Home

I'm Alive!

  • Mar. 18th, 2008 at 7:54 PM

Hello ya'll!

I'm Alive!!
I'm sorry that is has taken me so long to write... haha.. many people have emailed and asked..."Did you ever come back from North Korea?"

haha.

i survived!

The months are flying by here.
I only have about 5 months left.. and then... home time.

I was going to travel for a bit before I came home.. but I decided to travel as much as I can now.. in the next 5 months..
Every weekend I have something planned... from visiting villages, to rock climbing, to deep-sea fishing, mountain hiking, crab catching.... you name it, and i'll sign up!
I have a plane ticket to japan planned for June and i'm looking into China.. In August i'll travel to Thailand.. (cross your fingers  that i make it there... haha)

The reason for my straight flight to America is... my sister is having a baby!! and i will be home JUST in time to BE IN THE DELIVERY room!!! holler.

My last day of teaching is August 22. and i will fly home on the 25th.  :)
Although i will be home... you might not see much of me.. #1 i dont own a car.. #2 i will be playing with luke lee! :)

here are a few quick picks of what I have been up too...


this is me getting ready to hike an ice mountain in North Korea.


this is me crossing a ghetto bridge in North Korea... seriously scary.


it was COLD there!


a frozen lake in N. Korea.


More bridges.


are hotel was a boat... :)


This is me being crazy.. i wore sooooo many clothes because it was freezing... here are my leggings and leg-warmers.. haha. ghetto, but warm.. i wore jeans over, so i looked normal!


this is me at the sea... this is where i met some north korean men... they saw my tag that said "USA" and they instantly walked away and almost spit at me.. damn!


North Korea was beautiful.


This was my passport.. it had to be worn at all times and be seen. the fine was $100.  crazy koreans.

i will show you a few pictures from a trip I just took last weekend..  erin and i went to a village on the south tip of korea. i was awesome.. here are some silly pictures..


watch yourself.
we found a bunker. so we took advantage.

hahahahahahhaha. i am ghetto.


:)


here is erin.. chillin.


this is dinner. this lady couldn't stand up straight.. she has worked in the fields and kitchen.. for her entire life.

we went to this village and lived in a house with an 80 year old korean couple... we slept on the ground... and lived a true village korean life for a weekend.


here is our bed!


Rice fields... but right now it's the season for garlic.. so that is all garlic. :) looking over the sea.


here we are... happy to be at the village.. :)

well i hope all is well at home..
I have to run...
going to eat some dinner at a friend's house!

love you all.
sam

Vacation time...

  • Feb. 2nd, 2008 at 7:01 PM


Hey!

I'm alive.. sorry I don't write more often.
I've been very busy and trying to recover from my fall.

I go to the doctor every other day for treatment.
I use a heating pad and laser.
ghetto.
i know....

so.. what I really need to do is finish telling you all about Taiwan, but I just feel like that is old news now..
haha. but when i have free time, i'll post more pictures from my trip.

So...

next week is Lunar New Year..
and we have Wednesday-Sunday off!!...

so..

Erin and myself are traveling to NORTH KOREA!
with a traveling group..
HOLLER.

i'm very excited.

There are a TON of rules I have to follow..
good thing I am a RULE FOLLOWER.

haha.

I might pretend to be Canadian.
(haha. seriously though.)

Hope all is well.

Love & Miss you all.

사만다

Oh my oh my...

  • Jan. 14th, 2008 at 6:44 PM

So... I have only shown you two days of Taiwan below.. i took a ton of pictures and have so many stories... I had SO much free time this weekend to finish the entry, BUT I couldn't get out of bed... why, do you ask??.....

Hmmmm...
So Friday... IT SNOWED!!! i was SO excited. the streets were white and snowflakes were falling on my head.
I went to my morning class and got home around 9am... I walked up the stairs and noticed that they were VERY slippery! I laughed and said to myself... I ALMOST FELL!
I went inside my apartment and talked on the phone with my brother-in-law and mom... looked at the clock and it was 9:30!
I leave at 9:28 every morning... I grabbed my stuff... Saw David, my co-worker, outside waiting... he was standing at the top of the stairs... i said... "David, the...." and before I could say "stairs are slippery" I WAS IN THE AIR!!!

I FLEW IN THE AIR AND BOUNCED DOWN THE STAIRS....

ON MY SIDE.

