!!Tiring Week!!

When I woke up Thursday morning I felt so shitty. It was weird because I didn't drink Wednesday night and I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary. I was fine for the first 10-15 minutes after waking up, but then I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't want to take a sick day, so I just hovered over the toilet and the feeling past. I had the grade 5's twice this week, so Thursday I started the second part of the lesson with them. I have only been given the first 5 minutes of each class and the last 10-15 minutes for the game. It's really kind of crappy, but I can't complain because at least I get about 20 minutes a class. I've been so tired this week that I was actually falling asleep in the grade 5 classes. I felt bad, but I wasn't doing anything in the classes anyways. Since I bought a big bag of 350 tootsie roll pops at Costco on Monday I decided to use them in my grade 5 classes. The grade 5's wanted me to pick them to ask introduction questions to. I know they were just being excited because of the candy, but it still felt nice to know that they wanted to speak that little bit of English for a candy. Nothing overly exciting has happened this last half of the week. Tracy and Nick have been nice enough to allow me to come crash at their places Tuesdays and Thursdays before taekwondo, so I don't have to go to Bupyeong so early and hang out. It would be easier if I lived as close to a train station as they do, but I can't change that I don't. Today in one of my grade 5 classes a girl was half sitting and half standing on her chair when all of a sudden her and her chair fell backwards. At first I thought she might have been hurt and the whole class was laughing. Then Park went to check to see if she was okay and she was laughing her ass off against the wall, so Park starts laughing. I wanted to laugh along with everyone else, but I couldn't do it. I didn't want them to see that I thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. Then one side of the class does their typical cheer where they go clap clap "excellante!" to the girl who fell out of her chair. When she finally got back in her seat a good 5 minutes later, she was still laughing and so was the class. Today went by faster than usual at school considering I had a five class day and then teacher's class. Speaking of teachers class, today was the third week in a row the class was cancelled. I'm really starting to wonder what is up. Not that I'm complaining because I got to face book and watch Online TV shows and movies all afternoon. After school I headed to the gym for my second work-out. The girl trainer was there to help me out again. She had me doing a great abs routine and I can't wait to do it again. However, my legs feel like jelly and I can hardly lift my arms up. I may have overdone the arms workout and my legs are sore from taekwondo mixed with gym workouts. My abs sure felt great after I was done though. I never thought going to the gym would be this much fun and make me actually look forward to it. Plus, workingo ut at the gym actually makes me want to eat healthy. After the gym I came straight home and showered, then I ate dinner and watched TV and blogged. I didn't feel at all up for going out tonight, so I decided to stay in and catch up on blogging and downloading pictures to face book. I'm getting ready to head to bed for a good's night sleep before my morning wake-up call to head to Itaewon arrives. P.S. I think I'm with th grade 6's next week, which is awesome and it's only a four day week. We have Friday off for another Korean Holiday.

Midweek Madness!

Wednesday started off with Mrs. Kim being very very late to pick me up for school. It was 8:30 and I started to panic thinking that she forgot to call me and tell me she had the day off again. I called her a couple of times and got no answer. Then I called Jiny and she didn't answer either, so I texted her and still no reply. I started thinking I was going to have catch the bus or a cab to school. But, finally at 8:33 a.m. Mrs. Kim pulled up. Apparently her mom was late coming over to baby-sit her daughter and she left her phone at school...Good One! I finally got to school rather late and explained what happened to Jiny and she todl me not to worry about it. She is way too good to me. I'm thinking flowers are in order on Monday for her.

Wednesday was a good day because I only had the grade 5's. I had four grade 5 classes and they were fun. My first class of the day was 5-5 and when Park and I walked into the class they were doing a dance routine. They asked if they could practice it one more time before class started. The dance routine was to the song, 'Summer Nights' in the movie 'Grease.' The boys were on one side and the girls were on the other side. They sang the song pretty good in English considering there are some very hard words in the song. Of course, the one time I should of had my camera at the ready and I didn't. It was upstairs in my purse in the office. DAMN!

It was also teacher's day again at our school on Wednesday, so we were done at 1:30 p.m. There was suppose to be a teacher's hike, but it decided to rain on Wednesday, so plans had to change. Instead, Jiny and I went to the CGV and saw the movie 'Indiana Jones.' Jiny of course paid for me, like she always does, which is why the flowers are in order. Anyways, I haven't seen any of the previous ones, so I was a little bit in the dark. It wasn't really my type of movie, but it was the only movie playing at the time we got there and that Jiny hadn't already seen. It had some great scenes, but the ending really did me in. It actually destroyed the movie a lot, but since I don't want to give it away you will have to go see it for yourself or privately message me :) Below is a Korean advertisement for jeans that is at the movie theatre. I just thought it was funny because Koreans don't show a lot of skin and well...this ad is a bit provocative. Plus, who knew Korean men could actually be that good looking and that fit.

After the movie was over Jiny drove me home and I headed to the gym. It was my first day there and it was great. This one girl that works as the trainer there helps everyone out at the gym and she set me up on my own work-out routine. I didn't even have to pay extra for her help and guidance like I would have back home. It felt great to finally get back in the gym and I can't wait to see the results of my hard work pay off.

Wednesday night was bowling night as per-usual. It usually is a really good time and we all have a lot of fun. Pre-drinks took place at Tracy's again and this time our theme was "Cheesy Boy Bands." You can only imagine where this lead. Chris and Nick hated that we made them suffer through some boy band songs, but we also let them pick some of their own to listen to in order to make them stay drinking with us. *Note: They actually picked some boy band songs.* The picture on the left is of Tracy. She asked for a small 50lb garbage bag and the lady sold her a 100lb bag. It's so big that she actually fit inside the bag.

Galbi was for dinner because that seems to be the only thing we eat on bowling night. I don't eat at bowling because I like to make my own dinner. It's healthier and saves me money. After dinner off to the bowlin alley we go. Lucky for you all I have my camera back, so here are a few photos I captured. Left: Chris (my teammate) gives me a kiss for good luck. Right: Most of the gang at bowling.

I played a great first game scoring 107, but then I sucked my second game not even breaking 80...hahaha! I bowl like that all the time. I'm only good for one of the two games, not both. One of these days though I think it will come out of me and I will bowl two great games that break 100. Below: Alison and I just before we left the bowling alley.After bowling some of the people go for drinks at the local Yeonsu bar 'Far From Home', but they all work in Hogwans, so they can sleep in. I went home to try and get a good's night sleep. All in all I would say it was another great Wednesday night. I have posted two videos below for your viewing pleasure. One features Koreans bolwing like pros at our bowling alley and the other features my bowling crew.

My Favorite Student: Jersey Girl!

