ch-ch-ch-china!

my china excursion has proven to be FANTASTIC and i wish i could go back. i think beijing is probably one of the coolest cities i've been to. and my hostel was so great, i met so many cool people from all around the world, i loved the great wall, i loved wandering around the city with new friends, i loved having a rockin chinese new years eve, complete with fireworks that were set off way too close to me, and i loved getting totally sick and spending half my trip feeling like i could fall over and never get back up at any moment. WHAT!?!? just kidding. i did get totally sick, but love is not the word i would use to describe how i felt about it. ya, so i got some sort of food poisening (or actually i think it was the flu cuz some of the people i was hanging out with at the hostel got it too), and spent a good share of my trip trying to shake it, and i still haven't. do you know what's worse than being drapped over a dirty, community hostel toilet that smelled like a sewer throwing up for 3 1/2 hours straight, thinking the whole time that i would die here, in a random hostel in the middle of china all alone? nothing. that's what i discovered on this trip. absolutely nothing is worse than that. i just wanted my mom and a room that wasn't shared with 7 other people. but it was all part of the china experience, and it will most definetely be a memory! the great wall was just so cool. it's quite hard to explain actually how impressive it is to be up there, walking on top. it was a little tough b/c i hadn't really eaten in a couple of days at that point b/c i had been sick, so my legs were a bit shaky, but i pulled through! and really, what was probably the best part were all the cool people i met at my hostel. i made good friends with two girls from denmark the first night, and we spent the majority of our trips together, as well as a few guys from sweden, some very fun aussie girls, a guy from france and a couple from germany who were all staying in my room, and a really cool guy from england that i met the last couple days i was there. it's so fun meeting such easy going and good natured people from all over. i had a moment where i was taking a long shower after my day at the great wall, and i was right next to a window and the sun was going down over all these classic looking chinese roof tops, and i was in a dirty community shower, and i still felt sick and sort of weak from not being able to eat much, but i just felt so content and so at peace with things and so happy to be where i was. seeing new places and meeting new people makes me feel so alive!

so i will give you my photo albums that you can check out, and that will give you a good idea of what i did while i was there. as usual, i took way too many pictures, so you can skim if you want. just click on the albums.
album 1
album 2
album 3
album 4

from rat trash to headlight.

so here's some pictures of my new do. i went in and said "give me the brightest most craziest blonde hair you can." and she (actually they--there were about 7 koreans working on my hair) did. i feel sort of like a mixture between a punk rocker and an alien and a headlight. the pictures really don't do it justice. everytime i look in the mirror, i stop, gasp, put my hand to my open mouth in a shocked gesture, and then i start laughing. it's so funny! but i know i can make it work. very dramatic eye makeup and bright lipstick will be necessary for the next while. hooray for a little nudge in the style department! lately i've been in this slump of un-uniqueness, mostly due to the fact that i sit on the floor with little kids playing musical games all day long. and also b/c it's so cold in our school and i just want to be warm! those two factors often result in black flowy pajama-like pants and my bright orange wool sweater that could keep a polar bear warm in the middle of an antartic winter. but this hair is not gonna let me get away with mediocre style.


i leave for china on wednesday morning. i'm really excited! i'm doing a few tours--great wall, forbidden city, summer palace, temple of heaven. i also got tickets for the chinese opera one night. and i'm taking an extraordinarily large suitcase b/c i plan to do a lot of shopping! i'm ready to get my bargaining game face on. bring it on little old chinese women!

there's a mop on my head.

today, i am taking the bus to my private lesson after school. i don't want to be one of those people who can't "get back on the horse," but i think i get a few days. and besides, it's cold, and i'm in a disgruntled sort of mood today, and besides that, i like public transportation. i always feel like i'm connecting with all the other people who can't afford a car, are trying to save the environment, or just got hit by a car while riding their bike.

