Boseong

On Thursday and Friday, we had a teachers' workshop thingymajiggy in Boseong, which is known for its green tea. That is what this above picture is of. Yup yup! Surrounded by fields of green tea! I love it! Anyhoo, the workshop thingy made up two days; the first day was classes, about 4 of them, and then afterwards there was an activity of your choosing - either a hot seat tournament or a pub quiz. I opted for the pub quiz because I didn't know what the hot seat tournament would entail. In the end, I found out it was a taboo style game, which could've been fun. The classes I took were pretty much useless. I learned from people who haven't been teaching for long, or if they have, it didn't show. Not to say that the workshop was all a waste, I did found some things valuable. During the first day, we had a break time of about 1.5 hours and Maggie and I decided to go bike riding...tandem bike riding. I sat in the back because of the front seat was too high for me and the back seat was too low for her, haha. We were riding through the rice paddy fields and we were going rather fast at one point and my foot slipped off the pedal and it kept spinning and hitting the back of my leg. At first, I was like, "Ow, ow!" but I just kept riding, it was OK. Then after several seconds, I was like, we have to stop, this hurts way too much. I looked at my leg and my skin was falling off and there was a little blood. It was horrible, but I was able to ride back to our accommodations. By the time I got there, it was pretty painful, but we had a class to go to. We weren't late though because it started late. Then we had to go to a FAQ session, which was alright. I saw our coordinator and I asked if there was a nurse because I didn't want my injury to get infected. Then I got led to the lobby and there was a first aid kit and a couple ladies helped me disinfect it and they put some sort of gel on it..without gloves. That was a bit strange. After that, my leg was just in pain. I had to limp around because the skin was taut and would hurt when I walked. It has since bruised and started to heal, though I think my leg is still swollen. Blah.




Anyways, on the second day of this workshop, we had cultural experiences! My favorite! We went to the green tea fields first. It was an amazing sight! So gorgeous! There was a little bit of a hike and I endured the pain in my leg to try to get as high as I could. I didn't make it all the way to the top because it was starting to rain, but I made it to the second highest point (I think). It was still beautiful. We also had green tea ice cream. I've had it before, but it was a nice treat after the short hike.




After the green tea fields, we went to Songgwangsa, which is a temple. In my experience, after you've been to one temple in Korea, you've practically been to them all. They're all just so similar to one another. However, this one has definitely been my favorite because it actually looks old whereas the other temples look very restored. However, this one is in the process of being restored, I think. At least some parts of it I saw some scaffolds and stuff. A couple of almost-monks also gave us a little information tour around the place. That was really nice. I learned a lot about Buddhism from that.

I have my Korean test soon! Tuesday! EEP! I'm first!!!!! Wish me luck!

한국어 공부 해요... 시험있어요!!

Okie dokie, I've got a few updates....

I went to a foreigner/native dinner last weekend. I was super duper late, but it didn't matter because everyone was broken off into their little groups. It was Jarrod, Sonia, Okailey, and a Korean at our table. She was actually one of Okailey's student's mom. Such a small world! We had coffee with her afterwards and we plan on meeting up again soon. I definitely want to go to another one of these dinners to meet more Koreans who can speak English. I invited my co-teacher along as well and she seemed reluctant. She doesn't feel confident with her English, but she's so good! I'm definitely dragging her along next time!




Jarrod, Sonia, and I recently went to Gwangju Park. I saw it in one of my tourist books and it looked rather nice, so we went. It was a way's away, and it wasn't that worth it. We had a mini snack picnic and it wasn't even scenic. At least now I know. However, there was a 5-story pillar thingy. It has some sort of history behind it. Before we went to Gwangju Park, Jarrod and I had to wait for Sonia to arrive, so we went to the Confucian Temple across the way. It was really nice and the volunteer there was really informative. It was a really nice place...such a historic place. It's about 200 years old, I think he said.


