oh Grace…

•November 19, 2009 • Leave a Comment

 

 

funny things said by Grace Kwin:

Everybody is racist. I am seriously.

That’s persecution lady

(I was talking about the future) –> It won’t happen, the world will end. Have you heard of Greenland? It will melt.

        *About the above: Grace is always talking about how the world will end soon because of the Arctic melting. It’s quite funny.

(asking Josh)

  • Grace: Are you ok?
  • Josh: No (jokingly)
  • Grace: Oh ok. Don’t worry, I brought some DVD’s

Oh you know, I call my husband an Arab.

ready or not, here i come

•November 19, 2009 • Leave a Comment

So I just bought my flight ticket home about 30 minutes ago. I will be arriving in ATL about 9:30 pm on the 19th of December. It’s so crazy that I will be in the states… home… in a little over 3 weeks. It is so incredibly crazy to me how time flies by. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday that I got here, and then other times I feel it’s been forever. I’m really excited about coming home, but sometimes I get really sad thinking about leaving the students/kids. I see them at least 5 days a week, sometimes everyday of the week – I’ll miss them terribly, especially since I’ve grown so close to them. I will be coming back to Korea earlier than I thought. I negotiated a deal – very business like, right? – and I am coming to work half of winter camp. Instead of me staying until February 9th, I will be leaving January 15th to come back. I know, I know – why? Well, it was a great deal for me, and they really need teachers. But, I’ll still be home for a little under 4 weeks :)

 

Update on learning Korean – I know….

  • days of the week
  • months
  • 1-10 in both forms (hanna, tul. . . il, e. . . )
  • and then some random words/phrases (i.e., My name is Kimber, I am American, and, pork (삼겹살), water (물).. etc. - lol)

I don’t know if I mentioned, but me and Rachel got to thinking that we’re young adult women… why do we get off work, change into our pj’s and sit there – we’re city women now. We need to go out! So… we do “Women Wednesdays” where we go out to eat – lol. I know – adventurous lol :) In our defense, it’s only the weekdays. We go out and have fun on the weekends. Anyway, we haven’t been in a while because of different school obligations and now we kind of changed it to Thursday because it works better aroung my night class schedule. We can’t think of any good T(Th) words. Well, Rach thought of some… but it was a bit out of hand haha. Tonight we’re going to a new restaurant that we discovered a couple weekends ago called Krazy Burger so hopefully it will be really good!

FYI: Sometimes there is a 20 degree difference between Cleveland and Gwangju. I’m already dressing for winter and I’m coming back the coldest part of the year – BRRRRRRRR!!!!!

this is why i never blog

•November 17, 2009 • Leave a Comment

well… my last blog update was October 27th and it is now November 17th – I’m horrible at this thing. I’ve never done one before, I’ve never kept a journal/diary – sorry folks. I promise I am not going to write a book because I don’t feel like it – way too long and way too much to remember that I probably can’t recall at this point and I’m sure you don’t want to read a forever long blog. I’m sparing both of us :) Let us recap my life:

