last weekend was chusek (thanksgiving) here in korea, and due to this lovely holiday, we got monday off school. we were determined to make the most of this 3 day weekend so we (actually jayne) rented a car (complete with a navigator), packed it full of stuff (mostly bedding), made a stop at costco for snacks and drinks, and headed north. it was our first camping trip of the summer -our first time being surrounded by hills and trees, laying out on the sand, roasting hot dogs over the fire (actually a grill), swimming in open waters...but it wasn't our first time getting sunburnt and mosquito bitten. and it certainly wasn't the first time elizabeth, jayne and i have spent wonderful hours on end together.


like i said, we brought lots of bedding.


our lovely campsite on the beach -talk about riverfront property.


note our use of chopsticks as skewers. brilliant, eh? also note my position -i've got the asian squat down pat.


our own secluded beach.


waking up to hot chocolate, oatmeal, and sunshine. what more could one want?


we moved to the shade after getting burnt to a crisp.


monday morning came and we weren't near ready to leave.


but we had a visit from a korean soldier (while we were making eggs for breakfast) who informed us that our lovely beach was scattered with land mines, (apparently we were a little too close to the north korean border) so we had to make our exit. he was super nice and even helped us carry all our stuff up to the car.


how were we supposed to know it was a "warning: danger" sign rather than a "welcome: lovely beach" sign? whoops.

all in all it was a most wonderful weekend. you never know what to expect on adventures like these -but think how boring it would be without things like visits from korean soldiers. the countdown continues with only about a month til we're done! thinking about all that has to happen between now and then is crazy overwhelming, so i'm consciously choosing to fill my mind with other things. i'm excited x100 to come home and be with everyone i've missed for the last 11 months. but i'm also terribly sad at the thought of leaving behind the kids and friends that have been my life for the last year. i guess that's life as we know it -bittersweet.