Last Saturday, (which is technically one of my days off) all of the school's staff was required to go on a staff fieldtrip to Jirisan... a 4 hour drive away from Busan! Uuuggghhhh. In a way, I was excited to see Jirisan, because I had heard lots of great things about it, but I was told my Principal planned the entire trip and didn't care about having anyone's input, so it was probably going to involved a lot of hiking and riding on the bus!
Good news was, as soon as we loaded the bus, the head teacher handed out these bags full of yummy Korean snacks for each of us!
Then, the Vice Principal got on the microphone and made a little speech. No Korean event, big or small, is complete without a formal speech! And yes, this is a "NoraeBang Bus" (a karaoke bus), hence the colorful lights and microphone!!
I sat next to Okk... and MinJung and HaNa sat behind us! I love these girls!
After sitting on the bus for 4 HOURS, we finally made it to our first destination, a famous seafood soup restaurant! Apparently only the "Herbs" are welcome here!
It poured all day long... not too sure why the trip wasn't just canceled. From the little I understood, it seemed as if the Principal was too prideful to re-schedule it for a better day. Sad...
The entrance of the restaurant boasted this huge wall of photos showing all the news reporters and famous people who had eaten there.
주어탕 (Seafood soup) This is quite possible my favorite soup in Korea now!
Sweet HyungJung...
Yes, that's everyone... young and old, sitting on the floor! It's how we do it here in Korea!
You better believe the Soju (Korean alcohol) was flowing at the mens table during lunch!
There was a beautiful garden outside the restaurant where these gigantic "Angels Trumpets" were blooming!
As I was walking back to the bus, I was chatting with a couple teachers and looked up to see one of them chewing on a mint leaf she had picked from the side of the road!
After getting settled in the bus, we headed off on another long journey... this time stopping at a nearby mountain, where we all hesitantly exited the bus into the pouring rain and thunder and lightning storm! This was, afterall, what the Principal wanted to do! And when a Korea Principal says "Jump!" You ask "How high!?"
I was proud to see that some of my co-workers were smart enough not to walk, holding metal umbrellas, through a million trees, during a lightning storm, regardless of the Principal's wishes! So when he was out of sight, we scurried back to the bus, where we sat for 2 hours and watched a movie! haha
... and shared our snacks with each other!
When the teachers got back, they were all soaked and frustrated that they were asked to hike through the downpour for hours! GyungHwa and Monica...
I feel like the theme of this day should have been, "On the road again," because when we got back on the bus, we drove another 3 hours to the middle of Jiri Mountain, where we ate Goat Stew at a Pension in the middle of nowhere!
They also served us entire, mangled looking, chickens!
... and that's not all! We were also served goat intestine! Yummy.... :(
The Principal went around, serving Soju to every staff member. This is a tradition in Korea for a manager, principal, or CEO to pour a shot of alcohol for each member of his or her company.
I sat with "The Chilsung Gang!" That's what we call ourselves! It's the three 6th grade teachers, Me, Okk, Monica, and HyunJung! Chilsung means "7 stars" in Korean, and it's also the name of a drink we all like. HaNa, Me, and GyungHwa
HerLan, feeding our maintenance guy! This is something that's kind of saved for close friends or husbands and wives, so it was really funny to everyone watching! He was really shy and hesitant, but everyone was egging him on to let her feed him!
3/7 of the Chilsung Gang at dinner!
Today was a crappy day for all of us. No one really wanted to spend their day, sitting on a bus for over 14 hours, just to eat some seafood soup, goat stew, and watch a movie, but this dinner moment made it all worth it! We were all sort of delirious at this point, and were being silly, trying to make the best of our situation! Yes, those are goat intestines wrapped around my fingers!
On our way home from JiriSan, the clutch on our NoraeBang bus broke, and we were stuck on the side of the road for another hour, while some of the guys fixed it. Luckily, (hence the sarcasm) the Karaoke machine was working and we could start the competition! Yes, EVERYONE sang a song, including me! Uggghhhh. Not one of my prouder moments! Picture Cameron Diaz in My Best Friends Wedding! The clutch was finally fixed, and off we went back to Busan, singing all along... and ultimately arriving around midnight! I've decided that next time there's a field trip, I may quite possibly opt for a "sick day" at the beach instead! :)
