This morning I slept in a looong time. When I finally got up and got ready I messaged Alex to see if he wanted to study some Korean together and get some cake. We set a time in the late afternoon. I tidied up my place and then walked to Hongdae to meet Alex. Then we walked over to the Sangsu side to my (new) favorite dessert place. We shared a strawberry tart and got some slushy juice.
Then it was time to meet up our group for dinner. We had quite a large group; Sumi and her sister JiYoon came, Hakon and Stine, Alex and of course Orjan, Kjersti and Philip for their going away dinner. We went to Kongbul, a different kind of BBQ place and ordered a bulgogi dish for one table and the other table got a spicy one. Over dinner, we asked what Orjan and Philip's favorite things were from the trip. I had bought a bottle of grapefruit soju for Orjan to take back to Norway and made a card with all of the things we had done together so I gave it to him then.
After dinner, most of us went to Maekju ya for a drink. Sumi and JiYoon headed back home though. Tommy and Rasmus came and joined us there too. It was a nice relaxing way to end out the evening and the Norwegians trip. It was sad to say goodbye to them and I will miss them and cherish the times we spent together.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Action Packed Day
What a busy but fun day! It started with an early rise to get to the completely other side of the city for the Color Run. However, I somehow mis-remembered the meeting spot and went to Jamsil instead of the Sports Complex station. Anyway, it was only a minor glitch and I had enough time to spare so it wasn't a big deal. I met up with Michelle in the subway station and we went to go collect my racing gear. There was a bag check and we checked in our bags, put on our sticker tattoos and got in line with our race-time group.
The first part of the 5k course went through the Olympic Stadium on the track. Many participants didn't want to walk around the whole track and were hopping over the barriers or skipping it in general. Also, hardly anyone was running. Michelle overheard some people, upon seeing some runners retort, "why are they running?!" We were kind of shocked at that because it was a 5k RUN after all...No matter. We decided that we would lightly jog it just for the heck of it, even if no one else was running. The first color station we got to was green. We didn't get too much colored powder on us at that point and we kept jogging to the next color station, orange. Along the way, we saw people sitting down and taking selfies; by far the strangest run I've ever done. After the orange, blue came next and there was a fair amount of blue thrown at us. We also had a water station and they squirted us with water guns. The final color was pink and it was a pink explosion! The people at this station were armed with SHOVELS to throw the powder. Needless to say, we were quite pink when we finished.
We hopped on the subway and were greeted with looks ranging from surprise to disdain. I personally liked the color and think that everyone should be covered in colored powder to be more colorful! It was fun! Michelle hopped off at her stop and I continued on to Sinchon. I arrived before the group I was meeting and sat outside for a bit. Sumi and JiYoon finally arrived and I met them inside the Twosome Place cafe by the subway station. Brandon, Sumi's friend was waiting inside as well. Not long after Kjersti and Philip arrived, so we were only waiting on Orjan to show up.
There was some confusion but finally we were able to get our wristbands to do the Slide the City. We decided to get lunch before we started the water slide and went to a ramen place Brandon recommended. There was a long wait (especially with a big group) and so we went in search of a different place. Alex dropped by, as he and his friends were considering doing the slide, but he said they decided not to do it after seeing it all set up. We finished lunch and then went to go wait in line for our inter-tubes. We had split up so that Kjersti waited in line for the slide and the rest of us went to get the tubes. So after we got to tubes, we went to find Kjersti; they let us hop in line and we didn't have to wait long at all which was really nice. The water slide was pretty cool, but it was a very short run for the amount of time we had to wait! After coming down the first run, we went back in line to go again. While we were waiting, it did start to drizzle a bit and the lines started moving a bit faster (there were only 2 slides). Kjersti and Philip had to leave and Sumi, JiYoon, Orjan and I decided to make one more run. It was almost a full downpour by the time we were done sliding.