Well this week has turned out good so far. I was stressing hardcore on Sunday night about a lesson plan for the grade 4's because the "How Old Are You" unit is so boring and hard to come up with activities for. I finally had the help of a friend, which made for a very easy activity. I basically scrambled the sentences on a computer program that did it for me and they had to unscramble the sentence to read properly. Monday started off boring because it was with the grade 4's and we all know I can't stand the co-teacher. Anyways, the classes actually went smoother than I anticipated, but when she talks to me I go crazy. The first class of the day had a new girl in it. She just moved to Korea from New Jersey, USA. This already makes her my favorite student. I will likely be giving reports every time I see her and talk to her. She is adorable and obviously has great English skills. Her and I could easily carry on a conversation and at a rapid pace. The Korean teacher can hardly understand her when she speaks English in an English class, so I actually have to repeat what the student says to my co-teacher in slow broken English. I think Jersey girl and I could be very good friends :) I just hope she doesn't lose her English because of how crappy the curicuulum is here. The English she is learning at school here she learned in grade one in America, poor poor girl. After school I went to buy my gym membership with Tracy. It's 150,000 won for 3 months, which is resonable and no different than back home. All I had to do was sign this small piece of paper and have my finger print scanned. When I paid the guy 150,000 won cash he gave me 20,000 won back and said, "Discount." I was like, "Very nice, thank you very much!" He just smiled and we laughed and I'm set to start tomorrow, so that is very exciting. The best part is I have three friends that work out at the gym, so I can now have workout buddies. It will be so nice to get back into the routine of going to the gym. Then I rounded up some friends and we took a trip to Costco. I promised myself I wasn't going to buy anything too heavy this trip because I had to get it home on my own. Well, I decided to buy a big 4lb peanut butter because I eat it all the time...bad idea. It was the heaviest thing I bought. Lugging a huge Costco bag full of good stuff home is hard work when you have to take two trains and then a bus. Poor Tracy had it the worst because she is a short little thing and the bags were bigger than her and heavy, so she really struggled home. It was the greatest trip to Costco yet, we ordered more food at the cafeteria than we knew what to do with, we each bought one full cloth bag full of good stuff and we had a load of laughs. We are already ready to make our second date. When I got off the train at my station I was really struggling with my bag. As I was walking up the stairs to the bus this middle aged Korean guy came up to me and offered to help with my bag. I couldn't let him carry it by himself because it was that heavy, so we each held a handle up the stairs. It's nice that there are a few decent and kind people in Korea. I was completely shocked at his kindness, but I won't ever forget it. We met to go to Costco at 6:00 p.m. and I didn't get home until just after 10:00 p.m. so it was a bit of a later night than I was hoping for. Today at school I had the grade 4's once. I swear that the grade 4's are the worst when it comes to learning and speaking English. Anyways, I handed out the sentence scramble worksheet and you can always tell who the students are who know the answers and don't try or just genuinely don't care. I spent 10 minutes with this one student who moaned and groaned as I walked him through the worksheet. On top of that, he was playing with a stupid rubber band and not paying attention to my help. I took the rubber band away and told him to listen and try because I knew he knew the answers. Well, we did the first five questions together where I basically told him what to write and then he finally caught on and finished the last five questions on his own. I then congratulated him after bitching at him for the first five questions and told him that I knew he could do it. You got to build their confidence up if you expect them to continue to try or try at all. My last class of the day got cancelled because of the 'earthquake' drill that was taking place. Yes, an earthquake drill. Koreans are so obsessed with bad stuff happening to them that they take ever percaution to prepare and avoid it. MAD COW, Bird Flu, etc. In light of the recent earthquake in China they were practicing what would happen if there was an earthquake. I would think a fire would be more likely to start than an earthquake. Anyways, Jiny and I sat in the office during the drill, so we have no idea how to deal with one, well I do, but I'm not sure she does. Basically, get under a desk or in a doorway. Since my office is on the fifth floor of the school I'm pretty much dead if there is an earthquake. This earthquake drill took place at every school throughout Incheon today. I think it is ridiculous myself, but I don't make the rules. I spent the entire afternoon watching a movie and finally talking to my sister. I miss her a ton and finally getting to talk to her (MIA for over two weeks) and hearing her voice on Skype made my day. After school I had taekwondo, but since I didn't want to go to Bupyeong and hang out for an hour and a half before class started I went over to Nick's place and ate dinner and watched him clean his apartment after 5 weeks of it being dirty. GROSS! Then Tracy graced us with her presence and I hung out for about an hour and then headed to taekwondo. I'm hoping I can come visit Tracy or Nick every day before taekwondo to pass the time. I always dread going to taekwondo because it's so far to go two days a week and I don't get home until close to 10:00 p.m. Tomorrow is bowling night, so I must get my rest. P.S. My camera has been fixed for the second time and couldn't be more excited. Pray with me that it remains unbroken for a while longer.

The War Museum and The Dead Sea Scrolls!!

The entrance to the War Museum. The most amazing yet tragic statue at the War Museum.

Today Alison and I went to the War Museum since we missed seeing it yesterday. I had to be up early again, so this weekend didn't involve too much sleeping for me. We arrived in Seoul around noon and headed straight to the War Musuem, which was a 15 minute walk from Yongsan station.

Canada's plaque on the floor of a building outside the Museum.

You can view the entire outside area of the Museum for free, which was awesome. They had statues, tanks, vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, and boats that were all used in the wars. It was really amazing to see how well done the outside of the Museum was and that it didn't cost a penny to see it all.

Me imitating a brass soldier, probably not the most respectful thing to do.

It was a sweltering hot day out, so it was nice to be able to enjoy all that the outside of the Museum had to offer. Alison and I couldn't believe that something like this was free because in Canada you couldn't enjoy the outside of any Museum for free. Alison being choked by a big brass soldier.

Alison and I inside an army tank.

There was actually a lot to see outside the Museum, including a Korean wedding. The Museum allows couples to get married there and it really was quite beautiful. However, any one could watch the wedding and Korean weddings are nothing like Western weddings. People are very rude and disrespectful at Korean weddings. They talk on their cell phones, walk around, talk to each other, etc.

Traditional Korean wedding taking place outside.

Alison and I pose for a picture inside an army helicopter.

When we finally got inside the Museum we were stoked, because the Dead Sea Scrolls are in the War Museum for public viewing. It cost us 16,000 won to view the War Museum Exhibits and the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit alone is 15,000 won, so we figured for 1,000 won more we could see the War Museum as well. It was incredible. We toured the War part of the Museum first because it led to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, which was the end of the route. Below are just some random Museum pictures.

Me posing with a military man and his horse.

I'm standing over the 38th parallel. How cool is that?

Look Out World, I'm driving some sort of military vehicle.

When we had finally finished the main Museum part we ended with the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit and my heart was pounding just thinking about seeing them. Unfortunately, the entire exhibit was in Korean, but we were given a guidebook in English that we had to return when we finished viewing the exhibit. It was difficult not being able to read anything that was written in the actual exhibit, but it was exciting none the less. Now, pictures were not allowed to be taken because of the fragility of the Scrolls and the fact that they are ancient and can be damaged by exposure to light and heat. Well, I was a bad girl and snuck two pictures of them with the help of Alison and the flash off. So, for your viewing pleasure I introduce you to some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I apologize for the poor/blurry quality, but I had to act fast and they were in a glass case.

