Another Weekend Gone

As I write this, I'm pretty emotionally torn. Part of me is SO excited to be back in America in three weeks and part of me is so sad to leave all the people who made my time in Korea so memorable and special. This past weekend I spent a lot of time connecting with my co-teachers and their families which made me realize that I wish I had even more time to spend with them.

On Saturday morning I met my co-teacher SuJin in Chuncheon and she drove us to Gapyeong where we met the rest of her family. All of us were set to camp on an island in Gapyeong together Saturday night. I was really excited to be included in her family's weekend plans and was honored to have the privilege of meeting SuJin's sister and her sister's family. It's so nice to know that SuJin feels comfortable sharing so much of her life with me. Camping was so much fun! I loved playing with SuJin's two daughters, as well as her niece and nephew. It was also nice to talk with the adults. They were so welcoming and seemed genuinely thrilled to have me join them on their family vacation. The camping trip was really relaxing and relatively low-key. I generally think of camping as roughing it a bit but that wasn't really the case here. There was no hiking, getting dirty or any of that. Instead there was a pool with blow-up inflatables for the kids to play on! We also had two grills and plenty of amenities. I was really surprised that many of the other campers even set up huge projectors and just watched tv!

Amy, the other ETA, SuJin's daughter and I at the campsite

SuJin's family after the pool

Me reading to SuJin's daughters

We left the campsite at noon on Sunday because the kids were exhausted and didn't seem like they could last much longer. Luckily, that gave me plenty of time to meet up with another co-teacher and her family on Sunday. Every Tuesday (and now Fridays) the KyeongHi, the school's librarian, joins me and a few other teachers to cook and talk. This weekend her younger sister whose a college student was visiting her in Chuncheon. Since her sister is only a little younger than me we made plans to meet up this Sunday. KyeongHi's husband and son also joined us. I thought we would just chat over coffee or something small and was shocked when I found out how much KyeongHi planned for our day together. We first drove to Cheonpyeongsa Temple in Chuncheon and had a delicious lunch at the bottom of the mountain. I was treated to a huge feast of many traditional Korean foods, including fried root (surprisingly delicious).

The fried root!

KyeongHi's son munching away

After our lunch the five of us hiked up the mountain a bit to the temple. It was a gorgeous short hike complete with waterfalls. I really enjoyed the walk up. The temple, like most Korean temples, was nestled beautifully in the mountainside. The view was incredible.

I'm next to KyeongHi and her sister is on the right.

Outside the temple

After finishing at the temple we drove to a neat cafe located in a traditional house in the farmland that surrounds Chuncheon. The cafe was gorgeous and I was able to try many traditional foods as we drank coffee and chatted some more. I really wished I had invited KyeongHi to do something together earlier because I really enjoyed my time with her family. Her sister was also so sweet and welcoming. Unfortunately, it was getting late after we finished coffee and her one-year old son needed to get home for a nap. I also needed to start my trip back to Hwacheon so we parted ways after coffee. It was an amazing end to my weekend. I will really miss all the people who have made my year in Korea incredible!