A Whirlwind Week

Wow! This week has been crazy busy. We got back from Busan and I had one day of rest (which I used to sleep all day) and then we went to one of the teacher's mountain homes. It was good to escape the city. We grilled, ate, visited the pottery village where almost every store was closed, and swam in a mountain stream. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing. 

Then, on Wednesday when we started school it was Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW). The rest of the week was set up like a youth conference except with less free time. A band, Station 2, and a speaker came from the U.S. We also spent time in small groups, tracks--which were basically just fun time; I was in charge of the board games track--and rec time, which usually involved running around the O-jung Dong (aka our neighborhood). It was fun, but it is still really warm here. Especially last week...it was near 90 everyday! The heat and sun and running combination made me completely exhausted at the end of each day. Overall SEW was great; it was nice to see my students in a different environment and connect with them on a deeper level. The band was great, too, and the students really enjoyed having them here.

On Saturday I didn't get a break because I left for Gwangju at 8:00 am where I went to meet up with Bethany. We didn't do too much there, but it was still a good day. We went to an art exhibit (that was kinda disappointing), watched some dance crews and a magician, shopped a little, bought some English books!, ate Pizza Hut, shopped some more, ate Bingsu--it is a lot of fruit, shaved ice, and ice cream and is really refreshing, watched a random parade, were followed for 45 minutes by a creepy Korean man, played with a really cute 4-year old Korean girl (she was the host-sister of one of Bethany's friends), and ate at a inexpensive meat place. Then, I took the 9:00 bus home, arrived just after 11:00 and crashed.

I was really happy I was able to travel on my own with only minor language difficulties. I have taught myself to read Korean which is really exciting. I still struggle with some of the vowels sometimes, but I have all the basic ones down. And, of course, I usually don't know what I'm reading, but it is a step in the right direction.

Today I spent most of the day working at the school, because I haven't planned for so long. We also had a potluck after church today and someone made taco salad, someone else made chili, and Sarah made Andes mints cookies. It pretty much made my day. Anyway, I should head to bed. Back to school tomorrow!

Pictures from Gwangju and Barbara's mountain home:http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021342&l=c7ec4&id=78300441