Oh! The day before that, I had gone to Mudeungsan by myself. I wanted to go hiking and see Wonhyosa Temple. Jarrod was

supposed to come, but he got out of school late that Saturday. It took me about an hour or an hour and a half to arrive there. I thought it would be a bit of a hike to the temple, but it only took me about 5 minutes because it was really close to where I got dropped off from the bus. That place was gorgeous. It was amazing. I even did a little praying there. I saw it and I thought, "My mom would want me to pray here." It was really nice! After that, I wanted to do some hiking, but it was just paved road connected to more paved roads. Not even a narrow paved road...it was a huge cement road where 2 lanes of cars could drive comfortably. It was not the type of hiking I wanted. I decided to walk it anyway because I had taken so much time to get there. I found a little dirt path and decided to venture off the asphalt. It was really narrow and my legs were being brushed by plants that I continually wished was not poison ivy/something I was allergic to because I didn't bring my antihistamines (though I did find them later in my bag!). As I was walking, I was so in love with the nature. It was amazing to be surrounded by all the green. I was also hearing rustling noises from afar..maybe some birds or small animals. I continued walking along...then I heard a rustle from right next to me! It freaked me out and I let out a girly scream! I would've been embarrassed if people were on this trail; thank goodness no one was there. Then I hurried back because I was hearing a storm coming my way and decided to go back home. That was when I went to the native/foreigner dinner...

Oh last week, Jarrod, Sonia, and I went to Chosun University because they were having a rose festival there. It was cool, but nothing too spectacular. Just like any other rose garden you've ever been to. It was nice though..


Next week, I have my Korean test!! We had the drawing today to see the order in which we are to be tested...and I got lucky #1 out of 17! O_O I'm a bit nervous. Why couldn't I have gotten #2??? Meh, I'll be OK! It won't be the end of the world, and I think I can do pretty decently...I hope! "I'll keep my fingers crossed" as my students would say.

Tomorrow, I will be on my way to a workshop thingy with all the other March/April teachers as well as the September teachers. We are going to Boseong, which is known for their green tea. I'm really excited to be meeting all the other teachers; there are a lot of people I have yet to meet, so it'll be nice! I'm not even looking at this like it's a workshop, it's more like a vacation/getaway.

AND Sonia just purchased our tickets today to see USHER in concert on July 3rd in Seoul!! I'm excited! It cost me a pretty penny, but it's alright! It's his first time playing in Seoul, so I decided that I shouldn't miss it! It'll be killer!

Slippers only @ work?

I think I've mentioned this before, but when you arrive at work, you change into your work slippers. No more heels for you, lady. Put on those slippers! These are meant to be worn only in school. Or at least that's what I thought. However, over the past several months, I have seen the other teachers walk outside, in the dirt and rain and all, to get to the cafeteria, then back into the school again. That defeats the purpose of even wearing these slippers. They're getting dirty when you walk outside. Don't you want to keep the school clean? Isn't that why you have this slipper rule?

I have accepted that we have to walk outside to get to the cafeteria. It would be too much of a hassle to have to change into your regular shoes every single time you leave the main building. So, I thought, these slippers are only meant for the campus grounds. This is also not the case. The other day, my co-teacher and one of the adminstrative dudes came to my apartment during lunchtime. As we left the main building, they didn't change their slippers! I asked, "Don't we have to change our shoes?" My co-teacher said, "You can if you want to." I felt wrong, so I changed into my regular shoes. They walked allll the way to my apartment, 5 minutes away, on the STREETS. Now, that really boggles my mind! These slippers are meant for school, not outside street walking! Why don't we just wear regular shoes then??

TGIF!

The dinner with my coteacher and the HOTET wasn't too bad. She was bearable. She had a list of things to talk to me about. She gave me some teaching tips and told me of some upcoming things that I'm gonna have to do at school, like "interviews". I'm gonna have to talk to the kids! If they can hold a conversation with me, then I give them some sort of certificate. I'm actually quite excited for it. I would like to talk to these kids more on a one-on-one basis, but that is simply impossible in our regular classes with 40 students in each class. So this is gonna be great, though I'm only going to be talking to about 40 students...whoever signs up to do this. I don't have to do all 900+ students, but I wouldn't mind!

