Nami Island 남이섬

I went to Nami Island for an end-of-year teacher outing. I didn't know much about the place, but there's a tomb for General Nami, whom no one seemed to have heard of. After driving for an hour and a half, we took a ferry to get to the island. It is a tiny creative sort of town with music, art made from recycled materials and animals roaming freely. The picture of me on the right was taken after the Dong Dong Ju (see below).


Group shot with a sign that reads "Nami-Seom".
My three (current) students in my Teachers English Class: Joy, Grace and Sun.


Here, teachers pose with a tower of magazines (left) and a tree made of bottles (center). Sun and I discovered that we have the exact same camera (except for and name).




I do my best to get in my principal's good graces, so when he said Dong-dong Ju (Korean rice liquor) and motioned for me to follow him, I followed. Then, when he poured me a bowl of it and said 'one shot'...I obeyed. Then he poured me several more bowls and we continued. After downing the drink, we followed the custom of turning the bowl upside down over our heads...essentially, proving that you've finished. Of course several drops then fall on you head. Being several years removed from Goshen College, my tolerance has plummeted and thus, I was happy for the rest of the trip. I got excited when I saw a peacock...then Sun said, "Joe, ostrich!" and I got really excited.


Then I chased it. We then ferried back and ate Dak Galbi near the peer. I was able to respectfully decline soju at the restaurant (it was offered by the head teacher, this time). The bus ride home was karaoke time "noraebang". I'm not sure if the principal (left) was drunk, but the maintenance man (center) and head teacher (right) certainly were. I was convinced by Grace to sing and I surprised everyone with my rendition of 진달래꽃 "Azalea" a famous poem and then song. After singing, I became popular and was forced to drink soju with the maintenance man.

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