Sports Day

Yesterday was the 6th Annual Sports Day for all the kinder kids at Corem. There are actually 8 branches of our school, Corem, throughout the city of Busan. Every year the director of the company rents a basketball arena and all the schools are divided into two teams, blue and white. Then the kids compete all day in fun sports activities like relay races and tug of war. Photos

Track and field day was an event for the whole family. Mothers, fathers, grandparents and brothers and sisters were invited. They had events to get everyone involved. There was a shoe kick competition for the grandmothers and grandfathers and a team relay race with the fathers. It was a lot of fun to watch! The parents also helped the kids with some of games. There was a race where the parents pushed the kids in these little carts. Very cute!

Here is a photo of one of my students, Vicky, after the blue team (our team) won the whole competition! The kids were very excited : )

***Bob and Lindsey***

Korean War Memorial

Last Sunday we went to the UN Korean War Memorial in Busan. I am very interested in history in general and we were especially interested in this part of Korean history that is so intertwined with American history. Bob's grandfather, Emil, was a Marine in the war here. We heard that there was a wall at the UN Memorial that listed the names of every fallen soldier.

Before we planned our visit we called Bob's grandpa and asked if there were any names of friends and fellow soldiers he'd like us to look for and take pictures of for him. He gave us a small list of some of his close friends who did not survive the war and we found their names on the wall and sent grandpa the photos. More photos from the memorial

The memorial was very beautiful and SO well kept. There were gorgeous flowers everywhere and elegant architecture. It was a very peaceful and respectful atmosphere. The Wall of Remembrance (pictured above) was an especially beautiful sight. There was also a cemetery where 36 American soldiers are buried, as well as 2,300 other soldiers from the other 20 UN countries that fought in the war.

We saw many photos, letters, medals and other artifacts from the war, as well as a thank-you sign for each country that aided South Korea in the war. It was such an interesting place and I'm glad we got to spend time there.

***Bob and Lindsey***

Seoul

Two weeks ago, on Halloween, we took the KTX bullet train to Seoul for the weekend. It's a 3 hour ride and we topped out at about 150 mph. Once again, Korean public transportation did not disappoint us. The train ride was smooth, the cars were clean and as we've come to expect, everything is so straightforward and simple. They make it so easy to travel here!

We arrived on Saturday morning and checked into our hotel for a little nap. We decided to stay in Myeon-dong, an area that's popular with Korean college students for its great shopping. The area boasts Forever 21, H&M and other great boutiques. That night we met up with our friend Joon and his girlfriend for some sightseeing and dinner. Joon attended UNL for one year from 2008-2009 and had a few economics classes with Bob. He'd already had the chance to see our home in Nebraska, and we were really excited to finally get to see his home in Seoul! We visited a famous palace in the city and dined on delicious Italian food in a quaint neighborhood nearby.

We also presented Joon with his own Huskers football. When we learned we were moving to South Korea, we emailed Joon and asked if there were any souvenirs he'd like us to bring for him. He lamented that he'd forgotten to buy a football while in Nebraska. Unfortunately we had to let the air out of it in order to fit it in our suitcase, but we got it here! Joon says he gets up in the middle of the night to listen to Husker games over the internet. One year in Nebraska was all it took to turn him into a tried and true fan!

On Sunday we went to breakfast with a friend of Bob's uncle and did some more shopping in an area called Insadong. It is a great place to find traditional Korean souvenirs - pottery, paper fans, hand-made cards, etc. We picked out some great things for all of you back home!

All in all, we LOVED Seoul. It's such a huge city and there's so much to see and do. I'm not sure when we'll go back again, but we've already started a list of all we'd like to see. There's the Seoul Zoo, Olympic Village, museums, temples, restaurants...

Photos from Seoul

***Bob and Lindsey***