Wherever we may roam

"I'll be back"

2010-09-24T06:39:00.001-07:00

I was fortunate to get a chance to see one of the most famous movie stars of my generation, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He came to Asia to talk trade with China, Japan and South Korea. While he was in the area, he came to thank the troops and their families at the Yongsan army post on Sept 15.

I asked my friend, Melanie, if she was interested in joining me for this little excursion. We made arrangements for the kids to be watched and jumped on the subwayWe were quite giddy to be out without the kiddos for a girls night out on a "school night".

We got to post at 5:45 and headed toward the gym and saw this...

The line getting in to the gym an hour before he was to speak was about 50 people long. We went in expecting to be standing in the back of the gymnasium and were quite surprised to find the place mostly empty! We got a seat about 8 rows back from the stage!

There was a lot of excitement in the room while we waited for Arnold to come in. Music playing, kids dancing (and crying), cameras shooting everything that moved, and necks craning every time the door opened on the side of the gym that Arnold would be coming out of.

Arnold said that he always tries to makes time to go see the troops whenever he is traveling around the world. "It's wonderful to be here. For many of you who don't know I came over here to Korea on a great mission to pump up our economy in the great state of California. But whatever I do - if I go on a movie promotion or if I go on a business promotion or under the trade commission, rallying for the Special Olympics - whatever it is I always go and visit our Troops. I love visiting our Troops, I love it! I love visiting our troops and the reason is: I am a big fan and a big admirer of yours. You see, I play in my movies the action hero, but you are the true action heroes." said Arnold.

Arnold also gave a great shout-out to thank military families for their support.
“I want to say thank you to all of you for the great service that you provide for our country. Not only the men and women in uniform, I know also who your true partners are,” said Schwarzenegger. “You true partners are sitting out there: the spouses, the children, the families. You are making the same sacrifices, you are doing the same things, always working for our great country. That is why I say thank you.”

He spent some time talking about his childhood in Austria and coming to America with almost no money and big dreams. He praised the freedoms that are found in the United States that had given him the opportunity to be a body-building champion, a movie star and a chance to become the governor of California.

“Where else can an Austrian farm boy go and end up being governor of the great state of California? Only in America,” said Arnold Schwarzenegger. “There are so many people who always debate: who is really responsible for making American the greatest nation? Is it the political leaders, is it the scientists, is it the educators, is it the press? Who is it really? I say it is you.”

He talked about how much he personally cares about the condition of Califonia's economy. He said his trip to Asia was not paid for with money from California and that he is not receiving a paycheck from California for being the governor. Gotta respect that.

Before he left, he did not let us down, he said the most famous words most associated with Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back".

Itaewon

2010-06-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Recently, while I was in Seoul, my friend, Melanie and I decided to walk over to Itaewon. I have not been there since I came to visit my husband in Korea about 12 years ago. It looked quite different to me. Lots to see, lots of shopping and lots of food! We had a gyro-like sandwich for lunch (which was yummy) and Cold Stone Ice Cream for dessert! 6/3/10

Flower boxes along the way

Entrance to Itaewon. It was election season. See all the campaigners in blue?

McDonald's open 24 hours. They have cones for 40 cents!

Melanie found a pair of shoes she likes

Shoes wrapped in plastic just like your hamburger in the deli case. lol!

Embroidery shop

Burger King and Reebok, what a combination!

Garden Statue

Hangover soup with Oxbone

Grilled Stomach (Tripe)

Beef Tripe and Intestine Soup

Interesting light- A bag full of incandescent bulbs
with a fluorescent bulb shining through them.

Chocolate shop with delicious chocolates inside

Coffee Shop next door

Carriages in the antique section of town

A cool-looking house

Banners welcoming you to Itaewon in several languages up the street

ACU Tote

2010-06-24T08:06:00.004-07:00

Once again, I have made an original design. I had a gal here in Korea ask me if I would help her make an Army purse. I sat down with one of my husband's old uniforms and played around with it. This is what I came up with. Not bad for my first try, even if I do say so myself.
I am praying for you, AM.

