Danny Comes to Korea For a VISIT & Larry's Birthday!

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Sing Some Bob Marley

Jacob doing Britney

Rock n Roll Nick

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Hi everyone!

This blog is about my brother Danny's visit to S. Korea and all of the fun things we did. We definitely ran ourselves ragged because we did so much while he was here, but we had a WONDERFUL time! Literally, we filled every day we had off with him to the brim, and even planned a 2-week vacation to China over that time... In total, he was here for nearly the entire month of May, and even though we were pretty much exhausted for the whole month, we enjoyed having him here very much and were sad to see him go!

Before we went to China, we had a couple days off with Danny here in Korea, and so we showed him as much of the country that first week as we could! We took him to Insadong, Dongdaemun, and even to a manly Korean baseball game - so manly that one of the teams' names was the UNICORNS! (Seriously!)

He also got to experience some unique English Village culture while he was here. Thursday night he joined in "Poker Night" with Larry, and even won one of the tables' winnings that night! It was also
a special week here at E.V. that first week of May because our students were from the Korean Military! So...we had lots of special events that week which included a talent show, a showing of their final presentations, and the usual (but much more fun) closing ceremony. The night where they performed their final presentations was especially enjoyable because when the Military students were finished, they invited all of the teachers up on stage to dance and then they gave us all our own cake! Gotta love that!

Larry and I also teach men in the Korean Military every Friday night at their actual base!! One Friday that Danny was here, I took him with me and he observed my classes...which I think he found to be quite a unique experience as well!

That weekend we left for China. We had way too many pictures from our China trip to include in this blog, but rest assured they'll be out soon. You'll especially wanna see the ones from the Great Wall, the ridiculously-cheap markets, and the DIRTY air in Shanghai!

After China, however, our fun wasn't over. The day right after we got back was an 'English Village Garden Party'....which sounds like people peacefully frolicking in the sun with wine, flowers and friends, although it turned out to be more like a drunken BBQ in the rain with mud and loud music! Still really enjoyable nonetheless! Also, the next day was Larry's big 32nd...and so we celebrated by going out bowling with some friends after the garden party, since we had to work that next day. It was a fun time had by all!

And finally, a couple days before Danny left, we went to Korea's famous Lotus Lantern Festival! This festival, which is an honor to Buddha on his birthday (May 24th), is a huge event in Seoul. The highlight of the day is a huge parade that lasts for a couple of hours, in which EVERYONE in the parade carries lanterns, there are lanterns adorning the streets and cars, and even the floats are GIANT LANTERNS! It was beautiful and quite a sight to see!

Well, that's all for now! We hope everyone is doing well and we'll talk to you all soon!

Love,
Larry & Melanie

Korean for the Day: Gireul ireosseoyo! - "I'm lost!"....I couldn't find the phrase "Where's
the bus?"....Danny knows what it means! haha!

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