Family Visit Itinerary

As some of you may or may not already know, my mom, dad and brother will be visiting me for the holidays! They arrive in less than four days now! I am so excited to have them here and can't wait to do some new travel and exploring with them. What a Merry Christmas it will be!


Tuesday December 21 - Wednesday December 22

Departure:
Los Angeles(LAX) to Tokyo(NRT)12/21/10 10:10 AM - 3:10 PM
Tokyo(NRT) to Seoul(ICN)12/22/10 5:00 PM - 7:40 PM

Wednesday night I will travel from Wonju to Incheon International Airport by bus to pick up Mom, Dad and Scott. They will have traveled one day into the future and most likely will have been moving and "awake" for over 24 hours. After an dramatic and emotional greeting (or maybe sluggish and fatigued?) we'll grab some food and hop on a bus back to Wonju. The bus should take 2 hours. After a long night we'll all settle into my apartment for sleep. 

Thursday December 23

I'll get up at my usual time and head to Sangji Girls Middle School for work. My family can sleep (try to sleep? Hopefully jet lag won't get them too bad, your body will want to wake up in the wee hours of the morning) and relax in the morning, maybe take a walk if they want. At lunch time I'll come get them and we can all go over to Sangji together. Then they can see the school, meet my coworkers and see some of the students. We will be sure to sample the local snacks at the Croquette Sandwich Shop, dumpling shop and cookie "fish" pastry stand. For dinner we'll have 슨두 부 (sun du bu), my favorite Korean tofu soup! Depending on how everyone feels we can also walk to Lotte Cinema to look at some shops and grab some dessert. 

Friday December 24 - Saturday December 25

In whatever way the feeling of the days dictate. 

Things to make sure we see in Wonju: 

- Central Market, Bica Cafe

- View of Wonju from the side of the mountains, cute coffee shops

- Lotte Cinema

- Sauna 

- Bus Terminal 

- Sam gip sal 

-  칼 국 수 (kal guk su) 

- duck 

- mr. pizza 

- shabu shabu

- dak gal bi (닭갈비)

- galbi

- norebang (노래방)

- Trout Fishing Festival 

We will have a nice dinner either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We will open presents and celebrate being together! Merry Christmas! 

Sunday December 26

We will get up early and catch a bus to Gangneung, a coastal town about 1 1/2 away from Wonju. There we will take a local bus to Jumunjin Harbor and fish market. After that we'll head up coast to Naksansa Temple and the Uisangdae Pavilion. The day will be complete with a trip over to Seoraksan National Park. There we will ride the cable car to the top of the mountain to see the view as well as take in the giant buddha at Sinheungsa Temple. This long day will conclude with a bus ride back to Wonju for some sleep.  

Monday December 27 - Wednesday December 29

Travel to Seoul

Things to see in Seoul:

Gyeongbok Palace

Itaewon

War Memorial Museum

Myeong-dong

Insa-dong

Bukchon Hanok Village

Seoul Fortress

Hongdae

National Museum of Korea (at night) 

Seoul Tower and Namsan Park

Coex or Samsung or Hyundai Dept Store

Thursday December 30

Departure :(

Field Trip and Outlet Mall Shopping

Last week all the native English teachers of Wonju were taken on a (mandatory) field trip. We got to miss school for this and it ate away part of our weekend. A bus of 40 of us, plus about six Korean coteachers, traveled down south to Gyeongju. There we saw the anicent mounded tombs of the Kings of the Silla dynasty. We also got to do some hangji paper crafts. (Although our Korean instructors kept taking the crafts away from us as if we weren't doing it correctly, I felt like I was the kind in first grade who is bad at art and their teachers wants them to know it.) On the second day we go to see a famous old buddha statue and some temples. After that we headed down to an island that is south of Busan. There we took an exciting ferry trip to a botanical garden and saw these huge, impressive rock cliffs that composed the smaller islands in the area. There was a definite (and appreciated) temperature change between the snow in Wonju and the bright plants growing on the island! We didn't want to leave!

One of the "highlights" of the trip was our loding for the first night. All off our meals and lodgings were paid for by the Wonju Office of Education, which was ridiculously nice of them. The first night though, our bus pulls up in front of some traditional looking Korean homes. The owners come out to greet us and we realize we are staying there. Thinking there must be more to the complex than we initially saw no one is concerned. Until we realize that all 40 of us will be staying in only four rooms. Each room has only four floor mats. And while they did have ondol heating, the walls were made of paper and the doors didn't close all the way. It was cold. People were unhappy, especially the boys, who outnumbered the girls and had 12 people in one room! It didn't turn out too bad for me, I was surprisingly able to sleep, although many people had problems. Amber and I shared a spot on the floor. You were supposed to use the mat to cover your body and keep in the warm air, which we did. Some of the boys also didn't realize this and were freezing all night. The problem with that is that it left no padding for you to sleep on, you just slept on the hard wood floor. Needless to say my shoulder, hip and back were quite stiff.

The shock the first night also continued when we found out where dinner would be. We were initially told we were going to a resturant. But this was not true. Instead we had dinner at the loding complex, in the middle of the square the four buildings created. Outside. In the freezing cold. They set up tables and chairs for us and built a big campfire in the middle of them all. It was warm if you stood right next to it, but no where else. We had sam gip sal for dinner. When I saw it was freezing I mean it. Literally there was ice forming on the lettuce they set out which had recently been washed. All in all the night turned out pretty fun though, as everyone stood around talking for hours because it got dark so early. I felt like we were camping.

The next night we staying in a beautiful hotel with a bay view. We had a balcony with chairs and two double beds. We wanted to stay longer but sadly didn't get much time there. That night there were no bars near the hotel and while some people took taxis into town, a group of us decided to be really Korean sit and drink in front of the Family Mart. We bought wine and candy inside and used the plastic chairs outfront. We had a really good time just relaxing and talking, sipping our wine and chomping on mentos. The weather was beautiful, cold but not freezing.

Earlier that day we had also stopped at a POW museum, located on the site of where a POW camp was created during the Korean War. North Korean and Chinese soldiers were brought to the camp when they were captured. The museum was huge with lots of lifesized diaramas and rebuilt structures. It was a little strange but I learned things about the Korean War that I didn't know and may not have known without visiting the camp.

The trip was fun but a lot of time was spent on the bus, we were glad to get home. Checking my email Saturday night I noticed a message from two of our friends from orientation in August, Janine and Ben. They live in Sokcho, high up the coast, but were coming down near Wonju to do some shopping at a near by outlet mall in Yeoju. They are married and thinking of staying in Korea for two years so they bought a cheap car. They invited Jason, Scott and I to join them for the day. We happily agreed!