I got up and instantly said... "I broke my ribs... just kidding.. but I am in so much pain!"
David walked with me and we got into a cab to go to school....
when I got there... I WAS DYING!!! I felt like a truck hit me...

My boss sent me to the hospital...
1 broken rib later... here I am.
Sitting in my apartment in pain...

I have had tons of bad luck!
1. eye infection.
2. armpit surgery.
3. ear infection.
4. broken rib

My boss calls me HOSPITAL GIRL.

haha.
i'm okay!
Just truckin along.

hope all is well at home.

here are some pictures...

Snow!!!


Day 1

my leg. Day 1


Day 3.


Day 3.


meet my brace.


this is how i roll to work....with the jacket buttoned :)

*****HERE THEY ARE*****



WHY.... MARBLE stairs!!! in the snow???
I just don't understand.

i was careful...
but marble is TOOOOOO slippery!

so.. i go to the doctor every day for therapy... haha.

I need some rest!

peace from korea...

사만다... Samantha...

Taiwan Adventure. ( THIS IS NOT COMPLETED! THIS IS A PROCESS!)

  • Jan. 7th, 2008 at 8:01 PM

안녕하세요
Annyong Haseyo
Hello!

Hello Everyone! I haven't written in my journal for 4 weeks! I am so sorry! I have been very busy... I was very busy in December... I had to teach my kids two Christmas carols and they had to perform for all the parents... It was a very stressful time.. BUT I MADE IT! haha.

Also... to those of you that don't know.. I have a new morning job.. I teach 8 business men on M/W/F mornings... i have to get up at 5am and my co-worker picks me up at 6:20... :) I teach them at their company from 7 to 8am... I was very nervous my first day, but now i look forward to those mornings.. yes, it does suck waking up at 5am, but it is worth it... teaching adults is a different experience.. they don't mess around and we can talk about "adult things"... hahaha. they are from age 30 to 50... I will take pictures with them soon... we have become friends.. i have been teaching them for over a month now.

I also teach a little girl on Friday nights. She is very sweet and very smart. She worships me... most people here do.. they think a teacher is some sort of GOD... hey, she's right!

Anyways... I have been going to HONGDAE almost every weekend... Hongdae is a city in Seoul... it is a "party" town... tons of foreigners. We tend to go to the same dance-bar every saturday night.. haha. We have what you would call YELLOW FEVER... hahaha. that means we are digging korean guys.. :) Erin and I have so much fun dancing... many people are scared of us.. (crazy white girls) but many others think we are fun... duh! we are! We have made some very good friends there... we are trying to make more korean friends, so we can get the true "Korean experience"... I have made one cool friend named Kim Yong Min. I am trying to learn more korean, so we can communicate better! :)

When I say we go to Hongdae a lot... i mean we went 3 weekends in a row.. so don't think that I am that crazy! Many of you think I party too much... well... I stay in every night... i work a lot during the week and I need my sleep! but the weekends.... i party. hey, I'm young right? and in another country! :)

So... I have so many pictures to share with you from December, BUT I think I will post them at a later date... I want to show you all my pictures from TAIWAN!!!

One word for Taiwan.... AWESOME!
seriously... I went to Taiwan knowing nothing and traveling with an open mind.
and it was like nothing I have ever imagined.

I thought Taiwan would be similar to Korea... NOT at all.
However, I would pick Korea over Taiwan... I guess I just feel more comfortable here.

Let's take a trip to Taiwan... shall we?...

So... I traveled with my friend Thomie Ventura..
As you know, we thought we were going to Thailand, but ended up with tickets to Taiwan.
We headed to Taiwan with no reservations anywhere.. no maps.. no plans... just are bags and smiles...

First.. we had to take a 2 hour bus ride to the airport in Korea... And what do know.. our BUS gets HIT! a truck hit the side of our bus and broke the mirror! The driver called for a new bus because he couldn't drive without a mirror!

here is our broken mirror... i thought we were going to be late for our plane.. but we were on time! we had to stand in the new bus because it was full!

Standing sucked but shoot... the situation made me laugh!


we were finally on the airplane... It still hadn't hit me that we were on our way to Taiwan!


This was some good food. haha. seriously.


This was the airport in Taiwan... I was one of the only white people around... :)


So we get to Taiwan... look at each other and say... "now what?"
hahaha. we had no plans and knew nothing about the country..
So we grabbed the only English book we could see and picked a place to go..
We walked outside and pointed at a picture and told a taxi driver to take us there!

