Beautiful Sunset

The transitional nature of the foreigner community on Jeju Island is really bizarre. People literally come and go all the time. Every few weeks, if not more, there is a goodbye party for somebody who is leaving – going back to their homeland, or on a wild travel adventure for a prolonged period of time. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing.

Obviously, its sad. There are people on this island who I’ve had great memories with – some whom have already left, and some of whom have stuck around. I’ve met an incredible number of people on this island, and everyone is friendly and up to have fun, which is fantastic. But I will say, its always strange when people leave.

At the same time, the natural oscillations on this island have reminded me to be really honest about your friendships and spend time with those people who matter the most. Its easy, when you are abroad, to spend time with people you are not that close with, since you are all looking to build friendships. Over the last year, my friendships on Jeju have become more and more refined. And I don’t say this in an exclusive way. I simply mean that I am much more aware of who I spend time with, why I spend time with them, and what I love about them. Its great!

This past weekend, for one, Sarah left (but just on vacation, so she is coming back! Phew!!) and our good friends Ariel and Coreen left. I am so sad to see them go because they have been such a great, new friendship for me and of course, continued friendship for Sarah. They are so grounded, level-headed, and mindful and it was such a blast spending time with them.

Of course, the waves of change will continue, and that’s natural. I just thought now was an opportune time to mention it, since we are coming up to another batch of folks who are packing up and shipping out!

Sending love, from across the world… B

Hi there world wide web followers…

Its been ages since Sarah or myself have posted on this blog, and I realize its just been a lack of commitment. We’ve been busy here in Jeju, of course, and although I could list a million other reasons why I haven’t posted on here, I will not! But I do want to continue utilizing this blog as a way to connect and share with all of you what we are up to. Many of you are family or friends who we may not talk to on a regular basis (or maybe we do), but this blog is a way to keep you updated!

One of my struggles in writing on this blog has been realizing that I don’t have to write huge long updates all the time. In fact, those can be tedious to write and read as well, so I will try to keep this in mind over the next 10 months that we are in Jeju, and beyond that, the time we are travelling.

For now, let me just send you belated Christmas and holiday wishes through these beautiful pictures we took with our friends Ariel and Coreen on Christmas day.

Hope you are keeping well, warm and having fun.

big love from the ol’ SK,

brady

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The windows in our apartment are all wide open and the beautiful, fragrant Jeju air is moving from one end to the other calmly, with ease. Its very quiet in Jeju tonight. The wind is almost non-existant. The ocean  looks like glass, except for the slight movement around the volcanic rock shoreline that juts out into the darkness.

On the horizon, there are bright, white lights. They flicker subtly, and light up the few clouds above them.

Its an incredible, warm, stimulating night in Jeju. Its making all of my senses go wild. I love it. And its a far-cry from the icy-cold winter that we experienced a few months ago.

Sarah’s making bread for the foreigner farmer market, which our friend Shay organized for this Sunday. I’m sitting at my desk, looking out the window in front of me, and to my right, the window that looks out over the sea. Literally, all I can smell is the fresh, blossoming flowers and plants that are becoming more green and more alive with every passing day. It really is incredible.

This week, I was at Iho Beach twice helping set up courts and tighten nets for the upcoming Jeju Furey Beach Volleyball tournament that Dan Nabben organizes. We have 9 courts up, and I think people are at the beach again tonight and tomorrow, finishing it off. I can’t wait to play in the tournament. Earlier this week, after we finished working for the night, myself and five other guys played some 3-on-3 beach volleyball until 1am  and it was perfect – a great temperature, and a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we are heading to Marado with our friend Kaitlyn (and Sarah’s old co-teacher from Mulme). Marado is the most Southern point of South Korea. We’ll pick her up in the morning and drive to take a ferry across to the island. Can’t wait!

Wherever you are, and whatever you are up to, I hope you have a great day today!

Sending loads of love.

B

Hello friends and loved ones -

This entry isn’t so much related to what I’ve seen in Jeju, or what I’ve done in Jeju, but its very much about my experience in Jeju. One of the reasons I’m so happy to be on this island is that I have been able to recognize habits and patterns of mine, as well as looking deeper at what inspires me and what drives me.

What kind of people am I instantly drawn to? What kind of people am I uncomfortable around? How do I react to new environments? When I have the time available, what hobbies are most intriguing to me? How do I spend my time when there is nothing else I have to do?

