A wonderful weekend leads to a wonderful week!!

Ok so my blogs have become far and few. I apologize. My week days are the same from day to day, just teaching different grades. But I will back up to last weekend. I ended up staying in Seongju last Friday night to relax and prepare for a busy/crazy Saturday. So Saturday morning I woke up super early and made my way to Gumi to meet friends there to get the bus to Andong. Two of us got a bus before the other two; unfortunately we were gambling when got on the bus. It ended up being the non direct bus. So the hour trip took two hours. Luckily the seats were super nice, reclining all the way back and with a leg rest like a recliner. So we didn’t complain too much.

We finally made it to Andong and met up with the others. We headed off to the Mask Festival. When we arrived we were reunited with our big group of friends. 12 of us in total, we travel in a pact obviously.

At the festival we all made our own mask and walked around. We dined on great vendor food. Mostly consisting anything and everything you could put on a stick. Including a corndog that was covered in French fries, better known as a heart attack on a stick.

That afternoon we took a bus ride to Hanoe Village. A few of us decided to take the short hike to the top of a cliff. From here we could see the whole village. It was a nice view. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay there to see the sunset because the fireworks show started just after. So all of my friends and I sat on the beach area of the lake and watched the sun set together. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

The fireworks wasn’t like we expected. They had what they called a rope firework. It was stretched across the little lake area and ended at the top of the cliff. It burned slowly but looked like a sparkler. Really cool!

After the show we had to wait around at the bus stop for the bus back to town. So a few of us decided to give everyone a little concert and sing along with our iPods and of course dance. I have the best group of friends, we are always having fun no matter where we are.

The bus finally came and we went back into Andong. It was Shirley’s birthday so we all shared a great ice cream cake and the headed to a bar. There we ordered different flavors of Soju punch. Pretty awesome hangout for sure. After finishing drinks we headed to the norabang as always. Most of the group actually feel asleep while a handful of us did the entertaining.

The entertainment was not over though. In Korea they have what they call jjimjilbangs. This is basically a public bath house. Saturday night we arrived to late to shower so we just changed into the pajamas they gave us and found a nice place on the floor with 100 of our now closest Korean friends. After only a few hours of sleep we woke up and started the experience. Male and females have different shower areas.

I will explain the steps.

1. Go into your locker room and strip down to your birthday suit.

2. Head into the shower room.

3. Sit down on stools and wash your body and hair. At this station you saw other scrubbing each others back like they were monkeys or something.

4. There were 4 different jacuzzi type pools all a different temp. So we started with the hottest and slowly moved through all to the coldest and then repeated.

5. Shower off once again.

6. Dry off and put your clothes on.

Yes, all of the ladies in the shower room was completely necked. It is a common thing to do here when traveling or for Koreans on the weekends. They acted like it was nothing new. But they did watch our reaction very closely. They found amusement in our first experience.

The girls then met back up with the boys to hear about their shower time. It was an enlightening experience for all for sure. After a quick breakfast we walked back to the festival for a few last minute things.

The trip home was better than going, we got the direct bus and slept the entire ride. I finally made it back to Seongju from Gumi after having to wait and wait on the train and bus. Timing is the hardest part of public transportation.

This week has been wonderful!! Classes have gone rather well. I no longer stress out. I plan lessons but always change them completely at least twice before I walk into the classroom. I braved internet shopping here so now I have a cute new pair of boots and two sweaters. On Thursday I went ice skating with the 3rd graders. This has been my best week so far because I haven’t had any “bad days” with school. All of the kids seemed to behave very well and we had a field trip.

Today is Friday, I am planning on staying here tonight and probably going to Gumi for atleast dinner with friends tomorrow. I can’t stay in Seongju all weekend. I would go bat crazy. It is such a small town I am always ready to go to bed by 8. Sad, I know, but relaxing.. so it makes the weekends even better.

I promise to start getting better with my blogs and putting pictures up.

A week after Seoul trip... Still recuperating..

I wrote this Friday, October 5th... 

 Last Friday evening I headed out to Gumi like most Friday evenings. Once I arrived the normal festivities started by going to Waegook Cook for dinner and Corona Bar afterwards.

