Digital Declutter

Maybe you have heard the term digital minimalism. Or maybe it is just me who is constantly seeking out ways to be happier with less: less noise, less clutter, fewer things and worries and comparisons. Paradoxically, being content with fewer of these mental distractions means freeing up more mental energy and time to work towards …

Teacher Update: English Camp

The Korean school year ends with the calendar year, followed by the longer of the two school breaks: winter break. During this time, it is not uncommon for a foreign teacher to be “asked” to host an English Camp at one of their schools, as I was. My instructions were these: the first week of …

Giving Thanks

It is no secret that these past seven months in Korea have been some of the most challenging I have had. As the holidays approach my homesickness is amplified, making it all the more difficult to be here and not at home with my family. However, the holidays also offer a unique opportunity to reflect …

Give Me More Kindergartners

It is safe to say that my feelings about my students change daily, sometimes by the minute. Some days they are engaged, funny, and enthusiastic; we joke and laugh, and time passes quickly. Other days, nobody listens or cares, they whine and carry on, and the minutes tick by like hours. However, through the ups …

I Read 100 Books in a Year

If you’ve spent much time with me this year, you know I have been working on a pretty intense personal challenge. This week, I reached my goal: I read 100 books in a year. Last September, my friend Tabatha texted me. She had seen a blog post from a mutual acquaintance who had just finished …

Humidity, Hiking, and Hopeful Thinking

Summer has hit here in Korea... oh man. We are talking 100 degree days, 100% humidity, and UV index levels of 11 (read: extreme!). On days we get a little relief from the glaring sun, it pours down rain (did I mention 100% humidity?). Unlike in Oregon, where summer rain brings a clean sense of …

Week 10: A Win

Finally—finally!—after over 2 months of teaching in Korea, I had a week that felt like a win. Did I mention: finally?! Let me get one thing out of the way: the whole teaching thing? I don't love it. Quite honestly, it is frustrating and stressful and I want to like it more than I do. …

Girl vs. Korea

I’ve never had a job—or, in my many years of schooling, a schedule—so jarringly emotionally inconsistent as being an English teacher in Korea. Seriously. One day things will be great: the bus will come on time; I will get to school early and the other teachers will be in a great mood, offering me coffee …

The Last One (For Now)

In my first blog post 7 months ago, before setting out on my Thailand adventure, I quoted Thomas Edison: “If we did all things we were capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.” Sitting in the Shanghai Airport, waiting for the flight that will take me back to America, I’m looking back at the ups …

Street Dogs & Village Children

I went to a village this weekend. Brendon, one of the boys in the group I have done some of my Thailand travels with, extended an invitation to join him in visiting an isolated village near the Myanmar border. His words: “like National Geographic-type villages where people live in raised bamboo huts with no running …

Goodmorning, Teachaaa

After talking broadly about the trips I have taken, I thought I would use this post to chronicle a glimpse of what I experience on the day-to-day, specifically each morning at school. Typically, I arrive around 7:50 when the teacher on side gate duty is impatiently holding the gate open for the last students sprinting …

Suksan Wan Pii Mai

December: what a month! The excitement kicked off with a visitor from home! Joey got to Thailand on a Wednesday, and by Saturday afternoon we were walking down the shop-lined main street of Ko Lanta, an island south of Krabi, caught in an island downpour. Like the true Oregonians we are, we weren’t going to …

Rivers & Roads (but in this case mostly roads)

One month living in Thailand, and the biggest lesson I've learned thus far? There is no right way to do any of this stuff. This lesson isn't specific to living abroad; arguably, it is a principle of life in general. We are all on our own journey, picking the path we are going to take, …

I Survived My First Week as a Teacher!!

This week has passed in waves; I have experienced highs of feeling very confident, and lows of feeling very lost and defeated. Mostly, I've found that I feel anxious when I am out of the classroom. When I am in the office lesson planning (aka struggling with the questions of what on Earth to teach …

Small Victories

As I settled in last night for my first night alone since I got to Thailand, I was feeling uneasy. I had anticipated that sitting by myself in my empty apartment would elicit feelings of insecurity and doubt, and boy was I right. I went to sleep feeling anxious. I set an alarm for the …