Family time...

On Sunday afternoon (Nov. 8), we had a rare hour when all five of us were together! We enjoyed wonderful coffee drinks at Kaffe Espresso in our neighbourhood and talked about all kinds of things. Ahh... family time. Also, the other morning the moon hung over the horizon outside our kitchen window and I couldn't resist taking some photos.

An evening making pottery with friends...

On Friday, October 30, Brian and I traveled back to the nearby pottery village to make pottery with several friends. We met with a talented potter and art history professor who taught us about how traditional Korean pottery is based on shapes from nature. We all made pieces on the wheel (with a lot of help!); Brian made a beautiful bowl and I made a candle stand (after destroying a few attempts and creating a small mountain of ruined clay). When we were all done, we sat and had tea (served in wonderful handmade cups) with the artist and his three-year-old daughter. She was particularly interested in our family photos that Brian had in his wallet and entertained us all for quite a while. To top off a wonderful evening we went to a nearby restaurant and tried three delicious new dishes we'd never eaten before. The last one was a traditional soup with green-tea noodles. Scrumptious!

Volleyball Champs!

Volleyball season officially came to end on Saturday, October 31st, with both Hannah and Rebecca's teams taking third place in their final tournaments! Rebecca's varsity team went to Beijing two weeks ago and came home with a third place ranking in APAC (Asia Pacific Activities Conference), playing teams from the Philippines and China. Rebecca also won an All-APAC award (which is like being voted MVP for the tournament). At their final tournament in Seoul for our local league, the varsity girls played hard and ranked third again (it's been 15 years since a girls' volleyball team from TCIS ranked in the top three) for the tournament and the overall season. Rebecca came away with an All-KAIAC award (MVP of the tournament) and a player of the game award. In addition, our girls won the sportsmanship award for the season and our coaches were voted coaches of the year. It was a great season and now both Hannah and Rebecca are immersed in basketball. Cora wrapped up cross-country season on Saturday, Nov. 7 and now starts into swim season. Where did these athletic tendencies come from, anyway??

Pottery & hiking... a perfect Saturday afternoon...

On Saturday, October 17th, we struck off with our friend Sarah Lillo to the nearby mountain of Gyreongsan. Just 30 minutes out of town, you feel like you are in another world when you enter the mountain region. It is peaceful and beautiful, and right now the fields of rice gleam a striking golden yellow in the afternoon sunshine. First we sought out the pottery village we have heard about for four years and have never visited. Tucked into a village at the foot of the mountain, several pottery artists have clustered their shops together. We strolled through the shops and had tea at one, and we watched some older villagers thresh some dried stalks with old-fashioned implements. It was like stepping back in time. Then we drove to the base of some trails and hiked for two hours. The leaves are slightly more colourful than last week but the best is yet to come in that regard; the weather is perfect for hiking, though, and it was a wonderful hike. We topped it off with a feast of Korean food and agreed we had enjoyed a perfect Saturday. Now, if only we could get the girls interested in hiking again... :)

Concerts & coffee...

The autumn high school concert took place on Tuesday, October 13th, and Hannah had a whole new role to play. Rather than taking her place on stage with the strings orchestra she dressed in black and white to perform in the concert choir. The choir sang four songs and all of them were fabulous. After the concert Brian and I had tea at a lovely new coffee shop in the neighbourhood. Across from the side gate of our school, the Blooming Cafe is decorated in restful colours and features dozens of specialty teas. Ahhh... perhaps grading papers won't seem so bad if we work at the cafe...

Canadian Thanksgiving in Korea...

On Sunday, October 11th, about 20 Canadians (and a few favourite Americans) gathered together at the Midkiff home to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. Costco was out of turkeys so we feasted on roasted chicken with all of the trimmings, several salads and some amazing desserts. In true Thanksgiving style, everyone rolled away from the table, stuffed to the gills, and wrapped up the gathering with a rousing game of Thanksgiving pictionary. We miss our family so much during holiday times and it is a blessing to spend time with some loved ones here to make us feel better.

FTL books arrive in Yanji...

