There's no answer 'cause it's the weekend

Our first full month has officially come full-circle, and no Friday has ever been more welcome. The cherry on top of this difficult week has included a child spitting a ball of chewed-up rice into my hand and a newly broken cell phone. TGIF.

In the spirit of welcoming the weekend, it's about time I share what Tony and I have been up to on our all-too-infrequent days of freedom. Besides, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  With our first month complete, let's explore what we've done each weekend since we got here.

1st weekend: Korean barbeque with our fellow teachers, shopping for basics - groceries, home goods, etc - and lots of sleep.

Being touristy in Insadong

2nd weekend: We had a Monday holiday, so it was a long weekend, which we spent checking out some local cafés and restaurants. First, though, we had our staff retreat on Friday at a resort in the mountains. There, we got to know each other a bit more, and did some training sessions as well. On Monday, we took our first trip into Seoul. One of the Korean teachers at school lives there, and she took us around the city. We saw two neighborhoods: Gangnam (is the name familiar to you?), which is quite urban, and Insadong, which is more artisanal and attracts a lot of foreigners.  We tried bingsu, or ice milk, which is like ice cream but less heavy.  We had Chinese food - black noodles and sweet and sour fried pork. Yum! It was also our first time negotiating public transit - we took the metro into town (and got twisted around quite a bit) and returned by bus.

At a traditional tea house in Insadong

3rd weekend: Almost nothing! We were very lazy. We strolled our neighborhood, including the local open-air markets in the street, and we took the train to AK Plaza, a big seven-story shopping mall in downtown Pyeongtaek.

Downtown Pyeongtaek

4th weekend: Saturday was a field trip for the elementary kids at the water park, and we chaperoned. Water parks are super popular here; every Monday, at least a couple of students would tell me that they went to the water park over the weekend. Finally, we got to experience it! I chose to wear a one-piece swim suit with board shorts, simply because I was going to be around children all day and thought a bikini wasn't appropriate. Even then, I showed a lot of skin! Many of the kids wore full length pants and long sleeves. Also, the water park required something to be worn on the head at all times - a swim cap or hat. If it fell off in the pool, they'd blow a whistle and yell at you to put it back on! I've never seen so little skin at a swimming pool! only hands, feet, and faces showed. The hats are worn for hygiene and to keep hair out of the pools and drains. As far as the extensive clothing coverage, people want to stay as white as possible here. It's not like in the West where we lay in the sun or pay for sessions of spray tan or tanning beds!

5th weekend (now): We went out for kimbap (like a sushi roll, but loaded with different proteins and vegetables), mandu (dumplings), and topokki (type of rice cake). Not sure yet what else we will get ourselves into this weekend...

Next weekend, *edit: the trip to Crocodile Island sold out before we could book it, so we went to Chiaksan National Park to hike instead.* Then, we have only 2 days of school before Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving. During the September vacation, Tony and I are going to Uleung-do island for a five-day trip. We've got a lot coming up in September! I can't wait to finally start exploring what this country has to offer!