Not "Just Sangju", but "Running Mungyeong" too!

I went to Sangju today to visit my friend DM. I took the 11:00 am bus from Gumi and arrived at 11:50. Nice. She is so lucky to live like literally right beside the bus terminal. I tell her every time I visit her. I hadn’t had lunch yet, so she, being the ever gracious hostess, made me a quick meal of ramyeon, omelet, and pan-fried Spam-like meat. Note to self: don’t eat ramyeon for a while. Fourth day in a row that I have had that stuff. Although the ramyeon she had is made from potato flour, so it is supposedly healthier than the other ramyeons? We ate to our heart’s content while watching Doctor Who season 5, episode 13 The Big Bang, which is part 2 following The Pandorica Opens (episode 12). OMG. It is so brilliantly amazing. Really. Words cannot describe the ingenuity of this TV show!

After our lunch, I helped DM wash and pack some vegetables to take along to the Valley. Yeee! She had been saying that she wanted to take me for some time and I saw photos uploaded on Facebook of the place, so I was quite excited to go. We were going to have our own picnic with BBQ and other yummy goodies too! We waited for some time for her bf to come pick us up. He was hanging out with his cousins while waiting for his younger brother to bring the car home.  We finally got picked up around 2:50pm. KK drove DM, PC, RC, and I to this famous valley between Sangju and Mungyeong, known as Ssangyong Valley (쌍용계곡). This area, Hwabuk-myeon, is where PC teaches. It took about 40 minutes by car.  Before arriving at Ssangyong Valley, KK took a short detour to show me one of the cascades. I couldn't snap a picture because we were kind of squished inside his car and there were a ton of people milling around and just enjoying the environment of the place. Anyway, KK parked right outside the Ssangyong Tunnel and led us down this treacherous path of super steep stones. Someone was considerate enough to tie a thin rope from one of the branches to aid the adventurous individual as he or she makes the descend down the stones. Ahck. Too bad I couldn't take a photo of this too! Anyway, this is what we saw.

Ssangyong stream

After we were all safely on the ground, KK led us through the rocky stream to the other side. The stream wounds and this is the corner right before it drops down into a waterfall.  I provided a mediocre panorama shot of the landscape. For a while, we had the entire place to ourselves. We swam out towards the waterfall and climbed rocks covered in algae and moss to take in the view of the waterfall. I wish I was able to take a picture of the waterfall, but alas the swim would have damaged my phone, and that, I cannot risk.

Our haven for the day

Ssangyong waterfall and valley lies beyond those rocks

After our brief swim and breath-taking view of the waterfall, we were quite famished, so we trekked back to start cooking.  First off though, we had to create a fire pit to ward of pesky insects. DM and PC got bit by these huge wasp-looking bugs. She got bit in the back shoulder blade and he on top of his head. When DM got bitten, she let out this huge, blood-curling scream that just rattles your bones. Damn. I hope I don’t hear that again. Anyway, her bf KK just kind of stood there watching and laughing. It was quite amusing. After that little episode, we scavenged for dried paper and wood to use in the fire pit. DM is always so well-prepared and always brings the best foods for these kind of trips! We had cooked some marinated pork, “steamed” the mushroom, onion, and eggplant pouches, made 4 bags of the potato ramyeon (whoa I ate ramyeon 5 times in a row now – Must. Detox), and had kimchi, green chili peppers dipped in doenjang, and super cute baby bananas. We also had chips and pear juice.  Yum. Of course, we were all still hungry, so we packed up and made the trek back to the car. Luckily, it was still bright enough for us to see while sloshing through the stream and the climb up the stones wasn’t too bad.

