Saturday, July 26, 2008

A peek into my last few weeks!

GET READY FOLKS! IT'S JAM PACKED!

(P.S - this post does NOT include my farewell to my closest friend here in Seoul, Sharon. For her... she gets her own post within a few days.) It also doesn't include my move into my new apartment. So yes, if it seems like I've been busy, you're correct. I've barely had time to breathe! But God is good and so gracious and humbling me and encouraging me along the way.

ENJOY!

Upon returning to Seoul, I decided I just couldn't get enough of the beach.... and I realized I needed some alone time and so I decided to go on a personal adventure. WEEEEEEE!

Instead of running a ton of errands and getting caught up, I decided to take advantage of the clear blue skies (rare in Seoul, first of all... second... the rainy season was destined to come any day)

I headed down to Muui Island (a small little island located off Korea, near the airport which is about 2 hours away) I had to take a ferry to get there. 

After a few ferry rides...

a trek pretending not to be lost...

exploring a famous "drama" (soap opera) shooting set...

meeting a random Korean man (Willis) who acted as my tour guide...

some great sea shells ...

and saying hello to some sand crabs...


I finally made peace with being back to a place I call home... yay Korea!


That weekend I headed out with all my friends to attend MUD FEST in Boryeong (about 2 hours south).

Here's my friend Linds on our bus ride down there:

The whole gang - SO MUCH FUN!

Me, Rach and Hil

MUUUUUDDDDD!




Next up? The DMZ. What an amazing experience. Here you see S. Korean soldiers outside. They wear glasses not only to intimidate, but to protect themselves from making eye contact with N. Korean soliders.

These are N. Korean guards (taken with a telephoto lens)


Spying on us - the window is slightly open on the left with a guard looking through binoculars. We were instructed to not make any movements or gestures to the N. Korean guards at any time.




You can't really tell from this picture, but they stand only halfway exposed in case of a situation with gunfire, so they can be protected and not easily harmed.

I'm standing in N. Korea in this picture... this S. Korean guard would stop me if I tried to pass, because if I do, I'd be nabbed by N. Koreans.





And last but not least... My amazing Friday Bridge Listening class.... they knew about my ice cream fast during the month of June (and how much I hated it) and I decided to celebrate with them after class one night.



Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Playing Catch Up

So I haven't been able to take the time to finish uploading pictures until now from the fabulous vacation in Florida with the entire family (from one side, that is).

****ATTN FAMILY! If you want copies of these pictures..... click on the picture (so it will be full size) then save from there. (ie - right click, then save to your computer) :) That way you can have copies. 

It was so wonderful to see my Mom, Dad and brother.  I will never forget the feeling walking off the plane and getting ready to surprise them the way I did. I have missed them so much. Here's a VERY in depth look at our vacation with the family. I loved being able to spend time with EVERYONE, and it was definitely a highlight to meet Keylie for the first time. I had such a good time.

I'll post more pictures from my last few weeks back here in Korea, but for now... just Florida.

Here's a few highlights since I've been back:
- Moved into a different apartment (4 floors up, and it's BIGGER!)
- I took on FULL Head Instructor responsibility at work, which means I've been busy out of my mind
- Started teaching Intensives (an extra three hours each day)
- I attended Mud Fest with my friends (more pics to come for sure)
- Tomorrow I say goodbye to my dearest friend here in Korea, Sharon. :(
- Did a DMZ tour and stepped on North Korean territory and explored an underground tunnel built by the N. Koreans.

ENJOY THE PICTURES FROM FLORIDA!

_________________________________________________________

Ryan, Sabina and Adelisa 

Aunt Gretch and Keylie
Miss Adelisa 
Keylie!
Uncle Jay, Alexia, Iley and myself
The tremendous sand castle - Good Job Ryan and Sabina!
Chance, Brandy and Grandpa Bob
Chance scopin out the waves
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for an awesome dinner and beach house!
Brandy and Keylie 
Can't get enough of this baby! Chance and Keylie
How old do you think he is? He's two weeks younger than Chance (13 years old) and he's taller than me!
The crab shack we ate at
Just Me and Mom :) 
Chance and Brandy
Just Me and Pops :)
We love those cameras :) Me and Iley
Beautiful Girls! Alexia and Keylie
Me and Chance
On our way to dinner... via the beach. HA!
Me and Mom 

Me and the boys: River and Chance
Chance and Riv
All the grandkids!
Aunt Gretch and Uncle Jay
Gretch, Grandma and myself
Chance and I at the beach :)
Rob and Beth
Dad and Chance at the pier
Me and my buddy <3