Aquarium and Temple

Foreign animals vs. Korean animals

Electric eel

Very shiny!

Bouquet of eels

Seahorse

A couple weekends ago, Jeremy wanted to go do something on Saturday. So, he got on the computer and started to search. He finally found us something to go do. There is an aquarium in Seoul. We headed to the aquarium, to some place we had never been. The aquarium is actually inside a VERY large mall. We circled a few times because we were a little lost, but we were also trying to find the Burger King so we could have lunch first. When we found the aquarium it looked kind of small from the outside, and the price of tickets seemed to be a little much for a small aquarium. But, once inside, I was wrong about the size. It's no Oregon Aquarium, but it was still pretty awesome! We took pictures of a few of the animals that probably we wouldn't see back home. They had a fish section where they made fish tanks out of ordinary house things. For example, a toilet, a kitchen sink, a refridgerator, etc. They even had a bed with an aquarium in the head board. There was also a tank of the fish that eat the dead skin off your hands and feet that you could try. We didn't because there were so many people around it, and the idea is just kind of weird. :) All in all, it was such a great trip!

After that, Jeremy didn't want to go home just yet because we were in a new place and he wanted to explore some. We walked out of the mall, and just started walking around the block. We ended up walking past the Trade Center where we think the G20 Summit was held. Out front there was a big silver ball that reflected the picture of every leader that attended the summit. It was pretty neat. We kept on walking around the block, and actually discovered a Buddhist Temple! It was so cool! There were many Koreans heading to it, too. Inside it was really beautiful, with all the old looking buildings and the greenery. We walked a little through the area a little leary about whether we should be in there or not. Along our walk was a giant statue of Buddha with a huge marble-looking floor for the Koreans to pray on. We watched a few people worship.There was also another building, I think the main building, that most of the Koreans were going into to pray/worship. Before they entered, they lit an incense and maybe a candle, and said some things. We were definitely feeling a little awkward, so we headed out back home.

Tid bits

Jeremy and I have been up to the same ol' same ol' around here. Last week was sort of crazy because the students had their big tests: the TOSEL (English profiency) and the DT (Diagnostics Test). We took over two of the homeroom teachers' classrooms for two days, and watched the students take tests. It was sort of relaxing because we didn't have to teach, or talk for that matter. It gave us time to grade the tests and work on the diaries and book reports. This is week is the beginning of the second half of the semester. Technically it doesn't start until Dec. 1, which is sort of dumb, but that's what the boss decided. Therefore, many of the students didn't buy their new books for homework and didn't do the homework. Great way to start the new second half. Oh well. We are also starting some new things with our classes as well. We are hoping that it will be better. The school took away the student workbook, so the students have less homework, but no opportunity to learn and practice vocabulary. So, this week feels like the beginning of the new school year where we have to teach, explain, and train the students to do new things. Kind of crazy, but hopefully in a short while it will be worth it.
We just found out that we have insurance, but we receive no insurance cards. So instead of showing proof of insurance to only pay up to 10,000 won, we now have to pay for the entire bill and the school will reimburse us. That's good and bad because it's lots of money up front out of pocket, but we will be reimbursed for all of it later. Sometimes I think this school is a little sketchy the way it does things. It took the school literally a week to get our washer/dryer fixed. Do you know how fast you can run out of clothes when you can't wash for a week?! It was madening, hahaha :) Oh well, that's what you get in a different country. :)
Last weekend we went to the aquarium, then ventured out in the district and found a temple. We have pictures of it all, and there is lots to tell. There will be another post about that experience, along with this last weekend. Hopefully we will be able to get you all up to date in our journey. :D Sorry to keep you all in the dark for the past few weeks. Starting Wednesday Dec. 1, we will no longer have 6th graders which opens up about 2 extra hours at the end of our work day. We are hoping to be able to keep on top of diaries, book reports, and our blog. So, until next time....