During the drive back to Sangju, RC was talking to AH (from Mungyeong). AH was going to take the bus down to Sangju to join us for dinner, but we decided to drive up to Jeomcheon to have dinner there and to shower at his place. Hehee. I haven’t been to Mungyeong yet and I have been wanting to go for some time now, so I was really excited and happy. We arrived at Mungyeongand met up with AH. So a little about AH. He is from Canada. Unfortunately, he is leaving Korea on Wednesday. He wants to go back to school and pursue law. Good stuff. I have only spoken to him once or twice, but from what I have heard and seen, he is a very down to earth guy. I have heard nothing but good things about him from mutual friends, so I’m a little sad I did not get to hang out with him more often. Oh well, that is life, right? People will always come and go. Anyway, he suggested KK drive behind him while he ran to his place, so PC, RC, and I ran/jogged behind AH, while KK and DM were in the car following. Right before we reached his place, AH turned to me and asked, “Hey, how’s it going? It’s been a while.” We chatted for a very short bit and he welcomed us to his place, which was where CW used to live from March-July 2012. I forgot the individual who replaced her though before AH came. His place was NICE. He is quite neat too. I love his desk. He has really good taste in personal care products too. Innisfree green tea moisturizer. Skin Foods tea tree and lavender foam cleanser. Dove shampoo.  Yep. This guy sure knows how to take care of himself. I jumped in the shower first and felt so relieved after showering off the grim and moisture from our swim in the valley. DM and I apologized for imposing and thanked him for his hospitality. Oh! He even gave us some Canadian coins. What a guy.

So, KK’s tiny car can only fit 5 people, but since there was 6 of us, DM declared that she and I would sit on each other in the front passenger seat. What. Okay. We somehow made it work. Our next destination was in downtown Jeomcheon. It really reminds me of downtown Pohang with the fountains and stream running through the middle. We saw little girls playing in the stream and one was literally butt-naked. She was absolutely adorable.  We arrived at a Japanese restaurant called 아지모리. KK helped us order a tray of tempura (pictured below), fish cake udon, chicken tonkatsu, fried shrimp roll, two servings of shrimp sushi, and two bowls of spicy curry rice.  While waiting for the food, we somehow went on the discussion of glasses, vision, vitamins, and legs. LOL. AH and PC were talking about their vision and decided to switch glasses to see whose was worse. I watched as they both tried on one another’s glasses. Right when AH put on PC’s glasses, he confirmed that his vision was higher than PC and in that moment, he turned looked over at me and winked. WHOA.  What just happened? Did he really just wink at me? That was attractive. It completely threw me off guard and I wonder if anyone saw. PC? RC? Since they were both sitting on my side and facing AH, KK, and DM. Oh well. It was a cute gesture. Okay, back to the food. OMGoodness. The tempura and spicy curry rice was delicious! Unfortunately, I couldn’t take photos because my memory card was full. Gosh dang it. Thank goodness for other people’s phones. LOL.

Tempura set: fried shrimp, bell peppers, potatoes, and what appears to be spaghetti sticks (photo credit: DM)

After dinner, we were going to head to a café called Hands Coffee, where PC claims that it serves the best black tea lattes. It definitely sparked my interest. However, as we strolled back towards the car, KK suddenly announced that we try the café Solveig, which is a few feet from where he parked. The café is two stories and looks super cute. KK said this café is known for the well-being bingsu aka shaved ice desserts. Yay! I am so excited! We sat on cushioned seats and sofas and took in the interior of the café. It was such a quaint and charming place. Carefully dried flowers hung from the ceiling. Ugh. I wish I could have taken a photo of the inside of this café! Anyway, KK ordered us a small serving of the omija bingsu and a medium serving of the rice cake bingsu. It came out in bronze bowls and spoons. The red beans were made specially by the female owner. I love that it is not soaked with sugar. It really minds me of my mom and aunt’s red bean dessert! RC voiced, “Doesn’t it remind you of hong dao sa?” He is talking about the Chinese red bean sweet soup dessert. Ah. It was so yummy. The omija one was interesting, but too overwhelming for my taste. I prefer the original one with just the specially-made red beans, rice cakes, and dried dates. Ahhh…so delicious.

