Seoul Zoo Field Trip

Last Thursday, I had my second to the Seoul Zoo. Not that it wasn't a blast with Britney and Shauna, but it was so much fun to see the excitement in my children's faces this time around! It was an absolutely perfect day for an outdoor field trip. We left school at 10am in charter buses and spent the entire morning looking at the animals. Then, we sat down in the shade for a picnic lunch in which all the students brought with. Each of the teachers got Kimbop (looks like sushi, but isn't) and a sandwich from the school. I didn't eat mine however, because I was once again spoiled by one of my students families. Ann was the student whose father made the gourmet meals for her birthday. Again, her dad prepared each student an given individual tray with steak meat balls, shrimp, rice, tofu, fruits, and vegetables. Absolutely delicious! The picnic was the highlight of my day (besides not teacher all morning). We had a great day at the zoo!

Buddha's Birthday Weekend in Busan!

Thank you Buddha! We have very few breaks during the academic school year, and I just had my last three day weekend over Buddha's birthday. The only vacation I have left is my summer trip to Vietnam in July, just a month before I come home. I can tell you that the recent three day break was 100% necessary for the sanity of everyone in the office. All the teachers just completed a day that happens only once a year at LCI. It's dreaded, prepared for a month in advanced, rehearsed over and over, and then supposed to look completely natural. The day is called...OPEN CLASS. This is where parents get to come in, sit in the back of the classroom, and observe as if it is any normal day. What the parents don't know (or aren't supposed to) is how rehearsed and scripted all the questions and answers are. Anyway, my day went as I expected...not good, and not bad, just okay. The kids were far more quiet than usual with the parents there and weren't their enthusiastic selves when answering questions as we had literally practiced them to boredom. But, I was relieved to have it over with before the break!

After quite the rat race (our travel plans are NEVER easy) to get transportation tickets over the busy holiday weekend, we headed to Busan on Friday (May 21st) morning at 7:30am by train. It was the only beautiful, sunny day of the weekend, but since we got settled into our hostel around 2:30 in the afternoon, we decided to explore the city by foot and visit the beaches for a day of relaxation on Saturday. That was a mistake. It rained the entire rest of the weekend, but we were successful none-the-less in finding many enjoyable things to do. On Friday, we found our way to the famous fish market and didn't have any of the creepy experiences we had with the one we visited near Seoul. Sadly, I'm not into sea food so although there was tons of fresh fish to try, it was all very expensive and unappealing to me, which made it hard for Shauna and Britney to experience. However, we found one of our favorite restaurants with chicken galbi and a fun shopping area that we spent the warm evening exploring. We ended the night walking to a beautiful park on a small mountain in the middle of the city. On our way, we stumbled into a temple with beautiful lanterns, all lit with real candles (we figured that out when I picked wax out of my hair then next day- it must have dripped from the lanterns as I was standing underneath them!). We reached the park with a tall lit tower and sat, chatting while overlooking the city's night lights.

On Saturday, we woke up to an overcast, chilly, and misty morning. Determined to relax on the beach, we put our swim suits on and headed out. We quickly realized that it was in no way beach weather. However, we spent the morning walking along the famous Busan beaches and the surrounding areas, taking lots of pictures, and escaping the rain on a ten minute ferris wheel ride that overlooked the city. By late afternoon we headed to a restaurant that shall remain nameless (it's an American chain) and sat there talking for over four hours while it literally poured outside. We decided to become more ambitious and accepted the offer from our co-worker Gina and her boyfriend, who were also in Busan for the weekend, to go out on the town that evening. We headed back to our hostel to clean up and went back to the beach area with lots of fun bars. It felt like a monsoon the entire evening with rain and extremely high winds, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the night!

