One day, a couple of girl students came up to my desk and was like, “My teacher….likes you. She talks about you a lot” and I said, “who?” and they pointed, but I didn’t see anybody. They dragged me out of my seat and pulled me to a teacher who I have never seen before. I stood behind her and she didn’t realize I was there. The students said to her, “Sonsengnim!” Teacher! And she turned around and she saw me and instantly crouched down on the floor and put her finger to her mouth to shush her students. She was SO embarrassed and shy. She just kept shushing them and shaking her head. We all just laughed as she got up and ran away. The students told me that their teacher wants to talk to me, but she’s shy and afraid. I thought it was so funny. I still haven’t talked to her, but I hope to one day at lunch.
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Thursday after school was Sports Day for teachers – it was actually quite fun. It only lasted an hour, but I wish we had done more. The teachers broke up into 3 teams. We played “who can throw the Frisbee the farthest?”. Three people from each team participated and I was one of the 3 for my team. I didn’t win, but I did throw it pretty far! We also played “Let’s all run through the jump rope while it’s swinging.” My team also lost. Then we played, “Let’s try to make as many baskets as we can!” I think our team won that one! I made 2 of 3 baskets! The last game we played was “Rock, paper, scissors” with money!” We all stood in a circle and played the person next to us. Whoever lost had to pay the other person their money, 500 won. I won the first round, but lost the second. My co-teacher actually won the whole thing. She got a whopping 26,000 won. That’s pretty good for Rock, paper, scissors! It was a fun day; I can’t wait for Sports Day for the kids next month!
My Korean class on Thursday was good, but Okailey and I were scolded in Korean for being bad students! We had a break for 10 minutes and Okailey wanted a sandwich so we went to the nearby coffee shop to order one. They took FOREVER to make it and we were 10 minutes late to class. They didn’t continue the class without us, it seemed, so they were waiting on us. I felt bad! But I redeemed myself later on in the class when I used my Korean skills with the teacher. She was impressed and called me a good student this time! After class, I wanted to walk around the Chonnam area around the university because I didn’t have school the next day, Friday because I had Picnic Day! But anyways, we walked around a little bit and went into a few stores to see what clothing they had. We had gone shopping about a couple weeks ago as well, and our experiences were very similar. They didn’t let us try on the clothes! We were like, what the heck? How am I gonna know whether or not this looks good on me? I guess in Korea, you just have to know. It’s ridiculous. We got the impression that we couldn’t try on the clothes because they’re racists, but Okailey’s co-teacher told her that it’s because Koreans wear tons of make-up and they don’t want it to get on their clothes. However, if you want to try something on that is FULL-priced (which we don’t), then it’s OK. How does that even make sense? Wouldn’t you want the make-up to get on the cheaper clothing rather than ruining the expensive clothing? Crazy Koreans. We didn’t wander around for too long because we had to catch the bus back home.
So Friday, I had my first Picnic Day, which is the equivalent of a field trip in the states. I went to Damyang Bamboo Forest, which was right up my alley. I love nature and Korea has plenty of it. We walked through the forest and a lot of the students said hi to me and even wanted to take a picture with me! This time, no Okailey, however, one of my students did ask where she was. haha During lunch, a lot of the students offered me their food to try, and I obliged without a problem! The food is so delicious! One of the students whose English is pretty advanced was talking to me and she told me that she really wants to visit America because of the food. She really wants to eat New York steak and all the other yummy food she’s heard of. She doesn’t think Korea has good food, but I told her I disagree and she said that that’s good for me. I don’t know how you could live in a country your entire life and not like the food. That would be a miserable life! She also invited me to join them in games and I said, SURE, of course!
