Retro Rooftop Olympics = Success

I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow it's the end of October. I don't even remember this month starting. It's been a whirlwind.

Last Saturday we had the Adventure Teaching Korea event--the Retro Rooftop Olympics--which Ali and I put on. It was superly duperly fun--water balloon toss, tug-of-war, giant jumprope, dizzy broom, drinks, BBQ, live music--all happening on a rooftop in Seoul. I'm also superly duperly glad it's over. Who knew one little event could be so much work. I got home at about 2:30am Sunday morning, after getting up at 7am, setting up in a frantic frenzy all morning, meeting, greeting, hosting, socializing, networking, and mega-phoning game rules all afternoon and evening, and cleaning up till 12:30. But it was all well worth it, and it looks as if this was the beginning of the annual Adventure Teaching Korea Retro Rooftop Olympics.

So after checking that one off the list, I just have this week to get through--parent's day Wednesday and Thursday (i.e. practice for two weeks so that your classes are perfect and in no way how they are on a normal day, and put on a performance all day with a huge smile, way too much enthusiasm, and high heels--again, something I would never do on a normal day. But Korean moms love high heels) and then Holloween party all day Friday.

Which leads me to my next concern...what to be for holloween this year? I feel too burnt out to be original. I'm really leaning toward wearing all black, throwing some ears on my black headband, and drawing whiskers on my face in eyeliner. Ah the classic cat. It just never dissapoints. But I feel pressure to do more. The last teacher went as Kimbap. (Korean version of sushi.) Her custom made costume is still in the corner of the teacher's room and it's twice the size of me. How do I live up to kimbap?

Conquered: Marathon and Highlights.

My half marathon went great! I went, I conquered, and I pretty much felt full of joy and happiness the entire 2 hours and 6 minutes (faster than I expected!). I know hindsight can be optomistic, but in general, it was a great experience. I was the only blonde in the bunch, ofcourse, which made me somewhat of a celebrity among the curiously toned speedy little Korean dudes, meaning I got about 70 thumbs up and 'GOO JAAA" (good job) along the way. They even pulled me out of the crowd right before the race began to shoot off the little gun that makes the loud noise to start the race. I was confused and scared that I was actually going to shoot someone, or that pulling the gun meant I couldn't actually run the race, but other than that, everything went swimmingly! It was along the Han River that runs through Seoul, it was a beautiful, sunny, cool morning, and with every step I thought to myself..."I've always wanted to do this! Now I'm doing it! Go me!" Ali was my loyal supporter, and had to race to the finish line to take pictures since I got in a good 20 minutes faster than he expected!

What's next? A full perhaps? We'll see...

In other news, I got my hair highlighted last night. Some of you may remember the little predicament I found myself in my first year in Korea where, after asking for subtle highlights, they dyed my entire head of hair the color of neon yellow post-it note. After which it turned a hew of moldy green and stayed that way for a good 6 months until I returned home and got it fixed. So this year, I was not taking any chances. Fortunately, there just so happens to be an Aveda salon right around the corner from me, which I decided would be my reward for completing the half. I was there for a good 3 hours last night, being meticulously worked on by 3 Korean woman at once, all very intense and focused, giving me the impression they were very serious about this and had done blonde highlights many times before. After they finished and I beemed with approval and said, "It's perfect!" they all quite literally breathed a sigh of relief the size of a little fat kid blowing out birthday candles. Turns out they hadn't done this as many times as I thought.

But it is, as I told them, perfect! I was really worried it was going to be either blindingly bright or completely unnoticeable, and it is neither. Just natural, normal highlights. Now it's my turn to take the big sigh of relief! (Especially since I paid more for it than I've ever paid for anything done to my hair before...) They also gave me a free hair treatment, hand massage, and back massage--well about a 30 minute back massage. But I'll take it! I love how Korea dishes out the free stuff.

Muiido makes a mark.

So Chuseok weekend at Muiido Island was absolute hit. Check out the photos below and to see my full album click here. And WISH ME LUCK on my half marathon tomorrow!


The weekend started with a 2 minute ferry ride...














Hooray, the beach!!!







































The water is really muddy when the tide is in. (But not muddy enough to stop us from swimming...)












The little huts we stayed in! With a great view of the ocean!





















Rocks...










...rocks...



















...rocks...














...more rocks...











Go Joy!




















Our view from the hut...










FRESH clams. Straight from the ocean. Along with Korean rice wine, soju, and cass!













Just a casual pose by the sunset...
















Go sunsets...











Horseback riding anyone?












In the morning, the ocean turned into miles of mud flats. A very fun hike, despite the crabs we squashed with every step...












The mud flats.











The group! Top: Adam, Rob, Ali, Kristin, Jason
Bottom: Joy, me, Natalie, Harriet

Chuseok

It’s nearing the end of my work week, and I’m getting ready for a 4-day weekend. It’s Chuseok here in Korea, so while Koreans are celebrating the Harvest and giving thanks to their ancestors, I’ll be snuggled on the beach around fire with friends eating fresh sea food and making smores (with flavored marshmallows and the closest Korean replacement to the graham cracker we can find.) A group of us are heading out tomorrow morning to spend the weekend at Muiido Island, on the West coast of Korea. It’s not tropical or touristy, more a fishing harbor, and it will most likely be deserted considering everything completely shuts down over Chuseok, and I couldn’t be more excited for some peaceful, low-key, relaxing seaside fun. We’re staying in little bungalow hut thingies right on the beach, right by the water, so hopefully the mosquitos don’t eat me alive, and I can enjoy falling asleep to the sound of the ocean.

It’s been a busy week here at Kookje English Village. I had a surge of adrenaline Monday morning when I realized in my music class that I was putting in far too little effort and I needed to spice things up. So I’ve been getting all new songs ready for the next couple of months—complete with several songs about the different colored leaves of fall, raking, and general autumny stuff. I have successfully prepared almost everything I will need for the next 3 months of music class. I’ve even got my December schedule finished, complete with laminated snowflakes and bells. I wasn’t kidding about the adrenaline thing…

I’ve been teaching the adult TEOFL writing class every Tuesday, and it’s going really well. It’s nice to deal with people age 20 and up after a day of screaming at crying children, wiping dirty mouths after lunch, and telling little Tommy, for the 17th time, stop calling James a bunny. I also met with my favorite girl who’s just finished the TEOFL class this week because she wanted to talk to me about taking private lessons. I’m really excited! She’s 20 and absolutely the sweetest person ever. She’s hoping to go to school in Hawaii next year, so from now on I’ll be teaching her private classes at my apartment two nights a week—speaking and writing class. That makes 3 nights of extra teaching a week! And on top of that, Ali and I are still heading up the Adventure Teaching Korea facebook and blog project, as well as planning a big Adventure Teaching Korea event for the 3rd week of October (a day of Retro Olympics, carnival games, bbq, and an afterparty to follow…no biggy…YA RIGHT!!!). All in all, it’s going to be a busy month for yours truly.

But before the busyness takes over, I get a weekend sleeping by the ocean and eating fresh fish. Hooray. J