Once we were finished seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were unbelieveable, we both got our names written in Hebrew on a piece of paper that I plan on framing in my apartment. Thank goodness Alison can read Korean characters because that was the only way to type your name in. We made the Korean man in line behind us very angry because she had to go slow because she doesn't know where the characters are located on a computer. He was pushy, impatient and rude, so I'm glad we took a bit longer. We ended by buying some post cards and soft serve ice cream to end our Museum visit.

When we were done at the Museum we headed back to Yongsan to have some Thai food for lunch and then we headed back to Incheon. I ended up having to meet a friend for dinner at 6:00 p.m. which I ended up being late for because of the train and bus back from Seoul. We just ate some Kal Guk Su (noodle soup) in Yeonsu. The best part of dinner was the street fight we saw between two vendors. Now these men were in their 40's or 50's and they were fighting because one vendor stole the other vendors selling spot. It was the most hilarious fight I have ever seen. Man 1 who was the older man and far more aggressive started the yelling match that turned into a shoving match and then man 2 pushed man 1 to the ground and punched him. Man 1 then walked to his truck and took out his sneakers, sat down on the sidewalk and change from his sandals to sneakers and then got up kicked man 2 in the leg and then started beating him with his sandals. Lisa and I were laughing at this odd turn of events. I'm confused as to why man 2 didn't beat man 1 up while he was changing shoes. I mean it was so hysterical that these men were fighting and then one takes a break to change shoes and the other man watches and then they continue to fight. Meanwhile, man 3 is trying to break the fight up with no luck. About 10 minutes later this lady who I think worked at the Baskin Robbins they were fighting in front of, comes outside and gets between the two men and she sends man 1 to his truck and man 2 his truck. I couldn't believe my eyes, this tiny Korean lady broke up a fight between two grown men that another grown man couldn't even accomplish. Finally, the police showed up and heard both men's side of the stories and man 2 selling melons got told leave. Man 1 was the winner apparently because he got the selling spot. I'm not even joking when I say this fight lasted over 20 minutes. When we finally left the restaurant I went to pay for a gym membership, but the gym had closed earlier than I was told, so I will need to get on that tomorrow instead.

*The pictures are courtesy of Alison's camera.*

Weekends Just Aren't Long Enough :(

Friday was a great day because Jiny and I went to pick up my brand new microwave at E-Mart. It only cost 85,000 won and the school paid for it because they have so much money in their budget to spend on me. I can finally eat the delicious microwave popcorn I brought from Canada. After E-Mart Jiny dropped me off at home and I hooked up my microwave all by myself and then I got ready to meet up with the girls in Bupyeong for drinks and dancing. Missy was having all of the girls over to her place for some pre-drinks and chatting before we headed over to G7 for some more drinks, chatting and dancing. Left: John and Sam having too much fun at G7. Right: Erika and I at G7. The top picture is Missy and I at G7.

We headed to G7 around 11:00 p.m. and it was pretty dead there at first, but of course most parties don't get started in Korea until after midnight. Now, G7 is an ok bar, but it gets boring week after week and usually isn't a lot of fun unless you are drinking. Well, we did plenty of drinking, dancing and having a good time. We didn't end up leaving G7 until about 4:30 in the morning, so I got to bed just after 5 and had to be up early to head into Seoul on Saturday. Left: Missy, Erika and I getting our dance or drunk on. Right: Jenn and I are the most ridiculous chicka's. We Love Each Other!! Bottom: Erika, Myself and Missy perfecting the E.T. dance move. If you watched the video on the previous blog than this dance move should make sense to you.

So, I got about 5 hours of sleep before I had to meet Alison at the bus stop to head into Seoul. Damien needed to go into Itaewon to pay for his summer vacation trip in August, so Alison and I thought we would go and keep him company and then check out the War Museum. Well, we were a bit late meeting up with him and then he didn't get on the train we were on when we arrived in Bupyeong, so we ended up having to meet in Yongsan. When we got to Itaewon we headed straight to the travel agent and it took about 20 minutes and then Alison and I wanted to check out the English bookstore, so we headed there and ended up bumping into some friends from Incheon. I bought two used books for 5,000 won each, which was great and now I have books to read outside on a sunny day this summer. Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch at this amazing schwarma place and then tried to head to the War Museum. Well, the exhibits closed at 4:00 p.m. and it was nearly 3:00 and we couldn't get a taxi, so we decided to stay in Itaewon for a bit longer and check out a place called the 'Red Door' that sells Western foods. If you don't want to buy them in large quantities at Costco you can buy them individually there. They had Captain Crunch, Lays chip dip and chips, slim fast bars/drinks, Lipton sidekick, etc. It was a very tiny store, but necessary for those days you miss Western foods.

Then we headed back to Incheon and Damien and I decided to join Nick and friend for a soccer game. We seperated from Alison and headed to Munhak Stadium. The soccer games was extremely boring because first of all, it's soccer and second of all it was a tie 0-0. Literally, nothing happened the entire game. Once the game ended a group of us headed to Yeonsu for some delicious ribs and drinks (I stayed sober). Then Nick and some of them wanted to go to Hongdae, but it was getting late, so we headed to Nick's house for more drinks and finally around 12:30 four of them took a cab to Hongdae, which is in Seoul, so about a $40 cab ride and the rest of us headed home. Since I felt so dirty from sweating all day and Chris pouring beer in my hair at the soccer game, etc I decided to have a shower, change my bed sheets and check my face book/email. I finally got to bed around 3:00 a.m.

Strange Occurrences This Week!!

