New Year's Camp 2016

The Sangwolgok Neighborhood....

...went for 2-day trip to a nearby Changpyeong...where foggy winter morning is visible from the balcony.

...the houses we rented were up on the hills.

.with.accessories.사방2.

It's so cold in the morning...

The kids were ready to depart for another adventurous day.

We're ready for the 2nd day...

..of our trip to the village nearby.

Ini ijo dan warna warni bgt ya

Mknyavkuiseng...eh tahu tahu..

Ssh tibs saatnya.. makan..

Anyway.it's alll bout ...

Itaewon Cruising...

On the pedestrian walk at the main street of Itaewon we can.see.numerous countries' ways of greetings.

This one I took picture of....is from Romania.

We didn't go anywhere...but....ended up warming ourselves up at the McD.^^

Nothing to celebrate....just being there to eat and again...warmed ourselves up.

BB8 was also....oops ...his head off!

...walked down the back alleys of Itaewon only to find that the area turned out to be cool to explore.

Lots of cool architecture....to look.at. and to enjoy. Facades of cafes and stores could be the attraction in itself.

Fancy pub...restaurants....you name it.

...and if you got enough time....just get yourself lost in the maze of Itaewon.

Freya's Graduation (part 9: Freya & Friends)

As a token of great memories. ...and gratitude...간직하고 싶죠.

자랑하는. ....

Each student had a chance to be photographed in her/his own pose.

여기는 프레야이다.

프레야의 반친구. 강반 친구들과 찍은 졸업 사진.

Freya...once again...congrats.축하해.

Out-Dated Entry (1): Winter

It's Spring time and yet I found this winter pictures too irresistible to let them laid back on the computer without being uploaded into my blog.

Eyra on her way to school. 

Would never feel relieved and ecstatic until 'jeopardizing' and 'smashing' the untouched snow....by making an angle-like shape... 

Got to sit on one of the snow-covered benches at the campus.

*hmm...what cool winter it was.

A Culture Night at Vivaldi Park

Winter Skiing Trip could not have been better than this. The night after having all of the exhaustive skiing experience, the night's dinner and cultural show highlighted our trip as well. The great performance of an acapella group did steal the show. It was such a relief that not only Trote was being displayed, but another genre of music was also on. Bring it On. Just enjoy the video right here to see what I mean. 

Then, of course,K-Pop Cover Dance was also slurping into the main dish of contemporary Korean culture. Not to mention its catchy phrase during the playback songs, the audience got immediately up to their feet and some of them got it hyped over! An awesome night.

The third video is about my daughter--Freya--who seemed to be so tempted by the upbeat of Korean dance song...that she could not hold herself up....but to let herself go and moved her swing!!

Snow sledging at Seoulland

Winter would not be complete without any snow-related outdoor activities.
And..this belief had ticked us into the doorstep of Seoulland~one of Korea's theme parks available near Seoul.
It was in January and the snow was at its peak!
We had a concession tickets for foreigners and that was a great advantage for us. We just needed to pay 10,000 Won each. Well, what d' ya' know....the daily pass was usually 33,000 Won.
Woah..what a treat!

 So, we went there with whole family and friends.
The first thing first: snow-sledging....: the first must-do activity for the kids.....and their Daddy..and her Mom, too^^
Yes...the view was nice from up above the starting point--as seen on the pics.
Eyra was so excited that she kept insisting on doing it many many times. She never felt tired or ...let alone...got bored of first-ever snow-sledging.
Well......it was a good thing that she eventually could manage to do it by herself....
First, we got to be with her....and..then....she just enjoyed the whole fun-time experience alone....to her heart's content.
As for us, we were just enjoying what Seoulland had to offer.
Seoulland is not that far from Seoul. Just taking a blue line, it would take about 20 minutes or so from downtown Seoul.












Once we got there.....it would be like we were not in Seoul again..since it was surrounded by the hills and  lakes around it.
worth-visiting place? yes.
In fact, we are already planning on going back there again in Spring, this April.
The tickets are already in hands. ^^

Completing level 5^^

Finally, the Winter term ended last February...with a heart-warming news that I got. I passed my TOPIK exam.....and also...I finished my level 5 term at ohaktang. ^^ phew..what a relief.

me, Cheongang, Jeong seonsaengnim, Munyeon,
 Soso, Mai Okune

Never thought that I could catch up my breath to complete the seemingly impossible tasks.

Oops someone's coming..Wait!!^^

Well..first thing first....out of 12 students in my class, 7 of them were my friends from China who knows Hanca....^^.











They know it so well (of course) that it was so easy for them to understand any new words in Korea. Gosh....lots of Korean words did indeed come from Chinese words.......^^.
And then......I have three friends whose either Mom or Daddy was Korean by origin.^^







Great!!!!!
I had to compete with them.
Well...it was tough, really.
But then...I could learn a lot from them. It turned out that the class was so fun and helpful for me.
At least, I could learn directly from my fellow friends on how to use certain patterns or words.

Most of all, level 5 exposed me to another level of academic Korean language...that I desperately need in order to be able to participate in real classes later on in my graduate school.
So, this is a kind of achievement in itself..for me....for being able to complete this level. and now....





I have to prepare for the level 6 starting from March 5, 2012.
---

Seoul Cheese Pizza: the nearest and cheapest,
yet yummy pizza near our campus

First thing first.....these were the pictures of our classmates who showed up during the so-called graduation day...
we did also have lunch at a nearby pizza eatery.
Lots of memories and lessons I got from the class.

Family pictures at Nami island

A nice weather...well...almost!

"I love you, Mom"

"Love you, too, Freya"

~Freya & her Daddy~

(back)from left: Meity, Suray, Putri, Wenny, Jobirson
(front) from left: Freya, Eyra

At the riverside, waiting for the boat to dock...

Perfect spot for taking pictures.......splendid!
That's why we did some shots with the family there.
The lining up tall pine trees that dotted the island was a perfect place for this occasion.
What more could we want......but.....the warmth of being able to share the moments with the family and friends alike.
Eyra & Freya seemed to enjoy her time with us.
As for me, of course...I did, too.
so did my friends.......^^
An afternoon during Winter.....in Nami.

House warming or jibteri

It is a Korean culture to invite friends and relatives to one’s newly built or rented house or homeJ So, we did, too.

We invited some friends to come over and have the food that we prepared and see where we live. Most of them were my friends from other countries who happened to be studying in Korea.  As the pictures show, our friends Laos (Changmi), Ghana (Felix), Uzbekistan (Jobirson), Japan (Chika & Akane), Kazakhtan (Ilya), Cambodia (Borey), China ( Arin & Iwol), Algeria (Maya), Indonesia (Wawan), and our family. Others were also coming afterwards to have dinner with us. 

Add caption

The house did become warm since lots of us came and sat together in one place. I thought that the house was big enough to hold all of our friends...but....then....it felt like so small...but that was the whole point. Being one in a two-room house would make the house warm.