New semester :)

So half of September has disappeared already. I don't know where it went.
The new semester has begun at CDI. Fresh faces, fresh curriculum, freshness all around. I'm only teaching 4 days a week now, so that's been a nice break. A lot of the students are coming back from their international trips, so it's always great to hear their improvement on the English language (as well as their adventures).

These past couple weeks have flown by. I don't really remember all that I have done...I'm currently training for some 10k's that are coming up in a couple of weeks, so that's been keeping me busy. Enda and I will be running our first race together, so that should be exciting! (the nike human race in Seoul-10k).

The weather has been cooling off a lot, which is great! I'm actually currently wearing my hoodie for the first time this season! Yay! It can't get much better than tea, internet, and a hoodie :) Everything else in Korea is going smoothly. I have about 5 and a half more months here, so a long but short time.

Enda and I will be taking a vacation over chuseok (Korean thanksgiving) in about 3 weeks, so it will be a nice break from the city and work. Hopefully the leaves will be out by then and I can get some nice photos. The ones below are a couple I took this past weekend...walking around...ya know, trying to feel inspired :)



I guess that's all that's really happening here. Work, sleep, play on weekends :) I'm trying to practice my pool skills in the picture below....working on accuracy...oi... :) I believe the 1st pic is actually Enda's hand...not mine...

August breeze

Well things are starting to cool down here finally. The showers are bringing a freshness to the air and the mosquitoes are subsiding. Life in Korea is going on as usual. Intensives at CDI are finished. No more Catcher in the Rye for me, and the semester is about to come to a close. It will be sad to see some students go, but it is always refreshing to get see fresh faces and new curriculum.

I had a relaxing birthday this last week. I will never understand where all the time goes. It's amusing to think back and remember where I imagined I would be at this age. Oh how life never seems to go as planned.

While walking around a newly finished pedistrian lane on Gwangjin-gyo Bridge (Gwangnaru st. L. 5 ex 2) I took a couple of pics.
There is a section in the middle of the bridge that you can walk under. It is like a flight of stairs that circle around and brings you to an observation like room. There is a little concert hall and a section where they have windows on the ground where you can see the beautiful green han river water :) (See below)
Anyways, it's something different I suppose :)

Enda and I enjoyed a nice evening of dinner and a Korean show (Part of the Korean Fringe Festival in Hongdae). Both enjoyable. And this past weekend a couple of us went to play in the Poker Tournament at Walker Hill. I played my share of Black Jack as well. Good fun all around. It's amazing for me to see crowded Black Jack tables with a min. 200,000 Won Buy in. (I played at the 5,000won buy in table:)

Enda also bought me a new lens for my birthday, so I've been having fun with that. I finally got my Flickr account up and running again. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lpoortenga/

Amazing that Fall is fast approaching. Hopefully next semester I will be teaching 4 days a week and will be able to take more photos while hiking/traveling on the weekends. Should be good.
Ta ta for now :)

August...here and hot.

Well, amazingly enough August has arrived. Rather quickly, but expected. I'm currently spending my Sunday in a cool cafe, drinking my ice caramel macchiato, listening to Norah Jones, and looking at the hotness outside...

July flew by. I think each month disappears much more rapidly than the previous. How does that work? .Work is dictating my life, but that is what I signed up for I suppose :) We are in the intensive month of the year. Korean parents continue to send their children to Hagwons during the summer..oh and why not have them take an extra class in the morning? Brilliant! :) Oh Korea.

Anyways, Monsoon has passed of which I am grateful. I'm looking forward to the cool autumn weather with the gorgeous mountain leaves.... This past month has been good though. Exploring Seoul one section at a time.


Random pic of the day:
Okay. Short and sweet entry.

Unexpected but welcomed

Well the month of June is here along with its mosquitoes and sunburn. Since the last writing much has happened. The end of the semester was much welcomed. We had an unexpected 9 day vacation with our Institute, so no complaining there! :) A perfect break for both the students as well as teachers!

