"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."

A famous quote from my man, E.E. Cummings. It's true though. October has been filled with many emotions. It's been up and down. Missing home, but loving where I am, wishing I could change the way things are, but embracing the fact that I can't. So I choose to trust, to pray, and to laugh at every opportunity. I saw "Eat, Pray, Love" last weekend by myself (which I sincerely love to do on occasion) and had some moments where I could not control my laughter. I especially loved the conversation about the muffin top that may or may not be acquired by a certain point in our lives (ladies). Oh sweet life. The picture above is from the most recent hip and happenin' event in Busan. Apparently there is this Asian fireworks competition that different countries compete in. So South Korea does their display at Gwangalli beach (coveniently down the subway from me). It was the most immaculate display of fireworks I have ever seen. I mean it totally trumped anything "amazing" I've seen at the 4th of July. America could learn a thing or two about a serious fireworks show from South Korea. There were literally hundreds of thousands of people in the area when I went and I was completely squished between tons of bodies in the subway. Talk about Nancy's worst nightmare. Listen guys, I'm conquering my fears on my adventures. That's what it's all about right?

I turned 23 on the seventh. Kind of crazy to think that 10 years ago I turned 13. Listen, turning 13 is a BIG deal (when you are 13). My parents played along and took me to a really fancy restaurant in Dallas called "Three Forks" and they gave me a beautiful purity ring. Two hearts intwined together with two little diamond studs. I will treasure it forever :). I felt like a queen on that day. Now, it's been TEN years since that night. TEN YEARS! Is this really happening? Am I recalling memories from decades past? So be it. I'm getting old. When I turn 26 and I'm looking back at 16 (on that day I still recall my nervous sweaty palms on the wheel of my honda), I may have a pre-mid-life crisis. Anyway, back to being 23. My wonderful friends took me to a Japanese place in the bottom of my building, where we had yummy fried rice, an omelet type thing, and many beef/chicken/tomato/shrimp grilled kabobs. We even had a pretty private room. Here are some photos of some of the faces that graced me with their presence on that fateful night:

Let me tell you more. Hmmm, how about some random happenings? At the beginning of October, Jay man ran half marathon #2 (since I've been here). This race was really cool because it was across the Gwangalli bridge. Such a cool bridge. It lights up in all of these colors every night. I like Gwangalli beach because you get a stellar view of the bridge and the sea. Here below are Krystal and I. We waited for Jay for an hour or so to get to this point. It was so fun cheering for the Koreans. Krystal had the best cheers. Whether it was here insanely loud "Wooo!" or "Fighting" (apparently something commonly yelled in Korea during the world cup), or my personal favorite "You look really great!"
Another recent adventure was the day trip to "Gyeong ju". It is a city about 1.5hours from Busan with some pretty incredible temples and lots of outdoorsy things to do like biking and four-wheeling. Really nice for a country girl at heart. In the picture below, Krystal, Matt, Josh and myself are at the top of the mountain at one of the temples. It was such a beautiful view! Korea is really picturesque actually :)

33 steps to enlightenment. We weren't aloud to walk up them so I didn't leave an enlightened woman. Maybe next time...
The next few pictures are of some of my wonderful students. In the picture here I am with Jessica. She is my Hagwon directors daughter. I love her so much because she is your typical Korean teenager. Overly concerned with dramatized Western trends and although perceived as innocent, is quite the sneaky woman. We get the school part done as quick as possible and make a point to just have girl talk for the rest of the 40 minutes. Probably not ok, but at least she is practicing her English! One of our talks was about plastic surgery. It's amazing how huge that movement is here. It's like L.A. here in Busan (sorry for the stereotype..). It's a really big trend to get your eyelids lifted, so that you will have "wider" eyes and they won't be so squinty. Now, I think the Asian squinty eyes are beautiful and endearing. Jessica, will not believe me though. This is only one example of a common plastic surgery desire of most teens/young people. By the time Jessica finished telling me all of the things she wanted done, the picture in my head barely looked like her! It sort of broke my heart. I had a real mother moment with her right then and there about how she is beautiful for her heart and that she was created in a perfect and radiant light. She just giggled and said "Ok teacher". I just winked at her. In my heart though, I really want her to believe those words.

Now, these little munchkins. Oh man, how I love them. The one on the left is "Harry". Every time he reads in class he goes so fast it literally is just a long line of mumbles. I have to get onto him all the time because before I know it the book is over and I didn't comprehend anything he said. Now, the middle one, "Ted". Although, I have officially deemed him "Teddy Bear". He is so precious with his chilly bowl haircut and cheesy smiles. I look forward to seeing him every Tuesday/Thursday. More than his cuteness, he is really smart and pays such good attention in class. He is so loving to his classmates. Always willing to lend a pencil or pat the back of a sad friend. If I ever adopt a Korean child, I really hope he is just like my little Teddy bear. Now, the thug on the right is "Andrew". He is so funny. I don't know that he is actually learning anything. Every time he reads I am a little concerned that I'm not doing my job right. I have them repeat vocab words that I write on the board and I catch him making a funny face at another kid during their turn to repeat all the time. I have also, on multiple occasions, seen him mouthing the words and not actually saying them. Oh dear :)

Anyway, thus goes my life right now. I can hardly believe that October will be over at the end of this week and November awaits. Unfortunately for us Korean expats, Thanksgiving has already come and gone in the form of excessive amounts of song-pyeong and overly priced hair care sets. Now, you Americans enjoy the food and football. At least the Rangers are dominating and I can watch those games and feel slightly at home. On a side note: how amazing is it that the TEXAS RANGERS are going to the WORLD SERIES?! Pretty exciting. As I browsed all of the facebook albums with pictures by big Tex and funnel cakes at the fair I've been feeling a lot of Texas pride lately. It might be getting annoying, but it is where I am from. Home is home and nothing can change that :)

Until next time, adventure well my friends.