This week has been interesting. Monday to Wednesday there were no grade 5 or 6 students and teachers because they were away on a field trip. Jiny decided to take the day off on Tuesday, so I basically had the entire fifth floor and office to myself. I was very tempted to leave early, but I didn't want to risk getting caught. This week I'm with the grade 4's and the grade 3's. I'm having a very hard time working with the grade 4 English teacher because her English is really bad and she speaks to me like I'm a child. I think she forgets I know how to speak English and I'm the one there to teach it. I really dread to school on the days I have the grade 4's. The students aren't that bad, but the teacher is a real struggle. The one good thing about her is she knows how to discipline the students, so they don't act out in class again. In every class this week she has made the students who don't listen hold their arms over their heads until she tells them to stop. Some students had their arms over their heads for a good 15 minutes. In one class today she busted a student using her cell phone and made her come to the front of the class, give it to her and then go back to her seat and put her arms over her head. It makes the students really sad, but it's good discipline to make them stop talking, etc. Strange Occurrences: Tuesday on the train on my way to taekwondo this older Korean man was walking down through every train compartment saying, "Jesus Christ is with you!" He was basically trying to sell us on his religion. Then when Jiny and I were on our way back to school from the bank yesterday Koreans were standing on the street corner handing out religious pamphlets, again trying to get us to convert. The last strange religious occurrence was with an older lady on the bus. She was reading the Bible andhad pages of the Bible highlighted. That's pretty intense if you ask me, but no one is. Ok, so back to teaching talk. I love love love the grade 3's and this week they started the unit, "Happy Birthday!" Since I get complete control of teaching when I'm with the grade 3's you can imagine how much fun this unit is to teach. I made a great powerpoint presentation of how we celebrate birthday's in Canada and I played the most adorable youtube video of the 'Happy Birthday' song. The grade 3's thought it was so cute and laughed through the entire video. Mrs. Kim and I got to wear birthday hats and exchnage pretend gifts, it really was quite fun. Random students kept saying, "Teacher Julia, Birthday?" I'm like, "No. No. I wish, but my birthday is in winter." The thing about the grade 3's is that are actually interested in learning English, they have fun learning and their units are usually pretty fun to teach. Some of them speak better English than the grade 5's and 6's and the teachers. The grade 5's and 6's just don't try to learn English and just memorize the dialog from the textbook. The less work the better I guess. As for the grade 4's, they have the most boring units imaginable and it pains me to teach them because I'm bored out of my tree and they are bored out of their trees. Plus, the teacher is so monotone and boring to listen to and watch that I can understand why they are bored. They are on the unit, "How Old Are You?" and nothing in the textbook relates to the topic. The key phrases are, "Can you help me, please?" and "Sure, I can." Doesn't that just sound so enthralling? It's hard for me to even talk about it outside of class without wanting to fall asleep. Tuesday while I waited for taekwondo to start I went shoe shopping in the Bupyeong underground. I ended up buying two pairs of shoes from this one store and the guy that sold them to me gave me a discount. He was so great. I think I might end up going home with more shoes than I know what to do with because I bought a pair of sandals 15 minutes later. Oops! I also took my camera back to be fixed, so fingers crossed I get it next week, so I can start taking and continue taking more great Korea pictures. Wednesday night was bowling night as per usual. I came home from school and took a two hour nap and then I headed over to Tracy's to have some pre-drinks. We had an hour and a half before we had to meet everyone for bowling, so we watched popular Korean music videos by Jewelry, Wonder Girls and Big Bang. Then we headed for dinner of which I didn't eat because it was too late, so I ate beforehand and then we headed to bowling, which I did great at the first frame, but sucked in the second frame. I woke up this morning sick to my stomach because I had such a restless sleep, no I was not drunk/hungover. I was so tempted to call in sick and use one of my 15 sick days, but I couldn't do it. I went to school sick and Jiny told me I could go to the nurses' room after my classes were done or I could go home early if I was really in pain. After the little bit of lunch I ate I decided to stick the rest of the day out. I watched Mary Poppins and an episode of House while I waited for the day to end. I decided to skip out on taekwondo tonight because I didn't want to chance getting sicker, so I went to Lotte Mart after school and bought some necessary groceries then came home and blogged :) I couldn't end this blog without adding a link for the lastest Korean song and dance craze. This song is called One More Time by Jewelry. The dance move called, "E.T." is huge here it even has us waguks (foreigners) dancing along. I actually can't get enough of the song, but unless you live in Korea, it doesn't quite have the same effect. I hope you enjoy it: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=KenqrbWuGIQ

Seoul Survivor!!

This weekend was a normal two day weekend. On Friday I went out for dinner with Tracy, Holly, Alison, Nick, Chris, Paul and Kristy for Turkish. A new Turkish restaurant just opened in Yeonsu about 3 blocks from my apartment. Since Turkey is a Muslim country there was no alcohol served at it. The food was alright, but I don't know if I would go back. It wasn't as good as most authentic Turkish food. After dinner Tracy, Holly, Alison and I didn't feel like going out drinking because it was getting late and we all had to be up early Saturday. Instead we went to a local bar to have a beer, but they make you buy food if you want to have a drink and since we had just eaten we didn't want to buy food, so we left and went to the convenience store next door and each just bought a can of beer and sat outside at a picnic table. We chatted for about an hour and then we decided it was late, so we headed home our own separate ways. Saturday was a busy, but great day. I got up at 8 a.m. and went for a run and then I made myself a lunch for the day with some snacks, had a shower and met Alison at the bus stop to head to Myeong-dong for the day. Myeong-dong is in Seoul and it's a great area to go shopping. We got there around noon and pretty much spent the entire afternoon shopping. It was so much FUN! I bought so much stuff and for such decent prices. I bought a new pair of sweatpants and a polo shirt in Yeongsan (on the way to Myeong-dong) for $26. Then in Myeong- dong I bought a shirt, tank top, accessories that all cost $1 each, such a good deal, some nail polish that was $0.70 each, a beautiful dress for $28 (my most expensive purchase), some stuff for friends and family back home. When we were finished in Myeong-dong we took a cab to Itaewon, which also has great shopping, but we didn't go there to shop we went there to meet up with Tracy, Holly, Sophie and some of their friends. Itaewon is foreigner central because it is where all the military people hang out. We met them at a place called Gecko's, which was very westernized and full of waguks (foreigners). The drinks were expensive there, but I got to have a Cosmopolitan, which is the one drink I miss the most from back home, so that made my night. Since I was already in Seoul I decided I would stay and go to Hongdae with Brianna and some friends, but I had no where to put my clothes and I needed to change. Since I talked Alison into coming to Hongdae with me we both decided to go and buy some high heeled shoes and leggings for me, so I could just pair them with my new dress. We both bought shoes, which were more than we should have paid, but we were desperate and I bought two pairs of leggings. We headed to Hongdae around 10:30 p.m. and met up with Brianna, Mary Anne and Lisa (Bri's friend visiting from the USA). Alison and I had to put our stuff in a locker, so we didn't have to carry it around the bars, so we didn't want o leave Seoul until the trains started running again at 5 a.m. because it was just easier than having to come all the way back into Seoul the next day. We traveled from bar to bar in Hongdae and Bri, Mary Anne and Lisa left around 2 a.m. so Alison and I decided to eat some food and then go to another bar. I was starting to get really tired, so Alison suggested we go to a DVD bong, which is a place people go to "watch" a movie. We paid $12 to rent a movie, which includes a private room and I ended up falling asleep for the entire movie. Alison woke me up when the movie was over and headed to the train station to retrieve our stuff from the locker and then catch the train home. I was so exhausted I kept nodding off the entire train ride. We finally made it back to Incheon around 7:30 this morning and I slept until 4:00 this afternoon. I wasn't planning on having such a lazy day, but after the early morning on Saturday and the entire day of shopping I was exhausted. I was going to climb a mountain today, put it decided to rain, so I didn't feel so bad sleeping in and doing nothing. I've basically been doing laundry, catching up on TV shows and putting my Saturday purchases away. I'm just getting ready to eat dinner and watch more TV, so I will end this blog and Happy Victoria Day Long Weekend!! P.S. I will be getting my camera fixed AGIAN this week, so fingers crossed its useable and I will be back to posting great blog pictures next week.

Teacher's Day, Narnia and Costco!!