We all parted ways to get cleaned up and set a meeting time. We were all pretty much late for the meeting, but no big deal. Orjan brought along Stine and Hakon and Brandon returned to join us for dinner. I wanted to take them to Imo's place (I haven't been there in ages) but when we got there, they said they were closed, even though it was only about 8:30. We walked back closer to Hongdae and went to a Mapo Kalmaegi restaurant. The only bummer was at first there weren't 2 tables next to each other so the group got split up. About halfway through, one table opened up so my table moved to be together. After dinner, we grabbed a few grapefruit soju bottles and went to the playground; basically it was all that Orjan was talking about-playing some games in the playground with grapefruit soju. We hung out in the playground for a few hours before some of the group split. The rest went to Zen to enjoy some music and dancing.
The first part of the 5k course went through the Olympic Stadium on the track. Many participants didn't want to walk around the whole track and were hopping over the barriers or skipping it in general. Also, hardly anyone was running. Michelle overheard some people, upon seeing some runners retort, "why are they running?!" We were kind of shocked at that because it was a 5k RUN after all...No matter. We decided that we would lightly jog it just for the heck of it, even if no one else was running. The first color station we got to was green. We didn't get too much colored powder on us at that point and we kept jogging to the next color station, orange. Along the way, we saw people sitting down and taking selfies; by far the strangest run I've ever done. After the orange, blue came next and there was a fair amount of blue thrown at us. We also had a water station and they squirted us with water guns. The final color was pink and it was a pink explosion! The people at this station were armed with SHOVELS to throw the powder. Needless to say, we were quite pink when we finished.
We hopped on the subway and were greeted with looks ranging from surprise to disdain. I personally liked the color and think that everyone should be covered in colored powder to be more colorful! It was fun! Michelle hopped off at her stop and I continued on to Sinchon. I arrived before the group I was meeting and sat outside for a bit. Sumi and JiYoon finally arrived and I met them inside the Twosome Place cafe by the subway station. Brandon, Sumi's friend was waiting inside as well. Not long after Kjersti and Philip arrived, so we were only waiting on Orjan to show up.
There was some confusion but finally we were able to get our wristbands to do the Slide the City. We decided to get lunch before we started the water slide and went to a ramen place Brandon recommended. There was a long wait (especially with a big group) and so we went in search of a different place. Alex dropped by, as he and his friends were considering doing the slide, but he said they decided not to do it after seeing it all set up. We finished lunch and then went to go wait in line for our inter-tubes. We had split up so that Kjersti waited in line for the slide and the rest of us went to get the tubes. So after we got to tubes, we went to find Kjersti; they let us hop in line and we didn't have to wait long at all which was really nice. The water slide was pretty cool, but it was a very short run for the amount of time we had to wait! After coming down the first run, we went back in line to go again. While we were waiting, it did start to drizzle a bit and the lines started moving a bit faster (there were only 2 slides). Kjersti and Philip had to leave and Sumi, JiYoon, Orjan and I decided to make one more run. It was almost a full downpour by the time we were done sliding.
We all parted ways to get cleaned up and set a meeting time. We were all pretty much late for the meeting, but no big deal. Orjan brought along Stine and Hakon and Brandon returned to join us for dinner. I wanted to take them to Imo's place (I haven't been there in ages) but when we got there, they said they were closed, even though it was only about 8:30. We walked back closer to Hongdae and went to a Mapo Kalmaegi restaurant. The only bummer was at first there weren't 2 tables next to each other so the group got split up. About halfway through, one table opened up so my table moved to be together. After dinner, we grabbed a few grapefruit soju bottles and went to the playground; basically it was all that Orjan was talking about-playing some games in the playground with grapefruit soju. We hung out in the playground for a few hours before some of the group split. The rest went to Zen to enjoy some music and dancing.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Trying to play catch up again...A teary day at school
Here I am another few months later, trying to play catch up again...
Today was a very sad, difficult day at school. I had the first last classes with some of my students. I had been prepared for two of them. My 5th grade coteacher told me we would be finishing our semester classes with them so we planned a lesson special for the occasion. First we started by telling them I was leaving and they asked me questions about why and such. Then we let them write some letters to me and say whatever they wanted to. That took most of the class as they were decorating their papers as well as writing. As they were working, I walked around and took some photos with each group.
