Concerning a great overnight to Seoul

Winding backwards, last weekend was a lovely and quiet rest. I enjoyed some relaxing moments with friends, finished a 1200 page book that I'd been chipping away at for some time and entirely devoured another in the space of 3 hours. It was a fluffy Nora Roberts romance novel but it was the perfect mental snack food to munch on for a time, complete with a Christmas proposal from the modest carpenter turned secret billionaire at the end. Perfect. I must say, I love it when a book forces me to do mental yoga and stretch my muscles by seeing something new but sometimes I equally love a mindless screen saver escape. Delightful. I don't know why but I've been more ravenous for books than usual lately; after I finished that one, I'm already half way through "Thorn Birds" in not even a week's time. It's a tangible comfort to me that even if I don't land my perfect job that somehow miraculously uses my connection to lit or language, it is such an easy thing to keep in my life. I have a perpetual "to read" list and the day that I complete it is the day I die, haha. So that was nice and a big mental refreshment.

My workweeks have been absolutely flying by ever since I hit the 10 week mark. 10 flew to 9, raced to 8 and catapulted into 7 so here we are. Work's fine though I think it's starting to slightly sink in that I'm leaving...partially because I've been talking about it more lately. It's adorable, Hannah (very smart, in my 7 yr UCLA class) always preferred my partner teacher to me even though she was always happy and affectionate and cheerful regardless. But, the last two weeks she's been a barnacle at my side from the moment I set foot in the classroom. If I'm correcting the kid's workbooks, she's there quite literally clinging to my arm, not even saying anything, just hanging on to me and seeing what I'm doing. I think it's because I'm going because twice when she's been like that she's said "Becky Teacher don't go" which is slowly breaking my heart from the inside out. I don't want to upset the kids but I also know from watching all of my very capable and loved foreign predecessors leave that they bounce back with almost shocking speed. So, for the moment, it's nice to feel appreciated and loved.

Friday night, Tracy and I hopped a bus to Seoul. We dropped our stuff at the hostel, got some milk shakes and burger king, and wandered around the Cheonggyecheonno Stream (yep spelled correctly) which was pretty at night. The relationship between the temperature and the humidity gets a bit challenging during the day but the nights are really pleasant to walk in, balmy and comfortable. We collapsed back to the hostel and had a solid night's rest that was abruptly ended when I realized we had overslept. So, we scrAAAAAmbled to the subway, through a transfer to Gyeongbokgong Station. The only directions we had was that it was "in the parking lot adjacent to the palace" but the problem is that not only is the palace enormous but under construction. So, we breathlessly pleaded directions from the palace info booth who confusingly waved us through the palace...so through the palace we went, sprinting and dodging tourists left and right before finally getting to our bus 15 minutes late and not a minute to spare.

We then had a cute, free tour of Cheong Wa Dae, or "The Blue House" so named for its Arabically tinted (and regal) blue shingles. Lee Myung Bak, the Korean President, lives and works there. We saw the press room (interesting because this guy's not exactly known for free speech given that he has both banned candlelight marches AND is seeking to nationalize all media companies), a sumptuous lawn and garden, the Blue House itself, and a guest house. Some of the buildings struck me as very weird, adhering to old Korean architectural motifs but with new construction materials, to confusing effect. Imagine the same swinging roof eaves and sloped roofs. Imagine the same legendary mythical figures perched on the gables, protecting the buildings (note- Cheong Wa Dae is the only building in Korea to have all 11 animals protecting it, a sign of it's vital importance. Even Gyeongbokgong has only 9.), imagine the rice paper wooden lattice patterns. Now imagine all that in concrete. As I said...weird. Bullet proof history. Anyway, it was well worth the free admission and we got a free ceramic mug to boot. Woohoo!

After that we were both starving from our lack of breakfast so we had Dunkin Doughnuts followed by an impromptu and thorough jaunt through the Sejongno Square fountains. Had I swam in a pool, I would have been drier and every bit of my clothes from head to toe were soaked. However, given the July weather it was really refreshing. We then went to Myeongdong, I bought a new shirt and shoes, and then we saw Nanta which is Stomp but with kitchen utensils. Cute and pretty funny.

After the show, we schlepped a few subway stops away to get the first good Mexican meal I've had here. There was guacamole. There was a strawberry margarita. There was a chicken burrito. There were rice and beans. Happy. Becky.

