Happy May 10th!

May 10th has a double special meaning to me...it's a day I get to remember the wonderful women that have touched my life for Mother's Day, and it is also the day I graduated from Mercer with my masters!

I've had many mother figures in my life, and I am thankful for all of them! Since I don't have pictures of all of them on my computer, I am not able to post more pictures. You know who you are and I'm happy you're all in my life!

My mother and me at graduation one year ago.

It seems like just yesterday I was walking across the stage to accept my diploma at Mercer. It was such a happy day...I don't think I quit smiling all day! Even though so much has happened since then, it seems like time has flown. I miss lots of people from my days at Mercer and have fond memories of my time there.

My old classmates!

On another note, this past week marked our 6-month mark in Korea. I can't believe it! Sometimes I feel like I just got here, and some days I feel like I've been here a while since I'm so comfortable. This just means I only have 6 more months to figure out where to go next!!

Goseong Dinosaur World Expo

Happy Cinco de Mayo (Mexico)!! and Happy Children's Day (Korea)!!

Today was a fun day! For the first time since January, we had a random day off...so Kami and I headed to Goseong for the Dinosour World Expo. Goseong is only about 20 minutes from Tongyeong, so it was an easy trip! Our friends had been to the expo so we were excited once they told us all the fun they had there. It was quite a large event and since today was a school holiday for most, there were quite a few people here. It was a good time!

The dinos welcoming us to the expo.

Cute decor everywhere.
Remember Sara from The Land Before Time...I found her!!
We were super excited for the 4D show...it was awesome. (You know you dig the glasses on glasses action!)

2009 Expo!

We ran into our co-worker, Sharon, and her family!

Pretty flowers at the botanical garden building.

I love pretty flowers!

A dino building.

Saying goodbye to the dinos.

Busan Lotte Giants Baseball

After almost 6 months of no live sporting events (crazy, I know), I was super pumped to go to one in Busan last weekend. I have to say it was probably the most exciting thing I have experienced since I have been in Korea. Kami, Amie, Galen and I headed to at Lotte Giants baseball game in Busan on Saturday night. It was AMAZING!! I can't even fully describe it, but I will try a little.

Sajik Stadium holds about 30,000, and while that is considerably less than pro teams in the MLB, the game was 20 times better than any game I've been to in the States. I've never seen baseball fans so into the game...cheering, singing, waving their pom-poms. It was amazing. I'd read before going to Busan that the fans were awesome, but I had no idea it'd be that great! There was a platform on the first base line that was used for a few cheerleaders and 'ring leader'. There was a cheer/song for each of the players and tons in between too. I loved it! It was sooo much fun!

Sajik Stadium--Home of the Lotte Giants

We knew the game would be fun when we walked up and saw dancing Soju bottles.

Kami and I with a Soju bottle.Our view of the game.

I love panoramic shots!

Enjoying the game!

Trying to capture some of the cheering on film.

Baseball at night...true bliss!

Needless to say, I can't wait to go to another game! If you come to Korea, go to a baseball game! I totally recommend it!

PS. Here is a pretty interesting story about the manager for the Lotte Giants. here

Fiesta!!

I don't talk too much about school, but here's a blog for you about my work.

In one of my classes, we just finished reading about a boy named Tomas that was a native of Mexico. It was a fun story for me since I feel like I have a good knowledge of Mexico and Spanish is my semi-second language. The students were ultra impressed when I said things to them in Spanish and it was fun getting to share with them! Anyway, as a little way to let them learn more about Mexico, I made a few things for the students and we had a fiesta! Since there is a very, very small selection of Mexican foods here, I did what I could. They really enjoyed the chips and salsa. I also attempted to make churros and they were quite yummy. Lastly, I made my favorite Mexican food...quesadillas!! We had a good time!

Here's the spread:

Luna really enjoyed the fiesta!! Kara and Annie having fun!The kids did a Spanish-English puzzle during the party.

I think the students had a good time and it was fun getting to share a little piece of Mexico with them!

It's Spring!!

Hello on a wonderful Sunday night. This weekend has been quite eventful and I enjoyed it all.

Saturday, Kami and I headed to a nearby island...Hansan-do...off the coast of Tongyeong. It's only about a 30-minute ferry ride from our terminal here, so Saturday morning we set off for an adventure. Oh, and was it an adventure! On our way to the island, an older man started talking to Kami and me. It turned out that he was the leader of this group that was on the ferry and headed to the island. After talking to him for most of the way there, we learned all kinds of interesting things. The group he was the leader of was a group of Vietnam vets that had been affected in some way by Agent Orange. (Kami had to educate me on what that was.) When we arrived at the island, he invited us to join his group's picnic. We dined with them (Kami and I stuck to the rice) and then went to tour the island on our own. We met back up with Mr. Lee and his crew and headed home after a bit. It was a really nice day and we enjoyed meeting new people.

Here's a picture of the view from Hansan Island. It was beautiful.

A temple on the island. From what I could tell, a major battle took place between Japan and Korea near this island. Admiral Yi, a Korean hero, was remembered throughout the island.

Spring!!!

Our ferry for the ride home

Today was a good day too! Kami, Amie and I joined some of our Korean friends for a hike of a popular mountain in Tonyeong...Mount Mireuksan. I was really apprehensive going into it, but it proved to be wonderful. We took an easier course and I was very thankful since it was my first time on this mountain.

Here are a couple of views from the mountain.

These are a few of the lovely people we hiked with!There is a cable car that takes you up and down the mountain. We hiked up and then took the cable car down. There were tons of tourists...this is a popular place!

So that was my weekend! I'm so excited it's Spring and we can do more things! I think next weekend we're going to Busan...I'm looking forward to that! Talk soon!