Danyang (단양)

Last Saturday we hopped in the car with 2 friends and took a 1-hour road trip to the small city of Danyang. A huge river ran through this city many years ago, and now has several beautiful sights. Although we didn't even see half of them, the things we did see were great.

First we grabbed lunch in town, and then headed to the country where we took a tour of a famous, historical Korean movie set. It was fun to play with all of the props. There's also a cave on site so we walked/crawled through that (some parts had really low ceilings).

After that, we visited Gu-insa, a Buddhist temple. It's a special temple as it's a different sect of Buddhism, and it was cool to see of the differences. We made it back to the city at sundown, to see some parasailers flying above the river. There happened to be an azalea festival in town so we walked around the booths and ended up getting kebabs from some deaf Turkish men. Their faces sure lit up when we came back for seconds! As we were chowing down, we heard fireworks, and were able to take in a great fireworks display. Right after that, we heard some music and wandered onto a nationally televised Korean Concert. Our Korean friend told us that the singers were famous performers. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

On Tuesday, H's school had a festival all day. I climbed a 400 meter mountain with the 1st graders (very tiring) and then they enjoyed various games throughout the day. We ended the afternoon with a talent show where one skit made fun of some teachers. I was glad to not have made it on the list, but after that they wanted some teachers to come up and sing. As singing is not my strong suit, I snuck out of the auditorium just in time!

The weather has gotten hot here recently, temps are in the high 70's already. The humidity is already coming on strong and we're not looking forward to the June/July months.

The 2 couples: Dayle (from New Zealand) and his wife Hee-Kyung (from Korea)

Dayle and B joking around on the set of the Korean drama.

At Gu-insa Temple.

Enjoying the fireworks display.

The 2nd & 3rd graders made a giant receiving line for us as we left the school to climb the mt.

Some parts were so steep that we had to pull ourselves up with a rope.

The first of the 260 students to make it to the peak.

Hiking & B-day Party

On Friday evening we met with most of the EPIK teachers for a group dinner; close to 30 turned up and it was a fun night.

Saturday morn B and 3 guy friends decided they would climb the 1300 meter mountain. It took them all day, so I had lunch with my Korean friend and then afterward went to her nephew's 1st birthday party. Korean 1st b-day parties differ from Western ones, as there is a big to-do with fun activities.

When people arrive, they guess what object the child will pick IE-pencil=scholar, $=wealth, a microphone=entertainer, and so on. When the baby selects one of the items, whoever guessed correctly gets their name put in a raffle. Three names were drawn, and those guests are brought up to the front of the room and given a nice gift.

Everyone enjoys a wonderful buffet, and then sings the baby the B-day song. Of course, everyone brings either money or gifts. When they get ready to leave, the guests are wished well by the family and given rice cakes and, in this case, some dishes with a "happy birthday" theme on them.

My Australian friend Amy and I were the only westerners at the fiesta, and when asked who had come the farthest to be at the event, we were almost ushered on stage to collect the $10 being given away. Luckily, the mother's cousin had come from south-west Korea, so he got the cash instead!

Dayle, Nick and Heath at the top of Chiaksan!

The family blowing out the candle!

Me with the fam: my friend Kyung-eun & her younger brother (holding their nephew), their older sister in the Korean dress along with her 6-year old daughter Hyo-Een.

Buddha's B-day & Teacher's Day

May 12th was Buddha's birthday, so we had the day off. A few days earlier was visited 2 temples, one of them very famous in Korea. So for the big day we just relaxed at home.
Yesterday both of our schools had Sports Day for the kids, so all day the kids played games and such. They enjoyed soccer, basketball, dogdeball, arm-wrestling, the Limbo, 3-legged race, and we ended with a relay race. It was a fun day.
Today (the 15th) is Teacher's Day in Korea. Traditionally this has been a time to honor your teacher, but these days it's getting out of hand as parents feel obligated to send gifts for each of their childrens' teachers. So, both our schools decided to give us the day off. This eliminates any stressful situations for everyone. We feel lucky as not all of our teacher-friends to have the day off. We plan on grabbing some lunch with our friend, work out at the gym, and then tonight H has Korean class (wonder what I should bring for MY teacher...)

Next week will be the 1st full week of school for both of us since April, so it'll be tough getting back into the swing of things again. No more holidays for us til summer vacation in July.

Bong-Jeon Temple near Andong.

At the famous Boo-Seok Temple near Youngju.

This temple has a beautiful view, and people come to see the sunset here.

Showing Family Around

This past week we welcomed our 3rd round of 2008 visitors-Crystal & Christopher (B's mom & brother). On Saturday morn they did the DMZ tour, and got a peak into the mysterious North Korea. On Sunday we all made our way into Seoul where we enjoyed the Lotus Lantern Parade. Monday we stopped by Wonju just long enough to drop off our stuff, and headed to the East coast city of Sokcho-famous for its beautiful Seorak National Park. We took a nice hike up to some waterfalls ad even took a cable car ride to the summit of one of the peaks. The view was amazing!

Thursday and today H had to work so B and fam hung out around Wonju, taking in what there was to see and even watched a movie at the cinema.

Tomorrow we're planning on visiting a folk village and a famous temple, and Sunday morn it'll be time to say goodbye already. We're lucky to have had such wonderful experiences with our friends and family so far in '08!!

South Korean soldiers at the DMZ.

Magnuson's in Seoul.

Chris enjoying himself at Seorak Natl Park.

Lovely shot of the temple within the Natl Park.