Yesterday was teacher's day here in Korea, which means that some schools got the day off. Not mine, I still had to show up and teach. The good thing about teacher's day is that all the teacher's get gifts from their students. I was really excited for this, but quite disappointed when I only received 2 pairs of socks :( My last class ended at 1:00, so Jiny, Park Jung-sun and I left at 1:30 and headed over to the CGV to catch a movie together. I made them go see Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian because it was opening day and the perfect opportunity to go. It was either Narnia or Ironman, and I'm not big on the comic books, unless it's Batman or Spiderman. I was so excited all day to be going to see that movie, so when we got to the theatre I was overjoyed like a little school girl at a Backstreet Boy's concert. Anyways, the CGV is 4 floors high with movie theatres on every floor. There is a huge arcade that has bating cages in it and there are a bunch of tacky stores and food stands. The popcorn they sell is Western tasting and good. When we walked into the theatre it was massive and get this, the seats are assigned. How great is that? No matter what, there will always be a seat for you and no one can take it. Plus, the theatre was way cleaner than in Canada, which surprised me because Korea is not a clean country. Now, to the best part, the movie. I own the entire Chronicle of Narnia series and I actually have it here in Korea with me to read whenever I feel like it. The movie closely resembled the book, which was nice because that is a rarity with books turned into movies. The movie was in English with Korean subtitles. It was an intense and all around good movie. It was funny, semi-scary, and magical. I know I sound like a total dork and I don't even care because I love this series more than Harry Potter and I didn't think that was possible. I think I will even go see the movie again while it is in theatres here. The first Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was better than Prince Caspian and has been on TV for the past week in preparation for the new one, so I got to re-watch that storyline and then continue it with Prince Caspian. In conclusion, the movie was AWESOMELY SPECTACULAR and go see it. After the movie I took the train to meet up with Erika, so we could go to Costco. Yes, that's right there is a Costco in Korea. It had 2 floors and the pizza/hotdogs taste the exact same as back home. It was really nice to be in something familiar to me and to love it so much. I ended up spending way more money than expected, but I won't need dish soap. hand soap or shampoo and conditioner, and batteries for the rest of the year. I also bought a membership card, so I can go to Costco whenever I want and I believe that will be at least once a month. I've become very popular amongst my friends since going to Costco and getting a membership because they all want to go with me the next time I go. The trek home from Costco sucked because my bags were so heavy and I took the train for 12 stops, so that was uncomfortable. We cabed back to Incheon, then I took the train and then a taxi home. Costco is my new favorite thing and I already have reason to go back :) Today at school we had to end the second period grade 5 class early because the students parents were coming into the school to watch their kids classes. It is much the same as parent teacher's interviews back home, but less private. The parents just sit in on a class and then ask the teacher questions afterwards. Back home you get one-on-one time with your kids teachers. After lunch Jiny, Park Jung-sun and I snuck off school property and went for a walk in the amazing park behind the school and then Jiny called the school to tell them her and I went to the bank, but we really went to Baskin and Robins and had ice cream. About an hour later we returned to school and back to work. I was sad to find out that the teachers' class was cancelled today because two of the four teacher's were away on a field trip. I made a great Power Point presentation on the topic of, My Family, and was really excited to show them, but now I have to wait until next week. I guess I have more time to perfect it now. *Thanks for the pictures of Simba though dad.* Anyways, I'm just heading down for a nap before I meet up with some friends for dinner and drinks, so until the next blog have a great long weekend in Alberta friends and family. I know I did on my past two long weekends :)

"What A Nice Day!"

This entire week I have been with the grade 5's. They started a new unit called, What A Nice Day. The first two days were spent with the students learning dialogue that had, What A ( ) ( ), as sentences. Then came the What A Nice Day chant, which basically went: Oh Nice, Oh Nice, What A Nice Day - repeat Oh, It's So Beautiful - repeat Oh Yeah, Wonderful - repeat Anyways, so students started dance along with the actions on the CD, which was really cute and I wish I had my camera handy, but that didn't happen. However, by the second class I was already wanting to go deaf because the chant got played 2 or 3 times in each class and I had it memorized by the second time it played. There is only so much of a song you can hear in one day before you want to go crazy. Tuesday after school I went to taekwondo and ended up bruising my right foot by my pinky toe, so that was a drag. Wednesday was badminton tournament day at school. The students all went home early and all the teachers gathered in the gym and played badminton. It was divided up by grade. I haven't played badminton in a long time, but I'm pretty good at it. I was on the badminton team in junior high. Anyways, the Koreans are insane badminton players and they play very intensely, so I was bit shy and worried at first that I wouldn't perform that good. We played in teams of two and my team won the first game. The final came down to the grade 1 and grade 6 teachers. I of course, get dragged out to play in one of the final games. The teacher I was with and I didn't perform very good and we ended up losing the game. The grade 1 teacher's won the tournament and the grade 6 teachers came in second. I'm ok with that because we didn't finish last :) Wednesday night I went to dinner and bowling with the usual crew and I didn't break a 100, which was really disappointing because usually I'm a better bowler than that. I will have to step up my game next week. I didn't go after bowling because I was far too tired and getting up early for school and teaching is too tough. The second time I had the grade 5's this week they had do a role-play, which I led. It was quite funny because the grade 5 students were actually really into the role-playing activity. It got kind of frustrating at times because the grade 5's were talking and moving around while other groups were presenting, but there is only so many times you can yell at them to 'shut up.' I also decided to hand out sour soother candies at the beginning of each grade 5 class to the students who answered my introduction questions. Every single student volunteered to speak up on candy days and were dying for me to pick them. I knew all it would take was candy. Park Jung-sun, the grade 5 English teacher ended up really like the sour soothers, so she was really sad when I told her I got them sent to me from Canada and that you can't buy them in Korea. I told her I would get my wonderful family to send me some for her in the next care package they send me and she was so grateful! I don't think she actually thought I would seriously do that for her, but she's adorable, so I will.

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Birthday Mom!!

Well, with today being Mother's Day and all I can't forget to dedicate a post to my mother and all the other mother's out there. She will hate me for posting this, but she loves me none the less. I imagine that my father and sister treated my mom great, made her breakfast in bed, gave her flowers and made her feel special. Feel free to put my name on all the cards and gifts just like I'm there :) I actually used my Korean cell phone today on the Island to call and wish my mom Happy Mother's Day, but unfortunately she wasn't home and my phone ran out of minutes in the middle of talking to my sister and dad.

Lucky for my mom it's her birthday as well, so she gets extra special treatment. It's actually her birthday today in Korea, but in Canada she still hasn't woken up to her birthday yet. I hope she had a wonderful Mother's Day and I hope she has a wonderful Birthday. Anyways, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! I LOVE YOU!!

Sorry that this blog was short, but when you have a mom as great as mine she deserves a blog dedicated to just her.

Deok-Joek do!!