We had set our alarms to get up early on Sunday in the case that the weather would be nice. With no luck, we took the morning to sleep in before venturing back out in the rain that seemed to get heavier and heavier. I was apprehensive at first with the amount of rain, but am so thankful that Britney convinced me to visit a near by temple. We took a 30 minute taxi ride in pouring rain only to have it lighten up right when we got there. We bought ponchos and had our umbrellas ready. Now, I would say that the rain made it even more worth it! It was overcast and incredibly beautiful in an eerie way. Haedong Yonggungsa was built in 1376 and is one of the few temples found along the coast. It is built into the rocks right on the water and honors the Seawater Great Goddess Buddha of Mercy (just some fun facts for you). We walked around in the misty rain with the waves crashing on the rocks. I can honestly say that I may not have enjoyed it nearly as much if it weren't for the timing. Once again, there were hundreds of colorful lanterns hung everywhere in honor of Buddha's birthday. Our low spirits from the gloomy weekend were lifted by the humbling beauty of this temple. I used to think once you've seen a few of the temples, you've seen them all (obviously not true for everyone), but this one proved otherwise and will certainly rank as the most beautiful one I will see in my time here. After our visit, we headed back into the city, enjoyed a warm Korean dinner (Bibimbop, of course) at a local restaurant, and caught our 7:15pm train ride back to our area. Five hours later, we arrived home. Although it's likely that was my only visit to the beach city of Korea, despite the rain, we had a more than relaxing weekend that left us rejuvenated for the weeks ahead. Next vacation...VIETNAM!

Celebrating Buddha's Birthday: Lotus Lantern Festival

As usual, I'm behind, but better late than never, right? That just means I've been so busy that I haven't had time to update. When I say busy, I mean with school and outside activities that have been loads of fun! I have lots of updates to give you about the last few weeks, and I'm going to try and keep them short and sweet. So, here I go!

Every year, the weekend before Buddha's birthday, Seoul hosts the Lotus Lantern Festival and Buddhist Street Festival. I can tell you now that this event will be one of the most vivid memories of my year here for a number of reasons. The experience itself was fun, I got a better understanding of the Korean culture and traditions, took part in one of the biggest celebrations of the year, and the highlight for sure was the evening parade, lasting over two and a half hours with thousands of people and intricately made lanterns, floats, and clothing! Britney, Shauna, and I headed into Seoul by noon on Sunday (May 16th) and unfortunately missed some of the really neat activities that we thought lasted all day. There was an entire street lined on both sides with white tents containing lots of crafts to make, traditional temple food, and many street performances and music. We did manage to grab a few Korean snacks, paint our own Buddha magnet, and see one performance of the traditional Korean drum/dancers that I absolutely love. I experienced them for my first time in Jeonju with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Shina when they took me to an evening performance that was absolutely incredible!

As I said though, the highlight of the event was the evenings parade. I can guarantee it was the longest and most beautiful parade I will EVER see in my lifetime. It went form 7:30pm to nearly 10:00pm. It was a truly breathtaking experience to see over 100,000 individual lanterns carried by the participants who filled the street from side to side with out end. The colors of the lanterns, floats, and hanboks (traditional Korean clothing) were vibrant and absolutely extravagant! My co-worker Elena who has a great camera and a skill for photography, allowed me use all of her pictures to share with my family and friends on Facebook. She captured incredible shots from the parade! If you haven't seen this album yet (Lotus Lantern Festival), please check it out so you can see what I'm talking about. If you are don't have access to these pictures, I will be eager to show you as soon as I get home so you can see the beauty I experienced that evening! Unfortunately, of the hundred photos I have from that day, I will only be able to share of a few on my blog, so I will try to pick the ones that depict it best. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed the entire day!

Funny!

Today's plan was this: 10:30-1:30 we will book summer vacation flights, have lunch, hop a bus to Seoul, watch an LG Twins baseball game, and call the day a success! Here's what really happened. We (the Trio- Shauna, Britney, and I) started the morning on time with our trip planning sitting outside at a local coffee shop with wireless internet. With our three computers, we searched out flights and after much discussion made our decision as to where we were going for our summer vacation. Thinking we were a head of schedule, we grabbed lunch and ate no other than Bibimbop at our favorite restaurant. We had to have our favorite meal on Teacher's Day! We got home and here's where the problems began. Each of us has transferred money to be able to book our flights using our own cards from home, as our Korean debit cards are virtually useless...even in Korea. I stepped up to make the first of our slightly hefty priced ticket bookings. When I checked my account to be sure of the money my mother had told me was there...it was not. At 11:45pm (home time) I called to ask my mother where it had gone. She had ALREADY (in the few hours after the wire had gone through) transferred all of my earnings to a savings account! Therefore, I did not have the funds to book my flight. However, I convinced mom to let me book my second flight on their credit card and have her transfer the money from my account to hers on Monday. Problem solved!

