Hi everyone,
I apologize for the long delay between blog posts lately, and no, I wasn't honoring the Vikings bye week by not writing, I've been very busy lately. I've been charged with the task of making a workbook for next year's students and it is a long, arduous process (thank you Mr. Priemesberger for the 10th grade AP English vocab words). So far the project is going slowly, mostly because I don't have a copier/printer/scanner in my apartment, but I still have a month to finish it so hopefully I'll be able to finish it in time. And yes, there is a cash incentive for me to finish this project. Anyways, I suppose you'd like to know what I've been doing the last two weeks.
Over my birthday weekend, Alex, Dave, and Mika came into Suwon on Saturday to do some exploring. We spent Saturday afternoon at Hwaseong Fortress, the most famous attraction in Suwon (aside from the world renown public toilets, but we'll save that for another post). The weather was surprisingly warm during the weekend after a week of colder weather and we all worked up a nice sweat climbing to the top after taking in the fortress grounds. At the top we took in some nice views of Suwon-si (Korean for city) right before the rain came. Fun fact #1 about Suwon: It remains the only entirely walled in city in Korea. When we got back to downtown Suwon we enjoyed some cake, ice cream, and coffee at one of the numerous ridiculously over-the-top cafes in my neighborhood. On a side note, South Korea is fascinated with these ridiculous cafes and coffee shops. Many of them have private booths with a door and outrageously ornate decorations like chandeliers hanging from the celings. I don't understand why all of this is necessary, but I guess if you are going for coffee and dessert you like to indulge so these places cater to that? To cut a long rant short, we indulged ourselves in one of these private booths. Saturday night we headed to Hongdae for the Madison quadruple birthday celebration. Sunday the weekend traditions continued with the usual bagel and coffee from Dunkin Donuts and an afternoon of relaxation.
This past weekend was a little more low-key than the last few have been. On Saturday, Alex, Mika, Jessie, and I went to Hongdae during the day to check out the university art fair, which was very interesting. We went to a small gallery, which had some interesting paintings. It also had a Beatles-ABBA-Queen exhibit that was showing last weekend but unfortunately not on Saturday (I can't believed I missed it!). We grabbed some snacks and drinks at an awesome cafe that had a very cool chair exhibit in the basement. After Hongdae, the gang headed to Itaewon to check out the War Museum of Korea, which was very powerful and interesting, I regret not bringing my camera. On the grounds there are planes, tanks, and naval guns used during the Korean War on display. The exhibits on the inside cover all the wars in Korea's history. We had Mexican food for dinner on Sat. night at a pretty good restaurant. Itaewon is a pretty Westernized area of Korea, mostly due to the U.S. military base that's located there. Sunday was the usual again: bagel and hot chocolate from DD's, afternoon full of relaxation.
Last week school was back on and the kids were as perky as ever. I can't believe it's only been 3 months since I've been here, I feel like I've adjusted pretty well and it seems like I've been here much longer. That being said I am definitely looking forward to winter vacation and traveling Japan with Mom, Dad, and Robyn and then giving them the grand tour of South Korea. The weather has finally turned to winter and the heat is finally on in my apartment. I can't tell you how awesome heated floors are, but the contrast with ice-cold tiles is a little much at times. At school I have to wear a jacket when I teach because the heat is rarely on, to save energy costs.
For all the Americans or duals reading the blog, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving next week. I know Bubba, Auntie Holly, and Na will have a good time in Minneapolis and Robyn and Mom will enjoy the shopping companions. As far as celebrations planned here, a group of us are going to get together next weekend and celebrate, since Thursday night would be a little too hectic for all of us. Most of the ingredients for the usual delicacies can be found at Costco, so we should have turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce (Thanks, John), pumpkin pie, and maybe even cornbread. That's all for now.
iPod A-Z update: "Lover Man" by Jimi Hendrix
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