Second Day of Winter Camp

Today was fun at camp. The 5th graders are warming up to the activities and everything a bit more. The girls are sweet and cute. The boys are still kind of...not wanting to be there, quiet and unresponsive, but what 5th grade boy isn't?! Again the same 2 students were absent and one girl left early. We had hot dog bread and milk from Paris Baguette. I just ate the bread.

After camp was over, I stuck around for another 2 hours or so printing and working on plans. I didn't finish everything there, but I was a bit sick of staying there and needed to get moving. I came home and updated my blog to take a bit of a break. I had a Christmas card from Aunt Ruth. :) Getting mail always makes me smile. Thanks!! Then I went to find dinner; I tried a new restaurant that I'd seen and noted back in August. I ordered a chicken salad, but it was a little bit different from what I was expecting; lots of cabbage and not a lot of lettuce.

When I came back from dinner, I worked on lesson plans and watched tv.

Chicken Salad

First Day of Winter Camp

Today was the first day of winter camp. We met and talked briefly with all the students as a group. Then Mr. Kim took the 3rd and 4th graders with him and In Sook and I took the 5th graders to our classroom. We made name tags and then did the activities I planned. Two students were absent so when the snacks arrived In Sook and I got to eat too. (It was chicken nuggets and french fries, plus some Coke) It was served quite cleverly. The pop is obviously in a cup and then the chicken nuggets and fries are in a smaller, shorter cup stacked on top; the straw to the pop keeps the smaller food cup floating above.

After school I came home and relaxed for a little and then...stressed out super much working on plans. I took a break and went to Emart.

Soccer with Soo Bok

I woke up kind of early and went into one of the warmer rooms for a little. Then I went to the hot tubs again. After, I weighed myself and I have lost a few pounds since I've been here, which was surprising to me. I got ready and then found the bus and went to the train station. I was a little bit early (finally) so I gave Jacob a call and waited down by the tracks. Well, I looked at my phone and it was 10:55 (my train left at 11) and I was wondering why the train wasn't there or other people, but didn't think too much of it. Then some person from the train station started talking to me and told me to leave the area basically. I couldn't really understand him. That's when I started to get concerned. I went upstairs and asked a cleaning lady where I was supposed to go. She said "juuuuuuk" which means "over there", but the longer the "uuuuu" sound the further it is. It sounded like a lot of "uuu"s to me. So I sprinted across the station and another railroad official directed me down to the right tracks (must have figured the only reason I was running like crazy through the station was because I needed THAT train!) I also saw him walkie-talkie-ing and probably told them someone was coming and not to leave. I got on the train and had to walk through 5 cars to get to my seat, but I was on the train, thank goodness. Wow. Another eventful train story. Just when I had been telling Jacob on the phone, "I'm so proud of myself being at the train station early"...I had 30 minutes and couldn't find the right track!

I napped a bit on the train and arrived in Seoul. I took the airport railroad instead of the subway back to my place. Took a rest and settled and then off to soccer. Soo Bok, an adoptee from Italy is in Korea and this is the only time he'll get to play soccer while he's here. It was good seeing him again (not since the adoptee World Cup in August). We had a relatively small turn out; 8 in total. I made 4 goals, but I wasn't really happy with how I played. I felt slow and kind of blah. Anyway, the last 20 minutes were a lot of fun, we kind of just goofed off as we were playing. Afterwards, Soo Bok's wife, Lara met us in the subway and we went to Sinchon for dinner. It was just the three of us; they are vegetarian so I told them we could go anywhere for dinner (usually we go to an all you can eat bbq buffet and they just eat mushrooms, rice and soup) that I didn't mind. So we went to a vegetarian restaurant called "Loving Hut". Soo Bok was kind and paid for my dinner. Lara is 5 months pregnant; they are having a girl and her name is going to be "Hey-mee" but they were joking cause it sounds similar to "Amy" so Soo Bok said he kept calling my name a lot on the field because it sounded like his future daughter's name.