Today I've been lazy, worn out from our packed overnight. I watched TV, read, cleaned the tiniest of bits and then went to treat myself to Eclipse. I don't care what the reviews said, I loved it. I did find two things funny: 1.) That apparently Seattle has both hurricane rains and blizzard snows that I've somehow missed for 23 years and 2.) That all of the sudden the Cullens all have their own little accents that came from nowhere. Other than that, a toe-curlingly successful afternoon.

LOTS to come, I promise. Stay tuned and for those of you keeping count, 7 weeks to go. Mwah!

Concerning... Monsoon Season

Hello monsoon season, nice to meet you. Well folks, I'm not in a temperate Seattle faux summer, that's for sure. This last week, the air gained all the weight of a wrecking ball and it hasn't really gotten below the 80s in my recent memory. Mostly I've transitioned pretty well, the heat isn't really something new (I haven't even thought of a jacket for 2 months) and the humidity hasn't done much save poofing my hair something fierce. So far, still alive and kicking with the help of a fan and my AC. This week fuh-LEW by, being the dreaded last of session, so I was happily occupied in a flurry of standard evaluations, syllabi, and test taking, ever mindful I only have to go through those little motions two more times. Thursday, we had a field trip to a potato farm and the kids hoed and pulled and rummaged to their heart's content. I also snagged a few por moi and made some pretty fabulous home-made hash-browns to accompany a veggie scramble. Mmmm-mmm. Man, I love cooking when it actually yields something good.

Friday night was chill, I went and watched the Brazil (or Bradjil in the local dialect) vs. Portugal world cup game...and was kind of bored to tears by the 0-0 outcome. Oh well, the Becks beer was nice. Saturday, I talked to the parents and met my friend Ella downtown. We shopped and then grabbed some dinner at an "Italian" restaurant that served everything from pasta to pilaf to fried chicken salad...all with a side of kimchi and pickles. Of course. It was tasty enough though, if in a rag tag kind of way, and we walked around some more dodging the sporadic (yet somehow still torrential) rain. To dry off, we headed into a cute coffee shop where we had a little room to ourselves, in the typical Korean style so often found in bars, karaoke rooms, and...well, coffee shops. I had a tasty strawberry smoothie. That night, I did some laundry and watched the Korea vs. Uruguay game which was fun while it was a tie but alas, ultimately dashed all of Soko's aspirations to glory. When they did score, I heard an ambient rumble pass through my apartment building. Sometimes, like that one weird blog post I did about the "artery road" outside my window, it seems like the country is sort of alive around me, a many headed organism. I think that feeling of hyper connectedness just comes from everyone living in suuuuuch close quarters. And a shared passion for soccer. Today was also low key- I slept AMAAAAZINGLY last night, worked out this morning, read my book for hours, and then met a friend for Indian. Not too shabby at all.

Time update: 2 more months come tomorrow or 9 more weeks as of yesterday aaaaand ...home. Yes I'll be distraught with leaving my kids (they've already begun to mob me with cries of "Becky Teacher NOT go!") and my friends and even my little apartment but yes I'll also be somewhat manic to set foot on my home soil. And to have that Red Robin whiskey river BBQ chicken wrap with steak fries and ranch sauce. And a peach milkshake....

Concerning...goodbye 22, hello... something.

As I've explained before, age ra-heeeally becomes just a number because of the weird Korean counting systems so numerically, my birthday wasn't that big of a milestone. When I left the US, I was 22 and immediately upon entering Korea, I added a year to reflect the Korean consideration of the time in the womb, deeming any newborn automatically one year old. Then, January 1st, I added another year along with the rest of Korea. So in four months I went from 22 to 24. Given that, going from 22 to 23 to 24 somewhere back to 22 in my mind and now firmly landing on 23 didn't give the extra year much punch.

