Spa Valley and other happenings

This past weekend was pretty grand. I had to work Saturday, which was kind of sad, but after work I went out with some friends to watch the Korea vs. Cuba gold medal baseball game. Korea led the whole game, but in the bottom of 9th inning Cuba loaded the bases with only one out. At this point, Korea's catcher flipped out over some bad calls and was ejected, and the pitcher who'd been in the whole game was replaced as well. It was looking bad for Korea, and Cuba's players began an early celebration. But the next batter hit into a double-play, and Korea took home the gold. It was a pretty exciting evening.

I went home early Saturday night because I Sunday I had to get up at 6:30 to play soccer. A friend picked me up and we drove to a university where two other soccer teams were. We had a mini-tournament. I played two of the 25-minute games as a striker, and had a few chances to score. The most disappointing part of the game was that I took a penalty kick and had it blocked by the keeper. Well, at least I have some room for improvement. Anyhow, it was fun to get out and play some real soccer, but I have to adjust to the Korean style. They don't pass that much--instead their midfielders play more long-balls to the forwards in hopes of a kind of fast-break.

After soccer I went home and got ready for church. I went to one of the largest churches in Daegu, Dong-bu. They have a 1p contemporary service for young adults that is translated into English through a headphone set in some pews, so I listened along. Afterwards there was an English Bible study, and I also introduced myself to the young adults group (between 100-200 people). I like the church and will return there.

Sunday night I did my laundry. I'm much better at it now, so it was actually easy, non-frustrating, and generally successful. Monday was my monthly personal day, and so I had planned a few weeks back to go with a group of friends to the local water park, Spa Valley. Nine of us drove there and spent about eight or nine hours there. They had a diving pool, a number of large slides (a couple I'd never seen before), a number of jacuzzis, a wave pool, a heated pool, and a 'river' that ran around much of the park. It was a fun day. We finished up with a dinner of sam-gup-sil, pork grilled on our table.

I ordered a table, chairs, and a couch last week, and by today all three had arrived. The table allows me to now eat my cereal with ease and comfort, and the couch lets me relax and read. This week I'm hoping to get internet access at my house so I won't have to come to the school every time I need to email people or check my work schedule. Or maybe I won't get it, and I'll just arrange to be at the school more...we'll see.

This weekend is our long-anticipated work retreat to the nearby city of Gyeong-ju. We are having a 'workshop' for 'team-building' between the Korean staff (about 14 people in their mid-to-late 20s) and the teachers (seven of us, but only four or five are going). We are supposed to be learning how to get along better through understanding about our cultural differences, so we will be playing some games and doing some other activities towards this end. I'm just excited at the opportunity to go to another city and hang out with everyone. I guess next week I'll be sharing whether or not the trip met my expectations.