Small Town Girl: My Week Off ^^

Today was my first day back at school after an entire week off. While I enjoyed time off, by the end I was starting to get bored... so school was welcome. My students were wound up, of course, as kids are the day they return from a holiday. But they were fun. I like them more every day.

During my week off, I did a couple of really fun things. On Thursday I traveled to another town to visit a fellow Fulbright ETA. It was a really awesome experience for several reasons. Firstly, I was extremely proud of myself. I bought a bus ticket and navigated the bus terminal, which had no English. Then I rode the bus for three hours to the other town, met up with my friend and went to meet her homestay family. We had the most amazing American dinner at a restaurant, where the owner had lived in America. He knew what a real burger was :). Later that night, I booked a hotel room and had such a relaxing time. It used to be that I couldn't stand to be alone, but it was really nice. And I was proud for doing something on my own. Secondly, it was really nice to see a friend who I had become close with during the seven weeks of orientation.

This past weekend I spent in Andong while my homestay family traveled out of town for 추석 (Chuseok), which is essentially Korean Thanksgiving. I went out with some friends and generally had a good time. So I spent a total of four days and nights by myself, which is a new and bittersweet experience for me.

On Tuesday, my homestay parents (who had returned from their trip) took me to Dosan Seowon, a historic and very neat Confucian academy. No one studies there anymore, it is now an exhibit, but it was really awesome. You can read about it here. It was built in 1574 and honors one of the most celebrated and famous Confucian scholars, Yi Hwang. Here are some pictures: