Some things in life have no explanation. They have no reason, and for the life of you, you can't understand why things happen. Last Friday I got some very awful, terrible, and completely unexpected news. Sheena, my partner teacher, passed away tragically and unexpectedly. She was an amazing woman and so full of life and energy. She was also 8 months pregnant, which sadly was the cause of her death.
It happened last Friday morning as the school day was about to start. Sheena is always at school around 8:15-8:30, usually the first one there but on this Friday, it was almost ten after nine and Sheena was not there yet. Not only that, no one could get a hold of her. She wasn't answering her cell phone or her house phone. This was the extreme opposite of Sheena's personality. If Sheena was going to be 20 seconds late, she would call and explain where she was. At first we thought she was having her baby, but as the morning went on, and no one could get a hold of her or her husband, everyone started to worry more and more.
As the day went on, I checked in with the administration at every break to see if they had heard from Sheena, and every time the answer was no. There was just a bad vibe in the school the whole day and it was really hard to answer my kids when they kept asking where Sheena teacher was, especially since I didn't have an answer. The kindy day was over and still no word from Sheena. I had to go teach another three hours without knowing where she was. With about 15 mins left in our last elementary class, Scott came over the speaker and told us to wrap up our class and send the kids to the shuttles to go home. This was strange because we are NEVER done early. As we were leaving the school Ellie, our assistant director, stopped me and told me that something very bad happened and that she would call me.
I went home and went for a run right away and when I got back, I had a missed call from Ellie. I called her back immediately and knew as soon as she answered that something was terribly terribly wrong. At first, she couldn't even say anything, then she finally got out the words that she had passed. Neither of us could say anything, we were both crying so hard. I didn't ask any questions right away because she was so distraught but she said she would call me when she knew more about the funeral and when we could see her.
I was in shock. I didn't know what to do. I called my co-workers and told them. We were trying to find the words but there were none. We were trying to make sense of it but this was just senseless. About an hour later, Ellie called me back with details on the funeral and I asked what had happened. Sheena had had complications with her baby, she had something called eclampsia. This is when the mother has high blood pressure and the baby is very low in weight. Apparently, she was not feeling well Friday morning. Her husband had left for work before her and while she was getting ready for work, she collapsed. If it was indeed eclampsia, her death was sudden with no pain or suffering. I would like to think this was the case and that she died peacefully.
In the Korean culture, funerals are much different. There is no wake or funeral. How they do it, is they have certain hospitals that are funeral hospitals. In the hospitals are rooms dedicated to those who have passed on and in the room is a picture of the departed and other Korean traditional memorial items. We were able to go to the hospital on Sunday to pay our respects and say good-bye. It was very hard to see her picture and believe that it was all really happening.
As we were there, Ellie and a few other members of our administration arrived. I was glad they had come because I wanted to talk to them about what to tell the kids. Earlier, they had told us that they were not going to tell the kids the truth. They were going to tell them that Sheena had moved to the US to have her baby!! That Sheena was sorry she couldn't say good-bye and that she was never coming back!! I was shocked!!! I couldn't believe they would want to do this to the kids. Thankfully we got the chance to talk to our administration and tell them that we don't agree with lying to the kids. As we voiced our concerns, they did agree that telling the truth was the right thing to do.
After we left the hospital and made it through the rest of the day, I got a call from Ellie. She told me that they are canceling my classes for two days as they decided what they will tell the kids. I still went into school for a meeting and after sitting through 20 mins of Korean discussion, and not knowing what was going on, I finally spoke up and asked if someone could translate what was being said. Apparently the issue was with the moms. The school was having a hard time convincing the parents to tell the kids the truth. The administration was asking for resources the parents can use to help tell their kids. Since I didn't have to work that day, I spent the morning printing out resources and information for the parents and Ellie told me she might need my help convincing the parents to tell the truth.
Well, that is my past three days. It has felt like 3 weeks. I don't know what the next two days will bring. I don't have to go to school tomorrow but we have another meeting after school to discuss how to help the parents and how we will celebrate her life at the school.
I can only hope this ends how it should, with the kids knowing the truth, however hard it might be. I don't know how I will react when I see their little faces but I know I have to be strong for them. I am the only teacher they have now.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Sometimes in life, we fall
One of the "fun" things about life in Korea is the fact that at any moment your school can come to you and say, "you have to move." This happens because the lease runs out on our apartments and they don't resign for one reason or the other. Almost everyone of the foreign teachers has had to move at some point in time this year and my time came 3 days before our Christmas break and my trip to the Philippines. Although moving is a huge pain in the butt, it wasn't too bad with the help of the guys from work and from Jared. I was a little annoyed at the fact I had to move but my new place looked nice and it was a loft, like me old place, so I was okay with it.
