Daechon Beach Staff Retreat

After about a three hour bus ride, we arrived at Daechon Beach for our staff retreat last weekend.. (Not to be confused with Daejon, which is probably only about a two hour ride.) After figuring out where we were sleeping, everyone quickly headed down to the water.

Last year, our family stayed in one room with about five bunk beds in it. Not a great use of space, since we only needed four beds, but we really enjoyed it. We had plenty of space and there were three rooms in our little cabin, so we stayed with two other families. The only downside was that it was a bit of a hike up to our cabin from the main areas where everyone else was congregated. It was pretty inconvenient if we forgot something.

Only families with young kids get to stay together in one room, so singles and families with older children get split up by gender and stay in smaller rooms, with more beds, in an area that is much closer to the "common" area.

This year, as a family with older children, we were split up. The boys stayed up in the same cabin that we stayed in last year in a room with another dad and his boys. Kennedy and I stayed down in the common area in a room with two other moms and their daughters.

The upside was that Kennedy and I didn't have to hike up and down the hill or deal with the massive amount of mosquitos up in the woods. The downside was that we had to deal with public showers, which is especially tough when on a retreat with your teenage students. Thankfully, I was able to find a time each evening when the showers were empty, so I just locked the door and didn't have to worry about my students seeing anything that they wouldn't be able to burn from their memories! (Next year, I'll have to remember to bring a bathing suit.)

The weather is starting to indicate that fall will arrive this year. The first day that we were there, the wind was perfect for those of us who weren't soaking wet. Cade was a bit chilly after his swim in the Yellow Sea, though. The weather cooled off in the evenings, and we were even able to wear sweatshirts!

It is thrilling to see sunsets out there, as well. I know that they can be seen here in the city, but certainly not from where we live! Many of us lined the railing each evening watching the sunset through the trees.

We stayed with two girls that started Kindergarten this year and a two year old (and their moms, of course). Kennedy had a good time playing with all of the kids, but she and Haven always have a lot of fun when it's just the two of them.

Cade really enjoyed the chance to play with the boys he roomed with. One of the boys is a year older and the other is a year younger, so he was always able to find one to run around with. Sometimes it amazes me how well they get along with other kids!

On our second day, we climbed over the hill to the other beach in the afternoon. The kids dug holes in the sand while the parents talked or played volleyball. It was so nice to just get a chance to relax (even if I did bring work to grade).

In the evenings, we took walks along the beach, with or without the kids, and I took pictures of the sunset to my heart's content while the kids were off running around with their friends.

Later, the common room was full of people playing games until late into the night. Kennedy and I tried to get to bed by about 10:00 each evening, but I'm confident that the boys were up much later. Eric can't just walk out on a game of Risk.

Needless to say, sleep was one of those things that we were catching up on this week! We seem to have a new round of colds coming on at this point. There's been a lot of sneezing and sore throats around here. I suppose it's no surprise judging by how busy we've been.

My first soccer jamboree was yesterday and today, Eric is off playing baseball. The kids and I finally managed to get to EMart to get some things we'd been needing for awhile. We were extremely grateful that our HR director, who planned the retreat this year, listened to the feedback given and got us home in the early afternoon on Monday. We were able to get to Costco and back in less than three hours on Monday afternoon, so we finally have food again, too!

With any luck, we might actually be fully functioning this week!

Now, we face the second five day week of the school year. The laundry is done, the house is cleaner than it's been in weeks, and the fridge is stocked, so if we can stay healthy, then all should be well. 

And next week, we only have two days of school, as Korea celebrates Chuseok.

Now I'm off to bed, so that I can feel better in the morning!

Playing Catch Up

Things have been busy around here, as usual. At the moment, I'm feeling that there are so many things that must get done and that cannot get done in the time that I have to do them, that I may as well not even get started. So, here I sit. Blogging.

As I mentioned, we spent the weekend at our staff retreat. It's one of those things that sounds great in theory. And it is great for about a day. That one day in the middle where we don't have a three hour bus ride.

