Hello again. In just over three weeks we will be home.
We are well and continue to enjoy the honour of being here. The last two weeks have been on excursions with students. One was to a local market and is now on "You Tube." Search "West market in Korea" and you should find it or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AE5etGRHHE. The other trip was to see the wildflowers and a green tea plantation near here.
Korean Joke
Again a true story.
In Korea there are three kinds of cream-filled chocolate biscuits. The best are called "Choco Pies."
All Korean men spend two years in military training. This of course is not easy. Every Sunday there are Church services.
There are three kinds of Church services : Catholic, Protestant and Buddhist. Soldiers may choose to go to any and choose on Saturday, the day before. At each service they hand out cream-filled chocolate biscuits at the end of the service. There is no particular biscuit for any denomination so it will vary from week to week.
When the soldiers hear that, for example, the Buddhists are having "Choco Pies" after the service, they all become Buddhists. If next week they hear the Catholics are, by chance, having "Choco Pies", they all become Catholic. The common joke is that if there is ever a "Choco Pie" church everybody would go there all the time. NO, do not imagine this as a suggestion for a name change for Bridgey ........ but???
Korean Culture
Education is enormously important in Korea. School is from 9.00am to 3.00pm. However after- school Academies are a part of all students' lives. Even kindergarten students go to Academies. What do they learn? They learn the school work of grade 2 and 3.
The role of the Academy is to teach the work they will learn in school the following year. Why? So that the student can be the best and enter a prestigious university. Once in he university they generally slacken off and coast along.
One of the Pastors here has two daughters. One is in high School (15 years old) - she gets home from the Academy at 10pm. The second daughter is younger and in Middle School - about Grade 9. She gets home at midnight. Academies are NOT cheap.
SPRING
Japan is of course famous for its cherry blossoms. Well, it must be very special to top Korea!
There are kilometers of roads lined with these beautiful scenes, but only for about 7 days.
The hillsides are also covered by a purple flower,
jinderlay or Azalea.
Thousands of people flock to the hills to see them.. You can perhaps see the stream of people up the middle.
Forsythia or Kanarie (in Korean) is everywhere.
Actually we hear that Australia
is also blooming.
Goodbye. We think of many of you often.
Peace and Grace
R & A
What? No food photos?
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