Time Will Tell

Well I have severely neglected this poor blog, but I am trying to get back into blogging and with a new blog dedicated to my kitchen adventures, Pepper Food. I will be updating in both blogs more frequently.

First Jjimjilbang (찜질방) Experience

I was fortunate enough to have four days off of teaching and decided to have an extended stay in Seoul. I got in on Wednesday night and stayed with my friend Dustin. On Thursday, I met up with two of my former students and had lunch at Buddha's Belly in Itaewon. They have a pretty good lunch menu and tasty Thai food. Minah and Jinsoo had never had Thai food before and they both enjoyed their selections. I had a massage appointment at Healing Hands and while I was being pampered (fully body, hot stone and paraffin foot treatment for only 70,000W!) they explored Itaewon. After my massage they took me to Samcheong-dong, it is near the largest palace in Seoul (Gyeongbokgung) and it is an artsy area with a lot of really neat art galleries and quaint coffee shops. Definitely a place I'd like to explore again.

Once we finished checking out a few of the galleries, we headed to my old neighborhood to go to Lotte Jjimjilbang. A jjimjilbang is a Korean public bathhouse. It is gender segregated in some parts and communal in others. When you get into the jjimjilbang you pay the attendant about 7,000W and they hand you a slip of paper with your locker number, a few towels and the jjimjilbang uniform. Once inside, you place your shoes in a small cabinet and then head to the locker room. It's best to shower before heading into the pools and/or the sauna areas. So, you strip down, head to the shower area which is also where the pools are. They are filled with all different temperatures of water and you can move from pool to pool or stay in one. If you decide to head to the resting area/saunas you put your uniform on (shorts and a t-shirt) and grab one of your towels and head out. The saunas vary in temperature too. We started in one that was 174 degrees Fahrenheit! Immediately after, we headed to the ice room at a cool 23 degrees. We didn't have a whole lot of time as I was meeting a friend for dinner, but it was a nice first experience and I can't wait to go back!

On Saturday night, Dustin and I saw Eclipse and it was pretty good. I can't wait to finish the Twilight books now though because I can't wait for the next movie to find out what happens!

Three Weeks In...

It seems my lack of blogging has put me near the end of my first three weeks of teaching. As I'm only teaching for six weeks this makes it a pivotal point in my return to Korea. This time around I am teaching college freshman who are finishing their English requirement. Thankfully I've been blessed by the higher level students, but I will admit, it has still been quite challenging as only half the class really understands the daily conversations and tasks. With that said, it will be interesting to see what the next three weeks will bring as I will also be balancing a 3 credit course, 3 hours, 4 days a week. It should prove interesting, but of course, I'm always up for a challenge.

Life in Daejeon is a bit more laid back than life in Seoul, but not without its unique eccentricities of course. I actually prefer the pace here to the pace in Seoul however, I do like that I know my way around Seoul, know how to get places and was privileged to live in a prime location. Woosong is hectic. I say that with some restraint as I've had some problems with things here, but at the same time, it is more me adjusting to Korean life again. Having previously been to Korea I know that things do not always happen the way they are supposed to or even in a fashion that I am accustom to. With that said, it has been, once again, a learning experience on my part. I am so blessed with this opportunity once again and I'm trying to make the most of it.

My days in Daejeon are filled with teaching, hiking and once again devouring delicious Korean food. I try to eat kimchi daily as I missed it more than I eve knew. I also try to eat something different everyday, not necessarily something new, but different at least. Below are a few pictures from the past few weeks.
















Daejeon as seen from my hike















Uma Park, about a mile from my apartment

Welcome to Daejeon + Thankful Thursday

On June 6th, I left for Korea. Again. This time a two month stint in Daejeon, which pales in comparison to my previous 13 months in Seoul. I spent the first two days in Seoul and on June 9th, made my way to Daejeon. Daejeon is about an hour southwest of Seoul by the high-speed KTX train or about 2 hours by normal train. I'm sharing an apartment with my friend Sarah and it is quite nice. Daejeon is smaller than Seoul, but not small by any means. 1.5 million people occupy this city and while it's subway system is a one liner at the moment, extensive bus and train systems are in effect. I spent my 25th birthday here with Sarah and Jenna and then headed to Seoul for the weekend. Not a whole lot to report yet. I will recap my first week teaching at a later date (probably tomorrow)

Thankful Thursday
This wonderful opportunity to be back in Korea

Turning 25 a week ago

Getting to visit BIS, my old school in Seoul

Amazing Korean food

Round Two

I leave for Korea on June 6th! I land in the land of the Morning Calm at 5pm on June 7th. Watch out Korea, I'm coming back!

P.S. I know I've neglected this blog the last month or so, but that's all about to change my friends. I have updates coming soon about Target Field, running and of course, more KOREA!!!

Thankful Thursday

Classes being finished

New running shoes to break in tonight at the SCSU on the Move 5K

One in class final + one take home final

A year of graduate school finished

Life Changes at 13.1 Miles

Eight months ago I embarked upon a journey that I thought would end at a single 5K race. A single race of 3.1 miles, and about nine weeks of training to get to that point. By the end of December I had completed eight 5K races and began to wonder if I could one day run a 10K or even, gasp, a half-marathon. While I was not necessarily determined to run a half-marathon anytime in the near future, I found an enticing one on April 24th. I began training in the end of January, early February and realized along the way that most of the battle was mental. Physically, I could do it, mentally, completely unsure. Last weekend, I decided to run a half-marathon relay with my friend Kate, just to get some distance in before an attempt at a half-marathon. I ended up running the 7.1 mile portion of the race and while it was slow going, I completed the race and Kate and I had a half-marathon time of 2 hours 32 minutes.

Enter this weekend. Rainy Saturday, ankle issues and a plethora of doubts. And the weekend of the half-marathon. 13.1 miles of running. Doubts plagued me up until mile 6, where I decided to take the half-marathon route as opposed to the 10K route. Doubts then again plagued me at mile 7 when my feet, soaked by the rain, began to blister and hurt. Doubts plagued me at mile 8, mile 9, mile 10, mile 11, mile 12 and mile 13. The doubt left as I crossed the finish line in 2 hours 58 minutes. A slow 13:34 mile pace, but I finished. I, Molly Refsland, finished a half-marathon. My dad was there to see me finish and I would not have wanted it any other way.

I am thinking of running another half in August and a 10 miler in October. I am now, what I consider to be, a runner. A slow, "caboose," but I am a runner. And running has changed my life. It has made me confident, stronger and healthier. It has made me realize that running can be fun, it can be challenging and it can altogether suck, but I cannot stop running. At this point, I will say a full marathon is probably not in my future, but we'll see. Someday :)