The countdown is on....

So we are in our final full day of work at the Training Center and the tensions are running high. We don't know what to expect when we arrive at the English Camp. We have been prepared for the worst as far as the completion of the building. From what we understand, our floor is completed (as far as the furniture put together). But there may be quite a lot of dust and dirt. They will still be working on the other floors throughout the weekend. As of today, the kids are still scheduled to arrive Tuesday for camp. I am BEYOND ready to start teaching. We have had so much time on our hands to worry and focus on the unknown that it has made the entire team quite negative and tension filled. Lots of snapping at each other and such. I am hopeful that once we start our actual jobs and get settled into our own space- things will be a little more smooth.
My last weekend in Seoul was spent shopping around for things needed for our rooms. We went to the newly remodeled and reopened flea market on Saturday morning. It was a nice building with tons of stuff- but not really in the market for antiques right now. Sunday morning, we went to an International Flower Show in Goyang, a satellite city about an hour outside of Seoul. They have a beautiful man-made lake there with a huge park surrounding it. Really nice. The flower show was neat but FAR too many people for my taste. Just too crowded to really be able to stop and enjoy anything. I did buy some cacti and a violet for my room. I can't explain how much I miss my dogs at home. Life is just not the same without them.
This weekend, most of us will be at camp getting settled in. I don't envision myself coming back into Seoul for a few months. (maybe to pick up visitors at the airport?) I want to try to get out and see some more of the country. I feel like I have seen the high points of Seoul. Still no camera, but I will get some pictures from Gail to post soon.
Thanks for the emails and hope you are all well. Dreaming of hamburgers and cheese....
M

Seoul Sunday

So- I have officially spent this Sunday as a slug! Still in my PJs at 5:30! I had the best day yesterday getting out and wandering for about 4 hours. I was on the hunt for a "global" ATM where I could use my debit card from home to get cash. I found one of those a few blocks down and just decided to keep going. It was sunny and 80 degrees. Just perfect. I walked up to Namsan Mountain and Park (the mountain in the center of the city where the Seoul Tower sits). They have a 7K trail that runs across the mountain so I walked that and then came down East of where I live. I wandered over to the Dongdaemun Market which is a couple miles of vendors selling everything from socks to cactus. I finally jumped on the subway to go to Hyehwa, which is one of my favorite districts. I found a cafe with tables outside and relatively cheap draft. I am completely opposite of women here in Seoul who walk around all day with a newspaper shading their face or an umbrella. They really don't like to get any color from the sun. I was in a tank top and grabbed the table at the cafe that was sitting directly in the sun. I know they think it must be weird to see a foreigner with her feet propped up sunning her legs while she reads a book and drinks a beer- but it was GREAT! I made it back to the room in time to meet my friends to head out for dinner. We decided on Mexican and found a place called Dos Tacos. It was really good- probably no better than a Chipotle or Salsaritas at home- but after weeks of Korean food- it was one of the best meals I have had in my life!! We all had burritos and shared some chips and salsa. Since we had to wait a long time for our order- we got a free order of chili cheese fries as well. (random item at a Mexican restaurant I know). Just perfectly capped off the day. We finally headed to a bar chain they have here called Woodstock where you can request classic rock songs for the DJ. We requested everything from Dylan to Hendrix to the Mamas and Papas. They had them all. Really great.
So- after all the excitement yesterday- I decided to stay in today. I got to hear a sermon from home on CDs that Julie sent- so it was almost like a regular Sunday for me. I am trying to start this week to get my things somewhat organized to move. I have packed up my winter coats for good. Next weekend, the big flea market in Seoul is reopening- so we all want to head over and shop for items for our rooms. Want to make them as homey as possible for the next 10 months.
Other than some more practice teaching this week- not much coming up. Payday is Thursday- so we are heading to Outback to celebrate our 2-month anniversary on Friday night. Time seems to be going pretty quickly. That may change once we are relocated out of the city.
We did go to the baseball game last Wednesday after work and had a great time. Tickets to the game just $7 (right on 3rd baseline) and the best part is you can bring in your own food!! And drinks!! The crowd was great and they do chants and cheers the WHOLE time. (even when they are batting). We cheered for the Kia Tigers who were playing against the LG Twins. Kia pulled out the win 1-0. I sat with my friend Gail, from England, who had never seen a baseball game. She loved it and we have pledged our allegiance to the Tigers for the rest of our stay. :) I am sure we will do that again soon.
Hope everyone is well. Love to get emails anytime!

IT HAS SPRUNG!

