After Chuseok last weekend we only had a three day week at school so that was a nice break. One of the Korean supervisors left this week, I'm not quite sure what the deal was, if she was fired or what not but I'm quite happy she is no longer there. A little background, there are five supervisors and they are the ones who make the lesson plans for us and act as the liaison basically between the parents and the teachers if there is something lost in translation or the parents have any concern. There are three that I really really like, two that are younger and sometimes are with us on the weekends and then the head supervisor who is older and really nice. The actual owner of the school I don't know very well and I don't see her much. So my kindergarten and first grade classes supervisor is the one that left, and so we got a new one on Thursday and I can already tell I'll like her so much better! The old one basically didn't do anything, and I would ask her for something and she would just say yeah, ok or something completely not assuring and then forget, so I'd have to ask her three more times...very frustrating to say the least! Other than that there is really nothing new at work.
Onto the fun part of the week... Friday night we just went to a bar called "The Underground" where one of the teachers was playing a show at (guitar and singing) so that was fun. It's usually a bar full of foreigners and some Koreans but the guy who owns it is really nice and knows the teachers from our school really well. I think its pretty safe to say that everyone's a regular there. On Saturday, we decided to go an island called Muuido which is just off the west coast right by Incheon (where the airport is). We left Saturday about noon, had to take one bus to the airport, another bus from the airport to the ferry, the ferry across literally 300 yards (I don't get why a bridge wouldn't be easier?) and then another bus from the ferry to the other side of the island to get to Hanagae Beach. It only cost about 20 bucks round trip though and maybe took about an hour and a half to get there? It was about 80 degrees in Suji (where I live) and sunny, but on the island it was a lot more overcast but still pretty warm. We went swimming but first you had to walk about 5-10 minutes just to get to the water from the beach because the tide was out. It was crazy! So basically all we did for the whole day was swam for a bit, got dinner, and drank and had a bonfire. We rented a little hut to sleep in which are only 30 bucks a night and they have pillows and blankets to use in them. There were some exchange students that we met on the bus so they stayed with us (girls in one hut and guys in the other) and then we met up with some different exchange students at night with the bonfire so we met a few English people, French, German, and one Australian. I spoke to some of the people from France but got too nervous to speak french! I could understand them sometimes though when they spoke so at least I got a little practice!
Sunday, it was actually sunny and warm so we laid out on the beach for a while before heading home. It may be the last time my face will actually get some color before the long winter so I had to soak it up while I could! Don't worry Mom, I did put sunscreen on my nose like a good child :)
Another full week ahead of teaching so nothing new there! Next weekend, they have a soccer game we're all going to because the tickets were only 10 dollars (I say dollars, but its really 10,000 won, which is about dollars, so I'm just putting everything in American prices)! I'm really excited to watch some soccer, I've been following Gustavus' season and I really really miss playing and everyone from the team. We also get a free beer and a free hot dog for foreigners! AND you can bring in any outside food or drinks, not like the Twins Stadium where a beer alone costs 7 dollars!
I heard it was getting pretty cold again in MN, well cold by my standards of fall weather... so I'm glad Korea is a little bit behind in that department. I haven't needed my coat yet which is nice!
This Friday the 23rd will officially be one month since I've been living here and it's finally starting to sink in actually, in a good way. Now I only have eleven months to learn more than just "hello" and "thank you" in Korean. We'll see....
Tootles!
Meghan
(pictures are updated also... http://www.flickr.com/photos/meghanfaricy/sets/)
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