366 catch up part 2 || project 366

{90/366 - smile Hudson}

 {91/366 - making train tracks}

 {92/366 - tiny shoes}

 {93/366 - sister and brother}

{94/366 - born ruffians}

{95/366 - baptisms}

{96/366 - monday night bowling}

I'm finally caught up! Anybody else out there doing a project like this? Whenever I fall behind I want to give up and scrap the whole idea but I told myself at the beginning of the year to not give up. If there's one thing I'm good at it's giving up. I could write a whole blog entry about that, maybe later, but I wanted to really change that about myself. 

These are a week's worth of pictures although I did miss a few days. These days I'm babysitting, hanging out with friends, helping out at church and slowly becoming a part of the city and it's daily happenings. I don't have a choice but to be here so I know I gotta muster up all that it's in me to enjoy it. There are some pretty difficult things about adjusting back to Waterloo but also some awesome things. 

366 catch up part 1 || project 366

{78/366 - pizza}

{79/366 - ukelele and the chords}

{80/366 - going for a bike ride}

{81/366 - watching Bolt}

{82/366 - easter eggs}

{83/366 - veggies at the market}

{84/366 - eating Korean}

{85/366 - friends at the gorge}

 {86/366 - babysitting the boys} 

{87/366 - eating galbi}

{88/366 - going for a bike ride}

 {89/366 - food prep}

These are pictures from March 31st to April 14th. I really should be on top of posting a picture a day but I always forget to transfer my pictures from my phone or my SD card on a daily basis. I've missed a few days but I've been doing much better than I thought I would. 
As you can see a lot of food is involved. This summer I'll be cooking a lot more as we've discovered it's a lot cheaper and it's so fun when you're doing it with your friends. 


April is basically halfway done.. Let's finish strong! 

new hobby || project 366

{77/366 - new hobby}

I was in Toledo, OH this past weekend. We usually joke about how there's nothing to do here and what good can come out of the city. This past weekend we discovered a lot about Toledo. The one thing I discovered was this new sport. I never understood golf. I thought it was actually kind of stupid. My friend just started getting into it and he really wanted to go to the driving range so we complied. 

IT WAS SO FUN! I couldn't believe it. Maybe it was because I was able to actually the ball. Whatever it was, I loved it. I still have to go to an actual golf course, but the driving range was so fun. 

my sister took a video of me. I think I have to work on my form ;)

Growing Up || life lessons

{76/366 - little hands}

I've been babysitting for the past two weeks. This is Isaiah. He's very pensive. He'll stand at the window and look out without saying a word. 

I guess you could say that I'm a pensive person as well. I've been reflecting a lot what it means to grow up. I've resisted growing up for a long time. I diagnosed myself with the Peter Pan syndrome. I thought if I grow up I would lose myself. I never wanted to wear suit pants or heels or take out a loan or get a real job. I thought I wouldn't be able to do the things I love. I was afraid of growing up.  I thought growing up meant compromising my personality and what I love to do. 

You don't lose yourself when you grow up. Instead you discover MORE of who you are and can grow even more confident. 

I also discovered that in order for me to really mature and experience life at its fullest I need to become like a child again. I need to trust like a child, love like a child and expect a lot like a child. Life is full of silly paradoxes and this is one of them. 

friends and family || project 366

{73/366 - i see you}

Helen at my old high school. I feel like high school never happened. No feelings of nostalgia crept back in. Maybe it's a sign of growing up. 

{74/366 - my model}

Helen became my model for a day. 

{75/366 - best friends}

two of my best friends.

This was a weekend full of laughter, love and joy. I was surrounded by good friends and family. Sometimes a small and simple word from a friend can set you free. It doesn't even matter what they say, but the fact that they cared enough to listen to you and be bold enough to share. 

Playing Catch Up || Project 366

Even though I'm not working I somehow ended up being really busy last week, so I have to play catch up with my 366 project. Here are a few pictures from my first week back in Canada. Most are taken with my phone as it was a bit more convenient. I'm finally back to my using my Nikon with the lovely 35mm!

