Ch-ch-ch- changes

Tomorrow's a big day for me!
Today too actually.
And next month, another big one in the works.

Today my contract and NOA (notice of appointment) arrive in the mail from Korea. That's h u g e.  After months of preparation and scrambling to get paperwork from the US sent to me in Germany and sending it off to Canada to my recruiter and then having it forwarded to the EPIK office in Korea (and all the mishaps that occurred in between), everything is almost set.  With my contract, I can finally apply for my visa and then it's only a matter of waiting --and packing my life into a suitcase (again).

And yes, tomorrow, I'm flying back to the US.  Spending two weeks in NJ and NYC, visiting friends and family, soaking in American-ness and sorting out some paperwork.  Here's a small poem in honor of that visit:

After 1.5 years away

I'm going back to the US of A

It's going to be a fabulous day

Hooray for the US of A!

(Gotta put that creative writing degree to use somehow.)

Until next post.

Kimbap: Round 1

We have a tandem partner couple that we meet here in Nuremberg from time to time.  The girl is from Germany and the guy is from South Korea.  We were at their place not too long ago and made (Germanized) Kimbap for the first time--and it seemed so easy--so David and I had a go of it on our own the other night and this is what turned out. 

David's first attempt turned out really pretty looking, but I think his Japanese ancestry gave him a bit of an advantage.

A bit messy -- my first roll.

They didn't turn out too bad, but I think we need to figure out a better vinegar/sugar ratio for the rice.   Hoping round two goes better for us tonight. 

Make-over Time

I figured as my life is getting ready for a big change, it was time for the blog to follow suit.  'Life in the Land of Deutsch' is now 'From Bratwurst to Bulgogi' and I'll be using the same web address to document my next year in South Korea.

Getting more and more excited now. 

Still in the process of sorting out our stuff, but it feels as though I'm making progress. 

Sorting out the ol' lessons.  So much paper to waste :(.

This year is going to be a good year.

 

twothousandandtwelve

Turns out I didn't spend New Years Eve in bed after all. Yah, 2012! 

Now that it's January, it's time to start moving--figuratively and literally.  Our flat mates moved out on the 31st of December, so now its just me & David in the apartment. While it is nice to have a bit more space, it doesn't exactly feel like home the way we knew it last year (last week) as we've starting sorting everything out and we're starting to pack.  Each item gets put in one of four categories:   "give away", "throw away", "bring to Korea" & "things to bring to the US" to hold onto until we return.  Yesterday I started going through all my English teaching materials and realized it's way too much to do at once.  The entire living room floor was covered in photo-copied grammar worksheets--'twas quite a sight to behold ;).  The rest of my files still need sorting through, so I'll be going through them over the next two weeks before leaving for the US.  Today, I sorted through most of my clothes and was (pleasantly) surprised to discover that I actually don't have that much. Going to have to do some shopping in the next few weeks to get my wardrobe Korea-ready--

Soon it's going to be time to say good-bye to beautiful Nuernberg... :'(

My super-awesome Windlicht which I was given by some students on the last day of our lessons.  It's a candle holder made from very thin ceramic, and when the candle is lit, the skyline of Nuernberg appears.  Cool, huh?