So I spent most of the vacation catching up on the "To do" list and crossing out as much as possible. Overall, pretty productive. I was able to spend a good deal of time experimenting with my much neglected camera. I enjoyed a good game of Monopoly with some friends---over a nice brownie and ice-cream while I built houses and motels on Boardwalk.... I forgot how long that game takes... We were at it for 2 hours and just starting our infrastructures.

This picture I was just experimenting with water...and how to take pictures of it.... Still need to work on that :)


Anyways, there was also a good deal of exploring Seoul more. The city continues to surprise me. There are so many people. So many places. So much construction!

I was also able to stay up and watch the United vs. Barcelona game with some buddies without having to feel the effects of the 4 a.m. game too harshly. Unfortunately the results didn't come out as wished or hoped, but such is life. On the up side I was able to work out my play station, fussball, and photography skills that night.

This picture was taken in an alley way near my friends' place....around 2 in the morning....or three.... Still working on night shots as well.
Enda jamming on the guitar. Me, jamming on my camera.

Enda and I were also able to hang out in a couple parks in Seoul. The weather has been nice out and it was great to finally be able to enjoy it rather than just see it.Enda took a nice picture of the bee below. The guy kept hidding from him, but Enda found him eventually :)

Anyways, that is about all for now. My third semester has begun. Let the games begin!!! :)

pics

So for some reason the pics are uploading fine now so here are some from this month.
It's a rainy day. Perfect for posting up pictures... :)


Let's begin with Busan. Enda and I took the train down (the slower...roomier one...that took 6 hours :)

Us chillin at the Busan Giants game. It's fun to be a Busan fan. Even though their team was losing by 6 in the 8th inning, the fans were still strong. Cheering away with their newspaper pom-poms....ahhh

Can't go wrong with Baskin Robins....mmm...chocolate.... :)





Here are are some pictures of my experiments with the camera last night... This is of a flower on the overpass...working with random zoom experiments..That's all for now folks...Adios-Aufwiedersehen....Ahnyeong

May Heat

May is making its swift exit, similar to its entrance. It's hard to take the much needed side-step from life. The time where you can reflect on where you are in life. Your Joy. Your pain. Your Faith. God is good through it all.

May had a great start. The crutches are not a part of my daily life anymore! Took my legs for granted. My left leg had to learn how to walk again though...weird feeling...

anyways Enda and I took a trip to my birth-town, Busan. I did a little more research on my birth family search, but unfortunately to no avail. The search continues God-willing.

The beach city contrasts Seoul in many ways...which is nice. Life seems to be more laid back...slower paced. We did some couchsurfing with some folks there. (Actually it was coincidentally another Calvin Grad! We are everywhere!)

Free place + great company= no complaints here :) I would upload pics, but for some reason the Blogger won't let me....

Now the new semester is about to begin. Looking forward to it. Another 6 days/wk work schedule, but it's a blessing to have a job. It would help if the exchange rate was a little better though....can't have everything in life. Anyways, I'll try to upload some pics soon. Until then, Blessings--

Spring is coming...

Well to start off the great month of April, I decided I should do it in style, i.e. on crutches. Yuppers. As of a couple hours ago I'm officially stuck with aluminum crutches with a wrapped left leg. Thank you Taekwondo. I had decided a couple hours before the incident that I was going to run a half marathon too.....there goes that idea. Anyways, such is life. Take the good with the bad. Become grateful for what you do have I suppose :).

Last week I was able to accomplish a 10k with my friend Brittany. It was a beautiful day in Goyang and a lot of fun. Hopefully later this spring/summer I'll be able to do some more. (Got a little lost finding the place but all is well :)

I haven't been doing too much this month besides working 6 days a week, running, taekwondo, and chilling. But hopefully the month of April will bring nice cherry blossom photos (hopefully not covered with yellow dust :)
Blessings.