The first game was a version of Duck, duck, goose, which didn’t last long because a couple people slipped and fell into a wet puddle of mud. Thank goodness I wasn’t one of them. After that, we played ONE round of the numbers game – the one where someone calls out a number and you have to scramble to get that number of people in your group. After that, we played this snakey game. There were 3 groups of 8 and you are in a snake-like formation…in a line. This game made me SO uncomfortable. You have to hold onto whoever’s in front of you. At first, I was holding onto the person’s waist, which was already awkward for me. Then they told me that I had to hug them. Imagine being in a line of students, hugging one students from behind, and another hugging you from behind, and other students hugging each other and then running around trying to catch the tail of another snake. It. was. so. weird. My team lost practically ALL the games, so we had to spell our names with our butts. That was weird too. Wiggling your booty around and a group of students just watching your ass. Seriously. I had a great time hanging out with the students though. I don’t even feel like their teacher; I feel like I’m their friend or equal. My co-teachers and I left the bamboo forest and they asked if I wanted to go to other “touristy” areas in the Damyang area and even though all of us were tired, I said yes. I hope they didn’t mind. haha They brought me to this place, which I assume to be a home but no one lives there currently, I think? My co-teachers didn’t know much about this place except that it’s the place where a famous poem was written. It was written there and it was written about this place. It was really nice. It was surrounded by trees and a nearby a river. I saw a lady hugging a tree and I felt a connection with her because I am also a tree hugger. After this place, we went to have traditional Korean tea. It was interesting. The teapot was super duper tiny and the first pot is made by the waitress and the subsequent pots are made by you – you had to watch how it was done the first time. It wasn’t difficult, but it was cool to me! They also have a pumpkin cake thingy, which is rather delicious! There’s green or yellow bean (?) in it, which it makes it nasty. The cake looks spongy but it’s chewy. I also bought a pair of earrings at the shop there. They were 10,000 won. I couldn’t resist! It was my first payday, so I decided to spend a little bit of it. After tea, we went home. Yeay! I was EXHAUSTED. I got home and immediately took a nap. I think I’ve taken more naps since I’ve been in Korea than I’ve ever taken in all my years in America. This place tires you out. I had to meet my friends downtown at a certain time. I woke up and made myself some dinner. If I took the bus, I would’ve been late, so I decided to take the subway for the first time BY MYSELF. I made it! It’s not that hard though seeing as that there’s only one line. You’d have to be a complete moron to get lost. So no, I’m not a COMPLETE moron. We met up and they wanted to eat dinner. Boo, I just ate! I sat at the table and watched them stuff their faces with delicious looking food. I would’ve scarfed something down, but I was really not hungry. After that, we headed to German Bar, Soul Train, Bubble Bar for a whole 5 minutes, then back to Soul Train. Had a cocktail and went home.
Saturday was SHOPPING day for the girls! We needed to use our paychecks to buy clothing. We don’t feel as if we brought enough clothes! We gotta buy more, we gotta! I had gone in thinking that I was gonna spend tons of money. It didn’t matter how much it was, I was gonna buy it if I liked it/if it fit me. No, that’s not how I shopped that day. I was the same ol’ cheapskate Christina. I couldn’t bring myself to spend so much on a single article of clothing. I just couldn’t do it. I ended up spending just a little under 50,000 won on 3 dresses, tights, 2 headbands, and a belt. Pretty good, no? I will always be a bargain shopper, no matter how much money I make. After shopping for a good 7 hours, it was time to meet up with the rest of the group. Four of us had already had dinner beforehand, so the rest of them had dinner and the four of us had coffee and dessert. It was this thick, sweet bread with fruits and whipped cream on top. It was tasty delicious. After that, we went to German Bar again, sang some songs, had a beer or two, was tired, and went home.
Of course, there were plans for Sunday – HIKING. I was hesistant to agree to go because I felt so tired that I didn’t know if I would be able to make it the next day. We had a late start though, so I was able to pull myself out of bed to climb Mudeungsan! It was a tough tough hike; I think the toughest hike I’ve ever done. It took us about 3 hours to get to the top and an hour to get down. The mountain is gorgeous and we didn’t even get to see most of it, I think. We picked the longest trail, which I believe was also the steepest. It was an amazing sight and I’m sure I’ll do it again. I wasn’t even that sore the next day. I had minor pain; nothing as intense as I imagined it would be.
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