School dinners/school life

Another lovely couple of weeks have passed by and the fun hasn't stopped yet. One thing I can't help but love about this place is that almost everything happens at the last minute. Certainly this idea has all kinds of negative potential, but consider this: it's mid terms for the MS and HS kids this week, so yesterday left me with little else to do but show up and plan lessons. This, of course, felt good since it gave me some time to plan ahead and consult my co-teachers, but I also find slightly bored...until 10 minutes before the end of the day  my co-teacher Mr. Kim tells me that I'm invited to a teacher's dinner. My mood turned an instant 180: teacher's dinners mean three things: plenty of food, drink, and conversation. Last night was no exception. We converged on an elementary school turned farming co-op and ate magchang, (cow's large intestines), tofu, vegetables, kimchi, and pajeon (potato/vegetable pancakes). It all tasted pretty good. If I recall correctly, and please don't quote me on this, but the magchang seemed similar to chitlins. I should probably do some research on this one, but that'll come later. Either way, grilled magchang tastes similar to sausage but doesn't seem as filling.

There'll be more to come soon. Every time the weekend comes I think, great! I can write! but as much as I love writing here, there seems so much to do and see that I'm often too tired to type much here. With any luck I can get around to reviewing some K-Pop albums from Brown Eyed Girls, Girls' Generation, 2NE1, and 2PM. That and the pictures from Hwacheon I took last weekend.

Until then...

The guitar I bought in Seoul.

From Seoul:

At the Orientation I volunteered to lead my class group, 4A. Part of my duties included working with the Korean EPIK staff members and making announcements to the class. As part of the reward, I and the thre other class leaders got to do this: wear hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) at Deoksu Palace and bang a drum to kick off the changing of the guard ceremony.

Class 4A. A great group of people. EPIK staffers JK (left) and Ellie (right) in the red shirts.