Here are some pictures from out taxi drive from the airport to the main city of Taipei.

Check out his pup. haha.

some random building..


Our destination from afar! (the big building in the background)


You have never seen so many scooters in YOUR LIFE! there were millions!

Now right after the picture from above was taken... we pulled up to the big building and... GOT REAR-ENDED! are you kidding me!! 2 crashes.. 1 day... 2 countries!
Don't worry.. we were fine!


here it is... the building that we pointed to in the picture! we made it! now what?? haha. still no hotel.. no English speakers... what the heck were we thinking...

so... we went walking and searching.. for a place to stay. it was around 5:30pm.


we saw TONS of scooters.


we found a Bank of America sign and thought it was funny...


this was on the 5th floor of that building... the building was part mall.. part offices.. it was called TAIPEI 101.. Thomie and I feel in love with it!... what was crazy about Taiwan is that they had every type of car! they even had my honda civic! haha. korea only has korean cars and once in a while you see a BMW.. korea has strict rules on cars.. they make you pay so much extra money to get a car shipped here, so that koreans will only buy korean-made cars.. it's smart if you think about it.. but no one has a nice car here! :)


still no hotel.. just walking...


so we found a HYATT... it was SOOOO nice... but they were booked.. they told us about another place called THE TANGO... and they had rooms available.

We headed over to THE TANGO and fell in love... wow!

this was the bathtub.

shower.
I mean COME ON... i have been living in Korea with a HORRIBLE bathroom! this was HEAVEN!!!

Sink. :)


I was in the bathroom taking a picture of Thomie on the bed.




the bathroom from the main room.


the bed.


the T.V.
and i was in heaven... they had 5 HBO channels and NBA basketball on all the time.
those are 2 things I NEVER SEE IN KOREA!


our desk. (office)


Our view outside. :)


THE TANGO!


This is what you call CRAZY!


Street food everywhere... same in Korea.


McDonalds... EVERYWHERE!


walking down the streets...


KOBE! on the building... (i miss him) haha.


Lots of traffic.


taxi vs. bus


First meal... Doner Kebab... Turkish food.


chicken in flat bread with BBQ sauce and veggies. yum.


Street markets... i bought 3 bracelets.


here is our favorite building!!


look what we found in Taipei 101... KOBE!!! (they didn't have 24!)


yes... hello kitty was popular here also! :)


More and more street food...


hanging meat...


ahhhhhh! seriously? :(


more traffic.. from the crosswalk bridges!

so... all of the pictures above are from our first day in Taiwan.. we did a lot in such a short time... when we headed back to our hotel we remembered what they said.... we were invited to eat a "night snack"....

check it out...

a night snack for a king! The Tango rocked!

so... the next morning... we packed our bags and kissed the Tango good-bye!

We wanted to head south... we were planning on spending new years at the tip of Taiwan, so we decided to start heading in that direction...

We hopped on the subway.. with metro tokens...


the subways were different in Taiwan... i am used to everyone sitting and staring at one another... haha.

We were heading to the HSR... which stands for.. the HIGH SPEED RAIL..
it opened in January last year... it is so fast... i think it goes around 200mph... and only makes a few stops...

It costs about $50, but it was worth it..

it looks like an airplane.. both inside and outside..


my ticket.


the seats... very roomy.


peace.


me... pretending to sleep. haha. ghetto.


DUDE! they had my dad's favorite nuts!! haha. crazy!

so we get off the HSR and now we were on a new mission... find a hotel... we thought to ourselves... we spent $160 at the Tango, so maybe we should find a cheaper hotel for tonight... hahaha... and we had no idea where to even go in this town..

we looked at out maps and found a place.. it was near a river and there were tons of lights... we wanted to go there but how?? a bus? a taxi? we were standing in front of the HSR when a man approached us...

he asked us "where?" we smiled and showed him the map... i might add that his mouth was bloody.. his teeth where RED and he looked like a freaking killer... BUT he pulled out a piece of paper with tons of pictures on it and said... "where?"

i looked at Thomie and said.. i am NOT going with him...
The guy spoke no english and wrote down an amount of money that he would charge us... we pointed to a picture on his paper and he said... "come".... i was going to pee my pants... they guy showed us a picture of a van and said come...

we were walking to his van and i told Thomie that he was going to rob and kill us! .... BUT as we got closer I realized.. he was a TAXI driver, but he didn't want to wait in the taxi line, so he talks to people as the get off the HSR! dude! i felt 10 times better!!!


i was scared so i took a picture of his ID!
That way the police would know who we were last with! haha
Thomie thought i was CRAZY!


