried I had meningitis! So I lay in bed for the next 4 days - still feverish, still no appetite and still no improvement. I missed work all week.

Finally on Friday, we go back to the hospital to meet with the nephrologist (the kidney doctor). He is AMAZING! He speaks perfect English, runs extensive tests - and changes my medication. This is Friday and by Sunday, after 7 days in bed, I finally return to the land of the living! If only I had met him on Monday! :)

Overall, a bit scary, but this definitely opened my eyes and made me really appreciate healthcare in America. I know it has its issues, but I really had taken for granted how easy it is to go to the doctor, tell the doctor what's wrong, and trust that they're giving me the correct medication. In addition to the language barrier here, the medications are quite different, AND I felt a bit like the diagnoses were trial and error. But, I did finally meet the right doctor! :)

A HUGE thanks to all the friends in Pohang and back home that called and facebooked me to make sure I was doing ok! :) All the well wishes and offers to bring me food and fluids meant SOOOOO much! I won't list names b/c I might miss someone important - but you guys are AWESOME/Terrific/Wonderful - thanks so much! Love you!

xoxo from a FULLY Recovered Emily! :)

A special thanks to the Schneider Electric Family -

For those of you who don't know, I was ill about 2 weeks ago. And when I mean ill - I mean the most sick I've been since I can remember. A little background: My dad's worked for Square D my entire life - which is over 25 years. As someone who's now experienced corporate America, I realize this says a lot. His tenure speaks very highly of not only his accomplishments, but says a lot about the company, too. So, firsthand I'd experienced Schneider/Square D being a great company, but I may be a tad biased. :)

Being sick at home isn't fun. And being sick 7,000 miles away from family, friends, comfort, and Campbell's soup was especially NOT fun. To top things off I was scared and so was my Dad, but he was pretty helpless being so far away. Having a marketing degree, I learned about the textbook perks of an international company, but I learned another one a few weeks ago. And that's having an international support chain, an international "phone tree". Being able to call a business colleague and, switch gears for a minute and express concern as a parent, being able to relate, despite distance or culture.

Bottom line: I was sick and even though Alban and Mr. Kim and many others had never met me, they were kind enough to help - be it passing on an email to find someone that could help, or calling me the next day and making sure I was okay. Mr. Kim's wife is a doctor and she took the time to call and speak with my coteacher. She offered her medical advice, suggesting we go see a kidney doctor - which ended up being the best doctor I'd seen all week! Despite spending the previous 7 days in bed, after seeing the kidney doctor, I was feeling better within 48 hours! :)

Amidst the busy days of emails, conference calls, product quality checks, and all the other things that go along with busy Schneider/Square D days - I want to send a sincere THANK YOU for the kindness I received. I can't explain how nice it felt to know that I was cared about and not alone, even though I'm really far away from my family - I now realize I'm a part of the Square D family - and if need be there is someone that can help!

With Sincere Thanks and Even More Respect for all You do!

Best Regards,

Emily Smits

Month Long Hiatus - my apologies! :)

Wow! I CANNOT believe it's been a month plus since my last post. I know I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again - now I understand WHY in the world people have a hard time keeping up with blogs. It seems like it'd be easy to e-journal about one's life, but life just sort of happens. Day after day things don't seem like a big deal - events happen and I think "I'll blog about that later" - 15 experiences like that later, I'm a month and a half behind and overwhelmed with many things to write about, BUT I will do my best to bring you up to speed on my life since mid October! :) So here it is, November 19th - 2 days away from my 25th - yep, you read that correctly *25th* birthday! November has flown by just like all the other months have since I've been in Korea.

I'm going to break this into mini posts b/c there's so much to write about! :)

xoxo Always,

Em