Oh, just another recap
First, I want to let you know that my Grandma Rau passed away on Saturday morning (night here). Dad called while we were having dinner with and hanging out with some friends in our apartment. The news came with a sigh. She lived a great life, and she loved so well. My Grandma is still loved by a big family that had the blessing of her influence and smile for a good long time. She was a good mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and we will all miss her. She had cancer for a long time, but she was only dying for a month. Her birthday is June 26, Adam’s and my anniversary. This summer, the day after her birthday, we were in Illinois, and Adam interviewed her on video about her childhood. We have been editing that video this weekend, and as soon as I figure out how to do it, we’ll post it in chapters on this site. Working on this interview film and choosing the right music has been a really nice way to spend some time with her as we say good bye.
It has been a nice weekend to rest and spend time with Adam… when I talk about the weekend, I’m usually referring to Sunday night through Tuesday night since Monday and Tuesday are now my days off. Sunday night was the 6 month celebration of when the English Village opened and the majority of the teachers here arrived, so there was a big party. It was a bit crazy, but it was nice to have the chance to talk with a lot of different people and get to know them even more.
On Monday, Adam and I slept in and then rushed to catch the train to Bucheon since Adam had to work on Monday afternoon. It was “street fair” day for his students, so they just played board games and got to shop for trinkets with the points they’ve earned over the summer. I played games with the kids in his first period, but then I went back to the Bucheon apartment to work on Grandma’s video and sleep. I’m still recovering from my cold that I’ve had for over a week. When I get sick, it holds on forever, and I think it’s exaggerated here since I’m always “on” at work. When Adam got off at 9:30p.m., we walked down this cool avenue in Bucheon. The nightlife in Korea is amazing. Everything is open reeeeally late, and there are people out to fill every space until even later. We had a great dinner of some sort of huge fried pancake filled with seafood and wild onions, I bought some earrings from an Indian street vendor, then we checked the Baskin Robbins for my favorite Peanut Butter & Chocolate to no avail. Baskin Robbins has successfully infiltrated every city in Korea, but not a single one has PB&C. It’s such a tease. So, we found a market near the apartment and bought some fruit instead. Fresh fruit is a little hard to come by at the English Village.
Today we got up at a reasonable hour and took the subway into Seoul. We went to a bakery and met Stanton, our friend who hired us at the English Village and had a nice chat with him. After we left Stanton, we walked around this great area called Insadong. I talked with my parents for a while on the phone, then Adam and I had lunch. After lunch, we did a little shopping. If any of you visits us in Korea, we are taking you to Insadong. I told my parents that a lot of Seoul feels like New York with funny writing, but Insadong feels like Korea. The architecture and everything being sold on the streets and in the shops fits what I imagined Korea to be. It’s a great shopping area. We mostly looked around today, but I think that’s my favorite place here, and I’ll be going there again soon. Check out some of Adam’s arty pictures from today. Adam had to get back to Bucheon to finish his last week at the hogwan there, and I got on the cab, subway, train, bus, walk back to the clean, smogless air of the English Village.
Time for a new week. It seems like I’m always writing recaps, but I’ve got some insights brewing in here somewhere. Unfortunately, I’m still nursing my cold and need to go to bed. I’m thinking of you, friends. Take care. I’ll be in touch.
-Jessica
