Back

Front

Top

Going to the dentist in Korea

2010-06-23T00:58:00.003-07:00

I know... we all hate going to the dentist. But I have really good news for you if you live in Area 1. We have a fabulous dentist here in Dongducheon by the name of Dr. Gary at Chicago Dentist. He was raised in the states, so his English is perfect, but married a Korean gal and stayed in Korea. He has state-of-the-art equipment, a friendly staff and a kids play room in case you have to bring the kiddies with you. He also treats kids.

His prices about knocked me over! A crown in the states a year ago cost me about $1,000 of which I had to pay half. The crowns at Chicago Dentist are $350 and I have to pay half!!!!! Now that is much more affordable! And he is Tricare approved.

I went in for a root canal today. Dr. Gary did a marvelous job! I barely even felt the shots for the Novocaine! He did excellent! If you need a dentist, give him a call at 031-859-2859.

Now, if my face would just stop being numb...

From Pants to Skirts

2010-05-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have 2 girls who are constantly growing out of their clothes. When the big one outgrows pants, I just start putting them in the youngest ones drawer. Now the youngest is outgrowing those pants. Funny thing, the waist still fits the older one! So I decided to try to salvage the pants and make them last for another go-around. I looked online but could not find a tutorial for what I wanted to do, so I decided to make my own. I took the pants and cut off the legs. Then I seam ripped up the front and back seams. I pulled the left and right sections together a little and sewed the seam up. I adjusted the length of the new skirt and then added a second fabric to the bottom to make the skirt long enough to be modest. Some of the bottom fabric is regular yard goods, and some of it is taken from a skirt from a dress that the youngest has outgrown. This idea also works great for pants that are ripped in the knees or stained to make them last a little longer. Now the eldest can wear the new skirt and when she grows out of it, the youngest will get it back!

The pants in their original state.

The pants after I cut the legs off

After I seam ripped the front and back seams and stitched them back together.
I then cut them to the length I wanted them.

Skirt with bottom made from 2 ladies tank tops. I cut the
tops apart and used 2 pieces on the front and 2 on the back.

Finished skirt with lettuce edging

Another skirt I made. For this one I used yard goods for the bottom.
AM, know that I am praying for you.

Samsung Children’s Museum

2010-04-15T21:45:00.005-07:00

I decided to take a field-trip to the Samsung Children's Museum. We had a blast with all the fun things to see and do there. It is meant to be very hands-on for the kids and the price was great, about $6 per kid and $5 for adults. I drug my friend, Angie, along so we could hang out. It was a great day!

The front entrance

My girls

The Nature Girl loading a basket on the crane

The Artist operating the crane

The Nature Girl in her safety vest on the construction site

The Artist using the pulley to bring things up to the 2nd floor of the model home

The Artist laying (foam) shingles

The Nature Girl installing a window

The Nature Girl laying tile (magnetic) in the bathroom

My girls with the statues

The Artist drawing a vase

The Nature Girl doing a rubbing

The Artist using the drafting tools

The Nature Girl performing

There was a movie screen where she could watch herself dance

Puppet

The Nature Girl as an astronaut

The ball room

Elaborate set ups using air, resistance and gravity

While we were in the water room, we saw lots of young children all color-coordinated from different schools while we were there. It seems to be a very popular spot. It is probably not as busy on weekends when there are no school fieldtrips.

The Nature Girl watching water work

The Artist using slides to show the "baby" and the adult of several creatures

I loved the sonogram display. It was so cool!

The Artist making her first news report

The Nature Girl picked up weaving immediately

After we finished the museum and lunch, we went for a walk around the
lake surrounding Lotte World to enjoy the day and the beautiful flowers

The walkway was covered with cherry blossoms

The castle at Lotte World

Me and my girls

Angie and the girls

Beautiful Angie

My girls in the flowers

The trees surrounded the entire lake. It was such a beautiful stroll

For more info on how to get there, copy and paste the following link http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=268213&nearBy=shopping&

Sock Curls

2010-04-08T07:57:00.001-07:00

My dear friend told me that she wraps her granddaughter's hair up in socks to create curls. So I decided to give it a try on the Nature Girl since she has a slight curl to her hair. After her bath one night, we rolled her wet hair up in socks and had her sleep on it.

We all thought it was funny to have socks in your hair...

but it did make her hair curly. And it was fun to try.

July 3, 2009

Insadong

2010-04-05T03:34:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for pottery, antiques, souvenirs or traditional tea houses, then Insadong is the place for you!

