The last 2 weeks

It's fun to play in the snow!

It's been a busy few weeks full of yoga, Buddhist Temples, snow, delicious Korean food and hiking. (Fortunately for me, these are my favorite things!) I'm consciously not planning anything this weekend to give myself a break. Except, of course, our Thanksgiving Feast on Saturday afternoon!

Last weekend we visited 2 Temples on Mt. Halla. The first was Gwaneumsa (gwan-oom-sah) which is one of the largest temples on Jeju. We met a nice monk who spoke English very well. He showed us around and invited us in for lunch. The weather was amazing, the nicest we've had in at least a week, no rain, no snow, clear skies. We could see all the way to the ocean and even to Chuja Island! And as a bonus, the leaves are still turning colors on the mountain.

This new Buddha statue is the largest in South Korea.

The grounds and view of Jeju City and the oceanFrom left: John, Maya, Colleen, Alex, Sherrin, the monk (su-nim),

Young Ja, Marcie, Kim

The 2nd temple was a small hermitage on Yeongsil (Yong-sheel)a bit farther up the mountain. To my surprise, there was snow!!! Last week it snowed in the city twice and the mountain had a bit of snow on it, but I didn't realize that it would already be so snowy. We hiked about a half hour up to the hermitage and met a monk on a 3 year retreat. He was incredibly kind, making the 9 of us green tea and inviting us in for dinner. He was happy to share some Buddhist wisdom with us over tea.

John in the snow!

Kimchi pots

Our friendly monk who took a liking to my friend John

The Bo Sa Lim (person in service to the monks) who made us dinner and Young Ja, our friend and translator

The temple bell

From left: Amy, Maja, Alex, Su-nim, me, Marcie, John, Kim, Bosalim, Colleen...and the snowman!
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Friday was the 2nd Annual Foreign Language Festival hosted by the Jeju Provincial Office of Education (my employer). All the foreign teachers had to come volunteer in booths of different English speaking countries. Since there were more than enough Americans, I chose Australia and spent the day teaching kids the song "Home Among the Gum Trees" and eating Vegemite. Fortunately the weather cooperated since it had been raining and snowing the rest of the week.

My friend Emma in the USA booth. They were serving hot dogs!

The Aussie Tent

My co-teacher, Kee Jeung (Stella is her English name) and I sporting Aussie flags

Mmmm...Vegemite! (Did you notice my new glasses yet?)

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Last week my Korean language friend came over with her friend Nam and cooked kimchi jigae (kim-chee-jee-gay) and bulgogi for us. Cindy and Jason came over and we ate a scrumptious homemade feast. I invited them over for our Thanksgiving this weekend. Hopefully we'll have a little traditional American to share with them.

Sinnae, Nam, Jason (holding my bottle of Bailey's) and I after dinner in my apartment

Nam stirring bulgogi and Kimchi-jigae (soup with kimchi, onions, pork, garlic, and chili paste). Notice the marmite and maple syrup above my stove? Not your average Korean household! You have to know where to get those...

Before cooking all the chili paste, onions and pork
Sinnae is cutting fresh kimchi. It is made from whole cabbages, then cut with scissors. Koreans use scissors in the kitchen instead of knives. Nam is mashing the chili paste into the meat, kind of like making meatloaf. He's not to pleased...

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Two weeks ago I went to some tea farms and hiked an oreum. This is Mihee sharing homegrown green tea with us. Her husband's family owns this farm.

Green Tea Plantation

On top of the oreum...it was a blustery fall day! Kim, Marcie, Ji Young, and Colleen

The oreum we hiked above Mihee's family's green tea plantation

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The first yoga classes went really well. Seven people came to the first and 3 to the second. This week I'll teach on Wednesday and the woman who's co-instructing will teach Tuesday. There continues to be much interest among the foreigners. I'm also trying to encourage Koreans to come. One Korean teacher did come last week with some foreign teachers.

Winter holidays start in 4 weeks!! EPIK teachers have to be in school throughout the 5 week vacation even though there are no kids. We teach camps and do some extra work (don't know what yet). I'll be taking my 7 days of vacation towards the end of January, plus we get 1 extra day for volunteering at the festival last friday. We also get 1 day for Christmas, 1 day for New Years and 2 days for Lunar New Year. January should be a laid back month. But first things first...gotta get those Christmas presents in the mail ASAP!

Happy Thanksgiving!