2nd Annual Blue and Orange Ball

My dh had a company ball to go to. He avoids these things like the plague, but I like them. It is an opportunity for me to go out with my husband all dressed up for dinner. Since I didn't expect the army to be having events like this in Korea, I didn't pack my fancy dress(es) or my husband's suit. So my sweet neighbor let me borrow her dress (Thanks!). I was able to meet a few new people there that my dh works with. I am always glad to get a chance to get a picture with my man!

Soyosan Mountain

I have been aching to see autumn leaves for years. I have been living in the Arizona desert and central Texas for the last 7 years. They just don't have fall there. When you grow up in PA and NY state, you know what autumn is supposed to look like. So, I talked my dear husband into going hiking with the girls and I so I could try to catch some trees in their glory. Well, unfortunately, we were a little early to catch the color, but we had a good time climbing the mountain.


Soyosan Mountain

A horse statue with my girls and their friend

The only trees I caught with color.

I want to come back in the spring... I believe that this is a resting area covered with wisteria vines.

The Nature Girl with a walking stick. Checking out what new discoveries she can make.

Hiking up the road, the beginning of the mountain trail.

The sign telling about the temple located on the mountain.

The arch where you pay to enter the mountain. It cost about $3.00 for the 5 of us to get on the mountain. It cost $2.00 to park.

A waterfall and a grotto with a shrine to budda.


Proof that I was there. lol

The ajama who took the picture wanted to have her picture taken with the girls.

Waterfall

Nature Girl couldn't help herself, she had to dig in the tire tread covered stairs to find a bit of nature to be her newest treasure.

Stairs, stairs and more stairs... oh, my calves hurt the next day!





Climbing the rocks


The Koreans were excited to see little ones do so well climbing their mountain. They would laugh and clap when they saw the girls.

We didn't make it to the top of the mountain. When we thought about the trip back down the mountain... helping and carrying small kids... we cut our hike short. But the girls hiked for a really long way. If I could have read the map, I might have had an idea about how far we went.



The strangest thing I think I saw was a station where they had compressed air so you could spray the dust off your pants at the end of the hike!!! We rebelled and left the dust on our pants. There was actually a line of people waiting to spray themselves off.

Chilies, chilies, everywhere

The Korean people love chili peppers and chili powder. It is in so much of their food. As you walk along, you see the plants growing everywhere. Once the chilies have ripened, they are laid out to dry. Usually on the street or sidewalk. I have even seen them laid out on the median of the road and once they were taking up a parking spot on the main road! So when you come to Korea, be prepared to see chilies everywhere!



Here, they blocked off a seldom-used road to dry chilies!



Here are some people laying out their peppers in the morning to dry for the day

Here are some dried peppers separated from their seeds.

Yangju Flower Market

There is a place here on Camp Casey called the Pear Blossom Cottage. It is for spouses to hang out, meet each other, use a real kitchen (not all apartments here have ovens), wash clothes, take classes and go on field trips. One such field trip we went on was to the Yangju Flower Market. It was about a 2 hour subway ride to get there. Then, we grabbed a taxi and hoped the taxi driver knew where to go... especially since we really didn't know where we were going. LOL! They had flowers everywhere! The prices would knock you over! 10 roses from $2.00-$3.00! At prices like that, you can get a LOT of roses!!! There were so many different kinds of flowers. There was a section of fresh-cut flowers, greenhouses, silk flowers and floral accessories and a section where they made the most beautiful floral arrangements. I bought some roses (forgot to take pictures of the ones I bought) and some mums for about $4 per plant. It was a neat trip, but I probably won't be making that trip often as it is so far. Sept 17, 2009

The sign to look for to find the Flower Market


A basket made up with 100 roses.


Beautiful basket of arranged flowers


Don't you hate it when you turned the picture, but it won't show up that way?



A view of the room where they sell fresh flowers


The Nature Girl


The Artist


Piles of flowers for sale



Purple, blue and white... so pretty


These purple orchids caught my eye.


Beautiful orchids. I love this one with painted edges.




Shelves of orchids everywhere.


My girls with their flowers.


Zebra stand for plants


Poinsettias in September in Korea!


Potted plants with pretty sand designs


Plants potted in traditional Korean pottery


I loved these little critters!


Decorative dolls made with slices of wood.


a giant pile of baskets up in the artificial flower area


Gabriel sharing his Ipod movie with the Nature Girl
See his arm around her? Gonna have to keep an eye on those two! LOL!


The kids all watching a movie on the Ipod