Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)

Chuseok is a big holiday here in Korea, probably the biggest. The whole country shuts down and throngs of people hit the highway to gather with their families in their hometowns.

At our school, we celebrated Chuseok with the kindergarten kids (ages 4-6 years old). The day involved learning how to do traditional bows, then making rice cakes stuffed with red bean paste, ending with an arm wrestling tournament officiated by yours truly. I was beat out in the first round by Dewey, the kid with the dyed pink hair. So I opted to referee the event.

The traditional outfit worn during celebrations (by children and married people only... the bachelors and bachelorettes really miss out) is called a 'han-bok'. It is a really beautiful outfit, as you can see.

We are off on holidays for the next 2 weeks, so we wish everyone all the best while we are gone. Take care and we'll be in touch soon.

All our love.

FIFA Under 17 World Cup

In late August the U-17 World cup of soccer came to Korea. We were lucky enough to have some of the round robin matches played in our city. The teams in this pool were Spain (red shirs, blue shorts), Honduras (all white), Argentina (blue and white stripes), and Syria (all red).
It was amazing soccer, Spain was definately the best team in the pool (they made it to the final, only to be defeated by Nigeria in a shootout for the cup!). I cheered for Honduras... the obvious underdog... but to no avail. Honduras went 0-0-3, losing all matches despite my positive vibes helping them out.

Check out these two...It's really popular here for couples to dress in matching clothes, but these two are beyond me!

The Rapid.

Yes, our fantastic scooter is called the rapid, and it lives up to it's name! Oh, what a hog. Not that I know anything about this kind of thing, but it has a 125 cc engine, which my Dad informed me is only twice the size of his chainsaw. So I guess maybe were riding a glorified lawnmower, but the helmets are very snazzy, and they make us look very fast. Matt drives, and I hold on for dear life. He's getting to be a seasoned pro with his driving skills, running red lights, squeezing through traffic jams, and blowing past car lineup's alongside the best Mr.Pizza delivery boys around. Our brave steed even carries us up the mountain to our local climbing spot. It's a one way road that's lush and beautiful. Many people pay no attention to this one way road policy, and as such you have to be extra cautious on the corners!

We also took it to a really beautiful beach for the day. It was so much fun driving through the countryside!

Here is a typical drive by our apartment. Watch us accelerate from 0 to 60 (km/h) in 6.8 seconds: