incheon

this weekend i went to incheon with some of the teachers to go to the beach. incheon is a major seaport on the west coast and is very close to seoul.

the beach we visited was on an island, so obviously a ferry was needed to transport us. as we were walking onto the ferry, the first thing we noticed were the jellyfish in the water that were swimming up near the top. this kind of alarmed me because i didn't want to be swimming in the ocean with jellyfish that swam so close to shore. there was actually no need to be concerned--the tide was so low, we decided to explore the beach instead of swimming. there were a ton of washed up dead jellyfish on the beach that were perfectly placed so you could touch them but not get stung. they felt like hard jello jigglers. we also found this sand that was filmy on the top, but it was like walking on a water bed. there were also slugs, snails, and occasionally a sea cucumber. i'm not exactly sure how to describe them, but they're basically an orange, bumpy version of a slug, but bigger. apparently they are really tasty and even considered a delicacy in korea...

we ate dinner at this seafood place where you order your food and they start the grill up right at your table. they bring out this deep pan with fire in it and a grill to put the food on. when the shellfish pop open they're ready to eat. i actually didn't eat the shellfish (my stomach still rejects even thinking about it after getting the flu the day after eating seafood) so i had bibinbop. bibinbop is basically vegetables, rice, chili paste, seaweed and a fried egg (they put fried egg on everything). it's actually really good (and fun to say). you can get it basically anywhere you go.

that night we stayed in bungalows, which fit two to three people. it's just an open room with a soft (not soft enough) floor with some pillows and blankets. basically, it was like camping, except the bathrooms suprisingly were better than the ones at campgrounds in the united states (although i barely know what those are like, i'm not the camping type).

today i had my first classes with my little kids. i was told some of them may not have english names and we get to name them if they don't. so the cutest little girl in one of my classes didn't have an english name. my original plan was to name them after popular american television show characters (like from the oc, grey's anatomy, gossip girl), but this girl liked none of those names. so i decided to start listing off my friend's names, starting with kate. she chose that one right away. smart girl.

so far, they have been good students and very well behaved. they're kind of shy since i'm their new teacher, but i was told that won't last long. at the beginning of class when i introduced myself, i asked them all where they thought i was from. with the exception of one guess, they all thought i was from canada. the other guess thought i was from france.