Age loop-di-loops aside, I did have a pretty nice birthday. Despite this, the build up was not entirely pleasant and in fact I was somewhat dreading the day but my kids started the weekend off on a good note. UCLA gave me all sorts of great gifts, including hello kitty pens, a 5 inch barbie cell phone charm, a hand painted fan and other assorted nick-nacks. Brown wasn't as in tune to the day which made it all the more endearing when Irene came up behind me, put her little arms around my waist (I was sitting down) and said "Becky Teacher, happy birthday to you." ALL KINDS OF ADORABLE, I'm telling you. After lunch, another one of my kids gave me a card wishing me a "Happy Bathday" but the real icing on the cake was my 4:00 remedial class. I'm not that close with them because their English is at a super low level, like I've taught them almost everything they know, and so I can't communicate very freely with them. And, there's only 4 kids. However, they quite literally rendered me speechless when I walked into the room and the lights were out, a candle-bedecked cake waiting at my place on the desk, with cute little presents around. They popped out from under the desk and exploded confetti at me while yelling "Happy Birthday" and I had to fight not to cry. They got me this huge, violently pink, ribbon and bow festooned rose, another cell phone charm, and a little chair tea light candle holder. Beyond words. Then, my last class, one of my favorite 11 year olds threw me a paper airplane note that exactly read:

From Becky Theacher
Theacher, Becky teacher, Happy birthday! Today is your school birthday. Today anything is yours. I not have your gift. I'm sorry. But I am very like you. Happ birthday!
(Really big heart)
To Chris

Oh my god. These kids have melted me down to levels of my soul that I didn't know existed. Right now, through the steadily growing excitement of going home eventually, I am slowly realizing it's bittersweet. It was obvious in England that I'd leave a part of my heart there but my attachments to my students here have been slower and more subtle in their development. I didn't know they were under my skin until they were there to stay. That will be a definite tug when I do leave.

That night, we went to Level Eks for the first time in a month and it ended up just being me and 5 Koreans going out to fried chicken. They found out it was going to be my birthday and also surprised me with a cake, and sang happy birthday. It was so sweet and it totally reminded me of that scene in "A Christmas Story" when the waiters are trying to sing Jingle Bells on Christmas. Hilarious and so heart warming, despite the indecipherable lyrics.

Then to the actual day. Knowing me, and how my homesick heart refuses to deny one moment of nostalgic twangs, it of course had to start with the teary phone calls back home but once those were over and kleenex firmly thrown away, the fun could begin. Well, after cleaning my apartment, mopping, fixing a light-bulb, getting groceries, and a shower. That done, I went to a BBQ for my friend Chad whose birthday is two days after mine and had a little too much fun with some water-guns from his roof. That, and yummy sangria. After dinner there, a friend and I went back to my place for some wine and Sex and the City to get ready for our night.

We went out to a local foreigner bar which was so much fun, we had about 3 tables combined for Chad and myself. Another friend got me a cake (4 and counting- work also got one for me) which was so sweet. That, combined with the flaming unidentified shot that I drank out of some kind of citrus-y fruit equaled a haaaaappy Becky who was well into the festivities. We went out dancing at a club nearby and it was so so so much fun, everyone kind of let loose and popped a move. There were also an inordinate amount of attractive Koreans, or maybe that was the screwdrivers. In any event, much fun was had. I made it back to my apartment in time to see the sun rise and plop in bed.

Sunday was mostly spent sleeping, after which I went out to dinner with another friend and had an early-ish night. Work is good, winding up the June session and as I said last post, no matter how much I try to live in the moment, my mind will not release its grip on the countdown. We're almost at 2 months now, in case anyone was wondering. Love!!

Becky the Birthday Girl

PS- Sorry for the lack of pics, I'll try and remedy that one of these days.
PPS- Thanks to all who sent along birthday messages, they were so appreciated and did a lot to get me in a festive mood!

Concerning freak outs

Ooooh my but this was a dicey week, but let me retrospectively assure all of my readers that all is well. Work-wise we have started bi-weekly outdoor gym days for the summer, which means for the first three periods after lunch we go to Hanbat Park and frolic around. Half of the teachers go each time which means every month, I go once and one morning I have completely off which is lovely. The first time I was up, however, so we trecked out into the crystal blue morning on our meandering and geographically nonsensical way to a grassy patch in the park. We played a ton of games including red rover, duck duck goose (the runaway hit of the kindergarten world), and freeze tag (IMPOSSIBLE to teach to non-native 5 year old English speakers). I got a welcome bit of color and was pleasantly tired after we got back.

