Six in Seoul

Boy 1 is becoming quite the social butterfly here, yesterday he went to his first birthday party since we have been here.  While he was out partying, hubby, the 3 little ones and I went to Iteawon, a touristy shopping area in Seoul.  I was a bit disappointed, the shopping was not what I expected - but don't worry, I'm not giving up, I know I will find a perfect shopping area.  This area was just too touristy for me.  We did have lunch at a Korean BBQ restaurant, which was pretty good, and we saw some interesting thing.  For example, this cute little dog riding on a moped.....

Another thing I find interesting are the motorcycles.  The picture I am posting is not that great, however I have been trying to get a picture of a motorcycle since I have been here and this is the only one I have been able to snap.  The motorcyclist are CRAZY…they carry HUGE loads and drive where ever they want. This guys is on the sidewalk!  You have to be very careful driving here because they will come up between you and the car next to you, when there isn’t even room for a bicycle, much less a motorcycle carrying who knows what.  Koreans turn a 2 lane street into a 4 lane street and motorcycles still fit in between.  Seriously!

For those of you that think you would starve here, never fear, there is a Mc Donald's right around the corner. 

When picking my children up from school a Korean lady approached me.  She told me she was a modeling agent, and went on and on about how beautiful my children are, (I totally agree) ultimately asking if my children would like to model.  Now, if I were in the states I would have run for the hills, started freaking out and most likely yelling for a police officer.  However, we are in Korea, where children mean the world and I really feel no one (especially Koreans) would cause harm to children.  You would have to be here to understand this.  Another thing that helped is my neighbor had mentioned to me the night before that her children had done some modeling here.   I let the lady take pictures of my children and gave her my cell number; she gave me her card and told me she would call me.  When we got home, I went to my neighbors to ask her if this was the company her children worked for, indeed it was.  She went on telling me how wonderful the lady was and showed me the work of her children.  She reassured me that modeling here is very different than in the states, this is fun, dress up, play time.  Her children have been in several magazines and calendars, they were paid very well for it and enjoyed doing it.  So we will see, are my children model material?  I’ll keep you posted on this journey.

Monday we moved into our new home.   I was pleasantly surprised with housing, I expected the worst, but didn’t get it.  For you guys that are military or those of you that visited us in Kansas, Korea housing is MUCH BETTER!  The kids are very happy with it, and love having a place to call home.  We have a huge playground right outside our back door & 3 more playgrounds in our small neighborhood.   Boy 1 already has a girlfriend (he has only been in school 3 days) and was ask to the Sadie Hawkins dance by 2 different girls.  I think his adjustment period is over.  Girl has been in school 2 days; she likes her class, but says she will never love it as much as her last class.  She has made several friends, including the little girls next door.  Girl also tells us at least once daily that she really likes Korea. Boys 2 & 3 are doing great & have made several new friends on the playground.  The playground is wonderful; however there is a downside to it, the floor of the playground is sand, so it is like having a huge sandbox outside your back door.  I have NEVER seen such dirty children.  I now know why people have play clothes for their children.  Girl had a white shirt on the day we moved in when she came in from playing it was brown.  I don’t know if it will ever come clean, but I am good with that.  J

So now we are just settling into a routine, which feels nice.  Our neighbors had us over for dinner last night.  It is so nice being in a neighborhood where neighbors talk to each other and seem to care about each other.  It was also nice eating a home cooked meal again.  

Yesterday I got a cell phone although it doesn’t seem to work in the house very well.  We should be getting our vontage line in the next couple of weeks, and for those of you that knew our old home number, I think we are getting the same number.  I will let you know for sure.  We still do not have internet, so my blogs will not be consistent.
 
A DATE & TIME for the baby book:  boy 3 went poop in the potty just now…Wed, 23 April at 9:05 AM!  He has been showing signs of potty training for the past 3 months, however Mommy wasn’t ready because of the move, but now it is on!  I am almost diaper FREE!!

This might be my last post for a few days, because today we check out of the hotel and into our house, it is actually a 6 or 8 plex & I don't know when my internet will be hooked up.  Although I am excited about moving out of the hotel, we don't have any of our things that have been shipped over.  Of course we have the things we brought on the airplane with us, which are important, but we are missing things like....sheets, shower curtains, towels, dishes, pots & pans - you get the idea.  The house does come furnished, so we will have places to sit and lay, and if you remember we brought our COFFEE MACHINE on the airplane, so we will have coffee to drink. :)   OH, yesterday we bought a car,  a '94 Toyota Camery.  It is not a 'hooptie' ,  it runs great and has been maintained very well.  Not all of our family can fit it it, but it is just to get around post. Everything is within walking distance & hubby will take the bus to work most days. I doubt I will ever drive off post.  If you ever come to visit, hubby will be the one to pick you up.   

This is the family eating at a little place in Seoul.  I think the kids enjoyed the experience, but I'm not sure how much they liked the food.

