Taekwondo

Nick and I started Taekwondo as soon as we got in Korea. The whole teaching group goes every Tuesday-Friday morning and now Nick and I are apart of it. There are 4 almost 5 black belts in our class and then the 5 white (the absolute lowest rank) belts working on yellow. It is a super awesome workout everyday and on the plus side we learn how to defend ourselves. 

      I just got my uniform this week and it swallows me whole. I have to roll up the pants and arm cuffs. I feel like the Michelin man (or a big Lauren marshmallow). I am going to get it tailored on Friday.

This morning Nick tying his belt.. It has to be done a certain way.(a square knot)

My awesome yellow socks and stance.. I'm always ready to kick butt!

My awesome knot! I finally did it with no help. My first day our instructor tied it for me and on Wednesday he corrected the way I did it.. so now I know how!

Nick and I decided to take a few goofy photos. We are standing on our bed having fun.

I love Nick's face.. and he is suppose to aim right below my nose.. he is doing it wrong.

Oh PERFECT!!  (as usual lol)

We love our morning workout even though it is hard to get out of the bed sometimes (like this morning). It is a good way to start each day. Losing weight is a plus as well.
        They only have black belt competitions twice a year so we will have to be here a little over a year to earn ours. We aren't sure if we are going to make this a goal yet or not but it would defiantly be awesome!

***** All of the (italicized comments are Nick notes)  he reads and edits each blog for two reasons. 1.) I want him to be a part of it and 2.) because I have a hard time with grammar! So if you spot a mistake, it's his fault!

Happy Birthday to Nick

November 21, 2012

Happy 28th Birthday to my wonderful husband.

For the last couple of days I have been pestering Nick about what he would like me to cook for his birthday. FINALLY on Tuesday he told me he would like Homemade Korean Donuts. I quickly found a great video (Here is the link http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/korean-style-twisted-donuts ) on how to make them. Thank goodness Tuesday night was group shopping night. I was able to get everything I needed to cook but the question of when I could cook still remained. I ended up waking up super early to get things started. I made the dough for the donuts while I was making pancakes for Nick's Birthday breakfast. (I forgot to take a picture of the pancakes) They tasted a lot sweeter than the Bisquick pancakes we are use to but they were very good. After a quick breakfast we went for our Taekwondo work out and then back home to quickly eat lunch and fry the donuts.

My donuts frying. Some came untwisted when I put them in.

The donuts are now finished and ready to be eaten.

I brought the donuts to work and Nick also had the traditional fruit cake that Richard and Suzi give for birthdays. (We have had this cake 3 times in the past week)

Look at that smile

Blowing them all out...

Yummy cake!

It was a very good day for Nick today. He is a happy boy!

First weekend in Korea

Training last week went really well. Nick and I both feel that the only thing left to do is just take the leap of teaching faith.

This weekend was good but not relaxing. We had to clean both of our apartments top to bottom. We were told that they had been cleaned before we got here but there is something about cleaning it yourself and knowing that it is truly clean. It also allowed us to find a lot of things that were tucked away. We found this rice cooker among other things. Shae (The lead teacher) taught us how to use it (Directions were in Korean) so we cooked our first meal with it.

The rice cooker

Our first meal

Once the house was all cleaned we sat around for a little while (Nick took a nap). When Shae and Adam got home they took us into Changnyeong to G-mart so we could get an electric blanket and a heater. I don't know how weather is back in the states but here it is getting REALLY cold. If the temperature was just low it wouldn't be a problem but the wind here is what makes it so bad.

This is the electric blanket we bought. It is doing the job very well.

This is a picture of our little side table. It is also proof that I brought the gift my sister Leigh gave me the night before we left. I told her that Nick and I weren't taking any pictures because we didn't have room and we didn't know what kind of space we would have in our apartment. Leigh gave me this to bring with us and every time I look at it I smile and thank my Heavenly Father for such a wonderful sister.

Surrounding our little village we have these. The farmers grow rice, garlic, and onions here. The other day we watched them plant something and then fill the trenches with water. It was cool.

Saturday we took the trash out and this cute little dog followed us. It has made friends with the staff here and unfortunately we aren't allowed to have pets in the building.

