Last Sunday I went for a short run. While out on my run, I passed by the high school. There is a dirt field in front and I saw a bunch of Ajoshis (young to middle aged men) playing soccer. I stood by the field coyly and wait for someone to invite me to play. They called me onto the field and I played for an hour or so. They told me to come back the following Sunday. Which I did. I am now a part of the Sutnae team. We have legit jerseys. They are Argentina jerseys with the team name on it. I’m number 51. We also ate lunch after the game on Sunday. Looking forward to more days of soccer! I have now played on 5 of 7 continents around the world. Australia and Antarctica remain.
So now back to the previous Sunday. We also had a visitor arrive that day. Erin, my coworker Amanda’s cousin came to visit. She just finished the Peace Corp in Africa! Her visit was a lot of fun. I got to hear all sorts of stories about South Africa and compare them with Kim’s stories and my short experience in Cameroon. We ventured through Seoul Grant Park, which has many parts. We stuck to the zoo. The weather started off nice but cooled down quite a bit. The zoo was nice, but I have realized I do not really like them that much. The captive animals were very depressing. Also the cages were very small compared to ones you see in the states, but I guess that is Asia.
Picture break!
Monday morning was the first Shmooze Alumni Organization meeting. Although I met many people for the first time, I had an amazing time sharing stories about Korea and hearing and learning about all of them! I really enjoy the hangouts and they work very conveniently. I’m trying to implement them with other groups as well!
On Wednesday, we had a cute little visitor. She was a baby sister of one of the students, or so I was guessing. She was SOOOO cute! She kept running in and out of the office. I would always wave at her and make silly faces. She then would run out but kept on returning. Eventually, I was not paying attention and was dancing at my seat like I normally do. She snuck up and high fived me! She ran away again and again. Finally, we got her attention with a laser pointer! We shone it around and she was entranced! It was so much fun, until her brother came and took her away! Video posted here.
Thursday I had to go to Immigration to replace my Alien Registration Card, basically my Korean form of ID. I always have way too much in my pockets, and that is part of the reason why I lost it in the first place. While on the trip, I lost my iPod. I got really worked up about it when I realized I lost it. It makes my life a lot easier because I can get maps and translate things and keep in contact with friends here and at home. I called Mr Jung, a VP at the school and who drove us to Immigration, to see if it fell out of my pocket and I heard him say it wasn’t there. I searched online for the phone number of the building we went to. Their website was awful and had a lot of problems with links but I finally called and talked with someone but it was not found. I rationalized it and decided it was not a problem. Then when I walk in, Mr Jung walks up to me and hands my iPod back to me. I was so relieved and confused, but glad I had my lifeline to the world back.
Friday marked the beginning of Passover. Due to work, I could not go to or host a Seder, but I started observing that night. I did give myself rice for the week considering there was no way to avoid rice while in Asia. Otherwise I kept it as true as possible.
I did go to a Seder at Chabbad for the second night. What a fun story that was so look for it in the next post!
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