saturday i'm getting my hair cut!!!! and colored!!! i haven't done a thing to it since early august, and i have actually been enjoying my longer hair. i feel like it's been relatively healthy, shiny, and i've even felt that it's maintained it exuberance from being in the sun all summer. UNTIL. the other day, i woke up, took a shower, let my hair dry a bit while making my trader joe's steel cut oatmeal that was sent to me in a christmas package from my loved ones chicago, and when i approached the mirror to do my hair, my eyes popped out of their sockets and i had to sccop my jaw off the ground as i looked at myself in horror. how had i MISSED this!?!?! i look TERRIBLE!!! my hair was limp and uneven and straggly and resembled the color of a rat's fur after rummaging through the trash. it was quite startling how quickly my attitude transitioned from one of content and approval to one of disgust and humiliation. had i really been sporting this hair with pride and satisfaction? how embarrassing. so! my friend choee is a hair dresser in apujeong, one of the wealthiest parts of seoul, and she is giving me a mega discount to do a cut and color. as much as i'd love to hot pink like last year (or actually, i think this time i'd do electric blue), i think my school would book the soonest flight and send me home. but i want to do short and edgy. sort of uneven edgy. maybe with a longer piece in the front. and PLATINUM blonde! bright blonde! as blonde as blonde can get! so that i can fit in here more. (ha ha.)

the sybesma women take a hit.

today i was talking to my sisters (yes, both at once--kristin on skype and then tricia called her so we put her on speaker phone and it was like we were all in the same room chatting away!) and we discovered that it was a bad day for sybesma women. my mom thought her purse got stolen at the local grocery store (seriously! who steals in sioux center???) and after going home in despair, realized that she actually put it in her cart, put her bananas on top of it, and when she came back to put in more produce, she put it in an empty cart next to hers. so for hours her purse just sat there gaurded under a bunch of bananas. i knew no one would steal in sioux center. (sorry mom, if you wanted to keep that story from getting out--it's just too funny not to tell. and don't worry, i understand. remember the "my car got stolen" incident???) tricia left her lights on and her car battery went dead. kristin lost her keys somewhere in the northwestern parking lot, and cousin jen flashed an entire parking lot b/c the wind flew her skirt up, and later, as she went to shake up her water/crystal light packet in her water bottle, she forgot that the lid wasn't screwed on and dumped the entire thing all over her head. my contribution to the day was that on my way to school this morning, my purse got stuck in my front bike wheel just as i was taking off and it caused a sudden stop and a jolt and a loud noise from me as my body went flying forward, shoving my ribs into my front handle bars. my wasn't really noteworthy, but i thought i needed something to fit in.

well, it turns out that my turn hadn't come yet. tonight i got hit by a car. on my bike. i was on my way to the apartment of the private lesson that i teach after school and i was almost there and i was going onto a crosswalk, a big black lexus didn't see me and ran me over. well, not me, my bike. but both me and my bike got pushed over. and he ran over my tire. the most important thing was that it wasn't my fault. (just kidding, the most important thing was that i wasn't hurt. and that it wasn't my fault...) but it was really scary. a rich looking older korean man got out and said what was probably one of the only english phrases he knows "i am sorry i am sorry!" which really sounded like "i im solly i im solly!" i was so shoke up i just walked my bike to the side walk and he got back in his car. the next thing i knew there were about 5 korean women yelling and i thought "are they yelling at me? was it my fault after all?" but they were actually yelling at him as he drove off for not taking me to the hospital and giving me his phone number. a very kind korean woman helped me and hugged me (b/c i cried a little--nothing hurt, i was fine, but who doesn't cry when they just got hit by a car?) and she had taken down his driver's liscense. i don't know why i don't think properly in those situations! like, when he got out of the car, i just didn't want to make him feel bad, and i wanted to just laugh it off. it's just like the time i got bit by that dog last year in chicago. and i felt so bad for the owners b/c they felt so bad so i just told them not to worry about it b/c "i needed a new pair of shorts anyway." i still have the scar. so anyway, i walked my bike to my private and my two little high school kids were so concerned and it turned into a family affair. the dad and the son took me to get my bike fixed and then to the police station and we reported the whole thing and 3 hours later, i'm back at home, wondering if it was worth all the effort for $30 of damages. the worst part was that after going to two different police stations and listening to two korean men talk for an hour, i had to bike 30 minutes back to my apartment. not only was it freezing, but i was UBER paranoid the entire time. i'd be annoyed about the whole situation, but every time an annoying thought comes into my head, it's immedietely replaced by a voice saying "JUST BE GLAD YOU AREN'T HURT!!!"

