Remembering David

At last the day has come that I never believed would be. It's been one year since David left us, April 4, 2009. It doesn't seem possible that it's already been a year...it doesn't seem possible.

I wanted to write a little about him and remember what a beautiful person he was. I fell in love with David when I was 15. I used to follow him around and hope that he would talk to me. Lucky me, he was in my Geometry class my Freshman year and he came to my house for homework "help" (AKA he wanted my old homework ;) ) I was gutsy enough to ask him to go to prom with me. After that night we began dating and seeing each other more and more, sharing our first kiss in a feed store.

We definitely had our ups and downs of the nearly seven years that we dated, but when I look back it's marked with lessons learned and a love that never seemed to quit. We grew up together.

What I remember most when I try to think of how to describe David to people I meet is that David was so open to everyone. He always saw the good in everyone. When I would tell him how I disapproved of this person or that person, he was always quick to tell me, "He's a good guy, he's just had a hard time." Or something along those lines. He was a friend to anyone who came in his direction and not just an acquaintance, he felt personally responsible for every person. I try to remember this as I continue life without him. I try to be better for the lessons he's given me.

I always like to tell the stories of waking up in the middle of the night to find him in the garage with his guitar and some beer - singing, drinking and playing. Sometimes I would wake up and just go listen to him without him noticing. Sometimes I would go sit with him and would say, "Hey babe, I'm sorry did I wake you up?". The best part of finding him like that was that I never saw him happier or at more peace than when he was playing the guitar and singing country music. That was also when I could just go and replace his guitar and sit on his lap and talk about anything in the world. His eyes we're a little softer, his voice a little sweeter and his touch even more loving. I loved those nights.

There was a week while I was still in college when he convinced me to go to the casino every night during spring break! We were having the best time, just he and I against the casino. Mostly losing but getting really excited for our small victories. Over the week, we lost $250 but I can't say that there was a better way to spend our money. We had hours of entertainment and beers every night and we bonded by singing to the live bands and losing together. It was an incredible week for us.

Which leads me to when we went to Round Rock together for the last time. Micheal, David and I packed in to Micheal's truck - me in the back as I had just had surgery about two weeks before and was still feeling pretty sore. David talked us into stopping at WinStar, the big casino on I-35 just before the Texas border. I thought it was a bad idea... I knew nothing good could come of us stopping but I knew it would make him happy so I agreed we could go in and lose $20 and leave. David loved the Red Ruby slots and he put his money in one, which I protested against because that girl was always taking my money, and he hit $800. I couldn't believe it! We were so excited we stayed around and gambled for a while before going to Round Rock. On the way, I took some pain pills and passed out in the back. David was worried I wasn't comfortable (and he loved sleep so much that he wanted to make sure I was getting the best possible sleep) so we pulled over at a Wal-Mart off the highway and he bought me a blanket and pillows. When we got back on the interstate I was sleeping comfortably for a long time before I woke up. When I woke up I couldn't figure out why we hadn't arrived in Round Rock yet. Wellllll David got on the highway going the wrong way and went for 45 minutes before realizing he had gone in the wrong direction! We went out of our way by TWO HOURS!!! It was the longest trip ever! But well worth it! We had an amazing time with his family and it seemed like we got to see a lot of people that we don't usually get to see. Michael and I slept on the way home while David blasted Randy Rogers Band. To this day I can't listen to Rand Rogers without thinking of David and that trip to Texas. It was an amazing one.

There are so many great times and memories. So much of him I want the world to know about. My mom said it pretty great when she said, "Everyone that lost David, lost a best friend" I really truly believe that.

The world will never be the same without him and I was so fortunate to have a world made of him.

I love you and miss you, David.



The universe in which we live is located equidistant between absolute order and absolute chaos-- a neutral position which we should expect from a universe that is impervious to our wishes. --David Mills

Dream on

This past weekend I stayed in Songtan, as usual and had a pretty good time. Sunday was the first day with warmish sun and we were so excited we could hardly wait to get outside and soak up some of that sweet sunshine!