I booked my flight and Shauna was up. Card declined! Before calling her parents, we called the customer service line twice to which the man politely tried to answer our questions with no success. The next phone call home to Shauna's parents was made around 12:30am. As much as she didn't want to, Shauna also made the choice to book her flight on her parents credit card. In the race of things as we were trying to get to the baseball game, she typed her father's name in as the passenger (as well as in the credit card information) because her first attempt on his card was rejected due to her name being processed as a duplicate. Not thinking, she hit submit booked a flight for her dad! At this point, we were in a state of crisis knowing that she had "agreed to the terms" that no changes could be made to the flight and it was non-refundable. We immediately dialed up the customer service man who answered me by saying, "Yes mam, I am the same person you have called four times now!" He was getting feisty, but c'mon...learn to count, it was only our third call! We waited on hold for 20 minutes to be transferred to a different customer service woman who politely helped cancel the flight Shauna had just booked (with a small fee) and were transferred back to our man friend! The call was dropped, but when we finally got a hold of him the last time to change the credit card information on Shauna's original flight, we had apparently pushed him over the edge with the job he is paid to do...HELP PEOPLE who have had credit card decline problems! Reluctantly he helped as we straightened out Shauna's issues and got her flight booked. As I was thanking him for ALL of his help today, he again responded, "Yes mam, I am the same person you called 10 times today!" We may have called a few more times than I mentioned in the story (more like 6-7), but it certainly wasn't 10! At this point, we couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably.

Hours later after Britney had made multiple trips home, read some magazines on my bed, and started helping me with my Toblerone chocolate...it was her turn to book. What else could possibly go wrong? Don't worry...card declined! Without hesitation, Britney called her parents who so kindly answered and passed along their credit card information. Ok, so this might have been our 10th call to our "same" customer service friend. He obviously figured out we were the same group as she was changing details for the exactly flight with the same problem we had just figured out with Shauna's card. Thank goodness Shauna and I had mastered his outsourced accent because he literally changed her information, repeated it back, and hung up with, "You're good. You're flight has been confirmed. Good bye!" before Britney even had a chance to respond. We 'translated' for Britney as we understood what he had said, and we were all officially booked!

Did I mention we missed the base ball game? We had called to let them know we would be late in the first place and later found out that we had been kicked out of the group as there weren't enough tickets for our entire group anyway, so we were the first to be eliminated. Good thing we weren't already on our way. Anyway, we went from excited about knowing where we were going to nauseous when we had cards declined and double booked flights to rolling on the floor laughing by 6:00pm. I thought for a while I would be traveling alone. Thank goodness that's not the case. We're ready for our summer vacation come July 24th! Oh...I suppose you want to know where we're going, huh? Eight hours later, a missed baseball game, and 10 customer service calls to the same guy...and we're headed to VIETNAM!

*Special thanks to all of our parents who were woken in the middle of the night, willingly gave us their credit card information over the phone, and helped make our vacation possible. WE PROMISE we'll grow up someday and be able to pay for ourselves. :)

Good Bye Alison!

On Friday we said "good bye!" to one of our friends from our neighboring LCI schools. Alison is the best from of our co-worker Gina, both from MN...surprise, surprise! Although I'm battling my second (and worse) round of Bronchitis since I've gotten here, there are too many good things going on this weekend to miss out on anything. We headed into Seoul right after work to a roof-top bar. It was an absolutely perfect night with beautiful weather for a farewell party! The reason I'm posting this blog is for two reasons. The first is that last night I realized what very little time I have left (Have I said this in the last five blog postings? Sorry!). Obviously, as each day goes by, I realize it more and more. But, last night was a bit of a wake-up call that in just three months, that person is going to be me. The people that were a part of my life for one year will be sending me off. Whether they are best friends, co-workers, or acquaintances...they will have affected my year in one way or another, no matter how big or small, and it will be extremely hard to say good bye. I only spent a few nights together with Alison, but all I remember about those nights is how much fun we had! I hope Alison had a safe flight home, was warmly welcomed by her family, and made it to the wedding she was due to arrive at just two hours after her landing. See you in just a few months Alison!