These are some of the many questions that have been coming up for me during my time in Jeju, and I am really pleased that I created the space for myself to do this coming here. Its exactly what I wanted from my experience, and I am really grateful for that.

I’ve also been reading a ton – some fiction books (The Millenium Trilogy, all the Harry Potter books again), but also books dedicated to self-discovery and, I suppose, realization of a creative business venture. I am really interested in entrepreneurship and figuring out a way to satisfy my artistic soul with my personal interest in business. I’ve been checking out a number of different resources online and in print, and of course, one leads me to another, and another…and another. I somehow stumbled upon Chris Guillebeau‘s The Art of Non-Conformity blog, which led me to Pamela Slim‘s ‘Escape from Cubicle Nation‘, and of course, a nice reminder about Seth Godin. And then from there, my adventures in reading led me to a brief but great conversation with my sister’s boyfriend about all of the above, to which he recommended even more resources, including whitehottruth.com’s Danielle LaPorte and her Fire Starter Kit (which I can’t wait to delve into).

(That was quite an introduction, wasn’t it?)

So today, I was quickly grazing over Danielle’s blog and at the end of an entry, she wrote, quite simply:

Raise your frequency and let the world meet you there.

It instantly struck me. I Facebook’ed it and decided that I need to share this via this blog because it was another perfectly timed reminder (the Universe has a way of doing that, doesn’t it?) to continue playing full out in the world. The ultimate message is that you need to be powerful, be strong, and be a stand for yourself. When you do what you love, when you say what you mean, and when you challenge yourself to grow through new experiences and tough situations, the world will always support you. Whatever frequency you choose to vibrate at, the world will match. If you are negative, you will attract others who indulge in your negativity and feed off it. And on the flipside, when you are open to a fully-expressed YOU, you will attract people who are open and interested in growing through life with you. You will create and attract opportunities that add value to your daily life and allow you to realize the joy all around you.

Even thinking about Danielle’s quote…I suppose many people have read that quote and found it just as interesting as me. There are probably a lot of people who read it and didn’t think twice about it as well. But that’s a perfect example of being open. While reading the blog entry, I was open to receiving and considering whatever she had to share. As a result, I read her quote and then found a deeply profound meaning for myself. It was perfectly time.

When you raise your frequency, the world opens up for you, but its not by chance; it’s by choice. That’s the beauty that struck me in that one line.

If this post got you interested, feel free to check out any of the resources I listed in this entry. I’ve taken different bits and pieces from each one, but found them all interesting and useful in their own regards.

Big love and huge smiles.

B

I’ve got to say, I just had one of the best birthdays ever. I had a fantastic morning – Sarah woke up early and made me a delicious breakfast complete with bacon and eggs (which is not something she likes to cook), home made home fries, home-made-bread/toast, and half a hallabong. Isn’t that incredible? So I had a fantastic breakfast in bed!

When I got to work, my adult students and the volunteers at the centre showed up with a giant cake and a breakfast salad to share – they had all home in just to wish me a happy birthday. Again, so nice and incredibly thoughtful.

So many little things contributed to a great day. I also didn’t have to teach as much on Friday, which was nice. Instead, I went to the 5 Day Market in Hallim with some of the ladies from my adult class and they surprised me by buying me two plants for my classroom and two packs of seeds (eggplant and zucchini) for the garden I’m planting! Again, so nice!!

I had a great afternoon and even got a special delivery of a birthday bouqet of balloons that my mom coordinated with Sarah (seriously…it just kept coming)!

Friday evening, I had such a nice potluck with a few friends at our apartment. Everyone made delicious food, as usual with our group of friends, and we all relaxed and enjoyed each others’ company and some drinks and games. It was great!

Since I worked on Friday, I decided that Saturday would be my ME day, so Saturday morning I woke up and went outside to start digging up some soil to plant a garden. Unfortunately, it might be private property (woops) and I might not be able to plant there, but we’ll see. It was nice to spend time outside!! Then I went to the pottery studio for two hours – I worked on my Catan board and pieces, and then threw a few pieces on the wheel. And of course, Saturday night was the infamous Baghdad dinner and outting afterward. Any birthday outing with friends and some drinks (or a bottle of tequila, courtesy of Stephen – thanks buddy!) is bound to be a fun and wild time…and it definitely was.

