Sunday, February 27, 2011

Kim came to Korea!

Today I start afternoon teaching. What this means is (1) I no longer will be teaching Kindergarten classes, and (2) I now have a LOT of extra time on my hands. There are three of us who are afternoon teachers, and we've been brainstorming some ideas for hobbies to have during our three mornings a week where we have to come into school in case kindergarten teachers are sick. One of my activities is going to be being better at updating my blog! So here we go, my first morning as afternoon teacher!

A few weeks ago, KIM CAME TO KOREA! :) She wasn't here for that long, but we fit SO much into those few short days, and I had a blast showing her a little bit of my life here and the country I would now call my second home.

Kim arrived on the Thursday, all day I was anxiously awaiting her arrival, barely able to contain my excitement. This was my third visitor from home (pretty good considering I'm only here for a year!) and I LOVE having people come visit. I picked her up from the government complex bus stop, and we headed back to Mannyeon Dong and out for Kim first authentic Korean meal, Galbi! (or korean bbq). We called it an early night since she had been travelling for about 20 hours.

Friday I had to teach Kindergarten in the morning, so Kim got to experience a bit of the craziness that happens every day in F and G classes. Then one of my great co-workers agreed to take my afternoon class so Kim and I were off to explore Daejeon. Of course one of our first stops was to Doctor Fish. I KNOW I've mentioned this before, but if you're ever in Korea (or Asia in general), this is a MUST-do. I especially love experiencing it with first-timers because it's just hilarious. After some doctor-fishing and coffeeing we went to "The Galleria". Galleria is a 14-floor shopping center full of high end brand-name clothing and accessories. It's massive, and quite the experience. I know that Kim is into fashion so I thought it would be a good spot to take her. After about an hour wandering around we headed to Eunhaeng dong for some above and underground cheap shopping. We scored some sweet cheap shirts and jewelery from my favorite accessories store! Then we headed back to meet up with some of my co-workers and their assistant teachers for some dinner. Even thought I don't think Kim and I look anything alike, EVERYONE else did! I forced Kim to stay up late so that she would adjust to Korean time faster then we headed home to sleep for our big weekend!

Saturday we got ready and went to the KTX station to head to Seoul for the weekend. Like a rookie I didn't book our tickets ahead of time and we were stuck standing for the hour long train-ride. Yuck. When we got to Seoul we headed to the Hilton (thank you Mr. and Mrs. Mann!), where we were staying for the weekend. As we pulled up and I got my door opened for me and I walked into a beautiful lobby I felt SO out of place. It was a huge change from the $15 hostel's I usually stay at when I'm in Seoul for a weekend! Once we were settled into a really nice room with a great view we headed back out into Seoul to Itaewon to pick up some jerseys for Kim's dad and boyfriend and some other little souvenirs. We headed to Hongdae to walk around and have some dinner and then we headed to the City Hall area to catch the "Seoul City Tour Bus". The tour was about an hour and a half and took us all around the city, showing various bridges and making a stop at the Namsum Seoul Tower. Unfortunately the stop wasn't long enough for us to actually go UP the tower, but we did still get a great view of the city, and there's always another time...for me at least. We ended our tour at Cheonggyecheon stream. A stream in the middle of the city, it's actually really peaceful and beautiful! So we spent a little time walking around there before heading back to our hotel.

Sunday we got up, took our time, went for a little swim in the hotel pool (aren't you proud dad?), and then headed to find our way to the National War Memorial. If you live in Korea, or are in Korea for just a short visit, I would highly recommend this museum. It's massive, interesting, and you really CAN'T beat the price (it's free!). We got to go in tanks and planes and army trucks and a boat! Pretty cool. I also didn't know that much about the Korean war, so it was really cool to get a chance to learn a little bit of the history that defines Korea and even a little bit of the part that North America played in the war. It was pretty overwhelming at times, especially since it still has such a huge effect on South Korea today. We spent a good 4-5 hours at the museum and then headed to Namdaemun and Myeongdong for some food and a little more shopping (can you tell we really like shopping). I couldn't let Kim leave Korea without experiencing Myeongdong on a Saturday afternoon/evening. It's MADNESS. The amount of people, and the number of cars that try to make their way through the little streets never ceases to amaze me. Never-the-less it's one of my favorite spots in Seoul. By the time we were finished it was time to make our way to Seoul station to catch our train back to Daejeon.

On Monday Kim came back to my classes and then I brought her to the bus stop to catch her bus back to the airport. It was a sad goodbye. Her visit was great, but definitely not long enough! I always feel a little homesick after I have to say goodbye to someone from home. Now only 4 and a half month until I get to see EVERYONE from home! Yay! :)

No comments: