It was quite possibly the first time that I have ever felt my motherly instincts kick in, and not just a little.... A LOT!
I was riding my bus to work this morning, and it stopped at a bus station near my school where a couple of the students get on. I looked out my window and saw one of my 2nd graders laying in the fetal position on the stairs, while one of my 4th grade boys was kicking him in the stomach. I immediately got off the bus and went over to the 2nd grade boy, who was still laying down crying and took his hand and led him to the bus. I picked him up and set him on my lap and hugged him the whole way to school. He was crying in my arms, but I could feel him calming down each time I would squeeze him, or rub his back. By the time we got off the bus, he had calmed down and we walked hand in hand to his classroom. It was a beautiful moment.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
My weekend in Seoul
This weekend, the 8 of us ventured over to Seoul. :) We were able to take the KTX train, which is the high speed train for 32,000 won each way, and within 3 hours, we were in Seoul! Here's us at the train station, arriving in Seoul. (Carlos, Jess, Kate, Rob, Colin, Kevin, Me, and Kristin)
We were able to get seats that faced each other, so 4 of us were on one side of the isle, and the other 4 were on the other side. I couldn't get Kev to take a normal picture with me, so this is what I have to show you the inside of the train...
Kevin and Carlos are always coming up with 5th grade games to play. This time it was, "Who can stare into each others eyes the longest." They are always trying to make each other as uncomfortable as they can!
When we arrived, we went to dinner with Sunny, Stella, and Chigan (3 of the EPIK volunteers that we befriended at our orientation when we arrived in Korea.) They took us to a restaurant that specializes in a drink called Makali and we had lots of different Korean foods that we all shared. Here's all of us outside the restaurant.
Kevin and Sunny
After dinner, Carlos, Jess, Kristin, Colin, Kevin and I headed over to a 24 hour Jim Jil Bang where we all spent the night! This is actually a fairly common thing to do in Korea, because it is so cheap! It was 12,000 won for each of us and was an interesting experience that I won't soon try again. People slept like sardines in heated rooms on wooden floors with strangers all around them. Enough said I think.
Since we didn't actually go to sleep until 4am, we all woke up late the next morning, got ready and headed out for some lunch! As we were walking, we stumbled upon a "red light district." I had no idea Korea had one, but sure enough.... there is was! Here is a picture of the street. During the day, it's like a ghost town.
We decided to drop our bags at the hostel we had booked for Saturday night, so we jumped on the suwbay and off we went. I actually don't have any pictures of the room at the hostel, but I think the sign says it all...
Kevin actually got really sick with a fever on Saturday, so I stayed with him at the hostel while everyone else went to a Palace and a shopping market. After sleeping for 5 hours, Kevin was back in the game, and we were able to meet up with everyone for dinner and dancing! We ended up at a club called Bunker, which played awesome american hip hop!
The next morning, we headed over to a Flea Market that someone recommended we go see! It was actually really awesome. I bought an amazing ring for my sister, and something for my mom and dad that I think they'll really like. The building in this picture is NOT part of the flea market... just the sign! :)
After the Flea Market, we jumped on the subway and headed over to another part of Seoul where we had heard we could get Mexican food, which we had ALL been craving! When we got off the subway, I saw a huge crowd forming around the "Paris Baguette Bakery." I pushed my way through the crowd to see what all the hype was about, and it turns out they were filming one of the most famous TV shows in Korea! I was able to snap a few pics with my camera. This morning, I sent the pictures to all the women teachers and they went crazy! They were so excited!
Sometimes the spelling of certain things is a little bit off. We loved this version of tequila...
After Mexican food, we walked around the city and did some street shopping! (Jess and Stella)
We also found this "luxury" norebang (Karaeokee). If you look closely, you can the the people singing in the windows. If we had more time, we all would have loved to go, but we had to catch our train.
We were able to get seats that faced each other, so 4 of us were on one side of the isle, and the other 4 were on the other side. I couldn't get Kev to take a normal picture with me, so this is what I have to show you the inside of the train...
Kevin and Carlos are always coming up with 5th grade games to play. This time it was, "Who can stare into each others eyes the longest." They are always trying to make each other as uncomfortable as they can!
When we arrived, we went to dinner with Sunny, Stella, and Chigan (3 of the EPIK volunteers that we befriended at our orientation when we arrived in Korea.) They took us to a restaurant that specializes in a drink called Makali and we had lots of different Korean foods that we all shared. Here's all of us outside the restaurant.
Kevin and Sunny
After dinner, Carlos, Jess, Kristin, Colin, Kevin and I headed over to a 24 hour Jim Jil Bang where we all spent the night! This is actually a fairly common thing to do in Korea, because it is so cheap! It was 12,000 won for each of us and was an interesting experience that I won't soon try again. People slept like sardines in heated rooms on wooden floors with strangers all around them. Enough said I think.
