East meets West: Still trying to assimilate

At lunch today we decided to test the waters with fusion cuisine. Curtiss-style fusion. Kim (seaweed) with everything!

Kim with pretzels and peanut butter, kim with pizza, kim with mac and cheese. There is no end to what kim will cozy up to!

Sometimes it tasted like this.

And others tasted like this!

Nancy and Denys Visit

You can't visit Korea and not try the exercise equipment located in every park and on all hiking trails!

Namsan Mountain and North Seoul Tower followed by a trip into Itaewon for great Italian food!

 A visit to a local outdoor market to try some new things!

A visit to our favorite park, Bundang Central Park. Every time we visit something is going on in the plaza. This time there was a memorial of thanks to the UN Nations that aided Korea in the Korean War.

Baseball in Korea is so much more fun than the MLB in the States. The crowd is super involved, chanting and dancing the entire time. Stadium food barely resembles that in America, beer is cheap, and the mascots are cool!

Spring Break in the Philippines

Cheap flights, cheaper food, tropical fruits, white beaches...Need I say more? We decided to head to the Philippines for spring break and convinced Nancy and Denys to join us!

 Haven's take on Asia and our travels to Koh Pu Thailand, Korea, and Philippines.








Smooth travels right to the Cebu ferry dock. But after waiting in the ticket line for an hour we found out a typhoon blew in and all ferries were cancelled. Long story short we spent the next two days waiting for a ferry. Many hours were spent in the terminal waiting for valid information and wondering who to trust.


Thankfully we found a great hotel to spend our nights in.





The local jeepneys were colorful and always filled with passengers.

 FINALLY - we boarded a ferry for the 4 hour crossing to another port where we waited a couple hours to board the next ferry for another 4 hour crossing. Yikes, who planned this vacation anyway?
We just kept telling the kids that sometimes the best places take a long time to get to!









 Our view in the ferry boat! Luxury!

I'm not sure I have ever been so happy to arrive at a destination! Talk about adventure. At the Kookoo's Nest we were greeted by Nancy and Denys along with a beautiful bungalow, beach, and warm hospitality. It took us only about 30 minutes before we were in the ocean for a swim.

Beautiful resort! Amazing snorkeling right off the beach, beautiful sunsets, smooth waters, hot sun, lots of relaxation.

Spring Break #2

The stars aligned this year to give KIS students and staff a second spring break. Back to back holidays gave us 6 days off! Labor day, Children's day, and Buddha's birthday!

#1-Just before the break we enjoyed the Lotus Lantern Festival with our friends, the Cerana family. Such a great family and the festival was fantastic. We started by making paper lotus lanterns and then enjoyed Buddhist food from Korea, Japan, and India. Then we tried a ton of traditional Korean crafts. This has been our favorite festival so far!

 In addition to the crafts we were able to write our wishes for the world and watch traditional ceremony. The mood of the festival was a bit subdued this year as many memorials were taking place for the lives lost in the ferry disaster.

#2-We spent a day with our Australian friends hiking and relaxing at the Namhansanseong Fortress. The original fortress wall surrounds a huge area of forest with a cute and busy village in the center. Hundreds of locals were in the village and on the trails enjoying this sunny, gorgeous day.

 This gives you a great image of the hiking culture here in Korea. Most Korean hikers are decked out in head to toe gear full of bright colors. Then, after the hike, they sit and drink bottles of soju liquor or makkoli wine and visit. Here was a table full of mature women hikers who gave us a lot of smiles and laughs as we walked by!

#3-I made my first marmalade with kumquats Denys bought during their visit. The marmalade is AWESOME and I foresee many more batches in our future!

#4-Play dates and parks. In the honor of Children's Day we spoiled our sweet ones with tons of friend time over the week. On this day Josh took a morning bike ride to scout out a new park. We later brought friends and a picnic. The park had a great playground, hiking trails all over the hills, and an historical excavation site where ancient pottery and even a burial site were found. Oh, and of course exercise equipment scattered about.

#5-Hiking and Bouncy House - Fin's great friend decided he wanted to spend his birthday day at our place so he could be with Fin and try out the local bounce house. They spent an hour bouncing to their heart's delight. Then we drug them out into the woods for a great hike in our neighborhood hills. 

#6-Sleepover!