Chu'sok Party

Although the school I teach at is a K-12 international school with an American curriculum, approximately 90% of our students are returning overseas Koreans who were either born or lived abroad for a period of years. Most are in many ways now Americans and their level of spoken and written English is often superior to that of children back home in North America.
Although the number of truly "international" students at the school is increasing this year with our new 50-million-dollar campus and an influx of excellent quality teachers from the U.S., Canada and international schools around the world, our student body is still more "Korean expat" in many ways.
In recognition of the fact, our Sixth Grade teachers invited the class Moms to help us celebrate the Korean harvest festival of Chu'Sok, one of the two most important holidays of the year, with a party yesterday. Below are a few snaps from the festivities.

Me

Just to inform those who don't know me...I am a Canadian guy teaching 6th Grade Social Studies at Korea International School in Bundang, near Seoul, Korea. www.kis.or.kr
With Kristen and Jacob, my niece and nephew, in Halifax, Canada this summer.

Steady as She Goes

A snail hiding away in his shell near a Lao waterfall.

Jungle Foliage

Apologies if it seems like I am spamming my own blog a bit here today - it's just that as today is my first real day of posting, I thought I would give you lots to see. This pic is a close of of the wet, warm leafiness of the Lao jungle.

Laos Journey Part II : Hitting the Malls, Laostyle

On the main street in the center of Luang Prabang, there is an open-air market every evening where hill tribes people (ethnically, linguistically, culturally distinct from lowland Lao) can display and sell their variety of unique hand-made goods. Lamps, silks, blankets, jewelry, and traditional Lao food can be haggled for. Bring a friend who can bargain and be prepared to come home with some truly unique souvenirs.

Laos Journey Part I

In July of this year, I traveled in Northern Thailand and Laos. It was my second time in the small, landlocked country in the mountainous interior of Indochina, but this time I was able to make it beyond the messy frenzy of the capital, Vientiane.

Luang Prabang, near the geographical center of the country, is an old French colonial town, which thanks to its well-preserved architecture, has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. Surrounded by the Mekong River, jungles, waterfalls, isolated hill tribes villages, and only one hour from Bangkok by flight, it's not surprising that the town has become a new favorite among travelers to the area. The nicest part is that, while the people are friendly and the costs very reasonable, there is a lot less of the seedy, hyper-commercialized tourism scene that is common in most of Thailand.

NY to CAN

After almost a full day of traveling, I took a few hours off then went sightseeing in the big apple before boarding the Greyhound bus for a 13-hour trip to Kingston, Ontario (the bottom right photo is the old City Hall clock on Canada Day, July 1st).

Back to the Ice Age

With the upcoming holiday, I expect to have some fresh photos but for now I am relying on photos from the summer. My flight home was Thai Airways 17-hour non-stop "New York Express" from Bangkok to JFK. The flight took us up over China, Siberia and then down over Northern Canada. The photos you see here were taken at around 1:30 a.m. local time over Ellesmere Island in the high Arctic and give a great view of the mountains and glaciers that cover this vast, rugged land, in the middle of a brilliantly sunny Arctic summer night.

Lazy Sunday

It's almost two months since I have been back in Korea and my thoughts are turning towards the upcoming Chu'sok break which starts next week. Nine days off with most of that time down on Jeju Island. I don't have a lot of great recent pictures of life here in Korea but I do have a few from my last big trip out into the countryside...to Mount Sorak in April.

Day One

After ten years in Korea, this place is both home and an alien planet to me. I just hope that after so long, I haven't lost touch forever with those who mean the most to me. This blog is my way of saying that even though it has been a while, I want you to know I am still here and thinking about you.

The pictures and news I post here are for you - I want to share what I see and experience and make you a part of my days here in the "Land of the Morning Calm."

We'll be home soon enough, but until that day...