School Construction Update

Daejeon High School is currently building a new school on the school grounds.  They had the building covered with a shroud during most of the construction, but it has since been lifted.  Here is a photo of the school; it is to be completed by August, at which point another part of the old school will be demolished and stage two of the new school construction will commence.

Magoksa Buddhist Temple

May 5th was a national holiday: Children's Day.  My Korean Mother asked me to join her in visiting the Buddhist Temple of her Parents.  I agreed and took along my friend Kelan.  Throughout the day, I  met many of my new "Korean Family," sisters, nieces, and brother-in laws of my Korean Mom.

Here are some pictures of the Buddhist complex Magoksa.  The weather was simply perfect for a day of walking and exploring.

Hiking in South Korea

Hiking is Korea's favorite hobby.  Every weekend the mountains are packed with bus loads of Koreans young and old eager to conquer the nearby peaks.  The past two weeks I was able to visit two mountains near to Daejeon:  Gyeoryongsan and Bomunsan.  "San" in Korean is "mountain."

Here are some photos of my trek to the top of Gyeoryongsan:

Here are some pictures from Bomunsan.  It is very close to my house.  I hiked this mountain after school on Tuesday, May 3rd.  At the top there is an old fortress from the Baekje dynasty (circa 600AD), as well as a Buddhist rock engraving nearby (circa ~ 900-1300 AD).

 The first of the three shot panorama of my part of Old Downtown Dajeon.

Fortress walls remained in perfect condition after all of these years.