I'm Lazy, yet oddly productive

On Wednesday I had a tough day. I was stressed about some things going on and one of my classes got switched last minute, which throws off my game (I am a planner people!!! It's probably a product of both nature and nurture as I lived off lists since I could read - chores!) and I have a crazy lady day every now and then.

Today was much better. I woke up extra early because I had my house cleaned! I followed another of my mother's tricks and shoved the majority of crap in a bag, then shoved that into the small closet thing I have. So it looked "neat". The real reason I wanted a cleaning person was for my bathroom. It started to look like a frat house's and I really didn't want to clean it. I asked Kyeong He how much it would cost and she said "$40" and I said "sold". She set everything up for me, including buying some supplies (like rubber gloves) and I can't thank her enough.

So back to my day - I woke up and met Dallas for coffee across the street at Yummy House. Then I went to school with him for a bit and ran into 3 of my students. I helped him stuff some plastic Easter eggs for his class, then left to meet Kyeong He and the cleaning lady. When they walked in the house, Kyeong He said it was too clean and that I should have let her clean my house instead, and that she would just call her mom over. That made me feel guilty. Not guilty enough to actually clean myself, mind you, but guilty. The lady apparently felt bad for not having enough to do and wanted to do my laundry (I said no because I don't like other people touching my delicates) and then wanted to cook for me, but I didn't have any food for her to cook with. I told Kyeong He I would go shopping first next time. It was the best $40 I've spent in a long time - she cleaned for close to 4 hours and scrubbed that bathroom!

While she was cleaning, I went back to Yummy House with Kyeong He and treated her to breakfast sandwiches and coffee. We chatted about work, she asked me some English questions and then helped my Korean pronunciation of some homework questions I had. Then we went to Diaso and Emart because I needed to buy a few more things for the Easter egg hunt on Saturday and a church potluck on Sunday (I found Italian dressing and was sooooo happy about it - easy pasta salad!!)

Then I had to meet a girl named Kylie and drop off some egg hunt supplies with her. After that I went to lunch at Paris Baguette and read 2 days worth of Bible readings (I was behind). Then I went back to Yummy House and met Dallas. The ladies there now think I am crazy, but they kind of already thought that because I'm not dating Dallas.

I got a lot done at work today too - caught up in 180, graded lots of essays, chatted with a coworker and studied for Korean class. Class tonight was a little tense because one of the other students argued with my teacher about his teaching style. I of course was uncomfortable because I hate confrontation of any kind - including asked for (he asked if a certain thing was helpful and she said no). It ended ok and then I went home to my nice, clean house and promptly messed it up by throwing pants on a chair and making scrambled eggs for dinner. It's still better than it was!!

Cindy's birthday weekend

This post is going to be a little bit boring compared to usual bday posts. Mainly because of lack of pictures.

On Saturday morning, Dallas and I caught the bus to Daegu. The ride was normal with no problems and we got there around noon. Dallas and I went to Paris Baguette (his favorite place apparently, although I'm not sure why) and ate salads. We went to our usual hotel and dropped our stuff off. Cindy couldn't meet up with us because she had some other things going on, but would meet us later in the evening. So we went downtown and walked around for 2 hours. I wanted some shoes - new sneakers and some cute ones that I can wear with jeans to work and with a dress to a wedding. I didn't find any. But Dallas found a stupid shirt and a black hat that says BOY in neon yellow (and under the brim it says GIRL). It looks ridiculous, but he somehow pulls it off. I need to remember to get a picture of it. He sometimes wants me to curb his spending, so I told him I would approve the hat purchase on the condition that he not buy any more flat brim hats (mainly because I think he looks better in regular hats) and he agreed. Then we got some birthday presents (including a Hello Kitty sandwich maker, cards, lip candles and poop shaped chocolate lollipops).

Then we went back to hotel and Liezle met us there. Dinner was 30 minutes later than we thought, so I put on make up and talked to Liezle while Dallas watched The Fantastic Four. We piled in a cab and went to the restaurant that Cindy picked out - it's a buffet in the basement of a Hotel. There was 1 other girl there and we arrived exactly on time. We waited for about 5 minutes then decided we should go ahead and start eating. The food was ok, but buffets in Korea are kind of wasted on me because I don't eat fish, so all the sushi and half of the other dishes aren't worth anything to me. Luckily this place also includes beer or wine with dinner. The sucky part about that is that you have to go back each time you want a refill and they give small pours. The 3 of us made the trip quite a few times - and I actually drank the dry red and enjoyed it. Then they had a live band who were pretty good - the one guy did a good Michael Jackson impression and another sang "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz and had us (our group was about 15-20 people) sing with him. we bought Cindy a cake, her boyfriend did as well and one of her friends made her a cake, so we had 3 cakes with a million candles on them. Then we sang happy birthday and cake the cakes - all of them were pretty good. I'm so glad Liezle decided to come because I chatted a lot with her during the dinner. It was difficult to hear so I really only talked to the few people around me and occasionally Cindy, who was making rounds to talk to everyone. 

Cindy looking at 3 cakes - the one on your left is white chocolate with lips candles (we got that one), the middle one is similar to angel food cake with strawberries (boyfriend's cake - which I told him to get) and the one on the right was made by a friend (yellow with chocolate icing - very good).

Blowing out the candles!

