the moment my life stopped.

3:39pm to be exact. last weekend, i decided to hike up a small mountain near my house, probably equivalent to rib mountain. i left my house at 3:15 and decided that i would turn around after 30 minutes of hiking and go back home. well, that 30 minutes didn't come as i had expected. after checking my watch multiple times, i finally realized that it had stopped and i had been hiking for much longer than planned. i am not complaining though. i really enjoyed the climb and was impressed by the number of koreans hiking on a sunday afternoon.

hiking in korea is a favorite activity for people of all ages. i see children as young as two or three hiking up these enormous hills with their ambitious parents, as well as elderly people barely grasping onto life. i suppose it would be a peaceful way to die. it reminds me of why the korean people are so healthy as a whole. since korea is 70% mountainous, hiking has become a regular passtime for people, especially those hoping to spend time exploring nature. my favorite part about korean hikers is their attire. every korean hiker looks like a semi-professional. stores simialar to wal-mart sell outdoor apparel. most of it seems like nice stuff, but it all looks the same. the colors may vary a bit, but every true hiker will be seen with a bright-colored wicking shirt, bandana tied around their neck , wool socks up to their knees, generic hiking boots, a fancy looking backpack and trekking poles. it can a bit intimidating to see those folks on the subway. i always think to myself, "whoa! they must be about to climb mount everest." the interesting part is that when i get off the subway and climb the stairs to exit, many of these hardcore-looking hikers are stopped mid-step, taking a mini-break! if climbing a set of stairs takes their breath away, these mountains must not be too intimidating...

...well, another foolish thought. the mountains here are indeed mountains. much taller than rib mountain (which in fact is a hill, not a mountain). my co-teacher asked me if i was free on saturday. i was, so i accepted the offer to go hiking with his family. i figured it would be a family-friendly trip since his kids are about 8 and 10 years old. he picked me up early and we left for oseosan, aka oseo mountain. he had never been to this mountain, but heard that it should be beautiful this time of year because of a special reed-like plant that is in season. we drove about 3 hours south of incheon before we arrived at mt. oseo. it was very cool to see the mountain in the distance, driving closer, knowing that we would soon be at the top. maybe "soon" is exaggerating a bit, but i think we made good time.

after eating a lunch of seafood noodle soup, we were ready. we kept a decent pace the whole way. if i had been alone, i would have gone about the same speed, maybe with fewer stops. however, when we stopped, they were very quick breaks to check out the scenary, chug some water, or simply catch our breath. i was so impressed by bo's children. when i was their age, i constantly complained on family hikes, but these kids were troopers.

the mountain started out fairly easy, but then the incline increased dramatically. i could not believe how steep some of the areas were. there were rope railways in certain areas because it was so steep and a bit sandy, so it was difficult to get good footing (slipping backward occasionally). other parts were quite rocky, but just as steep, without a rope railing. in these parts, i had utilize 4-point contact aka crawling. it was quite exciting, but i think i had a few mild moments of acrophobia (fear of heights).

reaching the summit was enlightening. after a few hours of hard work in a heavily forested area, it is so thrilling to be able to fully absorb the surrounding scenary. the best part may have been that a man was selling ice cream at the very top of the mountain. exactly how he gets it up there is a mystery to me. he had it stored in some large coolers stashed with dry ice. never has a soft melon bar tasted so delicious.

back to the title of this post. everything around me seems to be falling apart (just tanglible things for now). my watch stopped, so i replaced the battery. however, it still stops occasionally, so i can never trust the time on my watch. i am disappointed because it is my favorite watch, but perhaps i will have to invest in a new one. in other news of broken down contraptions, my ipod is not functioning. the battery was dying, so i ordered a new one, put it in, and now it is still not working properly. i don't really want to send it to the apple company because i no longer have a warranty and will be charged excessively. it may be in my better interest to just buy a new mp3 player here, probably not another ipod (i've had way too many issues with them). i lost my camera several weeks ago (including 50 or so photos that i hadn't uploaded yet). luckily, i found a new (used) camera on craigslist for only $65. it is a very nice, compact canon. several years old, but work perfectly. next on the list of problems would be my laptop. after a month of waiting patiently, i finally got the internet at my place. sadly, i don't have a functioning computer to use it with. my dell xps 1330 is having issues. it will randomly freeze and turn itself off. the most enjoyable part is when it has its own firework display. there is something wrong with the video display, so it will flash crazy colors in random shapes. i did some research and found out that dell used a faulty chip in this model and many people are experience the same exact problem. the company will replace the chip, but it sounds like they are putting the same one in, so it is only a matter of time before the problem occurs again. needless to say, i am quite upset about the situation. it doesn't help that i am in korea. my teacher is trying to help me communicate with the korean dell man, mr. choi, but so far i have a broken laptop. hopefully this week i will either mail in somewhere to be fixed, or a serviceman will come to me. the sooner, the better. i hate to be paying for unused internet...

so once again i am at the pc bang writing this post. fortunately, there aren't as many prepubescent boys, probably because it is sunday evening. it's less than a dollar per hour, so i won't go broke, but i sure do love the convenience of going online while laying bed...

feeling like a kid again.

