Spring Rain

Since the last post, clouds and rain have set in dropping the temperature and keeping us indoors. It's still in the 50s during the day time but without sunshine it feels pretty cool. Luckily we've met enough people that we like to spend time with so we meet for drinks and meals with Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans, Koreans, Americans, Brits and a Canadian here and there. It's pretty interesting learning about how other people live around the world and finding similarities to life in the Midwest. This weekend all we've got lined up is to visit the gym, grocery shop and meet for fried chicken and beer with some other teachers. Next weekend we're going an hour north to Chuncheon for a pub crawl, there are 40 people signed up to attend it so were excited to see the looks on the Koreans when they see a mob of foreigners walking down the street!

Spring Weather

This past weekend we took advantage of the warm, spring weather with a short trip on our new motorcycle. (In December we bought a 250cc bike off a guy who was heading back to England). This was our 1st official ride, and we took it out to B's old country school. It was a nice ride and the bike ran like a charm. We then met our American friend for lunch at a pasta shop, and chatted with him for a bit.
Sunday we headed to the pro basketball game with some old and new friends. There were 12 of us foreigners, sitting two rows away from the court, so we may have gotten our mugs splashed on TV a few times. After that we had dinner with a new couple just in from Australia.
B's busy training for his 2nd degree blackbelt at Taekwondo, which he'll test for in May. H is getting to the gym 5 days a week and enjoys working out!!
We're looking forward to the "official" spring, as there will be several festivals taking place. We look forward to showing our friends and family around the fun festivals!

Fire in Seoul

About a week ago, a fire at an apt. in Seoul left an American teacher severely burned on over 60% of his body. There was only one exit in his apt, and it was blocked by the fire. Unfortunately, he did not have insurance thru his employer , and right now his family is struggling to pay his medical bills.
They've set up a trust fund in the States for any donations as they are attempting to get him transported to Cook County Burn Unit in Chicago (where the doctors have agreed to provide free medical care for him until he is recovered).
This could easily have been any of the foreigner teachers over here, so we're all rallying around this young guy who we've never met in the hopes that he'll be able to get back to the US for the treatment that he needs. If you want to donate, or simply leave a kind message for the family, here are the sites:

http://billkapoun.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8730028742





Bill Kapoun, an American teacher who was badly burned in a fire in Seoul on Sunday.

Tara's Visit

Our friend came to visit us for the second time in 9 months! She had a business trip in China, and since Beijing is so close to Seoul, she came over for 3 days. We hung out in Seoul for a day and a half, and took in an interesting "extreme dance comedy" show. We did a bit of shopping, and even saw David Beckham for a split second (he was in Seoul for a big soccer game).
On Friday we had a get-together at our place and drank some fruit soju and then introduced Tara to her 1st norae-bang (singing room). We had our own lil room and belted out songs for an hour and a half. The next day we woke up early and headed to the ski slopes. After skiing, we met up with our Korean friends Arnie and Jinnie who live near Seoul. The 5 of us had dinner and ice cream before they headed back. Then Tara and I headed to the "jim-jil-bang" which is a public bathhouse/spa. It was quite relaxing! This AM we put Tara on the airport bus and by now she's back in China ready to start her business trip.
In less than two months Tanya (H's high school friend) and John are coming to visit, and as soon as they leave, B's mom and brother are coming! We're going to be busy tour guides, and can't wait to see everyone! We're very grateful to have wonderful family and friends!!

Tara, B and I getting ready for a day of skiing at Phoenix Park.

Tara, Jinny, Arnie and us