My very first Blog

October 19, 2006

Well, here goes nothing!

This is my very first blog ever. I don't know if I'm doing this correctly and if it will show up but I'm giving it a shot anyway. The idea for creating my own blog came from my lovely sister Jenifer as a way to record my thoughts and adventures while I'm living in Seoul, South Korea. A sort of up-to-the-minute way to let my sister and her family share in my experiences. Speaking of their family I miss my nieces so much. Before I left I was given a gift of an electronic picture frame with two 4x6 photographs. One of the girls and myself at the T.O zoo and another picture of the girls at Disneyland hanging out with a bunch of Minnie Mouse dolls. The best feature of this photo album are the two recordings that I play every single day. After two days I knew them off by heart and still recite them as I play them.
"Hi Auntie Amy, I love you even if you're going away you're still my Aunt and I like you so much" - Alex
"Hi Auntie Amy, I want to go to your pool but I like you so much and I want to go to your pool" - Calista
Hearing their voices everday puts the biggest smile on my face. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful family. Since these blogs are aimed directly at Jen, Aris, Alex and Calista I am going to write directly to them. The main parts of the blogs will be for everyone to read but I will also include little messages to each of my nieces at the end of the blog. I am going to give my mum and brother my blog address but it will be mainly for the Gouvis family because I email and talk to Ian and mum almost every other day.
So hello to my family, I miss you guys like crazy!!!

Today I took my first sick day. I've been fighting a cold since Sunday night and it's been getting worse as the week goes on. Probably due to the pollution here and having to teach kids all day. By 5:30pm my voice is usually dead and I'm completely exhausted. So this morning I asked the assistant director Judy to take me to the doctor's to find out exactly what is wrong with me. It turns out I have a common cold for which I got medication (some pills and cough syrup). I think the 'common cold' isn't as common for foreigners, it's definitely more severe than a regular cold I would experience in Toronto. I've been coughing up some serious phlegm and battling a runny nose for the past week. At least I don't have an infection. So I took a sick day and spent the morning sleeping and starting my medication. I only have to take my medication for three days though!
Since the pollution here is really bad and the air quality incredibly poor I've been less inclined to do exercise outdoors. So a couple days ago I made a skipping rope out of duck tape and masking tape in my apartment. Surprisingly it works extremely well! I spent twenty minutes skipping today but that's all my lungs would allow with this cold still in me. It felt good to sweat though. I just made some chicken noodle soup for dinner and watched some Seinfeld Season 3 episodes that I downloaded on my computer. I was supposed to go to a free salsa dancing lesson tonight but I don't have the energy so I'm going to try and go next Thursday night. I think it would be something really fun for me to do every week and get me out of the house on a week night without being too tired to teach on Friday. Speaking of Friday I have my first field trip tomorrow with my school. We're taking the kindergartens to a park for a picnic and to play games. Should be a lot of fun!

Well this turned out to be a lot longer than I expected! I guess I have a lot of things to say about what I'm up to. In conclusion I miss you guys a lot and I look forward to writing on this more, at least a couple times a week. Hope everyone is doing well and despite the fact that I'm sick I feel pretty good now that I'm more settled in my job. I just need to kick this cold and then I'll be back to 100%.

to Alex: Hi ALEX!!! I miss you so much!!! I hope you are having fun at school and learning a lot of new things. I think school is very fun. What are you going to be for Hallowe'en this year? I am thinking of dressing up as burglar. We have a Hallowe'en day at my school and all the teachers have to dress up too! Give your mum a big HUGE hug for me okay? I love you TONS! xoxoxox

to Calista: Hi CALISTA!!! I miss you so much!!! I hope you are having fun hanging out with your mum. I heard Rachel was visiting with you for awhile, that must have been very fun. Almost like you had another sister! What are you going to be for Hallowe'en this year? I hope you get a lot of candy on Hallowe'en but don't eat it all at once, save some for later. Give your mum a big HUGE hug for me and be a good girl okay? I love you TONS! xoxoxox