Tomorrow is Children’s Day in Korea – a national holiday (ussah!!), which means that we don’t teach. Sarah and I are thinking about hiking Donnaeko, which is one of the trails on Hallasan, tomorrow with Weston. Or playing beach volleyball with our volleyball team. There is another tournament coming up at the end of May, and it is once again organized by the incredible Dan Nabben from Windsor, Ontario. We’ve got a team with Sarah and I and four other friends, Stephen, Weston, Brittny and Lauren and we proudly are calling ourselves “Volley Wolley Was A Bear”. It should be a fun time!

For now, I’m off to make some “Happy Children’s Day” mini-cakes with my next three classes. They will love letting loose and having fun I’m sure…and eating delicious cake, clearly!

That’s it for now, but I will have more to post soon. Maybe one of these days Sarah will post again? Maybe not…hopefully nobody is disappointed when they see its ME all the time! Mua hahaaaaa!

Much love from Jeju.

B

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The beginning of April marks Cherry Blossom season in Jeju. If you have never seen one of these trees, let me tell you – they’re one of the most beautiful trees I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t sure whether or not cherries grow from the same trees, but now I know once and for all: they don’t.

The flowering cherry trees that are widely associated with Japan are called sakura, but are abundant in a few other places in the world as well (one being Vancouver, Canada – what what!).

Here in Jeju, mature cherry blossom trees line major roads and provide a beautiful, glowing canopy over the entrance to Jeju National University. The flowers are a beautiful, pinkish-white colour with deep, cherry tones towards the centre of the blossom. I’m told that in the moonlight, they glow even more.

On the weekend, Sarah and I went to check out the Cherry Blossom Festival in Jeju with our friends Stephen and Lauren. As it turns out, the sakura trees at the festival were not mature like we’ve found in other places in Jeju-si. In fact, the festival was more about vendors selling fruit, foods, etc., but it was a great excuse to get people out and about and celebrating the warm Spring weather.

The blossoms don’t last long. I would say almost all the trees have fully bloomed, and within a week or maybe two, the wind will blow the flower pedals off the tree. When they fall to the ground, it looks like snow falling.

 

Sunday, March 6th

After a long day on the South side of the island on Saturday, we decided to take it easy. My mom wanted to look for some stationary like the cards and letters that Sarah and I have sent, so we popped into a store called Art Box so they could take a look. Then, believe it or not, it was about lunchtime, so we went to one of our favourite restaurants (spelling might be incorrect here) called Mulme gol. It’s a Temple Food restaurant that serves delicious food that the Korean monks eat. I love this place! My dad wasn’t a huge fan, unfortunately, but it was still nice to show them another one of our favourite restaurants.

After lunch, I’m pretty sure it was time for a nap (but to be honest, it’s been a few weeks and I’m not sure). For dinner this Sunday, we met our friends Dan (from Windsor) and his fiancee Suyeon, and we had a delicious duck-barbecue at a great restaurant in Shin Jeju. We had such a nice dinner with them! Sarah got some curry ahead of time from a favourite contemporary Western food place called The Plate. We enjoyed this great meal, and then went back to our apartment. Dan, Suyeon, Sarah and my parents and I all played a WICKED board game called Settlers of Catan, which my dad loved! We talked until late in the evening, and had a great visit.

Monday, March 7th

Sarah was back to work today, but I was lucky enough to have two more days off work. My rents and I headed out to the East side of the island with plans to go check out the Manjang Caves, which are the longest lava-tubes in the world. Jeju Island has tons of lava tubes under ground, some that connect with the water, and some that do not. There are lots that are undiscovered, I’m sure. The public section of the cave we visited was 1km long. Yes, we walked 1km underground in a lava cave. Crazy! The entire lava tube is actually over 14km long, which is even more wild.

This was my first trip East of Jeju-si, and it is beautiful on the East side of the island! Very picturesque. We also stopped by the giant maze and checked that out while we were at the caves! Very cool!! My mom got lost in the cave, and just for the record, DIDN’T FINISH IT!! (love you ma) But my Dad and I were troopers and found our way through. It was a blast!

We had lunch at a restaurant near the caves, and then once we had explored there, drove back towards Jeju-si, along the coast. The Jeju coastline is beautiful and lined with volcanic rocks and deep blue water.

Once again, we had an afternoon nap, and then enjoyed dinner before dropping Sarah off at TaeKwonDo.