On Sunday morning they picked us up (which was glorious, no taxi or bus this time!) and thanks to Scott's excellent navigation skills made it on the highway to Yeoju. They shockingly don't have a GPS in the car (it seems like everyone in Korea does!) but they make it around okay, although we did get a lost a few times. The outlet mall was huge and definitely wasn't bargain shopping. It was filled with designer labels from Gucci to the Gap, and had two Starbucks! It was a pretty place with lots of Christmas decorations. We visited most of the stores in the place, Ben was intent on finding shoes that fit him (size 12 is huge here and he ended up not finding any!) and I was looking for a down jacket since everyone keeps telling me I "need" to buy one! After two trips to Starbucks and lunch at a revolving sushi bar we called it quits. Right before we left we did pop into the Nike store where at the last minute I found a great down jacket, comfortbable and warm but still kind of cute! (I think I might look like a marshmellow.)

The day was lots of fun and it was great to talk with old friends, now that we've been here for four months we all have new things to talk about. Last time we saw them we were saying "good luck" this time we were talking about coming up to Sokcho to stay with them in their two bedroom apartment.

Everland

Saturday Jason surprised me by suggesting we should take a trip to Everland! Everland is one of Korea's most popular amusement parks. (There is also a popular amusement park in Seoul called Lotte World, it is indoor so some claim it is the better of the two, as even during winter it is not cold.) I was very excited to go, especially since I'm so used to going (read: spoiled) to Disneyland every Christmas season. While Everland is not Disneyland, it was a very fun day full of Christmas lights and parades!

By 9am Saturday morning we were up and headed towards the Bus Terminal. There we caught a bus to Yongin, the town where Everland is located. The bus ride was only about an hour so we were there in no time! Once we arrived we made sure to by bus tickets back to Wonju right away (last bus was at 8:30) -- sometimes the buses from Seoul get full very early in the day and we didn't want to risk this happening in unfamiliar Yongin. There was no need for us to worry though, as it didn't seem like the most popular of destinations. The ticket lady was also able to point us in the direction of the right city bus to take us to the Everland entrance. It was so easy and convienent to hop on the bus and be dropped right at the gate to the park!

Admission was only 31,000 won each (we got a foreigner discount too) and the park was not crowded at all! Overall it was a really cute place, the entrance had Christmas decorations and lights all over and the main street was made up to look like famous places from around the world, I noticed hints of Venice and Egypt. In the center of main street was a huge fairy like tree all decorated with lights and christmas ornaments. The rest of the park was loosly divided into different theme areas "Magic Land" "European Land" and "American Land" were just a few. American Land was hilarious and ironically our first stop! Jason went on a spinning "rodeo" ride, we stopped by a tipee, took pictures next to "rusty" mining gear and saw the sailing ship Columbus. It was all quite funny! The only other part that made up American Land was a hometown Diner and Burger Cafe!

Entrance to the park. The cast member who took our picture told us to make the hearts!

Large fairy tree with Christmas decorations.

"American Land" -- there were space heaters inside too! 

Aesop's Fables Land 

Cute hats, scarves and gloves were everywhere!

Roller coaster riding.

While all the sections of the park were cutely decorated and attended by "cast members" wearing silly Christmas coats, snow hats and gloves, the rides were a little lacking. Most of them just went in circles or up and down. We did go on one great roller coaster though! Its claim to fame, and now mine since I rode it, is that it is the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world! They aren't lying, that first drop is dramatic and takes your breath away! It was also super cold outside so by the end of the ride you are quite frozen. 

The cast members working the park were also super cute, they always had to wave their hands at passers by, as in, at all times. It did make things pleasant but when I waved back and they didn't stop I always felt like I should keep waving too! Everytime they saw Jason and I they would speak English too, like "have a good day!" We saw a few other foreigners while we were there, most likely military people (why else would there be a group of middle aged American men and women walking around together?)

We also saw two parades! During the day there was a Christmas Parade and at night the Moonlight Magic Parade. Both were really cute, the second was kind of like the eletrical parade at Disneyland because it was full off floats will really beautiful lights all over them! The strangest part about the parades were the people in them... they were not Korean! Well, a few of them were, but the majority of the parade actors were white, they looked some kind of European to me because they all had pointy noses and inset mouths, as if they were from the same country... Jason wonders how I could make a guess like this (he said they could be American for all we know) but I really doubt this... I just wonder how you get a job like that! I know that foreigners work carnivals and fairs during summertime in the US too but its just such a strange concept for me. We also noticed that unlike Disneyland the actors do not have smiles plastered to their faces. This really does make a difference. You just don't feel like they are having a good time if they are not smiling!

One of the best sections of the park was the animal area! We wish we had visited it right away instead of waiting until the end of the day. They have a little wildlife/zoo section. We saw white tigers, a polar bear, sea lions, pegiuns, all types of monkey's, leemurs, snakes, etc. There were tons of cool animals to look at! We felt a little bad for the polar bear though, he was the only animal that was all alone, without a companion. The baby fox was so cute!

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the day was... the penguins! For creatures that move so slowly I feel like the amount of time we got to see them was very brief but... at 3pm we headed to main street to watch the pengiuns walk around... dressed up as Santa and his Reindeer! It was the cutest, strangest thing! These little guys came waddling out and walked in a giant circle, urged on by their handlers, to the cheers of a sizable onlooking crowd! They also brought out a baby fox and leemur, I got to touch the leemur's tale! The whole thing was pretty ridiculous... ridiculously cute that is!

Aren't they too cute!?

Baby lemur!

Lemur, penguin and baby fox!

We ended the night by strolling through the Chritmas lights before catching our bus back to Wonju. The day was chilly and long but lots of fun. I had the best person to spend it with too. (When I told some students and teachers about my trip to Everland today they all went "with your boyfriend?! Date?! Awww.")

A Week of Firsts: Faculty, Octopus, Snow and War

The past week brought a number of firsts: the first time I went to a faculty dinner, the first time I ate live octopus, the first snowfall of the year and the first time since the Korean War that North Korea has fired upon South Korean civilians.

As many of you have probably read online or seen on the news, last Tuesday North Korea began shelling a small island claimed by South Korea in the Yellow Sea. This caused South Korea to fire back in retaliation, no more than 100 shells were fired on each side, but it was enough. Homes were burned, people were evacuated, two marines and two civilians were killed. No one knows the casulties on the North Korean side. Since then the Korean news has delievered non-stop coverage of the shelling, the screen showing images of smoke, panic, destruction and soldiers. While no further retaliation on either side has resulted, tension on the penesula is high. While people jokingly said "we're going to war!" I actually believe most people believe, or hope for, the opposite. No one wants a war, especially with Seoul in firing distance of the North. There are all sorts of rumors as to why North Korea fired on the South... In a desperate plead for aid during a freezing winter, in an atempt to illustration the validity of Kim-Jong Il's son as successor (Kim is suspected to be sick and dying)... no one knows exactly why. Currently the South and the USA are engaging in war manuvers in the Yellow Sea, 77 miles south of the disputed border line. The North keeps issuing statements proclaiming any futher movement in the sea will provoke them. In South Korea, the Defense Minister resigned after the shelling on Tuesday, following criticism he did not respond harshly enough, the new Defense Minister warns North Korea that if they provoke the South, they will be harshly dealt with.