In other news, it is World Cup season and if you don't already know, soccer is one of Korea's loves. Koreans live and breathe soccer! I watched their first match at a bar in downtown, Speakeasy. It was pretty good. I've never watched so much soccer in my life. I just never got into it, which is strange because I love all types of sports. Korea beat Greece in that match, 2-0. After that, we went to Bubble Bar for some dancing. I was gonna go home around 2 am, but somehow ended up back at Speakeasy for the USA-England match at 3am. I got super sleepy, so I left at halftime to sleep!

Last night was the Korea vs. Argentina game. I had Korean class but we were let out early because of the game. My teacher was so funny; she was like, "Class is over!!" and then she started rushing to pack up her things and she stormed out of the classroom! Koreans love their soccer, I tell you. Anyways, I watched the game at Jeonnam University, which is where my Korean class is. The game was projected onto a white screen and there were A LOT of people there to watch the game. Lots of lit up red horns and red shirts. When Korea made their first and only goal, everyone simultaneously stood up and started cheering. It was an amazing thing to experience! Such national pride!

I am so glad it is Friday. The week was pretty good; my classes went well. I need to learn how to manage my time in class. We always run out of time for the game. Well, actually, we just have too little time for the game. Class always ends very soon into the game. It's a shame because I really want the kids to play! I really like my students SO much! They keep me wanting to go to school! I hope I keep them wanting to go to school. :)

HOTET Hate

Sooo, y'all already know that I don't like the HOTET. Well, last Thursday, she came and hijacked my after-school-class when I still had half an hour left. I guess I didn't mind; it meant I didn't have to teach. haha Anyways, she talked to them for the remainder of the class and I didn't understand a word she said, but a couple students nearby told me that she was talking about how summer school would be working. Something about a night class and a day class...4 hours a day...I'm still not sure and the HOTET hasn't even told ME anything. But I have dinner with her today, so maybe she'll inform me about my work schedule. That would be nice..the teacher knowing before the students. Oh, only in a perfect world. Anyways, after she talked to them, she talked to me and said, "Sorry, but I have to check your class because the principal has been complaining about the high number of absences." Then she said that my satisfaction rate is 20%. I asked her, "What does that mean?" and she said, "Well, the total is 100%." Oh, really? I didn't know that, you freaken moron. Then I asked, "What is it based on?" and I think she said the students or something...because they want more games. Blah blah blah. I already know that. In Korea, you're not supposed to talk back to people higher than you, but since I am already not fond of her, I did, but in the most polite way I could possibly do it. I said, "You have to understand that the material you give me is REALLY boring. REALLY. BORING." Then I had a packet that I was teaching that day and I pointed to it, "This is REALLY boring. I get bored! I would rather not teach this stuff, but I have to because you guys said I have to." Then more blah blah, and I said, "Tell me how to make this fun" and I handed her the packet. She looked at it for a good 30 seconds in silence. Then I said, "Yeah, it's really boring." Then she said, "Well, like I said, you can use more pictures." Oh great, the solution to all my problems - pictures. Yes, that'll do the trick, I'm SURE. Ugh, she's such a know-it-all and I hate people like that. It's so annoying. We'll see how dinner goes tonight. EEK!