Last weekend was a bit on the relaxed side. Friday night I went out to a baseball game with my friends from work, Daejeon Haenwa (I think) against some Seoul team. It was an adorable little stadium, a quarter the capacity of Safeco, and we got some chicken from outside the door, grabbed some beers, and strapped in. Sports wise it was humiliating, we got beat 8 to 2, but it was fun to compare cultures. I would definitely say that Americans can be more raucous, booing and shouting to their hearts content. However, Koreans are way more coordinated and attuned to the game. They all had the plastic, blow up bangers and the two cheerleaders (in tanks, white gloves, and jean skirts) would lead them in elaborate chants and routines that everyone knew. Maybe I underestimate how many English nothings I can roll out at a ball park but they had a really impressive repetoire that incorporated different and personalized beats for each player. Wow. There was also a couple who got engaged, he fully bowed to the ground in front of her, she said yes, and got a tepid pat-on-the-back hug until the crowd made them kiss. Once. Like a peck. All I can say is that will not be me, haha. Food-wise, fried chicken and pizza could be brought in from outside, but you could by any convenience store style snack along the perimeter, along with coal grilled squid, fries, and dok bokki (thick rice pasta) which I have come to like. My taste buds have finally submitted to the garlicy spice.

Saturday began my unfortunate streak of days. Mom and I missed our morning phone call which got me in a bad mood and then there was a lot of confusion surrounding the summer vacation. Basically, southeast Asia is not a good option for a 6 day jaunt in a time when I can't even politically go to Thailand, so that's out. I was going to find somewhere else with my coworkers (hence my 4 hour jaunt around Daejeon with said friends in search of a travel agent who turned out to be absolutely useless) but both of them had admittedly legitimate things come up which bound them elsewhere. So, it's looking like it's me. What did briefly cheer me was the discovery of an Adventure Korea trip to Jeju that leaves during my break and hits all the major places with beach time to spare so that would be a perfect way to have fun as a solo. It's a big milestone though- first trip my myself, eek!

Anyways, the thought did attempt to lift my mood before my computer went belly up. It wouldn't start and safe mode did absolutely nothing, always stalling on the same screen. So, I basically had a level 5 meltdown because it has skype and so is essentially my means of communication back home, my entire entertainment (for two reasons- 1.) even I cannot solely live off of books for two and a half months and 2.) I desperately plugged in the old TV in my closet to discover all of 5 channels, all in Korean), and my sanity. So, there were a few dark days in the middle where everything was a bit up in the air, compounded by the lack of contact with my family and this did not make for a composed, sedate Becky. Frazzled doesn't even begin to describe it.

Anyways, thank God for Korean copyright laws, because I finally gave in and dropped my computer off at this little stall in a nearby techie mall, and for 20 bucks, a day later they installed windows 7 and barely 15 minutes of formatting gave me a fully functional and personalized computer! My baby lives again! So that was resolved and I am making it a definite goal to try and incorporate the zen principles of Buddhism into my thought processes against future freak outs. I am even planning a temple stay, haha.

Anyways, much much better now. Looking forward to a nice, packed weekend, and then my birthday in a week!

Concerning coming to term(s)

The title is a bad pun...I've been here nine months! This week was hit by a snaggle as I became a newly initiated insomniac. Ick. I've always been really solid with sleep and it definitely messed with my head to have that disrupted. From about Sunday night to Wednesday night, I would drift into a very light daydream-y sleep for hours and hours until I would finally get from one to three hours of decent REM before the morning. Not awful, I managed to mostly keep a good mood, but Thursday I waved the white flag when I came down with a sore throat. That night I seriously went to bed at 9 and didn't move for 11 hours and while I didn't sleep that whole time, I finally accumulated a solid amount. This weekend I also caught up a bit. I'm not normal yet, it still takes me forever to settle into really thick sleep but I'm at least reassured that it's not serious.

This weekend, probably from resting up, was relaxed. Friday night I caught Prince of Persia which was the best bad movie I've seen in a while. I certainly enjoyed Jake Gyllenhall's abs but my friend and I were reduced to giggling hysterics by the clumsy script and plot. I was really entertained though and I suppose there's little difference between laughing at and with a movie, it was a success. Saturday morning I had a much needed skype convo with my momma and then met my friend downtown for a Thai massage. First, they served me shockingly blue tea in these awesome elephant tea cups, and then on to the main event. It was bliss, very different from the tried and true Swedish variety. For one, they had me wear these PJ type things. I later found out their practicality for two reasons. One, my massage was in a room with four other people. Two, it was basically sport yoga without any of the effort- my masseuse contorted my body into positions the like of which I will likely never experience again and woke up muscles previously dormant and innocuous. So not quite a nakie environment. It also involved little massage perse, it was more lots and lots of pressure points (with amazing kung-fu like agility and strength I might add- she put one finger on one little point on my shoulder blade and it felt like my whole back imploded) and lOTS of stretching. At points, it bordered on painful and I bad to definitely breathe deeply but my worked my body well and I was relaxed so job done. And only 50 bucks for an hour. I might do that again before I leave, who knows.

