Chrysanthemums!!

The end of October and first of November are a celebration of color here in Korea. One example is the Daecheong Lake Chrysanthemum Festival. As you can see when you look at the Gallery of pictures the variety is marvelous. I took a few of my students last weekend so there are a few pictures of them and some of a colleagues kids too. It has been a really great fall. The trees are in full color this week and the air is crisp. It has even been a little windy the last couple days so it feels a bit like home back in Kansas. It is hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner but it is coming fast. I hope I can keep up with all the things that need to get done in the next four or five weeks. Enjoy the pictures!

Baekjae Festival-Gongju

This years Baekjae Kingdom Festival in Gongju was going strong last weekend. The festival lasts for a month and has has some great weather. My visit was short this year and I did not make it to Buyeo but hope to next weekend. The festival was combined with the annual Chestnut Festival where all kinds of chestnut products could be sampled and bought. Events happen around and on the Geum Kang (River) and is a great place to spend a sunny afternoon in October. Click for pics.

Chuseok Road Trip

This week we enjoyed one of Korea's major holidays called Chuseok. We had 6 days to relax and I chose to take a road trip on my motorcycle to the northeast boarder DMZ. The ride went through some of South Korea's highest mountain ranges to the East Sea (Sea of Japan), south following the coast highway which has been recognized as a major highway in Asia and is officially Asian Highway 6 (AH6) and then back west through the mountains to Daejeon. The 1,100 kilometer trip took me four days to complete, about a day and a half were pretty rainy but not too bad.

Take time to look at the pictures and get a sense of the beautiful Korean mountains, city markets in small towns and the ocean along the coast highway. The city market in Goesan was too colorful to pass up and as you look at the pictures you will see why I had to spend a little time walking the path and enjoying a traditional Korean snack.

Wet September

Well, after one of the wettest August in Korean history, we have begun the month of September with what has to be one of the wettest first 14 days for the month. It did dry out enough to take in the annual Nangye and Grape Festival in Youngdong on the 4th. In fact for a day, it was actually bright and on the hot side, but you can see from the pics it was a good time for all that attended.

This weekend kicks off the annual Baekjae Kindom Festival held in Gongju and Buyeo. Pictures for that will be in the next entry. The middle school students took part in a Love-All-Serve-All (LASA) trip to the Nuri Center and got a little hands-on experience working with young people with various disabilities. Yes it rained most of the time but was a great experience for them.

Back to Work!

Well, I have been back in Korea for two weeks and have not really been up to much except adjusting to the time change and getting back to work. The first has been accomplished and I am sleeping till the clock wakes me up. The second comes on like a freight train and it kind of sweeps you away. The first week has come and gone.

I am going to work with the Praise Team for chapel this year and am excited about getting that opportunity. I did have my check-up with the endocrinologist and she says I am doing good. I did loos a little more weight and am down to 96 kg. or about 210 lbs. That's about 15 lbs since February, yahoo!?!?!

Festivals are coming soon so I will be getting out to some places and have some new pics to post before long. Until then, everyone take care.

Weeeelllll!!! It has finally happened! I had time today to finally weed through some of the 1200+ pics I have taken While studying her in France. Here you will find links to sets of pictures on my flickr account. Just click on the name of the place and (if you are a follower, you will be able to see a bit of France. This post has pictures of Cain (D-Day Area), Rouen, and Paris. I find it best to 'right click' on the word on blue (the link Sue) and choose "open in another tab) that way the blog will stay open. The weather here has been just great with Highs in the low 80's and lows around 60 something or cooler. Other that a couple days of showers it has been pretty dry. Only four more days and graduation! Yahoo!!

Thoughts From France

Well!

One week has past and things are going well. The weather has been great (except the rain yesterday on our trip to Paris) and today is another beautiful day. I am uploading some pictures to Flicker.com and you should be able to see them soon. (If you joined my blog.) That does not mean you have to buy anything it is just a formality, like saying thank you when someone does something for you. I can tell it is going to be a fast three weeks until graduation with all the social and course events taking place. Anyway, So it goes from France. In my next blog I will be posting some pictures of Rouen so you can see a little of the beautiful city. God Bless to all!

Compelling Thought

The term that has really stuck out to me this week has been the word ‘compelling’. We have examined it as it pertains to experiences specifically and our discussions have led me to want to examine this term. We can attach it to many things such as compelling stories, compelling ideas, and many others. We have taken a short look into what it means to be compelling and I am interested in taking a deeper look into this word and how we apply it to our teaching, students and possibly our lives. I suppose you might say I feel compelled to do this but that might be a bit cheeky.

Sorry Guys, apparently I can't read too well and didn't get this posted on Monday. Soooo Sorry!!

Online Course Developer's Notebook

Cherry Blossoms

It took a couple weeks longer than usual but the warm air has arrived, and with it the cherry trees are alive with blossoms. Enjoy a few pics taken along the lake road.

Cherry Blossoms

Daejeon Volleyball

I know to you guys back at home it might seem a little strange but Daejeon is the capital of Korean Volleyball. On Saturday the women's championship was won by the Daejeon KT&G Ariels and Monday the Samsung Blue Fangs won the men's championship. It took the men seven games and a full five sets in the final to end the hopes of the Hyundai Capital Skywalkers.

All in all, it was a good week for Daejeon sports, even the Citizens soccer team won this weekend. The remodeled Hanwha Eagles Baseball team is showing signs of becoming competitive again, after last years plunge to the bottom of the league, by winning their first two series of the young season in the last week. And lest we forget, the KC Royals are leading the league in batting average... when was the last time that happened??? Our bullpin is a mess but we are getting lots of hits. Of course it would be nice if they actually scored more but one thing at a time. Kind of like it would be nice if Lee Hyori was my girlfriend. (see above right)

Spring is In the Air!

Hello Everyone!

This is another attempt to keep in touch with family and friends, plus help with some information sharing with friends and staff here in Korea. If you are reading this you have already been given the address for my blog. I hope to use it for information sharing, giving life updates and sharing pictures of my travels with you. Who knows where it might go from there. I am in the learning process of using this and it might be a little confusing or bland right now but I hope it will grow over time. That's it for now. Look for more soon.