Here & There

It has been quite some time between posts, because it has been quite some time since we did something new! Life in Korea that was once exciting and a new adventure around corner, has somehow become, well, commonplace. We're at home. No, I'm not fluent in the language and some things are still challenging (such as giving directions to taxi drivers and trying to negotiate with xenophobes eager to rip off foreigners), but mostly I've adapted and learned how to work with the system.

This has been an especially cold winter, and outings have been few. Even going out to our favorite restaurants requires a great deal of will-power (and layers) to brave the freezing cold. Also, millions of Korean school children were out for winter break and that is something I'd rather avoid. However, we have not been homebound the entire time. We've had several snow days with sledding and snowball fights,

a SpongeBob play day with friends at the Ilsan KINTEX,

visits to the excellent Art Across America special exhibit at the National Museum,

and to the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art with a wonderful collection of modern art. This museum has three galleries; we saw two, the modern art of course and the Korean celadon collection along with some other traditional Korean art.

The husband and I have also seen the English performance of Phantom of the Opera twice at the Blue Square Performing Arts Hall; it really was that good!

Now, the days are starting to warm up and I have been planning our 'must-see-before-we-leave-Korea-in-three-months' list. We've been here long enough that there really doesn't seem to be all that much that I actually want to visit that I haven't already visited. I guess the ticking time clock will tell!