We will see what happens. Hopefully nothing. Its hard to imagine something like this happening so close by... its like if the North and South really had become two countries during the American Civil War, families were would be divided, and one side may have ended up poor and the other rich, as with North and South Korea. Everyone wants unification, but at the same time no one knows what really lies in the North. A horribly oppressive regime with thousands in slave labor camps... people fear the USA and South Korea can only bend to the angry will of the North for so long.

To illustrate this news isn't as prevelant in the daily lives of Koreans as one would think, last Wednesday, the day after the shelling, the faculty of Sangji Middle School traveled to Seoul and then had a teacher dinner (we watched the news on the bus.) Thus Wednesday turned out to be another half day I didn't know about. All teachers went to Seoul together on a bus at after lunch at 1:30pm to go to a teaching materials convention. The principal wanted everyone to go. While many teachers told me I should go home and "take a rest" my main co-teacher said he'd like for me to go so that I could feel like part of the group. So I agreed. Everyone fell asleep on the bus. We arrived at 3:00 and left Seoul at 4:30. The convention wasn't all that large so we were able to walk around the entire thing. I hung out with a group of women, all in the mid-30's, whom I usually eat lunch with. It was really nice walking and talking with them. Even though only one of them speaks English, the other two and I would try to talk, even if it was just through gestures, pointing and smiling. They are really sweet women and I was very glad to have been included in the trip. We snuck away for coffee at one point and they refused to let me pay, saying it was Korean custom! They always pay for me, someday I will return the favor!

At 4:30 we all piled back on the bus, fell asleep, and arrived back in Wonju by 6pm, as planned. Then it was time for the faculty dinner, my first one! All 40 teachers traveled to a sashimi resturant. The place was super fancy and contained numerous private rooms for parties. I was told by many different people to guess how much the meal cost, 25,000 won each! When we walked in long tables were set up with about fifteen different appetizers displayed around them. There were shrimp, oysters, vegetables, crab meat, kimchi, etc. It was beautiful and impressive. I decided I would be really brave and try the oysters, thinking of how Dad used to eat them. My coteacher Mrs. Kim, who had driven me over, didn't hesitate pulling the oyster out of its shell with her chopsticks and gulping it down. I, of course, had lots of trouble getting it free of its shell using only chopsticks, but I finally did and swallowed it down. It was okay, but definitely tasted fishy and like sea water.

That was only the first round. I believe there were more than 10 rounds of food throughout this dinner. What came next was the sashimi. Five different kinds of fish were sliced and beautifully displayed on clear noodles that were pilled up into balls. There were orange and yellow flowers addoring the plate. It was the most glamerous platter of food Ihave ever seen. I felt like I was at a kings feast. Afterwards followed: noodles, tempura, seeweed soup, rice, trout, shrimp, octopus, egg, kimchi, vegetables... it just never stopped coming! The waitresses were serving us for over an hour and a half! Somewhere in there the Principal made a speech and bottles of soju, beer and soda were opened. The Principal went around to everyone in the room and did a shot of soju with them, as did a few of the other teachers.

Did I also mention that the octopus was LIVE?! Yes, that's right, LIVE. I ate LIVE octopus! This was something I had read about on the interent before coming to Korea but was sure I would never try. But, after a few shots of soju, lots of good laughter and talk, and a banquet before me, I thought it a great opportunity. Out came the wiggling tenacles. They had been cut off of an octpus, so luckily there was no head and body. I guess its like when you cut the head off of a chicken and the body still flops around. There they were, twenty or more peices, moving around, wiggling, using their suction cups to stick to the plate. Mrs. Kim eagerly ate. Across from me, one of the younger teachers that I had been bonding with over the past week shook her head, indicating not her! I gulped and said I would try it. I was laughing and nervous and so had a terrible time using my chopsticks. I couldn't get the food on them if my life depended on it! Their suction cups were too strong and I couldn't get them to let go of the plate! Mrs. Kim finally helped me and I got one in my clutches. I asked her if you were supposed to chew them or just swallow. She looked at me like I was insane. "Chew them of course!" she said, "otherwise they will stick to your throat!" I was thinking, oh my god are you serious?! I remembered Dad always telling us when we were kids that the octopus he was eating was sticking to his throat and trying to get out (even thought it was dead) -- I didn't know it was a possiblity! What happens if it gets stuck, do you choke to death?! Anyway... I took this advice to heart and as soon as I popped the wiggling tenicle in my mouth, chewed vigerously. So vigerously I would have had no idea it was alive a second ago had I not seen it. It tasted okay... like meat. A shot of soju later I was ready to try another one. And then a third. The third one was a rather large peice. Thinking I didn't need to chew was quickly as I had been it sat in my mouth for a split second. And sectioned onto the roof of my mouth!!! I almost flipped out and quickly chewed it down!

The faculty dinner was a great experience! It was nice to see everyone loosening up and talking. One teacher kept making speeches that no one would listen to. Plus teachers I didn't even think new I exsisted were attempting to talk with me, sit with me, drink with me. One older man who I think is very funny looking came and sat down next to me. He didn't know how to say anything to me in English and I couldn't say much to him. I could tell me liked me and wanted to talk but after awhile of staring at each other he eventually moved on. I was touched. Then the principle plopped down next to me! He was bright red, had clearly drank a lot of soju. He said "how are you?" and then quickly jestured for an English teacher to sit next to him and translate. Mr. Park refused with a smile, and soon Mr. Byeon was grabbed. The Principal went on to tell me how much he worried about me, how he really cares for me, how I must meet his daughter when she comes home for the holidays as she is currently in CA studying English Literature. He told me his nick name is "the problem solver" and if I ever had ANY problem I should just tell him! He also said he was serious about wanting to hike Mt. Chiaksan with the teachers and said we would go, even in the snow. Lastly he proclaimed I should accompony the high school teachers on their ski trip coming up in a few weeks (Jason gets to go!)! Sadly I was informed yesterday by Mr. Byeon that "actually, he was drunk" and it was thus only the soju talking, I do not get to go skiing. That is the difficult part... I don't know what of our talk I should actually take seriously, since he was drunk and happy. In Korea that's how things go, promises do not mean anything, they are just ceremonial words, like so many things here.

Still I felt like I made some more friends that night and two of the younger women said we must go out for beers in December. I hope that is a promise that WILL follow through.

