Buddha's Birthday = VACATION!!! to SoRakSan

*I just found this and realized I never finished it, so I shall now.

I went to SorakSan with my host family over the holiday weekend, Buddha's birthday~

We actually ended up leaving at night to beat the traffic.  They had been planning to leave very early the next morning, so I went out to meet Mark in Sinchon for dinner, and towards the end of our meal, I got a phone call from my host mom informing me that we were actually leaving that night. So, I went home, packed up some clothes and necessities and we left~

I think the drive was about 4-5 hrs, but I fell asleep for most of it, so I couldn't really say...  I was kind of assuming that it was going to be kind of like camping or going to camp.  Boy was I wrong.  My host mom's parents own an apt. right near Soraksan, so basically we got to stay in a really nice, new, sweet apartment!  wow.  It had an amazing view too! Out one side was the city and ocean and on the other was the mountain!

 day view out towards the mountains

 night view from the other side. The area where it just turns black and there are no more lights is the ocean. 

We left Thursday night and left to go back to Seoul Sunday morning.  On Friday we went hiking on the mountain.  The mountain is huge, its more like a small mountain range.  So, we picked 2 pretty easy trails to hike.  The weather was perfect! and the scenery was beautiful.  It was so nice to see lush green foliage! I really hadn't seen anything of the sort since I left Minnesota, actually before that, since when I left everything was covered in snow.

 entrance to the National Park

 John and Nicole getting water

 Nicole and I on the trails

The second trail we hiked took us to a really nice stream that ran down the mountain.  The water was extremely clear and the really cool part was that the rocks all around it had Chinese characters carved into them!  I asked my host dad and he just said they used to do that way back when. I'm not sure how long ago that means, but I'm thinking pretty long ago.  A lot of them looked really worn away. But they looked really neat!

 view of a section of the mountain

 carvings on the rock

a close-up 

looking at the map

bunch of visor wearing ajumas coming!!! Ah, run and take cover!!

priceless video of John blowing his pinwheel with his nose! haha... he found the thing on the ground on our first day and wouldn't let it out of his sight for most of the trip~

Later that day, we went to the 대포항 fish market, which was awesome!  We wandered around looking at the variety of fish and sea animals for sale (presumably, to be eaten) and other street food.  I saw the craziest looking fish there! It was HUGE and had these gigantic sharp teeth. It looked terrifying!!! I can't imagine eating it...

 the fish market

 scariest, craziest looking fish ever! look at its teeth!!!

 gigantic crabs

We also saw an American TV crew there filming for something. I really wanted to know, so I went up and asked one of the camera people.  His response really bugged me and was very unsatisfactory.  I asked him what they were filming for and he said, "something for American TV."  (Obviously.)  It was obviously a canned response that he told everyone, and I felt like he didn't realize I was American.  So, I tried again.  I asked him what station it was for and he told me PBS.  He wasn't particularly friendly or talkative, so I gave up and wandered on.  A bit later, I came across another few people from their filming/production crew and decided to try again. I asked one of the women who seemed to be in charge.  She said, "For an American television program."  (Again, obviously!)  I pried for some more info, just because I was curious and it was bugging me that they were assuming I was Korean and didn't realize I was American.  I got that it was for PBS, a new series, didn't have a name yet, and was focusing on Korea.  I'm not sure if this means, just this particular episode focuses on Korea or if the entire series focuses on Korea.  It was a bit more satisfactory than my first attempt.  However, I thought it was really strange that both people assumed I was Korean (after I told the second lady that I was American, she seemed more willing to tell me details) because I was obviously speaking fluent English with a very American, actually Minnesotan accent.

American film crew

Anyhow, that was a huge tangent. After the fish market, we went to the beach and my host brother and sister went wild! They were so excited!!!  There were speed boats giving people rides - it looked extremely unsafe and would def. not happen in the US.  They were speeding around the shallow area where swimmers were and taking all these crazy turns to get the passengers all wet.  They just seemed way to close to shore... I really wanted to touch the water; just dip my fingers in it to say that I had touched the East Sea, but right when I leaned over to touch it, a big wave came crashing in and got my shoes all wet... Arg. I guess that's what I get. Now I can definitely say, with conviction, that I have touched the East Sea.

 darn... that kinda sucked

 sunset from the beach

On Saturday, we went to a different beach.  The beach is right in front of this very fancy resort that my host family stayed at one time.  It was really nice and my host brother dug a big pit to push his sister into.  (Later, when I was tutoring him in English writing, it was this event that he chose to write about ^^)  There was also this big rock out in the water, but there was a sandbar so you could walk out and climb it.  I wish I had a picture, but my host dad took it on his camera and I forgot to get it from him...

 John's infamous pit of doom

Anyhow, after the beach we drove up to another point on the mountain and had lunch there.  The trail there was pretty steep, so my host mom and sister hung around while my host dad, host brother, and I climbed it. I went pretty far, but then decided to turn around, as it just kept getting steeper and steeper.  At one point I had to use a rope that was lying there (for that purpose) to pull myself up on a gravel path.  It was really pretty though! My host brother has so much energy and had ran ahead - he and his dad made it all the way to the top!