Exterior of the cafe in Jeomcheon, Mungyeong (photo credit: DM)

Well-being omija and original bingsu (photo credit: PC)

After saying our goodbyes and dropping AH off near his home, KK drove us back to Sangju. What a long and eventful day. I was exhausted, but DM and I stayed up til who knows when chit chatting. I can’t recall what we talked about exactly, but she asked me about someone. I told her about this special someone and how it is actually one-sided, but she firmly believes it isn’t. For the first time, she fell asleep before I did.

Mind Muddled

I feel so worn out. I can't concentrate. My mind keeps drawing blanks. I have much to do and an important deadline to observe. The first semester just ended. My school's summer vacation starts tomorrow! I am still prepping and organizing for the Summer English Camp. I haven't even printed all the materials yet. Will I be able to by tomorrow? I wanted to thank my former Mentor Teacher before she leaves this school and head back to Ulsan (her hometown and her next work destination). I must remember to return the thermos that the 5th grade teacher lent me last year. It was because of his kindness and generosity that I was able to survive winter in Korea. I want to buy them gifts, but what? Should I give it to them tomorrow? Perhaps during summer camp then. That way, I will have more time to shop for an appropriate gift. Ah. But what to get them? Oh, right. Today is pay day. Yay. I must remember to transfer money to G-market to complete my Missha purchase. The school secretary had asked me to help her recommend a good hair curling brush on Amazon yesterday. I used to shop often on Amazon but had forgotten my ID and password when I tried logging on. Luckily, I was able to this morning. The nurse came into the staff room when I was trying to figure out the international shipping. Anyway, the nurse now wants a hair curling brush too. So, unfortunately, Amazon does not ship these brushes to Korea. I decided to ask my family to help me buy it (well, my brother is constantly shopping on Amazon anyway - the UPS guy(s) know him and our house now) and then mail them to me. The secretary really wants it because it is much more affordable than purchasing it here in Korea. This is kind of on a whim for the nurse, but it's okay because she has been so kind to allow me to ride with her every morning to work. She won't accept payment for gas, so this is the least I could to do show my appreciation for carpooling with her. 

Screenshot of the hair curling tools on Amazon

Hm...I hope that shipping won't cost a bundle for my family, but at the same time, I have this sinking feeling that it would, especially if they were to send it through airmail. >_< Oye. What if it doesn't pass through the overseas inspections?? Goodness. I must do research to make sure.

During my afterschool classes, I reviewed over shapes with my grades 1 and 2. I then drew a couple pictures of animals on the white board. "Pig!" they shouted. "늑대!" came next. I told them, "Wolf" and then proceeded to show the movie "Three Little Pigs". With my 5th graders, I gave them the option of either watching a movie or playing games. The majority of them voted games, so they all played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see which six students will play the Arrest A Burglar gameboard. The other three students, I decided to play Halli Galli with them. Arrest A Burglar and Halli Galli are Korean games. I love playing Halli Galli. I played with Young Jae, Yun Gyeom, and Ho Young. I won. Hehee. The 3rd and 4th graders wanted to play Arrest A Burglar too.  Harry aka 자원 came back to visit today. :)

My 3rd and 4th graders playing the Korean game, Arrest A Burglar

Songwon Elementary School English Speech Contest

Today is the day of my school's English Speech Contest! My students had been preparing for over a month. Prior to this assembly, I had class with the 5^th and 6^th graders. My co-teacher was busy prepping, so she asked me to teach both classes today. I gladly obliged. But first off, I must account what happened before the contest.

I had seen some of my students when I arrived early this morning, but when I walked out of the shared office in our classroom to greet the students, Young Jae, one of my brightest 5th graders asked, “Teacher, 얼굴...?” while patting his face. I thought he meant to say there was something on his face, but one of the other students (Jinu?) piped up, “Teacher, makeup!” Oh geez, that Young Jae kid is sure observant. So, I haven’t applied “makeup” for the past, I don’t know, two months? I just got lazy and at the same time I didn’t want a bunch of gunk melting off my face in this sweltering hot and humid weather. Anyway, I only applied mascara (minutes before the start of their class!) because I knew I was going to be facing most of my school as MC alongside my co-teacher and I didn't want to look “tired”. But..of course, it has been a while since my students have seen me with my usual mascara-ed eyes, so when I strolled out of the office, they were surprised to see me with “makeup” and clamored about, so I awkwardly laughed it off saying, “조금” and Young Jae wasted no time in dramatically saying “Teacher, oh no!” while pulling his face down in a shocked expression. LMAO. Man. This kid. These punks. Anyway, I proceeded to help my 5^th graders and later my 6^th graders with last minute prep in pronunciation and tone of their speeches. I was so happy even though all of them were nervous as heck and complaining that the speech was too much for their heads to handle.  

