I can't believe its September already!! Craziness. My summer went so fast. I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my other blog entries, but I was at school every day except for the 10 days I had off for vacation. So that means I got plenty of sleep, watched lots of Friends episodes, and that's about it. It was incredibly boring and a waste of time. My school doesn't realize that when students are on vacation, going to school is last on the priority list.
I spent a ton of time at the beach with my friends and tried to get out and explore a little more of the surrounding areas. With the end of summer comes vistors from the states!!! YAY! Friendly, familiar faces in a foreign country, nothing is better.
My previous co-worker/friend Tami Mason arrived in Seoul on the 9th of September. She stayed a few days without me and I arrived in Seoul Friday night to meet her. We did some exploring and sight seeing and SHOPPING up in the big city. It was great having someone to constantly talk to about the things I've learned and seen since I've been here. On Saturday night we made plans with some people from Busan to meet up and check out the night life around the Hongdae area in Seoul. We had a great time and met up with a handful of people I'm friends with. The next day we traveled the 3 hours on the KTX (Bullet train) back to Busan. I showed her around a bit down here and took her to school with me one day. The kids really loved asking her questions and getting nosey about her life. She did quite a bit of sightseeing and shopping without me... sad, I wasn't able to take any time off of work. I was able to show her my good "after" school spots and tried to get enough energy to make her evenings worth while.
I hope she had a great time. I really enjoyed her company and loved showing her the sights and great shopping areas that I am so accustom to now. I hope she visits again, being that this is also her homeland, but I feel that she will always find a special place in her heart for Korea.
With September comes many BIRTHDAYS and my first Korean wedding! Dad turned "older", friends got wiser.... and my apartment stayed cleaner.
The co-teacher I had for my summer English camp invited me to her wedding. It was the most OUTRAGEOUS thing I've seen (social setting) while being here. I thought the baby's first birthday was a little odd, but this one tops the cake. Picture this...the guests were piled in the back of the wedding hall, the isle was a lifted stage with a floral design, the only people sitting in the fancy chairs were over 55, the bride and groom did not show emotions, the entertainment/music was electric violin dancers, a small group came out and sang and they were AWFUL, AND they cut the cake at the ceremony with a machette while a fog machine went off....
Is the what you pictured?
Haha. It was great though! Definitely an experience. I guess in Korea, the wedding ceremony isn't really all that special, it's the gift giving and the joining of the families that is the most important. In Korea, they don't have receptions like we do at home. We were offered a buffet dinner and then we all went home. Pretty simple and I think the buffet is part of the "booking the wedding hall" prices, so they didn't have to cater a venue..it's just all provided.
Ahh, September...thanks for being over and thanks Korea for staying WARM!
