Race in Seoul

Recently, Dan and I ran a 1/2 marathon in Seoul. It was along the Han River so the scenes were nice. The weather was a cold but we lucked out because it didn't rain or snow! We were on a team called the Gunsan Goonies and really enjoyed meeting people and running! Here are a few pictures of the event. (Dan is not in many as he was taking all the pictures). Sorry.

Here is some of the team, pre-race warmup picture, looking happy and excited (maybe we don't realize we are about to run 13 miles)...



A pre-run chat...





This guy was legendary! It was as if he was walking home, saw that there was a race and decided to enter on the spot. He ran 13 miles/21 kilometers in jeans, loafers and a navy blue blazer. At one point, he had his blazer draped over his left arm while running. Amazing.



Here we are after the race, looking a little colder and little tired. Still a good day!



About 2 weeks ago, Korea had a weekend known as "kim-jang". Traditionally, this is the time before winter starts when all families make their kimchi for the year. The kimchi was originally stored in massive clay pots and buried underground, but now they have convenient kimchi refrigerators that store it forever. Literally! It will never go bad. It lasts for about 4-5 years. There are hundreds of kinds of kimchi, but the most common is shown below and is called 배추 김치 (baechu kimchi) or cabbage kimchi. It is served in every restaurant during every meal and is always free of charge. Additionally, most Koreans eat kimchi for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As you can imagine it is an extremely important part of Korean culture and cuisine. So...
We were graciously given a huge bag of kimchi by one of our students. This is our first experience having kimchi in our home. Dan and I enjoy the taste of kimchi, but it has an extremely pungent smell - not a bad smell - just one that cannot be mistaken for anything else! And seeing as we don't have a kimchi refrigerator...the smell has started to infuse our clothes, our hair, our souls...

Anyway, we enjoy it still!





Thanks to Dan for taking all of the pictures! Hope the holiday season is going well for everyone, we love you and miss you.