Thank you Buddha, for turning 2,400 something years old and giving us a 3 day weekend! It was definitely needed and thoroughly enjoyed. No weekend programs to plan or attend and beautiful weather are all you need in the recipe for a relaxing weekend with husband. Saturday we lounged around the house and caught up on some reading before heading out with one of our student's for a looonnggg walk by the river. (I don't think he quite realized what he was getting into.) It was about 2 1/2 hours roundtrip, but it was beautiful and well worth it with all the daisies in bloom. 
When we finally got to the river, we discovered they were having some kind of festival in celebration of Buddha's birthday. They were giving away small Bonsai starters and showing off some prize winning bonsais, some were 100-200 years old! There were also tents that were more like garage sales than festivals, selling old clothes and shoes, there were tents with make-up products, places where kids could make things out of wood, and junk art displays.
The next day was our work day. We still had quite a bit of work to do to finish our religion lessons for the term. One of Jon's students had told us there was a library near the lake park with a cafe on one of the upper floors, so after some family time on skype, we set off with our laptops to check out a new work space. Well, it was a little small, and the internet was sketchy, but it was alright and we managed to work for about 3 hours or so before we couldn't think straight anymore. I managed to finish all my lessons later that night at home...hooray!
On Monday, Buddha's Birthday, we made plans, kind of, to see some of the local attractions. When we first arrived in Suncheon, one of the things everyone said we should do is go to Boseong to see the famous green tea fields. These aren't just famous in Suncheon or even our region, they're apparently kind of famous all over Korea since they're so massive. So we set off with our buddy Grace to find the fields. We made it to the Boseong bus station, but weren't entirely sure how to get from there to the fields, so Grace asked a stranger in Korean, and she kindly offered to take us there herself! So we were off in her car for the short 15 minute drive, and then she proceeded to pay for us to get to the fields and gave us a nice 1/2 an hour tour explaining all about the tea and how it's harvested and its uses etc. (with the help of Grace's translation). Strangers in Korea are awesome!
She then left us to fend for ourselves, so we wandered around a bit more before our tired legs gave out and our stomachs were ready for dinner. We hiked back down to the bottom of the fields, but before we headed home we decided to sample the goods. Grace got green tea ice cream, Jon a green tea shake, and I got iced green tea. We all decided the shake was the best, in case you were wondering. The bus was super crowded on the way back, about 15 people had to stand during the hour long trip (including us), but we were standing next to a nice young couple from Bremmerton and Colorado who were also here teaching English, and they provided some nice conversation and kept the trip from being boring. Between the long walks to the river (2 1/2 hrs), lake park (1 hr), hiking around the fields, and the running and strength training we had done in between all that, by the time we got home around 7:00PM Monday evening our feet were dirty and tired and our muscles were feeling ...used. It was a good weekend. 
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