On our way to THE PICTURE WE POINTED AT.. i took some photos... every shop is very small and narrow.. and i swear.. every shop was for a scooter or car! haha.


seriously.


very narrow streets... with TONs of cars!

so... he drops us off... in the city of Kaohsiung... i just call it K-TOWN.
it was a city with a river running through it... it was a couples place for sure.. everyone was in love it seemed.. haha.

so we found a hotel... as we walked in the doors the two women at the desk jumped up! they didn't speak english very well but we managed to get a room... for $70! score! (so we thought!)

they gave us the keys and we got into the smallest elevator you have ever seen... at that moment.. i looked at Thomie and thought... oh geez, i can't wait to see the room!

i turn the key and walk inside....

here is what i saw...

on a stage... A SEX chair!!!!!!!!!
Oh MY GOSH!

i turned, looked at Thomie, and WANTED to die...
i didn't even want to put my bags down...
we went from the Tango to porno room!


the chair came with instructions and a towel... i was laughing so hard.


the room came with 2 ashtrays.. condoms... no smoking signs everywhere... and a vibrating bed that didn't work...

and when Thomie turned on the television... it was HARDCORE porn!
this was a nightmare.

the bathroom was nasty and we never took out shoes off in the hotel... or should i call it the "love motel"....


this was the "love" tub.

hahaha.


here is Thomie on the bed... trying to figure out where to go, so we could stay out really late and not have to be at the hotel do long...

we thought something was strange...


we both agreed that we thought this was a two-way mirror... AHHH!
this place was so weird!

we laughed about it and thought... "hey maybe we only paid for an hour!"
we were leaving to go out... so we went downstairs and asked the ladies when we had to check out.. they said noon... hahaha... so we had it all night... shoot! we needed to check... right?

so... we put on our walking shoes and set out..


seriously... i am not kidding about the scooters!


to be continued.

싸만따



Thailand.... Ooops! TAIWAN!!

  • Dec. 2nd, 2007 at 3:33 PM

hello all...

funny story.
Winter break is right around the corner... I was planning an amazing trip to Thailand... Thomie and I were meeting some friends there and we were going to relax on the beach...

BUT.

our travel agent booked us a flight to Taipei. which is the capital of TAIWAN! what a freaking RETARD! hahaha.

We thought about it.

And decided to head to Taiwan... fate. right? hey, who knows. Maybe the future MR. STROTHER will be vacationing also.

haha. who knows.

Have you been there?
If so. Where should I explore??

here are some pictures of TAIWAN... my new adventure awaits me.







Soccer and Thanksgiving.

  • Nov. 27th, 2007 at 8:05 PM

Hello!

It's been 2 weeks since my last entry! WOW! It seems like I did it yesterday!
Seriously, weeks fly by here. On Sunday nights I say.. "I don't want to work tomorrow!"
and then it's Friday and I say... "oH my GOSH! This week flew by!"
it's weird! :)

I still love korea. haha.
People always ask me... Do you still like it or are you ready to come home?
My answer is this...
I would've loved to spend Thanksgiving at my sister's house with my whole family, but who gets the chance to spend Thanksgiving in Korea! I love it here! haha. If you think about it, I get to spend every holiday here. It's a big change. Korea doesn't even celebrate Thanksgiving! I had to work! :)
I celebrated it with my fellow MEGOOK friends. (megook means from the states.)

So, I have been busy.
I finally got my stitches out! And I had to say GOOD-BYE to my doctor and nurse! it was sad... my nurse didn't want me to go... I told her that I could break my arm, so that I would have to come back... she laughed and hit my arm! She told me that I was BING BING in the head... which mean CRAZY! hahaha. I am different. They love me.

So I will start my picture story...
It gives me more to talk about...

I want to introduce you to....


Here she is... ELEGANCE!





this is dedicated to my dad... if he worked here.. this would be his ride!
holler.


I just like this picture. Cars flying by!


