My Student and Her Family Kidnapped Me!

Well, not really...

It all started on the Saturday before Christmas. I was heading to Chuncheon to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. Usually, on Saturdays, the buses are sold out for like an hour or two and I usually end up hanging out near the bus terminal for a bit because of that. I fully intended on doing just that.

When I arrived at the terminal, I went up to the ticket machine and waited behind a family getting their tickets. They then moved away from the machine. I noticed one of my 6th-grade girls. She was there with her mom and her sister. I noticed they didn't buy any tickets, so I tried to indicate that they weren't finished and ask if I could use it.

The mom started to ask me where I was going, and I told her, and suddenly my student grabbed my hand and they said let's go together. We went outside to her car and we headed to Chuncheon.

Thus far, everything that was said was in Korean, so it was a very quiet car ride to the city. Once we got there, I thought that I would thank them for the ride and then we would part ways, but they found out I wasn't meeting anyone and they insisted on me joining them for lunch. During the lunch the mom and I had a conversation (through Papago) about how she envied the freedom foreigners have and that Koreans can't just be on their own, especially not eating meals. This was why she wanted me to stay with them. She didn't want me to be on my own.

Then we went shopping together. While it felt restricting having them with me when I was shopping it was also really sweet that she wanted to take care of me. After a few hours, I found myself in the car again heading back to Hwacheon. I never expected something like this to happen but I will always remember this student and her mom and little sister for being so kind and welcoming me into their day.

Christmas Cookies!

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is the Christmas baking. Last year, I wasn't able to bake, so I made fudge with the kids instead.

This year, my host mom and I decided that we wanted to try our hand at baking with the toaster oven that she has. I bought some box mix (sadly) and a chocolate project and we and the kids had a blast making a mess of the kitchen and eating a lot of chocolate while with baked.

We made two different types of cookies and tried our best at decorations without cookie cutters or anything other than sprinkles. While those were in the oven, the kids covered everything in chocolate.

I had bought this box kit with little biscuit sticks and melting chocolate. I melted that down and decorated all the sticks. The kids weren't done there. We then decided to make the chocolate that we melted for the cookies and dipped strawberries and marshmallows on them. It was a messy and delicious evening. And the snacks lasted a whole day and a half in our house of chocoholics.

Korean Folk Painting

My favorite co-teacher is leaving at the end of the school year and something she promised she would teach me is called Minhwa. This is a type of Korean fold painting. It's really beautiful and Songsil is really good at it. She has been painting it for years. So she decided to teach us how to paint it by making Christmas cards this year.

The first thing I find interesting is that it doesn't really use paint the way you might think. It more like watercolor in a way because it's just dried down loose pigment that is wet.

We first outlined the pattern we wanted to paint with a brush onto this paper that Songsil dyed herself.

After that, she showed us how to pick the colors and each step to painting each part.

I'm actually really shocked by how it all turned out. I would love to do it again. It was so relaxing for a Friday afternoon. I wanted to spend forever just painting, and I usually find painting tedious and get impatient with it after too long. I didn't even realize until it was time to go that we had actually spent two hours working on these things. One thing I know for sure. I am not giving this Christmas card to anyone. It is going to stay mine as a treasured memory and to remind me of my co-teacher.

(Not So) Casual Hike With The School

As I said recently, I had an unusual Halloween this year.  Just like last year, I dressed up as a witch during school and gave out candy to my students, but I didn't do a Halloween themed lesson. Unlike last year, I had decided they wanted to go on a hike. But this hike was unlike any other hike I have been on.

Now I've been on "hikes" that were just walking around a path, and I've been on hikes that were going up a mountain, with a small climbing section.

I have never been on a "hike" like this.

This was not a hike. This was a climb.

I was told beforehand that we were going to the most famous (i.e. tallest) mountain in Hwacheon and to wear comfortable clothes and hiking boots. I was thinking, cool, this is an excuse to wear a sweatshirt and leggings. Which I did. And looking back, I am so thankful that I did because if I had worn jeans like I was originally planning, I would have been in trouble.

Literally, the beginning of this hike was knees-to-chest level hiking. There were stairs and at some points these orange bars that were fixed into the stone as a literal ladder up the mountain.

Now I am not the most athletic, and with a bad ankle, I knew I wasn't going to last too long, but I didn't want to give up. I ended up at the back of the pack, but I was going to keep going. Slow and steady right?

Well...I tried.

I will admit, I didn't make it all the way to the top. There were three summits, I was told afterward, and I did make it to the first one. It was actually a really nice view, but it would have been better if the air quality was better.  I think if I had a few hours and as many breaks, as I wanted, I could have made it all the way to the top, but I was with the school and felt like I should just move down the mountain before everyone else came back down and caught up with me.

