typhoon, mountains, and soju ooo my

That is my 2nd school. 11 kids in the whole school. 

Another week has passed. It was just as exciting as the last. Classes went better and I am gaining more confidence every day. I really like teaching most of the students. But I am still struggling with what to do with my class of two kids for an hour and a half. It is hard enough to get their attention and keep the focused when one doesn’t want to be there so she won’t participate. On the other hand my co teacher Eun Sun is impressed with how the kids behave for me.  I must have a look that says don’t test me or you will regret it. That and I snip any serious misbehavior in the butt. But I don’t nitpick at the small stuff. It is hard to figure out if I am teaching or reviewing what they have already been taught. I am pretty sure I am just reviewing. Which they need cause the don’t know them 100% yet and covering them again will never hurt. But because they know them well I am flying through ideas of what to teach. This week I am going to do natural disasters and emotions and probably summer holidays. Whatever I teach I know the kids will love. There are so many resources online that help me out so much. Today we didn’t have class because it was a typhoon day. I don’t really understand it. We didn’t get hit that hard by it and they canceled very early. But I was not complaining. I wonder if they were concerned more about flooding. Either way I got the day off and a chance to relax and do nothing after a long weekend.

normal size spider at the bus stop one of the kids climbing. This kid is one of my favorites.

Social life

Monday I went climbing again and it was good. I tried a harder section and I strugged and couldn’t get all the way up the wall but I then did what they call training and it is climbing horizontal and the bottom of the wall. It’s called bouldering. I did that till I was pumping (basically when your arms are shot and hard as a rock). That is the only way to improve. I heard Wednesday was going to be a party for the climbing team (me included) because of the wins over the previous weekend. When I got there Wednesday I was told to get up the wall then to come eat. Sounds good to me, I went up the wall, it was my best climb yet so I was very happy with how I did it. Then sat and ate, we had rice, kimchi, shrimp in full shelling, and rice cakes and fish. When I say fish it is literally a fish head and all sitting right in front of you. Believe it or not it is really good once you get over the sight of it. Then had a few sojo shots and one of the older ladies there whom I have talked to several times came up to me and asked me my age. And I found out she has a son a few years older than me so she was like call me oma which means mother.  I found that to be very nice. All the little kids were there again. And my favorite part was when one boy was very tired and slightly crying holding onto his moms leg and I tickled him on the side and motioned for him to come here and he did I picked him up and held him. Then set my hat on his head and played peek-a-boo with him till he was laughing hysterically. That was a great feeling to make a kid smile like that. Friday I brought my friend Kelsea climbing and she was warmly welcomed like I was on my first day. When I climbed that day I struggled more than ever, it was very frustrating. I don’t know why and I was very disappointed in myself, the teacher was as well. When I got down he made his fingers into an x and was like training. Which sounds harsh but it wasn’t at all. I knew getting down that I sucked. And I got down saying the same thing. He knows I want to do well and he is there to push me and I appreciate.

 I struggled but made it.

Saturday

chung yong son

Becca and Katie came from their respective cities to climb this mt. with Kelsea and I. It was more than amazing. We took a bus there and the bus literally stopped and the bus driver got off. When we got off we knew we wanted to see the bridge at the top but didn’t know where to go. So we asked the drive and he was like follow me bali bali (quicky quickly) so he takes us about .5 mile up-hill the whole way to the start of the trail. So we started and it was paved at start and that part sucked. Paved very steep and it sucked I would rather it had been dirt it was just not fun to walk. We thought it was going to be that way they whole time. But we found a trail that said sky bridge and followed it. Wow that trail was filled with very type of trail possible. From basic trails to stairs to stairs of rocks to dirt stairs with wood in them, it was very interesting. Getting to the bridge made it all worth it. The suspension bridge went from one peak to another. It was amazing to walk across with the wind whipping and moving the bridge. It was breathtaking. Then there was the view that also took breaths away. Then we hike a little more to what we read was the highest point in Korea.  Not sure how accurate that is. But it was amazing none the less. The walk down was sketchy and dangerous. Everything was slippery and steep. I slipped a few times but always caught myself but I wasn’t ever in real danger. When we final reached the bottom we rested and an older Korean guy came and gave us caramels.

The craziest part is when we looked down the road and saw Steve and Tara a couple from EMU who are also in this program. It was just crazy that they were walking in the middle of nowhere and we were there. There journey to the same spot we were a lot more stressful than ours and they loved finding us so we took them back to Andong with us. First we waded in the river and broke rocks and hung out till the bus arrived. When we got back we went to a good chicken spot. Then Kati, Becca, Stephen, and Tara really wanted to see the rock wall I climb so we went there. And they were able to climb it and I could have but I just bouldered. I was too tired to climb it. And they flew up it way faster than I do. So I was like eh I will be ok and stayed with training. Then we went to a bar and I didn’t want to spend money so I just chilled then we went to a second bar that we had never been to. That is when the night began. When we entered a table of guys just freaked out and was like talking to us a lot. I ended up sitting with them. They just kept doing shots and poured me one each time. It was crazy. It’s just soju a liquor that is not strong. But I still had a good time. And didn’t get to bed till late.

Sunday had lunch with the people from out of town and then I took a short nap and saw the play Grease. Yes Korean Grease, it was really cool great acting but everything was in Korean so I didn’t follow it that well. Even the songs were in Korean except for a few words. But it was an experience I am glad I didn’t miss out on. Seeing one of our good Korean friends was one of the Grease guys. Yes the did have the right clothing and hair. They did a really good job.

New adventures this week I don’t know what they will be but I am ready for them.

To be continued……