Stephanie in Suwon

The day I thought would never come has. Christmas break is upon us, a solid 10 days off, and a trip to look forward to, a reunion of sorts on the some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and a chance to regroup, rest and reflect on my time here so far. Oh! And apparently a full moon party on the island we’re staying on Christmas Eve as well. I must have been a VERY good girl this year☺. Christmas in Korea has been a trip; Christmas in Thailand will be even better. I am hard pressed to remember a time I needed rest more then right now. Our little Christmas tree sits in the corner of our apartment; its small promise has kept me going the past couple of weeks. Changes continue to surround me here, as I was told, pardon me, “asked” if I would be willing to give up teaching for a month and assist at head office for the month of January. The 2 hour commute both ways was a big deterrent for me but after sweetening the deal with a place of my own for the first month of 2008 in a place ...

With Christmas fast approaching, and our long-awaited trip to Thailand looming, things here in Korea-land have been getting a little bit more jazzy. That’s right, jazzy. You heard it here first. There is a sense of anticipation floating around and with 11 school days left (but really who’s counting?) before our vacation starts certain realizations are beggining to come into light. Christmas eve will mark four months since landing here and that number astounds me for a number of reasons: 1) It feels like we’ve been here forever and 2) It feels like we just got here yesterday. My four month mark will pass without Korean fanfare though as Dave and I will be celebrating Christmas while lying on a beach with white sand, blue water, and a never ending supply of frothy, sweet, rum soaked beverages with big pieces of fruit floating around in them. And while that little scenario is one I have been eagerly looking forward to, it does not diminish the fact that this will be my first Christmas awa...

A few random shots...just for fun...moving on... A couple of weeks ago, I opened my e-mail to find a message form one, Matthew Lamers, writing to me on behalf of the prestigious Korean Herald, one of two English newspapers (that I have been made aware of at any rate) here in my corner of the world. Naturally assuming it was in regards to some sort of subscription, and being simultaneously impressed and indignant that they had somehow found my e-mail address, I was about to delete it without so much as a glance when curiosity got the better of me. Lo and behold, and much to my shock and delight, the following message appeared on the screen: “Good'day. I am with the Korea Herald newspaper. I was going through your website http://stephanieinsuwon.blogspot.com/ I am the editor for the expat section, which we are planning to expand in the near future. I like your prose and topics of coverage and am wondering if you might be interested in writing a column. You said: "But a write...