Yesterday, I went to Lotte World with a group of teachers from the Incheon area. Lotte World is a huge amusement park in Seoul. Besides the typical attractions, there is also an ice skating rink, a huge shopping mall, a water park, a sports complex, and much more! We paid about $30 USD to get in and have access to any of the rides. We decided to start in the indoor section of the amusement park which had the more kid-friendly rides. The first one we decided to try was called The Giant Loop. It didn’t look too intimidating and we thought it would be a good test to see whether we were prepared for the more adventurous rides. Unfortunately, I think this ride ended up making us feel less secure about the other rides. The ride itself involved going forward and backward around one loop. It did not go fast. I think that is why is was so bad. The seats and shoulder restraints were not tight at all. When we flipped upside down, our butts would no longer be touching our seats. We were suspended uncomfortably in the air. Needless to say, it was still a fun ride and I was ready for more!

Throughout the day, we went on a 360 degree rollercoaster, a big drop (being dropped straight down at an unknown time), drunken baskets (sort of like a tilt-o-whirl or the teacups at Disneyland), the flume ride (like the log ride at Camp Snoopy), a 6-person raft ride in the dark, the Waikiki Wave ride, and my favorite, the gyro swing (a huge swinging apparatus that seats 30 or so people around in circle and swings back and forth really fast and also spins). Since yesterday was part of the “chuseok” holiday, the lines weren’t too bad. I don’t think we ever waited more than 45 minutes or so for a ride. By the end of the day, however, you could see how tired we all were.

We went back to Incheon together and ate dinner at an Indian restaurant called “First Nepal.” It was the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here. The portions were rather small for the price, but it was so nice to eat a different type of food. Typically, in America, I eat such a variety of foods within a week’s span (perhaps Italian, Chinese, and Thai). Here, however, it is Korean food every day. I love most of the food, but change is appreciated.

life at school.

I have been in Korea for about three weeks. At times, the days seem to drag on. For example, my contract limits me to teaching 22 hours/week. For me, this means twenty-two 50-minute class periods. The rest of my 40 hours are spent sitting at my desk, twiddling my thumbs, surfing the internet, preparing lessons, etc. The week doesn’t seem to fly by when I have to repeat the same lesson 18 times! However, it also feels like I just arrived in Korea…how could I already have finished two weeks of teaching?

I have been biking to school every day (except the very first day when it poured). I love waking up by pedaling down the uneven brick sidewalks swerving around all of the oblivious pedestrians. There really is something special to be said about riding a bike in a skirt too, some sort of unspoken feminine power. Once I am on my red cruiser headed home, suddenly everything negative that happened during the day seems to disintegrate. I just hope that the bike will last throughout the year…the sidewalks are so haphazard that I constantly fear a flat tire. I know the 15-minute bus route to my school, but it is generally crowded and costs about $1.75 roundtrip. Cheap, I know, but biking is even cheaper…especially when I didn’t even have to buy the bicycle!

My classes throughout the day vary by grade and gender. Some of my classes are co-ed and others are segregated by sex. The all-girl classes are definitely much easier to manage, but I do enjoy the challenge of entertaining 40 hormonal, 16-year-old boys. Having 40 students at a time is not as crazy as I thought it would be, but it does present a problem when the classroom is only so big. Once the kids sit down and pull their chairs out, I rarely have enough room to squeeze through and circulate the room and I do not like to be stuck up in the front at all times.

