So I decided to take a little trip to my Korean "hometown". A couple of weekends ago I went to Iksan just to have a relax time with Scott and other friends. Scott was cooking up some curry (he took a cooking class in Thailand and he made some of his finest curry for me) and I was sure that I could make it to Iksan by 8:30 or 9. When I arrived to Suwon station I couldn't find a train that wasn't sold out that was leaving before 8! It's almost exactly a three hour train ride to Iksan...and I was at the station at 5:30...so what's girl to do?! I bought the 8PM ticket, got stressed, sulked, then went down to my platform.
There I bought a bottle of water and watched as the train that I wanted to be on arrived. I knew it was going to Iksan so I anxiously waited with the other expecting passengers and boarded as if I was supposed to be on that train. I paid for a nore bang (singing room) in the entertainment car and rode the rest of the way to Iksan in my own private little room!
Scott now lives in what used to be my apartment and from the train station all the way to my old apartments, I was filled with a strange sense of security and happy excitement just to be back in the familiar embrace of the place I called home for the past year. Even the rank smells that were the butt of so many of my Iksan jokes were now a welcomed part of the ambiance.
Entering my (Scott's) apartment I was greeted by Dayla and happy to see her then my attention was quickly diverted to Scott who was cooking in only an apron and pants, which prompted me to ask, " Why are you wearing pants?"
We relaxed and enjoyed dinner and catching up for a while before going upstairs to join in on Anna's little get together. Then we went out to classic Red Rock for beers, dancing and a lot of people I haven't seen in a while. The night was carrying on so well that I hardly drank at all and was ready to leave by 4AM. I left Scott at the bar and walked home alone. I feel so safe there and it was nice just to walk back to my old place, turn on the TV and get ready to fall asleep.
The next morning Lady GaGa greeted us via Scott's cell phone alarm and it got our day started out in a positive way. We were instantly laughing and ready to go! We met up with a pretty large group of Iksanites at Home Plus where we all caught cabs and made the journey to Jeonju for the Jeonbuk F.C. game!
One of the guys had planned an awesome tailgating experience that lasted for three hours before the game. We had snacks, hot dogs and plenty of beer. We played games and Scott even did a dizzy bat.
At game time we entered the Jeonju World Cup Stadium and seated ourselves in the most energetic section of the stadium. The crowd was constantly cheering and for the longest I couldn't figure out what they were saying - "Jeonbuk F.C." sounded like "Jeonbuk Epuh-see".
Here are some pictures of the stadium and the day shenanigans.
After the game we all headed back to Iksan for dinner. Dayla and I decided to join Ryan in a trip to Daejeon (about an hour north of Iksan) for a concert he was playing a venue there. So we hurried to pack our things and head to Daejeon by train. We met Ryan at the station and our train arrived, we boarded sat together for a couple of stops before a little old couple came with tickets that matched our seats! Turns out we were on the wrong train. It was going to the right place, we just got on the train before ours. I would now like to take full responsibility as my travel karma probably set this series of unfortunate events into motion. They made us get off that train and then get on another train headed back to Iksan. It was logically a terrible idea, but who ever said that Koreans are logical. So in the mean time Ryan began to get warmed up and we were able to catch a private concert on our private train car :)
We made it to Daejeon a little over an hour after we were supposed to arrive but still in high spirits. We had also been trying to get a couple of friends to meet us there and they had missed four of the trains that we had set up for them to take. It was a bad travel night for all of us! But we all made it and ended up having a pretty great night. Stayed in a love motel for a short nights sleep before going back to Ansan.
Here's the outside of "The Castle" love motel! So classy ;)
This past weekend we headed to Busan for Stormy's birthday. We were leaving Friday and I was meeting a few people in Suwon for dinner so I decided to grab our tickets before we all got the station and were left without seats. Turns out you should buy those tickets more than one day in advance! Everything was sold out. EVERYTHING! The earliest we could leave was at 10:38PM from CheonanAsan station (a little over and hour from Ansan) to arrive at Busan station at 1AM... Lame. So we took it. It ended up not being too bad leaving so late, and Dayla had made her way to Busan earlier that day so she had put some rooms on reserve for us until we got there a decent priced hotel by the beach!
Saturday we all got around and went to the sea! We took a fairy ride and enjoy amazing weather! However, the wind on the top deck of the boat was a little cold so we headed sub-level to block a little of the wind. While we were down there one of the guys decided to used the restroom...only to shut the door as quickly as he could then dubbing the men's restroom "The Gate's of Hell". He bet one of the guys $30 he couldn't last in the bathroom for 5 minutes. Needless to say the bet was taken and was the start to an outlandish weekend. It was one for the books.
I think one of the greatest things about the trip to Busan the past weekend was that it was more or less a christening of the Summer ahead of us. Plenty more adventures to come!
On a work note, I was sent to a GEPIK three day orientation seminar a couple of weeks ago. Lucky for me my friend Tara was sent at the same time so we were able to room together. We spent three days learning different teaching tips and ideas for classroom management. It was also a really great chance to meet some new people who have become instant friends!
The last night we participated in a cultural activity and learned to do a traditional Korean drum dance thing. It was really fun!
Teaching has been a lot of fun and after coming back from training I was refreshed and ready to teach. Here are some pictures of my kiddos! SOO CUTE!
It's FINALLY SPRING!!!! Stuart and I took a hike the other day on the trails across from my house and I couldn't help but to snap a few shots of the blossoms! The trees are so beautiful right now!
Well now you're all caught up! Tomorrow is Children's Day in Korea so I have the day off to go explore some temples and do a little hiking! I LOVE SPRING!