So, it is finally warm and beautiful and all the cherry blossoms are blooming and blanketing the ground with their snow-like petals. The air is still not fresh- but that's OK- I am happy to see the sun and to put away my parkas!!

We spent a lovely day at a Traditional Korean Folk village. Somewhat similar to a "colonial" village we would have in the states. It was comprised of the traditional housing, and shops and such with a gift shop every 100 yards! Really a fun day though mingling among 1,000s of school children who all want to say hello. We wandered around and watched a traditional Korean wedding ceremony and then stumbled upon the amusement park area. We hit the bumper cars, the pirate ship and a few others. Lots of fun! We exited through the sculpture garden and headed back to Seoul. Pictures below from the day...baseball game tomorrow!

Standing on a swing- much more fun than sitting!

Hiking Pics

I still don't have my camera fixed...but my friend Jessica shared some pics with me from our hiking adventure last Saturday. This weekend is the Cherry Blossom Festival, so hopefully I can get some good pictures there as well. On a side note, we had a meeting with our principal today, and she assured us that moving day is MAY 1. So that's good news. Enjoy the pics and I'll get some more up soon!

Here's Mount Surak from the bottom.

So, not my best side (ha ha) but wanted to show you how you go up the mountain basically in a line of people. Everyone is pretty courteous and there are lots of spaces to step aside if you want to pass someone, or let someone pass you.

Here is the crew at the top. The girl on the left is some random girl we met named Pheobe. The the man is Jai, who works the front desk at our hotel, Jeanine, me, Jessica and Gail.

This is our friend Yoon, who in exchange for having a conversation with her in English, wanted to share some traditional rice wine with us. So nice!

Waiting for Spring to spring...

So, I have been slack in my posting the past week. The previous week was another cold and rainy one, and just overall depressing. Most of you know that I can't stand to be cold and was secretly a lizard living on a hot rock in my former life. They don't have Groundhog Day here, but apparently, Spring just wasn't ready to come on down. Finally, this past Saturday, we had a nice day with no rain and temperatures up in the mid 60s. We chose that day to go on our first hike here in Seoul. Seoul is surrounded by mountains, and hiking is huge here. On the weekends, you will see tons of older people with all their hiking attire on riding the subways to go climb a mountain. Koreans are nothing if not healthy. So, Saturday we decided to do a mountain called Surak. It was unlike any other hiking experience I have had in that you basically go up in a line of people. We heard in the summer the lines are like Disney World. It wasn't quite that bad Saturday, but there were no moments of silence. We got to the top and found a small "restaurant" where they served snacks and water. Of course, everyone is fascinated by the white people. So, no sooner had we sat down to take in the scenery, than we were approached by a sweet woman who wanted to have a conversation to practice her English. Most Koreans learn English up until they have to take a proficiency exam in High School. (I believe it is a listening test) After that- they really don't have much opportunity to engage in conversation, and lose most of the English they have learned. This woman, named Yoon, told me a little about her travels to India and spoke quite well. She was so thankful she wanted to offer me and my friends some traditional Korean rice wine before we headed down. We graciously accepted and sat down to a 4 oz. serving of a white liquid. She was serving it out of a big 10 gallon jug- so it was obviously made at home. It tasted like beer and cider mixed together. Not something I would order, but not horrendous. Anyway- you could tell it was pretty potent stuff. We had to laugh because when Koreans sat down, they would be served a big BOWL of this wine to drink. I don't know how in the world people climb a mountain, drink a BOWL of alcohol and then manage to get down. This was a fairly steep climb. Crazy. Anyway- we made it down safely and I can't tell you how nice it was to have spent the day outside of the city.
Saturday night we went to a cultural performance. Traditional instruments, singing and dance. After our long hike, some of the music was enough to put you right to sleep, but the dancing was pretty neat. It is cool to see these traditions from 1000s of years ago still being performed and respected.
This week, we are back to lesson plan development in the hopes that the camp will open on time (May 6). I am really hopeful that it does. We are all just ready to get started and the delay with all the time on our hands just makes us more frustrated. (which causes more irritation with each other) You can imagine.
They moved the Cherry Blossom festival from this weekend to next weekend in the hopes that they will be in full bloom then. I will be there for sure. The bad news is, my NEW camera, has a busted LCD screen. So, hopefully I can get it repaired this week. If not, I will be at the mercy of my friends to share pics with me to put up here on the blog. Wish me luck trying to communicate with the workers in the Kodak store. I can't say I am too advanced in my Korean lessons. I don't think that "It's Delicious" will get me too far with them.
Send me email when you have time- I love hearing your news. I will do better about blogging more frequently. Take care!