Here is Thomie.. We teach this Phonics book and we found this dope "crunky" candy... it's good! :)


Here are Maria, Nathan, and Janel dancing... :)

We decided to go cheer on our own Ansan Professional Soccer team.. it was their last game and we wanted to see what they were all about...


Here are some boys that we walked by on our way to the Soccer game.. They were taking their bike on the handicap cart up the stairs. They were so embarrassed. I took so many pictures of them... hahaha.


Here is the BIG stadium... we were EXCITED!

until....


We saw them playing on this field. It was almost like they were on the freshman team in high school and they played on crappy field! haha. We talked to the organizers and they said next season they will play in the big stadium! We were excited. Their games start in April... :)


Their legs were BUFF!


This was the VIP section.


So, you see this picture... Can't you imagine people on the sidelines yelling and cheering? NOPE! Koreans are QUIET! haha. 13 of us went together and we were cheering and yelling and the Koreans were all EXCITED! They looked at us weird at first, but then realized that we were serious and not making fun of them.


They WON! and the players loved us because we were so loud! It was raining for a little of the game, but it was worth it...


We celebrated the win with a happy picture!


We all got free hot cups and we took pictures with some of the players. This guy was awesome!

After the game we went and had Indian Food... and then...


WE FOUND RED MANGO! For those of you who don't know Red Mango. This is the original PINKBERRY... it all started in Korea!


Yum.

HAIR! Round 2....


so... here we GO!


seriously? Megan! HELP!


Oh so happy!


Normal hair... for now.

After my hair appointment... Thomie, TJ and I went to....


OUTBACK!


This was A-Mazing!


holler.


I got this... Chicken veggie pasta. (no hamburgers!)


They make their own juice right at the bar.

We were SOOOOO full after lunch.. so we walked home. it takes about 30 minutes... they only problem is... IT'S COLD!!!! Seriously.. people that i talk to say that it isn't even that cold here yet! We have been sheltered in California. I was walking home the other day and it was 30 degrees. ouch! :)


Here are TJ and Thomie...


You can't even see my face!


This is how i keep my face warm. :)


My mom sent me a package!!! here is some food she sent! THANKS MOM!


it "snowed" (it rained and turned to ice on the floor) This was the ground on my walk to work. :)


Here are two of my favorite kids... they wanted to do a funny picture with me..
(Tom and Parker)


My morning class.


They like all of my pictures from home.. so they try and make the same faces!


Here is my nurse the day I had my stitches removed! She's awesome!


We went to dinner to celebrate my stitches!


Thomie... being a dork.


We went back to my apartment and had a few drinks with Janel.
As you can see, we had a good time. Thomie was holding the rice crispy wrapper. We dedicated this night to my mom because she sent us some GREAT snacks!


This picture makes me laugh... my hair was CRAZY that night!


A guy we know has a bike.. so I was pretending to ride it.

THANKSGIVING TIME...

We have ONE friend that has an OVEN! so we asked him if we could use his place for our thanksgiving party... he's a nice guy and said yes.

So David and TJ headed over to COSTCO and found a TURKEY! (holler.)
Yes we have a Costco! i was so excited when i heard! My first question to the boys was DO THEY HAVE HOTDOGS????? and they said YES! so, soon... i will make a trip to costco! it's not that close by, so.... who knows when i'll head out there!


Here is David... cooking.


TJ was mashing the potatoes!
See the turkey in the background? This is the only picture I have of the turkey! :(


cheese and crackers, olives, pickles, carrots, pineapple, bread, muffins...
this was our ghetto but awesome Thanksgiving!


This is Turkey, a piece of cheese, the best mashed potatoes, and homemade STUFFING! it might look ghetto, but boy was it good.

Notice: no green beans, cranberries,.... it was great! (but not my mom's food!)

I did miss home on Thanksgiving. (A LOT) I called home and talked to everyone that was at my sister's house. It made me a bit sad... but it's all good. I have great friends, and fun job, a gEEEZ... I'M IN KOREA!

We headed over to Seoul for the day... we went to Itaewon and Yongsan.
Itaewon is where all the US ARMY men are... (barf) haha. nothing against our army, but those guys are nasty! :)
Yongsan is TECHNOLOGY world! that is where I buy all of my DVDs and anything electronic.