The second reason I'm writing about her good bye is to share an experience that is not unusual for Koreans to partake in, but never thought I would be a part of. That would be: public conflict. So often we see Koreans making a scene over who knows what, but it sure doesn't seem to bother them when people stare. Here's my story. There were many people arriving at the bar from lots of different places after their school day ended. Most people were ordering food either at the bar or from the three different servers that made frequent trips to our table. The point is that their serves somehow double ordered some foods and forgot others. At one point a server came up four times with a plate asking, "Who ordered the buttered chicken?" Finally, the (Korean) owner came up and began 1) treating us as if it was our mistake that no one was claiming a dish that no one ordered and 2) publicly yelling as his servers who were holding the plates. After an hour had passed with multiple visits from the not-so-nice owner, everyone except me had their food. He claimed that he already brought my dish that I clearly did NOT have, and then admitted to giving it to someone else at the end of the table. In his anger, he stormed downstairs and came back five minutes later practically shoving a plate in my face saying, "Your sandwich (chicken mozzarella with pesto) will take another 25 minutes...I suggest you eat this! It's chicken with hummus, it's delicious!" At that point, I became the most assertive I have ever been and responded, "Sir...may I just have my money back? I did NOT order this sandwich and I don't want it." (*Note that he brought up FIVE hummus sandwiches, when only four people ordered them. We assume he went downstairs, threw a chicken breast on the bun, and brought it back suggesting I eat a sandwich that ISN'T even on the menu!) Without an answer he turned and walked off, and after 15 minutes without my money, I went downstairs to ask for it. Without me saying anything he said, "You can't have your food now! The kitchen is closed. This is why I suggested you eat the delicious chicken with hummus sandwich!" And...here's where I got cranky, "SIR! That 'sandwich' is NOT on your menu. I did NOT order a chicken and humus sandwich, so give me my money back!" He gave me 9,000 won out of my 9,500 that I had paid for with no food. I told him I was going to get some food on the street and return upstairs to which he told me I could not do because a show was starting and you couldn't go up and down in the bar for 40 minutes. Then, I turned to the blonde girl working behind the bar and said, "I don't mean to be rude but I waited for and hour and 30 minutes and didn't get the food I paid for. I am going to get food on the street and return in a few minutes to be with my friends and I need you to let me back in. Also...not to be a pain, but you owe me another 500 won (less that 50 cents)." :) Okay, so that might have been a little obnoxious to ask for the last few cents that I didn't get back, but hey...I didn't get ANY of the food I paid for and had been more than turned off by the owners treatment to all of us when it was HIS worker's mistakes. So the story ends when I got my street food, returned in time to get back in, and enjoyed the rest of the evening saying good bye to sweet Alison. As I was about to walk out, the owner stopped me to apologized saying, "I'm sorry for tonight. Next time, I promise I will give you my best service!" It was very kinds of him, but he was assuming a lot including that he could provide his best service SHOULD I EVER come back again. He's lucky I absolutely LOVED his roof-top bar environment, because I WILL be back...and I will order my chicken mozzarella and pesto sandwich once again.

Happy Teacher's Day!