As for the content of my classes, I do not have to focus on grammar. The students already take at least two other English classes that focus on the logistics. My class is considered a conversational English class, so I am supposed to get the kids to speak as much as possible. With 40 students, speaking on an individual basis is futile, so group work becomes essential. After finishing my “about me” lesson last week, this week’s topic was “modes of transportation.” Eventually, we will be using the mock subway seats and ticket booth which were built into the classroom (see photos below).

front of my classroom

the fast food area of my classroom

I love the teachers at my school. Everyone is so friendly and so eager to learn English. I have gotten so many invitations to people’s houses and offers to accompany me around Korea. For example, on Monday, I went biking with a teacher whose English name is Lisa during our lunch break. We simply biked around the Song-do area. I was able to see some new sights and she was able to practice her English by conversing with me. I’ve also been invited to her house to celebrate “chuseok,” Korean Thanksgiving, this weekend. Whenever I mention a place that I would like to visit or something that I would like to do, the teachers offer to take me or allow me to join their family’s events, etc. It is flattering and welcoming and I am more than happy to stay busy with all of these activities.

Last week Friday, was our school festival. This meant that there were no classes. Instead, the students had set up exhibitions in the classrooms that they had been working on for several weeks. Some examples of the exhibitions included:
* a magic show
* a shooing range with a toy bow and arrow
* a haunted house
* a face/body painting room
* a dance club
*a pregnancy/contraceptive information booth
* a nail art room

It was very cool to see everything that the students had been working so hard to prepare. The best part about this festival was to see the maturity and responsibility displayed by all of the students. Everything Friday morning was student-directed. Many of the teachers simply sat in their offices or had to teach the seniors (who were not part of the festival since they are preparing for entry into the university). I could never imagine such an event happening in an American high school and being successful. Most students in the U.S. would just skip school or behave wildly without any adult supervision. The Korean students, however, took a lot of pride in all of their work and wanted to be a part of the school’s event that only happens once every two years.

The exhibitions were open in the morning. After lunch, everyone moved to the “Lifelong Education Center” since they have a large auditorium. The next part of the festival was all about performance and the students displaying their individual talents. To me, it seemed a lot like a talent show or the Pop Concert at Wausau West High School. Students sang, danced, acted, and played musical instruments. It was very entertaining for the first hour and a half, but after 4 whole hours, I was ready to go home. The worst part was that everything was in Korean, so I had use my imagination to figure out what was going on. I think the dancing was the most entertaining since dance is an international language.

my students dancing (a little risqué , eh?)

After the 4 hour performance, the teachers were all going to dinner together. I was expected to go since it was my first week here and not everyone had met me. I didn’t mind going because I knew the food would be delicious and the school was footing the bill! We went to a typical “galbi” restaurant, which is often called a Korean BBQ. The server brings many side dishes (the fancier the restaurant, the more side dishes) and a plate of raw meat. Built into the tables are grills where hot charcoal is placed. The smoke that is released during the cooking of the meat is sucked up by silver snake-like vents hanging from the ceiling. I am glad that I decided to eat red meat here in Korea because the “galbi” is sooooo delicious!

the photo on the left shows a japanese teacher (female) and my co-teacher, bo. the photo on the right shows me with a teacher (female) and a student (male).

"across the sea"

in my head, i have many great ideas and i put together eloquent sentences. however, when i open my mouth, the words i had been imagining don't always surface. articulating my thoughts so that an outsider can truly understand them is nearly impossible. at times like this, i often find song lyrics useful. music is poetry. today i can best relate my thoughts to parts of "across the sea" by weezer from the pinkerton album.

Why are you so far away from me?
I need help and you're way across the sea
I could never touch you - I think it would be wrong
I've got your letter
you've got my song

i am feeling rather solemn because yesterday evening i had received news that my best friend, samantha, had died. i am still shocked. she was only 22 years old, the same age as me, with so many dreams and goals to achieve. she was my inspiration. my guiding light. she changed my life in so many ways and now she is gone. and i am in korea. i couldn't be there with her at the end. of course i can think of all the wonderful times that we did share together, but why couldn't we have had just one more?

for those of you who do not know, samantha was one of my best friends. we met in 5th grade at lincoln elementary school. i remember our first get-together, we when were both in 6th grade. she lived in an apartment on jefferson street in wausau. we were both intrigued with each other as well as the latest technology...the internet! we would spend hours online together chatting with people and looking up things that we were both interested in. as time went on, i spent more and more time with sam and slept over at her house frequently. i remember baking together. and riding on the back of her wheelchair. walking pharaoh. wandering through the streets to matt gilmore's house. riding in the good ol' brown van together and eventually becoming the chauffeur.

