My new nephew, Big Bang, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ryu Hyun-Jin

Korea was alive with culture and activity this week, I can’t wait to tell you everything! First of all (and most importantly), I became an aunt this week! My older brother and his wife had their first child, and I think he’s the cutest baby I’ve ever seen, really. Congratulations to them and best wishes for the health and happiness of their newborn, I love you all so much!

This week marked the end of the Muslim holiday Ramadan, as you probably know already. Dr. Endicott wished to celebrate in a traditional fashion with the Muslim students, and wanted to invite the faculty to enjoy the sharing of culture as well. Solbridge hosted a feast Monday evening, and Wednesday the entire school took a short break from regular classes to celebrate Eid, the last day of Ramadan with a party. I enjoyed really delicious food and spent time with friends (and of course made some new ones). Tuesday night, the entire school got to go see the Hanwha Eagles play against the Samsung Lions at a pro baseball game. Why were we invited? Because Dr. Endicott, the president of the University, was invited to throw the first pitch of the game! I’ve been watching him practice pitching outside of the university every day and wondering about it. Oh yes, and you also may be familiar with the Eagles’ pitcher, Ryu Hyun-Jin, from the BEIJING OLYMPICS this year… can you believe it? We won and the game was a blast! FYI - most of the people at my university have no idea how this game is played. Have you ever tried to explain baseball to someone who has never seen it before? Believe me, it's not easy! Baseball really is an all-american sport.
Dr. Endicott after throwing the first pitch of the game ~Thursday I studied. A little.

Friday was the beginning of the most amazing weekend of my life! Our dormitory, Nuri Hall, is an international dormitory, as you probably know. A local organization for the promotion of good will between Korea and foreigners, International Fellowship Network of Hanmin University, invited the entire dorm to go on an all-expenses paid vacation this weekend, so at 10am Friday I got on the bus with Usman and a few other friends to have a great new adventure. As we drove out of the city, we passed the most beautiful landscape of cloudy mountains, bright green foliage, and rivers dotted with the many grey herons that like to wade in the Korean sun.

We arrived at Jeonju World Cup stadium shortly after, where we were invited to enter the stadium lawn ground and parade behind our own country’s flag as a symbol of international participation. The crowd cheered and waved to us as we took our lap around the stadium. We then enjoyed a speech given by someone you might be familiar with, the ex-president of Russia, Mikhail Gorbachev, while we stood on the lawn and faced the audience. After I picked my jaw up off the ground and we were seated again, Korea’s most famous and popular boy band, “Big Bang,” gave a live performance of their favorite songs, while girls were screaming their heads off and crying. I was really in shock at this point, but I was having a blast all at the same time. If you want to see a great live performance of their hit "Haru Haru," click the link below. They're a lot of fun, really.

http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=mD6KTFLPArI

Finally the soccer match began between Korea and China. Korea won the match, and we were loaded on the bus again. We then traveled west of Daejeon, to Nonsan City, where dinner was provided and we enjoyed a kind of gathering together at the church. We played singing and dancing games, which was really difficult given the language barrier, but the end result was that my cheeks and my stomach ached from laughing so hard. I had no idea, however, that the best was yet to come. After some time of enjoying each other’s company, we rounded out the night with a trip to the “jimjilbang,” or Korean sauna. Let me tell you something, if you ever, EVER have the chance to come to Korea and experience a night at a jimjilbang, you should really take it. I could go on forever about how great my experience was there, and how good I felt afterwards, but this entry is already so long I think I’ll save it for next time. Truly, my trip to the jimjibang was my most favorite experience so far here in Korea; it was so incredible that I can’t wait to go back, maybe this weekend.
The next morning, feeling amazing and renewed, we all ate a quick breakfast before heading off to Hanmin University. The day was made for fun and exercise, with perfect weather and the most incredible view of the mountains on the horizon. All day long we had an international Field Day, and played a million games, from tug-of-war to foot races. Once again, laughter was the main component, and it felt good to have so much clean fun in one weekend, away from the city life and studying. I realized this week that communication says a lot about a person’s culture. By blending our cultures through amazing and fun experiences, we were all able to make lasting memories with good friends.