This was the cake our table got - we couldn't finish it

The three of us decided to leave a bit early and head to the next location which was Houzee - the bar we went to last time. When we got there, we guessed for 10 people and they put us in a booth. Then Dallas ordered us all shots and long islands (which was all I drank there and was enough). Liezle and Dallas get along pretty well and we were having a decent time. They also bond over the fact that they are both close to ten years younger than I am. Jerks.

I don't know how to fix this kind of creepy eye but the red eye remover doesn't work.

Then Cindy and the rest of the people showed up and we had to smush another table in. Someone knew magic and did a bunch of magic tricks, which were actually pretty cool. We stayed there for maybe an hour or so total, then moved onto a dance club called Jeep. It didn't feel like we stayed there long, but it was fun and I kind of wish we had stayed there longer. Then we went to Thursday party and played some darts and chatted with some more people. Then Dallas, Liezle and I went back to the hotel and I got hit really hard by the elevator door. We all fell asleep pretty quickly, but Dallas and I woke up around 8 because I had to pee and he wanted to brush his teeth.

Me, Cindy and Liezle

We got up between 10-11 and showered on Sunday. Then we went to Paris Baguette again for breakfast/lunch/brunch. We were supposed to meet Cindy at a small amusement park, but we were all tired, I wasn't exactly hungover but I wasn't sure how I'd handle a roller coaster and we were all on a budget. So we decided to stay in the downtown area. We got coffee and talked for a long time in the coffee shop. Then we looked for shoes for both me and Liezle. I bought some red and white striped wedges which are really cute but totally impractical. She couldn't find any and I talked Dallas out of some dress shoes that had a fairly high heel. He did buy some weird shorts though. Then he and I got bubble tea and we went to a mall type place that we'd never been in before. Then Liezle had to leave and catch a bus and Dallas and I decided to get pizza. We split a small veggie pizza and salads then we caught our bus home and both fell asleep for probably an hour or so.

We got back to Jinju a little before 8. I told him that Sundays often make me sad, especially ones where I get to see lots of good friends like this one, because I get a big doses of people on Friday and Saturday then go home alone on Sunday. I said it's the same feeling I get after spending a weekend with my family. It's nothing awful, just a tiny pang. We went to emart and got a couple of groceries. Then he asked if I wanted to meet up with him and run. I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. So we met up about 15 minutes later and walked together to the river. Then I held his wallet and pants (which he took off on the side of the road to the delight of some cars at the stoplight) and walked down the trail by the river listening to my Korean homework, while he ran down and back. I saw quite a few little kids, an old man playing golf and a lady walking her cat on a leash. I didn't know how to turn the flash off on my phone or I would have taken a picture. I told Dallas and he said, "You're so cute, not knowing how to work your phone," so I hit him in the shoulder. Then we had a discussion about places that had nice bathrooms, which made him have to go to the bathroom at a gas station. Then we planned on getting tofu soup at the place near my house, but they were closed, so we went to the kimbap place even closer to my house and split soups. The people that work there are super nice and their dog with yellow dyed ears came out to visit for a few minutes.

Then I went home and studied Korean for a bit, caught up on facebook and emails and otherwise got ready for the week. See, I told you it was kind of boring. I had a lot of fun celebrating Cindy's birthday and I love spending time with both Dallas and Liezle, so overall I had a fun weekend. I also just noticed how many times I use the word "then" in my posts. Sorry about that, but it's late and I'm tired so I'm not going to go back and change them to "nexts" or "afters". Maybe in another post :)

Typical week with some exceptions

This week has been very similar to the last few weeks with a few notable exceptions. On Monday I went to dance by myself because Krista hurt her ankle over the weekend and didn't want to further bother it. Our instructor videoed us by standing in the window ledge - it was very strange and luckily even by videoing from above, I was hidden by other dancers, so hopefully she didn't capture the awkwardness that is me dancing, on video!

On Tuesday we had Bible study then I went to emart and got some groceries then I came home and took a nap. Later that day at school, one of my students gave me this lollipop, so that was fun. I still haven't eaten it yet.

It's pineapple flavored

On Wednesday, Krista's leg was still bothering her so I went alone again. The ladies asked where my partner was so I explained about her ankle. Then we had a little discussion with some random translating. I'm not sure, but possibly one lady called me fat. I don't think so, but it's a possibility. After dance I met Kyeong He and another friend named Min Suk for lunch at the tofu soup place. They ordered for me while I was on the way and I got there just as she was serving it. The sides were almost the same as last time with the addition of a piece of spam surrounded by egg. It was pretty good. Then we went to Cafe Bene for coffee and talked about some weird English grammar. Keyong He is taking a test and one of her questions had the word "ejaculate" meaning "shout out" but both Krista and I laughed/were shocked when she mentioned the word, so we told her not to use it and just say "exclaim". After work I met Dallas for coffee and we made more specific plans for the weekend in Daegu for Cindy's birthday.

On Thursday I went to GNU with Corinne for Bubble Tea. It was a first for me so I was excited when she mentioned wanting to go (it goes along with my wanting to try new things this time around). We rode the bus there, which took about 30 minutes, and chatted about our families and work. Then we each got a tea - I had mango and she had ginger tea. Bubble tea is like a watery smoothie and has tapioca beads at the bottom. These aren't like the pudding, but more like the size of a chick pea and squishy. It was really good.

Explanation of how Bubble Tea is made

My tea - look at the black things on the bottom - those are the tapioca beads

Random Donkey and Puss in Boots outside a DVD rental place while we walked to lunch

Then we walked around trying to find a place to eat and ended up at what we think was a Japanese/Korean fusion type place. I had chicken terrakiy and oodong noodle soup. Corinne had fish flakes and rice and spicy sauce. Then we cabbed home because we were running close to time for school.