We have to walk to take our trash our (oh and they have to be in a pink bag) We also have to keep the food items separate. We save ours in a tupperware container and then when it is full we have to add it to the rest in a nasty garbage can full of food. YUCK.. they say during the summer time it is the nastiest thing ever.

Sunday we caught a ride with Shae and Adam to Daegu for church. Church for us started at 10:30 am and it took over an hour to get there. After church the Senior Missionaries, Elder and Sister Helms, of our ward took us to their place and fed us lunch. Then they took us to the subway where we met Adam at 3:30 pm. Adam taught us how to use the subway because when they can't take us we will have to catch a bus to Daegu and then ride the subway to church. Below is the picture of the subway. I sat down in a seat on the subway and Adam told me it was the section for old and handicapped people so I quickly jumped up. Then an old man I had sat next to invited me to sit with him, Adam told me it was okay. The man started telling me stories about when he was young. He spoke very good English and I loved talking with him.

This is the guy I talked to.

We had a Thanksgiving dinner. Adam and Shae invited us to their church's Thanksgiving gathering. The food was great and the people were too. We met a couple from South Africa and some random Korean man came and sat with us. They gave us some beans and for every bean we had to say something we were grateful for. I had the most beans out of the group and that was okay because I am grateful for a lot of things. When I got to my last bean I knew what I had to say because the spirit was so strong and I couldn't ignore it. I told the group how grateful I am for my religion because Nick and I were able to be sealed together for eternity and not just "till death do you part". I am very grateful for my eternal companion and I am so glad to be here in Korea with him. We are learning and growing together and making memories that we will never forget.

I am also grateful for all of my family (including my in-laws) you all have helped me grow into the person I am today. You might not know it but you are dear to my heart and it is hard being here without you. Sticking together as family is how we are all going to make it to the celestial kingdom. We can never give up on one another and we must pray for each other often. 

Love 

Lauren and Nick

P.S.

I am also grateful for my new Korea Family.  They have been so helpful is showing us the ropes and helping us know what to expect and how to get the most out of our ex-patriot experience. Love you lots already!

My 27th Birthday

November 13, 2012

My 27th birthday was our first full day in Korea. I woke up super early and had toast and apples (Nick Note: They were the best apples I have ever eaten) for breakfast. We then went for out first session of taekwondo at 8:50 am. The whole group goes every morning. Over half our group is a black belt and our goal is to get to that level. They said it will take about 1 year.

After our lesson Richard, our Superintendent, stopped to pick up a cake for me at a really cute bakery. We went home and got ready for our first day of training. When we got to the building my desk area was decorated with balloons and streamers. Soon after everyone arrived they presented my cake and sang to me. It was pretty awesome! The cake was really good.

When Koreans sing Happy Birthday they clap along.

Blowing out the candles. If you look close you can see all the fruit on the cake. They even included a tomato and a very small apple.

This is Suzi, Richards wife, she is the director of the school. She passed out the cake. 

This is the very small apple. It had a very good sweet taste.

Nick and I sit next to each other (this could be very dangerous) but our schedules will be different so I will be at the desk when he is teaching and he will be there when I'm teaching. 

They put this cute hat on me and I think I like it.

The day went by so fast. We went out to dinner as a group. I was a little surprised.. I watched what everyone else was doing and copied them. We sat on the floor and then cooked our food in a large bowl over a burner. They had kimchi,  tiny fish, and other things on the table to eat while the food was cooking. Nick loved the food even though it had things in it he would normally not eat. I tried a little bit of everything and was shocked that I actually liked it. 

After dinner we had to go back to school and teach a night class and then we had planning till 9 and then we went home. Nick and I couldn't eat past 8 pm because we had our drug test Wednesday morning.

Richard drove us to the hospital where they drew blood and other test (I didn't do to well on the eye exam)

We then visited the Dentist. It literally took them 30 sec to look in my mouth and say "good" it took about 3-5 mins. for Nick. The Dr. then told Richard that Nick had 4 cavities. This is funny because Nick just got 5 cavities filled before we left for Korea. I laughed really hard.

On our way out of the Dentist office I smelled something yummy and asked Richard if we could stop in. It was a BAKERY!!!!! yummy food every where and Nick and I were starving. I got a fresh cooked donut and Nick picked up some french bread. Both super amazing. We had chocolate milk to drink.

