아침고요수목원

We decided to trek from Banghwa to the east side of Seoul and on further into Gyeonggi yesterday.  Destination:  Garden of the Morning Calm.  The journey was a long, painful one because everyone and their uncle decided to join us.  Seoul is the most densely populated city in the world, and I got to experience what that really means this weekend. We were pushed and shoved into train cars, butt cheek to butt cheek with fellow passengers, standing for the majority of the 3 hour trip :/.  Luckily, all those people didn't join us at the gardens.  After resting our feet a bit and filling our stomachs with a packed Kimbap-lunch, David and I enjoyed a very calm and colorful afternoon walking through 26 different gardens.  Not sure I would make the trip out there again, at least not on a three day weekend, but it was a nice time. Some photos of colorful Korea.

The Milenium Juniper!  This tree is over 1000 years old!

 

THE END

TGIF

Another week is through and I'm so very happy that it's Friday because coming up ahead is a nice, long three day weekend!!!  Happy Birthday Buddha!

I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of my job and what is expected from me as 'the native teacher', which makes coming to work a lot easier.  I feel more at peace, not just in the workplace, but also in life at the moment.  I think Korea is a beautiful place and living in Banghwa, way out on the edge of Seoul, while far from EVERYTHING, does have its perks.  I have access to beauty and nature all the time and that beauty, especially at its peak now because of the spring, is feeding my soul with energy. 

As much as I enjoy the convenience and excitement of living in a city like Seoul, I have to say what I'm most excited about seeing in Korea is its nature.  This weekend, David and I are planning a trip out into Gyeonggi-do to visit the Garden of the Morning Calm  and next weekend heading south toYeosu!--for the World Expo.

Lots of excitement ending off the month of May and kicking off June and the summer months.  :) Have a great weekend everybody!

All for the love of Buddha

Buddha's birthday is a national holiday in Korea.  Next week on the 28th, he's turning 2500 years old (give or take a couple decades).  In celebration and anticipation for it, Seoul had a few late night festivities going on including the lighting of Gyeongbok Palace for five days and the Lantern Festival and Parade.

Jeonju

Hanok Village, Jeonju - a three hour bus ride south.

 Jeonju is the birthplace of Hanji Paper. 

...and bibimbap!

Jeonju - Take 1

 Take 2

Traditional guard costume outside of the palace grounds.

David plucked a ginko leaf off the 600 year old tree behind him.

A fantastically awesome Taekwondoe performance for guests.

Colors of Jeonju.

Connected

It's Saturday today, and for the first time in a long time, I decided to allow myself a lazy morning.  No plans, no place to be, no one to be accountable to.  Just slept in (only managed until 8:30--but still better than 7:00).

Yesterday was a big day for David & me in three small but significant ways.  1) David got his ARC (alien registration card) and is now a fully functioning legal resident in the ROK. 2) With his ARC, David could be registered with the National Health Insurance and is now insured (yah!) and 3) we finally could sign up for phones and are once again reachable at all times, like the rest of Korean society.

Without speaking more than a few Korean words, David and I were able to do all those things listed above in a single afternoon.  KT (Korean Telecom) has a whole series of sites, hotlines and global centers which were created for their expat and non-Korean customers, with English speaking help and representatives available.   While I'm thoroughly impressed and grateful for the fact that exists, nothing like that was promised when we arrived at the Insurance office, so I was kind of nervous about how that was going to turn out.

It almost didn't happen when the guy saw this seal (see below)

The seal (or the city?) that almost messed everything up.

because he'd never heard of Nuremberg, so he told us we'd have to have the document translated into Korean. Despite it being an international certificate, it apparently was not 'international enough'  Luckily, one of his colleagues must have Googled or Navered it and decided it was legit and we could get it all taken care of in one afternoon.  (A million thanks to the employees there who proactively tried to help us out, even though we couldn't speak Korean... you guys are awesome.)

And tomorrow is our trip to Jeonju via free shuttle thanks to Visit Korea Year.  Excited to go to the food capital of Korea^^.  Until next post.

the power of the flower

Friday night, sunset hike on Gaewahsan Mountain, making that my fourth climb in 7 days.

View of West Seoul as the sun sets.

Zoomed in on a mountain side filled with thousands of azalea flower plants.  One of the most breathtaking places I've ever been.

Faking a reflective pose along Cheongpyeong Lake.  Such a beautiful place.

Obsessed with spring time in Korea.

The view at the top at Saturday's Azalea Festival.

Aju.

Getting late, but I can't seem to stop taking photos. 

Cheongpyeong Lake in Gyeonggi-do.

Davi feeling on top of the world.

A day for children

Tomorrow is Children's Day in Korea--which is normally a national holiday and a day off--but since this year it falls on a Saturday, our school decided to host Sports Day for the kids in the morning and let them go home earlier.  In the afternoon, all the teacher's went for a hike to Gaewahsan Mountain.  Some photos...

The school all decked out with flags and students warming up for sports on the field.

My lovely co-teachers.  All the staff had to wear bright green sports jerseys--myself included.

Games--take 1

Games -- take 2

Hike with the teachers.

A temple we saw along the hike decorated with lanterns for the upcoming birthday of Buddha!

The view from the top--where our principal gave us all lottery tickets as a thank you  for our efforts from today. :)

View--take 2

This weekend, heading to an Azalea Festival in Cheongpyeong.  I love spring time in Korea!