i was fascinated by sam's eagerness and ambition. we rarely sat around and watched tv together. we were always going around town, attending events, or creating our own. with sam, i discovered many things, most more important than the internet. i discovered something within myself: a passion to work with people with disabilities. i love learning new things and it is so easy to do when someone is different from me. sam was more than willing to share her knowledge and first-hand experiences with me. i remember asking her once if she had the chance to not have muscular dystrophy, if she would take that 'opportunity.' her answer was strong and clear: no. she was who she was and she was happy with herself. that is more than i can say, even to this day. sam had more confidence and self-worth than most people i know. unlike other girlfriends, i never heard her complain, "oh, i look so fat today," "i'm having a bad hair day," "i wish i looked more like so-and-so." never. sam was a woman with dignity. she also never complained about her situation. even though she would have bed sores or be uncomfortable from being in her chair all day, she never let me know. she would simply ask me to move her arm for her or adjust her black pillow, folded in half.

over the past few years, when we both were in college, we did not stay in touch as we had intended. we thought that we would see each other often since uw-whitewater and uw-madison are only an hour apart. our busy schedules and our long-distant travels kept us apart physically, but i don't think it ever changed the relationship between us. every time i would see sam, even if a year had passed, it felt like we had been together every day. we had an unspoken understanding of each other and our individual obligations.

i am so thankful that i was able to see sam before i left for korea and before she left for law school in the twin cities. on august 9th, we got together at her grandma's house to celebrate her graduation from uw-whitewater. as described earlier, it felt just like i had been in touch with sam every day even though we had not spoken for months. unexpectedly, she gave me a bracelet, as a sort of going-away present. it is green (my favorite color...she knew me so well), has a clover clasp for good luck, and an engraved heart that says "forever friends" on the front and "love, sam" on the back. i am wearing the bracelet now and hope to wear it every day as a tangible reminder of our friendship.

my condolences go out to everyone who knew sam, but especially her family. sam was so lucky to have such a loving and generous family. i always felt like part of the family when i visited. anne was like a second mother to me. i wish i could be there with you all now. there may be an ocean between us, but love conquers all. hugs and kisses.


love,
rebekah

and then there was one...

on friday, all of the EPIK teachers in incheon left together on a bus. it took about one hour to get from seoul to incheon. we were shoved off the bus and given all of our luggage. standing outside in the hot sun, all of the co-teachers came out to find us. it was a mess. about 50 teachers trying to find their matching partner. eventually, i found my co-teacher because he was holding a sign with my number and my name (spelled wrong, of course). his name is bo and he is a very kind man who knows quite a bit of english. we've already shared several meals together and he's been more than generous with his time. it is interesting to note that the co-teachers do not get any compensation for their job. he does a lot of extra running around to help me out because he wants to (or maybe he was lowest on the totem pole and the other teachers forced him to). either way, i am happy. after student teaching with male cooperating teachers, i think i am used to working with men and actually prefer to.

after taking me for sushi on friday, bo took me to the school that i will be working at. it is shinsong highschool. a co-ed school with about 1,500 students in three grades (equivalent to sophomores, juniors, and seniors). i will only be teaching the sophomores and juniors. in addition, i will be teaching the teachers for 2 hours every week. when i mentioned that i was interested in biking to school, the teachers bent over backward to get me a bike. the school has its own bicycles and they are allowing me to borrow one for the year. it is a red cruiser with a basket in the front...i could not be more ecstatic! the frame is a bit small, but i cannot complain. all of the other teachers i have met so far are very friendly and everyone said that they had been anticipating my arrival for quite some time.

as for my accommodations, i will be living about 5km away from the school. near the school, everything is brand new (the school is only 4 years old), so housing nearby is VERY expensive. i live in the older part of the yeonsu dong, an area in southern incheon. i am close to a bus stop and a subway stop, but the subway does not go all the way to my school. the place that i am living in is very small...called an officetel (aka studio, efficiency). it so small, especially after living in madison with so much space. i am content though. i have everything that i need. please watch the video below for a tour of my new pad!

it's now saturday afternoon and i have to do some shopping. i need a few things for around the apartment and some school/teaching supplies. i received my 300,000 won settlement allowance (about $300 USD), opened a bank account, and will have a cell phone monday after school! i am hoping that we will be able to get an internet connection soon. the first company we tried said they would not service to foreigners. strange! right now, i am at a pc bang (internet cafe) which is filled with prepubescent boys playing starcraft. not the most calming environment...

korea rhymes with urea.

i arrived safely in korea several days ago, but have been too busy to take the time to write about my experiences. i left from the central wisconsin airport early on wednesday august 20th. i flew to chicago o'hare and had to wait there for several hours until my next flight. the flight from chicago to seoul was almost 13 hours, but bearable. i suppose after flying to japan, i knew what to expect. i had an aisle seat and sat next to an old vietnamese couple. i was disappointed to find out that there were not any individual tv sets built into the seats. this meant much less entertainment. much longer flight.