Koreans and Kimchi

If you've ever been to Korea (and you are a foreigner), chances are that you have been asked, "Do you like kimchi?" Korea is known for their kimchi. That is their national food. All Koreans must like kimchi, right? During the couple months that I've been eating lunch in the school cafeteria, I've noticed that all the other teachers would always put kimchi on their tray. Always. Even if it's just one slice of cabbage. I have also noticed that at the end of their meal, they haven't taken one bite out of that kimchi. They just throw it out! My hypothesis is that Koreans don't really like kimchi at all. Younger kids would say, "I don't like kimchi" but that's just their youth speaking. Koreans are all about saving face. How could a Korean NOT like kimchi? They must say that they like it even if they don't. As for me, I am not a big fan of cabbage kimchi, but I love radish kimchi and sesame leaf kimchi!

retrospectacles

So much has happened since my Busan trip. Let’s see…one night, Okailey, Jarrod, Sonia, and I stayed out until the wee-wee hours of the morning. We had “breakfast” at around 5 or 6 am. No, we didn’t have pancakes or waffles. We had some grilled chicken and beer at a restaurant downtown. Okailey had snagged her (and all of us!) a sugar daddy for the night/morning. I didn’t particularly have a good first, second, or third impression of this guy. He was talking about how he kills people. No no, he doesn’t kill them. He tells his “lawyer” that he doesn’t like someone and the “lawyer” somehow gets these people killed. Don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t like killing people, he said. It also turns out that this guy had a girlfriend!!! And he was kissing up on all the girls in the club, including me! Well, he didn’t KISS ME, KISS ME, he kissed the side of my head. Gross. Omigosh, this guy was a complete moron, but I couldn’t say anything to his face because, well, he paid for everyone’s meal. Anyways, I got home around 7 or 8 that morning after a very long bus ride home. I didn’t feel like taking the subway even though it would be faster because I would’ve had to walk 15 minutes to get back to my place. It was way too cold to be doing that. It was also way too early and I was way too sleepy. I would’ve collapsed and slept on the side of the road. After this night, I said that I would never do this again. Then, the following weekend, I did the same thing, but I got home after noon, about 1230pm. Granted, I did sleep for several hours at Sonia’s place. Oh yeah, and this was after sitting on some guy’s roof just chatting and seeing the sun rise from 430 to 530am. We were all getting sleepy, so we went to Sonia’s and I was gonna stay awake and wait for the bus, but a little before 6, my eyes grew heavy and I had to sleep. I hate going out late because it ruins the next day for me. I just sleep the entire day and/or am groggy and lazy.

Last weekend, Okailey and Jarrod went to Seoul, so Sonia and I went to Family Land because I am her mom and she is my daughter. Family Land is an amusement park and I thought it would be silly to go, but it was my idea to go anyway just to check it out. It was rather expensive for such a tiny park. It was 24,000 won for full access to everything in the park. You can ride the rides as many times as you want and take the train to and from the entrance. It sounded pretty good, so we got that one. There were also tickets that were limited, like you can only ride 5 rides. Anyways, we go into the park and I realized that the rides were SOOO kiddish. They were not fast, not scary, not tall, not anything. Basically, it would be fun for anyone under 8 years old. However, there were a few VERY scary ones. There was one ride called Chaos, and boy was it anything but pure! At first, it wasn’t scary, but once you get rocked back and forth and you’re facing the ground from a seemingly high altitude, it is ridiculous scary and adrenaline rushing. It made me sick too.

Then the next ride was called Dragon Chaser. It was a roller coaster and it lasts about 10 seconds. It’s sooo fast, barely any ride. The wait for the roller coaster to start is even longer. Speaking of waits, there are virtually NO lines at this park. Maybe because it’s so kiddish, no one goes. You just walk right through and you’re at the ride, get in, and go. There was also a water ride, a log ride, like the one at Knott’s Berry Farm back home. I love that ride. We went on it a couple times. We only went on 3 rides for a total of 6 times. We had to get our money’s worth! We had to ride more than 5 times! haha We went on Chaos once, Dragon Chaser 3 times, and the log ride 2 times.
The rides were kiddish, but Sonia wasn’t feeling too good after the first time we rode the Dragon Chaser. She even paid the restroom a visit for a little bit of toilet hugging. After we finished the last ride, it started sprinkling a little bit. Then it started to rain. Then it started to pour. Then it started to MONSOON! Omigosh, the rains here are freaken crazy. Sonia and I got stuck at a GS25 in front of the park. We wanted to get snacks so we went there. As we were shopping around, we looked outside and were in complete and utter shock at how the rains had gotten worse. We got an umbrella and left to the bus stop. By then, the rains had subsided and during my hour long bus ride home, it had stopped completely…only to start again later that night.


