Holy smokes it's May 31st. We can't believe that we've already been here 3 months. We've been in Korea for about 3.5 months, but we've been in Buyeo for over 3 months now. The time has flown by and it's already June! I guess we're settled in now, and planning future travel within Korea and neighboring countries (though not to the North). Japan in August and Thailand in the winter. That said, we're loving life in Buyeo right now!
I've finally been getting out on my bike here in Korea and it's been
absolutely incredible. The paths here are great, and today I did a 76km ride,
mostly on roads and the roads are just as awesome. I was worried about riding
in Korea, as I've heard that it's not great to ride on the roads, but from my
experience today, I think that only applies to the cities. Out here in rural
South Korea, the roads are great quality, the traffic is minimal and the
drivers have been extremely courteous. Today’s ride was an adventure. I set out
with the intention of riding all along the path towards Nonsan and then
crossing the river at Nonsan as I did last week and then make my way home along
the other side of the river. The only issue with this was that about 8 or 9k
in, the path (a boardwalk section) was closed and I had to turn back. Instead
of riding all the way back to Buyeo, I cut into a little neighborhood and rode
along the main road past the rice fields and little homes. The road was better
than I expected and the traffic was virtually non-existent. I check Google maps
on my phone and found a route that would allow me to bypass the closed section
and eventually make my way back to the river. It was a big loop around, but 
I was excited to ride around and see some new sights. I rode through some small
villages and even past one of Julia’s schools. It was absolutely gorgeous. I
even managed to draft behind a tractor for 5 minutes or so, as he was going at
a perfect speed. Once I got back on the path I was only about 5k from Nonsan.
The path at this point is great, smooth riding. I crossed the bridge where I
had intended to, but instead of getting on the path and coming back along the
river I decided to follow the road I was on and see where it took me. It was a
perfect little route. It took me past a middle school in Sedo, where I will
likely teach next semester, and through Imcheon, where I visited with some
other teachers. Did I mention that the roads were great and the traffic was
light? I had a blast. There were a few long climbs that put a wee sting in the
legs, but the descent on the other side was well worth it! Once back on familiar
roads / paths, I calculated how much further I had to ride to hit my 75km goal
for the day and just got it done. It was a glorious day for riding. 
After we both got home and cleaned up, we went out to get a cushion for our couch. We went to Jin’s (my main co-teacher at my main school, whom I don’t actually teach with, but that’s another story) mom’s store in downtown Buyeo to pick one up. We looked around and settled on one that looks like a hippo. Everything was going perfectly, until she wouldn’t let us pay! We were more than happy to pay, but she refused to accept our money. So kind! We will be giving her a small gift with a thank you card. J
The rest of today will be laid back (totally counter intuitive) so that we’re ready and rockin’ for the week. No more holidays between now and the end of the school semester (7 weeks away) so it’s pretty full on from here on out! That said, classes are often cancelled and this week I don’t have any classes on Wednesday (I’m normally at my school in Oesan) and no teachers class (2 periods) on Friday! So 5 of my 22 classes this week were cancelled! This means more prep time for all of the others!
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