Just wanted to give you a quick update on what we have been up to lately, starting from about two months ago.

We went on a two week tour of China as you may have seen from our summer travel plans.  We had the opportunity to visit some amazing places.  We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the experience!  We took a lot of video footage as well and plan to post some videos soon.

After China we taught at an English Camp for elementary students for three weeks.  This is what many Korean students have to “look forward too” for their school holidays;-(.  It is an intense three weeks with classes starting at 9AM and ending around 9PM everyday.  We taught in a winter camp as well that you may have read about.  We enjoy the camps because of the smaller 16 student classes which allow us to really get know and enjoy our students.  In our regular schools we have 35 students per class and 700 total students, so it is hard to get to know many of them very well.

Since this is our students’ only “break” from regular school we try to play as many games as possible and make it fun for them when we can, while still covering the required materials.  You can read more about our experience and the beautiful, although remote, campus where we stayed in a future post we are working on.

After Summer English camp we taught a two hour per day course at our schools for one week before resuming our regular schedule.  We taught for two weeks and then it was time for our contract renewal break and visit home.

We enjoyed three weeks with our families in the states and visited:

WHO? WHERE?

Griffin’s family and friends                                 Atlanta, Georgia

Griffin’s Grandparents                                         Dade City, Florida

Cruise with Griffin’s family                                 Key West, Florida

Cruise with Griffin’s family                                 Cozumel, Mexico

Valerie’s friends                                                     Birmingham, Alabama

Valerie’s family                                                      Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Valerie’s family                                                      Hayden, Alabama

Valerie’s family                                                      Huntsville, Alabama

Vacation with Valerie’s family                          Panama City Beach, Florida

It was a busy, but fun, relaxing, and re-energizing time and we really enjoyed being home with family and friends for a while before heading back to Korea.  Thanks to everyone who rearranged their schedule to come meet us and spend time with us.

Now we are back in Korea for another year and started back teaching on Monday, but the journey back was a story in itself.  Check it out here if you are interested.