The building outside the subway station

Shoes being sold out of a trunk on the street

Souvenirs

Business card holders

Compacts

Fancy fans

3D greeting cards of traditional Korean dress

Amethyst cathedral

Beautiful inlay

moldy books

Traditional Korean pottery. The Queen of England shopped here!

these guys sell 16,000 strings of honey also known as court cakes... a sweet candy served to royalty. They put on a pretty good show... have your camcorder ready!

Flashy hair accessories are everywhere in Korea

A shop selling buddist items

Poinsettias

Angie took me to my first Kalbi (I think that is spelled right) restaurant. It is a place where they grill the meat right at your table.

You wrap the beef or pork in a lettuce leaf. Some people have been known to call it "beef in leaf", but not I.

Here is the meat grilling on at the table... yum!

A nut candy... very, very sticky

A chest inlayed with mother of pearl... I don't remember how much it cost, but it was expensive!!!!

an antique shop

I had a great time checking out Insadong with my friend, Angie. Thanks for going exploring with me! Sept 7, 2009

National Museum of Korea and the Children's Museum

2010-03-24T05:57:00.015-07:00

I had a wonderful day with my family! I had to go down to Yongsan for a PWOC meeting gearing up for the Faithlift woman’s conference this weekend. Because I would have my afternoon free, I thought I’d have my family come down with me. On the train, on the way down, Nature Girl told her dad, “You drive me crazy!” He was picking on her and she was letting him know… I had to laugh out loud. How could you not when it was the first time you had ever heard that come out of your child’s mouth?

I went to PWOC (about 30 minutes late) and was so excited to see 3 ladies from Dongducheon there! I hadn’t known or expected them to travel down there (2 hours) with each of them toting a child under 2! Way to go, ladies! It was so nice to visit with them!

Since we are starting a chapter of PWOC up in Area 1, I was going to get to meet the PWOC President of the Asia Region. What a gem of a lady! I am looking forward to getting to know her better! We will be going up to Camp Casey tomorrow with a few other guests after the Leadership Brunch so they can see the facilities and be able to guide me in how best to proceed.

My husband grabbed the girls after PWOC and took them to the hotel to grab lunch while I was in a quick meeting. The weather had warmed up quite a bit by then (55’) and they were sitting outside enjoying pizza when I found them. We threw some crumbs trying to coax some birds over. We only had a few brave ones swoop by and grab a crumb and fly off. The girls enjoyed watching them, nonetheless.

Signing "I love you"

We decided to go to the Children’s Museum located in the Museum of Korea. The visit was free for both the basic entrance and the Children’s Museum. What a treat it was! The Children’s Museum only allows groups to go through every 1 ½ hours, so we had about 30 minutes to spend in the Museum of Korea. We saw stone and brass tools, ancient pottery, miniature displays of traditional hut made of wood and straw, and the elaborate wood work that was used in the Korean temples.

When we walked into the Children’s Museum, the first thing we saw was a life-size wooden and straw hut like the ones we had just been looking at in the Main Museum! We got to walk into the hut, touch replicas of the stone and wooden tools that were used during that time period, and see the pottery that the people would have used. When we walked out of the hut, they had a place where the kids could process raw rice. Rice has a sheath over it and that must be removed before it is eaten. They had a flat stone and a smaller stone that was used to roll the rice between to remove the sheath. They also had a mortar and pestle to accomplish the same job. The Nature girl thought it was the neatest thing… every time we turned around, she had wandered back to that display to clean the rice some more. What fun she had with that!!!

The girls could use wooden puzzle-like pieces to build model houses and the parts of the temple building. There were two costumes for the girls to dress up in, a replica of broken pottery to reassemble (it was magnetic to make it easier on the kids), brass rubbings, Korean traditional printing, musical instruments to play, a room full of puzzles and more. It was a great way to spend the day! Even my husband, who is a major homebody, enjoyed himself.

The walk back to post was scenic even though the trees were still bare. The girls and I decided that we will go back this summer to enjoy the beautiful grounds around the Museum.

