Bogyeongsa

This last weekend was a luxurious four days long thanks to Children's Day (a Korean holiday honoring children) and Buddha's Birthday falling on a consecutive Monday and Tuesday. We had been wanting to make it up to Bogyeongsa, a temple and string of waterfalls north of Pohang, for quite a while and the extended weekend was the perfect opportunity. There is a bus that regularly makes the trip, but is quite a long ride. Instead, we were able to ride along with some friends who have a car and made a lovely afternoon of it. (Thanks, Sean and Kristina!)

We visited on Buddha's birthday so there was quite a crowd of people around the temple area. We made a beeline for the trail, and soon after veered from the walkway to freestyle it in the riverbed. This was probably the best decision we could have made because we had the river and the rocks to ourselves most of the time, rather than sharing the narrow trails. 

There are twelve waterfalls along this portion of the river, some larger than others. We had a great time climbing up the waterfalls, hopping rocks, and dreaming of summer days when it will be warm enough to plunge head-first into the water.

Behind Caleb is the bridge the leads to a view of the largest waterfall.

There is a guardrail that halfheartedly keeps visitors from climbing nearer the falls. Of course, we ignored it.

On our way back down the trail.

We had a gorgeous day and can't wait to go back!

Rain and Stuffed Animals

It's been a while since we've updated, though not too much has been going on around here. We're continuing to adjust to the little things that are different here in Korea. We've gradually widened our cooking repertoire in our oven and microwave free kitchen, explored more and more parts of the city, and are feeling more and more at home.

It has been a beautiful spring, though we are occasionally bothered by something called "yellow dust." This dust falls from the sky, coating cars, streets, and the floors near open windows with a fine yellow coating. We've read that the dust is a combination of pollen, sand blown over from the Gobi desert, and pollutants from factories in China. On bad days, it feels oppressive and the air is hazy. Thankfully, we had a solid three days of rain last week that seemed to settle the dust and clear the air.

Caleb has a great rain jacket that keeps out the rain during our walks to work, but I don't have a good hooded rain coat. Instead, I just borrow the detachable hood from my winter coat and pair it with my lightweight spring jacket, amusing Caleb to no end. He insisted on taking my photo...

By the way, this photo shows that street directly outside our apartment building. There are quite a few other foreigners that live in the building right across the street, and we have just about every convenience we need within a ten minute walk. 

The photo below was taken in a restaurant a couple blocks from our apartment. For some reason they have several huge stuffed animals displayed throughout the dining room that captured Caleb's heart...so precious.