Taejo Mountain Weekend (Pt.2) _17. April_

Alright! 'Tis the day of the picnic! The Cheonan group arrived 1st and met us at the park. We got to meet everyone, set up, and start eating. We brought a lot to eat--mostly snacks.

Afterward, we explored the park area a bit then walked up some of the mountain to where there was a clearing--just perfect for our games. We had a great time, lots of laughs, and relaxed a bit. At around 14:00, it was time to go.

Kinda sad, I wanted to stay longer. Oh well, perhaps another day.

Someone is happy about the picnic.

This was taken as the father (my former student) drove his family, another former-student of mine (neither in the picture), and I over to the park.

The fountain at the park.

Wow.

Setting up. I think we were maybe half-way through with the set-up.

An apparent outdoor war exhibit.

What will we do?

Let's go and explore! (my natural answer)

1 of 2 fighter planes.

Hi there.

I went up the steps on the previous picture to take this shot.

Too bad I don't know much about planes.

Hmmmm . . . army land vehicles . . . .

No one in our group knew what this was.

Blast.

Walking up, we reach an indoor rock wall. It looked waaayyyy too advanced for me. Then of course, I am not even a beginner.

Up at the clearing where we played our games.

oh, these trees and their flowers . . .

I thought the family I rode with needed to leave early, so I ran down the hill (was sore for 3 days because of it) to let them know, they can go if they want. They ended up waiting for the rest of us.

So, as I waited for the rest of the group with them, I thought, let's take pictures of this little one.

So, I did.

Daddy's girl with her very proud father.

Bongseo Mountain Sabbath Hike _16. April_

Sabbath afternoon was a glorious afternoon. It was the kind of weather where you'd feel it was a sin to stay indoors. So, I invited the other 2 teachers to come on a hike/walk with me. I called 1 of my former students to ask him if he were coming on the Taejo Mountain hike. He wasn't sure, asked me what I was doing, and asked if he could come along.

Why not?

Of course he can join!

So, our party of 3 (1 of the teachers was exhausted from this week) went on to Bongseo Mountian, which is 1 block behind the institute. This is my favorite--and the closest--mountain/hill to hike. We talked a lot and got to know each other better and catch up as well.

Off to the pics!

Teacher Annamarie and Student "Bruce" (that's his English name).

Really good people.

A sign of an entrance to an outdoor study are, where teachers can have lectures in the open space. Also, there were various plants on either side of the steps, with signs and some information about each one.
Good thing Bruce was with us; he could translate what the signs (completely in Korean, except for the Latin name) said.




Endless steps . . . or so they seem.

We found a place that had natural spring water! It was pretty good, although we had to go down quite a bit to get it. Going down was not difficult, the challenge came when we had to go back up.

But, you know what? After the 350m walk up in the 3rd Tunnel at the DMZ, that hike up I-don't0know-how-many steps wasn't that bad.



Alright, we had a nice time, departed to our seperate ways . . . and neither ended up coming to the picnic on Sunday.

Sadness.

Well, Taejo Mountain, Pt. 2 is next!

Taejo Mountain Weekend (Pt. 1) _15. April_

Surprise, surprise . . . I've been quite busy lately.

Are you tired of seeing that same song on every post?

Anywho, the 2 SDA Institutes in Cheonan (There's 1 in downtown and there's 1 in the west side of the city. I'm in the West) came together on Sunday, April 17 to have a picnic at Taejo Mountain, just outside of the city.

I wanted to check out the place before Sunday (to get a feel for the place, see how to get there, be ready for whatever, etc.). So, on Friday afternoon (April 15), I got on a bus and went there. Later did I find out I was at the wrong part of the mountian.

Oh well. That's fine. I got to do my own exploring.

This side is where the Buddhist community is located. This is as I was coming up the hill to the entrance of the vicinity.

No idea what the paper lanterns were for, but they looked interesting.




Oh, I have to go up there . . .

Bring it on!

What was to greet me as I reached the top? Nothing other than 1 of the largest sitting Buddhas in Asia!

It's so huge, the ears themselves are about as tall as me!

Looking down at the Buddhist community.

Buddha peeking through a row of paper lanterns.

Greetings.

Some of the monks who reside here.
They actually came up to me and we had a little chit-chat (with broken English, sign language, and guesses). They were nice.

More paper lanterns.

Buddha, ever pensive and calm.

Just before going down to the community.

Magnolias!

About the Swastika, calm down. It's the Buddhist symbol for reincarnation.

The temple. By far the largest 1 I've entered, so far.

Looking to my right, the temple on my left.

Inside the temple.

I'm assuming these are prayer mats (?)

Whoa, what a display!

Too bad I couldn't capture everything. It was incredible!

Steps, as I'm walking down the hill, away from the temple.

Looking back at the temple.

Wow, check out the railing for the stairs! Very creative!

So, this is part 1 of the Taejo Mountain weekend.

Next is the Sabbath hike I took with a teacher and former student--not at Taejo Mountain.

SPRING FLOWERS!!!

Yes! It's officially Spring!

Let me show you some of the flowers that help prove my point.

Magnolias.

I had no idea Korea had them too.

Cherry Blossoms!

Cherry Blossoms right beside a meeting place by my apartment complex.

My pictures do not do the Cherry Blossoms justice: they are too beautiful, I cannot capture them accurately in a picture.

Staff Lunch at Vips! (12. April)

April 12 2011 will forever be a historic day. It is the day when the pastor of my institute took the entire staff out to lunch. We went to an all-you-can eat buffet called "Vips". Wow, I ate a lot--but I wasn't the only one, naturally.

Let me show you some of the highlights.

In the van, on our way to Vips.

L to R: Pastor Lee, Thula, and I.

Entering the place of bliss.

Our tables, before (I didn't get a picture of the "after").

Vips wall mural.

The people serving themselves.

Annamarie overly happy about her salad.

Pastor Lee eating in style.

STEAK!

Caroline, Ellie, and I.

Excitement over salad (this is what Korea does to you).

Ah, back to reserve myself.

Salad area.

Hi Ellie!

What's making you happy?

Oh, it's the "mexican" bar. The had tortillas in the basket.

Here I am, at Round 3 (and going strong).

Most, but not all of us.

L to R: Thula, Annamarie, Irene, Caroline, Ellie, yours truly.

Isaac, I really hope that's iced tea or pepsi . . .

A worthy contribution from Thula to my camera's memory card.

I think I'm in a "food high". This is after my Round 5.

By the time we left, I had graduated from Level 6 of "You too can Eat!"

Todai = Another all-you-can-eat buffet just beside Vips.

To make this more interesting, say "Todai" with the British accent. This will explain the look on my face.

This fish apparently understood.

In the elevator, returning to the van and make our way back to the institute after an overly full-filling meal. Based on how much I ate and felt, I should've walked back home (20 min. bus/van ride).

This was beautiful. Can't wait to do it again!