The view looking over toward the Family Park next to the museum

Beautiful flowers outside the museum

Nature Girl spreading her wings

From the museum we went to the Navy Club for dinner. The girls enjoyed their chicken strips, my husband liked his omelet and I enjoyed my steak… yum! The décor was fun for the girls to see, with all of the pirates, shells, mermaids and sea life, it was very colorful.

Neat looking truck parked outside the Navy Club

The pirate's ship docked outside the Navy Club

Pirate that guards the door to the Navy Club

Little Prince - Children's Cafe

2010-01-31T07:18:00.008-07:00

My friend Jennifer and I went on a hunt today to find a place we had both heard about from others... a children's cafe. We found it on the 5th floor of a nondescript building in New City. It was the neatest place! Once you step out of the elevator, you are in the cafe. You take off your shoes and place them in a locker, put on slippers they provide and get stickers to put on the child's back. Then off the children run! So many things to play with and on. The staff seated us at a table and provided a menu in English. There is a call button on the table when you are ready to place your order. We had a wonderful meal and a nice visit. It costs about $5 per child for two hours of playtime. The staff corralled all the children and set them up in a smaller room to make a snack. It looked like flatted white bread that they put some meat and vegetables in and rolled it up and ate it. The staff played with the kids and really seemed to enjoy being with them. There are monitoring screens up all over the place so you can view the entire play area from most anywhere in the place.It was a lot of fun. The girls hated to leave, but we promised we would take them back again some day. Wish they had places like this in the states. January 14, 2010

The seating area

The booths

The Nature girl on the Merry-go-Round. It costs only about $0.10 per ride!

The Artist on the Merry-go-Round

They have a dress up area

The lounge in the dress up room

The Nature Girl dressed as Snow White

The artist in the honeycomb maze

The honeycomb maze

The Artist loved the zip-line kind of thing. She played on it endlessly.

The Nature Girl in the car

Trampoline

Wooden playhouse

The upstairs play area

The train downstairs

The sports area

Snack time

The Nature Girl's Party

2010-01-03T02:00:00.000-07:00

This is OLD news... back from when we moved to Korea, but I have some catching up to do, so bear with me. :)

By the time the Nature Girl's birthday had rolled around, we had met many more families, so we were able to invite them over for a birthday party. We had such a great time! Aug 28, 2009

The Nature Girl's Birthday Cake made by mommy

I set up several tables around the living room. This ended up as the little kids' table. Here the Nature Girl has a taco hanging out of her mouth.

All the Korean children sat together at this table. I think they were a bit nervous to be surrounded by so many American children when they don't speak English. The oldest boy understands English the best. He is Hiyoung's brother, Hamon. The twins, Meana and Sua joined us, too!

Time to blow out the candles

Look at that happy face!

The Nature Girl eating cake with her guests

Mikayla, Aisha and the Artist enjoying their cake

This turned into the "big kids" table

The Artist wanted to make something for her sister for her birthday. She colored a folded heart. It was so sweet.

Cool clay to play with from the twins(I love this stuff!)

A purse from the twins

Art supplies and new toothbrushes from Mikayla

A bug made out of clay from Hamon. So nicely made!

Window Cling kit from Hiyoung

A Dora building kit from Aisha

Puzzles and Barbie art supplies from Yani and Zay

We have been blessed to have met so many neat people in such a short time of being here... it has only been 2 months! God has provided so much for us!

The Artist's Party

2010-01-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

This is OLD news... back from when we moved to Korea, but I have some catching up to do, so bear with me. :)

Seeing as how we were new to Korea and we really didn't know anyone to have a birthday party for the Artist, we decided to make cupcakes and take them down to the playground and share them with whoever was down there. The Artist was excited about the idea and wanted to help get things ready. The girls helped me buy juice boxes and frost cupcakes. I asked my Korean friend, Yoona, to translate for us so the kids would know they were welcome to eat cupcakes and celebrate with us. July 10, 2009

The Artist with her cupcakes to share. She is so excited!

The children all sang "Happy Birthday" in Korean! It was great and I wish I would have caught it on video, but I was still learning my camera at that time, so no video.

This was a great way for them to meet some new friends down at the playground.

