Cheusok and Soccer

This weekend was Cheusok, the Korean Thanksgiving so we had an extra day off work, yet the weekend really seemed to fly by. It was relatively uneventful because I managed to get a throat infection and also many places were closed. On Friday, we went downtown and saw the movie "Fame" (one of the worst movies we've ever seen!) and did some shopping and then went over to our friends to play some board games (yes...life is very exciting!). Saturday was pretty much a write-off because I felt so sick and then on Sunday, we went to see a professional soccer game.

The soccer game was really fun. For some reason, you didn't have to pay to go in (usually the tickets are about $10 each). Also, you don't pay for parking and you can bring in your own food so really there is no cost. Everyone brings coolers with beer and food and even if you decide to buy drinks/food there, the cost is the same as it would be at the grocery store (or even less). I think a can of beer was about $1.50. We have never seen Koreans so excited and enthusiastic. The game ended in a tie, but it was really fun. It was also so hot. It's October 5th and we are still wearing tshirts, shorts and sandals.

We have a four day week and then we're headed to Seoul and will either stay one or two nights depending on how much there is to do.

We've been here two months now and can't believe there are still 10 months to go! We are definitely missing many things about home and wish we could come home for Thanksgiving!!

Also, we have both learned how to read and write in Korean which is sometimes useful if we actually know what the Korean word means. It's a really easy language to read because each letter is pronounced phonetically and there are no exceptions. Neither of us really realized how difficult and complicated English was until we started teaching it. Although we may be able to speak English really well, we never took the time to think about how many rules there are and how for every rule there are at least two exceptions. Often students will ask us to explain a rule and all we can think of is "because it just sounds right."

Anyway, time to get ready for work!