May, In Review

My dad pointed out to me that my last entry was a month old, oops! The silence doesn't mean that nothing new has happened (hence the blog's title "Audrey's Adventures.....") - actually, quite the opposite. So much has happened that I'm a bit intimidated about updating *^^*

During the Great Silence, I went from one side of the country to the other. The weekend of the first, our academy directors took us northeast to see Seoraksan. On the way, we stopped by the Goseong Unification Observatory, which is the eastern most point of the DMZ. It is a less popular place because it is just a lookout, but we did get a lot of pictures of North Korea. Looking back through my photos, I focused a lot on this one building that we kept referring to "Kim Jong Il's Not-So-Secret-Hideout" (which started as a joke that it was his hiding-in-plain-sight summer home; in reality, it's probably just some abandoned building).

After buying icecream, we got back into the Chungdahm bus and headed to Seoraksan. The plan was to take a cable car to the temple at the top, but the Wind Demon prevented us from fulfilling those plans. Instead, we walked around the base and went to the temple there. Our director, in her fantastic sense of humor, found these two rocks close together and said that if you could pass between them, you were in good health. A few of my coworkers tested her theory before she started laughing and said, "No, I'm kidding - I have no idea what these are for!" However, some Chinese tourists had watched us walk between the stones, and when we left, they started to copy us. Our director laughed again - the whole thing reminded me of Hayden's tour-guide act in Connecticut (the short version: they were bored, so he put on a fake European accent and stared making up stories about the surrounding areas...one of the stories resulted in the best holiday ever, Aveomas).

At Seoraksan, I was totally fascinated by the wishing stones. There were stacks of these flat stones that represented people's wishes. As I was concerned about a since solved matter, I made more than one wish. My greedyness was rewarded when, on my third round, the entire pile collapsed beneath my tiny stone. My coworkers laughed and said that I destroyed everyone's wishes. I know you get seven years bad luck for breaking a mirror - I can't wait to see what's in store for me for ruining dozens of wishes...

The accompanying picture post, which I am just now mentioning, will also include shots of silkworm larvae. Those little buggers (literally!) are chock-full of protein - good for mountain climbing!

The following week brought May 5, which in Korea is Children's Day. That week was IBT testing (the test they take to move up to the next level), so a handful of kids had to take a test on a day devoted to their happiness! We had class early and were out by 4, which meant that we had time to go to Seoul to celebrate an equally important holiday: Cinco de Mayo! I figured Dos Tacos would be packed with foreigners, but we were lucky and got a table right away. I miss Mexican food so much! Actually, anyone reading this who happens to be in the Seoul area, drop me a line and we will go :)

That weekend, May 8-9, I joined Anna and Laura and we ventured south to Busan to visit Christi, who had just returned to Korea. Busan is just like southern California! It was a completely different world than Seoul - much more laid back, and with a relaxed style that Seoul just couldn't do. Christi's place is amazing - her apartment is three times the size of my tiny villa and she lives insanely close to almost anything a person could need.

The beach was a much-needed getaway from Suji/Seoul. The Koreans were completely fascinated with us, despite Busan being such a foreign destination. We kept getting approached by people asking us where we were from - some even wanted to take our pictures with them. According to Jen, in the summer, every inch of sand is covered with umbrellas. The Koreans flock to the beach, but avoid the sun because pale skin is considered to be more beautiful.

Rounding out this month of awesomeness (which isn't anywhere near over) was a trip to Caribbean Bay, the water park attached to Everland. Jen's birthday is coming up soon and that is what she wanted to do! She chose a fantastic weekend, too - it's off season, so the park wasn't too crowded, and the weather was beautiful. If you go, expect to find rules that are a bit different from American water parks. Learn from our mistakes: You don't have to get a life jacket to go in the wave pool if you don't go past the red line. The waves break after the red line, so it's more fun in front of it anyway =p. We bodysurfed and slammed into poor, unsuspecting Koreans like champions! Also, bring a hat. They won't let you into the wave pool without one (something about keeping the water clean?).

The boomerang slide was by far my favorite of the few that were open. It starts off like a regular tube ride, but at the end, you're shot up this giant wall of water, and then slingshot back down into the pool. This trip was all about relaxing and being away from responsibility, but I think next time I go, I will do that ride multiple times! Stella, like a champion, let go of the tube and held up her arms at the very top - I was too busy screaming to do anything similar to that braveness ;)