It's weird. I love my City.. Ansan... it is not a foreigner place.. I mean, I do see random foreigners, but not everyday... if I do see foreigners in my area, they are probably my friends! haha...
My point to this story is... I don't like the big cities. I don't really like all the foreigners. I love my friends that I have and that is all the foreign that I want. I went to Itaewon and I felt out of place. hahaha. I feel more comfortable around all Koreans... this may sound stupid, but I do...

anyways... here are some pictures from our day trip to Seoul.


Subway. Yum... it was actually great!


Thomie is from New Jersey and he doesn't have Coffee Bean. He said only California has Coffee Bean... He's been to Califonia, so he fell in love with it. I thought he was going to die when he saw it in Itaewon..

Itaewon is FULL of Western places... meaning Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Hotdog places,.... and many more.


he was in love!


This is what many people look like in Korea. They wear "Michael Jackson" masks... cause it's freaking cold!


Check out this dog.. he has DOGoggles on!


This guy was taking a break. Just chillin.


This is at Yongsan. (computer world)
You can get every piece of a computer and build it yourself. (for cheap)


Here is Erin... Smiling in front of Computer World.


A picture of Seoul at night.


Christmas is coming... the decorations are coming out!


He is TJ on the subway home. He was cold and tired. He bought that jacket for $5.00! What a deal!

It's always nice to have food at home, but going out is cheaper and less hassle! Thomie came over last night and he made pasta. it was delicious. :)


yum.


This is how you eat at my house. I have a table on my bed... :) ghetto but perfect!

OH!!! and take a look at my bed. The dark pink blanket and sheets are MICRO-FIBER! oh yes! they are the most wonderful sheets I have ever had. I have 9 more months to love them... and then i'll leave them behind. (that will be a sad day!)

anyways.... wow. this was long.. but at least I am all caught up! :)

Sidenote: I did miss thanksgiving breakfast at the maisano's house. I missed having peppermint mocha in my coffee. Making bacon with Dan and Dave. Watching Ryan run around crazy! I missed it all... a lot!

Also! Happy 2nd Birthday to STELLA! i called you and it made my day! (she said.. "love you mantha.) :)

Okay... that is all for now...
I would love to hear from you all... fill me in with what you are up too.
My email address is Samianta35@yahoo.com

Talk to you soon!

p.s. DO YOU WATCH the big bang theory? if not, you should. it's funny. :)

again. sorry for the mistakes. ;)


bye.



ARMPIT... :)

  • Nov. 12th, 2007 at 7:33 PM

hello!
I just walked in from dinner... it's Monday night at 7:34pm...

I was walking down the street, looking around and I thought to myself... 'i'm in korea'

seriously... it's weird sometimes... i don't realize that i am away from home till i am alone walking down the street with asians all around me...

i feel like i am in another world. korea is nothing like home... well Ansan at least.. if you go to Seoul it's big and westernized. Ansan is a pretty big area, but it has small little towns within... my area is so cool. Everyone in my town (the workers) know me.. i walk by and they smile or say hello. I go to my regular restaurants and they know what I like to eat... I feel like my parents when they go to their mexican restaurants and the waiter already has their drinks before they sit down.

i wish you could all experience what i am doing everyday.. what i see... what i hear... what i learn... it really is amazing... when i left the Morris' house that night, i was sure that i DID NOT want to go.. :) but i couldn't have asked for a better experience. My job, my friends, my apartment, my city, my adventures... i love it all...

Don't get me wrong... I LOVE LA... i love la crescenta... BUT shoot... it's time to explore the world... My mom is counting down the days till i get on the plane to come home... i do miss you mom and i will come home... so don't worry.

so i bet you are wondering why the subject is "ARMPIT"... hahaha
well....
I had surgery on Monday, November 5..
I had a small in-grown hair in my armpit.. which turned into a huge cyst.. bigger than a marble. it was insane... i thought it would go away at first but the doctor said the alcohol i was drinking made it get bigger in size...
So on Monday he sliced it open, squeezed the crap out of it, stuffed in with gauze and gave me an IV of antibiotics..
let me just tell you... i was CRYING.. in the operating room.. with Korean people that couldn't communicate with me...
their were 2 great things about this visit..
#1 i met a nurse that is now my friend.. she is the supervisor and she speaks pretty good English.. and we laugh and talk about other people around us...
#2 My doctor is so HOTT! wow. he makes me cry but his face makes me smile! haha

so.. i went in Tuesday - Friday after work at 5:20 everyday and they washed out the hole, made me scream, stuffed it with gauze, and gave me an IV...