It didn't take too long to move everything out of one place and into the other. Luckily I was moving to an apartment in the same building so I didn't have to pack up everything, some things I could move from place to place. After we got everything into my new place, it didn't take too long to get settled and get things looking like a home again. I was happy with my new place and happy that it didn't take all night to get settled. I even had enough time that night to relax for about an hour and watch the Gilmore Girls before I went to bed. After the show was over, I turned off the lights and headed up stairs to bed. That's when the night began.
Now, in my old apartment I had a loft and climbed the stairs to my loft every night with no trouble. For some reason, climbing the new stairs in my new place was different. As I was climbing the stairs for my first night in my new place I lost my balance and fell off the stairs. Now, when I say "fell off" that is exactly what I mean. I didn't fall down the stairs, I fell off the stairs. In the lofts, one side of the stairs is a wall, the other side is completely open and it opens out into the living room. That is where I fell. I was about 5 feet in the air I fell right on to my right wrist and right hip. At first I couldn't really do anything, I couldn't even cry. I was in shock. I knew my arm was broken because I couldn't not move it at all and I was praying a bruised hip would be all I would have. Luckily I had not brought my phone upstairs yet, I use it for my alarm. It was on the coffee table next to me, so I pulled the table to me and called Jared. At this point I'm bawling and freaking out. All I said to him was, "can you come over here?" He didn't even ask why just said yes and hung up the phone. He was over in a flash, he lives in the building right next to mine, and I told him what happened. Immediately he asked if I wanted an ambulance but I thought I could move on my own. Slowly he got me to the couch and left to get the car to go to the hospital.
The rest is pretty uneventful hospital funness. We waited in the ER about and hour to get x-rays and they me what I already knew, my wrist was broken but my hip was okay, just bruised. I got a splint put on and made an appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon two days later to determine if I needed surgery or just a cast.
We got home around 2am and I called my parents to tell them what happened (It was 11 in the afternoon at home so I wasn't waking anyone). Jared insisted on staying with me that night, and I'm thankful he did. He set up a bed for me on the couch and he slept next to me on the floor and he helped me get in and out of the couch when I had to go to the bathroom during the night. I didn't sleep too much that night. There was just no way to get comfortable with a extremely bruised hip and broken arm.
I called work early the next day and told them what happened. I just relaxed the next two days at home watching Gilmore Girls and trying to get some sleep. By Thursday I could move around a little better and got everything packed for vacation.
I was extremely bummed I wouldn't be able to swim in the Philippines but I was so fortunate that I only broke my wrist. It could have been much much worse. And I am extremely lucky to have Jared in my life. He was amazing through the whole thing. He stayed calm that night and he took great care of me while I was hurt. The Philippines was still great, even with a cast, because what better place to relax and recover than in paradise!
It didn't take too long to move everything out of one place and into the other. Luckily I was moving to an apartment in the same building so I didn't have to pack up everything, some things I could move from place to place. After we got everything into my new place, it didn't take too long to get settled and get things looking like a home again. I was happy with my new place and happy that it didn't take all night to get settled. I even had enough time that night to relax for about an hour and watch the Gilmore Girls before I went to bed. After the show was over, I turned off the lights and headed up stairs to bed. That's when the night began.
Now, in my old apartment I had a loft and climbed the stairs to my loft every night with no trouble. For some reason, climbing the new stairs in my new place was different. As I was climbing the stairs for my first night in my new place I lost my balance and fell off the stairs. Now, when I say "fell off" that is exactly what I mean. I didn't fall down the stairs, I fell off the stairs. In the lofts, one side of the stairs is a wall, the other side is completely open and it opens out into the living room. That is where I fell. I was about 5 feet in the air I fell right on to my right wrist and right hip. At first I couldn't really do anything, I couldn't even cry. I was in shock. I knew my arm was broken because I couldn't not move it at all and I was praying a bruised hip would be all I would have. Luckily I had not brought my phone upstairs yet, I use it for my alarm. It was on the coffee table next to me, so I pulled the table to me and called Jared. At this point I'm bawling and freaking out. All I said to him was, "can you come over here?" He didn't even ask why just said yes and hung up the phone. He was over in a flash, he lives in the building right next to mine, and I told him what happened. Immediately he asked if I wanted an ambulance but I thought I could move on my own. Slowly he got me to the couch and left to get the car to go to the hospital.
The rest is pretty uneventful hospital funness. We waited in the ER about and hour to get x-rays and they me what I already knew, my wrist was broken but my hip was okay, just bruised. I got a splint put on and made an appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon two days later to determine if I needed surgery or just a cast.
We got home around 2am and I called my parents to tell them what happened (It was 11 in the afternoon at home so I wasn't waking anyone). Jared insisted on staying with me that night, and I'm thankful he did. He set up a bed for me on the couch and he slept next to me on the floor and he helped me get in and out of the couch when I had to go to the bathroom during the night. I didn't sleep too much that night. There was just no way to get comfortable with a extremely bruised hip and broken arm.