The other first for the week was SNOW! The first snowfall of the year hit Wonju on Saturday. The weather report had called for a "chance of snow" but I was skpetical. As I snoozed the morning away I asked Jason to look out the window and tell me if it was snowing. I was joking, not expecting anything. He said, "well, its not snowing but there is snow on the ground." I was like "what?!?! really?!?! are you serious?!?!?" Immediatly I jumped out of bed, looked out the window and squealed with delight!! In five minutes I was dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed, jacket on. I couldn't wait to go out in it! I was kicking myself for having slept through it all morning as it was already 10am. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal we were trudding through the snow, only a few inches. It began to snow more and I couldn't stop singing "walking in a winter wonderland." I haven't seen a snowfall on a place I've lived in... at least seven years... once a year in Lancaster is not much, and in high school that kinda stopped. Last year I drove up to Big Bear to see the snow, but it wasn't falling and we had to drive to it, and then immediatly were back in the warm OC. This was much cooler! Jason and I walked to the river and continued down its bank. It was beautiful. There were ducks in the water and snow covering everything. We crossed the river using stepping stones that Wonju had installed. Then it started to get really cold and the snow was turing more to sleet so we headed inside.

The snow is mostly melted now and I did not like the freezing and slippery streets it left behind, but I am told not to worry, more will come. We'll see how long I find it wonderful and when I start to long for spring.

Only three more weeks until my family arrives for Christmas!

To the dogs

Every Friday I take the bus an hour outside of Wonju to my second middle school. It is located in a very small town and the school only has 30 students total. Every Friday I get on and off the bus at the same stop. And every time I see the same small white and black dog hanging around. She is super friendly and always comes over for pets or scraps of food. She is also very dirty and never on a leash. In Korea this is very common. There are lots of dogs (and cats) that run around the streets by themselves. While the cats are feral, I think most of the dogs I see have owners. It is very uncommon to see a dog on a leash though. In Korea pet dogs don't have to stay on leashes. I don't know if the dogs are smarter because of this, and know to stay out of the street, or if in reality more dogs get hit by cars here, but whenever I see them, they look really happy and somehow manage to stay out of traffic. They are also usually pretty scruffy.

I'm starting to become really attached to this dog I see every week. At first I thought it must have an owner, but the more I see it, I realize she is really dirty. One time I went to pet her too and she got really afraid, like she had been hit or kicked before. I started to think that maybe she was a stray. I really want to take her home with me. I don't know how I'd do it, I guess I'd have to call a taxi because I couldn't take her on the bus. I don't know how she would react either, being taken away from her home. I took a picture of her last week. Today I showed some of the students and teachers, asking them if they knew the dog and who it belonged to. Although the teachers didn't recognize her, some of the students did. They said she is the "meat store dog" -- I assume this means she is owned by people who run the meat shop, which is right next to the bus station. So that solves the dilemma for me. I can't take her home. But I still really want to! I feel so bad for her. One male student I showed the picture to said "I kicked that dog" and laughed.

Its difficult for me to accept the position of dogs and cats in Korea. It is definitely a clash of cultures, the way Westerners think of pets compared to Koreans. Here it is very strange to have a cat or dog at home. Dogs are becoming more normal, especially cute little dogs, but to have a cat is still super strange, even disgusting to people. If you do have a pet, it is usually not "apart of the family" as we think of it at home. That's why this poor little pup is left outside all day, dirty and sometimes gets kicked. I hope she has a warm place to sleep at night because it is getting cold. Maybe her owners are nice to her? Maybe she enjoys being able to run free, because with me she'd be all cooped up inside. I have to remind myself there are millions of dogs in the world that are not treated well. At home there are so many, I don't need to pick one up in Korea.

The other hard part about dogs in Korea is that they eat them. Yes, it is true, dogs are eaten as food here. Its mostly in the rural areas, definitely not in the cities, and many people are now starting to think this is not good. But the old grandmas and papas think it is fine and tasty. While I do think this is very sad, I try to hold my judgement. I am a guest in a foreign country. I am not one to comment on another's practices. I recently read online that someone was trying to start an anti-dog meat petition in Korea, many people's heated responses were similar to my own, it is not our place as foreigners to cause trouble and critize. Still it is extremely saddening when on the bus home from Wonju today I will pass by a restraunt that outside has four cages, each with a dog in them. They are not pets. Only a certain breed is raised for eating, in the same way you would raise a pig or a cow. I know it is only because of the society and culture that I grew up and live in that I think a dog is above an animal that is also intelligent, a pig, (I guess a dog is a little more cute and cuddly too), but it is still hard to see.

It's interesting to me to that today on the cover of the online NY Times there is an article about a dog mistakenly being euthanized by an animal shelter. Apparently this dog helped save some American soldiers from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. They then took her home with them to Arizona to live but she broke out of their yard, got picked up by the shelter and because she didn't have a microchip or ID, coupled with a mix up on the part of the shelter (how do you miss-identify a dog for euthination?!) she was put under. The article is super sob worthy, of course a horrible ordeal for any family. Yet I can't help thinking about how there are so many dogs in bad situations in Korea. Or in Italy. I remember when I studied there that there was a term for when a dog is left abandoned on the road at the end of spring, when families take off for summer vacation and cannot take their pets nor leave them cooped up at home. American ideas/ideals about pets are very different from the rest of the world.  

A night in the Jimjilbang: Seoul Style

After school on Friday Jason and I immediatly grabbed a cap and headed to the Express Bus Terminal. Arriving at 4:50pm were were just able to snag a spot on the 5:00pm bus to Seoul. The goal was to get there by 7pm to meet a group of people from the magazine I wrote the article for. The magazine (Work n Play) came out this week and my article is in it! It takes up two whole pages and is featured on the cover! (See "A World in Flux: Korean Avant-Garde Art") I'm now a published author! Friday night was a dinner to commemorate the launch of the magazine. I'd only been communicating with one of the editors via email so it was also a chance to meet everyone in person.

Unfortunately half way through the journey it didn't look as if we would be making it to Seoul by 7pm. We were horribly stuck in traffic and I had no idea where or how far away we were from Seoul. At about 6:45 I texted to say I probably won't make dinner. But then what do you know, we arrived in Seoul at 7pm! I had no idea we were so close. Jason and I were able to meet up with the group for dinner after all, although we were a little late.

Everyone involved with the magazine were really nice and for the most part pretty young. Everyone also lives in Seoul and were shocked that we had come all the way from Wonju! They acted as if Gangwon Province was this backwards place, as if they couldn't understand why you would live there or how you could have any fun doing so. It was pretty amusing! A two hour bus trip doesn't seem like much time to me, especially when you are staying over night. Jason and I also kept bowing and being super traditionally polite to all the Koreans we met at the dinner and they would just laugh at us, they were very modern in their traditions and spoke English fluently, most having lived abroad for some time.

After the excellent dinner the group become much smaller and only a handful of us decided to go out for the night. Jason and I had never been to Hongdae, one of the most happening college town areas of Seoul. We took the subway for about 45 minutes to get there. We emerged to a sprawling landscape of bars, shops, resturants, fast food and night clubs. The streets went on and on for over a mile it seemed. There were so many people and so much happening! There was also so much food variety! I realized at that point that I hadn't seen a Starbucks in two months, so when I saw one, then two, then three, it was very strange.

