Chungpyung-sa (Teacher's Field Trip!)
Tuesday was my school's anniversary, as a result it was a day off for the students. I however was told to come to school for a teacher's day. I came to school Tuesday morning not really knowing what to expect (just so you know, there is a sever lack of communication between the school and myself) and as I walked up to the front door I saw a big red bus. Okay, we are obviously going somewhere. I don't see anyone around the bus so I head up to my classroom, 5 mins on I get a phone call from a coworker exclaiming, "Jamie!! Where are you!? We are waiting at the bus!!!"...I was just about to make some coffee too. Oh well...
I board the bus behind the single male teacher in our school who happens to be carrying a box full of alcohol (Mekju and Soju). Interesting...must be for lunch...as I get on the bus I'm handed some oranges, some kimbap and some water. Basically what amounts to a small meal. "Is this breakfast?" I ask my co-teacher. "No, its a snack!". About 10 minutes later an announcement is made over the bus intercom stating that the soju and beer are available at anytime and right on que I look ahead and see hands passing back bottles of soju and beer. I look at my clock, its 9:30am. Alright.
Not 10mins pass after this announcement when suddenly the TV screen at the front of the bus lights up and karaoke breaks out. 10am rolls around to some very happy singing by my fellow teachers.
Around this time I have also managed to wrangle some information out of my coworkers. We are going hiking!! On an island about 3+ hours away from school and we'll be back around 7:00pm. Lets not worry about the fact that I had plans that night. Oh well, its impossible not to have fun surrounded by drunk and happy Koreans so early in the morning.
We finally get to the dock around 12:45 and the ferry takes us to the island, which is beautiful and shrouded in clouds and mist. We walk for about 10mins and stop suddenly at a restaurant. Oh is this lunch? I ask this as a full 5 course meal is laid out in front of me, because obviously this must be lunch or a very early dinner. "No, its a snack!". Don't ask me how they expect me to eat lunch...
The next couple of hours are spent 'hiking' up the mountain to a Buddhist temple. And I say 'hiking' because the 'hiking' consisted of the women all running around posing in front of anything and everything they could. Literally, the temple of course, the waterfall, the rocks, the trees, the flowers, they fire hydrants...everything. It was hilarious. There must be hundreds of photos of everyone in front of everything that stood still on the way up that mountain.
After the mountain we took the ferry back to the bus for 'lunch' (my 4th meal of the day by this point) which amazingly enough I managed to eat. But when you are confronted with the most appetizing smell you've ever come across you would probably make room in your stomach as well. We are dak galbi. Don't get me wrong, I've had dak galbi before today, but it was never like this. This was beyond words. We ordered a huge portion for 4 people and still managed to eat it all. Simply amazing.
After all this we boarded the bus back home. Pretty much everyone fell asleep right after the dak galbi, but within an hour they were all awake and singing again. It was a fantastic trip.
I board the bus behind the single male teacher in our school who happens to be carrying a box full of alcohol (Mekju and Soju). Interesting...must be for lunch...as I get on the bus I'm handed some oranges, some kimbap and some water. Basically what amounts to a small meal. "Is this breakfast?" I ask my co-teacher. "No, its a snack!". About 10 minutes later an announcement is made over the bus intercom stating that the soju and beer are available at anytime and right on que I look ahead and see hands passing back bottles of soju and beer. I look at my clock, its 9:30am. Alright.
Not 10mins pass after this announcement when suddenly the TV screen at the front of the bus lights up and karaoke breaks out. 10am rolls around to some very happy singing by my fellow teachers.
Around this time I have also managed to wrangle some information out of my coworkers. We are going hiking!! On an island about 3+ hours away from school and we'll be back around 7:00pm. Lets not worry about the fact that I had plans that night. Oh well, its impossible not to have fun surrounded by drunk and happy Koreans so early in the morning.
We finally get to the dock around 12:45 and the ferry takes us to the island, which is beautiful and shrouded in clouds and mist. We walk for about 10mins and stop suddenly at a restaurant. Oh is this lunch? I ask this as a full 5 course meal is laid out in front of me, because obviously this must be lunch or a very early dinner. "No, its a snack!". Don't ask me how they expect me to eat lunch...
The next couple of hours are spent 'hiking' up the mountain to a Buddhist temple. And I say 'hiking' because the 'hiking' consisted of the women all running around posing in front of anything and everything they could. Literally, the temple of course, the waterfall, the rocks, the trees, the flowers, they fire hydrants...everything. It was hilarious. There must be hundreds of photos of everyone in front of everything that stood still on the way up that mountain.
After the mountain we took the ferry back to the bus for 'lunch' (my 4th meal of the day by this point) which amazingly enough I managed to eat. But when you are confronted with the most appetizing smell you've ever come across you would probably make room in your stomach as well. We are dak galbi. Don't get me wrong, I've had dak galbi before today, but it was never like this. This was beyond words. We ordered a huge portion for 4 people and still managed to eat it all. Simply amazing.
After all this we boarded the bus back home. Pretty much everyone fell asleep right after the dak galbi, but within an hour they were all awake and singing again. It was a fantastic trip.