And it's summer

Hello! It has been a long time since I've actually blogged, hasn't it?
To be honest, I feel like our lives are a bit boring right now! I realize we do have a one year old and we do live in Asia, but life does not really seem out of the ordinary. I'll try my best to entertain you.

As you know, my mom and dad were here to visit us for two weeks. Ahh, what a wonderful time we had. It was so nice to spend a nice amount of time with them, and to show them what we live like. It's hard to explain what life is like here, but for other people to experience it with us is so nice. The people, the way of life, the food and the weather are so distinctly Korean, and there's even a distinct Korean smell!(Which, I might add, is worth missing!) It was very hard to see them go, and it makes me pretty homesick to think about how long it could be until we see another family member!

However, speaking of time, we have now officially been here for 4 months. That is 1/3 of our entire stay. The time has absolutley flown by, and yet admittedly, another 8 months seems like an awfully long time.

My teaching is going great. I really love the job. I work 40 hours a week, but only teach 25 of those hours, so I have a lot of free time to do prep,and....well that's about it. haha. The student's summer vacation will start at the end of July and then I will teach at 2 summer camps. These are specially designed English camps to help students improve their English over their vacation. Think band camp. I will teach those for 2 weeks and then I will be doing "telephone teaching" where I will be calling Grade 3 students at their home and having 2 minute conversations with them so that they can have the "opportunity" to hear me speak with them one on one. Crazy hey? That will bring us to late August, which is when I am on vacation! I have from August 23-September 3rd off. We are planning to save our money and go on a small vacation to Seoul. We haven't had the chance to visit there yet, except for our 2 day stay there when we first arrived in Korea. We definitely were not in the mood for touring at that point, so I think this time we will see some of the famous sights, do some shopping at the foreigners market and just get away for a bit.

Cate is doing great. She loved having some extra attention from my parents (and by attention I don't just mean the poking and cheek pinching from the Koreans!). She is very funny, and yet has a sweet sensitive side. She is saying a few words, but has not yet chosen to walk. I tell you, she has a mind of her own! She is absolutely obsessed with watermelon. She would eat it all day if she could. She points and yells at the fridge if she knows it is in there, and won't stop until she has some! So funny.

The weather here is so HUMID. I have never experienced anything like it. Even when the weather is like 25 degrees, you step outside and feel like you've walked into a jar of honey. It is so sticky! We are in the middle of the rainy season now, but so far haven't experienced that much rain. Apparently August is the hottest month where temperatures like to hover around 35 degrees. Sweet. My school did end up buying us an air conditioner, but it is installed in one room of the house and so the rest of the house is nearly impossible to keep cool.

That is about all that is new...

Oh! Before I go, a special congratulations goes out to Matt and Patti on the birth of their new baby boy, Jackson Cole. I wish I could meet him!

On that happy note, I will say goodbye. But a post wouldn't be complete without some new pictures of the little pea.

Love from SK...

Some friends of ours here have these great little chairs and Cate LOVES to sit in them.


Nana and Papa Guenther, this photo is especially for you. Here is the jean jacket you bought for her when she was just a wee one. It was her first time wearing it- at exactly 15 months old.

And perhaps the funniest picture I've ever seen of her.