Yes, I got hurt again.  Last week I fell on our scooter and sliced my knee open really badly.  I cabbed it to the ER and they stitched me up (in my favorite, Trauma Bed #1) all before Drew got off work!  
I got 10 stitches total.  They had to put 4 inside my knee and 6 outside.  I got the stitches out two days ago, and I'm healing up!  I wasn't supposed to bend my knee until the stitches came out, so I wouldn't rip them, but there might be another issue now!  (OF COURSE)  My knee is still really swollen and puffy.  I can't bend it all the way, but I am hoping it goes away soon!  Going for a run tomorrow to see how it feels :)
Here's a special treat.. PICTURES hahaha

As far as my hand goes, it is healing and I use it more and more each day.  I had an appointment a week ago and the doctor was happy with the way things were going.  It has been tingling a lot lately, and having some extra pain and stiffness, but overall, it's so much better.  I still can't wear my wedding ring though :(  My finger is still too swollen, so I bought a fake ring to wear as a placeholder!


And that's all for injuries.  What else is new?
The weather is cooling off a little bit, but it's still been in the low 80s most of the time.  I am SO looking forward to fall!  I want to wear sweaters and jeans and NOT sweat 24/7!  
We've had a little lapse in adventuring since I was incapacitated for a bit haha.. but we are planning some more trips soon!  
Right now, Koreans are celebrating their "Thanksgiving" holiday, Chuseok!  Chuseok "is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. "  
"In contemporary South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of South Koreans from large cities as they return to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of their ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. Then they visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors."
We experienced this "mass exodus" today on the train!  Going toward Seoul, the trains were EMPTY.  Going away from Seoul, the trains were unbelievably crowded!  Everyone was traveling home with gift boxes of fruit and Spam (a hot commodity here) to give to their families for the holiday.  We have also experienced some of the traditions dealing with the tombs of ancestors.  About a month ago, we were on a walk near our house and started noticing paths that were being cleared into the woods.  We decided to sneak a peak and found TONS of graves and burial mounds.  Most didn't have any grave stones or decorations.  A few had fake flowers or offerings of Soju in front of them.  Turns out, 3-4 weeks before Chuseok, the oldest son and his family go to the graves of their ancestors and clear the area.  They cut back the weeds and make sure that the burial sites are very clean.  (PS.  Koreans are buried in plots of land all over.  Sometimes you see burial mounds in yards, fields, next to gardens, or like the ones we saw on our walk, in the woods.)  When the families get together and celebrate Chuseok, they will gather at their ancestors' graves and thank them for blessing them with a plentiful harvest.
Here are some pictures of the burial mounds near our house.  (I wanted to be very respectful and not disturb any of the spirits, so I made sure to bow before entering and before exiting the burial sites.)

The Korean traditions for death are very interesting.  I've been reading a lot about them since finding these burial mounds, and it's so different!  When someone dies, their body is kept in their family's home for 3-7 days, depending on the season.  (Shorter if it's hot, longer if it's cold.)  While it's in the home, people from all over the "village" come to pay their respects to the body.  Close family members, such as children or spouses, are actually supposed to cry as much as they can.  The more they cry, the more devoted they were to the person who died.  This is one time in a Korean's life when they are encouraged to show emotions in public.  The body is buried in a plot of land that the family chooses.  Some families have sites where they are all buried.  Some use their own property near their home.  This part, I'm not so sure about, but I've read a few different things.  Apparently, bodies used to be buried standing upright, and that is why the burial mounds look the way they do.  I believe most bodies are buried laying down now, but the mounds are still created on top.  Don't quote me on this, but I read it a few different places.  All of this is if an adult dies.  If an infant dies, it is a different story.  Again, I know this is what it used to be like, but it might be different now, or for certain people.  Infant mortality rate used to be so high in Korea that a birth would not be announced until the baby turned 100 days old.  Once that happened, it would be a big celebration.  If a baby died before that, there would be no funeral and the parents would go alone and bury the body.  They were also not supposed to cry!  Today, I do know that they still celebrate the baby's 100th day.  It is a HUGE deal here.  They give gifts to others and get gifts for the baby.  Lots of tradition!  Okay enough of a cultural lesson for today.

To end, I'll post some random pictures from our last week!  Miss you all :)

When I found out we were moving to Korea, the question I heard the most was, "Are you going to teach??"  For a while, I really didn't know the answer to that question.  I figured I could do some tutoring here and there, maybe some babysitting, and if all else failed be an ESL teacher off base.  But then I found the perfect job!  Nannying four little girls and homeschooling the two oldest.  We are 3 weeks into our school year and I love it already!  I use a curriculum that the girls' mom bought and then I am able to supplement it however I want to.  Right now, the girls are finishing the curriculum work Monday - Wednesday, and then they get to choose what we learn about on Thursday and Friday.  It is so much fun and I love getting to teach exciting new things with the girls!
I really love homeschooling, but I could NEVER do it for my own kids!! I'd go nuts if I had to teach my own haha!!  Anyway, I love my job and here are my 10 reasons why MY JOB is better than any teaching job I would have had at home!

