Today is my 24th birthday. In Korea, I'm 25. Newborn babies in Korea are one year old...so they all claim to be one year older than they are. Mostly these are old photo's but I want to catch up on the blog anyhow. The photo above was taken atop Apsan mountain. My coworker, Mr. Um, invited me to join his hiking club for a night hike. We took flashlights and bundled up and hiked for about 3 hours total. Afterwards, we had a spicy soup made with cabbage, seaweed, sprouts, and a curd made from the blood of an ox. It is called 해장국 (heng-jahng-guk). It was surprisingly delicious
This is our oxblood soup, some kimchi (spicy cabbage) red beans and rice, anchovies, and some unidentified spicy-tentacle-something. This has the reputation for being a very healthful meal, and it is the Korean hangover remedy.
This was a birthday card I got from one of my students. She's a young girl named Do Gyeong Kim. I will transcribe the note so you don't have to strain your eyes to see it. First, I'd like to pause and say that the people who print this stationery are not very good English speakers. The stationery says "like a rainbow...only you can do make Oh this world seem right." Fantastic Engrish! Ok so Do Gyeong writes, "To David teacher: Hello! I'm Kim Do Gyeong (김도경) Tomorrow is your birthday, right? So I want to say, 'Happy Birthday~' to you. Really really happy birthday~! I'm always thank you for you because, you always teach me and my schoolmates. I have a little present to you. I just want you use nice. And sorry for always I'm late in past morning times. Lastly, Happy Birthday and Happy New Year! Thursday, January fifth 2012" She really melted my heart. The gift ("a little present to you") was a day planner for the year 2012.
These are some of my students from kindergarten, dolled up for paegant day in December. I took videos on my cell phone, but I am still working on getting them to the internet.
I helped out with some snappy costume changes, as well as keeping the kids from slipping into chaos.
They sang, they danced, they performed skits in English. As always, they smiled.
Preparing for samulnori (traditional korean drumming performance). It was quite a racket, but I've never seen so many proud Korean parents.
One of my favorite mischeif-makers giving me impromptu Taekwondo lessons
Here I am :) This is the night view of Daegu from my evening hike with Mr. Um. I am working on getting the photo of the entire club, but that was taken on someone else's camera. I'd like to now give special thanks to my family who has taken the time to send gifts and cards and make me feel really special on my birthday. I love you all. Before signing off, I'll explain the Korean birthday. It's not really a celebration of the person at all. It is a celebration of that person's mom (because she really did the heavy haul). So thanks to my mom, and my loved one's who make me feel special on my birthday. Stay tuned for more from the land of high speed internet and ugly wallpaper!
Today is my 24th birthday. In Korea, I'm 25. Newborn babies in Korea are one year old...so they all claim to be one year older than they are. Mostly these are old photo's but I want to catch up on the blog anyhow. The photo above was taken atop Apsan mountain. My coworker, Mr. Um, invited me to join his hiking club for a night hike. We took flashlights and bundled up and hiked for about 3 hours total. Afterwards, we had a spicy soup made with cabbage, seaweed, sprouts, and a curd made from the blood of an ox. It is called 해장국 (heng-jahng-guk). It was surprisingly delicious 
These are some of my students from kindergarten, dolled up for paegant day in December. I took videos on my cell phone, but I am still working on getting them to the internet.
I helped out with some snappy costume changes, as well as keeping the kids from slipping into chaos.
They sang, they danced, they performed skits in English. As always, they smiled.
Preparing for samulnori (traditional korean drumming performance). It was quite a racket, but I've never seen so many proud Korean parents.
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