It's raining...again.

I realized that it's been a while since I updated my blog. I don't have a whole lot to say, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing about Taekwondo, so I'll try to keep talk of that to a minimum, even though as you may have gathered, it is always the highlight of my day! So you'll just have to deal with it.

So as I mentioned, Wednesday we had dinner together...Hannah, me and 최 청 배, then later the older master joined us as 최 청 배 had to go out to his class. So anyway, it went pretty well. Unfortunately we were late so we didn't have as much time as I would have liked but he said next time they'd invite us, so there will be another chance! Last night I had to go to class alone again because Hannah's family was having a birthday party for her nephew. But on Fridays we are with the kids so it was ok. I actually kind of enjoy being in class with the kids because they are hilarious. Especially the boys, they are complete babies about having to work hard.

Like on Thursday...we are going to have class with them Thursdays now, too. And 최 청 배 had told us Wednesday night that if he wants to he can lose 8 kilos in a week. And since we are interested in losing weight he said the next night he would give us a taste of how he does it. So Thursday night I worked out harder than I think maybe I ever have. We started doing 20 laps around the dojang. Then 20 laps the other way around. Going faster every 5 laps. Then we did about 20 sprints. Then we did 20 more. Then we did 15 line relays (where you run down to the end and touch the line, then back, then part way down and back, then another part of the way down and back...)Then we had to partner up and jump over each other 15 times. Then we had to hurdle each other 15 times. Then we had to do 30 crunches.
Oh. My. God. I thought I was going to die. But by the time we actually finished, I actually felt pretty good. And I was proud of myself! But Hannah and most of the kids were just collapsed on the floor and could barely move. He told us that we are going to do this every Thursday...but don't tell the kids. lol I feel bad for them. The one boy always seems like he's going to cry when he has to do something hard. It makes me laugh.

So anyway usually when we are with the kids he's nicer to us than he is to them. But last night they all complained when he wasn't going to make me try to do the splits so I had to do it...of course I can't so i did the best I could then one of the girls pushed my shoulders down so I could reach out farther in front of me. But then he said something to them and they told him how to apologize so he said 'sorry!' it was cute. lol. But he didn't make me do pushups like he did to the kids, so I was glad for that! But overall it was fun. I think it went well. I still wish I could talk to him! But all in good time.
Sean is threatening to go up and talk to him for me on Friday. I told him he better not, but he might do it! yikes. lol...last night when we had finished class and were stretching the older master came to tell me someone was here for me. I was surprised. Then he said, it's a man. And all the kids and 최 청 배 looked up at me and laughed at me. Turns out it was just Sean coming to get me since we all had plans to drink together. But I hoped maybe it made 최 청 배 just a bit jealous, if only for a moment...we'll see!

Ok enough about that.

Yesterday we took the kindergarteners on a field trip to a pear farm here in Kimpo. It was really quite fun. One girl's mom made us all kimbap (kind of like sushi) and another kid's mom made cookies which were amazing. And of course we got to bring home some fresh pears. They are delicious! I had a good time hanging out with the kids and playing with them. All except for my littlest student...she's adorable but to say that she's a handful is putting it mildly. She kept running off and I would have to chase after her and yell at her and physically pick her up to bring her back. At one point she almost let the roosters out of their barn which would have been REALLY bad. They were nearly as big as she was. But luckily her mom came and picked her up early because she had somewhere to go. We were all glad to see her leave!
One odd thing here...we took a conversion van to the farm. I sat in back with the kids and had fun teasing each other. But none of them wore seatbelts, let alone used car seats. This didn't concern Sean or the driver. Sherry and I were a bit taken aback. But I guess it's common here. This is definitely a difference from America!
Anyway here are the pictures...

This is me and my 2 students goofing around a bit before we left for the farm...


This is a row of the pear trees.




Here are some pics of Joshua hamming it up for the camera..






Here are the kids working on picking pears.


Here is Kevin showing me the big pear he picked:
















Here you see the kids checking out the ants. I had to laugh...Sherry freaked out when she saw them playing with the ants and trying to pick them up. She's like, y'all don't do that, they gon' bite you! But they are just black ants. They are a little bigger than normal ants but not nearly the size of carpenter ants. She looked at me like I was crazy when I said they were not dangerous. Finally Sean told her that they're ok and she believed us.






Here's Jasmine picking up the Chestnuts..I think they were chestnuts. They were like a freakish mutation of the buckeyes we have back home. There, they come in a green casing with a few small spikes on them. Here they come in this grotesque amalgamation of razor sharp needles. Kind of like a deadly, giant cockleburr. But inside there were chestnuts. You can kind of see some on the ground if you look closely. They are brown.


Finally here they are on their tractor ride back up the hill to the van. I was very envious, because as you may imagine, my legs were killing me from the previous night's extreme workout.



So, there you go. My life this week. Last night all the teachers went for dinner while I was at TKD, and then afterward we gathered at my place to drink. Then Sean and Sherry and I went to a noraebong across the street (remember, the karaoke room). It was fun. And, everyone commented that they can tell I've lost some weight since I've been here. Yeah, I think it's fair to say that Korea agrees with me. I'm very happy here!

So everyone out there reading this, please leave comments on my blog so I know you were here! Or email me if you want. If you don't have a google account you can leave a comment as 'anonymous' and you don't have to sign up. Just remember to put your name in your comment so I know who it was!