For My Father

This is my first post in a long time, and it comes at a difficult time in my life.  My father passed away two weeks ago.  I haven't posted about it, because it's all still sinking in.  I try not to think about the things he'll never see me do, get my masters degree and have children, because he was able to see me do so many other things.  He got to see me graduate from New York University, move to Korea, get married, and live what is to this point a full and happy life.

I don't think I've ever seen my father happier than when he was at my wedding.  Part of the ceremony is pictured above.  It's how I'll always remember him.

I love you dad.  You'll be missed by us all.

Spring Has Sprung

Hello all!

We've been back for two months already!  Hard to imagine.  In these past two months we've been busy with work and study.  Emily loves her new job at Pre-School Academy Apgujeong, teaching 5-year old students.  Unlike her previous school, she has one classroom of 9 kids she teaches every day with a bilingual Korean teacher.  The kids are fantastic and pick up English very quickly!

Richard has midterms next week, so is busy studying and preparing for those.  He is also working as a docent at historical sights and palaces around Seoul, educating kindergarten and elementary school children about Korean history in English.

The past few weeks has seen the arrival of spring!  Cherry blossoms are out in force, and the weather has been sunny and in the 60s during the day.  We finally put away our heavy winter coats and sweaters.  However, knowing Korea, this lovely spring will last only a few more weeks and the heavy humid summer will set in.  Happy Spring!

And We're Back...

I haven't been here in a while, because I am studying my ass off.  I couldn't help but post this though:
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120318000381

I do not support this law, but I am glad that people are starting to take a serious look at the rights of adopted children or children to be adopted. What's missing from the article is the fact that these changes were at least proposed by adoptee organizations (I knew about their involvement) and the Korean Unwed Mothers' Families' Association (missed theirs somehow).

Homeward Bound

We are finally back in Korea.  After nearly six months of traveling and living out of suitcases, we have a new (to us) apartment in Cheongdam.  We can get back to a regular schedule, and settle back into work and school.  We'll have pictures up soon enough.

Wild Rovers

We took another short trip, this time to Sedona.  We didn't get pictures of the drive down, but it was awesome.  You lose elevation extremely quickly coming from the north through a series of switchbacks on 89A.  We got into Sedona before noon and did a little shopping.  We didn't go into the museum, but they had a Sedona film museum detailing all the westerns that were shot in and around Sedona.  We saved the hiking for the next day.  These pictures were taken around our hotel.

Sunset from just outside the hotel.

The view from the hotel room.

We did two big hikes for the day.  The first one was at Red Rock State Park.  It's a nature reserve, so it was more of a long walk than a real hike.  The second hike was to see Cathedral Rock.  This was more of a true hike with more gains in elevation over a shorter distance.

After the two larger hikes, we drove back via scenic Highway 179 where we did another short hike.  It's one of the shortest scenic highways in Arizona, but the views are great.  Sedona was definitely worth the trip and we would like to go back in the future.

War and Peace

From Wordpress

At over 1700 pages including the two epilogues, War and Peace can seem like an insurmountable read.  It took me four months of on and off reading through Russia, Turkey, Greece, and finally the United States to finish it.  I'm sure everyone knows the title, but I'm sure not everyone knows the story.  It's a sweeping epic that takes place during the Napoleonic Wars.  War and Peace mainly follows the Rostov family and their acquaintances from prior to the war, through the war, and then into the aftermath.  The bulk of the book is like a serial soap opera.  There is love, betrayal, political intrigue, war, and passion.  The only parts I could imagine someone getting bogged down in are the very technical military parts (which I enjoyed) and the parts where Tolstoy starts self-aggrandizing his views and why they are right and why other historians are wrong (which I found tedious).  Overall, it is a pretty good read.  It just takes a lot of time and patience to get through.

Best Western Squire Inn - Tusayan, AZ

For the first time in our lives Emily and I got upgraded.  When we first went to check-in the room wasn't ready.  So, we went to the Grand Canyon.  By the time we got back to the hotel, the room we were supposed to get was undergoing maintenance.  Therefore, we got bumped up to a business suite.  The business suite was great.  It had a small kitchen area, a sitting area, a very nice bedroom, and to top it all off, a jacuzzi.

We ate lunch, dinner, and breakfast at the hotel in that order.  The lunch was pretty average.  I got a pastrami sandwich and Emily got sliders.  Neither was terrible, but neither was amazing either.  For dinner, we ate at their other, nicer restaurant.  They offered local fare like buffalo and elk.  It was much better and well worth it.  They had a fairly decent wine list as well as a bar out front that you could order drinks from.  The breakfast was a standard American buffet.  They had eggs, potatoes, pancakes, fruit juice, fruit, and oatmeal.  It was fine for a hotel buffet, but again nothing amazing.

The hotel is in a prime location just like all the other Tusayan hotels.  I wouldn't necessarily suggest this hotel over any of the other options.  It is a five minute drive from the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park just like all the other hotels in the area.  I would suggest this particular hotel if you can get a better rate in relation to the other Tusayan hotels.