After the hike, we drove to a quaint little restaurant that just barely fit all the staff members in it and ate. I was so tired and sore that night...

I'm glad I went, but I was not prepared for that. It will definitely be a memory that I have for a long time.

Halloween YR 2

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Last year, I was able to make the day special in school in my classes and afterschool classes. But this year, it wasn't possible because of my schedule. But thankfully, I still got the chance to celebrate. The weekend before the county decided to do a special Halloween event for the local kids. We all dressed up, did a mini tricker-treating and each of us ran a station that groups of kids rotated through.

The other teachers ran stations of different crafts and activity stations. Mine was a pizza-making station. It was such a mess.

My host mom was in charge of the event, so in the weeks leading up to it, I really got to see a lot of behind the scenes, as well as help, come up with ideas and how everything was going to work.

Day of, I got all dressed up in my Halloween costume, I was a witch, and entered the frantic flurry of preparation. Once the kids started to arrive, it was showtime. I did five rounds of helping 5-9-year-olds make pizza and trying not to get it all over their costumes. There was a bit of a learning curve, where the first two rounds I actually ran out of time and then I started finishing too fast.

The concept was that I gave each of them a piece of bread, they put sauce on, used cookie cutters to shape their cheese, then add toppings to make them more Halloweeny. Some of the designs were really cute.

After the kids went through all of the activities, we went outside for pictures, giving out candy and this thing that I can only describe as Korean Pinata.

On Sunday, we repeated the same thing, but in another town in the county. It was a really nice way to spend Halloween. I'm glad I got the chance to do this activity and share with the Korean children my love of the holiday. Especially because these kids were so young and so cute in their costumes!

Another Food Tour (Chuncheon This Time)

A few months ago, I wrote about a food tour of Nami Island from a new tour company out of Chuncheon. I had so much fun on this tour, and I absolutely loved my tour guide. When I found out they had a new tour of Chuncheon area, I was so excited. I love Chuncheon, but being a foreigner, it’s hard to really know what to eat and where. 

So bright and early on one of my only days off this semester (Hangul Day) I got up and made my way to Chuncheon. The tour itself was in Myeongdong area. This is my favorite area in Chuncheon. It is the shopping area. Our first stop was at this dumpling place. It was next to two other shops that served the exact same food, but this one had been there the longest. We went in to get what our tour guide called “Korean Soul Food.” Food that makes you just feel good and whole. We got fried mandu (dumplings; this restaurant’s dumplings were vegetarian) and tteokbokki (savory rice cake pieces in spicy sauce).

After we ate, we were already full. And this was only stop one! So, we decided to walk for a little bit before going to our second stop. Our tour guide took us to one of the older Catholic Churches that looked like a little natural oasis as compared to the built-up city around it. It was actually really beautiful. But from the outside, I would never have guessed that it was a church.

Our second stop was what I was looking forward to the whole trip. dakgalbi. This is my absolute favorite Korean dish and Chuncheon dakgalbi is famous. I have written previously about it, but it is made of chicken, cabbage, sweet potato, tteok (rice cake) and a spicy sauce. It is so delicious. Our tour guide took us to her favorite one in the area, and I was really happy. It was so good. When we finished, we also got a serving of fried rice with cheese. This is fried up in the same pan as the dakgalbi and includes whatever is left over. It was so good, but I was so full at that point. How were we going to go to two more stops?

Next, we went to this little café that is actually quite unique. It was both a café and the owners were licensed in traditional Korean medicine. So, you could enjoy a drink and get seen by a doctor. Here we had a very traditional medicinal tea called 십전대보차. It was this really bitter tea that is said to be really good for your health.

Our final stop was at this cute little bakery where she had pre-ordered walnut brownies with our names on it. How cute?

All in all, I’m really thankful to the Tasty East Tour Company for a delicious day and I hope there will be more tours in the future that I can try out!

Four Day Weekend in Seoul

Korea doesn't seem to have many national holidays that close schools, but in October, there are two right back to back. And I took advantage of both of them. The first holiday was on October 3rd. This was Foundation day. Because it fell on a Thursday, Friday became what is called a "sandwich" day. My school is kind enough that we also got this day off. It was fantastic. This meant that I had my only four day weekend of the whole semester. And what just happened to fall on the same weekend? The International Fireworks Festival in Seoul. I decided that I really wanted to go to that. The fireworks were on Saturday, which meant I could spend the other two days exploring Seoul and go home on Sunday.