Totally out of order, but it was also a couple of our April EPIK teachers’ birthdays recently – Austin & Joe’s. For Austin’s, we went to a couple bars and ended the night at a noraebang. We hadn’t gone to a noraebang in a while, so it was long overdue. For Joe’s birthday, we met up at Tequilaz, had some food, had some drinks, then it was off to Pump. There, I met some other EPIK teachers from September. I even met someone from UCLA! It was great! It was rare for me to meet anyone from California, let alone Southern California, let alone the same school! He even graduated the same year and we have mutual friends! It really is a small world after all. After Pump, some of us headed to Bubble Bar. It was pretty empty because it was a Tuesday night and everyone was at Pump. It was nice to have some space in there though. It also wasn’t as stuffy and hot as it usually is. I hate that about Bubble Bar. Oh yeah, this was the night I got home after noon.

In other news, I bought a bike and got new glasses. My bike is nice, but I like my bike at home more. When I left the store, I was riding it and I realized that it was way too small for me. I was thinking, “Oh crap, I wonder if I can return it right now.” I stopped, sat on the side of the sidewalk, and started to adjust the handlebars and seat. It worked! It fits me! However, I think that it’s hard to control. The bike is all over the place, not very stable. I don’t like that because I can’t ride without any hands or else I’d fall on my face. The roads here are also very bad and bumpy, so it’s tough to ride. And the drivers here are crazy! I almost got killed when I rode the bike home. For real. The brakes on this bike are different than the one I have at home, so I wasn’t quite used to it at that time, but it was still the driver’s fault because they didn’t look.

As for my new glasses, I went back to my old thick black frames. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I had to take the eye exam in Korean. Thank goodness I learned my numbers! However, there was one part on the test where there was a red box and a green box. I thought she was asking me which box looked clearer so that’s how I answered. I still don’t know what the question was though. My glasses aren’t as clear as I’d like them to be, but I can still see. It’s just not as sharp when I look far away. Maybe I have astigmatism. The eye exams here are FREE, but I can see why. They’re not as extensive as the ones back home. They last about 2 minutes whereas the ones at home are like 5 minutes. “One or two? One or two? One or two? One or two?”

So, summer vacation is coming up soon…in less than 2 months. In my contract, it says I should get a total of 18 days official vacation for both summer and winter vacations. Usually it is broken up where you get 8 days for summer and 10 for winter. I decided to go with the usual breakdown and take 8 days for summer. My co-teacher asked me how many days I wanted. I told her and then later on in the day, the HOTET asked me as well. I told her and we were looking at a calendar and she proceeded to count 8 days, INCLUDING WEEKENDS. Oh no she didn’t! I decided NOT to bite my tongue and said, “I don’t think weekends count.” and she said, “In Korea, we can count the weekends as part of our vacation.” That pissed me off and I didn’t say anything and I didn’t look at her or anything. I really hate her. A LOT. She gets on my last nerves. Today, my co-teacher asked me when I wanted to take vacation. I told her the date and she counted the weekends as well. I told her that the weekends don’t count, but she put it in the system as including weekends and counting 8 days. If you’re going to count the effing weekend, then count it as 6 days, not 8. Omigosh, it pisses me off that they’re trying to rip me off of my vacation time. Seriously? If I’m not on vacation, I have to come to school and just SIT HERE and do what? NOTHING! Why are you wasting my time? It makes no sense. I hate the HOTET, and she wants to have dinner on Monday. Ugh. I can’t say no. I hate their system. SO much.

My first trip to Busan!

