Fun Times in the summer

Here is a little experiment in collages. i promise they will get better if i keep working on it. Anyway, we have been hitting the beaches, watching the garden explode and enjoying the Swallows and their growing family. Joon is changing dramatically everyday, playing with his dolls, fascinations with trucks, tractors and Choo Choo trains, talking and even singing his ABC's. Hard to believe but it is happening... It is way cool to watch. Hope everyone is having fun! .

Where were you.....

When you heard that Micheal Jackson had died?

Warm Weather and the Wild life....

As summer progresses the temps quickly rise and suddenly it feels like we are in a tropical zone. Soon after the parents left there was an increase of wildlife around the house. With Joon dropping grapes and sweet things all over the place ie...under couches and refirdgerators we had an overnight ant invasion. Very different from the small colonies of ants in Seattle or Alaska. These suckers are numerous and voracious. Of course it has forced us to clean the house which is probably a good thing.

Here is a shot of a swallow who has decided to live above our screen door. Occasionally they fly in the house but fly out with no problems. I have since put up a piece of styrofoam as a platform and poop guard. Seems to be working for now...

Also with the wamer temps we are able to have nice outdoor dinners and Joon can crack open his first beer(?) Don't remember that happening...

and fun days at the beach. Here is Joon trying his new Thomas floaty. Joon looks like he is having fun and dad looks like he is taking a crap...oh well, you can't always make everybody look good in a picture. Hope every one else is having fun out there during Joon, I mean June. They say it will get warmer. Having lived in the far north for so long I have a hard time imagining. Party on for now...

Weeks 2 and 3 of the parent's visit

The next two weeks of the parent's vacation began with a visit to the west coast to meet her grandmother. She Lives in the small community of Hallim in an area surrounded by cows, horses, vegetable fields and of course rock walls. Here is a shot of their meeting. There was not much to be said but all were happy to finally be seeing each other for the first time.




Towards the middle of the week we took a nice trip to the small island of Udo a half hour ferry ride off the east coast. It is a relaxing place to visit with spectacular views and on our visit, strong winds.



At the beginning of third week it was time to make the journey up the famous Hallasan Mountain, seen above. The peak is about 6000 ft and there are four trails one can hike. Two go to the top while the other two plateau at a nice highland vista. Since it was azalea seaon we decided to take the lower and more scenic Eorimok trail.



It was the shortest of the four trails on the mountain and also said to be the easiest but easy is a relative term in Korea. Most trails venture straight up with little time for switchbacks or flat meanders. And so it was with this trail. Mom and dad were ready and willing here but had little idea of what they were getting into. Fortunately we left early enough in the day so that everyone had enough time to make it up and down before sunset.



Of course the reward was worthwhie as we were treated to the beginnings of the Azalea blooms, friendly and supportive hikers who offered assistance and even a little dancing along the way as well as just beautiful views and a proud feeling of accomplishment. All were exhausted but there were no regrets.



Throughout this time it was Joon who was having the most fun. He joined us on all of our adventures and was super excited to have all the choices of people to take care of him. " I want grandpa to put on my shoes!" I want grandma to change my diaper" It was a real treat. Of course when Moon and I were at work was when the real fun began.


Joon was treated to daring rides downhill on his stroller wild games of kick the ball and good beach fun with grandma and grandpa. When we would return home scrapes on his knees were the signs of a good time had by all. He toughend up his legs and has learned a lot of new games for mom and dad to play.

the visit - Week 1

Well the grandparents have departed but they are not forgotten. Joon is asking for them frequently and doesn't seem quite sure where they went. Their visit was spent seeing the island and hanging out with joon.

The first week of their visit was an eventful one. We decided to take it easy and relax figuring they would need the rest. Amazingly they adjusted to the 13 hour difference in time and they were ready to go from day 1 and so we were off on our adventures.


Here they are at the airport in Seoul where they met Moon's brother Sangho. He took great care of them and helped them navigate their way to the next airport to get to the island.

Here is a super happy grandma and joon after a nice meal of sushi.



Our first adventure was a scenic drive and the folk village to get our fill of the history of the island. here you see the beautiful basalt coast


Here is Grandma trying on the traditional water carrier.


Here is Joon among the Rape Flowers that were just after their peak but still beautiful.


Next it was off to the manjangul cave, a huge lava tube that although dark was certainly a spectacular sight. I had no idea it was sooo big!


Finally we finished the week with a visit to Moon's Aunt and her newly established daycare.

It was a good start to their visit and we packed alot in including a little cool water swimming at the local beach. As we headed into the weekend it was time to prepare for a visit to Moon's grandmother and take in some more sights that jeju has to offer. stay tuned!

the fam!

Hey! we have had a super busy month with my parents here. They arrived on the second of may and just left yesterday the 30th. it has been a blast and an excellent opportunity to see more of the island. Moon and I were both able to take some time off and relax. Joon was one happy kid bonding with grandma and grandpa and learning all kinds of new words. He is officially switching languages depending on who he is speaking to. He can point to an object and easily tell me both words. I have no clue how a young brain operates but it is pretty impressive to watch.

Anyway, I have been inspired by my friend kristi who has started a blog. once a week with pictures. That's a reasonable goal right? well as said many times before, i'm going to try. This week I will enter several installments documenting my parent's visit on the island with pics so check it out. party on!

Springtime

Hey! Long time no hear. Sorry about that. I'd like to say it is due to a lack of time but it is really due to an abundance of procrastination. Nothing to say at first and then putting off until there is too much to say. I'm sure some of you know the routine.

Anyway, life has been busy in mostly a good way. moon and I have been working at the same school since Feb. and it is going relatively good. We enjoy teaching the kids and not taking our job home with us. The hours are decent and we both have a lot of time to spend with Joon.

Joon has been growing up extremely fast. That sponge of a brain just keeps growing and he is repeating everything (did I mention everything) we say these days. He has begun to point and ask what things are. It is cool to watch his brain process and retain all the information in two different languages. Moon's Aunt is running a daycare so he is now spending some time there with other friends and cool toys. Daycare is pretty intensive and excellent here. The teachers are awesome and give plenty of attention to each child's need. Hopefully we will have more time to take him there since we think it is good for him to play with other kids (not a lot of kids out here where we live).

Recently we had our first friends visit us. Sam and Mayura are friends of ours from Seattle who are currently living in Japan. Sam had business in Korea so they both took the opportunity to visit the island. It was a real treat. Sam brought us some wonderful treats from the US base and we had a great time catching up and reminiscing...not to mention the opportunity that visitors provide to see the island. Joon really grew fond of them both and was still asking where they were for a couple of days after they left.

Of course sickness has been an issue since starting to teach. We seem to be cycling through every one of the colds around. When I used to work at the homeless shelter in Seattle I remember staff getting really ill in the first six months and then feeling like we had super immunity given the amount of crap we were exposed to. Hopefully the same will be true here. We are all tired of colds.

Despite the illnesses Moon and I managed to run in a 10k a couple of weeks ago. The race was part of a larger marathon and all we thought throughout the run was 'how could we do this for 26 miles?' Fortunately we didn't have to and we both reached our weak target of finishing within an hour. The Koreans really know how to put together an event with freebies, prizes and a singing contest.

See why I haven't posted in a while? things are pretty routine (which is a good thing). Hot weather is here and the sun is intense. I want to swim but suspect the ocean water might still be a little chilly. The next phase of our journey involves preparing for the arrival of Joon's grandparents in May. They will be here for most of the month and we are looking forward to their arrival.

Feel free to post questions and I will try to answer them. I give up on promising to write more frequently and Hopefully we haven't lost too many visitors. Hope everyone is having fun!