After that, my friend and I went and got some delicious steam pork buns and decided we wanted to go for a drive. We went out of the city, past Yuseong, past the National Cemetary (where the Cheonan victims are buried by the way), past Donghaksa, to this little artist village. It was sheer nirvana to get out of the city, I always feel like a drowning man clutching at straws when finally get a shot at fresh air and green. There was a sharp chill in the otherwise balmy city air which totally made it feel like Seattle and between that, the rolling lush emerald hills, reflective rice paddies, and delicious quiet, it was lovely.

Today I got up and worked out, and then had a picnic with my friend. We attempted to rent bikes and go down to the river only to be entirely thwarted by the very complicated renting machine. Oh well, we walked around Government Complex and ate to the very civilized background of classical music coming from the Art Center. There was quite literally no cloud in the sky and it was robin's egg blue. We popped into this dinky little museum and saw some bizarre art supposedly about the sense of humor (there was lots of poop memorabilia...) and then lay down on some benches to soak up the sun and the breeze. I got my first little shade of summer color and then took a very necessary and very heavy two hour Sunday afternoon nap. Mmm mmmm.

Regarding the summer vacation update, the latest decision is Jeju Island. We were going to go to Laos or Vietnam but I just realized it would be a poor replacement to Thailand (because of the protest instability...) and I'd rather go back and do that area properly when I have a few weeks. This way I can thoroughly cross Korea off of my list. Also, recently the predictable homesickness has popped back up but nothing I can't handle. I credit mom and dad with holding it off for two months, impressive and much appreciated.

I also had a nice talk with Shayna tonight and we had a very interesting and appealing revelation about my time here. I was joking that my year in Korea didn't "fix me" as promised, delivering the perfect career and life path that I probably did half-expect upon coming here. To be fair, I was still in the blind panic of graduation and the crippling indecision of infinite possibilities in August so it's understandable I craved that from my year here. Well, Korea didn't fix my indecision but I realized it did start to fix my outlook. I'm slightly different, I'm more relaxed to let the journey take me where it will and I'll find my way in time. I've had to battle so many things this year that being scared about my future just sort of fell to the wayside somewhere. I'm not saying it's completely anxiety-free but I'm at peace with it. So that's well worth knowing and a nice, satisfying development to see in myself.

As these reflections might hint, things have taken a turn in my mind towards the end. I tried to resist it but I can't shake the thought that I'm finally there, the home stretch, the last quarter, less than 90 days and then...

Well, not quiet "then" yet. Lots of adventure to be had, still chances to "love the reeling midnight through" in these summer months. Bye for now!! :)

Concerning Buddha's Birthday

Last week, on Sunday, I went to Seoul for the Lantern Festival, honoring Buddha's birthday which is May 21st every year. The first stop we made was at Bongeunsa which I think is the biggest temple in Seoul and it was amazing, its entire courtyard was covered in a red and white paper lantern ceiling, a riot of color and celebration. We walked around the grounds, saw a cool big Buddha statue and sat for a time inside the temple itself, watching people muttering and rocking while fingering their way through a strand of prayer beads (reminiscent of a Catholic rosary) and going through the motions of prostrating bows. It was kind of interesting to have that part of the temple- complete with a pervading scent of incense and profundity- interact with the loud colors and the cheerful crowds of the holidays, jostling outside in front of the domineering Seoul skyline. In an adjacent building, we saw a lantern exhibition which was stunning. I had never thought of lanterns as a medium of art, more decoration, but they have evolved it into a serious means of expression and creativity. Gone are the repetitive lotus paper molds, it has exploded into a significant collaboration between sculpture and painting. We saw paper replicas of kings, traditional drums, angel wings, and more abstract pieces. As the room was dark, the lanterns photographed beautifully and we had a lot of fun. After, we went north of the river (mom and dad- Jongak station, right where we were!) for the actual festival. There were lots of tents set up where you could make your own lotus lantern with petals of paper, someone handed us Buddha tokens, informational booths, and then at the end was another temple, even more lavishly coated with lanterns. This formation had a taeguuki (Korean flag) in the middle. There were some Tibetan monks doing a traditional sand drawing which was cool and we got to tie some wishes on a giant kite string. At the temple, there was also a bronze statue of Buddha absolutely festooned with flowers and ivy placed over a little pond in a shrine. People would come up, take a dipper, symbolically bathe the Buddha and bow their respect afterword. We grabbed some pah-jang (spring onion pancake) and mandu before watching a bit of the parade which was more lit and painted lanterns in procession with some monks and various groups of people. It was a close call getting back but we did and it was a fun day.