upon arriving at the incheon/seoul international airport, i collected my luggage, went through customs, baggage claims, and started searching for the EPIK (english program in korea) information booth. it was easy to find. most areas in the airport do not have handfuls of blonde-haired, blue-eyed people standing around. this is not to say that EPIK teachers are a homogeneous group. as a fairly fair caucasian, i sometimes feel like a minority within the group of teachers here. there are many asian-americans, african-americans, couples, families with children, etc. i think it is great that EPIK recruiting has branched out and attracted so many different sorts of native-english speaking people.

at the airport, i was introduced to scott kim, one of the recruiters from footprints (the recruiting company that i went through). he immediately pointed out other footprint recruits, including rachel and leah. little did i know that these two girls would quickly become my new confidants. if it's not enough that leah shares a name with my sister, she also grew up in madison, wisconsin and went to school at uw-milwaukee and she will be teaching in the same city as me. rachel is from minnesota and will be teaching a few hours away from us, but all being midwesterners, we get along effortlessly.

i've met a lot of other great people thus far into the orientation. names that you may come across in the future include:
* stephanie & josh: a couple from canada who have already taught in korea for two years. so nice and willing to share first-hand knowledge and advice with me.
* nick: curly haired gentleman from maine. loves the same music that i do. we have a special connection (platonic).
* cameron aka cam: freckled boy from the north island of new zealand. fun guy and lovely accent.
* john: friendly chap from england. he gives me as much heat and sarcasm as i give him.
* and many, many more (sorry to those who weren't mentioned, i love you all).

orientation has been full of waiting. i think that i will be a much more patient person when i come home. koreans are definitely not too concerned about punctuality. they always tell us to make sure that we are on time, but everything starts late and has some sort of disintegrating organization. alas, it could be worse. we sit through many boring lectures. there are tidbits of useful information, but most of it can be read independently in the big handbooks that they gave us at the beginning of the week.

any free time (which isn't a lot), has been spent exploring the seoul area, particularly here around konkuk university. i am reminded of the narrow, crowded, neon-lit, street vendor filled streets of japan, but realize sights, sounds, and scents unique to korea. kimchi is one of the more famous korean foods. it is basically spicy, fermented vegetables, generally including cabbage. it is served at every meal. yes, even breakfast. i have never consumed so much spicy food so early in the morning before embarking on this journey. the food at orientation in so-so. it is cafeteria-korean food so it has a ceiling on the level of deliciousness possible.

other adventures thus far have included:
* a trip to a korean folk village. a mock village with traditional korean architecture, dance, music, games, etc. it was informative, but a bit touristy and we spent too much time there.
* dinner at a korean bbq restaurant. i ate a lot of red meat for the first time in ages. i've already decided that i won't be as strict about avoiding red meat. there are too many delicious foods here that automatically include beef and pork. i want to adapt to the typical lifestyle as much as possible.
* a night out at juju bar. a second story bar complete with zebra patterned couches and velour accents. we drank plenty of soju (a vodka type liquor) and cass (popular domestic beer). more to come on korean drinking culture...
* a mini-trip to itaewon. itaweon is known as one of the main foreigner's districts in seoul. there are many street vendors and small shops that cater to the needs/desires of foreigners. also present are a subway, quizno's, mcdonald's, coldstone creamery, and outback steakhouse. i had a sub at quizno's that tasted exactly the same as at home, but perhaps the portion was a bit smaller. this trip required taking the subway which was a great learning experience. i now have a t-money card which will works as a debit card for all transportation around the seoul area. the subways are large, clean, frequent, and cheap! round trip transportation across the city was about $1.50!
* norae-bong, the korean word for singing room aka karaoke! after another crazy night at juju bar, a large group of teachers-in-training and i went to our own private singing room. you pay by the hour and have thousands of songs to choose from. also included for no extra charge, are red and green mini strobe lights. it felt a bit like christmas on acid.

it's already tuesday evening, so i've been gone almost one full week. a couple more days of training and then i will meet my supervisors and be transported to incheon on friday. i am eager to find out where my school will be and what my apartment will be like. stay tuned...

leah at the korean bbq.