{65/366 - reunited}

Clara, Albert and I. We've been best friends since I was 10 years old. He drove from Ohio to surprise me. It was a pretty awesome start to my life back in Canada.

{66/366 - kimchi}

On my second day back my family and I went to Toronto. We had to stop by the Korean grocery store. Even though I wasn't in Korea it looks like I never left. Kimchi festival!

{67/366 - driving}

I can drive again!

{68/366 - perogies}

Perogies are so so so so good. I didn't have them ONCE in Korea and it's because nobody knows what they are. Only if you're Canadian, Mennonite, or European will you know what these are. Just looking at this picture makes me hungry. 

{69/366 - rusty pole}

my phone wouldn't focus, but I really liked the green and red on this rusty pole

{70/366 - outside chats}

i was catching up with a friend Friday morning through video chat. it was too nice to do it inside so i sat on my steps and chatted. the weather is unusually warm. the normal temperature is 5 degrees Celsius but it's 25 these days!

{71/366 - goodbye winter}

march 19th is the last day of winter. as i walked to my parent's house i noticed that the trees were starting to bud already. whenever i see this i get really excited. if the trees are ready to grow and turn into something beautiful i know i can't just sit around and be lazy. 

{72/366 - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada}

there's the Waterloo flag, the Canadian flag and the Ontarian flag. 

Incredibly Loved || My Last Week in Seoul Part 2

This is an overdue post on my last week in Seoul. The second part of it. I've been home for a week. I've been really busy but I've also had a lot of downtime where I do absolutely nothing. I'll be doing a major renovation of this blog. I've got tons of ideas on what I want to write and do on top of my 366 photo project. Sometimes I really wonder what I'm doing, why did I even start a blog and where is this all going to go? It can be discouraging when looking at stats or when I browse through other blogs, but now isn't the time to give up. It's always hard to start and maintain something.

Wednesday March 7, 2012

I spent the day with Liz and Peter. We went to Fell + Cole which is an amazing ice cream shop in Seoul. They had flavours like burnt salted caramel and perilla (green leaves that we usually eat with Korean BBQ). 

{62/366 - too cool for school}

After ice cream Liz and I just wandered around Hongdae, a really fun area in Seoul. I ended up buying new glasses. Here we are in Too Cool for School looking around at their make up. 

After we made our way to Gangnam to meet our other friends for dinner. The rest of the night ended up being one of the most craziest and unreal nights of my life. I was incredibly blessed and shocked and overwhelmed. 

Read more to see what happened!

Adventures in Seoul || My Last Week in Seoul Part 1

I don't have the right words or pictures that can capture exactly what my last week in Korea was like. This blog entry may not do justice to the emotions and experience I went through. It's not something you can just write out or show. You just had to be there with me. But for the sake of my blog, my readers, and walking down memory lane I will attempt to summarize it in one blog entry.

[A lot of my pictures were taken with my cellphone so the quality isn't as great. It was more convenient for me as my schedule was so busy and I was always on the go.]

Sunday March 4, 2012

{59/366 - Pastors}

My pastors like to dress the same when they're working. These are my main pastors of my church New Philadelphia Church. Having P. Marcus and P. JM in my life this past year changed my life. The wisdom that flowed from these men were like gold. A lot of this gold I tucked away but I'm sure it will come into use later in my life. 

Read more of my adventures...

a trip to Singapore || around the world

{51/366 - travel buddy}

Jo and I before we got on our plane to Singapore. I'm also living with her now in Korea before I go back to Canada. I could go on and on about how awesome she is, but you just need to be in her presence to fully experience Jojo. 

{52/366 - Botanic Gardens}

Who would have expected so much green in a city/country like Singapore. Everyone told me Singapore was just a concrete jungle, but left out that it's got trees EVERYWHERE. 

Read more for more pictures. 

We're Graduating || Goodbye JES Island

{50/366 - Graduation}

Here's most of my class. One girl couldn't make it and another was late. I can't believe my time with them is up! It was pretty emotional. I'll remember these kids and this experience forever. It changed my life. Who knew that teaching English would have such a strong impact on one's life... sigh. 

