The sea that never parted!!

                                                 

           So a few weekends ago the Irish and the Texans set off on an adventure to trek through muddy sand, catch fish with our bare hands and camp out for a night. It didn't all exactly go to plan. Here's what happened:
          So Friday evening after work, Kyle, Ness, Dee and I headed into Seoul and after a nice (huge) western style meal we headed to the jimjilbag to stay the night before an early start on Saturday. We chilled and chatted for a while before heading to sleep in our gender separated areas! Next morning bright and early we woke and went to meet the buses for our trip. Roughly 80 people were attending this particular trip, the main aim of which was a sea-parting which supposedly occurs at set times during the year due to tides. To start there was a lot of confusion as to which bus we should be on and all that but we eventually got sorted. Dee and I ended up sitting in front of 2 loud, obnoxious girls (Americans of course.... to all my American friends ye know ye obviously don't fall into that stereotype :P )!! Not the best place to be for a six hour bus trip but time went fast enough thankfully and despite a few mix-ups and changes of plan we finally arrived at the sea parting location.
           Relieved to have arrived we excitedly hopped off the bus and were greeted by a VERY MUCH INTACT sea. Needless to say we were disappointed but with promises of the parting happening later that day due to weather patterns we agreed to watch the net-fishing. Kyle, the only one of the four of us who actually took part, proved himself to be a true man's man as he came back, with not the estimated 5 fish that people would probably catch, but 23!!! Nessa need not worry while she has Kyle providing for her anyway.. Bear Grylls eat your heart out.

The net fishing.                                                                                                                                                                                     After  the fishing we made another attempt to see the sea.. but alas it wasn't to be. We decided to drown our sorrows and soju quickly came into the equation of our sea-parting/camping weekend!! Set on still making the most of the trip we pitched our tent and happily ate some burgers. Then came one of my favourite parts of the weekend... the search for firewood! I know, how sad but it was so much fun. Most people stayed back at the lodgings while a few of us ventured into the dark in search of anything which would catch light. We made a few feeble attempts at first with what ended up to be barely kindling in the end. But then our competitive streaks set in. The aim of the game being who could find the biggest piece of suitable wood. After uprooting a small dead tree I felt very proud but we pressed on and next thing four of us were trekking through dark woods with a tiny torch, jumping at our own shadows and discussing how it was scaringly familiar to so many horror films we'd seen. Thankfully (as you can guess) we made it out alive, and with a very impressive stack of wood. Back at the camp the boys set about getting it all lighting while the girls chilled with our drinks. A few minutes later an impressive campfire was in full swing complete with melted marshmallows! Sing songs of course followed and the night ended up being a lot of fun.

The dead tree I uprooted.

          Next morning we decided to stroll along the beach by our camp and somehow Roxy ( a girl we'd befriended on the trip) and I ended up spending our time trying to capture the little scuttling crabs in the rock pools! This surprisingly became a joint first place with collecting the firewood for the highlight of the weekend for me. I felt like a little child as we hopped along the beach peering under stones and into the pools of water watching for movement....and then the chase began. Believe me those little crabs are faster than I had ever given them credit for. By the time Kyle, Dee and Vanessa had turned around from there walk and were back to meet us we had caught a grand total of 14 little crabs.

After letting them go Kyle successfully taught me how to skim stones. Once again I felt like a child for the second time that morning, as for the first time in my life, I watched a stone that I had thrown take 2 little hops along the water's surface.                               
          After our chilled morning we went back to camp and Kyle once again proving his Bear Grylls traits showed us how to gut the fish he had caught the day before. I was surprised at how simple it was and by how it didn't make me squeamish as I assumed it would. They turned out to be a yummy lunch before boarding the bus once more to make the long trip home.
          Luckily there was one stop on the way home at the Jindo dog training academy. Jindo dogs are a native Korean dog only found in that particular area and are known for their loyalty and tracking abilities with one story of a dog being lost on holidays and tracking his way half way across Korea back to his home....3 months later. Amazing. The dog show was cut short due to the extreme heat but from what we did see (the dog opening the fridge, getting milk, closing the fridge and bringing it to his trainer, turning on and off lights and raising the korean flag on the flagpole) we were impressed.
          After a long trip home we were happy to be back but a weekend that had started in flames had somehow managed to rise from the ashes and prove to be fun after all..... despite the sea that never parted!