  • Oct. 31-Nov. 1: Well, with what little time there was to spare, me and Rachel made a last minute trip to Seoul to visit some friends (Laura and Ally) who were also teaching in Korea. We mainly just chilled out, visited a park/shrine area and walked around. Saturday was a really rainy day and since everything is outside, kind of put a drag on things to do. Though the others might have enjoyed it, I’m not down for cold, wet weather – it totally puts a damper on my mood. Anyway, we mainly walked, shopped a little and hung out. We did found a crazy large underground shopping mall at the Bupyong subway stop. It literally, with no exaggeration was HUGE! We had to find a map to figure out how to get out. It was fun and really nice to be able to talk to others… normally and share our experiences. Oh, and I had McDonald’s breakfast on Sunday which is the first American breakfast I have had; scrambled eggs, sausage, english muffin, and hashbrown.
  • Nov. 2-6: This was PTA week which was basically parents coming in randomly (though they probably scheduled a tentative time, nobody likes to inform me/us of anything… thanks Korea). It was ok meeting with parents, it just really sucks because I can’t talk for myself, always need a translator, and I never know what is really being said. Like, I’ll talk for 2 minutes and then have a 15 second translation and then I’ll talk for 15 seconds and have a 2 minute translation… Plus I feel like it deters the parents from really asking any questions. It’s just a real bummer not being about to communicate for myself and at least attempt to develop a relationship with the parents. Oh well, it’s over and I suppose it went well.
  • I’m learning Korea… I at least know how to read, though I have no idea what I am reading. I figured, it’s a start and by knowing the Korean Hangul (their symbols) I can now buy a dictionary so I can look up words. I feel like such a 2 year old because of how I pronounce each sound and how slow I am. I’m learning… the students think it is impressive and funny and sometimes help me with words and pronunciation. I am excited about learning the language, even if I don’t intend to stay. The bright side, I’m able to understand a little and at least say really basic things – let’s see what happens!
  • Nov. 7: Pastor Koh got married on Satuday. It was in a city about 2 hours away so a coach was rented and all the students, teachers and people from the church piled in and drove away. It was…. interesting. First off, it was in a wedding hall and I felt like they were herding the guests like cows. We arrived at the end of another wedding and were watching them take pictures. Then finally, we sat down and the wedding started. We sat at tables on either side of the aisle and everything was predecorated. Just to give you an idea, there were lights up top and lights down the aisle (disco like), fog machines down the aisle and they played songs, such as Truly, Madly Deeply by Savage Garden, Because you Loved me by Celine Dion, and some disco sounding song when the groom walked down. People were clapping like it was a runway show. It was very entertaining. There were people talking in the back and people on their cell phones – a lot of disruptions, but nobody seemed to pay attention. I don’t know. Though it was quite funny and not a dull moment, I’m not so sure I would like that for my wedding. Well…. maybe the fog machines.
  • Me and Rach have been brave and going out on our own on weekends. We go for pork usually and on different occassions, we either pointed to a picture or pointed to someone else’s meal – hahaha. No worries, we finally learned the word for what we really want. Oh gosh folks… Korean pork/BBQ is amazing! It’s raw pork meat and you cook it yourself either over a gas grill or hot coals (I prefer this). You wrap it in different kinds of greens (lettuce, cabbage, mint, etc), with different side items: onions, garlic, red brean pasta, mushrooms, kimchi, etc. It’s SOOOOOO incredibly delicious, even for pork.
  • One time me and Rach went and experimented at this place called “New York Pub” downtown. It was actually really nice and a chill atmosphere. Everything was in Korean, so we randomly pointed to something and that was our decision. To our pleasant surprise, it was Pina Colada – Whoooo. We sat there (it was on the 2nd floor and we sat by a window), people watched, talked, and relaxed.
