A few weeks ago it was my birthday. I turned 21, totally exciting in the USA but an irrelevant age in Korea. Here D and Amy are helping me celebrate at a local bar. Yes, we brought cake and candles into the bar. The bar actually gave us plates a forks to eat with. Now that is "service" for you. (Whenever you are given some complimentarily Koreans say "Service" it is so cute and you get awesome things!)

Nothing remarkable happened but the sweetness of my students was apparent.

I let this class have a snack party to celebrate my birthday. They brought in snacks and arranged their desks so they could face each other and talk. It was really cute to see them acting like kids and not educational soldiers for once. They also gave me a few gifts. Amy gave me a pen that was in a little box wrapped in metallic paper. Mark gave me a few handmade soaps and earrings. He said his mother makes and sells the same soap and earrings.

Another class sang to me and also gave me a few gifts. Sarah had given me a card that I was reading when Kalf quickly came forward to intercept saying he had "A more expensive gift." He handed me a wrapped box that I opened to find a scarf.

My Students

Recently I have been frustrated with the administration at my school. Monday and Tuesday, I could safely say were two days from Hell. Thankfully Wednesday was a holiday, Children's Day (or Cinco de Mayo) and we had the day off.

To continue celebrating Children's Day we had movies and snacks for the students on Thursday and Friday. Movies and snacks means no teaching for me!

This is an awful photo, but here are some of my students watching Ice Age.

This is Kalf (he made up this name). He is in one of my middle school higher level classes. I really enjoy teaching this class because they are smart, respectful and funny.
This is the whole class, Sarah, Alex and Kalf. The movie was only for elementary students so I let them bring snacks and play games instead of class.

Here we have another class that I enjoy quite a bit. This class is really funny too. One day I wore my hair down and I had my glasses, something I don't usually do. When I walked in they kept saying "Who is this? Not Teacher Rachel? Who? So pretty!"
Here we have (left over) Nancy, Jessica, Cindy, Hannah and Amy. They are so cute!

Ajummas and Ajusshis

I live in Gunpo city, Sanbon neighborhood. I am about 40 minutes by subway outside of downtown Seoul. One of the advantages of living a little outside of Seoul is that I live right next to a Surisan Mountain.

The weather is warming up nicely and Saturday had a promising forecast of sun and 75. I decided to take advantage of this and make my first trek up Suri. Surisan could be compared to Mt. Si in the Seattle area. It is a small mountain with popular trails. I set off Saturday morning around 11 am. I took the subway one stop up and followed the other hikers because I had no idea where the trail head was. The other hikers were mostly Ajummas and Ajusshis.

Ajumma is the Korean word for "married woman". You would NEVER refer to a 30 year old woman who is married as an Ajumma though. This word is reserved for women over 50, or specifically grandmothers. Ajusshis are Korean grandpas. These terms are very versatile. The "security" in my building is a troop old 65 year old men who patrol the garbage area and the front doors. It is appropriate to address them as Ajusshi. People are often referred to by their title in Korea.

Anyways, Ajummas and Ajusshis LOVE hiking! I was one of probably 5 people UNDER 50 years old on the trail. Ajummas and Ajusshis are serious about hiking, too. Every single one of them was decked out in North Face gear head to toe. They all had those obnoxious hiking stick things, too. You get the idea.

It was a nice hike. It was so hilarious to watch all the Ajummas and Ajusshis trek up in these big troops. Once they get to the top they set up an elaborate picnic. They drink soju and eat gimbap (Korean style sushi rolls) and are fabulously funny to watch. I loved it.

I made it to the top in about 45 minutes then I decided to walk along the peak for a while until I found a place to sit and eat my lunch.

Then I see this little troop:

This is an Ajusshi with his grandchildren. They are eating too. The Ajusshi is enjoying the PERFECT post hike snack: a cigarette and some Soju! I laughed out loud when I realized what he was consuming! Cigarettes, alcohol, totally normal on a Korean hiking trail. I had to take a photo!

