I was so glad to see winter change into spring with warmer temperatures that make traveling more enjoyable. I have been getting out of Gwangju and have made another trip to Seoul (to meet up with my third cousin on her spring break travel-study trip), to Daejeon (several times) to see a high school friend who is a hagwon teacher there, and to Muju to participate in an Easter retreat.
I rode my first cable car up a mountain in Muju, which had a wonderful view that reminded me a bit of Costa Rica and the mountains there, although those mountains were covered in coffee plantations. I got to spend the night in the mountain resort, which was beautifully (and strangely) designed with a Swiss architecture look on the outside. For everything (food, transportation, cable car, room in the resort) it was only 30,000 Won, and you can't beat that with a stick.
I've spent several days in Daejeon with my high school friend Inga, who was two years above me. It's been great to reconnect with her as I haven't seen her in five or six years. We've spent some quality time in Costco (the one in Daejeon is the closest one to me), the last time purchasing the making of a delicious stew that we made as our first attempt, which turned out pretty well. I've also seen her area of the city, with some shopping and a park along with a free concert right outside her apartment building.
Seoul with my cousin was incredible. We went to Gyeongbokgung, Insadong, Myeongdong, and Itaewan. I'm hoping to visit all of those spots again. Gyeongbokgung was of course amazing with its Joseon Dynasty recreations. In Myeongdong we found a great rooftop tea and alcohol cafe (?), from which we enjoyed the afternoon. Itaewan was quite crowded (and I'm sure I've never seen so many other foreigners in all my time in Korea), but we found a great neighborhood-type bar and later a dance club. The only difficulty was finding a taxi back to the hotel, but luckily we eventually caught one.
Travel has been great; work, on the other hand, not so much. In the last two months, three teachers (out of seven) have quit, including the other foreign teacher, leaving me all by my lonesome as a non-Korean speaker. We've hired two more teachers (just hired the second one this week, after several weeks of trying to combine classes and working ridiculous hours), but now most of the teachers are men. Korea is still very patriarchal, meaning that the two women teachers, myself and a Korean teacher, have to do a lot of work that the men don't do, such as taking out the youngest children to wait for the bus (which means we don't get that ten-minute break like the rest of them). It's very annoying. The newest teacher, who kind of speaks English, was telling me how he regretted meeting and marrying his wife (do I need to know that, especially when I've just met you?) and telling me how I need to eat a variety of food (yes, I'm an adult, I can feed myself, thank you), and asking me if I wash my clothes by myself (no, I have to have my friends help me; I've been washing my own clothes by myself since I was 14, thanks). Honestly, why is he so strange? Someone who moves halfway around the world at a young age is capable of doing basic things on their own. Really.
Here are some pictures of Gyeongbokgung:
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