Hikes and Things

Time to play catchup! I've waited a few weeks since the last post just because the Japan post was so long, I wanted to you have a break...also I've been a tad lazy and busy with grad school, etc. I do think about you all though, I promise! This is when I do one of those seventies montages to get you all up to speed with what is happening in my life. Turn on some old disco music to read along with...

Firstly, the end of September marked yet another Birthday party and song contest. Lisa celebrated her birthday with the usual hullabaloo of cake, balloons, and gifts. For some reason this particular celebration, the free-dancing time especially, was much more energetic than previous months. The kids absolutely let loose and screamed til their voices were gone while simultaneously dragging their friends around the room in a crazed frenzy of excitement and over-stimulation. Katrina and I looked at each other silently asking who snuck these kids pixi-sticks and coffee while we weren't looking. I was worried about collateral damage as students spun, kicked and wiggled around the room.

breaking it down

The rest of the party finished with a little more self-control exhibited by our students (seriously, who do they think they are? Kindergarteners or something?). My girls performed "Zippity-doo-dah" and did a spectacular job at it!

We worked really hard on saying "satisfactual"- I think we will be doing this one for the open house in March (ah don't even want to think that far ahead...slowly back away).

The other teacher's classes did a great job on their dances too. I think last month was a tough one for us all with forgotten lyrics and difficult dances, so this month we stepped it up and it showed as our kids performed!

Fast forward to the weekend. I met with some friends to see Avenue Q in Jamsil (aka super far from Bucheon...) For those of you who don't know Avenue Q, it is based on the idea of the classic kids show Sesame Street. As it turns out, many of the original actors actually came from that show. The performers, some with puppets and some without, bring up topics such as racism, life's purpose, and homosexuality. These more adult topics juxtaposed with puppets makes for a hilarious and light-hearted experience. The theme is that everyone was told how easy life would be by parents and TV shows as kids, but they find that life doesn't turn out how they thought. A key character is the landlord of this broken down neighborhood dubbed "Avenue Q", Gary Coleman (aka pitying his peak of fame at the age of 8 and then disappearance from TV completely). Overall my friends and I truly enjoyed this show and were thoroughly entertained. I was humming "It Sucks to be Me" and "If You Were Gay" for several days after that. The play not only had subtitles in Korean (obviously) but it also placed some current events in the dialogue including political happenings and jabs at North Korea. If you get the chance, you should definitely check it out!

That evening Kaitie and I grabbed some Shabushabu before heading to bed to call it a night. Side note into my life- I've turned into a boring old woman who wakes up early, gyms, goes to work, then comes home, does homework, and starts yawning at 9pm. These grad classes are not too difficult but the assignments definitely keep me busy! Each class will require a paper a week plus a discussion post and comments on some classmates ideas. The topics have been really interesting so far. Mainly just learning about the methodology of teaching science and math, how students learn, and what some common misconceptions about these subjects are that should be brought to teachers' attention. I'm looking forward to using what I learn in my future classrooms where I'm teaching real science and math (because kindergarten "science" time here definitely does not count).

Fast forward once again to last week. We got Thursday off for Korea's National Foundation Day. A brief overview of the history of Korea taken from a speech contest script recently completed by one of my students: "A bear and a tiger want to be human beings so they go to a powerful [god/]prince, the prince orders them to stay in a cave for one hundred days with only garlic and mugwort to eat (no I don't know what mugwort is, that's what google is for). The tiger soon becomes impatient and runs out of the cave. Only the bear keeps the promise. The bear is turned into a beautiful woman who marries the prince. They have a son named Dangun who founded Korea." 

1. I pretty much memorized her speech after hearing it for days on end before the competition (in which she got 2nd place!! So proud of her!)

2. Yes. Korea is founded by guy whose mother is a bear-turned human and father is a god. Seems like a winning combination right there

Anyway, if by celebrating this odd conception I get a day off, I can't complain! A group of us met to hike Wonmisan. "san" is the Korean word for mountain. Wonmisan can hardly be considered a mountain, maybe a hill who has worked out a bit, but not a mountain. From our apartment, it took Kaitie and I about an hour to walk to the base of the trail while meeting up with our friends Angela, Tarah, and Andy along the way. Angela has a Jindo dog, so I begged her to bring him along. Mowgli (yes the best name for a puppy ever) is a character. He pulled Angela up the mountain the whole time, keeping the pace of our group to a bit faster than it might have otherwise been.

View from one observation point, I could see my house from there!

