Rainy Season?

I think that one of the questions that I get asked the most by friends and family is what the weather is like here in Busan.  As shown above, it is not all that different from Minnesota.  It is slightly more temperate than MN though, with milder winters.  I have missed home, though I am glad to not experience the record breaking highs that MN has had this summer. 

On Wednesday it was a special day to celebrate the hot summer.  On that day in Korea they eat Chicken Soup, because it is healthy and hopefully will help to ensure that the old, young and sick will make it through the hot weather in the coming month of August.  I think I was extremely lucky on this day because I got to have it at school (a blessing after having terrible soup for the last few weeks with less than mediocre lunches in general lately), and my friend Hee Jung invited me to her house.  Her mom's Chicken Soup is her favorite, so I was very excited to try it!  She made my favorites, dried cuddlefish with honey-pepper sauce and bulgogi (not pictured below).  The Chicken Soup shown below is the one that Hee Jung's mom made, it was much better than the one we had at school!

Dried cuddlefish with a honey-pepper sauce.  Mashisoyo!  Delicious!

A delicious Chicken Soup to celebrate the warmth of summer.  

This past week was the last week in the semester.  There were many classes that were cancelled due to ceremonies and whatnot.  On the last day of the term there were no classes at all, just a ceremony to celebrate.  After the ceremony the students left and most of us teachers got on a bus for our teacher's outing.  

We drove about an hour and a half out of Busan to a valley that was quiet and very green.   We ate bibimbap for lunch and had makkeoli, which is a type of rice wine.   After lunch we had some coffee, waded in the stream and played some games.  We had dinner here as well, pork and duck BBQ and then soju and beer.  It was so much fun!

On Saturday, I went to see The Dark Night Rises with some friends, which was fantastic!  Afterwards we went out for drinks to celebrate the engagement of Caroline and Andy.  So happy for them!  I was glad to join them, because I'd been feeling terrible about the fact that Caroline's now-fiancé has been here since mid-May and I hadn't met him yet.  This is mostly due to my pneumonia, but it is no excuse for the end of June and some 20 days of July that has passed since then.  :)  

Laura and I, she wanted to see what she looks like with a mustache!

Friends Georgina, Andy & Caroline.