Below is a picture of they way you eat at a Korean restaurant, they bring everything out and you cook your meat on these little grills in the middle of the table.  We never know what we are ordering, we just point at a picture.

This is hubby buying rice cakes from a street vendor.  The vendor gave us multiple things to try, before we decided on the rice cakes.  We sampled some hard black corn, which boy 2 promptly spit out of his mouth; I don't think anyone else saw him do this, thank goodness.  We tried a few other things which I have no idea what they were, and something that looked like bird seed, it was in a flat little square, I think it was sesame seeds.  And last, we tried the rice cakes, made fresh - it was really cool watching them be made.  Rice dropped into a little circular dish; a big arm came down over it with lots of heat, and then out popped a rice cake 4 times as big as the circular dish.

My class on Korean culture was very good.  I enjoyed this brief - here are a few things I learned.

In Korean culture -

You do not shake hands first, you bow to each other first, then the older person can offer their hand during the bow for a hand shake.

Elderly are given special attention, respect and care.  The older the person, the deeper the bow.

When eating the oldest person eats first.

You always pass thing with 2 hands.

When visiting a Korean home: *always remove your shoes *make sure you wear hole free & clean socks,if you are wearing sandals you will normally be offered slippers to wear  *always bring a gift of aprox $10 in value * Koreans usually do not open the gift in front of you  *when offered a drink, take it.

Do not use your finger to point with, you use your whole hand.

Korean's don't keep eye contact when talking with you  (this one might make me insane)

In stores and on the street Koreans shove and bump into people, personal space is non-existent here.  (again, me=insane)

Little is usually said during meal time.

Females & males hold hands with friends of the same sex to express their friendship.  It is not unusual to see same sex walking down the street holding hands.

Koreans avoid confrontation and raising their voices when dealing with others....they are very calm all the time.  (I hope this rubs off on me)

Koreans do not hug or kiss when meeting with family or friends.  (I'm a hugger)

Koreans do not write names in red.

Koreans do not drink in front of someone older or of higher status without permission.

You do not sit with your legs crossed...foot sitting on knee.  This is  a sign of disrespect, it is telling everyone around you they are lower than the dirt on your foot.

Korean women typically dress much nicer than American women.  They rarely wear sneakers out. 

Yesterday I left YongSan for the first time and went into Seoul.  I must admit I had a few butterflies in my stomach, but was also excited.  I went with my new friend Ginny.  Ginny took me to a little Korean grocery store where I bought fresh bananas, strawberries and some sort of citrus fruit, they look like miniature oranges but are very tart.  Anyway, after the grocery store we went to her apartment.  This is a view from her apartment window.  There are some very cool things about Korean apartments; my favorite thing is that the on/off switch for the water at the kitchen sink is on the floor.  You just step on the left side and the water turns on, step on the right side and the water turns off.  There is also a spot you step on and the water turns on briefly.  I love it....great for when working with raw meats. This feature will be in my dream house.  We also went to lunch at a little Korean BBQ restaurant...I wish I had my camera, but I left it in her apartment.  The food was very good.  There was only one thing I didn't much care for and that was this.....

I don't know how well you can see this, but it is little bitty dehydrated fish, they look like minnows to me, heads are on. They served them fried at the restaurant.  I tried them several times before I decided I did not like them.  It was like eating fish Jerky.  Staci, you would have gagged just looking at them.

On the way home from lunch we stopped at the war memorial where they were having a changing of the guards ceremony. This is a band  walking up to play at the ceremony.  Check out all the flowers and greenery, this is everywhere in Seoul.  Everything is amazingly clean - I love it! 

This is in the subway. If you are ever in the subway in Korea and get lost, you can always find your way out, as every exit is marked with "way out".  Speaking of clean, Molly even you would be impressed with the subways.  The floors sparkled.  No joke, they sparkled.  I will have to take a picture of that the next time I am in the subway.

Ok, so the last blog wasn't as funny for you as it was for me.  You must understand, I was in a HOT room with 200 soldiers and 5 wives for 7 hours.   2 out of the 7 hours was informative, the other 5, well, let's just say I wanted to bang my head against the wall.  I don't do sitting still well. I think they were trying to teach patience to me. I am thankful I only have 2 days of this, hubby has 6.  Poor guy.

I went to the commissary last night, I was excited to find a few organic items, as well as soy milk and diet DP!  I did note there are several items I will be buying on line or begging my friends in the US to send my way.  Over all my experience was not horrible, but not great for someone that likes to cook as much as I do.  When I was done with the commissary, this is where my new lesson of patience was put to the test.  I had to wait in line for a cab for (drum rolll please) 45 minutes!!!!  I was about to loose my mind!  After 20 minutes I started thinking "are you kidding me"?!?!  Then I just went numb.  Oh goodness I need a car.  I am so thankful I didn't buy ice cream.  I hope my yogurt is ok.

Boy 1 started school yesterday.  That is about all I have on that subject.  11 year old boys don't say much.  :)  I was able to drag out of him that his day was ok & that he met some potential friends.

