A Relaxing Weekend

This weekend I had a great time and managed to stay rather close to home. On Friday, after school I headed into Seoul and stayed overnight in a hostel near Cheonggyecheon, which is the man-made stream in the heart of downtown Seoul. Therefore, on Saturday morning I had a beautiful morning run along the stream. It was suprisingly serene and peaceful in the morning. The run actually reminded me of being home because the park kind of feels like High Line Park in Manhattan with the buildings on both sides of you as you walk. I didn't bring my camera on my run but here's a shot of the river courtesy of google.

After my morning run I hopped on the subway and headed over to Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) to see the Tim Burton exhibit. It's the same exhibit that was previously at the MoMA in NYC. Last time I went to the museum the staff was preparing for this new exhibit. Even though I arrived at the museum only half an hour after the museum opened the place was already swarming with people. I never knew Tim Burton had such a strong Korean fan base but apparently he has a bit of a cult following in Korea just like in the States. The exhibit was broken up into several rooms and I actually had to wait in a line in each room to be able to see most of the pieces on the walls. The exhibit was extremely well done and highlighted Burton's films as well as his smaller, original works. Some of my favorite pieces were the short poetry he wrote and illustrated while growing up in Burbank, California. It was just so quirky, creative and yet somehow poignant.
For example, this is a poem he wrote in high school. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any photos within the exhibit so I don't have the accompanying illustration.

"No one knows what I'm thinking

No one knows what I'm drinking

No one knows what pills I swallow

No one knows that inside I'm hollow

No one knows that I'm speaking

No one knows that my brain is leaking

No one knows,

They can't see

No one knows, especially me"

It's pretty heavy but I guess I liked it because it clashed a little with my view of Tim Burton when entering the exhibit and allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of him as a person. Here are some of his sketches that were the only things I was allowed to photograph on the outside of the exhibit. I thought they were pretty neat as well. 

After the museum I headed to tutoring. Unfortunately, only three students showed up this week. It's really discouraging to have so few North Korean defectors showing up for our classes when we put so much time into planning them. This week we had five teachers and three different lessons for various levels but only our three highest students showed up and they were late. Frustratingly, there's not much we can do to control this. The students actual English teacher encourages them to come and tries to give us a head count prior to each lesson but more students always say they are coming than actually show. I guess that's part of the challenge of teaching on a Saturday and having it be a two hour class.

Before heading home on Saturday I met my friend, Rachel, and her aunt and uncle for dinner. We ate Korean style shabu shabu, which was really interesting. The boiling pot of water is a super spicy broth and of course after you cook all the meat and vegetable you add noodles and then rice to the pot. Koreans sure do know how to eat a lot- I sometimes feel like every meal is a marathon. It was great to spend time with Rachel and her family. I have slept over their house a few times and generally see them fairly often but hadn't seen them since December because of winter break. They were a little disappointed I wasn't coming back to sleepover after dinner so we made plans to have a sleepover next Saturday.

Rachel and I with her aunt

On Sunday I spent a relaxing day in Chuncheon at my co-teacher's house. When I arrived SooJin and her husband prepared lunch while I played with her two daughters. I really like spending time with Hwanhee and Sohee and relished the opportunity to color and play pretend with them. We then all ate a delicious lunch that SooJin and her husband slaved over. I was so impressed and felt so honored they went through so much trouble for me. We even enjoyed a bottle of wine with our dinner, which is a rarity in Korea.

Our feast

After lunch SooJin and I chatted and played with the girls outside. It's finally warming up here (although it did briefly snow this morning...) SooJin's family has been such a source of support for me and I'm so glad I spent the day with them. I really look forward to spending more time with them this semester. We are even planning a two day trip to the coast for June!