Halloween Party, October 27th

Since Fridays are a little bit more relaxed anyway, we chose to have our Halloween Party on Friday the 27th rather than disrupt classes in the middle of the week on the actual day. The kids came to school in all manners of dress--monsters, princesses, heros, and animals to name a few characters in attendance. I even wore a wig and bright red lipstick which really freaked the kids out. Liz wore the Korean red devil horns, and Marc made an imposing figure in a black cape and Scream mask. Esther decorated and darkened the lunchroom, and the kids put on a fashion show, strutting their stuff down the candle-lined 'runway'. We then managed to get all three groups of kids though 'tape the nose on the pumpkin' (run by me), 'eat a cookie off a string with no hands', and 'pass the lemon with your neck' games before lunchtime.

Princess 1 tries to make contact with the witch while Peter Pan keeps Spiderman 1 in check with his sword and Batman eyes Spiderman 2 hungrily.
The Princesses gossip in the back and Harry Potter surreptitiously puts Batman under a spell for plotting against Spiderman.

'You got me this time, Harry Potter, but just you wait!' says Batman, feigning innocence. And Spiderman figets obliviously.

Marcus, my favorite little monkey.

The crew minus one.

Haslla Art World, October 25th

Today we took our morning kinder kids on a field trip. We piled them all on a train and headed south along the coast to Jeongdongjin. It was a beautiful day--in great contrast to Monday and Tuesday--and the sea was gloriously white and frothy. We took some pictures at the famous beachside Jeongdongjin Station, then hopped into our vans which had met us and drove to Haslla Art World, an indoor and outdoor art center in the mountains that rise out of the sea. We had lunch on an outdoor balcony then toured the outdoor center on foot. I hope to go back as we didn't get to explore over half of what was there.

Brian, Lisa and Peter

Jinny, Sally, Alice and AbigailJohn and RayPenny and the seaPlatform at JeongdongjinIn front of Jeongdongjin StationHiking through the art parkGiant sundial and relaxation pavillionSculpturesMy kiddosPeter the tank

Unexpected Rain

I woke this morning to thrashing rain and wind howling with gale force through my building. My windows and doors whistled and rattled crazily as I got ready for work. Since I don't own an umbrella, I bundled myself in my hooded jacket and made the 45 second walk around the corner. In that amount of time, my snowboarding jacket was soaked through, my shoes were flooded, and my pants were plastered to my legs. Julian was handing out towels at the door.

Julian and Esther frantically ran around all morning answering the phones and patching up leaks in the windows. I was surprised that the power never went out, though it did flicker several times. By lunch time, it had not let up much, and Julian made the decision to cancel afternoon classes due to already low morning attendance and flooding throughout the city.

Sadly, my pictures don't really capture the terrific winds or rain.

Seoraksan, Daecheongbong, October 15th

Just north of Gangneung and west of Sokcho is Seoraksan which is one of the more famous national parks in Korea. It claims such fame in part, I believe, to the amazing colors in October. People flood the park by the coach-load, and hotels double their prices. It covers a large area, and there are many different hikes as well as hot springs. Morten got it in his head that we needed to climb the highest peak in the park (the third or fourth highest in South Korea), so we drove up early-ish on Sunday morning to scale 1708m (5603 ft) Mt. Seorak, or Daecheongbong. The 5km climb to the top was punctuated with rock stairs, metal stairs, wood stairs, and long lines of hikers, most of them coming down. The summit was so crowded that we had to stand in line to have our obligatory pictures with the obelisk. Morten had packed some tasty pasta salad for lunch, but I was so spent that I was only able to eat a few bites before my stomach revolted. I later explained delirious to Morten as being crazy from exhaustion, and he agreed that, yes, I had probably been delirious. The climb down was wonderfully solitary as most of the hikers had either already made the descent or were staying the night at the peak. We reached the car just as the last daylight was fading. Even though I couldn't walk for three days post-hike, I'm glad I did it, and we got some amazing photos.