Unfortunately there are no pictures from my biggest adventure in Seoul, which would be when me and several other girls got caught up in a protest against American beef. There was a confrontation between the protesters and the riot police that had been gathering for several weeks and it was CRAZY. We thought we were being gassed, but it was a water cannon. Don't worry, we didn't get hit and we managed to run away before anything disastrous happened. It was a crazy experience though, and one of those things about Korea that I'll always remember...Before that, we visited the palace, where I didn't take any pictures. I forgot my camera :(. It was pretty spectacular, and it isn't even finished yet! It will be done in 2010, I think. The best part was that admission was free on Friday because it was Liberation Day. Woo!
On Saturday we went first to the Fulbright Building and then to the ambassador's residence for a poolside barbecue party! The food was great, everyone was very welcoming and it was a lot of fun, except that it rained. So of course no one swam. Oh well. After that a bunch of us headed out to Insa-dong, a very historic district of Seoul where you can see/buy traditional musical instruments, food, etc. On the way there we encountered the most adorable puppies ever! They were soooooo cute, I wanted to steal one.
This is a picture I took in Insa-dong, which kind of shows the cultural juxtaposition that happens in Seoul, and especially in that district of Seoul.
Here i am enjoying what is apparently one of the best 고기 집 in 신천. Clearly, I love the food here ^^
These pictures are all of my chingus from Yonsei Day, when we finally travelled to our placements throughout Korea. First is me and Jeannie, who is an amazing singer and also did my hair that morning (thank you!), then me and Colby, my half Korean brother (not really) who is placed in Busan, only about an hour away from me. Then is Alex Su, who's placed in Ansan, where my uncle used to be Deputy (or Vice?) Mayor (near Seoul). I have many more pictures, but here is a pretty good representation of how spiffy we looked on Yonsei Day (as we were told to do).
On Monday morning we signed our contracts and lined up in the auditorium to be introduced to our principals, vice principals and co-teachers, who had travelled to Seoul earlier that morning. Then we all went to lunch together, and because of lack of space, Matt and I ended up eating with not only our co-teachers, principals and vice principals, but also with Aimee and Jess from the Orientation Coordinator team, and Mrs. Shim too! It was NERVEWRACKING but Aimee reassured us that we were doing a good job being polite and eating well. I think my co-teacher and host family thinks I'm going to get fat here, because I eat so well :) I just love Korean food!
Anyway, after that we spent a few hours getting our luggage together, and then we met up with our co-teachers again and took the KTX down to Gyeongju. My co-teacher is very young, and friendly and nice. She seems to have a lot of spunk, actually! She has a 15 year old son and a husband who lives near Daegu because of work. I hope to visit Daegu soon....but anyway, I'm settling in fine so far, and I took a lot of pictures yesterday and today that I'll post soon. My host family has been very good to me. I like them a lot. All in all, I'm happy with the situation, even if it seems like everything is moving very fast. I hope everyone else is happy as well!
Well enjoy these pictures, there are more on the way.
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