Time Away
Every year on Labor Day weekend, our staff takes a teacher retreat to a vacationy spot to relax and recuperate from the first weeks of school. Last year we went to Daechon Beach on the Eastern coast, but this year we went to the Sorak Mountains. It was both relaxing and breathtaking. We didn't know Korea could be this beautiful.. and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Perfect for hiking!
Jess in front of "the world's largest Buddah." At the base of Ulsan Bowi, the peak we later climbed. Unfortunately idols like this are all around this area. Too bad these people don't know the love of Christ.. wish we were around more to share it.
Jess posing in the woods during one of our routine stops up the mountain.
Almost to the top here. These red metal steps cut through the rock to allow people to get up. This is about 3 of 3.3 kilometers up the mountain. Jess's smile is half fake.. she's exhausted!
Russ goin off the beaten path, trying to be a Superman.
Seconds later, God reminded him that he's not invincible. He almost fell a long ways, but luckily has the balance of a mountain goat and caught himself before a serious injury could happen!
Finally reached the top. This picture can't possibly do justice to the beauty of God's creation at this place! We wish you were there to enjoy it in person with us. There's a picture of us in all our glory at the top of our blog page.
On the way back down, us fast teachers had time to stop at a buddhist monastery and take a look around. Here's Jess and our high school math teacher, Meredith showing them what we really think of their dragons. Tame!
One of the buildings in the buddhist monastery.
And last, but not least, the buddhists we met inside.
Time to Play
As you may know, I (Russell) am a half decent guitarist/singer. At the very least, I enjoy it and had a lot of fun with it in college. I lead our staff in music worship every Friday morning, and have been taking a more active role in leading worship at our local church as well. Last year I had the chance to sing a song I wrote at a youth worship night at one of the local churches. The speaker was one of our student's parents, a college professor from the area. Recently, I was contacted by this parent to be a part of a project (a band) that would perform at a Christian concert of sorts on Osan Air Force Base. I was glad to accept and began to practice with them. At first, I was only planning on playing guitar with them, but was promoted to lead singer as well. It was a time consuming, yet fun and rewarding experience. Here are some photos. I may add a video of one or two of the songs we performed later.
Gettin started.. a view of most of the band.
We played into the night..
A group photo. From left to right: Ray, Steve, Dawn, Russ, Miss Kim, Will, and Kurt.
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