Halloween weekend

Last weekend was awesome.  I know how fanatical some people get about halloween, but it's never really been my thing.  I'm more of a fourth-of-july kind of gal.  But this Halloween was a blast.  We didn't have a huge party in school because parents would have complained that the kids were missing a lesson (isn't that sad?) but we were able to do a mini-celebration the last 15 minutes of class.  In all my classes, we played halloween bingo, then I showed them Michael Jackson's Thriller video.  It was perfect.  I actually scared the crap out of my beginner class, which was kind of adorable.

Vampire Freddy

A bunch of the teachers

My beginner class... look at Max all the way on the right hahah

Jessica and Monnica

Seed 2 class

I bolted out of work on friday to catch a bus to Skocho, which is on the eastern coast of Korea.  I met 2 friends at the bus stop in Seoul and realized we had about an hour and a half to wait for the bus.  We did some hat shopping, and voila!  I had a cowgirl halloween costume.  We got to Sokcho at about 2 in the morning (woof) and since I hadn't seen my girlfriends in a week, we obviously stayed up until about 5 giggling.  Which made waking up at 7 really interesting... and by interesting, i mean really fucking terrible.  But, we bundled up, chugged some coffee, ate some carbs, and headed over to Soraksan National Park.  It's known for having some of the prettiest mountains in Korea.  This reputation was fairly earned.  The mountains were unbelievably beautiful and it didn't hurt that all the leaves were shades of red, orange and yellow.  We had an intense hike but spent some time at the top hanging out sharing snacks with middle-aged Korean men.  I've never really been an avid hiker, but I think I've been fully converted into a fanatic.  Hiking is fun!  Especially when you do it Korean-style and drink beer at the top.

MJ and I at the top

Our new Korean friends

  

We went to a Halloween party on Saturday night in Sokcho and people had some really awesome costumes!  Without a "party city" around, people got really creative.  There was Medusa, a gingerbread man, a kim bap roll, zoro, the droogs, a pregnent belly dancing ajumma... you name it. 

Other than that, I really like my school.  I feel like I got really lucky.  When I put in my placement request, I actually requested to be in a city other than seoul, teaching high school students.  So, of course, they put my in Seoul teaching elementary school.  But I really love it.  The area I live in is amazing.. its not in the center of seoul so it's pretty and not so crowded.. but I live close enough to all the fun stuff.  My branch is awesome.. it's small but the people are great.  I went out last night with the Koreans from school.. they're SO funny.  I had a really good time.  I really couldn't imagine being anywhere else!