The children spotted me and next thing I know they were coming my way!

Don't hike over there!
The girls came up to me and said hello. They also asked to take a photo with me. I asked for the same from them. Then they gave me a banana. They were really sweet kids.

Just before I found my way off the mountain I came across this! Lounge chairs in the "forest." I definitely took a little rest on one. Love it!
I found my way to the end of the trail and I realized I was no where near where I started my hike. Luckily I found a map and figured out how to get back to a main city. I had to walk down this road for about 2 miles to reach the city.

As I was walking I started to talk to an Ajusshi who I saw on the trail. He told me what city I was in and once we reached it (Anyang) and he lead me to the bus stop and told me what number to take to get back to Sanbon!

I am glad I got lost because I found a few new trail and this beautiful park!

Then I got home and found a desk in the dumpster! My desk was falling apart so I had been on the prowl for quite sometime. All of my friends were out of the building so one of the Ajusshi security guards helped me take it up to my apartment.

I love Ajummas and Ajusshis! What a wonderful day!

Update!

It has been some time since I last updated my blog!

First, let me give you an update regarding my actual job:

I think teaching really suits me. I NEVER thought I would actually enjoy teaching and hanging out with kids, but I do. It is really rewarding when a class appears to be learning and interested in my lessons. I teach about 12 classes total. Of those classes I despise only 2, throughly enjoy 4 and the rest are decent.

Now, I am not going to lie to you all, I do not love everything about the teaching world. This week has been a bit difficult. On Monday I was told I suck at teaching kindergarden. Personally I don't care if they think I suck at teaching kindy because I don't want to teach it. I give it my best shot, but alas I still fall short. I am hoping that they get the bright idea to move me out of teaching kindy (yea, right). Then on Tuesday I had a little meeting with my boss. He told me I suck at teaching the higher levels. Great, thanks for the information? Seriously.

I like teaching but administration makes it a less than lovely occupation. I think that in Korea employees are only given negative feedback.

After all of that thank God we had Wednesday off of work! It was Children's Day (or Cinco de Mayo in the States). Wanting to take advantage of my extra day off I decided to go to The Korean War Memorial. We then had a huge feast of Mexican food!

Our Cinco de Mayo celebration:

Complete with guacamole, cheese, chips, fajitas, salsa, beans and rice!
Kelly and Sarah working hard to prepare the food!

Korean War Memorial:

The museum is HUGE. There is a huge outdoor area with tanks and aircraft. The actual museum is quite massive inside. It has all kinds of Korean war history and artifacts. There were a lot of people at the museum and hanging out on the grounds outside but I never felt that it was crowded (a rare feeling in Korea).

Some beautiful pond.
There were a lot of planes and tanks on display outside of the museum.
As I walked up to the memorial I heard some music and saw a large crowd of people ahead. I walked up to the crowd and looked over the heads of everyone to see a very impressive performance by the Korean military. Fun fact: Korean males are required to preform 2 years of military service. This service is the bain of every young Korean males existance. They H A T E it.

Very impressive sculpture, Korea.
The front of the Memorial.

Being Children's Day my city, Sanbon, was packed with them. They were all having a good time playing in the fountain and eating ice cream. This guy got a blue balloon! Lucky!

This is Sanbon.

This is Melissa and I on her 20th birthday last year.

Today is her birthday and I am very upset to be missing it!

Happy birthday Candy!

Rain and A New Name

It is a rainy night in Sanbon. I went to work with only a pull over and no umbrella because it was sunny when I left home. Well, as Sarah and I were getting ready to leave we noticed the rain with a bit of disappointment. David, the teenage son of one of the directors at school, heard our cries and quickly brought us each an umbrella to use on the walk home. I could have walked home with no umbrella. I have walked greater distances in much heavier rain but I did not want to send any ajummas or ajosshis (grandmas and grandpas) into cardiac arrest at the sight of someone wandering through the rain (kryptonite) unprotected. Even if you opt for a hat as protection from said kryptonite the stares and shock thrown your way can get intense. Alas, we took the umbrellas and made our way home.

