Canola

When we were in Korea, the roadsides were all abloom with canola, a beautiful bright yellow plant. Canola is a type of rapeseed and it's name comes from CANadian Oil, Low Acid (thank you, wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola). It's blooming in Oregon now and everytime I drive by a patch, I think of Korea. It was everywhere, usually in front of beautiful stone walls. The canola here is spotty, with the exception of cultivated fields of it, and no stone walls or palm trees to be seen. Not to mention, no Elizabeth in the the canola here. She'll be here in less than three months, though. Miss you, canola girl!

April 19 in Dallas

Here's what it looks like outside this morning:

Yes, that's snow on poor Dick, Jane, and Spot!

And inside, the kitchen is coming along - drywall up now.

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Today is my youngest big brother's birthday! Thanks, Mark, for letting me follow you around, buttoning my dress, teaching me to read, plotting with me, sharing your music and your friends, and putting up with me all these years! I know you read this, so I just want to say, I love you, man!

The Third K

So, here are my kids! Well, what they looked like at around 6 months old. Aren't they cute?

It's amazing how much more alike they look in these pictures than they do now. They hardly look like siblings now. They are all such great people. I think the thing I'm most proud of is they are all kind, compassionate human beings! Just what the world needs more of.

Kitchen update

The kitchen is coming along. Here's a picture of the new windows! One is replacing an old and one is in a brand new space.The framing is done and Nate and a friend put in the insulation. Electrical is mostly done. Next comes the drywall. It's all quite messy but we're making progress.

Korean Food

I think the thing that was most different about Korea was the food. Elizabeth did a good job of exposing us to many Korean foods. We ate at her host family's, at restaurants, at the school cafeteria, from the street vendors, and shops. Here's our first meal in Korea, breakfast at a restaurant near Incheon - we had a noodle soup, and bibimbap (?) (rice, vegetables, etc. with a partly cooked egg on top):

The side dishes were common at every meal: kimchee (red-pickled spiced cabbage), pickled radish (bright yellow here), and various unknown pickled and unpickled things. We had not even met Elizabeth at this point and managed to order by pointing at pictures in the restaurant.

We had grilled food several times, including eel, squid, pork, beef, chicken, and duck.

Here we are at a duck restaurant:

We always had stainless steel chopsticks and a spoon to eat with. Some meals were eaten sitting on the floor. There were always many dishes. Soup frequently comes at the end of the meal and sometimes it is ice cold. Koreans are not big on desserts but one night we stopped at a shop called Can-more that has swings and vines and flowers inside. We planned to get some juice and see the inside. Elizabeth ordered for us and came back with this dessert concotion called patbingsu. It is shaved ice, red beans (really!), fruit, ice cream, syrups and sprinkles. You mix it all together and eat it and it's not bad. It's served with toast and whipped cream (to put on the toast). This was the small size and we couldn't eat it all:

Back in the US

I made it back safe and sound. We had a fun morning exploring the hotel's expansive grounds, complete with trout farm and greenhouse. Then we explored some more of Seogwipo by taxi and foot, even without Elizabeth. After school we had dinner with the principal, who is much higher status than those in the US, and the administration and English teachers. I had to sit across from the principal, eat with chopsticks, try to stay comfortable on the floor and make conversation with his limited English. He says Elizabeth has a good adaptation to Korean culture. I think that means they like her! Then we headed back to hotel to get our bags and thought we'd be taking the bus to the airport but after some confusion were driven by host mom and one of the English teachers came along. We drove near to Mt. Halla and had beautiful views of the whole island. In Jeju City we said goodbye and flew to Seoul. Then a train brought us to our hotel for the night. In the morning we took a shuttle bus to Incheon airport and Rachel and I parted ways. Me, to head home, her to downtown Seoul to meet friends of friends and explore the city. She heads home tomorrow. My flight was delayed for an hour but was otherwise fine and the time in Tokyo was nonexistent- off one flight, straight onto another. I was thrilled to have an empty seat next to me on the nearly full flight to Portland. Once in Portland I was met with Nate's shining face and a nice drive home. Now it's back to my regular life. Here's a shot from the trip:

More pictures to come.