I’m on my way to Beijing right now and thought id update on what ive been up to the past monthish. Overall everything is good and time has been FLYING! School the past month or so has been the biggest joke ever. Ive had one wee where I gave a test and then just read during class while they were testing; one week where they had self study before their midterms. I didn’t even have to supervise while they were studying so I just sat at my desk alllllllll week. Honestly while that week was super easy, all of the sitting at my desk gets to me.. it gets SO BORING! The news and stumbleupon and tv shows can only enterain you for so long before you start to go crazy; and then a third week where the kids took midterms and then I just sat at my desk for the mornings and got to go home or out to lunch at noon. This job is the biggest joke and its hard to believe how much money the Korean government spends on us to do nothing half of the time at school.
One afternoon after midterms my coteacher invited me to lunch and then over to see his apartment. He took me to a shabu shabu (you dip thin slices of beef into a hot and spicy broth to cook and then eat) place which was pretty good and then we went for a walk/hike around this mountain that he lives by. When we finished we went back to his apartment and it was hilarious! First his apartment is almost completely empty (he lives alone). He has about 4 decent sized rooms and none of them have anything in them!! Then he showed me pictures of him from high school and college and of him doing hapkido (some Korean martial arts) which was also so funny. I also convinced him to give me a nun-chuck (yes, he as nun-chucks or however you spell them) demonstration in one of his empty rooms HAAA!!! We finished off the afternoon my Joseph playing and singing some traditional Korean song on guitar. It all was hysterical and also nice to see how/where joseph lives. I really have a great coteacher and am very thankful for all that he has done and helped me with.
During Passover me and a few of my friends went to a seder at an army base that isn’t too far from where I live. That was quite the experience as well. From the moment you walk through the gates onto the base it is like you step back into America. English signs… American restaurants… American architecture.. and all americans. It was interesting cause I went onto the base for Rosh Hashana a few weeks into my time in Korea and was not nearly as taken aback by how American everything was. I honestly felt culture shocked. The seder was nice also.. it was super chill with a few military families who were all very friendly. The jewish stuff was nice too.. when youre in SUCH a different place little bits of familiarity are really appreciated and feel really nice and comforting. Throughout the seder I kept feeling like I was back in America.. the whole thing was definitely an experience.
I went to a soccer and baseball game a few weeks ago. The soccer game was great. The Koreans were going nuts the whole time and some of them were waving Che Guevara (??) flags at the game haaahaha! And the baseball game was awesome and hilarious too.. the Koreans were singing the entire game and there are cheerleaders constantly trying to interact with the crowd and get the crowd involved. All of the games are BYO anything you want so everyone was getting wasted and bringing in pizzas and any other sort of food you could imagine.
My Aunt Jill and cousin Carrie are currently visiting Korea (I have a cousin who is teaching in Korea as well) and I had a really nice weekend with them. On Saturday we did a lot of walking around Seoul and had some nice meals and some nice chatting. Then on Sunday I met them for dinner and some more walking and talking. It was really nice to see them. Again, in such a different place, any semblance of home and things that remind you of it is really nice.
Well I think that’s about it. Im pretty excited for my trip to Beijing! I am traveling by myself and this is the first time I have done something like this which is pretty exciting. Ill write all about it once I am back.
Best.
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