Hey All- hope everything stateside is going well and you aren't ready to scratch your eyeballs out from all the campaign madness. We do get a little bit of it here, but since I don't watch TV, I am able to escape most of it. My absentee ballot has already been sent in, so I have already done my part. Hope you all remember to get out and vote.
The past couple of weeks have been quite a roller coaster. On Friday, October 17th, I was on a LIVE Korean talk show discussing our camp program. I went to bed the night before with laryngitis, so I wasn't sure if I was even going to get a chance to do it, but I squeaked through it. (literally) They just asked questions about what we taught and some of the challenges we face, etc. I still haven't seen it as I wasn't able to navigate the website in Korean. I am supposed to be sent a copy of the interview, so I will see what I can do to get it posted somewhere. I am sure you are all dying to see it (ha ha).
After finishing the interview, I waited for Gail and Jenn to meet me in Seoul so we could head down to Busan. Busan is the 2nd largest city in Korea and is located on the southeastern coast of the peninsula. We took the KTX, which is the express train and made the trip in 3 hours. We arrived in Busan around 8 pm and headed for our hotel. We stayed in the Haeundae Beach area and it was really nice. If I were wanting to stay another year in Korea (don't worry Mom, I'm not), I would get a job in Busan instead of Seoul. Really it has all the conveniences of Seoul, with less than 1/2 the people plus BEACHES! 
It was quite pretty the day we were there. We wandered around the city for most of the day Saturday and then headed to one of the beaches to secure our spot for the fireworks festival that night. Honestly, I have seen some great fireworks shows in my life, but this was so far beyond anything I have ever seen. It was WORLD CLASS. 
We were sitting on a beach, looking out into a harbor, with a beautiful bridge spanning the water. The fireworks were launched from the bridge as well as two boats out in the water. The show was about 45 minutes choreographed to music. I was honestly moved and blown away by the show. It will surely set the bar for shows in the future that I see. The next day, we headed back to the train station for lunch before heading back to Seoul.
It was quite pretty the day we were there. We wandered around the city for most of the day Saturday and then headed to one of the beaches to secure our spot for the fireworks festival that night. Honestly, I have seen some great fireworks shows in my life, but this was so far beyond anything I have ever seen. It was WORLD CLASS. We were sitting on a beach, looking out into a harbor, with a beautiful bridge spanning the water. The fireworks were launched from the bridge as well as two boats out in the water. The show was about 45 minutes choreographed to music. I was honestly moved and blown away by the show. It will surely set the bar for shows in the future that I see. The next day, we headed back to the train station for lunch before heading back to Seoul.Monday started another week with the co-ed middle school students from the same school as the week before. The kids this week were 20X more well behaved than the prior week. It gives us hope for next week, when we have one more week with the same school. I am teaching Mom's Kitchen and Music Club this week. I really enjoy the kitchen. Of course, I love cooking, so I would. We are making popcorn balls with m & m's so they are a hit with the kids.
The countdown stands at 8 more weeks until my parents arrive for Christmas and 13 more weeks total of teaching. The pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel is now golf ball size. Thank you to everyone who has sent email. I am sorry I am not the fastest at replying, some nights the last thing I want to do is reply what's been going on.
This Friday, we had a "workshop" in Seoul for the English teachers where they took us to the big bookstore in Seoul and then to a performance called Miso. It was quite good and the best "traditional" show I have seen here in Korea. I spent most of the day in today as I am trying to rest and kick my cold once and for all. Take care and send me news from your end.
We went to dinner on Thursday night with a big group of us and decided to wait until Friday to go to the Jazz Fest. The main acts started around 4 pm and we arrived shortly thereafter. 
Now truth be told, I am not a huge jazz fan and really don't know much about it, but as anyone who knows me well can tell you, I LOVE to listen to live music. There is nothing I love more than to sit in the grass and lay back and listen to music. And so that is what we did. We stayed until the end at 10 pm and really enjoyed it all. We did get quite cold by the end of the night and made plans to return on Sunday night a little more prepared.
Teaching this week was OK. We had elementary school kids, who could not be sweeter, but are difficult to control. I am teaching Clinic and Restaurant. I will teach that station again next week, but we will have middle school boys and girls. Hopefully, they will be quiet and smart! (ha ha) We had the Korean Educational Broadcast Channel come to the camp this week to do a profile on our school and program. Since I am the head teacher of the student program, I will be going to the studio this Friday for an interview. If there is a link to the story when it is televised, I will post it here. Should be interesting.