Spice Chicks Tour Busan

My friends Abigail, Meghan and Kayleigh and I have decided to form our own version of the Spice girls. Abigail being Kooky Spice, Meghan, Chill Spice, Kayleigh Fit Spice and Me, Wit Spice! Haha, we've really enjoyed getting to know these girls and have had a blast exploring Korea with them. At the end of April, we took a weekend trip to Busan, the 2nd largest city in Korea. It's located in the south and is right on the ocean. It was a fantastic city to visit and luckily our friend Meghan had lived there for a year prior to coming to Gongju so she acted as a perfect tour guide. We got in late Friday night and hit up some of the popular foreign hot spots. Stayed out way too late and then spent the night in a jimjilbang. For those who don't know what that is, it's a common way to stay somewhere for very cheap. However it does come with a price and that is, YOU DON'T SLEEP! For those who know me well, I am a pyscho sleeper anyways and this is not in any way the ideal place for me to try and get rested. More to come on the terrors of the public bath house sleeping rooms in a later addition...

So the next morning we crawled out of our capsules and headed out for the day. We traveled to Haeundae Beach and had breakfast and watched the morning beach goers. It was a beautiful day in the 70s and there was one guy that kept us amused as he practically screamed at whoever he was talking to on his "handphone" while wearing a business suit and hanging out at the ocean. Tranquil was not in his vocabulary. We played around at the water's edge, I fell in after trying to show off my gymnastics abilities (wet underwear is not a pleasant way to start the day, just FYI) and then we headed to our next destination. We dropped our stuff off at a hotel, which much to my delight had the softest, bounciest beds we have slept on since we arrived in Korea and trekked to Beomosa Temple. It was a beautiful place to walk around and one of the better temples I've visited. I'm kind of getting to the point where you've seen one, you've seen them all. Ok, correction. I am at that point. But anyways, we enjoyed that and then tried to find a place where we could get on cablecars and ride to the top of a mountain. After a long, expensive, completely misunderstood taxi ride, we gave up and just decided to hit the spa.

We went to the largest bathhouse I've ever seen. In it, there were different pools such as green tea, barley tea, pine etc. and many different temperatures to enjoy a long soak. I won't be posting any pictures from this part of our trip! :) After spending several hours at the spa, we went and ate dinner, had drinks at a fun bar that Meghan knew and then made our way to noribang (karaoke). We sang the night away, again way too late! But it was so much fun! We only paid for an hour but the guy was so awesome, he just let us keep going even though our time was up. I think we stayed for a little over 2 hours! haha We made it back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

The next morning we headed to a famous fish market and walked around considering our options and checking out all the amazing kinds of seafood. We decided to have a traditional Korean sushi breakfast, along with some BBQ'd fish. We met a super awesome man named Mr. Joo who helped us pick out the best ones. He prepared it all for us and sat and chatted with us while we ate. We headed out to an island next where you can walk around and visit a cool lighthouse and see the cliffs along the coast. We finished up there, had a late lunch and started to make it back towards the terminal to catch our late afternoon bus. We took the KTX to Pusan so it was only 2 hours. It goes over 300 kilometers an hour! Super cool like the bullet train (Shinkansen) in Japan. You can check email, do karaoke, visit the snack car, play videogames or just relax. It is a very nice way to travel. I'm sad that Abigail is leaving in just a week and our Spice Chicks Tour must come to an end but it's been an awesome ride. Thanks for the memories girls!

Refreshing Spring

Ah! Spring is finally here! The weather is so beautiful. There are many festivals all around Korea to celebrate the new flowers. There are cherry blossoms, forsythias, tulips, magnolias, daisy, and green buds on the trees. The spring really brightens the mood! Michelle and I have been traveling every weekend. WE have spent the weekend at flower festivals near temples and visited friends in Seoul. We are also planning to go to Pusan, a pottery festival, buttery festival, and more! I have also been hiking a lot lately because the weather is nicer. My friend April and I often visit a nearby mountain for a day hike and to look at the temples. The time is flying by, which I am bittersweet about.

Teaching this semester is going wonderful. I have all new students and we have had a lot of fun doing various lessons. These days the lesson is on inventions and advertisements. The main project is to create an invention and then make an advertisement of their invention using colored paper, crayons, and other decor. Prizes will be given to the ones with the best English, the most interesting, and my personal favorites. So to win the "Ms.L's Favorite" prize, a lot of them are naming their inventions after me. So far they have created a nose picker, flying shoes, a machine that you step into to give you a new hairstyle, nose shape, face shape, and eyes, an eraser that will erase anything (including people!), and so far the most peculiar, is a desk for students that will chop your head off if you lay down to go to sleep during class. Yikes!