This weekend was another Korean holiday celebrating Buddha's Birthday. That meant that we got another three day weekend, so my friends and I headed to Deok-Joek Island for the weekend. We left early Saturday morning on the 10:00 a.m. ferry. This is a picture of the adorable little Korean girl who loved Jenn's dog Bailey. She was really nervous trying to pet him at first, but then she finally did it and got more brave. Every time she pet him she would clap and laugh. She was the cutest thing. Unfortunately, for me I had to spend most of the ferry ride with Bailey on my lap and her reaching across me to pet him because I was in the aisle seat. However, she was way too cute to care.We arrived on the Island about a half hour/forty-five minutes later. It was chilly when we left Incheon, but when we arrived on the Island the sun was shining. Getting off the boat brought us fresh air, which is non-existent in Incheon, so it felt great to be able to breath in the air and not gag.

We had to wait about a half hour when we got off the boat for our ride to come and pick us up and take us to the place we were staying at. When the man finally arrived to pick us up he started to freak out that Jenn had brought her dog Bailey with her. Apparently, there was a no dogs allowed policy at his hotel, but Jenn was told by Missy that the dog was allowed. When we got to the hotel Missy and her co-teacher (via cell phone) tried to deal with the dog situation. Then Erika called her Korean friend and explained that we would pay more for Bailey to stay inside the hotel with us and for her to explain to the man that Bailey would be outside with us when we were outside and that he would only be inside to sleep. In Korea they don't quite understand that a dog can be house trained and they thought Bailey would "do his business" inside the hotel. Anyways, Erika and her friend got the situation dealt with and Jenn just paid $30 extra to have Bailey stay inside. Jenn was panicking and apologizing non-stop for something that wasn't her fault because everyone thought Bailey was allowed before we left for the Island. This is a picture of our hotel and one of the adorable dogs outside the hotel.

The dog dealing situation lasted about forty-five minutes and then we finally got up to out room to unpack and settle in. Since it was such a gorgeous day out we all changed into our beach wear and headed to the beach for some sun and fun. We spent the entire day on the beach drinking, chatting, listening to music, playing catch, volleyball, etc. Left: Brianna and Erika enjoy the beach life. Right: Missy and Mary Anne enjoy the fun in the sun.

I completely underestimated the heat of the sun in Korea. I did bring sunscreen and I did apply it to the parts of my body that I knew would burn instantly, so my nose, shoulders and arms. Well, we were out in the sun all day long, literally 6 hours. I didn't realize until we went back to our hotel for dinner just how burnt our got. My mom is totally saying, "You should know better than that. You burn easy." The burn didn't start to hurt until I put clothes on and moved my body around. It hurt mostly when I slept, which was basically a mat on the floor. It was so uncomfortable and the floor was so hard my back is still aching.

Anyways, the first night we ate and got changed into warmer clothes and headed back down to the beach to enjoy a fire and more drinks. Bri and Mary Anne ended up going to collect wood and we started our own little fire, but by the end of the night our fire for seven ended up being a fire of thirty. I was rooming with Erika and Jenn, which was great because we were the three girls that always turned in early and actually got sleep.

Day Two: Started with Erika and I going for a hike. We wanted to hike up the mountain that had the pagoda, but we couldn't figure out which path we had to take to get to it. Instead we walked along the main road and took this one path up a mountain. It was an intense hike, but the view along the way was amazing and the view from the top was even better. When we got to the top we saw that we were still two mountains away from the mountain with the pagoda, so we couldn't figure it out. All of these pictures are just random pictures of the mountain and the view from the top looking at the beach and the town. You can also see how far away the pagota actually was from our mountain in the bottom right picture.After the hike we headed back to the room to eat some food and change and head back down to the beach. I was scared of getting burnt even more so I was pretty covered up, which was ridiculous because the sun was out again and it was a beautiful day. I don't mind taking a few risks and living dangerously sometimes, but when it comes to skin cancer, no thanks! We hung out again on the beach all day and then headed back to the room for dinner. Jenn, Erika and I ended up taking a nap that lasted longer than anticipated. We fell asleep when it was light outside and woke up to darkness. The three of us contemplated whether or not we wanted to go to the beach that night. Erika and I ended up going and Jenn and Bailey stayed behind. Things got a little wilder for some of the people in our group than it did the first night, but it was fun all the same. I think it was a lot more fun the second night than the first night. Erika and I ended up turning in early again because we weren't enjoying the drunk obnoxious people at the beach anymore.

Today was our last day on the Island and we woke up to rather chilly weather. Erika and I had planned on climbing the pagoda mountain, but we were unsure the weather would hold up and we had to be checked out by 12:30 p.m. Instead, we just chilled all day in the hotel until the owner drove us back to the ferry terminal. They were nice enough to let us stay in one of the three rooms we had booked to chill and relax while we waited for the time to pass. We were each responsible for cleaning our own rooms, which seemed silly because they will never be clean, but they don't even care for them, so that worried me. Anyways, the guys decided to drink while we hung out and that got loud and then the entire van ride back to the ferry consisted of the guys playing 'ki bi bo' (rock, paper, scissors) to see who would have to drink some soju. Basically, loser drinks. The driver and her Korean passenger kept telling us to keep it down and Jenn videotaped the entire ride. The guys were drunk before we even made it to the dock and then the entire time we were on the dock the guys were loud, Koreans stared and foreigners acted like they didn't know us. It was hilarious and I thought it was a fun time, but some people are just uptight. Left: Missy and I waiting for the ferry. Right: Me and Erika on the ferry.The ferry ride back was quick and I was so glad to get home and unpack and do some laundry and write this amazing blog. This picture is the entire crew. Top Row: Sam, John, Gavin and James. Girls Row: Mary Anne, Alexis, Missy, Brianna, Jenn, Me, Erika. Front: James

*NOTE: I managed to take only 11 pictures on my camera before it decided to break again. It broke in the exact same spot that just got fixed. I'm extremely pissed and now I need to get my co-teacher to call them tomorrow and get my money back or fixed again for FREE. I will add more pictures when friends post them and I steal them to post on this blog.*