1.  School starts at 9:00am and usually ends by noon.  (And I don't have to "check my window" ugh)
       Homeschooling cuts out lots of the unnecessary transitions and down time, so we finish a lot faster than traditional school.  On average, homeschooled kids work for 2-4 hours a day, 4 days a week.  School goes much faster since there are 2 kids as opposed to 20, and we don't have to worry about things like specials and lunch and recess!

2.  I follow a curriculum, but THERE IS NO CURRICULUM MAP!
      Last year, at Sutton, we had to follow a curriculum map and HAD to teach certain standards at certain times.  It makes it easier to know what you are going to do and when, but I hated that I couldn't go off the beaten path every now and then and do things my own way.  Right now, if the girls want to learn about how plants grow rather than the normal Autumn and hibernation lessons, THEY CAN!  And I love it!

3.  I DON'T HAVE TO TURN MY LESSON PLANS INTO ANYONE!!!!!
      This isn't realistic AT ALL in the teaching world today, but I'm really enjoying not having to write full on lesson plans for each subject, for each day, for each week, etc. etc.  I don't have to write them down, print them off, email, or upload them ANYWHERE or to ANYONE.  It's amazing.  First time this has happened in 3 years.

4. I can wear slippers and sweatpants to work!
      Usually I wear actual clothes to teach, but I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wear my slippers.  It's the greatest.  Oh!  AND I don't have to straighten or curl my hair every morning!  It's the little things ;)

5.  Tattoos don't matter.
      I can wear my flats, flip flops, sandals, or no shoes at all and not have to cover up my tattoo with a stupid bandaid and make up an even stupider story of how I hurt my foot every day!!  Oh also.  There are no fellow teachers to judge me and ask me what my tattoo is or why I "would ever ruin my body like that".

6.  I can leave my "classroom" to go to the bathroom as many times as I need to during the day!
      Since my bladder is the size of a pea (haha I'm funny), I don't have to dehydrate myself in order to ensure that I don't have to run out of the classroom or ask another teacher to watch my class while my bladder tries really hard not to explode.  I can drink as many cups of water or coffee or tea as I want while I teach and not have to wait to pee until lunch or specials!

7.  I know basically everything about my students.
      That was a tongue twister.  BUT I know how the girls learn best.  I know their interests.  I know their hobbies.  I know what is going on in their lives.  I know when to push them and when not to.  I know if they're grounded, or in trouble.  I know how they are disciplined.  And if there's something I don't know, I can always ask!  Too bad it's not this easy for a normal class of 25 kiddos.

8.  I can take as many field trips as I want and I don't have to write a request form or figure out how to fund it.
      There are two girls.  Korea is one big field trip and there are so many places to explore and learn about.  We could literally walk down the road and have a "field trip."  We actually haven't gone on any yet, but we have one planned this coming Friday to a folk village to learn about the Korean holiday, Chuseok!

9.  We can take breaks when necessary and not worry about losing instruction time!
      We start each day with a stretching exercise and then a dance party!  Gotta get that blood pumping and those brains working somehow!  The girls love the dance parties and they always ask if we can have dance parties throughout the day.  The great thing is, if we've been working on something hard, or just working for a long time, we can stop and take a break.  The girls can dance.  They can go chill out in their room.  They can read.  They can even give their favorite teacher a back rub or play with her hair!! ;)  (This is actually one of their favorite things to do, much to my enjoyment!)  After our break, we pick up right where we left off and start learning again!  Oh yeah.. I can take breaks too.  Like holding a cutie baby!  That makes everyone's day better!

10.  I have the best students!
      Last year I had a student, who we will just call Eli, that caused so many interruptions that it was almost impossible to get through an entire lesson.  He would throw things.  He would walk around the room.  He would yell.  He would cry.  He would SCREAM AT ME.  He would tell me he hated me, tell me I was the worst teacher ever, and tell me he hated school.  He would run away.  He would hit.  He would throw tantrums anywhere and anytime.  It was a daily struggle that always ended with him in the office.  Now???  I have two well-behaved girls that would never dream of causing problems like that; or really any problems at all!  Why can't all kids love to learn and behave like these girls do?!

There are SO many more reasons why I love my job, but those are the reasons it is better than a traditional teaching job!  (Shhh.. don't tell, but I don't know how I'll ever go back!)

Now.. since all of my friends at home have been doing this for weeks, here is my "classroom" review!!!!