Hiking at Seoraksan National Park...

After parent/teacher conferences ended at 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 1st, LeeAnne and Brian dashed to catch a bus to Sokcho so they could enjoy some hiking at Seoraksan National Park in north-east S. Korea. After hearing about the beauty of these mountains for four years, it was time to conquer some trails! On Friday we spent the morning hiking a 4 km. loop that took us to the top of Ullsanbawi and it was absolutely gorgeous - bright blue skies, lots of snow and a death-defying number of stairs at the top made our summit a sweet one. For the afternoon we hiked a gentle 3 km. loop to the base of Bisonedae where we sat beneath the peaks eating dotoraemuk (acorn jelly salad) with fresh mountain veggies. On Saturday morning we topped off our visit to Seoraksan with a ride up the cable car to view some more stunning mountain scenery.

Graduation is coming!

Last week Rebecca's class donned graduation caps and gowns for their big yearbook photo. Rebecca was very excited and spent a lot of time choosing what outfit she would wear for her individual photo. Alas, this makes her impending graduation seem a lot more real!

Quirky Museums in Seoul...

On March 26 and 27 LeeAnne spent some time in Seoul with her friends Sarah and Emily. On Saturday the trio went on a hunt for quirky museums and it wasn't hard to find some very unique establishments. Our first stop was the Tteok Museum which featured two floors of exhibits about the making of traditional Korean rice cakes, complete with a Tteok cafe on the first floor. Stop #2 was, of all things, the Museum of Chicken Art. Indeed, the first floor of the museum was jammed with chicken "art" from all around the world and the second floor of the museum explained how chickens were important symbolic animals in traditional Korean funerals (the chicken is the only animal of the Chinese zodiac with wings; hence, the belief was that it was connected to the afterlife and spiritual realm). The third stop was the Gallery of Sewing Art. Very quirky. It was a great time exploring Seoul and spending time with good friends.

Puttering with pottery...

For almost two months LeeAnne has been taking a weekly pottery class with two wonderful friends, Annette and Sarah. Our teacher, Sun Young, is patient and sweet and she is an incredible potter. Last week we painted on some of our pieces that had been fired once; these pieces will now be glazed and then they'll be ready to use! Working with clay is proving to be very therapeutic and addictive. Moving all of this pottery to Kenya, however, might be a bit tricky!

Sharing Love at the Beulah Home in India...

Hannah and LeeAnne returned to Korea on Saturday, February 20th after a week at Beulah Home near Bangalore, India. This was the second trip to Beulah Home for both of us and we had a wonderful week hugging kids, teaching lessons, leading games and craft sessions. This is a very special place where children are loved and cherished, and where they are given hope for the future. It was such a blessing to visit and deepen relationships with some wonderful kids.

Jongmyo... a UNESCO site in Seoul

During a break in the girls' basketball action on Saturday (January 30), Brian and I ventured to see a palace and UNESCO site in Seoul that we haven't had a chance to get to. The palace was a smaller royal palace, used primarily from the 1600s to the late 1800s, that contained an interesting greenhouse built in 1909. Most interesting was the UNESCO site called Jongmyo. Built as a shrine that contains the spirit tablets of dozens of Korean kings and queens, the original shrine was constructed in the mid-1300s. The large, long buildings contain rooms that house small wooden blocks, each with the name of a deceased king or queen engraved on the outside surface. Each room is built like a tomb, with splendid curtains, lampstands and various other pieces of furniture. Every year there is a big ceremony conducted to honour the spirits of the deceased royals. Priests bring gifts of food and drink and these are offered to the spirits in detailed and precise ceremonies. Korea is the only Confucian-based Asian country that still conducts this traditional ceremony that has been celebrated for hundreds of years. Hence, the site's UNESCO status.

APAC basketball action...

Basketball season is wrapping up and this past weekend the girls engaged in their big APAC (Asia Pacific Athletic Conference) with teams from all over east Asia (the Philippines, Japan, China and Korea). Usually the girls travel out of country for this big event (Rebecca has gone to Beijing, Manila and Shanghai) but this year's basketball tournament was in Seoul (which meant we could all go and cheer for our team!). The girls played like never before and tied for second place in their pool. Rebecca is the team's primary point guard and played so well. Hannah got out on the court for a few minutes in a few games as well and even scored her first varsity basket! It was a great weekend and we all need to let our vocal chords recover for a few days.

Amnesty Fashion Show for Haiti...

On Thursday, January 28th, our TCIS student chapter of Amnesty International hosted a big fashion show event to raise awareness about conscious consumerism and fair trade products. It was a hugely successful night that featured a guest speaker from a nearby fair trade cafe and fashions designed by four TCIS art students. We raised almost 1.2 million won (about $1000 US) which is being donated to our school's Hope for Haiti campaign (which has raised almost $5000). It was a great night and the four Amnesty leaders (pictured in a photo with LeeAnne) were amazing in demonstrating how passionate they are to help others in our world.