Celebrating the Small Things

The Taewa River and Seonbawi, one of the 12 scenic view of Ulsan
(and only a 4-minute walk from my apartment)

This blog post is a little different than the others.  I’m not going to talk about any exciting adventure I went on or anything surprising about Korean culture.  Instead, I’m just going to celebrate the simple things.  One of the things I really like about being in Korea is my slower pace of life.  Feels really good to s-l-o-w down.  Here’s what I mean…

I finished up a decent work week on Friday.  The highlight of my week was working with my Wednesday after school conversation class.  It is composed of about 8 girls who are in their final year of middle school.  They are hoping to go to a foreign language high school next year, so their motivation to learn English is high, and their English skills are much more advanced than my other students.  We’ve been studying the differences between American schools and Korean schools.  I partnered with a friend from the US who is a middle school teacher.  We sent her students questions, and they made a video of a day in their school.  That inspired my girls who decided to make a video.  I am so proud of them!!!!  Check it out:  

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4mbBCBV8pQMZG9uYUt3eVoxRHc/edit?usp=sharing

Friday evening consisted of my typical dinner in Guyeong with some other foreign teachers who live in the area.  I always enjoy our low-key dinners.  We often go for drinks afterwards but skipped that this time due to a busy Saturday. Two of us had a Saturday program we teach every third Saturday, and all of us had a teacher training for the afternoon.

At the training on Saturday, it was nice to see some of the other foreigners I met at orientation when I first arrived in Korea.  The afternoon sessions were pretty good…I picked up a lot of little nuggets and strategies to use in the classroom.  (Apparently, the morning session was dreadfully boring, so I’m glad I missed it.)  Saturday evening I put together the video clips my students recorded and then watched a movie in the comfort of my cozy apartment.  Oh, how I love the occasional lazy weekend evening!

Virtually attending Aly's
40th Bday Party

Sunday was a very relaxing day!  It started off with a Skype session so that I could virtually participate in my sister’s 40^th birthday celebration.  I love how connected we can stay with technology!!!!  After talking with some friends and family, I went to my usual church service at Ulsan English Fellowship.  When I first started attending, it was just the American pastor and me.  It’s grown since then.  Today, in addition to me, there was an American, a German, and a Korean.  After our service, we all went to a Korean service at Ulsan University.  It’s an off-campus service where a lot of students and staff connected with Ulsan University attend.  My pastor was the guest preacher.  We had lunch, dessert, and the sermon.  I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting all kinds of new people since I’ve gotten here.  Some I click with, some I don’t.  But in every case, the conversations are always fun and interesting.  I’m enjoying the many relationships with various Koreans that are starting to develop.  That was definitely a goal of mine in living here; I didn’t just want to meet and hang around with foreigners.  I feel like I am exceeding that goal!  J

One of the trails near my apartment

Koreans enjoying picnics under a bridge by the Taewa River

On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store.  I got home about 3:45, put the groceries away, and had a fruit salad.  Then it was time to figure out what to do next.  I love that there was no schedule for a change!  It was a great day, so I decided to hit the trails near my home.  I ran into a Korean man on the trails who was wandering around like me.  He spoke good English, so we walked and talked together for a little while.  Then I sat on a bench to take in the view and do some journaling.  An older Korean woman sat on a bench next to me and started talking to me.  I was able to pick up a few things and respond with just a few things.  Then she must have thought that meant I knew Korean because all of a sudden she started speaking a lot and fast.  It wasn’t much of a conversation, but I enjoyed the interaction nonetheless.  As I walked home, I noticed a lot of Koreans having picnics and just enjoying time with friends and families. Wow…taking time to pause and be in the moment…what a precious gift.

Affogato: gelato with an espresso that you pour on top

My weekend ended with watching a sunset at Hands Coffee while enjoying Affogato, a new favorite dessert.  I truly am blessed and lucky to be having this experience.  I let the small things go too often.  What a great reminder of just how special those moments are! J

The end of the sunset (just 3 minutes from my apartment)

Long Weekend in Seoraksan National Park

Looking up at Ulsan Bawi

I had a GREAT long weekend last week.  I had off on Friday because it was my school’s birthday.  Then Monday, May 5 was “Children’s Day” followed by Buddha’s Birthday on Tuesday.  So…a 5-day weekend for me…yahoo!

The legend of Ulsan Bawi

A portion of the 888 steps

A few of us from Ulsan headed north to Seoul Friday night.  We stayed in a hostel and then met up with Adventure Korea bright and early Saturday morning for our trip to the northeast corner of South Korea.  Our destination: Seoraksan National Park.  What should have been about a 4 ½ hour ride on a coach bus was more like a 6-hour drive with traffic.  That still gave us plenty of time to hike Ulsan Bawi Rock.  We were told it was a hard hike, but I didn’t know what that would mean.  I’ve taken on many a hike in the US that was labeled “strenuous” only to discover it wasn’t that hard.  That is NOT the case in South Korea!  When they say hard, they mean HARD.  The locals say it’s 888 steps to the top (felt like more than that, though).  And those steps were never ending.  In between the stairs was a nice uphill trail, so there really was no break once you started the ascent.  The exercise was much appreciated after two weeks of inactivity due to being sick.  And the view…AMAZING!  Well worth the climb.

The view from the top

The Straddle Split "Game"

The Punishment for the Losing Team

Sunday was a low-key day.  We went to Gyongpo Beach and people watched.  And let me tell you…people watching at a Korean beach is interesting!  We were wildly entertained by a group of high school boys who were finding odd ways to pass the time.  One of their “games” was to form two teams of four and see which team could make the longest line by doing foot-to-foot straddle splits.  What happened to the losing team you ask?  Well, naturally, they got hit in the butt with a used firework.  It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen!  While all of this was going on, another group of high school boys was burying a friend in the sand.  And, yes, they proceeded to give him breasts (it’s funny how many things are universal).  The icing on the cake was an older gentlemen posing a soju bottle next to a sleeping friend (soju is a popular Korean

Posing for a Picture

alcohol).  At first, the soju bottle was just next to his hand, but that wasn’t good enough.  The next picture was with the bottle between the sleeping gentleman’s legs.  The older gentleman taking the picture was so proud of himself and just laughed at his handiwork.  As I as said…very interesting people watching!

The final day was another hike that I dare say was just as challenging as the first one and definitely worth the effort.  This hike also involved lots of stairs and even a few areas that required some scrambling.  I think I enjoyed the second hike a little more because we followed a stream with rock formations and small waterfalls along the way.  After the hike was lunch then time to hit the road.  There was MAJOR traffic.  I felt like I was in Atlanta in rush hour on a rainy day.  What was supposed to be a 4 ½ hour ride took about 8 hours.  We missed our train back to Ulsan and had to take a later one getting us back to Ulsan around 1:30.  Luckily, we didn’t have to work on Tuesday…that would have been miserable.  Not a great ending to our trip, but it also wasn’t bad enough to ruin my fun!

It felt so good to get out and do some hiking.  It’s giving me the itch to find more trails.  Ulsan is supposed to be full of them.  Now, I just need to find them.  All in all, it was a great weekend!  Looking forward to similar adventures in the year to come!