Recent Happenings

Greetings, friends. We are continuing to feel more and more at home here, and have continued to enjoy exploring our region of South Korea. It's gotten quite cold here, as it probably has where you're reading this, as well. Most days have been in the 20's or 30's (Fahrenheit), and we've had one pretty decent snow. Here's a quick update on some of what we've been up to the last few weeks.

Two weeks ago, we went to the city of Jinju to see our friend Lauren take the test for her black belt in taekwondo. Here we are, with the students, after the competition.

We spent the rest of the day exploring Jinju, which is a beautiful, old city. A fortress there was the site of two Japanese invasions, in 1592 and 1593. Both battles led to substantial losses of life on both sides. Much of the fortress is very well-preserved, and there is also a great museum there.

This plaque tells the story of an important moment from one of the battles:

The fortress sits along the Nam River, which runs through Jinju:

 Looking up at the fortress from the river:

Rachel and Lauren in front of one of the many pagodas:

Pagodas in Korea are not difficult to come by:

The outer gate of the fortress. There's a Baskin-Robbins across the street (not pictured):

Rachel and me by the river:

Bibimbop is a very common Korean dish, and we had a good one in Jinju. One would scoop rice into this bowl and mix the ingredients together to eat:

Last weekend, we enjoyed worshiping (in English) at an Anglican church in Daegu, pictured here:

Following the familiar Advent liturgy in a church on the other side of the world from home was a very powerful experience for both of us. We plan to return as often as possible.

This weekend, we are headed to Seoul with our six coworkers. It will be the first significant time that we've spent there, so we're very excited. Advent blessings to each of you.