Suwon Fortress.

For months, we have wanted to visit the Hwaseong ("brilliant") Fortress in Suwon, and we finally took the opportunity.  Completed in 1796, the fortress is really a 3.5 mile long wall that encloses the central part of Suwon city, the provincial capital.  There are four main "gates" or guard structures, as is standard in much of Korea.  Seoul city has four gates as well and the Suwon gates are structured after Seoul's.  If you're feeling ambitious (as we were), you can walk the entire wall circle.  It is very hilly, making it a fairly challenging excursion.

Looking out over the more modern part of Suwon.

Ben was fascinated with the holes in the wall.

I like the contrasting new(er) city behind the old wall.

Pointing out the structure.

The East Gate (I think).

We stumbled across a "Hat Museum."  It was closed, but you can bet we'll be back to visit another day!

The south floodgate.

Hwaseong Fortress was built by King Jeongjo to house and honor the remains of his father, Prince Sado.  The prince was murdered by being locked alive inside a rice chest by his own father, King Yeongjo, because he didn't commit suicide as he was commanded.  So, when we saw this rice chest, we had to see if Ben would fit.  Turns out, he fits!  The Korean family watching us was laughing and making gestures like Ben was a giant.  It was hilarious!

Hwaseong Fortress is a must-see when visiting Korea.  I'm so glad we finally made it!

Doggie Day at the Pool.

To close out the summer pool season, the base's outdoor pool has the annual tradition of inviting all the dogs to have a pool party.  With over 20 dogs in attendance, it was a blast!  Lillie was one of the few brave dogs who played fetch in the pool the whole time (there were no stairs, so the dogs had a hard time getting out of the pool.  Most of the dogs were too scared to get in more than once).

Jump, Lillie!

 Yeah!  So much fun!

Boat-Shelf and Ducket.

The base had an antiques auction a few months ago, and we were lucky enough to get a couple great items.  

(Yes, I'm just now getting around to posting about it.)

This shelf is probably the coolest thing I had ever seen.  It used to be a canoe and was transformed into this:

This is our pet 'ducket' - you know, it's a duck bucket - ducket!  Actually, I think it's a goose, but lets not spoil it.  Ben fell in love with it at a preview weeks before the auction and was determined to win it.  So he did!

The glass balls are Japanese sea floats.  Fishers use them as floats on their nets.  A friend of ours here gave them to us - this is only half of them.  Of all our collections, this is probably my favorite (or tied at least with the book collection).

Ox Tail Soup.

Yep.  You read that right.  Apparently, ox tail soup is fairly popular here.  So obviously Ben had to try it.  

And he made me try it.  Not a fan. 

All gone!

Fireworks and a Heart Attack.

To celebrate my favorite country's Independence Day, we went to Liberty Fest at the base.  They had live music, tasty food, and best of all, fireworks! 

And, just to throw this in somewhere, the missionaries gave us a heart attack:

Ha!  Love those guys!

six.

For our anniversary this year, Ben surprised me with dinner at a Korean restaurant that specializes in duck.  We ordered a whole duck, which was stuffed with beans, rice, nuts, and fruit.  It was so SO tasty!  Along with the traditional side dishes of radish kimchi, garlic, onion, lettuce, soup, salad, etc., we also ordered steamed mandu, a type of dumpling filled with meat and various vegetables.  Their mandu were as big as my fist!  Yum!  It was an amazing dinner to celebrate six amazing years together.

And we even sort of mastered metal chopsticks!

A few more pics from Okinawa.

I just found a few more pictures from our trip to Okinawa.  These first two are called Turtleback Tombs.  They house generations of Ryukyuan family members.  They're everywhere, tucked in between buildings and on the sides of hills.

Habu Saki, aka snake in a jar.

Good times.

Ben Folds in Seoul!

Ben Folds came to Korea for the first time ever on June 9th.  We were so lucky to see his first performance here!  We found a place to park (tricky for sure!) and walked along the Han River to the venue.

Before the show, we grabbed some tasty vendor food...

(Me with a double-fried Korean corndog.  Nom Nom.)

... and met a couple members of the band.  

The very polite crowd before the show.

The main event.  No opener and he played for two and a half hours!  It was great!

Finally met Tambourine Man after the show.  Yes!

Mr. Folds seemed to really enjoy playing here.  I hope he comes again before we leave!  And for those keeping count of the Ben Folds stalkery - this is my fifth time seeing him and Ben's fourth.