Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone! We are now heading into our final stretch of our Asia adventure. Fourth quarter has begun and we are gearing up for the end of the year. Last week, we enjoyed our final school break and spent six days in the Philippines. We landed in the city of Cebu and then traveled by "speed" ferry to the island of Bohol. The week was fantastic. The weather was gorgeous, the sights were wonderful, and the people were friendly. We swam, snorkeled, and enjoyed the sights and cuisine of the island. The water was amazing! Although the island is stricken with poverty, the Filipinos are gracious people who were always looking out for us to make sure that we were enjoying their country. They are proud of their county, although economic times are tough. When we see how others in the world live with so little, it really makes us reflect on how blessed and fortunate we are. I have shared some of the photos from our trip below. Our family has a little more than two months left in Korea. It has been a fantastic adventure and we are a little sad to see it coming to an end. On the other hand, we miss home and all the friends that we look forward to seeing again in June. It will be a busy time with the end of school and packing up all of our things to ship home. Everyone is doing well. Lonne continues to enjoy "All-Day" Pre-K, Anja and Ailsa both have roles in an upcoming school play, and Lukas is currently in the midst of the middle school basketball season. Liisa and I continue to be busy teaching along with all of the "extra" school activities. Liisa's dance team has their final competition in Seoul next weekend and I am currently coaching middle school basketball. Life is busy, but going well. It has been a cool spring in South Korea - sounds like all the warm weather is in Minnesota!!! Take Care! Love, The Gilbert's

The Philippines

This the boat that we used to go dolphin watching. The kids were amazed (along with mom and dad) at the sights of the wild surfacing dolphins.

Going for a tricycle (taxi) ride from our hotel to the nearest village to get some snacks and look around.

Lonne trying to hold a hill on his arm. The Chocolate Hills are a unique range of hills that are scattered across the middle of the island of Bohol. During the dry months of the year, the grass turns to a deep "chocolate" color.

Lukas enjoying a river cruise through the tropical forest. Near the river, we stopped at a nature preserve and saw the smallest primate in the world - a tarsier! The kids loved seeing them (or should I say Liisa!) I could't get the camera away from her. I thought she wanted to take a picture of me! Instead she took about 50 pictures of the tarsiers - I only shared one!

More Pics from the Philippines

Anja getting ready to snorkel. She later said "Looking under the water at the coral and fish looks like the Nemo movie".

A local "tricycle" driver brought us to an underground cave to go swimming. Lukas and Ailsa thought this was cool.

Liisa and the kids enjoying some snacks at Anda Beach on the island of Bohol.

Ailsa enjoying the pool at our resort and having a contest to see how many star fish she could count as we traveled by boat over the crystal clear waters on our way to another island to snorkel.

Daily life in the Philippines

Popular form of public transportation in the Philippines - "Jeepney"

Some local kids at Anda Beach playing in the sand.

Tourism and fishing are the two most popular forms of employment on the island of Bohol.

Basketball rules in the Philippines. These kids have game, even though most of the time they are playing bare foot or in flip-flops.

Some local villagers came to the edge of the river to perform for the boats that pass by - hoping for a tip. We heard and saw many talented singers and dancers during the week.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year! This is one of the main holidays celebrated in Asia. Lunar New Year was rather early this year, since we only had two weeks of school since Christmas break. This week off just gave us another reason to explore Asia, so we took off for Hong Kong, China to take in the festivities of the Chinese New Year in China. Last year we were in Beijing for Chinese New Year, but we found Hong Kong to be much more "festive" as they celebrated the "Year of the Dragon". We spent five days exploring Hong Kong. The weather was not great as it was cloudy/foggy, cool, and rainy, but we still enjoyed our time. The highlights of the trip included attending the International Chinese New Year Night Parade through the streets of Hong Kong (similar to the Macy's Day Thanksgiving parade in NYC), fireworks over Victoria Harbor, Disneyland Hong Kong, shopping in the many markets around the city, and visiting the "Peak" overlooking the skyline and harbor (although it was very foggy). We became experts at riding the MTR (subway) around Hong Kong. It is such a densely populated city (over 7 million) that over 91% of the people who live in Hong Kong use public transportation, so it was very easy and efficient to explore. Liisa seemed to find many "deals" as she wandered the street markets. I never realized how many shoes someone really "NEEDS"! The kids were exhausted each day as we trekked around, but they never seemed to get "tired" at Disneyland. Check out our blog pictures to "see" the sights of Hong Kong. Well, back to reality tomorrow as we return to school. Liisa has a busy stretch coming up as she is the Assistant Cheerleading coach and the team has their conference cheerleading competition in Seoul this upcoming weekend for two days. Also, she is chaperoning a group of kids to The Philippines for five days (Feb 15-19) to attend a GINA conference in Manila. She is the one the advisors of this club on campus. My schedule also begins to pick up as the middle school activities season gets back into full swing after the break. The kids are all doing well and involved in many activities. Take care and we miss everyone at home! The Gilberts

Hong Kong

Anja and Ailsa enjoying the stunning view of the Hong Kong skyline across Victoria Harbor.

Lukas and Ailsa exploring the night market area of Hong Kong. Lukas is happy because he just found a "cool" pair of Nike tennis shoes.

One of the many dragons that we saw as Hong Kong celebrated the "Year of the Dragon".

Lonne enjoying his ride across Victoria Harbor on the famous "Star Ferry".

We "lost" Lukas for a few minutes in the crowd. He decided to tie his shoes while we were walking and looking around. I told him that he better know which subway line to take in order to get back to our hotel! Thank goodness we found him after 10 minutes - he didn't look quite as happy as he does in the photo!!

Disneyland Hong Kong

Liisa and Lonne enjoying their time on the "Dumbo" ride at Disney.

One of Anja's main goals was to get autographs from all of the Disney characters in her trip journal!

Family picture around Minnie Mouse!

Ailsa and Mickey!

The kids at the end of the 12 hour day at Disneyland Hong Kong - at least they could muster one more smile at the end of the day!