Tide pens and tampons.

That was my weekend. Well, that and new kicks, friends, and nicknames.

Thursday and Friday were rough. My students were off the walls both days. Except for conversation classes, which are going wonderfully. Both days I had a class that ended up writing a paragraph about being quiet and respectful in English class, but Friday was the worst. The morning was fine. Nothing great but nothing terrible. Then my second to last class in the afternoon was miserable. Mr. Pa ended up spending 25 minutes yelling at the girls and sent 2 girls out. Then, he had to leave to go to a meeting and not 30 seconds after he walks out of the room the girls were back at it. So they spent the remaining 15 minutes or so copying down a paragraph about respect and being quiet in English class. Then my last class was absolutely amazing. It was the best class I've had since I've been here. So at least it ended well.

Saturday morning I met Susan, a Korean Canadian girl who lives in Yeongdeok. She's with the TALK program, which is like EPIK but a little different. Anywho, we met at the bus terminal and headed to Andong for the Mask Festival. Which was great. I bought a few souvenirs, got henna on my palm, got to dance in the performance with the group that we hung out with for the day, got free dinner, got nicknamed Bruce, and had an overall awesome time. All the people that we hung out with are Susan's friends from TALK and they are a really great group of people. Saturday night we, Susan, Kylie (our traveling companion for the weekend and Susan's roommate from orientation) and myself, stayed with her friend Zach. Sunday morning we explored Andong a bit and got some Jimdeok for breakfast/lunch. Jimdeok is famous in Andong and it was delicious. It is chicken and noodles in a sauce, very good. There is a picture of it on facebook. Then we went back and met up with Zach and another guy named Josh and headed to Daegu. The plan was to stop in Daegu for some American brunch at a place called Lazy Diner, a classic American Diner, and then continue on to Jinju for the lantern festival on Sunday night. However, while in Daegu, we were informed that the lantern festival wasn't worth the bus ride so we decided to just hang out in Daegu for the night.

Daegu is great. It is a city of 3-4 million people so there is lots to do. First, Kylie really wanted to go on this ride that she and Susan had done in Seoul and was in Daegu. So we found it. It was similar to the G-Force rides at fairs but different. Picture a big round saucer with inadequately padded benches about a foot wide, and a couple of bars above the backs of the benches to hold on to. So you spread your arms out to the sides and sort of have to lace arms with the people next to you to hold on. Then they spin you around super fast with one side up so you are spinning at an angle- this is the fun part. The less fun part is when they stop the spinning and start slamming the ride up and down. It is very fast and very hard. The only thing holding you to the ride is your arms which are outstretched and holding on to the railing behind you for dear life while you are being slammed up and down which makes you bounce all over the place. Except bounce is too gentle of a word. So, like bouncing but extremely violently. It's rather unpleasant. So this goes on for about 10 or 15 minutes. It would have been okay if it had been 2 minutes or even 5 minutes. But by 10 minutes, you are exhausted, you are sore, and you still have 5 minutes to go. Now, I should not have even gotten on this ride with my back and all, but in my defense, when we watched the people go before us, there was as much spinning, if not more, than there was slamming. Unfortunately, the guy running the ride apparently has a reputation for liking to really slam foreigners. :/ So with about 2 minutes to go, he gives a big slam, I slip off the bench, land repeatedly on my lower back and tailbone on the edge of the seat, like I have been doing the whole ride, and this time, still holding on to the bar behind me just barely, he slams, and I slam my left elbow into the edge of the seat about an inch above the joint. This bends my arm backwards, my elbow pops, I freak out a little, drop to the floor, attempt to scramble back up into my seat with one arm and without flashing everyone from behind, (jean slippage :/) and can no longer hold back the tears. I can't even see straight from the pain but figure I just have to get back up on the seat and stick out the last 2 minutes. But, Josh, who was sitting next to me, sees me crying, tells them to stop the ride, and Susan gets me off. At this point I don't know if I've rebroken my elbow or what, I just know it hurts and I can't move it. Hurray Korean ride with no safety anything. :/ So, Susan gets me off the ride, takes me into the bathroom to see if everything is okay. I pull myself together, determine it is not broken, I just can't move it, take off my watch because my wrist has swollen and it is uncomfortably tight, and go back out into the main room to wait for the others. They finish the ride and everyone gets off, we gather our things and we're out the door. Susan tells me that she has never seen anyone handle pain so well, which I take as a sort of compliment and fact of life, and the day goes on.

