Awkward February plus snow!

February in Korean Elementary schools is an awkward time. Kids are on winter vacation from Christmas until February. Because of this big gap, teachers do their best to finish textbooks and curriculums before Christmas. During winter break, many students continue to go to Hagwans (private schools) or winter camps, though a lucky few go on trips. Either way, none have been in school for about a month when it resumed in February. For the first two weeks of Feb we have class, but then spring break occurs for the last two. Finally, in March, they begin a new semester in a new grade. 

SO basically after a month of vacation, and before two more weeks of vacation, the kids have this awkward two week period of semi school. It's very odd, and they are understandably not in the  mood to work. Most classes show movies. I decided to play the classic rainy day game M.A.S.H. It was a big hit with most kids.. but some were too rambunctious even for a game! It's a game to determine your future and has a lot more English vocab than I realized, so it was pretty win win!

This week Gyeongju has been hit with a sudden and rather intense snowstorm! It's been snowing heavily for over 24 hours! We've gone from no snow whatsoever to about 2-3 feet. It's very intense and unusual for the area. Lack of snow infrastructure has made driving a nightmare. I am extremely grateful to be located so close to my school, and to have my handy dandy winter gear. (I take way too much pleasure trudging through slush puddles in my insulated rainboots) Despite icy roads, it's absolutely gorgeous out, and actually rather warm. So I (and everyone else in my town) had to go on a little photo shoot! Snow really is beautiful when freshly fallen!

The twisty trees in Hwangseong park made
excellent photo subjects.

View overlooking the park.

My buddy atop the hill.
He looks very cold.

This is a tomb downtown. (The mound itself is the tomb. It's an ancient Korean thing). You may recognize it from previous posts. It's one of my favourite parts of Gyeongju due to that wacky tree. Anyways, I was super happy to be able to grab a shot of it in the snow!