I called work early the next day and told them what happened. I just relaxed the next two days at home watching Gilmore Girls and trying to get some sleep. By Thursday I could move around a little better and got everything packed for vacation.
I was extremely bummed I wouldn't be able to swim in the Philippines but I was so fortunate that I only broke my wrist. It could have been much much worse. And I am extremely lucky to have Jared in my life. He was amazing through the whole thing. He stayed calm that night and he took great care of me while I was hurt. The Philippines was still great, even with a cast, because what better place to relax and recover than in paradise!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
It's the little things
The most experience I had working with little kids before moving to Korea was babysitting my niece and nephews. Knowing how to balance strict teacher/nice teacher has been something I have had to learn. You can't give them too much because they will walk all over you, but if you don't bend a little, don't have a little fun with them, they don't get to act like kids. I have found it is a hard hard task to learn how to find that balance. And I won't lie, it has taken me a long time to learn how to find that balance. Now, with less than 2 months to go in the school year, I feel like I finally have that balance. It seems as though the kids are feeling that way too, and here are a few times those kids steal my heart :)
Like so many have said, it's the small things in life that count. The other week, school was about to end and it was Friday. I heard two of my students talking and heard my name a few times in their conversation and James says how much he will miss me, then the other student asks, "Katie teacher is this your last Friday? Will you be back next week?" I say, "What? Of course I'll be back next week. I'm here until you graduate!" Then James says, "No, I meant I'll miss Katie teacher this weekend. I won't see her for 2 days!" I was taken aback!! James is not one to show his emotions often and especially to me! It made my day.
As Christmas approaches, we are doing a lot of Christmas crafts and fun things in class. One of those things is writing letters to Santa. I had the kids write a practice letter, then they have a final draft that we will send to Santa. I was proof reading the letter so the kids can fix their mistakes and send a perfect letter to Santa. As I was reading, most the kids are asking for Nintendo D.S. or Nintendo Wii, cell phones, touch phones, puppies, kitties and everything else under the sun. Then I get to Rain. Rain did ask for some kind of toy, but it wasn't that part that got me. He wrote to Santa, "Katie teacher is kind. I want 10,000,000,000 Katie teachers." It was so adorable! I never thought one of my students would ask for 10 trillion of mes!!
If you have been following my blog you know I teach two different classes, Bristol and Leeds. I usually start the day with Leeds and the second lesson I move into Bristol. Usually when I go into Bristol Ian is on the floor or running around, Danny and Minjae are wrestling on the floor, and some of the girls are fighting over God knows what. But lately, it has been a bit different. When I come into the room, I set my things down and get ready to start the class. Before I can even walk 4 steps into the room, Terry is around my waist giving me a hug. She doesn't say anything, just runs up to me and puts her arms around me! Now, I miss my nieces and nephews more than words can describe but when that girl comes up to me and just hugs me, my heart melts a little. She doesn't do it every day and sometimes it comes out of nowhere. Today for example, I was sitting on a chair in the room close to Terry, and we were listening to Ian give his Picture Diary presentation. Out of nowhere, she just gets up and gives me a hug. She doesn't say anything and quietly sits back down!
Lucille is another on who loves to hug. But Lucille is a bit different. Lucille doesn't always give hugs but when she does, she always says these four words, "I like Katie Teacher." That's it. Those four words. It's so simple and so sweet but it always makes me smile.
These kids can drive me nuts. They can make me want to bang my head against a wall, but they have their way of making my day! They are the reason I'm staying another year and the reason I want to teach when I come home!
Like so many have said, it's the small things in life that count. The other week, school was about to end and it was Friday. I heard two of my students talking and heard my name a few times in their conversation and James says how much he will miss me, then the other student asks, "Katie teacher is this your last Friday? Will you be back next week?" I say, "What? Of course I'll be back next week. I'm here until you graduate!" Then James says, "No, I meant I'll miss Katie teacher this weekend. I won't see her for 2 days!" I was taken aback!! James is not one to show his emotions often and especially to me! It made my day.
As Christmas approaches, we are doing a lot of Christmas crafts and fun things in class. One of those things is writing letters to Santa. I had the kids write a practice letter, then they have a final draft that we will send to Santa. I was proof reading the letter so the kids can fix their mistakes and send a perfect letter to Santa. As I was reading, most the kids are asking for Nintendo D.S. or Nintendo Wii, cell phones, touch phones, puppies, kitties and everything else under the sun. Then I get to Rain. Rain did ask for some kind of toy, but it wasn't that part that got me. He wrote to Santa, "Katie teacher is kind. I want 10,000,000,000 Katie teachers." It was so adorable! I never thought one of my students would ask for 10 trillion of mes!!