Since we didn't actually go to sleep until 4am, we all woke up late the next morning, got ready and headed out for some lunch! As we were walking, we stumbled upon a "red light district." I had no idea Korea had one, but sure enough.... there is was! Here is a picture of the street. During the day, it's like a ghost town.
We decided to drop our bags at the hostel we had booked for Saturday night, so we jumped on the suwbay and off we went. I actually don't have any pictures of the room at the hostel, but I think the sign says it all...
Kevin actually got really sick with a fever on Saturday, so I stayed with him at the hostel while everyone else went to a Palace and a shopping market. After sleeping for 5 hours, Kevin was back in the game, and we were able to meet up with everyone for dinner and dancing! We ended up at a club called Bunker, which played awesome american hip hop!
The next morning, we headed over to a Flea Market that someone recommended we go see! It was actually really awesome. I bought an amazing ring for my sister, and something for my mom and dad that I think they'll really like. The building in this picture is NOT part of the flea market... just the sign! :)
After the Flea Market, we jumped on the subway and headed over to another part of Seoul where we had heard we could get Mexican food, which we had ALL been craving! When we got off the subway, I saw a huge crowd forming around the "Paris Baguette Bakery." I pushed my way through the crowd to see what all the hype was about, and it turns out they were filming one of the most famous TV shows in Korea! I was able to snap a few pics with my camera. This morning, I sent the pictures to all the women teachers and they went crazy! They were so excited!
After walking for a bit, we finally spotted "Dos Tacos" and enjoyed our moment of paradise! Mexican food is literally nearly impossible to find in Seoul...
Sometimes the spelling of certain things is a little bit off. We loved this version of tequila...
After Mexican food, we walked around the city and did some street shopping! (Jess and Stella)
We also found this "luxury" norebang (Karaeokee). If you look closely, you can the the people singing in the windows. If we had more time, we all would have loved to go, but we had to catch our train.
We headed back to the train station and said our goodbyes to all our favorite Korean girls and headed back home!
When we arrived back in Pusan, Kevin and I both walked outside and breathed in the ocean air and agreed that Seoul is cool, but we are soooo glad we chose to live in Pusan!
Secret Pizza Party!
So, once in the while, the younger female teachers buy pizza and coke and have "secret pizza parties" together! They always invite me, which makes me feel like I'm party of the "cool club!" :) This weeks pizza featured shrip, lobster, olives, fried noodles, tons of other random stuff, and mashed sweet potato (inside the crust)!
Our school administrators are really strict, so anytime the girls hear someone coming down the hallway, they shove the pizza box and drinks under the table and pretend like we're having a meeting about school. (Christine - science classroom aid, Sue - school secretary, Nicole - special ed teacher, and Charity - special ed teacher)
This week, they all wanted to give me a Korean name, since I gave them all English names! They all agreed on the Korean word for flower, but when they asked me to repeat it, I completely botched it everytime! So, in exchange, they gave me the name "Song-E." It means flower counter. When they count flowers, they say, "1 flower, 2 flower, 3 flower..." So, it's the word for flower when they count them. I love it! When they said it, I ran to the board and wrote this and said, "like this?" They were all floored that I knew how to use Hangul! :)
Our school administrators are really strict, so anytime the girls hear someone coming down the hallway, they shove the pizza box and drinks under the table and pretend like we're having a meeting about school. (Christine - science classroom aid, Sue - school secretary, Nicole - special ed teacher, and Charity - special ed teacher)
This week, they all wanted to give me a Korean name, since I gave them all English names! They all agreed on the Korean word for flower, but when they asked me to repeat it, I completely botched it everytime! So, in exchange, they gave me the name "Song-E." It means flower counter. When they count flowers, they say, "1 flower, 2 flower, 3 flower..." So, it's the word for flower when they count them. I love it! When they said it, I ran to the board and wrote this and said, "like this?" They were all floored that I knew how to use Hangul! :)
Garden Day!
Last Friday, I looked out my window and noticed that my school has a vegetable garden! So, for my "advanced teacher class," I took them out to the garden to speak English! It was so much fun! ... and the best part is... It turns out we can pick vegetables whenever we want and take them home! Here are some pictures. :)
Lee, Me, April, and Stella...
One side of the garden! (Cabbage, Garlic, and some other vegetables)
When we were walking out there, one of my kindergarten students saw us through the window and got soooo excited!
This is the school nurse, who I named Lindsay! She is hilarious and adorable! She saw us too, and leaned out her window to say "hello!"
While we were out there, Stella and I picked some cabbage to try!! mmmmm.... (Note the newly added yellow in my hair... Yep, I actually thought going back to JUN Salon would be a good idea. Well, 100,000 won later, I had ever more yellow hair than I started with! I give up!)