All in Changnyeong
A few weekends ago, the rest of us went to Upo Wetlands about 15 minutes from Changnyeong. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for exploring the area. We got there and it was one of the most adorable places.
Last weekend, L&I planned on having a lazy Saturday. The weather looked like it was going to be kind of rainy, and the next two weekends were gonna be big. Well, after a cup of coffee, I decided to go into Daegu.
I knew Koreans drank a lot, but I didn't understand it fully until last weekend when we attended our first beer auction. What's a beer auction you ask? Well, it's when someone...
On Sunday, the entire staff participated in a race with our 60 year old bosses. And we all crushed it. Five of the teachers (myself and Luke included) ran the 5k, while three of the teachers, Richard and Suzi all ran the 10k! We left CEV at 8:00 AM and arrived at the scene of the race with an hour and a half to spare. Drums were banging, music was blaring, balloons were fleeing toddlers' hands and our staff was drawing stares from every direction. So many foreigners in one big group!
The weather has really started to warm up so running and more outdoor activities are becoming more frequent. Saturday was gorgeous and I needed to get out of the apartment, and I actually ended up running three miles. I know it's not much to some, but considering I haven't run much in quite a while, I was quite proud of myself. Later on, a group of us drew a Four Square court and played until dark.
With only a few weeks left of the cold weather, some of us took a trip a few hours north to go snowboarding last weekend. We took a 30-minute cab ride at 3:30 AM to get to the bus stop in Daegu, then took that bus to the ski resort, about 3.5 hours away, so that we arrived just as it was opening.
In Korea, Valentine's Day is still celebrated on February 14th, but it is when the women show appreciation to the men and get them chocolates and gifts. They have another holiday on March 14th called "White Day" where the men reciprocate and get the ladies something. In Korea, gift giving is a big thing, but there are many rules involved.
I know it's been a couple weeks since my last post but we're still alive and doing well! After getting home from vacation, we needed a bit to unwind and get back in the groove. It was really great getting together with the group again and exchanging travel stories...and being able to easily communicate again!
For two weeks (eight days), four teachers taught students who were part of the Boston Program and four teachers taught “Winter Intensive” camp of students who had been to CEV before and were there to learn more. The Boston Program is an annual program that consists of students interviewing and taking tests to prove their English skills in order to travel to Boston for two weeks.
On our second day here, we woke up at 8 AM to head into town for our medical check before we could receive our immigration card. In an hour, we had received a vision and hearing test, checked our blood pressure, had blood drawn, peed in a cup and went to the dentist (where she looked in our mouths for 30 seconds). For the most part it seemed pretty similar to how things are done in the U.S. but there were still a few times we had to laugh to ourselves because it seemed odd.