This past weekend was our high school retreat. It was such a great time! We traveled about 2 hours south of Suwon to a Korean youth center. The facilities were okay and the weather was perfect!!!
When we first got to the retreat center we went to our rooms (as seen in the picture). Notice what is missing? That's right. It was true Korean style: no beds. Luckily they gave us some mats to throw on the floor and sleep on. I was in a room with just one of other teacher so I was able to stack 4 mats together to make a comfy sleeping arrangement.
We were the first international group to come to this camp. Typically they provide for just Korean school students. As a result there was some cultural clashing between our "international" style and the retreat centers militant Korean style. For instance, the first night the retreat workers made all of our students line up and sit in rows while we were just hanging out in a big meeting room. The Korean staff were really nice, but we're just a bit more laid back with the students. Thankfully the retreat staff backed off over the course of the weekend and they let us lead our kids.
On Saturday we got to shoot arrows, which was way cooler than I thought it would be. And we got to play paintball, which was kind of a let down. I got shot within the first minute and my gun didn't work. Tom got shot in the head.
That night we had GSIS Idol. This was probably the best night I've ever had at GSIS. The kids were so great! They sang, rapped, danced, played in bands...it was awesome. It was also outside, at dusk, with some great lighting. While people were performing the students got really into it (so did the teachers). Then there was a giant bonfire (which we feared would explode because they doused the wood with so much gasoline). As the bonfire was doing its thing, some music was played in the background and three other teachers and myself started a dance party. Yes, my friends, I helped start a dance party. I think it was one of my proudest moments. The rest of the night we danced, hung out, and played. So fun.
These are me and some of my best friends in Korea, Kim and Laura.
The next day at the retreat was pretty low key and we got back home Sunday evening, just in time to start preparing for school the next day!
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