One of the downsides of working at private schools in Korea is you typically don't get much vacation time. Fortunately for us, we were able to get a whole week off from work during Chuseok, a Korean harvest festival holiday (kind of like America's Thanksgiving). The holiday was on September 21-23. We used one of our five extra vacation days to get Monday off and at the last minute our school gave us Friday off as well. It was a much needed vacation after a hard week. We went to Seoraksan National Park in north eastern part of Korea. Don't worry, we didn't stray across the border into North Korea (you would have heard about it on the news already if we did). We spent three days hiking in the beautiful national park. It was very relaxing and refreshing to get away from work and the city and spend time in nature.

After that we decided to give Seoul another shot after our disastrous first attempt at seeing the city. Unfortunately we arrived in the middle of a surprise typhoon that was pounding the city with rain. This time we both had umbrellas, but we forgot to bring jackets. Also the subway stop we needed to get off at was completely flooded so we had to get off next stop and hail a cab to drive us back to the subway stop we needed to be at. After waiting for quite some time to get a cab, we were able to make one stop for us with the help of another foreigner visiting Seoul. We finally arrived at our hostel, both bodies and suitcase soaked through, after getting a little lost trying to walk to it. The only goal for that night was to find some half-decent Mexican food in Itaewon (the foreigner section of town). Thankfully, this time we were successful. The next day we were determined to get into Namsan Park, which we failed at last time. Again, thankfully, with the help of a map and Amy's amazing map reading abilities, we found our way into the park, which is less of a park and more of a mountain surrounded by a brick wall. Nevertheless, we walked through it and came upon a Chuseok festival with lots of people, traditional games, live music, and food. It was an interesting cultural experience to see. There are pictures of it on my Photobucket account. We spent two days in Seoul and left for home on Thursday.

We spent the remaining days mostly at home relaxing. The highlight of the weekend was shopping at Costco. There is a Costco in Busan, a big city about an hour away by train. We purchased a membership, got a Costco card, and went shopping. It was exciting to see and buy food that we are more accustomed to eating, like cheddar cheese and muffins. All in all it was a great vacation, so much so that we were depressed to go back to work.

However, we did go back to work and were met with Rochelle's replacements. Our friend Rochelle, who we went to college with and who helped get us these jobs, had her last day on the Friday before vacation. It was sad to see her go, but she will remain in Korea for a few more weeks doing some traveling and we hope to see her one more time before she leaves Korea. They replaced Rochelle with a British couple, Jack and Colleen, who have taught for a year in Korea before. They seem nice and are very experienced at working at a Korean private school.

We were also met with changes to our schedules, which is not uncommon. Scott got the better deal and now has three breaks a day. However, Amy has to work an hour later on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She does get off earlier on Tuesday and Thursday.

We ask that you continue to pray for us and that we have strength to get through this year. It is getting easier in some ways and Amy and I are set on finishing a year here. However the job is draining and sometimes feels pointless and soul-crushing. More importantly, Amy and I have yet to make many friends, which has been hard on us. We continue to do things together and strengthen our relationship between each other. For example, this weekend we took Dori and walked along the river near our house and went to an art festival (pictures on Photobucket). Nevertheless, we desire to form some other relationships with other people and our failure to do so has made us homesick. If you could pray that we make friends that would be great.

Alright, this blog entry is long enough. Thank you for your support and prayers.