 John, CK, Nicole, and me

After that, we made a stop at Osaek, this famous mineral spring.  My host mom said that its supposed to have healing powers and be really good for your health.  (My host mom collected a bottle full and I tasted it and man was it disgusting! It just tasted dirty to me... My host sister vehemently spat her mouthful out and look to her mom like she was crazy to have given her that water.  My host brother made the most hilarious face!)
So we went and my host brother had a great time skipping rocks and running around in the water.  There was a famous waterfalls down about 2 or 3 km away.  We were going to go there, but it was getting late and my host mom as tired.  However, John (host bro) really wanted to go, so they compromised and we were to go part way and then turn around.  John dashed off and CK (host dad), Nicole (host sis) and I followed.
It was really pretty and we walked quite a ways.  But then John disappeared.  CK went ahead to find him and Nicole and I turned around and went back to the car, where Young (host mom) was waiting.  She got really worried when she found out that we couldn't find John and that he had run ahead.  She tried to call, but there was no phone service out there.  We waited a good 20-30 minutes until we saw CK and John walking towards the car.  Whew.

 the entrance to the spring

 people gathered around collecting and drinking water

On the way back to the apartment, CK and Yong went to get dinner and dropped me and the kids off at a nearby beach.  They had fun pretending to dig for buried treasure and swinging.  The next morning we got up and left by 7.  We got stuck in major traffic getting back to Seoul~ I think we were maybe 15-30 min. from their house and it took us over an hour... But we made it back!

It was a really great trip!!!!

THE END

done with midterms, whew.

First off, my most avid and dedicated reader, my grandpa, had his 94th birthday was on April 10! So Happy birthday Pop!!!

So midterms are over! yay! I did surprisingly better than I thought I might.  I got in the 90%s on both my paper tests and got a good evaluation from my teacher on the oral dialogues and one-on-one interview.

My partner and I weren't the most efficient with our dialogues. Over a span of a week, I think we worked about 7 or 8 hours and averaged about 1 dialogue per hour and a half. We had 8 dialogues to create and memorize... the last four we split between the two of us.  Most other people met once or twice for maybe a total of 2 hours... but, I think it worked out for the best. We felt pretty prepared.

Last Wednesday, we had our oral tests.  Luckily, I had an early time slot, so I was out of school by 10:30 am! I met up with Sarang and we went to TechnoMart and hung around. We looked around a bit, ate lunch, and Sarang talked me into getting my very first manicure.
Honestly, I think that manicures seem like a waste of money, that I could spend on something else more fun or productive, but she paid for almost all of it, so I agreed. It was kinda fun, I'll admit. But the color I ended up with totally reminded me of malibu barbie... As I strongly detest pink, I wasn't too happy. There were so many colors to choose from and since it was kind of overwhelming, I let Sarang choose. Thus, I ended up with hot pink/orange nails.  haha.

So on Wednesday evening, I went to drumming class.  There's this kid who goes to the same University I do, but is a regular student, not a language student.  He can be pretty awkward.  During class, he  lean over and pat me on the leg a few times.  I was wondering why he was touching me.  And during our break time, he took one of the snacks and tried to shove it in my mouth. Awkward.  After class I was really tired and didn't wanna go out with my classmates, so we ended up riding the subway together.  As we were riding, he leaned toward me, way too close, and said, "noona (what boys call older girls), I like you."  In my head, I was like WHAT?!  I kindly told him that I liked him as a friend. He took it kind of hard and kept saying, "you don't like me, you don't like me."  I felt really bad... then he leaned toward me again, really close and told me I had a pimple on my face and stroked my hair.  AH! so weird! And telling a girl she has a zit on her face is certainly not an effective way to woo a girl. Seriously. 

On Thursday, my Korean class had 반말 (banmal) day, or "half talk" day.  Korean has different levels of formality depending on who you are speaking to, so most of the time we learn formal Korean in class, which is used with adults and strangers, but not between friends.  I was really impressed that we were actually formally going to learn banmal, as I've found it rather inconvenient to not know it and talk with Koreans my age. It freaks them out when I talk formally to them.  Anyhow, the rule was that everytime you failed to speak banmal, you had to put a sticker on your face. I think I ended up with the most stickers on my face.  By the end of the day, I had five stickers on my face. Most people had two or three. Banmal is hard! haha!

After class, Sarang came to Sogang and we took pictures around campus and then went to hangout in Hongdae, a nearby area that has lots of fun shops and restaurants etc.

Friday, my class (and the other 2 level classes) took a field trip to Insadong and painted ceramic cups. It was really fun! and a nice break!  The place had transfer images to put on the cups and then we could paint the images. I chose a city scene.  We haven't gotten them back yet, but I wanna see mine!

reading/writing teacher and another classmate

 most of my class and our speaking teacher

After class, I wandered around Insadong with one of my classmates for a bit.  She had to leave and I was wandering around alone and ran into two of the Japanese students, one of whom is in my morning writing class.  I needed to buy a ggwegwari stick, so I took them to "국악길" or the traditional musical street, which was pretty close to where we were.   I like hanging out with my classmates from non-English speaking countries because I'm forced to use my Korean and we're pretty much at the same level.  Its fun to try and get your point across when your common lingua franca is a language you're not fluent in... haha!