however, my back has been extremely sore the past few days (i went running sunday after a running hiatus and have been feeling like i gave birth through my back ever since) and i can see how easy it would be in this situations to make it a whole lot more than it actually was....

i wouldn't. would i? no, i wouldn't. but it's tempting. free massages? free acupuncture? free chiropractor? too bad i've got such a big conscience.

the luckiest girl in ilsan.

last thursday, i became the most envied person in the entire greater area of ilsan. why? costco made it's grand opening and it just happens to be RIGHT across the street from me. there are 4 costcos in korea, and one of them happens to be just a skip and a hop away from me. i cannot tell you how fantastic this is as a foreigner. i have been making trips an hour and a half away to costco every couple of weeks just to get the american products i love and miss. boneless skinless chicken breast, frozen blueberries, 100% cranberry grape juice, organic peanut butter, chicken broth, pesto, gaucamole...mmmmmmm!!!!!! the list goes ON and ON!!!! and as of last thursday, i will never have to break my back getting my costco groceries into the taxi, onto the bus, and the 5 block walk home. i love convenience!!!! i also saw the most hated little korean boy from tango pango shopping with his parents. i spotted him and he smiled and turned all red (or red-ish brown b/c when your skin is brown it doesn't really get red), and i ran up to him sitting in his parents' shopping cart and hugged him and he was just so cute! joey is his name and every day we tell the administration "oh please oh please oh please kick joey out!!!!" the boy has hate in his eyes. evil in his heart. so i thought. but when i saw him tonight amidst big bags of rice and boxes of strange korean cereal that is green, so excited and embarrassed to see me, i just couldn't stop hugging him and trying to tell him how cute he looked in that grocery cart and if he was excited for school tomorrow and forgetting that he doesn't actually speak more than "hello" and "see you next time." so i decided that maybe he hates b/c he knows we hate him. so i am going to try to love joey this week.

and just as a side note, what kind of parents take their kid grocery shopping at 10 pm on a school night? or any night for that matter? korean parents. that's who. you wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of kids that are running around in my courtyard at 11 pm every night. kids that would be in bed by 7:30 in america. atleast it's comforting to know that when my kids are falling asleep in my class it's not b/c i'm boring.

i had a really wonderful weekend. debbie came back from her month long stay in america, and it's so nice having her back. we went for vietnamese food friday night and then met up with amelia after she was done with her yoga classes and saw the late showing of sweeny todd the demon barber of fleet street. (and i mean late--started at 11:45 pm) the acting was great and i couldn't believe this was johnny depp's first musical. he was fabulous. what i found not so fabulous was all the throat slicing. i mean what do you expect when the title has 'demon barber' in it, i know, but it was just a little much for me. i don't do well with blood. even when it's bright red and fake looking. saturday i got accupuncture again, which went better this week. last week i felt really terrible afterwards and the entire week, but apparently that can happen after you do acupuncture for the first time. it's getting rid of all the bad in your body, and re-arranging all your body's energy, and that can take a lot out of you. oh, and today, i started my private yoga classes with amelia! she taught me about ashtanga yoga and then we did the entire standing sequence together. we were by big open windows and it was so quiet and the sun was going down, and i just felt very happy. then we went to a cafe and we spent some time going through the english grammar book that she's learning, and enjoyed our tea and coffee and it was just a really nice afternoon to end my week. i feel grateful that i've found some people here that i am getting close with. it takes a long time to get comfortable with people and really get to know them, but i feel like i am gaining a support system here, and it makes this place feel more like home. it's good to love and be loved. :)

i go to china in 9 days!!! i feel like i am barely back to a normal pace since being in the philippines. i think after china, i am going to take a couple months off from traveling. which is a convenient decision since i don't have any breaks after my trip to china until may...:)

a fright night out.

