Sunday, November 30, 2008

Changing of the times

It is funny i have had a very eventful last little while and yet i am not sure what to write about. It is really beginning to feel like home here now. I still feel like a foreigner but i know the island and feel it is a part of me and i a part of it. Last week i lucked out and had a super slack week. Tuesday i called in sick and took the day off to relax and get some stuff done that really needed doing. I wondered about town, bought a jacket, did my banking, sat at a coffee shop and indulged in a mocha and a fashion magazine. It was awesome and it was well deserved. Then wed, we had to go to this conference which ended up being incredibly boring but it was a day of not teaching and my co-teacher and i think alike so we spent the whole time reading books and drawing. Then on thursday, the gr.5's were writing exams so i only had to teach one class and the rest of the time i hung out in the library and read and worked on the computer. In fact when i finally had to teach on friday, i almost forgot what teaching was all about. God knows what will happen after my winter vacation.

My weekend was very nice and relaxing, well sort of. It began after school on friday when i went to kuk sool won for my belt. YES, i am now officially a yellow belt. The test went well but was very nerve racking. My master who is usually so laid back spent the whole time sitting and staring at us as we each stood in front of the class with our fellow belt members and performed the forms and techniques for our belt. Fortunately it went by really well and afterwards we went out for dinner for Galbi (bbq). I got to eat rice and onion and garlic wrapped in a lettuce leaf, it was actually quite delicious. After watching others eat we all left and after being such a good girl the weekend before i was craving some fun. So we tracked down Graeme who was out with his school at our local nightclub called Roma. They were a riot, they kept on feeding us beer and pulling each other out to the dance floor. Slowly more of us foreigners showed up attempting to get in on the table that they had paid for. By the time there were seven of us the school decided to take of and we stayed until the bar as sick of our antics and the fact we had not paid for a table and tod us we could not longer dance. That marked the long line of random bars, noraebangs and hostess bars we went to or tried to get into. At the end of the night we ended up drinking on the roof in the freezing cold at 5am. It was a well-earned night.

The next day i woke up late and laid around until the beckoning sun pulled me out of my bed and i called up Caitriona. We ended up having a delightfully girly day. We went out for sushi for lunch and then wondered aimlessly going into random shops and cafes buying a few things, including some sweet red converse and drinking hot chocolate. The day was completed with a visit from our friends laurie and landis and laurie's sister who was visiting from the states. We all went to Kwanghee's tea house which he has recently enhanced by adding a wood burning stove and so we all curled up with a cup of tea and talked about life on jeju and obama's recent victory (laurie's sister lives in DC). Mmmmm and we ate delicious seafood porridge, which the island is reknowned for. The porridge is sort of like rice pudding but not sweet and with vegetables and seafood in it. It is delicious.

Sunday was equally as blissful. I awoke early and bellydanced in my room for an hour. Then i met up with graeme and caitriona and we hoped on our scooters and went to Jungmun, the tourist resort town about 20 mins from Seogwipo. First we went to Cheonjeyeon falls, which are spectacular and are actually apart of a myth where it is written that fairies from heaven descend to these falls to wash and sing music. They were spectacular, i can understand why fairies would choose to spend time there. After that we went to the botanical gardens which were quite interesting, rather small compared to some gardens i have been to but interesting. The cactus garden was really well done and so was the flower garden. Finally we went to the most amazing little tea and meditation house. I love kwanghee's but this is unbelieveable. It looks like a house from latin america or the mediterannean with a square white washed structure, but the edges and corners being curved. The inside has curved frames on all the doors and windows. There is a big wood burning stove and they only serve traditional tea and veg sandwiches. It is like heaven to me.

That is all i have to say about that right now. It was a very good week. Only three more weeks until winter vacation and only five until i am on a sunny beach in vietnam :)

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