Fall Favorites

The past few weeks have reminded me of my favorite things about the fall season, the first being the crisp, cool air. I love stepping outside and breathing in the fresh air as I walk to school - it is the perfect temperature where I don't feel like I am freezing to death, but I am also not too hot wearing a heavy coat. There are so many colors in the fall, from the changing colors of the leaves to wardrobe changes of the people I see around town. It is a pleasant change going from flat prairie land to being surrounded by mountains - it has been neat to document all of the trees changing from green to red or yellow or orange.

Hanging with the clowns

My medal!

My favorite thing to do during the fall season is run. As I mentioned, the crisp air feels fresh as it enters my lungs, and I feel like I could run for miles without getting tired. I ran in the Suncheon 10K last week, and I had a blast. It was my first race in Korea, and I will definitely be signing up for more. My friend Mary and I participated together. We arrived, checked our bags, and walked around to warm up before the race. This place was bumping! They had clowns, live entertainment, food and drinks, and a group-wide warmup stretch before starting. It was pretty hilarious. A lot of locals came up to Mary and I asking where we were from, and we met two 87 year-old men who were still kicking it! They were my motivation for the day. In the 10K race, there were 400 women who participated, and I placed 22nd out of those 400 with a time of 53:36. I was happy with my result because I hadn't been training too much beforehand, as I was overcoming a nasty sinus infection the week prior.

Warming up

While at the race, I ran into some of my students and a couple co-workers who were also participating in the races. Two of my students were running the 10K, and I caught up with them towards the end of the race. I ended up finishing together with one of the boys, which felt really neat. He tried to give me a high five as I was in the middle of blowing my nose on my sleeve, and he still smiled and laughed as snot was dripping down my face. It was a great moment... haha!

The 87 year-old rockstars

Another one of my fall favorites is Thanksgiving - a time to be with friends and family in a warm environment. Although this year I cannot be with my immediate and extended family back in the United States, my fellow Fulbrighters and I have bonded and have become each other's family and support while abroad. Our program coordinator and our program director were so kind in organizing a Fulbright Korea Thanksgiving dinner, which took place in Seoul this past weekend. 

The dinner was held at the National Folk Museum of Korea, right in the heart of Seoul. We had the whole place to ourselves - there were about 100 of us who attended. We had a private tour of the museum, and we ate our meal with some important ambassadors and foreign service officers in the area. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, jell-o, fruit, green beans, apple pie, pumpkin pie... you name it, it was there. It really did feel like a taste of home, and it was absolutely delicious! I wish I had brought TupperWare containers to bring home some leftovers. Unfortunately, I was so gosh darn hungry that I didn't snap a picture of our feast... I guess that is what happens when 100 hungry Americans who have been eating too much rice and kimchi for the past four months all come together. Haha!

Some of my students and I before the race

Fall is also a great season for new beginnings and getting involved. I spent the last month applying for some positions within our Fulbright program, and am happy to say that I am now a part of the Fulbright Korea Alumni Association Committee, as well as the Web Manager for Fulbright Korea's literary magazine, titled The Fulbright Korea Infusion. The Alumni Association is a brand new feature of Fulbright Korea, so our efforts this year will focus on data mining, as well as producing the first E-Newsletter for Alumni. With the Infusion magazine, I will be working as the webmaster and social media coordinator to produce online content. Web editing is a recent hobby that I have developed, in which I discovered while working as the webmaster for my university's Spanish Honor Society during my last two years at Illinois State (shout out to you, SDP crew!).

Thanksgiving Centerpiece

It feels good to be busy in the fall, but to also have time to relax, go for a jog outside, and enjoy the scenery. Winter is quickly approaching (my favorite season!), which means deadlines, exams, and breaking out the winter jacket. Hopefully snow will be somewhere in the mix there, too, although I am unsure if it snows down south here in Gwangyang. Pretty soon, winter break will be upon us and we won't know what to do with ourselves! Until then, focus on all that is happening now, and be grateful for the opportunities that we have to enjoy this life. Talk to you soon!