We have about 4 more months left before returning home. I am getting anxious! I have already started a list in my mind of all the foods I want to eat and all the dishes and treats I wan to bake in an oven! Ohhhhhh, to be reunited with an oven once again! What a joy! Some of the places and foods I am looking forward to eating are...Oregano's, Cheesecake Factory, Subway, Papa John's Pizza, Sweet Tomatoes, whole wheat bread, salads, good cereal, spaghetti sauce, and Circle K Thirst Busters.

As I think about all the things I am looking forward to when I return home, or if my mind dwells too much on actually going home, I am reminded of this verse I read recently. James 4:13-15 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." This helps me to live in the moment.

We have started up our ladies bible study again. We are reading through 1 Peter and are being challenged and comforted by it. It is always encouraging to get together with other women, especially when you are out of your "comfort zone". I look forward to meeting each week to be refreshed from a busy weekend!

Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for reading!

Blessings,
Kayleigh

In my opinion, language is so funny!

This past week, I've been doing a lesson with my girls at school about giving opinions and also using the expression "Do you mind...?" Both lessons have led to some really funny dialogues. Here are a few of my favorites.

A: What do you think about Miss Hixson?
B: In my opinion, she is a good teacher.
A: What do you mean by that?
B: She is beautiful, funny and kind.
A: That makes sense.

Awww, how sweet!

A: Do you mind if I hit you?
B: Sure, no problem

A: Do you mind if I wear your underwear?
B: No, I don't mind.

A: Do you mind if I put my 2 fingers in your nose holes?
B: Sure, no problem.

A: Do you mind if I fart here?
B: Yes, I do mind.

haha

A: Do you mind if I steal your home?
B: Sure, no problem.

A: Do you mind if I open your shirt?
B: Sure, no problem

next...

A: Do you mind if I touch your skin?
B: Sure, no problem.

had to stop them at that...not sure where they were headed.

A: What do you think about your sister?
B: In my opinion, my sister is an annoying person.
A: What do you mean by that?
B: I mean that my sister makes a lot of noise. (clamor) **dictionaries make everything fun
A: That makes sense.

A: What do you think of your home?
B: I think that my home is very happy.
A: What do you mean by that?
B: I mean that my house has a lot of food.
A: That makes sense.

A: What do you think about toilets in our school?
B: In my opinion, they are very dirty.
A: What do you mean by that?
B: It seems to me that is smells bad and there is dung around the toilet.
A: That makes sense.

A: What do you think about chicken?
B: I think that it is very delicious but it can make you fat.
A: What do you mean by that?
B: It is too oily.
A: That makes sense.

I really love my students. They keep me laughing~ Hope you enjoyed!!

Update (Thank God for Spring!)

So there hasn't been too much to report over the last month. We both started back to school the first week of March and are really enjoying our second semester. Each of us have new students, mine are some old, some new, but it has been fun getting to start fresh with a new batch. I'm teaching 22 classes a week same as before and it keeps me really busy. I have a new coteacher this semester and she is fantastic. I was really fond of Mr. Kim and he really went to bat for me but my co teacher is a good friend and her communication skills are awesome. It's so nice being understood! Kayleigh is doing a little bit different classes this semester. She is the main teacher once a week and then the assistant to a Korean teacher for the same classes the second time in the week. She enjoys getting to know her students more because of seeing them twice a week now.

The weather for all of March was still very cold and rainy. We have so badly wanted to see spring and I think it has finally arrived! We had a wonderful Easter weekend in the 60s and bright sunny days. The trees are just beginning to bloom and it was gorgeous! I've heard that April is a beautiful month and I can't wait to see it in action. We've got several upcoming festivals and weekend trips planned and it should make the spring go by very quickly. We've been making more friends here in Gongju with other foreigners and it's fun to travel together. Some new teachers have just arrived for the new spring term and it's nice to see some new faces as we've sadly had to say goodbyes to several as well. It's hard to believe that we have less than 5 months left here and it's going to fly by I'm sure! I will really miss my school, students, coworkers when I leave and please pray that I'll figure out what to do when I get back to AZ. The Lord has always been faithful to provide for me and I have no doubt he will again. I hope that you and your family had a wonderful Easter and were able to rejoice in the fact that Jesus created a way for us to have unlimited access to knowing God in a deep and personal way. I am so thankful for the cross! Please keep in touch with us! We'd love to hear what's new in your lives. Happy Spring!!!! = very happy Michelle!