My other 5th grade coteacher came to class and told me she didn't realize but it would be the last class for our students too! We had planned to teach a song (I had picked "Let it Be") so we started class and told them it was my last class. They then practiced the song and Alex Teacher recorded it as a parting gift for me. Now, I was feeling a bit sad after saying bye to the first 2 classes, but I was doing alright. As the 3rd class was finishing, I noticed one girl was teary eyed and sniffling which made me start feeling pretty sad. We had the students line up as usual to head out the door where I always say goodbye to them and I noticed a lot of the girls were looking pretty gloomy. I decided to send the boys line back to class first. When the girls line started to leave, each girl gave me a hug and many of them were crying and sniffling. Which tugged at my heart and I couldn't help it but by the time the last one had gone I was crying as well.
The last 5th grade class came and they announced as they walked in, "all the girls from class 5-2 are crying!" This class is made up of very bright, cheerful students; they luckily did not cry at all and were acting their funny selves while singing which helped a lot.
After work, I stopped home briefly and then headed to Hongdae. There was an adoptee I had met earlier in the week, Michael and he was having a going away get together. First we went to get BBQ for dinner. After dinner, we went to the Beastro for a few classy drinks. We stayed there and chatted a bit. It was a big and pretty mixed group. We had Ashley, another adoptee from MN and her language partner friend Kyung Chan; Kjersti and her son Philip from Norway; Kris an adoptee from NY, Charles an adoptee from CA and Orjan also from Norway. It's always fun meeting people from all over!
Next we headed to a Western pub, Mikes Cabin. There we were able to sit and talk, play foosball and dance. A few more of Mike's friends joined as well; another CA adoptee and one from OH.
Today was a very sad, difficult day at school. I had the first last classes with some of my students. I had been prepared for two of them. My 5th grade coteacher told me we would be finishing our semester classes with them so we planned a lesson special for the occasion. First we started by telling them I was leaving and they asked me questions about why and such. Then we let them write some letters to me and say whatever they wanted to. That took most of the class as they were decorating their papers as well as writing. As they were working, I walked around and took some photos with each group.
My other 5th grade coteacher came to class and told me she didn't realize but it would be the last class for our students too! We had planned to teach a song (I had picked "Let it Be") so we started class and told them it was my last class. They then practiced the song and Alex Teacher recorded it as a parting gift for me. Now, I was feeling a bit sad after saying bye to the first 2 classes, but I was doing alright. As the 3rd class was finishing, I noticed one girl was teary eyed and sniffling which made me start feeling pretty sad. We had the students line up as usual to head out the door where I always say goodbye to them and I noticed a lot of the girls were looking pretty gloomy. I decided to send the boys line back to class first. When the girls line started to leave, each girl gave me a hug and many of them were crying and sniffling. Which tugged at my heart and I couldn't help it but by the time the last one had gone I was crying as well.
The last 5th grade class came and they announced as they walked in, "all the girls from class 5-2 are crying!" This class is made up of very bright, cheerful students; they luckily did not cry at all and were acting their funny selves while singing which helped a lot.
After work, I stopped home briefly and then headed to Hongdae. There was an adoptee I had met earlier in the week, Michael and he was having a going away get together. First we went to get BBQ for dinner. After dinner, we went to the Beastro for a few classy drinks. We stayed there and chatted a bit. It was a big and pretty mixed group. We had Ashley, another adoptee from MN and her language partner friend Kyung Chan; Kjersti and her son Philip from Norway; Kris an adoptee from NY, Charles an adoptee from CA and Orjan also from Norway. It's always fun meeting people from all over!
Next we headed to a Western pub, Mikes Cabin. There we were able to sit and talk, play foosball and dance. A few more of Mike's friends joined as well; another CA adoptee and one from OH.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
North Korean dinner and Makgoli
Nothing too special at work, I was just dreading the upcoming goodbyes for two of my 5th grade classes tomorrow.
I came home and took a short break. Around 7 I went out to meet Orjan for a late-ish dinner. We decided on the North Korean restaurant that I've been to a few times before. I ordered the nengmyeon, cold noodle soup and he got bibimbap. When we went to pay, the gentleman working there asked where we were from and we had broken conversation in English and Korean.
