A lot has been happening here in the past month.  Russell had a week in Vietnam in  March, and at the same time Alice had a week off for Spring Break. He is involved in a project there on the Mekong Delta, and enjoyed going from quite cold weather here to warm weather there......

Alice and I had a very quiet week here at home, venturing out to the movies, shopping and wandering, but generally just relaxing.

Bronwyn and Brett arrived on Wednesday 28th of March for 10 days of fun and frivolity!!! We visited the Korean Folk Village, Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Seoul,  the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), Quilt shops and museums, markets and restaurants.  Bron and Brett went down to Busan for a couple of nights and met us back in Seoul for a comedy percussion show - very Korean and a lot of fun!!! Easter isn't celebrated here, but thanks to Nan and Bron we had some fluffy chickens and chocolate rabbits and eggs.  Work and school continued as normal for Russ and Alice, and on Sunday we joined some friends to an English-speaking church service.

At Incheon Airport, with the sign we made to greet Bron and Brett

Alice with the new quilt Aunty Bron made and delivered!

Checking out our first coffee shop.

Brett explaining to me how to 'build a bridge'.....

Mr Toilet House - yep, you read that correctly!

At Insadong in Seoul - these guys sing while they cook.

Bron made time for a survey.......

Typical Korean restaurant meal.

At the Korean folk Village - a well-kept, interesting look at Korea in days gone by.

A traditional Korean wedding  - we wondered if this one was a real wedding...

Near the entrance to "Cookin' Nanta", a funny percussion show that had food flying all over the place.  If you're interested, check it out on http://nanta.i-pmc.co.kr/Nanta/en/Multimedia/MultimediaMain.aspx

                               

                                         Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon

Brett having a cuppa with his new best friend....

Bronwyn's birthday - lots of fun!

The Happy Quilt - you wouldn't believe how much money we saved....

At the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ - that's 'Zee', not 'Zed').

Right on the border of South and North Korea - the building in the background is in North Korea, and had a guard there watching us all the time (with binoculars!).  And we had 4 guards near the blue buildings (and 2 more behind us) as protection - they were VERY strict about what we could and couldn't do.  This is a very interesting and sobering experience.  One of the ladies on the bus tour with us was born and schooled in Pyongyang, escaped with her father (leaving her mother and sister behind) and has lived for many years in the US - she told me that she just feels such a great sadness for North Korea.  A very brave thing for her to go to the DMZ.

The train station at Dorasan - not used much and only by trains coming from South Korea, but it's ready to go when North Korea are ready.  One day, the plan is to join Korea up with Europe by train.

So.... Brett and Bronwyn have moved on to the US, and we are back to normal.....  well, Russ is having a few days in Australia with his Mum and Dad and Alice and I are enjoying the slightly warmer temperatures here.  It's wonderful seeing the buds on trees and blossom starting to come out!  The grass is even starting to green up.

Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon was built in the late 1700s.  In the last few years it has been restored, with most completed, and is an amazing place.  It is in the middle of the city and life goes on around it, but it is quite majestic and beautiful.

 


Last Friday Alice had a pupil-free day at school, so we went over to Suwon, which is about 25km south-west of where we live.  This is the city where Russell works, so we met him for lunch, then wandered almost half way around the fortress wall.  They have lots gaps in the wall where soldiers could shoot guns, arrows or spears,  and a number of 'gates',  structures where soldiers were stationed at vantage points around the wall.

There was a croquet club just inside the wall at one point, which was unexpected, but fun to watch for a little while.  And there is a large area where they demonstrate Korea Traditional Archery.

And they even have their own "Lion's Train"!!!!  Well..... a Dragon Train, really.....

All our things from Australia arrived last week, and it has been lovely to have a few things around us that make it seem like home.  I thought I might show you a little of our apartment - we are on the 9th floor of our building. Each floor has 2 apartments, so ours takes up half of the 9th floor.  When we get out of the lift we can turn right for our apartment or left for the other one, and that's it!

It's amazing how living in a high rise apartment doesn't really feel like you are boxed in with lots and lots of other people.  I guess it's just walls, floors, ceilings like any other home, just without the yard (which I really miss, by the way).

Our lounge room is starting to feel like home.  I thought I'd better take the photo just after I've cleaned as it may not stay this way.....

The kitchen is just off the lounge (really one big room!) and more than adequate!!

Our bedroom is large and has a little 'verandah' that we don't know how to use yet......

 

Alice's room is also large and is really starting to show her character!!!

We have 2 other bedrooms - one is the longed-for study that Russell now has, although at the moment he shares it with all the furniture we don't have a place for; the other is our guest room, called "Bron and Brett's room" since they will be our first visitors (in 3 weeks!!!).

This next photo is taken from the lounge room looking down the hallway, with our bedroom door, the front door, bathroom and B&B's room on the left, and Alice's room and the study on the right.

And last but not least, this is the view in a couple of directions outside.  They are both facing east, the first direct east the 2nd north-east.  I'll take some more on a less hazy day.....  The snow has melted and it is warming up, so I'm looking forward to this view becoming more and more green as time goes on.

So..... we are starting to feel more settled and like this is home for us.  We are meeting people and having a bit of a look around, so things are going well.

Today, Russ and I went for a wander to explore the hills near our apartment.  We found quite a few walking tracks, great views, and a few other people out enjoying the 'fresh' air and nature.  We came across a lovely boardwalk which even had a bird hide half way along.  One stream has little ponds half way down, that have sitting areas and mini boardwalks around them.  Once the weather warms and a bit of green can be seen, it will be a very nice place to spend time.

Today, Alice and I spent the day up in Seoul with the lovely Marg Gobius.  There is an express bus that stops just outside our apartment and after another 3 or 4 stops gets onto the expressway and cruises in the BUS LANE past all the much slower traffic - took just 30 minutes to Itaewon, a district choc-a-bloc with Non-Koreans!!!!  It was a little disconcerting to see so many Western faces, since we have become accustomed to seeing very few....

Marg introduced us to the most wonderful English book shop - given our understanding of the Korean language this will be invaluable - new and pre-owned books at very reasonable prices.  I can't wait to take Russell!!!

We also found some "International" food shops, which will be handy, I'm sure, for just the few things we can't find locally but decide we really want!!! (like chicken stock ..... yes, chicken stock).

Just like all our times with Marg, we had a great day, with much talking!!!! I've decided that Alice and Marg may be dangerous allies in the shopping game...  Fun times!!!