Vacation Itinerary

Here is a general itinerary of our vacation.

Day One: Philippines to Malaysia.
Travel ALL day. Airplane, bus, taxi, another airplane and 5 hours in a hotel to rest and shower. Quite the day!

Day Two: Malaysia.
Arrived in Kota Kinabalu around 7pm. Checked into our hostel and explored our surroundings. Exchanged money. Had an early night cause we were still tired from traveling.

Day Three: Malaysia
Walked around the city, eating local food, drinking fresh fruit smoothies, and checked out the shopping centers. We found a place that did super cheap massages, pedicures etc. and Michelle got a foot scrub and I got a massage. It was wonderful! Later that night, we took a city bus to a transfer bus station (which by the way was madness!) and rode out to the only nearby beach in KK. It didn't have a lot to it but we sat outside in this food court of sorts and played cards for like 3 hours. And drank more than our fair share of fruit juice!

Day Four & Five: Malaysia.
I (Kayleigh) went hiking on Mount Kinabalu. It is 4,052 meters or 13,435 ft. The first day we hiked about 6 hours to our lodging in the mountain. We slept a couple hours, ate dinner, then starting hiking around 3am that morning towards the summit. We reached the summit around 4:30am and waited until 5pm to watch the sunset at the peak. It was so cold we hid behind giant rocks to shield us from the ridge. I had to use a headlamp to see and gloves for the ropes. It was a great climb. Then we headed back down the entire length of the mountain, ate dinner at the base, and went home to SLEEP. It was one of my highlights.

Michelle went for a day at the spa and got a manicure, pedicure and massage. It was fantastic except for the girl kept burping the whole time she was giving the massage. haha! Later that day, she went back to the beach to see if it was any better in the daytime. It wasn't. The other day she went to the base of Mount Kinabalu to the hot springs, botanical gardens, and national park. She went on a tour there and saw different wildlife, plants, and soaked in the hot springs.

Day Six: Malaysia
With me hobbling around like a grandma, we met up with a friend I had made on the hike and rode a boat out to Manukan Island. We snorkled, swam, read, relaxed and ate at a yummy buffet. It was beautiful and refreshing. That night we got a facial at the spa shop that was quickly devouring all our money and then went to see the lamest movie ever. We were desperate for a new movie in English and it was a toss up between the Tooth Fairy and The Spy Next Door. Neither had great appeal but like we said, desperation! We saw The Spy Next Door and once again were given a lesson on humor. It is seriously cultural. What we found obnoxious, the Malaysian audience LOVED! It was so funny!

Day Seven: Malaysia.
We went river rafting through the jungle. Our guide was so funny and we enjoyed the beauty of the natural jungle and mountains around us. He told us that you used to see monkeys along the river but they are no longer there because the local people hunt them for food. We were on a team with folks from Taiwan and Hong Kong. I fell out once during a rapid that lifted our boat sideways! It was lots of fun. That night we went to the night market to eat fresh fruit smoothies and local food.

Day Eight: Malaysia.
We were supposed to go on a river tour. But after the beginning of the week we were so tired decided to cancel. It was a three day trip (about 12 hours by bus) and we didn’t want to spend the remainder of our trip this way. So instead we spent the day walking around KK, shopping, eating, playing cards etc. It was relaxing. on a nearby island called Mamutik. It was a beautiful day. We bought snacks and water, loaded up on sunscreen and layed out on the sand in the shade of a tree. We ate lunch on the Island and went snorkeling.

Day Nine: Malaysia
We slept in and decided to spend the day on a nearby island called Mamutik. It was a beautiful day. We bought snacks and water, loaded up on sunscreen and layed out on the sand in the shade of a tree. We ate lunch on the Island and went snorkeling. When we got back to our hotel that night, we discovered a grocery store that was almost the same if not better than an American one. We loaded up on our favorite snacks that we have greatly missed and vowed to come back before we left on Thursday. We seriously spent over an hour just looking around and I shed a tear of happiness/homesickness as I gathered all my treasures!


Day Ten: Malaysia.
Michelle and I bartered a deal for an ocean boat ride! We took a couple hours boating around the Islands on the ocean. We saw the villages where the locals catch all their fish and also got to see where the houses are on stilts in the water! We saw little children on floating plywood “boats” and fishing or swimming. After awhile in the heat, we needed a place to cool off. We decided to check with the Hyatt Hotel to see if we could use their pool facilities for the night. It was like $6 to get a guest pass and we jumped on it. Or rather "in it". We swam and watched the sun go down, met a nice Malaysian local guy and ate dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant. It was starting to sink in that we had to leave soon and I was not ready to say goodbye!

