Chuseok Plus

The last week has been a blur of activity and upgrades in my small corner of the world. Chuseok went by in a flash. I opted to stay in Taean to get to know my fellow NETs (Native English Teachers) better. As luck would have it, the nasty weather blowing through Korea managed to miss us for the weekend and we celebrated by going to beaches, pseudo rock climbing, eating LOTS of seafood, and ATVing. In my short time here, I’ve already visited four beaches now: Hakampo, Mallipo, Mongsanpo, and Anmyeon beach.

I’m happy to report I’ve discovered my favorite place in Korea (for now anyway…), which my friend, Brandon, and I stumbled upon during our hiking/rock climbing adventure at Hakampo. The best way to describe it would be “Blue Lagoon-esque” (the Brook Shields version, of course). We belayed down into the small cove using some provided rope and the water was B-LUE (so blue it requires two syllables), the towering cliffs and foliage surrounding it were gorgeous, the rocks were perfect for sitting and soaking your feet for a while, and it was just still. I’ll post a video of it soon to give you a better idea of this slice of heaven (no really, I promise).

The Chuseok holiday is now done, and I am settling into my routine at school. I had a short week this past week (a day and a half) and taught the Kindergarteners about transportation (Red Light, Green Light was a big hit), and the advanced students learned about phrasing questions and interviewing. Outside of the classroom, my furniture was finally moved to my apartment on Thursday. I’m proud to say I have been living out of a genuine closet for three days now – I love it! Now that the furniture is in place I’ll be sure to take a few pictures (no seriously, you’ll see!).

My transition here is now finally in avalanche mode. Now that my ARC (Alien Registration Card) has arrived, I can do a number of moving-in finishing touches. So Thursday, I spent the better part of an hour trying to get my Korean Bank Account while stumbling through Korean, English, and Konglish with a frazzled bank clerk. I felt bad, but we got it done! My co-teacher, Grace, also took me to get a cell phone on Friday evening. I am now a legitimate iPhone owner, however my 3G data package isn’t working, so I will just add that to the list of things I have to figure out this next week. With these upgrades, I should also be able to install internet at my house soon and then I could actually Skype people.

Despite all of this commotion, I still managed to have a very fun weekend. I’m told that the weather here is going to cool down considerably so we’ve been trying to suck the marrow out of the last days of summer. Brandon and I opted to hike Baekhwasan Mountain on Saturday. Grace explained to me when I arrived that almost all cities in the mountain range are nestled right up to the mountain for natural protection – makes sense. Baekhwasan is Taean’s neighboring mountain on the North side of the city. I was told this wouldn’t be a very taxing adventure as there are nice trails that lead you to the summit. And it’s true, there are nice easy trails on one side of the mountain, but we managed to find the hardest descending paths on the East side of the mountain. I was getting a little freaked out by the steep inclines (ropes required) and would have preferred to have brought a helmet and carabineers. Luckily, a random local served as our curmudgeon white rabbit and guided us a bit to get down the mountain safely. The whole event was quite “EXTREME,” but we saw some great views and enjoyed the fresh mountain air.

I’m looking forward to a quiet week and getting into the routine of school life. This upcoming weekend a group of us are headed to Seoul for a professional soccer game and birthday festivities. We may also try to head back down to Hongseong for a Shrimp Festival and catch up with orientation friends. It should be a good time. I’ll, of course, try to keep you up to date as the adventure continues to unfold.

Cheers,
-Bets