Some people were hungry so we stopped for Thai Food. The cute resturant was down a side street off of one of the main Hongdae drags. They had Dr. Pepper on the menu! Another delicacy! We ordered some. The table talk turned very philosophical and I think we all felt like we were in college again. A somewhat good feeling, and a somewhat not good feeling.

After the late night snack, it was about midnight, we headed downstairs from the resturant to a very laid back bar/club. The place was super unique! Inside it was decorated like a cave, even the walls and the ceiling were molded to look like a cave. There was a small dance floor in the middle and huge steps around it, each leading to suspended sitting areas where you could chill on matts with your friends, surrounded by candle light. There was a DJ and strobe lights but the clientel was all hippy. People in faded, loose fitting pants, beanies, slightly ungroomed. They were "dancing" and swaying on the floor to techno reggae. People were playing with hoola hoops and exercise balls. It was a little trippy. I had the sourest midori sour of my life and we relaxed with some mango hooka. A little after 1:30 we decided it was time to call it a night and head out to find the jimjilbang we would be staying at. One of the Korean girls we were with recommended one and gave us directions via her iphone. It was close by and only cost 9000 won each. Like I've said before, jimjilbangs are cheap, safe and 24 hours, much more affordable than a hotel. One of our new friends who works for the magazine walked back with us, towards the subway and helped us find the jimjilbang. On the way we met a very drunk man who kept asking us to go get more drinks with him, even offering to pay. (It seemed like everyone in Seoul spoke English!) Although by the looks of the area and the crowds it commanded the night was still very young, we declined.

We checked into the jimjimbang, changed into the sweat clothes provided and met up on the communal floor. While the jimjilbang in Wonju is still very nice, this one in Seoul was huge! There were tons of people laying around on mats, hundreds! There were rooms for men, rooms for women, and mixed use. There was also a video arcade, multiple TVs and a full blown resturant inside! Everything you need! Sleeping the night in the jimjilbang was an experience... it was very difficult for me to sleep. While laying next to a random person on the floor wasn't a big deal, it was hard to block out everyone's talking. People didn't fall asleep until almost 4am. Part of the reason why we didn't wake up until 11am and then it was dead quiet! The place was also ridiculously hot! I was sweating all night! The floors you sleep on are heated and while that is nice when it is cold out, it was too hot! Somehow I manged to get some sleep, although I did sleep with my ipod earphones in all night.

The next morning Jason and I were brave again and hit the communal baths to wash up. We weren't planning on it but the night was so hot it was necessary. Once again the changing area was crowded and before me I saw Korean girls transform from wet haired and naked to sleek and stylish.

Finally we emerged into the fresh air and headed towards... Starbucks. I wanted a Christmas latte to remind me of home. We walked around Hongdae some in the day time before taking the subway towards Itaewon and the Samsung Museum of Art. I was asked to do another review so I had to check out an exhibit on contemporary art. It was pretty small but had some really fun peices in it. The gift shop also had gorgeous jewelry and bags! I love museum gift shops.

We managed to figure out how to wander into Itaweon and ate at Kraze Burger. We got chili cheese fries. They were yummy.

Finally it was time to head to Myeongdong! The second most important reason I wanted to come to Seoul was to shop! After a quick coffee to boost my stamina we took to the insanely crowded streets of Seoul's most popular shopping, dining and entertainment area! Jason and I both managed to make it through Forever 21 and H&M but by then it was almost 7pm and we were exhasted! I found some good, warm clothes to buy though! We ended the night with some yummy Japanese ramen.

All in all a successful weekend. An exhasting 24 hours but definetly worth it! I think going to Seoul the night before and staying in a jimjimbang is a great way to see more of the city and have some fun.

Peppero Day! And other recent events.

Peppero day is a Korean "holiday" that involves giving everyone important in your life a box of the treat! (In Japan and the US we know this sweet chocolate/cracker delight as Pocky.) The day was most likely invented by the company that makes it just to sell their product. Yet, other stories surround its mythic origins... I've heard tale that in 1999 a girl ate the long thin cracker/cookie and became skinny... or that the holiday falls on 11/11 because the number again imitates the shape of the candy. (Imagine 11/11/11 -- people will go crazy!) Whatever the reason I like the day! It means that teachers get lots of candy from their students (for once its the other way around!) 

Me displaying my loot from the day. The large box is from Jason as bf/gf give each other gifts too.

How will I eat all this?!?!

In addition to the fantastic images of Peppero Day, here are a few snapshots from my recent adventures. 

Fall foliage around the Yonsei University Campus, Wonju.

Halloween in the Sangji "English Zone"

Coffee and waffles. Enough said.

The rural countryside of JiJeong, the outskirts of Wonju, where my second middle school is located.

Vibrant yellow trees in front of JiJeong Middle School.  Less than a week after I took this photo they had all fallen. I'm told autumn in Korea is stunning (its been pretty great) but one teacher said this year the trees went from "green to grey" because winter arrived too early. 

Celebrating beef at the Hanu Festival!

Beef as super heros... and uhh an bench... an educational bench? We thought this was so wrong. I guess new cows are made somehow.

Beautiful makeshift bridges.

Yonsei Uni Campus, Wonju

Free Soju, All Eyes Watching

Sunday night Jason and I headed to our favorite sam gip sal resturant for dinner. We'd been there a few times already and the place has always had a really friendly atmosphere. When we got there once again it was the same people working, a middle aged man and woman, and an older man and woman. Sam gip sal is really cool because they give you a huge pile of meat to grill by yourself, at your table. The middle of the table has a hole in it where a bucket of hot coals goes and then from the roof hangs down an aluminum chimmny that is small and easy to move around. The process is standard, the middle aged woman asks us what we want, we say sam gip sal, she tries to ask us more, we look confused and then all laugh, she goes away. Our meat suddenly appears on the table and the old man carries in the the hot coals from outside using a long pole, he lifts the grill on our table and slips them in.

Sunday we started grilling away and once again, the old lady came over and watched us eat. She laughed a little, we are apparently very amusing. This time they also gave us some fresh garlic to grill in a litle dish on the grill, the woman added some sauce to it so they fried up really sweet and juicy. I became addicted to adding garlic to my sam gip sal concoction. (And was still tasting it two days later and many many teeth brushings later... eww.) This concoction consists of: the grilled pork itself, a piece of lettuce, red bean paste, garlic sauce and salt. So yummy!

