Legendary Cliff...

On November 9th, Brian and I played hookie and took a personal day to go and explore the small city of Buyeo, located about 1 1/2 hours away (due west) from Daejon. This was the last capital of one of the powerful kingdoms in Korea, the Baekje kingdom (which lasted from about 18 BCE to 660 AD). There is a legendary cliff here (see the forested hill in one of these photos?) where 3,000 ladies of the Baekje court threw themselves to their death when they learned of the defeat of their leaders. Called Nakhwaan, the name of the cliff means Falling Flowers (in honour of the ladies who fell, dressed in their colourful, traditional hanbok dresses). It was a beautiful day to explore some stories from the past, and Brian even drove a car for the day (this was the first time he was able to try out his Korean driver's license!).

Wandering at the Palace...

This past weekend (Nov. 3rd) Brian, Hannah, Cora and I traveled up to Seoul to see our friends, the Covingtons (poor Rebecca had to stay home to finish some projects for school). Before our visit, we wandered around the largest palace complex in Korea for awhile, enjoying the fall sunshine and getting a sense of palace life from the 1700s.

Traditional Dance...

During Korean Culture Week at TCIS, I participated in a traditional dance/drum presentation. After a year of practicing, we presented about one minute of a traditional dance pattern (it is hard work!), and then taught the students some of the drumming. It was nerve-wracking, but a lot of fun, too!

Off to the Kimchi Festival!

This past Saturday (October 20), Shelley and Darek and Brian and I travelled two hours south-west to the city of Gwangju for their annual Kimchi Festival. Kimchi is a distinctly Korean food; cabbage is marinated in hot pepper paste, anchovies, onions and various other ingredients, then chopped up and served as a side dish at every meal. We love kimchi and were thrilled to taste numerous kinds at the festival. Darek also got to star in a dramatic production of a Korean folk tale, and we met 78-year-old Mr. Oh, who volunteered to be our English translator for the day. It turns out he fought in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, and we had a fascinating conversation over lunch. Not to mention we all felt like film stars because foreigners aren't so common down south, and we were photographed and videotaped non-stop throughout the day. Very fun!

Shelley and Darek are here!

Our dear friends from home, Shelley and Darek, arrived in Korea last Friday and will be here until the 26th. We are so excited they are here, and they're busy exploring Daejeon, Seoul and various other beautiful spots. Last weekend (Oct. 13th) we spent Saturday morning at a Hot Air Balloon Festival here in Daejeon, where Hannah and Cora were strapped into an awesome trampoline harness and sent flinging into the sky! Very fun.

Spiritual Emphasis Week!

The high school here at TCIS had its Spiritual Emphasis Week last week, featuring a US band called Station Two. Our theme was the same as the middle's school recent SEW theme - that of transformation. Decked out in our Transformers t-shirts, we spent 3 days listening to the band and to a guest speaker, talking in small groups and participating in track times. My group met in the service-focussed track time, and we put together boxes of food and toiletries for migrant workers here in Daejeon. It was great to hook up with a local ministry geared to helping people here who often work in extremely less-than-ideal conditions.

Delightful Tomorrow...

There is a new place in our neighbourhood called Delightful Tomorrow (don't you just love the name?) that serves up the best homemade ice cream imaginable. Check out the fun decor!

Canadian Thanksgiving...

A few weeks ago a handful of patriotic Canadians gathered together at the Midkiff's place (Lorilynn and Kevin and their kids are from Alberta) to celebrate Thanksgiving. Chicken (turkey is hard to come by here), stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie helped us to feel a little less homesick, but we still wish we could have transported ourselves home for the weekend. Many blessings to everyone in Canada!

The Great Wall!!!!

During our September trip to Beijing we visited two parts of the Great Wall around Beijing, Badaling and Mutangyu. The second location was particularly stunning, with views of the wall snaking away miles into the distance, clinging to mountain ridges as it followed a long-ago border between China and Mongolia. At both locations we climbed many, many stairs and found our foots falling into grooves on the stone steps, spots worn down by the feet of many people who have climbed before us. It was quite humbling and moving, and was an experience none of us will ever forget.

Bargaining hard...

When the Lonely Planet writers suggest you need to "bargain hard" at some markets in Beijing, they are not kidding! The girls became quite savvy at getting good deals while shopping in Beijing's famous Pearl Market and Sanlitun Yashow Clothing Market. From pearls to silks and clothes, it was a fun time, indeed. We think we're quite ruined for shopping anywhere else in the world now!

Beijing bound...

For five days last week (September 25 - 30) our family traveled to Beijing for a fall get-away. We explored some beautiful and iconic Chinese sites, such as the Temple of Heaven, Tianenamen Square, the Forbidden City and the gorgeous and ancient Summer Palace. Stunning, indeed. Beijing is a huge and thoroughly modern city (consumed with excitement over the 2008 summer Olympics) with amazing pockets of history sprinkled throughout its masses of concrete and steel.

One Weekend in Bangkok...

From September 20 - 24 Brian and I traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, for an IB conference. During the day we were immersed in learning a lot about the IB program and during the evenings we explored with reckless abandon. The small tuk tuk taxis were the best! We also enjoyed a lovely dinner at a restaurant called Cabbages & Condoms, an NGO-run restaurant that raises money to fight HIV transmission, especially among prostitutes in the neighbourhood we stayed in.