Korea

Visiting Korea was a fun getaway to a neighboring country.  We saw plenty of sites and various things were both cute and puzzling.  From theme cafes to poo-based attractions, this city had a lot of eccentric items.  K-pop was abundant, but we tried to get in a fair amount of nature as well.  We loved Bukhansan National Park. We visited Hongdae, Gangnam, Myeondong, and plenty of other neighborhoods while trying out Korean Barbecue, kimchi, Korean double-fried chicken, and noodle dishes.

Starfield Library was impressive

 

The girls enjoyed the Runningman-themed arcade

Our favorite part of Seoul was getting to meet up with Ben's cousin Erin who is currently studying there.  She was able to show us plenty of other cool parts of town and even explain to us what was going on!  She could properly order food and could introduce the girls to Korean karaoke where both loved belting out the songs.

A racoon cafe with domesticated animals

Lastly, we made a trip out to Jeju to see "The Island of Seawomen."  Having read a book about these inspiring and amazing women (Haenyeo) made some sights even more awesome.  Seongsan Ichulbong was a beautiful spot in its own right, even with the weather being somewhat uncooperative.  The women, most elderly at this point, continue to dive (for up to 3 minutes at a time!) and cook and it's incredible to see. 

Between New Years

We only have 3 short weeks between the Western New Year and Chinese New Year and it seems to be going rapidly.  The girls continue to do a pretty good job with their homework, and the biggest struggle is getting Pip to pick up all of her work and put it back in her bag.  Ben's basketball continues to win and they won their conference tourney.  Next stop is a big tournament in Mongolia.

Warm day      ---     How most people do homework

Detective Day     -----     Entire walls of sequins!

Schoolmates with Albert Lea ties    ---    Lettie's birthday party

Chinese New Year is approaching and some of the fun has begun.  The girls had a party at school where they got to dress up in their qipaos.  We are on the verge of the Year of the Rat so there have been plenty of cute rodent-themed decorations and games.

Halvesies Part VII

Halvesies VII

Another year is in the books and it was jam-packed with fun.  2019 saw student performances, the girls greatly improve in Mandarin, and plenty of travel. Suzhou and Moganshan in China were beautiful escapes from the city.  Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, and Australia were trips we won't forget. We look forward to another new year and wish everyone a happy 2020.

SYD-NYE

Our trip to Australia has come to an end, but we had an amazing time. We cherished our last days in Adelaide and then headed back to Sydney to ring in the new year.  Our flight allowed us to see the early fireworks show, and with taxis and Uber being so expensive that night, we decided to rent a car and Kara drove us around to see the rest of the show.  She was an excellent driver despite being on the opposite side of the car and the road, and only struggled with the turn signal/windshield wiper switch (perhaps some parking garage moments as well).  On our first day of 2020, we toured the Sydney Opera House and loved learning about its history and getting to see inside, especially because the main concert hall will close soon for 2 years of renovation.  

The roof tiles were designed to be self-cleaning // New sound-enhancing paneling is coming

Later we took a ferry to Cockatoo Island to see the Aussie version of Alcatraz and wandered the ship-making grounds.  Kara then drove us all over the East side of Sydney where we saw Darling Point, Watson's Bay, and Bondi Beach (which was way more crowded than Adelaide beaches).  The saddest part of all of this trip was the amount of smog we could see and smell throughout Sydney, and we even had some plans in Adelaide cancelled due to the bushfires.  The amount of fires and the enormous magnitude of the devastation is abnormal.

Sydney

Adelaide

When we came back to China, we spent an extra day in Xiamen to enjoy some warmth and transition back into winter.  We wandered one last beach and even found a Juicy Lucy.  It was a nice way to soften the blow of going back to work and being done with our mini-summer.