Seoul and everything else!

 A lot of time has gone by since the last blog! Teaching has been going really well. We are pretty comfortable and things have become a little more routine.

A few weeks ago we both had Sports Day at our schools. Sports Day is a pretty big deal, with weeks of preparation. Even a few English classes were cancelled so the students could practice their dances for the big day. The school is split into two teams, Blue and White. Both parents and students compete in a series of activities. Parents seemed to be more competitive then the students resulting in multiple wipe outs... it was hard/funny to watch!! The day ends around 12 and the teachers stay to eat some delicious Korean food!

After Sports Day was our first break. We spent 4 days up in Seoul eating, exploring and of course relaxing. Seoul was a lot more crowded and busier then Busan. We took the high speed train from Busan to Seoul, which took about 2 hours. We arrived late friday night and only had time to make it to the hotel and fall asleep. The next day we spent navigating the complicated subways and exploring a little of downtown Seoul. That night there was a parade for Buddha's Birthday so we found a spot along the side of the street where it was going to pass by. The parade was very cool to see with some interesting floats, however it was a little bit long as we were standing and watching for over 2 hours. After the parade we went to a college-town-type area around Hongik University, had dinner, and then went back to the hotel. Sunday we went to Gyeongbokgung (the palace of King Sejong). The palace was really neat with beautiful gardens and buildings with very intricate wood carvings and paintings. After Gyeongbokgung, we went to a different area of downtown and visited the Seoul N tower (a tall tower on the top of a big hill that overlooks the city). Here they had the "lovers lock wall" which is basically a fence full of locks that couples have written on, so we bought a lock and put it on the wall before going to the top of the tower. We then headed to Itaewon (a foreigner district in Seoul) and had dinner while watching a soccer game before heading back to the hotel. Monday was a walking/shopping/exploring day (and we also managed to squeeze in a massage :D). I managed to find a 4 story Forever 21 followed by an H&M and was very excited! Monday night we spent exploring a little more of Itaewon before going back to the hotel. Tuesday we slept in and then went to the train station to head back to Busan. It was the strangest feeling being on vacation from what already felt like vacation!

Now we are back in school for another 8 weeks until summer camp starts.  It is amazing how fast time is going!