dashboard

deery-lou.
we filed out of the building in pairs of two like the animals did for noah. instead of boarding an ark we shuffled onto a light purple bus. one that i'm sure would belong to the joker if he drove a bus. the loud print of the curtains would keep anyone from sleeping. the plastic flowers toward the front added that special touch. i quickly grabbed a solo seat. on the television pinocchio was playing in korean. i opted to drown out all the noise by listening to my ipod. the day's selection we were dead before the ship even sank by modest mouse. an album i'm thoroughly enjoying. although the lyrics are often dark, his voice rather husky and deep, the music fills me with a feeling i can't quite explain. and in a good way. every once in a while a child would tap my arm trying to get my attention. you could sense their excitement. we were on our way. the destination…mulhyanggi arboretum.

it was a rather short jaunt to the arboretum. a little shy of an hour. this was our first field trip of many to come. that's the one benefit to teaching kindergarten—the field trips. it reminded me of when i was in school. field trips were always fun. whether it was to the colonial village, john young's planetarium, or saint augustine the best part was always the frozen soda my mom packed in my lunch. a field trip as a teacher is a new experience. it was a blast to watch the children enjoy themselves. although i realized that we could have taken them to a giant dirt mound and they would be just as happy. it the whole notion of being able to run around outside that they like. the arboretum itself was all right. it was bit too early for a visit. the trees, plants, and flowers were still in their winter state so it was mostly bare trees. the hues consisted of browns and greens. there were a few flowers in bloom but overall not much to keep your attention. especially for an adult. like i said, it didn't matter to the children. i'm sure its beautiful in the height of spring. we stayed for a few hours walking the grounds. before heading back we had lunch by the lake. missing were the sandwiches, chips, and soda. instead they had variations of kimbop, grapes, water, and juice.

caleb

andy

davis & me

future angels [esther & irene]

ladies by the lake

joanna

and then there was this sigh by the bridge…


now i know the cars here are small but they aren't small enough to fit on a foot bridge.

for more pix of the trip to mulhyanggi arboretum go here.

the cherry blossoms are in bloom. walking around town you can see them everywhere. there's something about cherry blossoms. they make the bleakest, coldest rainy day more beautiful. you can't help but feel enchanted by them. they have a mystical quality about them. i often find myself lost in their power. i could wonder around under their protection for hours. and during that time all is good.

i had dinner with my taekwondo class on wednesday. i kept teasing my kwanjangnim about having a pizza party. he finally took me up on the offer. although we had pork instead of pizza. i always myself hanging out with him and sahbomnim. i tried to get sahbomnim to speak more english but it was useless.

lately i've been somewhat in a funk. its been over a week since daniel has been back and i haven't seen him yet. some family stuff came up which kept us from meeting last saturday. i finally got to speak to him on friday. the conversation didn't go as well as i hope. his going through some stuff and needs time to think things over. so currently we are on a break. although i completely understand and respect that he needs this time its hard. we spent so much time together before he left that i feel there's now a void. so for now i'm giving him his space and hopefully next weekend when i return from my office retreat we'll be able to get together and sort things out. i'm not quite ready to give up yet.

stay gold & be well…