Next on to Insadong to try yuja (a citrus fruit) makgoli (Korean rice wine). My coteacher had recommended this place before so I wanted to try it. It was pretty good, but I'm not sure Orjan enjoyed his first makgoli experience. It can be an acquired taste. We sat and talked for awhile over the makgoli and it was a lot of fun. We were getting warm in the restaurant even though we were sitting upstairs with all the windows open, so we decided to take a walk. We wandered to Cheonggyecheon and took a short stroll there. Then we got some snacks and sat and talked some more before parting ways.
I came home and took a short break. Around 7 I went out to meet Orjan for a late-ish dinner. We decided on the North Korean restaurant that I've been to a few times before. I ordered the nengmyeon, cold noodle soup and he got bibimbap. When we went to pay, the gentleman working there asked where we were from and we had broken conversation in English and Korean.
Next on to Insadong to try yuja (a citrus fruit) makgoli (Korean rice wine). My coteacher had recommended this place before so I wanted to try it. It was pretty good, but I'm not sure Orjan enjoyed his first makgoli experience. It can be an acquired taste. We sat and talked for awhile over the makgoli and it was a lot of fun. We were getting warm in the restaurant even though we were sitting upstairs with all the windows open, so we decided to take a walk. We wandered to Cheonggyecheon and took a short stroll there. Then we got some snacks and sat and talked some more before parting ways.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Korean Class
Just a typical day with my 4th grade cuties. I have one more week (class) with them next week.
After work, it was to the post office and home to get my Korean books before going to class. It was the first class of the new session. We had to make introductions and everyone kind of "awed" in amazement when I said I was an English teacher. Class was alright; I have all of the answers in the book because I am retaking this class.
After work, it was to the post office and home to get my Korean books before going to class. It was the first class of the new session. We had to make introductions and everyone kind of "awed" in amazement when I said I was an English teacher. Class was alright; I have all of the answers in the book because I am retaking this class.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
The Vault
One of the last "Terrible Tuesdays"! They really aren't so terrible these days, just very long days.
After work, I headed to Hongdae to meet up with some adoptees. Orjan had invited me to join some other adoptees he had met to do a kind of "game night" at the Vault. I'll go into the concept in a bit. There was Michael, Ashley, Kjersti, Philip, Orjan and me. First we met up and decided what to have for dinner. Michael, the one organizing the event said he wanted Chinese but didn't really know any place around there. I knew of a restaurant so I led the way. Most of us ordered jjajangmyeon, the noodles and black bean sauce dish.
We finished dinner and headed to the Vault. A few more members joined us there; Gordon (an adoptee from Canada I had met a few years ago at Thanksgiving) Pat, and Hee. There were 2 different "rooms" to choose to play. One was more mission impossible inspired with laser lights and the task of "stealing" a diamond and getting out of the room. The other was just more a mental challenge with clues to figure out how to get out of that room. We split into different teams as there were 9 of us. I headed to the mission impossible inspired room. We were given 45 minutes to try and figure it out. At 30 minutes they came and asked if we wanted a clue and gave us a hint. It did not help us and we were not successful in stealing the diamond! The other group doing the mental task did not have any luck in getting out of their room either. It was still a fun experience though.
Next, some people wanted to try the new grapefruit flavored soju. We went in search of somewhere to have it and saw a bbq restaurant quite close with advertising for it. Inside, we were told we couldn't just order drinks, so we got a small order of meat to share with everyone. It was a fun time eating, drinking and chatting with new friends. We stayed pretty late, but I was able to catch the last subway home!
After work, I headed to Hongdae to meet up with some adoptees. Orjan had invited me to join some other adoptees he had met to do a kind of "game night" at the Vault. I'll go into the concept in a bit. There was Michael, Ashley, Kjersti, Philip, Orjan and me. First we met up and decided what to have for dinner. Michael, the one organizing the event said he wanted Chinese but didn't really know any place around there. I knew of a restaurant so I led the way. Most of us ordered jjajangmyeon, the noodles and black bean sauce dish.
