Oxford, Volleyball, and China

Before I detail the events of this weekend, I have to share one of the high points in my week. For the last several months I've been dreaming and scheming up a list of travel plans for my time here in Korea. At the top of my list was to take a summer course at Oxford on Jane Austen. About a month ago the list of courses for summer 2011 were posted and I was thrilled to discover there was a course covering Jane Austen's Heroines scheduled during the middle of July. Ever since, I've been patiently waiting for registration to open in order to secure my place. On Wednesday the application appeared online and I quickly grabbed my Visa card and signed up! I am so excited! Okay, back to the here and now...

This week marked our ninth full week since school had started and with Friday came the end of the quarter. Needless to say, I have a rather large pile of "marking" (that's what people call grading here) to do this weekend. To be more specific, there are 15 tests and 35 lab reports calling for my attention. What's a girl to do? Procrastinate, that's what!

Friday afternoon I ran home, swapped out my work clothes for gym clothes, and joined a group of my colleagues to take on the girls junior varsity volleyball team for a practice/match. A diverse group of teachers from the middle and high school turned up for the match--we call ourselves team "Old School".  Just for the record, I am not old. Although there were many spastic and comical moments witnessed during the game, the most shocking play of the day occurred before the match began. Mr. Olivier showed up in spandex biker shorts and a belly shirt. "Holy hell, what is that?!" were the first words out of my mouth when he walked into the gym. I couldn't help giggling as I wondered if the students noticed.  Team Old School played decently, but the JV girls out hit us and we lost 2-1. Today I can feel the effects of yesterday's play--maybe I am a little old. One of my students sitting in the stands graciously volunteered to photograph the event. Here's what she captured...

Team Old School gathering to strategize...

Coach Misty giving us instructions

Way to go Allison!  Poz makes a point scoring play!

Old School in action.  Spandex clad Vincent was in ready position!

Allison and I just about took each other out trying to get to that ball!

A little action at the net.

Serving Old School to victory...at least I scored a point.

Huddling during a time out to formulate a new plan of attack.

The entire roster of team Old School!

Allison and me after the game.

Steph and me

My sightseeing plans have died down a bit since I first arrived in Seoul. This has probably been a direct result of working hard and not sleeping enough. Last night after arriving home from the volleyball game I made the decision to scrap my Saturday morning plans in favor of sleeping in and getting schoolwork done. The sleeping happened, the schoolwork didn't. I needed time to catch up with family back home so I put my phone card minutes to good use! By the time I showered, ate breakfast, and got ready to face the world it was time to head down the hill for a special birthday party.

Molly Wilcox celebrated her birthday over a week ago, but her party for friends was held this afternoon.  What to do with a group of young ladies? Paint china of course! I sort of invited myself to the china painting party and we had a blast! Most everyone decided to paint a bowl, a duck, or a pig...I decided to be different and paint a necklace pendant. I consider myself crafty, but when you put a paintbrush in my hand I become totally artistically challenged.

Our painting pallet.

Jo hard at work

Miss Sophie's finished pig.

Ruth's awesome creation!

My finished piece--yep, it took over an hour to paint.

Birthday girl Mollie with her two creations!

Jo's finished bowl--so cool!

Close up of my piece.  We'll see how it looks after it comes out of the kiln.

While everyone finished up, I sat talking to the kids. One of them asked me, "Are you a teenager?" I asked Ruth, "Am I a teenager?" "Yes, of course you are," she answered, "a big teenager." Ha! The kids then wanted to know exactly how OLD that would make me. They started guessing and when one finally got to twenty-eight she looked shocked. I'm sure that was MUCH older than she thought a teenager would be! What a riot kids can be. As the day comes to a close it is time to face that pile of grading. In fact, I plan to stay up until it is entirely finished...I have a feeling it is going to be a late night.

Obviously not all foreigners living in Korea spend their free time playing volleyball with students, painting china, or visiting the palaces. Some go kick it in Guemcheon! Ruth showed me this video during lunch this week and I can't help posting it for all of you who read to see. Here's a little snapshot of a foreigner's life in Korea (you may miss out on some of the inside jokes and Korean references but it's still pretty darn hilarious)!

Check it out here!

Stay tuned...you never know when a group of bored foreigners from SFS might make our own version-kickin' it in Yonhi Dong:).