Skiing at Yongpyong

This Saturday, I went on another MeetUp trip, this time to go skiing! I had yet to go skiing in Korea, so I decided to go for it. Skiing is very popular, almost as much as hiking in the warmer weather. Additionally, the 2018 Winter Olympics will be held here so I took the opportunity to hit the slopes where that will be happening in a few years.

Yukhoe and some Hangul

This week has been really great. I've been writing mostly about Beijing, but in the mean time some awesome things have been happening as well. It was so nice to only work 3 days after I got back from China, and then have another weekend! On Saturday I got my hair highlighted again at Hair & Joy; it looks really good! It was at the point where my kids would ask me "Teacher, why is your hair brown here (points at roots) and yellow here (points at ends)?" In my defense, I think they only noticed it because they are so unused to seeing people with blonde hair. It probably looked like quite a contrast to them, but I don't think other westerners noticed THAT much....

Beijing: Final Thoughts

Tuesday was pretty uneventful; wake up early, pack up everything, check out, and head to the airport. I wanted to write one last blog as more of my thoughts on my experience in China as a whole, rather than try to fit this in somewhere in my chronological account.

Beijing: Quintessentials

Monday, February 11, 2013. 8:00am

Finally having gotten a full 8 hours sleep, I awoke for my final day of China. I had a number of things still left on my list of "Must Do", and was determined to enjoy a full day of Chinese exploration, no matter how tired I was.

Beijing: Mutianyu (Great Wall of China)

Sunday, February 10, 2013.  7:00am

With about 2.5 hours of sleep, I groggily come into consciousness to John Mayer (again) singing to me. But when my eyes finally opened, I saw a pair of eyes in the bunk bed across the room from me looking at me with what I thought was a death stare. I hastily turned off my alarm, and got busy getting ready for my second day in Beijing.

Beijing: The First 24 Hours

Saturday, February 9, 2013. 4:00am.

Having gone to bed at 11:30pm on Friday (rather than around 9pm like I'd planned), 4am came extremely early. But, as soon as John Mayer started singing to me I couldn't stop thinking "I'm going to China today!" So, with a big smile across my face, I got ready for the following 24 hours...

Onnuri

I haven't been going to church recently. I can't say exactly what it was, but I wasn't feeling at home at the church I'd been going to. But, I miss church. So this week, I scoured the internet for English services in Seoul. I found a few large churches, but I really wanted something specific. I wanted to be sure that the church's beliefs and values were aligned with my own. So, I finally found the website for Onnuri English Ministry, which has campuses in two locations. I decided to go to the location near Yongsan held at 4pm on Sunday.

Puppy Fever

This summer I lost my childhood pet dachshund Molly. I'd had her since I was 7 or so, and I remember when we took her home. She lived a long and full life, being the most beautiful and sweet doxie ever known to man. She never met a stranger. She licked you til your skin was raw, but you couldn't pry her off because she was just so darn cute. It was so hard, taking her to the vet that day. She was in pain, been struggling with some heart problems her whole life, and finally it caught up to her. I held her paw as she passed away, but I know she was finally out of pain. I was in mourning for a while, but ever since then there's been a puppy sized hole in my heart. Of course, I still have my other baby, Maggie. And she's been so good! But, I've pretty much always had two.