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.