In no particular order...
1. Went to Namhae. Namhae is an island down south. Beautiful place. Went with friends, who have a friend who lives down there. Bunch of people. Spent some time on the beach, in the water, although it was pretty cold, paddle boarding, my new favorite thing, making s'mores, and just hanging out. Great weekend.
2. Went to visit my old neighborhood and run a 7k in Seoul. It was both awesome, and really hard to go back to the old stomping grounds. Nothing had changed, but everything was different. When I left that place, I don't think I ever thought I would go back, and there I was drinking a beer outside the big GS. Like I said, awesome, and difficult at the same time.
The 7k was really fun. So happy I had an old friend, Jen, to cheer me on. It was an all women's run sponsored by Nike. Tons and tons of women doing the race. Couldn't really ever get into a rhythm as there were people with their hair down, wearing jean shorts and kakis, running and stopping and running and stopping all over. Fun, Fun time despite.
3. Went to Busan for the first time!! Everyone always says it is their favorite place in Korea, and I finally understood why. The beach is great, the restaurants are great, the bars are great. Went with a group of people for a friend's birthday. Shot fireworks off from the roof, hung out on the beach. Another great weekend.
4. Didn't make the video, but...the AmeriCanada Barking Spiders are the Summer 2012 Beer Olympics Champions, and yes, I was a member of AmeriCanada! Beer Olympics was put on by one of 2 bars foreigners hang out at in Gumi. The team consisted of 3 Canadians, and 3 Americans (2 from Iowa, so we all know who carried the team), and a great cheerleader, also from America. I won't bore you with the details. All you need to know is that we won, and our prize was a flask. The first flask I've ever owned. Pretty exciting.4. Went on an "Extreme" Weekend to Dangyang. The weekend included rafting, paintballing, ATVing, and tubing. Another fun weekend! It was a beautiful area. I really liked the ATVing. We rode on a path through a bunch of fields, surrounded by mountains. It was really amazing. My favorite part of the weekend. One good lesson learned, that I pretty much already knew, but I guess it was reaffirmed, I am not a good packer. I almost always overpack. It's something I need to work on. For example, for this trip, I packed 2 bags. I wore the EXACT same clothes the entire time. Swam, slept, hung out in the same clothes. Gross, oops. Better luck next time.
5. This past weekend I headed down to Jinju for a 10k. I was really excited, as I was doing this run with a friend. All the other runs I've done here have been by myself, and it is so much more fun to do races with others. Got there on Saturday afternoon, met up with my friend, and her friends who were also doing the race. Took a look around the fortress in Jinju, ate dinner, and went to a movie. We went to Prometheus, which was pretty good, but gave me rather vivid nightmares, including one where some weird animal ran across my face. I woke up and thought I could feel where the animal's claws had scratched my face. Needless to say, I did not sleep well. Anyways, we woke up early Sunday morning and headed to the race. We knew it was going to be a bit of an uphill run. However, it wasn't a bit uphill, the first half was entirely uphill. To be precise, we ran half way up a mountain. It was beautiful, as well as somewhat painful. Tons and tons of fun though. I never once had that feeling of not wanting to be doing what I was doing. As I was ascending the 2km uphill trail, I might not have been smiling, but as a whole, the race was amazing!
You might have noticed that the only things I walk about are the weekends. I am doing some teaching, and I am enjoying my job. However, having 750+ students I see for 45 minutes a week, and some every other week, is difficult. It is hard to get to know students, and hard to feel like you are helping them learn at all. For the most part, classes are pretty fun, and students are great. The past 2.5 weeks I have been giving speaking tests, where 1 student comes into my office, I ask them 5 questions, and give them a grade. Here are a couple memorable stories from that:
One girl came in, and she is a pretty outspoken girl during class. One of the few who isn't afraid to try to speak English. For her last question I asked her who her role model was. She said, "You because you are beautiful!". Then she just starts cracking up, as I am doing the same. I tell her good job, give her a hi five, and send her out the door. As the next person is coming in I hear her laughing and talking to her friends, probably telling them how she's gonna get an A because she told the foreign teacher she was her role model. And she would be right. She got an A.
On the flip side...yesterday was my last day of giving speaking tests. I was getting myself all pumped up to finish them up. Then the first girl came in and I asked her to tell me a time she was sad (I don't make up these questions. The Korean English teachers write about 30 questions, the kids come in and pick a stick with 5 numbers on it, and those are the questions they must answer). So, I ask her about a time she was said. She said, "when my mom died." Then started crying. I said, "I'm so sorry. That is really sad." Needless to say, I gave her an A, and didn't ask that question to anyone else.
To wrap it up...the weekends are AMAZING. The weekdays are rather dull, and sometimes a bit lonely. I am enjoying my time, and I'm thankful for the different experiences I'm having this time around.
One thing that is both good and bad about this life, is that people are always coming and going. Last week one of the better people I've met this time around, finished his contract and went home. He lived in my area, and as there are only about 5 of us, only 2 of which I ever actually see, it was hard to see him go. Someone will be replacing him in July, though, so there's always hope they will be just as good of a person. Here's a pic of us at our favorite restaurant for his last supper.
Sooooo, that is about it. I might try to be better about updating the blog, but I make no promises. It's not like I don't have time. I just lack motivation.
I hope you all are good. I love hearing from people. Facebook me, email me, skype me...whatever. Peace out.