Teacher's day

                                   
          Ok, so back on the 15th of May Korea celebrated a wonderful day called Teacher's Day!!! It was and still is the only day where I was thankful for having such a large class... more pressies for me! :) In the days before I eagerly wondered what presents would come my way and I wasn't disappointed in the end. I got a little of everything from body and face washes (by far the most common present), to cookies, vouchers, lipglosses, dinners etc.
          One of the dinners we went on was absolutely delicious. Two of my kids mother's took me and my co-teacher Sylvia to a traditional Korean restaurant. Now I have to say going there I wasn't exactly excited as I haven't developed a great love for Korean food but I was pleasantly surprised. From the moment we entered it was clear that it was a step above most restaurants I'd eaten in. All of the servers wore the traditional Korean Hanbok dress and the presentation of every dish was amazing. From the first appetizers (no idea what it was) I was happy with their choice of restaurant. The food never stopped coming either as soon as we'd finish one set of dishes more would appear all equally delicious that is until the fermented skate!! This "delicacy" was something I had already read about before coming to Korea on a list of  Korean foods to never eat...(which of course meant I was dying to try it), they weren't lying. My kids mother's and Sylvia my co-teacher looked on as I placed the fermented(a.k.a. rotting) fish in my mouth. At first I was like "what's so bad?" but then..... Oh God, the taste. I actually thought I was going to vomit on the table right there. My eager audience burst into laughter at my expression at this point and I can't blame them. Somehow and I don't know how I managed to swallow the foul-tasting dish (with a little gagging) and rinse my mouth with glasses of water. After I had swallowed it the Koreans then informed me that non of them would eat it either! So not an experience I would ever recommend but still one I am glad I tried.
           Oh and I almost forget to tell a funny story that when along with that restaurant adventure altough it had nothing to do with food. When the mother's arrived I was happy to see they brought along my 2 kids with them but Winnie was holding a paper cup in her hand. She ran over and informed me that she had a little frog in the cup. In an effort to show me the frog her captive cunningly hopped right out and found itself jumping freely within a restaurant. Now despite the fact that Winnie had been holding the cup she obviously hadn't been the one to catch the frog in the first place as she backed away and refused to re-capture it. Sylvia was equally unanxious to go near the little green creature so the job came to me. I can't imagine what the other diners were thinking as a western girl with blonde hair weaved her way through the tables in chase of a runaway frog. I cornered the little guy though and had him back in his cup soon enough, thankfully!
           But the most interesting (in a Korean way) presents that I got involved 2 sets of factor 50+ sunscreen and the cheery on top of the Korean's attempt to keep me my optimum white skin tone came in a Chanel gift box. When I opened the bag and saw a neatly wrapped Chanel bow staring at me I happily let myself imagine what could be hiding inside waiting for me to find. I carefully took off the shiny black ribbon and let the contents drop into my hand..... Chanel Whitening Lotion! Yes that's right factor 50+ sunscreen wasn't enough but I actually got a present to make my skin even whiter. I had to laugh. It just goes to show the differences between cultures. Here in Korea having a tan means that you are poor as generally the farmers have tans as they spend more time outdoors. So each lunchtime as the kids play I desperatly try to expose as much skin as I can (decently) in a fruitless attempt to tan while my Korean co-workers walk under umbrellas and shelter in any shade they can find. Each to their own I guess.
                                            

RocKorea.

          Yet another memorable weekend passed in Korea.. this time at RocKorea Indie/Rock tribute band concert. Dee, Kyle, Vanessa, Michael, Nicole, Mark and I decided to spend last Saturday  partying until the early hours so we set off from English village in our summer clothes and 2 tents. After a very long and tiring journey (only at the other side of Seoul but a lot of transferring was required) we finally made it to the RocKorea site. After World DJ fest I am sorry to say I was very underwhelmed my the whole thing to begin with. The concert consisted of one small main stage surrounded by tents selling food and drinks. The whole concert was set on a construction site for an entire new city they are building from scratch (to be completed in 2016), which ensured plenty mud around and NO grass! We set about pitching our tent (which turned out to be HUGE.. it said it slept 6 people but in my estimation we could probably have fit closer to 10.)
         Anyway The Beatles tribute band began playing and I got in the spirit until Dee came back saying the only alcohol they sold was beer! As I don't like beer I was a little annoyed but decided that all I could do was smile. I finished my beer and went on one last attempt to locate something else and thankfully it worked. I secured a bottle of soju from a guy with a black plastic bag in the back of his food tent! Much happier now and with the music still going strong we danced and laughed and sat on rugs in front of the stage. We heard them all from AC/DC to The Rolling Stones and Led Zepplin.
          The final bad point though, entirely our fault, was the cold. Dee and I hadn't packed the warmest of clothes when we left in the midday heat but by 4am that night curled up in our tent with one very light and small blanket it proved to be a decision we regretted. The morning heat eventually arrived though and we thawed our bones out again.. before the long trek home.

         I'll have to admit that despite it's poor first impression RocKorea actually turned out to be surprisingly good.

Let the burning begin!

