Dancing in Daejeon

This weekend two of the Hwacheon girls and I made the trip from Hwacheon to Chuncheon to visit our friend, Amber, for her birthday. We all left school a little early on Friday so that we could make the three hour trip in time for a wonderful dinner cooked by Amber's host mom. After dinner we met up with a few other Fulbright friends to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Amber's birthday and just being together. It was really nice to explore Daejeon, especially since Hwacheon has absolutely zero night life. I was stunned by the number of Western Bars (ones that don't make you order food and pay as a large group) and clubs. There is not a single Western Bar in Hwacheon. I was also amazed at how many foreigners we met at the various bars. I sometimes forget just how many foreign English teachers are in Korea.

A group of us at a bar in Daejeon

On Saturday, I was able to meet up with a few more Fulbright friends. A few of us met up at the river in Daejeon and watched two friends play Ultimate Frisbee. There was an Ultimate Frisbee match this weekend between our friend's team from Gwangju and the local Daejeon team. It was funny to see all the Koreans gawk at the foreigners playing Ultimate Frisbee as they walked by. Ultimate Frisbee is definitely a western sport and the teams are almost exclusively foreigners. That night we indulged in a western meal of burgers and fries, which was unbelievably satisfying. I realized I hadn't eaten Western food since sometime in January when I was in China with my family. Therefore, I was long overdue. Luckily, we also went out for American-style brunch on Sunday. One of the benefits of living in big cities is definitely the food. There are no authentic western restaurants in Hwacheon.

The weekend was really fun and relaxing. It's nice to be able to cut loose and reconnect with other ETAs. Most of us are faced with similar struggles in the classroom, in our home stays and just in Korea more generally and it is helpful to be able to discuss these challenges. Additionally, it's very refreshing to be able to fully let your guard down and not worry about representing America well. It's often very exhausting constantly trying to please everyone around you. Fulbright really instills us with a drive to constantly represent America well and be aware of how our actions can be received by our schools, home stay and communities. Although it's important to be mindful of one's behavior, it's also quite challenging to always be putting on a good face. Therefore relaxing weekends like the one I spent in Daejeon are very important!