Nick and I are trying not to concentrate on the fact that we have about three weeks left in Korea. Our schedule is super busy. This weekend we are going to the Seoul LDS Temple for the last time. The following weekend we are going to Busan for the last time. We aren't sure if our last weekend will be spent cleaning or in Daegu.
We have made some really good memories with some really special friends that we will never forget.
Some recent memories include eating boneless chicken feet for the first time. We walked the five minutes to eat at Nice Chicken for the last time. We wanted to try the boneless chicken because we thought we saw it on the menu the last time we ate there. Turns out that the last word after boneless was 발 (feet) we didn't catch that part, and we ended up with a nice plate of spicy boneless chicken feet. I think the owner was a little mad that we didn't eat em'.
The Feet
Our miscalculation here was all Nick's fault, so we determined that he had to pay the ultimate price and eat one. Nick kept procrastinating his fate so 'Manda just popped one into his mouth. This picture makes me laugh so hard.
Look Google finds it funny too and made a gif out of it.. I could watch it forever!
Another fun memory that I will never forget is that Christina came to visit me this month and she brought with her Heather and the Talbot munchkins, Aiden, Lily, and Reagan. We went to a beautiful pond in Changnyeong and walked around before we went to the street market and then back to school.
Isn't it a gorgeous view?!
I'm so grateful for Christina!
At school I gave them a tour and right before they left Richard asked them to stay and meet the students who had just arrived. The students cheered as the three children entered the room and crowded around them. They pinched their cheeks and touched their arms and heads. It was adorable! I have never seen anything like it before. The kids were super awesome even while being thronged like little celebrities. Heather wrote all about it, you can check out her blog post about the experience HERE.
Suzi gave them some souvenirs. They will never forget CEV!
The kids with Sohee!
We have also eaten our fair share in Korean BBQ
Look at all of those side dishes!! YUM!
The Beef!
Cooking the beef!
We obviously don't cook it the right way because she came and took over!
And we went bowling for the first time in Korea
Time seems to be flying! I'm so glad that I still have time to blog about all of our adventures! I hope you guys enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoyed writing it. That's not to say there isn't more to come!
Nick and I started off the wonderful workshop trip in the CEV van with Josh, Lauren, Sohee, Richard and Suzi. That alone could have made it the greatest workshop trip ever but there was so much more to come.
Our first rest stop off the highway wasn't very good, guessing by looks, so we got back on the highway and took the next one. It also didn't look great for lunch so we went to the bathroom and jumped back on the road. The third stop was a charm. We sat and ate a wonderful lunch of Bibimbop and Ttok Ramyun!
We hit the road again and before we knew it we were in Namhae. Nick spotted a turtle boat and really wanted to take a ride in it but settled for a picture. We got lucky that our next stop was near it. We ran and took a picture of it before we got on our boat. On our boat ride we fed the seagulls, saw a dead body, dolphins, and flying (jumping) fish. It was a great adventure.
Super Sweet Bridge!
Turtle Boat!!!!!!!
Mine!?
We left Namhae after the boat ride and headed towards Jinju. We found our Valentine motel, checked in and had a couple hours to ourselves. Nick and I chose to relax for a little bit then go out and explore the town. We found an awesome toy store right next door to where we were staying. We also walked a small portion of the river and just got to know our where we were staying.
We left for the city with dinner on our minds. Sohee found us a wonderful “all you can eat” meat buffet and it was delicious. After we ate we walked to the lantern festival. We were super excited about it because we wanted to go before we left Korea. I’m glad we were able to go and see how beautiful it was. I felt like we didn't have enough time to really explore all of the lanterns, mostly because we didn't realize the lanterns were just in the one area so we walked past them and into many tents. We really wasted time there. All of the teachers stuck together until the last little bit because some were taking a long time to do something so they were left behind.
SO LANTERN-Y I'M GONNA DIE!!!!
Nick got too much into playing with his glow sword.
Me and 'Manda rockin' the Glow Bows!
TO VICTORY ON MY NOBLE BULL!
The next day we were able to wake up slow and then we hit the road. We went back to the lantern festival only this time we were on the other side where the temple was. It was a place we all wanted to see at night but we didn't have the time to get there. We are glad we got to go during the day though.
Random High School Students. We may have been mistaken for celebrities.
