Goodbye, February!

Although the shortest month of the year, February was filled with lots of fun things! At the beginning of the month our students were on "Winter Break" and we both had been teaching Winter Camps. The kids all returned to school to finish out their academic year on Monday & then the same week were off Wed - Fri for the Lunar New Year. They had one full week of school after that and then . . . Spring Break!

Here are some pics that show you what we've been up to this past month!

Namdaemun Gate

We just celebrated the Lunar New Year here in Korea, and unfortunately the new year has begun with sad news for Koreans.

One of the first historical sites Cory and I were shown was Namdaemun Gate, (our photo above) a part of the wall once built around Seoul that was built over 600 years ago. It is in the heart of the city and we have become accustomed to seeing it as we travel downtown for sightseeing, shopping, and church.

Sunday night, after traveling around the circle where Namdaemun sits, we saw on TV that this National Treasure of Korea was on fire. After 2 hours of fighting it, firefighters thought it was under control. Unfortunately, just minutes later flames erupted again and the gate is now destroyed. No one was injured, but arson is suspected.

The pictures below reveal just how devastating the damage is. I read that the cost of rebuilding this historical landmark would be $21 million.