Monday, Mayor Day

We started the day visiting the Gunpo City Youth Center. They do a lot of good things here for the community including study centers, dance lessons, swimming, sex education, and lessons in cultural traditions. It was fun trying on the pregnancy costume.









After the Youth Center, we made a stop at the Gunpo City Council where we were introduced during their meeting. Next, we had an official welcome from Mayor Ro. He spoke highly of Grant County and his visit there. He spoke about the wide-open spaces and especially remembered being at the home of Commissioner Carter. From the county, the City of Gunpo received a print and a book of art painted by a local Grant County artist. Her work depicts the landscapes around the county. Mayor Ro loved the book and smiled as he remembered Grant County.







After lunch, we had a wonderful cooking lesson where we made bulgogi and a rice cake dish. All of our food was very tasty. Most of all, the kids had a great time cooking and hanging out together.















Tomorrow is an early day for us. We will meet at 7:30 in the morning to go to the DMZ. It should be a very interesting day.

RAIN!!

It has rained most of the weekend here in South Korea. It's unbelievable how quickly a person can get completely soaked!! The weather is supposed to clear up during the week-let's hope!! Currently out my window it's VERY windy and the rain is pouring down.

Lynette and I had the pleasure of attending Young mi's church this morning and eating a delicous lunch with the congregation. Young mi is a very talented piano player and it was wonderful to hear her play. The pastors of her church have lived much of their lives in the United States and Lynette and I had a nice visit with them. Most of the congregation were fluent in English, so communication was easy.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Young mi's parents. They are wonderful people. They just returned from a trip to Grant County late last night and told us all about it when we visited their home after church.

I am hoping that all of the kids make a post so that we can hear about their adventures this weekend! Tomorrow we are meeting with the City Council and the Mayor in the morning and in the afternoon we are getting a lesson in preparing Korean food. YUM!

Boryeong Mud Festival

We were able to catch one of the very last days of the biggest festival in Korea, the Boryeong Mud Festival. It was a great day at the beach! The kids spent the day laughing and getting to know each other better.




Starting out with a "self-massage at the beach" (according to the festival literature!) the kids painted themselves and others with mud. If they weren't getting themselves completely covered, festival workers would come by and take care of that for them. The kids were good sports about it!


















After they were all painted, the kids either hit the beach or played on the huge slide. Believe it or not, this is Kevin and his friend careening down the slide!



The ocean water was very warm and pleasant to play in.



I titled this picture "The Test". It looks like the kids were taking a Mud Festival test, but in reality they were being helpful by filling out a survey for festival organizers. They are very concerned that foreigners have a good time at their festival.



All cleaned up and ready to go to dinner.



We had dinner at the most beautiful restaurant I've ever been to. It's located in Suwon, which is very near Gunpo. After our fabulous meal we walked around the grounds of the restaurant.









For the weekend, the kids are on their own with their host families. I'm looking forward to hearing about all their fun! On Monday, we have a couple of official duties visiting the Gunpo City Council and having a meeting with Mayor Ro.

Travel Day

The group met at Seatac airport at 10:00 on the 16th ready to go. Everyone was excited to be traveling. We had a great, very uneventful flight. It arrived an hour ahead of schedule at Incheon. Being a little early meant that our friends arrived a few minutes after we did. It was fun to see our new friends as well as a few old ones!













After we arrived in Gunpo, we walked from City Hall to the Outback Steakhouse. It was fun to experience ordering familiar items in an unfamiliar place.



Gunpo looks so beautiful in the evenings. I just had to share this one with you!

Ready, Set, Go!

Here we are, less than a week before our annual travel to Gunpo City, South Korea. I am very excited to experience Korea with our 2008 Ambassadors. Many, many people and businesses are responsible for getting our group off the ground, and I appreciate all of you.

Recently, our 2008 Adult Delegation made the trek to South Korea. They had a very rewarding experience. One of my favorite results from this trip is an editorial that Columbia Basin Herald newspaper editor Bill Stevenson wrote for the paper expressing his point of view concerning the Grant County Economic and Cultural Exchange and why it is so important. The link follows:http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/05/28/editorials/edit01.txt

Newspaper Coverage

The Youth Ambassadors were covered in today's edition of the Columbia Basin Herald. http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2007/08/10/news/news01.txt

Thanks CBH!!

Grant County Fun!

We have had a very busy, first couple of days of the Gunpo Youth visit to Grant County. Everyone is happy to be together again!


We met our Gunpo friends at Seatac Airport on Tuesday, August 7th. It was well worth the wait to see everyone again!


After a good night's rest, we were off and running for our Moses Lake day. We made our own lunch at Dominos, visited the Columbia Basin Herald, and the Boys and Girls Club, all before lunch!


Young-mi and Seon-mee show off their fabulous pizza.


Ralph and Detrick at Dominos Pizza did a great job with our tour.


At the Columbia Basin Herald, we were treated to a look at the day-to-day operations of the newspaper, as well as a look at the printing press.




We had fun playing at the Boys and Girls Club. We met a few of the local kids who attend the club and we were also treated to a Washington dollar coin and a Washington State quarter, courtesy of Mr. Bill Riley of the Big Bend Economic Development Council.




After Dominos delivered our tasty lunch, we visited Josh at the Moses Lake Skate Shop. He and his son showed us some skateboard tricks and got a couple of the kids on a board.


We learned a lot of intersting things about our local Walmart store and had fun shopping a little.






After our trip to Walmart, we were treated to bowling. The kids had a great time! What a busy first day.

On Thursday, August 9th, we visted Grand Coulee Dam. This is always a great experience for both the Grant County and the Gunpo kids.



The elevator ride into the dam is always big hit!


The group was all smiles when their tour was over.

After a great lunch of cheeseburgers and french fries, we went swimming at Spring Canyon. What a beautiful place!!


Our chaperones had a lot of fun!


When it came time to leave, we had a hard time getting the kids to get out of the water.




Even our non-swimmers enjoyed themselves.


Even though the shower was VERY cold, the kids made the most of it!