The preparation for it is always more than I would like it to be. We have to pack towels, sheets, and about a million other things for just two days away at the beach. So, we end up with two big suitcases for just the four of us. Ridiculous.

(I think this is my favorite picture from this hike. Our view of Mt. Baker as we hiked up Sauk Mt. You just have to remember to turn around to catch this one!)

Then we get there and all is good. The beach is beautiful. The company is good. The food is decent. The bugs are miserable. The sand is everywhere. The showers are public. And then I wonder whether or not it is worth it. All of the packing. All of the laundry. All of the lack of sleep. All of the catching up.

The thing is that I know it's worth it for the kids. They love the beach, the water, the time they get to spend with friends. The relationships they build and strengthen. I want to be one of those people that can just go with the flow and handle it all. I want to be able to do it for them, but I'm not very good at it.

 

 



I stress when we get home and we don't have any groceries. We have more laundry than can be done in a single week without a dryer. I have grading and lesson planning to do. I have dinners to plan and lunches to pack. I have an apartment to clean and moldy bathrooms. I have babysitters to arrange and open house to prepare for. Life to live, I suppose.

I guess it's a good thing that I make myself take these trips for them. Otherwise, those daily chores may come to define me, and I pray that they don't.

I may live to regret this whole "being honest" thing. I'm really not trying to complain, but something that has bothered me lately is the fact that with this world of social media comes a fallacy. We have the ability to only put our best foot forward. To only show the world the good parts of our lives. I don't want this blog to just be a representation of the best of our lives here in Korea.

The more I look back over old posts (there are ridiculous reasons why we do this--trying to figure out when something happened, what the weather was like, etc.), the more I realize that this is going to be how our kids learn about these years. And I don't want it to be glorified. I want it to be real.

These are the last of the pictures from our hike up Sauk Mountain. It's no surprise that I haven't had time yet to edit pictures for our retreat this past weekend. This little trip actually had its own stories to tell, but I think some stories are better left untold. We hiked up to watch the sunset, but ironically our best view of the sunset was at the base of the mountain after the clouds cleared. Best laid plans!

August in Seoul & Sauk Mountain

It's Wednesday (I know. Someone confirmed it for me when I was pretty sure it was only Tuesday.) It's a busy week, and I'm not feeling very deep, so this will be full of random thoughts, no doubt.

Today, Cade came home from school and told me that he had to go to "the office." I tried asking more questions. He ended up telling me, "I did something bad." He wouldn't elaborate more than that. That's pretty much been his M.O. this year, though.

When I ask him a question, he will not give me the answer I want to hear. "Cade, did you have a good day?" (pouty face) "No," is his reply. Thankfully, every once in a while, he'll volunteer something. Yesterday I asked him which one of his teacher's washed his lunch box for him. He didn't answer that question, but he did tell me that "teacher Sumi" was gone and that he missed her. So, that's a good sign!

In the past week, the humidity has dropped considerably, which is such a relief. Eighty-eight degrees seems so much more pleasant when the humidity is not 100%. I was finally able to straighten my hair for the first time since we'd left Washington (though I'm so lazy on vacation that I rarely did it there!). Little things like this excite me right now.

Speaking of excitement, Eric is finally starting to feel better, and he is able to return to school this week. He saw the doctor on Monday and the pneumonia was 90% gone. He has another week of antibiotics and he still isn't feeling 100%, but it's very exciting for me to be able to get back to our routine. Taking Kennedy to school was far more traffic than I wanted to deal with on a daily basis.

The temperature has actually dropped just a bit, as well. Last night, we were able to sleep with the doors open and just the fan on, instead of using air conditioning all night. This is something to be excited about! Evening temperatures dropping into the low 70s and daytime temperatures dropping into the low 80s. Woot.

I am really looking forward to fall. It is beautiful here, even if we don't have the regular fall stuff--pumpkins, sweaters, and Halloween. The temperatures are always very mild; you can finally put on a light sweater without sweating. The leaves turn (though not until about November), and you can find squash (it's like a pumpkin, right?).