friday night i went clubbing. on a bicycle. that's right, i went clubbing on a bicycle. this is how i would describe my first every korean spinning class. for those of you who aren't familiar with spinning, go here for a good explanation. basically it's a class that provides stationary bycicles (they are specially made just for this sort of class) with really loud music and usually dimmed lights and an instructor in front yelling you through the workout. sometimes you peddle as fast you as you possibly can and sometimes you turn your resistance way up and stand and peddle really slowly to the beat of the music (the music changes throughout so there's always a different beat to peddle to), like you're going up a hill. anyway, so i went to some spinning classes when i lived in australia and it was intense and all, but NOTHING compares to my experience friday night. it was completely dark, there was a disco ball, strobe lights, and the music was so loud that i literally could not even hear how hard the struggle of my lungs to try to get in more air and how loudly my heart was pounding. the instructor in front was doing a form of bicycle-dancing that i had never seen before, and yelling out all sorts of korean words that, although i didn't understand them, the sheer enthusiasm and energy behind her voice was enough to give me the most intense work-out i've ever had on a bicycle. i LOVED it! i found myself smiling uncontrollably for nearly the entire workout.

in other exercise news, amelia is going to start giving me private yoga classes for FREE! she's going to teach me all the steps to ashtunga (spelling?) yoga so that i can do it on my own. i'm beyond excited! in return, i'm giving her free english lessons. she needs some serious help with grammar and tenses. i think it's a fair and wonderful trade-off. she teaches me her language, i teach her mine! fantastic!

acupuncture was...an experience. i was stuffed in a room with about 12 other koreans where we all sat on the floor against the wall in the shape of a square and this korean dude who looked all healer-esque came around to each one, sitting across from them, asking them questions about their pain, and sticking needles in their hands and feet, and occasionally their arms and legs. bus mostly hands and feets. thank goodness amelia was with me to translate! the entire room listened in on the entire translated conversation with curiousity and humor as the only white girl in the room faced her fear and got stuck with needles. i am planning to go back next week, so hopefully we will see some results. i did feel quite relaxed when i got home last night. and today. hmmmm....from acupuncture? it's hard to say...

I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK TOMORROW!!!

charlie bit me.

no, not charlie my boss. it's the name of this you tube that you HAVE to watch. i got it from my friend tara and it got funnier and funnier every time i watched it. watch the expression on both the boys' faces. click here.

i have decided to re-think my impulsive outburst that i like winter better than summer. it's cold. really. really. cold. and my life requires a lot of biking. i've started doing some tutoring after school, which requires an extra hour of biking three times a week, and i just can't seem to find a way to cover up enough of my face. it's always this time of year when i get a little down. i just want to go for walks and play outside and leave work at 6:30 and atleast see a glimmer of sun left in the sky. and it feels like winter has just begun. spring isn't even on the horizon. sigh.

saturday, i am getting acupuncture. it's my first time. i've wanted it done for years, especially with all the stomach problems i've had in the past couple years, but it's so expensive in the states! here, i can get it for 5,000 won. (approximately a little over 5 bucks.) i'm so excited and so nervous! amelia (beloved yoga instructor) is going with me to hold my hand so i don't freak out when i roll my eyes across my body and see a bunch of needles sticking out of my skin. i have high hopes that it will cure me of every possible thing that is going wrong in my body. i could be a nice person by noon on saturday. brace yourselves.