At around 10:40am in the second floor auditorium, I announced to 21 students and 8 teachers, “Welcome to the 1^st Annual Songwon English Speech Contest!” My introduction was rather short as I had stated that the 4^th-6^th grade students had worked over a month to prepare for this contest and to give them their undivided attention, but the students were looking at me all bewildered. My co-teacher smiled and laughed awkwardly next to me at the podium. Heh. I should have further simplified the introduction. Anyway, the contest was amusing to watch. I was so proud of my students as they stepped up to the podium to deliver their speeches. The other students kept turning around to watch our expressions. Mr. Oh, Ms. Jang, Mr. Lee, my coteacher and I were the judges. The students who stood out to me and the teachers were Young Jae, James (Sun Gyu), Ho Young, and Chang Hyeon. After calculating all the evaluation sheets, Young Jae came out in First Place! Yay! I have to admit, I favor this student. He is such a well-rounded kid. Anyway, I am quite happy that he won because I think he absolutely deserves it. His speech was about Snakes. He won because he spoke in the most natural tone, his pronunciation was nearly on the spot, his speed was just right, and did not look down at his speech all that often. He even provided the audience with pictures of the snakes (He has asked me to Google and print out photos of the Red Banded, Ussuri Mamushi, Rock Mamushi, and Viper Snakes during class). James talked about the Dream Center, a place where students go to study after school. Ho Young talked about Hangul and Chang Hyeon talked about his parents. I am most impressed with Chang Hyeon actually. He was a difficult child to deal with when I first arrived at this school. He was never motivated in my classes and I knew he disliked me from his actions. However, the past month, I have seen and heard him address me with more respect. Like today, on the first floor, I was turning right from the hallway to head up the stairs and he had just jumped down and when he saw me, he immediately said, “안녕하세요!” with a bow! WOW! I was so shocked and I laughed out a hello. To be honest, he probably thought I was another Korean teacher because he made a sound of surprise. Eh. Oh well, I will just believe that for today, Chang Hyeon was nice and respectful to me. 

5th grader Gyeong Wook was up first and he talked about Volvo construction machines

4th grader Josh talked about his family

5th grader Nam Ho talked about school

6th grader James talked about the Dream Center

5th grader Ho Young talked about Hangul

 I was so impressed by Young Jae's speech that I had forgotten to take pictures when he was delivering it! x_X

OH! At around 4:10pm, as I made my way towards the staff room, I saw a kid outside that looked awfully familiar. I stared at the back of his head, and then it hit me who it was. He was running or racing against Nam Ho. Josh was standing watching them, and I exclaimed in excitement, "Josh, is that Harry?" He turned and smiled, "Yes. Ja Won!" Wah!!! I was so happy to see him. As he was walking back, Josh said, "Ja Won!" and pointed to me, "Deanna teacher!" I excitedly waved to him and when he stopped in front of me, I said, "Harry! It's so good to see you again. How are you?" He smiled, "I'm happy". I then asked, "How is your school in Daegu?" and he sadly shook his head. He doesn't like it there. Poor kid. I told him to give my regards to his sister, Minnie, who was currently at the Dream Center located across from school. Harry and Josh are best friends and I watched as Josh grabbed Harry's hand and they both happily ran off campus. It really felt good seeing Harry again. He and Josh were always so happy together last year. Now that Harry is attending another elementary school in Daegu, Josh seems to be a bit more reserved. I love seeing their smiles and hearing their laughter.