Jongmyo Temple and Changgyeong Palace

One of Chris' friends from Cleveland, TN lives in Korea. So for Chris' birthday I planned a surprise and had his friend Roy come up. It was a great weekend and Roy's first time in Seoul. Here are some pictures from that Jongmyo Temple and Changgyeong Palace that we visited.

Gwanghamun Gate

Chris and Me

Chris, Roy, and me in front of a pond in the palace

Chris and Roy

Halloween

For halloween this year, we decided to put a lot of time and energy into making the students have fun. I was snow white, and my co-teacher was a witch. It was really a ton of fun, and I laughed a lot. Here are some pictures . . .

Me dressed up as the witch

A dwarf and the wicked witch

Our lesson

Me with some of the kids

This boy was about to get turned into a frog . . . he was scared!

Cheusok Holiday

Cheusok is the Korean Thanksgiving holiday. During this holiday people traditionally go home with gifts and make a huge meal, and bow down to their relatives. Yet, many Christian Korean families don't do this. My friend Jade is one such Korean. So for Chuesok family she helped us plan a trip to Gyeongi-do. There we had fun relaxing, cooking out, and playing paintball. Chris loves paintball, so this was definitely the trip for him.

Me in a rice patty field

Chris and I beside a tank near the North Korean border

Chris playing on the tank

Our group after playing paintball!

Bunkers near the North/South Korean border

Korean military guarding the DMZ

Jade and Me

Shauna by the river

Song (Jade's daughter) and Me

Chris and by a dam in Gyeongi-do

A bridge that people were bungee jumping off of

Dyeong, Song and Me being silly

Shauna!

Getting ready to go paintball

Dyeong, Jade, and Song eating lunch

Jeonju

We were able to go on a trip outside of Seoul to Jeonju, Korea. Jeonju is about 3 hours south of Seoul. It is a town that has a huge folk village, and is famous for its bebimbap. On our trip we got to make bebimpap, stay in a folk house, make hanji (korean paper) fans, and dress up in traditional Korean clothes (hanboks). It was really a great trip!

A squash growing outside one of the houses in Jeonju.

Ben and me eating a traditional Korean style meal

The city of Jeonju

My finished Hanji Fan

Chris making a Hanji Fan

Eric, Cianti, Me, and Chris in traditional clothes.

Miriam and Chris in a Hanbok

Chris getting dressed up

Eating Bebimbap with Eric and Cianti

Our finished product!

Eric preparing the food

Food to use to make bebimbap

These are some of the rooms that we slept in.

Time Capsule Park and Folk Village

While walking, Chris and I came across time capsule park. In the park was a time capsule that should be opened in a hundred years. A little walk down from the park, was the traditional folk village. It was great to see and experience all those neat places.

Chris with Characters at the folk village.

Cut-out Hanbouk (Korean traditional dress)

Me at the village

Kimchi pots . . . they hold Kimchi, the most famous food in Korea.

A room in the folk village.

Time Capsule Park

The time capsule