Sunday, September 15, 2013

Goodbyes and Hellos, Trip to the Zoo, and Field Trip


 
So, this is the time of year where we get new teachers and a few old teachers leave.  This time, it was Rachel and Grace's turn to leave so before they left, we all hung out one final night (they did a weekend thing, but I just hung around for the Friday night events).  Anyway, originally I only planned on going to dinner at Green Galbi (that's what we call it anyway) as I am not much of a drinker, but I ended up staying out the entire night.  Dinner was good and I was already in a good mood because I had a class switch that I was happy about.  Then they took us to a bar called Bottlecap.  As you may know, I don't really drink, but I did have a bottle of something that tasted like carbonated lemonade.  It was good and I wouldn't mind having it again but I stuck to the one drink.  I watched Ashley beat the guys big time in a game of darts.  It was fun to watch as I have never played darts.... though I have thrown shurikans (throwing stars) before.  Odd, right?  Have never played darts but have used shurikans ^.^ .



Anyway, after Bottlecap, we ended up going to a small club called Underground.  This was my first time ever in a club and I have to admit it was an interesting experience, especially considering I was the only fully sober person in the entire place, except maybe the bartender.  At this point it was around midnight and I surprised myself when I actually relaxed enough to try dancing.  They had another fruity drink there that I tasted but didn't actually drink.  So that was going alright, though I think I was more comfortable at Bottlecap than I was in Underground.  Maybe that was because people were less drunk.  Who knows *shrugs* but it was a fun night.  Though I did have alcohol spilled on me twice and someone in heels step on my foot smearing cigarette ashes all over my foot.  T.T 



After Underground, we went to a Noraebon, which is basically a karaoke place, which of course if something that I actually like to do.  I was surprised again that I didn't get too nervous singing in front of everyone though again that may just be because they were drunk and wouldn't remember much of it anyway.  I managed to find one Japanese song to sing, and sung a bunch of other English songs.  I think I surprised some of my coworkers when I sang because, though I'm not the best, I'm not a bad singer.  Granted, this is probably the first time they have ever heard me sing something other than Christmas songs, and Christmas was a long time ago .... and there was a lot of drinking that night, too.  Hehehe.  Anyway, after two hours of Noraebon, we finally got back home around 4-4:30 in the morning.  Sadly I couldn't go straight to bed as I really stunk of cigarettes and needed a shower.  I had to wash everything in the morning.  It took a while to get rid of the smell.  T.T  But it was a fun goodbye night for Grace and Rachel.


 
 
I think it was the next weekend, but I went to Myeongdong with Megan where we went clothes shopping and ate at the really good curry place that we hadn't been to since her birthday last year.  Yay for nan!!!!  I bought some cute kitty socks and a funny cat shirt (no surprise there).  Afterwards we went to a foreign food store and then back home to catch a movie at the theater by the station.  We watched Snowpiercer, which is a Korean film actually made in English.  It is about what happens when the world freezes over after global warming and the only survivors are on this train separated by class.  The lower class tries to revolt over the rich and find out some shocking information.  I really liked it because it touched upon the darker sides of humanity.  Since then, I have gone to the movie theater to watch Elysion (which had similar themes to Snowpiercer except the guy starts out thinking only about himself rather than all of the poor people with him) and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters (which was my first ever 4D movie).  It was interesting to have the water splashing in our faces and the seats moving around as if I was on a rollercoaster.  I think the scents were the part that I liked the most.  A strong smell of pine trees.


 
 
 
I went to the Seoul Zoo with Ashley.  We went halfway through the day but you really need a full day to see everything, so we may have to go again.  We saw a lot of animals but for the most part the space for the animals was too small.  Though it's a big zoo, they tried to put way too many animals in too small of a space.  Otherwise, we saw them feeding the lions, baby baboons playing, an orangutan (I think) showing off, etc.  They had animals such as zebras, lions, tigers, wolves, giraffes, kangaroos, alligators, etc.  It was nice to see so many different kinds of species such as with the monkeys and bears.  Ashley really wanted to see the elephants but we had a hard time finding them.  We were surprised to find that they were put in a small indoor exhibit.  Like I said before, though the zoo was big, it was still too many animals for that place.  I still had a fun time but I will admit it would be even more fun to see these animals in their natural habitats in the wild.



We had a field trip to the Suji Energy Plant again.  My students seemed to have a lot of fun.  Just like last year, somehow I got picked to do a bike experiment.  Though this bike was more interesting than last years as when I pedaled it played music.  The kids enjoyed it, especially when I slowed down and made the music go at a really slow pace that sounded like a robot dying.  Also, three of my third graders did well in the Reading Champions at school.



Other than that, I have a cat or two who like to escort me to my apartment.  The orange one even followed me inside one rainy day.  It was cute.  I call him Reggie now (it was the best out of all the random names Megan and I threw out one day).  I bought a hanbuk (traditional clothes that Korean's wear) for my niece.  Hopefully she will get it by her 1 year birthday as usually Korean children get their first hanbuk for their 100 day birthday which is when they turn 1 year old.  Also, I am getting ready for my trip to Japan over Chuseok.  I am very excited to go back to Japan and also to visit not only Tokyo Disneyland again but also Disney Sea which I have never seen before and is the only Disney Sea in the world.


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