2021 Summer Break (Part 1)

My schools began summer break on July 19. As you may recall from last year, EPIK teachers must either take vacation days (per contract, we have 26 days for the entire year), or come to school to desk warm during the break. This year, in hopes to visit home in the Winter Break, I only requested 4 days of vacation time this summer.

At my elementary school, my desk warming has been mostly unproductive, consisting of minimal lesson planning, lots of music, and maybe a little bit of Netflix. My middle school, on the other hand, asked students if they wanted to practice English via phone conversations.  26 students signed up! I spent 3 hours each Monday and Wednesday making 26 calls. Although I am not a phone person, I really enjoyed speaking to my students, and learning more about them. The majority of these students were going to private academies to study and learn, or working on summer homework assignments, since we are going into the second semester. All of them talked about being very bored, and wishing they could travel out of the country… (but, you know.. global pandemic or whatever) With cases on the rise in Korea, I tried to limit my socializing during my free time. Therefore, I spent most of it staying home. I did manage to get my first pFizer vaccine shot, a few day trips, and meet ups with friends, among other things.

BBQing South African Style (aka Braai)

On a misleadingly sunny Saturday afternoon, a few friends got together for a South African style BBQ, which they call a Braai. The group consisted of 2 Americans, a Cameroonian, a Korean, a South African, and a sweet pup named Lilly. We began our braai with some delicious Biltong (jerky) and Boerwors (sausage). *Its amazing to think that IN Korea, there is a meat shop that prepares South African seasoned and styled meats!: One positive example of Globalization* 
As we sat on the rooftop, we munched on chips and SA meats, and sipped on “soju-jitos” (soju mojitos) while watching the sun set over the city.

Rain had been forecasted, but the majority of us were so sure it would not be a big deal. We watched the rain slowly make its way over the mountains, and a light drizzle fell upon us. Just as we were about to comment “Oh this is so nice”, and not before I was able to get in my rain dancing, the bottom fell out. We were soaked within seconds. We grabbed everything and ran inside to finish our party in the apartment.

As we set the party back up sheltered from the storm (yes, there was thunder and lightning now), the table was filled with amazing food we each contributed: biltong, boerwors, Korean samgyeopsal, potato salad, bean salad, Greek salad (you know who brought that), and North Carolina BBQ sauce I had made the night before. We put on some music, drank our soju-jitos, ate delicious foods, talked about everything under the sun, and enjoyed being dry again. No amount of rain can stop a great time!!!

Day trip to Pohang (포항)

I had noticed a friend posting pictures of her surfing in Pohang, a beach city just an hour and a half east of Daegu. I thought it would be a nice excuse to get out of Daegu and meet up with her for some sun and friend time. I reached out to her in my very horrible Korean asking if she would still be in Pohang the next day (Thursday), as that would be my very first vacation day. She replied that she was already back in Daegu, but would be happy to take me to Pohang for a day trip. She reached out to a mutual friend of ours, to start making plans, and the next morning they picked me up at 9:30 to start the drive to Pohang!

After winding highways, passing by mountainous landscapes, and having fun conversations in broken English and Korean, we arrived in Pohang. We stopped at the city’s main beach, to find the water was too dirty for our liking. We drove another 15 minutes up the road to Chilpo (칠포) beach. There were a few surfers and paddle boarders out in the waters, but our focus was on the beautiful blue water.   

After applying sunscreen, we all jumped into the cool water. It was a shallow beach, where I was waist deep far out into the water, much different to the beaches I am used to in the US. One friend disappeared for a bit, and reappeared again on a paddle board she had rented. We all took turns on the board, going a little further into the ocean. We swam and paddled for 3 hours, and finally decided to go back to land to have a nice late lunch. We showered at the paddle board rental shop, and headed back into Pohang to the fish market.

Pohang, they informed me, is known for its crabs. Naturally, crab is what we ate! Ironically enough, the crab was from Russia, since it was illegal to fish this specific crab in Korean during this particular season.

The crab, as well as all the side dishes (반찬 – banchan), were all delicious. We picked out our crabs at the entrance of the restaurant, and they were immediately thrown into the steamer. We climbed upstairs to our floor seats, and many side dishes were brought to our table. My friends showed me how to properly eat crab (I do not have any real experience eating crab directly from its shell), and it was amazing! No melted butter for dipping… just pure, steamed crab.

We ate until we were about to burst, and then headed on back to Daegu. It was a beautiful day trip!

I shall continue talking about my summer adventures in 2021 Summer Break (Part 2)!