Day 72: Socializing

Alysha messaged me a few days ago saying that she had told her Tuesday and Thursday class about me and they really wanted to say hello. We made plans for me to come visit her class today and then the two of us could go out for dinner after. Her class ended around 8:30 so I still had the afternoon free.

Ella and I met up in Sinchon and decided to go to a few more Jin cafes (more!? yes even more). She had napped after class and I had been lazy for the afternoon so we didn't meet until 4 pm. We got mojito ades at the first cafe and a cake to share at the next one.

We visited one more place called Lounge Market and stayed here for a few hours to do work. I really liked the atmosphere and decorations at this cafe plus they had spicy beef flavoured (which sound kind of gross, but they were actually really good)!

I took the subway over to Yangcheon-gu at around 7 pm and then walked to Alysha's English academy. Her class was so cute and sweet! She has four students in this class: Tess, Cindy, Ray, and Kevin. She had told the class I would be coming to visit today and that I liked BTS. Alysha told me ahead of time that Kevin had brought a BTS poster for me so I packed a Canada keychain to give back to him as a thank you. When I arrived I found out that Cindy had also prepared a bunch of photo cards to give to me. I was so happy and surprised that her students would do this. I found out that Cindy liked Jin so I gave her and Tess all the Jin photo cards and stickers that I collected today. They were super excited and it was so cute! All of the students had questions to ask me and I got to sit and watch Alysha teach for a few minutes. They were supposed to take a test at the end of the class, but we all played a game instead. Alysha and I had played one round of the game after her class the last time I visited so I thought I understood it and knew the rules. I got absolutely destroyed. The way the game works is that there is a deck of cards with a different fruit on each one. The quantity of the fruit on the card can range from 1 to 5 and there are 5 different kinds of fruits in total. Each person takes a turn flipping there card over. If there are 5 of the same fruit face up (you have to be watching everyone's piles) then you are supposed to hit a bell. I think these are the rules. I was honestly so terrible at the game that I probably still have the rules wrong.

All the amazing gifts that I received from Alysha's lovely students.

We accidentally ran over the class time and Tess missed her bus so Alysha and I drove her home. Her students were so sweet and it was really fun to meet them. I am considering coming back to Korea to teach English after I graduate and this experience has made me even more interested.

After dropping Tess off we drove to a BBQ place that had great reviews. However, we got to the street that it was supposed to be on and we couldn't find it anywhere. It was so cold out that we decided to give up on looking for it and just another place nearby. We started walking back to the car and found one that had a sale. The restaurant was so yummy! We ate a ridiculous amount of meat and I discovered that I really love the bright green dish in the picture. I can't remember what Alysha called it but it was something pickled I think. Alysha had paid the last time we ate together so I convinced her that it was my turn to treat this time. She is such a fun person to hang out with because her personality is very bubbly and energetic. She isn't someone I would typically hang out with because she is definitely an extrovert, but I always seem to have fun with her.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Emily

(December 6, 2018)