Dog Days of Summer

I've been thinking about the phrase "dog days of summer" recently. Mostly, because I have been watching our dog lay around the house all day. Only moving to change positions, or get a drink of water...

After doing some research, I have found:

The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). Sirius is also the brightest star in the night sky. The term "Dog Days" was used earlier by the Greeks.

The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional timing of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius.
Source: wikipedia.org

Here in Korea, the days certainly have been hot. Now that the rains have stopped, the sun is burning bright. I had to capture what sparked my interest in the dog days...

From Cookie

Mavie Anne

>>New things for this blog coming soon to a computer near you! <<

New Artwork

On our most recent trip to Seoul together, Chris purchased some beautiful metal artwork for me! I've been going into this shop every time I am in Insadong and I had to show Chris what I have been admiring. He loved it too and thought that I should have something! He is so good to me!

We bought two pieces. The first one was created to hang from the ceiling near a light source. Since we are renting and didn't want to make a hole in the ceiling, we improvised:

From Adventures in Korea

From Adventures in Korea

The second piece is a dish like sculpture. You can put water inside and float a candle or flowers. It is beautiful!

From Adventures in Korea

We will always have these original pieces from a Korean artist!!

Birthdays!

Since my last post Chris and I both celebrated a birthdays! Both included dinner with lovely friends....and then some cake! Here's a photo re-cap:

Marie's Birthday:

Yummy Mexican Dinner

From Adventures in Korea

Fantastic Lava Cake for dessert!

From Adventures in Korea

Chris' Birthday:

Strawberry Cake with Chocolate Frosting, per birthday boy request

From Adventures in Korea

He's so cute!

From Adventures in Korea

Yongpyeong Ski Trip

This past week Chris' company planned a ski trip. Yongpyeongsan ("san" means "mountain" in korean) is 3 hours from where we live, on the East coast of the peninsula. It was beautiful, but cooooooold. I got some good skiing in. I was nervous since I haven't skied since I was in college. I only fell once, but it was because a snowboarder took me out at the ankles! Chris was recovering from a cold, so he wasn't able to come, but I got to hang out with a good friend and her fun daughters. I hope I get to ski again at least once this winter. How cool is it that I can say I skied in Korea!! There are a lot of things I miss living here, but I am beginning to realize this is probably a once in a lifetime chance and I'm so grateful to be experiencing all that I can.

Flower Market

One of the great places to shop in Seoul is the flower markets. There are several different ones and they all have tons of beautiful flowers to choose from. Last week we went shopping for flowers for a baby shower and I picked up a few and made a bouquet for the house!

From Adventures in Korea

From Adventures in Korea

Happy New Year!

Chris and I rang in the new year with a couple of close friends. We played games and had snacks at our apartment. I was so excited to use so many of my new entertaining dishes, and a few of my old favs. At midnight we toasted with champagne. The only problem: The Armed Forces Network's countdown was not in our time zone. So Chris searched youtube for a new year's countdown. We counted down the new year with a video from 1999 haha...so we were toasting to a happy 2000!! It made for a great memory!! I even banged a pan out the window...too bad I was the only one. What do Korean's do for New Years? That is a popular question. Here is some information I found on the subject:

There are actually two Korean New Years. This is because Koreans go by two calenders; one being the same people use in the West, and the other being the lunar calender.

The Korean New Years based on the Western calender is similar to our New Years in the United States. It is a big national holiday in Korea as well, and occurs on January 1st just like it does here. During this holiday, many relatives get together to share tim
e together and talk. In Korea, there are some old traditions that some people will still follow. One is to visit the oldest member of the family and bow toward them to show respect and to wish them a long life (this would occur on New Years Eve). The following day on January 1st people will pay respect to ancestors by offering food and wine. This ceremony is called Jaesa. At the beginning of the ceremony, the names of the ancestors are pinned to a board. The oldest family members bows and offers the wine to the ancestors who have passed away. Then, the names are burned. Later in the day, relatives talk about old times and eat food. The traditional food usually eaten on New Years Day is Duk Gook, a type of soup. Kimchi is always present.
[Source: www.englishvisitseoul.blogspot.com]

Where ever you celebrated the new year, I hope it was fun! I wish all of my loyal blog readers a happy and healthy 2011! Let's see where this year takes us next!

Mavie Anne