If you have been following my blog you know I teach two different classes, Bristol and Leeds. I usually start the day with Leeds and the second lesson I move into Bristol. Usually when I go into Bristol Ian is on the floor or running around, Danny and Minjae are wrestling on the floor, and some of the girls are fighting over God knows what. But lately, it has been a bit different. When I come into the room, I set my things down and get ready to start the class. Before I can even walk 4 steps into the room, Terry is around my waist giving me a hug. She doesn't say anything, just runs up to me and puts her arms around me! Now, I miss my nieces and nephews more than words can describe but when that girl comes up to me and just hugs me, my heart melts a little. She doesn't do it every day and sometimes it comes out of nowhere. Today for example, I was sitting on a chair in the room close to Terry, and we were listening to Ian give his Picture Diary presentation. Out of nowhere, she just gets up and gives me a hug. She doesn't say anything and quietly sits back down!
Lucille is another on who loves to hug. But Lucille is a bit different. Lucille doesn't always give hugs but when she does, she always says these four words, "I like Katie Teacher." That's it. Those four words. It's so simple and so sweet but it always makes me smile.
These kids can drive me nuts. They can make me want to bang my head against a wall, but they have their way of making my day! They are the reason I'm staying another year and the reason I want to teach when I come home!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Some school updates
I realize I have been writing a lot about what I have been doing OUTSIDE of school and I thought I would give you an update on what has been going on at school.
Things have been pretty good at school. I can't believe how fast the year is going by. It feels like I just started teaching these kids and now I will have to say good-bye in less than 3 months. With the end of the school year, also comes the end of my contract. My other foreign co-workers decided a while back to leave after their one year contract and travel. They had voiced their decisions by talking openly about where they will be going and the things they plan on seeing. By doing so, my boss knew they were all planning on leaving and it would be hard to talk them into staying for another year. Since I had come to Korea with the idea of possibly staying two years, I didn't make plans for traveling after my contract was up. And because I had no plans, I never talked about what I might want to do once my contract was done.
A few weeks back, my boss approached me and asked me what my plans were. I told her I wasn't sure but I was maybe leaning on staying for another 6 months, maybe a full year. To make a long story short, I had wanted to go home after 6 months so I could do apply to Teach for America and be home in time for my in person interview. I had wanted to stay a full year but it wouldn't' be possible since I HAD to be home for the interview. My parents had a better idea. They thought that instead of me coming home after 6 months, I could just fly home for the interview and still be able to stay in Korea for a full year. I like this option the best.
I went back to my boss and told her I could stay a year and they came back to me with some numbers. Without getting into too many specifics, lets just say I am very happy with not only the raise I will be getting but the signing bounce I will get on top of that. Not to mention the more opportunities I will have to travel. Although staying another year means one more year away from my family, more missed holidays, birthdays, marathons, and not seeing my nieces and nephews growing up, this experience is like nothing I have ever experienced and its something I'm not ready to give up yet.
And even though there have been many times I have been unhappy with my school, overall it has been pretty good. I am always paid on time, I work decent hours, and I live in a great apartment and a great area. There is little for me to complain about.
So there it is, I will be here until March '12, and after that I hope to travel around Southeast Asia for a few months. I'm really excited to be staying and very happy with my decision. Plus, this just gives those of you out there reading this an excuse to visit Asia!
Things have been pretty good at school. I can't believe how fast the year is going by. It feels like I just started teaching these kids and now I will have to say good-bye in less than 3 months. With the end of the school year, also comes the end of my contract. My other foreign co-workers decided a while back to leave after their one year contract and travel. They had voiced their decisions by talking openly about where they will be going and the things they plan on seeing. By doing so, my boss knew they were all planning on leaving and it would be hard to talk them into staying for another year. Since I had come to Korea with the idea of possibly staying two years, I didn't make plans for traveling after my contract was up. And because I had no plans, I never talked about what I might want to do once my contract was done.
A few weeks back, my boss approached me and asked me what my plans were. I told her I wasn't sure but I was maybe leaning on staying for another 6 months, maybe a full year. To make a long story short, I had wanted to go home after 6 months so I could do apply to Teach for America and be home in time for my in person interview. I had wanted to stay a full year but it wouldn't' be possible since I HAD to be home for the interview. My parents had a better idea. They thought that instead of me coming home after 6 months, I could just fly home for the interview and still be able to stay in Korea for a full year. I like this option the best.
I went back to my boss and told her I could stay a year and they came back to me with some numbers. Without getting into too many specifics, lets just say I am very happy with not only the raise I will be getting but the signing bounce I will get on top of that. Not to mention the more opportunities I will have to travel. Although staying another year means one more year away from my family, more missed holidays, birthdays, marathons, and not seeing my nieces and nephews growing up, this experience is like nothing I have ever experienced and its something I'm not ready to give up yet.
