"The moving Moon went up the sky"

Last weekend was the Solar New Year - one of the most important holidays for Koreans. Seoul becomes a ghost town as people travel to their ancestral homes in the country. Most of my students bowed down to their grandparents and received money in return. Since my grandparents are far away and would probably accuse me of idolatry if I dropped to my knees in their presence, I spent my long weekend somewhat differently. On Sunday Aaron and I were invited to join a small group from our church for lunch. We had a noodle dish from North Korea and the most amazing mandoo. Mandoo is a kind of pastry stuffed with different ingredients-mostly beef or kimchi. After lunch the small group leader and his wife invited us to their house. I played Wii for the first time in my entire life; it was some ridiculous game involving insane rabbits. Loved it! They ordered pizza and we watched Wall-E while we ate. It was so wonderful to be around fellow English speakers and understand and make the same cultural references. I have forgotten how much fun laughing in large groups can be.
The next day we went to Lotte World which is the Korean version of DisneyWorld. There is an indoor portion with rides catering to children, an ice-skating rink, stores, a swimming pool, and restaurants, and an out door area with bigger rides and its own castle. In the early afternoon the place was practically deserted and line were almost non-existent. It was so much fun-we rode on water rides, rocking ships, and upside down loops. My favorite ride was Atlantis, the only really biggish roller coaster in the park. We were even treated to a cultural parade featuring scantily clad female dancers representing various countries. Except Korea that is. Their dancers were fully covered. Perhaps it was a subtle critique of our hyper-sexualized world. Or something.
I spent Tuesday with a Korean friend and her husband. We went to a huge department store in Suwon, browsed for awhile, had smoothies (I am addicted to Korean smoothies) and saw Valkerie. I don't really like Tom Cruise and the story telling was confusing but there some emotionally powerful moments. And afterwards we went to that authentic Korean restaurant-Outback. Koreans love, love Outback. They are everywhere in Seoul.
It was a splendid weekend and I was immensly grateful for the short week that followed. So were the kids. I think we all needed a break from each other :)