 Mowgli

Love the colors

On our way to the peak of the mountain we come upon one of those workout areas commonly seen in parks around Korea. If you want to learn more about these you should read my friend's post about it! (Kimchibytes: Outdoor Exercise Equipment). This specific site was a bit more intense than others with just simple bodyweight machines that feel like you aren't doing anything. This one included huge weighted hula hoops, ancient looking bench presses with barbells and dumbbells, and a variety of other exercise equipment that I hadn't seen before. The place was crowded, mainly by people of an older generation keeping limber and strong in their golden years. After walking through this fitness circus we made it to a veranda at the top of the hill. It was here where I learned Mowgli's aversion to stairs. Mainly those that have gaps in between. After being physically dragged up the first 2 (out of maybe a total of 15) Mowgli refused to go up or down again. Instead he accepted his new life on the stairs and settled in. Even after seeing a dog 1/3 his size bound up next to him, Mowgli had no intention of moving from that 2nd step.

stoic acceptance

Angela had to pick him up and carry him down to the flat ground where he walked around like nothing happened and he didn't just completely give up on life on those steps. It's okay Mowgli, we all have our fears and faults. You're just going to have to hope that stairs aren't going to be a huge part of your life. Overall, it was a great way to spend the day enjoying fresh air with good friends and a cute pup. With my homework and housework duties increasing I decided to make this weekend a restful and uneventful one. I should know better now though. Whenever I don't plan anything, something comes up. Dan and Mike (from previous posts) invited me to hike Dobongsan on Saturday, and not wanting to waste one of the last few warm days inside doing work, I decided to tag along. Before going I researched the hike a bit to see what I was getting into. A previous mountain we hiked together (Daedunsan), I couldn't walk properly for a week. After reading I decided that this wasn't going to be anything like Wonmisan, however it wouldn't be too hard either. I should have known better than to believe everything I read.

The boys are a different breed of hikers than the girls on Thursday. There's a lot less "Oh look at that pretty tree!" "Those flowers are gorgeous" and more just pedal to the metal lets-make-it-to-the-top-as-fast-as-physically-possible. I definitely got my workout in that day, and my calves remind me of it even three days afterwards. The hike itself is a lot more full-body work than previous hikes we've done. I often had to pull myself up or hold on to trees to help make it up steeper areas. Mike, who is training for a 22 mile ruck march was doing this with a super packed backpack. Despite this, Dan and I remained in his dust-trail for the majority of the hike. He's now been dubbed "energizer bunny" and makes us all look bad. After racing up and looking like I just took a dip in the pool we finally reached the top. Now, I enjoy hiking, I really do, but it's a mental and physical struggle to get up sometimes. I have to push myself hard to not take breaks the entire way up. When I get to a peak of the mountain however, it's all worth it. Suddenly my legs don't feel like jello anymore as I take in the view.

Almost there

Made it- and this cute old guy started talking to me about "Pu-lo-ri-da" (Florida)

  Couldn't have imagined a better way to spend the day in this gorgeous weather. Overall the entire hike took about 4 hours. About 2 hours up, an hour or so of hanging out at the top, then maybe 45 mins to an hour down. We sprinted down. Not exaggerating. There were moments where I was running and jumping on rocks like stepping stones over a river praying to the gods (maybe the one that married a bear) that I wouldn't fall and break my neck. I already know that I'm pushing my luck hiking in my Nike sneakers, but I've been okay so far (knock on wood) with only a few slips and slides here and there. Keeps you on your toes.

That night a group of us hit the town for some fun. We headed to a bar in Hongdae and then a club to dance to some of our favorites (like "What Does the Fox Say"). So let's just say my initial plans for a restful and productive weekend hadn't exactly been met. Sunday, after sleeping in a bit, I cracked down and wrote out two papers due for class then was ready to call it a night. Maybe I'll try again next weekend...but let's be real...

This week we have Wednesday off for Hangul Day, celebrating the creation of the wonderful language that is Korean. The purpose of the Korean language was to allow every citizen, even the low-class peasants, to be literate. Originally, Chinese was the language used, which was difficult to learn and speak. This created a great disparity between the classes of Korea and therefore a separation it seemed. King Sejong made the decision to create a new writing system that would be simpler and allow everyman to achieve literacy.

(fun fact: North Korea measures its citizen's literacy by their ability to write "Kim Il-Sung").

Now, I can say that Hangul is one of the easiest alphabets to learn. Once you past that point however, things get a bit more confusing and complicated. I'm still working on studying and practicing Korean. I've gone through periods of getting better and then being discouraged, but I'm still meeting weekly with my friend and hope to keep learning! It's more difficult to practice daily. I try with my coworkers, but honestly it isn't enough, and I can cheat with them by slipping English in here and there. I've met with a trainer from my gym a few times for coffee. She speaks less English than I do Korean I think so that has helped even more than my lessons. I am forced to speak Korean the entire time. Supplementing with some charades and the translator apps on our phone (thank god for technology), we communicate our thoughts, likes, dislikes, and learn more about each other each time. Hope to keep practicing with her and ultimately working on more fluent conversation skills.

Whelp, hope this caught you all up and that I haven't left anything too important out!

Countdown til going home: 80 days

Korean of the post:
"계단이 어려워요."

(gyae-dan-i eo-ryeo-weo-yo)

Stairs are hard.

xoxox