And even though there have been many times I have been unhappy with my school, overall it has been pretty good. I am always paid on time, I work decent hours, and I live in a great apartment and a great area. There is little for me to complain about.
So there it is, I will be here until March '12, and after that I hope to travel around Southeast Asia for a few months. I'm really excited to be staying and very happy with my decision. Plus, this just gives those of you out there reading this an excuse to visit Asia!
Gyeongju
The weekend after the bike trip, Jared and I decided to head out of town again, this time without the bikes. We headed south to Gyeongju, which was the old capital city of Korea. It has a lot of history and many many cool things to see.
We took off on Friday after work and a bike ride, God knows I need my workout. It was about a 3 1/2 hour car ride, thankfully Jared was driving because I passed out about 2 1/2 hours in. We got to the city around 1 o'clock or so, and like the other trips we had been on, just pulled up to a random hotel and got a room. We were both so tired that we just passed out as soon as we got to our room.
Saturday morning we go right to it. Our first stop was Cheonmachong Tomb, these are large ancient tombs of kings and noblemen of the Silla Dynasty. These aren't just normal tombs, they look like huge hills but they are actually tombs (almost like a mini grassy version of the pyramids). They are all over Gyeongju but the Cheonmachong Tomb you can go inside and see some of the remains. We walked around the tombs for a while before heading to the Cheomseongdae Observatory. This is the oldest existing observatory in all of Asia. It was constructed during the reign of Queen Seon-deok (632-647), it was used for observing the stars in order to forecast the weather. It was pretty cool to see something that had been standing for so long and to think of how advanced it was for its time.
After the observatory we decided to get some lunch. Now, at this point I had been in Korea for just over 8 months but I know nothing when it comes to finding new food to eat, much less how to order it. This is just one area that Jared does wonderfully at. He has taken a few Korean lessons and he know how to read it and how to order good food. He knows I love the side dishes in this country so he looked into a meal that is mainly side dishes (if you have never seen Korean side dishes, google it! They are amazing)! I'm not even sure what the name of the meal was that we ate, but it was just a bunch of side dishes, lettuce leafs, and sauces. It was delicious!!
After lunch, we headed to Anapji pond. As said in the historical book of Samguk-sagi, during the 14th year of King Munmu’s reign (AD 661~681) in the Silla period (57 BC ~ AD 935), a large pond was dug and small mountains were built all within the palace walls. Additionally, beautiful flowers were planted and rare animals were brought in to create an exquisite garden environment. It is at Wolseung (fortress erected in AD 101 during the Silla period) that we can find Anapji Pond. In 1974, an excavation revealed large spherical shapes (measuring 200 meters in diameter and 180 meters in height) indicating that 3 islands were located in the pond. Anapji Pond can presently be viewed in its near original splendor, thanks to restoration efforts. It was absolutely beautiful! I felt like I was walking around in a dream. (Side note, these experts are from a Korea Sparkling web site, which is a Korean travel web site. I can’t write that well).
After Anapji pond, we walked back to the car to head up to the mountains to Bulguksa Temple. This temple has many different aspects of it but before we could even get into the temple, we were blown away by the amazing fall colors it had to offer. The tress surrounding and inside the temple were magnificent!! I had never seeing anything so beautiful in my life. I literally felt like I was on the set of a movie. We spent a good 20 mins just taking pictures of the trees on the outside of the temple. Then, once we were inside, we were even more blown away. After looking like the ultimate tourists and taking a gazillion photos, we made our way to the historic sites of the temple. Among them were the famous pagodas, Dabotap (Many Treasure Pagoda) and Seokgatap (Sakyamuni Pagoda) are major pagodas of Korea. They were both gorgeous and made me want a pagoda in my house, when I eventually have a house. Jared of course thought I was crazy along with my new obsession with pagodas.
After taking another couple hundred pictures of the pagodas, we made our way around the rest of the temple. We saw various Buddhas and although we weren't allowed to take pictures, I snuck a few. Once we had our fill of trees, Buddha, and pagoda pics we headed even further up the mountain to see Seokguram, or the representative stone temple of Korea. The mountain we were on was called Mt. Tohamsan, and the stone temple was simple amazing. It is an artificial stone temple make of granite. The construction started with Kim Dae-Seong (700~774) in 751 during the reign of King Gyeong-Deok (742~765) of the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C.~A.D. 935) and it was finished twenty-four years later in 774, during the reign of King Hye-Gong (765~780). Seokguram is known to have been built with Bulguksa Temple. According to the history book Samgukyusa of the Goryeo Dynasty (the country that unified the Korean peninsula at the end of the Silla Dynasty, 918~1392), Kim Dae-Seong had built Bulguksa for the parents who were alive, and Seokguram for the parents of his former life.
This temple was built into the side of the mountain. It was so cool to go inside and see this amazing granite statue that was so concealed by the mountain, a person would have no idea something so majestic was inside. Once again, you weren't supposed to take pictures but I managed to snap a few with a little help from Jared.