Some kids were pretty emotional while others had no reaction. It was really moving to see young children become emotional about saying goodbye. 

While it was an emotional and sad day, it was also a really good day. I'm really thankful for my managers, my co-workers and all the students I worked with. Normally when a chapter in my life is ending I end up feeing some regret for all my inadequacies. This time, I felt confident in everything I had done. No use in filling your head up with regrets. I'm looking forward to what is to come :)

Last day of work ended with a pizza party, my final pay cheque and a severance pay ^^ along with awesome gifts from my students' parents. 

Now I'm off to Singapore for 5 days! 

Last Day of Teaching || Project 366

{49/366 - Phileo Love}

It was our last day of class today! Rather than doing work, we ended up playing a lot. We spent time practicing our graduation song for about an hour and then we ended with a final game of dodgeball with the students against the teachers. Here I caught Rina and Jenny being really loving with each other. I loved that every student in my class loved and liked each other. Phileo love is brotherly, friendship love. It was definitely seen in my class everyday. 

little jenny || Project 366

{48/366 - jenny and me}

Here I am with my little Jenny. I'm starting to say my goodbyes. I don't know if they fully comprehend that it'll be rare that I'll see them again. This makes me really sad. Who knew that seeing them almost every day for a week would get me so attached. Tomorrow is our last day of teaching and then Friday we have graduation. I can't wait to be free but I'm going to miss my kids terribly. This was taken by my co-teacher Hannah.   

Cloud-Like Cake || Project 366

{48/366 - Cloud-Like Cake}

Rina's dad brought our class a cake. It was a surprise since we didn't have any reason to have cake. It was delicious. Normally I don't like cake but this was really nice. It was delicate and fluffy. Most cakes tend to be too heavy, but I felt like I was eating clouds! Look at Rina looking at her cake. 

5th Last Day || Project 366

{47/366 - hula hooper}

It was my 5th last day with the kids. I have a countdown. I'll miss them, but I'm also ready to be done!

Here's Belle NOT hula hooping. I love when kids are missing their teeth and they're laughing. I know they're insecure about missing their teeth because they won't smile when you ask them to, but they have no shame when they're laughing. It's great

The students made their own popsicles. Here is Jenny going in for a bite into her popsicle. 

orange noser || Project 366

{46/366 - orange noser}

Aimee is actually the brown noser of my class. She's always trying to be like the teacher and will do whatever she can to impress me. We had oranges for lunch today. She loves making her friends laugh so I caught her doing this with her orange. Cute.

wink wink || Project 366

{45/366 - wink and kick}

this is sean again. i asked him to wink for the camera. i love how he casually put his hand on his head making this shot even cuter. 

he forgot to write his name on his work so instead of going back to his desk he sprawled on the floor and started to write. i love how adorable his small feet look in these crocs. 

valentine's day || Project 366

{44/366 - reading cards}

Koreans don't really give or make Valentine's Day cards. All they do is buy a lot of chocolate. I miss buying random boxes of cards and then choosing which one I would give to the people in my class. It was an important decision to make. I was so shameless in how I'd pick the pretty ones for my friends and the ugly ones were left over for the people I didn't like. Terrible. Luckily I printed out really cute ones for my kids so they were all happy with giving and receiving. They were SO excited to look into their bags and see what card they got from their other friends. One student kept pounding her chest saying that she was so anxious and excited to see her cards. It was so funny. 

This is the chocolate I received from my students. The chocolate on the left was hand made by Daniel. He was so proud of what he made. The story was that he bought chocolate bars. Before he started baking with his mom, he logically thought that he could melt the chocolate in the microwave. Without really timing it right, he ended up burning the chocolate. He was so confused and didn't understand why. Luckily his mom bought him extra chocolate and showed him that he had to slowly melt it. It was even cuter because he designed these and even gave special ones out to his classmates. 

It was a good day. Spent it with my kids. Spent it with a good friend of mine and was reminded to hold on tight to love. It's always around us. We just need to open our hearts to really see it.