MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope it is blessed with time spent with family and friends.

This will be my last post before the holidays, and the last post before my family arrives in Korea! It still seems surreal that they will be here in three days!

Last week, Hwacheon county took us on a "cultural experience". In truth, it was more like vacation! First, we drove to Hongcheon to a ski resort. Although the resort was kind of small (they had a total of 6 slopes), it was still a lot of fun. It was also man-made snow, so it reminded me a lot of going skiing in Weston. In the afternoon, we headed to an indoor waterpark. It was all part of the same resort. This was an interesting experience. First, we all had to wear the swim caps (like pro swimmers wear)- I guess they didn't want any foriegn hair in their pools :) Second, the water park was also part jimjilbang. So, much to our surprise, when we went to the shower/locker room, there were many naked Koreans walking around. This is okay if you are expecting it, but a whole different story if it just happens to you! Anyways, the water park was fun- there were a couple of slides, and jet pools. They also had hot tubs- which were located outside, so picture a full on sprint between the doors and the water (temperatures were around 24 degrees Farhenheit).

That night we drove almost an hour to eat. However, in Korea, they don't want you to get bored with driving (hence, it is ok to have mini t.v.'s in the front half of the car), so on the bus back to the hotel, we all sang karaoke (called noraebang in Korean). That night, we stayed in a pretty nice hotel. In it, there was bumper cars, bowling, ping pong, billiards, and a carousel. We (19 foriegn teachers) played bumper cars and bowling- lots of fun!

The next day, we learned taekwondo in the morning, and salmunori in the afternoon. Taekwondo was cool because we had middle and high school students helping us (they are black belts). Salmunori is Korea's traditional drumming. It was interesting, but not really my thing. When we went to learn salmunori, we went to a middle/high school. This school is a missionary school for "maladjusted students." The cool thing was they had so many "alternative" classes. So they have classes of band, rock band, salmunori, cooking, art, and gardening. These classes are very rare in Korean schools, and it was great that a school for "maladjusted" students sees the value in these classes.

The last week of school has been very stressful for me. I have been trying to finish our book project (which we finished today!), keep pen pals going over my lunch hour, finalize plans for winter break for my family and myself, and work on plans for my winter English camp (which no students want to go to b/c it is during their break- who can blame them?).

I have prepared gifts for my host family and for the teachers at school. We were told at orientation that gift giving is a huge culture here. However, I have not seen this. When I give gifts, it makes an awkward situation, because then the receiver feels like they should have gotten me something, but they didn't, so now everything is weird. This has happened for birthdays and for Christmas both.

Today was my last day at school for the semester! I really can't believe that my grant year is basically half over. Reflecting on the semester, it has really gone fast (although while I was living it, I thought time was crawling by!).

In three days my family and Darrell will be here- YAY! They will stay until January 5. Then from Jan. 11-22, I am teaching an English Camp at my school. Then from Jan. 27-Feb. 22 I will be traveling with friends to Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam!

I will start back teaching on March 2nd, and only have 4 1/2 months left. I know it will go so fast.

Please have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love you