Jihee's father's farm

So this past Sunday, we went to our friend, Jihee's father's farm to celebrate her birthday. We were so surprised and we had not expected it, but her father apparently owns tons of beautiful land, pensions, a restaurant, a mushroom farm, animals and the list goes on!

We went to a beautiful area, very close to his house, right next to a restuarant that he owns. In the restaurant, there's a jijabong (a singing room)on the top floor, plus there's a huge inground pool surrounding the two parts of the restaurant. Then, if you look at the scenary around you, there are miles and miles of beautiful forest areas, mountains and flowers. In the distance, we could see deer near the forest. And in the yard of the restaurant, there was a horse, chickens and tons of cute lil white puppies. It was an amazing place to be if you wanted peace and quiet.

Our friends, Sean and Jihee had arranged a potluck style dinner, so everyone brought different dishes. Jihee's father was grilling meat on the grill right outside near all the picnic tables. Then, her extremely nice father had everyone get in a car and drive about 5 mins away where we walked in the forest and found a hidden mushroom farm! There were about 8 of us there and we all had a fun contest picking the biggest and most white mushrooms that we could find. It was a really cool experience considering I've never picked mushrooms right off the trees like that and it was interesting to see how big some of them were!

They were also extremely delicious. We took the mushrooms back to the restaurant and Jihee's father cooked them on the grill. IT was a lovely afternoon high up in the mountains in the open air surrounded by pure beauty!

We had to leave early though and wish Jihee a very happy birthday. Keith, Tim and I were then off to Rho and Simon's fundraiser dinner! We always look forward to our friend (and now my co-worker...he comes to my school this semester to teach each Friday) Simon's cooking. He is probably the best chef I have ever met! He is from England and learned to cook gormet meals from his mother. Unfortunately, Simon's mother passed away a few years ago from a rare disease called Motor Neuron Disease. Since last year, Rho and Simon started an annual memorial/fundraiser for his mother and for the MND organization. What a great idea for them to have. There were about 20 or so people that came, including Simon's father from England! I was surprised to learn that he has traveled to Jeju 4 times to visit the couple and their 2 year old daughter. It was a great dinner and great way to raise money for a good cause.



Next up...

I will talk about the deadly yellow dust that has invaded Jeju, leaving me to do my marathon running in the ...OH NO...indoor track!