Caption for the cross country video below.

Daegu ran against Yongsan International and Seoul International. Haley place 4th on the team, 14th overall with a time of 26:34 on a 5k run. 2.5 uphill and 2.5 downhill.

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Haley's at the finish line...

Sophia and Piano

Sophia has just had her second lesson and now she is practicing.

Izzy and Daisy

Hanboc Class

Chuseok @ Sunflower

This week has been a whirlwind of activities for Sophia. Wednesday was the day that Sophia was finally able to wear her Hanbok. The purpose of wearing the Hanbok to school was to teach the children the proper way to wear a Hanbok. The children were also given lessons on how to behave while wearing a Hanbok, how to sit, stand, bow and walk. This is Sophia sitting with a lunch mate in the "Theater" area. The school has a large screen TV where the children watch movies after lunch (about 15 min.) all the movies are played in English. I was slightly shocked to find that one of the movies that they show frequently is "Sponge Bob".I brought in "Happy Feet" the next day . Friday was lessons in making of the traditional rice cake eaten during Chuseok.

(Angela, Sophia and Angela)... yes, 2 Angela's. These are Sophia's best friends.

To end a nearly perfect day, Sophia had her second piano lesson. The principle of the school has been kind enough to find an instructor that comes to the school and give Sophia lessons. Isabelle has shown interest in taking piano lessons. I'm hoping that we can find a piano within the next month to make this possible.

Teeth with Hanboc's

Friday night... Chris and Haley had traveled North for the meet while Sophia, Isabelle and I attended the grand reopening of the Evergreen Golf Club. The girls and I decided to take advantage of and early night but as I was tucking Sophia in I noticed she had 2 loose teeth. Sophia was eager to earn money from the tooth fairy and agreed to have them pulled. With total ease, they came out. Once again she lost 2 teeth in the same night.

Saturday morning... we were bumbling around the house when our intercom announced (placed at both ends of the house in the ceilings) the community picnic. I'm always amazed that I live in a home that has an intercom system for random announcements. Convenient as it actually is, its still very weird. The announcement reminded us of the time to attend and to bring a side dish or dessert. Unlike a flyer, I could not hide the announcement under a pile of papers but found the kids huddled under the speaker giddy with excitement. Ten minutes later and a quick run to the shoppette to pick up our side dish (3 bags of chips) we were at the picnic. While we were at the picnic a neighbor and friend mentioned that she was going to the fabric market. I have been anxiously waiting for an opportunity to make it to this market. Within the next 30 min all 5 of us were on our way (Neise, Cody, myself and the girls). Cody is an expert, Neise had been there once before and this was my first. The prices ranged from 2,ooo won per yard, 4,000 won per yard, 2,000 won per and 1,500 won per yard. I plan on making curtains for the main rooms, Haley's room and a shower curtain. They have seamstresses on location, take your measurements and material for a pick-up ready by Tuesday (this was Saturday). I cant explain how overwhelming the choices are in this building, imagine 4 floors of a major department floor filled with fabric. On the way home Neise mentioned that she was selling her furniture before she moves to Japan. I asked to take a look (since we have nothing). Everything she was selling was Tibetan, some even antiques! It was beautiful.

Sunday... Time to play catch up on missed chores. Chris Sophia and I headed out the door by 9:30 to do our weekly shopping at Home Plus. When we walked through the door there were 2 racks of children's Hanboc's. We both directed Sophia to the rack and told her to pick the one he wanted. She has a festival celebrating the Korean holiday "Chuseok" coming up at the end of the month, during this time Sophia will be performing in a traditional dance with her Hanboc.

Cross Country

Haley had her first cross country meet this weekend. The meet was held in Uijeongbu, a 5 hr bus ride north. The team is made up of high school students. Since our school is small, we have a limited number of runners and Haley is the filler for absent female runners. Luckily, she was able to run the 5K.

Her final time was 27:39, 4th for Daegu girls and 36th overall...not bad for a 7th grader running High School Varsity!

Shopping downtown

First For All

The first day of school (Emily, Haley and Isabelle)
Isabelle's teacher, Mrs. Koo.
Haley and Isabelle ran the 3k Labor Day run. Haley took Second, Isabelle third.

Haley has been keeping very busy after school with the cross country team. Her best time so far; 3 miles in 27:31 min. The team averages 3-5 miles a day.

Isabelle participates in S.A.S. (school age services) after school. The have a power hour for homework with planned activities. Tomorrow she will participate in the Hispanic Culture group, they will be studying a traditional Mexican dance.

We have decided to keep Sophia in the Sunflower school for another year instead of sending her to Kindergarten. Here is a picture of Sophia with all the teachers last Friday. We had stayed late and were invited to join in on a snack. Does it get better?

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