Back to Work...

Well Chuseok is over and 'normal' life resumes. I had an amazing break! I was so blessed by all the wonderful opportunities I was able to be a part of.



On Friday, I went with some of the foreign teachers from my school and we went to explore an island near our city. The island is really not all that far away but because we are dependant on buses it took us almost an hour to get to where we wanted to be. The island was quite a big bigger than we all thought. We made it to the lighthouse and Tan-do fishing pier. The tide was out so we were surrounded by mud! I have never seen so much mud! We were able to walk all the way out to the lighthouse only to discover it was closed because of Chuseok....Oh well...the view was nice anyway. We got back to Shiwa (where we live) and ate at Loteria (which is like a Korean McDonald's). It really wasn't all that bad. Then I walked to the grocery store to buy some food because I am not used to providing myself food for three meals! We eat two at school...so I didn't have any food for the weekend.

On Saturday, we got an early start and headed into Seoul. We went to Gyeongbokgung palace. It was amazing! They had a pamphlet in English so I was actually able to read about the history. Almost the whole palace has been restored since the Japanese burnt it to the ground. After we explored the palace we met up with a friend for lunch and then we took a nice walk in Seoul. We saw some of the sites I later saw in my guidebook. Then we made it to Itaewon (Little America) where I found an English Bookshop!!! and we ate supper.

On Sunday, I met Kasoon at the train station and she introduced me to Sun-Young, who took me to church with her. Church starts at 11, which actually works in my favor because it would take me about an hour and a half on the train. After church Sun-Young invited me over to her sister's house for lunch. She is married to a man from Britain and she made some delicious curry! There was also a Philipino couple there. We had a good time and even climbed up a mini Namsan mountain where we had an AMAZING view of the city...of course I did not have my camera for this!

Yesterday, Carol and Vernon helped me open a bank account and then we had lunch. After lunch I pleaded exhaustion and went home. I walked in the door and realized Cynthia was back from China! She told me all about her vacation and then I took a nap, made supper and watched a movie. It was the perfect way to end a good vacation!

Now, I must get my body back in its normal routine and go for a hike and then get ready for school. It is always hard to recover from vacation! :)

Holly