Day Trip to Gyeongju and Other Things

Long time no post, I know.  I think I've been having too much fun the past month to think about writing on here.  Really it was a combination of that and taking too many naps on accident.  I've never been so ready for a vacation and it's finally just around the corner!

July started off with three days of finals at school.  Note that there were still two weeks left of the semester after finals.  Someone please explain the logic behind that one to me because I still don't get it.  This would probably be why I was taking so many naps.  The kids of course didn't want to be doing anything after they took their tests, so that was exhausting.  The first day of tests, though, I was off work early and already had my beach bag packed to meet Nikki and Laura at the beach.  I hoped right on the subway and they had Quiznos ready and waiting for me!

I actually haven't been to the beach much at all and I have monsoon season to thank for most of that.  It was very rainy here the end of June/beginning of July, so that got in the way of beach time and some baseball time too.  On the Fourth of July, there was a group of us who went to see the Lotte Giants.  We made it to the stadium and that's when the game was canceled.  Laura and I figured that was the most American thing we could do here to celebrate the 4th, so we were a bit bummed!

With the rain and the insane humidity here, I gave in and got magic straight.  I got a straight perm and it was the best thing I could have done to my hair.  Before this, I hadn't worn my hair down since the beginning of May.  Now my hair dries straight and the best thing is that it does not frizz whatsoever in this crazy weather!  Magic straight is very popular here and the cost is much better than at home from what I hear.  I went to a hair salon quite far from me, but it was worth it because the hair stylist can speak English very well from having lived in Canada before and she really seemed to know what she was doing.  Check out Soo Casa if you're here and need a new salon.

This brings me to the day trip to Gyeongju.  A group of friends and I spent a Saturday in Gyeongju, which is about an hour bus ride away from Busan.  It's also one of the more historical places in Korea.  I really enjoyed this trip because it was nice to escape from a big city and actually see green and some countryside.  I really miss that.  We spent the first part of the day walking around and exploring.  After feeling a bit exhausted from the heat, we stopped for lunch and then headed back towards the bus station where the motorbikes caught our eyes when we first arrived.  We were going to rent three with two people on each (which we did at first but only four of us ended up going).  The first place we stopped said we needed to have international drivers licenses, so that wasn't going to work out.  Instead of giving up, we headed across the street and this guy didn't mind as long as we had a license!  We were on our way and rented them for three hours. Amazing. I didn't drive, but it was awesome to ride around and not have anywhere we needed to be.

Mounds where they buried past kings.

To wrap up the month of July, I've been running English Camp at work for the past two weeks.  I've really been enjoying this because I got to plan whatever I wanted and I didn't have to worry about co-teachers or textbooks, which was a nice little break.  Check back soon to see what that was all about!

Finally, throughout the past month or so, I've been planning my summer vacation to Bali, Indonesia! Before coming to Korea, the two places I said I want to visit are Bali and Thailand.  I cannot wait to go.  I'll be there for a week with my friend Jen and will also have a couple days off before then to rest up and relax (hopefully a bit on the beach!) in Busan. It will be the shortest summer break ever (for a teacher at least) as second semester starts August 19, but I'll take it!