From Fall to Winter in a Jiffy!

Wow, the weather sure has chilled since my last post. In fact, Gwangyang experienced its first snowfall of the season yesterday - on the first day of December. None of it stuck, but it was fascinating to see all of my boys react and stare longingly out the windows of their classrooms.

My walk to school

With the weather cooling down, leaves falling on the ground, and the holiday season rolling around, I admit that I am feeling a bit homesick. Last week I taught my boys about Thanksgiving, which they were all eyes and ears (probably because of all the food pictures). Here in Korea they don't celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously), but it was nice being able to Skype with my parents and family before heading off to school on Thanksgiving day. Luckily, I was able to get a taste from home when we had our foreigner Thanksgiving dinner in Gwangyang this past Friday evening. We even had a turkey!! I was so happy to eat some dark meat, alongside some pastas, casseroles, and homemade desserts. The dinner rolls were clutch (always my favorite part of Thanksgiving meal).

Enjoying some new Korean cuisine

Many of my friends will be traveling back home for two weeks, and a part of me is envious. However, I know that I will enjoy my first Christmas holiday away from home because other foreigners, some coworkers, and I will be celebrating together (without all the gift-giving). Plus, my parents are coming to visit me in February, so I count that as my Christmas gift! I am very excited to show them around Korea and what my life is like here.

Pig skin and pig intestines

Aside from Thanksgiving celebrations and the first snowfall, I have been staying busy with my teaching and new responsibilities as the web editor for Fulbright's Infusion Magazine, as well as getting the ball rolling on creating an Alumni Newsletter for Fulbright Korea. My host family is great, and last week we celebrated our 100 days of being together! Last night they took me to eat 곱창, which is cow or pork intestines, along with 돼지 껍데기, otherwise known as pig skin! I know, I know, it sounds absolutely disgusting as first, and I thought so too. But, I gave it a go and it is so tender and so delicious! It is considered a delicacy to eat this in Korea, and it is quite expensive. My host family said that we should celebrate the first snowfall by going out to eat, and I am certainly glad they introduced me to one of my new favorite foods of Korea.

Pretty fall colors on the walk to school

My boys and I have been having a lot of fun in class. A couple weeks ago, we took a couple class periods to learn how to play rugby, and then attempted to start our own game (no tackling, of course). I tried to do two-hand touch, but it ended up getting pretty physical anyway. Luckily, no one was hurt. But the boys loved it! I also did a trial run-through of making the chicken pot pie. I will be making a massive amount of that stuff during finals, so I wanted to make sure I had the proper ingredients here in Korea to do so. All went well, and the boys are ready! It makes for a hearty winter meal, too.

Rowdy boys playing rugby

My winter break begins on Christmas Eve, so I am plugging away until then. I am feeling a bit worn out, but my boys have final exams next week, and I get to cook chicken pot pie for them, and that makes me happy! They have worked so hard this semester, and I am very proud of them. It is hard to believe I have already been teaching them for four months, so I consider this a nice celebration and end of the year party for us.

Chicken pot pie!

I will be gearing up for some winter break traveling, too! I am planning to visit Hong Kong, Thailand, and Cambodia with one of my Fulbright friends during January. Then, my parents will be here shortly afterward in February! I will go back to teach a new semester come March. Until then, enjoy the winter months everybody - Gwangyang is much warmer than what I am used to (although today it dropped into the low 20s).

Happy December!

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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!

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One-third of the way through

... Or am I? Today marks four months of living in Korea - wow! I have eight more to go, but possibly more. I am thoroughly enjoying my experience here so far, and the consideration of renewing my contract for a second year has crossed my mind. I have not made any set decisions yet, however, and most likely will not do so until March or April - so hang tight!

