the end of intensives

August 17-23
You know, when there is little to tell it is much easier to forget to do this. This week was the last week of summer intensives and was a bit of a frantic week.
In the office the teachers were all trying to tie up the loose ends from this semester, while trying to get things ready for the coming semester. the only really problem it created for the foreign teachers was that we had no idea what classes we were going to be teaching or what books we would have until the end of the week. This coupled with the job of making syllabi for the classes we will be teaching in the new semester made the end of the week especially confusing.
Most of the week I struggled with a sore throat from Brady's being here the week before and the partying on the weekend. C'est la vie. We got through the confusion and on Friday night went out for a few drinks at several locations.
the first stop was a new bar around the corner from school for a couple beers with my coworkers to celebrate the end of intensives and one of the TA's birthdays. After that it was over to Zenia's to have a few beers with friends at the elementary school who were also done intensives and some of which were leaving Avalon for another school. I stayed there until about 930 and then went to Gangnam to meet Junk, Blake Nate, and Danielle fora few more beers. It was a good night and we called it a night around 130 so we could get some rest for the weekend.
On Saturday I went to a baseball game with Brian, Jameson and Arthur at 5pm, which lasted an amazing 4 hours and ended with the Twins beating the Lions in the final few innings. After that we went to Gold Bar for some drinks which turned into a late but not too drunk night. On Sunday we did trivia again but with a few more people this time. Dave and Kate, Jameson and I, Blake, Alex N, and Emily who just got here Friday all came out and we ended up tying for second.
That's it, another week down. Take care.

August 10-16.
Ahh behind again. At least there hasn't been too much gong on so there isn't a lot I need to remember.
This week at school Margaret and I split the essay class she had because there were just too many students to deal with alone. It worked out well and it gives the kids a little more one on one time if they need it. Aside from that classes were going normally, lots of essay grading and trying to get the kids to do their work.
Outside of work things were normal. Since Brady was in town staying across the hall at Alex's we ended up hanging out quite a bit. Alex is an early to bed early o rise kind of guy, so instead of going to bed early or bothering Alex while he was trying to sleep Brady would hang out at my place most nights and we would watch T.V. and have a couple beers. It was cool because I'm always up late but it made for a long week of only 4 hour sleeps every night. On Thursday I went with Margaret and Katie (our Korean co-teacher) to an American style breakfast restaurant for dinner and it was great.
At the end of the week we had another group party for Brett and Hayley, the brother and sister from Nova Scotia who had finished at Avalon, but are staying in Seoul with other schools. We all went for galbi dinner and then for drinks at one of favorite bars near school, Zenias. After that there were too many people to make any decisions and things got a little confusing. We ended up splitting up and lots of us went in different directions to get a couple more drinks before calling it a night. On Saturday instead of the usual drinking, I went with Margaret, Hayley and Jenn to a board game cafe fora while and just hung out. After that, I went to Gold Bar in Sincheon and hung out with Jamson, Brian, Blake, Frank, Danielle (Blakes coworker), and some of our Korean friends. On Sunday I did some school work and then hung out at home until dinner time. For dinner I went with Jameson to meet Kate and Dave for trivia night, where we came in 5th.
Well I'm caught up now and so are you. I'll talk to you all soon.

The relief a vacation provides

Well I have fallen behind again. This covers Aug 3-9.
Getting back from our vacation sure left me charged and ready to get back into the swing of things. This week school went by super fast, the kids seemed recharged too after a quick break. We had some good times sharing our holiday stories and moving along with our material. Most of the week went by smoothly. After work most days I just came home to escape either the rain or the heat and did not much other than that.
When the weekend came David and Brady rolled in from their vacation in Indonesia. David was only staying the night but Brady was staying for the next week to visit with his girlfriend. Since they were back all of us that usually hung out went out for dinner Saturday night after hanging out at my place a good portion of the afternoon. After our Dak-galbi dinner we headed to Sinchon for a going away party for Kim, who had quit her contract to head home and get away from the crap at the elementary school; and to take care of some other things. We went to a place called Shiva Pub, where several of us preceded to get drunker than we had originally planned. We shared a couple bottles of Jack before everyone but Jameson and I decided to switch to beer. We thought however, it would be a good idea to get a 3rd half bottle. Thats where we went wrong. We both ended up drunker than we had planned and sick the next day.
either way I got up Sunday and tutored in Olympic Park for a couple hours. After tutoring I went home for some rest then eventually met up with Blake and his coworkers for dinner. All in all a pretty uneventful week but still better than a week that wasn't preceded by a vacation.
Catch up with you all soon.