Now that I am home I am reveling in the comforting sounds of rain on my window. Sometimes I open my window to hear the cars driving through the rain and wind. Ah, sounds like home.

Well the rain is not why I started to write this particular blog post so let me get to my intended topic; my funny students.

The past week our teaching schedules have been all up in arms due to the fact that middle school levels are in testing. I don't know much about this testing except that as with any "test" it is a life or death sort of thing for the students. Poor grades on said tests will doom you to a bad job, sub-par clothing (Heaven forbid) and an ugly spouse (Oh! the shame). As a result I have been teaching some of my classes more and others none at all.

Today I had two class periods (as opposed to the normal one) with a particularly interesting class. They are some of my favorite students. In the class I have Anna who tries to be teacher and order the other students around; William who delights in perfecting my Korean pronunciation; James who looks like a Korean Pillsbury Dough Boy; Michelle is the new girl who is shy and does not fit in with the other wacky ones. I must also say that everyday before class I find these students spinning in circles in the kindergarden room until they fall to the ground from dizziness.

They drag themselves into my class and are acting as if sitting is an impossible task. They are falling all over the chairs and can't stop laughing. Realizing they are in no mood for a rigorous english class and I am just as unenthusiastic as they are I decided to change my class plan for the day. We played a few english games instead of the writing task I originally prepared. The game was successful and once I had them on teams they were totally into this pictionary sort of game. They are a really bright class and I let them slack off frequently but when I raise and eyebrow and wipe any sort of amusement from my face they shut up and listen; this dedication to my mood is something that I appreciate about them.

Success, one class period down another to go. They spent the rest of this class trying to give me a Korean name. It was a long process guided by Anna who gave me many options and William who advised me against the name options that sounded like "korean grandma" and James who laughed at everything while sitting in the corner. Finally, we decided on Lee-sa-young as an appropriate name and I told them they could call me that from now on. Also, Korea borrows a lot of its language from Chinese so with my new Korean name also came a Chinese meaning. In Chinese Lee-sa-young means gifted with reading comprehension and writing. Well, at least that is what Anna told me.

-Till next time!

*If anyone wants to send me some oatmeal I would be eternally grateful. It is hard to find and very pricy over here and for some reason all I want to eat is oatmeal!!!!

What I See So Far

It has been about 7 weeks since I first met SK. Unassuming at first yet slightly and strangely familiar to me. Obviously the language threw me off completely but I was expecting large obstructive culture gaps and that is just not what I found. I found a city that felt a little off, but basically normal.

Gunpo, where I live, is about 45 min outside of Seoul. We are right on the subway line which is convenient. Gunpo is also at the base of Mt. Suri (yea, I think) and is said to have better air quality than other cities. (I don't buy it. All air in SK is hazy and stale.) Gunpo is to Seoul as North Gate is to Seattle. We have it going on here in Gunpo, but we are still a little removed.

SK likes to assume the position of familiarity while still holding a very distinct culture. It seems to be the little things that add up totaling large and peculiar differences between cultures. Only now, a little over a month in, do I feel that the distinct culture of SK has begun to show its teeth to me.

I don't mind. I like teeth. Mine are crooked and slightly misshapen and they serve me well. The teeth of SK can be seen slightly in my last post (my list of random differences between American and Korean culture). Though, through these things I have seen only the flash of a smile. I know only what I can recall and can piece together through my memory. I may have seen wrong or caught a reflection and not the real thing. I don't know yet. I will have to wait and look a little closer next time.

Observations

Observe the image:
Humm, I see a woman dancing on a platform, loud speaker, another on a megaphone and another on stilts. This was the magical display outside my apartment this afternoon. I think it was some "grand opening" of a store in my building. These sort of displays are all to usual.