Suncheon Seonamsa Temple

The past four months have been a series of transitions, breaking down cultural and language barriers, adjusting to my full-time job as an English teacher at an all-boys high school (it is so different than co-ed schools in America!), establishing new relationships with friends, my home stay family, and co-workers, various trips to the doctor, all amidst traveling and exploring the beauties of Korea - whew! It has been quite busy, but practically anyone who has met me knows that I wouldn't have it any other way. These experiences can be frustrating at times, but I always try to remember how lucky I am to have this opportunity to simultaneously do two things that I love dearly: teach and travel. These two passions challenge me on a daily basis, and motivate me to be the best person that I can be. My boys can be ornery, but their bright smiles, awkward English greetings/phrases, and adorably oversized glasses remind me why I love this profession so much, and the many gifts and hidden joys that teaching brings to me. Travel not only broadens my worldview perspective, it helps me become confident with myself and realize my accountability for my actions, and how those actions affect myself and others. I am blessed to see the beauty of this world, and I am humbled every time I travel somewhere. Every town, every city, every country has amazing things to offer - whether it is the people, the landmarks, the food, or the far and in-betweens. I continue to thank all of my loved ones for their support and encouragement, because I know I never would have made it this far without them. 

With my co-workers

With that said, it is story time! Since my last post, I have been busy at school preparing speaking tests for my first and second grade high school students. They get so nervous and tense when I say those words together - I remember doing the same when I had to do oral tests for Spanish class. I have no doubt that my boys will excel at these tests, though - they are rockstars! I have been building some stronger relationships with my students by creating a "Teacher Facebook" and becoming friends with my boys. It is also a great way for me to get to know them on a more personal level and stay in touch with their goals and interests (I have between 500-600 students, so this is super helpful!). Today after lunch I was able to play basketball with some of my second grade boys and it was a riot! They convinced me to play each one of them in a game of one-on-one, which was a mistake on their part. I am not the greatest player by any means, but they definitely underestimated me as a female basketball player. It was funny to see their reactions when I was playing hard with them! I think they will respect me a lot more after beating the majority of them in one-on-one... haha!

Suncheon Seonamsa Temple

Last week, my co-workers and I took a field trip together to Suncheon and visited Seonamsa Buddhist Temple. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to visit because the leaves were in the midst of changing colors, and the temperature was just right. Here are some pictures! 

This was a great trip because I bonded with some of the younger teachers who I do not normally see on most school days because their offices are separated from mine. One co-worker invited me to spend Saturday together, so we did some more sight-seeing in Suncheon. She took me to Bonghwa Mountain (봉화산) and spent the morning hiking for four hours.

Hiking with my co-worker

After hiking, we went to her home and had lunch with her parents and grandmother (who is 94 years old!) before heading to the Suncheon Gardens (순천만정원). These gardens are beautiful! It features traditional gardens from various countries, such as Thailand, Turkey, Spain, America, Britain, Japan, and more. Some of the gardens were in the midst of dying while we visited, but it was a beautiful park to walk through and learn about gardens all over the world. While we were there, we walked across "Dream Bridge" which has a collection of drawings submitted by elementary students. It was a really neat thing to see. 

Suncheon Gardens

And, how could I forget, Halloween festivities!? After Korean class on Friday night, we all decided to go out for drinks and noraebang (노래방), which is a place for private karaoke singing - also known as the greatest invention ever. There are various types of noraebang - individual (sounds lonely), small group, large group, and uhhh... "couple's" noraebang... I'll leave you to interpret that how you want. We had a large group, so we all piled into a ginormous room with couches along the walls and drank some beer while queuing up our karaoke tunes. It is a great time for friends, family, and strangers to bond over singing and dancing! Unfortunately, I did not wear a costume this year (Halloween isn't really celebrated in Korea, unless you go to Seoul where all the college students who party are at), but it was still a fun night with friends.

Halloween Party

This upcoming weekend is my big race! I am all ready to go for my first race in Korea. I am interested to see what it will be like as compared to races in America. I will be running a 10K with a friend who is in my Korean class - I will be sure to update with results (if they're decent, that is... haha). Stay tuned!

Race gear

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Ongoing October

Hey everyone!

Have you noticed my new blog layout? I also created a new banner/logo for my header... I am feeling pretty professional right now. I love it - I hope you do, too. I think it fits adequately with who I am and captures what this blog is all about.

4D Movie

The days are flying by here in Korea - hard to believe that October is already coming to a close. I had a nice week-long break in the middle of October, which I spent traveling of course! The first stop I headed to was Mokpo, alongside my friends Jeremy and Riki. We went to Mokpo's Natural History Museum, and while we were there we went on a 4D Dino Adventure (movie theater!). It was pretty fun to experience a short film in 4D - your seat shakes, water gets sprayed at you, 3D, everything! After the museum, we met up with some friends who live in Mokpo for dinner and drinks.