Unfortunately we had to catch a 7:17 AM train to Seoul. So I struggled to wake up after having very little sleep. The train ride lasted around 3 hours. We arrived in Seoul around 11:30, just in time to get an early lunch.

After getting our subway tickets we went to our hostel. It happened to be in Russia Town, a bit weird at first but we soon got over it because the hostel was very easy to get to from the subway.

Saturday afternoon the ones of us there already explored. We found this crazy carnival ride. It spun around and tilted and bounced all at the same time, and it did not have seat belts. You just had to hold on for dear life and pray not to lose your grip. The next day all of our arms were sore.

At this point I was exhausted from very little sleep the night before so a few of us decided to head back to the hostel and take a nap while other shopped. I ended up napping for around 5 hours. I woke up just in time to get ready for our first night out in Seoul with all 12 or so of us.

We took the subway to Hongdae, it is a big area for bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants. We went to a few different ones before we decided a better option for the night would be to go to a Norabang (karaoke). We found a super cool one that has actually been featured in celebrity shows in Korea. It has marble floors, great couches and lots of instruments to accompany our “amazing” voices.

Sunday we spent the day doing the tourist thing. We went to the Grand Palace and Namsan Tower, both of which I’d been to last year. But still super cool because I knew what it was. We went to the tower around sunset so it was a beautiful sight. (I’m at school now, I will upload pictures later of it.) Last summer it was raining the day we did these tours so it was a much better experience this time.

That evening after dinner we called it an early night, we all wanted to feel like a human being before going to the amusement park on Monday morning. Monday we got to Lotte World (this was my 3^rd time going, but best time I’ve had) around 10:30. We broke off into two groups to appease every ones taste in rides. Lotte World is the Disney world of Korea. Half is inside and half is outside. It is really cool. All of us 22-27 year olds could act like little kids and not be looked at like we were weird.

After a good nap we all got ready and headed to an American style restaurant. I had chicken wings and RANCH, yes RANCH dressing!!! They were amazing!!! After dinner we went back to the Norabang we’d went to Saturday night. After an hour of singing and drinks we headed out to a great club. The clubs all are at least two stories. So you can look down on the floor and see others while dancing in the balcony areas. It was a wonderful night for everyone.

Tuesday, our last day in Seoul. I woke up thinking it would be just a laid back day of touring. Little did I know the options were shopping or hiking. Shopping in Seoul mean battling crowds. So I chose hiking. Five of us (Daniel, Beth Ann, Courtney, Micah and I) set out for an exhausting adventure. It was a 3.4 kilometer hike to the top of Buhkansan Mountain. It took around 2.5 hours to get to the top, we lost track of time. It was very grueling. But once we got to the top it was totally worth it. We could see all over Seoul. It has to the highest peak in Seoul. Elevation was 800 meters.

Koreans are serious about their hiking, we laughed at how decked out they were in all of their gear, boots, backpacks and hiking sticks. Little did we know it was all for show. Beth Ann sprained her ankle on the way down. Two good Samaritans came along the way and helped us out giving us wrap and spraying her ankle with anti-swelling spray. No matter the language barrier, hurt looks the same and the kindness of a stranger can make your day all better.

After getting back to the hostel we barely had enough time to shower and get ready to meet everyone for Mexican. Yes, we found an amazing Mexican restaurant. After dinner we found a sports bar that had foosball and pool tables. It reminded me of Sports Break in Greenwood, kind of nice to have a slice of home.

It was cool to get to hang out in a more western style setting with all of my great friends. Some were ready to head back to the hostel while others wanted to go out with a bang in Seoul. So most of us headed out for yet another crazy good night of dancing.

Leaving Seoul we were all beat, dead tired, feeling horrible but leaving with amazing memories. I could not have asked for a better group of friends here. We are all so thankful to have met one another. And we tell each other often how grateful we are for each other. God really knew what he was doing when he placed us here in Korea together.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we are going to Andong for a big Mask Festival. It is a pretty big deal. So I will have great stories to tell from it. It is also Shirley’s Birthday, so I know we will have a lot of fun for that too!!

Love ya’ll