Saturday, December 15, 2012

The Teacher Retreat

Friday & Saturday:
  • I got up relatively early for a day off (9:15 haha) and we weren't leaving until 12:30, but being the devoted little CrossFit fan I am, I actually got up to go do my WOD!  It was pretty difficult.  It was a choice day, but I didn't really like the choices very much haha.  So I did this situp thing for a bit.  It's like a stand so you are elevated about 3 or 4 feet and you are in normal sit up position and have your legs wedged into the one part so they can't move up or down.  This is important because you actually lean all the way back so you can touch the ground and go all the way back up.  It's pretty tricky and I had to switch back to regular situps after a while because it was hurting my lower back for some reason.  I also did some pushups and rowed 2km.
  • Then I headed straight to school to meet up with all of the teachers to head out on our trip!  I met my co-teacher and she told me that she suddenly couldn't go.  She's usually the one I hang out with most so I was a little unsure, but I saw that some of my other pals are going so I was excited about that.  I could hang out and talk with a third grade English teacher, Mr. Yoon, and a few of the younger female teachers that I used to have "tea time" with.  So we all piled on the bus and headed out!
  • Korean tour buses are always decorated in an interesting manner.  This particular bus was decked out in mostly pink and purple and featured rainbow lights.  I headed towards the back with Mr. Yoon and almost immediately other teachers were showering us with snacks.  We got candy, oranges, and a lunch of kimbap.  We also got cans of beer which was interesting.  Never thought we would get that on a bus.  I took mine to be polite but then I just shuffled mine into my backpack and I think it might still be there haha.
  • We went to Bugok, a small city between Changwon and Gimhae for those that know Southern Korea.  For those who don't, it's pretty much a really small town that is basically in the middle of nowhere.  I think it's famous for its hot springs and a mountain.  There were actually a lot of hotels which I was surprised since it seemed like no one else was around.  We all met in an auditorium where there was a performance.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, I'm not sure if anyone did actually haha.  Some cheesy techno music was playing and then out came four dancers, including three women dressed in vegas-style costumes with feather headresses.  There were magic acts and dancing.  The whole time, I kept thinking this was America's Got Talent and I was seeing these untalented acts and I wanted to buzz them off the stage.  I really was not terribly impressed.  There was an interesting act where a guy was switching masks without using his hands, but that was about it.
  • After the performance, we had dinner.  It was Korean BBQ so it was pretty good.  It is pretty traditional for teachers to drink a pretty good amount of alcohol at dinner meetings and that's what what was going on here.  Not all of the teachers, but there were quite a few.  I had a little bit since it is pretty rude to reject another teacher, especially one that is older (which is everyone).  After a while, I headed out with some of the younger teachers who didn't have a whole lot like me.  We went and got some ice cream and just hung out for a bit.  I went with Ms. Nam and Ms. Kim and we ducked and hid around the hotel (we didn't want other teachers to see us and make us go to karaoke) so we found a spot, brought some nachos and hung out and spoke some broken English (and a tiny bit of Korean). 
  • The next day, we headed out and went to the city of Namhae and got to see some wonderful sites.  Here are a couple of pics:
 

 
  • It was really nice.  I'm glad I got to build some jeong (building a stronger relationship) with my fellow teachers.  It got awkward sometimes, but it was worth it!

No comments:

Post a Comment