Soju Family

When Zach and I arrived in Busan, we went through orientation with seven other people.  With nine people total, we were able to have a great bonding experience and become close friends.  During orientation, we would come together at night and have drinks.  Soju, the alcoholic beverage that Korea is known for, was always the common denominator for these get-togethers.  A bottle or two (or three or more) was always passed around.  From that moment on, we began to refer to our group as Soju 2012/2013.  We even created a private Facebook page for us to share thoughts, complaints, joys, sorrows, etc. that we don't want to bother everyone else with.  Sorry, only the elite nine can be a member of our Facebook group.

Members of Soju 2012/2013 (minus me)

We started the summer really strong and did almost everything together.  The only friends we had were each other.  Once school started, we started meeting people outside of our group.  Though we still have plans to do something together every weekend, not all of us are together at every event.  Because of that, we came up with the idea to have a weekly Soju Family dinner.  Since we all live in different areas of Busan, we take turns "hosting" Soju Family dinner.  It's a really great way to get together.  I mean, we all have to eat, right?!

It's really great to be able to have eight other people experiencing the same things you are and to be able to identify with them.  Sure, there are hundreds of other foreigners in this city, but these eight other people are now a part of my family.  Five of them are going to spend Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) together bike riding through Japan.  We have already made tentative plans to spend American Thanksgiving together (6 from the U.S., 2 from Canada, 1 from England).  And of course, we plan to get together for everyone's birthday.  We have a birthday every month except for February, March, and July.

This weekend, the first Soju Family member celebrated her 25th birthday.  It was great to be able to come together as a family and invite new friends to help celebrate Morgan's birthday.

Everyone (minus Stephen) 

The whole Soju Family (plus some friends)

I am so thankful to be able to spend a year with such a great group of people!  My time in Korea would be great without them.  But with them, my time is awesome!!

BTW: 7 days until my sister arrives!!!!!!!

Korean Wedding

I love weddings!  I love them even more since I got married 3 years ago.  Every wedding I go to, I think back to my wedding and how happy I was and how much fun I had.  I can only hope that the newlyweds have half the marriage that I have.

Anyway, enough about me.  Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend my first Korean wedding.  One of my Korean co-teachers was getting married.  I had heard that it would be different from the traditional western wedding that I am used to so I tried to go without having any expectations.

When I got there, the bride was sitting in a room all by herself.  People could walk by and take pictures of her in her wedding dress.  It was like she was a princess and we were all waiting our turns to get a picture of her.  However, by the time I got there, she was getting up to go to the ceremony so I was unable to get a picture of her.  She walked around the corner to the ceremony hall.  I can't call it a chapel because there was nothing religious about it.  The bride walked down the runway.  I'm calling it that because that's exactly what it looked like.

At first I could barely see because there were so many people, but soon after the ceremony started, people started leaving.  I was finally able to get a few pictures.  Very soon after, one of my co-teachers told me to follow her to the restaurant.  I couldn't believe it!  The ceremony had just started and she wanted to leave.  Isn't that the point of going to a wedding - seeing people get married?!  I said ok in a very disappointed voice and she asked me if I had gotten any pictures.  I told her that I had gotten a few.  She then agreed to stay with me for a little while longer while some of our other co-teacher went to the restaurant.  I am definitely glad we stayed!  We were in for a real treat.

The ceremony lasted for only a few minutes.  Then, the bride and groom had to do their bows.  (Yes, I said 'bows' and not 'vows'.  They must bow to show, I think, respect and thanks.  Next it was time to blow out the candles and cut the cake.  Then the grooms friends wanted to sing and dance for the couple.  Finally, the couple walked down the aisle and kissed.  That was the end of it.

After the ceremony, everyone went downstairs to the buffet.  The restaurant is one of the biggest seafood restaurants in Asia (or so the sign says).  The newly married couple and close family and friends did not join in the feast.  They had another wedding ceremony - this time a traditional Korean wedding.  When that was finished, the new couple came down went from table to table thanking everyone for coming to their wedding.  I don't know if they ate or not, but I do know that they were leaving for the their honeymoon to Hawaii that same night.  When we finished our meal, we left.  I was "at the wedding" for a total of 2 hours.  I was so blown away by how short the whole process was.  But, I was also very thankful to be apart of such a wonderful day!

Below are a few pictures and videos from the wedding.  All of the videos are very short, but if you are only going to watch one video, please watch the last one.  It's very funny!

Week Two: A Typhoon and the Beach

Last week was week 2 for us teaching in public school.  It was a pretty eventful week.  It was the first real week of teaching actual lessons.  Last week I talked about me and the U.S.  This week we started in the books.  Mid-terms, for me, start on October 9th.  So that means I have to cover Lessons 6-8 before then.  In that time we have a holiday (5 days total, 3 weekdays worth).  So, I am planning on taking about 2 weeks to cover each lesson.

On Tuesday the 28th, Typhoon Bolaven blew through Korea.  The typhoon did most of its damage to the west side of the country, but Busan still had some strong-ish winds and a little rainfall.  I'd never been in a typhoon before but I was expecting for it to be a little worse than it was.  Many elementary schools in the area cancelled classes for the day even though the teachers still had to go.  Zach's middle school cancelled first period classes but the rest of the day was normal.  I had my normally scheduled classes.  Though the storm was pretty uneventful (I've been through tornado warnings/watches worse than Typhoon Bolaven), I did have a moment where I thought I was going to get seriously hurt.  I was standing at the bus stop and there was a huge (bigger than average) gust of wind.  It picked up a square metal piece and hurled it straight at me.  I covered my neck and head with my arms.  I kept envisioning the metal piece cutting through my neck....  The wind dropped it at my feet.  The lady at the bus stop with me just stared at me with her mouth open.  I think it might have scared her a little too.

On Friday, the school had a special schedule due to school club activities.  I was not privy to this new schedule and sat and waited on two classes that never showed up.  Turns out, I have to make up those classes this week.  Yay!  All of the students were hyper because it was Friday.  Many came up to me and yelled, "Teacher, TGIF!!!!"  I was just as excited as they were about it being the weekend - finally!  Before one of my classes, a few of the students started playing a game with erasers.  Now, I'm used to the students playing games where they have to smack each other around when they win, but this eraser game is new to me.  I think the object of the game is to knock your opponent's eraser to the floor.  If your eraser lands on or touches your opponent's eraser, you get one point.  Sorry that I can't give you a better description of how to play it but I did capture the students playing the game on video.  (40 seconds)

After school on Friday, Zach and I met up with a friend.  We went to a bar across the street from the ocean.  It was a pretty awesome night.  The weather was just cool enough that I almost felt chilly in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt.  We sat outside at the bar and enjoyed the wonderful weather and beautiful scenery.

On Saturday, a friend from our Korean hometown, Iksan, came to Busan.  We ended up going to one of the other beaches in town for the day.

Though I ate and drank too much this weekend, it was a really great end to a fairly decent week.  I am excited that the weather is getting cooler - that means fall is just around the corner!  I can't wait to start doing more activities outside without being a completely sweaty mess.

Countdown til my sister, Rachel, arrives in Korea to stay for one week: 27 days!!!!!!!