A new feeling

This past Sunday, Diana and I went to Gyeongju, which is east of Daegu. The bus there only costs about $4. I'm loving how cheap travelling is in this country. The city is known for its temples, mountains, and resorts, but Diana and I went to the World Culture Expo that's held there every 3 years. We were both pretty tired so just meandered around the entire day. The highlights were the sculpture park, the dance performances, and for me, the entire section dedicated to anime characters. I thought it was cute, but Diana referred to it as her hell. She preferred the puppet exhibit, which I think would be my hell.

Taekwondo has been good this week. On Monday, Sa Beom Nim showed us a video of the Korean Tigers, who an amazing taekwondo group. They are definitely better than I will ever be. On Tuesday, Diana and I were practicing our sparring moves and accidentally ended up punching each other in the ribs on different occasions. Of course we were like "Oh my god, I'm sorry!" and just laughed it off. I can feel myself getting a lot more toned, especially my legs where there's more muscle and less flab. It makes me happy.

I've enjoyed teaching this week. Today I taught 2 new classes of older kids with Gwen's help. When I walked into the first class, a girl (I think her name is Julia) kept saying "feeling, new feeling". I gave Gwen a confused look and she explained that Julia was saying that I bring a new feeling to the class. I hope it's a good feeling. They were a good class, but the second class is a little clueless and not enthusiastic at all. I think they're going to be one of my tougher classes to teach. Both classes went well for my first time. I find it hard when I'm first starting out with a new class because I don't have a feeling of where they are in terms of ability. It gets easier though, so I just have to keep working hard. On the way home from school tonight, some man , who we've never met, came up to Diana and I on a bike and started talking to us in English (not a rare occurrence). He talked to us and started asking questions, then out of the blue said "You are Samantha." Even though, Diana and I are the only foreigners in our neighbourhood, it's really weird when complete strangers know your name. To spin it in a positive light, we just think of ourselves as the neighbourhood rock stars.