So, my summer intensive classes are finally over! I no longer have to be to work at 10:30am! It's awesome. However, I do kinda miss my summer intensive students! Since I only had them for a month, they still listened to me and did what I said! I still see them in the hallways and what not...but it's just not the same. Man, am I getting soft or what!?
On Thursday, we had a big birthday party for all the kindgartener students whose birthdays were in July/August. It was so awesome. The Korean teachers set up a big table that had food and presents placed on it for the birthday kids. Then they came in one by one and stood behind the table so the rest of the kids could sing Happy Birthday to them in Korean and English. It was great because they were so excited about the birthday celebration (my one student, Chenny, kept telling me about the birthday party for about a week) and then when they got behind the table all alone, the smiles would disappear and some of them looked like they were so miserable or going to cry! I couldn't help but laugh at them...which I'm sure didn't make things any better!
After about fifty pictures of the cute little birthday kids in their little birthday hats, it was time for the pizza/gimbap/junk food party! I always love eating with my kindergarteners mainly because I get to hang with them without having to teach them anything and they aren't whining about something random. Sometimes they try to teach me Korean. In fact, they taught me how to count 1-10. Man, they're better teachers than I am! Except when I say it properly they scream out, "DON'T SPEAK KOREAN ELLLEN TEACHER! ELLEN TEACHER MINUS ONE!" Jeez, I can't win...those sneaky kids...
And speaking of birthdays, I went out with my friend Shannon to HO Bar in Hongdae. (Yes, that's the name of the bar...and it ISN'T a sexy bar!) It was her co-workers' birthdays and we were there to celebrate. There were about 4 of her co-workers plus me, Jun, Priscilla, and Cassie. Shannon bought a Basking Robbins cake and brought it into the bar. This is another reason why I love Korea. They have this crazy birthday song. It's like a remix of a random birthday song. It goes, "Happy Happy Birsday! Happy Happy Birsday! Happy Birsday to you! Happy Birsday to you! Happy Birsday Happy Birsday! Happy Happy Birsday!" And the lights go out and, when available, laser lights are going and everyone's clapping... When I have my birthday in May, I plan on bringing a cake to a bar, unwrapping it, having the Birsday song played, wrapping up my cake, go to the next bar and do it all over again...at least 5 more times! Haha, that's how much I love that song!
Well, out of the blue, Jun tells me that Shannon's co-worker's boyfriend is from Minnesota. I find out that he's from Coon Rapids, is also Korean adopted, went to the UMN, graduated about the same time as me, and took the same Korean Media and Pop Culture class! We tried to figure out if we were actually in the same class at the same time. It's his second year teachiing English in Korea and he has his F-4 visa, which I want to get if I stay here for another year. He gave me some pointers, which was awesome. It was so random! I can't believe how small the world truly is!
The next day, after speaking with my sister for about and hour and a half (which was glorious!), my friend Mark stopped by my apartment for directions to Insadong. Well, heck, it was a nice day outside so I figured I would join him on his little venture into the city. I am so glad that I did. He had to buy a birthday present for his sister and what better place to go than to Insadong? (Well...maybe Dongdaemun...anyways...) One of the first little shops we went into I finally found a cell phone charm that was worthy to hang on my cellphone. No, it's not a golden pig...no, it's not made of amethyst and silver...it's BETTER. Ready for it?! It's a double-sided charm with a picture of RAIN (super popular Korean pop singer) on it, looking all sassy and sexy holding a cell phone on one side and a digitall camera on the other side. I know, I know...you're all jealous. I told my co-workers that I'd be locking my cell phone in my drawer at work in case they got the urge to steal my wonderful cell phone charm. hahaha! I think they officially think I'm crazy.
After cruising the Insadong strip for about an hour and a half, we meet up with Joe, our Korean co-teacher. She took us down Chongno, a little pathway along a small river. It was so nice! We saw some street performers dancing and banging on drums and a really entertaining juggler/comedian. It's great when you don't need to know the language to understand the jokes.
After that, we ate some dinner and decided to try something new. We ate jimdtak (sp?) and it was SOOOO delicious. It may be my new favorite Korean dish. It's chicken with potatoes and vegetables in a soy sauce based sauce with noodles. It's super spicy...my lips were tingling but surprisingly my tongue was still in tact. This dish became popular in Seoul just a few years ago. Apparently, before you could only get it in some small province out in the country!
And speaking of food...remember how I said that I would never order the live octopus wriggling in the soup? Yeah...well, that happened tonight! Mark, Joe, and I decided to grab a bite to eat after work. Joe's been the one introducing all these new yummy foods and so we decided to go along and try something new. Joe ordered this type of stew with pork ribs and potatoes and kimchi. And when they brought it out, we found out that they gave us a complimentary octopus... (I wonder if that happens often...complimentary octopus in stews....) And there it was! Tentacles and little suckers sticking out everwhere. Fortunately, it was NOT alive...but it did look really gooey and slimy. I was a little uncertain but once it was cooked it was really good!
Can't wait to see what else Korea has to offer! Although I expect the unexpected, Korea hasn't stopped surprising me with her random- and awesomeness! haha
