End of Summer in Daegu

After our our big trip back to the US, James finally had his back surgery to fuse two vertebrae on July 17.  Here he is a few days afterwards, recovering at Fatima hospital in Daegu.
He is really glad he did it and feels so much better! 

I kept the kids busy during the summer while James recuperated.
July 21, we went to the Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson Immortal tour in Daegu.
It was fantastic in its lighting, costumes, and acrobatic flights of fancy, and great to sing along to the Michael Jackson songs I love so much. We all had a good time.

On July 24, the kids and I and our new elementary art teacher, Lin, journeyed out to the ARC, a new river conservation education center in Daegu with very unique architecture. 

It is meant to look like a combination of a leaping fish and traditional Korean ceramics.

The ARC has a reflecting pool underneath it, and is on a hill overlooking a river with a dam
(in the background).
Inside are lots of cool displays about rivers conservation in Korea.

Back at home, we made a trip up to the butterfly greenhouse at Bongmu Park.
This was one of the first places we visited after we moved to Korea last August-
it brought back lots of memories.

The greenhouse was very warm, for all the butterflies flying around (and giant beetles in the tank) to enjoy. 

The kids enjoyed getting up close to the butterflies.

There were quite a few white ones flying around and they looked like a cloud sometimes when a group of them took off and flew together.

..beautiful duo sharing a flower here...

View of the lake from the start of the hiking path in Bongmu Park,
looking down on the butterfly greenhouse on the left.
It was hot and humid with temps in the 90's every day in July and early August.

Looking down from the 5th floor roof, there is so much growth compared to last year- many new apartments down the block,
and new stores going in across the street. 

Her art is based on hallucinations and expressions of her OCD- like these giant polka-dot balls. There were many times while viewing the exhibit when I felt like I was in Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

Some had amazing sights inside.

Kusama's art is very rich in pattern and whimsical shapes.

One of our favorite works was Kusama's Infinity Mirror.  We were standing in a small room, on a little peninsula going out into a pool of water. Hundreds of balls of light reflected on the walls and water, on into infinity. It felt like we were floating in a galaxy. 

Kusma's art is interactive and fun.  Here she is projected on us. 

A cool interactive art piece of Kusama's is the Room of Obliteration.  Everyone who visits for the five months of the exhibit puts stickers on the walls and furniture to slowly cover them..

Young and old get in on making this art. 

It is already looking so bubbly and colorful.  I can only imagine what it will look like in a couple more months.

..Kusama's giant pumpkins are so fun...

...so are her colorful Dogs...

... and her very interesting sculpture, "Regeneration". Looks like tentacles or worms. 

On August 20, we started school.
Everyone feels comfortable and happy as we start our second year at DIS.
James and I believe we finally have our "dream jobs", and the kids have wonderful teachers
who are also our friends in our little American community. ♥