Tomato Picking Festival

It seems every weekend or even every few days there is a festival of some sort happening in or around Seoul.  There is a desire to celebrate every possible event, person, or even plant.

A few weekends ago we got together with our friends Christina and Daniel and headed to Gwangju (there are two Gwangju's, one located right outside of Seoul, and another located quite a ways down the peninsula of Korea.  The Gwangju in this case is the local one) for the 퇴촌 토마토 축제 (Toechon Tomato Festival).  

Daniel and Christina had asked us if we wanted to take part in this festival with them a few weeks before.  Daniel attempted to make reservations for us online, but they were sold out.  He told us he gave a call to the manager of the festival and told them he was going to be escorting some foreigners to the festival and thought it would be a great chance for them to see it and the manager agreed; granting us access to a sold out event.

When we first arrived, we headed to the tomato green houses for some fresh picking.

We were handed our clippers and headed in to snip off 5kg worth of tomatoes.

 These tomatoes were easily the juiciest, most delicious tomatoes we've ever encountered.

We stopped along the way for a quick snack.  

 

After picking our tomatoes we headed to the main festival area where they had a large pool set up full of tomatoes for kids to jump in, a stage with live music, and tent after tent of tomato variations, samples, and recipes.

We grabbed lunch at the festival

then headed down to 세미원 (Saymeeweon Garden) to see take in some natural beauty.

We were hoping the lotus plants had started to bloom, but we think we were just a few weeks too early.

 Nonetheless, the garden was beautiful.

New Teacher

A few Thankful Thursdays ago we mentioned that we have exciting news about August.  Well, that exciting news has moved up to June 28th!!  My little brother, Derek, is coming to Korea!  to teach!  at BIS!!  That's right, we couldn't be more excited.  We'll all be living in the same apartment building and working at the same academy!

As you read, Derek just graduated from Hillsdale College with a degree in Marketing and teaching will be a perfect "first" job for him.  We've been telling the students all about Derek and they can't wait to meet him - they are also convinced he's a giant.  We are simply thrilled for him to begin this new chapter in his life.  It's going to be great.

The Graduate

Sibs

Graduation Party!! Classy.

Christopher, Chris, Derek

 Han Kang Korean Restaurant
1910 S. Havana Street
Aurora, CO

Totally worth the little drive - delicious, authentic food!!

Here's to a great last week in the US for Derek and safe travels!
~ Cheers ~

10 Commandments

The fourth grade social studies book we are using had a little tidbit about the 10 commandments.  I gave the students an assignment to rewrite the 10 commandments in a way that would be easier to understand.  It was a good practice for them to look up some synonyms.  Here is a list of some of the answers I received.  The numbered sentences are verbatim from the book, the following lines are some of the interpretations.

1.  I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
-?
2.  You shall have no other gods besides me.
-You shall have only God.
-You can't respect other Gods.
3.  You shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord your God.
-Do not say anything about God.
4.  Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
-A Sabbath Day is a holiday.
-On Sunday do holy.
5. Honor your Father and Mother
-Be dutiful to your parents.
-Respect your parents.
-You have to think mom and dad is genius and smart and nice and kind.  (I'm not joking, this is what she wrote)
6. You shall not murder.
-Do not kill or harm people.
-You should not kill.
-You can't kill people.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
-Don't be an unfaithful husband.
-You shall not charge adultery.
-You can't marry with another people without wife.
8. You shall not steal.
-Do not steal something.
-You shall not steal.
-You can't have another people's thing.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
-Do not lie other people.
-You can't lie to neighbor.
10.  You shall not covet anything that is your neighbors.
-Discard your desires.
-You shall not want anything neighbors.

All in all, I'd say they did a fantastic job ~~^^

Friday Food

Dolsot Bibimbap 돌솥 비빔밥



Dolsot bibimbap is easily one of my favorite, if not favorite, Korean meals. This delicious rice and veggie dish is served beautifully in a hot clay pot, or dolsot, and enjoyed anytime of the year. The dolsot bowl is amazing; it cooks the rice to perfection - a little crispy, and a little chewy. Carrots, bean sprouts, kimchi, spinach, seaweed, zucchini, potato, mushrooms, and I'm sure a ton of other vegetables, depending on the restaurant, are piled on top of the rice along with a raw egg (although the egg is slightly cooked in this pic). It is also served with a sweet/spicy chili sauce, called kochujang. As soon as you get the dish, you stir it all up into a big mess, the egg cooks, and you're ready to enjoy a nutritious and very filling meal.

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday we find ourselves thankful for...

• World Cup Fever
• Report cards being finished
• "Aircon"
• Movie, TV, and book recommendations
• Jalapeños!

Urban Camping

A couple weekends ago we were able to get out into the "wilderness" for some camping.  We didn't have to travel too far, it was only a few subway stops away at the Seoul Grand Park.  I guess you can't call it "urban" camping, but it wasn't exactly out of the city either.

 Entrance to the park

The park is in the middle of the city but covers a large area with wilderness abound.  Our friend, Sanghyun (aka Paul), setup all the reservations for a group of 7 of us.  The camping wasn't quite what we were used to, but it was still a great time sleeping outdoors and sharing stories with friends.

 Dinner- Samgyeopsal

Breakfast - Rice & Ramen

Approximate (GPS battery died) location: 37.420170N, 127.024301E

Thankful Thursday

It has been a few weeks since a TT post, but that doesn't mean we were any less grateful.  This week we find ourselves thankful for...

• Opportunities for our Korean friends to go to school and work in America
• God's supervision over the health of family members
• Urban camping
• Good employers
• NPR