Busy October!

It's been a couple weeks now since the conference at Gyeongju. The conference itself was quite nice... similar topics to what we discussed at orientation but it was new for our Korean co-teachers and teachers that have been here a little longer so it was nice to practice lesson planning and such all together. I think the highlight for most of us was really just being together again and having the chance to go out for the night with a large group of people who all understood what you were saying :) We headed back to Sangju right after the conference which was good since we were all so tired, but I wish I could have seen more of the Gyeongju area. The Silla Dynasty had their palace there and there are many cultural and historical sites in the area as a result. Perhaps I'll take a weekend and go back to see the temples and palace and all when I get a chance again. Back in Sangju we were all ready for a good night's sleep, but Dan and I decided to leave Saturday morning to head down to Pusan for their annual fireworks festival. We were able to get tickets on the KTX, but sadly for the slow portion of the track so I am still awaiting my first voyage on a bullet train here. It was around 3 when we arrived in Pusan, and we were able to meet up with some other friends that we'd met at orientation. Took a "30 minute" walk (in the Gilligan's Island sense... it actually took somewhere in the vicinity of 2 hours) to a park atop a mountain near one of their universities where we were able to find a seat to watch the fireworks display out over the ocean. Stopped along the way for sodas and chicken skewers from a street cart that were very good and arrived at our seats only about half an hour or so before the show began. Beautiful fireworks. I'll post some pics when I can, but my favorites were the ones that made shapes in the air... all colors of geometrical designs, pink hearts, and flowers :) After fireworks we were all starving, so we went to one of the restaurants where you can cook for yourself at the table and grilled thick cut bacon that you eat wrapped in lettuce with marinated onions, grilled cloves of garlic, and spicy chili paste. One of my favorite meals here in Korea! Then off for a couple long hours of Noryeabang (Korean karaoke) in which I sang a lot but managed to avoid ever once touching the microphone! (and so, a success in noryeabang terms!) Then headed to a bar for a "couple" drinks. I have learned now to distrust temporal estimations from our friends in Pusan! Our couple drinks turned into many hours of sitting in a bar (and dancing, watching movies, playing fooseball, and talking a lot) because it turns out that the subways stop running at midnight and it is cheaper here to drink all night (literally) in the bar than to take a taxi across the very large and spread out city to get home. Thus we stayed at the bar until 5:30 the next morning when the subways began running again at which point Dan and I decided to head back to our hometown instead of sleeping on someone's floor as we had originally planned. So, a whirlwind tour of Pusan I have to say- and a 24 hour voyage without sleep, showers, or even changing clothes while hiking around the city carrying large heavy backpacks! But a very fun weekend nonetheless. I don't have many pictures of the bar or karaoke because I was too tired to take them at that point, but I will post pictures of dinner and the fireworks when I can. Looking forward to another trip & maybe actually seeing their famous beaches next time! :D