Michelle in Korea

I'm turning this post over to Michelle.
Curtis is allowing me to use his blog to share my adventures in Korea. 
I arrived in Korea September 7th and was very happy to see my second daughter, Darcy, at the airport.  True to Whetten form there was a prank in the works as she greeted me with a sly smile.  She informed me that we didn't have to take the bus home; that two men had offered to drive us in their car and she had accepted because she didn't want to deal with luggage on the bus.  I was a bit alarmed.  Really?  Then she introduced me to Bro. Sutherland and another missionary.  Sigh.  What a relief.  They were very nice and drove us and a large sleeping pad all the way to Darcy's apartment, which was quite a ways away from where they live.  It turns out that this is the way church service happens in Korea.  The members are spread out but very willing to serve each other. 

Rather than post the 60-something pages of my Korea Memoirs, I will post a few pictures and tell you about them.

The Korean people work very hard at preserving their cultural arts.  Traditional foods are an important part of the culture. 

Darcy's employer, Nan, and her supervisor, Colin, took us out to dinner at a famous traditional restaurant called "The Korea House".  It's a VERY nice traditional Korean restaurant where you take off your shoes and sit on cushions at a low table.  They brought out a gazillion small dishes with small portions of soups, meat and side dishes like kimchi.  Everything was delicious.  I ate fish cakes, potato cakes, radish, jap chae, shrimp, eel, rice, kimchi soup, rice cakes for dessert, a pear slice for dessert and dried octopus for dessert.  I can't believe I ate the shrimp, eel and octopus without flinching, but I DID.  And they were good!

After dinner, we enjoyed the performance of traditional music and dances.  It was beautiful and interesting and entertaining.  At the end, the performers asked Darcy to join them on the stage to dance while playing a hand-drum.  She did a great job.



Michelle with some of the performers

 Nan and Colin are very kind and gracious.  Darcy is very fortunate to work for them.  They complemented Darcy and said she is a favorite teacher at the school.  The way they treated me was an indication to me of how much they appreciate Darcy.

I'll write more about her other friends in a later blog.
Michelle

First Fall Scenes from the North Georgia Mountains

Every fall Michelle makes a pilgrimage to Hudson Apple House.  The original intent was to buy apples for canning.  The trip has evolved into something else.  How would you describe an event where you meet with old friends that you have not seen in a long time and listen to funny stories and sometimes poignant ones; you relax in the comfort of not worrying about what anybody thinks of you - they take you as you are.  These friends are what we've come to love about the south.  Earlier in the week, a co-worker  asked me why we did not return to San Diego.  "It's so nice there."  Indeed there are some nice things about San Diego - but there are not nearly as many good people like our friends who run Hudson Apple House, and as you will see in pictures below, it's not nearly as beautiful as the mountains of north Georgia.

After visiting with our friends, we wandered around the fields and took some more pictures.

Clarissa took our picture in this same spot (facing the opposite direction) in October of 2010.

 The following picture was taken by Josh in 2010, as I examined interesting rocks in the road to the barn.  This is included just for the contrast in my hair.  I'm still wearing that same hair cut.  In fact, it has not been cut since my appendix was cut out.

Artsy picture taken by Clarissa in 2010.

Clarissa at Hudson Apple House, 2010.

I never ever imagined my daughter would be so drop-dead gorgeous.  Yeah, that's right, click on her picture so you can see for yourself up close.  And how did she end up being so kind and nice too?  And sensitive?  And knee-slappin' funny?  And self-reliant, and... and... well, it must be because she's married to Josh.  Thanks, Josh. 

OK.  Back to the present.  As we were wandering about this year, we met Cici, the beautiful Belgian horse and Roxy, her foal.  As soon as we saw them, we started walking towards the fence.  As soon as they saw us, they did the same. 

I love the blond mane and tail with the dark coat on Cici.  Roxy, to the surprise of her owners, turned out to be a "pinto" as they say where I come from.  Here they call her a "paint".  I was pleased to see how docile they were... except Roxy likes to nip people.  Once that had been established, we got along just fine.

Here Michelle is counseling with Roxy about her nipping problem.

See ya!