¡Amigas Aquí!

I was so excited in my last entry to tell you about my trip to India that I forgot what happened before that. Tami and Colleen spent an amazing week in Korea. Although the weather was a little chilly, I had a great time playing hostess. I took a few days off work which allowed us to do just about everything there is to do in Korea all in one week. The trip began in Seoul where we stayed in an ondul--traditional style--room where you sleep on the heated floor. We spent a day shopping in markets, drinking tea, and visiting a palace/museum, and going up Seoul Tower.

Tami and Colleen were so brave! They ate everything I put in front of them. :) We ate shabu shabu (similar to Korean BBQ, but in a hotpot), bulgogi (cooked meat), mandu (dumplings), dongas (pork cutlet), samgyetang (whole chicken in a ginseng soup) and bimbimbap (mixed veggies with rice). We also visited friends from Central and had a couple little reunions. Crazy! Tami and Colleen observed classes at TCIS on Thursday and Friday while I had to teach.

One of the best things about the week was that Tami and Colleen came when school was actually in session, which meant everyone was here. They met most of my friends, and we enjoyed doctor fish and going to noraebang, coffee shops, and photo sticker booth; all things I love to do here. On the last night we did something I've never done...slept at the jjimjilbang before the girls went to the DMZ.

In the middle of the week we took a day trip via KTX to Busan to see the fish market, cliffs, and ocean. We also met up with our friend Zach (aka G) from college. It was so fun to hangout and have G show us all around his city.

It was so fun to have my amigas here, but it has been a busy couple weeks. I'm definitely exhausted now. And, I'm having quite a bit of trouble sleeping...well, being able to fall asleep especially. Stupid jet lag!

Yesterday and today was World Language Festival, which also may contribute to my extreme sleepiness. Like last year, the Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish students all got together to play traditional games from the target countries. The year 1 kids enjoyed it, but the year 2 students enjoyed it even more. Their theme was food, and we cooked doekbokki (rice cakes in hot sauce), mapo tofu (yummy yummy Chinese dish), and quesadillas. It was a huge hit, and a lot of fun. Next year, when there are year 3 students, we are planning to have a section of music and dance. Looking forward to it already!

I'm happy because tomorrow is a half day of teaching, and since I don't have class until 10:40, I only have students for 40 min. Unfortunately, the half day is due to parent/teacher conferences, meaning I have to be at school until 8:30. Yuck! However, Thursday we get to sleep in and Friday there is no school thanks to good Friday. Yay! Happy Easter!