This past week I had the pleasure of meeting up with all 115 Fulbright Korea ETAs in Gyeongju for four days. We all met at a hotel for professional development workshops, and our Fulbright Korea director also spent the four days with us. In addition to our workshops, the first-year ETAs attended an all-day tour of Gyeongju on Sunday. It was an AWESOME trip!

Our group! So pretty

Gyeongju was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla (57 BC – 935 AD) which ruled about two-thirds of the Korean Peninsula between the 7th and 9th centuries. Gyeongju is often referred to as "the museum without walls" because of its historical treasures; Seokguram grotto, Bulguksa temple, Gyeongju Historic Areas and Yangdong Folk Village are some of the tourist destinations our group visited.

Beautiful lights by the lake walkway near our hotel

Hanging out in Gyeongju

Anapji Pond

Anapji Pond (안압지) used to be a garden to commemorate the unification of the Korean peninsula under the Silla Dynasty. Today it is a common park where a lot of couples use to take wedding photos. From June to early August, the ground is covered with blossoms - I was a bit sad that we missed that, but still a beautiful site to visit.

Outside of the National Museum

Daereungwon - ancient tombs

Daereungwon (대릉원) is a site where you can see twenty-three ancient tombs of songs and noblemen from the Silla Dynasty. The tombs look like massive hills - and underneath is the buried body. One of tombs is open for the public to see many artifacts such as weaponry, jewelry, and ornaments.

Bulguksa Temple

Bulguksa Temple (불국사) is the crowning glory of Silla architecture. The excellence of its carpentry, the skill of its painters, and the subtlety of its landscape all contribute to its magnificence.

Seokguram Grotto (석굴암) is a stone temple made of granite, hidden in the mountains about Bulguksa. Construction began in the year 751 and took 24 years to complete. It is a statue of Buddha surrounded by over three-dozen guardians and lesser deities. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed at this site, so I cannot show you. Sorry - it was quite an enormous Buddha, though.

Gyeongju National Musuem is newly renovated! This is where I was able to learn all about the Silla Dynasty in Gyeonju, which was the capital of their dynasty.

An ancient crown

The week after conference was a bit difficult to adjust to after being on a week-long break, but it felt great getting back to work and seeing all of my boys again! This upcoming week I will have a Halloween lesson for them, which I am quite looking forward to. It will be about survival during a "Zombie Apocalypse" and they have to strategize to find their way out.

Persimmon farm

Inside of a ripe persimmon - delicious!

One thing that was really exciting for me this week was working on my host dad's parents' farm. They own a persimmon farm, which is a very popular fruit in Korea (not so popular in the USA!). The ripest ones are a deep red color, and very juicy and sweet in the middle. It has quickly become one of my favorite snacks or after-meal delicacies! I spent an afternoon with my host mom picking persimmons from the trees and boxing them up for selling. It was tedious work, but it was amazing to see how many boxes we gathered.

Boxing up all of the persimmons we picked

Yesterday (Saturday), my host family took me to an island called Namhae, which is about an hour and a half away from Gwangyang. We went there to go hiking and see the view of many islands surrounding Namhae, which was beautiful! The sky and the water were so clear and so blue, it could not have been a more perfect day to visit. After we went hiking up a mountain, we went to sea level and walked on some cliffs near the water. I felt like I was in Portugal all over again - the atmosphere felt very similar. It was a beautiful trip, and I definitely want to go back in the future.

This week is Halloween week, which means my students will be going CRAZY for candy! Thus, a trip to the grocery store is necessary. I will be sure to snap some pictures and update how my hopefully awesome Zombie Apocalypse lesson goes - stay tuned!

On a cliff in Namhae

Namhae

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Jang-eo (eel), Jinju, and Jirisan

Hello everyone! With September coming to a close and already 1/3 into October, I figured it is a good time for an update.

