Happy Birthday - Bonne Fete Amanda!!!

To celebrate Amanda day this year we headed to Gyeongju, a town we had already been to but were more than happy to go to again. Amanda's one request was to go back there to rent those mini bikes. Done!! We stayed at a wonderful traditional guesthouse, Sa Rang Chae. This type of place has quickly become our favourite place to spend a night outside of our little palace here in Busan. Friendly, peaceful, and you can even see the stars at night!

Welcome to Sa Rang Chae

HELP!!!!!!

The owner of Sa Rang Chae

Our good friend Sang Min joined us. It was soooo great to spend time with him!

James came in from Daegu


A pensive Amanda coming home



Another great photo taken by the birthday girl


Amanda and Matt, a new friend living in Seoul, a little bit scared of the fire show in her honour.


The usual suspects



Love those party balloons!!

All in all a terrific day!! Nous retournerons a Gyeongju bientot, car cette petite ville est devenue un petit refuge, un endroit facile a visiter qui nous permet de se calmer les esprits et de prendre de bonnes bouffees de plein air. A bientot...

REUNION TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel as though there is not much to say beyong these pictures. Nancy, Finn and Sindre were here for a short visit Easter weekend. It was amazing to have them here and share some of our world with them. I hope Korea made a good impression on them!

Happy Easter!!

MARCH IN BUSAN!!

We woke up this morning, the first day of April, to the yellow dust overlay from the Gobi Desert. We had been warned that it would come in the Spring, but it certainly wasn't what we expected. There is a general yellow haze outside, a yellow dust on all the cars and the streets and a lovely taste of it in the back of your throat!! The dust should come and go for the next three months, hopefully it won't be as thick as it was today all the time!!!

The end of March also brought out the beautiful Cherry Blossom Trees. It surely made Busan come to life, as Spring naturally does for a place, however this city is colored entirely PINK!!!

Yesterday, Jenn, Eleri, Yvon and I went to the Kickboxing Championship that took place in a neighborhood near by. The best fighters in Korea were put in the ring and though I thought I would watch with my eyes closed, it was a really great experience. Our old kickboxing trainer had a student in a fight and watching him win was spectacular. I found myself watching the techniques that we had learned and really paying attention to the fights. Needless to say, seeing a guy get knocked out in the first 15 seconds was quite something!! KOREA FIGHTING!!!!

The beautiful Cherry Trees up the hill.

Normally, without the yellow dust, you can see clear to the beach from here.
Where did the beach go???

The fighter in the blue shorts trains at our old gym. It was nice to see him win!
Our old trainer giving him a pep talk before round 2!
One of the two female fights.

Yvon last weekend on the beach.
Just before the kickboxing began.
Jenn, Eleri and I with our boxing instructor.

Yvon and I just before going out for St-Patrick's Day!
Jenn, Eleri and I.
Eleri and I last weekend walking in the sea!!

It is hard to believe that we have only 5 months to go. I sometimes wonder if we will be ready to leave. As the months go on, we find ourselves getting more and more comfortable and more at ease with calling Busan home! I can only hope that we will take away with us good memories and perhaps a feeling that the world isn't so big afterall!