The winter in Korea has been the longest of my life. I blogged back in November that it seemed that Fall was only a week and it's just been cold since then. Well, it's been freezing cold ever since. In Oklahoma at least we get those odd days, you know, the ones in December where the sun is out and we're hitting mid-70's and thinking nothing is strange about it. That is NOT the case here. So I say that Sunday was a warmish day - I think we were in the mid-50's to lower 60's.

Despite this, we put on our hoodies and sunglasses and went to downtown to enjoy a beer in the sun. While I was there I saw one of the guys I see nearly every weekend. I call him Nebraska because he's always wearing some type of Nebraska shirt or Jersey and of course a hat. He told me it was his last weekend before he moves to Arizona. I ended up hanging out with him and his friends the rest of the night.

I know that he is not someone I hang out with all the time, but it was comforting to know that I had one more friend in town...now he's gone. The point is - the turnover for friendship here is insane. I've now lived in Korea for 13 months and in those 13 months I've made some great connections with people from all over the world. People I would take home and they would mesh so well in my world. A lot of the people I have met and connected with more than others have been from Oklahoma. My core group of friends are mostly from Oklahoma. It's strange to think that you can go all the way around the world and end up right back at your front door. It's comforting to have people who understand you because they were raised the same way, went to the same field parties and back-roaded just like I did.

It's just sad to see them go. I'm glad that Stormy, Tara and Jessie will be here as long as I am and that I can count on them. They're pretty amazing people and I'm lucky to have great support like them.

Last night I was falling asleep and thinking about how most of my friends here are not staying here and how we're all just wandering along down our own path and by chance our paths met for a while and will eventually fork and send us to new places.

My thoughts led me to think about David and I dreamed of him. It's been so too long since I last saw him in real life or in dreams. I've missed him so much and recently I've been incredibly sensitive about losing him. The dream was he and I in my "new house" which was this run down apartment. He was sitting on a chair and I was talking to him about how much I missed him while I was cleaning. I went and sat on his lap and I had my arms around his shoulders and I swear I could feel the heat of his body. I felt him and his hair and his muscle. It felt so real. I told him that I loved him and I was so glad he was there. Then his family came over and they all looked sad, but I couldn't figure out why. I didn't think they should be especially excited to see him though. Then I woke up. When I woke up, there was a minute where I forgot he was gone. He was real. He was there in my crappy apartment. I was holding him. He was real. I immediately regretted not staying asleep. I felt like I didn't appreciate the time I had with him while I was dreaming. I prayed I could dream of him again. Instead I dreamed that my mom and Waylon were abducted by a cult and I had to save them :)

I'm grateful for the dreams I have of David. Especially ones where I can forget that he's gone. I can sit with him, feel him. Those are the good ones.

__________ are you from?

Bravo! Ansan! That's the catchy theme my new city has chosen and I agree! (Iksan = Amazing Iksan! Suwon= Happy Suwon!) Moving proved to be a little more difficult than I had originally thought. See, I moved to Korea in 3 suitcases...THREE!!!! When I moved from Iksan to Ansan I had to have a truck to move me... Here are some pictures of my junk ->








^^^^ These pictures don't include my bed or bike ;) ^^^^^

This was also the first time I have ever moved sans Dad. I know that sounds kind of strange, but my Dad ALWAYS helps me move and usually my brother or cousin if they have time AKA we trick them into it ;) It was strange how even after I got all of my things in the building itself and my mover was long gone, I was having trouble making myself unpack and organize everything. I mean, at home I call my Mom and she comes and helps with the picture hanging and the general layout of my room. Doing it all alone was lack luster.

