I Love Fall

It’s been a busy few days here, and I love it. Friday we celebrated Halloween at school, and it was extremely exhausting. Although Halloween is not celebrated in Korea, we did because we are an English Academy. The morning with the kindergartners we had a party almost the entire time- from Best Costume Contest, to Trick-or-Treating, and a bit of art. Then I went over to ECC with the older kids. In all of my 6 classes, we taught half the class period, and then either had a Halloween party, or went to different rooms Trick-or-Treating. We also had other classes coming to ours while teaching, so obviously it was crazy all the time. When I got home Friday night I crashed. I also celebrated Halloween on Saturday night with friends. As I said, Halloween is not hugely celebrated here, but it is still recognized, so many foreigners and some Koreans got dressed up and went celebrating downtown. Some of the bars had Halloween parties, which was a lot of fun. I had a fantastic Halloween.

On Saturday I hiked the most well-known and beautiful mountain in Daegu, Palgong. It was amazing!!! It was the perfect time of the year to hike it, when all the leaves are changing color, and it is not too hot or too cold. On the way up, as we would stop for breaks, we were fed apples and chocolate from random people. There were also temples to view- my first temples I have seen here! At the top, there was a Buddha with people praying to it. It was an amazing atmosphere I did not expect. People will climb to the top and pray to the Buddha for their children during exam time or other important events that need extra praying. Palgong and Halloween celebrations made for a fantastic Saturday.

I joined a hockey league! I started playing this past Sunday. I am excited to get involved with extra-curricular activities and meet new people. Although some of the people can get competitive, they are all nice guys. I have joined in on their third week of playing, so everyone has already met and have been playing together. Despite this, everyone was very welcoming, even when they found out I have never played hockey before (excluding the times of floor hockey with family a long time ago…).

My kindergarten school closed this week due to the flu, so I have my mornings off! I am excited for the break!