Now where to start...
Life has just been pleasant. As I mentioned back in February, Korea has become home, so the adventures have become few and far between. Nonetheless, we manage to spice up our weekends, and the occasional weeknight - MountainDew Mondays, CostCo Tuesdays, MoonBlues Wednesdays and Tuna Thursdays. Thankfully, these events occur only bimonthly!
Last you heard (February 9th) I was planning on spending my otherwise lonely Valentine's day weekend on Jeju island. There were about five of us planning on going, one being a native to the beautiful Hawaii-like island. The plans were to go for two days to watch a fire festival. Unfortunately, the Friday before a terrible storm hit canceling all the festival's events, as well as our flights. All was not lost. That Saturday night, Ash joined me for some wine and [too much] chocolate. Later in the eve, Joel and Winnie showed up with even more treats. Our evening was filled with youtube and good food. A memorable Hallmark holiday indeed!
Over the following two weeks, I did my best to absorb what I could of my four second favorite co-workers - BellaSan, WinnieShiShi, JerTeeta, and J. Just as I figured, they are greatly missed. Since then, much has changed at work. We have two new teachers and one new head teacher. The girls hired have proven to be more than worthy of SLP and Guri. Marissa is a kickash Canadian who is chill and fun to hang with. Andrea, from the UK, is really sweet and funny in her own way. Both bring a new spice to the crew, which is greatly appreciated and has eased the pain of BWJJ leaving us.
In March, we started a new term too. It was the wildest transition for everyone, new teachers, new leaders, and new students. I mentioned in my last blog that Mr. Nam and Director Song were considering giving me a new class of Kindies... well, they did!!! Those exclamations are only made possible after the last two months of hard-work. Things are finally starting to look up.
My first year kindy class started with two girls and three boys - Jenna (I clearly got to name her, and she
has proven worthy of such a title!), Elizabeth, Ted, Kevin and Brian (also children I named :). Since then, they have added three more students, Helen, Mark and Jason. I am glad they eased the last three in, as they were quite a handful at first. Imagine getting four and five year olds to sit down when they don't even understand "Hello" or "My name is", then babysit them, all while teaching them the alphabet and beyond. I took the task on with great joy, as they are my ideal age and that is what I came here to do; nonetheless, it proved to be quite difficult. After almost two hours of that, I took on five more hours of back to back elementary classes. It has been one of the most trying, rewarding times of my life. My kids are already responding to tasks, most know the alphabet, and they can all carry on a casual conversation - "Hello. How are you? My name is... This is my...", etc. It's so brilliant to see!
Back to the adventures...
The month of March was filled with birthdays. I think we went back to back three weekends with a celebration every night. The most memorable/fun was Ashley's birthday, of course! We started the festivities at my apartment. It was the whole shebang - from getting ready girly style, to pizza, cake and drinks. Afterwards, we hit up the bar district, Hongdae. There, my camera broke, and my cellphone was stolen. With results like that, I'd say it was quite a successful eve.
When we weren't celebrating birthdays, we were off on adventures. Ash and I made one final dash for the countryside, as Korean lessons started the following week - destination Happy Suwon. Arriving in the "small" town early in the afternoon, we made our way to a love motel, set our stuff down and walked the town till we found the infamous fortress, Hwaseong. Suwon is one of the only remaining walled cities in Korea. With brilliant weather causing a suntan/burn (who am I kidding?!), and our walking shoes on, we "hiked" the wall for a couple miles. Apparently, it does not go all the way around the city, but it does drop you off at a sweet little shopping market. Ash and I walked away with two amazing purses each and beautiful shoes that we have both been looking for, all for under a hundred bucks. I would say it was more successful than any damage we have done here in Seoul. Anywho, onto the rest of the night... it began sprinkling on us, so we sought shelter in a KFC - nothing is better for a wet head in a foreign country than fried chicken from a homestyle restaurant :) Afterwards, we attempted to sit down at about three restaurant/bars that all turned us away. It was meant to be when stumbled into a seemingly shady SportsBar - Team's Bar. The bartenders were some of the most entertaining and sweet servers ever! They did a couple magic tricks, a full on fire show and served us a little extra, fruit plate included. Overall, the weekend was a complete success in every way :)
My second adventure came mid-April. With Aaron visiting the week prior, I had no desire to sit in town sulking. Plus, I hadn't seen my girl Becca from Busan who I went to China with (yes, you know) since, well, China. That Saturday started too early, but clearly not early enough, as I didn't make to the Southern city until late afternoon. I dropped my things off at Becca and Wayne's apartment, then headed to the beach immediately, so as to soak up what little sun was left that day. Bonus of the weekend: our buddy Rocky, Pete's old roomie who is teaching just forty minutes outside of Busan, was visiting the coast that same day. We met up, threw the pigskin and played catchup. As the sun set, Becca, Wayne and I got some amazing Mexican, then met up with everyone from the beach. The evening was fun, but disappointing, as my wallet was stolen... such is my luck, right?! No camera, phone or wallet... it had to happen at some point. I'm just glad I got that taken care of for 2009 ;) Anywho, the next day I was woken to Wayne's Dance (Dan's) mix. That set the tone for the rest of our beach day. This time we made it just in time to soak up the rays, perhaps too early, as I am still peeling from the sunburn two weeks later. The rest of the day played out exactly how most adventures do... after leaving too late, fearing I might not make it back home, I borrowed money from Becca. I passed out on the express train and was woken by what seemed to be the conductor. If only I hadn't fallen asleep, I would have made it to the subway before it closed. Instead I hopped in cab with three other people and gave him what little money I had left.
Upon arriving home, more bombs were dropped, and they just kept coming after that. I had one of the worst relationship weeks of my life, as well as work weeks. Thankfully, things are looking up for Aaron and I, and my bosses are off my back again.
Speaking of Aaron and I, we are still going strong :D He has made it to Korea a total of three times now,
twice in this last month. There was one random three day weekend he had, the first weekend of April, that he was able to find cheap tickets over here for. Then, he visited for this whole last week. Today, as well as tomorrow, I have off, but am unable to share them with him. I told him it is one of those evil universe tricks, like I will give you your love during the busiest work week ever, followed by a four day weekend, only a day and a half of which you can actually spend with him. So here I sit, occupying my time, pretending that it doesn't suck not having him here again. I guess I am just grateful that he was willing and able to come at all. He is one of my best friends and there is almost no one else I would like to spend my time with. Thankfully, I will get to spend even more time with him this summer. He has to stay out of China for over thirty days to get a refund on his taxes... where better to go than back to my loving arms ;) During that time I too have a week long break, which we hope to spend in Thailand. AHHH, YAY! We have so much to look forward to. I think that's what gets us through the long distance part. Two months and counting...
Hope this update has adequately tied you over. Apologies for taking so long to do so. I love you all and think of you more than you know!