  • last weekend we went out and met an Irish guy (nice and talked about his experience and knowledge of Korean culture) and finally found a couple places where “foreigners” AKA English speakers hang out. Me and Rach have just really wanted to meet other people and have some other interaction besides ourselves and the people we see practically everyday. It’s just nice to talk with other people.  The first place was a place called German Bar and these out of control white people were doing karaoke except they sounded HORRIBLE! Nonetheless, it was hilarious and entertaining. We didn’t become friends with them…. speaking of foreigners/Americans – many dress horrible here. They look homeschooled and frumpy. I mean, yes, traveling clothes and comfort is one thing, but for goodness sakes folks, we’re living here. When you go out, try to look decent. Oh well – guess that’s the difference between us and them.
  • This past Saturday we went out again. We went back to German Bar to hang out first and after a while, the table next to us, a table of all Korean men, ended up “talking” to us and joining our table. Though there was an obvious huge language barrier, they were really nice and it was funny. The cell phones here are super handy because they have Korean/English dictionaries so it makes communication a little easier. One guy showed Rachel (translated) the word “molest, malice, abuse” and was trying to tell her they weren’t dangerous – haha. To make it better, the one guy I thought was cute, asked for my number – Oooo LaLa. He later texted me that night to see if I made it home safely and wanted me to text him when I did get home – sweet, eh? Well, me and Rach went dancing, it had been forever since we last went and it’s such good exercise and an amazing destressor – haha. Well, me and Rach met 2 girls from Canada so that was a cool contact to make. And then, through the night, I had 2 guys ask for my number. Ok, one guy seriously was carrying a helium filled balloon haha, but at least he was cute. One hung around me till I left. Needless to say, I was very flattered on Saturday :) Not expecting anything, obviously, but it was fun and interacting with others and not feeling like a total loser felt great.
  • I’m tired of this injustice towards females – ok, well it’s really not that bad, it’s like the stupid little things that I notice and irritate the crap outta mean. I guess it really just bothers me because of some work-related experiences that I feel unfair treatment. UGH – I’m tired of playing nice.  Next time I’m just going to speak up and say my peace. Oh, on this note… I was called a feminist by the Korean guy I work with and he has no idea who I am – ignorant.
  • It’s like in the low 40’s already here and it’s still in the low 70’s/high 60’s back home – BRRRRR. I don’t know how I will survive. I’m not used to it being this cold till like January/February and that’s usually the coldest it gets. How do I dress warmer?!?!
  • I have the recipe for chop chey, I hope I can cook it and bring some stuff back to the states to cook there.
  • I’m coming home from December 20th – January 15th. Whooooo
  • Watched 2012 – great movie. I don’t care what you say, it was amazing. Oh how I enjoy end of the world movies
  • I’m not eating rice anymore… for various reasons. Even though I have eaten it pretty much everyday since I’ve been here and usually twice a day, I miss it.
  • I was just told today that they changed final exam week a week earlier. So now, I have one less week to teach. Thanks for the heads up GVCS – pheesh.
  • My goal is to drink more water – like a gallon a day. Wish me luck. I’m spending most of my time running to the bathroom.
  • on a serious note, I’m really concerned about what to do next year. Part of me totally sees me staying and teaching one more year, yet there’s another part of my that feels this huge obligation and wanting to go back to the states, finish my masters and then do whatever. I have been homesick here, but never regretted my decision to be here. I love my students, genuinely and truly. One day, as I was walking down the stairs Erin said “Teacher,” I said “Student” and then she said, “I love you.” And then Jessica always comes up and gives me hugs and says she loves/likes me. I have relationships here. Though I knew it would happen I suppose, I never anticipated becoming so attached. I really want to see these teenagers succeed, grow, and I want to be a part of it. I don’t know what is going to happen but I need to make a decision and FAST.

