To Sejong and the Macabees: Easter Vacation

Hi,

It's been sooo long since I last posted... I guess I'll post about what I did since my last post and work my way up to the present...

First off, I got my hair cut and permed. Emily came up to Seoul and we decided to be impulsive and go get our hair done. I wasn't so sure about my hair cut; it was much shorter than I had originally planned. However, after about a month, I've gotten used to it ^^

clever sign I saw in Itaewon

Emily and me at Kraze Burger

Nik and I went biking/skating near the Han River

the money matches my jacket!!!

can't see too well, but heres a picture of mine and Emily's new hairstyles~

Yes that is. Totally soju in a juice box. we got yelled at for taking this picture... hehe.

Anyhow, from April 22~24, we had Easter break. (Going to a Catholic school definitely has its perks, as other language schools such as Yonsei didn't have time off then ^^). Thursday, I went mountain hiking with my classmates and teacher. Friday, I decorated Nik's house because he was going to have a party for his Spanish students on Saturday. I've been telling him since I got here to put something on his walls so its not so bare. But he never got around to it, so I had got to have fun 'scrapbooking' his walls.
I also made matzah lasagna in honor of Passover!!! Even though I improvised, as I didn't have all the correct ingredients, it turned out surprisingly well!

final product

On Saturday, I went and met up with a bunch of Sup Ho people! I haven't seen much of camp people because I've been so busy with work... We met way down in southern Seoul and ate 감자탕 (potato stew) at one of the unni's husband's family's restaurant. It was really really good!!! We also went to a flea market and I got a jacket for W7,000 aka roughly $7!!! Nice!! It was really windy that day and I was feeling really cold and happened to stumble upon the most perfect jacket! hehe.

So, on Thursday, I went with my classmates and our teacher to 남한산 (NamHan Mountain) to go mountain climbing. (Koreans LOVE hiking in the mountains).
The mountain was about an hour away by subway, so we met midmorning in Sinchon and went together.

One of my classmates had gone there before and suggested we go. When we got there, we just started walking and took the first path we saw, which ended up being quite difficult. My classmate had taken an easy course the time before, but our course was rather steep...
Our first stop was to go see the temple, which honestly, wasn't very far from where we had started. All of my classmates and our teacher are under the age of 34, but man, did we struggle... It was really funny, because on the way to the temple, we passed this ajusshi (old man) walking down the opposite direction. One of my classmates asked him how much further until the temple. He said not far, and then offered to turn around and take us up there. My classmate declined but said, "wow, what's wrong with this picture? A 100 year old man just offered to turn around and go up again and we can barely even make it up to begin with..." Lol!

walk up the mountain to the temple

struggling... almost there!

the most beautiful cherry tree ever!!! I actually thought it was fake it was so perfect looking...

lanterns~

haha~ oh Korea. Huge TV next to the bell. nice.

Anyhow, we did make it up there. And from there, we decided to go to the top of the mountain. Mostly because we planned to eat lunch together, but all of the restaurants are at the top~ lol. So, we started back up, and maybe about 5 minutes in, lost half our class. They were way down still trying to get up. So, our teacher asked an ajusshi passing by how long it might take us to get to the top of the mountain from where we were. He said it takes him about 15 minutes, so it would take us probably about an hour or so. Ouch! These middle aged men and women are VERY fit...

almost to the midway point~

half way there!

whew.

ajuma hulahooping like its a piece of cake

Ryu trying to hulahoop (note the ajuma in the background - dang, she was a pro!)

We almost turned around, but then people decided they could make it. And he was right, it took us about another hour to get there... It was really funny Japanese people don't really hike mountains, so most of them were dying. And we have one really funny Japanese guy in our class; he's the class clown. He came up to our teacher and, while panting, was like, "You said this was going to be like a stroll in the park!?... This is NOT a stroll in the park" and our teacher was like, "huh? What?? I don't remember every saying such a thing. But... Maybe when we get to the top of the mountain, I'll remember." haha!

we made it to the top!!!

Anyhow, we did make it to the top and had an amazing lunch~ 오리 구이 aka grilled duck. My favorite!!! It was definitely worth the effort.

L: Ryu from Japan, Dunkin from Australia, me

L: Amy (canada), Ryoko (Japan), our teacher!!! 구은미 샘, Nina (Taiwan)

yum!

everyone~

Amy and Ryoko

During break, I also went to 여의도공원 Yeoido Park to see the cherry blossoms; once with Nik and once with my host sister. Nik and I both had work, so we went late and the other time, I went with my host sister in the evening around dusk. Even so, the trees were really pretty! I was surprised my pictures turned out! ^^