Couple Haircut

Essential during a trip to Korea - An inexpensive haircut!

Five and Six Island

Annual Sunburn and Treatment

Koreans have a tried and true method for treating sunburnt skin - sliced potatoes or cucumbers! They're supposed to draw the heat out of the skin and into the potato. I had to lie still for 30 minutes but it was worth it. It worked!

Meeting with a Canadian friend in Korea

We had some fun with Dani's family on Wednesday. They came to Busan and took us to Beomeosa Temple (one of the biggest and oldest temples in Korea). And we had another experience of eating live creatures. In this case eels that were alive a second before we ate them.

Busan Aquarium

It's been a long time since we've been to an aquarium, but this was worth coming to. A lot of wierd and interesting creatures.

Busan

This is the view of Busan city from above. Busan is like a sea of humanity that washes over everything leaving just a few islands of nature sticking out. You can see the Pacific Ocean in the background.

Life in Korea so far #2

Well we've been quite the tourists this week! Three trips to various nature areas around Busan. We went up to a mountain where we could see the whole city. Man, it's huge! We also went to Tae Jong Dae ( Don't worry mom, the "suicide rock" is blocked off, so no danger:) and to place called Five and Six Islands. I could only see three islands because we were in wrong angle. Really beautiful areas. I had no idea that Korea has so much nature. In reality it's quite tropical. Really, really muggy, but air conditioning is pretty much everywhere, so we only suffer in short spurts.

We've done some more advertising for the children's program, but I think we need a new marketing strategy in terms of my involvement. Having me simply say, "Hello", "Hi" and "How are you doing," to random kids no longer thrills many of them. One thing I did bring away with the experience was my annual sun burn. So, like two years ago, I got the "potatoe slices on the burnt skin treatment" and it really seemed to work this time.

I'm actually cementing a little Korean in my brain now, but its amazing how often my Sudanese words pop into my mind. My brain seems to have this category of "words to be used when you are stuck in a context where you understand nothing." But, tragicly, words like jihanne, dishan and niskana mean little to this context so I may need some new categories.

I'm now done tutoring! Freedom! I really like those little girls but they are absolutely exhausting, so I don't mind a little extra time to relax now. Life continues to go well. It's been good to have this time with few pressures.

Tae-jong-dae

Ami's parents brought Chris to Ami's favorite place in Busan, Tae-jong-dae. It's truly beautiful area on the Korean coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. You can see dinosaurs' footprints in the rock.

My First Typoon

We had quite a torrential downpour yesterday. Enough so that it actually started leaking through the windows. It was quite a sight!

Chris and the Munchkins

This past Sunday I helped out with the Sunday School class at Ami's dad's church. On the left is me doing a lesson on the armor of God (with my perfect drawing? :) I had about 5 seconds warning that I suppose to do this, so I did my best! (ps. Ami's comment: He was perfect though!). On the right is me playing "Simon says". The kids seemed enjoy it, so I had to keep going and going.

Korean Nephews

These are our incredibly active nephews Bon and Joon. They've gone to Israel now, so life is both more peaceful and a little less interesting.

Market Place Shot

Every trip needs the obligatory market place shot, right? (Sorry about the underlining I can't get rid of it)

Pregnant Wife

This is a shot for all those who wanted to know how Ami's pregnancy is progressing. The baby's pretty active now and you can easily feel it moving with your hand

Sports Park

This is a sign inside one of the gyms. I love Korean English signs

Chris Getting his Western Food Fix

Three ladies from the church took us to a western restaurant called VIPS (Koreans call it "bips")

Life in Korea So Far

Well life has been pretty good here so far. We never seem to run out of people who want to take us out to lunch or dinner! We've been here for 10 days been taken to countless homes and restaurants and never been allowed to pay. Very few meals at home. There are great advantages to having a well-liked wife from a well-liked family! One of the guys who took us out is an aspiring politician who is actually good friends with the Korean President. He is aiming to be mayor of Busan within the next 10 years and says he'll make me Busan's ambassador to Canada. No word on how much that gig pays. :)

Ami's sister Marie and her family left early this morning for a sabbatical in Israel so the house feels pretty empty. Ami's dad's church has decided to make me useful out here, so their having me do some English stuff in Sunday School and possibly something with the youth. Part of their advertising technique is to plant me in front of the entrance of the local elementary and the kids react as if an alien has landed among them. Not many tall white guys in the area. I quickly lost track of the number of times I was asked, "What is your name?," "How are you?" "How old are you?" Some of them show up at church on Sunday so they can stare at me some more! Well, that, plus that fact that they run a really fun Sunday School program.
The first Sunday was fun and it looks like this could end up being somewhat of a missions trip!
I'm even getting a chance to do some tutoring (with some very hyper little girls). God is good! Thanks for all your prayers!

Life in the land of small feet

We all went bowling and I tried to find shoes that would fit me. But, the biggest one was about size 11 or 12, so my size 14 feet had to wear my shoes like slippers. I played AWFUL!

Photo Shoots at the Beach

Everyone had to do their obligatory couples photo session at the ocean