Ok – it’s a little long… I know. But give me some credit, I could have been a lot more detailed and it would be twice as long :)

Holla

haircut

•October 27, 2009 • 2 Comments

me and Rachel were talking about split ends….. so we took our office supply scissors, went outside and trimmed the ends of our hair. I got bit by a mosquito twice. . . . . .

We think our hair feels better.

I’m an Adult: Business trip to Seoul… nbd

•October 27, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Last week me, Rachel, and Josh took a business trip to Seoul for the school. I mean… no big deal. Just going to Seoul for work… one of the top 10 most populated cities in the WORLD. Yeah – I know. Actually, we just went to a school to observe their Meysen program to better help us (more-so Rachel) on teaching Meysen to our elementary aged children. Well, like everything else that has happened, they weren’t even expecting us! We felt really bad because they changed their plans around to accomodate us. They were totally nice about it though and very hospitable, but there shold have been better organization and communication about us coming. We still haven’t figured out yet if it was our school or their school — anyway, I’m learning it’s a KOREAN thing. Unorganized, last minute, lack of communication – good Lordy. Just gotta go with the flow, I suppose. Everything turned out fine and it worked out, but it could have been handled better.

We arrived Thursday afternoon, went straight to the school, observed till dinnertime and then left. Oh my gosh… we found. . . MEXICAN FOOD! It was an On the Border (I had never been before but knew enough to know it was Mexican!). Seriously, they said “hola” when we walked in followed by “aun-yong-ha-sayo” LOL :) It tasted sooooooo good. They even served chips and salsa as a starter. It felt wonderous and tasted even better. Oh how I miss you tex-mex. . . . . .

After dinner we went exploring and found an area similar to chumpa (in Gwangju) with several shops. I later found out it was actually a major shopping district. It was called Sinchon – I bought a pair of black skinne jeans; it was one of my goals for the weekend. We all stayed in a motel and went back to the school the next day. We only stayed until lunchtime because they had previous plans and we didn’t want to longer inconvenience them… plus we wanted to explore. The subway system was pertty easy to figure out… thanks to my Metro application on my iPod. It was so CONVENIENT to have. We just put in where we are and where to want to go and it tells us which line to get on and off at and any changes, and the direction to catch the subway. It was great. We went shopping in Myeong-dong and Namdaemun (you can look them up). It was so much fun just looking around at clothes, all the people and exploring. I bought a huge hunk of pineapple on a stick – yummy. I have officially decided I LOVE the big city — I enjoy Gwangju and defintely liked Seoul. I like the excitement, all the people, so much to see and do, the lights, the subway, the good-looking and nice dressed men :) HaHaHa! In all seriousness, I really enjoy living/visiting the big cities. I never thought I could be a big city girl and really didn’t realize how small of towns I came from until I got here. Here’s some stats:

Cleveland: 40,000     Florence: 31,000       Atalanta: ~500,000     Gwangju: 1,400,000       Seoul: 10,000,000 (just in the city!)

CRAZY!!! Anyway, being in this country is seriously making me a shop-a-holic. I love going shopping – so many stores, so many styles, clothes that FIT my body and look good, can be cheaper…. and it’s just fun looking around and getting ideas.

Anyway, that was my first trip to Seoul and definitely intend on going back SOON! There’s seriously so much to do there and I haven’t even begun :)

c-ya weekend

•October 19, 2009 • 1 Comment

So Saturday we had to go to work for “Athlete’s Day.” All the students and staff, and extra workers came out to the school, loaded the trailers and 3 school vans and headed for a park. Luckily the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. Little by little, parents started arriving and there was actually a good turnout of adults. It was nice getting to interact with the parents and see the students having fun and getting to see their family. Although it was a lot of fun and had the opportunity to interact and have fun with the students and get to meet some parents, there went my Saturday. We had to be at the school at 8:00 am, so still had to go to bed early, didn’t get to sleep in and no relaxing. It was a full day of events including jump rope, hula-hoop contests, some game that was like volleyball but using only feet (like soccer – we called it voccer), tug-of-war, and other various activites. It really was a lot of fun, but I still missed my relaxing Saturday. The parents all brought lunch. Susan and Monica’s mom asked to eat with them – she’s so super nice. I really like them all. Anyway, lunch was really good and Koreans are such a community based culture. They all shared what they had with each other so we had a wide variety of food ranging from kimbop, to chicken feet, to chicken salad, to shrimp tempura, to rice cakes, and so much more. It was so good :) I love how they all shared and gave freely. It was a good day and then Pastor Park took us out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. It was actually really fancy and in a super nice hotel. He’s a good man and so kind.

On a side note: It’s Monday morning and I do a listening class with the elementary kids. Seriously, like 2 of the boys are probably on my list of the worst children I’ve ever met and had to deal with. They don’t listen, obey, stay still – they are so defiant. I don’t know how these elementary teachers handle them because just those 40 minutes put me in a bad mood and angry. I could’ve beat those kids… seriously – they were bad (well, those boys). Props to Sophia, Mrs. Jung, and Rachel – MAJOR props.

