An Evening Out

Over Chusok break, Jarrod and I were invited to go out to dinner for with evening with our school's Korean office manager, Mrs. Hong. She said it was a "Korean tradition" to do something nice for pregnant women. :) I like this tradition. She invited another pregnant couple from school, the Lasondes, and one other staff memeber - which made for a nice evening. Mrs. Hong took us to a Korean Pork BBQ restaurant - which was not only incredibly tasty, but we were also informed that if we eat this food, we will have beautiful babies. :)

After dinner, we walked back to Mrs. Hong's apartment building - and were delighted to find this FANTASTIC dessert restaurant near the entryway. Mrs. Hong said that it was their family tradition (when their daughters were home from college) to go out to eat at the BBQ restaurant and then to this place for "ice cream waffles"!! What a great idea for dessert! The waffle had bananas, ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce.. and a couple of grapes for decoration. :) I highly recommend this combination!.. and promise a visit to this ice cream shop for visitors that come to Seoul (any excuse really, to go back!).
With VERY full bellies, we headed to Mrs. Hong's apartment to relax and listen to music! Mr. Hong came home from work and quickly became our DJ for the night, choosing from hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of special edition CDs, records, and real tape (recording studio quality)... just about any song we wanted. We enjoyed a variety of music from the Beatles to Elvis to Michael Jackson to Peter, Paul and Mary, to Mariah Carey to Simon Garfunkle.... it was fun to see what Mr. Hong would pull out next. We even listened to "Take me home, country roads..." by John Denver, which was definitely appreciated!
It was SUCH a relaxing evening.... I am very thankful this Korean tradition. :)

I know that Jarrod has expressed this in the past, but I am hit once again with such generosity found amongst this culture. To give of yourself and put others before you - it is a lesson I heard about in Sunday School, but now witness before me in every day life situations. Jarrod and I continue to be blessed beyond measure - even as we are away from family and friends back home. It is very sad to not be together with family and loved ones to share the excitement of this special time of life - but at the same time, we are experiencing graciousness and such generosity from co-workers, like Mrs. Hong... from our Korean landlords, from Jarrod's former boss - Mr. Lee - and his family.... and even from family back home sending care packages of maternity clothes, food cravings and cute baby outfits. Once again I am reminded that we belong to a family that is found in Christ - that is active and present no matter where we are in the world. I am thankful for the generosity that Jarrod and I have received and recognize just how rich we are. I only hope to "pay it forward" as we have received much - and have much to be thankful for.

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. " 2 Corinthians 9:11

Thankful Hearts

It's hard to put in words the joy we feel inside. Enjoy the video!
(played to the song "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman).

Korean Folk Village

We have learned two things this Chusok break:
1) This is NOT the time to go shopping... everything is CLOSED!
2) There are a lot of fun festivals and events going on around the city if you can find them

On Saturday, we went to the Folk Village in Seoul... along with the rest of this massive city's occupants. Once again, we happened upon a big event in Seoul... and it was great fun! We were able to dress up in traditional Korean clothing, hanbok, play traditional Korean games, and view "life as it was" in Korea. Here are some more pictures to enjoy from our experience... click on the pictures to enlarge the image.I am SO thankful for this break- especially as it has been special time for Jarrod and I to spend together. We are usually very busy with our different roles at school, so this has been such a blessing - to really enjoy this place we are living together.
Already I find myself... dreading?... going back to school on Tuesday... but am able to rest in the knowledge that the Lord gives us grace for the moment... that I do not need to spend time worrying about what may come.

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8

Namsan International Folk Festival

It is Chusok break, the Korean Harvest festival - similar to the American Thanksgiving (well, in theory, not in food choices!).. and we are enjoying a 5 day vacation from school! On Friday evening, we decided to jump on a bus and see where it went... as we were riding the 405 around Namsan mountain, Jarrod saw a stage that had Korean music and traditional dancers... so we decided to get off at the next stop and check it out. It turned out to be an International folklore festival.. which was going on for several days - and we happened to catch some of the performances. There were traditional Korean dancers and music playing...
Some sort of tribal dancers...
AND!! A group of high school students from MEXICO that traveled to Seoul for two weeks to put on various performances.Most of the students in the group didn't speak English, much less Korean.. so it was SO FUN to talk to them in Spanish! In order to fund their trip, they were selling different authentic Mexican items - such as sombreros - that many in the crowd were buying. There was a Korean gentleman sitting behind us, having just bought a lime green sombrero - he put it on his head to wear it the rest of the night! We loved it - and so we bought a little sombrero as well to support the group... and so that we could have a reason to take a picture with the Korean! :) He was SO happy to take a picture with Jarrod and gave him his business card afterward. Jarrod proceeded to walk around Seoul for the rest of the evening (like 2 hours!) with the sombrero on his head. :) We definitely got some comments... So now we have a Mexican sombrero on our wall in our home here in Seoul... to remind us of our family back home - the Garcias - and of a fun evening out in Seoul.

I am so thankful for this break from school - a time to truly rest. I look forward to many other fun outings, as well as times to get together with friends... more to come!