This particular night we were seated at a table next to two middle aged men. We noticed they were grilling a meat that looked slightly different than ours. About 10 minutes into our meal the man next to me puts some of the meat, already grilled, in a little dish and gives it to me! It was pork, but some kind of higher quality (we could never quite figure it out.) That first exchange turned into a more exchange. Next thing I know Jason is being  handed the man's shot glass and he takes a shot of soju. Then its my turn. Then the man makes a little lettuce wrap for me and feeds me. (I'm still put off by this, when students or adults just feed me instead of me taking the food and feeding myself...) The two men knew a little English and asked where we were from. They told the old woman standing behind them, who I believe was eager to know more about the two oddities that always come to her resturant. The place was packed on Sunday and we were again the only foreigners. Then the two men ask us if its okay to "change" the meat we have, we said yes and were brought a fresh pile of meat, this time the higher quality they were eating! They also bought us a bottle of soju! We tried to offer some to them but they said no, they had theirs and this was ours. They also told us to drink the soju "slowly" -- it was a really nice change from the other dinners out I've had where soju shots are flying!

During this time some little kids started playing soccer in the resturant. Also, this little boy, less than 2 years old, was standing next to his mom at the table across from us staring at Jason. I was watching him out of the corner of my eye every now and then. Suddenly his parents urged him to do something in Korean and then I saw it, he bowed to Jason! It was the cutest thing ever! I told Jason to look and his parents told the litle boy to do it again! Adorable! Later in the night a girl who looked about five wandered over towards us from across the room. She just stood next to me leaning on the wall and watched us.

Before the two men left one of them gave us his business card. It is custom to give people business cards when you first meet them in Korea. It tells the other person how to treat you. The Korean language has different levels of formality built into it so an exchange of this information is necessary so as not to offend and to not akwardly attempt to figure out how to address someone. His card had the Wonju city logo on it so perhaps he works for the city?

To top it all off, the man paid for the extra meet and soju he had ordered for Jason and I! I watched as he paid his tab and pointed over to us. The super kind middle aged man who works there looked over, laughed, and took his money. When we went to pay it was just our normal tab for sam gip sal even though we had tons more food plus soju!

We manged to finish our entire bottle (about four shots eat) over the course of our meal. We were definitely a little buzzed as we walked home. And we were definitely high on life. It was a moment that reminded me how fortunate I am to be living abroad and to have people treat me so nicely when I can't even speak their same language! I'm sure the soju didn't hurt my mood either.

Bath Houses: Wonju Jimjilbang Bo-saw-sauna

Saturday afternoon I told Jason I wanted to go to the jimjilbang (Korean bathhouse). We had been once before with our friend Scott but had only experienced the three sauna rooms. This time I said I wanted to be bold and go in the baths. The naked, communal baths.

After a quick dinner we paid our 5000 won and entered the jimjilbang locker room, seperated by sex of course. I was super confused because when we paid our money the attendant only gave us towels and not the pink (blue for men) sweat outfit that you wear to the sauna. While in the bath is seperated by gender as everyone is wearing nothing but their birthday suites, the sauna is coed, you just put on the provided sweatsuit. After standing around looking confused for about five minutes, and vainly trying to contact Jason via text message to see what he was doing, I finally went back and asked the attendant where I could get the pink sweats. When I saw asked I mean I gestured "down" for the sauna (its downstairs), pointed at my clothes and shrugged my shoulders to mean "what?" -- she understood what I wanted and handed me the outfit, as I handed her an extra 1000 won. Last time this mix up didn't happen! Now I know there is a different. I guess I just looked ready for a bath.

I finally met Jason in the sauna. He was in his sweats from home. Apparently he was also confused and after hearing my story ran upstairs to pay, get the blue suit and come back down. We sweated together from about half an hour before decided to part. And go... to the baths!!! GULP.

To Koreans (and I believe also in Japan) bathing in a communal bath is compleatly normal and apart of many peoples lives and routines. Many people go once to twice a week. To us Westerners it is a very foriegn concept. Why would I want to bath with a bunch of strangers? And why would I want to do this NAKED? In Korea, it has a lot to do with differing sense of community and I'm guessing, in olden days, had a lot to do with individual families just not having private access to large bodies of clean, warm water. As it is, many bathrooms in Korea do not include tubs, only showers.

As apposed to the last time I was at the jimjilbang, this time the place was packed. There were women walking around naked all over the locker room. There were old ladies with sagging boobs and waist lines, there were firm bodied girls my age, there were three year old brothers and sisters, there were 10 year old girls hanging out alone. No one was ashamed to walk around, no one that it strange to blow dry their hair at the mirror, sans clothing.

The entrance to the baths is two glass doors, steamed from within and thus impossible to see through. Every time a child would run out of the bath to grab something I would try to catch a glimpse inside. Where their just showers? Was there a place to sit? How many people could fit at one time?

Finally I just had to know. I just had to do it. So I found my locker once more, stripped off my sweatsuit, grabbed my towel and walked towards the steaming doors. In the buff. Nude. Naked. Stripped bear.

While the first few steps are extremely awkward, you're just waiting for people to stare, after a few minutes you realize that everyone around you is naked too. And we all look the same, basically. And that no one cares.

Still, I quickly opened the doors, walked inside and sat down at the first pool of water I saw that wasn't surrounded by old ladies. I have to admit, the old ladies did stare a little. Obviously I was a foriegner and obviously I was the only foreigner in the place. It made me a little self concious but it was expected. It wasn't like anything was wrong with me, I was just different.

The inside of the bath was more spacious than expected. There were three large circular pools filled with hot water, one large pool filled with really cold water, two sauna like rooms, and many showers and vanities lining the walls. I didn't know it at the time but people come to the baths to actually bathe. There were mothers scrubbing their children, people brushing their teeth, washing their hair... There were large buckets you could use to dump the water over you while you stood as well. In one corner of the room there were cots set up where you could pay extra to have your body scrubbed down. The scrubbing was preformed by three old Korean women dressed in bras and panties, not bathing suits, bras and panties. People would lay on the cots and get facials, massages and extreme scrubbing action. I really wanted one.

While I was sitting this middle age woman came up to me and asked where I was from. Her English was perfect. It eventually came out that she was an English teacher, go figure! She was super sweet and told me how her son is studying in CA. She also said she, her sister, mother and husband come to the bath one or two times a week. I asked her how I could get a scrub down so she took me over to the women. She said something to them, the only thing I understood was foreigner (waygook) so I figured it was something like "this waygook wants a scrub." The whole thing was 17,000 won but unfortunately I would have had to wait half an hour and Jason and I had planned to meet in 15 minutes. (That gave us originally half an hour plus in the bath.) So I told her I'd have to wait until next time! Gotta get those dead skin sells off ya know!

In telling my coteachers about my experience today I said "oh I was nervous" and they said bluntly, "we don't care, its normal." I just don't want to run into a student. That would be awkward.

Reflection: I don't mean to be a downer

Life in Korea has set into rhythm. Now that testing and holidays and other random interruptions have finally settled down I've actually taught two full weeks of school, IN A ROW. And it has been exhausting And challenging.