emotional rush

•October 16, 2009 • 2 Comments

So… I was sitting at my desk today catching up on e-mail and message responses. As I was writing my niece and responding to her upcoming fall festivities, it all the sudden hit me; I won’t be home for Thanksgiving. Of course, obviously, I knew I wouldn’t be home – duh. But the actual thought really hit me. My eyes became so teary eyed and even as I write this, I am getting teary eyed again. So me and Rachel went outside and shed a few tears… it was nice. I’m glad she’s here. Anyway, Thanksgiving – no, it’s not necessarily my favorite holiday nor do we have any crazy traditions or whatever (of course there’s the cooking, relaxing, more eating, and shopping on Black Friday), but nothing that I just miss so much. It’s the fact that this is my FIRST Thanksgiving away – oh man. Sometimes, though it seems stupid, I hate that life goes on without me. Everyone is fine without me there. Which is great, but then again… I’m not there. They all get together, hang out, go out to eat, whatever and create memories that I’m not a part of that. I want to be there. I want to know what is going on. As depressing as it sounds, it is true and that reality kind of hit me today. Do I regret my decision for coming to South Korea? Of course not, but it has definitely made me realize how important the people I love so dearly really mean to me and how much I really miss them.

I know I will be fine. Thanksgiving is one day out of the year and there are yet many more memories that I can be a part of.

I miss you all. Wish I was there.

RaNdOm events/facts

•October 16, 2009 • 1 Comment
  •  In my speaking class, we all got in a circle and their topic was either their happiest or saddest time/moment. After they were talking for at least 1 minute, each student would ask a question based upon what they said. One girl talked about when her grandfather had died, how close they were, and him making her, her favorite soup. Hyun/Jackson (the only male) asked, “Was he kind to you?” Another girl talked about her grandmother dying and how sad she was because she was in the states and couldn’t come back. Hyun/Jackson asked, “How tall was your grandmother?” Oh gosh – he is an interesting one. I couldn’t help but laugh at everything he said and how ridiculous he is at times.
  • I miss Amerian food such as: Chinese take-out and Mexican food – good ole’ American food. I can’t wait for binge fest 09 for the first week I am back in the states.
  • So at times the elementary aged kids are out of control and not good at listening. Carrick, one of the boys, kept bothering Henry at lunch. I went to him, told him to stop and set him at a table. In front of several people, he started crying… like crying. And then another teacher went and consoled him. I was like, kid is a brat, he needs his feelings hurt. Besides, he was being a little punk. I am the mean teacher – oh well.
  • In downtown they have these little vendors that sell mini smoothies, but healthy with real fruit for only 1,500 won ($1.20)
  • I love mon-dew (dumplings! fried and steamed), chop chey (clear potato noodles), kimbop (kind of looks like CA roll, but different fillings), pears and grapes here, grilled pork AKA BBQ,  seaweed wraps (Mmmm), and waffle ice cream cones
  • I love to go shopping! things fit good here, for us short folk with no butts or hips and short torsos, and fashionable… and mostly cheap (in the Korean stores at least)
  • I love my students – I am definitely attached to them and it saddens me to think of the day I leave.
  • Everyone is SOOO fashionable. You’ll walk downtown and girls are wearing these high fashionable heels with stylish clothes. The guys dress nice; good jeans with tucked in shirts, or full out suits with jackets or vests.
  • In reference to the previous fact: Korean males are growing on me. Perhaps because I’ve never been around a huge population of Koreans/Asians, I never noticed. Though some are REALLY skinny, there are average sized, tall (or taller to me at least), fit and good jaw lines :)  Ladies, if you want a good looking guy that dresses nice, Korea is where it is at.
  • We missed church when we went to Heuksando. When we told Sophia at school on Tuesday, she looked surprised and asked if we found a church in Mokpo. We said no… she said nothing else. Me and Rachel are such hethans. . . . . .they should see my church attendance record for 2008. They definitely wouldn’t have hired me hahaha.
  • The students usually use sharp razor blades to sharpen their pencils. They would be expelled in America if they were even conceling it in their bags.
  • I have eaten squid jerky. It is nasty, smell and taste. I will not eat it again.
  • When I get back to the US, I’m pretty sure I’ll talk much slower, say things over and over in different ways, use a lot of body language, and speak in broken English (I already notice it when I type and sometimes talk). It’s ok if you want to make fun of me.
  • Yesterday (Thursday) marked my one month anniversary of NOT having a working fridge.
  • The students, mostly Susan, like to call me “cute little girl.” Hmmmm…
  • It’s getting cold here. Yesterday I dressed in what would be close to winter-type clothes (I would put on more layers for colder weather) and I still have 2 more months here. Oh gosh, what am I going to do?!?!?!
  • I am a panda.
  • I LOVE going dance – way different from the states and 10x more fun. It’s my destresser after a long hard week of work.
  • I learned how to make a star and crane in oragami (though they call it something else)
  • Today (Friday, October 16th at 9:00 pm) will mark my 2-month anniversary in Korea. Crazy!!!