Sign on the wall in the restaurant - I didn't have a rice ball or beef on the rice hand.

Thursday had another first for me as well. In my first class, a kid puked. He tried to run out of class and didn't make it and got it all over the door (and a girl sitting in the front row - well really just on her books, but it was still gross). I felt really bad for the kid (and the girl) and the rest of class really was cleaning up the mess and then febreezing the kids - which I thought was kind of funny. After school was Korean class and we learned a little about how to talk about hobbies.

On Friday, Krista was able to come to class and we stayed for the whole thing including some stretching at the end, which we usually skip because we have to get ready to meet people for one thing or another. On the way out I waved goodbye to the instructor and when we got close to the door the whole class shouted, "Ryan bye!". I think they like the fact that we come - we provide extra entertainment for them! Then I went home, did laundry and cleaned up. Then I wrote this and decided to go ahead and post it because I don't know when I will get back online before Sunday. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

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!

Mid-March 1: Sunday through Thursday

Last week felt really busy for some reason, but everything for the most part was fairly routine. After going to the island on Saturday, I went to church on Sunday. After the sermon and some time to say hi to everyone, my friend Lance started up a new post-sermon discussion group. The idea behind the group is to discuss the main points in the sermon and make sure we understood them. Then each person (if they want to share) talks about how it applies to their life, what they want to personally work on that week, and then asks for prayer requests. My request was that people pray for my mom to keep going in her listening to the Bible (sort of along with my 180 days reading) and not to get discouraged. Then we had a planning team meeting at Brandon and Jamie's where we talked about some upcoming programs. A couple of people couldn't make it due to illness and a funeral, so we didn't get to talk about some issues, but overall I think the meeting went well. Afterwards I met up with Dallas and we went to get dinner. He suggested dakgalbi, which I love, but on the walk there, wanted to go into Kilogram. I wasn't that interested in it and after we looked at the menu, we decided to leave and get dakgalbi anyway. The guy made it pretty spicy, but I think my taste buds are changing because it didn't really bother me. Then we got coffee and looked at some magazines while we waited. Dallas brought me this one, which I actually looked through. It was ridiculous.

I was charmed by one on them, but most of the cats were creepy looking

After dinner and coffee, we stopped off at a store called Alpha which has random office supplies, art supplies and other things like that. Dallas is starting a "treasure chest" of sorts in his class as a way to help manage classroom behavior and he wanted to look for potential prizes. While we were in there he found a can of fake snow and bought it because he is 5 years old. On the walk home he spent the vast majority of the time spraying me with the snow. Here is one picture but you can't really see how covered I was because of my white sweatshirt.

You can kind of see snow in my hair...it's not dandruff

On Monday I went to dance class with Krista, then met a lady for coffee. After that I went to work. Monday is a weird day for me because I have the first class, but then I have a 3-4 hour break (our schedules have shifted a lot recently and last week it happened to be a 4 hour one). So I ended up meeting Dallas for dinner again at 5:15. We split the same thing we had last week (kimchi friend rice and tuna kimbap), then he had a meeting and I had to go back to school to sit for another 2 hours. During the break I caught up on 180 days, did some vocab with kids and checked on them a bit, and studied for Korean class. In class we are practicing pronunciation by trying to read a fairy tale (even though we have no idea what the translation is). One of the students got very frustrated and argued with Woods after class. As you know, I don't like confrontations of any kind, so I got out of there quickly.

On Tuesday we had Bible study. Our class right now is really small because one regular is back in the States visiting family, Jamie stayed at home with Olivia because she's afraid Olivia will be a distraction, one lady was sick and a couple of other are now doing a Wednesday night class instead. Luckily two girls are joining us this upcoming week; they got the times mixed up and came at 11 when we were finishing class! After class I went home, made lunch and took a nap. Nothing special happened at work that I can remember. I know I need to write on here more because I forget stuff or things mush together since they do repeat a lot, but I've been really tired once I get home now that I basically check email then go straight to sleep.

Wednesday I met Krista for class. Which is still the same - fun but hard. She has us do these squat things where we hold positions then do jumpy dancing, so my thighs are killing me by the end of class. I also get looks on my walk home because I'm covered in sweat so I walk home without a jacket while all the Koreans are still bundled up. After class, I met Corinne for lunch and we walked to a Vietnamese place in p-dong. I'd been there before, but order something new for me - beef pho. It was really good. We also split banana rolls, which is weird for me because I don't really like bananas, but these things are awesome. Especially when you dip them in sweet chili sauce. The guy had some problems running my credit card (because we wanted to split the bill on 2 cards), but finally figured it out. Then we got coffee at this cute place called Lee Dong Woo coffee. The owner is super nice and likes foreigners a lot. They also do coffee art for lattes and have various hand drip coffees. It's a little pricier than other places, but sometimes that's worth it. We walked to the post office so Corinne could mail some stuff, then we walked to school. That night one of my student's mom's bought pizza for everyone, so we delayed the last class a bit to snack. Luckily it was a speaking class for me anyway and I chatted to them about their weekends and school while we ate.

