Olympic Park

 On Thursday we went to the Olympic Park. The Summer Olympics were held here in 1988. It was a pretty hot day actually.

This is the National Assembly of Korea- where Congress meets. We can see it
outside of our window. We literally live right across the street.

Sandwiches filled with various things- cheese, meat, sauce, etc. This was taken
in the subway station. My mom was very surprised to see all the different things
that are sold in the subways.

We made it to the Olympic Park after an hour ride on the
subway with 3 transfers. This is called the Olympic
Peace Gate.

I was upset because the escalator was broken and I had to walk up like 4 flights
of stairs.

We rented this cool bike thing. There are pedals on both sides
but only one of the steering wheels works. The one on my
side was just pretend. (and sometimes I didn't even pedal)

We took a nice leisurely ride through the park and saw these cuties on our ride.

Olympic Gymnastics Hall

While my mom went inside to take pictures and see the pool, I stayed outside
in the shade and had a snack.

This is how she found me when she came outside. My foot was getting really
swollen so  I was trying to elevate it for awhile. I promise this is just the angle
my belly isn't that freakishly huge.

Kimbap- Americans would call this sushi but it's not. This is a roll of rice and
veggies wrapped in seaweed.

Trying kimbap for the first time

We tried to find this ancient fortress but the sign pointed to a steep hill, so
we decided to try and ride the bike up the hill. About halfway up, we realized
we couldn't make it.

So we tried a different approach- she got out to push. The whole time, this guy
sitting in the shade was motioning for us to stop; I was cracking up; we weren't
getting anywhere. Then a security guard appeared and motioned for us to go back
down the hill. As we were trying to turn around, we got stuck and (this is the worst
part), an old man with a cane ran up and started trying to push us out! The whole
thing was hilarious and embarrassing.

After we got the bicycle cart back down to the bottom, mom walked back up and
found this. I guess this is the fortress? I'm glad I stayed behind in the cart!

It was an exhausting day with lots of exercise...but still no baby!

Mom is here!

My mom arrived safely in Korea. She made it all the way to Japan without any problems but then when she tried to get that last connecting flight to Korea, she found out it was cancelled. We made calls on our end to airports and airlines in the States, Korea, and Japan. We didn't accomplish much but she miraculously was able to get here. They told us on the phone, and had originally told her in the airport that she would have to stay in a hotel and wait 24 hours to catch that same flight the next day. I really believe God was looking out for her and His hand of favor was upon her because she didn't have to stay, she made it through all the craziness of bag checking, customs, being told she had to pay to recheck her bags (which she didn't), changing airlines, getting through the airport to a whole new terminal (keep in mind, she doesn't travel like this!), etc..... and her flight only arrived in Korea 1 hour after the original arrival time with the previous airline. All the bags made it and everything worked out. God is good!

Starbucks on the first day- we split the food; both those plates weren't mine!

Bulgogi and Rice Burrito for Breakfast

Mom got to go to my Dr.'s appointment. Baby is in a great position and ready to go!

I had a hard time standing up after posing for this picture.

We went grocery shopping at E-mart

She just had to taste test all the Korean side dishes

Yuck! We never eat this stuff. She got the green stuff (middle)
and seaweed stuff (bottom right). Gross!!

Cute pastries in the bakery

We found this guy just relaxing outside of the grocery store..ok he was fast asleep actually.

Baby Shower in Korea

Last week, some wonderful friends from church threw me a "surprise" baby shower. Since we are moving back to Korea in August, most of the gifts were monetary which was a huge blessing because we still had things to buy here like diapers, a bathtub, and a couple other things. Maybe the money can go towards Baby's passport as well. We want him to leave the country with us when we go in August. We had a lot of fun at the shower and were super blessed by everyone.

waiting to surprise

We played a game where 2 teams had to dress 1 person

  like a baby.

I picked Janine as the best-dressed baby.

Melody wasn't too happy about it. :)

Rice cake cupcake party favors with Suzie's diaper cake in the background

They had to guess my belly's circumference in centimeters.

Rachel is informing them that the measuring tape doesn't fit all the way around.

 Thanks a lot!

My small group leader Suzie. She put the whole thing together. Thanks, Suzie!!

Smiles

Serious

Fun

My small group- Ariel, Esther, me, Suzie, Jinhee, and Rachel

Susie played us an original song with some added improv for baby at the end

This is what I look like at 38 weeks pregnant

Here are some pictures we took yesterday:

Baby is getting big!

Seoul to Busan

A few weeks ago, Taylor and our friend Mark (who's getting married in a few weeks!) took an epic 500 kilometer bike trip from Seoul to Busan. Busan is at the southernmost point of Korea. I tried and tried to get him to blog about his trip but it didn't happen. He has been very busy lately and he doesn't like to blog. Luckily, Mark made a video of the trip so you all can enjoy it!

Also, check out this link for all the stats on the trip:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/173470238#.T58nO2QFkis.twitter

Taylor had his Garmin GPS watch tracking the whole trip. Check out how many calories he burned!

Baby Gifts from Students

Today one of Taylor's kindergarten students brought us a couple of baby gifts! We got Sophie the giraffe, which was wrapped in a very cute way.

The gifts were from Jason (white shirt in front)
I call him vampire boy.

Last week on Teacher's Day, I got a baby outfit from Tartine et Chocolate from one of my classes. 

 

The boy in the above picture, Jason, has been my most difficult student by far. I know ADD/ADHD is far too overdiagnosed, but this kid legitimately has ADHD. He is such a handful. Today he said the kindest thing ever to me...Most of my kids are quick to tell me I am very fat. Especially Elizabeth- the girl sitting in front of Jason. She tells me I'm fat like every time she sees me. But today Jason replied back with "No, I don't think teacher is fat. I think the baby is fat!!" Haha. And he may be right...but fat babies are cuter!

Teacher, it's cold!

I am not the best gauge of temperature right now. I'm usually hot, especially when my hair is down. But Koreans are especially cold. I think they have zero body fat. They're also super opposed to A/C and fans. They only resort to it when the heat becomes unbearable, which for them is MUCH HIGHER than it is for me. But like I said, I'm not the best gauge right now....I'm always hot. There's even been a few times where Taylor has been cold. But not me. Not ever. Haha.

Anyway...here's a recent conversation with one of my [favorite] students. He doesn't speak English well at all, but he's hilarious.

Daniel: Teacher! I cold.
Me: Well, finish your worksheet and I will turn off the air conditioning. (Kind of a manipulative ploy on my part because he's EXTREMELY slow and I knew he would never finish in time for class to be over)
Daniel: Aagggghhhh I'm angry!! (but not really). It's not Christmas.
Me: I'm hot! Baby is hot!
Daniel: Teacher is Eskimo. Baby is Eskimo.
Me: Okay, do the worksheet and I'll turn it off.
Daniel: But turn off, then teacher baby is angry.

then he started (dramatically) blowing on his hands as if they were too frozen to even write.

Sheesh.