And. . . . .

I am fully and definitely intending to come home for winter break!!! Depending on flights (prices), I hope to come in around the 20-21st of December and intend to leave within the 1st of 2nd week of February.

I miss you all SOOOOO much and can’t wait to see everyone.

MOKpo –> heukSANdo

•October 15, 2009 • Leave a Comment

It is Sunday morning and… well. . . we skipped church. We packed our backpacks, caught a taxi and headed to the bus terminal. We bought 2 tickets for Mokpo, waited in line and hopped on. It was only about a 50 minute drive and not too bad. It was a little crowded though with our bags and all at our feet, but still comfortable.

We arrived in Mokpo and after debating for about 20 minutes which way we needed to take the #1 bus to the ferry terminal, we went back to the bus terminal and got a taxi instead. He didn’t understand terminal, ferry, ship – but with Rachel’s fast thinking skills, she said Heuksando and he knew where to take us. At the ferry terminal we were able to buy a ticket to Heuksando, and they also gave us litle bottles of vitamin water (random). There was a little restaurant/kiosk, so we ordered a kimbop and pointed at this other couple’s soup (ramen) and had lunch. We then bought ice cream and waited for boarding time. We get on the ferry and take our seats. A doctor from Heuksando, the only doctor, sat by us and spoke some English so we talked with him some. He wanted to take us out to dinner that evening once we got in town – we agreed. Well, the beginning of the ride wasn’t too bad, but we made a stop halfway (after 1 hour) and after people got off, the doctor told us to move to the back of the ship because “safer” and then…. the staff passed out barf bags. It was definitely a lot choppier and I am so thankful Rach let me have one of her Dramamine. As motion sick as I get nowadays, it was definitely needed. I listened to my music and closed my eyes and luckily dozed off a bit. Once we got there, Rach told me that it was horrible and people everywhere were puking. Like you could hear them throwing up and as we walked off the ferry, there were seriously people sitting on the ground with buckets – oh gosh. I am so glad I fell asleep because I would have been right there with them puking that kimbop up.

We are in Heuksando – whew! We made it. We found a hotel, thanks to the doctor pointing out some places, and dropped off our bags. Everything was closed so we went exploring. We had no idea where to go, what to do… everything was in Korean. So we just started walking, well, after some purchasing of ice cream :) (I found pistacchio!) We went one way but it seemed to not go anywhere so we took a side street and followed it through a neighborhood. This is where we met “Lady.” She was a golden brown/auburn cocker spaniel. She was laying there, sleeping, and as we passed her she woke up and led the rest of the way. It was like a movie… I said, Rachel… if we make it to the top of the hill and aorund the corner, there will be a wonderful view. Well, I really thought it would be more streets and houses, but it was actually a really beautiful place! Thanks to Lady, she helped lead the way. It was so majestic with the water and the rocky cliffs/land. We relaxed, took pictures, explored, and talked to Lady. She was, after all, our encouragement. We would stop and in a little while, after running ahead a bit, she would come back and check on us – it was too cute.