But with fall comes the fear of winter. And winter is soooo long here. So, while I'm excited that temperatures have dropped a bit, I keep wondering how my little routine (which seems so easy right now) will look in the wintertime. When the roads are covered in ice. The car is frozen. And I get to stand outside twice a day waiting for Cade's school bus in sub-freezing temperatures. Gotta focus on the present. 

In a lot of ways, I feel that our transitions this year have gone well. Yes, that first week of school was stressful. Yes, Cade has suffered more than any of the rest of us. But the hardest part for me has been what my students call a "first world problem." It's the fact that the laundry and cleaning is up to us again. I know. You feel really sorry for me, right? But I know what I'm missing and you don't!

This week we have Kennedy's open house and soccer practices began for me twice a week. We have our staff retreat this weekend. So, we actually have only a four day work week next week with the high school and middle school open houses and Kennedy will start swim lessons in the afternoon. Next week will be busy, too!

We're excited to get out of the city this weekend and spend a few days at the beach. The weather should be beautiful. We are going to the same place that we went last year, so it's nice to know what to expect. The kids are really excited to spend a few days with friends, just relaxing and playing in the sand.

These pictures are from our last hike before we left Washington. My dad had been wanting to head up to Sauk Mountain, which is just off Highway 20 past Concrete. He'd been watching for a clear afternoon, and the weather had been looking good. We really only had one night that worked for us, though, since it was our last week on the mainland.

So, in spite of the fact that there were clouds we headed up and the rain clouds did result in some pretty skies, although we missed the sunset from the summit. I had intended to dump all of the pictures in just this one post, but I couldn't narrow them, so I'm going to just leave you with these. There will be more to come when I find the time!

Boys Will Be Boys

Well, we made it through the week. No surprise, I guess. We always do. The surprise is that it actually wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Yes, I worked way too many hours, but it was the most convenient way for me to pick and drop off Kennedy. It's not as if I couldn't use the time productively. There's always something to do--or several somethings, more realistically.

I don't think that it was quite as difficult for Eric as he thought it was going to be, either. Every afternoon, he mentioned how quickly the day went by and how "he just didn't have time" to get everything done. 

Though I teased him about the dishes or the laundry, it's good to know that I'm not the only that feels that way. My expectations for what I can get done in a day (or a class period) are always way off the mark.

 

As you can see, he spent his time productively. (she says sarcastically.)

 

As I mentioned, Cade had an impromptu day off on Friday (something about a summer camp?), so Eric promised that they would spend the day building a Lego city.

Evidently, Eric felt the need to prepare for their "Lego day" by himself on Thursday. So, Daddy got to spend two entire days building Legos. Rough life.

And then, of course, I got recruited to take pictures of said Lego city.

 

As you can see, he's feeling better. He'll be back to school on Monday. And the Legos will be back to their dismantled form soon, too.

 

"Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men." --Kin Hubbard

Life's a Beach

Well, so much for getting back into the routine.

Eric made it to school yesterday, and then he made a doctor's appointment for right after school.

He hadn't been at the doctor very long before they determined that he has pneumonia again.

So, he sat there for an hour with an IV in his arm. His fever didn't go down at all, but they sent him home, anyway. With a bag of pills and orders to stay home for a week. A full week.

He is not pleased, of course. A week is a long time for him to be home from school, considering most years he doesn't take even one day off.

My routine looks very different, as a result. I will be getting up early to take Kennedy to school. Then coming home to drop Cade off at the bus before I head back to school.

In the afternoon, I will pick up Kennedy and Eric will have to brave the hill to pick up Cade. Cade came home with a note yesterday informing us that he does not have school on Friday, so I'm thankful that God's timing worked out on this one.

It's only been a few weeks since we were at the beach and starting to feel ready to come home to our own apartment again. But right now, looking at these pictures, I think a trip to the beach sounds pretty good.

We spent a few hours at Camano Island State Park one afternoon as we drove north again. There were times when it felt that the only time we spent just the four of us was in the car, so we got to the point where we would stop and take advantage of a nice afternoon as a family. This is still one of our favorite parks in the world--it reminds us of home!