Weekend

 

Weekend!        6 Apr 

I feel like I haven’t stopped running since last Friday when I sat down and wrote last week.. I can’t wait until next weekend to sleep in!

Last Friday afterschool I went to the bus terminal to pick up Lucy. From there we headed downtown to hang out with a few friends then got dinner at a little Italian place. I had this cheesy bacon risotto thing which was delicious! After that we met up with Michael to go Salsa dancing, I wanted to catch up since I had missed class the week before. However it was a salsa party soo they were doing some other kind of beat and really didn’t get a ton of practice but Lucy had fun trying to dance and laughing. After that we all went and got some coffee then headed back to get some sleep. As soon as we got up Sat we headed to Ulsan to meet Lucy’s friend from her Phillipines trip named Janna. She was such a sweetheart and we had a delicious lunch. Afterwards Lucy & and wandered around Ulsan checking it out, then tried to walk to where the race was but were a little bit off track from the map. Eventually we hopped in a taxi then found it. Walked around where the race was going to be. Then went and found a jimjilbang nearby. Unfortunately it wasn’t all fancy, but either way was relaxing as always. AFter that we decided which place we wanted to stay at, you have no idea what they look like when you just hand them cash, but we lucked out. It was pretty nice, had a tv, fridge, some coffee and juice in the room. For dinner we had kimbop, strawberries and dumplings. Then watched skating on tv, chatted, and went to bed really early.

Sunday morning walked over to the race wearing a tshirt and pants. We get there and really have no idea what’s going on. We received programs in the mail but they were all in Korean, so we just got there at 8, these girls came up to us almost right away and said welcome, we are the translators. Do you need any help? haha immediately we laughed and said of course, we have no idea what’s going on or where to be. So they walked us around and told us we had about almost 45 mins until the race. We kinda hung out walking around, stretching, and everyone staring and curious and people wanting to take pictures with us, the race organizers took a video of us saying “Ulsan Fighting”, a guy interviewed us for a newspaper. It was very funny. It was finally our time to go. Tons of people were walking so that was annoying in the beginning. It was sooo windy, I would guess about 10-15mph winds blowing against us. Finally after getting around the walkers I was set. I had been very busy the week before and didn’t get in a 5k run but ran it in about 27 minutes I’m guessing. I didn’t get an official time but my goal time was 30 so that’s awesome. I cut a minute a mile off my goal. I didn’t have to stop to stretch my feet or anything. After the race they treat you to Kimchi and Tofu.. Bleh! The smell was wretched and I can’t imagine eating kimchi after running. We got our medals and then a little bakery treat, some grape juice. Then Luc and I went to find some breakfast and then caught the buses from the bus stop where the race was. I got into Daegu and had a lot of time before my game so I wandered around a bit before heading to the field to catch some sun and watch the games before mine. We won both of our games and I think finally all of my team realized that I didn’t live in Daegu and how much more time and effort it takes me to get to games. So they kept cheering Nicole from Pohang, it was very nice of them but funny. We won both games by quite a few points. We also had a team member score 200 points in his 3 seasons playing Ultimate so that was exciting! check out:  http://www.leaguelineup.com/teams.asp?sid=721533090&url=rokultimate&divisionid=569869&teamid=3821986   Gotta work on my stats a bit! hehe just kidding. All about the D and short passes

School week went pretty well. Wednesday was our schools birthday so we went on a teachers field trip to Jinhae, which is the most southern point in Korea, or almost anyways. We saw some navy boats and some historical museums which are normally not open to the public I guess? Then the cherry blossoms were supposed to be in bloom, unfortunately we were a few days early. The weather forecasted them to be blooming but the weather didn’t quite cooperate. BUt it was still beautiful. We went to a few parks,  an ocean cruise, then traditional Korean courses meal. It was really nice, lunch was not so good. But the snack pack the organizers of the trip created was insane. My co teacher told me to pack a bag for the snacks, I figured my mini back pack would do the trick.. Not at all. 2 Rolls of Kimbop, bottle of water, bottle of coffee, Korean soup for breakfast, peanuts, chocolate, gum, candy, napkins, granola bar, orange, and huge thing of cheery tomatoes! IT didn’t fit in my bag at all! But oh well. It was a long day that started at 530 at school, and then we got home at 11!  Tuesday night went and practiced salsa for two hours.. It can get soo tiring just standing in front of that mirror doing the moves by yourself. I can’t wait to get to doing partner stuff. Turning is so much more natural when you’re actually doing the move instead of just standing there.