We finished dinner and headed to the Vault. A few more members joined us there; Gordon (an adoptee from Canada I had met a few years ago at Thanksgiving) Pat, and Hee. There were 2 different "rooms" to choose to play. One was more mission impossible inspired with laser lights and the task of "stealing" a diamond and getting out of the room. The other was just more a mental challenge with clues to figure out how to get out of that room. We split into different teams as there were 9 of us. I headed to the mission impossible inspired room. We were given 45 minutes to try and figure it out. At 30 minutes they came and asked if we wanted a clue and gave us a hint. It did not help us and we were not successful in stealing the diamond! The other group doing the mental task did not have any luck in getting out of their room either. It was still a fun experience though.
Next, some people wanted to try the new grapefruit flavored soju. We went in search of somewhere to have it and saw a bbq restaurant quite close with advertising for it. Inside, we were told we couldn't just order drinks, so we got a small order of meat to share with everyone. It was a fun time eating, drinking and chatting with new friends. We stayed pretty late, but I was able to catch the last subway home!
Monday, July 6, 2015
Bohye!
Work felt a little bit overwhelming. I met with my coteacher to discuss summer camp. She has revamped it from how I did it last year; changing things from the textbook to class schedule. It's not a problem, but it's a bit of an adjustment and more planning required.
After work I stopped at home before going to meet Bohye. We picked Sindorim. I actually abhor this subway station when trying to transfer, but just leaving the station isn't a big deal. It's the station from hell because line 1 and 2 (biggest lines) meet here and its heavy foot traffic and is pretty crazy. Outside the station, they have a beautiful park surrounding the whole area. There are benches built up stadium style with some sections that have reclined seats. It's quite nice. We decided to go to Charles Kimbap and thought getting it to go would be really fun so we could eat in the park. The weather was pretty nice for being outside too. We ate and were talking about my Mom when Bohye mentioned that KakaoTalk (the messenger service that all Koreans use) had a new update and it included video calls! So, we decided to try it out and called Mom. It was a fun surprise and I got to see little Chev. After the call, we walked around the park a little bit. The sun was setting and the sky was an absolutely beautiful coral pink color. I tried snapping some pictures with my phone, but they could not capture the actual color well. We were getting ready to part ways because Bohye has gaya-gum (a traditional Korean instrument) lessons early in the morning, but she wanted to find the piano staircase. So we went in search of that in the station. There are about 10 steps that are wired and light up, when you step on them, they play a note. She and I had fun running up and down the steps for a little. She played "Mary had a little lamb".
We parted ways and I contacted Orjan to see what he was up to. We agreed to meet in Jongno and headed to Koba to get a drink. It was good to see Mr. Lee and Orjan was able to sign the wall and drew the flag from Norway. We had a nice time talking together.
After work I stopped at home before going to meet Bohye. We picked Sindorim. I actually abhor this subway station when trying to transfer, but just leaving the station isn't a big deal. It's the station from hell because line 1 and 2 (biggest lines) meet here and its heavy foot traffic and is pretty crazy. Outside the station, they have a beautiful park surrounding the whole area. There are benches built up stadium style with some sections that have reclined seats. It's quite nice. We decided to go to Charles Kimbap and thought getting it to go would be really fun so we could eat in the park. The weather was pretty nice for being outside too. We ate and were talking about my Mom when Bohye mentioned that KakaoTalk (the messenger service that all Koreans use) had a new update and it included video calls! So, we decided to try it out and called Mom. It was a fun surprise and I got to see little Chev. After the call, we walked around the park a little bit. The sun was setting and the sky was an absolutely beautiful coral pink color. I tried snapping some pictures with my phone, but they could not capture the actual color well. We were getting ready to part ways because Bohye has gaya-gum (a traditional Korean instrument) lessons early in the morning, but she wanted to find the piano staircase. So we went in search of that in the station. There are about 10 steps that are wired and light up, when you step on them, they play a note. She and I had fun running up and down the steps for a little. She played "Mary had a little lamb".
We parted ways and I contacted Orjan to see what he was up to. We agreed to meet in Jongno and headed to Koba to get a drink. It was good to see Mr. Lee and Orjan was able to sign the wall and drew the flag from Norway. We had a nice time talking together.
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