I go through moments of extreme reflection where I just can't figure out what I'm doing here in terms of teaching. As in, what am I accomplishing? I see 22 different groups of students a week, plus two special "genius" classes. Each class has between 20 to 35-40 students. Their ability levels are extremely varied. The coteachers I work with are opposites as well, some assist me throughout the entire class, some don't show up at all. While I think I have some qualities that go into making a "good" teacher (I care, I'm prepared, I'm reliable, I'm hardworking, I'm nice, I'm well versed on the subjects) I definitely lack quality in some important areas: classroom management and creativity. I feel if I was teaching my own set of students, every day, and had a curriculum or textbook to follow, things would be easier or more manageable for me. Sure there would be the days when I don't know how to teach a topic but I think I work well with clear set goals and structure. Korea is not like that, or at least my role in Korea. I have no clear goals nor structure. Every class is different. I have no textbook and have to come up with things from scratch. This is where I saw creativity is a big key. I'm slowly learning how to be adaptable to things that change literally on the spot, like as class begins. My most constructive advice on how to approach teaching in Korea came from a student who said, "usually we just listen to the teacher translate from the book, with you we want to do things we can't do with the book, like listen and speak and watch movies and music" -- I'm not really teaching a conversation class and not really a culture class and not really a class on grammar, or a review class or a camp filled with games... but a combination of all of that. I'm trying to relax more and not take lesson planning so seriously because... I'm not taken so seriously. I definitely think not being a "notice" teacher would be helpful.

The kids are cute though and curious and challenging and time goes on!

Observation #2 Here I Come!

Last Thursday I was observed by the coordinator for the Wonju Office of Education EPIK teachers. My coteacher and I were actually required to coteach (shocking! we never actually do!) and taught from the book. The lesson went fine and we got mostly positive reviews. One comment was to NOT use the book! Ah well, they never want me to, but the school thought since this was a special lesson that we should. Oh well.

Somehow I got roped into ANOTHER observation tomorrow. I thought this one is more about the school than about me, but the more I learn about Korea, the more I realized the presentation and appearance is everything. Thus I'm beginning to realize that I am going to be watched with a close eye, even though one would think that when a supervisor visits your school he would prefer to focus on the examining what the noraml teachers do, reather than some guest foreigner who is only there for one year. But that is not the case. If I do well with this evaluation class people will think I am a "good teacher" regardless of how much I prepare for every other class, or preform in every other class. I am coteachering tomorrow with a different teacher than before and today and tomorrow we are doing two "practice" classes before the real demo/observation class tomorrow. My main coteacher Mr. Byeon told me that in Korea for observation classes you are "like actors" and that "practice is good," Oh brother. So in 20 minutes or so I have to go run through the lesson with a teacher who usually doesn't even show up to class when I'm teaching. I also have to miss one of my favorite first grade classes for this practice as it is scheduled for the same time. I've already taught this lesson once so I feel like tomorrow should go fine but... I'm still not looking forward.

Otherwise this week I've been doing a Halloween lesson. I thought I had a pretty good plan. We'd watch the clip from Nightmare Before Christmas called "This is Halloween," then talk about monsters and then the students would draw their own monster. It actually was a pretty good lesson. Too bad due to finals, scheduling, demo class, etc. I've only got to do it maybe six out of 12 classes. Tuesday night Jason and I also hosted a Halloween party for our genious students class. It was pretty fun! The students, especailly the girls, really liked it! They were all very excited for Halloween, some dressed up, and some brought snacks and pizza to class. We had to race through our usual lesson so we could party! We made dirt cups (yogurt, pudding, cookie crumbs and a gummy worm) and apple cider. They thought both were really strange when they saw us make them, but after they tried it, they realized both were really tasty! We also did bobbing for apples, which was extremely difficult and entertaining for the kids! People were having so much fun we didn't even get to the the "pin the wart on the witch" game. I wanted to find a pumpkin to carve so badly but there were none in Wonju! So sad. Only super tiny green ones.

My after school class today is also getting a party. We're doing pretty much the same stuff I did on Tuesday, just with different kids. Hopefully it isn't too chaotic.

Whew. I'm tired. I did a lot of planning for Halloween. Some may so overkill. Its only because I miss it!

Saturday I am going to a Halloween party at Scott's house though, so that will be really fun! I've got to put together a good costume! I have an idea, just got to see if it is feasible. :)

Running Around, from Wonju, to Seoul, to Yang Yang and back again!

It has been quite sometime since my last blog post. That is because it has been a busy time!

Two weeks ago I found myself in Seoul with Jason and two other friends. I had been told by a friend, a past EPIK teacher and fellow UCI alum, to contact her friend who lives in Seoul and is working for an English language Korean entertainment magazine. A few emails later she asked if I could write an exhibit review for their November issue! I jumped at the chance and two days later, was in Seoul checking out the exhibit. The museum and the exhibit focus on contemporary art, which is always confusing to "make sense" of, but it is situated in the beautifully maintained Olympic Park in Seoul. Seoul hosted the 1988 summer Olympics and the park still displays the olympic torch, flame and all, plus all the flags of the world, plus beautiful lakes and stadiums. LA could learn a thing or two... The park also contains over 200 sculptures!

The last few weeks have been busy in terms of work -- I teach Tuesday and Thursday night special "genius" classes, plus full days at school. I think one of the best times students can have to talk with me is during breaks and lunch, so I always allow them to come chat (and sometimes ditch other classes!) which is always lots of fun, we talk about music, watch music videos online, chat about life... it just leaves me with no breaks! I also discovered the owner of the school keeps a dog on campus! Right out the window of my English Room I can see this big fluffy white dog. Someone feeds him and takes care of him everyday and he has a little pen. From what the students can tell me, he was orphaned and someone took him in and now he lives at school. He is maybe three years old. He's super sweet and mellow. There are also two stray cats that live at school, one brown and one calico, they look about 6 months. I always see the girls trying to catch them, or they are feeding them, or they have caught them and wrapped them up in a blanket and carry them around like babies. The cats don't like to be caught but when you do, they are nice. Set them down and they are quick to run away though! Mrs. Kim told me the cats and the dog are on good terms. I petted the dog yesterday, and one cat, and the students thought I was crazy! It is unusual to be so bold with animals here, especially big dogs and cats (little dogs are okay.)

Last Thursday and Friday all the native English teachers also had to go to a special training on "co teaching" in the classroom. Technically in every class we teach we are supposed to share the stage 50/50 with our Korean counterparts. HAHA. This NEVER happens, two of my coteachers don't show up to class, one just had me read from the book, and the last two are good, they help me control the students and give instructions. But none of them co-plan or co-teach with me. The training was two days in the coastal town of Yang Yang. The facility we used was very beautiful, literally right on the oceon! They also fed us three meals and paid for our hotel room. It was a good opportunity to meet EPIK teachers from Wonju and close by. There are so many of us! I had no idea! Many people stay for more than one year because the pay and benefits are so nice, but it also seemed like most people were jaded with the system. We have to fit into the Korean system and cannot try to change it, which is frustrating, especially when you see the obvious problems with it. But I am a guest, not Korean. Our coteachers also went with us on this trip. We asked mine, Mr. Byeon, if he was going to start coplanning with me, he smiled and said "no." Jason and Scott's coteachers feel asleep during the lectures. The ideal is nice, but it will never happen.

