A year in pictures

Well, since I haven't posted any pictures in over a year, this is sort of random.
Love you all!

How long has it been?

Ok...so I know it has been forever. What started as a short break due to computer problems has become a year of nothingness. Well, if anyone still cares...I'm back. For reasons I won't mention, I've decided to start blogging again. Of course, I decided to do it now that I'm just about to leave work, so this will be a short one.

Life is wonderful now. Seriously, I've never been so happy. I'm really comfortable in Korea now. Lots has changed since I last wrote, but I won't bother rehashing the past. I think I'll just start fresh with my next post. It's after 6pm and I'm late to meet Gary for dinner. Hope all is well with you all back home.

xoxoxo

New pictures

Ok, it is late and I don't have time to write much. I worked late today getting ready for our big Halloween party tomorrow and now I'm exhausted. I still have papers to grade and a grad school paper to work on....but I wanted to post some pictures as promised. (Especially since Danika posted a comment saying that she always checks my page! I kind of figured that no one except my dad was checking it, so this guilted me into posting, heehee.) Anyway, after my party tomorrow, the PTA has arranged a trick or treat night for the kids, so of course I am going along. I love Halloween and really miss it! I'll post another blog soon, but here are a few pitures of my classroom, etc.

All my love.

Life in Korea...the saga continues

So as my father likes to remind me...it certainly has been too long. I started writing and saving what I planned to be my final blog before leaving Japan. Unfortunately, my computer broke and is yet to be fixed. It took me some time to get the energy to try to figure out my blog using Shun's computer...which is all in Japanese!!!!

Although there are things I certainly miss about Japan, I must say that I am happier than I ever remember being in my adult life. It isn't that I love Korea, although I do like it here. I just love my job so much. It is amazing to figure out what you were meant to do in life and then actually be able to do it. I love teaching, particularly in an international school. Having a career I love helps to complete my life.

I am also still taking grad school classes. I am currently taking a class on global human rights. It is so amazingly interesting. I will hopefully finish my masters in the spring of 2010. After that, I plan to continue my education and either take a different masters program or a doctorate program. I can't imagine my life without education. I wish I had realized how important it is...and how much I enjoy it at an earlier age.

Ok, just for those I don't talk to much, here are a few details about my current situation. I teach at an international school in Okpo, South Korea. I am actually on a small island which has a large foreign community due to the local shipyards. I am teaching 3rd year students (this is the same as an American 2nd grade class. My school just uses the British grade system.) I currently have 19 students who are from Norway, the UK, France, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, America, Canada, Ukraine, Vietnam, India, and Malaysia. I am learning so much about the world from my students. This really is the perfect job for me! I am the coach of our school's basketball club which I really enjoy. I also work with another teacher to run the school's student council. I am lucky to really get along well with the other teachers at my school. We are a pretty small school with only about 180 students. Everyone is so nice though and that makes my work life so much better. I also spend time outside of work with several other teachers and school staff, including our principal who is great.

My apartment is coming along well. It is MUCH bigger than my apartment in Japan. We have an extra bedroom, which is nice. I am hoping to finish my initial decorating phase in the next few weeks (who ever completely finishes decorating...right?) and then I will post some pictures.

Shun and I have been exploring Korea a bit, but mainly just around our area. We did spend a weekend in Pusan and went on a day trip with the teachers from my school. For Christmas this year, we are going to Thailand. We will also visit either Vietnam or Laos, although we haven't decided which yet. Any suggestions?

Well, I will try to post some pictures soon. It is late though and I need to go to bed. I hope everyone is well back home and please email me when you have a chance. I really do miss you all so much.

All my love,

Marsha

Why do I love Kelley the most???

Because she is coming to visit me in Japan!! I'm so excited. Kelley is coming for my last week in Japan. It had to be planned very quickly and it was a pain for her, but luckily for me she did it! I'm happy that someone will get to be a part of my life here in Japan. Thanks Kelley.

I love you and miss you all.

India continued...

So, I thought I had lots more pictures to post, but guess not. My friend Erica and I took turns using cameras to save our batteries. I guess she must have most of the pictures from the end of our trip! When we finally get together and exchange pictures, I'll post more. These pictures are pretty self explanatory. I don't have the energy to go into too much detail. I will say that the culture and people of southern India were much nicer than in Delhi, although it still wasn't wonderful. The stone carvings were amazing though. I only posted a couple pics, but the entire town was full of them.

By the end of the trip, I was quite ready to come back home...back to Japan that is. :)

I love and miss you all.

India and Nepal...Finally!!

So I've finally forced myself to sit down and write about my most recent trip, India and Nepal. The above pictures are from my first few days in India. We started in Delhi and used it as our home base, flying in and out of the city several times. I wish we had chosen a different place because Delhi was quite horrible actually. I've been to many countries and dealt with many people, but nothing could come close to how mean and disgusting the people were in Delhi. For every one person that was nice to us, there was at least 200 that were screaming, pushing, trying to rip us off, and doing just ridiculous things that I won't waste my time writing about. Anyway, after just one day in Delhi, we took a train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Since we wanted to see the Taj at sunset, so we started with the fort. It was a huge area with various builings, mosques, etc. That evening we went to the Taj Mahal and I am happy to say that it didn't disappoint. It is even more beautiful in person. Just standing there staring at it, I was overwhelmed with thoughts of how lucky I am to have this experience. As always, I wish that I could have shared the experience with you all back home. Although the Taj is made entirely of white marble, at sunset, the colors change and it takes on a pink hue. We stayed until it was too dark to see it any longer.

These are pictures from Nepal.

So as we were boarding the plane for Nepal, we realized that we were pretty much the only people not in hiking boots. Everyone goes to Nepal to trek. We decided to try to make time for a short trek. We spent our first two days exploring Kathmandu. We went to numerous stupas, including one in an area where Tibetan refugees live. Every night at sunset they meet and walk around the stupa both to pray and to socialize. It was amazing to see all of the Tibetan people, particularly because of everything that is going on right now with China. We also climbed to the top of Monkey Temple and had amazing views of the city. One night we went to a dinner show with traditional Nepalese dancing. We ended up getting seated at the table beside the owner who was their entertaining business associates. He ended up buying all of our drinks and after the show took us back stage to try on the dancers costumes and then took our picture. Erica has those pictures though, so I'll have to post them later. We had a great time that night and it was definitely a unique experience!

We found a short, 2 day trek to go on for our last 2 days in Nepal. Our guide Nara was amazing. The first 3 hours of the first day was straight up an extremely steep mountain in the Himalayas. It was absolutely exhausting. I was so amazed as we came across tiny villages that were located in the mountains, hours away from anyone else. We stayed in a trekkers lodge overnight and got to meet lots of people from all over the world. Our second day we came across a small town that had been spray painted and covered with flags from the Maoist party. We saw lots of kids wearing Maoist shirts. For those who don't know, Nepal recently held its first democratic elections and no longer has a king. They had lots of pre-election violence which many felt would continue if the Maoist didn't win the elections, but they did. I talked to many Nepalese people about what was going on and more than one seemed to have faith that the Maoist party could really help the poverty situation. Unfortunately for them, I know what usually happens when Maoist are in power. I'm curious as to what the future holds for Nepal and I definitely want to travel there again.

Ok, I can't do it. I can't finish everything right now. After Nepal I spent another week and a half back in India. I'll write about it next time.

I love and miss you all!