This week we had our biannual workshop trip. Our workshop trips are like no other. Our bosses take us for a two day one night vacation to experience Korean culture. This trip we went to Geoju-do, Oedo, and Tongyeong. We left CEV early Thursday morning in two vans. I (Lauren) was shocked because I was told it was going to be boys in one van and girls in the other, but much to our surprise Richard put Nick and I in the car with him, Suzi and So-Hee.
The first stop in our adventures was a roadside rest stop that overlooked the ocean and the entrance to a tunnel that goes under that ocean to get to Geoji-Do.
This is where the road goes into the tunnel!!!
Our second stop was the house of President Kim a former president of South Korea. His childhood home was donated and converted into a museum depicting his life and struggle to lead South Korea away from the dictatorship it was heading toward. During his presidency he gave much of the power back to the people and that has laid the groundwork for what South Korea has become today.
Took a selfie next to this picture.... Bill Clinton and President Kim.
Playing a little pretend!
Giving a short speech!
Our third stop was a Korean war memorial museum built on the site of the largest South Korean prison camp. The museum lead us on a journey chronicling the timeline of the Korean War. While the majority of the information presented at the museum was in Korean, we were still able to get a better sense of the chronology of the war and the deep impact it has on the Korean culture.
Next stop was the Windy Hill, it was beautiful and windy!
Can you see Nick? Let me zoom in..........
There he is!!!!!!
Beautiful windmill.
Our first day of the workshop ended at our motel with a beautiful view and take out pizza for dinner. The next morning I woke up super early and decided to go on a walk and take some pictures.
I climbed some rocks and ended up here.. My foot in the picture is just proof that I did it!
When I got back I woke Nick up and we packed up and loaded our van for another day of adventures. We grabbed breakfast from a convenience store on our way to docks where we took a boat to Oedo. It is an island with a Botanical Garden on it. Way beautiful, just like this whole trip.
Nick took this picture to see if anyone would notice the craziness in this picture. When you see it...
After the gardens the boat picked us up and took us around some other islands.
After, we headed to Tongyeong for a huge lunch and a beautiful ride up a mountain it was one of those 'Don't look down moments'
Richard and I having a little fun!!!
Nick and I acting scared!
Suzi and I trying to take our mind off of the heights!
Our CEV Family at one of the overlooks.
Nick and I went all the way to the top. We could see a whole 360 and it was BEAUTIFUL and well worth the million stairs.
When we got back down to the bottom we headed back to Changnyeong. It was a wonderful workshop trip that reminded us how much we love visiting the ocean and listening to the waves. Korea is wonderful in that you can visit the mountains and the ocean at the same time! We got to ride boats and Hike beautiful mountains without ever losing sight of either. I was so happy and grateful that we were able to go on such a lovely trip with such a great group of friends and coworkers.
Hiking is THE hobby of South Korea, you can hike anywhere because Korea is 70% mountains. This week I did two different hikes. On Tuesday my visiting teachers came down from Daegu to visit me. We drove right up to the temple and then we hiked the 20 minute stairs to reach the Buddha.
Pictures of the decorated Temple. The Buddha pictures are here, from a previous hike.
Saturday Nick and I climbed Hawangsan Mountain. This hike has been on our To-Do list for a while. We were happy to hear other foreigners in Changnyeong that wanted to do it as well, so we set a date. The hike usually takes 3 hours but it took us a little longer because a family from our church came and they had a small child. She made it up the mountain no problem, but getting down was a different story.
Lots of beautiful flowers on the way!
Our first glimpse of the view, little did we know that we were only a little over halfway up.
The Top!!
The Rock at the top! We climbed Hawangsan Mountain!!
The friends we climbed with.
I swore we took more pictures at the top but when we reached the bottom they had disappeared. Which means we will have to climb again.
This weekend we went to Namji for a beautiful canola flower festival. Namji is only ten minutes away from where we live, so we had to go! We had such a great time with Nick and Amanda!
Oh sorry in advance for the picture over load....
I love color accent on cameras.
Delicious Ice Cream! I have been looking for it for over a year now. Last I had it was during Christmas vacation 2012. I was pretending it was a saxophone.
Bibimbap, sorry we didn't take a picture of Nick's $30 plate of crap. (Pork but crappy pork)
If we would have found this thing two years ago we would probably own one. It's an electric scooter thing :)
The flowers go on forever it seems....
Silly picture with Nick A and Nick B
Silly Amanda, she thinks she can fly
I'm trying to swim, guess I'm silly too...
Nick fell....
I laughed and this was my consequence.....
When we finished walking around all of the flowers we walked by the festival tents. We found a game we had never played at a festival before so out of curiosity we had to try it. You took a water-bug or small eel out of a bowl and into a funnel, whatever bin it swam to you got the prize that was labeled.
We had such a great Easter Weekend. Hope you did too..
Nick and I just had a fantastic weekend! We were invited over to our Korean branch building, which we are zoned for, for a barbeque. We were told it was from 2-4 so we ate a small early breakfast before we left. The bus to Miryang is about a 1 hour ride. When you arrive the church is right next to the bus terminal. We were early, but it was fun to talk with all the missionaries who were also there for the activity. We soon found out that the food wasn't until after the activity :( We were starving!
When the it finally started we were separated into three teams. We played rock, paper, scissors with our feet.
I was chosen to represent our team in the booty bump war, with the other women from the two other teams. One was a child... Before we started I apologized to both of them because there isn't a tiny Korean booty out there that could take on my booty..... everybody laughed as I shot my opponents across the room.