Let me share a few more strange but true things about Korea:

1. Grocery shopping is a sport.

2. Women wear high heals everywhere and all the time.

3. Men dress incredibly well and care just as much about appearance as women do (one of my favorite things about Korea).

4. People dress very well.

4. Public Displays of Affection are rampant; when on the subway it sometimes seems like the couples are competing to see who can be the most obvious about their love.

5. Friends are very affectionate no matter the gender; males walk around with their arms around one another shoulders as do females.

6. Rock, scissor, paper can be used to decide ANYTHING, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME.

7. Lingerie is sold in matching male and female sets.

8. If you are a foreign woman and happen to be attractive it is assumed that you are Russian and a prostitute.

9. Korean moms are crazy and usually think their children are God.

10. Soju ( a vodka like drink) is drank like water.

11. Most Korean foods are "Number 1 health food!"

12. There is no tipping in restaurants and to call the waiter you just yell waiter in korean then you say what you want and give me in korean- no need for politeness.

13. Staring at strangers is perfectly acceptable.

14. There are no dryers so clothing is continually crispy and wrinkled.

15. Their version of toothpaste sucks as does the mascara.

16. Heat comes through the floor.

17. The bathroom does not separate the shower, toilet and sink so after showering your whole bathroom is wet. I find this really annoying.

18. Shoes are never to be worn in the house, even your own, and separate shoes are worn in the bathroom.

19. Traffic is always bad no matter the day or time.

20. When shopping you are followed very closely. Not the "we think your stealing" following but the "silly foreigner let me help you to the fat section" kind of following.

21. Koreans do not understand the concept of a yard because homes are apartment buildings and do not have yard space.

22. Cheese and whipping cream is crazy expensive. I am talking 20$ for a medium block of cheddar.

23. Fruit is often given as a gift.

24. Men smoke like chimneys and women smoke in secret.

25. Rain is kryptonite and must be avoided at all costs.

26. Alcohol samples are given at the grocery store.

27. Physical fitness is non existent.

28. Koreans want to know your height, age, weight, nationality and marital status within moments of meeting. My students are always inquiring about these things.

29. Kimchee is eaten with everything. Loving Kimchee is a requirement of all Koreans.

30. Instant coffee is drank as much as kimchee is eaten and loved almost equally.

These are in no particular order. This is not a hate on Korea list. This is an observation of differences list.

On the Subway

I would want to shake my hand too.

A few weeks ago Sarah and I were on the subway. It was around 9 am and rush hour(s) was over so the subway was not too crowded. We are standing towards the back of the car chatting when I notice a group of about 7 teenaged boys at the other end of the car. They are talking and looking over at us and slowly begin to creep down the car towards us. After some shoving and such they end up at the other end of the car a few feet behind Sarah and I. Now, in Korea it is pretty much socially acceptable to stare shamelessly at people. So I have no problem obviously staring at this group of boys through this whole interaction. I watch them play a few rounds of rock/paper/scissor (this method is used frequently to make decisions in Korea) and someone is chosen. One boy emerges from the group and walks towards us then hurries back. He is pushed out of the circle again in our direction. His friends are all in the background watching and laughing. He finally makes it up to me, eyes darting around trying to avoid contact with me, and sticks out his hand for me to shake. I oblige and shake his hand. No words come out of his mouth or mine. He quickly turns around and is welcomed back to his friends with pats to the back and hi-fives. I could not help but laugh and continue to stare at them, just to make them feel uncomfortable. It worked and they got off at the next station.

This whole situation was comical to me. They were not being rude in anyway. They were driven by shear curiosity.

Changgyeonggung Palace

Try saying that word 10 times fast (or even once at all)! I went to this palace on Sunday afternoon. It was another windy and cool day but the sun was out. Perfect weather for a walk around a palace. This palace is basically right in the middle of the city. It was only a 10 minute walk from the subway station! We don't have palaces in the US and if we did I doubt they would be right in the city.

This palace was built in the late 1400s by King Seongjong because the original palace was just too crowded. Then the Japanese came over and basically took control of it for quite some time. They destroyed it once, then rebuilt it. Then it burned down and was rebuilt again. Then in 1907 was destroyed again and replaced by a zoo and botanical garden. Then in 1983 the Korean government began to restore it to its original state (sans the garden and zoo).