This week was a pretty busy one. I feel like I've gotten pretty close to Brown as of late, I read them extra stories and they call me "Becky Mommy" which yes, does totally mess with my head sometimes. Clearly it's halfway between a joke and a lesson in child psych but seeing them every weekday has definitely formed a bond there. Also, on the other end of the spectrum, my most advanced students decided that I was the best teacher they'd ever had at the school, and they've been here like 3 years which totally warmed me to the cockles of my heart.

I learned a bit more about Korean belief as well, talking with some friends. Divorce is still extremely stigmatized, to the point where one told me a story of her Aunt forbidding her cousin to remarry after his wife died because his girlfriend was divorced, not a widow. Also, children are sometimes viewed as synonymous with the idea of marriage. I don't mean that most people strongly desire to have kids in their lives (that's not unique to Soko), but that most people think less of a marriage without them. Hmm. I absolutely want kids at some point but I also defend the right for others to decide. Kids should be a choice and a privilege, not an obligation. Not everyone I saw believed this, but it was indeed fun to discuss with those that did.

Wednesday night I had another new Korean dining experience- shabu kalguksu which was delicious. First, we cooked mushrooms and greens in this broth until it was boiling. Then, we added paper thin, frozen bits of beef which cooked on contact. The result was a spicy soup, course 1. Course 2 we added kalguksu noodles which was my favorite part. Course 3, they spooned out most of the broth and made fried rice with green onion. All for under 5 bucks. LOVE IT!

Thursday night, another coworker and I went out for ramen and then to a popular western bar. We met some of her friends, played darts, shamelessly flirted with the two hottest guys there (one French...mon dieu....and another Australian) and I called it a night at 3. Then, because Friday began the actual 3 day weekend holiday, I went to Busan with a friend. We arrived in time to get about 20 minutes of watery sun before it began to set but it was nice to sit on the beach. We took a long walk all around the beach area after it was dark and really got a feel for Busan. It definitely has the whimsical and surreal feeling of an English coastal resort- lots of lights and ferris wheels. After walking for quite some time, buying red bean paste doughnuts, and being given a charred marshmallow like dessert which was good, we went to the jjimjilbang to spend the night. Apparently, most are open 24 hours and have a nap room so they are a good, cheap, place to crash.

It started well- they had some really nice pools overlooking the ocean (as funny as it felt being naked and spying on people on the beach...), very relaxing and pretty to see the lights at night. Then came the sleeping part. It was a huge room with about 200 people in it, and many either congestively or aromatically challenged. The lights were one until 6 in the morning along with two TVs, people answered their phones and talked loudly...quiet wasn't even a far dream. Somewhere around 4 I made myself into a Becky lollipop by wrapping one of the blanket/mat things around my head just to try and get some dark and quiet. I maybe slept an hour, which is why the next morning started with a grande coffee. We went to the biggest department store in the world, I bought some cute green plaid converse, saw Robin Hood (chaotic plot but fun, energized cinematography and pretty shots of England) and then I realized that I was going on 6 hours with no food, lots of caffeine, and no sleep. So, we went to the nearest restaurant and then walked around the Jagalchi Fish Market which was similar to Pike for all of you Seattlites but way more raw around the edges. Long, silver fish flowed out of their bowls, tails resting on the ground where the inaugural monsoon season had formed a lake. Occasionally, we had to dodge some fish guts, these women know how to wield a knife. It was definitely another peak of what I expected to see here.

Thoroughly wet, we opted for an earlier train and I slept a good 12 hours to shake off the previous two nights. Up next, planning summer vacay and HOPEFULLY some proper summer weather though the forcast looks like lots o rain. Oh well. I'll be back soon and I promise to try and undo my bad once every two week habit!

