Buddha

So I always pictured Buddha to look a little like this one from China...

Not in Korea. We took a little stroll with friends to a small Buddhist temple up the road. Although small it was very beautiful and ornate.

Guksabong Peak

Today we decided to venture to the mountain side to find a trail to hike. It has been rainy the last couple days so we were ready to get out. We came across this path and started up. We weren't sure how far we'd go but we ended up summiting Guksabong Peak at 462 m (1,516 ft). Korean's don't believe in switchbacks or anything like that so we basically went straight up the mountain. It was so humid today it felt like we were in the rain forest. Unfortunately there were still several clouds (eventually we hiked right into them) because the view would have been incredible from the top. Here are a few photos from the trip.

(Please excuse the sweaty pits...E and I were just doing the Dora "we did it" dance. And yes, I am still wearing a shirt from high school...don't judge).

A Saturday in Korea

This is what I hope a typical Saturday in Korea will be like.

In the morning go on a hike (we can't wait for our shipment to get here with our backpack carrier for E).

Take a rest at a pavilion.

Make it to the top of the hill for a little park and exercise. (These Korean outdoor exercise facilities are great!)

Enjoy the view from the pagoda.

Then dad goes for an extreme mountain bike ride with some other foreigners while mom and E go to the beach. Hopefully there will be many more Saturdays similar to this.

Cruising the Boardwalk

This morning on our exploration we found the boardwalk and trails that run along the coast. I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time here (especially when our shipment comes with our baby carrier backpack).

Here is the view back to Okpo. The small building is Ben's work. Our apartment is on the right.

Here are some of the views along the way. It is amazing how many ships are being built in the port! The island is beautiful and we can't wait to explore more.

Last Days in the U.S.A.

Our last days in the U.S. were a whirlwind of activity! We decided to drive from Houston to Idaho Falls to deliver Ben's truck to his dad. So, we packed up the truck and drove a straight 28 hours. Remember...we have a 20 month old. Let's just say we made a few memories. We left Houston around 1 p.m. on Wednesday and arrived around 4 p.m. on Thursday. It was quite an adventure but we were glad to be able to drive straight through.

We spent a few days with Ben's family then went to Salt Lake to see my family. Then it was back home to Houston for a day before we headed out.

When in Idaho we attempted to go to Yellowstone Park. Unfortunately there was too much snow still so (because all I wanted was to see a bear) we decided to hit up Bear World instead. (Note the billboard below...it rang true for us).

In Utah we were able to see a lot of my extended family which was great because I haven't seen many of them since our wedding. E and her cousin L became best buds. She also go to love on the new ones.

Back in Houston we got one more trip to the fountains with gaga.

Korean Sanctuary

We made it. Wednesday morning we boarded a plane to fly 13 hours to Tokyo, layover for 5 hours then fly another 1.5 hours to Busan, S. Korea. Once in Busan we had a 1.5 hour drive to our home in Okpo, Geoje Island.

The flight wasn't too bad because we were in 1st class. I wish that anyone traveling with small children on a 13 hour flight could be able to fly like this. I was too embarrassed to take photos with all the business travelers but this is what made the flight nice.

We are still exploring, getting settled and recovering from jet lag. Here is a little tour of our place. Our building is called Bo-Kwang. The only English on the outside of our building says "Sanctuary". Not sure why. Below is our building from a few blocks away. We are the top floor on the right (white part of the building). We are in the middle of town which makes getting around pretty easy.

We enter the building from the road into a parking garage. We enter a key code to get into the elevator and then go straight to the top.

The entry has a few closets for you to take off you shoes and put on your slippers. You then cross a sliding door that goes into the house. To the right is a bedroom (E's room) and to the left is a bathroom. Straight ahead and to the right is the living room with the kitchen to the left. Continuing forward is the master bedroom.

E's room.

Bathroom.

Living Room.

View from our living room. The shorter building with the wavy top is Ben's office.

Kitchen.

Straight through the kitchen is the laundry room. Off the kitchen (to the left of the kitchen photos) is a random room with our closet.

Master bedroom and bathroom.

View from the master bathroom.

After you go upstairs you enter an open game room with a desk, several shelves, wine cooler and bar. We love the cabin-feel upstairs.

Just to the right at the top of the stairs is another bedroom.

Through the game room is a loft-style bed and bath. Our roof-top entrance is a small door in this room.

We love how much space and storage we have. We especially love the mix of Korean classic and modern!

Moving

Ugh. Does anyone really like moving?

It starts with getting this in the yard...

And continues with many lost hours of sleep doing this (separating an entire house into storage, shipping and airplane piles)...

Then having a crew come for two days to do all of this...

It couldn't happen without grandma and grandpa watching the babe and all the other support we've gotten from our ward family.

Future post: Welcome to Korea