Tuesday, March 8th

This was yet another great day! We drove up Halla mountain to show my parents a few hiking spots, and get a good view of Jeju-si. We hiked a small oreum that Sarah and I hiked in the winter, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the forest as we made our way up. I thought the oreum only took about 20 minutes to hike up, but I was wrong! It was definitely a longer hike! We had fun thought and enjoyed the sunshine. On the way back down, we stopped by Baskin Robbins and picked up an ice cream cake. Then we grabbed some “toast” (aka egg sandwiches) from my favourite “toast” place, which is called People Baking Toast (Ha)! It was a delicious afternoon snack.

I decided to make home made gnocchi for my parents tonight. My family has a family tradition (which you may have already read about) of making gnocchi on Christmas Day, and since I wasn’t at home during the holidays, I thought this was a great opportunity to do it here! I made home made sweet potato gnocchi with a roasted garlic sauce, and we had ice cream cake for dessert. Our friend Stephen joined us for dinner too, which was nice! AND even more, my parents surprised me and lit some candles for an early birthday celebration for me, since I won’t be in Canada for my birthday!!! It was such a nice surprise. I loved it!

We went to pottery again tonight and my parents finished working on their plates, which they started last week. Then, we headed home and, once again, hit the hay!

At this point, there was one more full day with my parents in Jeju. Their vacation came fast and was quickly coming to an end (at least with me).

On Wednesday, I had to go back to work, so I met my parents at home. We cooked dinner in for our last night together and then drove Sarah to TKD and went to Cafe Ti Amo to sit and enjoy a smoothie.

My parents were leaving Jeju the following day, on Thursday, around noon. I had to go to work again, but Sarah and I both went to their room in the pension before we caught our buses in the morning. Let me tell you, it was hard to say goodbye when I was leaving the London airport, about to fly to Korea, but MAN was I excited. As a result, I think it was easier for me then. But to say goodbye to my parents, after a nice week-long visit with them in Jeju, and to have them leave me…was a different story. I was really sad to see them go, and I missed them (and still do) incredibly when the left.

I feel so fortunate that my parents were able to come to see where I’m living and meet my new extended family in Jeju. I’m so excited that they wanted to visit, and that we could coordinate it and spend so much time together. Now that they are gone, I miss them a ton. More than I did before the visited. But then again, I feel lucky that I have such a great relationship with my family and that they mean so much to me.

That’s the end of their Korean adventure, but they continued on to do more travelling. Now, I am back to work and enjoying the weather as it gets warmer and sunnier on this beautiful island.

I’m glad to finally have these posts written and online. Hopefully they weren’t dry! I really wanted to share them!E

Enjoy the last few pictures I’ve got from their visit to Jeju, and until next time…

big love,

b

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Alas, after a late night out, finishing at the Noraebong, Sarah and I both needed a bit of a sleep in! Not too late, but we definitely enjoyed an extra hour!

Then, we woke up, hopped in the car with my parents, and headed down to Jungmun and Seogwipo. We drove along the 1135 road, which takes us from Shin Jeju, up and around Hallasan, and down into Jungmun.

Jungmun is the tourist centre of Jeju – it has the major “resort-style” hotels (Lotte, Hyatt, etc.) and tourist attractions like the newly build Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum, and pretty much any other kind of museum you can think of (Koreans love museums). We took a quick drive around the tourist area, and then headed to the Botanical Gardens. We didn’t actually go in, but we wanted to check out one of the waterfalls beside it, so we paid a low entrance fee (maybe about 2 000 KRW, or about $1.50 CAD) to get into a viewing area with a huge bridge. Let me tell you, this was no Niagara Falls. The water fall was SUPER tiny! That said, it hasn’t been rainy, so that might be why. Regardless, we had a nice walk and a good laugh about the incident, and then we headed to Gecko’s, a foreigner bar-restaurant for a little North American food (yes-uhhhh). We had a really nice, relaxing lunch at Gecko’s before popping being the Hyatt hotel and enjoying the views of Jungmun beach from a wooden bench overlooking the ocean. Then we walked down part of Olle 8 to see another small waterfall. Olle 8 is the trail that Sarah and I hiked with friends on Christmas Day! Very fun.

Next, we drove over to Seogwipo (about 15 or 20 km East of Jungmun, by the way) and drove along the water to a beautiful area called Oedelgae. WOW is it ever beautiful. There are so many incredible and unique rock formations on this island that were created from volcanic eruptions and lava flow hundreds of thousands of years ago. Its pretty incredible.

