I could not have asked for a better holiday in South Korea. Jihyun (previously known as Chloe) and her family were so hospitable. They took me in for 9 days and really showed me the Korean culture. Our days were often jam packed with being tourists (mainly for my benefit), running errands, or wandering around Seoul. In our free time, Jihyun and I practiced our moves to the Hoedown Throwdown or received a cucumber face mask from Jihyun's mom. That's right, we were living the dream. I am going to put the link to the pictures down at the bottom of this post like before because there is just too much to write about.
Before I was in South Korea though, I visited Sydney for a few days. I was able to catch up with an old friend from Singapore who showed me around the city a bit. Sydney had so many tourists, and I had fun picking out who may or may not be American. Of course I saw the Opera House and thought of Nemo while I was walking along Darling Harbour. We went out one night to King's Cross and the next day went to the Fish Market.
Staying with Jihyun was such an incredible experience because her family is very Korean. Her mom is even a designer of traditional Korean clothes! Many Koreans like very firm beds so I slept on the ground with a mattress pad and a hard pillow with a ridge in it for your neck. After showering, I had a towel that was a little bit bigger than a dish towel. I was surprised at how well it actually worked and only had problems when I tried to put my wet hair up in a turban. Not as many people as I expected spoke English, so Jihyun and I made up a little dictionary of Korean words for me to use when I met some of her family members or was trying to complete a transaction at the markets. I think for the entire time I was there I only had maybe one or two "Western" meals. I tried everything they set in front of me. For the most part, all of the food tasted great. Jihyun's mom is a wonderful cook and the preparation that she put into the meals was amazing. There were only a few things that I was not fond of, like sea squirt and sea cucumber or the fat on the meat at one restaurant. Kim chee is a huge part of Korean food. It is eaten at almost every single meal (much like rice) and is prepared in bulk quantities months and sometimes years in advance because it is pickled cabbage and other vegetables. Vegetables were present in every meal and I ate more tofu in Korea than I think I ever had in my life. Tofu is one of those things that I was always skeptical of, but I think after this trip I will be more open to it. Like I said before, rice is eaten at every meal, but I bet you didn't think that they would take it one step further and flavour other things with rice. There was rice juice, rice milk, rice ice cream, rice cakes, etc. If Bubba Gump had it with shrimp, then I'm sure the Koreans have it with rice.
Returning to Australia was bittersweet. Once I returned though, I found that I only had 2 1/2 weeks before returning to the US! Now it is down to 9 days and I am really wondering where the time has gone. I only have one more week at Bellaire and all of the students are slowly realizing that my time is coming to an end. Brie has arranged for me to visit the other grade levels since I have been with the juniors the entire time. I will spend a day with the preps, middles, and seniors in the Senior Learning Unit. The Senior Learning Unit is one of the things that is unique to Bellaire. All of the seniors (year 5/6) are responsible for choosing their schedules and have workshops that they must attend. It is a very independent learning setting and I have always been interested in how it is run. The teachers must work very close together in order to ensure that all of the students are keeping receiving all of the appropriate classes and conferences.
Pictures from Bellaire, Sydney, and South Korea
Before I was in South Korea though, I visited Sydney for a few days. I was able to catch up with an old friend from Singapore who showed me around the city a bit. Sydney had so many tourists, and I had fun picking out who may or may not be American. Of course I saw the Opera House and thought of Nemo while I was walking along Darling Harbour. We went out one night to King's Cross and the next day went to the Fish Market.
Staying with Jihyun was such an incredible experience because her family is very Korean. Her mom is even a designer of traditional Korean clothes! Many Koreans like very firm beds so I slept on the ground with a mattress pad and a hard pillow with a ridge in it for your neck. After showering, I had a towel that was a little bit bigger than a dish towel. I was surprised at how well it actually worked and only had problems when I tried to put my wet hair up in a turban. Not as many people as I expected spoke English, so Jihyun and I made up a little dictionary of Korean words for me to use when I met some of her family members or was trying to complete a transaction at the markets. I think for the entire time I was there I only had maybe one or two "Western" meals. I tried everything they set in front of me. For the most part, all of the food tasted great. Jihyun's mom is a wonderful cook and the preparation that she put into the meals was amazing. There were only a few things that I was not fond of, like sea squirt and sea cucumber or the fat on the meat at one restaurant. Kim chee is a huge part of Korean food. It is eaten at almost every single meal (much like rice) and is prepared in bulk quantities months and sometimes years in advance because it is pickled cabbage and other vegetables. Vegetables were present in every meal and I ate more tofu in Korea than I think I ever had in my life. Tofu is one of those things that I was always skeptical of, but I think after this trip I will be more open to it. Like I said before, rice is eaten at every meal, but I bet you didn't think that they would take it one step further and flavour other things with rice. There was rice juice, rice milk, rice ice cream, rice cakes, etc. If Bubba Gump had it with shrimp, then I'm sure the Koreans have it with rice.
Returning to Australia was bittersweet. Once I returned though, I found that I only had 2 1/2 weeks before returning to the US! Now it is down to 9 days and I am really wondering where the time has gone. I only have one more week at Bellaire and all of the students are slowly realizing that my time is coming to an end. Brie has arranged for me to visit the other grade levels since I have been with the juniors the entire time. I will spend a day with the preps, middles, and seniors in the Senior Learning Unit. The Senior Learning Unit is one of the things that is unique to Bellaire. All of the seniors (year 5/6) are responsible for choosing their schedules and have workshops that they must attend. It is a very independent learning setting and I have always been interested in how it is run. The teachers must work very close together in order to ensure that all of the students are keeping receiving all of the appropriate classes and conferences.
Pictures from Bellaire, Sydney, and South Korea
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