After the statue we were about burnt out on tourist sites, and not to mention quite hungry. We headed back down the mountain and back to the hotel. Now, if you have been following me on my journey through Korea, you may have noticed a trend whenever I go out of town. I tend to find somewhere to eat Duk Dori Tong. This meal has easily become my favorite Korean dish and it is even better with good company and a few bottles of soju! After wandering around for about 15 mins, we found a Duk Dori Tong restaurant and enjoyed our meal, with a few bottles of soju!
After dinner we decided to head back to some of the places we had seen during the day, and am I glad we did. Anapji pond was spectacular at night! There was Asian music playing and the way they lite the buildings was incredible!! After wandering around for a bit, we caught a cab and headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
On Sunday, we decided we had pretty much seen all there was to see in Gyeongju and thought we should get a move on as to beat the Sunday traffic. It was a spectacular trip and some place I will be heading back to next year. Next year?!?! Next year, you may ask, yep I will be staying for year number two!!! More on that to come...
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Updates Galore
I realize it has been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened since. Where to begin.....
After Meredith left, it was strange to not have anyone at my house, I felt a bit lonely. It was so great to have visitors for so long and I'm so fortunate to have friends and family willing to travel half way around the world to visit me. Nonetheless, after my all my guests had left, life went back to it's normal, crazy self.
At school, we were getting ready for our Halloween party. Halloween is not a big deal in Korea but we wanted to show the kids how kids in America celebrate Halloween. Since the Korean's really didn't know Halloween, the party was pretty much the foreign teachers responsibility. Which was fine, except it's just another aspect of the job that gets frustrating. We are always expected to do a little more than is really possible. Nonetheless we took on the challenge and made a great Halloween party for our students. They all wore their costumes to school and had a day full of games, dances, haunted houses, a fashion show, and of course tons of candy. It was really fun to see the kids try "American" candy, like candy corn, for the first time. Things that are just second nature to kids back home, is a new revelation for these kids. It was fun to act like a kid, and to let the kids act like kids, for a day.
That weekend also brought the Chuncheon Marathon. Chuncheon is a town about 2 hours east of Seoul and the marathon is one of the biggest in the country. Chuncheon is a very beautiful city and the views during the fall months are supposed to be gorgeous, hence having the marathon there in October. Since I was injured, I got a stress fracture in my heel in September, I couldn't run. I was really bummed I couldn't run and it was hard to see all my friends from the Seoul Flyers posting their pictures on facebook. Since I was feeling a bit down, Jared, my Kiwi boyfriend, thought of a great way to cheer me up.....we decided to do a weekend bike trip!!!
(Quick update: Jared and I have been dating for about 4 1/2 months. He is a big cyclist and he's got me biking A LOT more than I used to. He even bought me a bike so we could bike together. He is from New Zealand and he has been in Korea on and off for about 6 years. The bike has been a god sent since I hurt my foot. Jared has also been very understanding of my injury and my need to stay physically active when I'm not running. And he will take every opportunity to go explore Korea on a bike. He also has a car, so it makes it much easier to travel and see Korean!)
Being a newbie at cycling, I wasn't sure what a weekend bike trip entailed. Here's the short story: We load the car with the bikes, drive to a city about 2 hours outside Seoul, park the car, load the bikes with everything we need for one night and two days, and take off toward our destination. I was very proud of myself that I could fit everything I needed for one night stay at a hotel and two days of cycling into a very small bag that hooked to the side of my bike.
We arrived at our taking off city at about 9am on a Saturday morning, took the bikes off the car, loaded them up, and took off. It was a beautiful day, little wind, sunny skies, and pretty warm for late October. We biked for about 3 hours before stopping for lunch. We stopped in a small town at a bibimbop restaurant for some grub. We didn't stop long, since we still had a long way to go, got back on our bikes and trucked on. After lunch the real fun began. Before lunch, we had rode about 50kms on relatively flat land, the route for after lunch was much different. We had about 50-60k's to go before we arrived in our destination town, but these k's were over mountains. I knew going into this trip there would be many mountains and it would be challenging but I was more than up for the challenge. Going up mountains is slow going, painful, frustrating, but so worth it at the same time. Especially where we were! The veiws were amazing! The fall colors were like nothing I had ever seen!! We stopped many many times for pictures, which does make the day longer, but that is what the trip was all about, seeing Korea. Going down mountains is also very very rewarding!! After all the up and up, the down is such an amazing feeling.
After a day of up and downs, we were finally getting close to our destination. The last few k's were relatively flat but the views were just as stunning. After 106k's and 6 hours of biking, we found our hotel. We showered quickly and set out to find some food. One of my favorite Korean dishes is called Dak Dori Tong, (Google it if you have never heard of it, it is delicious!!) and it is even more delicious after a day of biking. We found a place to eat, ordered our food and some Soju (Korea's version of Vodka). After dinner we strolled around the town for a bit but after a short while the excursions of the day started to really wear on us and we decided to get some rest.