As the evening wore on, it started to get cooler, but we were blessed with warmer and more sunny weather than the past few days of my parents visit. It also helped that we were on the South side of the island, which tends to be a little bit warmer than the North, where we live.  We drove to the Seogwipo harbour and walked across a beautiful newly built bridge, designed to model a sailboat. The bridge connects the main island to another small island that used to be known as bird island (can you guess why?), but now that there are so many walkers-runners-hikers, there aren’t many birds chilling there anymore. Still, it was a beautiful walk as the afternoon wore on.

Before we went to Jungmun and Seogwipo, I had phoned my former co-teacher, Hong Geum-Hi, to see if she wanted to meet for dinner when my parents come to Jeju! Geum-Hi lives in Jungmun, so today was our day! Oh yes, I forgot to mention. Sarah was NOT feeling good today! Haha! She was a bit…let’s say…worn out…from her birthday night and our karaoke-ing. Okay, straight up, she was just hung over and not feeling well! Before we met Geum-Hi, we had a bit of time, so Sarah napped in the car and my parents and I laid down on benches outside by a beautiful fountain and garden. When we met Geum-Hi, we ate at a big pork restaurant in Jungmun. Sarah managed to get a vegetarian rice dish, which she said she enjoyed, and my parents and Geum-Hi and I all had some Jeju pork, which they enjoyed and so did I!! Geum-Hi was a little sneak and ran out to pay the bill before we could have the chance, so it was a really, really nice treat. I’m so happy my parents got to meet Geum-Hi because she was a huge help to me when I got to Jeju. She helped me set up my cell phone, find a place to buy a guitar, and has driven me around the island to different places. She’s been so helpful to me. Thanks Geum-Hi!

So, we had a nice, relaxed 45- minute drive back from Jungmun to Naedo, and dropped my parents off at their pension. I was wiped, and so was Sarah after a long day out. It was a beautiful opportunity to re-visit Jungmun and to show my parents the South side of the island, a lot of which Sarah and I haven’t seen yet either!

Enjoy the photos!

B

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subtitle: Sarah’s Birthday

Today, my rents and I had a more relaxing day – we drove over to Tapdong and walked around here, looked at some shops, and I showed them the underground mall as well. After that, we went to Sarabong and hiked the oreum. It was nice to talk a walk, chat about their trip coming up, and enjoy the weather. The oreum is right next to the harbour, although its a more commercial/industrial harbour – ferries, etc.. Still, it was a nice hike and gave us a great view of Jeju-si and Hallasan. Most of the oreums in Jeju have outdoor exercise equipment on them, and there was tons on Sarabong! Very cool!

I showed them the spot that Sarah and I teach yoga, and then we meandered into Shichung/City Hall area to grab some lunch. For lunch, we had chicken galbi, which is a spicy chicken/cabbage/onion dish that is cooked right on the barbecue in front of you (which is typical in Korea). After that, we headed over to Baskin Robbins and my dad and I got a treat.

We relaxed in the afternoon again, and I headed out to pick up a few things for Sarah’s birthday – some brie and crackers for an h’ors d’oeuvres before dinner. When Sarah got home, we buzzed around and got ready, and then met my parents and hopped in a cab. The plan for Sarah’s birthday dinner was to head down to Tapdong (by the water in Gu Jeju), ride the giant swinging pirate ship (carnival ride – you know?) with all our friends, and then head to Bagdad Cafe. First, we had to swing by our friend Christine’s place to pick up a delicious red velvet with cream cheese icing cake that she made for Sarah’s birthday. If you’re coming to Jeju, Cakes by Christine is the way to go if you need anything baked!!

After our struggle in finding Christine’s house, we headed to Tapdong to find that…the pirate ship was closed! WHAT a bummer! Alas, after the slight disappointment, we needed to head to Bagdad Cafe for our reservation.

Dinner at Bagdad Cafe was fantastic – its an Indian restaurant with delicious dishes, a great atmosphere, and a really nice couple who own the restaurant. Ju r’young and Sobo are the owners, and are so helpful and just genuinely nice people! Now, of course most of you know that Sarah is a very social person, and loads of our friends showed up to help her celebrate her birthday, including her Korean study partner, Kaitlyn, who has been teaching her to read and speak Korean, and also our Korean friend from salsa, Gina, and Sarah’s old co-teacher, Kim Sae Nary! So great! I think all-in-all there were about 30 people at the dinner, so it was a really nice treat!

We lingered at the restaurant for a few hours, and I got to introduce my parents to all of our friends – our extended Jeju family, I guess I should say. It was so nice to be able to get everyone together while my parents were here, so Sarah’s birthday was timed justttt perfectly!

