Lost Track of Days- The Magic of 팥빙수

The Beauty that made my weekend even better than it would have been: 팥빙수

I am having an off day...I can feel it.  I woke up later than expected and as if that wasn't bad enough I picked an outfit out that I would wear in the winter at home and SOMEHOW thought it would make sense to wear it.  Sweating party was not the most fun I have had.  I had circle time as soon as I got to school which takes a lot out of a person, especially when we sing a specific song where all the kids charge at you to tickle you which really entails a bunch of sharp little fingers digging into every part of the my being.  On another note, have you ever felt completely incompetent about something that you KNOW  is simple and yet can't seem to get? That is how I feel about doing lesson plans...I thought I understood but that was for the KINDERGARTEN classes, the elementary is on a whole notha level.  I may be having an off day as I feel almost everyone at my work is having lately....maybe it is the crappy whether and lack of sun?  Either way I hope to one day be adequate enough to do a lesson plan for a bunch of elementary students! :P

So this past weekend was a fantastic time :)  Started off with me being able to sleep in which I haven't done since being in Korea...sleeping in till 1030am is such a treat :)  I then went into Seoul with some people for this super awesome bible talk and fruit party.  I was very impressed to see all these people just grabbing a mango and pealing it with their fingers and eating it like an apple.  It is MUCH harder than it looks...I was not the most attractive person at that time but hey, I enjoyed myself and that is what counts. RIght? ha  

I then slept over at my friends place who just moved here to teach as well :)  There is honestly something so comforting about having a friend from home move across the world just a week after me.  We hung out this weekend and explored her neighbourhood (in the rain of course) but it was a GOOD time :P.  We had a rain photoshoot and once we got back to her place we watched some good ol English speaking television shows.  As we were walking down the streets of Korea I kept saying "Can you believe that WE are living in Korea RIGHT NOW?" It was such an interesting feeling, almost like a dream.  I had an amazing time with her and we were able to explore on our own which made us feel more independent.  As we were walking I was very surprised at how many "love cafes" there were.  I am not too sure what that entails as we were too afraid to enter one late into the evening but either way, it looked like a nice place.   

Coffee 팥빙수

The next day we went to Church which was encouraging.  Every time I see a non Korean person speaking Korean I feel completely excited that maybe that could be me.  I then find out that this person attends Korean University and have been speaking it since grade 9...tragic reality.  Slow and steady wins the race right? (that seems to be my slogan here).  Afterwards I got together with an AMAZING person I recently met and we went out for incredible bonding time and scrumptious dessert called 팥빙수 (Paht-bing-su).  It is so delicious that I have a hard time explaining it so I will just show you a picture of two different ones we ate during that chat session :P.  

Basically, it is a MASSIVE bowl with crushed flavoured ice on the bottom with icecream, red beans and other assorted toppings depending on the kind you get.  After you have a few spoonfuls of the yummy goodness you then mix and mash it all into the crushed ice and it turns into a party.  Now it may not sound too delicious but let me tell you, You have not lived until you have tried one of these in Korea.  We got one that was green tea and another that was coffee....mmm mmm party time.

The outing and 팥빙수 was lovely and I was super excited about my weekend UNTIL I got onto the bus.  Everything changed when I walked onto the bus, luckily got a seat but it just happened to be by a man who had a plastic bag full of fish and sea creatures that made the entire bus smell of underwater death.  I was hoping that I might be able to get used to the smell with my 1 hour ride but that was not realistic.  Oh man did it reek, not a good bus ride although I did get a seat.  I could only imagine my disappointment to be STANDING on a bus that smells like fish guts (gross visual, I apologize). 

I have never been more grateful to be back in my little town :).  It was an experience though, an interesting end to a lovely weekend.  I have found that I LIVE for the weekends to spend time with my friends and explore Korea.  I seem to not look forward to the weeks but as soon as I am at school with the kids it is hard to have a bad attitude since there are always a few that seem to make me smile.

My attempt to be Korean...fail :P

<3