roadtrip!

Graduation was fun. Some of the kids cried.. it was adorable. The next two days, I didn't have morning classes. We cleaned out the classrooms and prepared for a new term. Schools here start in March and end in February.. at least private schools (hagwons) do. I am now a homeroom teacher and I was really excited to start decorating my own classroom. I got to arrange everything just the way I wanted. I seriously am too excited!

It's tradition that during these days, we eat lunch together at the Korean sister school across the street - Haberaki (it means sunflower). The food was delicious! My Korean co-teacher, Olivia, played translator for me. I love when people ask me a bunch of questions. It makes me feel important. Olivia and I went out for chicken and beer Thursday night. The food was delicious! And beer is so cheap.. about 2 bucks for a pint. The bar even gave me a point card. A point card for drinking beer? Yup. I love it here.

Saturday.. Hannah was taking a road trip the Yeonju.. about 3 hours away. She invited me and I never turn down a chance to explore a new place. Her friend from her English teaching class came too. It was fun. They informed me that adults pay English teachers to "teach" them.. which really means have a conversation. This lady was paying about $40 to have a conversation with an English speaker for an hour. That's so ridiculous! I told her I'm always available for some conversation and she asked me how much!! Buy me some coffee and I'll be okay. Anywho, we went to a temple that meant "floating stone" and it is one of the oldest wooden temples in Korea. We hiked it up these giant, enormous stairs. I'd compare them to the giant steps at the Great Wall of China. Brutal. The view from the top always makes it worth it though! A man starting speaking to me in English and gave me the history of the temple. It was interesting to hear. I guess there are 108 steps to get to the top and the steps symbolize the 108 agonies that a human being undergoes. If you make it to the top, it means you rid yourself of those agonies and enter a so-called paradise. I thought it was really cool and the gentle old man put a smile on my face.

We ate mackerel for lunch. I don't ever eat things that have bones in them but Hannah was kind enough to pick all of the bones out for me. I think she was eager for me to try it. It was shaped like the actual fish and naturally I would never eat that ever.. but I am working on being more open-minded so I did. It was really really salty. We then made our way to a traditional village. The village had straw roofs. One lady was selling coffee and tea out of her house. We literally drank coffee in someone's kitchen. It was so weird yet so intriguing all at the same time.

Sunday, I met a couch surfer who just moved to Korea from Wisconsin. We explored Nampo. She was a very interesting person. She lived in France for a year. I love talking to people who travel.

Anyways, let me just tell you that H&M here so is overrated. Everything is like double the price of the H&M's in America. Ugh. Also, Koreans use their hazard lights for a variety of things. When they're reversing or claiming a parking spot.. or driving like an asshole because they're lost.. they put their hazards on. So strange to me. And I just cannot get over the fact how expensive groceries are. I spent $33 on practically nothing (half a loaf of bread, 1/4 gallon milk, yogurt, one can of tuna, a single mini juice box, one slice of pizza, a package of mentos [for my student.. when they pass three reading tests, I give them something fun], cookies from the bakery [for the teachers tomorrow. They always bring stuff all of the time and I thought it should be my turn], and my wine). They were doing wine tastings in E-mart and they just so happened to be sampling Beringer White Zinfandel.. which is my favorite! Yum. I tasted it and forgot how much I miss wine. I haven't bought any here because it's so damn expensive.. even for cheap ass wine like Beringer. A 750ML bottle is usually about $5-$6. Here, it's $13!!!! Like wtf. But I bought some because I miss wine. Soju only cost about a dollar. It just makes no sense.

Anyways, I'll leave with two videos from Saturday. I'm excited for tomorrow. It's crazy because I was just building rapport with all of my students and half of them are gone. We get new kids tomorrow. It should be exciting!