Visit from the Superintendent and dinner in Seoul
Due to government testing, all of my classes today were cancelled. In the morning I just sat in my room, with pretty much nothing to do but chat with people online. About 2 hours after me being at school, the vice principal came into my classroom to tell me that the superintendent would be visiting our school today, and that we would be having lunch with him. After this happened, my boss came in and started vacuuming my classroom (my boss is the 2nd grade lead teacher). This was very odd, I tried to tell him that I would vacuum, but he insisted that he would do it.
At around noon, the superintendent arrived at our school. One of the first things he did was come to my classroom to talk to me (yes...he spoke English)! He asked me how my apartment was and how teaching was going. He seemed very nice. Then we left for lunch (we is the superintendent, the vice principal, my boss, 4 other teachers, and myself). It seemed that only my boss really knew where we were going to eat... as my city (like every other Korean city) has a ton of restaurants. It turns out that we weren't even eating in Osan, but instead eating in Namsa (which is about a 20 minute drive from Osan). Once we arrived at the restaurant I was in shock. The restaurant was on a lake, surrounded by mountains. The scenery was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but my boss had his. Hopefully soon I will be able to get some pictures from him so I can put them on my website. The lunch was okay, but very spicy.
After lunch we drove back to Osan. My co-teacher decided she would buy us all ice cream for desert, so at least I got yummy ice cream!
Then I went and sat in my classroom for a while. I was supposed to go to Suwon (another big city near Osan) to get a new ID card (mine got stolen...along with my wallet), but my boss never came and got me. Finally at 3:00, my boss came down to tell me I could go home. I reminded him about my ID card (he had forgotten), so we then drove to Suwon. They processed my reapplication for my ID card in about 10 minutes and we were back on our way to Osan again.
Instead of going all the way to Osan, I asked my boss if he could drop me off at Suwon Station (a subway station), instead of taking me all the way back to Osan (which the subway doesn't extend to... yet... the Osan subway station is scheduled to open sometime next year). Since I was going to Seoul, it'd be easier for me to get there if I just went from Suwon. He agreed and I was soon on my way to Seoul.
I went to the COEX mall for dinner with Beth, Liz, Jenny, Meghan, and one of the teachers at Meghan's school. Her name was Soo Jeung, but she let us call her Sue. We ate dinner at Bennigans (which is a US restaurant apparently, though I don't think we have them in the midwest). Then we went to see a movie (well...all except Beth who was going to attempt to find a winter jacket). We saw the movie If Only with Jennifer Love Hewitt. It wasn't that bad...but a tear-jerker.
By the time the movie had gotten over, it was time to head back to Osan. A quick subway ride to the bus station, a 40 minute bus ride, and a 10 minute taxi ride and I was home... and exhausted. I didn't get home until around 11 (which is late for me now... apparently I'm catching up on all the sleep I didn't get in college).
So, even though I didn't teach any classes, it still turned out to be a rather busy day!
At around noon, the superintendent arrived at our school. One of the first things he did was come to my classroom to talk to me (yes...he spoke English)! He asked me how my apartment was and how teaching was going. He seemed very nice. Then we left for lunch (we is the superintendent, the vice principal, my boss, 4 other teachers, and myself). It seemed that only my boss really knew where we were going to eat... as my city (like every other Korean city) has a ton of restaurants. It turns out that we weren't even eating in Osan, but instead eating in Namsa (which is about a 20 minute drive from Osan). Once we arrived at the restaurant I was in shock. The restaurant was on a lake, surrounded by mountains. The scenery was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but my boss had his. Hopefully soon I will be able to get some pictures from him so I can put them on my website. The lunch was okay, but very spicy.
After lunch we drove back to Osan. My co-teacher decided she would buy us all ice cream for desert, so at least I got yummy ice cream!
Then I went and sat in my classroom for a while. I was supposed to go to Suwon (another big city near Osan) to get a new ID card (mine got stolen...along with my wallet), but my boss never came and got me. Finally at 3:00, my boss came down to tell me I could go home. I reminded him about my ID card (he had forgotten), so we then drove to Suwon. They processed my reapplication for my ID card in about 10 minutes and we were back on our way to Osan again.
Instead of going all the way to Osan, I asked my boss if he could drop me off at Suwon Station (a subway station), instead of taking me all the way back to Osan (which the subway doesn't extend to... yet... the Osan subway station is scheduled to open sometime next year). Since I was going to Seoul, it'd be easier for me to get there if I just went from Suwon. He agreed and I was soon on my way to Seoul.
I went to the COEX mall for dinner with Beth, Liz, Jenny, Meghan, and one of the teachers at Meghan's school. Her name was Soo Jeung, but she let us call her Sue. We ate dinner at Bennigans (which is a US restaurant apparently, though I don't think we have them in the midwest). Then we went to see a movie (well...all except Beth who was going to attempt to find a winter jacket). We saw the movie If Only with Jennifer Love Hewitt. It wasn't that bad...but a tear-jerker.
By the time the movie had gotten over, it was time to head back to Osan. A quick subway ride to the bus station, a 40 minute bus ride, and a 10 minute taxi ride and I was home... and exhausted. I didn't get home until around 11 (which is late for me now... apparently I'm catching up on all the sleep I didn't get in college).
So, even though I didn't teach any classes, it still turned out to be a rather busy day!
posted by Elissa @ 8:04 PM
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