Pizza Party
May 25th 2012
I was just invited to a little Pizza Party with my co-teachers homeroom class, as they were saying goodbye to their student teacher, Hye Ji.
The girls were quite upset that their student teachers are leaving, some even cried. Though the sadness didn’t stop them running around while eating pizza and drinking fizzy drink. They even gathered up the last bits of pizza in a mad flurry so they could take them home (there was a rush to collect all the unused paper cups to put their leftovers in)!
I’m also sad that Hye Ji is leaving. We’ve become friends over the last month, and she’s been ridiculously helpful in my classes. But, we’ve exchanged numbers, and will be catching up for coffee sometime soon, YAY!
The pizza party was quite insane, as they figured out they can use Hye Ji as a translator for all the questions they have for me! It was very intense, and both of us were surrounded by 1st grade girls yelling questions in English and Korean. Many were just yelling random words in English - it felt like some of them were doing a rendition of scenes from Anchorman “I love lamp” / “I don’t know what we’re yelling about”. The questions included:
- Why don’t you learn Korean?
- Is everyone in New Zealand beautiful?
- Does Hye Ji have a boyfriend?
May 24th 2012
Tonight I got what Konrad has starting referring to as “cheesedrunk”. Basically, I ate so much cheese that I actually felt a little sick and had to have a wee nap (but at the same time it was TOTALLY worth it).
Before dinner we scoffed some brie with crackers - matched with a lovely red wine.
Then for dinner we attempted, and succeeded at making our first homemade pizzas in Korea. Because we don’t have an oven, we used a pan, and burrito tortillas as bases. We went the simple way, and just chucked on regular cheese, tomatoes, seasoning and feta - and they were delicious!
Although I fear even more now that my body is a bit intolerant to cheese and other dairy - I can’t wait to eat more of the stuff!
May 20th 2012
Today we decided to have a relaxing day, after our busy day in Daejeon. So we gathered together a few people, and decided to check out the university by our house.
The first task was finding a frisbee! Mike managed to find one at Daiso (a dollar store), even though it was in the pet section, and quite clearly meant for dogs…
Emma, Carly, Mike, Konrad and I managed to afind a wee spot of actual grass. Which was quite a big accomplishment! In Korea, most of the “fields” are just dirt, or if you’re really lucky - astro-turf. We weren’t on a field, so much as a wee grassy patch - but we were overlooking the field, and there were trees, so that was pretty great.
We set up camp, played some frisbee, the boys kicked around a ball for awhile, we chatted, and just generally lounged - it was lovely. So nice to be outside, and get some fresh air. We watched some hilarious jump rope game played by some uni students which involved one girl (who obviously stuffed up the jumping a few times) get showered in a bucket of water, twice! They also had a big water fight.
Later in the afternoon Minji came to meet us, bringing with her some much needed ice-blocks! Then later we met up with Jesuh and Alejandro for dinner at a wee little Italian restaurant.
It was such a relaxing day! And so nice to know that little patch of grass is just up the road.
May 19th 2012
Today we went to Daejeon. Kons rugby team had a practice, so I decided to tag along for a bit - and then check out the shopping!
I met up with Emma, who also came over from Cheongju, and we went to the only place she knew of any shopping in Daejeon - Time World. This turned out to be an excellent decision!
We spent most of the afternoon wandering around the mall area, then we ventured out to some of the boutiques on the streets. We witnessed a fashion show, and had quite a successful purchasing time too.
After a lot of “you choose” / “no you choose” over where we should go for lunch, we decided on Eat Me (yes that was actually the name). This was also a great decision on our part - it was pretty cheap and the food was great! I had an amazing salad (no weird dressings or ingredients in sight), and Emma had pasta. They served up bread and butter to start, and we even got a kind of ice-cream dessert as part of the service (‘service’ in Korea means it’s free). Will definitely be going here again, and recommend it to anyone in SK!
After lunch we hit a few more shops, then ran into the rugby boys who were having a few “after practice beers”. Once our other friends - Alejandro, Carly and Mike (finally) arrived from Cheongju, we all headed to a Mexican bar which sponsors the boys rugby team.