I wondered around the grounds for a few hours. The grounds were beautiful and there was a lot to see. Here are my highlights.

There were 5 or 6 phone booths randomly placed around the palace. Weird.

This photo is crooked. Oops.

Contemporary Art Museum

Greetings all! I admit, I have been entirely negligent about posting. Forgive me.

First of all my actual job, teaching, is off to a nice start. I am finally learning my students names and trying to build up a little rapport with each class. Some students have a tendency to think they can just do whatever they want when a native english teacher is teaching. They can be really disrespectful and take advantage of that fact that you don't know what they are saying when they speak in Korean (which is not allowed in class). I have been trying to get to know my students personally by asking about their hobbies and such. They also like to ask me all kinds of questions about my love life, eating habits and family. I don't mind answering. I do this in the hopes that they might be inclined to be more respectful of a teacher who they like and feel cares about them and is interested in them a people. We will see if it works.

One of my favorite things is when I get new student. Unless they already have an English name I get to choose one for them (well, they choose but I give them the options)!! I have named a Paul, Chris and Calvin. They are already 3 of my favorite students.

Today we went to the National Museum of Contemporary Art. It is not far from where we live and was free so why not. The weather today was what I call "a Seattle day" because it was overcast, looking like it could possibly rain, windy and mildly cold. Totally like a fall day in Seattle.

Anyways, when we got out of the subway we went to find the shuttle bus to the museum. Once we exited the unusually quiet subway area the street above was oddly deserted as well. There was hardly another person around. The wind was strong today, we could just hear it howling as we made our way to the shuttle. We eventually got on a train that took us to the museum. We were literally the only people on the train. There was also a tram to the museum but we decided we would probably freeze to death if we took it. Well, on our train ride we saw one lone person bravely riding it in the freezing howling wind. I seriously felt like I was in the Twilight Zone or something. We made it to the museum and it was very interesting and fun to spend the afternoon looking at art. I wish I could take photos of the art inside but no such luck.

Naturally the order of these photos is messed up, but I'll explain best as I can.

Out front of the entrance. Not getting very far guys.
These are two of my coworkers. Amy is waving and Deborah is trudging on forward.
There was an outdoor sculpture garden. This is part of it.

And here we have more out door sculpture. (Thats the tram in the background)
This dude was set up with some serious speakers and stuff. He sang and his arms and mouth moved. It sounded really cool actually mostly because you could also hear the wind sailing through the bridge in the background and the water falling.
See what I mean! No people!

On our way back we were just about to sit down and wait in the bitter cold and wind for the train back toward the subway when a lady drives up and offers us a ride! Sweet! We totally took it!

A Wedding!

Not mine, don't worry.

Today us teachers were chatting before classes and Arthur, the only male teacher, walks into the room. He recently became engaged so we were asking him how his future wife was doing and when the weeding will be. Then he darts out of the room and comes back with wedding invitations for us in hand!! Ah! How exciting! We are all invited to his wedding! I am so excited about this. Seriously.

So the initial excitement dies down and we realize we have nothing to wear to such an occasion. I brought like 1/16 of my wardrobe to Korea so I KNOW I will have to buy something. Koreans typically dress very well even for mundane activities like grocery shopping, so I am a little intimidated by their formal wear. I tried to ask some of my students for advice but I think my question was lost in translation. I was told first by a a student to wear a white gown (I think they thought I was getting married) then I was told to wear a suit (not sure where that came from, maybe Korean women wear suits). So basically they were no help.

Also finding sizes that fit my body type might be a challenge here in Korea. I have noticed the ladies are quite slim over here. Now I'm not that big, some in the states would say I'm a slim woman, but I'm not in the states anymore. When I stand next to a Korean lady I appear nearly obese. Hum. Looks like I might need to find Korea's plus size stores.

