Let's excercise! Adjumma style!

During my walk last night I discovered a outdoor excercise class. This is a great idea as it's free and it keep older people active. Of course I had to join in! Is it bad I enjoyed the music????

Daecheon Beach

On Saturday, I was invited to go to Daecheon by the guy I met in suwon. he said there was a gathering of his friends he met in the while abroad. I was nervous as meeting a bunch of new people would scare even the most confident person.

So on Saturday journey, I began my journey to middle earth, sorry I meant Daecheon. I first had to travel to Suwon which is 1.5 hours from my house with 4 transfers. To make matters worse, the trains were full of old people!!!! Now in Korea the old people aren't sweet. Nope! They are more strong that soilders with a iron will to match! The worse age group is 55-70. When they get a bit older they seem to turn sweet again.

After making it to Suwon and meeting the guy (Let's call him X as I can't spell his name. Taeyang maybe...). So X informed me he had been to a stag party the night before and needed to go home to change as he had not been home yet. I don't know why he hadn't text me to meet later but still.......I wanted to wait in the car, as I don't like meeting people parents as I get nervous. Older people still scare me just like when I was a kid (my mum trained me well) .  X was like 'Noooo... come on up. My family are out'. So I did. I sat nervously on his couch watching a program in another language whilst he got changed. Then he mum came home (most Koreans live with families until they get married - some live with the mans family even after marriage though this is becoming less and less common)! I did the bow "annyeonghasyo etc'.

His mum reminded me of my mum. Offered me a drink and not taking no as a answer and worrying about the mess even though the apartment was clean.

We then met his friends and we for hamburgers (yuck! I hate fast food - apart from mcdonalds chips! yum!). It turned out he was driving us all to the beach (I hadn't a clue what was happening which seems to be like most things here). Omg! The traffic!! There is a reason you shouldn't travel within Korea unless by train!! The time it takes!!!

Blue skies at the rest stop

When we finally made it, it was 5pm!! So I didn't really get to see the beach!! Maybe next summer I can go with friends. I finally saw girls!!! Yes! Girls!! After being stuck with 3 guys for most of the afternoon I was so happy. They were so friendly! Throughout the rest of the evening everyone made me feel so welcome and were so friendly. It was actually one of the best nights in Korea I have had so far.

We started off for home about 8pm so I didn't get to see them for long but I feel like I have met some new friends for life ^^.

I finally hit the pillow at 11.45pm!!!! Long day!!

Food

Daecheon beach

At Daecheon beach

Daecheon beach

Daecheon beach

Cat cafe!

On the last day of Chuseok we decided to go to the cat cafe (again <3).

I got some cute pictures!!! Enjoy!

Sleepy cat

Cat cafe

Yoga cat

staring contest

Cat cafe Myeongdong

Cat cafe

Dumbledore cat

Cat cafe

The day after....

The day after hiking up Seoul's highest mountain was a painful day to say the least. Me and Melissa were determined to make the most out of our time off work so we decided to go to the Han. Ohhhh... the pain was awful! My legs have never been worked so hard and the were punishing me for it!!! ><

My arms were also hurting which was strange since I only used them for a short period. Anyways, we managed to go to the Han at Ttukseom Resort as it required the less travelling time. After finding a spot to park our bums, I went and got some kimbap for the familymart. Disgusting!!!! The rice did not taste right at all. But I also got us some ice lollies and some choco milkshake <3

After a while we walked (crawled) home...

Baegundae peak

Me and Melissa decided to go hiking today. Of course we picked the highest peak in Seoul naturally....

So we caught the train to Mt. Bukhansan. Finding the trail wasn't hard. We just followed the hundreds of hikers. Everyone is hardcore here. They have all the proper clothing and stuff (I was in jeans and a tank top with my handbag....) as they go most weekends . And these aren't young people. Most of them are my nans age!!

Luckly because it was chuseok, it wasn't busy. I've heard normaly on weekends you have to queue to get up. Crazy!

Anyways, at the beginning I was moaning about being tired (as I am a lazy ass - I take after my mum!). But half way through I became hardcore and Melissa was behind mwhahahahaha! It mostly was because if I stopped I wouldn't be able to keep on going.

The trail wasn't too bad but it was steep and rocky! I nearly twisted my ankle a dozen times on the way down.

Near the top your arms do the most work as you have to pull your self up on the rope as there are no steps just a slippy rock face.

I want a bath so bad!!!!!

Anyways pictures.....

Spending chuseok in Seoul

Now I heard it was impossible to get a train out of Seoul during chuseok. So this paired with the fact I was poor, due to spending a lot of money in China, meant I have to spend chuseok in Seoul.

I was invited to lunch at my friend Sally's house on Saturday. I have never been to Korean home before so I was looking forward to it. I brought a gift because it was chuseok. I was told your supposed to bring toliet paper when you first visit someones home, but I was told this on my way, so I didn't bring any.

Her mum cooked the lunch and it was so delicious. Her mum was so nice as well. It kind of made me miss home a bit.

On Sunday, I went to Suwon and was showed around by a friend I met over the internet, who lived there. I am glad I met him as the taxi queue was massive and I have no idea about the buses.

And guess what?! It rained! Of course it did! In Seoul there was no rain but in Suwon there was a downpour. I didn't mind as the friend I met over the internet ended up being a cute guy! And he said we should share his big umbrella (even though I had one!) bwhahahaha!

We went to Suwon Hwaseong fortress which is a world hertiage site. It is pretty cool (would of been better without the rain...). I actually realised after that I didn't get any pictures of the actual fortress only the surroundings... opps! I was too busy talking!

Anyways here are the pictures I did manage to take!

Suwon

Suwon

Suwon

Suwon

Suwon

Suwon bell

P.s. The journey to Suwon took well over 1.5 hours from my apartment!! So tired!

Work stuff

So on Monday, I was called over by the office manager. The old lady in our office was retiring, so the whole office was going to go on stage in front of the school (95 teachers) and sing.  

Now I can’t speak Korean and I CAN’T sing!!!!! >-< So on Monday and Tuesday we practiced singing. Luckily, I was next to two women who could sing well so I just sang very quietly mwhahaha. The office manager also Romanised the song for me ^^.

On Wednesday, we went to the ceremony. The vice principal was also leaving to become a principal in another school L. During the ceremony the lady from our office was presented with a medal and certificate sent from the president of Korea!!! We then sang on stage (I didn’t look up from my lyrics). 

I missed the second half of the ceremony as I had after school classesL . But we all went out for a work meal. It was then I finally got to see how many teachers work at my school! 95 or more!!!!!! Yea…. My school is pretty big!

Anyways during the meal a lot of the men ended up having red faces from the soju! ^^ My principal came over at one point and made us have a shot of soju. I was so nervous that I held the bottle wrong!!! >< Luckily, I remembered the other drinking customs, so he seemed pleased. There was also a karaoke machine that got messy! Haha!!

It’s funny because the next day everyone is so polite to each other as though nothing happened. Sometimes I love Korea ^^

Gi sang temple

Pictures taken of Gi sang temple. If you want to go, it is at Hansung University subway in Seoul ^^

Gi sang

Gi sang

Gi sang

Gi sang

Gi sang

View from gi sang