Invasion of Privacy

Yesterday I booked a bikini wax at this cute little esthetics place in the Bupyeong Underground Shopping Center. I was really excited because I get bikini waxes on a regular bases back home, so I will try to keep up with them here. Anyways, I show up for my appointment tonight and the waxing lady, whom I'm convinced is the owner, calls me into the wax room. There are two beds in the waxing room and they are side by side with just enough space for a human to fit down the middle. I walk into the room expecting it to be just me and her, well, to my surprise there was a girl being treated in the bed beside mine and the only thing separating us was a divider that was 5 feet tall. At least there was a curtain, so the clients and workers outside couldn't see in. I was like, "OK, I can do this." Then the lady waxing me gestures to me to drop my pants, I was thinking, Right here? With you watching? Sure enough she stood there and waited for me to take my pants off. I was thinking that if she asked me to take off my underwear I was done. Back home you have your own private room with a door that locks and you put on disposable underwear and cover yourself with a towel while the esthetician waits outside. Not in Korea, so since I was already out of my comfort zone I just went with the flow. Then she has me lay down on the bed (with my underwear on) and she puts paper towel around my underwear, so no wax gets on it and she can keep the underwear out of the way. Then she goes about her waxing business. She finished one side of me and then the girl that was working on the client beside me comes over and I'm not even joking, stands over the bed and watches me get waxed. Normally this would make any human being completely uncomfortable and they would likely complain, but I was pretty much stuck in the position I was in because of the language barrier, the fact I had no pants on and the wax lady continuing to wax away. The girl that was watching didn't leave the room until I was done and the lady waxing me must have been telling her how to wax while she watched because they kept mumbling every once in a while. I wanted to complain at first about the audience, but I honestly stopped caring and had no energy. I was actually waiting for more people to come in and start watching. The lady waxing me was very precise, but she moved my underwear around a lot and came awfully close to 'you-know-where' a couple of times. In Korea there is no such thing as personal space, so the girl watching and the lack of 'taking off my pants' privacy, etc was nothing out of the ordinary for them. Anyways, once the wax ended I was relieved because I got to escape the interesting session with a bit of dignity still left in me. While the lady was waxing me she asked me if I wanted to get a pedicure because she saw my toes and kind of freaked out. I've been having an issue with the big toe on my left foot. It got infected and was barely attached to my skin, so I clipped it off for fear of snagging it and ripping the little bit of skin that was left on it. Well, she pointed out the grossness of it and I explained it was ok, but sore. I mean, first I have lack of privacy and now you embarass me with the toe situation, what's next? The bikini wax cost a lot more than I would have paid back home, but I didn't have a lot of time to look for cheaper or leave Incheon to go get it done before Deok-Joek Island this weekend. Since I'm off to the Island for the weekend and won't be back until Monday evening that means I will be MIA from blogging until then. There are three new blogs for your weekend enjoyment. Sorry, if this blog was too graphic, but my story was kind of funny and needed to be shared. I will take loads of pictures on the Island and write my blog about the trip as soon as I return.

Crying Kid Count = 2

Although this week was only four days long it seemed longer. I also lost my patience with students this week and that hasn't happened yet. First time for everything and it was bound to happen eventually. In my first grade 6 class of the day we were playing this really fun partner game where I say a date and the students have to circle it on a calendar. Anyways, Jiny handed the calendars out and the students got in their pairs except this one group where I was like, ok, cut the paper in half and give one half to this group and one half to this group. They kept pointing and saying that the girl cutting was paired with this boy over there. I was like, I know, but she doesn't need two calendars. Then the two boys in the group were like don't take our calendar we need one. Then I tried to explain that the girl with scissors cutting was cutting a calendar for herself and partner and the two boys. I got so frustrated I walked away. See what I mean about my patience wearing thin. Then in the grade 5-6 class I was asking the introduction questions and I randomly called a students number. This boy stands up and he could hear what I was asking, but didn't answer and was really quiet, so I was like, I can't hear you. He goes, I'm fine. Then I asked, What day is it today? He just stood there looking down and all the students are yelling Friday! Then I was like, Friday and he nods "Yes." I was like, can you say Friday and he nodded "Yes" again. Then I was like say F-r-i-d-a-y. He finally says it and then sits down. Well, Park Jung-sun starts teaching and glance over the classroom and the boy was crying. That is the second student in 2 weeks that I have made cry. I just want them to learn to speak up and repeat after to me to help them, but maybe I came off to strong. Oops! I also find Koreans cry over the silliest things. I wasn't getting mad at the boy I was just trying to get him to day the word. Another foreign teacher here and I have a competition going now to see who can make the most students cry, but it can't be on purpose. I know that sounds terrible, but they cry a lot here. Ok, brace yourselves for this next part. In my teacher crush class today this student was wearing a shirt with dolphins jumping out of the water on it. Cute, until you read what it says. Below the dolphins was written, "Can I put my thingle in your thingle?" OMG, I was like, sweet Jesus, please don't let that mean what I think it means. The one thing about Korea is all their shirts make no sense English wise or are completely inappropriate, but they have no idea. Then at lunch this girl was wearing a cute shirt with a sparkly girl on it and the bottom left corner said,"Betty Boop." However, the girl on the shirt was not Betty Boop. I mean really, get it together. Lastly, this is just random, but most Koreans (men mostly) have really bad hair and most Koreans also have very bad teeth, men and women included.

Short Week!

Tuesday morning was back to school for everyone after a long weekend. I got up at my usual time and waited outside for Mrs. Kim who drives me every morning. Well, I started to get worried because it was 8:28 a.m. and no Mrs. Kim. I decided to call her and to my utter horror she had booked the day off for vacation, but she forgot to call me and tell. I was starting to panic, because I'm suppose to be to school by 8:30 a.m. and I now had to wait for a bus and the ride alone takes 30 minutes. I called Jiny and she didn't answer, so I sent her a text and she got back to me saying, "Ok, do not worry." That eased my panic. I got to school at 9:02 a.m. and it must have been my lucky day because the first class of the day Jiny got wrong on the time table, so it got cancelled. I ended up only have one grade 5 class that day, so I just watched TV and relaxed and tried to de-stress from my hectic morning.

I joined a foreigner's taekwondo class because it was FREE and I always wanted to try it. It started Tuesday and it goes until June 26th every Tuesday and Thursday. Our uniforms are included in that FREE cost. The class was great and it was an awesome work-out. I'm hoping it will make me more flexible and gain some muscle.

Wednesday I only had 2 classes. One grade 6 and one grade 5. I was suppose to be teaching grade 4's this week and not grade 6's, but the grade 4's are on holidays or something. I was relieved because I'm not a fan of the grade 4 English teacher. Since, my first two classes were done by 10:30 a.m. I had the whole rest of the day to watch TV shows and get as caught up on them as I could. I was successful. After school I walked for about 30 minutes before I decided to catch a bus because I had to shower and get ready for dinner and drinks in Yeonsu with some friends. Right now along my route home from school the city workers are literally, tearing up every bit of sidewalk. All the bricks have been removed and now it is just solid, rocky, bumpy ground. Just when I thought the sidewalks couldn't get any worse in Korea.

Dinner was the most delicious ribs in the world. They are fairly expensive, but they are so decadent they are worth every penny. After dinner a group of us headed over to the Western bar Far From Home for more drinks and darts and beer pong. I wasn't drinking because I had to work the next day and I'm trying to cut back :) To end of the long night that consisted of me getting home at 1:30 a.m. resulted in Andrew chipping his tooth and freaking out about it. Him and his girlfriend Laura were drunk play fighting and they fell together on the concrete on the patio and his mouth hit her back or something and chipped a piece of his tooth off. Needless to say, he was rather embarrassed and he's still upset about it. Left: Nick and Andrew. Right: Laura and Andrew prepare for beer pong.Thursday I let my sleep a little later because of a late night on Wednesday. I had 4 classes, but the first one didn't start until 10:40 a.m. In two of my grade 5 classes when I was asking introduction questions to random students, two boys in two different classes responded the same way. Julia: How are you today? Boys: I'm fine Julia: What is the date today? Boys: Look around and get help from other students and Park Jung-sun and I, but still don't stay anything. I ask the question again. What is the date today? Then they both shake their heads "No" that they aren't going to answer, so Park Jung-sun let's them sit down. I was like, Oh Hell No! How are they going to learn if they don't try? I didn't have the patience to argue.

