Rainy weekend

Although Saturday was another rainy day (seems that most days lately are unusually wet for this time of year), I joined one of my adult students, William and his son for a day trip along the East coast.
We drove along the coastal road past Jinha Beach (there is a windsurfing competition here in a few weeks ) and by Cape Ganjeol, where the first sunrise of the newyear can be seen each January 1st. Unfortunately, it was raining too hard for me to take any photographs. Let's just say, it wasn't the best day for sightseeing.
We continued along the coastal road, savoring the magnificent cherry blossoms that have seemed to bloom overnight all over Korea. We stopped after a few hours for lunch at a seaside restaurant. It was a western style restaurant ..looking much like a mountain chalet. I think William felt I would prefer a taste of home. William's son, who is 6 years old was exceptionally shy. I am only the second foreigner that he has ever met and he doesn't speak English. However, during lunch he never hesitated to entertain me by playing with his food and basically 'showing off'. I have to admit that William is a very patient father, especially when his son began to pour water from his glass on his father's plate of food.
After lunch (which was close to 4pm) the rain had slowed and we decided to continue on to a Temple that is located by the sea. The temple is called Yonggungsa and is one of the most magnificent temples I have seen so far in Korea. Although, I must admit, each new temple I see seems to elicit the same response.
As we walked down the many steps to the temple, we came across a Buddha statue that appeared to have had it's big belly rubbed many times. The smooth round belly looked warn and welcoming. I reached out to rub the belly and just as I began rubbing it (I thought maybe for good luck), William remarked that most woman rub the belly to wish for a baby...Oops...I quickly took my hand away. We laughed together that it was 'a close one'. However, I am sure Buddha would differentiate a wish for good luck from a wish for a baby..But better safe then sorry.
We walked through the Temple grounds, enjoying the magnificent views of the East sea. Although it was a cool rainy day, the temple was still very busy.
As it was getting late, we decided to leave and William drove me back home.
The rest of the weekend (still rainy) was quite low key. I did some spring cleaning and relaxed in my apartment.
Hopefully the weather will improve and I can get some more sightseeing done next weekend.
Ciao
Colleen