This past weekend, I went to Busan with Jarrod, Sonia, Okailey, Maggie, and Laurence. It was, obviously, my first trip there and I was not too thrilled about it before the trip because I had incessantly tried to search for a place to stay when we got there. I am usually not the type to take a trip and not have a reservation for a place to stay. The day before we left, I finally reserved a place with the help of my co-teachers. I was just ready to go to Busan, drink until I was wasted and just let go of all that stress that I had collected in preparation for the trip.

The bus ride didn't feel too long and we arrived around 130pm, I think. We headed towards the subway and we were in line buying our tickets. Laurence started talking to some lady in line and she told us that she was going to stay in a motel, like she usually does because they are ultra cheap. We decided to follow her and check out where she was gonna stay to see if it would be cheaper than the place I had booked. We walked and walked and walked trying to find a motel to stay in that wasn't too overpriced. After about an hour, we found a place (after having split up into two groups to cover more ground). During this hour, I picked up another girl who was alone and searching for a place to stay in as well. Her name was Lauren; it turns out that this trip was her mini vacation alone since her boyfriend was working. I ended up really really liking her! She was super cool and sarcastic! She ended up staying with us so we had 8 people in our group, 2 rooms. We thought we booked the rooms for 2 nights, but apparently we had only booked one. Probably miscommunication, so we had to book a second night and pay more. The price was too good to be true for two nights, I guess. We paid less than $20 for what we thought was 2 nights, but in the end, we paid about $40 each, which is REALLY good.


Anyways, after we dropped off our stuff at the LOVE MOTEL (yes, a motel for LOVE! ;)), we went to the famous Haeundae Beach! Thank goodness we did because it was the only day where we had sunshine and no rain. The beach was really tiny, but it was nice. The water was freezing cold, but I managed to stand in the water for a long time. It was a gorgeous site. That night, Maggie, Lauren, Laurence, and I went to the Westin Chosun Hotel at the end of the beach because Maggie wanted to go to an Irish pub she had read about in her travel book. We ended up not going there, but had a drink outside of that area (but still inside the hotel) where there was a pianist and violinist. We sat there to listen to some tunes, but it put me to sleep, almost.


So we left to go back to meet up with the others at the motel. We got ready to go out to some clubs! The first club was interesting. Not crowded at all, but there was a person dressed as one of those Asian cats, those white ones with the swinging arm usually found in Asian restaurants. He was just dancing around the club. Strange. The next place we went to was a bit better than the first. There were more people and it was just more fun. My friend (who shall remain nameless) got her some men, and some numbers. Ooh la la. She's got some game! hahah Overall, I had a great first night in Busan!



The next day, Maggie, Laurence, and I went to Jagalchi Market, which is one of Busan's famous landmarks. It was POURING rain and I had an umbrella that I found on the floor. Obviously it was broken and had some leakage problems, so I still got wet despite my holding the umbrella over my head. It was horrible, but I couldn't complain. It was quite an experience. So, Jagalchi Market is a fish market and you can also eat there. I really wanted to eat there...so we did. How can you go to a fish market and not eat there? We ended up getting a fish and they killed it on the spot. It was gruesome. I couldn't watch, but I kinda did. It was bloody. That was horrific, but I love going to fish markets. I don't know why. Maybe it's the dirtiness. I just love it. I reckon that this fish market was better than Sydney Fish Market in Australia. I don't know the basis of this judgment, except for that's just how I feel.






















Maggie and I ate these worm looking things! They were still ALIIIIIIVE!!! Eeeek! It didn't taste nasty or anything, but it was slimy. My co-teacher told me it's a sort of worm. I didn't know what it was beforehand, but we were calling them penises, but these were the baby penises. There are bigger, adult ones.

After Jagalchi Market, we headed back to the love motel and got ready to go out that night. We met up with Sonia&Jarrod's South African friends. They are a crazy bunch of girls, but they were really sweet and fun.


