Bridge of Confessions

Time to update you all! Last week was very busy. I know I probably say that almost every week, but we had TOSEL testing, field trips, and a beach trip! Testing days, as I've discussed before, are long days for both the teachers and the students. The students are stressed and tired and the teachers just try to squeeze all the tests in during the 45 minute period so we can get them graded and turned in. Some of my more advanced students didn't even finish until today (one week later). Can't wait to be finished with all of them so we can move on.

Friday was Sports Day for the kindergarten! We hopped in the bus and drove out to an athletic park nearby to run the kids ragged for hours and hours. Bear Teacher, the gym instructor shows up and leads the students through endless relays and games. Some of our students are on the competitive side (slight understatement) so the team scores were very important to them. Losing the three legged race relay was like losing a pet AND finding out that Santa isn't real all at the same time.

The students were broken up into two teams, Pink and Blue. My girls were very happy to be on the pink team. The games included three legged races, scooter pulling, donkey hoppy thingys, rolling a bosu ball, sack races, and tug of war.

Fashionable visor team

Not sure that's how it works..

 

 

 

Basically, by the end of it all some of the students were pretty exhausted. Others, the majority really, were still full of energy. What do their parents feed these children?? Oh wait...

After feasting on kimbap and other snacks, it was time for playing in the playground and commencing the usual plethora of photographs.

 

 

Getting back to Little America, the teachers needed a nap. No rest for the weary however as we headed straight into Elementary classes to end the short week! That night after my Korean lesson, Solomon teacher took all of the teachers out for dinner to celebrate Teacher's Day. Teachers (sorry for the terrible repetition of the word teacher) are highly regarded in Korea, therefore they get their own holiday (minus the whole getting-off-work-thing) to thank them for their hard work! America take note! Dinner was held at Seafood Blue which is a buffet nearby Little America. When I walked in and saw a huge sushi bar I knew it was going to be an excellent evening. Kaitie even tried her first sushi roll! So proud of her. The food was great and I love meeting with all of the teachers outside of the stressful school environment. They all relax more and we can talk about things other than students and parents. As Kaitie, Katrina and I had to get up early, we did not partake in too much of the celebratory drinking, however the night was still a lot of fun! We found out a few other teachers went out to a norebang afterwards to serenade each other. Next time we will join them.

The next morning, bright and early, Kaitie, Katrina, Seol and I speed walked to the subway to catch the train to DongSeoul station to get the bus to Samcheok. This bus is very fancy with squishy seats that can recline really far back and you have tons of leg room. Aka this 4 hour journey should have been a breeze! I took a little nap and expected to wake up almost there but alas...we had hit traffic and after 3 hours were only about half way there. As it was a holiday, everyone was trying to get out of the city to spend Buddha's birthday in a bit more remote area. We joined these thousands of people on the highway and crawled to Sokcho, finally arriving to the town ready to lay down and never get in a bus ever again.

After grabbing some lunch (I tried Jajangmyeon [자장면] for the first time which is a Korean/Chinese noodle with black sauce. It was good...very slimy...but now I can say I've had it) we skipped over to Homeplus to stock up on necessities for a house of 12 people for a weekend. Carrying way too many bags and boxes full of groceries we grabbed some taxis to take us to our home for the next few days. Seol has been coming to this particular Minbak (민박) or homestay for the past 5 or 6 years so he helped out a lot planning this entire weekend. The house belongs to one of the cutest Korean Grandmother (할머니) ever. She was so smiley and helpful! We unpacked and got ourselves settled for the evening. The beach was sunny but windy and cold so after a few photos I retreated inside to the warmth of our cozy house.

The group this weekend included the 4 of us plus 4 other couples (checking my math that is 12 people correct?). Basically a full house, but we squeezed in fine and started the night off by playing some fun group games such as the pirate barrel knife game...a traditional Korean game I assure you. Basically you put these little plastic knives into slots in a barrel into which a pirate is placed. One of the slots is rigged so that once the knife is inserted the pirate goes flying into the air and you lose. During the game we were snacking on some of Katrina's delicious homemade guacamole...well I suppose you see where this is headed.

poor little pirate man

For dinner we grilled meat and veggies out on the hubcap grills provided by the cute grandmother then just relaxed and played games all night. 

