if you have seen my photos on facebook, this is a re-posting of my first korea album for those not on that site.
getting there:
ellie and i with all of our baggage outside of dulles...so much stuff
escalator in ze aeropuerto
visa + boarding pass = not much turning back now
we took a HUGE two-story plane
they gave us all this free stuff! i didn't keep the socks but the rest has come in handy
first glimpse of korea!
moving in:
first look at our temporary apartment (in three weeks two of the other foreign teachers will leave and we'll move into their place)
this is once we got stuff situated a little better. it's small and the bathroom is smelly, but it's home :)
the result of our first trip to the grocery store...a dinner of cereal and chips
our school (yes, it's called wonderland)
sunday afternoon excursion to namhan-sansong:
we are headed to one of those lumps in the distance...to get there, we took the subway two stops and walked through this town before heading uphill. you can't tell from this photo, but we passed more outdoor gear vendors than i've ever seen in my life
this sign is lying. there was definitely more than half a kilometer to the top
up and up and up some more
so many pretty flowers :)
about halfway to the top
map of the area. once we got to the top, we started at #11 (upper left-hand corner) on the map and hiked the whole length of the wall back to that point before heading down (about four hours and we figured roughly six or seven miles). awesome hike!
sunday strolls on the easy path
stopping to rest about a third of the way around
pagoda along the way
spots like this make being in korea feel a little more real
almost at the highest point of the hike
(photo courtesy of andrew)
tasty dinner with the guys post-hike
(photo courtesy of andrew; taken by the friendly korean girls sitting next to us)
ogeum park:
one of the entrances to the park, which is huge, beautiful and right by school. it's my new favorite spot
so many steps
this used to be my favorite spot in the park--a quiet pagoda and brick courtyard away from everything. my fingers are crossed that they're just redoing it, but i have my doubts...
directions on a guidepost that i can't read yet
the forsythias are all in bloom right now and i love it
this is one portion of a path along which you are supposed to walk barefoot. it does something helpful to your body, i think, because of pressure points. i can't remember what exactly, but i don't remember thinking it worked
pagoda pole
a peaceful evening
venturing back out
city lights
haha look who came to town
ranny, our director's wife, told me that koreans love duran duran
kindergarten field trip to olympic park:
this is my class of five-year-old devils...typically, not paying any attention to me
water fountain shenanigans along the way...i particularly like his hat: "i ride with the big boys"
that kid throwing leaves on the teacher is ted, the naughtiest of my five-year-olds
sunday afternoon excursion to namsan park:
that's n seoul tower up on the mountain...we were going to take a cable car up, but the line was ridiculous so we walked
pretty fountain along the way
"photo islnad"
read the description...this is one of many excellent translations we've come across so far
so much city
n seoul tower
locks on the fence of the lookout deck...ellie and shay determined that they were hung there by lovers to lock in their love
more love
(lindsey roby, this photo is for you)
one of four human wire sculptures suspended in the area around the tower
sick on the weekend = no fun
story-telling contest day at school:
this is my seven-year-old class during their presentation
if this kid would have dropped to the floor and started break-dancing, it literally would have made my whole month
wandering through olympic park:
there were lots of cool sculptures to explore
directions on the ground
flags of all the countries on the plaza by the world peace gate
world peace gate (reflected/rotated)
two days ago this street was filled with people, chinese flags and police buses...we randomly happened to be in the area as the olympic torch came through! unfortunately none of us had our cameras that day, but it was really cool to experience
sunset over seoul
city meets serenity
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