The grade 6 classes are on the When is your Birthday unit. There is a hilarious skit on the CD where this young boy just starts randomly clapping for his friend playing the violin. The students laughed and copied the kid on the CD in every single class. I was suppose to teach a grade 6 class at 2:00, but instead Jiny asked me if I was tired and I thought she was just asking because she was too. I responded "Yes" and she was like you stay here and relax and I will go teach. I was like that isn't necessary, but she insisted, so I didn't argue and watched more TV.

I had my second taekwondo class on Thursday as well. It's great, but the trek to Bupyeong is harsh.

On my way home on the bus from the train station this Korean guy gets on and he was, no word of a liar, at least 6'0" tall. The two guys sitting in front of me couldn't stop staring at him and they were whispering about him. He was definitely unique and the best part is he had great hair.

Since, I leave for Deok-Joek Island Saturday morning, I ran to the market last night just as they were closing to buy some fruits and vegetables and then I came home, washed and cut them and packed my clothes suitcase. Bad News: I can't seem to find my favorite pair of Old Navy sweatpant shorts and it deeply saddens me.

Children's Day Long Weekend :)

Getting back to school on Friday was hard because I had five classes, plus my teacher's class. I had only one 50 minute break the entire day, which was difficult, but I survived. It was a sad day as well though, because it was my last day with the grade 3's and the grade 6's until June. Now, I'm teaching the grade 4's and grade 5's for the month of May. Jiny was telling the grade 6's in each class we taught that it was my last day and in my favorite grade 6 class with the "winking, heart shaped finger" girls they all ran up to me at the end of the class and gave me great big hugs. I was concerned that one of them might kiss me, so I had to hold my head high.

After school I went for dinner in Bupyeong with Nick, Danielle and Adrianna, but not before I spent money at the Bupyeong underground. We went for Indian and since I hate curry I just ate nan bread and tomato soup that was delicious. After dinner I had a date with Brianna and the girls to go noraebonging. Brianna's parents were in town, so she wanted them to experience noraebong. Then we headed to Rock Bar to catch up with everyone, but Bri and her parents, Mary Anne and I decided we wanted to catch the last trains home, so we took off at midnight.

Saturday was a waste of a day for me. I did absolutely nothing all day Saturday. I got caught up on season 5 of One Tree Hill. I didn't leave my apartment until midnight when I went for a late night run. I managed to find a dry cleaners by my place during that run and I just had to take pictures of this one love motel by my apartment. This is where my parents will stay if they were to come visit me. I guess the Statue of Liberty can be found anywhere, including Korea. Anyways, I didn't mind being at home all day because I got to sleep in, chill out, do laundry and clean. This was my first Saturday since I got here that I had no plans.

Sunday was a different story. I got up early to shower and get ready because I was heading to the lantern festival with some friends. The train ride to Insa-dong took about an hour and a half because we had to transfer twice and Insa-dong isn't that close. We got to Insa-dong around 4:00 p.m. and the festival was crowded with people. We were hoping to make lanterns, but the event was full. Instead we went and grabbed some food and drinks. As soon as we finished eating it started to rain, which was a bummer, but we had come prepared with umbrellas. The Lantern Festival parade didn't start until 7:00 p.m. This festival is in preparation for Buddha's birthday on May 12th, which also happens to be my mom's birthday. Anyways, the floats are all made of the same paper they use to make lanterns, so when you see some of the pictures below you can see how incredible they really are.

We didn't stay for the whole Lantern Festival parade because we had been there most of the day and just wanted to get back to Incheon before it got to late. Plus, we were starting to get hungry again and decided it would be easier and less busy to take the train home before the parade ended. I have included some videos at the end of my blog of some really cool military performance at the pre-Lantern Festival parade.

Today I slept in, but not as late as I could have. The girls and I had planned to go to Mt. Buhansan in Seoul, but Jenn has tonsillitis and the rest of the girls just wanted to relax, so I got hold of Tracy and she said she was going to a park somewhere in Incheon, so I tagged along. Tracy, Holly and I met and headed out to Incheon Grand Park on the bus. Now, I knew for sure that the bus #16 would get us to Incheon Grand Park, I just had no idea it would take 90 minutes to do that. We were getting worried through most of the trip that we would end up back where we started because it was taking so long, but we got there. During our bus ride we had an old man stare at us until his stop, I took a picture of a hemorrhoids ad on the bus, we found the New Zealander bar, and we saw places we never knew existed.

I apologized a million times for taking the girls on a wild goose chase to the Park, but I did get us there in the end. Holly and Tracy thought it was actually hilarious and a lot of fun that we were on the bus for so long. Tracy called it 'Survivor' because it was basically, who can last the longest on the bus. We definitely snagged that prize. When we finally got to the Park we only had about 20 minutes to walk around before we had to head to meet a friend of Holly's for dinner by the Incheon Bus Terminal. It was kind of a blessing in disguise because the park was packed with parents and their children for Children's Day.

It was crappy that we didn't have more time at the park after we took a bus all that way and considering the sun was shining beautifully, but we had dinner plans, so we had to keep them. Tracy and I decided that since summer is fast approaching and it will be hotter than hot out we will go back to the Incheon Grand Park and bring a picnic, frisbees, kites, etc. There were so many kids at the park it reminded me of the end of Mary Poppins when they sing "Let's Go Fly A Kite" and every one is flying a kite.

Holly told us that if we take bus #103 we will go straight to the Incheon Bus Terminal. Tracy and I believed her and I was in no position to argue after the ridiculous bus ride I made us take to the park. We all got on the #103 and were felling pretty good about it because we recognized a lot of places we passed. Well, our bus bad luck started again with the #103 ahead of us getting in a car accident, so its passengers got put on our bus. Then about 10 minutes down the road our bus slammed on his breaks so hard that an older lady standing got thrown backwards (both feet leaving the ground) and landed on a girl's lap. I got jerked forward and my back started killing me after that and quite a few people screamed bloody murder. Then the bus driver gets off the bus, takes a picture of something and gets back on and doesn't say anything to anyone about what just happened. We wouldn't of understood anyways, but we could have attempted to ask people around us. In case I haven't mentioned in previous blogs the buses in Korea I have named as 'Death on Wheels.' Eventually, the bus started to drift in a direction Holly was unfamiliar with, so since we were already late meeting her friend she decides we should get off the bus and take a cab. This is a picture of Tracy (sunglasses) and Holly on the bus pretending they are doing ok.We get off on this sketchy side street, but we managed to catch a cab and make it to the Bus Terminal only 45 minutes late. We felt awful for leaving Holly's friend hanging, but the bus route was unexpected. Tracy vowed to never take another bus again, but she got on one after dinner to go home. Needless to say after our day from hell, which will go down in the record books we did have a blast and I made it home in one piece. It is now bed time because I have to return to school tomorrow for the start of another new school week.