Enjoy your day.....
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The top 5 things I found amusing at today's brief by the army....

5. Dial 911 for fire.

4. Do not put candles directly under the curtains.

3. Do NOT put your telephone in the oven under any circumstance. It does not matter how many times your friends and or family from the states call  during the middle of the night, still do not put your phone in the oven!

2. Do NOT under any circumstance beat up a cab driver.  Even if you realize you do not have won (Korean currency) to pay with, do not try to knock them out then run away.  They will find you.

And my #1 favorite thing from today is when the lady from the Red Cross started her 20 minute lecture..."I would like to 'briefly' talk to you about the Red Cross.  Back in  1891........"

 

It is 5am and I am done with hotel living.  We have 2 rooms, a room for hubby and myself, and a room for the kids.  Well, this morning I have 3 children in my room.  Boy 3 woke up at 3:30am insisting on watching "TB".  I made him go back to sleep after a little screaming.  Then at 4am boy 2 decided to join us.  Girl is asleep on the couch.  AUGHHH!! Finally after lying in a full size bed with 4 people I had had enough.   I can't wait to move into our house on Monday.  I am VERY THANKFUL we are not living here for much longer. 

Boy 1 starts school today.  I think he is nervous and a bit excited, although he would never admit it.  They have some really cool things at Boy 1's school, like SKI CLUB, he can take a foreign language & it counts towards highschool credit.  He has decided he is going to take Korean.  Girl does not start till Monday, she could have started today, but we have classes that are mandatory for myself and hubby to attend today and tomorrow.  Girl has to have an orientation at her school with parents, so the next time available is Monday.  

I found Youth services. I still have to fill out paperwork, but when that is done I will be able to enroll the chldren in sports and piano.   I also found PWOC (protestant women of the chapel), they meet on Wednesday mornings.  I plan on attending this coming Wednesday.

 OH - OH -OH....I forgot to mention - I found a house helper!!!  Her name is Grace and she is from the Phillipines.  She will come as often as I like and will do whatever I need done, from cleaning the house, doing laundry, to watching the children!  She does this all for a rate of $8 per hour!  I should be able to have her a couple of times a week.  I am so excited.


That's it for now.....I will post a few pictures this evening.
 

So, my friend Randy told me the difference between a blog and a website....I think I have it now, but who knows.   I think you can now leave  comments on this page directly. 

Anyway...I got SO much done yesterday!  First I went to see ACS (army community services) to see Mr. Kim about getting my kids in school.  I have almost everything done for that now.  Hubby is out with Boy 1 and Girl right now getting their shots.  I am SO thankful he is doing that and not me.    After I saw Mr. Kim, who smells very much like garlic, I am told we smell like milk....anyway, that is off the subject.  After I saw Mr. Kim, I went to housing to put us on the list for a house.  After I got there I was really afraid I would screw something up b/c Hubby usually does this part, but he is stuck in classes all week, so I thought I would get the ball rolling.   I didn't screw things up and I got a house for us!!!  In fact they gave me 2 to choose from.  We move in on Monday.  I do not have an address yet, but as soon as I do I will send it via email to you.  The kids and I walked all over post doing this yesterday, they were exhausted and grumpy after all was said and done, but it was worth it, and I treated them to Burger King & ice cream when we were finished.  Yes, we have a BK here, as well as Pizza Hut, & Subway.  Oh, I also enrolled us all at the hospital.

Ok, so after reading that it doesn't seem like much, but I had to do it by foot since we don't have a car, with 4 children in tow & I had to go to the same place multiple times. 

Today on the agenda, going to the school to see when my kids can start.

 

Day 2 - Korea.

So far so good. The weather is beautiful and there are flowers everywhere. The kids woke up again at 3:30am, but I made them go back to sleep. I think this time it was just an excuse to play XBOX (yes, it was a part of our carry on luggage as well). I will have none of that - waking at 3:30am is not acceptable. I am hoping to get them in school by the end of the week, the only thing stopping me is they have to get more shots before they can go. I am going to try to get that done today.

The only odd thing I have encountered so far is that no one makes eye contact while walking, I try to smile and say hi, but I can't get people to look at me. Now they will stare at my blonde headed children. I did read something yesterday about how locals "usually don't' say hello and make eye contact with strangers". That will be hard for me to get used to. 

 

14 April 2008


We made it to Korea around 5pm, Sunday 13 April. The kids were AMAZING on the trip. We could not have ask them to be any better than they were. Of course, our time clocks are all out of whack, we woke up at3:30am this morning. It is a beautiful day here with the temperature in the50's. Hubby is off in-processing, the kids and I are hanging out in the hotel until he gets back. For those of you that know about our coffee obsession, our coffee machine made it safetly to Korea (as a part of our carry on luggage), and has already made several cups of coffee this morning.  I will put a picture of our coffee machine on this site as soon as I figure out how.