From here it’s kind of hard to explain how the night went down. Basically we had a few drinks, and some food at the Mexican place with the boys, and many laughs! We met some interesting characters, and had too many funny moments to remember - one of the memorable lines was “the most disappointing day of my life was on my 13th birthday when I didn’t receive a letter from Hogwarts”. That about sums it all up.
We had to literally run to catch the last bus back to Cheongju - it was a close call, and we ended up having to stand (while all a little tipsy) the entire way (about 40mins). We popped into one of the Cheongju bars to say “hi” to a few people when we arrived back - but Konrad and I were exhausted, so we headed home pretty quickly.
It was a brilliant decision to head to Daejeon, and I will definitely be doing it again soon!
May 19th 2012
Last night, after a fabulous Indian meal with our friends here in Cheongju, we went and got some cocktails, then headed to a hookah bar. This is our second time having shisha while here in Korea, but the first time in our little town. The place had the most amazing, relaxed vibe - there was a little pond with cherry trees around it, dim lighting, and candles everywhere. We got ushered into our own little private booth, and ordered some drinks, and mixed fruit shisha - then we managed to solve all the worlds problems in a few hours, and went home to sleep!
Some more sports day pics!
May 18th 2012
My first school sports day in Korea was a blast!
We had a cracker day, of around 27 degrees, and it was filled with jump rope, tug-of-war, hula-hoops, dodge ball and relay races. We also had a lot of food, including burgers and ice-cream!
Each class was dressed in a uniform of their choosing - so the outfits ranged from baseball t-shirts, to hospital garments, and ahjumma (old Korean lady) pants. Some of the homeroom teachers and student teachers were also dressed in the random outfits to support their classes.
Absolutely everything was a competition, of course! It was super intense - to the point where I saw a few girls crying when they lost, and many screaming when they won.
I participated in the teachers tug-of-war against the parents. It was hilarious, but unfortunately we lost 1-2 (though there was no crying).
During lunch, and then again near the end of the prize ceremony, the girls started a huge spontaneous line dance. It was so cute to see them all in little lines dancing their hearts out (even if was to the same song, over and over)! Some of the students teachers and parents even joined in - it was awesome.
But, my favourite part of the day was just seeing the girls act like real kids. So often here in SK they are only focused on studying, getting good grades, and thinking about what high school or university they’re going to attend. It was nice to experience them running around, chanting, and getting excited over something other than a good test score!
Some sports day pics!
May 16th 2012
The other night when I was walking home, the ground was wet, and the concrete was shimmering under the street light - so I snapped this shot. The lines on the road really got me thinking about my life at the moment.
I feel like so many things are changing. A lot of our friends here in South Korea will be leaving soon, as out first contract nears its end. We have decided to resign our contracts and stay on longer - so we’ll have to say goodbye to many of our friends.
This road I’m currently on is so different to where I always thought I’d be in life. I guess it’s stupid to ever think you’ll know where you’re going to be in the future.
I’m enjoying where I am at the moment, but I do tend to stress about the future a bit too much - imagining what will be, and all those possibilities ahead. I guess sometimes you just have to choose a line on the road, follow it, and see where it leads you. Just hope I’m brave enough to go where it takes me.
16th May 2012
Today there was no school as it was ‘picnic day’. We didn’t go on what I’d think of as a ‘picnic’, but instead, I headed to the movies with all the grade one students to watch Mirror Mirror - a new take on Snow White.
The movie was pretty good, if you’re into fairytales (like I am), afterwards I went to lunch with some of the grade 1 teachers, to a place that’s famous for an egg dish that tastes like scrambled egg. My favourite was the pork meat, which was boiled, but tasted like it had been roasted -SO good! After lunch I got to go home.
So a movie, decent lunch and early home-time = pretty good day.
This is the place for all those things that happen in life, that I think about and want to share. Life is full of wandering - when it is wonderful, it's Wanderful.
