All in Living Abroad
On Sunday, the entire staff participated in a race with our 60 year old bosses. And we all crushed it. Five of the teachers (myself and Luke included) ran the 5k, while three of the teachers, Richard and Suzi all ran the 10k! We left CEV at 8:00 AM and arrived at the scene of the race with an hour and a half to spare. Drums were banging, music was blaring, balloons were fleeing toddlers' hands and our staff was drawing stares from every direction. So many foreigners in one big group!
The weather has really started to warm up so running and more outdoor activities are becoming more frequent. Saturday was gorgeous and I needed to get out of the apartment, and I actually ended up running three miles. I know it's not much to some, but considering I haven't run much in quite a while, I was quite proud of myself. Later on, a group of us drew a Four Square court and played until dark.
Fun and Games and Photoshoots
With only a few weeks left of the cold weather, some of us took a trip a few hours north to go snowboarding last weekend. We took a 30-minute cab ride at 3:30 AM to get to the bus stop in Daegu, then took that bus to the ski resort, about 3.5 hours away, so that we arrived just as it was opening.
In Korea, Valentine's Day is still celebrated on February 14th, but it is when the women show appreciation to the men and get them chocolates and gifts. They have another holiday on March 14th called "White Day" where the men reciprocate and get the ladies something. In Korea, gift giving is a big thing, but there are many rules involved.
I know it's been a couple weeks since my last post but we're still alive and doing well! After getting home from vacation, we needed a bit to unwind and get back in the groove. It was really great getting together with the group again and exchanging travel stories...and being able to easily communicate again!
Thailand is amazing! Luke and I stepped off the plane and were immediately overwhelmed. Experienced a bit of culture shock as we immediately started bartering for a taxi to the guest house we were staying at. We arrived to the guest house around 11:00 pm and met Boyd, our host, who told us to drop our bags and go straight to the Sunday Night Market.
"Life is not all beer and skittles."
As Christmas approached, social media unsurprisingly became filled with friends and families spending time together over the holidays. For some it was even a White Christmas! For the past 25 years I've spent this holiday with my family, and this year I wasn't able to join them. I was a little down in the dumps at times because of it and would be lying if I said I had "the perfect Christmas" that I was used to. That being said, my Christmas was a new kind of perfect!