On Thursday it was White Day. That's the March version of Valentine's Day but when the boys give stuff to the girls. I think I wrote a post earlier about a play my friends are putting on in April called MMRP, but in case you didn't read it, my friends are putting on a play in April called MMRP. The idea behind it is similar to the Vagina Monologues but with a slightly different slant. We are doing fundraisers for the Jinju YWCA to help with programs to prevent violence against women. White Day was one of these fundraisers. The organization of it sort of didn't happen and I ended up having to meet a friend at his apartment, then carry a huge box full of treats on a bus alone and try to sell them in front of the movie theater. It didn't really happen. I ended up sitting there for awhile, then buying some rainbow fudge for my students and dropping the box off. The place I was originally supposed to set up had a police demonstration out in front that morning, then I got some evil eye glares when I went to the opposite corner. I ended up on a bench in front of the theater where people basically left me alone, but also didn't really buy anything. It was also hard because I don't speak Korean and didn't have any flyer or anything explaining V-day or the fundraiser. Plus mid-morning on a Thursday isn't a high volume traffic time for people downtown. Luckily they had another set up near a college campus and moved the next group of people there. I think over all they sold a decent amount of stuff.

Rainbow fudge, chocolate cake pops and "unicorn poo" cookies made by Evan and some other helpers. All of these were really good. They also had chocolate covered strawberries, but I didn't buy those.

After I left the box with another girl, I went home and met Dallas at his school (which is basically next to my building) and gave me some of the treats. I also went to look at his new classroom set up because they gave him some new desks and he put the plants we bought on Sunday in the room. We chatted for a few minutes then he had class so I left and went to school myself. I brought the fudge to class and then kids destroyed it. They didn't really know the concept of fudge, but know what chocolate is so I just told them it was colored chocolate. I probably should have hit it and given it to the older kids because, trust me, the little ones do not need extra sugar. A couple of students also gave the teachers stuff.

That night in Korean class we started to learn some basic grammar so that we could start to put sentences together. I still have pronunciation problems, but I'm getting better.

Jisimdo

One of the things on my Korean bucket list was to go to a small island (or 3) off the coast of Goeje (which is itself an island). Oedo, a botanical garden island, is still on my list, but I wanted to wait until the weather was nicer for that one. Spring is starting and when we went to Busan 2 weeks ago (well 3 now but 2 when I originally wrote this post), I saw flowers out. So I decided to go to Jisimdo, aka Camilla Island.

Welcome sign when you get to the island

I had heard about it from a friend who went during the fall and said it was pretty even without the flowers. I hoped there would be some out, but was semi-prepared to not see any. I went even though it was still cool because the next 5-6 weeks are already full and by late spring the camillas are off the trees in Jinju already. Dallas went with me and we followed bus directions from another friend which turned out to be wrong, so we sat at the bus terminal for about 30 minutes. Luckily we stopped off at Paris Baguette on the way, so we ate breakfast salads at the bus terminal. We both fell asleep on the bus and got there around 1ish. I didn't know exactly where we were going and Dallas was hungry, so we went into a Top Mart, which is basically a grocery store, to get some snacks. A clerk there was super helpful and spoke really good English and gave us directions. Of course we got them slightly wrong, but we found the port eventually.

We then had to wait for about 30 minutes or so to get our ferry. We weren't really sure what we were supposed to do, but another nice man showed us where to stand and we just followed his lead. We had to fill out boarding cards with address and phone numbers and stuff on it, which was a first for me here. I had heard that the inside of the ferry wasn't very good and that there was a really loud narrator who gave history about the island in Korean, so to stand outside. Well the outside isn't that large of a place and you get crazy hair (which I was expecting) and also hit pretty badly by waves/mist. We stood at the back of the boat for most of the trip there once the boat picked up speed and started to really splash us. The trip lasted maybe 15 minutes and you could see some of the coast line and other islands. It was really pretty.

Island coast line - all the islands looked rocky like this, at least in the areas we passed

Dallas was cold

The two of us standing at the front before the big waves hit

This is what my hair looked like for about 15 minutes. It didn't look much better after I got off the boat either.

When we arrived at the island, we hopped off the boat and immediately had to walk up a steep walkway. Then there were paths that led in different directions to different parts of the island. We took the one that didn't require going straight up.

One red camilla and a small white camilla bush - these were popular picture areas as there weren't many other flowers

There were lots of cool trees and vines, but not many flowers. Dallas swung on some vines and freaked me out because if the branch had broken, he would have fallen down a fairly steep hill. He then told me to go into some weird vines because they looked like my hair. I got stuck in them and he took pictures while laughing as I tried to get out.

Me in the vines

We walked for a long time and found a place to eat, but the one place didn't have seats and the other ran out of food. So we got smoothies and weird herbal cookies (they had flowers on them but tasted like butter cookies). Then we walked some more.

Kimchi pots near the one restaurant

The best parts were toward the end of our path when we had some pretty scenic views of the ocean and some cliffs. Dallas yelled at me for not being aggressive enough to jump in front of Koreans at a certain picture spot, which happens a lot. Then we walked back down the same path because it was getting late and we weren't sure of the rules for the ferry home.

Coastline from the end of the island back towards the middle

This was my favorite spot - it was a little open area and no people were there but it had great views

Me sitting on a wall overlooking another island. It was a little hazy so we couldn't see that well, but there were other islands all over the place.

Looking straight down from the wall I was sitting on

My hair looked like this all day. I brought a brush but after 5 minutes of trying to get the knots out, I gave up and just left it. Dallas tried to be nice and say it looked curly messy. I actually looked homeless. But I get stared at anyway, so whatevs.

