It has been a wild week!

Today has been a very full and tiring day, but I wanted to sit down and do a bit of blogging before I head to bed. Warning, it's a long one! Here are the last few days in review...

Wednesday night Typhoon Kompasu blew through blessing us with no school on Thursday. I used the day to catch up on school planning and preparation, talk to friends and family, and rest. Other than a few downed trees and a coating of debris covering the campus, SFS remained relatively untouched. This was not the case for many of my students living on one of the military bases near Itaewon. The kids gave me a full update on Friday and all I can say is that I feel lucky to have weathered my first major storm in Seoul in good shape.

It seems that the typhoon took our rainy weather with it as we have enjoyed two pretty nice days. Friday evening I joined the D-dong ladies for our second apartment dinner...this time we pot-lucked on the rooftop of our building. After a crazy week, it was nice to get together with the girls, eat, and talk about how things are going so far. Knowing I had plans the next morning, I crashed early and enjoyed my first good night of sleep in about a week.

This morning brought sunshine and a trip with Greg and Gail Neff to Insadong. This area of the city is known as a sort of arts and crafts district that is reminiscent of an older Korea. I had seen pictures another teacher posted and couldn't wait to get there and start shopping (arts and crafts are right up this girl's alley!). We took the subway and arrived in Insadong around 9:30am. As we entered the main street we came across some froggie friends who were poised and ready to let us rub them for good luck!

A happy froggie family!

Greg & Gigi looking for a little good luck!

The first few hours of our walk were pretty peaceful--we popped into any and every shop that caught our fancy (and Greg was such a good sport to let Gail and I browse and shop). I purchased a cool fan, a handmade pottery necklace, and a few other gifts from some really great shops.

So much paper!

Crazy tin man statue!

My new tin pal

It appeared that we were the only Americans in the area for quite some time and we were spotted by a group of Korean teenage girls who were doing a project for their English club. Their assignment was to interview a foreigner and they found great joy in asking us questions about ourselves and our time in Korea. Here's Greg with the adorable girls...

I think we hit the jackpot when we came up on five story Ssamziegil. This mini mall was filled with funky jewelry shops, tea shops, clothing boutiques, and other unique stores (including a rooftop garden cafe)--I loved it and came away with a hand carved stamp that says Miss James in Korean (keep an eye out for it on a postcard soon).

Floors and floors of fun shops!

Interesting tree

Rooftop garden

Funky cafe where people leave messages under the glass table top

I could have spent many, many more hours just wandering the side streets and shopping 'til the money ran out! There were so many things to see, smells to take in, and sounds to process that I think I reached the point of sensory overload!

Starbucks in Insadong

You can pick up a wide range of Korean souvenirs in the National Souvenir Center

At first glance I'd say this looks like an alchemy shop!

Or a place to pick up some interesting herbs and spices...

Art on the side of a building

I was really stopping to take a photo of the bulgogi filled pastries, but one of the guys who worked at this stand provided an added bonus!

Yes, that is Shrek in the window!

Insadong is home to numerous art supply shops. I snuck into one and snapped a few photos just for fun.

Before we headed back home, we made a final stop at Jogyesa Temple, a buddhist temple located amongst the hustle and bustle of the neighborhood. It was such a cool experience to step inside where people were worshipping. Nothing makes you feel more like a tourist than getting tossed out for taking pictures in the temple and blocking the monk's entryway. Oops! It was worth it--check out these photos!

The Jogyesa Temple

Me and little Buddha

The beautiful exterior of the temple.

You must remove your shoes before entering.

Lanterns that bathe the temple in light.

Jogyesa Temple is an active place of worship.

Three giant buddhas at the front of the temple.

Middle buddha.

One of the massive doors.

Under the eaves.

Paintings on the side walls.

Mini pagoda

A full scale photo of Jogyesa Temple. Pure awesomeness!

The building that houses a massive bell and drum.

Giant bell

Big drum

Me learning to play a traditional drum.

When I arrived home from Insadong the only thing I could manage to do was take a nap! A few hours later, Kristen and Misty arrived for our long awaited dumpling making party. Most of you know that I have very little expertise in the kitchen, so we looked to Kristen to lead the charge and I must say the three of us made an excellent team. Misty handled the rice, I chopped ingredients, and Kristen taught us how to assemble and cook the tasty little morsels.

Misty mastered the rice cooker and made us delicious brown rice!

Skillful dumpling assembly.

I can cook now:)

Culinary masterpieces!

Success!

We ended the night with cartwheels on the athletic field (anyone watching probably wondered if we had a bit too much to drink, but we were just having a good time) and a walk down the hill into Yonhi Dong for ice cream. It was such a beautiful evening, so we sat outside the Family Mart to enjoy our frozen treats and reflect on the last month. We all agreed that today was a good day and though we'll face more stress, struggles, frustrations, and challenges, chances are there are many more great days to come!

I finally opened up and assembled my new Polaroid camera at the end of the night. Here's the first shot! Kudos to our photographer Kristen!