A Great Time Had By All - Jeju Part 2

Hey look a photo, I should have added some of these before.
Well it was Wednesday and Margaret and I made it to Jeju by 8 am and left he airport to explore Jeju City and wait for the rest of our friends to get there. We took a bus into town and got some breakfast before checking out a temple complex, and old fortress wall and then headed to a seaside rock formation that looks like the head of a dragon. It was pretty cool but still only took a minute to see. After that we went to the harbor to sit in the sun and wait out the last couple hours until our friends got in. At 330 we went back to the the airport and waited for them to get in. Once both groups of friends got in we went to a fantastic samgyupsal restaurant and had our first group dinner in Jeju before heading to the bus station to get a bus to the city we were staying in on the east coast called Ilchulbong, the location of Sunrise Peak.
Our group consisted of Margaret and I from the Nokchiwon; Jameson and Brian from the middle school; Brett, Hayley, James, Alex (the non Britt), Kim, Arthur, and Frank from the elementary school; and Blake the new Avalon Lancon member.
On our second day a bunch of us went to the waterfalls located on the South side of the island, one of which is said to be the only one in Asia that falls directly into the ocean called Jeongbang Falls. We could stand right in pool the waterfall fell in while the tide was out and feel the mist. After that we went to the beach to get some sun and play in the ocean. We stayed until the sun was going down then grabbed dinner and headed back to Ilchulbong.
Several of us, Kim Blake, Arthur, Brett, Jameson, Brian, and I got up on our third day and made for the volcano in the center or the island that gave birth to Jeju Island so many years ago. Called Halla Mountain it is the highest peak in South Korea rising some 2000 m above sea level. They said it would take around 4.5 hours to get to the top but since we got their late we hustled to make it to the top before the check point 2/3 of the way up closed, disallowing us to pass on to the top. It took us 3.5 grueling hours to get to the top, some of us reaching it before others strictly because of fitness levels. the view from the top was amazing, as we were above the clouds and looking out over and entire island. The climb down was much easier but still took 2.5 hours because we could afford to stop for breaks and pictures. Once we were back in Jeju City we all went to a jimjilbong (sauna) to shower up and change our sweaty clothes before getting some dinner and drinks.
Feeling incredibly sore the next day; Blake, Brian and I got up and went to the Manjanggul lava tube, which is a 1.3 km underground cave created by years of underground lava flows as the island was forming. It was pretty cool to be down there walking around so much history. After that we met up with Margaret and Jameson on the south side of the island to try and take a submarine ride around the coral reefs. Unfortunately they schedule was full for the remainder of the day so we had to leave without getting a look under the sea. Margaret and I were especially disappointed because she had really wanted to go and it was the closest thing I would get to scuba diving because that was all booked up too. Instead Margaret and I went to a nearby temple while the rest went to meet up with the rest of the party a the beach. We eventually caught up with them to get in one last dip in the ocean and beer on the beach.That night we stayed late in Seogwipo City, the city I've been referring to as the south side of the island, and have some drinks before we left the next day.
The next day, Sunday, we were all scheduled to leave at times ranging between 830 and 11 am. But, before we left Ilchulbong Brian, Blake, Frank, Arthur, Brett and I walked up Seongsan Ilchulbong, Sunrise Peak, to see the sun come up at 530. It was hard to get up that early after only going to bed at 3, but the early morning jog up the mountain helped and was well worth it to see the sun come up over the ocean before heading out. After seeing the sun come up we returned to the hotel to get our bags and clean out our room. Then we had some breakfast and took cabs back to the airport in Jeju City to wait for our flights.
Once we got back to Seoul, for the third time haha, some of us grabbed Dos Tacos then headed home to get some vacation from our vacation. It was an amazing time and just what we all needed. Unfortunately when I got home there was news of Russ's baseball accident, and Tim's arm injuries which made me wish for the first time in a while that I could be home to help when things go bad.
I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Talk to you again soon.

A Narrow Escape From Death - Jeju Part 1

This week started out very exciting. Talks of vacation and packing our bags were all around the office(s). Monday went by quickly as did Tuesday, giving truth to the ever popular saying "time flies when you're having fun". In this case it was more like the time was flying in order to have some fun.
Tuesday after work Margaret and I left straight from work to get on the airport bus near Jamsil. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 715, and we made it to the airport around 6. We were happy to be there and got ourselves into vacation mode, talking about how nice it would be to be away from Seoul and all the things we were going to do once the rest of our friends got there. Little did we know our lives were about to be turned upside down, almost literally.
We grabbed a quick sandwich and waited for our plane to board. Eventually we took off around 730, a little late but not a big deal. the first half of the flight was good, we were sitting in a section with a group of cheerful Chinese travelers and tins were going smoothly. Then as we made our way closer to Jeju the turbulence began to pick up. Tossing the plane back and forth, up and down as I've never felt we became at the mercy of the storm brewing outside. things then went from bad to worse as the passengers started worrying and some even turned a little green. Not to worry though, the Chinese were still having a good time.
No wonder they ran kamikaze missions back in the day, even as the planes ride became like that of a roller coaster they were laughing and joking with each other. Soon enough that would come to an end. As some of the Chinese passengers started feeling sick and the mood got a little more serious.
The plane tossed and turned, dropped like a rock and rose again under the changing air pressures outside. Then it happened, people started vomiting; probably from a mix of being thrown around and nervousness. Even Margaret, the poor girl, fell victim to the night and I all could do was try to tell her it was going to be alright. What happened next made me doubt what I was saying and brought me the closest I had ever felt to the end of my life.
The pilot, now above Jeju airport, decided to try a landing. As the plane made its decent we hit a patch of bad air and the plane dropped like a stone. It dropped hard enough and long enough to leave me weightless in my seat for over a full second. As son as that happened the pilot then throttled up the plane harder than I have ever felt. We moved faster than I've ever felt, even during a take off in order to get back up into the clouds. People were now very quiet and solemn as I can just imagine, the thought of getting through this was on everyones minds. Once we were back in the clouds the pilot circled trying to wait out the storm, and the flight attendants did what they could in the still turbulent plane to help those who had been sick.
Finally the pilot decided to turn the plane around and make the 45 minute flight back to Seoul. Once we got into calmer air, about half way back, the mood lifted and people started relaxing. This was most noticeable among the Chinese passengers who once again started laughing and joking. they were making fun of themselves and their friends who had been sick. Even though I had no idea what they were saying i couldn't help but laugh with them. It was just too funny. After we returned to Seoul we were told that a flight had been scheduled for 640 am for those of us who would like to try again. Margaret and I assumed that a trip like that could only happen once and opted for the morning flight, that and our friends were going and we didn't want o miss out. We grabbed a hotel close to the airport for the night and then headed off again in the morning, making it without a problem the second time around.
My next post will be of a much funner nature I promise.