Random Adventures part 2

Jjimjalbang Experience

 I finally went to a jjimjalbang (a public bathhouse) and it only took 2 1/2 years for me to go! When I first arrived in Korea I thought I'd for sure go...one day. But as time passed and the more awkward experiences I encountered the more I thought...maybe not. Living here has definitely tested my patience with personal space. I've literally experienced random strangers touching my hair, rubbing my arms, grabbing my shoulders  while screaming, "TINA TURNER" and yes even attempting to touch my breasts. Yep. That really happened. So as you can see I started to become a little paranoid about going to a public bathhouse where I would walk around completely nude, bare for everyone to not only look but in my experience, touch. The thought of randoms coming up to me and touching what they pleased scared the crap out of me. I obviously worked through that fear because there I was nude for all to see. I only went for one night and it was completely fine. Some did stare, but honestly I was stared at less in the bathhouse than walking out in the streets completely clothed. That was a plus!

This jjimjalbang was set up so the gender separated showers were on the first floor and the sleeping area was located on the second floor. Like I said the shower part was actually fine, but I really disliked the sleeping area. I had a firm block as my pillow and no blanket. There were mats in some areas, but not many. Since I was traveling and staying at a friends apartment the next night luckily I brought my sleeping bag. Honestly, not having a blanket or a nice pillow wasn't what killed me. It was the heat. It was so stinking hot that I never really slept. I literally stayed up all night. I'm not sure if others are like me, but by living through 3 summers in Asia I know I need aircon when sleeping. I literally laid on the floor cursing whoever under my breath. I'm not really a nice person when I'm hot. They did have separate rooms with different temperatures that varied from hot, hotter and really freaking cold (pictured above). I stayed in the main room with no aircon; that ended up being the most "comfortable," but every few hours I ventured to the really freaking cold room to cool down.

I may go to a jjimjalbang again. We'll see. I am a little curious to know how others are set up. Maybe in the near far future I'll try again.

Geoje Island
A while ago myself and a few friends went to Busan to celebrate Buddha's birthday. Our time was mostly spent eating at delicious restaurants and laying on the beach, but we also made time to go to Geoje Island. We ended up starting our day late so we only spent a few hours on the actual island, but we were able to see the Park of Geoje POW Camp. which was interesting. The information provided was pretty good and for the most part the park was nice. There were a few instances where I felt I was in an amusement park which....in my personal opinion is a little strange.

Here's one example of how I thought the park was being a little insensitive. There weren't a lot of these, but just the mere fact these photo opportunities were available I found it to be a little much.

Overall, it was a good experience. I learned a lot and if you have the opportunity to go I strongly recommend it!

More Summer Camp

Last year I worked the Andong summer camp. Read this and see how "fun" it was. I reread that post and I think I was definitely being nice because camp last year was hell. This summer was wonderful. They changed facilities so we had tables and chairs in each classroom as well as whiteboards. And since this facility was newer we had aircon! YAY!! We also had hot showers, another YAY! I didn't talk about the food in my last post, but it wasn't too great whereas at the new facility it was good AND they gave us bread, jam and cereal for breakfast...I wanted to cry! Korea doesn't have different foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner; it's essentially the same. But being foreign I find it really difficult to eat kimchi, rice and spicy meat at 8:30 am. When they brought out the cereal I believe we all literally screamed. I'm just not sure if they realized how nice the gesture was! It definitely made our mornings!

As for the students, this year they were great. All motivated and just nice great kids so it was a pleasure teaching them. There were a lot of laughs, screaming (just a few times) and great memories the first half of the week. The second part of the week demanded a little more from us teachers. Those students attend elementary schools located in the country so their level of English is lower which made it harder to communicate, teach and entertain them. Again, I still had a great group of students. Overall, this year's camp was enjoyable and well worth the extra pay!

Making the team flag.

Team Crayon (pronounced cray-on)

Team A+, take one...

take two...

Closing ceremony

It's currently midnight and I'm exhausted. So I apologize for the many typos because this lady is just too tired to reread anything. Also, I'm getting up early to leave for JEJU-DO, Korea's largest island!!

I'm traveling alone and it's the first time so I'm actually really nervous. Not because of safety, but because I don't want to be lonely. I'm generally ok with being alone and entertaining myself, but when it comes to traveling I would much rather have someone there...hopefully it goes well!

I'M GOING TO JEJU! Happy summer vacation to me.