We went to Jinhae on Saturday, April 7th, to experience the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival.  The cherry blossoms were beautiful!  There was a lot of people there, but we were still able to see some beautiful blossoms and sights. 

There are so many beautiful views in Jinhae that it's hard to put the camera down for any time at all.   

Our day was a lot of fun, though at the end we nearly got stuck in Jinhae because there were so many people trying to return to Busan.  We ended up waiting for an hour or so for a taxi.  I was glad to be home for the evening though.  

Last week most schools in Busan had phy ed trials or tests.  The students were all required to participate and didn't have their standard classes.  This is Hee Jung and I outside enjoying a little fresh air and watching some of our students who participated in building rockets.  

Election Day in South Korea was on Wednesday, April 11th.  

It is a national holiday and we had the day off.  Tuesday evening, the day before the holiday, some of the other teachers invited me out to dinner with them.  We had Sashimi, which is raw fish.  I don't have much experience with sashimi, but am usually open to new things, so I figured I'd give it a try.  

Above left: Soju with spicy green peppers.  Above right: some of our sashimi.  So fresh that it was still moving on the plate.  I still am not sure how I feel about that...

On the left above is one of the other teachers at my school making Nigiri sushi for us at the table.  It was very good.  We played a drinking game that involved an iPhone app and a shot of soju and a piece of nigiri sushi.  

I finished the week of school with little ado.  

On Saturday the 14th, I joined in a walk that was put together by Mannam, a volunteer organization.  The walk was to remind us of the places that have suffered natural disasters.  It was a gorgeous walk and I got the chance to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen for a couple weeks.

 

 

 

Yesterday, my friend Vickie and I went to visit Beomeosa Temple.  It was a gorgeous temple - the first one that I have felt a spiritual connection with.  The other temples that I have visited here haven't had an impact on me.  But I loved the beauty of the mountains surrounding Beomeosa, it is so calming.  

 

 

After seeing the temple and how wonderful it was, we wandered into the

woods.  It was so peaceful, we sat and talked for a bit and decided to move on and get dinner somewhere.  

We bought some delicious strawberries on the way back to the subway, they smelled so good we couldn't resist!  

We ate at a BBQ place in Nampo, where you grill the food right at your table.  It was delicious, and just the right amount after our wanderings in the mountain in the afternoon!