The next day brought another glorious day and a wonderful day to add some K's to my bike! We hit the road around 8am for a short 60k ride back to the car (needless to say the 60k's would be over some more mountains). The views at the start of the day were wonderful, the fall colors were putting on a show that weekend. We took out time riding through the valley just taking in the views and enjoying the peace the country side of Korea brings. After a few short breaks, and refuling on snacks, we headed up the last mountain of the weekend. This "up" was much more challenging than the day before. Like I said before, going up a mountain is hard work, but going up a mountain on tired legs is even harder. But like all (or most) uphills, it is always worth it. Once we were on top, we could see mountains upon mountains. It was if they were layered in the sky, like nothing I had ever seen! Also, the downhill was pretty amazing. After the mountain, we had a nice easy 10k ride back to the car.
Once we got back, we quickly changed and found some food. After a wonderful lunch, so satisfying after a long day on a bike, we headed back home.
It was an outstanding weekend and something I never thought I would do. I learned a few things about myself in the process. First, that I can fit everything I need for a weekend into a very small bag. And second, that I am more than just a runner and I can push myself in ways I never thought I would. It was a great experience and more than just something I can now cross off my bucket list. It was something that is becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life. Stay tuned.....
After Meredith left, it was strange to not have anyone at my house, I felt a bit lonely. It was so great to have visitors for so long and I'm so fortunate to have friends and family willing to travel half way around the world to visit me. Nonetheless, after my all my guests had left, life went back to it's normal, crazy self.
At school, we were getting ready for our Halloween party. Halloween is not a big deal in Korea but we wanted to show the kids how kids in America celebrate Halloween. Since the Korean's really didn't know Halloween, the party was pretty much the foreign teachers responsibility. Which was fine, except it's just another aspect of the job that gets frustrating. We are always expected to do a little more than is really possible. Nonetheless we took on the challenge and made a great Halloween party for our students. They all wore their costumes to school and had a day full of games, dances, haunted houses, a fashion show, and of course tons of candy. It was really fun to see the kids try "American" candy, like candy corn, for the first time. Things that are just second nature to kids back home, is a new revelation for these kids. It was fun to act like a kid, and to let the kids act like kids, for a day.
That weekend also brought the Chuncheon Marathon. Chuncheon is a town about 2 hours east of Seoul and the marathon is one of the biggest in the country. Chuncheon is a very beautiful city and the views during the fall months are supposed to be gorgeous, hence having the marathon there in October. Since I was injured, I got a stress fracture in my heel in September, I couldn't run. I was really bummed I couldn't run and it was hard to see all my friends from the Seoul Flyers posting their pictures on facebook. Since I was feeling a bit down, Jared, my Kiwi boyfriend, thought of a great way to cheer me up.....we decided to do a weekend bike trip!!!
(Quick update: Jared and I have been dating for about 4 1/2 months. He is a big cyclist and he's got me biking A LOT more than I used to. He even bought me a bike so we could bike together. He is from New Zealand and he has been in Korea on and off for about 6 years. The bike has been a god sent since I hurt my foot. Jared has also been very understanding of my injury and my need to stay physically active when I'm not running. And he will take every opportunity to go explore Korea on a bike. He also has a car, so it makes it much easier to travel and see Korean!)
Being a newbie at cycling, I wasn't sure what a weekend bike trip entailed. Here's the short story: We load the car with the bikes, drive to a city about 2 hours outside Seoul, park the car, load the bikes with everything we need for one night and two days, and take off toward our destination. I was very proud of myself that I could fit everything I needed for one night stay at a hotel and two days of cycling into a very small bag that hooked to the side of my bike.
We arrived at our taking off city at about 9am on a Saturday morning, took the bikes off the car, loaded them up, and took off. It was a beautiful day, little wind, sunny skies, and pretty warm for late October. We biked for about 3 hours before stopping for lunch. We stopped in a small town at a bibimbop restaurant for some grub. We didn't stop long, since we still had a long way to go, got back on our bikes and trucked on. After lunch the real fun began. Before lunch, we had rode about 50kms on relatively flat land, the route for after lunch was much different. We had about 50-60k's to go before we arrived in our destination town, but these k's were over mountains. I knew going into this trip there would be many mountains and it would be challenging but I was more than up for the challenge. Going up mountains is slow going, painful, frustrating, but so worth it at the same time. Especially where we were! The veiws were amazing! The fall colors were like nothing I had ever seen!! We stopped many many times for pictures, which does make the day longer, but that is what the trip was all about, seeing Korea. Going down mountains is also very very rewarding!! After all the up and up, the down is such an amazing feeling.