My after school classes I taught the kiddos about American Easter, and included pictures of several of my families dinners, easter egg hunts, easter outfits, etc. Then had them do some Easter activities. I could not find plastic eggs anywhere, but did a paper egg hunt, then made the students put together Easter sentences. They really had a fun time! They also thought the pictures were very interesting and my co teacher said she learned a lot. I’m not exactly sure what they do here, but i’m pretty sure they just eat eggs and go to church? Still confused about what they believe and what not but we’ll see on Sunday.  I’m falling more and more in love with my kindy kids every week. They are freakin adorable, just come up, want high fives, hugs, and to say everything i’ve taught them in English. I need to video tape some of their singing and stuff for you guys to see. :0  They are my absolute favorite.  My mood is always better after teaching them. I taught them 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed, and made them jump around and dance. It was hilarious.

My co teacher said to me this week that her skin is very very bad. She is mid thirties and I really have no idea why she said that so I asked, what are you talking about? You don’t have any skin problems or acne? Then she said that it’s because of her freckles from the sun that her skin is bad… Also had another Korean friend have surgery to have her freckles removed. Very interesting is all I have to say. Finally received news that Eunjeong is pregnant again.. Could make these situations at school very interesting.

Here are some pictures from the school trip. The P.E. teacher was seriously like a paparazzi. My mom will be happy cause i haven’t taken that many pictures lately. This guy was literally snapping every moment of the trip!

 

(L) Navy Outfits I think..?   (R) The art teacher and I on the boat waiting to go cruising.

   

(L) Oooops. I think I forgot to mention anything about my Korean boyfriend. This is Leo.. hahaha just kidding (R)  While waiting at the train station, these mormons came up to chat to the group. I went over and talked a little bit. They said they had been in Korea about 2 years. They put my Korean to shame though, as they could mostly understand Korean.. pshhh making me look bad for not studying harder. hahah  They didn’t try and do any missionizing which I was surprised by. But were very friendly, nice boys.

   

(L) 3rd and Fourth Grade teachers who both speak English and hung out with me for the day.  (R) When the flowers are in bloom, you apparently can’t see the sky because there are so many flowers… Bummer that we were too early. But all the young and unmarried teachers on the trip.

Neither of my co teachers went so I was pretty nervous if anyone would really try and speak english to me. My friend Christine, a 4th grade teacher who used to teach English was organizing the trip so I knew she was going to be very busy. But for the most part she could hang out with me. We had a lot of interesting talks about korean health care, korean students and parent involvement, discipline in the classroom, and then lots of other fun/exciting talks too. After the head teacher got drunk he kept telling Christine to translate for him what he wanted to say to me. he said this like seven times after the first time, she would just say oh he said the same thing again. But he was saying that he really likes me and wants to be able to speak english to me but he can’t. He feels bad when my co teachers don’t translate for me so I just play words with friends on my phone, message people, read the news, whatever I do to entertain myself while I have no idea what’s going on. He also said that I’m so happy today, in school I don’t look so happy… Which obviously who wouldn’t be happier to be on a boat exploring Korea then teaching. But also made me laugh because I wanted to say back that yeah sometimes the children are the freakin devilish and the annoy the crap out of me! That never makes me happy! haha.

Taxes are filed and accepted by all three agencies (AZ, ID, and Fed)! Phew, what a relief. Now next year to prepare for the disaster that will be foreign taxes! eeeek.

Soooo incredibly excited for this weekend! LMFAO and party rock, shuffling in Seoul this weekend with tons of friends.

Lots of Love on Easter! Missing home, hugs, and hoppy easter bunnies!

Nicole