Yep, still here:)

Hi all! I've been having some good days lately, so let me tell you about them.

On Sunday I went out to the Seoul zoo with Sarah, what an awesome time that was. It was about an hour and a half to get there, taking a bus then the subway. And man are those subways efficient. When we got to our stop we walked up the stairs to the surface and found ourselves surrounded on three sides by big tree covered mountains. It was about 11am and the low clouds were still hanging around, grazing the tops of the peaks. The zoo is actually set up the side of one of these mountains, and instead of just walking in we took a ski lift up to the top of the park, which took about ten minutes. Oh man that ride was incredible. You start off over a big lake filled with ducks and herons all diving for fish, then just zip right through the middle of the park. Sometimes going right over the exhibits, sometimes just trolling through narrow lanes of silver birch and Asian pines. It was definitely a bit of a thrill to have your feet dangling over the big lion enclosure, even if there were safety nets and other precautions in place.

From the top we then took our time strolling our way down the side of the mountain, there were some fantastic animals in there, and it was obviously mating season for the big cats because the lions, leopards, tigers, and jaguars were all roaring and spraying and causing a general ruckus. Got to see all the usual gnarly killers, bears and crocs and fifteen foot snakes. They had a pretty cool monkey exhibit with these little guys in a big playground that you could just walk right through. We got yelled at for touching one of them, but I mean, he just came right up to us and stuck out his hand. What were we supposed to do? We also saw the dolphin show, which was filled with Koreans dressed as cops and robbers doing some zany scripted show. I think it was much funnier because I couldn't understand them.

Things at the school are getting better every day. I've realized it's just a matter of learning their weird system and going with it. Most of the students really like me, but with as many 9-13 year old girls as I have to deal with I suppose it's inevitable that some will just be moody and resentful all the time. I have to call each student at home once a semester for a quick little chat in English, and talking to their parents on the phone is usually pretty funny. Here's me just reading off a script, probably butchering the language, and if they say anything back to me I just stammer... um, sorry, no Korean... and laugh a little. Usually they will just go get their kid or some of them know how to say he's not here, but anything beyond that and I just try to get off the phone as politely as possible.

I'm picking up more things about the culture out here too. Apparently the sidewalks are off limits to no one. If someone wants to hit up an ATM and there's no parking spots around they'll just jump right up and leave their car running in the middle of the sidewalk for a few minutes. They motorcycle and scooter drivers are even more fearless than I first thought, aside from pretty much doing nothing except weaving through traffic and running red lights, none of them seem the least bit deterred by the rain. Even when it's pouring out they just throw on a rain jacket and rain pants and go about their business like everything's normal.

No one really makes demands or tells you to do something implicitly out here either. It is all put as a light suggestion, from which you are supposed to take as 'do this now'. Pretty weird to get used to but I think I'm getting it now.

Oh, also I'm really excited because I signed up for a trip on the second and third of October. It's with this group called Adventure Korea, who offer two or three trips every month. I guess I got here at a good time, because this is their tenth year in business and they are offering some great deals. We'll be going to the southeast part of the country, to a few islands right off the coast, called Tongyeong and Somaemuldo. The latter one means 'Beauty of the Sea'. I'm super stoked on it, and not just because it's costing about $60 for transport, food, and lodging.

Well, it's getting on in the afternoon and I need to get ready for school. As always I hope everyone is loving life. Later:)