Gwangyang volleyball tournament

The last weekend in September was Gwangyang's big city-wide volleyball (배구)tournament. It was held at various schools throughout the district, so I am not even quite sure how many teams in total participated in the tournament. The tournament was split so that males play against each other, and the females play against each other. I didn't realize how much lower the women's net is compared to the men's net until I started playing (my team had been practicing on the men's height). I was happy because that made blocking and hitting much easier for me as a newcomer to the sport. I had a lot of fun with my team members and built some strong relationships with them throughout this experience. We made it to the semi-finals, but lost to the team who eventually won the tournament. I was very proud of our team (especially for how un-athletic my team members were compared to other female teams in the tournament... haha!). After the tournament we all went out for lunch and had some amazing eel (장어). It tastes a little slurpy and slippery, but the sauce it was mixed with along with the veggies you eat it with makes it taste amazing.

Jeollanam-do Dragons Game

After the tournament, I spent the weekend with friends in a nearby city and enjoyed a soccer game in my city. Gwangyang is home to the Jeollanam-do Dragons Korean soccer team (K-League). Korean soccer games are fun because you can bring any kind of food and beverages into the stadium. My friends and I brought some chicken and beer, which is typical for these kinds of events. We found our seats and enjoyed the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw against Ulsan.

Some of the lanterns during the day

The following weekend was a three-day weekend (no school on Friday), so a group of us foreigners went to a city nearby called Jinju (진주) to check out their annual Lantern Festival. The Jinju Lantern Festival takes place every year for 10 days in October, featuring hundreds of lanterns not only floating on the Nam River, but also scattered inside the Jinju fortress and castles. The festival is held to commemorate the patriotic spirit of the 70,000 militia corps and government troops who died for their country defending Jinju from the Japanese forces during the Imjin War (1592–1598). The lanterns turned on at night made the whole of Jinju glow. The crowds were HUGE. We saw the river full of brightly lit dragons, boats, people – I even saw Santa floating around.

The crosswalk lit up at night

The following day, two friends and I packed up our bags and left Jinju early in the morning to get to Jirisan Mountain (지리산), which stretches across four counties in three different provinces of Korea. The total area of Jirisan National Park is 471.758 kilometers squared, which makes it the largest mountainous national park in Korea. The name of Jirisan means “the mountain of the odd and wise people.” My friends and I went to the eastern side of the mountain to trek one the highest peak in Jirisan and the second highest in Korea, named Cheonwangbong.

Overhead view of some lanterns

The overall hike is about 25 kilometers and takes between 9-12 hours to complete, depending on your speed. We arrived at our starting point around 1:00 p.m., so we had to rush to arrive at the shelter we were going to stay at for the night. It took us 4 hours to hike 8 kilometers - the sun sets early in Korea, and it was getting very cold because of the high altitudes. We stopped at the shelter, cooked some dinner, and called it an early night. Unfortunately, the following day we had to cut out 4-5 hours for traveling time to get home, so we decided that we didn't want to push our limits and climb another 4 kilometers high to get to the peak. However, we made it our goal to come back for a three-day trip and conquer this peak! We hiked the 8 kilometers back down, making our total trip about 16 kilometers.

Hanging out by the sign at the shelter

Changing colors - beautiful!

It was a phenomenal trip - beautiful nature scenery, and some trees were starting to change color so it was breathtaking to see all the different tree colors from up high. I love living in Korea because it is a huge landscape change from flat Illinois. Hiking and other mountain sports like skiing have always been some of my favorite activities, so it is exhilarating being able to do this on a weekly basis. I also discovered a cute smaller mountain that is literally right behind my apartment complex. It is a brief nature walk that is good to relax, have a picnic with friends, or enjoy time to myself to relieve some stress.

At school, my students are quite busy preparing for their midterms exam that will take place over the course of three days next week. I feel bad because they all seem rather stressed out, so I took some extra time out of my schedule and office hours to talk with them, share some laughs, play a bit of soccer, and hopefully relieve some stress. The good thing for me is that I will have a three-day vacation in the middle of the week! I am not sure how I will spend it, but whatever I decide to do, I am sure you will see an update in the future.

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A Life Outside of School?

Having "a life" outside of school seems almost unheard of when you are a public school teacher - but alas, it does exist! When I am not in school Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 6:00 or sometimes later in the afternoon, I have picked up some extracurriculars to establish a social life and have some fun outside of class (although being at school with my students and co-workers is really fun too). This past Friday I started going to a Korean class with other foreigners in my area. The class will be every Friday night from 7:30-9:30 - sounds somewhat like a bummer when I've been in school all week and I start my weekend with my own class, but it is actually super fun and I have met some awesome friends. Plus, we all go out afterwards together for food, drinks, and karaoke, which is always a good time.