then... saturday morning... I GOT STITCHES!!!! thank god. (i dont think i could handle anymore pain)...
Now i have to go in every other day and get it cleaned and looked at..  today was my first day and i got another IV.. wow... i love needles. :)
i am very sore. i take pain pills and sleeping pills everyday... but i feel much better... this time last week i was crying in pain and wanting my mom to bring me a burrito from hacienda. haha...
here is a quick pick of me right now..

hahaha.

so yeah.. i've been resting for the week.. No missing work, but resting at night.. no drinking, no bars... just watching movies and chatting with friends. i'm not allowed to drink for about 14 more days.. :) holler.

so today is day 80! Can you believe it? time is flying by!!
soon i'll be sitting on the beach in Thailand getting a tan. :)

here are some random pictures...

this is me being a freak... we had a party at Janel's apartment...


this is erin and me at Janel's.. this is pre-surgery..


this is how i entertain in Korea... i'm dancing.


Thomie fell asleep at the party... haha.


here are some pictures from a night we went out and met a korean gang..
they were gangsters... they were cool though... thug life!


this was a fun night.


Stefan and Nathan.


seriously... what are they thinking??


gangsta.


he looks like a freak.


David and Danny with some dude.


Korean Pride.


the DJ

basketball..

Nathan shooting at the park.


swish..



this is the street where my doctor is located.


here's the building... 4th floor.


here it is!!


it's very nice inside.


here is my pharmacy.


here is my neighbor.. he doesn't like me.. haha. i wish i could pet him!


I love the trees in Korea.. i love fall.


check out this sign.


street sales everywhere.


the grapes are GROSS here. they aren't real. haha.


yuk.


Squatters? haha.


fish food on the street.


thomie.. we went to have Indian food.


before.


After. haha. yum.


a guy peeing. Andy Gump.


Janel waiting for the subway.


at&t.... what! what!


pink light district. this is where the girls sit in the window and the guys make their pick... freaking nasty... haha... we walked down the street and took a peek..


Subway flying by... :)


i love the subway. (just kidding.)


dinner time.


the meat is cookin...


this is what i eat all the time.


my lovely chopsticks.


yum.

Korean food is pretty spicy.. i am an adventurous eater now... Thomie is pushing me to eat everything... :)

I was talking to my mom today and i was saying that it will be really weird to go home.. i feel like i will have culture shock when i return to america. everything seems so normal here now, when in the beginning i was like "what the hell"... and i am so used to no one understanding me or struggling for people to understand me... it will be weird to hear English all around me... hahaha.


I want to give a shout out to Paulette and Family... Travis (Megan Morris' cousin) was in a horrible accident and is going through a tough time right now. He needs everyone's support to bounce back... I think about you guys all the time. I hope Travis improves every day. i love you. Send my love to Travis.

Well... that's all i have to say right now... i hope all is well at home...

 i miss my little luke lee.
i miss my little riley ray.
i miss my little zachary, stella, and AUGIE!

until next time...

mE.

Halloween is almost HERE!!

  • Oct. 29th, 2007 at 8:49 PM

I want to give a special shout out to the Maisano family.. Dave, Dawnell, Chelsea, Aaron, Jonathan, and Beth... I am very sorry to hear about your mother/grandmother's passing... I loved her very much... She was a very sweet and kind woman.. She always made me smile. :)

She will be missed.





Wow!!! It's been 66 days! Seems like my time in Korea is flying by...

So, sorry it has taken me so long to write a new entry..
I've been busy, and lazy! :) haha.

So... here are more pictures from my adventures.

I went on my first field trip... we went to a park... played games and ate lunch.

this is inside the bus.

Dylan.. aka SPIDERMAN

Lucy.

The troops.

Nick and Parker.

Holding hands... so cute.

Getting ready for DODGE-BaLL.

Dodge-ball in action.

some kids. And Charlie and Thomie.

Poor little Olivia... she kept getting hit in the head!!

New game... eat the onion ring off the string.

dana... hahaha.

jessie... she was hungry.

Thomie teacher... haha.. he was pretending.

TUG OF WAR.

PULL!!!

Charlie decided to help out...

and down he fell!

Tom and Nancy.

the whole group.

here are some pictures of the faculty room...

my desk...

the row of desks...

Our resources...

our OLD copy machine!!! we GOT A NEW ONE!!!