I met up with Emily, who came into Seoul, and Sarang at Hongdae at 4 and we went to Eastern.  Emily had a file viewing. I thought I was supposed to have one too, but there was a mis-communication on my part, so I rescheduled for later in the week.  Afterward, we went to the Coffee Prince Cafe, which is the setting for a really popular drama, or mini-series TV show. It was fun, but overly expensive... At least I get to check it off my "to do list".  One the way to the subway, we found an awesome Turkish Kabob stand! We were all a bit hungry but not in the mood to spend more money, since our drinks at the cafe were so expensive, but the kebabs were only 4,000 won (roughly $4).  Nice. And amazingly delicious!

 Sarang, Emily, and me at the Coffee Prince Cafe

Saturday, my friend Kyungmoon and I had to attend a conference and give a short introduction and talk about our experiences at Sup Sogui Hosu (the camp I worked at two years ago) in Korean.  One of the staff from camp is a Korean teacher and is currently doing a fellowship at Univ. British Columbia, but came back to Korea to give a presentation at this conference. I was sooo nervous! I HATE public speaking, and this wasn't even in English.  It really wasn't so bad; my introduction was probably about a minute at the most, but I was freaking out.  And while I was outside in the hallway waiting, I ran into my Writting teacher from Sogang! She was really surprised to see me at the conference, as it was for Korean teachers. haha!
I was so nervous, I have no idea how it went.  I don't remember anything after saying hello.
Afterwards, a bunch of staff from camp got together for dinner, which was really fun!

camp staff at dinner

Sunday morning, I tutored the two kids who live 5 floors below me.  After tutoring, their parents invited me to lunch.  We met downstairs and their dad pulled up in a Jaguar!  I'm normally not into cars or anything, but I'm not gonna lie, I thought it was pretty cool.  One time, the kids had told me their dad works at a parking lot.  What he really does is own four parking lots in Seoul.
We went to this traditional Korean restaurant and the food was insane! It all looked so cool. Presentation is important here.  I can't remember the name now, but its more traditional than just normal Korean food.  The dishes just kept coming and coming!

I also went to my host dad's work place because there are lots of cherry blossoms there. The trees were gorgeous! and afterwards we went and ate 20 cent ramen from a vending machine at his office. Awesome! 

the cool ramen vending machine!

On Monday I hungout with Youngwha unni and we went to Yeoido.  Its cherry blossom season and thats one of the most famous places to go see them. It was really pretty, but the sky was cloudy, so my pictures didn't turn out as well as they otherwise could have.  The flower blossoms kind of blend into the sky.

 with Youngwha unni at Yeoido

Tuesday, Sarang's family was celebrating her dad's birthday, so I met up with her and her family after class.  I met them at the Children's Grand Park, where there are lots of blooming cherry trees.  The weather was surprisingly warm, as its been unusually cool here.  After, Sarang, her dad and I went to the biggest market in Korea to buy fish for his party.  Her dad really likes sushi, so he bought 4 fish for sashimi.  The market was really cool! There were fish and other sea creatures in tanks and out on display everywhere.  Her dad chose his fish and then we watched them as they were filleted and cut up into bit size pieces and placed on serving platters for the party.

the fish on the dinner table waiting to be eaten

 Sarang and her dad goofing around with the bday cake

Wednesday is my crazy day. I have back to back tutoring right after class and then have drumming after that. I was so tired, I didn't make it to drumming...

Thursday, I had my rescheduled appointment at the adoption agency to view my file.  The new social worker, who is much younger than the last one, was really great.  She went through my file and let me look and ask questions etc.  I found out my blood type, which is important in Korea because people think that it determines your personality.  I'm O+, however, I don't think that fits my personality at all.
 I went to Bandi and Luni's bookstore because I wanted to buy The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian (If you haven't read this, you must!) for my friend.  The internet said that the store didn't have it but I went to check anyhow and surprisingly, I found it!
But the English section was so odd! Basically, all the novels were just thrown onto the shelves. I couldn't figure out any rhyme or reasons to how it was organized. It certainly wansn't by author, and it wasn't by title.   When I was looking through the "Religion/Science/Spirituality" section, I found a Hillary Clinton memoir and "The Boy Called It."  I'm fairly positive it was completely arbitrary.  Weird.

Today after class I went to Youngwha unni's house.  Her mom is in town and cooked us a feast for dinner!  It was so good! Then I had tutoring and then I met up with Kyungmoon in Myeongdong.  I finally found a pair of sneakers that have a good arch support. Whew.  All the walking here, in archless shoes is doing a number on my feet. 

Anyhow, I need to go to bed!