"Let all the Earth rejoice"

"The splendor of the king

Clothed in majesty

Let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice.....

How great is our God..."

Every time I see the beauty of this earth displayed so gloriously I always think of this song. I took the girls to the Daegu Arboretum and was singing this to myself the whole time. Just look at these pictures; they cannot do the real thing justice!

Now that you are done marveling with me, you can laugh at me. Here is my "Gulliver's Travel" tale. I found this place in my Daegu tourist map. So I take the bus over to Camp Walker and walk to the taxi stand and say "Take me to the Arboretum". (Insert cricket chirping here.) Blank stares. "What?" they say. So we go back and forth for a minute....if they don't understand they start talking to you in Hangeul like that helps. Fortunately the travel office is right there and I went and got the man that works there to translate for me. He wrote in Hangeul where I wanted to go and where I wanted to come back to on a piece of paper for me to show the taxi driver. So that problem was solved and I had the number to call a taxi to come back and get me when we were done. Except I can't read Hangeul so when I called to leave I had the same communication problem. The thing about call taxis is if you can't tell them where you are, they can't come get you. What to do? Well, I called a friend here who can speak some Hangeul and she told me the word for subway. So I'm half shouting this word at random people who walk by and they're all staring at me like I'm a psychopathic idiot. Next, I call Matt and have him try to get one of the KATUSAs (Korean Augmentee to the US Army) to call the taxi for me. Well, he didn't know what the Arboretum was either. I pull out the paper the man had written on for me and shove it and the phone at a Korean lady who was walking by and point back and forth and she read it to the KATUSA. Situation solved. The cab arrives and I made it safely back.

The Arboretum is built over an old landfill. It is part of a 'green push' country initiative. At least that's what this paper says. I had a great time at the Arboretum. It was really beautiful with all the fall colors. I guess now I have to go back in the spring when all the flowers are blooming! Enjoy the pictures.