PLACEMENTS!!!

omg we get our placements later this afternoon and i'm kinda calm but mostly freaking out. i have no idea if it'll be good or bad (bad = SHIGOL = RURAL). but there's this like "ceremony" where we all get post-its with our name and have to walk up and match it with the map in front of everyone plus all the ajummas from the SHINY main office in Seoul. So i can't like cry or be upset (visibly) when it happens. I have no idea how i'm gonna wait until 3:30+. Ok, more later.

also will talk about songnisan!

edit:
ok. i got my placement today. i'll be living in CheongJu, the capital of CB province in the middle of korea. apparently it's not SO rural even though the rest of the province is just rice paddies and national parkish.

i was really upset at first because i wanted to be closer to seoul but i've realized that maybe this is better. i'm kindof in the middle of the country and it's really accessible to just about anywhere by bus or train so i can travel a lot. also i'm halfway between seoul and jindo (where my family lives) so i can visit both. i'm also in a city (even though it's really rural all around it) and there are 5 universities located in the city so there is a pretty good variety of available services and products for young ppl. i got my first mail from the states yesterday from Winty!!! it made me so happy!!! i was crying while i read it. i can't believe i won't see most of my favorite ppl for a year. that's kindof crazy to think about. so i'll try not to focus on it.

orientation is still going well. we're testing for our yellow belts in taekwondo next thursday. eek!

this past weekend we were at songnisan national park for a short break from orientation craziness. we visited popchusa temple and saw the biggest standing buddha in korea. i didn't hike but i played in this stream there all day with some other GIKs. it was really relaxing and nice and also we got a chance to see/meet ppl that aren't in my language class.

on tuesday i taught my first "lesson." Fulbright runs a 2week summer camp for english immersion. part of the camp is that the students get to choose "club" activiites that they do every afternoon. my group did "YOGA" and so we did a 2 hour lesson on yoga in english. i got to lead the part with breathing and posture and actually doing the sun salutation and warrior A and B. it was a lot of fun and i'm really excited for teaching my first real class "lesson" on friday. yayyy.

also, i'm going to seoul this weekend, so i hope my first Fulbright check clears before then. =)