Guess you can say I kicked butt at this game and earned my team some points!!
After the indoor activities we moved outside for an obstacle course. Each team had five couples and each couple had to go through the whole course. Did I mention it was raining?? First you had to get into potato sacks and jump to the next station while holding hands with your partner. Once you made it to the bobbing for apple station, you had to bob for an apple then break it in half using your hands, then eat it before moving on to the next obstacle. Nick was awesome and quickly sank his teeth into the apple and came out soaking wet. He also broke the apple in half using his hands (I was really impressed). The next obstacle was for one of us to carry the other to the limbo rope. Nick bent down for me to jump on his back, when I was on he couldn't get up... he says his feet were slipping in the mud.. the audience is laughing as I hit him and have him jump on my back. I ran for the limbo rope, we held hands and went under. Next finding a piece of candy buried in a pan of flour. I let Nick take this one and I wasn't disappointed. After he got the candy super quick we ran for the balloons. I blew one up and we ran back to the beginning where we had to pop it by hugging back to back. Once that was done we tagged the next couple, and this video happen.
Of course our team came in first place!!! We had so much fun cheering each other on, okay maybe it was just me yelling at them to move faster... Not sure... I'm not competitive at all.
We moved the activity back inside and had an amazing barbeque. There were POTS full of marinated bulgogi, and yummy boar's meat. We ate till we couldn't put another bite into our mouths, even though we wanted too, it was that good! They even gave us some meat for the road.
We left Miryang on the train going to Busan. We checked into our love motel and went shopping.
We slept in the next morning which was kinda nice. We took our time packing back up and getting ready for a Korean wedding. We felt so blessed to be able to attend a Korean wedding. It was really awesome.
With luck we found the right hotel along with the correct floor, and room, and I mean it took a little luck. Our Korean is nonexistent. After standing around awkwardly being the only foreigners in the room we were spotted by the groom who saved us from our awkward insecurity and took us to see the bride. So they have a little separate room where the bride sits and all the guests, as they arrive, come and get their picture taken with her. Here's me with the bride's sister, they both are so beautiful.
The bride, Ga-hee, she is the sister of our friend and co-worker Sohee.
Sorry this picture is fuzzy, I think it is a picture of the picture that was taken professionally.
After picture we met the parents of the bride and gave our gift of money at the money table. They have white envelopes that you put your money into and then record how much you gave and your name. We also received tickets for the buffet lunch after the wedding.
The Mothers of the bride and groom walked first and lit the candles then sat down. They were dressed in beautiful hanboks. Then the groom walked and got in place. The bride was walked down the aisle by her father and given to the groom after he bowed and shook the father's hand. Even though we didn't understand the words it was still emotional and beautiful to watch. After they were married they turned and bowed to each other, then, bowed to each set of parents. During this bow to the parents, the groom did a very respectful bow with his hands knees on the ground and his forehead on his hands. I imagine that a more traditional ceremony would have had the bride also bow this deeply but in a wedding dress it's difficult to do anything but sit and stand. After the ceremony the couple stayed standing in the front while people performed various talents for them and us. They had a violinist, two teenage girls (who appeared to be related to the grom somehow) who danced, and then a bunch of young men (we think friends of the groom) got up and did an amazing dance/taekwondo performance. The groom joined in and it was hilarious and awesome. After, they cut the cake with a short sword.
When it was all over they walked back down the aisle as streamer cannons were shot off towards them. They came back in for pictures, then we went for food!
I tried everything that I possibly could. We had a great time discovering what things were. When we finished our second, maybe even thirds, we left for the bus station. We saw this outside. Wow they know how to decorate the get-away car!
We are so grateful for the opportunity to attend the wedding and to meet Sohee's family, it made our weekend entertaining and enlightening.
I accidently hit the publish button, but Nick thought it was hilarious and made me wait a whole day to post the update... so now without further ado...
We bought the wall hangings in China. The meaning behind each one is the reason we bought them and why they are in a certain order hanging! From left to right you have Cherry blossom tree, Yin and Yang fish, and Bamboo. The cherry blossom represent feminine beauty and sexuality and holds the idea of feminine dominance. The Koi fish represent the balance of masculinity and femininity and have the characteristics of good fortune, success, prosperity, and longevity.
Bamboo represent man, it is strong, upright, and dependable. He may bend with the wind, the storm and the rain, but he never breaks. He is a true gentleman of courage and endurance. When we were told the meanings it sounded just like our relationship so we had to have them.
Taekwondo is going great. We should get our red belts next week. We have been very busy practicing and preparing for our Black Belts. Yes in the picture I'm holding an apple, don't ask.
Just to point out two things, first McDonald's delivers here in Korea, second this scooter is using the sidewalks to get around.
Not to long ago we sang Karaoke in our bosses upstairs room where usually no one is allowed. It was fun!
We had students come from a different town. They did a one day tour of our school and it gave us an excuse to have some fun!
We went to Seoul this past weekend and on our trip back home we shared a quart of 3 different flavors of Baskin' Robins Ice Cream. They wrapped it up in a bag along with piece of dry ice to keep it frozen. When we finished the ice cream we had some fun with the dry ice.
Sunday on our way home from church we opened the package we got from my mother and brother. So excited to have my favorite hairspray again!! Thanks for all of the fun stuff. I loved my shirt and I wore the box on my head to be funny. It was a great ride home, many confused looks and awkward smiles. Maybe I had to much sugar?
We are really excited that spring is coming. Hope you guys are too.