When we got back down, there was already a huge line for ferries. A man handed us another ticket as a way to count people I think. We listened to music on Dallas's phone while we waited in line and watched Korean babies do funny things (except for the one kid who took a header down a cement hill). We had to wait for maybe 45 minutes (3-4 ferries) before we got on one and we sat inside this time. The sun started to set on the way back and it was very pretty.

We were in the end of the line when this picture was taken - it went up a hill in the bottom right corner.

Sunset starting from the helipad (aka where we waited in line)

Cabs in Geoje suck, but luckily we knew which bus number to take to get back to Okpo. Unfortunetly, we stood on the wrong side of the road and had to wait for a second bus before we went the correct direction. I did recognize the stop though and we got off at the right place. The bus filled with dock workers while we were on it so we were ready to get off! Then we went to the Mexican restaurant that I went to a month earlier with Corinne. I had a burrito and he had tacos and we both had beers. I was dehydrated so my beer hit me pretty hard. We talked with the server/owner/chef (not exactly sure what he does) who lived in Seattle and Florida for awhile. I told him I was from Atlanta and we talked about the aquarium which I thought was kind of funny.

Dinner aftermath

After dinner we decided to go home. There was a bus coming in the next 10 minutes, so we skipped going to the foreigner market. A really nice lady named Gina helped us find the bus. She works in Geoje but is from Jinju and goes "home" every weekend. She gave us her business card in case we go back to Geoje and need help.

When we got back to Jinju, I went home and showered and had a snack and Dallas went home and did who knows what (actually I think he did laundry). A couple of hours later I went over and we played Catan and had tea then watched X-men 2. I was very tired and fell asleep before it ended. Even though the island wasn't what I had hoped it would be, I am still glad that I went. It was really nice and now I know how to get to the port for my next adventure!

New Beginnings

March is often thought of as a time of rebirth (or I'm totally making that up so that my post has a more intellectual feel to it) - spring is on the way, babies are being born, plants are starting to bloom etc. This month starts a wave of beginnings for me too.

Last Monday, Krista and I joined a dance aerobics class. We're going Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It's really fun, but it solidifies that I am uncoordinated. The people there are super nice and one lady in our class speaks decent English and helps us. The first day they made us introduce ourselves and tell how old we were and where we worked. Now they sometimes talk about us, but they always wave and are very friendly. Yesterday they gave us bags of rice cakes, which I brought to work. I will write a more detailed post about this at some point.

On Tuesday, our new Bible study started. This time we are reading the book of Hebrews. I really like doing these because I feel I learn a lot. But it is time intensive because you have to read each chapter multiple times and then usually a commentary or two (and that's if you're not a super good student who cross-references - which I am not). I also enjoy the company of the people in my study group. So again, it's both fun and work (like dance class).

This Saturday, I'm starting pottery lessons with Dallas. They are run by a lady in a local coffee shop. He really wanted to do it and I think it will be fun, even though he didn't get my Ghost reference. The only time we can really go together is on the weekends and she said she will work with us in terms of a schedule.

Also, while these aren't new, they still factor into my life - Korean class (will still write more about this soon), 180 day Bible reading (we are a quarter of the way through), benefits and fundraisers for a play my friends are doing in April (I'm helping to sell baked goods on Thursday) and lunches with friends (I have 2 lined up for the rest of this week and 2 already for next week).

So I've been really busy lately. It's in a good way (for the most part), but I'm starting to get a little stressed and feel like I'm missing something (mainly sleep and TV - I haven't watched a TV show in almost 2 weeks and am behind on all my shows!). I don't see a "do nothing" weekend in the future either. I'm not complaining - all of these (I take that back, most of these) are my decisions and things I really want to do and enjoy. But I sometimes miss sleeping until 1 :)

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

On Wednesday, Krista and I went to class and had just as much fun as we did on Monday (and were just as klutzy). After dancing, we went home and got ready then met back up and Corinne joined us for lunch. Apparently she liked the soup place I took her to earlier, because she wanted to go back. We wanted to try a different soup, but the waitress either didn't hear me or just didn't pay attention because she brought us the same one we had last time. Luckily I like it so it wasn't a big deal. One thing that was funny was that this time we had entirely different side dishes.

Sorry the picture is blurry. From top left: really good seaweed that Krista and I liked, mushrooms, pickled seaweed like Corinne liked, semi-sweet beef, more seaweed, really spicy mandu, clams, new kimchi, kimchi cucumber, purple seaweed (?) They also brought a fish and some orange slices

Another funny thing that happened on Wednesday was my bank card being delivered. I thought they would just mail it, but I had to sign for it and got called out of a class to do it. Then the guy was like your address is wrong but I didn't write it down - it's the one on my arc card and the bank lady wrote it. Later I asked my co-teacher to help me call and activate it, so now I'm all set!

At lunch, Corrine and I made plans to go to a lily pad pond on Thursday. She's been once before and I've seen pictures. This came about because she only has about 2 months left in Korea and both of us have bucket lists. I told her there is so much that I haven't seen in Jinju yet and that was one of the things. We met at 9:30 and took a city bus about 20-30 minutes outside of town to a little town. It's a good thing I trust her because it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. Then she recognized where we were and we found the pond. I guess it's still too cold for flowers and lily pads, but it was still nice.