Entrance to spa

Busan Station

Vegetarian Kimchi Fried Rice

RUSHED LIKE MAD--Had the best Saturday of the Year!

So, my alarm goes off (6:45). I'm pretty tired so I don't think too much about the time. In the back of my head I keep thinking, train at 7:40; 30 minutes to get to Seoul Station.... I get ready and then I realize...my FIRST alarm didn't go off (6:15)! The 6:45 alarm was to LEAVE my place! I rush out and try and find a taxi. Thank goodness this is Seoul and there are ALWAYS taxis, even at 7:10 in the morning. I grab one and we get to the station at 7:32. I dropped a bunch of my change that he gave me, but I didn't even care. I flew up the steps and found the counter to get my ticket. Ran to the tracks and boarded the train. Phew. I slept part of the train ride and before I knew it, we were arriving at Gupo Station.

I remembered the first time I arrived at Gupo Station, giant suitcase, no idea what the woman who was picking me up looked like and wondering what Inje University would be like. This time, I knew exactly how to get to Inje. I got the 128-1 bus to Inje. Ironically the young woman sitting next to me on the train got on the bus with me too! I was so surprised because the bus was pretty empty and for almost the first time ever, I got a seat on the 128-1. After a 30 minute or so bus ride, I could finally see the campus on the hill and got off the bus. I had been messaging Jihye to check about things as I was going, but never heard from her. I remembered which building she lived in and tried to phone her 'room'. I made the call, but I must have done something wrong-a male voice asked who and I said "Jihye?" thinking it was her husband. I got buzzed in and made it upstairs. Jihye opened the door and said she and her husband had just woken up because Ji Min didn't sleep at all last night. (Later, she asked me how I found her place and that she got a call from the building's office saying she had a visitor) We chatted a bit and her husband went to a dentist appointment. After he came back, Jihye and I went for lunch. We went to my favorite place, Mongshili (bibimbap and kalguksu). I was worried it wouldn't be open because it is the school holiday, but...luckily it was! I was happy for Jihye because she said she hasn't really been out at all, or out without Ji Min (she was born a month ago) except to go to the hospital/doctors. So I think this was her first outing, just out. :)

Lunch was delicious and I was so happy to be eating bibimbap and noodle soup. After lunch we came back and visited a little bit more. As it turns out, another participant, Maren had asked me for Jihye's address a few weeks ago saying she wanted to send a gift for the baby as a surprise. I got the address and when we came back from lunch, there was a package in her mailbox--it was from Maren! Jihye was so surprised and kept wondering aloud, "how did Maren know my address?!" I was able to take a picture of Ji Min in her cute new outfit from Maren Imo (Imo=Aunt).  Around 3, I thought I should probably take off to see a few other people I knew.

I went to campus and went to the lab where my radiology students stay. It's sad (not really sad...) because there are only two left. When I was there in August, there were three. Anyway, I got to see Kyeong Min and Dae Guk. Kyeong Min was the group leader and Dae Guk was my lowest student, but one of my favorites. Anyway, I chatted with them for about an hour and a half. It was good seeing them again; Dae Guk has only a semester left and Kyeong Min a year. It'll be strange to know all the students from Inje I knew are all gone. It's tough because I love Gimhae/Inje but there won't really be anyone to meet there anymore.

I took off and got a smoothie from the little coffee shop that we loved so much. Then I grabbed a bus to head to Busan. I hopped off to catch the light rail and then transferred to the subway. It took me about an hour and a half to arrive at my designated location in Busan to meet "Oppa". (Oppa is the term a girl calls her older brother; close friends use the familiar terms as well. I have a lot of "oppas", but he is just "oppa".) He told me that one of his friends was coming along as well. His name is Seong Wook. Oppa said it was good practice for his friend because he was taking an English test in a few days so I could help him prepare. We went to a samgypsal (pork bbq) restaurant for dinner. It was pretty good, except they had me try the pig skin. Ew. Never again. I gagged as I ate it, but smiled at them because they were watching me. Oppa said I didn't have to eat anymore if I didn't want to, so I was grateful he didn't mind that I didn't like it.

