A Great Call

I spoke to my dad last night around 1 or 2 am Korea time and was given the message that mom was doing much better. I called it a night and crashed out.

This morning around 8am I was awoken by the sound of my cellphone singing. My mother was on the line, but it took me a few extra seconds to 1. wake up 2. recognize her voice. I believe that she was still on some pain medicine, but she really sounded fine and didn't remember anything from the day of the surgery. She has been moved from ICU to her own room, so hopefully she will be able to go home in the next 4 or 5 days. I look forward to being able to talk to her when I am fully awake. I went back to sleep after speaking with her for just a few minutes and when I woke up, I thought for a second that it might be a dream.

In other news, we made another visit to the dentist. JJ had one of her wisdom teeth taken out and I got prepped for my crown. It was so nice to be able to sit in the dentist's office waiting room and check my email via the computer set up in the waiting room for clients.

Mom

As soon as I had finished posting about our trip, my sister-in-law called and told me that my mom was going to have surgery today. That set off a firestorm of emotions and prompted many skype calls and facebook messages. I really figured that I had a couple of days before I really had to worry about her going under the knife. Well, she just got out of surgery and seems to be doing pretty well. She will be in ICU for 24 to 48 hours and then back to her regular room. I held up pretty good till I spoke with her over the phone while they were taking her to surgery. I haven't cried like that in a long time. It was just something I didn't expect. Now, we just have to pray for a speedy and safe recovery. The doctor said that there didn't seem to be anything else wrong with her except for the enlarged spleen, so that is great news.

The links of communication were great tonight with my family keeping me informed via;facebook, skype, email, and cell phones calls and text messages.

I am going to crash and try to get a few hours of sleep in before I have to work at 1pm. I will definitely sleep better knowing that she is out of surgery.

Changes, An Important Update

The last two weeks have been a blur. I have been handling my regular workload and been working on some serious paperwork. I have traveled twice to Seoul on Friday mornings to visit the American embassy*. Jaeyoun and I are now officially/legally married. We got engaged during our vacation in North America. Soon after that, we started discussing what kind of wedding we both wanted. I was all in favor of having a Korean ceremony and another one in the Catholic church back home. For a few months, the plan was to have both, but Jaeyoun decided that we could save a lot of money by only having one. We decided to hold the ceremony in November of 2009 in my home parish church. . We are planning to move back to Mississippi and start graduate school at that time. Basically, now we are trying to save up as much money as possible, so that we will not have to work for the first couple of years of graduate school**. We also wanted to have her come into the states on a immigrant or permanent visa and not have to worry about things at the last minute. I also wanted the opportunity to teach some extra classes, i.e, legal private lessons. For these reasons, we went ahead and signed all of the paperwork to make us legally married. And of course we are madly in love and were ready to make the promise legal!!

Our parents have been great. My parents will arrive in Korea next month for a a week and half visit, during which we will travel to Jeju, so that they can meet Jaeyoun's parents. The really made Jaeyoun feel like a part of the family when we visted last year. Her parents have been awesome as well and have really taken me into the family. There is still a huge language barrier between myself and my new parents-in-laws, but I am studying hard everyday and trying to overcome my diffiuculties in learning a new language. I have been here for almost 3 years and honestly I should speak more Korean than I do. I pretty much didn't study for the first 2 years and have only really been studying hard for the past 6 months. I could kick myself for the vast amount of time that I wasted in learning Korean.

We are looking at spending 5-7 years in America before coming back to Korea. The plan as of now is for Jaeyoun to get her M.A. in Math and then to start working on a Ph.D and I will be working on my M.A. in Teaching Languages and hopefully will start working on Ph.D in Linguistics later.

We have almost a year and half to get alot of things done. We both have to take the GRE and Jaeyoun will have to take the TOEFL test. My mother, who works for the Church, will help with all of the wedding plans. It will be interesting to see how many members of Jaeyoun's family make the trip to Mississippi for the wedding***.

The next few weeks will be spent getting the apartment ready for my parent's visit. We will also be trying to figure out what we will do while they are in Korea. I have a list started, but there is so much that I want them to see/do. We will spend a couple of days in Jeju and then after that the schedule is wide open. We do have to make a trip to one of the large markets to have my parents fitted for their Hanboks. We will take a few pictures in Mississippi all decked out in the Korean traditional clothing before the wedding. I really am interested to see how my father handles the food. I think my mother will love all the seafood and spicey food, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed about my dad. I can't wait to show them all of things that I have written about in emails/blogs and spoken about on the phone. My dad is super excited about visiting Jeju and I think that mom will love all the shopping.

I also walked into a new apartment yesterday. Jaeyoun had the day off and rearranged the whole apartment. It looks great and I finally have a real desk where I can study Korean.

I have rambled on for long enough and there is still so much I need to write about, but it will have to wait for another day. I keeping promising myself that I will be better about posting, but we will see.






*I also wanted to note that the staff at the American embassy was great and very helpful. They answered all of my questions and everything went smoothly. It helped that I had filled out all of the paperwork correctly before we arrived. They even commented that most people don't follow the instructions on the website. I hope that they are as accommodating when we apply for Jaeyoun's visa.

** We also want to have enough money to buy a car and to furnish an apartment when we arrive. We are also going to need to buy 2 new computers. My computer is 3 years old, slow and the Caps Lock button has broken off.

