a hiking we will go

Oread
Whirl up, sea-
whirl your pointed pines
on our rocks,
hurl your green over us,
cover us with your pools of fire.
-H.D.

the day for children

Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday! Children's Day is here and now and SLP has a special day for all you Korean children who work so hard all year. Yes we have Market Day! Market day is a chance to buy everything you always wanted (almost) with all of your very own American dollars. One time, and yes one time only we are passing out little pieces of black and white American printed dollars. Don't worry we won't ever run out because we have a copy machine! Please don't try to gamble your dollars away, although we know you will because you are crazy Koreans. Please save your money because you will have a chance for this one day to buy something of your choice. Yes the items are expensive... but get used to it, that's real life, and you can bargain, because we are fair traders.

We will start our day off at Jangsan Mountain; working on our artist skills and sketching away the beautiful landscape under the warm sunshine. Then, we will have our special one time Market day event, filled with free prizes and food. Lastly we will have Golden Bell (a special quiz game where you can win more prizes). Study up though, it's very tough, and don't be surprised if 95% of the kids get eliminated on the first round. We are going to laugh, we are going to cry, and most of all we are going to be competitive about everything! Have fun, and enjoy your wonderful day off! Thank you children!

wedding celebrations

I didn't think I would be so lucky, but to my surprise I was invited to a Korean wedding. Oh the excitement, oh the joy! I am so honored; plus there is free food and booze. The lucky lady was one of my assistant teachers. Her name is Elly and she is one of the most wonderful people in my life here in Korea. She is always supportive, and everything you ask her to do is "my pleasure". The wedding was quite different than that of a western wedding. It was on the second floor of a building which held three different weddings all at once. Oh the chaos! I was surrounded by Korean faces which all seemed similar to me. Where oh where could Elly be? One kind lady grabbed me by the arm and escorted me to a room where the beautiful princess Elly was sitting on her throne being photographed like Santa Claus on Christmas. I was lucky to get one in right before we headed to the ceremony.

The ceremony was a small room, not quite big enough to seat, barely fit all of the 200 or so guests invited to the wedding, so most of us just stood on the sidelines. It was quite different than a western wedding because the bride was there on display before the ceremony, not like back home where it is "bad luck" to see the bride before the big event. The ceremony was nice and quick, with no bridal party or flower girl to slow down the process. The parents of the bride and groom dressed in the traditional Korean attire (which the bride and groom later changed into after the ceremony). During the ceremony the groom was guided to pass his shoe around the audience and ask for donations toward the wedding. The ceremony ended with the father of the bride putting on a nice harmonica performance followed by some fellow colleagues playing a song on the guitar for the newly wed couple.

For lunch, we were given a ticket for our free meal downstairs at the restaurant. We sat amongst the guests from the other weddings, not quite knowing who was who, or where the bride went, or what was next. It was a nice buffet meal; all you can eat and all you can drink. Most of the guests left after one stop to the buffet, and one drink with their meal; however the hard-working co-workers of Elly stayed to really really enjoy the complimentary meal and booze, later ending the afternoon/evening with an after party at the beach.