I am an EPIK teacher and my co-teacher invited me to a staff trip for lunch; she said that it was a two-hour drive to the coast, and we’ll leave by bus at 10:30 a.m. That sounded GREAT, and there was no hiking or climbing involved. The day before the trip, she told me that we would not get back home until about 7:30 p.m. So, I was wondering what in the world were we going to do all that time? That’s the thing about staff retreats in Korea. You will probably be invited to go. My school has monthly outings. I pay 10,000 a month to participate (less than $10). You are often the last person to know what’s going on. You are expected to agree to the trip and be up for whatever. On the day of the trip I found out that we were going to lunch, and to a museum, and riding a cable car up a mountain, and finally to a temple. I’m beginning to think that most teacher trips include some some of a trip to a temple.

I found out two things during this trip:
1. Korea is more beautiful than I thought
2. One of my co-teachers always want to know what I am doing, what I did, and when!

Raw Fish in South Korea

I slept for most of the way to lunch. We had raw fish. It wasn’t salmon, but some other kind of fish. It wasn’t bad! Then we took the cable car, and I captured some stunning photographs. Now, while I we were waiting in line to board the cable car, one of my co-teachers began to ask me about my trip to Thailand. Of course, I didn’t mention my trip to her. Then she asked me about another trip when I mentioned that I saw a play in another part of Korea. She wanted to know exactly when did I go!

Oh, and I also realized that people would talk about you in Korean and Koreans who can speak English may or may not tell you what they’ve said. Of course I figured this out a long time ago, but now I have proof! We were sitting in the cable car, one of the teachers who speaks some English and four strangers, teachers from a different school. One of the teachers that we met began talking to me in English. She wanted to know where I was from, and since I lived in Georgia, she began singing Georgia on My Mind. She saw the movie, Ray. She also visited about 20+ countries. She was pretty neat! This other woman kept saying something to the lady in Korean, but the lady brushed her off and ignored her. I asked my co-worker what was going on, and my co-worker didn’t answer.

My later co-worker told me that the other woman was telling her friend that she was talking to much and to be quiet, basically to stop talking to me! I think that woman who couldn’t speak English was jealous that her friend could hold a conversation with me. Isn’t that something? A hater in Korea. My co-worker only told me what was happening after I asked her again about it. Sometimes people are talking, like the principal was talking to her today, and I hear my name clearly. My co-worker says something and MUCH later she tells me what was said (but probably only part of what was said and in her own words).

Since I’ve gotten that off of my chest, I have to say that I had a WONDERFUL day. It was so awesome and beautiful. It was 30 degrees in Busan, South Korea I think, but it was probably around 50 degrees on the coast for the trip. Oh, and we didn’t go to the museum, but we took a boat to an island.

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