I went to a Festival in Suwon that showed some interesting buildings. Above you can see photos of traditional fighting. How they fought with on the horses in battle. It was really neat.  I saw a really cool Korean drum performance and interesting dances. I ate chicken on a stick, which Im obsessed with. HA! Soooo good. Another thing here that is interesting is they eat waffles as a snack food, not so much breakfast like we do in America.

So my first trip to the doctors. Well that was interesting experience. Here you can choose to find a doctor that is more personable. But you have to do research on it of course. I just walked in and you sign in and wait for your turn on that day. No need for a prior appointment. I had a really sore throat and I told my adult students about it. Two of them took me to the doctor. I felt really nervous! Especially going to a doctor that mainly spoke Korean and he came across a little abrupt but nothing out of the ordinary to really scare anything or me. It was just because it was a new experience. She translated the overall jist of what he was saying. He said that my throat was really swollen and NO nodes, thank GOD. Which I was really worried about. My adult student felt so bad that I felt so nervous and that I didn’t understand most of what he said so she paid for my medication that the doctor prescribed! It was really nice and unexpected. After I talked to the doctor I had to sit down and put a humidifier air near my nose. They think it helps clear the throat. They also had me sit and my student put a heater/light close to my nose and mouth. They believe that helps somehow. I asked my student but she didn’t know either. It was definitely a medical advisory step I’ve never done before. So I felt a little odd. But who knows, maybe it really did help. Everything is really good now. Another student of mine bought me some Korean tea to help my throat. Also, I bought some Chinese Quince Honey to put in my tea. So far it’s been working. I still haven’t gotten really sick since I’ve been here.

Two of my students from my adult class took me to Everland. It was really cute! I rode in a cool small train, which surrounds the beautiful garden where I think they put on fireworks after 9pm. In the wintertime it starts at 7pm I think. Those of you that know me know that I’m an animal lover! We saw a seal show! It was soo cute! But here they don’t swim with the mammals, which where I come from takes the fun out of working with the mammals in the first place. But that’s just how they do things here. I experienced feeding birds on my hand! It was soo cool! A bunch of them were on me! I loved it! They were soo beautiful. I walked around the mini zoo. What caught my attention the most were the squirrel monkeys. I felt like the monkeys were from the movie, Madagascar. It’s like they were putting up a show! HAHA! It was hilarious! I took a small video of it and I’m trying to email it to my family and close friends, but I think the file is too big. I wish I could have seen more but I didn’t. I had to teach later on that day. I’m definitely going back though to see the fireworks! The price isn’t bad. It’s $24.00 but that time my students paid for me, which was touching.

Halloween was pretty nutty. One of my good gal friends I met in Japan went out boogying all night! I’ve never danced all night before literally. Like I said they party all night long here. It makes it difficult because the buses stop running around 1am and don’t start back up until 5 or 5:30am. So my friends and I exhausted by the time we get home and just crash. I have not gotten sucked into the peer pressure of soju or mokju (Korean beer). I refuse… I am not a follower. I dressed up a little with a Hawaiian skirt and a cool mask but I forgot to take a picture of my mask, but it looked like a peacock! It was fun!

Next on the agenda? Well I went to the Korean folk village! The same two adult students who many are taking me under they’re wing to show me about their culture. Wow! Boy what an amazing experience. I learned a lot about their history. The food was really good. I had a really good lunch. (above shown). It was interesting the “poor man” had a hay/straw roof and the “rich man” had the fancy roof (non straw). Also! I found out the big answer to the question:WHY DO KOREANS TAKE PHOTOS WITH THE PEACE SIGN ALL THE TIME?  The answer you ask? In Korea the peace symbol (which it looks like to us) with their hands means= Victory! So when they take photos; they say “Say Vvvvvvvvv”. Just like we say cheese. I told my students, “WOW! Now I know! It’s been driving me crazy! Why do they do that? I don’t get it.” HA! The reason they say victory is because the culture is that Koreans should be winners. It’s the influence of the hard-core academics here to be really smart. Korean students work so hard they want to be the best. So that’s why they say victory. Isn’t that fascinating? I found that so interesting.  While I was at the Korean folk village, I saw a traditional wedding ceremony (not real) performance and really neat Korean traditional dance where the guys have a feathered rope on the top of their head.

An interesting thing I learned this week is that when Koreans get a bloody nose they put their head down. Which was preposterous in my opinion, obviously coming from Americans health point of view to put your head tilted back. It was so weird to see that when one of my students did that. I haven't discovered why they think that yet.
That's all for today!