We see dead people

Yesterday we went to Kyong-Ju where there are tombs of King Cheonmachong and other kings and queens. My cousin Shane is here visiting his girlfriend and had some down time, so he decided to come on the trip with us. In the tombs they buried the rulers inside a wooden box then pile rocks on top and then add dirt to the mound and let the grass grow. It's amazing to see. We were told that the tombs in this city are taller than any building there and that no one can build higher than the tombs. If there are two mounds, it it a husband and wife. We were then allowed to see inside Cheonmanchong's tomb. Kind of interesting. We had about 4 hours at the tombs and about an hour of touring there, so we were able to walk around a little and saw some vendors on the street selling kites, so we bought the boys kites and let them have at it. Isaiah found that he could see his kite better if he lay on the ground and looked up from there. It was fun to see both the boys having a good time. There is a picture of a squirrel that we saw there and it was pretty interesting so I thought that I would put it in here too. It looked like a squirrel and rabbit mixed. Kind of funny! We were then taken to Kyong-Ju's National Museum and were only given an hour there and no photos were allowed inside, but we took pictures of what we could. Fun, fun day! And most of all it was nice to be able to see family... Hint, hint, hint!

Fish Feet!!!

We went to Spa Valley here in Daegu today with some friends just for a little relaxation for the adults and some major play time for the kids. This place has some natural hot springs and a huge water park, but we didn't go there for any of that... We went to have Garra rufa, or doctor fish eat at our feet in a little pedicure pool. The adults sat around a fish pond and had little fish eat all of the dead skin off our feet, while the kids played in a large play area for a few hours. Then had lunch and after the kids wanted to try it out. Braxton sat there for quite a while, where Isaiah couldn't stand it. He said they tickled too much, and they do for the first little while, but pretty interesting. I can now say that my feet have been sucked and the fish were well fed today!

Unmunsa Temple Trip

Wow!!! Braxton and I just had an amazing tour. We went to Unmunsa Temple. When we got there, from the picture that we saw we thought... Leisurely hike! Nope!!!! 40 minutes of straight up stairs and rocks. Wow are we sore. At the top there is a beautiful area where quite a few people are praying and chanting about Buda (The only part in the songs that we can understand). The songs are beautiful and so are the buildings. We then entered an area where it is the lunch room for the hikers that the monks have prepared. Not too bad of food. The monks are vegetarian and respect nature and so the entire meal was prepared from foods grown there. We had a water type kimchi (Still yuck in my book)bean sprouts, bean paste rice cake (not so great), rice, spicy green salad made from celery leaves lettuce and other greens. And a soup not too bad. Braxton just filled up on the rice. We were told that the monks will look down on you if you don't finish everything that you put on your plate. So we all tried to help everyone eat what we could eat without too much problem. Mine was the rice cake, because they almost tasted like nothing. A friend of mine took my kimchi and almost everyone else's kimchi. And after the long hike, surprisingly we weren't still hungry. Then we headed back down the hill and drove over to a women's monk training area. I don't know if there are women monks, or if they call them something else, but the women had their heads shaved just as the men do. We were allowed to take pictures inside the temple and get an up close view. Wow, it is amazing. Still not the same peaceful feeling that I have inside my own church by far, but amazing to think of how long it took to paint the building and how beautifully done they were. Unmunsa Temple was built by Sinseung in the 21st year of King Jinheung (560) of Silla, and was reconstructed by Wogwang, who was a famous writer of Sesokogye, (the Five Commandments for the Common People) in 30th year of King Jinpyeong (608). There was a 500 year old tree that looked great! We saw prayer rocks everywhere where each person wanting to ask a prayer to Buda will stack their rock on top of another person's rock. The day was very cold and my feet never fully dethawed until I got home and in warm socks and had some hot chocolate. But gorgeous! If it looked that great in the winter I can only imagine what it looks like in the spring. Stay tuned next week we have another adventure planned...

Isaiah's fist Elementary School Field Trip

Isaiah got to go on his first big kid field trip this week and I was able to join him. They went to a place called Exco, and they have a large bounce house place from February to March. I got a picture of the group of boys that I was in charge of. Isaiah looks huge compared to the others. His little friend TomCory standing to the left of Isaiah in the picture is who he was budding up with. I had a hard time getting good pictures of the crew because they wouldn't stand still in most everything that they did there. I loved watching the Korean staff with the American kids at the little hand paddle boats. They had to lift each kid in and out of the boats and the look on their faces when the large American children came in was priceless. There were bubble and large slides and even a tube ride. Very fun. Isaiah couldn't stay awake and slept for an hour getting Brandon from work and taking him home again. He still slept great that night and even told me in the morning that he was too tired to go to school the next morning. Fun, Fun day! Next adventure... apparently Q & U aren't married and on Valentine's Day there is going to be a wedding at Isaiah's school. Can't wait!