Samsung Lions Feild

Newspaper Hat

Farewell Craig

Gumeo Mountian

Kids Feeding the Rabbits......Cotton Candy not Grass

Hookah Bar

This weekend brought beautiful weather to Korea. The week was a fairly busy one. Wednesday we had supper and drinks with some LG workers. Our new friend teaches the LG business men so we went out with them before heading to Waegook. Friday we enjoyed an evening with friends in Indong at a Hookha bar. Saturday was a beautiful day so we spent the afternoon downtown and at Gumeo mountain. We went for a nice walk around the lake which offered some great photos. Saturday night was Craigs farewell at Waegook. He is heading back to Canada so we felt the need to send him off in style with a Waegook very sloppy party. Sunday a group ventured into Daegu to check out a Samsung Lions baseball game. It would be comparable to the MLB at home. It was a great day for a ball game, and to work on a base tan for Taiwan. Korean's hate the sun so many of them were wearing an insane amount of clothes, and hats made from just about anything (empty boxes, newspaper, flyers etc). It is almost funny to see because Koreans are very self conscious about their looks. They constantly look in the mirror or take pictures of themselves, but they will sit at a ball game with a beer box on their head. They see skin color as a division of social class. High class work in offices and have indoor jobs, where as lower classes work outside doing manual labor so they have darker skin. At the game we also sat behind a family with a small Korean girl. She was amazed by all of us foreigners, and probably one of the cutest, well behaved children I have seen here to date. After the game I met up with a friend from home for supper. Nick and Dave both work with Moon Kkkang in Daegu so I spent the evening with them before heading back to Gumi. So great to have people from home here, and nice to have a getaway in Daegu even if it is just for a day.

This week is the start of a new series for me at work, so today I will be getting a few new kids in my classes. Learning new names should keep me entertained for this week.

The Bride and Groom

The Bride

The Cherry Blossom

Easter Brunch

This past weekend I was able to take in a few more Korean cultural activities. Saturday I attended my first traditional Korean wedding. I have to say it was VERY different from anything I have seen or expected. The bride and groom both wear Korean outfits which are very brightly colored. I wouldn't say there is a "wedding party" but since it was a Korean girl and a foreign guy there were a couple of best men. When we got there on Saturday the bride actually asked some people on the spot to help out with the wedding service, and they all got changed in the middle of the reception area. The actually wedding it self was in Korean so I didn't understand, but there was a lot of bowing, and drinking of tea. Very few guest were dressed up, and people were eating in the middle of the wedding. No kissing of the bride, no cutting of the cake, and no party/dance. Just a small outdoor service and buffet. No one really was paying any attention to what was going on. I have to say in Korea your wedding day is definitely not all about you, or very organized. The wedding was in Ulsan, so on the way home we stopped by a small beach for a couple hours. The weather is getting nice here so it was a beautiful day to soak up some sun. The beach was very rocky, and the water was extremely cold, but I loved every minute of it.
April has been a busy month it seems, and I am not sure where the time has gone. We are still trying to plan a temple stay and a hike, but with weddings, going away parties and a trip to Taiwan it looks like it may be postponed until May. Time is flying by here. I cant believe it has been 4 months already!

Its been a while since my last post. Things here in Gumi are still great, and Moon Kkang is still growing. The weather has been nice, and Gumi is starting to blossom with beautiful cherry trees. We arrived in the winter so it is nice to see spring, and a fresh look to Korea. Without snow to cover all the dead winter look, it is not the nicest place during the winter months. The roof top of our apartment building has been our new favorite hang out. It has a nice area to sit and read while soaking up the sun. It is almost wrong to soak up sun in Korea. They love their white skin and many people wear a ridiculous amount of clothes, hats, face masks and SPF 50 while out during the day.

We have discovered Costco in Daegu, which has been a great find. Lots of home comforts (cheese), and it is a quick/cheap trip by train from Gumi. The past couple weekends we have done day trips to Daegu for a Costco trip. We have also discovered a resturant called The Holy Grill, which is owned by two Canadians. Being Canadian they even have poutine on the menu.

Last weekend we enjoyed an Easter dinner with some friends. Easter is not celebrated here like it is at home. People celebrate the religious part of Easter, but there is no Easter bunny, or egg hunts.

Other than that it has been a quiet month of April in Gumi. We have a couple events planned for the coming weekends. A concert, temple stay and vacation to Taiwan. All things we are looking forward to.

Another busy week last week, with a lot of events and celebrating. One of Britts high school friends Katie came to visit on Wednesday. She is teaching in Japan, and is on holidays so she came to check out Korea. Wednesday was St Paddys day, so we dressed in our green and after work hit up Waegook Cook. I gave all my kids clover stickers for St. Paddys day, but they had no idea what I was talking about. By the end I was telling them it was a day to wear green, drink beer, and pretend your Irish. Thursday was Britts birthday. Katie, Britt and I enjoyed a delicious waffle breakfast at a cafe, followed by an afternoon downtown. After work we met up with some friends at a resturant called Table for supper and drinks. Since most people work through the week Friday was the big St Paddy celebration. The three of us represented Acadia style with our costumes. Shirts with Irish sayings, green finger nails, green headbands and stickers. We enjoyed green drinks at Waegook Cook, and met some new friends.

The weekend was a busy weekend as well. Saturday I made my way to Cheongdo to watch some bull fights. They have a big festival every year so a group from Gumi caught the train Saturday afternoon to check that out. It is not the same as Spanish bull fights where they fight until death. Here they just fight until one bull runs away, so it is much less violent. I had made a bet on a bull fight with some friends who were going to Seoul for the night. Needless to say I lost the bet, and ended up taking the train to Seoul that night to party. We arrived in Seoul late, so when we got there we enjoyed some Subway for supper, and went straight to the bar for drinks. I ended up partying all night until 5am, and catching the KTX train back to Gumi. I was home by 8am and enjoyed all Sunday sleeping.

This week is a much lower key week and weekend. We are starting to plan a Buddhist temple stay and a couple other activities around the area. Now that all the events are over I can get back to experiencing true Korean culture.