This Sign Needs a Caption

“Whoah! Did I do that?”

요즘 바빠요

These days I've been pretty busy.

Last weekend was the long-anticipated conference at my church, in which two of the main speakers preached in English.  So many amazing things happened in the aftermath of the conference, just at my "regular" church, that I'm still reeling (in a good way).

Meanwhile, our new teacher came, so we finally have someone to take over all the classes we've been covering since our former co-worker departed back in May.  Normally that means I'm busy all week while we take the new guy out to dinner, etc., but he got really sick so dinner plans weren't really a priority.

As I mentioned earlier, he inherited my desk, so I'm now off in a separate little room I share with just our boss.  I feel really disconnected over there - I had previously been informed by one of my co-workers of complaints among them all that I didn't socialize enough outside of work, but now I feel like I don't see anyone at work, either.  All the pertinent information is posted in the teacher's lounge, but I tend to be busy during breaks and at my desk, not in the teacher's room where there's no place for me to be, so I've missed a couple notices so far.  Hopefully I won't miss anything important, but we'll see...

On top of all of that, it's finally vacation time!  So I've been busy trying to make sure I know what all my plans will be, practicing assembling the tent I bought because I've never really gone camping before, and just in general preparing for my trip.  I really want to go to church this weekend, but the cycling trip I plan to take is something like 146 kilometers long, and the time estimates seem to vary greatly.  One source tells me it will only take two days (one there, one back), but that source also cycled farther than I did across Saemangeum in one fourth the time, so I figure it's possible my trip could take up to eight days (there and back).  Since I only have one week off for vacation and I want to finish the whole route, I think I need to leave tomorrow to be safe.  If I get back early, great!  But this way if it does take eight days at least I'll have the time for it.

Here goes nothing!

아름다운 매미가 제 친구예요! ^^

The kids at my church found this awesome cicada outside on Sunday afternoon. I thought it looked friendly, so I picked it up. I kind of wanted to keep it as a pet, but the kids said it would die in a few days, and I have enough trouble trying to keep stuff from rotting in my apartment as it is. I think its face looked like a pug's, though, and its wings were really beautiful. I was definitely fond of it.

My friend, the beautiful cicada. ^^

It's Official

Well, I can't be in denial about it anymore. I'm officially Head Foreign Teacher.

Our newest foreign teacher arrived on Saturday, and on Monday my desk was given to him and I was officially moved out of the teachers' room and into the smaller room where the boss's desk is. I won't pretend it isn't awkward over there. But, when the boss isn't in there talking to anyone, it's certainly much quieter. Maybe I'll get a lot more done this way. We'll see.

The Cathedral of Gunsan

Today I didn't have a class in the afternoon slot, so I had time to take my bike out and explore a little further than I'm usually able to.

I'd seen this in the distance from bus windows before, but I'd never actually made it out there until now.

Behold, the Cathedral of Gunsan:

야구

On my way back from the Geum Gang Trail, I passed two Korean men practicing pitching and catching (or so it looked to my untrained eye).



I watched them for a while and afterward they gave me one of the balls they'd accidentally thrown out of bounds, and a Gatorade-like drink.



We talked for a while. The older one plays on his company's team with other older men and works near where I teach my adult class. The younger one's originally from around here but is really good at baseball and played for college in Busan. He's here because he has to do his mandatory military service (required of all young Korean men).

The first one used to be a guitarist and vocalist in a band but it didn't work out, so now he works with hot chemicals building poly-silicon (?), which is something to do with solar panels. The older one knows the younger one from his neighborhood so the younger one is coaching him to be a better player.

Apparently they have games every Sunday at 4:00, but I'm usually at church, so I probably won't ever see any of them. I think they practice every Saturday by the Geum River, though.

Geum Gang Again

Yesterday was the first nice day we'd had in a while (it's monsoon season here now), so after my parent teacher conferences were done I took my new bike out to practice riding it by the Geum River.

I got a basket put on it (I just love baskets) and had a light installed so I can ride with peace of mind at night. Both additions have already come in handy.








All in all it was a beautiful trip, and I'm looking forward to riding the trail in a few weeks for vacation.