Concerning the end of winting

Winting = spring + winter. Despite the absolutely stunning flowers, spring was a no-show weather wise. It was time for the warm, unpredictably sunny times of spring and we got the frozen nights of winter. Hence, winting. But, now winter went to winting, bypassed spring, and catapulted straight to summer. 80 degrees, humid, and sunny- hello! Becky is happy.

My happy mood from Mom and Dad, as predicted, has stuck around. Let's see...the last few weeks. I tried a new food- dak galbi. Basically, it's rice-cake pasta (some cheese stuffed) stir fried with chili sauce, chicken, and cabbage. And then covered with cheese. And then the remains are stir fried with rice. Mmmmm. I also tried a new kind of BBQ- dweji galbi. I thought galbi meant beef but apparently it just refers to the cut of meat. Dweji galbi is really tender, flavorful, lean pork so I'm a big fan, it's my new favorite Korean food.

That weekend was pretty relaxed. I met Nakeesa for her birthday at a bar and we had a nice night. This week's highlight was Strawberry Picking Day on Thursday. We bussed one hour outside of Daejeon with the kiddies. We all (including moi) picked and ate as many strawberries as could fit in our containers and bellies and then the kids got to make some jam. They squished the berries all up, got juice in places that gravity would deem impossible, and had a fantastic time. After they were done, we bussed back and Emily passed out on my lap which was really endearing.

This weekend, Saturday, I went to Everland. This is the biggest amusement park in South Korea. We went on some rides, including the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world, got some ridiculous headbands, ate junk food...good day. On the slow train back a Korean university student offered to "buy me banana milk" before his friend leaned over and asked how his girlfriend was, haha. Sunday, I met Helen for brunch at an Italian restaurant and then went shopping and for coffee, enjoying the gorgeous weather.

Wednesday was a very welcome break from work as it was Kid's Day. This is actually a Korean national holiday that was created to raise awareness of child welfare during the Japanese occupation of the country. Originally, the Japanese forbade the holiday because they thought it was a subversive nationalist movement but it prevailed and survived to its present day candy and break from school reincarnation. I worked out in the morning and met a friend at the jjimjilbang for some good, old-fashioned relaxation. We had lunch on the rooftop terrace, bounced from hot rooms (with gorgeous stone mosaics mostly ranging from 50 degrees C to about 75 degrees C) to the ice room and back as our temperature allowed. It was so so so nice. We finished out the hot room portion by trying the dreaded 112 degree C room. Holy moly, that is honestly the hottest thing I have ever felt in my life without getting burned. No mosaics here, it literally looked like the inside of a kiln and I suddenly felt some sympathy for all of my projects in ceramics class last year. We forced ourselves to stay for one minute but the second we got to 60, we bolted. The hair was so hot and leaden we couldn't properly inhale, so 60 seconds was definitely enough for me. After, I showed her the sauna part of things and we showered and then went on our way. A mere 3 and a half hours after beginning, I left happy and essentially boneless.

Thursday the teachers all went out for Vietnamese to welcome Tracy, our new teacher. I had some decent pho' though Kels- the one we went to was better. Saturday, we all had to come into work for Sport's Day. We bussed to a mountain and had teachers waiting at different stations along a loop path that the kids and their families were sent down. The flowers were perfect and the trees were lush and green, it was a lovely place. My post did a treasure hunt and that was kind of it. I liked playing with my kids a bit, always fun. School took us out for lunch after which was nice, more dweji galbi, mm mmmmm, and then I napped a bit before going out last night.

This club was one of the weirdest experiences in Korea yet. It was called a "booking club" where Koreans go to meet each other and get together. Basically, we were in a huge room (with a Safeco style roof that opened and closed) with many many many tables. The waiters would come around and grab girls and take them to other tables to introduce them to guys. Sometimes this was OK, we met some really nice, young, guys who spoke English really well. But sometimes....like the 4 times we were taken back into the "VIP rooms" to the 50 year old men...not so fortunate. The other really funny thing was the entertainment. As I've said time and again, Korea is fairly conservative across the board but there were live strippers for most of the evening. Cowboys. French women. Clowns. A guy in drag with an alligator G-string. I must say, I was NOT bored. It was a great laugh and worth the 3 AM home time.