Lovin' the good ole U S of A!!

I have to admit...I did not know Guam was even a real place, let alone a US Territory until about 6 months ago. If it was mentioned in one of my grade school history books, I missed that page.
As kids, we used to joke about "It's not like I am moving to Guam...", meaning that I am not going that far. We said this without the knowledge of what or where Guam was. It was a metaphor, for all we knew. I asked Mike if he had this same joke as a kid...he did now and his History books were not-so-surprisingly superior to mine (as it always is with Mike) and he did know about Guam.

Well, with all of that out of the way, Mike and I vacationed in Guam a few weeks ago and it was actually a real place, only about 5 hours from Korea and a very nice tropical island. We had planned on a trip to Japan, but unfortunately the effects of the earthquake and tsunami made us change our plans. So, in a last minute effort to find another vacation spot, Guam popped up. The most appealing part of Guam was...it is a US Territory. Who knew? It is like the lost land over there.

Some great shots of the beaches in Guam...

Guam is part of Micronesia (no, that is not those Micro-mini cars with the commercial where the guy talks really, really fast). Micronesia is in an area between Hawaii and Japan, basically. That is the best I can describe it. Guam is next to the Marianna Islands, which includes Saipan. Note cool history here: Saipan is where the plane carrying the second nuclear bomb took off from.

Guam was originally founded by Magellan for Spain and was under Spanish rule for a long, long time. The Japanese invaded and Guam became a center of the War in the Pacific during WWII. And there are lots of War Memorials to remember the fallen soldiers there.

A few remnants of the Spanish rule of the island for many years.

 Even some beautiful Spanish architecture left...

WWII Memorials...

One of the 2-man submarines used by the Japanese in the War in the Pacific.

A War Memorial Park and the picture on the right is an actual bunker built on the side of the ocean by the Japanese, left from WWII.

Luau at our hotel

We didn't forget to taste the local brew...

View of the Beach from our hotel...

And...my two favorite pictures from the vacation...

Another race in Seoul...I am back!

This morning, May 1st, Mike and I ran our sixth or seventh race here in Seoul with our trusty Seoul Flyers.

It was my first back since the Seoul Marathon in late March. Still nursing a bit of a bad knee, so just a 5K for me and 10K for Mike.

Mike had a PR for his 10K (not inlcuding when he was 17 Years old, but I don't think that counts anymore). He now officially has a faster 10K time than me!

NANTA!

NANTA is a show here in Seoul that combines the traditional Korean drums with some humor and cooking. Hard to explain. Some sites call it the Eastern version of the Blue Man Group...very high energy, crowd-involvement required show.

At any point, there is drumming, wacky Korean humor, food flying, knives thrown, plates thrown, men kissing and even some taekwondo and numchucks (made of wisks!). If you are in Seoul, it is worth seeing this show.

Mike and I went to see it last night and I wanted to share a clip of it with you here. There is so much in this show, that we couldn't show you all of it, but the Korean drums are my favorite, so here is a clip from youtube.

Spring has Sprung here in Seoul!

I was walking Maddy the other day and was overwhelmed by the fragrance of lilac. It was like I was standing in a Bath n Body Works at home :-) I think it is sad that is where my mind goes when I think of lilacs, although BNBW marketing company would be so happy.

When I looked around, I realized that I was surrounded by beautiful flowers everywhere.

Thought I would share some of the those with you. If you look close, you can see Maddy in one of the pictures.

Adidas MBC Race

When Nike or Adidas sponsor a race here, it usually draws a crowd and the shirts are very bright.

This year, the Adidas Race Shirt (race swag) was neon green...and everyone wore the shirt. In the U.S., it is an unwritten rule that you don't get to wear the free race t-shirt until you have completed the race. Here in Korea, things are different...I believe the understanding is that, if you are given a t-shirt, then they must expect you to wear it ?!

Well, with neon green shirts, it creates a sea of green...

Still on the injured list from the Marathon, I was the support for this race, while Mike ticked away and came very close to beating my best 10K time...(really need to get back out there before he catches me!)

It was easy to spot Mike in the light blue shirt...

And here are some of our fellow Seoul Flyers who also came out for the run.

Cherry Blossoms

For those of you East Coasters out there, Cherry Blossoms will sound familiar because they bloom about the same time in D.C as they do here in Seoul.  And they don't last long (especially with the wind here). 

Cherry Blossoms are a sign that Spring has arrived here in Seoul and the trees are beautiful. 

Yeouido Park is the prime area to see the Cherry Blossoms, but I think there were actually better ones right outside our house.

During Cherry Blossom Festival week, we, along with all of Seoul ventured to Yeouido to see the Cherry Blossoms.

Nice pose Mike!

Maybe a Christmas Card?