Thursday
On Thursday, My host mom, host sister and I all went to Seoul. My host mom had to go into the office on Saturday so they could come with me only on Thursday and go home on Friday morning. We took the train from Chuncheon and we had our first adventure; finding the guesthouse we were staying at. My host mom really wanted to stay in Myeongdong, so the first night, we stayed in that area. While we were wandering around trying to find this place, we found this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that served Pork Cutlets and Curry. Exactly what my host sister wanted to eat. I got a cheese pork cutlet and let me tell you, the cheese pull was awesome. It was so delicious.

With a full belly, we decided to take the train to Gangnam area. Here we went to the COEX Mall to see the giant library inside the mall. Afterwards, we went on a search for Cheesecake (really hard to find in Korea apparently) and spent some time shopping.

Then we went down to Ikseon-dong and Insa-dong, some beautiful traditional streets with lots of pretty shops and restaurants. Unfortunately, we actually did it backwards. Ikseon-dong had all the restaurants and we weren't hungry when we walked through there. Insa-dong was mostly shops. By the time we got there, we were hungry. We actually had this really cute moment in Insa-dong. My host sister was complaining that her feet hurt so we stopped to listen to this guitarist, and he actually asked me where I was from and to tell him my favourite song. I don't think he would know any songs I would suggest, so he asked me if I like Elvis Presly and he proceeded to play one of his songs. The couple who was sitting next to us apparently complemented my host mom on her Korean, not realizing she was Korean, I suppose because she was speaking English with me.

After we ate, we went down to Gyeonbukgun where there was a big protest going on. My host mom was curious. By that point, it was late and we were all exhausted. We went back to our guesthouse and went to bed.

Friday
The next morning, we went to a few places my host mom wanted to visit before going to Yongsan Station to get lunch and send them home.

Once they left, I went back to Myeongdong, did a little bit of shopping before grabbing my bag from the guesthouse and making my way to the other side of the city to where I would be staying for the rest of my stay. I didn't have much time, I got my stuff settled and made my way back across the river to go to a show. I love theatre and I usually shy away from going to them because of the language barrier, but this show was actually mostly physical comedy. There was some speaking, but it was mostly in English with a little bit of Korean being understandable for my Korean ability. It was so much fun! And so funny. I'm so glad that I went, even if I barely made it before the show started and had a bruised knee from falling outside the subway station.

The show was only about an hour long and so afterwards, I got dinner and decided to walk along the Cheonggyecheom Stream.

Saturday
Saturday was less exciting. I wandered around the city mostly. I saw Dongdaemun area and went looking for a gift for my friend's birthday. Around four, I headed over to the Han River to get a place to see the fireworks. I actually made friends with another group of foreigners while I was there. I'm so glad I brought a jacket because it got cold quickly that day.

The fireworks were so beautiful. There were daytime fireworks, that seemed to be made of colored powder and then once it got dark there were three different fireworks shows of various lengths. It ended around 9 and I was both freezing and exhausted. I walked back to where I was staying and went right to sleep. The next morning I went home, exhausted and tired of being in the city for too long. I was so happy to see my bed.

It was a great weekend and I'm so thankful that even if it was a city I've been to a bunch of times, I always have a place that's not too far from me that I can go to and experience something new every time.

Chuseok! Again!

Well, its that time of year again. If you missed my post last year, Chuseok is essentially Korean Thanksgiving. It is based on the lunar calendar and is one of the two most important holidays in Korean culture (the other being Seollal- Lunar New Year). My Chuseok began on Wednesday, where my host mom actually asked for me to have the day off so that we could go to Seoul and visit her family and take the kids to this exhibition hall that had been rented out. It was filled to the brim with inflatables and small fun things for the kids to play and jump around on. It was actually a lot of fun, even though there wasn't really anything for adults to do but watch the kids play.

Except for the swings. There were swings. That was fun.

We spent the day there, went to a restaurant to get backbone soup and back to my host mom's sister's apartment. We had so many people in this tiny little Seoul apartment with two families (five kids total) plus grandparents and me. But it was nice and we left after breakfast the next morning.

A few hours after we arrived back home, the other grandparents arrived. My host dad's parents and uncle came for dinner and spent the night. Friday was actually Chuseok. I actually got a few hours to myself because the family went out and I stayed home. It was actually nice. After all, if I was always busy during my vacation from school, its not much of a break. This break did come way too early in the school year, however. I really could use it in October or November when there are no breaks in the schedule. Literally, I don't have any holidays between Hangul day on October 9th and Christmas day.

Saturday, my host mom decided that we should do something with the day, so we went to the "love tree" and then to a really cute cafe where the owner sang for us.