The beach was a beautiful setting though and the night ended with various parties in various hotel rooms. Beer is cheap and so are fireworks. Scott, Jason and I strolled on the beach for awhile and watched people shooting off their fireworks. They bought them from the Family Mart (like AMPM, Seven Eleven, etc.) We also struck up a conversation with some Korean English teachers who were standing around watching too. Scott went on a date with one last weekend!! They were super nice and Scott asked them all sorts of questions about Korean culture, which they were ready to answer. They were elementry teachers so it was nice for us to hear about a different type of system than middle or high school. I was Scott's "wing man" -- he asked if we should talk to them and wanted me to come with him, I was hesitant but then thought, why am I hesitating?, yes let's talk to them! I'm glad we did!

The next day the training ended early. I was with my main coteacher Mr. Byeon and thought we would shortly be heading back to Wonju. Jason was headed to Chunchun with his coteacher to see an art exhibit (or so he thought...) I was excited because the school festival was Friday and I was sad to miss it. I thought I might be able to see it after all! I also mentioned that I was interested in seeing Naksan temple, a famous temple in Yang Yang. Mr. Byeon said "oh you want to go there?!" so we did. I thought it would be a quick trip. It ended up being this huge temple complex right on the oceon cliff. It was gorgeous and the weather was perfect, filled with autum breezes and bright sun. We saw many other EPIK teachers visiting as well, plus many older Koreans and Buddhist monks praying. The complex included many shrines and statues. The site is thousands of years old but actually the temple burned down a few years ago and has been compleatly rebuilt. No matter, it is still beautiful and that is what happens with wood. All the huge pine trees burned down as well. Only three survived so of course now they are considered holy. On top of the peak was the largest statue of all, about 10 stories tall, and from there you could see up the coast to Sokcho and down the coast to Yang Yang. I remarked at some huge rock formations in the mountain distance and my coteacher said that was probably Seoraksan Mountain, the most famous mountain in all of Korea! I told him we were planning to hike that and I was glad to now know where it is located.

After about an hour we got in the car and I thought finally we would head to Wonju and I could see the Sangji Festival! But then Mr. Byeon asked me if I wanted to see the opening of the trail for Seoraksan. I said yes of course. Mistake. But a pleasant one.

We drove down these beautiful, winding country roads, they were lined with trees all changing color for the fall; red, orange, yellow leaves blew in our path. As we neared the mountain we hit traffic. I thought we would soon turn around as we had come close enough. But no, we pushed on until we reached the incredibly crowded parking lot. We parked. I was confused, I thought we were just looking. Hundreds and hundreds of people were streaming out of the trail entrance, which turns out to also be a national park. The head of the trail is packed with temples, shrines and statues, plus nearly 50 different vendors selling food, coffee and souveniers. Everyone around us was dressed for hiking, in their stylish gear. I was definitely not dressed for hiking. I had on nice pants and my dress shoes. I thought we would be returning to Wonju and school, so I assumed I should dress nicely as usual. My coteacher was also wearing a tie and suit. But, that didn't stop him from buying us tickets to enter the national park. We quickly walked in the park, I marveled at the huge seated statute of Buddha just inside the main gate, as well as tried to take in the vendors and hundreds of people. We took some pictures and looked up at the huge Seoraksan mountain side. I noticed some cables for a chair life and pointed them out. I thought we would be done after this. Nope! My coteacher rushed inside a building that I realized was a cable car ride! He wanted to buy tickets for the cable car up the mountain. Unfortantely it was 2pm by this time and the car (there is one every 5 minutes that holds 50 people) was booked until 3:15. He was very sad but we relecutantly figured we'd better not. He said he just wanted to show me one thing though, before we left, some gigantic famous rocks on the mountain next to the stream. He didn't think it would take too long to get there. That's when our hike started. A quick visit turned into a mile long hike that took over an hour. It was on rough terrain too. Rocks, pebbles, stairs... I was not dressed for this! People kept staring at us!! Although I was tired and getting hungry, and had realizied I would not make the school festival, Mr. Byeon and I had a very good talk about many things. The scenery really was beautiful and I got to try some traditional Korean candy and eat roasted corn on the cob once we finished.

Another dynamic Korea day.

Around 6:30 we made it back to Wonju, after having to pull off the road at a rest stop, my coteacher was getting sleepy and needed a pick me up. He bought two ice creams and two iced coffees, one for me! He is always doing nice things like that.

Like I mentioned, at the training I had met many new foreigners. They told us some popular places to go out in Wonju. So Saturday night a group of us met up for dinner and drinks. We visited four bars, the first being "bubble" Pub, then WA (Western Alcohol) Bar, then noreabong (kareoke!!) complete with soju and beer... by then it was after 2am. We were trying to find one more place to go when this herd of foreigners appeared in the streets, we got swept up by the leader, an Irish guy who said "its my birthday! let's go!" So we followed them upstairs to the Ice Bar. There, they serve you beer in a mug made of ice! When you are finished, you throw the ice mug at a target, if you hit it, you win a free beer! The bar was empty when we got there but quickly filled with 40 or so drinking, smoking, laughing foreigners from the US, Canada, Ireland... The night ended with the three Irish people singing "Ratllin Bog" in honor of the guys birthday. Latest night for me in a long time, 5am.

The last big event was on Monday night when Jason and I were invited to a special dinner for "teachers of gifted students." Mr. Byeon asked to bring us so we could be included and meet everyone else, there were about 15 new Korean faces. Everyone was of course super nice. The resturant was also amazing, we had smoked duck! It was the BEST food I have had yet. It was a bit expensive, 35,000 won split between 2-4 people, but in true Korean style, the tab was paid by the elder, the office superintendent. The total had to be over 250,000 won with all the soju, soda and refills. Unlike previous experiences, it was completly acceptable at this dinner to not finish your soju, dump it out, or replace it with soda. Much more pleasant, but still fun! Also the first time I hadn't been the only girl!

Afterward Mr. Byeon said he wanted to show Jason and I a night view of Wonju from the mountainside. The mountainside is beutiful and covered with tons of small, chic resturants and coffee shops. We stopped at one and got gelato. (This was in exchange for Mr. Byeon preaching the gospel to us for over an hour. He is very enthusastic about Church and Jesus so we said we'd at least listen. He believes he is being told to preach to me, that he has a calling. Oh boy.) The view was beautiful.

The leaves are changing color and the air is getting cooler. Fall is here.