          Wow, what an amazing weekend. It couldn't have gone better really. Friday we had a field trip for the kids to a stunningly beautiful wild flower garden. Unfortunately (yet not surprisingly) the kids didn't have much interest in the flowers themselves or wandering around the garden but were instead happy to run around on the grass and blow bubbles. All the same I had a great day sitting in the sunshine and laughing with (and at) the kids. The field trip made the weekend seem to begin all the sooner as I didn't have to teach. Despite the morning being warm it was cloudy so I wasn't expecting much sun, however, later the sun broke out and by the end of the day I had slightly red shoulders.
          Then that night (Friday) we headed to Seoul for Teena's birthday! I felt very cool as she had reserved a VIP area in the club and we danced the night away with friends until we could catch the train home.
          After a few hours sleep on Saturday morning I relaxed and read until we decided to have a BBQ..yum. Delicious pork burgers, mackerel, salad, and shrimp kebabs. Good food and good company..perfect. Next morning (Sunday) I got up and decided to go for a walk before it got to hot. I walked for about an hour starting at 10.30am and wow I was wrong about it being cooler then. It seemed like the sun was out in full blast and when I got home I had a lovely pink pattern on my chest and arms and back from where my t-shirt ended. I changed into lighter and more summery clothes and covered myself in factor 45 sun cream.
         Later with the addition of a little more sun cream a group of us headed to the river (beside the English village) to relax in the sun. The water was lovely and before long we were all in swimming... hopping in and out of the water every few minutes. We left after about 2 hours and when I got home I realised my lovely pink burns had spread... as the night when on I got progressively redder until I got to the extent where I think my colour could make lobsters jealous. Thankfully despite my very rosy skin tone it's not painful (fingers crossed it will stay like this...and not peel)! If I am REALLY HOPING for the impossible I might even wish that it might turn to a tan (that way next time we all go swimming I might not be voted as the whitest person anyone had ever seen)! :)

Our four day weekend...

        As  Tuesday the 10th of May was Budda's birthday we all had a scheduled day off. The Friday before though half way through the school day I was informed they had decided to give us the Monday off too. Now don't get me wrong an extra day off was wonderful but I was still annoyed because at that stage it was too late to plan anything for my four day weekend. If I had known in advance we could have booked cheap flights to so many cool places around like Malaysia, or Hong Kong. Anyway we still made the most of the start of the weekend by going to DJ Fest on the Saturday. The Sunday we relaxed in the sunshine and ate dinner with Kelly, Sam, Vanessa and Kyle. Monday passed by in the laziest way possible the whole day being spent in our pyjamas and  topped off by watching two sad films one after another. Dee and I were sitting there drying our tears when suddenly Dee suggested we go for a night out in Seoul. It was a fluster to shower and everything at that stage but we managed to catch the last subway in at 11.20 and made it to the bar area by 1am. 

       In Ireland starting a night out at 1am would be madness but as the bars and clubs stay open until at least 6am here we had plenty of time. When we arrived we met our friends Kat and Madonna and danced the night away together. Getting the subway home the next morning is the worst part of it all though because after the club we got food and relaxed so by the time I got on a subway it was 9am and I was very tired; staying awake is an effort. The night was fun though and I'm glad we made the most that we could out of our extra long weekend.

World DJ Festival.

         Every year Korea hosts a festival called World DJ festival and it has been growing in popularity. In the past the festival has been held in Seoul but this year because of lack of sufficient space in Seoul they decided to move into a more rural area. Luckily for us they chose Yangpyeong, which is only 2 subway stops (10 mins) away from us. Dee and I were very excited about it and the prospect of dancing outdoors and meeting new people so close to home. Most of our friends here in the village though were not so excited about it... I blame old age, haha. Being the youngest teachers here has both its pros and cons. Anyway Chris (the only other teacher our age), Dee and I headed off on the Saturday to party the night away. We had heard that we couldn't drink alcohol inside the festival itself (and considering most DJ music is best with a little alcohol) we decided to have a few pre-drinks!
         The weather was fantastic and the three of us sat in the sunshine drinking and talking. As the night rolled in we decided it was time to actually go into the festival itself. The queue was so long when we arrived and we joined the end. Somewhere along the line though Dee got impatient and decided to skip the line, I was convinced  it wouldn't work so I stuck in my place and ended up chatting to a big group of Irish people. Eventually I made it to the top of the queue and called Dee. While I was calling her I was looking around and saw a girl asleep on the grass. I was laughing until I realised it was Dee... she had gotten tired waiting for us to get in. Somehow soon after that we got separated again and while trying to find each other my phone died. So by 10.30pm both Dee and I were totally by ourselves. Luckily for me while wandering around trying to find her I bumped into the group of Irish again and we danced and talked. After a while I left to search for Dee again and although my search was unsuccessful I talked to so many different people and danced and laughed. A very good night all in all.
          Next morning Dee and I compared stories and she had somehow managed to convince the bouncers to let her into the VIP area by telling them she was the German DJ's wife (while talking in a broken English German accent). After she got in she just wandered around until she accidentally ended up behind the DJ on the main stage. At that point I think security realised she didn't belong and she was shown back to the main area. So a fun night for Dee too. So despite the fact that both of us were alone we both seemed to enjoy our experience of World DJ Fest.

That Friday feeling....

                              
             Fridays at all times are great, I think everyone agrees with that but Fridays here are extra good. Friday in the Kindergarten is a theme day so every Friday we have activities for half the day which means a half day less teaching and a half day more fun. Last Friday we went on a field trip to a local aquarium, the week before we made cookies and the week before that we had a birthday party. Other Friday days are sports days, bouncy castle days, music days etc. I love Fridays!!

        One of the best parts of Fridays is the fact that I am such a big kid myself. I can't help but get as excited as the kids. I love doing all the fun stuff just as much as they do... whether that be feeding the fish or doing rolley-poleys in the soccer field. If only everyday could be like Friday. Don't get me wrong I love my job and the teaching is fun everyday but its just not the same.