Amanda Takes Off...

This wooden shoe is sitting in some rocks outside of my workplace. I have yet to find the other shoe.

Somehow the weekend escaped me in a blur of activity.

Friday night Heidi and I had belt tests. In my opinion, this test went much better than my last belt test. Right before I tested, I did my form in a large group for the first time and screwed up one section that I always have to think about. That shook my confidence a bit, but I think that was good; when I tested, I was very careful to know exactly what my next move was.

I also got to freespar in a test for the first time since coming to Korea. I freespared Blue with full gear on and he gave me no slack for being a female. In fact, he pretty much killed me. After the test, Master told me that I was very good at blocking. Then he grabbed his arm, put a pained look on his face and said, "apa." I grinned and he told me I need to do faster footwork to get away from Blue.

The sparring that was going on Friday night was intense. I think Heidi was a bit alarmed. When I sat down she kept asking if I was OK and I just kept nodding. I have three very nice bruises on my arms, but none of them are from blocking during the test. They're from getting smacked. Watching the tests, I learned the word for "to shake hands with" (악수하다).

I had texted Heidi during the day, inviting her out to dinner, so after class we had some noodles and ice cream and just chatted. She taught me what one of the signs on the noraebang next door reads. It says "도우미 한시대기." In other words, "'Helper' available in an instant."

Saturday and Sunday I ended up running around Seoul with a fellow martial artist friend, Korean-born but American-raised, who was in town for a few days. We had some good conversations about business, politics, and black belting. It was a pleasant weekend. At one point we were at Dongdaemun Market, a huge shopping area that's open most of the night. They also have a whole lot of yummy mandu stands. This photo was taken in one of the quieter corners of the market. (As a side note, I learned the word "express" as in "express train" by accident. Luckily getting on the 급행 subway all worked out.)

I don't post about school or post photos of my students because I like this space to be work-free. However, the students wore hanboks today in honor of two Korean holidays this week. They looked absolutely adorable. We also had to wear hanboks. I'll post photos of me in the one I was wearing when I get it.

This week is Chuesok, which is often called Korean Thanksgiving. It's fairly standard to get gifts from your employer, and we got gifts from our boss and some of the parents. Food or anything else consumable is the standard gift in Korea. My employer gave me 500 mL each of olive oil and grapeseed oil, 800 g of Spam, and 900 g of tuna. A parent gave me some persimmon candy. My boss felt the need to tell me—six times in 5 sentences—that it was a very expensive gift. I just stared at her. So...?

Tonight Michael and I got together and had some great Indian food and a Korean lesson. I learned how to introduce myself in Korean and made a joke about meeting a bottle of wine, Michael's friend. A good evening, even if I did come home on the subway with two Costco bags jammed full of 5 kilos of potatoes.

While I learned a lot of words with Michael, tonight I learned this word from reading the subtitles on The Simpsons: 뻔하다. It means "to just barely escape death."

There's no taekwondo this week due to the holidays, and I have Tuesday, Thursday and Friday off. I'm looking forward to getting some knitting done, as well as some good sleep!