After a long, relaxing dinner and a bottle of wine (several glasses for Sarah, bought by friends, of course), my parents decided to head back to their pension, and a bunch of us went to a little bar called Island Stone to celebrate Sarah’s birthday and say goodbye to our friend Sachin, who was leaving for Chicago. We danced our way over to Jane’s Groove, another radical bar, and then after quite a fun, wild, and energy-filled hour or two, a bunch of us decided to go to the Norae Bong! Yahoo!

So, about eight or ten of us stumbled down the streets of shi-chung to a norae bong, which is a Korean karaoke room. You get your own room to yourself, and can order beer and food if you like, and we went WILD! We have some incriminating evidence of the evening, which I think Stephen and Lauren have actually. Regardless, it was a really wild time and such a great end to Sarah’s birthday too!

It must’ve been around three or four in the morning when we left, and hopped in a cab back to our house. By this time, Sarah was feeling tired (if you’ve seen Sarah dance when she’s had a few drinks, you know why), and I was hungry.

I will leave you with the following wise words from Sarah, spoken after the Noraebong, and en route home.

“Get me a million fries. I want more fries than you think any one person can eat.” – Miss Brodie

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Next post soon.

peace and big love.

b

I’m such a liar! Last post, I said I would write about the rest of my parents visit…and I said I would do it in the few days following my post. And didn’t. I’m sorry for lying to you.

PHEW, now that THAT’S off my conscience…let’s continue!

So, after the first day of some much needed rest on my parents’ end, we started their second day in Jeju.

Thursday, March 3rd

My parents are still stuck in the old North American timezone. Aka they woke up early early early today, so when I woke up around 8:30am, it probably felt like their day was half over!!!

We met for breakfast at their Pension and then decided to head out on a little tour of the Western part of the island. My school is in Hallim-ri, a small village about 30 minutes West of Naedo-dong, where our apartment is. So we hopped in the car around 10am and headed to the West side. I showed my parents Aewol-eup, where Sarah and I have done a bit of hiking, and then we continued to the Language Centre, so my parents could see where I work every day!

We arrived and I got the chance to show my parents around the centre, introduce them to Geun-Young and Mr. Kim. After a little tour, we sat in the office and talked with Geun-Young for about an hour – we had tea and relaxed. It was great! Then, as we were leaving, Mr. Kim and Geun-Young gave my parents a great big box of Hallabong oranges and second box of mandarins – a really really nice gift, and so delicious!

After the surprise, we said goodbye and parted ways. Then we strolled around the Hallim harbour really quickly – there isn’t really much to see there, its all fishing boats. But it was a fun 5 minute walk (and FREEZING cold). We drove West a few minutes and arrived at Hyeopjae Beach, where it started to SNOW and blow wind even more! It was insane! The Beach didn’t look too great because it was covered up to prevent the sand from blowing away and into the buildings, but it was nice to see and I’m sure will be great in the Summer.

The plan next was to head to o’sulloc green tea museum, but we ended up driving through the small villages around Hallim and stumbling on the Peace Museum. Jeju was invaded by the Japanese troops as a Western front in their fighting against China, and many people in Jeju were taken as prisoners, or forced to dig tunnels in the local Oreums (small mountains). Believe it or not, several of the oreums have networks of these tunnels that were used as Japanese Army bases. The Peace Museum showed a short film outlining the atrocities that happened in Jeju, including massacres as well as the forced labour, and then a chance to see some artifacts from the Japanese invasion, and then finally, walk through one of the tunnel systems that has been maintained. It was fascinating, very scary, and very ominous to walk through the tunnels, knowing the energy that was put into digging  them, and what their intended use was. It definitely was an interesting experience.

After the Peace Museum, we went back to Hallim and ate at my Monday lunch place, where I introduced both of my parents to Kimchi chigae (Kimchi Stew) before we drove (sleepily) back to Naedo. My parents and I both hit the hay and had a nap.

Dinner was casual tonight – we made some pasta at our place, and then got ready for POTTERY!

Lucky for us, our pottery teacher, John Kliewer, is really accommodating and flexible, and he let my parents join us for the class. They got a chance to hop on the wheel, and to make two plates while they joined us!

We were all wiped post-pottery, but had a blast. It was so much fun to show my parents the studio and for them to participate!

Here are some photos of the day for you to enjoy.

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Now, that was a long post, but I will post about their next day soon (for real)!

Adios!

B