After a day of up and downs, we were finally getting close to our destination. The last few k's were relatively flat but the views were just as stunning. After 106k's and 6 hours of biking, we found our hotel. We showered quickly and set out to find some food. One of my favorite Korean dishes is called Dak Dori Tong, (Google it if you have never heard of it, it is delicious!!) and it is even more delicious after a day of biking. We found a place to eat, ordered our food and some Soju (Korea's version of Vodka). After dinner we strolled around the town for a bit but after a short while the excursions of the day started to really wear on us and we decided to get some rest.
The next day brought another glorious day and a wonderful day to add some K's to my bike! We hit the road around 8am for a short 60k ride back to the car (needless to say the 60k's would be over some more mountains). The views at the start of the day were wonderful, the fall colors were putting on a show that weekend. We took out time riding through the valley just taking in the views and enjoying the peace the country side of Korea brings. After a few short breaks, and refuling on snacks, we headed up the last mountain of the weekend. This "up" was much more challenging than the day before. Like I said before, going up a mountain is hard work, but going up a mountain on tired legs is even harder. But like all (or most) uphills, it is always worth it. Once we were on top, we could see mountains upon mountains. It was if they were layered in the sky, like nothing I had ever seen! Also, the downhill was pretty amazing. After the mountain, we had a nice easy 10k ride back to the car.
Once we got back, we quickly changed and found some food. After a wonderful lunch, so satisfying after a long day on a bike, we headed back home.
It was an outstanding weekend and something I never thought I would do. I learned a few things about myself in the process. First, that I can fit everything I need for a weekend into a very small bag. And second, that I am more than just a runner and I can push myself in ways I never thought I would. It was a great experience and more than just something I can now cross off my bucket list. It was something that is becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life. Stay tuned.....
Sunday, November 7, 2010
More Visitors
Not long after Luke and Dana left, my cousin Meredith came to visit. Let's just say I have been quite spoiled here with visitors :) Meredith came the Thursday after Luke and Dana left so I wasn't lonely too long. Unfortunately I couldn't meet her at the airport so I gave her step by step directions on how to get to my place, and she found it like a champ! She was even more of a trooper and came to school with me the next day!! The kids loved it and it was really fun for her to see what my days consist of. She made it through my kindy schedule then she started to crash so she went home before the after school started. Once I got home from work, she had taken a bit of a nap and then we went to get some food. This was her first "real" Korean meal. It wasn't anything too special, just a typical bib im bop restaurant, but she enjoyed it. After that, she was pretty jet legged so we just had a low key night and got rested up.
The weekend was great because we got to spend a lot of time together and see Seoul. I took her to the great tourist places in Seoul, the great palace, a temple, and of course shopping!! It was a long day and we were both pretty tired by the time we got home. We were going to go back into Seoul for dak gaulbi but we were way too tired and we just hung around Bundang for the night. Sunday we got up and went to the Korean Folk Village, and even though I have been there 4 times, it is always fun! Meredith had a great time seeing the Korean culture and of course there was more shopping!
Since I didn't have a week off like I did when Luke and Dana came, she had to explore Seoul on her own during the week. She did a lot on her own and saw a ton of the city. She saw World Cup stadium, the Korean War museum, went to the DMZ, walked the Seoul Fortress Wall, and went to Olympic Park. I was really happy she got to do so much even though I couldn't be with her. Saturday came all too fast and it was time for her to go.
I couldn't believe how fast the time went by when I had visitors. It was so wonderful to have family and friends be able to visit and see what my life is like her. Sure, I can try to describe it and you can see pictures, but it's so different when you get to see it first hand. Once again, saying good bye brought lots of tears. I really think saying good bye the second time is really harder than the first.
The weekend was great because we got to spend a lot of time together and see Seoul. I took her to the great tourist places in Seoul, the great palace, a temple, and of course shopping!! It was a long day and we were both pretty tired by the time we got home. We were going to go back into Seoul for dak gaulbi but we were way too tired and we just hung around Bundang for the night. Sunday we got up and went to the Korean Folk Village, and even though I have been there 4 times, it is always fun! Meredith had a great time seeing the Korean culture and of course there was more shopping!
Since I didn't have a week off like I did when Luke and Dana came, she had to explore Seoul on her own during the week. She did a lot on her own and saw a ton of the city. She saw World Cup stadium, the Korean War museum, went to the DMZ, walked the Seoul Fortress Wall, and went to Olympic Park. I was really happy she got to do so much even though I couldn't be with her. Saturday came all too fast and it was time for her to go.
I couldn't believe how fast the time went by when I had visitors. It was so wonderful to have family and friends be able to visit and see what my life is like her. Sure, I can try to describe it and you can see pictures, but it's so different when you get to see it first hand. Once again, saying good bye brought lots of tears. I really think saying good bye the second time is really harder than the first.
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