I also got a chance to go to and be in The Donkey Show. It is a musical performance- think Midsummer Night Dream meets Studio 54 on acid. This production was going on in the States but got pulled because of its "raw" content. It was especially interesting for it to be in Korea because this culture is so conservative. However, it was an awesome performance (all in Korean). The story was all told in song and the audience was all standing around the stage, like you would at a concert. Random people were pulled on stage- I must be random because along with "random" security checks at that airport, I got pulled onstage at the Donkey Show! Robyn, Trena, me, Jinny, and Janice on the way to the beach near Incheon.
Adam at his birthday party. He wasn't thrilled about the hat!
My first beach experience in Korea! This was in the beginning of June when the beaches aren't crowded yet. People here don't go to the beach until it is officially summer on the calendar. It could be 90 degrees outside and you will still find the beaches fairly empty in comparison to the summer season. Also, when summer officially ends on the calendar, so does going to the beach for most Koreans. Summer clothes get put away and summer activities come to an end, even if it is still hot out! 
Alas, another 22 days has gone by since my last post! I honestly don't know where the time goes, it has been passing by so quickly! Yesterday marked my 4th month living in Korea! Sometimes it seems as if I've been here much longer than 4 months, other times I feel like I just got here! Summer is officially here which means I am trying to stay out of Seoul as much as possible on the weekends! We are about to enter monsoon season for the remainder of June and all of July. It has been getting hot- in the 80's every day- and is supposed to get hotter yet. Right now the summer feels like a typical Wisconsin summer, hot and humid!
I have been to two beaches in Korea so far. I went to a beach near Incheon and also just recently I visited Daechon beach. I spent the weekend laying on the beach in the hot sun. I got to go kayaking in the ocean and at night I sat on a beach with my friends while we talked, played guitar, and just goofed off! There were little mini four wheelers you could rent so we got one and cruised around the beach and made little jumps out of sand for people to try and jump over. The tide went out really really far and I found 15 starfish, a shrimp, and a crab! About 9 of us crammed into a Minbok to sleep. Basically, we each paid about 9 dollars to sleep in a room with nothing in it. You grab a blanket and a little floor pad and sleep on the wood floor. The next morning I felt so sore like I had been lifting weights. Korea is a beautiful country, almost 70 percent mountains, which is easy to forget when you are surrounded by buildings in the huge city of Seoul. Everytime I have taken a trip out of Seoul I always fall asleep on the bus or the train. I really wish I could stay awake to look at the beautiful scenery, but so far I haven't had much luck!
Last week Adam's sister Kate came to visit. She is teaching in Japan for the summer and decided to spend 11 days visiting Adam. It was nice to have a face from home around, even though I don't know Kate that well. I enjoyed getting to know her this past week. It was also fun seeing her initial reactions to things here in Korea, it reminded me of how Adam and I saw things when we first got here. Now these things seem so normal.
I just finished my first set of parent teacher conferences! I officially feel like a teacher! I was very nervous for them. They are set up a bit differently here. All the parents came into my classroom to observe a 30 minute lesson. After the lesson I met with each parent individually to discuss their child. I was so nervous that having the parents in the classroom would drive my already rambunctious kids wild, but the lesson went just fine. I definitely have to say that the part of teaching I have learned the most about has been classroom management. It is so easy to let little things go, but as time goes by you realize how much of a mistake that was because kids will remember the last time you didn't correct them for something and then all of a sudden your management strategies are not as effective. That is a lesson I have definitely been learning.
I am busy trying to plan things for the rest of the summer. Adam, Morgan, and I are planning on going to Japan over our summer break. We will visit Kate in Tokyo and then explore Osaka and Hiroshima as well. I am also going to the Boryeong Mud Festival. It is basically a time on the beach that everyone gets covered in mud, which is supposed to be great for you skin, and plays. I should have some interesting pictures after that weekend. I am also hoping to get a rafting trip in this summer. It is so hard to fit everything in!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summers thus far. Keep me posted on your lives and adventures!