Korean class crew!

Korean class seems like it is going to be a great opportunity to progress - the class is limited to ten people, so we get plenty of face time with our teachers. I was put into the intermediate class with two other ladies, so there is just three of us getting some quality learning from our two teachers! The class is sponsored by the Gwangyang English Club - which a huge bonus is that this class is FREE - and we get snacks each week - can't go wrong with that at all. It is really nice to meet other foreigners, as well as some new Korean friends who can practice with us and hang out with us! The class will go until the middle of December, so I am hoping by the end of the year I will actually be at an 'intermediate' level of Korean.

Aside from being a part of Korean class, this past weekend my host dad took my host brothers and I to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity Korea, where we helped build an apartment complex for low-income families. Specifically, our crew of almost 30 people worked on installing the ceiling panels in the apartment, which means I got to do a lot of drilling - fun times. We worked a full day - 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., but we accomplished a lot. It is a really special feeling being able to help out in my new community, especially with a familiar organization. We didn't let the language barrier stop us from achieving our goal! I had a lot of fun meeting other people in my community, and I look forward to volunteering more in the future. Here are some snapshots from our day!

Putting in the ceiling; a view of the apartment complex; my name tag; my host family and I

Part of our work crew!

Keeping up with something I cannot live without, I decided to sign up for my first running race in Korea! I will be running a 10K with a friend from Korean class on November 9 - I am so excited! I am sure this will not be the only race that I participate in while living in Korea. I am actually looking forward to doing some networking at this race, potentially finding some local running buddies or some sort of running club I can join to make friends and stay active around the community. So, I am back to some somewhat strenuous training to be in tip-top race-pace form! Haha - we will see about that one, though. Here are a few pictures of some scenery I caught while on a run the other day - enjoy!

Beautiful flowers alongside the running trail

A beautiful sunset in Gwangyang

Some other random things from this past weekend: I tried "Prime Rib Pizza" for the first time - literally a piece of prime rib on cheese pizza. I didn't know it would be such a delicious combination, but it truly is. I love pizza. Here's a picture of the infamous prime rib pizza from "Mr. Pizza" restaurant.

My Korean diary

I have also been trying to keep up with my Korean writing skills while also documenting my journey in Korea by keeping a Korean-language diary! It is a little sloppy so far but it keeps my brain thinking in Korean. Hopefully I will have some solid paragraphs by the end of this year!

Prime Rib Pizza

Volleyball practice every day after school for 2-3 hours has taken a toll on my arms, as evidenced by this photo:

Volleyball, I have a newfound respect for you.

As you can see, it IS possible to have a social life outside of teaching, and I think I am doing a pretty good job at it so far. Hopefully I can continue to balance all of these activities and find some time to relax too - the jimjilbang will be calling my name (haha). October is quickly approaching, and it is going to be a busy month - just the way I like it. We will have our Fulbright Fall Conference, midterm exams for the students, and of course celebrating one of my favorite holidays, Halloween! Plenty of opportunities to meet up with fellow Fulbright friends are to occur, and having quality time here in Gwangyang with my family, friends, and co-workers is sure to happen as well - you will just have to stay tuned. Just a quick update after a busy weekend - talk to you soon!

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The Gwangyang Way of Life

Hi everyone! I hope you all are settling into the autumn season that is quickly approaching (from what I hear!). Here in Gwangyang, the weather has been a bit sporadic - sunny and warm one day, rainy and windy the next. Thankfully, the past couple of weeks have settled down and it is finally starting to feel like autumn. The seasons in Gwangyang are pretty comparable to the Midwest, albeit a bit warmer even. But as far as having all four seasons and experiencing weather changes, it is definitely there.

I have officially been living in Gwangyang for one month! During this time, we recently celebrated a Korean holiday called Chuseok (추석). Chuseok is one of the biggest and most important holidays in Korea. Family members from near and far come together to share food and stories and to give thanks to their ancestors for an abundant harvest. In 2014, Chuseok Day falls on September 8, but the holiday is observed for a total of three days (September 7–9). 

