Marvelous masks...

On Sunday (Sept. 28th), Brian and I drove about three hours away to the small city of Andong for its annual International Mask Festival. In downtown Andong there were hundreds of vendors set up, along with a bunch of stages for various performances (including a big indoor theatre that hosted many international dance presentations). About 25 kilometres away another part of the festival took place at a traditional village called Ha-hwee, and this part was really wonderful. We saw a traditional dance and play that originated in Ha-hwee in the 11th century and the masks used in the performance date back to the same era. A craftsman at the village makes these same masks by hand, and we picked up a male and female set that is very beautiful. You can find these masks all over Korea but it was special to buy these at the village where they were first made. As well, the village features only traditional houses where families from one particular clan - the Ryus - still live and work and farm. It was a magical place. The girls all had homework to do, so they opted to stay at home while we enjoyed our road trip. We're hoping we can convince them to go with us next year!

Bring on the Brazilian Beef...

For a couple of ex-vegetarians, Friday night proved to be quite an adventure! We were invited to join the middle school teachers for a meal at a brand new Brazilian beef barbeque restaurant that has opened on a beautiful lake just outside of Daejeon. Owned by one of our TCIS families, the restaurant boasted a gorgeous view, a big firepit and bonfire outside, and every kind of meat you could imagine. We had at least two tours around the barnyard, to be sure! It was a fun evening with lots of good fellowship and we'll have to see if we can convince the girls to join us some evening down the road for a return trip. How far we have fallen... :)

Frannie comes to Korea!!

Mom arrived in Korea on Sept. 12th and we've been touring her around, adhering to a whirlwind schedule, ever since! Here in Daejeon we have explored several parts of the city, visited "Dr. Fish", hung out at the school, and paid a visit to nearby Daedunsan mountain. We also enjoyed a beautiful barbeque with colleagues on Tuesday at the home of the Smith-Jangs. It has been a wonderful visit, complete with sunny, July-like weather! Mom has even been sampling Korea food, and has found several dishes she likes! We think she wants to move here very soon.

Seoul with Fran!!

When Mom first arrived in Korea (28 hours late because of Air Canada delays!), we spent two full days in Seoul and one day in Suwon before coming down to Daejeon. Highlights in Seoul included shopping in Insadong (a traditional and lovely shopping area with tea shops and beautiful rice cake shops), touring Chandeokgung Palace and Gyenbokdong Palace, a traditional tea house, Seoul tower and Namsan folk village (where we learned to make songpyong, a traditional half-moon rice cake enjoyed at Chuseok - the Korean thanksgiving).

Seoul with Mom Part II

More highlights from Seoul included a trip to a 150-year-old circular shrine, a trip to the Suwon Hwaseong fortress and folk village and Namdaemun market. We wandered through Myeondong (a trendy shopping area in Seoul) and took a ride up Seoul tower, as well. Very fun!

Indian food comes to Daejeon!

The one thing we sometimes miss here in Daejeon is having options when it comes to eating out. There are so many wonderful Korean restaurants in our city but, when you get a hankering for another type of cuisine, options are limited. There are a few nice Italian restaurants but, up until this year, that has been it. Now, all of a sudden, some options are emerging, and it is clear the entire TCIS community is pretty excited. On Saturday night dozens of us visited a brand new Indian restaurant in Dunsan-dong, and a Turkish kebab place has also opened up. This is wonderful news, and we're hoping more international options might be on the way!

Volleyball has begun!

Two out of three girls in our household are hard at work building volleyball skills this year, and there was some pretty incredible action on the courts this weekend. The first games of the year happened at home (in the TCIS gym) on Friday night, and more games followed on Saturday morning. Hannah is playing on the junior varsity team this year and Rebecca is playing on the varsity team, and all of our TCIS teams (JV girls, Varsity girls and Varsity boys) are looking great. There was a lot of teamwork and encouragement happening this weekend, and the teams performed so well!

Fellowship and fun at the Kolon Hotel...

Yep, this past weekend we stayed at the Kolon Hotel in Gyeongju for our big staff retreat and it was fabulous. One of the most wonderful things about the retreat is coming together as a full staff (with all of our family members) for worship sessions, and this year we were blessed to gather three times to sing worship songs together. In fact, on Saturday night our worship songs included some pretty active ones where we all got to get a little physical. Very fun. What a lovely community we are part of here, and we came away from the weekend reminded (through the Sunday message, delivered by our good friend, Ryan Roberts) of how the glory of God is revealed in the day-to-day work and activities of our lives. We are blessed, indeed.

Exploring Ancient Gyeongju...

This past weekend (August 29 - 31) our entire staff (and the staff of our sister school in Suwon, GSIS) traveled south to the beautiful city of Gyeongju, once the capital of the ancient Shilla dynasty. On Saturday afternoon (while Rebecca and Hannah played volleyball with their buddies and Cora swam like a fish with her friends in the pool), Brian and I went into town to see the burial tombs and the oldest astronomical observatory in the Far East. Built between 632 and 648 AD, this tower is proportioned according to the months and days of the year, and is situated to correspond to the locations of certain stars. It's pretty advanced for the 7th century! We also wandered past lotus fields in bloom, and around Anapjie Pond, once the site of a large royal gardens and grounds. On Saturday morning (while Rebecca and Hannah played volleyball and hung out with their friends - see the trend), Cora joined us for a trip to a nearby pottery village. We each made a piece of pottery (it was so therapeutic and relaxing!), and I managed to slip in some time to shop for some unique pieces, too. It was a fabulous day.