Byeonsanbando National Park

Late morning we took off across a causeway south of Gunsan, listening to worship music and marvelling at what God has created.

A new road leaves the causeway half way across. Last time they were here, it wasn't yet open, so this time Dan wanted to explore the islands that it connects. The only trouble was that on a gorgeous Sunday everyone and his cousin wanted to explore the new road connecting the islands. Korea has a lot of everyones and cousins, and Koreans are big enthusiasts for nature. We got mired in traffic (including multiple tour buses), and it took maybe half an hour to get turned around. I'm not sure we got off the first island.

After another strip of causeway and a drive through mountains, we ended up at Byeonsanbando National Park.

Admission was free, but Simeon thought he would collect tickets.

Like so many areas of natural beauty, there was a buddhist temple.

Simeon thought it was beautiful, and Erika spent some time explaining why we don't worship in the same way.

The trail included this romantic overlook where everyone and his cousin stopped for pictures.

This one was taken by the fifth member of our party.

This buddy photographer gets pointers from his father on the big camera.

 After another good climb (73 flights for the day), our destination was Jikso Falls.

This picture was taken just before Dan and Simeon decided to go for a swim. Simeon slipped; Dan tried to save him; Simeon pulled Daddy in with him. We tried to make up other stories about how Dan tried to throw Simeon in, but then Simeon threw him in, but Simeon thought we needed to stick with the truth. Sorry my camera wasn't pointed in the right direction. Fortunately, Dan's camera did not get wet.

Tomorrow we are off to China for 10 days. Given China's dislike of Google, it is quite likely that I won't be able to post until I get back, but I will be journalling along the way.

Gunsan Park

Sunday morning Dan graciously allowed me to tag along on his morning hike. (I can’t exactly call it an “early morning hike” when we didn’t leave until 7:30.) We went back into town to one of those city parks where the ground is too steep for roads and apartment buildings, so it has trails instead. This park also had a reservoir.

We might have lingered longer at this rest area if we had been further into our hike. (Note that there are plenty more couches further in the trees.)

We climbed to this lookout. (By the end of the hike my phone app registered 40 flights equivalent.)

Great views.

Near the horizon slightly left of center is the lake where we were Saturday night.

Believe it or not, this descent was not as steep as the path we took up. I can’t blame Dan for that one. I was the one who pointed it out from the parking lot.

Gunsan (or Kunsan)

Erika wanted to get out of town for Mother’s Day. Last time she supposedly had a week off from worship team but was in town, she got roped into keyboard, which meant even if she didn’t have to plan, she had to rehearse. So Saturday we took off for Gunsan on the west coast. We stayed cheap (but nice) at the base. It was a dreary, pollution-filled day, so the fabulous scenery (lots of tunnels!) on the four-hour trip was muted, but still interesting. We arrived late afternoon and Dan (who could have a second career as vacation planner) found a couple parks. This one had a walk around a lake.

In the background you can see the pedestrian bridge we walked across.

We parked at the dam and followed our ears to where we could hear traditional music. It seemed to be some sort of tenth anniversary celebration, but we didn’t figure out of what.

These girls were getting ready to perform.

We crossed a long pedestrian bridge across the middle of the reservoir. There were several pseudo romantic stops along the way with instructions to go left or right and think about [blank] and not look back, or place your hands on top of one another in the handprint on the stone and confess words of love and commitment to each other.  You get the idea.

Simeon loved following every path and at the other end…

After supper we checked out the other park along the shore of the estuary with a police boat, planes and this tank.

There were also a lot of boats stranded on mudflats with the tide out, but in the dark we never figured out if they were used or derelict. 

On the way home Simeon told a story about a little girl named Grammie. It took on tones of Hansel and Gretel (which we read this week) only Grammie left crumbs of a gluten-free breakfast bar to find her way home.

The weird part about the day was this sign posted on the second double bed in our room. There were no sheets on the bed. I will take the fifth amendment when it comes to revealing whether we used the bed or not.

National Museum of Korea

Steve arrived on Tuesday to enthusiastic shouts of "Grandpa!" from Simeon. We have enjoyed a few quiet days of getting registered on base, playground, tickling and unjetlagging.

Today was another dull, overcast day with high level pollution. Not a day to spend outside, so Steve and I went to the (free!) National Museum while Simeon was at school. This is the museum that backs up onto the base.

This picture was taken on an earlier visit when the sky was not so gray.

We got separated a couple times and had to use text messages of find each other in this large atrium.

The museum focuses on Korean art and artifacts. I wished I knew more Korean history than the mid-twentieth c war, but it was still interesting. One thing I did learn was that Japan invaded in 1904, not in the 1930s as I assumed.

Labels were mostly in Korean so I can't tell you more about this dragon head.

The Buddhist art exhibit made me spend a few minutes in prayer for adherents.

This pottery looked an awful lot like the stuff I saw on the pottery tour. If I lived here, I would definitely want something larger than my little serving bowls.

Would You Eat from Your Toilet Bowl?

