Since the last update, most of what’s going on here has just been the normal routine of going to school every day. But thanks to my awesome school, every day at school is different and interesting. Last week, one random day they were just like “We don’t have classes for the first 3 hours, we have special activities.” So some kids were in the “movie-watching” activity, some kids were in the “carving totem-poles” activity, some kids were in the playing pocket-ball (their word for pool) activity, and I was in the science experiment activity. So we made soap using Sodium Hydroxide and oil. And we also pricked our fingers and tested our blood type. I LOVE MY HIGH SCHOOL!
Last weekend, I traveled to Jeonju to sit for the TOPIK exam. That’s Test of Proficiency in Korean. The exam in itself was ridiculously boring, but the trip to Jeonju was nice. Well, mostly. By the time Alyssa and I were on the bus home, we were extremely happy to be going back. It’s difficult, after only interacting with each other for so long, to get used to having to interact with a whole team of other people. People who don’t speak English don’t count. Don’t get me wrong, it was really nice to hang out and catch up with the other kids from the program, but it was tiring. Alyssa and I are such good friends, that there is no acting or putting up a false face, like people do when they are with company that they aren’t close with.
Anyways, the reason that Jeonju is famous is because it has this traditional Korean “hanok” villiage. A hanok is a traditional Korean house. Audra and Eunice live in Jeonju, so some kids from their school came and gave us tours of the area (they got community service hours for it xD) After that, we hung out for a while. It was really nice to be with my teacher from Seoul again.
We were on the bus back from Jeonju, realizing that we didn’t really know how we were getting back from the bus station. I called my mom, but my parents were going to mass so they couldn’t come get us, and Alyssa’s host mom doesn’t have a car. I thought we would be taking busses to our respective towns (which is scary—busses in Seoul are predictable and their routes are simple and always the same. Busses here are few and very infrequent.) But then my host mom called and was like “I called the taxi ajeosshi! He will come pick you up in Cheongju!” We were so relieved. It’s pretty nice having a personal driver that you don’t have to pay for xD
Starting last week, every Wednesday night we spend at school. Alyssa stays in the first year girls’ room, and I stay with the second year girls. It’s really fun to stay there, but I can’t say it’s the most restful night of sleep J At 9:00, they have to go to their rooms. They clean their rooms and get ready until 10:00, which is when they have “writing in their diary/reading” time, which they also use to chat. Last Wednesday, the dorm “mom”, who is one of the female teachers, came in and was like, “Is this what Emma came to Korea to watch?” And so we went around in a circle and talked about our days, which was nice. At 11:00, the lights turn out, but all the girls have lights on their desks for studying, so it isn’t a problem or anything. Then they stay up chatting until 1 or 2 in the morning.
Last Friday was our class “picnic”. Starting from middle school, Korean students have one class picnic every semester. I think maybe it’s like some sort of compromise—the schools keep the students until 11 PM every night, making them ridiculously stressed and giving them no time to relax, and in return the school provides one day of fun each semester. Doesn’t sound like a fair trade to me! But anyways, my school is fun every day, so I guess I shouldn’t be the one complaining.
So for our picnic, my class took a bus to Seoul and went to Everland, which is an amusement park. Unfortunately, I only rode two rides before my stomach felt absolutely awful, so the day could have gone better. But anyways, it was a pretty fun day. It was nice to be able to hang out with the friends from my class all day. Even though my school is more relaxed than most, there is still a pretty definitive line between the way students act when they are at school and when they aren’t. That’s another reason I love staying over on Wednesday nights. After school is over, the girls are so much more silly, relaxed, and fun.
I guess that’s all for now! I haven’t really done anything this weekend (except go mountain climbing with my parents) and I don’t have plans yet for next weekend, so I might not have anything to write about for a while. We’ll see :P
if you are bored we can skype!!!!
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