Gyeongsang Spring

Easter greetings to all of you. It has now been over five months since we arrived in Korea and we are now feeling thoroughly settled. Spring is in full bloom throughout Korea, nowhere more than in South Gyeongsang province, where we live. Cherry blossoms are covering the country at the moment; these are on our school's campus.

Since the weather has improved, we have enjoyed exploring the local area more, both on foot and on our scooter. We have also had the chance to take several more weekend trips to Seoul, Busan, and elsewhere. Here is an update on some of what we have been up to the last couple of months.

We had the chance to go skiing a couple of times before winter ended, once up near Seoul and once down in our southern region. Rachel started out as a beginner but made terrific progress.

The second time we ski'd, we went at night and were even treated to a snowstorm during it.

Some weeks back, we finally had the chance to hike some of the mountains that are right in our area. The trailhead for Okcheon, the rocky peak pictured below, is within walking distance of our home.

There is a Buddhist temple near the base of Okcheon.

From Okcheon, we hiked along a snowy ridge to Mt. Hwawang, the highest and most important peak in this region. Hwawangsan (san, 산, is the Korean word for "mountain") towers over the town of Changnyeong. At the top is a fortress wall that is many centuries old. Though the exact date of construction is unknown, the wall is thought to have been first built during the Gaya period. The wall goes up four distinct prominences, enclosing a flatter area in the middle.

Here's Rachel in front of one corner of the wall.

And at the highest point.

One side of the wall, looking southeast.

Looking northeast.

Our hike was bookended by beautiful temples, as there is another at the base of Hawangsan.

We have continued to be fortunate with our students here, getting an enthusiastic new batch of Korean kids to teach every week. I have finally been in the classroom, since the beginning of March, and have enjoyed getting to work with children face-to-face, rather than just over the computer in cyber school (as I had been doing our first several months).

Here's Rachel with a group of her students from a girls middle school.

Me shooting some hoops on the new court that our bosses had built. Notice the new fitness equipment in the background, as well. Equipment such as this is found in many public parks and other spots throughout Korea.

Our bosses, Richard and Suzi, on Suzi's birthday.

Rachel with yet another group of students.

This was the first group of kids that I taught in the classroom. These kids were from a local farming community and did not speak much English. We had a lot of fun, though!

A different week's group, in our school's "Hospital".

Although we encounter very few disciplinary problems, students do occasionally misbehave. When this happens, sometimes one of the Korean staff members at our school instructs an out-of-line student to do a little downward dog until he gets his mind right.

Socks in Korea come in all variety of prints, and are available all over the place, usually for under $1/pair. One morning recently we sported some new purchases.

On occasion, our teachers' room becomes a spot for a bit of stretching. Suzi is helping Rachel get more flexible.

One thing that has helped us with our flexibility lately is taekwondo. We started at the beginning of February and spend four mornings per week training.

Some snow provided for a photo-op, one morning.

Taekwondo students progress through levels indicated by a series of belts, beginning with white and culminating in black. So far, we have had one test and both successfully moved from white to yellow. The man in the middle was the judge for our test.

Rachel even got some taekwondo practice in on a street in Seoul, one quiet Sunday morning.

We continue to have interesting and varied culinary experiences, particularly in our small town of Changnyeong. Below we are enjoying freshly grilled chicken hearts, with a side of silk worms. At least the beer washes it down nicely.

This pretty pagoda is in a park in Changnyeong.

The Blue House, in Seoul, where the President lives.

Seoul Tower, in the Namsan area of Seoul.

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul.

Statue of King Sejeon the Great, the most revered king of the Joseon Dynasty and the father of the Hangeul system of writing.

Jongno District in central Seoul.

A self-parody in Gangnam.

Richard and Suzi took us to a playoff basketball game in Changwon featuring the Changwon LG Sakers and the Goyang Orions. It was very exciting, and the home team won!

On Easter Sunday, we joined Richard and Suzi along with our friends/coworkers Josh and Lauren in running a 10K in the nearby town of Bugok. Rachel took third place among all female runners! She turned a lot of heads that day, and not only with her speed.

After the race and lunch, we jumped on a bus to go up to Daegu for church, changing into our church clothes in a subway station. We might not have looked so great, but we were there. Our little church, however, looked very beautiful.

As always, thank you for being interested in our life in Korea. We miss you all dearly and think of our friends and families at home continuously.