Spring Things!

Keepin' it spicy on Skype...

We have had a very good time here since last posting.  Our winter sickness has melted away in the Spring sunshine, and the longer evenings and warmer days allow for a lifestyle at least starting to compare with how we get to enjoy the outdoors in SA.   Teaching is going very well, and we will miss many of these children when it is time to return HOME.

Since we arrived in this country 2 months ago our experiences have ranged from totally weird to just plain funny.  And then of course 1 or 2 unforgettable ones at both extremes - amazing and horrible.  But we are excited.  This whole adventure is unfolding in a way that is unmistakably RICH in terms of experience and learning and our marriage relationship.  We are spending time with God here as our protective and comforting Father, but also as our close friend (who thankfully understands English).

Ok, that's about as long as a BLOG post can be without irritating you - Oh, sorry, how rude, we didn't even say hello - HELLLOOO!   Please try again to leave  a comment if you can spare a minute!  We'd love to get one and I think we may have the settings right now..!

Check out the vid and pics - prob more entertaining than the random thoughts above!  But thanks for reading if you did!

To Seoul at 300km/h on the KTX...

She's Birthday!

She's Birthday!

She's birthday dinner (which she had to cook herself!), a special Paris Baguette cake courtesy of a korean 'co-teacher' and 2 random shots from the birthday weekend away: we headed South to a fishy but cool place called Mokpo and then jumped on a slooooow ferry to a random island called Docho-do. Fun, but not in the sun...


OK - here is a dodgy video - a rather dubious reward for actually still making some effort to follow our blog despite our infrequent postings...

It shows that we miss the SA accents - and that we have to provide lots of 'self-entertainment' while we are here!

We are back

Well, after a dismal absence from communication with the outside world, we are BACK! So many little quirky things to share, and actually possible now that (as of 3 hours ago), we have supa-fast Korean bali-bali (flipin fast) Internet in our new, 3 roomed (not common in these parts) apartment. Photos and more lively stuff to follow shortly... really....

some more photos, sorry if repeats, stories to follow in next few days!

Aaaaaah...crazy!

The Koreans love their festivals

Aaaah :-)

Some of the people that we are spending time with

Eating Potato pancakes

Eating Potato pancakes

Eating Potato pancakes

Ian in Korean Folk Village

Korean Folk Village

Just finished a banquet supper with all sorts of wierd & wonderful food.

Shelagh learnt how to say "delicious!" - "mashi-soyo!"

Great locals here!

The view from our temporary apartment fro orientation week. Around 0 degrees and battling to type this... :-)

First few photo's - travelling & arrival!

Our special nieces helping us close our fat bags - 52kg's together before the hand luggage!

Arrival!

Arrival - Thurs 5pm SA time (midnite here)!

We are sitting at a fast, free Inet service at the University where we'll be 'orientating' over the next week. Outside it is 0 degrees and snowing. Over past 2 days in transit (during which we have met loads of other people doing the same thing, especially fellow SAfricans), we flew CT-JHB, JHB- DOHA (Qatar), DOHA-OSAKA (Japan) and finally OSAKA-SEOUL. We then had a 2.5 hour bus ride through the snowy night to get to where we are now. We arrived to:

1. very enthusiastic welcomes
2. snackpacks
3. free towels, slippers, travelmugs (you know how we love free stuff)
4. a cool new hoodie
5. a cosy apartment on the 6th floor of the women's res (students graduate tomorrow)
6. the promise of a big medical examination, XRays, injections, etc tomorrow 9am - woohoo!

Both feeling so grateful that this adventure is actually unfolding, both very excited for what that's going to look like, feel like, taste like (!) over the next year...

Over and out for now. Time to hit that strange looking but very magnetic bed...