april birthday party

Almost 3 months in Korea now; how time passes so quickly. I only know that days are passing because it is that time again, Yes it is birthday party once again at SLP. It was my first time teaching my kids a dance and I was all about something intense and difficult, but they are only 5 so I settled for "how much is that dog in the window". I thought they did a pretty good job. Afterward they were fed plenty of chocolate cake and ran around like madmen until their sugar high ran low. I think they were pretty pleased with themselves; except for the birthday boy. I don't know what was eating him... He couldn't tell me what was wrong, but he wasn't having any of the birthday fun.

a climbing meet & greet

We heard about this group called "Korea on the Rocks", which consists of many foreigners from all over the world who are in Korea, teaching, and sharing the love of rock climbing. Every year they have two meet and greets to 1. meet and greet other foreigners, and 2. climb some rocks. We found out about two weeks ago and knew that we had to tag along. We headed out to the town of Seonunsan, South Korea. We haven't traveled around too much, but we definitely learned how to get around Korea real quick. After learning the subway system one month, and the train system last month, this month was time for the bus system. Well, we made our way to to Seonusan after about an 8 hour travel day. We had no idea it was going to take that long; I mean it looks rather close on a map.... maps are deceiving. Exhausted, yet excited to be out of the bus we found ourselves in a quaint little town filled with Korean travelers seeking the same thing we were: nature.

We had a nice quiet, yet physically rigorous weekend filled with talks of worldly travels, music playing by a burning bright fire, curled up in a tent due to freezing to death temperatures (not really, but I'm from Texas..come on) , and peaceful meditation in a Buddhist temple. I must say for all the work it took to get there and get back... I would do it again in an instant.


Inside the temple everyone wrote down their wishes on these little pieces of paper. You then proceeded to hang them up outside to blow in the wind.

Looking into the woman's praying area of the temple.

The Cherry Blossom

So it is April now. Two months down and still going strong in Korea. After a long 30+ days of cold weather I am still alive! I made it through my first real winter; well half of it at least. Spring is here and now. The birds are chirping, the grass is turning green, and best of all, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. I had no idea that Busan would be filled with cherry blossoms. It came to my surprise one day as I was walking to school that all of the trees were growing beautiful pink flowers. Even more surprising was that they only last about a week or two before they all blow away into the wind, and the tree begins to grow leaves once again. The weather forecast foretold rain, but we didn't listen. Our only chance to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom and we headed out to Gyeongju for a cherry blossom festival.

science museum

Here is everyone waiting for the 3D movie to start.

The children all waiting so patiently, hah, yeah right.

Preparation for the dance-off competition in the space room.

The dance competition in full force.

Last week we took a school field trip out to the science museum. It was the first field trip out of the year and all of the children, and the teachers were very excited. We took about 20 vans all together and headed out across the city. It turned out to be an amazing experience. Plenty of photos, fun, snacks, and laughs, but we were all happy when it was over.

Easter in a Stadium

This weekend we went to Yangsan; a smaller area of Busan. It was about an hour subway ride, which was well worth it. We had been busy with work, and running around the city for weeks; we felt it would be nice to escape into nature and the small town life of Korea. We didn't really have a place in mind to go, so we wandered the streets aimlessly checking out the sights and scenery. The first thing we saw when we wandered out of the subway station was a lake with a nice walking trail on the side. There were many locals riding their bikes, and many people picnicking and such. There were also many old ladies with their glittered sun-visors picking what seemed to be seeds off of the grassy hills.

Upon our walk, we stumbled upon a huge staircase which lead up to a large statue. From the top you could see the entire city. The birds chirping, and the children laughing, it was all so nice and made us feel so peaceful and at home. Another sound ringing from the top of a mountain was something like a choir. It was so loud and majestic that we decided to follow it. We wandered across a bridge, and into a stadium filled with many people. It was Easter Sunday, and there was a church service going on. It was a beautiful day, and why not have church outside? We wandered in and allowed the sound of the music and the energy of the people to surround us. It was a great experience which left us with an intense feeling of wholeness. The Korean people were so nice and welcoming, and really allowed us to feel comfortable. The funny part is that they don't like the sun, and a few of them made hats out of their newspapers to protect their faces. Haha It was sure a sight to see. They really have their paper hat making skills perfected.

Market day

March Birthday Party

Here is Faith Class performing at our monthly Birthday Party celebration.