Despite all that I know I'll find something fabulous! The wedding is in April, Easter Sunday to be exact! I cant wait to tell you all about it.

My Address

A-Class Academy
1099-2 Daelim Plaza Bld. 5F
Sanbon-dong, Gunpo-Si
Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea

That is it! Send me something if you want!!

Going to the Doctor

So the other day I notice a cut on my hand, no big deal right? Well it turned into a big deal when it started to hurt and look, um well, not right. So I think I can just heal it myself. You know a little tea tree oil and a band-aid that should do the trick. The situation was not getting any better so I start to look up "hand infection" online to see what else I could do. Everything online was saying "go immediately to a doctor ...untreated infection can lead to AMPUTATION...". So now I'm freaking out a little and thinking I need a doctor ASAP.

But there was a little problem with that simple solution.

I don't have my medical card yet and I don't speak Korean so its not like I can just waltz into any doctors office or an ER. What to do, what to do?! I did not know so I called another teacher that I work with and she says I should Sione (my school's director) and ask him what to do. So I'm thinking "great, this is going to be awkward." But whatever if a little awkwardness is what I have to do to keep my hand so be it! So Sione said someone could take me to a doctor in the morning! Great!

So the next day Sione tells me that MS (another director type at my school) is going to take me. Off we go to the doctor. We get there and next thing I know it is me, MS, the Doctor and a nurse. The doctor has my hand and is talking to MS in Korean. I have no idea what is going on. Then the nurse starts to bring in needles and knives and scissor looking things. Shoot, this is getting serious. MS says a few things to me in English, but I dont know what is happening. At this point I decided to shut my eyes because, well, I don't know but I knew watching would not make me feel any better. I hear some Korean speaking, I feel a needle go into my hand and the doctor says "pain injection". Yea, pain is right. I feel poking prodding and hear more Korean and I am still confused. Then they lead me into another room and the doctor says something to MS, he laughs a little and looks away and leaves the room. Then the nurse says to me "injection, buttox" and I realize why MS was laughing. So the nurse gives me a shot, of what I do not know. The doctor comes back and bandages my hand and we are on our way.

Oh yes, it gets even more awkward! They also gave me some mystery pills to take. Well, MS did not know how to tell me what to do with said pills in English so he has to bring in another one of my coworkers to help translate!

See the nice bandage they gave me! I don't know what is going on underneath there but I guess I have to go back tomorrow to make sure they don't need to amputate .
These are the mystery pills. I hope it works!

East Sea

This past weekend myself and the other native teachers took a trip with some of our Korean friends to the East Sea. We all had Monday off of work because it was a national holiday. No one was sure what holiday it was exactly but none the less we all welcomed an extra day in our weekend! Our Korean friends are Jin, KyungMin and JongYun. They know much more about Korea and all that it has to offer waygooks (foreigners) like us so we left the details of the weekend up to them.

Saturday night we set off in two cars, where to the foreigners did not know. We all piled in the cars and I learn quickly that driving in Korea forces you into two extremes. First is that Korea has some of the most heinous traffic, it can take an hour to driver less than a mile in some areas (no joke, we experienced this). Second, the moment Korean drivers break free from the constraints of traffic they are suddenly competing in some sort of NASCAR meets mario kart race resulting in high-speeds, quick stops and frequent near death experiences. I cheated death many times this weekend.

We arrive at our hotel late Saturday night. They had rented a nice condo type room on some mountain about 3 hours from Sanbon (where we live). We made bulgogi, which is BBQ meat with side dishes and ate together on the floor (Korean style). We drank soju and played games into the early morning hours until we all passed out. A good time was had by all and a good start to our mystery weekend.

We woke up the next morning and our friends informed us we will be doing some sight seeing and staying at a new hotel that night. So we packed up and headed out. We had no idea our friends has planned a full on sightseeing trip around the east side of Korea, but hey bring it on!

