Blogs from Paju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, Asia - page 4

Day Two at Gyeonggi English Village If one word could describe an entire day then I would choose lackluster for this one... or would I? Both Shauna and I woke up early in the morning around six, we looked at each other, rolled over to check the clock, jumped up out of bed, hit the Air Conditioner 'on button' turning the temperature to twenty-two degrees Celsius (71.6f), climbing back into bed, kissing the other one and rolling over stuffing our heads into our pillows. A mere two hours later I steamrolled Shauna, as she slept in a deep dark sleep and fell through the bathroom door, jarring my knee against the toilet! I yelped several mumblings about not being awake enough for this, did my business and climbed slowly back into bed only after raising the ... read more

I have finally had time to post after four months! Since going to China, we have endured a seemingly never-ending winter especially coming from New Mexico where winter ends in February! Spring finally arrived in May, w/ summer quickly coming. In February our church moved to a new beautiful building and we have been enjoying the services there. Richard briefly grew a beard—it came out grey and he looks much younger without it—so it did not stay long. In January, I was part of the teaching staff for a one-month program and one of the interesting phenomena was how close the middle school students become to each other. There were streams of tears and wailing on the last day when they had to leave each other. I went to a “nori-bang” w/ a couple of friends. ... read more

Hello, All! I know, the world must be coming down around you. Two postings in one month! Well, as it turns out, I have some things to disclose, so I figured now is as good a time as ever. First, I leave ridiculously early tomorrow morning for Beijing, China! It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision to do this, but my friend, Lauren, and I decided that there is no point in being within spitting distance of the Great Wall and not going to see it... so we're going to! Unfortunately, the cost of a visa to visit China for U.S. Americans is about $150. However, we are only paying about $300 for our flights and $65/person to stay at a nice hotel. I'm planning on visiting Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, ... read more

China was a dream come true. We visited there from Dec. 26- 31. Then we returned to Korea to celebrate the New Year. We stayed in an historic neighborhood called Hutongs. Our hotel was a restored home built around two courtyards and it was aptly called Courtyard 7. I would highly recommend it to any visitors. Our two rooms overlooked the back courtyard where unmarried daughters usually stayed. The room was authentically decorated with rich curtains and valences as well as a four poster bed. Loved the under floor heating and the restored modern bathroom. Free TV all in Chinese. Our favorite was watching old clips of Mao and Stalin. The first day we visited a famous shopping area and met two "students" who tried to get us to buy "handpainted" and "orginal" silk scrolls. Unfortunately, ... read more

Hi Folks, There are a few more pictures on this blog, so make sure you scroll down past the comment box as well as go to the second page of pictures to see the beautiful laterns. I want to share a few customs that I found interesting. I've heard that Korea has a high rate of traffic accidents, but I haven't seen as many as I see in the states. It may have something to do with the fact that red lights are a suggestion. Buses and cars can go through them if they think it is OK. It is a bit disconcerting before you get used to it. Most people are quite kind--especially some of the grandmothers and grandfathers. They try to make sure you have a seat on the subway. Twice "grandmothers" gave us ... read more