Lake - I don't the name

Bridge on the walk around the pond and frog painting

Random Peter Rabbit wall mural

We walked around the lake then went for lunch in a little coffee shop. When she suggested it, she forgot that she's going gluten free and couldn't eat any of the sandwiches, but I had already ordered. So she just had coffee and ate when she went home. It was a nice morning and hopefully we will do something similar soon.

Chair cushions at the cafe - this one is named "Sara".

This one is Naru. I'm guessing they are some sort of Japanese cartoon.

Coffee art and sandwich at Cafe Tospia.

Friday morning I went to dance class again and they gave Krista and I rice cakes. We didn't really want them, but it's rude to refuse things like that here. Then I tried to figure out some of the songs we listen to in class because I want to learn them better so that I can possibly follow along better in class. It didn't really happen. Dallas didn't have school on Friday because it's his school's birthday, so we went downtown and had lunch at a Japanese place. Then we got coffee. On our way back, we stopped in a suit store and he tried one on and really liked it. So he put it on lay-away of sorts. It was funny watching him try it on because the ladies in the store were a trip. He tried on the jacket first and then the one lady just grabbed his hips to size him for pants. When he came out of the dressing "room" they circled around him. I told him the pants made his butt look good and the older lady turned to me, pointed at his butt, looked at me again and said, "up, good". I was like "yup" and then we all laughed. After we left the store, I ran into an old co-worker of mine and chatted while we waited for the bus. Then I went to work.

After work I went home to take out my laundry. I had put it on timer for the first time and needed to see if it worked - it did and I was happy! I met back up with Dallas and we walked to the cinema for a late night showing of "Oz". I'm not sure how I feel about that movie. A couple of parts were really funny or cute and some of the film is really pretty. But a lot of it was dumb. Maybe it's just not what I was expecting. Then we went home and went to sleep because we were planning on going to an island in the morning (which is the next (hopefully) post).

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

On Sunday I went to church as usual. It was Madia's last day and we all said goodbye to her. Usually we go out to eat after, but as I had no money, I didn't go. I also needed to meet up with Kyeong He and Jackie. On the way to meet them I had an unusual thing happen. I was in the middle of an intersection (at one of those sidewalk island things) and a guy rode his bicycle next to me. I turned an smiled, because that's what I do. He hopped off the bike, came in front of me, shook my hand, gave me a hug, then hopped on his bike and rode off. He was a short, older man. It was very bizarre, but in a nice way, not a creepy one.

Jackie, Kyeong He and I met at eMart to attempt to talk to a manager about getting a sponsorship for an upcoming Easter egg hunt that we want to do as a fund raiser. We kind of got the brush off. It was the manager's day off (which makes sense) but they didn't want to give us any of his information, including his name, number or email address. They wouldn't give us a general one either. Jackie left her number and that of a Korean friend, but we still haven't heard back. Then we went to the castle to see if we could use the grounds for the hunt itself. Jackie had a contact there, but Kyeong He also talked to some people. We found out that part of the grounds belong to the museum and part belong to city hall. If we used any of the city hall parts, we would need a permit. Kyeong He called on Monday and they said we'd have to fill out an application but that they didn't want it to be religious in any way, so we're changing it to a spring egg hunt or something like that. While we were at the museum, we watched the video about the battle at the castle. I'd seen it before, but Jackie's contact needed to be there to show it to people, so we watched it too. Then Kyeong He bought some cotton candy and while we were eating it Jackie told us a story about how she got some once and the guy cut his hand while he was making it and just bled into the spinning sugar.

I asked Kyeong He to come with us as a translator and offered her dinner. I made those plans before the card fiasco, but told her either she could pay for me and I'd pay her back, or that Dallas would make me dinner. I'm not sure she understood exactly and maybe thought I was blowing her off, but I wasn't. The two of us went shoe shopping for about 10-15 minutes and then she told me to go. That's why I thought she was mad at me. It turns out she wasn't.

So then I met Dallas who was waiting for me at the bus stop. We walked to his apartment, then I walked home to change and get Catan while he started dinner. He made me an omlette, salad, and soup. It was very good and I've decided I need a house husband and/or a cook because I eat good food when someone else makes it for me. A friend of his (Jayden) is in law school right now and we skyped with him for a bit while he was studying.

On Monday I started a Korean hip-hop aerobics taebo dance class thing with Krista. I will write more about this soon, but it's fun and we're planning to go 3 times a week. Monday was the first day and both of us had a good time even though I know I looked ridiculous. Then I went home and ate lunch and went to work. I have a long break on Mondays and Dallas came to get some of the money that I owed him from the weekend. Then he asked if I could go to dinner with him. I'm not sure of all the rules about when I can and can't leave, but I decided to go. We had a quick dinner of kimchi fried rice and kimbap, then got coffee.

On Tuesday I got up early again because Bible study started this week. My class was almost empty (me and 2 other women) because some of the teachers (like me) switched to public schools so now they don't go in the mornings and some of the other ladies switched to a class at someone's house on Wednesday nights. I hope that group comes back because I like having more people to discuss things with. But if it's just me, I'll still go. After that I went to emart to grocery shop. I haven't gone grocery shopping for over a month now and bought a lot of food. But that also meant that I made mushroom and asparagus pasta for dinner! On the bus home I got accidentally (I think) head butted in the boob by an old lady. I think she was trying to swipe her bus card, but she could have been telling me to move.

So, nothing too exciting for the beginning of the week, but also nothing disastrous!