BONG!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey there sweet cheeks!
Me, sir?
Nick and I dressed up and got our pictures taken. It was super cool.
We had a great two days! It was so perfect to go to the lantern festival with our CEV Family!
It finally came. The day I'd been preparing for since we got to Korea. Taekwondo Black belt Test day!
Months leading up to this day were challenging. I had to mentally and physically prepare myself while my broken arm was still healing. I got the bill of health from my Doctor two days before my test. Knowing my arm was fully healed put my mind at ease about the sparring (fighting) portion of my test.
Master park picked us up at 10:45 and squeezed us (Lauren Hand and Nick came along for moral support) in to our Taekwondo van with all of the other upgrade hopefuls from our gym and we were off to Gimhae. It didn't take long before we arrived and we ate lunch, stretched and practiced.
I think it is hilarious that the other students who were testing that day were going for their first black belt just like me, but they are so little.
After we practiced and got warmed up it was time to get our name tags and I was brought to a different door. I had no idea that it was the door I was going to walk into to perform my poomsaes and sparring. I thought I was brought over there because it was my space to practice, but we hadn't been standing there 5 minutes when they called my town. I was so grateful to You Jin my Korean twin. She stayed with me and directed me. There were three teenage boys from Changnyeong who were taking the same test, so we had a small group. Why did they pick me to be number 1? I have no Idea. Because I was #1 in the group random officials kept trying to talk to me and move our group from place to place and the boys just laughed at me as I shook my head and did the best I could to understand the directions and lead our group. I'm glad I watched the other groups so I already had an idea of what I needed to do.
We moved to the stage I sat first in our row sitting cris cross apple sauce with my arms extended and hands in fist resting on my knees. This is Taekwondo manner, however no one else was doing it. I felt that my manner is what kept my breathing in check and my heart in my chest.
We got up and moved to the floor. I look up and Nick is no where to be seen.... my heart started beating really fast. I meet eyes with my master and he told me to breathe. I resumed breathing and he told me to stretch so I did some light stretches.
My group is up next and I'm surprised how calm I am. I have worked so hard for this test. I keep telling myself that I would not mess up and I would show how confident I am in my skills.
Standing in attention in front of three judges who are all LOOKING AT ME!!! I was the foreigner and they wanted to see how well I was going to do. They called the poomsae that need to be performed and I nailed it.
In the video watch the judges watch me at the beginning.
After we performed the first poomsae they called, they called my to the desk (because I'm #1 in the group) I got to the chose a ball with a number on it. Whatever number it is we had to preform that poomsae. I picked up lucky number 4. We did the poomsae and then got pushed to the stage to get ready to spar (fight),
A week before the test I was told that I would be fight a high school boy who had no control over his body. I worried and stressed about that for a whole week. Turns out he was super friendly, but they were right, he had no control. Sparing is not my strongest skill in taekwondo, but I did my best. You are suppose to kick each other with different kicks you have learned up to this point to show off your skills. When a boy spars with a girl he cannot kick her in the head and after they told him that maybe he got confused. He didn't really kick me at all. He kneed my stomach a lot and kicked me below my knees. It hurt because I didn't have padding there. After we finished his master yelled at him in front of me and then turned and asked if I was okay. I told him I was great and then he turned and yelled at the boy some more. I asked You Jin what was being said and she told me his master was mad because he only kicked with his knee.
Here is a video of my fight:
After I finished I found the kids and wished them luck as they were about to take their test. Nick, Lauren and I went up to the stands and watched and recorded them as they did their thing.
Afterward we all took some fun pictures.
Me, Sohee, Master Park, His wife, Nick
Yu Jin, Me, Master Park's wife
us with Sohee
This kid was hilarious!
He had the most adorable chunky cheeks!
I'm gonna slice some bread!
Sohee, Nick and Chunky cheek boy
Our kids about to test.
I'm getting ready to fight.
Me and the three boys from Changnyeong.
Over all the experience was great and I'm really glad I was able to earn my black belt in Korea. It taught us so much about the culture and about ourselves. It's so much more than just kicking and punching and people who have never done a martial art don't know that. You train your mind, body and soul in the process of a workout. We will never forget this experience here and plan to continue with our Taekwondo training when we get back to the US.
