I should learn to write things as they happen so there aren't gargantuan posts that result after almost a week's worth of escapades... Buckle your seatbelt - here's the Christmas edition of my Korean adventure:
On Wednesday, during the teacher's meeting that I attended for some reason, the third graders gave a short presentation thanking the teachers for everything they have done for them and basically saying goodbye. They also gave us gifts. There was a wrapped package and a bag of fruit and cookies. It was at this time that the school's Christmas gift to us was also presented. So, when I got home, I had a little Kyunghwa Christmas. I opened up a wall clock with the school's crest on it and a five pack of toothpaste from the third graders. Koreans are so practical with their gifts! I think I have about 10 tubes of toothpaste in my apartment now!
During lunch on Thursday, the founder approached Dionne and me to invite us to join him in his office for a drink after lunch. We walked into his office in the middle school and shared some tea with him as he told us all about the journey he took to be where he is today. He grew up in North Korea and escaped by himself shortly after the armistice was signed in 1953. He worked as a houseboy on an air force base and befriended an American electrical engineer there. The engineer took him under his wing, financing college for the founder. He built one of the largest steel companies in Korea, which has exclusive contracts with the nuclear facilities all over Korea. Once he had garnered enough money, he bought the entire mountain on which our facilities sit and began building up the school complex. He started with the middle school, then the cafeteria ("because students were hungry," he said), then the high school, auditorium, dormitories and last, the EB school in 2006. They are currently building more dorms with the goal of being able to house 1000 students on the grounds. He also really wants to build a high school for the arts, but doesn't have any concrete plans for that yet. Quite a man! Later that night, he treated the entire staff to a Christmas banquet. The whole school gathered in the auditorium where we enjoyed a large buffet of finger food, soups and salads. Such a great meal!
Friday was our school's Christmas program which involved hymns, dancing, handbells and a short video depicting the birth of Jesus. I took some videos of the performances but it was too dark for them to turn out very well. Dionne and I were also presented with homemade Christmas cards from the worship team which were given out during about 16 counts of one of their dances. Adorable! Also during this service, Hyunjoo invited me to spend Christmas Eve with her family. I already had plans with Diane, but it was so comforting to know that if I hadn't had the plans, I would have had a great environment in which to spend Christmas with an amazing family. I really cherish the people I have met here and each day, I grow closer to them!
Later, toward the end of the day, random bits of food kept showing up in the teachers' office. Someone ordered about 10 pizzas that were distributed throughout the offices and another teacher sprang for kimbap and duk boki because his daughter achieved the highest grades among the second year students. As we were finishing up the kimbap and duk boki, the principal insisted that I take home a leftover roll of kimbap. She said, "You take this kimbap. I insist. I Principal. I do what I want." Adorable.
Later that evening, I met Diane at a bus stop near my apartment and we went out to dinner for Christmas Eve. On the way, we were waiting for a walk signal and were chattering away about the day's events when a man kept staring at us. We weren't sure if he was just intrigued that we were speaking English or if the sight of my white face and big eyes were so foreign to him that he couldn't look away. It is common for people to stare at me since I look so much different that the average person on the street, but he was blatantly gawking at us. Suddenly, he began asking if I was cold and where I was from, etc. It turned out that he just wanted to demonstrate his strong grasp of English. As we walked down the street, we had a nice conversation with the man, who was on his way to church. Diane and I enjoyed a lovely dinner of duck and pork lettuce wraps with various side dishes like kimchi (two kinds!) and a pumpkin salad. On the way to Paris Baguette to buy a Christmas cake, we ran into one of my favorite students who was on her way to aerobics. She was so excited to see me that she hugged me several times. She's a third grader. I'll miss her when she graduates. The funny thing is that she rarely speaks English to me but she has such an adorable personality and is always so excited to see me. We ended up buying a green tea chiffon cake and were given a bottle of champagne for free with our cake. We decided to save that for New Years.
When we arrived back at my apartment, frozen from the chilly air, we opened our cake, I prepared a plate of Christmas cookies and fudge that I had saved from the goods people sent me (thanks again to everyone who sent me Christmas goodies!!) and opened a bottle of wine. We enjoyed all of these treats as we watched The Family Stone. This is the first Christmas Eve that I have not attended church and it felt a little un-Christmas-y, but it was a good time nonetheless spent with a good pal. The next day, we had planned to go into Seoul, but it was too cold for us so we stayed in our pajamas all day and watched movies (five to be exact)! We prepared a large brunch of omelets, hash browns, grilled cheese, fruit and mango juice. We ordered pizza for dinner, which took two hours to arrive because of some miscommunication over where I live, but when it finally arrived, it proved to be well worth the wait! Very early the next morning, I called Grandma and Grandpa Plueger while everyone was still gathered at their condo for Christmas. It was fun to talk to everyone even if just for a brief moment!
Yesterday, the first thing the principal said to me was, "So many people all over world say your name yesterday. I bet your ears busy!" Lots of laughing ensued after this comment. She's so clever! Yesterday also marked the end of my TEFL course as I finished it! I am so excited to have that off my shoulders! At about 4:45, Dionne and I were informed that the English Department decided to go out for dinner together to a tofu house. There were five of the six of us there and it was such a great time. We really bonded over great conversation and lots of great food!
It began snowing yesterday afternoon at about 4:00 and didn't stop until sometime early this morning. When I was walking to school today, it looked like about an inch and a half or two inches had accumulated and cars were not allowed to drive up the mountain! Many teachers either walked or parked away from the school today. Dionne, Chan Yang and I went shopping this morning for Winter Camp supplies and we saw several soldiers removing snow from the city streets. Korea is not used to this accumulation of snow! I think it's gorgeous.
Today is the last day of school before winter break. There were no classes and the students left at 10:00. Right now the teachers are all in a meeting so I'm taking this time to update my blog before I delve into Winter Camp preparations like cutting paper into squares and making powerpoint presentations. We're pretty much ready for everything, which if you know me at all, is a miracle as I'm quite the procrastinator! Mr. Shin just delivered a box of seven Dunkin' Donuts to every teacher to celebrate the success of the English Department this year. They smell so good!
Jill gets here on Friday and Saturday we embark for Vietnam! I'm so excited!!! Until then, it's packing, preparing for Winter Camp and trying to stay as warm as possible! Stay tuned for "Jill and Noelle take on Vietnam with Maren's help!" It's bound to be a doozy.
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