Sunrise, caves, and peanuts

Sunrise, caves, and peanuts

It’s the end of a quarter and almost time for a 10-day break, so the students and teachers are all pretty frazzled. Patrick manages the gradebook system, which keeps crashing; students are freaking out about their grades; parents weekend and conferences are this...
…and thanks for all the fish!

…and thanks for all the fish!

Here’s the end of last weekend’s story, which I have to get posted so I can tell you about this weekend! After hiking Hallasan on Saturday, we were back up early on Sunday for “pastoral care”. Each faculty member is required to spend some time...
Summit hike!

Summit hike!

We had a very adventurous weekend last weekend. People here have commented about us being “doers”. Go figure. 🙂 Saturday, we got up very early to try to climb to the top of Mt. Halla – the tallest mountain in South Korea. We live at about 30 meters...
Holidays, part 4: Busan and home!

Holidays, part 4: Busan and home!

After leaving the Temple Stay at Beomeosa in northern Busan, we headed off to find a place to stay close to our ferry for the next day. We didn’t have any suggestions, so just wandered. The options were thin, and we ended up with a pretty dingy place. Thankfully...
Holidays, Part 3: Temple stay!

Holidays, Part 3: Temple stay!

When I think of Buddhist life, I think of quiet meditation, slow walks, appreciating nature, and vegetarian cooking. Sounds, relaxing, easy, perfect for a vacation! Boy did I learn. Patrick and I signed up for one of Korea’s 100+ Temple Stay programs. In 2002,...
Holidays, part 2: a Traditional Village

Holidays, part 2: a Traditional Village

One of my favorite parts of our travel was spending a day and night in a traditional Korean folk village in Nagan. There are several of these villages around the country, where the residents have agreed to continue maintaining traditional lifestyles in order to...