The Beginning

            Oh, where to begin? From the beginning I suppose. Morgan and I met in December 2015 at work and our interactions were nothing more than "Hey, how is it going?" and "I'm so tired.". You know, the basic everyday teacher conversations when you're walking in the hallway with your students. So how did teaching in Korea come about? I've always had a passion for travel and seeing and experiencing  as much of the world as I can. I knew I wanted to teach overseas, I just didn't know where. I came across an agency on idealist.org and sent my information in. I spoke with a recruiter about all the teaching possibilities and where I could go. He just so happens to place teachers in Korea. I never really thought about Korea. I know some culture and background specifics but nothing more than that. Korea seemed really good because I had spent the pass two Christmas holidays in Malaysia. Korea? Why not?

            Finding a travel buddy. I knew immediately that it had to be Morgan. She and I spent some time together talking about traveling and seeing the world and I knew I had found my kindred spirit. So how do I ask her? Well, why not straight out? I don't like to beat around the bush. One day after school Morgan came by my room to ask if she could borrow my whiteboard and I just blurted, "Want to go to Korea with me?". Her face said it all. The next few weeks we talked about what an amazing adventure this would be and it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Morgan and I made the decision to travel to Korea in April and by the first week in May we had a job. Morgan has my adventure spirit, which is just one of the many reasons why I love her.

           The weeks dragged as we worked on getting our documents ready to send to Korea and preparing our students to take their EOG's. There were days when Morgan would come in my room and ask if we were really doing this and there were days that I did the same. It just wasn't "real" until we were actually in Korea. Giving our resignation was I think our hardest day. There was so many emotions that ranged from fear to excitement. It's never easy telling your boss that you have decided not to come back. Morgan and I drew strength from each other and our families. Without their support this decision would have been a lot harder to make. My husband was very supportive and never made me feel like I was making a selfish decision. Being a military family you find ways to get through all the deployments and training. This was as my lovely husband calls my "mommy deployment". Morgan's boyfriend, Mason, thought it would be an amazing opportunity for her and completely backed her.

            Going to Korea..yes! Job...yes! New school name...Maple Bear!!!