Reading

2009-11-12T10:44:00.004-07:00

This year we started schooling the Nature Girl in the Nursery curriculum we use. She has been learning to write in cursive and her vowels and consonants and how to put them together as blends. She is doing very well. Tonight when I was reading stories to the girls, the Nature Girl stopped me and started pointing at all the letters on the page she recognizes and calling out their names. The story could not go on until she was finished finding them all! It was so cute and made me proud as her teacher! As for the Artist, well she is having a blast reading books on her own. She reads things everywhere we go! It just tickles her to to know she is doing it "all by herself"! Yeah for home-school! How else could you share the joy of teaching your children to read and seeing them realize the gift they have been given?!

Just Like Heaven

2009-11-01T19:20:00.001-07:00

I have to admit, autumn is my favorite season. All the beautiful colors everywhere. I have missed 7 autumns living in the Southwest. I have been wandering around Korea in awe like a child for the last month watching the trees change colors. It amazes me the way God paints the world for us. On the way to church today we saw a sidewalk covered in bright yellow leaves. The Artist said it was like heaven where the streets are gold. On the way home we stopped to grab some pictures of the brilliant leaves we saw today... I hope you enjoy them, too!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

2009-10-25T07:39:00.001-07:00

The girls and I have been watching the leaves change and since we really don't want the season to end yet, we decided to bring the season inside with us. We collected leaves from a variety of trees while we were running errands and then made rubbings of them. We cut them out and decorated our room with them. The girls and I had a blast making our own pile of leaves!

Learning to Ride Bike

2009-09-30T22:35:00.001-07:00

I mentioned to the Artist the other day that I thought it was time she tried riding her bike without training wheels. She didn't say much at the time (which is surprising for her) but told me later that she wanted her daddy to teach her how to ride her bike. He was out in the field (army talk for pretending to be doing their jobs in a battlefield environment) for a few days, so I told her she would have to wait until he returned. When he got home, that was one of the first things she started talking about. That weekend, my husband removed the training wheels and took both girls out to practice riding. The Artist did very well. She will be riding without training wheels soon. Though, I do expect to have quite a few bumps and bruises on her until she learns to keep her eyes on the road. The Nature Girl did very well, too. She wobbles alot, but she stayed upright pretty well. It was so cute to hear the Artist's thoughts on learning to ride. She told me, "I am nervous about riding my bike without training wheels. Do you think I should try it or not, mommy?" I like that she can articulate her thoughts so well. While she was riding on her own for a stretch, her sister hollered out to her, "Great job! You're the best! I love you." Awww can you get any cuter? 9/18/2009

2nd Annual Blue and Orange Ball

2009-09-29T20:23:00.002-07:00

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

2009-09-28T01:08:00.002-07:00

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

2009-09-21T18:39:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-17T03:35:00.000-07:00

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

My Ballet Girls

2009-09-15T01:51:00.005-07:00

The girls just started ballet lessons. The Artist has wanted to take lessons for several years, I just never could get her into the classes. So we found a place that offers 12-week classes for less than $6 a class per child! So both girls are now Ballerinas-in-Training! The teacher is Korean, so the girls are also getting trained in the language as well since I don't think she speaks English. It is going well so far and The Artist is so excited! I am sad that there isn't a place for me to take pictures of them practicing, so all I have is a picture of them in the dressing room and the one picture I snapped before the door closed. Oh, how I want to see them dance. We will have to see if they get to have a little dance recital at the end like they do in America.

The Sweetest Thing

2009-09-09T09:01:00.002-07:00

My dear, little Nature Girl... a child filled with such a sweet spirit. She can capture your heart and make you laugh... even if she does find any and all manner of mischief to get into! Here is just a taste of how sweet she can be.

Second Market

2009-09-07T06:08:00.001-07:00

Near my home is the local market area called Second Market. It is filled with shops and stores and every 5th day many vendors come out and line the streets and sidewalks with their foods, fruits and other wares.

Fresh Fruit

Fresh Fish

Dried fish, shrimp and who knows what else

Kimchi and other dishes, ready to go

I am not ever sure what this is to tell the truth

It is so much fun to just wander around and see what is here. The girls are fascinated by the live fish, mussels, octopus and squid swimming around in tanks. The street food is fun to try, though we do stay away from the spicy stuff. None of us have a taste for chili peppers. While we were there, we bought several packages of kim (toasted and salted seaweed). My girls ate it non-stop the whole time we wandered around. I thought it was funny, and even the Korean people were amused to see little American children begging to eat more seaweed!