In August Brian launched Freedom Through Learning and we have been busy emailing people and contacting organizations and schools ever since. The virtual warehouse is beginning to build and we even have a few schools from developing nations that have been registered! At TCIS we have connections with a community in China called Yanji (some of our students have parents who are missionaries there) and over the Chusok break about 30 people from our school community traveled to Yanji. Tucked inside suitcases and carry-on bags were sets of textbooks, hand-delivered by our colleagues as part of a Freedom Through Learning exchange. Here are some photos of books being delivered (it was quite a pile!) and there are a few more sets of textbooks now awaiting shipment the old-fashioned way (sponsors are needed, too, just in case you're interested). Check out the web site: www.freedomthroughlearning.org. We're pretty excited about how this little movement may grow... :)

Back to Bomunsan...

When Brian and I have a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, just time enough for a short hike, we'll head to Bomunsan. This past Sunday was a perfect day for this destination and we enjoyed the beginnings of a crisp autumn breeze as we made our way to the peak. An old fortress wall rings the top of the mountain. We can't complain about the weather, though - jackets are still hanging in our closets and may stay there for a few more weeks. And we have months of good hiking weather to come.

Stillness at Daechon Beach...

Over the Chusok break we spent a few days by the ocean, collecting shells and spending time thinking and praying. We also helped paint a cabin owned by TCIS and got to know some of our colleagues from our sister school, Gyeonggyi Suwon International School. Our hearts were with Brian and Doug the whole time, and I think our days on the ocean were like a gift... giving us time to reflect and be still.

Food & Chusok...

We never tire of admiring how beautiful a table looks when it is set with Korean food. All of the sidedishes surround some piping-hot soups and rolls of kim-bab... ahhh... our tummies are happy. On a related note, sometimes packaged foods in Korea are a bit different than what we would find at home. Take, for instance, the gift packages of Spam that were stacked to the ceiling at Costco two weeks before Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving).

September = volleyball season

This past month has flown by in a flurry of work, Spiritual Emphasis Week activities and volleyball games. Rebecca is on the varsity squad again this year and Hannah is captain of the junior varsity crew. Both teams are doing really well and the varsity team, in particular, has great potential to place high in the league. There have many tense and close games in our gym, and the upper row of bleachers has been full of parents with racing hearts and sweaty palms. Here are some photos of the girls in action, both sporting their #14 uniforms.

A day at the beach...

On Saturday we piled into a dorm van and drove two hours to the west coast of Korea. Beautiful Daechon Beach was the perfect setting for a mini-holiday and we spent time frolicking in the ocean, watching an insane pilot zoom above the beach at an alarming low altitude, reading and relaxing, eating corn dogs studded with french fries, soaking in the mud pools at the Boryeong sauna and listening to some energetic Korean drumming. It was such a nice day and the drive was gorgeous. We drove past lakes and rivers and stunning vistas of mountains and plains. We were all reminded that we need to get out of the city more often. The scenery in rural Korea is beautiful.

The Big 4-0...

Brian celebrated a milestone birthday last week by going out for an Indian dinner with all of his girls. When he arrived home he was greeted by a big surprise. About 50 TCISers were packed into our darkened living room and everyone sprang to life with shouts of "surprise" and the flinging of balloons as we walked in. Consumption of cake, setting off fireworks from our apartment balcony (to the dismay of many Hansup residents), fine conversation and a wee nip of 21-year old special Balvenie ensued. Brian said maybe turning 40 wasn't so bad if it included these fun highlights.

New restaurant opens...

On August 25th (Brian's birthday - a BIG one!), a new restaurant opened across the street from our apartment building. This video captures the scope of how the opening was announced to the neighbourhood, and this type of "hook" on the opening day of various businesses is quite common. In fact, it is even more common to see dancing girls dressed in very skimpy outfits (kind of a cross between cheerleaders and go-go dancers) performing on opening day on the sidewalk outside of new businesses. In fact, sometimes these dancers will perform on flatbed trucks throughout town, advertising a new establishment and promoting its products. This technique certainly succeeds in drawing attention to the advertising medium (although the girls think the skimpy outfits are outrageous and always roll their eyes excessively if they see a performance in progress).

Our Favourite Hike...

Despite blistering heat on Sunday, we set off for Kaejoksan mountain and hiked up for a beautiful view of the city. On the backside of the mountain you see more low peaks layered off into the horizon and at the very top there is a traditional ancestral grave (probably the best view in the city, which means this ancestor was well-loved by his/her family). Also, one of the huge perks of hiking in Korea is finding cafes and restaurants along the way and on Sunday we found a new little cafe that has opened near the base of the trail. Air conditioning, cold beverages, jazz music, a man-made waterfall babbling outside... it was a lovely spot to relax after conquering the mountain.