Staying busy!

Things are still great and as busy as ever. We are in the beginning of monsoon season which means it rains ALOT. Korea doesn't get it as bad as other surrounding countries, but still enough to be a burden! We all thought it would rain every day all day for the 2 month rainy season but thankfully we were mistaken. It will rain for a couple days and then it is very hot and humid for a couple days. The cycle continues like that, with more rainy days towards the end of July and beginning of August. It's not too bad since I live so close to the school, but it's surprising how wet you can get from a two minute walk! Last night I went to see Harry Potter with a couple teachers from my school. The theater is a little over a mile away and we usually walk to that area. When we got out of the theater it was absolutely pouring down rain, and thundering and lightening. There were a lot of taxis, but unfortunately at night or in the rain, the taxis will only pick up people who are going to Seoul, which is a 20 minute drive. We were stuck walking home in the storm and I was drenched from head to toe by the time I got home. It was pretty funny, and my first experience getting caught in the rain. Luckily I bought a new umbrella right before the movie, which helped keep my purse dry but that's about it! The movie was worth it though!

Last weekend I went with Si and several teachers from my school to an area in Seoul called Itaewon. It's very western, and filled with Americans in the military and other teachers. You can get a lot of western products there that they don't sell anywhere else, and there are vendors selling things all over the streets. It's so much fun, especially if you love shopping like me! I'm kind of embarassed to admit I spent $4 on a can of Dr. Pepper...but they don't sell it anywhere and it was a taste of home! We had lunch at a restaurant that actually sold things like hamburgers and mozerella sticks and then walked around for awhile. I bought a used cell phone, which is a good thing to do in Itaewon. The teachers from my school left after a couple of hours but me and Si stayed to walk around more and do some shopping. They have tons of replica purses and clothes with designer names that are obviously fake, but still fun to have. I got a couple purses, and some necessities like calling cards and books in English. We were looking for a DVD player for me, and a CD player for Si, which we heard would be cheaper there. In Bundang, where I live, the cheapest DVD player is about $100 and the cheapest CD player is about $70. A military guy on the street told us about a huge electronic market that had cheap items, so we tooki a cab there. It was a huge building with 6 floors of all electronics. Needless to say, we found what we were looking for. Si's birthday is on Saturday so I bought him a CD player which he is very excited about.

I still love teaching and am becoming closer to all of the teachers and students. We found out this week that the director of our school is leaving which was a big shock to everyone. She was supposed to leave two years ago but they asked her to stay on because they moved into a new building and really needed her. The new director will start coming by next week and will work with our director until August and then take over. The director pretty much makes all decisions about the school, and although the Korean staff promise us they will try to have things run the same, there is no telling how the new director will want to do things. It's kinda scary to think about everything being switched around right after I have finally gotten used to how things are done. We'll just have to wait and see!

This weekend we have an employee picnic in a big park in Seoul. All of the staff from our school will go, and we have heard many stories about how picnics have been in the past. It will be a long day, but they provide all of the food and drinks (alcohol of course). We will play football and other games, and we've been told that throughout the day, people begin to feel the effects of alcohol. Drinking is really big in Korea. Anyways, the day takes a turn and everyone starts singing Karaoke and having a great time. I'm pretty excited and it should be a really fun day!

I posted a lot of new pictures but I have been slack on posting my blog. I will try to do a better job with it! I hope everyone is doing well and I will talk to you all soon! Love you and miss you all!