Day Eleven: Malaysia to the Philippines.
Travel all day by airplane, bus, taxi and another airplane. Tiring! Then, our resort did not come and pick us up so we spent the night at another random hotel until they came and got us the next day.

Day Twelve: Philipines, beach resort.
Our first day at the beach resort. We were welcomed with some homemade coconut smoothies and a large and elaborately decorated sign that said “Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Hixson”. Haha! Apparently not the only miscommunication. We spent the day eating lots of homemade food. The waitstaff was excellent. They were very accommodating and made all of our meals fresh (which were very cheap as well!). We spent some time snorkeling and on the beach or eating and playing cards. We went for a night walk on the beach and gazed at the a black sky filled with stars! We thanked God for all of his graces and prayed for our futures.

Day Thirteen: Philippines, beach resort.
This day we went scuba diving!!!! Our instructor was really fun and engaging. He was from Austria and had been diving for “a long time”. J This was Michelle’s second time to dive and my first. We practiced different techniques on some shallow spots near our resort. We learned how to clear our masks if they were to be filled with water, how to put the mouth piece back into our mouths if it were to be kicked out or in an emergency, and learned all the equipment and it’s purposes. Then, we went out further by boat and dove! We went 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) for 38 minutes. We saw clown fish, a fire fish, coral, star fish, and other colorful fish. This was one of the highlights of our trip!! Afterwards, we came back and had a nice big meal and rested! Diving is a lot of work!

Day Fourteen: Seoul, South Korea
Not ready to leave, but having no choice, we ate breakfast, packed up our stuff and were driven back to the airport. We made it with no problems, other than this was like the 3rd time we our names were called to board the plane. We seriously could never tell when it was time to board! We flew to Manila and transfered to the international terminal. We ate lunch at the airport and boarded our flight back to Seoul. When we arrived, we could see ice and snow at the edges of the runway. It was not a comforting sight. Apparently there had been a blizzard while we were away. We layered up as soon as we arrived, caught the bus back to Gongju and finally made it back to our apts late Sunday night which happened to be Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day! It was a fantastic trip and I'd go again in a heartbeat!

Where Are We?

This is a common phrase that Kayleigh and I often say to each other when we're in either a helpless, ridiculous or crazy situation (which I might add is quite often). It helps us release the tension and move on to find a solution or way out. As many of you know, we were blessed with a fantastic 2 week vacation during the beginning of February. We traveled to the Philippines and Malaysia for some glorious warmer weather, cheap delicious food and relax time on the beach. We had quite an adventure actually getting to Malaysia so I will tell the story as best as I can remember.

Our flight was leaving Korea at 9:30pm on Monday night. Since it takes about 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours to get to the airport, we left Gongju at 4:00pm thinking we had allowed plenty of time. We arrived at the bus terminal in Seoul with no problems and proceeded to catch an airport bus. We had never gone this particular way to get to the airport so we asked someone from an info desk where to get the bus. She then explained to us that the airport buses were no longer running and that we'd have to take a city bus. We were confused cause we had just ridden on an airport shuttle bus 2 weeks prior taking Bryon back.

She wrote down a number and said we needed to get on bus 9800 or something. So we waited for this bus and after about 20 minutes it arrived. We asked the driver if it was going to Incheon airport and he did what most bus drivers do to us, wave us on and nod even if they have no idea what we are saying. hmm...(mind you, we are carrying our luggage with us, clearly headed to the airport)

So we sat right up front and already I did not have a good feeling about this bus. My next clue was that we only had to pay 2500won instead of 14,000won like last time. There was no way this could be right. After a few minutes, I decided we should ask the bus driver again. He again nodded yes to our question. After a few more minutes, the guy sitting next to me asked if he could move my bag. I looked at him with astonishment and gratefulness. He could speak English. So I asked him very nicely, "Do you know if this bus goes to the airport?" He smiled and said, "no, I don't think so." I asked him if he could please check with the bus driver and after a few agonizing seconds, he got back to me and laughed very politely and said, "no". Well crap.

I explained to him that we needed to get to the airport and he was very kind. He discussed this with the driver and he ended up making a special stop just for us to let us off at another airport bus stop. So we again waited for the airport bus that may or may not be running. They only run every half hour and we were getting a little pressed for time. Luckily we made it to the airport with no further problems, minus me leaving my boarding pass behind while we quickly grabbed a smoothie (found it, Thank the Lord!) and were soon in the air. We left Korea layered up with long johns, sweaters, the works and then had to peel most of it off the moment we landed in the Philippines.

