The Fish Returns

On December 1st I received the best possible early Christmas present ever. Josh flew into Korea and we got to spend two weeks together. We didn't get the chance to leave Gwangju, but we had a great time exploring the city and Mudeong Mountain. We spent a couple days exploring art street, downtown, and my neighborhood, spent a couple nights out with friends, We spent one day visiting the Gwangju National Museum (a fantastic museum that has a lot of cultural artifacts), the Art Museum (which has a retrospective of some Korean painter and some neat carvings). We also visited one of the temples up on Mudeong Mountain, and had a minor adventure where we weren't sure we'd be able to find our way off the mountain, thanks to both a lack of planning and a bus driver who wouldn't let us on. It was dark and cold, and we were a little concerned, but fortunately the next bus driver let us on with no problems! I also brought Josh into school on three different days, and he had the joyous opportunity of getting to meet mine and Lyn's students, who asked such amazing questions as "why are you here?" "Are you a Casanova?" and "Where is Britton's hair?" I loved being able to take him to all the places that I talk about, and introduce him to all my friends here. He left the morning of the 15th, which was a very sad day.

Christmas and winter break are both coming. Our break is from December 31st to January 5th. I'll be in Japan staying with my friend Meagan from Elmira. I'm very excited to see her! It doesn't feel much like Christmas here in Gwangju, not enough Christmas lights or anything, but I have a small Christmas tree in my living room which makes things feel happier. We don't get any time off for Christmas, what with it being on a Saturday. South Korea is a predominately Christian country, it just doesn't place the same emphasis on Christmas that America does. After our short break we start intensives, so our hours will change to 1-7, and will be like this for about a month.

That's all from here! I feel like it's a disappointing update after I made you all wait so long to hear from me, but it's what you'll have to deal with. I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing winter break!

~Hannah