tea diaries ~~~~~ groooooovy

A little bit about my trip with the kiddies today on their picnic day – sat squashed between two first grade boys and listened to some Beatles on the way up until I felt a little sick. Promised my new Beatles friend that I’d make him a CD next week. Made an awesome t-shirt with two tangerines that said :Jeju-lovin’" :) Got some pictures and some smiles from my happy happy kids, stole some kimbap with some of the other teachers from the students – the teachers just go around snatching and grinning from all the kids’ lunches, it’s great (if not slightly unfair heheh). Explored Micheon Cave, which according to my teacher friend from the 1st grade, is "a very small cave" – I was expecting a little hole, but it was about the size of maybe 2 of my middle schools! The most interesting part was definitely the hal-mo-nee (grandmother) figure, which looked exactly like a Buddha figure with slightly different dress. Apparently prospective mothers come here and pray in front of a blue or red candle for a boy or girl, respectively. It’s part of the pre-Buddhist shamanistic religion here – it’s fascinating, and I know I’ve only just struck the surface ...