On the morning of Chuseok Day, foods prepared with the year’s fresh harvest are set out to give thanks to ancestors through Charye (ancestor memorial service). After Charye, families visit their ancestors’ graves and engage in Beolcho, a ritual of clearing the weeds that may have grown up over the burial mound. After dusk, families and friends take walks and gaze at the beauty of the full harvest moon or play folk games such as Ganggangsullae (Korean circle dance).

My host family and I celebrated the holiday by going to my host dad's family's house, where we met with other parts of the family. We went to the cemetery together and cleared the weeds, and shared a family meal. On the morning of Chuseok, my family and I bowed to the ancestors, and then we proceeded to have a large meal filled with fish, bulgogi, rice, vegetables, and more. It was so delicious! Here are some pictures.

Our family's lineage

One of our delicious meals

After clearing the weeds around the graves

Setting out the food and bowing to our ancestors

I feel like I am adjusting to my daily routine and gaining some knowledge about my city and its whereabouts. I have even took some gambles traveling outside of the city... on my own! It has been quite an adventure, but I am easing my way into the navigation of Korea. A week ago, I went to visit some fellow Fulbright friends in Busan, which is about a two hour bus ride northeast of my city. We had a great time together - we shared our highs and lows with teaching so far, went to the spa, took a long nap, and enjoyed some American food together. I ate a huge steak burrito - it was glorious!

One thing that I really love about Korea is their spas, known as 찜질방 (pronounced like gym-jill-bahng). These spas are different than most American spas because you arrive, receive a change of clothes, and then each sex goes their separate ways. You go to a huge locker room and strip down - butt naked. It can be awkward at first, but once you get past the self-conscious phase and realize that no one is really staring at your body 24/7, then it's all good. So, you get naked, then you go to an area that typically has various baths and saunas you can choose from. Hot baths, cold baths, steam baths, ginseng, you name it, there are all kinds! You choose a bath, get in, and relax. The rest is history. At these spas you can also get massages, manicures/pedicures, scrubs, etc. When I was in Seoul, I did both a massage and a full body exfoliation scrub. In Busan, I just enjoyed my time in the baths and saunas. However, I did enjoy the snack bar and had some beer, Korean noodles, and ice cream. These spas have everything! Travelers can also stay overnight and sleep - which is where my friends and I took naps. You can wear clothes for this part... haha! We changed into the outfits they provided for us and went to sleep on a huge heated floor with a wooden block as my pillow - no blanket necessary. It is a lot more comfortable than it sounds, I promise! I didn't take any pictures at the 찜질방 because we were naked most of the time, but I will post some pictures of what the spa we went to looks like from their website.

Courtesy of: http://www.hotelnongshim.com

Courtesy of: http://www.hotelnongshim.com

Aside from having fun in Gwangyang and visiting other cities, life in school has been enjoyable as well. The past couple of weeks I have spent getting to know my students and coworkers after school. My co-teachers recently told me that every year, all of the schools in the Gwangyang area have a faculty volleyball tournament. The top three teams will win a monetary prize! They immediately recruited me to join our women's faculty team and call me the "best hitter" (granted I've barely even played volleyball in my life). I think my experience as the 8th grade volleyball manager may come in handy! Anyway, we have been practicing after school every day for the past two weeks until we have our tournament next weekend. I will be sure to let you all know how we do. 

I've also been playing soccer, soccer-volleyball, and basketball with my students during my free periods. This has caused me to be extremely exhausted by 9:00 p.m. every night! But it is totally worth it - spending time with the students in a less formal environment is a great way for me to get to know them more personally. What is soccer-volleyball, Jokgu (족구), you may ask? It is a sport that combines the rules of both soccer and volleyball (go figure!). You play with a soccer ball and a low net. You are on teams (however many people per team), and you can only use your head or feet (no hands, rules of soccer) to hit the ball up to three teams before it must cross over the net to the other team's side (like volleyball). The goal of the game is to earn the most points and beat the other team. It is a really fun game, and although I am not the greatest at it yet, I will practice and get better!

Although I would love to continue writing about my experiences in Korea forever, this post has become quite lengthy. These are just a few highlights of what I have been up to during the past couple of weeks. I am beginning a Korean class starting tonight (Friday), and I am looking forward to being able to communicate better with my coworkers and build stronger relationships with them. It should be a fun class, and a great way to meet some new people in my city. Stay tuned for more updates within the next couple of weeks - have a great weekend!

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