Bonding on Your Teacher's Trip, and How Not to Die.

Back in September my co-workers and I had a meeting to discuss our school trip.  There were many ideas on the table, ranging from island hikes to temple visits to traveling to multiple cities, but I didn't know quite what was in store for me until I was picked up on Thursday morning.  Our itinerary, a five page packet, was written entirely in Korean.  I couldn't be bothered to translate it, so I opted to just roll with whatever was thrown my way.

Fellow foreign teachers in Korea, consider this your warming: regardless of their age, all of your Korean co-teachers can out eat, drink, and party you.  The activities are never-ending. They will not stop, and they will not show you any mercy.

Our general route from Boseong to Geumodo...followed by Yeosu, Suncheon Bay, and the Naganeupseong Folk Village.

The morning began innocently enough.  After managing a last-minute washing machine delivery (don't ask), two of my other co-workers and I were picked up bright at early by our school's bus driver, Seokoh-ssi.  His van had two seats in the front and an open back, so my two co-teachers kicked off their shoes and sat on blankets while I was ushered into the front seat.

흥국사 (HeungGukSa) Temple Stay

Well, this temple stay happened back in September.  Due to a variety of problems with technology (computer breaking, getting a new one, entire blog post deleting, unable to transfer photos, etc, etc.) no one has heard from me in a while.

We've been busy making new friends!

But I'm still here!  And still keeping very, very busy, so you can expect many more posts from here on out!  The weather is getting cooler now, so we've been enjoying the outdoors while we can.  One of the places we explored was 흥국사 (Heungguksa) Temple where we lived with Buddhist monks (and their many dogs) for 24 hours.