Holiday weekend in Busan

March 1st is Liberation Movement Day here in Korea. Basically it just means you have the day off and people put flags outside. Because it was on a Friday, Dallas and I started to plan something to do for the weekend. We had a debate between Busan, where we have both been before, and Daejeon. We researched it a bit, but couldn't really find anything to do in Daejeon. Then, when talking with Amanda on Wednesday, added Jeonju (a traditional city) in the mix. At lunch on Wednesday we decided that we (me, Dallas and Amanda) would go to Jeonju on Friday, then to Busan on Saturday and back to Jinju Sunday morning. Liezle and possibly Suzette were also going to join us in Jeonju. This didn't happen.

On Friday morning I woke up early, showered, finished packing and got ready to leave when Liezle called saying that she missed her bus and didn't know what to do about joining us. I told her I'd talk to the others and see what was happening. I left my house to get cash out because I currently had $6 in my wallet. Then I was going to get some girl supplies and meet Dallas at the bus stop. That's when things took a different turn - my card expired. I never noticed the expiration date, but the atm rejected the card and I couldn't use any other form of bank stuff because all the banks were closed for the holiday. So I called Dallas to see if he could/wanted to cover me for the weekend or cancel it. He covered me but while we were talking we decided to alter the plans and skip Jeonju because it was kind of rainy and cold, and just head to Busan. So I called Amanda and Liezle to tell them about the switch in plans. Amanda was still in; Liezle decided to meet Suzette in another city instead.

Dallas met me at the bus stop between our houses and I said it felt weird because I didn't like having to rely on him to pay for everything (even knowing I would pay him back) and he said that it's usually the other way around (i.e. I take care of stuff for him) and to just deal with it. Then we got to the bus terminal and bought tickets. Amanda made it right before the bus left. I fell asleep for a little bit and Dallas played Catan on his phone during the trip. Luckily the traffic wasn't bad and we got there in a little less then 2 hours. Dallas and I were hungry, but Amanda wasn't so he bought a banana to tide himself over for bit. Then we hopped on the subway and rode it to Shinsigae mall. Before we showed Amanda the mall, Dallas tried to hide his umbrella in a hole behind some lockers so that he wouldn't have to carry it around all day. Then we ate a kebab as a snack, Dallas bought some gym shorts and a hat that I think makes him look like a New Kids on the Block member circa 1991 or the Fresh Prince of BelAir. Next we went to the bookstore and I looked at Zac Effron pictures in GQ. Then we got coffee and saw someone signing autographs in the middle of the mall - she was in and out within 20 minutes because on the escalator ride back down, she was gone and most of her set-up was down too. Koreans are expedient when it comes to setting up/taking things down. Then we went to find Dallas's umbrella, but it was gone. Oh well. That's when I saw these 2 boys in a cart with no apparent parent near them. They seemed to be alright though. This was also the first picture I've taken on my new phone (post about that later).

I'm getting one if I see them on sale again. I wonder how you declare a kid on your customs form?

After the mall, we got back on the subway and rode the rest of the way to Haeunde beach. The motel Dallas usually stays in was under renovation and the 2 that I've stayed in before no longer were there so we found another random one called "Magic Motel" that turned out to be pretty nice except for the fact that you can partly see in the bathroom when someone takes a shower. We dropped our stuff off and headed towards Donggun Younggun-sa - the temple by the sea that I went to last year with my mom. Neither of them had been, so I was willing to go again. We decided to take a cab because we couldn't really find the bus. Traffic was horrible and it took 15-20 minutes to get there, which would have been awful on a bus. Luckily our driver was willing to cut around people etc. and got us there faster than others probably could have. We also saw a different beach that looks really nice and we will try out in the summer.

When we got to the temple it was mega crowded. We saw a back line however and just bypassed a ton of people. The experience was very different from the one I had with my mom. We went near Buddha's birthday and there were lanterns up everywhere. There were also hardly any people. I'm not sure if it was because Friday was a holiday, or because spring is starting and it was finally a nice day or what, but it was packed.

View of the main temple grounds from the stairs

Bamboo kept hitting Dallas in the face - this is on the stairs to the temple

Lines of people on the stairs

Statues on the way in - Korean pose!

Cutest little kid on a horse

Then Amanda on the horse

Dallas making a wish. He missed the bucket by a mile.

Little statues and figurines were all around the temple site

Me and the happy gold Buddha. He was under construction or something when I went last time.

We walked all around and took pictures, then went over to the other side which is apparently (according to a pamphlet I found later) a Buddha of traffic safety. We climbed out on the rocks and I took lots of pictures of Dallas pretending to be in prom pictures. The funniest part was that we were under a bridge so all the Koreans were staring at him posing. I'm surprised the pictures even came out since I was laughing so hard.

See

Amanda contemplating something

Dallas made fun of me because he says I do this awkward shy stance a lot.

We walked down the big hill and tried to take the bus back to save some money. There was already a line and the man behind us said it'd be another 15 minutes before the bus came. It was starting to get chilly at that point. When the bus got there, people started shoving trying to get on it. The bus was close to full already. We decided to just start walking and catch a cab later on down the road. When the bus passed us maybe 10 minutes later, people were pressed in the doors and windows. We hailed a cab coming from the other direction and went home. It was another $15 cab ride, but still beat trying to get in that bus. We then decided to go back to the hotel to get jackets before we headed out again. We didn't really have plans, but wanted to eat and maybe go to a quiet bar for awhile or get some cards and sit on the beach.