(from left to right) rachel, steph, josh and me.
notice all of the neon signs in the background.

making the most of my time in wisco.

i moved out of madison a few days ago. my last night in madison included an enjoyable dinner at buraka on state street and several cheap drinks at the big ten pub with becky, dan, liz and colin. i barely managed to cram the rest of my belongings into the ol' trusty '89 camry. the drive home was all-too-familiar. unfortunately, the car does not have working air conditioning and only the driver's side window rolls down. i can deal with the heat, but pearl (my cat...soon to be leah's) could not. i have never seen a cat with its mouth open so wide, tongue sticking out, panting like a saint bernard. i stopped by dexter's to say goodbye to jeff, but could not stay long because of the feverish feline. she settled in eventually as the sun went down and even fell asleep.

wednesday night, i met aunt paulette, uncle mike, amelia and matthew at the VFW for b-i-n-g-o! i was hoping to continue my winning streak (last summer i won $200 on the final blackout game). however, no one in our group won anything. anything monetary, at least. of course we still had a great time by mocking the bingo caller who sounded exactly like bob barker, by gawking at the grandpa hubert look-alike, and by trying to converse without getting "shushed" by our serious neighbors.

thursday included a much-dreaded trip to the dentist. the only good thing that came out of this adventure would have to be the free toothbrush, floss and three tubes of travel-sized toothpaste.

friday was when dad and i left for our mini-weekend trip. a few days before, i had signed up online for the hayward inline marathon. since the race started at 7:30am on saturday, it was necessary to drive up there the day before. we found a beautiful camping area next to the namekagon river. the best part was that it was free! we each set up our own tent and then headed to town. i picked up my registration packet: #122 and was ready for some exploring. we went to moccasin's bar, had a beer while ogling the world's largest muskie, caught by cal johnson in 1949. it wasn't really that spectacular, but the northwoodsy-small-town-tavern feel was appreciated. dinner involved a chicken taco pizza from coop's restaurant. once again, nothing spectacular, but we were hungry. i retired early, knowing that i would have to be up by 6am the next morning to get ready for the race.

i slept for a few hours soundly, but then awoke to some weird music around 1am. i figured it was some live entertainment at a bar and would be over by 2. i was wrong. the music continued until 5am. the noise combined with a tent pitched on an incline did not lead to a satisfactory sleep. i was awake before the alarm went off, yet excited to participate in my 2nd inline marathon. i was a bit intimidated by all of the hardcore, semi-pro skaters in their one-piece spandex get-ups, but felt confident with the training i had done in madison.

the race was a mass start, which is a guarantee for early crashes. several men in front of me stumbled upon each other and rolled. luckily, i was able to swerve to avoid them and continued on my merry way. it was only merry for about 2 miles...then i reached the first of many hills. people had described this course as having rolling hills, but that was a bit modest. after skating the flat capitol city trail in madison, my legs were not prepared. i still skated hard and tried my best. i won a mini-sprint race within the race which earned me a t-shirt. a large t-shirt that will now be worn by my father.

i finished strong, with a smile on my face, knowing that i did not meet my goal of 1 hour and 40 minutes. i was shocked when i found out that it took me 2 hours and 9 minutes. later, however, we were informed that the course was actually 28 miles instead of 26. also, i had to skate the entire race by myself....no pace lines or drafting. the top skaters were too fast and the rec skaters were too slow. due to the hills and added length, everyone's times were slower. in duluth, the top skaters will finish in about 1 hour, but here, the top skaters came in at 1 hour and 23 minutes. compensating for those differences, i was really happy with my time. i found out later that i placed! for the full marathon, i was 3rd in females 30 yrs. and under. i also was 3rd place for the "athena" category (women over 160 lbs.). i received a wooden plaque and was recognized at the awards ceremony. other goodies included: embroidered socks, a coffee mug, a tasty sub sandwich, microbrewery beer, and no new injuries! i would definitely do this race again in the future.

last night after i returned home from hayward, i quickly showered and headed over to sam's graduation party. i felt awful that we had gone over a year without seeing/talking to each other. however, once we saw each other, it was as though we had just spoken. we had a lot to catch up on, but it immediately felt like the good ol' days. sam will be headed off to law school in st. paul in one week, so hopefully we can get together before we part ways for at least another year.

today was a day of errands. i mowed the lawn and helped get stuff together for our next adventure. tomorrow, my mom, dad, aunt jenny and i will be going to the turtle flambeau flowage near mercer, wi and the manitowish waters area. we will be camping on the islands in the flowage and kayaking around them during the day. i don't know if i will be able to do any kayaking in korea, so i must enjoy this opportunity. i love paddling.