meanderings...

this past week was a long week. i was in a funk that i can't really describe, and i didn't feel too well, so i spent a lot of time at home. things here have just been piling up... the culmination of these events was when i discovered that my winter clothes that i had shipped to me have been in customs for over two weeks now and there is no sign of a release date. with winter quickly approaching, i am not exactly overjoyed with this information. also, news of the cards getting sweeped in the play-offs didn't help my mood. sigh...maybe next season...

by friday i realized that if i didn't get out i might have gone crazy, so i headed over to sunny's where sunny was overjoyed to see me after a week of my absence. i spent the evening in the typical fashion and competing in what could only be called extreme jenga in which i proudly was able to not knock down the tower while always attempting very risky move s. jenga is a serious sport to me these days.

saturday i was very excited to spend the day with jun lee. i met him in samseong, which is an hour and 15 minute subway ride. on the subway, i brought my hongul workbook and began my studies. it wasn't long after that a nice ajuma (old lady) sat next to me and took an interest in helping me with my pronunciation and studies. she was quite helpful and i enjoyed trying out my skills on her. she beamed whenever i got things right. i like to think she felt like she was able to teach a random migook (american) to read hongul and i think i might have made her proud. the older generation here is especially impressed when foreigners take an interest in their culture and make attempts to learn the language and writing because so often we waygooks (foreigners) just try to make others like us and don't take the time to embrace new cultures let alone respect them enough to try to learn them ourselves.

anyway, i met jun in samseong where we had lunch at a korean style pizza and pasta restaurant. we shared a sweet cranberry pizza (mmmmm) and chatted it up for a bit. i showed jun my hongul reading skills and he was very impressed and told me my pronunciation was really good, so that completely boosted my confidence!

we left the restaurant and went to an underground mall which are very common in korea. jun was excited to tell me it was the largest underground mall in the world and we walked around a bit, stopping in shops every now and then. he took me into the national kimchi museum where he excitedly talked about kimchi and i joked a little about koreans' obsession with the stuff. kimchi is basically a type of fermented cabbage and there are tons of different ways to prepare it. koreans litterally have it with every meal. it is the national food. if you ask one of the little kids at the school what their favorite food is, almost every time, the response is KIMCHI! while at the museum, we saw an american guy there with a korean girl who was excitedly telling him about kimchi as well. the american and i shared little laughs and that little 'i understand' smile and nod before heading off in opposite directions with our respectful companions.

after we left the museum, we stopped for coffee and more wandering. i got mildly annoyed at all the stares throughout the day. i just want to scream at people. yes, i am an american. yes, i am with a korean. no, i am not going to teach you english. no, i am not going to do a trick. i am not an exhibit in a freak show. please, don't stare. even jun noticed the stares and commented after a group of guys were blatently eyeing me down. they don't even try to hide stares in this country. sigh...just one more thing about korean culture i will have to learn to deal with, i suppose.

after coffee, we went to a movie. i was totally hoping to go to a random korean movie, but we ended up going to see Surrogates, the newest bruce willis flick considering our only other options were Fame and Final Destination. it wasn't a bad film, but it was no reservoir dogs, that's for sure. i am itching for inglorious bastards to be showing here. it is supposed to be here withing a few weeks *joy*!

after the film, we walked a bit outside and enjoyed the crisp evening. we ended up traveling to walk along the han river, which is supposed to be really beautiful at night. because neither of us were really familiar with the area, we ended up not really sure where we were and discovered a really nice, secluded park where we could overlook the river and the city. the view was spectacular! we sat for a while, but realized it was getting late and had to make the last train back to baekseok. we stopped quickly for a bite to eat at an outside shop where we had dumplings and oodong noodles (yum!) and afterwards, we had ice cream and sat together until i absolutely had to go.

on the ride back, i pulled out my korean workbook and once again, a helpful ajuma gladly began to help me with my studies. the train ride passed quickly and when i got home, it was almost midnight, so i decided to call it a night and turned in.

the next day (today), i slept in and met turk for lunch. afterwards we went grocery shopping and i showed him my discovery of the dollar store on top of e-mart. when i got home, i cleaned my apartment a bit and wasted some time. all in all, it was a very unproductive weekend, but just what i needed to help me get out of the funk i have been in for the past few days. i am still not completely over things, but hopefully i will be back to my old self soon. at least this week is midterms week for the kids so i don't have too much work to do. and, the week after that, we have a three day week and a two day field trip to sokcho where we are playing games and sports with the kids. i am actually kind of looking forward to it, considering lately (especially over this past week) i have been getting really close to the students, a few of the 12th graders in particular. i really love being able to talk to them and help them with things. this past week has especially encouraged me to start my masters in counceling. i feel like i really m making a difference. these kids need someone to listen to them and it feels good knowing they feel comfortable and trust me enough to come to me when they need to talk to someone.