Reuben's attempts to motivate me
I believe that in order for me to accurately recount September, I must chunk it into weekends. That is, by the way, one of the best ways the brain retains information (through chunking.).
September 4th
On September 4th Kelly and I, along with three other lovely ladies decided to explore some islands near Incheon Int'l Airport. This particular island is called Sido Island. It isn't that far from our place in Ilsan, albeit it is near the airport, which is roughly a 45 minute bus ride away. All to say, it's still close considering how long it takes to use the transit systems anyway.
The day turned out to be awesome. On the 10 minute ferry ride to the island, like most ferries in Korea, we were bombarded by seagulls, a fowl I have grown to loath growing up on Lake Michigan. It doesn't help the situation when people buy bags of chips specifically to feed the seagulls. I indulged.
When we arrived on the island, Ms. Dawna Diamon, Holly Schoephoerster and Lauren Zuckermann met us with newly acquired rental bikes. They were creative in renting us a tandem bike, which is fun, but this tandem bike had one gear and virtually no breaks. Not exactly a great combo.
After a few hours biking around the wicked sweet island and poking around for some seashells, we headed home for some deliciously cheap pizza. A productive Saturday.
Chuesok. September 19-24
A word should be said about the remaining events of September. There is a holday in September in Korea called Chuesok. Chuesok in Korea is like Thanksgiving in America. There is one day allocated to Chuesok (so I think) and there is almost a week off of work and school. Those who work at international schools have the luxury of a guaranteed 9 day vacation whilst those who work at Hagwons or other private institutions hold their breath for their time off. We were so lucky as to receive 6 days off whereas other Hagwonians were only allowed 3.
Chuesok, unlike Thanksgiving (from my understanding) is very traditional. For example they wear these flamboyantly colorful, hot, yet still comfortable outfits called "Hanboks". Hanboks were apparently the choice of wear ages ago for everyday life, but now only serve to be worn on special occasions such as Chuesok or a wedding. At a wedding, however, the bride and groom may only wear Hanboks during the reception.
The Friday at SLP, before Chuesok officially began, was dedicated to traditional lessons for Chuesok. All of the kindergarten students came to school decoratively adorned in their hanboks and other accessories. Some of the mothers went. all. out.
The boys in my class used this day to be as rambunctious as possible.
Tae Woong getting Punched. In. The. Face. Ryan did something everyone wanted to do that morning, including Peter Teacher. My hat's off to you, Ryan. Extra stickers.
A lot of the day consisted of playing traditional games and learning how to bow the proper way (there is a big difference in the way boys and girls bow to their elders). Peter Teacher even had the opportunity to get some bowing in, to no elders however. There was also tea time in which everyone was able to learn the proper way of receiving and drinking tea.
Getting their bow on
Drinking tea and eating Songpyeon. Songpyeon is also a snack of choice during Chuesok. Songpyeon is very unique and you either love it or hate it. Songpyeon is usually consumed heavily during Chuesok because it commemorates the first rice harvest of the year. It has a texture and taste that can only be experienced, not explained. I ate enough Songpyeon that day for 100 7 year olds, another reason why I need to get back to exercising.
During our time off, Kelly and I were able to enjoy some things around the Seoul area. One day we went down to Suwon, which is an area south of Seoul and were able to see the great fortress. There is an ancient fortress in which the entire wall is fully intact. Within the walls there is a city which is pretty interesting. I'm completely downplaying it and neglecting to tell more but I don't know that much more about it. Ask Dawna Diamon.
Bits-O-the wall
Followed by walking a good portion of the great wall of Korea, we went to Seoul Zoo--a zoo which is one of my most favorite zoos.
This zoo, unlike other zoos I have barnstormed through, had an awesome feel to it. After just completing the second book of Jurassic Park "Lost World", I felt like I was in Costa Rica. Not really but you get the point. The zoo was snuggly wrapped in lushly covered mountains. The exhibits were also large for certain animals. The lion pit, for example, housed 9 lions (the most I have seen in one zoo) and it was basically a small field. Como Zoo in MN is almost depressing, but it's also free.
On another beautifully cool day we went back to Bukhansan Nat'l Park. As mentioned before, this park is relatively close to our place and I wanted to go back at least once more when it was cooler. Bukhansan is always a great getaway.
....and Kelly falls.
Till we meet again...
1 comment:
Solid Michael C. reference, as usual. I wish you'd remove the picture from the zoo of Erik (the one right above the tiger). Didn't he ask you not to tell anyone that that was where he was?
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