Biennale, Mudeung, Ramsey

Since I didn't get to go to Biennale for the school picnic, Ann and I planned to go that weekend. It was a pretty good exhibit, but I enjoyed Art Gwangju a lot more. Anyway, we met up with Amanda and her friend, Jeannine at the Biennale. We finished looking at everything and decided to go take the ski lift up Mt. Mudeung. It was my first time; I didn't even know it existed! It was quite an interesting ride. There was also a spot that was designated for you to litter! Really smart! We tried to find some Fall leaves, but there was barely any! It was mostly green up there! After Mudeung, we all went to our respective homes to get ready to go out that night for Ramsey's quarter-century birthday.

We first had dinner at the outdoor galbi restaurant, which was SUPER DELICIOUS! Afterwards, we did the usual barhopping. Had cake at German Bar, drinks at Crazy Horse, dancing at Mix, etc.

Ice skating

We had a school picnic again and this time, I wanted to go to the Biennale, which is an art exhibition that is only held every 2 years. I told my co-teachers I wanted to go and at first they were OK with then. Then soon after, they said, "Oh, you can't go to Biennale. Do you want to go anywhere else?" and I said, "Why can't I go?" They said it was because an English co-teacher wasn't going with me. I was like, "It's OK. I can walk around by myself." But they wouldn't have it, so I said I'd go ice skating instead, even though I really didn't wanna go. I ended up having a great time with that class though. They're so adorable, especially outside the classroom. I had a great time, but of course, there had to be an incident. Within 5 minutes of skating, a girl had fallen and lost her tooth! It was horrible! I saw blood on the ice and I thought maybe it was someone's finger or something. Maybe a nosebleed. Then I circled the rink and I asked my co-teacher what happened. She had a cup in her hand and she showed me the tooth. I was so surprised! I felt so bad for the poor girl; she was so jovial beforehand.

After ice skating, the students played some games, including a different version of duck-duck-goose, and another very violent game. In the violent game, the group is crouched down. You have to stand up and count whichever # you are. So if you're first to stand, you say 1. If you're second, you say 2, etc. If two people stand up at the same time, you have to play rock, paper, scissors, and whoever loses gets beat from the rest of the group. You can watch the video below! They made me play..and I lost.

Uphill

As my days in Korea go by, I find it a little tougher to stay here. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this place, but it's very difficult for me to be away from my mom. She really is my entire life. I can't imagine life without her. Though we may disagree on some issues, I love her with every bone in my body, every fiber of my being. She is an unbelievable person, in every sense of the word, but I love her unconditionally. Being in Korea without my mom is like an uphill climb, except this climb doesn't descend, at least it hasn't yet. That will be the day that I return home. Today, I'm leaning towards not renewing my contract and going home. Let's see what tomorrow will bring.

Ten 10 십

Today is October 10, 2010! Isn't that exciting?? Well, if you don't think, I'll tell you another reason why I think it is SO cool...It's my 200th day in Korea!! Can you believe it? It feels like just only yesterday that I posted about my 100th day. It's crazy how it's already been 200 days. As of late, I've been contemplating whether or not I should go home. My mind changes from day to day, and it's really frustrating that I can't just jump off the fence to one side.

So, how did I spend my 200th day? It's almost 3pm now, so I still have some time left of the day, but this morning, I went to church because a teacher at school invited me. I didn't have the heart to say no because she's so nice, so I went. Then, I was supposed to go Jinju with Okailey, but she's still up in Seoul. I think I'm gonna go to the Gwangju Food Festival later because I didn't go yesterday when I was there for GIC (Gwangju International Center) Day.

So, yesterday, at GIC Day, there was food from all over the globe. I was definitely most excited for Greek food, most importantly, the HUMMUS. That was the first thing I ate. It was DELICIOUS! I've been wanting hummus for several months now and I can say that my craving has been satisfied, though I'm sure I will be feening for it in the near future. Then I watched some "international" performances. There was an Indian dancer, some Taekwondo from people of all ages, and Filipina singer (those Filipinos..always have a mic in their hands..haha), and then Deserts finished off the performances. Overall, it was a good weekend. Why are weekends so short??

I Korean class again take.

Tonight was the first night of Korean classes! I am now in "intermediate", but my teacher told us that it is actually beginner. Wow. Thanks a lot. At first, I was kinda hesitant in signing up for the class because Jeonnam University is so far from Ssangchondong. In the end, I was persuaded to just sign up, so I did. I'm easily swayed, plus I think it's beneficial for me to improve my Korean skills. I also love learning new languages, all the while being able to socialize during the week and get away from being a teacher and actually be the one being taught. It's a nice change of pace, definitely.

I have a new teacher and I'm not sure about him...I really want my old Korean teacher back! She was amazing! This new guy seems kinda all over the place, like he doesn't know what to do, how to teach, etc. Okailey said he looks like Mick Jagger, and I'd have to agree! The Korean version, of course.

I was quite confused throughout the class as to what we were supposed to be doing. Were we supposed to practice the dialogue? Oh, fill-in-the-blank? Oh, we have to do the next section, too? Oh, I didn't know. Wait, how do you do this?? You didn't explain anything! I think he'll get better as the classes go. At least I hope so!

I'm very happy that I signed up for the class! I was quite excited while we were in class! I learned about the word "who". haha

I don't have to teach tomorrow, Thursday, or Friday! I'm so happy! The students have their midterms, so I do NOTHING! I'm probably gonna finish reading my book. Hopefully that'll be OK! And then next week, I have a school picnic to look forward to! :)