Koreans, like Africans, are less inhibited about bodily functions than most Americans. Today while Simeon was in class, Erika and I and a friend from her PWOC praise team went shopping in an area of small gift shops. I was still looking for my pottery bowls. Shannon was looking for a birthday gift for her husband. Erika was along for the ride--until she noticed the snack shop with chocolate-filled poop-shaped pastries.

The place was on the ground floor of a building full of small shops. We wandered up in a spiral, visiting shops along the way until on the roof we found...The Poop Cafe.

Erika had heard about this place and knew it was somewhere in the area, but not exactly where. The decorating was, shall we say, "creative." (Note the fake flies on the giant mound of poop.)

And this squatty potty turned into a planter.

And then there were the serving plates...

Erika ordered beef and tomato fried rice. Shannon (seen here trying hard not to laugh) had the cheese fried rice. I decided to give it a miss. It was the ambience, not the food, that drew people (like flies) to the place.

Erika was halfway through her latte when it occurred to her to wonder if that was a heart in her drink or a pair of butt cheeks.

I didn't eat, but I didn't miss out on posing for pictures with the "creative" cushions and "hat." I had spent the morning babysitting the kids while the moms practiced, but honestly, the only poopy one was changed by his mom.

Erika tells me there is a toilet museum she would like to explore one of these days.

Seoul Weekend

Erika was at a PWOC retreat this weekend, playing music that she didn't have to plan and enjoying speaker Victoria Robinson. Dan and I were on child duty. Dan went for a bike ride Saturday morning while Simeon and I did playground and board games. In the afternoon Dan led us on an adventure to a festival at a shopping mall.

The fun started in the train station.

The information about the festival was in Korean so Dan wasn't exactly sure what we were getting into. At first all we found was a shopping mall. Korea is very first world, and a shopping mall is a shopping mall even if the signs are in a different language. The signs we saw for C-Festival said W10,000 admission (about $10) and all we could see through the convention center doors were exhibition booths with more shopping. Not exactly something that would interest Simeon. But then we saw some colorful outer-space mascots coming down the escalator. When we followed them, we discovered a whole other area with much more kid-friendly activities--like this Legoland-type area where Simeon and his dad built towers with this magnetic construction set. And this stuff was free.

Outside we found a marching band, junior belly dancers in gauzy dresses that Simeon thought were beautiful (I found 8-year-olds with padded bras to be pretty weird), and this juggler/tightrope walker/unicycle rider. The masks in the audience are because of the air pollution, which is really bad at this time of year. I even got an emergency warning on my phone in the wee hours. It was all in Korean, but I'm pretty sure it was my weather app telling me not to go out.

Korea is looking forward to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next February. (So am I!) There are lots of promotions around.

Sunday at home included a neighbor's birthday party. The base is like an American small town set down in the middle of a city of 10.25 million (25.6 million in the larger metropolitan area). This superhero-themed party included a bouncy house and junior high girls doing face painting.

Superman and a ninja turtle join Spiderman in the bouncy house.

Simeon gets a spider added to his Spiderman costume from his own birthday last year

Look Out Kim Yu Na

I have adopted Korea University as my home rink in Korea. Or maybe they adopted me. I don’t usually travel with skates, but this time I was going to be gone almost two months and couldn’t stand the idea of being away from the ice that long when I KNOW Korea has good figure skaters. Kim Yu Na was both Olympic and World Champion and inspired a generation. 

(I brought more things for my feet this trip than on any previous trip when I wasn’t actually moving. Besides my skates, I brought hiking boots, tennis shoes, flipflops, loafers and heels for Easter and any other special occasions. It all fit in two roll-aboards and a small carry-on.)

My Lotte World skating experience was less than satisfying, so last Thursday I tried the university rink. I had directions from the internet: 2 subway changes and a bus. My only mistake was getting off the bus one stop too soon and having to walk further up the hill. (This is Korea; everything is up hill.)

But this sign just inside the university gate told me I was on the right track.

 The rink building is pretty ordinary modern.

But the university building across the street is anything but ordinary.

Last week the hockey team was practicing when I arrived. They zambonied the ice, but it was still pretty rough. Also crowded with speed skaters around the outside and lessons in the middle, but it wasn’t as hot as Lotte World, and the ice was the hardness I’m used to. All around it felt more like a “real rink” instead of a tourist attraction. At one point I was skating around the outside and found myself facing a 10-year-old skating backward (something I wasn’t anxious to try with the rough ice and speed skaters). She stopped her skating and gave me a polite bow from the waist, then went back to skating.

It was her coach who spoke English. I talked to her a bit after the session, looking for a time when moves-in-the-field and dances wouldn’t be hampered by orange cones marking the speed skating track. The answer was 6 AM, pretty common for serious skaters, but not practical when I have to travel about an hour to get there.

Today the hockey team had NOT been there, so the ice was much smoother. There were not as many kids having lessons, and I essentially had my own patch at one end of the inside section to work on jumps and spins and outside mohawks. The coach I talked to last week greeted me warmly, and not one, but three little girls skated across the ice to smile and bow, hands clasped in front of them, in greeting. I felt very welcome. Today is Buddha’s birthday, so next Wednesday might have more activity again, but like I said, I will consider Korea University my rink for the duration.