We went to a bar/restaurant called Eva's and then after that, apparently, we went to a club called Foxy. Danced a little bit and then headed over to another place called GHETTO. It was packed, but a lot of fun because I got to dance my booty off! I got REALLY tired around 4 or 5? I don't remember the time and I wanted to go home. Jarrod said that we could wait until 6 for the first subway home or we could pay a ridiculous amount for the taxi. I opted for the subway because I didn't have any money. We stayed at the club and I wanted to sleep, so I did. In the club. I put my head down and the next thing I know, Jarrod was tapping me to get up so we could leave. Yeay! Too bad it was only about 5am. One more hour until the subway opens up. We just stood outside the club area and I just hugged this guy we had met about an hour or two earlier. I hugged him until it was time to walk to the subway. I needed support for standing. I had a lot to drink that night. The first night I actually drank to the point of drunkenness. Thank goodness it wasn't the vomit-inducing drunkenness. Jarrod did a good job taking care of me and feeding me my favorite food, kimbab! Thanks, Jarrod! :) Finally got to the love motel and slept. We got woken up at 11am by an annoying alarm that filled the room. I woke up and was still drunk! I couldn't even remember who was in the room with me.

The last day we were in Busan, we went to a jimjilbang to sweat out all of the craziness that ensued the days prior. I was laying in the hot sauna for about 10 minutes and I was not sweating. I waited and waited. Not a drop. I told Okailey that I wasn't sweating! Then she asked me, "Are you that dehydrated?" and then it hit me. I AM! So I went outside and drank tons of water, went back into the hot room and started sweating. Phew! I'm not a freak without sweat glands! I love jimjilbangs! They're so relaxing. This time, I actually showered with all the other naked ladies! It wasn't too bad. I found my little corner and quickly washed myself. haha

After the jimjilbang, we went to the largest mall (in Korea? or in the world?) in Centum City. It's HUGE! There's an INCREDIBLE food court. Omigosh. I fell in love. I want to eat there for the rest of my life. They had EVERYTHING. We didn't stay there long because it was off to the bus station to go back home to Gwangju!

Fun times! The weekend was AMAZING and I can't wait to go back for some more exciting adventures!

Cho Yu Ji

Katherine, Maggie, and I had dinner tonight at a restaurant in Yangsandong, which is where Katherine lives. It took me about an hour by bus to get there! Crazy long! The restaurant was designated a "Tourist restaurant". I don't know why because I didn't see any tourists there, besides us, that is.






Katherine was told that the pizza there is really good, so that's what we got. There was only one kind - turkey - but I don't even think there was turkey on the pizza! It tasted more like ham, which I am not a big fan of. We also ordered a rice noodle soup thingy. It was kinda bland, but still good. The pizza was also good. I didn't think the food was too spectacular; it was just good. I was happy I got to eat some cheese though! =9


The decor of this restaurant was really great! They had wooden statues, wooden window curtains, wooden tables and benches. It was cool! There was also a greenhouse next to the restaurant where you could hang out in with your friends after your meal and just have a chat, drink coffee, relax. We went at night, so the place was pretty dark. I imagine the place looks even better in the daylight. We may be visiting that restaurant again!

Just another weekend.

After my Saturday Sports Day, I met up with Maggie and Wil in Downtown. My co-teachers make fun of me for going to Downtown so often, but I tell them there's nowhere else for me to go! Anyways, our plan was to go to a DVD 방 (bang) to watch a movie. A DVD bang is a room where you rent a DVD and just watch it in a room with your friends. I heard it was a dodgy place, but I still wanted to go...but I was a bit wary now. We first had dinner at The First Alleyway. It's a restaurant in an alleyway, yup, and it's owned by a foreigner who has been in Korea for over a decade. I had a falafel in pita with a side of onion rings and garlic sauce.