Well, we left because we told the doctor we would meet him for dinner at a restaurant. We weighed our odds and since it was out in public and we agreed to not mention where we were staying and only remain in public, we would be safe. Besides, we thought, it’s not like he sought us out, his friend was already sitting there when we sat on the ferry and seat numbers are assigned. Well, the restaurant was closed and he and his friend tried calling other restaurants to see if they were open and they weren’t. They tried to invite us back to their house – don’t worry folks, we’re not stupid. We definitely declined their offer and waited for them to walk away until we talked about what we were going to do. We knew to play it safe and though it sucks not being able to trust and see the good in people, can’t be naive. Well, we went back to the little market and bought: cereal, milk, potato chips, cheese, crackers, and Fanta orange – this was dinner :) We went back to the hotel and laid our spread out. It was dark and everything was closed so we didn’t feel bad about sitting there watching TV in the hotel – and they had American channels in English. It was very pleasant :)

The next morning we woke up to a beautiful day – perfect – and packed up our stuff. It was time to hike. The hotel shuttled us to the beginning of a trail close by and off we went. It was all up hill! A little tough, but very relaxing and refreshing. We made it to the top and found this beautiful view of the city/port. It was well worth the hike all the way up. Well, then we headed back to town, found a map and decided to try and explore more of the island and find a nice beach. Well, according to the map, it looked about an hour away so we agreed it’d be worth it. We had to be back in town by 4:00 pm for the last ferry off the island. We could NOT miss it! We started walking, SOOOOO many hills… it was, the least to say, very difficult. We had our backpacks and a  bottle of water… and we walked… and walked… and walked. We were totally discourged because we were tired, hot, getting sore, and had no idea how far away it was. We were probably walking on the street going up and down, mainly up, for about 2 hours, which isn’t bad, but considering we had already hiked that morning and it was all uphill, we were exhausted! Besides, we had just spend the past 3 days walking around different towns. Well, we found this little area with houses and a gazebo type thing, but just a flat floor, no benches and we laid and rested. Seriously, the only thing that kept me going is the thoguht that this would soon be over and when we got back to Gwangju bus terminal, I would sink my teeth into some delicious cheesesticks from Lotteria! Mmmmmmmmm. . . . Anyway,  we couldn’t go farther, there was a huge hill ahead of us and another behind. Rach tried to get a taxi or at least call for another but they wouldn’t – I think they were tour taxis. Luckily, this one taxi we saw we waved down and he waved at us. After brushing everything off, we had to head back or we would miss our ferry. We walked about 20 minutes and the taxi man came back!!!! Thank God! Seriously, it would have taken us forever. After riding in the van, we probably walked at least 3 miles… UPHILL! I couldn’t believe how long we walked, especially having rode back. After the taxi, we were then able to laugh about it lol. We bought our ticket back to Mokpo, waited and headed for home. Suprisingly, we both agreed that we felt a little homesick… for Gwangju. I guess that’s a good sign.

Well, we made it back to Gwangju, safe and sound. While we were there, it occurred to us, if ANYTHING bad were to happen to us, nobody would know. No one knew our itinerary, only the cities we were going, but that’s not to say if we would have changed our minds and went to another island. No cell phone. Nothing – but we played it safe and took precautions :) For not knowing any Korean whatsoever, we did quite well :) Well, we made it.

pre-Chuseok – Chuseok – Sushi

•October 14, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Friday was our free day – hallelujah! Never before, even as a student, have I so looked forward to weekends/free days. These are the types of things other adults/older people forget to tell you – the reasons why adults like to come home, not think, and go to bed early and relax – literally folks, you get so tired and braindead.  Adult work is hard :/