*** I can't wait to see how her parents and other family members take to Mississippi. I don't think they are going to enjoy the food. I am sure ,after a couple of meals of fried catfish/cornbread/grease and other fried goodness, they will be asking for some kimchi.

Shrimp and Beer

I didn't have any crab boil, so I had to make my own.

I couldn't live in Korea without Tony's

The finished product.

Jaeyoun enjoying them; notice the gloves!

If you visit this blog regularly, you have seen that I have not been that diligent in posting. I was spending too much time here and actually was spending too much time on the internet itself. I found myself being drug into hours of looking at Korean blogs and basically wasting a lot of time. In the last few weeks, I have fallen in love with google reader and now use it to read all of my favorite blogs. This has cut down a considerable portion of my time on the net. I have also been trying to convert more of my free time into study time. I am still working on the Sogang series and am a few chapters into 1B. I also picked up a couple of other books to use for supplements and review.


I really can't believe that it is already May. My parents are coming in late July, so my dad and I have been busy trying to find the perfect flight for them. We will be spending most of their visit in the Suwon/Seoul area, but will spend a couple of days on Jeju, so that they can meet Jaeyoun's parents. Jaeyoun will be coming to Jeju for the first day, but will have to leave early the next day due to work obligations. Her departure will leave me without a translator and her father has already announced that I have 2 months to study and that I can translate anything he needs to say to my parents.(If you know my Korean level, you know how funny that is) This has been one of the main motivators for studying. Every time I think I am going to surprise him with my improvement, he stumps me on the phone with something that I know, but that is phrased in a different way. 아이구.

I also found a couple of videos on youtube that really want to make me study harder. I am regular reader of his blog as well.

Live Via Cell Phone

I gave a toast on Saturday morning. My parents called at like 9 to and put me on the speaker phone to speak at the dinner rehearsal for Brent's wedding. I thought it was going to be easier, since I couldn't see them, but I still got a little choked up. Today, I listened to the ceremony via my dad who had his phone in his pocket. It sounded great and I can't wait to see the pictures and video. Congratulations to Brent and Elizabeth.

New Class or Can I Get Multi Prescription For Ritalin

My schedule is slowly filling up. I lost my adult class, but now have added a B1 class. This is the lowest class that we offer and the English ability is zilch. I asked them "How are you?" no response, and then " What is your name?" still no response. The class goes well except for the 5 or 6 students that are climbing on the desks or hiding under the desks or standing in the chairs. These students are roughly6-7 years old. I have accused the Korean staff of supplying them with sugar or caffeine or something that would make them act so wild. We are writing our ABC's and they seem to enjoy the class or at least seem to enjoy my crazy antics to keep their attention. We use Starfall.com as a supplement. They do seem energetic to learn and have learned that I would never make a great kinder or first grade teacher. I just don't have the energy. I call this class the energy drainer. I am absolutely drained when this class is over.

I spent tonight studying Korean and making phone calls. I actually go to talk to my Dad and to Lea(and I heard Alex talk too. Bo,where you at man?) tonight via Skype. I have been trying to get in touch with both of them for awhile now. It is always good to reconnect with family and friends from home. I am so jealous about my Family's new TV and the PS3 with Blue Ray player. I will be sure and put that to good use when we return to the States.

Oh yeah...Today I finally got my ARC card. I will be making a photocopy and sending it to the school that decided they did not want me to stay in Korea and would not sign my release letter forcing me to take a much needed vacation to America. Cheers!

First Birthday

Jaeyoun and I traveled to Daejon today. We went to celebrate Jaeyoun's sister's daughter's(Sewan) first birthday. It took us about two hours by bus to make there only to stay for 4 hours. We were expecting a late night of traveling and were disappointed that we had to leave so early. The latest bus back to Suwon left at 7pm. We made it in time to help Sewan get ready. We left their apartment and rode to a buffet restaurant with Min Kyoung(Jaeyoun's another older sister). The last time that I saw Min Kyoung, I was putting her on an airplane in New Orleans. It was great to catch up with her. We had time to eat and visit for a little bit and then it was time to catch the bus back home. I ate way too much and was instructed to keep eating more! We made a mad dash for the bus terminal and ended up getting back to Dongtan at around 9:30. We were later updated that Sewan choose the money from the table. So I guess this means she will be rich and never have to worry about money* My pictures are a little blurry. I later saw it on a video that I took where Sewan touched my lens. I have to forgive her. Isn't she the cutest thing?

You can check out the rest of my photos here!

*Korean children are giving a choice of items to pick from on their first birthday. The child's future is predicted by the item they pick!

Christmas Photos

Christmas 2007

Christmas Morning

The Hat and Hair Post

The Nog sets in

More Christmas Eve Party

Christmas Eve Party

Christmas Mass

The whole "Fam" attended Christmas Eve Mass. We decided to attend the Mass that was held in the local convention center. It holds quite a few more people and it was nice to see so many happy faces.

We left Mass and Jenny, Sarah, and I went and picked up Chinese food which is a family tradition. We then came back to our house and ate and drank for many hours.

Baby Austin

Jenny is looking a little to closely. I kept joking with her to not get any ideas. Those plans are najungae najungae!

Christmas Tree

This Jenny's first tree. It did not take her long to get into the spirit of things^^ The last picture she is adding the personlized ornament that was given to us by some friends on our trip to the Mountains.