I was hoping this past weekend would be a relaxing one. It had its moments.
On Friday night I found one of my new favorite restaurants! (I know I seem to talk about food a lot here, but it’s totally cultural… I promise!) It’s this little shop with a window outside you order at. It’s right behind campus and it’s called Isaac’s. They take a huge stick of butter and slick down the griddle (I think that’s what it is called) and then they put 2 pieces of toast down. They fry up an egg and sausage and then put these 3 different sauces on it with the lettuce stuff (it’s like coleslaw without the dressing) on it and melt cheese! Oh my word, it is a little piece of heaven in my mouth! With every bite it got better and better! They also have these amazing smoothies! Oh it was just fabulous! So, we ate dinner and then we headed downtown. It was just me and my friend Eric at this time. We see the bus, so we take off running down the hill so we don’t miss it. (Let me remind you that the humidity here is out of control!!) We get to the bus in time and get on. As we were getting on, the bus driver is getting out of his seat. We thought he was going to maybe pick up trash or something b/c he heads to the back of the bus. Oh no, he goes in the back and sits with us. He tried to start talking to us, but he speaks extremely broken English. We had a very hard time following, so we just smiled and nodded! (Also, remember people don’t really talk on the buses, especially the bus driver.) 2 other girls got on the bus from the University and he tried to get them to translate for him. They were a little better. He asked what we did and we told him we were teachers. He asked where we were from and we said the US. He then went up to the front of the bus to start driving. Then all of the sudden he started yelling back to the girls to ask us more questions. We are in the back of the bus and he is yelling from the front! He kept looking at us in the mirror and was not watching the road! There were a few times I started freaking out a bit! He told her to ask us if we thought North Korea had nuclear weapons… are you kidding me?!? I let Eric take the lead on this one. I just sat there. He then wanted to know who we (as in the US) thought was the most intelligent country in the world. Again… are you kidding me?!? We dodged a few bullets b/c it was neither the time or the place to start talking politics! Before we left that night Eric told me he had been praying for God to take him on adventures. This was definitely adventurous!! We debated whether to get off at an early stop but then we realized we couldn’t b/c we already told them where we were going! Oh well, it all worked out! It was definitely a crazy story to add to my list!
We went to a ‘Norebong’ later that night! This is a room that is dedicated to karaoke! It is lined in mirrors and has a big screen for the words. They also have a pole and props in there for you to use. It was way fun! (No pictures b/c my batteries were dead! You will get some next time!) I would like you to know I got a 100% on Mr. Brightside! J It was so much fun! Oh, and they gave away free ice-cream there… I’m telling you RANDOM here!
We headed out for another adventure fieldtrip in our ‘same same’ shirts on Saturday! We decided to embrace it and make the best of the situation though. It rained all day on us but that just added to the adventure! We went to see this huge sitting Buddha statue. It was cool to see it, but it was also sad at the same time. People come here all of the time to pray to Buddha. We witnessed quite a few people there that morning. It’s just this big hallow empty statue that they think can solve all of their problems. They say they are searching for truth, but really they are just searching for something that makes them feel good now. If they could just get their minds wrapped around the fact that when you experience real truth it will give you a peace that is overwhelming. The statue was wet from the rain and it made his face look like he was crying. We saw monks here and everything. There was this huge temple filled with people who were praying to Buddha. I’m glad I visited and I will go back. It was an experience you can’t get everywhere.
We also went to a Korean History Museum. They had some interesting things. It was just built a few years ago. They had a “Kid’s Zone” and I must admit this was the best part for me! It had interactive activities you could do! Of course I would appreciate this more then the artifacts!
Korea also has a memorial called “Independence Hall.” This is a lot of history as well and showed us how Korea has been oppressed by Japan. I had no idea the things they had to endure. The Japanese were horrible to Koreans. I now understand the older generation here and can allow them more grace with their reactions to things. They saw things that I would never wish on my worst enemy. I think it also gave me a new appreciation for Korea as a whole. They have always been treated like the stepchild of Asia, but somehow they still managed to rise above and be a successful country. They have a work ethic like I have never encountered from any other group of people. This is another place I would like to go back to when it’s not raining. The history there is so rich and they love to share it with people… especially foreigners.
I was exhausted after the fieldtrip and it had been a long week, so I went home at 5.30pm and took an hour and a half nap and was still able to go to sleep that night! I guess my body was trying to tell me to slow down! I listened… momentarily!
One of the professors here at KNU is part of a band. They had a concert and we went and checked it out! It was way fun! It pretty much turns into a foreigner hangout and there aren’t lots of Koreans, but it was still super fun! We danced and sung and had a chill night! It’s so crazy how many random things there are to do here!
Sunday I went out to eat with the Pastor and his wife and daughter. There were also a few other teachers and 2 Koreans with us. It was fun to talk with them and get to know them more. The Korean ladies are super sweet! They both teach Korean too, so I’m debating whether to start taking lessons or not. I haven’t quite decided for sure yet. I just love meeting new Koreans who can speak English and carry on a conversation. It’s so neat to have them introduce their culture to you through their eyes. Then, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning our common room with another person on my floor. We have new teachers coming this week and I know when I arrived and saw how disgusting the room was it made me think ‘what the heck did I get myself into?’ I didn’t want them to have to experience that so we decided to clean. It took 2 of 3.5 hours to clean it from top to bottom! Yeah, it was pretty nasty! For some reason I felt like cleaning and that never happens!! (I’m sure some of you are shocked by that statement! J) Then I finished the night off with Mexican food… can’t go wrong there can you?
It was a great weekend! Full of new adventures, but that’s what it’s all about, right?!?
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