After curling up on the floor mat for the night we woke up to a gorgeous sunny day on Saturday. I went for a run around the area and stumbled upon the boardwalk that lined the shore! It was such a beautiful way to wake up. Running isn't really a common form of exercise here so I definitely got a few looks from the families camping around the beach, but to each their own. After the rest of the clan woke up we clambered into three cabs to take us to the caves about an hour away. Hwanseongul Cave is the largest limestone cave in Korea (or so Korea says. It is known for exaggerating sometimes). Granted it was one of the largest caves I have ever seen! I have some vague memories of walking through a cave when I was much younger. Maybe my parents can remind me of where that was. But this one seemed like it went on forever! The known passages of the cave equal about 6km, the public is guided through about 2km of that. While some of my pictures turned out okay, it is really hard to capture the incredible structures created by years of water movement and rock growth without them looking like some abstract painting you would find in a modern art museum (commence turning your head sideways, rubbing your chin, and "hmmm-ing"). Anyways, it was beautiful and awe inspiring. Made me feel incredibly tiny. The cave entrance is located up a mountain so we had to walk up quite a ways to get there. Workout number two for the day complete! The walk up was gorgeous and green though, which is just such a relief from being in the concrete jungle all the time. I would miss the green once we got back to Bucheon.

 

 

Don't want to know why there is a bag of dog food outside this restaurant...

Entrance to the cave

commence neon lighted walkways

In the "Palace of Dream"

A lot of structures and areas in the cave were labeled both in Korean and English. Near the beginning there were a lot of hopeful and happy names such as the "Palace of Dream" or the "Bridge of Love".

No frowning on the Bridge of Love!

Then as we kept going deeper and deeper into the cave, the names became a bit more worrisome. For those of you who are Eddie Izzard fans, you might recall his skit about British films vs. American films? If you haven't, or need a refresher--here you are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjC3R6jOtUo.

Anyways back to these signs...Once I saw "Claw of Demon" and "Bridge of Hell" I knew things had turned for the worst.

Oh dear...

"Bridge of Hell"....

This one lead you over a bottomless pit, which was terrifying...

Pool in hell, probably no lifeguard

Good news is once you make it over the bridge of confessions you are free from your sins and can live the rest of your life happily. Woo! The signs then turned back to a bit more lighthearted.

The English teacher inside me cringed

After about an hour and a half we were ready to make our way back down the mountain to find some food and then crash back at the house. That night was another fun night of grilling out and getting to know each other and OF COURSE what beach trip would be complete without a bonfire with marshmallows? We were given a big wagon of wood and a blowtorch to get a fire going. As we sat around the fire enjoying our toasted marshmallows other campers around the area began to set off fireworks! A picturesque ending to the weekend.

As it got later, the rain began to fall and the party was moved inside for a catchphrase game before heading to bed. The rain kept us in for the next morning. We packed up, left the cute little grandmother, and headed into town to grab some food before the trip back home. We all crossed our fingers for a quicker trip back than it was on the way there! Our wishes were answered as it only took about 4 hours to get to the bus station and then an hour from there back to Bucheon. Stumbling into my apartment I threw in some laundry and skyped home. My family had just celebrated Alex's graduation from Loyola University! I'm so proud of her. She worked super hard and made some amazing friends along the way. I wish my 3D form could have been there with her, but flat Laura will have to do for now. Missing everyone back home a lot. Time has flown though as I have already been here for almost 9 months now! Crazy stuff. Not much planned until Mudfest and the Philippines in July! Looking forward to those trips as well as the fantastically warm weather coming up here now.

xoxo

Korean phrase of the post:
당신은 혼자가 아닙니다 (dangshineun honjaga anibnida) "You are not alone"