Anniversary

After we went to Nami Island, we went into the country and mountains more to a great pension. See, Koreans don't typically stay in hotels they normally stay in what is called a pension. Pensions are little condo type houses that you can rent. They come fully furnished, and are great getaways. We stayed at Sunnyside pension which included an in house hot-tub and a huge deck where we could grill out. The deck was larger than our first apartment in Korea! It was great, and I swung many hours in the porch swing. I was really happy! Chris just loved the hot tub and stayed in their most of the time. It was really fun to get away though, and it was the first time that we saw stars in 2 years! I know many people take that for granted, but when you live in the second largest city in the world, you don't get that many stars. Above are some pictures of where we stayed.

Nami Island

Chris and I had a long weekend at the beginning of June, and so we decided to celebrate our anniversary a little bit early. For our trip, we took a speed train out to the where Nami is. Nami is an island that is actually located in the middle of a river in Korea. It is really nice, and basically is a big part with biking and walking trails, and cute little shops and restaurants. While on the island, we ate at a nice Italian restaurant, and then rented some bicycles to ride around the island. To give you an estimate. It takes about 20 minutes to bike full-circle around the island. Pictures are above.

Zip Line to Nami Island

Above you will see pictures from the Zip Line at Nami Island. We went up this tall tower, and then rode down a zip line, over a river, to Nami. It was really high up and defiantly an interesting experience. Yet, truthfully, I think our hopes were set too high and we were a little disappointed with the ride. It was an experience though! Next time we will just take the ferry boat.

Korean Muslim Quarter

Since we are going to Saudi Arabia, we decided to go and get the black Abaya that I will need to wear. Saudi is one of the strictest (most religious) countries in the world. In Saudi, all women must wear the full black covering over their clothes and a head scarf. Muslim women cover everything except for their eyes. While this is hot and can be seen as being impractical, I completely understand why women their wear these.

In the past, Saudis were nomadic people. As they moved, the various tribes would raid opposing tribes and steal the beautiful women. In order to prevent this, they made all their women cover up. This help protect their family members.

One more reason that women wear the abaya is for modesty. It prevents dressing in inappropriate clothes as well as by helping our brothers flee temptation. Thus, the abaya is in full effect. In countries around the world many Muslims, Christians, and Jewish women still cover up their heads and try to dress really conservatively. Saudi Arabia has just enacted stricter rules than most countries.

Thus, I am at peace with having to wear an abaya. despite the inconvenience. At least we can wear nice and light clothes underneath.

Well, so back to the point. . . since I need an abaya for Saudi Arabia, Chris and I went to the Muslim Quarter in search of one. While we were there we visited the only mosque in Korea plus several shops, bakeries and stores. While we were there Chris bought some Turkish delight as well. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is a jelly fruit candy that is dipped in powdered sugar. He wanted to try it, because it is mentioned several times in the book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

The location of the mosque is in Itaewon, and we have been near it many times, but this was the first time we went there.

To Saudi Arabia

So we are moving to Saudi Arabia!

I know that it isn't the ideal move for most people, but it is something that we have been thinking about doing since before we even got married.

Saudi Arabia is located smack in the middle of the world, and is one of the world's wealthiest countries, because it is where all of our oil comes from. Yet, it is also the most conservative Islamic country in the world.

In going there, we will have to adjust to a new lifestyle, and I will be required to wear a full muslim headcovering, and be accompanied by Chris at all times. While this may be annoying, it will definetly be a great experience.

We will be teaching freshman English at King Faisal University in Al Hofuf, Saudi Arabia.

http://www.kfu.edu.sa/en/pages/home.aspx

Besides just going there for adventure, we are also going there in order to save up money and become debt free. We started Dave Ramsey's Financial peace program a little over a year ago, and we have made a ton of progress. Yet, by going to Saudi we will be making more than $2,000 extra per month. Thus, we are really excited about how that will affect our debt snowball.

So anyways, I am including some videos that were made by teachers at the school that we will be at.

This is what our apartment will look like:

These are some of the male students. Only Chis will teach males, I will teach women.

Children's Day

Each year, there is a Korean holiday to celebrate children. Children's day is actually a national holiday, so there is no work or school. It was in the middle of the week this year so, Chris and I enjoyed being able to get out and explore lots of places. W walked all over Seoul, but it was really fun!

Boys at Dobongsan

One Saturday I took my friends boys up to Dobongsan (Dobong Mountain). It was fun, but by the end they were really grumpy. I think taking children hiking isn't necessarily the best idea, especially when you have to walk 30 minutes just to get to the mountain. Hope you like the pictures! They are so funny. One boy is named Charles, and then when his younger brother went to Kindergarten he decided that he wanted his name to be Charles too. So they are both named Charles.