2 great days in a row!

Yesterday. I met some friends, who are also teachers in Korea, at Songdo Beach (the closest beach to my house) for a Kareeoke (sp?) contest/ beach festival... I had read online that it started at 5pm, so we arrived shortly after, but they were still setting up the stage, so we ended up sitting here - on this jetty of sorts.

It was here, that I had one of the most meaningful, raw, and exhillarating conversations about God, life, and love that I have maybe ever had in my life. It will be a fond memory of mine for years and years and years to come.

While we were sitting talking, there was a dad and daughter fishing for tiny crabs within the rocks. The mom sat on the edge of the jetty, watching, proudly, as her family caught dinner for the night. When I asked if it was okay for me to take a picture, I quickly noticed that the mom and dad were both deaf... I don't know why, maybe it was because of the conversation that we were having, but it hit both of us that this little girl's life was drastically different from our own... and we wondered how it would affect her that her parents couldn't verbally communicate with her.... Would it cause her to be a stronger person, more compassionate and understanding of people's situations, or would she become bitter that her life was not like her friends? We'll never know, but the love that was shown between the 3 of them was really special. :)




Yesterday was such a gorgeous day, I have to include this picture!


After the sun went down, the city lights came on, and the reflections on the water were magical. I caught myself wondering why I had never come here at night time before? (sorry it's blurry)


At around 8:00pm, the festival began, and it was AWESOME! The weather was gorgeous, there were tons of people there watching, the kareeoke was really good, and really bad :), and the background dancers were mediocre at best, but it was really fun!










At one point, there was a Korean rapper who was trying to get the crowd to put their arms up and "wave them from side to side," but these women had their arms up and were only moving their hands - imagine hula dancing hands to a rap song! It was sooo funny!



Our friend Aaron met up with us too!



The water was so warm that we ended up walking along the beach from one side to the other and played around with a live eel on the shore...

... We saw a huge rat running across the rocks, climbed a bridge, listened to live acoustic music, wrote with our toes in the sand, walked on a rock path (specifically designed for your feet) that hurt really bad,

... and ended the night with ice cream at Baskin Robbins! Couldn't have asked for a better night!

Surprise in my bread!

I stopped by the market to pick up a loaf of bread on my way home from work today.  Without a 2nd thought, I grabbed a loaf and paid for it.  When I got home and pulled a piece out to make a sandwich, this is what it looked like!  

What the heck are all those vegetable/fruit chunks?!   gggrrrr.... Once I pulled them all out, I had a bunch of holes!  I have to admit, it is kinda funny.  Aahh, the joys of living in a country where I can't read the packages! 

All my favorite hobbies!

Tonight, I did some of my favorite things, with some new, really great friends.  I played screen golf (basically real golf, but into a screen) for 3 long and hilarious hours, with blisters to show for it, played dominoes (which reminded me of my grandaddy!), and jin rummy (my favorite past time with Cornerstone kids back in HS).  The time just passed me by, and before I knew it it was midnight, and a school night!   Thank goodness for the Swine Flu showing it's ugly face in my school's neighborhood and canceling all my classes this week!  ... and according to my VP, I have to come to work for 2 hours, but I can do whatever I want...  I think sleeping at my desk will probably be my chosen activity for tomorrow's work day!  

Next on the agenda will be bowling, which I love!! ... and it wasn't even my idea! Seriously, where did I find these people who love everything I love?!   

*** Pics to come soon!

My Sunday Hike

Today was a gorgeous day... the perfect day, in fact, for a hike! Luckily, there's a huge mountain right behind my apartment with tons of beautiful hiking trails awaiting me at all times! I packed my camera along with a fresh apple, a bottle of water, some healthy crackers, and an adventurous spirit!



If you look really closely, you can see an old Korean man walking down the trail. It helps put into perspective, just how huge and majestic this area is!

And finally, I made it to the very top!

Back to the babies...

I can't stay away... I think about them everyday and am forming bonds with so many of them. Today, Kristen came with me and we spent the afternoon with the 3 babies in the area of the orphanage that I wrote about in my last blog. These babies have been abandoned on street corners in the last 3 months.