We had gotten some really good deals on our tickets but the downside of that was that we had from midnight to 4:00pm the following day to kill time. During this time, we also had to transfer to another airport that was located 2 hours away from Manila (where we had flown into). So here we were at 1:00am asking for the best, cheapest etc way to get from Manila to Clark Airport. We were laughed at each and every time we asked. I took that as a bad sign. Finally someone helped us by calling a bus terminal and getting the times it was leaving for Clark. We were told there was a 2am and 6am bus and thought we had a very good chance of making the 2am bus. So we hopped in a taxi and headed to the bus terminal. He tried to rip us off but I was prepared to be fiesty. I felt very proud for winning that small victory until he pulled up at the bus stop. It was in the middle of ghettoville, just outside of shadyland. It was 1:30in the morning, we were 2 white girl tourists and I did not have a good feeling.

We went through the padlocked gate via the security guard and started asking if we could buy tickets to Clark for the 2 am bus. No one would give us a straight answer and all they did was continue to ask us over and over again what time our flight left. We were not getting anywhere. Finally we managed to understand that there was no 2am bus and our best shot would be at 6. Since we had no desire to spend the next four hours there, we cabbed it back to the airport. However, they would not let us in where we had exited so we had to go to this lobby and just sit on the ground and wait. After a few miserable hours in the airport, we broke down and decided to just pay the $50 for a taxi that would take us directly there. By the grace of God, we had a very friendly taxi driver named Ronnie and he also had great taste in music so we were riding along at 4in the morning to some great 80s bands. Thank you Ronnie.

When we arrived at Clark airport we were exhausted yet much happier. However, it was only 6am and the airport wasn't even open yet. So after a minute or two, another angel sent by God arrived via minivan. I noticed a hotel shuttle van dropping off a couple people and since we still had until 4:00 to catch our flight, I decided to negotiate with the guy to see if he could get us a room so we could sleep for a few hours. He apologetically told me that they had no rooms available so I asked him "what about the people you just dropped off?" He told me that they had to clean the room and if we were willing to wait a half hour, we could have it. Done! So Noel took us to the hotel and after a few minutes, we crawled into a wonderful king size bed and slept for the next 5 hours. They even gave us a late checkout time so we could take showers, plus took us back to the airport. Let me just say that our attitude improved greatly at this point. :) God was really good to us for the entire trip and we got the rest and relaxation that was much needed. Winter has been long, challenging and somewhat miserable for both of us and this trip was just what we needed to face the second half of our time in Korea. I am truly grateful!

English Camp!

In Korean school systems, the end of the semester is the last day of December and begins again on March 1st. So Kayleigh and I have been on "winter break" for the past 2 months. However, this does not mean we weren't teaching and/or that Korean students do not attend classes. There is very little break time involved. For the first 3 weeks of January, I was teaching supplimentary classes to incoming freshman students and the nice part about that was that it was only for half days. Then the last week of January, our school combined Kayleigh and I to help each other out with English camp.

I never taught English camp in Japan and my school had never had English camp before but it is apparently becoming the "in" thing to do during winter and summer break. What it means is that Kayleigh and I had to plan intensive, yet fun and engaging lessons for a group of 25 girls for 8 hours a day for a straight week. This was a lot of work for us but it was also wearing on the students as well to communicate in English for such long periods of time. Despite how drained we felt at the end of each day, English camp was definitely a highlight for me. I had a great group of girls that were very motivated. I mean, they choose to be there during their winter vacation time.

Our theme for the week was dating which included internet dating, pros and cons, blind dates, first dates etc. Since I'm such an expert in this area, I thought it would be a fun topic for my high school girls. haha :) They loved it! We had other activities besides our dating theme like baking, scavenger hunts and a field trip to a cultural theme park. I felt like I had a great opportunity to really get to know the girls better and bond with them. Seeing them everyday instead of just once a week allowed for that to happen. Kayleigh enjoyed teaching girls for a change and it made the week so much more bearable to have her help everyday. At the end of the week to celebrate, Mr. Kim treated everyone to a Pizza Hut party and the girls gave us sweet notes thanking us and also little gifts to take on our trip to Malaysia. It was so much fun and very thoughtful. We felt so appreciated and that doesn't happen a lot. Hope you enjoy seeing them in action!