The weather this week has been beautiful! I think it hit 70 today. Because the spring-like weather put me in a mood to exercise, I decided to ride my bike to the pool. I had a nice swim and then walked my bike (I got a flat tire :( ) back...like my own mini-triathalon. hehe. Anyway, that's not the funny part. Today at school one of my fellow teacher friends asked if I went to the pool last night. I hadn't seen him there, so I was quite confused. I guess one of his Korean swim friends was there and had this to say via text message:
today very amazing in pool - white woman are very well swim;
3:21 PM white woman..very .... good swimer..al the people stand and cheer loudly;;
(my friend asked why - he said)
why cheer? because, Caucasian woman! very swim player! very amazing
HAHAHAHA! This cracks me up (and the broken English makes it even better)! I didn't even know this was happening! I saw a team chanting and I thought they were stretching or something, but apparently they were cheering for me. lol. As I was swimming yesterday I remember thinking I really liked swimming in Korea because everyone is pretty good...I didn't have to pass anybody and nobody passed me. But apparently I was amazing, and they were all quite surprised. hehe. Anyway, it totally made my day. I feel so cool. :-P
I returned to Korea on Sunday morning from a very interesting trip to Vietnam. Not too many places I visit surprise me anymore, but Vietnam was still able to do that. And for that reason, I loved it! The most shocking thing was the traffic. I just could not get over the madness of thousands of motorbikes weaving in and out of cars and pedestrians. It was quite a sight! I also enjoyed learning the history of Vietnam. I guess in the north there is still some hostility towards Americans, but we didn't experience that in the South. It was definitely eye-opening to hear about the war from the other side. We spent two days in Ho Chi Minh, where we were able to spend some time in a beautiful park, eat lots of phó (Vietnamese noodles that cost about $1), see a water puppets show, and visit the CuChi tunnels. Anna, Lyndsey and I crawled through the entire thing. Parts of it were so small that we had to crawl on our hands and knees. And it has even been made bigger for tourists! The entrances were also very small and well-hidden. Our guide also showed us some traps that were used during the war. Very cool to see.
After a couple days in the city, we spent two days touring the Mekong Delta area. As a part of the tour we visited several small villages, traveled everywhere by boat, and did lots of crazy things: held a boa constrictor, ate "elephant ear" fish, drank honey tea, tried all kinds of new tropical fruit, slept in an...interesting hostel, bought pineapple from a boat at the floating market, and even saw a water buffalo. The tour was relaxing and gave us the chance to meet some fellow travelers.
For the last few days of our trip we headed to the beach at Mui Ne. We arrived at about midnight, went to the hotel, and discovered that are booking was not received. Because of Lunar New Year everything in the country was shut down so people had a week-long vacation. It turns out that everyone goes to the beach during that time! We were told by the hotel owner that there were no rooms available anywhere because of the newear. The security guards helped us by calling a few hotels and finally said that the Saigon Mui Ne, a large resort, had one room available. The 7 of us then piled into a taxi to snatch it before someone else did. However, when we arrived we were told that they were completely booked. By this time it was approaching 1 AM, and I was prepared to sleep on the beach. As a last resort Jenn and Anna when one way and Lyndsey and I went another asking every place we came to if we had room. After walking for about 20 minutes (and feeling like we could relate to Mary and Joseph) Lynz and I were about ready to turn around when a woman ran out to us, pointed towards her guesthouse (it was dark and we hadn't even seen it!) and asked if we needed a place to sleep. We said yes and she led us to a clean, large room (2 queen size beds...enough for at least 6 to have a bit of mattress). She even had another room available for the next two nights. So at 2 AM we found a place to stay for the duration of the trip. Whew! It was quite an adventure!
The rest of our time in Mui Ne was very nice. We swam in the warm ocean, laid on the beach, watched kite surfers, visited sand dunes and went sand sleddin, creek-stomped in a beautiful stream, ate more yummy food, shopped, and played mini-golf. It was fun and relaxing. I felt so disconnected from school and work; it was great!
Now we are back in class for three more weeks until our next break. I will be going to India for a mission trip with a group of high school students. I am sooooo excited because I have wanted to go to India for quite some time now. We will be working at an orphanage near Bangalore. The week before that Tami and Colleen will be here!!! I can't wait! March will be here and over before I know it!
Click here for pictures from Vietnam. Also, check out the video below. It is incredible!
Yep, that's what I'm doing...escaping winter. Saturday I will be leaving wet, cold Korea for warm, sunny Vietnam! We have next week off school for Lunar New Year, so 6 friends and I will be heading to Ho Chi Minh City as well as to Moi Ne beach until Saturday the 20th. I'm so ready for a break. Swimming has started up and after having to make some cuts (I hate cutting people!), the team has been named and practice has begun regularly. We have our first meet the Saturday after break and then the season will be in full force.
Last weekend I kept busy at 30 Hour Famine with over 100 middle school kids at SFS. The event was great, but we didn't get much sleep. All the girls were squeezed into a gymnastics room. They went to sleep better than last year, but we didn't go to bed until about 1:00 AM. Then, about 5 in the morning 3 different cell phone alarms went off. Grr...we had collected all the TCIS students' phones. Overall, the event was a lot of fun and really eye-opening for many of our students who have always had everything they've needed or wanted.
The next month is going to be pretty crazy. 3 weeks after the Vietnam trip, Tami and Colleen are coming!!! Then, the following week we have Spring break and I will be heading to India on a mission trip. I will try to keep you all updated on my adventures. Happy Lunar New Year, all!
I am spending four years in Daejeon, South Korea teaching middle schoolers Spanish. Read on to see what I've been doing, where I've been going, and what I've been learning. Life is quite an adventure!
Oh, and mi-guk is American in Korean. :) That's me!
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