Anyway, Friday we decided to go downtown and explore… and well, to SHOP. (I love shopping!) Seriously, we left around 1:00 or 2:00 pm and didn’t get back till around 7:00/8:00 pm. It was like Walk-a-thon part 2! But it was fun and I wasn’t told I had to go walking (orders – boo!) We really got a good idea of the Chum-pa (Choom pah) area which is basically the shopping district of downtown. It is so much fun and exciting. There are tons of stores/shops: shoes, accessories, resturants, bakeries, clothing, cell phones, street vendors, bags/purses, sports, and then just a huge variety of those. There are, of course,the really expensive stores (they would be considered expensive in the US), but then there are the stores (usually the ones with Korean names) that are SOOOO much cheaper. I bought shirts for $5-10 and they weren’t even considered on sale.  We really explored the entire shopping district and we didn’t even go into every store and even other streeets that had more stores. It’s so huge – I love the city life! More fun and convenient to explore and shop than having to drive 30 minutes away to a large mall, or having to drive from store to store to go shopping – downtown… all within walking distance of each other. I also love people watching – they dress so nice here, but that’s for another blogging time :) Oh yeah, we also ventured out and found the art district with more “traditional” Korean artifacts and clothing. We are such explorers in the big city.

 

On Saturday we joined Pastor Park and his family (wife, David, and So-e *Soy* and Ted came along) and went to his in-laws family. It was about a 2 hour drive southwest of Gwangju. We went and met his wife’s family and sat in their living room for about 15 minutes. They served us this sweet rice soup that Josh compared to rice pudding – I didn’t care for it too much, and they served fruit. We each had to bow to the father – it was funny. Everyone would chuckle when each of us bowed. Grandpa really liked Rachel – he kept talking about her face and how she looked Korean/Asian — guess I have bad eye sight, I just don’t see it – lol. We then left with the pastor, grandpa, David, So-e (Soy?), Ted, me, Rach, and Josh to visit Wando for touring and. . . .bum bum bum. . . .SUSHI! We first went to this beach that was so beautiful and peaceful. It definitely made me and Rach excited for our future excursion to the coast.  We stayed there for a bit and took photos ofthe scenery and each other. We hopped back in the car to head for lunch.

We get there at a fish market and hop on out of the van. We then proceed to go into this seafood market. You walk in and there is a small walk path in the middle and to the left and right are these large shallow buckets with water and tons of different kinds of sea life – OH MY GOSH!!! It was crazy folks. Like, my mind was blown away. It’s always the food that gives me the biggest culture shock. Well, the pastor then goes on to choose two LIVE fish. We leave, go into a restuarant and wait. They bring out the side dishes (kimchi, soy sauce, wasabi, lettuce/green leaf wraps, etc), and in about 15 minutes 2 large dishes with fish meat and 2 small dishes with the fish’s organs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .uhhhhhhhhh. Yeah – tell me about it. I was so nervous – like extremely nervous. This was my first time with hard core sushi (bye bye California rolls). So, I make my little sushi wrap, put it in my mouth and chew (it took me about 5 minutes to build up the courage) –> it took me another 3 minutes to convince myself to not throw up while chewing. The taste wasn’t bad at all. I couldn’t taste the fish and it didn’t have any sign of being fishy. It was the texture that got me… bad, and the fact the organs were on the plate right next to my dish. Ewwwwwww! I ate it though, at least some of it, and acted like I was full. They then bring out this soup in a large metal pan – it’s like fish stew, with the actual fish. You see this huge spine, ribs, and when you look closer – - yep, you’re not seeing things, a fish head looking up to you. I felt like he told me “Why me?” Maybe this wouldn’t have been so bad if I just hadn’t seen these creature alive before I ate them. But, I lived :) I’d eat it again, at least it didn’t taste bad, right?

We then finish lunch, get back in the van and drive just up the road to this long pathway. It was ALL uphill with an incline walk-way and stairs. The view was beautiful though and definitely worth it. Besides, if grandpa can do it, so can I. In all honestly, it really wasn’t that bad and it was the perfect weather for a walk. We took pictures on the way up and at the top was Wando (name of town) Tower. He bought us tickets to go up and we walked around the top (circle) and saw the 360 degree view of the town, the mountains, the sea, the harbor, etc. Again… photos… soon.

I am not quite sure if that is normal for holiday or if he just wanted us to not feel left out or just give us a little site-seeing. Either way it was a lot of fun and nice to spend time with the pastor and his family. He really is such a good man with such a  good heart. AND he wears his collar popped and looks cool doing it. Perfect.

HAPPY CHUSEOK