The good, the bad, and the ugly

The good: Nelson is coming to Korea in exactly 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went on our monthly field trip this past Thursday with the kindergarteners to a sweet potato farm. It was the shiiiiiiz, especially considering how much I love Korean sweet potatoes. I picked a couple of sweet potatoes and one of my coworkers gave me a bag full that she got.  

The teachers helped the little ones pick their own sweet potatoes.

The students were shouting, "Teacher, teacher look!" every 2 seconds. Very entertaining.

My Korean son picked many.

The pre-kinder students brought so much food; it was a junk food feast. Of course no one wanted to eat their lunch.

The bad: Ownership has changed at my school. I want to be optimistic about this change, but so far the transition has been really rough. I missed picture day with the kindergarteners and got dressed up for nothing because of poor management and idiocy. So...I took pictures for myself. Not as professional and not very well posed, but I like these better.

I don't know how professional photographers get these kids to sit still!

They love photobombing! Hahaha

The ugly: I made banana bread with my coworker, Samantha, and her Dutch Oven. She showed me how to use this contraption that she learned to use while in the Peace Corps in Mozambique. A dutch oven is basically a pot inside another pot, like a rice cooker, but without the steam vent so no heat escapes. I was extremely impressed. Although this banana bread doesn't look particularly appetizing in the picture, it was SLAMMING! I will be making this again...many times.

At the end of the field trip, one of my pre-kinder students decided she wanted to use my camera.

I was really tired because I just let her do it.

She took many funny shots of her classmate, Kevin.

Goofball :)

That's the photographer on the right, Dionisia.

Naksansa, Seoraksan, Jumunjinsa

I had a three day weekend for Foundation Day this past weekend. Foundation Day is a national holiday in Korea and it celebrates the mythological origin of Korea. I decided to visit literally one of the biggest attractions in Korea. I'd been wanting to do this ever since I realized why my favorite Korean restaurant in Northern Virginia is named Seorak Garden.

First we hung out at Naksan Beach. It was the first time I saw pine trees at the beach.

Naksan Beach is on the west coast of Korea, which is where the best beaches are supposed to be because they're blue and much clearer than the east coast beaches. Naksan Beach had really big waves because the water is very deep.

I made new friends, Laura and Lia, who took this fun photo. 

Right next to the beach was a Buddhist temple. Can't remember the name, but it had beautiful views of the sea.

There were several fountains like this one of fresh mountain water. I tried some and it tasted clean, nothing spectacular though.

I guess every temple has to have some kind of water feature.

Traditional Korean building designs are beautiful.

And everything is handmade and handpainted.

I learned the Nazi's copied the Buddhist symbol for peace and made it into the swastika.

This temple was more like a complex. There were a lot of buildings and pathways.

Afterward, I bought toasted dried squid and dried fish, both of which I hadn't had in awhile. It was just as chewy and yummy as I remembered. 

We ate a late lunch, I ordered a variation of one of my favorite seafood dishes - raw squid mixed with rice, vegetables, and hot sauce. Also known as hwedubbap (회덮밥). It was so fresh tasting because the cook fished the squid straight from the tank in front of our table.

Sunday, we went to Seorak Mountain! I believe it's the largest and most well-known mountain in Korea.

Beautiful waterscapes and landscapes left and right. I took so many photos.

AFT - apparently it's a tourist acronym for Another Farting Temple. Well, I'm still enjoying them. The same fellow hiker that told me about AFT said Buddhist temples are all tucked away in Korea (in mountains or at beaches) because originally Buddhism was not well accepted in Korea. Other Asian countries often have as many temples in the cities as they do in the country, but Korea is different.

About halfway up.

My sore legs are in payment for these beautiful Kodak moments.

We were hiking up the Ulsan Boulder trail. If you look closely, there were many rock climbers too, which was amazing because those boulders were really smooth. They were using the crevices of the rock to climb up.

Toward the end of the trail there was a mad number of people on the trail and we had to form lines. Traffic while hiking!

I was actually happy for once in traffic, maybe because I wasn't confined to a vehicle.

We made it to the top!!!!

You can't escape the couple's traditions in Korea even many thousands of meters up in a mountain. Each lock represents a couple that climbed the mountain together and it means that their relationship will last forever. They carve or write messages on their locks. So adorable!

Next day, we went to an even better beach called Jumunjin Beach. The water was more shallow and the waves more reasonable. I could see through the clear water and I was looooving it. <3

I went on a Zipline! I couldn't believe how much fun it was! I can't wait to do it again! 

Couples and families dress alike in Korea. I used to think my mom was weird for buying us matching shoes or clothes, but now it makes sense. Sorry mom, I'll wear matching outfits with you, but only in Korea. LOL

Our final meal before we returned to Seoul was fresh sea snails or whelk (골뱅이). I love whelk. Yumyum.

Family fun outdoors

I spent my first weekend with my Korean family (my aunt, uncle, and 3 younger cousins) this past weekend. We did normal family stuff...went out to eat, went to the playground, and for a walk around this huge wetland reserve nearby their town. I had the best weekend I've had so far in Korea! 

My uncle, my cousin Eu-hyun, and my new baby cousin, Bo-hyun.

Remember these? I don't know why I don't see them in American parks anymore...

...but they are so much fun!

I'm holding a live dragonfly! Or, a 'jamjari' in Korean.

 My cousin, Eu-hyun, caught so many of them that weekend. Don't worry, he took care of them and let them all go.

The view from my aunt's apartment is even more spectacular at night.

We went to the school park after dinner on Saturday. I actually exercised! I did 3 pull ups, took a ride on my cousin's bike (the ground was sandy so it was kind of difficult), played soccer, jump roped, and used the exercise equipment you can find at every park in Korea.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Gyeongan Cheon Wetland Ecological Park. We walked on a trail around the park and ate roasted chestnuts.

All that green grass is rice!

There were some creatures too, but not many because the park was really dry according to my aunt.

Korean women are obsessed with their skin (I thought I was bad, nope not in comparison). I see them using umbrellas on the sunniest days, so they don't get skin damage. Makes me thankful for my brown skin. My uncle  doesn't like the heat of summer though.

GORGEOUS sunshine and happiness! I love the mountains in Korea.

These giant plants were strange looking but I liked them, I think I'm going to do a watercolor of this photo.