We went to the Lazy Diner after the ride as to avoid upset stomachs. So we get there, it is very cute, with English menus and the works. They had hamburgers for lunch and a breakfast menu with pancakes, french toast, bacon, and eggs. I , of course, went for the breakfast and ordered a french toast with scrambled egg, bacon, and sausage (and salad came with it) with orange juice. It was almost as good as home with the exception of hotdogs which apparently counted as the sausage. :/ But overall, it was delicious and wonderful. My stomach did not agree with that about an hour later but that's what I get for eating that much greasy food. After eating we walked around the streets of Daegu for a bit and found a hat and scarf store where everyone bought something, and then Susan's friend Matt met up with us. We got coffee, hung out, checked out an English book store where I found an awesome book called Soul Cravings, Zach found an English and Korean New Testament bible that he gave to me, and had a lot of laughs. Then Josh and Matt went to get food, and the rest of us, Susan, Kiley, me and Zach, did a bit of wandering around. I got my very first pair of real converse :D (light grey) and Kiley and I got our first Korean haircuts, which were a-mazing (wait til you see pictures.) Then we hit up a few bars and called it a night. Susan, Kiley, Zach and I made our way to a jimjilbang and crashed for the night.

A jimjilbang is a Korean bath house. You walk in and pay, ours was 7,000\, they give you locker keys, one for your shoes, and one for the rest of your things, and a pair of shorts and a shirt. Then you separate into gender specific locker rooms where everyone gets naked and you use a community shower room. There is also sometimes a hot tub, sauna, etc. Ours had those and showers. It was nice to sit in the hot water for a bit after a long day. Then you dry off and put on the clothes they gave you and go to the sleeping room. Most jimjilbangs have community sleeping rooms. So, one for everybody. Some have other options such as jade rooms, where the floor is jade, coal rooms, etc and at different temperatures. Where we stayed there was just the big sleeping room and a hot room which was about 32 C or about 90 F. Oh, and they give you mats to sleep on, cover up with, etc. This was the part I disliked the most. It was my second night sleeping on the floor and after walking around all weekend and going on that ride, it was a rough night and a rougher morning. But, it was cheap and somewhere to sleep. I will probably be staying in one again this weekend when I go to Seoul for Global Gathering. But more about that later.

So we spent Sunday night in the jimjilbang. Monday we had no school as it was a national holiday so we took advantage of being in Daegu and went to Costco. I got 5 lbs, 120 slices, of american cheese, which you can not get anywhere but Costco in Korea. Other people got other foods that you can't find and it was a good day. We grabbed lunch and we split up to our respective bus terminals to find our ways home. I took the subway to DongDaegu station - one of the main ones in Korea, and then a taxi to the little shack that my bus leaves from and was glad to be on my way home. It was the best weekend I have had so far and the first time I was glad that I wasn't going home the next day. I was excited to see what else Korea has to offer and glad for the time I have to enjoy seeing it all. But, it was nice to go home to my apartment and my cat at the end. Speaking of, Switch did very well for being alone for 2 days. She didn't pee on anything, granted I locked her out of my bedroom, but still. And she was skittish and mad at me when I got home but after she realized I wasn't leaving again, she was the sweetest she's ever been, and has stayed cuddly since. She's even almost turning into a lap cat. :]

This week has been good. Standard with not much excitement. I am definitely settling into the swing of things and getting a routine. Middle school is still presenting daily, and hourly, challenges, but we're making progress so it's worth it. And high school has been going on without any hitches which is nice. I am halfway through Friday and can't wait for it to be over. Or for this weekend to start.

After school, I am taking the 6:30 bus, with Mark, to Seoul. Then tonight we will stay in a hostel. And tomorrow is Global Gathering, an electronic dance music festival, which is the reason we are going to Seoul. Then Saturday night we will most likely find a jimjilbang close to the area and crash there for the night/morning and then grab the 2:30 bus home. I am excited. It means Switch will be home alone again this weekend but next weekend I am going to just relax and sightsee closer to home. 2 weekends in a row being away from home is enough for me. Especially since the weekend after next, the 22, there is a big fireworks festival in Busan that I hope to go to. I definitely need a breather in between. The sightseeing and traveling is fun but I need a break in there every once and a while. Plus I found out today that since Thursday and Friday of next week are midterms for the middle school, instead of getting out early, like I thought I was going to, (Mrs. Seong/Oeja told me I would get out after lunch), which would be awesome enough, Mrs. Keong told me today that I don't have to come at all. :D Yay 4 day weekend. Unfortunately, Mrs. Seong also said something about her, Mr. Pa, and Mrs. Keong coming over on Thursday after school for my "housewarming party" and Mr. Pa cooking food. Blah. He hasn't said anything about it though and neither has Mrs. Keong so maybe it won't happen. I'm not looking forward to it. Plus, if they do come over, I either have to take Switch somewhere else, possibly to Mark's, though I haven't asked him, or just tell them I'm watching her for a friend. :/ But with no seating in my apartment, I just really don't want them to come over. Well, that and because I'd rather not spend my free time with Mr. Pa and Mrs. Keong. Oeja I don't mind but the other two... :/ Anywho, I hope it doesn't happen. And then Friday Oeja is going to take me to Pohang so I can finally register my account to send money home and I can get that taken care of. Which is something I need to do but, I still hate errands. :/

Anyway, sorry this is such a novel of a post and that I haven't been posting more regularly. I also have a load of pictures to sort and put up. I will try to do that on Sunday if we don't get in too late. But I am thinking of you all daily. Miss you and love you.
♥