After dinner we had coffee and then walked down the street that was all light up for Christmas. It was the last day the decorations were up. I remember I was there last year, when they had the opening ceremony for setting the decorations up. Then they walked me to the bus station and I said goodbye to and old friend and a new friend.

I got to the jjimjilbang (spa/sauna); I went there last year and it was pretty good. I soaked a little and went to some rooms that had hot rocks. Finally I went to sleep in one of the sauna rooms set at a low temperature.

I got a ticket to ride!

My favorite meal...maybe ever!

Happy at Mongshili!

Jihye and baby JiMin

What a cutie!

Extreme samgypsal

One year later at the same light festival

Oppa and me

Seong Wook and me

Friends~~

Relaxing Day and First Day of Korean Class

I lazed about today. On one hand I felt bad because it was like a "free day" and a day of my vacation and I didn't really do anything, but on the other, it felt nice to not do anything.

In the late afternoon I finally got out of my place and headed to downtown area. I went to Myeongdong to walk around. I also found an underground "tunnel" from the Myeongdong area to the building where my Korean class is. This is pretty wonderful. This means if I'm in Myeongdong before class, I can take the underground "tunnel" (which is pretty long) and not have to walk outside. Lovely. I stopped at a food court in the "tunnel" and got a taco for dinner.

I went upstairs to go to the Korean class. I caused a bit of a disturbance for them because I took the placement test previously, not the most recent one (on the 27th of Dec) and they couldn't find my information at first. I also couldn't remember which name I signed up for~yes, I have two names I go by here, I guess. My English and Korean name. Apparently I signed up with my Korean name. Back to having to answer to "Jong Hee".

Class was okay, at first I was nervous, but I understood almost everything that happened in class. It's a bit on the low end for my level, but a little bit of review never hurt. It's also a free class too, so no harm in going over topics again. I was called on almost first to volunteer some information and did well, so my confidence level went up. There are about 15-20 students and one main teacher with 2 assistant teachers. We have name tags and it says what country we're from; some of the name tags I saw Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and China.

After class, I came home and packed for my upcoming trip to Busan!

Old Friends

Last day of work this week, last day of work to prepare for Winter Camp. I was starting to get really stressed out because I have to have 4 lessons per day for 2 weeks of camp. So, that is 40 lessons! Then I asked to clarify some things with my COT and I found out I only have 4 days per week of teaching so I cut off 8 lessons; phew only 32 to plan!

After work I came home and just relaxed a bit. Then I headed to Gangnam to do a little bit of shopping. I got a new black purse (my other one is slowing falling apart), a desk calendar for work, a planner to carry with me, a notebook for my Korean classes that will start tomorrow, a necklace and nail polish. A successful shopping trip! Around 7:30 I met with my friend Byung Ook (more easily nicknamed "Sad Boy"). It was so good to see him. He was in my ET (English Town) group at Inje University. He's been a traveling kid--studied in Sweden for a semester and traveled Europe while there; then just came back from a semester in Canada. A little bit later, his girlfriend, Yiseul, also in our ET group met us and we went to TGI Friday's for dinner. It was great to see both of them and catch up with them. I met Yiseul back in October, but it's hard to meet due to her work schedule and she's in a city a little south of Seoul.

So happy to see Sad Boy and Yiseul again :)

First Day of the New Year!

I got to start my New Year with a group skype session with Mom, Grandpa, Martin, Uncle Mark and Mrs. Kearney. :) A great start to 2014~~ It was so good to see all of them.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. I cleaned and did a little bit of work. I watched some TV shows and walked to a kimbap shop for ddeok mandu guk (rice cake and dumpling soup). I remembered last year when Jung Yoon and Bentley were at our house and we attempted to make our own ddeok mandu guk and it failed miserably. Anyway, the one store I went to was closed so I had to walk to opposite direction to get to another one. I got my soup in a plastic bag set inside a plastic bowl and then put in a to-go bag.

I brought my food home and ate, watched some more TV.