So this week was the lunar new year here in Korea.. you know, that Chinese Lunar New year that everyone talks about. Welcome to the year of the ox.
So the cool thing is that we got a four day weekend because of the holiday.
At first we had thought about going to Busan for the weekend, but we were told that the traffic would be awful and not worth trying to go.
So then we changed our plans to just going to a spa on saturday, and doing some small stuff in the area. Well, we learnt that the traffic WAS awful on saturday... it was pretty much impossible to get to the spa where we were going. We had taken a 2 hour subway ride to met up with our korean friend who has a car. Then we started our travels... and lets say this, it took us two hours to get back to Ansan... by car, when it usually takes about 45 min. So we decided to just order food, and well, drink instead. So we had chinese food, and watched tv. AND Nikia gave me cornrows... so 4 hours later, i have awesome hair now.. It was a bit painful since I was getting tired and was not able to stop the pain feeling like i usually can... so we were done at about 2 am... and then I headed home and crashed.
Sunday i just caught up on sleep, and chilled out... OH! and Korea got a lot of snow!!!!!! so on sunday Kay and I went out to play in it.. it was super cute, and we did some off leash practice, and she is pretty good at it.. but i did leash her whenever i saw a person.. because Kay thinks that everyone in the world is there for her to visit with..
OK, for this next part I have to go back to Friday. By Friday we knew that our plans had changed, and my principal asked about it, and when she found out that i was free, she called up the family that was interested in having me for the Monday and Tuesday that we had off. This family goes to my school. The oldest son was in Ms Lees homeroom, the class I ate lunch with every day, and he speaks english well. The mom is on the PTA, and she was with me on my first day at the school. She was part of the group that took me out to lunch, where I did end up crying because of jet lag, and just being overwhelmed. And crying here in Korea, is a really personal thing, so I sorta won a lot of people over with it... i wasn't planning to do that though :). At first I was sorta a little down that I had to do this, BUT i told myself that I am only in Korea once and that its a one time experience. So I sucked it up, and prepared myself to be exhausted, but like it anyways :)
So Monday, they picked me up at 8 am. Yep.. bright and early. The family then took me to the eldest brothers house, for the traditional new year celebration. There they prayed to the great great grandfather, the great grandfather, and the grandfather, who had passed. They also had some food for the spirits, and even had to door propped open so they could enter. It was a little different. I asked Micah, who is a Christian and Korea, if his family did this, and he said No, because they are Christians.
After they prayed, the grandmother, and the grandchildren came together. the grandkids bowed and the grandmother offered her blessing to them, and then gave them money. Then the kids parents took the grandmothers spot, were bowed to by the kids, and then they offered the blessing and gave the kids more money..
Then we ate food.. and then watched some tv.
In the afternoon the family took me to the Korean Traditional Folk Village. Great fun. We ended up playing on the ice with the sleds, and the tops, more then we did learning. They also fed me there, I had some nice chicken and ginseng soup.. and all the stuff we ate was grown there.. i was the ginseng fields.. and the chickens :P. The traditional village was pretty cool though, because you could see how the houses changed in Korea through out the ages.
We also got to see some stuff from Jeju Island..
PARENTS: I must make sure to write down in korean what Black Pig is.. because we are NOT eating that. Its a special food in korea, its pork. BUT this pork is fed human feces. Yep, POOP.. and thats what makes the meat special... SOOOO yucky.
Well, after the traditional village, it was pretty late, and the traffic was still a little heavy, so we headed home. On the way home we stopped off at the Suwon World Cup Stadium.. OHHH MAN! it was ASS-A! It was huge and awesome and super cool looking.
thankfully the family lives very close to me, so instead of spending the night, they kindly dropped me off at home.. and I was able to sleep here. The biggest thing that i was thankful on Monday was the fact that there son speaks English so well. It makes everything so much easier. I was able to talk to them, through him, and they could talk to me too.. it wasnt just the smiling and acting things out.. which can be super draining. Plus they let me nap in the car, we all did... Another thing that is great.. even though the mom doesnt speak english at all really, she communicates with me through touch. She was holding onto my knee the whole day on monday when we were in the car (which was a long time).. and sometimes just grabbing my hand... showing she was happy and that she cares.
I was pretty exhausted after monday.. went to bed, to be prepared for round two of the korean experience. At least today, they didnt pick me up until 11:30. When they picked me up, it was lunch time, so they took me out, but i wasnt that hungry.. at least it was a bit further away, and we went to a pasta place (that was fancy).. but we shared a pizza :) so I didnt have to eat to much.
After our lunch, we drove to Seoul. The traffic was a little rough again today because of people coming HOME from the holiday. We were heading to the COEX mall, so that the family could take me to the aquarium :) I have been there before, but it was still fun.. and we just got to spend a lot of time on the road, hanging out again. We did the aquarium for a few hours. And the whole time the mom was holding my arm, and making sure I was there. We got a lot of looks, because first, white girl with cornrows.. and then its white girl, with Korean family.. who has a Korean mom worrying about her a lot. After the aquarium, we headed back to Ansan..I fell asleep on the way home.. and then we went to the big Homeplus for McDonalds for dinner.
This family did so much for me.. and didnt expect me to pay... which is sorta frustrating. But i am super thankful that they did this for me. Instead of spending my weekend just sitting at home and working on training Kay.. I was able to spend time with a great family, and to see something of Korea I hadnt seen yet. And this family was great. Just being with them was nice. The dad isn't the typical one that you see, he really was able to show that he loves his sons, he would hug them and stuff event in front of me, and he was smiling and really nice to me. And their mom, like I said she cares a lot. They were all so giving, and really wanted me to be happy. Thats what made it great.
I will make sure to get a lot of sleep tonight.. so that I dont sleep on my desk at work.. only a 3 day work week.. YAAAAAAY! and then the next week is only 4 days, because I am taking the 5th off (my thursday) and then my PARENTS COME ON THE 6th!!!!!!!!!!!! Very thankful.. Oh and Parents.. my adopted family wants to take you out for lunch (see what I mean, this family is super kind)
Hope you enjoyed that blog. Things are good. Sorta. Ms Lee comes back on the 3rd of February, so lets keep praying that things wont be terrible. I have spoken to someone at the school about the stress i have with her, but I know it wont solve it, but someone knows at least. Next step is actually talking to ms lee about it. Perhaps in writing, since I can present myself much better in writing.
Well hope everyone is great! Lots of love from Korea