So Away we go! First stop is a traditional lunch of bibimbap. This is a bowl of rice with an egg veggies and red chili paste. You mix it all up and have lots of side dishes to choose from. This was my first taste of this unique rice dish. I told Jin who was sitting next to me this and she quickly took charge of my dish mixing up all the ingredients, pouring in the chili paste and offering different side dishes to me. Koreans are always willing to show you how its done which I don't mind at all. The bibimbap was alright, not my favorite Korean dish but it was fun to eat.

If you dont already know, in Korea you almost always sit on the floor, share most things communal style and some if not all of the meal is prepared in front of you. I think that these features add a lot to the dinning experience. Everybody is trying things and talking about how it tastes, someone is offering a bit of this, someone else is pouring you something to drink, food is steaming in front of you, its quite fun and makes even an unfamiliar crown feel like a family.

With full bellies we set off to tackle the sights of East Sea! We soon arrived at a Buddhist Temple. We walked up to the grounds, in the bitter cold, and looked around. Jin and I went in and, um, prayed (?) to a magnificent Buddha statue. I also drank this water that is supposed to make you live for over a hundred years. We will see how that works out. The grounds were truly magnificent. There was lingering snow covering the grounds and a river that ran adjacent. The river was partially frozen with some water flowing creating both a beautiful visual and audio.

And away we went again. A few more hours of driving and we fell out of our cars to warmer weather and the sound of the ocean. We are informed that we are stopping at a fish market to pick up fresh sashimi for dinner! Yum! The town we were in reminded me of Lincoln City or Newport. Cute, small and full of families. The market was a intense place. Live octopus, fish of every kind and crab all trying to flip, flop and crawl away from their temporary cages. Vendors shouting prices (I assume), men, women and children milling about and pointing to their live selection. After your selection a vendor would grab the fish snap its neck, slice the guts out and fillet it right in front of you. You know its fresh! It was a sight!! The thing I found most interesting was that the market did not smell the least bit fishy. Not sure how the Koreans manage that but they do.

After a quick drive we arrived at another Buddhist Temple. This one is over looking the ocean. We all had a good look around and posed for a picture with a tree that was growing in the shape of a "V". Again, breath taking view but this time of the ocean. It was much colder at the Temple so we had some traditional ginger tea to warm up. Delicious.

A short while later we were at our new hotel, this one had a view of the ocean. We ate our wonderful sashimi on the floor of the hotel. We were all pretty wiped out at this point and after a few soju shots and cups do beer we piled onto our "yos" and went to sleep. (In some Korean hotels there is no furniture or beds in the rooms so they give you mats and blankets called yos to sleep on, on the floor. We all felt like we were at summer camp because all the girls, 6 of us, slept together and the boys were in the other room. Definitely a bonding experience.)

"Hey, look out the window." Was the first thing I heard the next morning, so I abided and peaked out. White, I saw white everywhere. It had snowed heavily that night and there was a good 6 inches of snow on the ground. Again it was a magnificent sight to see snow covering the beach and everything surrounding. We knew this was going to negatively impact out travel home so we ate a breakfast of ramen style noodles and hit the road. The drive from the hotel area to the main road was wonderful. There were few cars and we drove past frozen lakes, snow covered hills and through canopies of white trees.

Then we hit traffic. T R A F F I C. We inched down the interstate for 5 or 6 hours until we had gone barely 20 miles and we were in dire need of some food. Praise heaven for that stop because someone had a brilliant idea at this point. One of the boys suggested that we wait out the traffic at a jimjilbang and get on the road later when the traffic has died down. So we all went. A jimjilbang is a Korea spa, basically. They are very popular, cheap and open 24/7. You go in and use the sauna, ice room , PC room, watch a movie, shower and have some snacks and tea. We came out feeling relaxed and ready to tango with the traffic again. We finally made it home in the wee hours of Monday morning.

It was unfortunate because normally none of us have to work till 2:30 at the earliest but our boss Sarah wanted to take us all to lunch before our staff meeting, at 12:30. Good morning sunshine the weekend is over!

The photos got a little messed up, but you can figure it out!