All in all, it was a pretty good holiday. I'm really happy to have been able to celebrate another Chuseok in Korea.

Early Chuseok with New ETA Family

As I have explained previously, Fulbright Korea ETAs can renew their grant for a second or third year. Hence, why I am here again. In Hwacheon, there are five ETAs. Out of all of us, only two (myself included) opted to renew for a second year. Two others went back to the US, and the other decided to try teaching privately in Seoul. Of the two of us that remained for a second year, only I am still in Hwacheon. The other ETA was placed at another school in a different region of Korea.

Why I say this is to explain that there are now four new first-year ETAs in Hwacheon with me. Now, I don't know the new cohort, as I only had about 24 hours to meet 81 new people (didn't happen), but I think I got some of the best they had to offer. The ETAs that were placed in my region with me are all so kind and we have all gotten along really well. 

Just like last year, the ETAs in the area were invited to make Songpyeon (송편), a small rice cake dough filled with nuts or red bean paste, with little kids while wearing hanbok (한복), the traditional Korean clothes, for Chuseok. Last year, I had so much fun that I immediately volunteered to do it again. 

This event was held at the library, where dozens of little kids in hanbok come to listen to the Mayor read a story, make songpyeon and then watch a show. This year was a juggler that was actually really cool. Throughout the day, I hung out with some kids and even had one little girl that wanted to sit on my lap during the whole performance. 

My songpyeon even turned out really pretty. I was able to take them home and my host family devoured them in less than a day. The other girls and I also went out to a waffle cafe afterward. 맛있어요!

All in all, I had a pretty good day. And I got to wear a beautiful dress. Now if only the hoop skirt wasn't required. 

Easter in Korea

Easter is another one of those holidays that make me miss family more than ever as well as a holiday that most Koreans don't celebrate. Now I have mentioned before that most Koreans aren't religious, therefore there is no purpose to celebrate Easter. But in the US, where the Christian religion is so ingrained in our foundation, I found myself feeling odd walking into school on Easter Monday. Much the same feeling I had walking into school on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

I had mentioned previously that Easter was coming and that I wanted to do something to celebrate it. I originally wanted to make the family my mom's flapjacks (that never happened) but instead we enjoyed the nice weather. In the US, there might be storm after storm, but in Korea the weather has been beautiful. It has been warm and sunny and nice. I really wasn't expecting them to do all they did that day. Just to reiterate, my host family isn't religious. Especially not christian, so they don't celebrate christian holidays. First, we went on a walk back on some property through fields and up a mountainside that I didn't realize we owned. We even walked past the house that my host mom was born in and she pointed out her mountain and the graves of her mother and grandfather.

After the walk, we all piled into the car (My host parents plus their three kids plus the three cousins plus me) and went to 'flower road.' This was just a paved driveway with cherry blossoms on either side. But it was still beautiful. My host mom got out her camera and took lots of pictures. I didn't know there were going to be pictures or I would have dressed better, but it was a nice experience nonetheless. When we got back, my host dad told me there was going to be a BBQ. I don't know if they did all this for my sake because of the holiday, or they just wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather (it was one of the first really nice weekends) but I appreciated them and what they did for me regardless. It was a nice day and a nice evening.

If only we didn't have so much fun. I had to wake up at 4 am to Skype home and then get up for work the next day. But you know what? I wouldn't trade the whole experience for anything.

New Year's Eve

If Christmas was a rather lackluster event, then New Year's Eve was even more so. Because of the Korean Educational System, I actually had school on New Year's Eve. In Korea, the holiday's focus is more on January 1st than it is on December 31st, therefore the night before, I stayed up until midnight like I always do, then I went down to the living room just before. All of the kids were there just hanging out. I pulled up the clock on my phone and we counted down the last few seconds of 2018. "Happy New Year!"

Like I said, it is more important to celebrate the first day of the year, so my host mom invited me to hike up to the top of a mountain that overlooks my town and watch the first sunrise of the year. So that is exactly what I did. Only it was a lot more work than I expected it to be. We didn't drive as far up as I thought we would. But the view. Wow. A bunch of other Koreans were there, and they released balloons into the sky.

After the sun rose, we walked back down the mountain to eat 만두 (dumplings). This is traditionally eaten on New Year's Day as it is said that by eating them, you gain a year (because in Korea, you age up on your January 1st, not your birthday). It was really funny because after we ate our dumpling soup, as we were walking back to the car, my host mom looks at me and tells me "In Korea, your age 24." Which I find hilarious because I was just thinking about how when I left the US in July, I was 21 years old, now in January, only 6 months later, I am now 24 years old. I gained 3 years in 6 months. It is actually amazing to me.