That's when things got awkward and I'm about to share a tmi story. Part of the reason I wanted to get cash out that morning was so that I could go to the corner store and buy tampons because I was almost out. Having no cash and no card meant having to ask Dallas for his. This is that conversation (or at least what I remember):
Me - Umm. So I was hoping not to have to do this, but can I borrow your card?
Him - What?
Me - I need to get something and I don't want to ask you to buy it.
Him - Oh. Do you need a tampon?
Me - Yes. Well, no. Not just one. (to Amanda) Can you even buy just one?
Him - I don't know these things (hands me the card, but then proceeds to walk in the store with me). Do they even have them here?
Me - Yes. (I run into a rack of umbrellas as I'm walking to the counter).
Counter guy - Sorry!
Me - It's ok.
Dallas (laughing) - Did he just say sorry to you for buying tampons?
Me - No. It's because I just ran into that thing. (I hand the card back).

None of this was embarrassing (at least not to me, not sure about Dallas, Amanda or the counter guy) in terms of these things happen. But I don't necessarily like dragging people into dealing with my uterine issues. After getting coats and/or changing, we went to dinner at Fuzzy Navel because we wanted something not Korean. They were out of avocados so we couldn't get the thing we wanted, but ordered food anyway. It was also still during special time, so we got discount margaritas. Dallas ordered a FN one (for fuzzy navel which was listed as a regular one) but ended up with a green apple one. Amanda and I had strawberry and it was interesting because they salted the rim instead of sugaring it like most bars in the States - I like the salt so I was happy. We stayed there and chatted through another round, telling some interesting stories, then headed over to Thursday Party.

Apple and strawberry margaritas. I ate all the fruit.

That bar was fairly empty and Dallas and I introduced Amanda to beer pong. She and I were a team, but she doesn't drink beer, so I drank for us. Dallas beat us by one cup. Then we played darts (501, then cricket). That's when we introduced Amanda to Long Islands. Dallas won both sets of darts too. Then he and Amanda played some Koreans guys in foosball while I texted Liezle to see how her day went. At that point we were all kind of tired so we went home and fell asleep. Before we fell asleep, Dallas informed me that my shoes smelled like cat pee, which is why I then emailed my mom to ask her to send me some sneaker balls :)

The next morning I woke up at 8 because the sun was shining in our window. Dallas shut the dark wood window, but I never really fell back asleep, so at about 9:30 or so I got up and showered while they were still asleep. When I was almost dressed, Amanda woke up and got ready. I woke Dallas up at that point to see if he wanted to meet us somewhere and keep sleeping or if he wanted to get up. He got up and showered while we finished packing and watched the end of The Devil wears Prada. We then went to a sandwich shop for breakfast, but they ran out of eggs for breakfast sandwiches and Dallas ended up getting a beef and eggplant one (which was much better than the ham and egg one so he lucked out).

Then we walked to Haeundae beach and the girls took our shoes off to walk in the sand. At the end of the beach, we reshoed and walked the wooden path along the coast (I've done this 2 times before). Again it was super crowded and some parts felt like we were cattle.

View of the beach and coastline from the walkway

Dallas climbed over a fence to get this picture. He wanted to wait until all the kids left so that he wouldn't be a bad influence on them.

This time we decided to go into this observation tower thing that turned out to be a meeting place for some big conference. Then we walked along the coast there and through a cute little park and finally onto a pier of sorts. That's when we decided to walk (instead of taking the subway) to the beach on the opposite side of the waterway (Gwangali).

Light house

It was very sunny. That's Gwangalli bridge and the observation thing behind me

G. Dubs went to the conference

The bridge and park area

Dallas called this the "concrete jungle". I wouldn't mind that view.

Fisherman on the pier

On the way we passed some interesting statues, Dallas broke a button off his coat, we got some coffee, had a pine cone fight and Dallas pretended to be a raptor. The whole walk was probably around 5 miles and took us somewhere between 2 and 3 hours. It was really nice and we didn't rush at all.

Cool statue of a head

Check out this robot's butt

That's Dallas under the robot so you can see how big it is.

raptoring

Posing on a rock at the end of being a dinosaur

Had to do the "king of the world" pose

When we got to the beach, we were all hungry so we stopped in a burger place because they had a sign out front for $10 burgers. When we walked in it was a pretty swanky place and we all had backpacks and were sweaty. They had napkins on the table folded like crowns, so I made Dallas wear his for a minute and the wait staff all laughed at us. Then I practiced folding little napkins into crowns. I forget already :( The burgers were pretty good and came with a good salad and a couple of potato wedges.

Crown napkin. Not sure about the hands.

After eating we walked to the subway and caught the bus home. It was rather full and originally Dallas and I were sitting across the aisle from each other, but the man sitting next to Dallas offered to move so that we could sit together. I figured he just didn't want to listen to us talk the whole time, but he was really nice about it. I fell asleep for 20-30 minutes solid, then was in and out for another 30 minutes or so. Dallas played some more Catan and fell asleep. Amanda slept too but said she had to elbow the girl next to her a couple of times. When we got back to Jinju, Amanda had to leave to go to a birthday party. I went home and showered, studied a bit and organized some pictures. Then I went to Dallas's and we played some more Catan. I feel like he must have cooked something, but I honestly can't remember - maybe I just ate cereal before I went over. We split games that night.

While it wasn't what we had planned, the Busan trip was just about perfect - no drama, good friends, something new in a city I've seen before, nice weather. And Jeonju is still on my list of places to go :)