On the bright side, as I've settled in I've had a lot of help from my co-teacher getting all of the pieces of my apartment together as well as some friendly neighbors. I was having some troubles with the hot water in my apartment AKA I haven't taken a hot shower at my house in 3 weeks! As I was coming home from school today I saw a Korean woman going into my building at the same time as me. She was surprised to see me and asked about me, then tonight she came over bringing fresh water, kimchi and Gim (seasoned seaweed) . She also brought her two young boys Sung-Hyun, 1st grade and Sung-Gun, 5th grade. They go to my school so no doubt I will teach them at some point. Then my land lady stopped by and the maintenance man. They all looked at my pictures and made me feel that much safer living here. Just knowing that someone knows that I'm here and possibly keeping an eye out for me ;)


As I start to round out week three of teaching, I'm realizing how different public school is from the Private/ Hagwon style classes I was teaching at WonKwang.

In public school I teach only sixth grade for three months. That means that I teach 11 classes of sixth graders the exact same lesson. The title of my blog represents what I have been teaching non-stop for the past two weeks, so it gets a little monotonous but it's a lot easier then preparing four different lesson plans five days a week. Now I only make 1-2 lesson plans per week and teach 22 hours a week. Better in that way...BUT I have to be at school from 9-4:45. No leaving! Which means I get to eat school lunches everyday mmmm mmmmmm

I haven't taken any pictures of my own, but I found this picture online and I think it represents what I get to eat almost daily at school.
1. Kimchi - cabbage/ radish
2. Rice- sometimes with a sprinkle of other grains
3. Soup- usually a seaweed or tofu blend soup.
4. Fruit - Today we had fresh strawberries
5. Vegetable - usually something green that I have no idea what it is...


One day we actually had tiny dried whole fish. Surprisingly they were really tasty! The greatest part about school lunches is of course the cost and convenience. Today for example, we had BiBimBap for lunch, kimchi, soup, fresh strawberries and baked sweet potatoes. Cost: $2 Cost in a restaurant: $3-5. Not much of a huge price difference, but I get to eat for the month for $40 and I never have to decide what to eat for lunch ;)


The students at the school have all different levels and it's hard to sit with a kid that studied in New Zealand for two years and has amazing English then turn to help the kid in front of him who doesn't even know the alphabet. However, I think they need to be challenged a little more while my Korean co-teacher holds their hands a little too much. They never have to really think in English as she repeats everything she says in Korean without even giving them a chance to process what they've heard in English. There's no incentive to understand. At WonKwang even my students spoke only English... Just saying...

Here are some pictures of my new classroom and the playground/track.




Having this projector and being able to use Internet and PowerPoint as been invaluable!






I do appreciate that the public schools have offered me a lot of education opportunities of my own. My school is sending me to a Korean class twice a week (2 hours a night) for three months. They also have me going to teaching seminars, doing online teaching courses and all the other state mandated curriculum for government teachers.

My new apartment has two rooms (one is small and I'm using it as a closet), bathroom with plenty of space so I'm not showering over my toilet (common in one room apartments), I have a small living/kitchen space, laundry room and a little balcony area for drying my clothes. The apartment is a lot bigger than my last one and my school has furnished all the major items I need. Where at WonKwang I walked into an empty room.

Location, Location, Location! I live literally a two minute walk from my school. In fact, I can see my apartment from the window in my office. The apartment is also a five minute walk from the subway station and only a 2-3 minute walk from a lot of the major bus stops! My gym is a three minute walk and all the shopping and restaurants are in that area also! Super convenient! It takes an hour to an hour and a half to get to Seoul by subway or I can take a bus that is one hour. I'm really appreciating the location in relation to everywhere I want to visit.

As for everything else, I've been enjoying hanging out with friends on the weekends. Tara (a girl from Oklahoma) and Stormy and I all started new jobs at the beginning of March so we're all getting settled into our new places and schools.

Here is a group shot from a few weekends ago;
me, Stuart, Posey, Tara and Jessup -- We always have fun together


Here Tara and I are having REAL Mexican food in Songtan. It was the best I've had in Korea



As always, sorry for the delay in my postings. I will try to do better :)