meeting up with friends!

This past weekend was wonderful. On Saturday I joined two of my Fulbright friends in the lovely town of Kongju. I traveled from Hongsong, and Em traveled from Yesan. We met up with Sam and spent the morning talking at a coffee shop. It was relieving to be able to speak English to a native speaker and to swap teaching stories and advice. The coffee was pretty good too :). Mid-morning, Sam had to leave for an English competition with her school, so Em and I went out for a walk. We strolled along a river (which I later found out from my host family that it is called the "silk" river because it is pretty) and had a great conversation in this covered seating area. The weather was hot and humid, but it was still nice to be outside. In the afternoon we went out in search of lunch. As we were just wandering around, we were having trouble finding any quaint restaurants. However, just as we were about to turn back to the bus station, we discovered the Mary Poppins Cafe. Serving Pizza, Italian Food, and Espresso (as the sign said), it was perfect. The inside decor made the place suitable for a Jane Austin-esque tea party with frilly tablecloths and cozy booths. I definitely want to check the place out again. The ride back to Hongseong was uneventful and I was spent after such a great day.

On Sunday, my host family headed to Yesan, where my host father has family. I opted to stay at the apartment for some R & R. After a slightly lazy morning, I packed my school supplies and headed to my favourite coffee shop, "Latte". I love this place. It is on the second floor if its building and has tables overlooking a street with a lot of foot traffic. Ordering an iced cafe latte (no sugar, please), I proceeded to listen to a sermon by Dan Betzer on my ipod. Talking about encountering the presence of God and focusing on Exodus 40, it was just what I needed this week. I then spent the next couple of hours lesson planning and reading The Three Musketeers. As I was headed back to my apartment, my host family called and said they were picking me up for dinner in Yesan. While this change in plans was unexpected, it ended up being a great trip. We went to two restaurants, but they were both closed. At the third restaurant, my host father dropped us off and headed off to find food that he likes better (apparently he does not like this style of food). I had spaghetti and a fried chicken breast. The combination was a little different than normal, but yummy. After dinner we went to my host father's brother's house. They live way out in the country in a two story wood house. At first I was anxious about getting back to finish my planning for Monday morning. But then I just relaxed and focused on the family time instead worrying about teaching. I learned how to play Omok, a game where one player has black pieces and the other has white pieces. Each turn, the player lays his piece on a grid, attempting to make a line of five. I played against my host sister and her two younger brother cousins. I am definitely hooked!

All and all, the weekend was great.