Friday was a very special day for the staff as today (Saturday) is Teacher's Day. It appeared as though it was everyone's birthday in the office as each desk was loaded with flowers, food, and presents! My kids must know I like to eat because I received cookies, Toblerone and other assorted chocolates, coffee, and whole cakes and pies! In addition, I received lots of adorable cards, individual roses and carnations, and one HUGE basket of flowers. On the ritsy side, which I actually felt bad telling my mom about as she is retiring after 35 years of teaching and has probably never received such gifts, were my beautiful Swarovski crystal necklace from the class and...a Coach purse (from I think the wealthiest student in the school who happens to be in my class)! These gifts are amongst the other extravagant gifts that I've gotten in the past (for no such occasion) such as Chanel and Bvlgaari perfume sets, Estee Lauder and Chanel make-up, and another Swarovski necklace. Now...I don't mean to tell you about all my gifts to brag about all that I've received, but instead to tell you how absolutely INSANE I think it is that these parents, who have met me no more than once and find it so important that their children learn English, give such incredible gifts to persuade us to be great teachers (or favor their child)! Of all the gifts that I have received from my students and parents though...I can whole-heartedly say that the best ones I have been given are all the hugs, sweet smiles, love, and laughter that I get out of my children every day! None of the tangibles I have received will EVER replace the experience of me teaching and the moments I have enjoyed with each of my students. I don't mean to be sappy, but I can't help from getting choked up every time I think about the little time I have left here. So, since I am going back in three months and will never be a teacher (in the education system) again in my lifetime, you can imagine how special Friday was for me. This is my one and only Teacher's Day that I will ever have, and I loved every second of it!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

What a great weekend...the weather was absolutely amazing! Like I said last week, I truly believe we need cold winters to remind us how thankful we are for warm spring and summer weather. A few weeks ago there were beautiful cherry blossom trees everywhere. Now those have changed to bright green leaves and the sidewalks are lined with flowers of vivid purples, pinks, reds, and whites everywhere! My walks to school are absolutely peaceful and gorgeous...well except for the cars speeding by on their way to work for the day. Either way, it's a site to see!

As usual, my week flew by, especially since we had Wednesday off for Children's Day! I took a silent hike by myself for three hours, which was absolutely amazing! I get more nervous by the day with how fast they are going. I quite literally feel like I will be home tomorrow. I have 15 weekends left before I'm flying home and many of them are already booked with trips to Busan for our three day weekend over Buddha's birthday, Daegu and Pohang to visit other teachers, bike trips around islands, summer vacation, and the return of my aunt and uncle!

This weekend however was pretty typical. We had a delicious galbi dinner on Friday night before heading to Noraebong with the majority of our teachers. There is nothing more fun than renting a room for friends to sing their lungs out until the early morning hours. I believe I saw the Saturday morning sun coming up again this weekend. As usual, I slept in and chatted with family and friends on Skype. Then, I packed up books, magazines, and a blanket and headed to a park or a somewhat green patch of grass near our home. It was actually an entertaining scene. There in the park were many Korean families enjoying "Parent's Day" under the shade of the trees AND their umbrellas with pants and long sleeves. And there in the middle of the park in the heat of the sun were the three foreign girls in shorts and tank tops working on their tan! We didn't get much color, but we did get a flower from an adorable Korean boy about the age of three and some great enjoyment of the beautiful 70 degree weather with a perfect breeze. Then of course, we ended the afternoon with bibimbop and galbi again for dinner. Korean food is too good to resist, and it's the one thing I don't mind spending my money on here since in less than four months, I won't get this quality of food ever again, even if I learn to make it myself...which is highly unlikely!

Sunday morning I woke up feeling a little less than 100% with a stuffy nose and a cough that woke me up. But, I got myself going and had a delicious lunch outside at a restaurant with Shauna and Britney. We must have sat there for over two hours in the once again perfect weather before we decided we could give up our outdoor table. I did some catch up things at home this afternoon before heading into Seoul for a short dinner trip. As you can tell, we're not a fan of cooking, especially on the weekends!

Finally, we came home and I had a great conversation with my mother and grandma. I told my grandma, "Thanks for being such a great mom to my mom so that I have a great mom!" That's a lot of mom in one sentence, but it's as true as it gets. It's still unbelievable to me that you can be across the world from someone and be talking to them face to face. Skype made this day possible to tell my mother how special she is to me. My last little note is that I think that this passage has been used in many contexts, but it so accurately applicable today. To me, there is not better way to describe the love of a mother than through 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7:

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Thank you mom for your love that never fails.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!