Soyo say you hiked Soyosan, eh?
My calves hurt

On Saturday I trekked 4 hours to visit my friend Audrey who lives in Yangju (along with Colleen). It way up north, not too far from the NoKo border. We went to Soyosan Mountain which is located in Dongducheon, which is even further north. There's a US base there (Camp Casey). The hike up Soyosan and back down took 5 hours. My legs are so incredibly sore, especially my calves. There were points on the hike where you had to pull yourself up using rope railings. It was pretty tiring, but worth it. Even though it was a cloudy/"sand-wind" day, it was really pretty. There are 6 different peaks on Soyosan and we conquered them all! We met a couple of people (a girl and a guy) on the hike who were both in the military and stationed at Camp Casey. They were actually very nice. And young (19). Apparently when they first saw us they thought that we were either tourists or in the military. Hahahahaha!!! I can't believe that people in the military would see us hiking up a mountain and think we were in the military. I got a kick out of that. There are a bunch of lanterns strung up by the temple because May 5th is Buddha's birthday. Happy Birthday, Buddha!

The next morning we ate breakfast at this restaurant near the military base...and we got french toast, chocolate chip and banana pancakes, and biscuits and gravy!!! It was awesome. We also met a few more military guys who were also very nice (a little older-21). One of them had only been in Korea for 3 weeks, and he decided to come with us to Seoul that day (and he went without a "battle buddy" which is against military rules, apparently). There was a big Lantern Festival going on in Seoul (in honor of Buddha). There were a bunch of stalls where you could do free crafts and stuff. I made a paper lotus lantern (took friggin' forever) and painted a picture of cherry blossoms...aka traced a picture of cherry blossoms (in record 3 minutes time). I was wearing a Wisconsin t-shirt and was approached by a guy who went to UW and was writing a story on Buddhism in Korea, or something. So he asked me some questions and took a picture of us. It turns out he used to teach at Shabazz, which is pretty weird. Shabazz is an alternative high school in Madison located in Sherman Middle School, where I student taught. So that was fun. Then I went home and called my parents one last time before my dad takes off for Korea to visit me.

I also included a picture of a traditional Korean farmhouse model that I built (I finished the roof on Friday night). Because I'm a dork. I got it free for Christmas...and how can you not build it, really? Tomorrow the Pyeongtaek gang is coming over to my house for our get together to have a Traditional Korean Farmhouse-warming party. Which means we'll order pizza or something.

So today at school I find out that there's a teacher volleyball tournament that I apparently had to participate in. All the teachers were wearing their full tracksuits and tennis shoes and there I am, wearing jeans and slip-on shoes. Thanks for telling me, guys! But I really am not into wearing tracksuits, so I didn't really care. It was weird. The guys on the team (which averaged like 2) totally dominated the game and wouldn't let anyone else hit the ball unless it was physically impossible for them to reach it in time. I suck at volleyball but they were impressed nonetheless because half the other Korean ladies were afraid of the ball. My team (the 6th grade teachers) got 3rd place. They were also impressed with my kickball abilities. Which, again, are nothing to write home about, but I actually kick the ball with force and get it into the air unlike half the other teachers who either miss the ball or make it go foul. Come on...it's friggin' kickball.

After school my vice-principal (or as my co-teacher says, "vice-prisoner"), co-teacher, and some other random guy from the office at my school came to my apartment for an unknown reason. I guess to check and make sure I haven't destroyed anything. I don't know. Then I had to go out to eat with the vice-principal and my co-teacher. Both speak a decent amount of English. Joleen, we went to that 'Cafe' that you can see from my apartment building. It was westernish, but still Koreany. Guess what my vice-principal asked me..."So, you will maybe think about staying another year?" SERIOUSLY. What the hell does she not understand about NO, I'M NOT COMING BACK? Then she gave me another task to be completed by June...designing a new English classroom complete with "stations" or something. So now I'm an architect. But I layed out a lot of things that bother native English teachers about their contracts because they were complaining that 50% of native teachers only stay one year. I, myself, was surprised it was that high. I guess it is good money. So now I'm home. And I watched the newest Grey's Anatomy. And downloaded United 93 just because of all the hype. Now I need to go.