OMIGOSH, it was such a nice break from Korean food. I love Korean food, but it was sooo nice to have something that wasn't Korean. After that, we walked a bit to digest our food and I was looking into some headbands for my new haircut. As I was browsing, I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder in an abrupt manner. It freaked me out, I turned around and it was good ol' Laurence. He was with Julian and John. Haven't seen them in a while! They were a bit tipsy and were on their way to dinner. We caught up for a short time and then split ways with plans to meet later on that night. Then Maggie, Wil, and I tried to find the DVD bang that I really wanted to check out because I had walked by it a previous night and they had really nice pictures of the rooms. We could not find the place! We did see an arcade, so we were in there for some time playing games. It was really fun!!




So we went to this creepy looking one that we had passed by earlier that night. We went in, tried to agree on a movie, and ended up picking "Burn After Reading". Brad Pitt is hilarious in that movie! During the movie, Laurence was calling me to find where we were. It's kinda hard when you're tipsy and am not too familiar with the area. Lots of directions were given and somehow, he miraculously found us! He joined us in the DVD bang, but he fell asleep. The movie was done and the conscious ones decides to continue the night and have some drinks. Laurence said he wanted to go to Ethnic Cafe, so we did. We go and ended up falling asleep, while the rest of us had a fabulous conversation.






On Sunday, I met up with Laurence to go to the river that runs through Gwangju. I've been wanting to go for the past month or so, and I finally made it! It was really nice and it made me want to buy a bike even more just so I could bike along the river. We didn't see too much of the river, at least not the nice part. We ventured off onto an unbeaten path and ended up having to walk back because it led us nowhere. Laurence even saw a rat! Ugh. We walked back and then walked down the regular path and saw some people fishing. The river looked quite disgusting to be fishing from it. There was also a living room type area with a bunch of discarded sofas, still in good condition of course. Nice place to take a rest.



After that, we went to U-Square to try to buy tickets for 3-day weekend trip to Busan, but we saw that there are two terminals in Busan and ended up not buying them until we do some research. After our fail, we took the bus to the World Cup Stadium because we were meeting with some people for dinner. It was the Gwangju vegetarian group's monthly dinner. We went to a restaurant that I had already gone to twice. I don't like going to the same place multiple times, but the food is really good.

So today (Monday), my alarm woke me up at 730am. I have to be at school by 830, so I decided to set my phone alarm to wake me up at 745 instead. I ended up waking up at 8 because, of course, my phone alarm was set to 745pm. I rushed to get to school and even dressed in nice work clothing. I walked to the school and there were NO students. I knew they were going on a 3-day trip, but I thought they were going to meet at school and then depart from there, but nope. No one. There wasn't the usual man to greet me at the gate. Nobody. It was sad. I got there on time though, right on the dot. There were almost no teachers in the teacher's room. I proceeded to take my laptop out to do some research on Busan. Three hours into the work day, my co-teacher asks me if I have plans for the day. I say no. Why would I? I'm at work, and it's a Monday. She asks me to lunch and I agree. She tells me to pick the menu: eel or nakji (octopus). I ask if the nakji would be live and they said no, so I picked eel because I want to eat live nakji! So we left school at noon and I asked if we were gonna go back to school and they said no. I was like, "We have a half day?!" and they said "yes!" I was happy, needless to say. The lunch was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. It's like 삼겹살(Samgyeopsal) style, but it's SOO much better. Delicious.



Then we went to Downtown, haha. I told them all the cheap places to shop and they were like, "Wow, are you sure you're not a Gwangju person? You know all the shops!" Well, yes, I come here every weekend, but I'm definitely not an expert. I bought some new clothes as well. Oh! It was very strange - we went into a store called Timing and I wanted to try on a couple items. There was a changing room with a curtain that looked like three separate changing rooms except it was only one. Someone was in there, so I waited. Later on, I went in and tried it on and someone came in and started trying on their clothes too! I was like, Uh...ok. It was SO strange! Korean people are supposed to be conservative and modest, but to have a communal fitting room? That's just opposite!

Anyhoo, I have half days tomorrow and Wednesday as well! Yeay!! :) Looking forward to Korean class tomorrow night. Even though it's raining right now, this is gonna be a great week!