Good Start to October

Traditionally I've held that September is my favorite month, owing to a number of factors like Labor Day, lovely weather, and my birthday. However, in Korea I'm inclined to favor October instead. October here is far more pleasant and temperate than September (this year, anyhow) and every day so far has been gorgeous out. I spent the week teaching some enjoyable classes and finishing up Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, as well as watching our school's talent show.

This past weekend was especially memorable. Because Friday was a Korean holiday and Saturday was the anniversary of Wall Street's opening in Korea, I had a three-day weekend. Friday a group of eleven Koreans and myself went to Gyeongju, the old capital of Korea. We took an hour bus ride to the city, rented bikes all day for the unbelievable price of $2 per person, and set off around 10:30a to ride around the city. Eight of us had individual bikes and four people shared two tandem bikes, since two of the girls couldn't ride bicycles themselves. We formed an uneven line and rode to a few cool historic places. The first was a massive graveyard with a dozen artificial hills that looked like large-scale versions of a children's sandcastles at the beach. We went inside one and saw how these hills, which were really graves, were made. A king would be laid to rest in a coffin which was covered by a mound of stones. Then dirt was piled over top of the stones, and finally grass was planted around it. In this way, the king was preserved inside with little chance of his remains or treasures being disturbed.

From there we headed off to see an ancient observatory. It was set in the middle of a plain and was constructed in such a way that people could not easily enter it. Apparently this is one of the oldest observatories still in existence, so it was interesting to see how it was made. It was built with 361 stones, each for the number of days in a lunar year. After a bibimbap lunch with fish, eggs, and veggies, we biked a few miles to another side of town, but some people were too tired to bike further, so we took taxis to the big temple in town. It is nearly 1,300-years-old and looks today very much like it did in centuries past. There were large Buddhist statues inside and I also saw a service underway in one building. The whole complex was beautifully constructed with ponds, pagodas, and landscaped courtyards, although because it was a holiday it was not the peaceful place it usually is. We saw a few more things before heading back, but a serious of events hampered our return. First, some of the girls couldn't bike further with any speed, and second, I got a flat tire while biking a little too fast while jumping a curb. Thankfully we met two of our students on the road who had motorcycles, and they took the tired girls back while two people carted their bikes back behind their own. I rode the tandem bike back. All in all, it was an excellent outing.

Saturday I got up and talked with my mom and aunt on Skype for a while, then went to lunch with Yoo Sun and a friend of hers. We had delicious bulgogi (beef) soup, then I went to a Starbuck's downtown and read more of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. It was a serious bore of a chore at first, but it got markedly better by the end of Part 1, and I'm anxious to see what happens. It's also 550 pages of translated Russian prose, so it's a bit slow-going. At 3:30 I met up my friends Roy and JY. We took a taxi to the baseball stadium in order to fill our long-lost goal of watching a Samsung Lions (the team in Daegu) baseball game, and since Saturday was the last regular season game, it was a good opportunity to do so. We got some good seats in right field and some fried chicken, waited for Yoo Sun to join, and had a good old time. Samsung had back-to-back home runs in the first inning and ended up keeping the lead the whole game against the best team in Korean baseball, SK. I was hoping to snag a foul ball, but the two that came near us didn't come near enough. After the game, Yoo Sun and I got some kimbab downtown and watched one of the worst films currently available in theaters, Babylon A.D. Maybe it was because we arrived five minutes late (the viewing time was printed wrong on an ad!) or perhaps because there was no explanation of what exactly was happening or how these things worked like they did, but it was confusing, detached from the audience, and utterly unimpressive. I even saw a woman sleeping a few seats away, which is never a good sign for a film.

Sunday I had a few guests over for spaghetti. Koon, Ethan, and Kelly joined me for lunch as I attempted to host my first-ever lunch guests. They graciously helped with some of the preparations and didn't complain about any bad taste or anything like that. I also made some mandu (dumplings) and we had a good little meal. I taught them how to play hearts (the card game) and they taught me a few Korean games. That evening I went to Dongbu Church, thinking the service was at 6p, but it was actually at 5p and was mostly over when I arrived. I walked back home, ate some noodles, played some World Conquest on Facebook, and called it a night.

This week there is a new teacher coming to our school. His name is Matthew and he is from Michigan. He's about 15 years older than me and works the morning shift, so I don't know how much time I'll get to hang out with him, but I'm hoping he adjusts well. I know how confusing it can be at first. I'm also curious as to how his arrival will impact our teaching schedules--but I won't find out for two more weeks, since he will be in training until then. Also, Friday is my monthly personal day, so I've got another three-day weekend coming and I'm trying to determine what I should do with it. I could see Japan, but I'm not sure about it yet. I just don't want to go by myself, really, so I might just enjoy some of the local sights and sounds, but we'll see. Anyway, pictures are up on Facebook from the weekend if you want to check them out. Til next week....