Happy Canada Day!!
Okay, so I am a couple of days late, but I spose if you read this right away, I would only be one day late for you (time difference and all). For Canada Day we went to the next metropolis from us here- to a city called Suncheon. We have some good ole' Canadian friends there who put us up and were generous hosts for a wild 14 hours. Memories from the evening include standing on the rooftop of the KOrean bar and singing the good ole' National anthem in English then French.

Our commonwealth counterparts (from England, Australia, etc...) gathered around and humoured us for a few minutes, but left shortly after the sparklers went out and we switched to singing drunkenly in our other official language. I'm sure a few were still around, but I must say I noticed an exodus of sorts when we piped in the 'Terre de nos aieux'. Its funny how being in another country can make us free to be pseudo-patriotic nerds without feeling the guilt and doubt of flag-waving that we Canadians usually feel . We then joined our British friends to see the uneventful game on Saturday night. Portugal won, and I was glad it was over. Looooong game. Wished I could have seen France beat Brazil. Hopefully I 'll catch the replay.

I found a store that sells some American organic food, and so this was my accomplishment last weekend. yummy.

It has been an 'eventful' couple of weeks. Last weekend, Bryce and I went to Seoul to celebrate our third anniversary. fun fun. We saw a really great percussion musical called Nanta, that was set in a kitchen and the rythm and beats come from knives on cutting boards and all sorts of kitchen objects and materials. crazy stuff. The performers were great, incorporating dance, singing, drumming, Korean traditional dance, Tae Kwon do, and great physical comedy. We ate some Mexican food, which is no small feat in this country. Our hotel room was perhaps the highlight of the trip. There was a real bathtub, with a jacuzzi in it. A real treat for us here! I took 3 baths in 14 hours. You know, just because. Another highlight for me was figuring out the Seoul subway system. Very exciting- I prepared for the big city visit by teaching lessons to my oldest students on how to give/get directions on the subway. It helped a lot. When they lost motivation in class I said, 'come on, what if a handsome american boy sees you on the subway and asks you how to get to Itaewon station? What would you say??" To which a girl piped up: 'Take a taxi!" True that. The Seoul system is crazy (just look at the diagram), and we live in a small town where you can count the taxis available to get you to the train station. Although, I must say, Gurye's bus system is fantastic. Canada needs to take note of the amazing local transportation system that exists here. Cheap local buses that bring you all over the area to hiking places and temples or just to smaller towns and local points for a couple of dollars. It beats Canada's system whereby you always need a car/SUV/truck to go hiking or camping. Its outrageous really. I know, I know, Canada is much bigger and much of the local bus system here isn't sustainable for our spread-out population blah blah blah, but really isn't that a cop-out, since providing more public transport is always a better option. rant over.

I've been getting into a bit of a funk lately. Feeling tired a lot and a little isolated. I need to get over it and get back out on the moutains and get more involved in town. Its sometimes harder when you live in such a fishbowl, when everyone knows you and you are being observed constantly. and anything I want to do is frequented or owned by my students parents. I've been hibernating a lot. It has a lot to do with the weather too. It is getting so bloody humid here. Just walking through a fog (literally almost) a lot of the time. The weather is supposed to stay like this for a while.

Thanks again to Mom, Megan and Uncle Paul who have sent the seeds- I've planted some, but I am wary of the soil. I'm not totally sure that this farm soil is going to be good for the seedlings. But I had a hard time finding the proper soil etc...(as I said in the last email). Any advice, let me know!

Cool. On Saturday is my birthday. We aren't going to climb that really big mountain anymore. I injured my knee playing basketball a few weeks back and had to rest it for too long. You know, because I am ...well...old now. I' m not completely sure what we'll do for my B-day. I had some big plans since its the big 3-0, but I spose its just an age. I will either sit at home drinking some good wine that I got in the city and flailing my arms about in drunken dispair at having no friends, or I might drop in on Pohang (the city we lived in last time and is 6 hours away) for a night to see everyone. who knows? I will have a blow out celebration for my '31-derful' (thirty-wonderful) back in Canada next year with everyone.

Congratulations to Claire! Welcome to the world little Rosa-Mae (spelling?)! I can't wait to meet you! Claire had her little girl a couple of weeks ago, but information travels slow over to here.

My schools are having final exams this week, so I am resting a bit. Doing some planning. I'll be at the computer more, so send me a note!

PHOTOS COMING SOON!
Lots of love. Lana