This week is midterms and Thursday is a national holiday (Children's Day - basically a designated day for families to spend together) so I went to school for half a day on Tuesday, had Monday, Wednesday and Thursday off, and will "teach" (read: play games to fill out the week) on Friday. Sweet life!
Yesterday, after our half day at school was over, all of the teachers met in Bundang, an upscale satellite city of Seoul about 15 or 20 minutes away, at an international buffet restaurant. Since the last few weeks have been super busy and stressful for the Korean teachers, it was extra fun to watch everyone fully enjoy themselves and let loose. Everyone was laughing, eating, talking and genuinely enjoying each others' company. My kind of gathering :)
The food was, of course, AWESOME, which made the integrity of the event even better. By the end of the dinner, I was stuffed to the gills with every kind of sushi imaginable. I forgot how much I love love love sushi! While kimbap is the same idea as sushi, and is a very, very close second, there will always be something special to me about sushi that I can't quite describe... Hellooooo Philadelphia roll. YUM.
After the eating portion of the outing was over, the teachers who organized the shindig pulled out some trivia questions for the teachers to answer. The first person to give the correct answer for each question got to pick a prize. Even though all of the questions were in Korean, it was just as enjoyable to watch the other teachers play. Seeing that moment when the metaphorical light bulb switches on in peoples' eyes is one of my favorite people watching observations, which might make me sound real creepy, but I'm just being honest :) Some of the most coveted prizes were five pound bags of rice and coupons for free coffee at the school's coffee machine.
After the lunch was over, some of the teachers went home while about 15 of us headed to a nearby movie theater to watch a Korean comedy about when the two families of an engaged couple meet. The entire movie was in Korean so of course I had no idea what was going on, but never fear. I sat between my dear pals Ji Hye and Principal Suh, who took turns leaning over and explaining important plot points. They were so cute and I loved that they took time out of their movie viewing to help me understand what was going on.
To make an already great day even better, on the way home from Bundang, Ji Hye and I busted out the Coyote Ugly soundtrack. What a blast from the past! Ji Hye is a fellow movie buff, so we had such a good time discussing our favorite movies. She's so sweet! And, listening to her sing along to LeAnn Rimes was delightful.
Awesome. Day.
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