Seoul Lantern Festival

4-day weekend

Jeremy and an awesome 4-day weekend! The school had parent conferences and weren't involved, so we got the days off!! On Thursday, we went took the subway to Surisan station because wanted to finally go hike these mountains. Well, we weren't exactly sure how to get to the mountains, and looking at the map didn't help us much. We decided to just go one way and see where it took us. We eventually headed somewhere that led to a trail. We went right first, and it led us to a dead end at an old workout station that hadn't been used in many years. We went back and took the left trail. It was a weird trail at first. It seemed more like we were following a water drainage ditch, but turns out it was the actual trail. It came to a crossroad of more trails that were different lengths. Of course, Jeremy says "Let's take this one. It's only 3,000 meters." Reluctantly, I went. It was a good hike except for the fact that it had a couple long, straight up hills. We didn't make it quite to the top, but it was still very fun and a very nice view of the trees.
After the hike we headed to Costco for our monthly stock up. The weather finally changed, and it began to be very stormy while we were on the bus. There was lots of lightning, and the wind began blowing very hard. When we made it to Costco, the weather simmered down a bit, which was great because we didn't bring umbrellas or jackets with us. When were done with Costco, it was freezing cold outside. We ended up having to wait at least an hour for our bus to come. When it finally did, it was soooo packed full there was no way we could get on. Almost all the buses that stopped at the station were extremely packed full, like people crammed standing in the aisle as well as on the steps in front of the doors! So, had to miss that first bus. :( Thankfully another one came not too long after the first. We still had to stand in the aisle, but it wasn't bad. Jeremy almost lost his transit card, but we found it. :) When we finally made it home, as we unpacked our things, we discovered that Jeremy's little black bag was missing. We realized it had been left on the bus! It had my digital camera in there. :( After a little bit of panic on my part, we were able to figure out how to ccontact the lost and found office, but we had to wait until the next day.
So, about 9:15 a.m. I made a few phone calls, and we were able to get our bag back! I love that Koreans don't steal things! After being dropped off in the middle of Ansan Industrial Park, we got our bag, and walked for about an hour back towards the subway station. From there we headed to Namdaemun Market to try to find a few party supplies for our friend's surprise birthday party that was on Saturday. It was fun, but got cold. This time we were more prepared because we were going to be heading to the Seoul Lantern Festival that night, and I knew it was going to be chilly. I will make a separate posting about the Lantern Festival because we have a lot of neat pictures!
On Saturday we went to the Korean conversation class for the first time. It was actually pretty good! We were able to separate into smaller groups, and we were reviewing the alphabet with our instructor. It was almost better than going to the Korean class at the church! Our teacher is really nice, and she is about our age, too. For the rest of the day we just piddled around and got things ready for the party. I made homemade brownies and cookies from a pre-made mix (they didn't turn out good at all). The party was fun. We talked with some people that we never really talked with. AP was surprised and then she got emotional. :) On Sunday was a major runaround day for us. We were looking for a microwave to compare prices. We ended up buying one!! We are so excited to be able to heat things up in just a matter of minutes now! We also tried to buy a small hand vacuum, but turns out we bought one that is only for cars. The plug in goes into the lighter. :( Disappointing. Oh well, we know where we can get another one for about the same price, and we know it's an actual vacuum for the house, haha. When we were finally done running around, we decided to skip the Korean class, and just relax at home for the rest of the night. We had very yummy home-made chicken alfredo, and watched a couple of movies! For dessert, we got vanilla ice cream and mixed in some chocolate chips and the remaining pieces of the cookies from Saturday. What a great way to end the weekend!!

Rendezvous

Last week we had some beautiful weather! The leaves have definitely changed here and it's so pretty. We saw that the weather was going to change this weekend, so we wanted to head to the mountains to be able to get a view of the gorgeous colors. Tuesdays we don't have our first class until 5 p.m., so we thought that would be a great time to go. When we went to catch the subway, one of the trains were down. The one that came by going the opposite direction we wanted to go, was going to take at least a half hour to come back to us. So, we decided against going that day :( Instead, we got ready for work and headed to Lake Park because there were some colored trees there, and it's just a beautiful park. We had a little rendezvous before work. :D As we walked around the lake we took pictures and tried to capture the fall beauty. Jeremy wanted to take multiples of me for some reason. Then, I just became goofy because I was getting so many photos taken of me. The best one is the one of us kissing. It took a few shots to get it right. It also didn't help that I had a cold, and as I kept laughing my nose would run. You can imagine what it was like for Jeremy when I did that! :D All in all, it was all so fun and so pretty!
We also found out our teacher evaluations that the students did about us. They weren't that good. My pile was 3/4 like me, 1/4 had something negative to say. Jeremy's pile was half like him, half had something negative to say. At least it helped us know where we need to improve on. Unfortunately, I took it very hard. As soon as I was back in my classroom, I bawled for about 5 minutes. It wasn't so much what the kids said, but how Jaena delivered it to us. Her words made us feel that it was all OUR fault for why 60 students left in 2 months. Which isn't true, but she has a hard time communicating things softly in English to us. I got over it in about a day, and realized I can only do my best for the next 9 months. Thankfully we had a four day weekend to help me relax and give us a chance to get out and do things we want to do. I will post about our long weekend in the next couple of days. I figured a long post wouldn't be very fun to read! :