Sorry I haven't e-mailed in a while. I'm trying to start a blog but I'm terrible at that kind of journaling. It's hard to get my thoughts and experiences together.
Anyway, I already filled you in on most of the stuff that's happened leading up to Chuseok. I'm getting a little tired of sticking out everywhere I go. People either want to dote on me like a child or they treat me like an alien. Sometimes I get people who want as little interaction as possible because they don't want to deal with the language barrier or find my ignorance too frustrating, but others are eager to talk to me. Me and Cindy were basically mascots on the hiking trail Sunday with all the other hikers wanting to practice their limited English with us or take pictures.
The traditional market was really interesting. They had tiny makeshift restaurants all along one side of stalls that each served one or two items. This place served a chicken dish, this place served pork or soup, we chose the place that served noodles. It was an interesting dish - a bit like a spicy Korean version of those vermicelli noodles at Rice King Noodle in Provo. The noodles were twisted into a cylindrical heap and you had to hold a chopstick in each hand and turn them a certain way to get all the ingredients mixed together. The Ajuma running the restaurant made sure to show us how to properly eat everything since we were foreign. She grabbed Cindy's chopsticks and demonstrated and was constantly checking in on us to make sure we liked it. I love the ladies that own restaurants around here, they're very motherly.
The holiday's been a nice opportunity to do a lot of lesson planning and explore more of Chuncheon. I've finished up workbooks for the 1-2 graders that I think they might like and come up with games for all my Thursday classes. I also set up wi-fi in my apartment so I can use my phone and Ipad now! It was super easy and routers here are way cheap. Next time we skype I can give you guys a better tour of my apt.
There is one taxi driver in Chuncheon who speaks English and I've now ridden in his cab twice. The second time he recognized me right away and was delighted that he's gotten to drive me twice. He thinks he knows some gossip about teachers at my school so every time he tries to get me to figure out which teacher each particular bit of gossip is about. I'm not really interested in the other teachers' dirty secrets but it's a fun game anyway. The taxi I rode in Sunday was an older man. He didn't speak any English but he shared some candy with me and wished me a happy Chuseok. People are super nice.
Chuncheon has some amazing bike paths that can literally lead anywhere. I've ridden all along the river and nearly reached Samaksan where we went hiking Sunday. Today, I rode across the bridge to downtown Chuncheon. It was about a 30-45 minute bike ride and felt great. I passed by all the war memorials and Chuncheon's famous statue park. I rode to the E Mart (It's kind of like Walmart but way better quality) to get my wi-fi router and a few other groceries. Grocery shopping is always an excursion since I have to bike and pack everything home in my backpack. I don't know what I'll do in the winter :/ riding the bus here sucks - it gets crowded and I always get stuck standing the whole way since anyone older than me gets dibs on the seats.
Anyway, I was wandering the electronics section when a pale, redheaded guy stepped out of an aisle and startled me. I'm just as bad as the natives here - white people freak me out. It turned out to be Seamus - one of the Irish twins I mentioned before and I said Hi to him. Turns out his twin Niall was there too, visiting for Chuseok and I spent a good 20 minutes chatting with both of them. A group of white kids talking loudly in English was kind of a sight, I'm sure. Niall had just gotten eye surgery and told me it's super cheap here. I hear they can also do procedures for far-sightedness that they don't do in the states.... I may have to do some research. Plus I'm 50% covered through EPIK. As long as they can work around my thin corneas.
They told me the girl I replaced should have left me a letter detailing the school, her previous lesson plans and class management techniques, and info about my apartment. I never got so much as a note from her and only learned her name when I found an old crumpled-up lesson plan lying around the English room. They told me that's really poor form and breaks the contract (an exit letter is required) - especially since I'm a brand new teacher so I may have to talk to my coordinator. I knew I shouldn't have been left in the dark :(
The O'Connors had to catch a bus so I said bye to them and finished my shopping. I was starving by that point. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and the bike ride there had taken a lot out of me. I ran across the street to find a little restaurant and all there was, was some kind of tiny hamburger/sandwich place (they call sandwiches "toast" here). I creeped inside and the place looked empty. An Ajuma came to the counter without even glancing at me and muttered something in Korean and waved her hands. I wasn't sure if she was telling me to go away or to hurry up and decide. She said something again and I just stared at her. She finally looked up and realized I was foreign. She laughed and pointed out the menu, which was all in Korean. Again, I just stared at it. I could read the words "hamburger" and "coffee" but everything else meant nothing to me. Finally she came over and talked me through an order. She asked (in Korean and a bit of Konglish) if I liked eggs, cheese, and toast and I told her yes. She decided to just make me something and hobbled off to the kitchen, telling me to sit.
She came back with a toasted egg and cheese sandwich with cole-slaw and tomatoes and asked me where I was from and why I was in Korea. She may have asked a few other things but that's all I understood. I told her I was American and an English teacher at Cheonjeon. She seemed very interested and offered me some grape juice to go with my meal. She had a TV on so we sat and watched what I assume was Celebrity Gossip. It was kind of nice and gave me a chance to sit and relax before the long bike ride home. The food was actually really good too. Once I finished and paid, I was a little sad to leave - she had been nice company. I told her the food was delicious and thanked her (I bowed properly this time). She told me to come back any time and I probably will 'cause she was super nice.
I took my time getting home. I stopped to help a man pick up the pieces of his dropped phone and then went over to the statue by the bridge. It's a statue of a woman dancing and plays some kind of traditional Korean ballroom song - I wish I could look it up, it's super pretty. The weather was nice today so people were out on the river in canoes and swan boats. I'm still blown away by how gorgeous Chuncheon is and how easy-going the people are.
Anyway, that's it for now! Thanks for helping me brainstorm ideas for games and such! I'll let you know how the next week or so goes. I feel like I'm starting to get a hang of things and my lessons are flowing a little better now. It's hard working 3 different schools with so many classes to keep track of but I'll get there.
Love and miss you guys! Talk to you all later!
-Whit
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