~*Season's Change*~

As I was walking to work today I saw beautiful Magnolias in full bloom. The leaves on trees were finally turning green and the sun was shining so beautifully. I was so excited to see that we are finally on the verge of spring in Korea. The season's are changing {not just in the weather, but in my life} Leaving behind this bitter winter with a promising spring on the horizon. 

This winter was perhaps one of the coldest winter's in Korea and ironically it was one of the coldest winter's in my life. It seemed like everything was falling apart. And every time I thought I was finally getting it together something else would go wrong. I was at a point in my life where I was questioning everything and trying to make sense of all of the things that were happening. But I started to realize that maybe it's true that somethings fall apart so other things can fall together. And maybe sometimes we think everything is going wrong when in reality we are just being prepared to be elevated to the next level of life.

But thankfully seasons change. 

Season's change and give us the opportunity to enter a new place in life. And I gladly welcome this new season in my life. It has already started out so beautifully with this move to Korea. A new start. New friends (still miss all the old ones). A new job. A new outlook. And a new me. Since being here I've really began to create the kind of happiness I was longing to have. {So glad my family and friends really supported me in my decision to move}

I've been able to reflect on all of the heartbreak, betrayal, frustration, fear and baggage I picked up in the winter of 2009 and I have simply released it. Pain has a special way of putting us in a kind of self-imposed prison, where we begin to wallow in self-pity and get caught up in negativity. I knew I had to make some changes or else I would become a prisoner of the past. So I {with the strength of GOD} dried up my tears and took control. I've been meditating, praying and learning to forgive which has truly given me the ability to let go and move forward. 

Letting go all of that excess baggage makes me feel so free. Now I can smile and really feel it and mean it. I can love without expecting anything in return. I can give kindheartedly. I can live freely. I can be happy without feeling guilty. And I can live in a happiness I never knew  existed. Sometimes we never know how strong we are until we look back and say "Wow I don't know how I made it through that?" (But deep down I know GOD carried me through and put special people in my life to help me through it. Thank you)

GOD really knows how to set up a blessing. I can now look back and put all the pieces together. I know that I went through all of those things so I could learn some valuable lessons, develop strength and test my pretty wings. And now I'm discovering a happiness that I cannot even put into words and flying my pretty wings around...

Seasons change.

And this season has changed for the best. Things may not be perfect, but I'm living my dreams in love, peace and freedom :) 

What is this Black girl doing in Korea?

I chose the topic of race for this blog entry because it is so interesting to see how my students react to me when they first meet me. On the first day I got everything from stares, to students touching my skin, to students wondering where the heck I was from. Korea is such a homogeneous culture that something as simple as hair texture baffles my students. Many of them have asked to touch my hair. Others have asked can they get a machine to make their hair like this. Koreans have a shared history that they can trace. Though they too have been victims of slavery many of them were able to stay in their own land and maintain their culture and traditions. Whereas many of the Afrikan people were forced into a foreign land and stripped of their culture and traditions. So it baffles my students when I tell them I was born in America but I do not know where my ancestors come from.

Unfortunately, in our world today race has played a major role in shaping peoples attitudes towards different groups of people. I'm inclined to argue that race is merely a socially constructed tool that has been used to divide groups of people. Nonetheless, the idea of race tends to dictate peoples attitudes toward other groups/cultures. Which in turn causes stereotypes to be formed. We all know that each culture has stereotypes. {Example Black people are ghetto or Asian people are smart} These are stereotypes that exist about each of these groups. Furthermore, how each group is portrayed in the media also has a large effect of the formation of stereotypes. And in my opinion Blacks are often misrepresented or portrayed negatively in media outlets such as: movies and television.

Well I have said all of this to say that one of my goals is to travel the world and expose different cultures to Black people {for the purposes of this blog entry Black refers to people of color across the African diaspora} and Black culture. I firmly believe that if a group of people have never met or encountered a Black person then they may believe all of the negative portrayals of Black people they have been exposed to via the media {television/movies}.

Thus, one of my goals during my hiatus in Korea, is to expose Korean peoples to Black culture. I realize that Black people are not monolithic and that we have many sub-cultures, but people tend to lump us all in one category and think we are lazy, ignorant or uneducated. Thus, I want to counter all of these negative stereotypes and demonstrate that we {Blacks} are educated, intelligent and hard workers.

Furthermore, it is my hope to travel the world and expose different cultures to the beauty of black people and to educate them about who we are and our contributions to the free world. Many of my students are surprised when I share different aspects of my rich culture. Educating people does not validate who I am and the contributions my ancestors made, but it does provide an opportunity for exploration, understanding and insight.

*~I'm just a Black girl trying to show the world my beauty, history and culture in the process of exploring the world one country as a time. My Black does not define me, but it inspires me*~

Am I really living in Korea?

Sometimes I wake up and I'm like "wow I can't believe I'm actually living in Korea." But, I must say that I have been enjoying my time here. I feel so far removed from everything and it makes me happy because I feel like I can start over. It's not that life was bad in the states, it was actually great. But I needed change. I needed to get away and try something new. I have never been the kind of person that could be happy doing the same old thing for so long. So after I graduated I wanted to go places and see the world. But, I didn't know how I was gonna do that with some dreams and a empty savings account. But, once I found out about teaching here I was excited to try the opportunity. And I'm so glad I made the choice to come here. I feel free here.


Gosh, I honestly never imagined that I would be living in Korea, teaching. But, here I am and I love it! Sometimes, it seems so surreal. There are moments when I'm walking down the street and I see a sea of Korean faces and I'm instantly reminded that I'm not back in FL. There are other times when I go into restaurants only to find that no one speaks English. But it's amazing what a smile will do for you. There is one restaurant I go to at least three days a week and I feel like the owners have become like an extended family. They always get so excited when I come in. We communicate with smiles, hand gestures and broken English and Korean. We cannot speak the same language, but we share a common humanity that speaks so much louder than words.


There are times I get a little homesick. Especially when I wanna pick up the phone and call at random moments, but then I remember that there is a 14-hour time difference. Other times I get homesick when I just wanna go to a place that sells grits and fried chicken for breakfast (lol). Then there are those times when I want to go out for a drink with my girls and I realize that they are thousands of miles away. (sigh I miss my family and friends a lot)


Nonetheless, I wouldn't change this experience for anything. It has been well worth the wait. ~I'm just trying to live my life like it's G O L D E N~