We then drove back and had a few hours till we had work. We are looking forward to the weekend where we can clean our apartments and get settled a little more. 

Thank you so much for the Birthday wishes and cards. We love all of you so much!

Our mailing address is:

Lauren and Nick Stevens
Changnyeong English Village 
7-1, Gyesung-ri, Gyesung-myeon, Chang-nyeong Gun, 
Gyeongsangnamdo, 635-922. South Korea.

it is easier to send usps (we were told ) because the others will go through the boxes and then tax us on whats in it.

I will write later and let you know how things are going.

L and N

Traveling to Korea

We left Alabama November 10th, 2012 at 6 am and headed for the Huntsville Internationale Airport. When we arrived we had some unexpected family there to see us off. Mom, Don, Leigh and Little Joe along with Lon and Jennifer. We got our bags checked in and then said our goodbyes and off we went through security.

     The night before we left we had a farewell party with just our families. We had some great Bar- B-Que from Thomas Pitt Bar-B-Que, YUM! We had a great time with family and so glad they all came to spend some time with us.

     Nick and I stayed up all night before our flight thinking it would be easier for us to sleep on our 14 hour flight. We watched Skyfall the new 007 movie and it was great movie. We went to Wal-Mart  after and walked around for a bit. We found a new suitcase that we needed for our 4th bag. We needed a 4th suitcase because we found out Friday when we went to check in online that we were able to have 2 bags each for free. We had a small bag but it was REALLY small. So we found a big bag at the store for $14 and we snagged it. After Wal-Mart we went home to finish packing and then Lon cooked us breakfast.

The long flight wasn't so bad because we slept through 8 or 9 hours of it. Not sleeping all night and then drinking a sleeping solution really worked for us. About 4 hours before we landed in Narita, Japan I noticed that my legs and feet were really swollen.

This is the plane we flew Japan in.

This is my swollen foot (I don't have ankles)

 This is us... in the Narita, Japan Airport

I went and exchanged some money into Yen and Nick went to figure out our bus situation to get to the Hilton Hotel. We got to the hotel no problem and when we got to the room we discovered the picture below. We had to put our room key in there to have the lights on. It was cool!

Nick in the Hotel packing up after our amazing breakfast.

Back at the Narita Airport. We had a great time getting to our terminal. Nick left his favorite pillow on the flight to Japan and we tried to track it down. They said nobody had turned it in :( so Nick saw this and asked for one. He said it would replace his pillow. Totoro is a good anime and they had the stuffed animals. Our Friend Julie is a HUGE fan of Totoro, in fact she is the one who introduced the movie to us. Nick got the light blue one. He is carrying a bag of nuts.

 

Our new Totoro! Personally I'm glad Nick lost his pillow because it was a good excuse to get this little guy.

On our way to Korea we played Set, one of our favorite games.

This is our view of Busan, South Korea from the plane as we approached the airport.

When we landed we had to go through immigration and then customs. We then picked up our bags and exchanged our money. When we finished that we went through the automatic doors and saw this.

 You see this in movies but this time our names were on the paper.

 Us with all the BIG bags.

 

 It took us 1 hour to arrive to CEV (Changnyeong English Village) where we were greeted by Richard (Superintendent) Sozi, (his wife and Director of the school) and the staff Who greeted us with open arms and big smiles. They showed us to our new place and handed us a bag of food for dinner, and breakfast and lunch for the following day. We have two rooms.. They  moved a bed over (forming a HUGE bed for us) We use this room as a sleeping and changing room while the other room we are using for an office and dinning room.


our huge bed

 our wardrobe 

Kitchen

The bag of food

 The door they decorated for us.

 This is in the second room.

 This is the view of the school.

We thought that we had to catch a Taxi to work, but it turns out that they built these apartments not long ago and we are right at the school.  This place is nothing like I expected, it is better. I'm super excited to be here with Nick.

Nick slept with all of the stuffed animals last night. Names listed left to right Totoro, Quakers, Speedy, and little foot.

I hope to be posting another blog here soon with pictures from my birthday and of the school. We are super excited to jump in and get started with life here.