We had a WELCOME dinner for Thomie.. we went and had Chinese food and Sang some Karaoke.

Thomie and Kelly.

Jenny and David.

The boss.. Stephanie and Me.

Our food.

more food..

Jenny and Kelly singing.

My boys. haha... dorks.

We always have fun together.

a random Korean on my walk home... :)


 here is a picture of me being silly..

this is Janel... we are silly together.


seriously... Koreans don't eat alone.... :)

We headed over to visit Nathan in Sanbon.. it is about 25 minutes away... We had dinner and went out for drinks... we ate at the restaurant above..

this is Nathan and Maria... walking to the bar.. it was SO cold outside.


Nathan dancing on the lights.

New day....

sporting ANDY's hat.. :)

walking down the street to meet my friends for coffee.

ring pop....

it comes with a real ring also... holler.

i joined the gym... here is the locker room...

here is the shower... (i would NEVER use this)

...... guess what?

Guess who came with me to KOREA??

this is medicine... i went to the eye doctor 3 times and they helped it go away faster.. they told me i have a form of the herpes virus on one of my nerves that is attached to my eye... he said that i will have this the rest of my life and that i did probably get it on the BEELINE my first year of college... germs.. germs.. (wash your hands!)

the kids were scared of me... hahaha...


now...

We went to a Halloween Party at Manhattan Bar on Friday night...



Oh shoot.

"holler"

Thomie is wearing a jersey i was given in seoul.. it is a jordan jersey  missing the "B" on Bulls and the "J" on Jordan... so it's ORDAN from the ULLS!

this is my new co-worker ERIN.. this was her 3rd night. she was a kitty.. haha.

Nathan was yet again an ajosshi.. (older korean man)

Break dancers...

random.

Dancing Contest.

our crew.

Dancing too low... makes me fall.

Thomie and Janel... two of my very close friends...

some random guys i made friends with..

my crew once again...

Erin... hahahahaha.

This is what the kids do to us... Maria was pretending to do it to nathan..

i entered an arm wrestling contest.. Round 1 = victory..

Final round=VICTORY! i won the contest.. haha.

nathan got WORKED! haha.

Charlie came out to party!!! (my korean teacher partner)

check out the show... that's kai.

the next day...
I forgot to tell you!!!! i bought a bike. it's rad. i don't have a picture... but anyway...
nathan rented a bike, so we biked around the park and town... then played some hoops at the university... the sad thing was his shot was horrible but he still beat me.. we played "donkey".


$10 to rent a bike for an hour.

biking....

we took a break, so i took pictures...

Korea is FULL of apartments..

Look at the fall trees... :)

we found this on our way home.. tons of birds in one cage... very sad.


I had a pot luck dinner party last night...

shot of the food...

Thomie and Janel

pasta, chicken, curry with potatoes, squash, pot stickers, bread, and pineapple... oh... and red wine.. :)

yum...

Thomie and Janel...

David and Erin

Thomie and me.

cocktails.

laughter...

2am monday morning... i had to KICK them out. :)

well... that's all the pictures I have now... :) (which was a ton!!)

i hope all is well at home...
love you.
miss you.

until next time...

samantha.

update soon...

  • Oct. 21st, 2007 at 10:31 PM

i have tons of pictures...
tons of stories...
but no time to update my journal right now.

i'm so very sorry.

i'm doing great.
it's getting REALLY cold.

i miss and love you all...

within the next few days i'll update this journal..
side note: i understand that PC users are complaining about my journal being hard to read... the margins are messed up is what i hear... VERY sorry for your troubles... i have a mac and my journal looks perfect... and other mac users agree... so, sorry... i can't fit the problem. :)

until we meet again...

my adventures continue...

  • Oct. 15th, 2007 at 12:05 AM

hello again.

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to my aunt Cathy.. happy birthday... (Friday)... :)

Okay, so today i went to get my hair colored.. oh man oh man.
i have never been so stressed in my life! the lady was nice and no one in the whole shop spoke a word of English, so my co-teacher Kelly came with me... she explained to the girl what i wanted, but the lady wasn't sure if she could do it... so i told her... just dye my roots to match my hair... well... she tried. my hair is very OrangeiSH RediSH BrowN....
(Megan would die)

anyways... here are some pictures..

this was before...


the process begins...


starting the heat.


inside a space ship.


haha.


the salon.


aft