Namhae - Turtle Boat.

First, the view from our room.

On our way off the island, we stopped at the turtle boat replica.  The Koreans built these boats starting in the early 1400s to fight the Japanese.  Turtle boats have several cannons inside and a spikey roof to prevent the enemy from boarding.

A closer shot of the spikey roof.

Inside the boat, Ben got to play around with a sword... 

Then I dressed for battle.

The bridge to Namhae.  We got out just before the storm hit.


We followed friends home, which shortened the trip to about four hours (including a little traffic).  For such a short vacation, we got a lot of sightseeing in and had so much fun!

snow.

We got our first snow of the year last night!  It was so pretty, coming down in big, wet flakes.  This morning, this is the view:

Namhae - Bori Temple.

After the ferry, we had lunch at Sangju Beach.  It was a beautiful day - sunny and warmish.

Next we visited the Bori Temple.  It sits at the top of a mountain.  We drove a good portion of the way up and then hiked the rest.  The views were absolutely unbelieveable!

The view of Sangju Beach from the mountain top.

It really was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Namhae - Fish and Ferries.

This weekend, we were able to take a Thanksgiving vacation with some friends.  We went south to the bottom of the peninsula to an island called Namhae (nahm-hey).  Even though we were only there Thursday-Saturday, we got to see and do so much!

We were planning on meeting everyone (about 10 families) at the resort in Namhae.  So we left at 11:30am and set off on the 4-hour drive.  Eight hours later, we arrived.  Without GPS, our maps didn't exactly get us there directly.  But we made it and were able to relax Thursday night.

First thing Saturday morning, we set off as a group for a fishing dock.  They were unloading sardines from a fishing boat and crating them, along with cuttlefish and some long, skinny silver fish.

Ben posed with a giant anchor.

Then played Capt Morgan on the giant 'jacks'.

 Us on the fishing dock.

Then we took a ferry ride to explore the 80+ islands that make up Namhae.  Only 3 of them are inhabited - the rest are too small.

And this was just the beginning!

market.

When wandering around here, it's pretty easy to stumble across restaurants displaying their fresh seafood - so fresh it's still alive!  Saw these last weekend:

These wormy things totally gross me out!

Hungry?

New Piano!

We recently got a hot tip on a local piano store, so last weekend we went hunting.  After investigating two buildings with pictures of pianos on them (the first was a closed piano store and the second was a music studio), we found a tiny little shop with a bunch of Korean uprights.  The owner is a master tuner and spoke surprisingly good English.  He gave us free delivery and even agreed to tune it for free for the next two years!  Isn't it gorgeous?!?

I've already cluttered it up with books and sheet music.  I love, Love, LOVE it!

Itaewon.

Last weekend, Mr.Ben and I went to the international shopping village of Seoul called Itaewon (Ee-tay-whan) for some Christmas shopping and general sightseeing.  We also took our first trip on the Seoul train/subway - super easy and cheap!  I didn't take very many pictures, but here are the few I got:

Shopping and restaurants.

today's views.

Today I took advantage of the crisp fall weather and walked to do my errands.  We had a little storm last night but today was clear and relatively warm.  Here are a few of my views from the walk home.

Flower Market.

Earlier this week, I got the chance to visit a giant flower market in Seoul with some friends from church.  It was AMAZING!  I wish I could have taken a picture of the smell - heavenly!  There were so many different types of cut flowers, potted plants, and silk flowers.  I loved the cut flowers and ended up getting several bundles that are now making my house smell wonderful.

The first thing I saw when we walked in:

We thought the cabbage flowers were so strange!

The bonsai section.

My take-home - lilies of course.  The total cost of these 3 bundles and vase was less than $15!

Needless to say, I'll be at the flower market every chance I get!  Thanks to Jihyun for organizing this trip and being our tour guide.  Can't wait to go back!

sidecar bob.

Mr. Ben and I saw this while out shopping yesterday.  His exact words: 'Whoa!  That's awesome!'  Would you ride sidecar on this?



Also.

Goober. Peanut butter and grape jelly swirled together. I know this has been around forever, but I just bought my very first jar and I'm so hooked!

Yeah, this is the most random post.

today's view.

After walking a few miles to and from lunch with friends, I took Lillie out for another 1.5 or so.  Who needs a gym when you can walk to everything?  This is the little farm road that we like to walk on.  Yes, cars (and trucks and tractors) drive on this road.  But it's not too busy.

A harvested field.

I think it is so gorgeous here!

Look at this sky!

Hope you're having a great day too!

Battle Rattle.

Exercise.  Exercise.  Exercise.  And this is what Ben looks like this week.

give thanks.

I love Thanksgiving!  It is the perfect time to really remember our blessings and be thankful for them.  So, this month, I want to share the things I am most thankful for.  To start:

Dreamy.

This guy works so hard.  And even if he's only home (and awake) for an hour or two, he takes such good care of me.  I'm so glad we get to be together during this year in Korea!