It's April, Fool!

A fool, That's exactly what I first felt like this afternoon as Kristin, Lindsey, David and I set out for our weekend goal...a bike ride by the Gapcheon (river). All over Daejeon there are bike stands where you can pick up a bike and ride it around the city. All you need is your cell phone and ID card. Best thing about it? It's free! :) Of course the English selection wasn't working, so all four of us were standing around with that "duuuhhhh" look on our faces until finally a nice man who knew a little English came and helped us out. Finally after visiting two different spots to find enough bikes we set off our our journey.

I won't say it was a beautiful day, but it was a really good day for bike riding. Not very sunny, not too cold (the wind was a little crisp), and the paths by the river weren't too packed with people.

For the most part, I think I've gotten used to living in a foreign country, and I actually quite like it. But there are times when I will stop and think about it, and realize how crazy it is that I've been here for almost 9 months, and how some things still feel brand new to me. I never thought I'd get used to all the stares we get, looking different from everyone else, but I think I almost have!

As we biked along we paced several groups of kids playing by the river. Usually they would stare at us with wide eyes, or shout a "HELLO!" as we rode past. My favorite moment of the afternoon was as we biked past a group of young kids and one pointed at us and yelled to her friends "Oooooooo!!! Waygookin!!!!!" The Korean word for foreigners. A little later we decided to take a break and get off the super hard bike seats. A little Korean woman immediately came up to us and started saying "yeppeun, yeppeun!!" and touched our arms and smiled at us. We had no idea what she was staying to us. With the little Korean we know we were able to make out her asking us where we were from, where we lived in Daejeon, how long we've been here...we also might have had the help of a Korean man who knew a little English, haha. We think she was possibly telling us she wanted to be our Korean mother, but I can't be sure. In any case, the conversation ended with Kristin giving her her cell number, and the man telling us to be on our way. I'm going to feel a whole lot less popular and special when I move back to Canada, I can tell you that much! Sometimes we can get odd looks, or be told to be quiet on buses and trains, but all in all I've really felt welcomed here, especially since I know hardly any Korean at all. The people in general have been lovely.

When we got back and dropped our bikes off we headed off to get some Galbi (YUM) and coffee. Tonight we're headed out for a chill night at the movies! A pretty fantastic start to April I'd say!

Peace and Love.