Another Harvest, Another Hike

It is fall. Another beautiful transition into the sleepy winter months. The rice is being harvested, the colors are at their best, and the weather is taking a turn for the colder.


Below the rice combine, which runs on tracks, makes laps around the riced patty. They stop periodically to unload the rice into bags. The rice straw which remains is bailed into small square or large round bales. Sometimes if the moisture content of the straw is high enough they will wrap the bales in plastic to make haylage.

The rice goes from the fields to the roads. The farmers take over the rural roads this time of year. One has to be careful when driving because tarps are layed down and the rice is poured out to dry. The ladies occasionally rake/stir the rice throughout the day, and then put it back in bags at night.

The garden crops have changed as the weather gets colder as well. We see more cabbage, lettuce, and spinach.

Spinach for sale in a small town on the south side of the island. Chelsie and I bought a nice bundle from this cute old lady.

Kimchi crops: peppers and cabbage

It is a bit less fun to ride now that it is colder. We still put on the coats and gloves and go though. We have made a couple trips the last two weekends.

Mark teacher and Joe teacher accompanied us on a trip. Joe is a new teacher at our school. He is from New Jersey.The rides throughout the island are always filled with unique scenery. It is nice to be able to stop and enjoy it.

We took two fall hikes and these are a combination of the pictures. One hike was to the top of Mangsan which I have made a previous posting on, and the other is Nojasan. Both fantastic.

Mark and Joe teachers.

The Asian looking pine trees add to the texture of the scenery.

A break at a summit for lunch.

Chelsie Teacher

Fiona Teacher

Joe Teacher (Sweet shades)

The kids call Mark, "Marker Teacher".

And Jesse Teacher

Enjoying the view inland from the summit.

Father and Son passing by. As you may have already noticed, when Koreans smile for pictures, they say kimchi and give you the peace sign. Even the little guy hitching a ride in the backpack is well trained in photo taking.

From atop Nojasan.

One of many cloud like islands floating in the ocean. They call them a "mowendo". A no man's island.

We were glad that we stuck around for the sunset, but the ride home was brutally cold.

All is well. All is normal. We are making plans for Christmas and New Years in Japan. We are very excited as we are looking forward to a brief look into a new culture.

Church Picnic

Chelsie and I went for a bike ride this weekend. After about 20 minutes into the trip we stopped for some pictures and I discovered very quickly that I had forgot to put my memory card back into my camera. I therefore only had 6 shots that I could take on the camera's internal memory. It was disappointing, but on the other hand it was also a gentle reminder that we need to enjoy the moment. I sometimes get too caught up in capturing it.

I love my biking co-pilot. We were approaching the end of our motorbike adventure and the sun was setting. I was watching out for speed bumps and Chels tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out this beautiful shot. We turned the bike around and I used all six of my precious shots to capture this lone tree in the ripening rice fields.


The rest of these pictures are from a recent church outing that was held by the Gohyun Church English Ministry. The regular church holds a service for those who speak English. It has really been a blessing in the time we have been here. We have become quite involved in the music and in other ways in which we are needed.

A few Sundays ago we met in Geoje's Recreational Forest. We had the service here and we also had a picnic. Many of the members are from Nepal and work in the shipyards here. There are others who are English teachers like us. My frined Anton took these pictures of the event.

The first picture was to be the serious one and the second was to be the goofy one. If you look carefully, I believe that only Chelsie and I understood the directions.

A Korean camp style meal of beef stirfry, ramen noodles, gimbap, and fresh fruit was prepared with help from everyone.

We had ice breaker games, hiking, music, and a message by Pastor Lucas.

We took turns introducing new friends.

The church here has been such a blessing to us in many ways. They have helped us in practical ways, like Korean lessons and locating a motorcycle, as well as helping us grow spiritually. We were involved in a international ministry back home. It has been a really cool experience to be on the other side of the "international" ministry.

The Ride- Ocean, Mountians, and Islands

We try and keep some traditions around here, sometimes we fail, and sometimes we are able to keep them. Saturday for Chelsie and I is a day for adventure. Since college we have loved to get out and explore on the weekend. On Sunday afternoons, after church, we have begun to take bike rides. The past two weekends we ventured down to the southern part of the island known as Windy Hill. The weather has been outstanding and I don't believe that we have seen the skies this clear in quite a while. From a small windy knob out on the peninsula we overlooked the coastline.

Riding a little further took us to Sinseondae. A colorful outcropping of rocks followed by a pebble beach. We relaxed and took in the surroundings.

We watched a local take a swim and then preform some yoga on the beach.

The colorful pebbles of Hammok Beach.

Back on the tarmac we headed east, taking the scenic coastal route and occasionally stopping to take pictures.

This past weekend we decided to climb the tallest mountain on the island, Garasan.

Up and up we went. Korean trails tend to have no switchbacks in them. They simply go UP. There are occasionally sets of stairs that have been built and disappear into the trees above.

The summit was fairly disappointing, unlike many of the other hikes that we have done in the past. It was a grassy knob with limiting views.

The summit, 585m above sea level.

On our way down we left the trail in search of a rocky pinnacle that would get us above tree line. Eureka!

This rock outcropping made the work to get up worth it.

On the way home we passed some of the rice fields which are beginning to ripen now that they have hit maturity. The fragrance of the rice is also now filling the air as we ride through the valleys.

Thanks for staying in touch. Well be back with more.

Stay tuned for: Screen Golf