Summer break flies by for teachers too

Jungmun Beach on a beautifully clear day.  Note the wave just breaking over the sand

As the title here implies, summer vacation is over for Korean schools and i'm back to full time teaching.  It feels like the summer has blown by in one pleasant whirlwind of beaches, gyms and friends.  It seems I have a talent for choose countries with great summers (and crappy winters).

King Sejong the Great, the ruler of Korea's ancient golden age in front of his main palace, Gyeongbokgung.  

And now i look up to find I have a month left.  Naturally this is bittersweet.  I'm definitely going to miss my kids and my friends here.  But the thought of another dull winter plus all the great things about travel and home definitely have me excited.  For the rest of the year i'll enjoy living in the moment.

King Sejong the Great is considered the best of Korea's kings and is viewed in much the same way as King Wenceslas is in the Czech Republic or King Arthur in Britain.

As an added bonus, this weekend is a 4 day weekend thanks to Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving.  Can't say I have any big plans for it but long weekends are always welcome.  And since pretty much every Korean who can find an open flight comes down to Jeju for Chuseok anyway, i'd say i'm in the right place.  Beaches, snorkeling and hiking are all possibly on the agenda.  For now enjoy these shots of the picturesque Jungmun and my recent trip to Seoul.

Admiral Yi Sun-Shin.  During the reign of King Sejong he defeated a Japanese naval force that outnumbered him 333 to 13 (yes you read those numbers correctly), thus saving Seoul from conquest.

As a final note, we have another weekly winner of the "I have no idea what my shirt means" contest.  This time it was one of my 2nd grade girls who's shirt read "Girl friends are fun.  Men friends are funner."  I swear someone has to making these things on purpose to amuse themselves.

Because of this tremendous accomplishment and other brilliant victories that led to the Japanese being expelled, Admiral Yi Sun-Shin now has a statue in the plaza with King Sejong leading to Gyeongbokgung. (you can see both the palace the golden statue in the background)