Mid-March 2: Friday to Sunday

On Friday, I went to dance class and the instructor's husband, who sort of runs the counter, handed me a CD with some of the music from class. I had asked Kyeong He if it would be ok if I asked the teacher and she just called for me and they made me the CD. I was very excited. After class, on the way home, I used my limited Korean and bought a basket of strawberries off of a truck. I was super excited about it because I've always been too much of a chicken to try and buy things from street vendors. I will buy some more this week and take a picture, but it's a huge bowl of strawberries for $5. Then I met Corinne and we walked to a park area and met Jamie and Olivia and had a picnic. It was a little chilly, but very sunny and we sat on some rocks and talked and shared snacks. Corinne had made dip with some seasoning that a friend sent her and some home-made yogurt she had made. That discussion led to "hippie" lifestyle things because Jamie just switched to cloth diapers as well. We walked around for a little bit after lunch, then we went to school and Jamie went home.

Hamster wheel gym equipment in the park where we ate lunch. I tried using my legs to do this, but the wheel starts spinning fast and it's scary. Then someone figured out you're supposed to use your arms, which worked better. Then someone else figured out it was for kids.

My class schedule switched again so now I'm teaching writing classes instead of listening class. I basically prefer this because I didn't like the listening book and I think the kids understand me better when I explain and correct writing. After work Dallas came to my apartment and helped me carry my toaster oven over to his place. I brought the strawberries with me and ate a bunch while we set up for a game of Catan. Then we made Nutella cookies. The first recipe he looked at required the dough to be refrigerated for an hour, so he kept looking. The one we ended with was super easy and made 15 cookies (which took 3 trays in the toaster oven). They were super sweet and kind of oily, but not too bad. At that point we tried some raspberries he had bought and they were really sour. I tried putting the 2 together, but it didn't make either better. Then we watched X-men First Class and fell asleep.

On Saturday morning I talked to my brother via kakao talk. It was really nice talking to him and he makes me laugh in ways that other people can't. For example, most people don't melt the bottoms of their shoes off in their backyard fire pits. Then Dallas made us a huge breakfast of pancakes, salad and fruit. Our pottery class was canceled, so we went downtown to get the suit he picked out last week. We met one of his co-teachers and her husband there and looked at her little baby. Then the store clerk wanted to take his picture and I just laughed. We walked around downtown for a long time and he bought some shoes and a tie and some floor cushions that I think were a waste of money. One thing that I find funny when we go shopping is how often the store clerks look to me/ask me about my opinion when we tried stuff on, even after explaining that we are just friends (because they always ask). In the Korean dating arena (and less-so in the American one) if the girl doesn't like it, the boy doesn't get it. Dallas tries on all kinds of things that I don't like. Sometimes he gets them and sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes he looks like a boy band member and sometimes he pulls off whatever weird thing he bought. I just think it's funny when he tries something on and instead of looking at him, the clerks turn to me.

After shopping, we had coffee and talked about some past relationships. Then we ate solangtang. After dinner we went to Emart because I needed to buy snacks for IEC game night. We decided to do ice cream floats, so I got ice cream, Coke (because they don't have root beer) and orange juice (which Brandon likes because he says it ends up tasting like a creamsicle). I also got some crackers and cookies for snacks. We cabbed it back to my house and dropped off stuff, then walked to church to set up. 10 or so people showed up this time, but at different times. Again, I like that amount of people because we can play some smaller games, but it annoys me when people RSVP yes, then don't show. First we played a game called "Funglish" where you have to get people to guess words by using adjective tiles on a board labeled "definitely, kind of and not". So say your word is "ghost", you could say "definitely dead, white and scary" and "not living or real". You aren't allowed to speak or nod yes or no, but if asked a direct question you can try to use a tile and answer it. Turns out I am a horrible clue giver, but a good guesser. Jamie beat me by 1 point! It's a good party game because everyone places by themselves, but you give clues as partners so you're interacting the whole time. After that we had floats and chatted. Then Brandon went home with the baby and 2 other girls went home to study. So there were 6 of us and I suggested "Ticket to Ride" because Jamie likes it, I knew Dallas would like it and it's easy to learn. Only 5 people can play though, so I sat out and "consulted" when people needed help. Then 2 other people showed up and we played 3 hands of Uno while they finished the other game. Then the 2 Koreans left so we had 6 "native" speakers and decided to play a game of 30 Seconds. I played on a team with Cara (a new girl who's been in Jinju for 3 weeks) and Lenny (a guy who I just met, but who's been in Korea going on 3 years now). We kicked butt against Jamie, Dallas and Amanda. Cara is super funny when she gives clues because she gets really excited and animated about it. After that we decided to call it a night. I went back to Dallas's and we ate the chocolate cookies again - they were better the second day (and they were cold because he had put them in the fridge). We watched some random videos on YouTube then fell asleep.

On Sunday morning I got to talk with my sister and then my grandma for a few minutes. Back in the States it was her 90th birthday and the family (minus me) was all together having a birthday dinner party for her. She was excited to talk to me, but has a hard time with technology, so it didn't last long. It was really good getting to speak with her, but then I got super sad and homesick for a few minutes. I love being here, but sometimes it is really hard to not be with everyone you love. After showering etc. Dallas and I met up and went to Kilogram for brunch. We split an egg, ham and cheese sandwich and a mushroom salad.

Mushroom salad - it had tons of schrooms - 3 or 4 varieties. The flavor was actually quite good.

Sunday was Saint Patrick's day, but nobody here really celebrates it. I did though! Dallas did too, but he really "celebrated" on Friday for his class and rented a sparkly green costume jacket. None of the teachers or students had any idea why he was wearing it, but they all seemed to enjoy it. I know I laughed hysterically when he stopped by my house that morning.

Dallas in his St. Paddy's Day jacket. He looked like a cheesy TV game show host.

My nod to green

After brunch we went to church together. He had to leave right after the sermon, but I stayed again for the discussion group. Today I prayed for guidance and reassurance that I'm supposed to be here and to trust God's plan for me. Then a group of 8-9 of us went to a place called Gabeul Garden for lunch. I had a spicy pork rib soup with ginseng. It was really good and not as spicy as I was expecting. The place was empty except for us, but they apparently do big weddings and things too and a group of people showed up as we were leaving. One weird/cool thing is that the place is kind of separated into two buildings with a bamboo area and a river type thing in between them. Part of the floor is also glass and has a "river" running under it, but it actually looks kind of like sewage because the glass/water are kind of foggy and you can see the water shooting out of a pipe. After lunch I walked back with Ilani and Cara and while they went to get ice cream, I went home for a little bit, then went to Dallas's. He ordered dinner and I ate a couple of dumplings and some pineapple while we watched "Once Upon a Time" because I was 2 episodes behind. Then we played a game of Catan and I went home and started organizing pictures, cleaned my kitchen, and wrote some of this blog.

Soup - the weird red thing is the top right is called a jujube, which apparently is some sort of date. I didn't eat it because it look weird, but I might try one next time I have the chance.

Glass floor with a view of the "river"

It was nice having a semi-relaxing weekend after such a busy week. Now I get to do it all again!