Potty talk

2009-09-03T04:22:00.005-07:00

Ok, you have no doubt heard about toilets in Korea or other foreign countries, well let me introduce you to what I have encountered. I have been here for almost 3 months now. I have actually found that most of the bathrooms in public places have western style (read American) toilets and facilities (yeah!).

This one even had an adult and child-size toilet side-by-side for mom and kid to use at the same time (how cute). Some of them even have the best hand driers I have ever seen... your hands are dry in no time... not like the wimpy ones we usually see in the states. Then, you run across one of these...

Now they are another matter all together. Try teaching your little one how to squat over one of these. Now the one thing that didn't ring a bell the first time I saw it was the soap dispenser (circled in red).

The one I saw was almost used up, so it looked quite strange. I figured that since I was uncertain what it was that someone else might be curious, too.
One important thing you should know before entering the stall to do your business is that many of them do not have toilet paper in there. You can usually find a toilet paper dispenser out in the main part of the bathroom. Grab some before going in.

Children's Grand Park

2009-08-31T22:30:00.003-07:00

I have to say that this is the hardest post I have had to write so far... Why? Because I have 377 pictures and I don't want to bore you with all of them, so which ones do I show you!?! We had such a good time! So, bear with me while I give you a tour of this wonderful place hidden away in Seoul.

The entrance of Children's Grand Park. The park is free to enter and you could spend the whole day there for free if you wanted. Stop by the Information center just inside the gate and grab a map of the park... you'll need it because the park is so large.

The girls and daddy getting ready to explore the park.

The Nature Girl petting a giraffe statue.

My girls posing with the lion.

Beautiful Water Lilies in the Environment Pond. I just loved these!

A little sample of a traditional Korean country home (I think)

There is a boardwalk through an ecological pond.

They have an aviary where you can feed the birds. Now, I am not a big bird fan, but I really enjoyed this. For 500Won (about 50 cents) you can buy a little container of food to feed the birds. They will eat right out of your hands. I thought the girls would be all over this one, but they were a little nervous at first. They didn't like the feel of the little feet on their hands or the little rubbing from the birds' beaks as they were eating out of their hands. They eventually got over it, but surprisingly, the Artist did better than the Nature Girl with this one!

We all had a good time and the girls really enjoyed it!

For some reason the birds really liked the lace on the Artist's socks!

Nice waterfall and resting area.

Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs and my two little munchkins.

They have a zoo with polar bears, seals, monkeys, lions, tigers, elephants, camels, deer, crocodiles, owls and many more!

The fennec fox is the smallest of all the world's foxes, but has large ears, measuring 6 inches. Fennec foxes are originally from the sandy Sahara Desert and elsewhere in North Africa. They were just adorable!

Hey, you can't poop out on me yet... there is so much more to see and do!
Hang in there... you can do it!

They have 2 very large playgrounds and one water playground (we didn't make it to the water playground). One of the playgrounds was under construction when we were there. But I have seen how quickly the Korean people get their construction projects done, and I would guess that in a month all will look like new again there.

A cool disk swing.

Another great flower bed.

They had a very nice merry-go-round.

A view of the amusement park from the ferris wheel. The park is definitely not cheap. We bought a child's ticket for 5 rides for about $10 for each of the girls. It cost $4 for a ticket to ride just one ride for an adult. They do follow height requirements, so the girls were turned away from several rides. There weren't too many rides for really little ones... only about 6 or 7. If you go when it isn't busy, it may look like the rides aren't running, just wait by the ride you want to use or let a park employee from another ride know what ride you want to go on, and they will send someone over to run the equipment.

A shot of a roof I could see from the ferris wheel... someone planted grass on the roof of their house. Now do they go up and mow their roof?

The Train Exhibit

The Rainbow Fountain (not really sure why they call it that). Check out the lush trees in the background there!

A beautiful flower bed by the rear entrance

The Music Fountain - they say that the fountain moves in time with music.

Oh, the only other thing that costs money that I forgot to mention, is the animal shows and the animal rides. You can watch seals and elephants perform, or have the kids take a ride on a camel. We didn't do those things, but the camel ride was about $5. I didn't get to see how much the shows were. But I think I heard that they didn't cost too much.

We had such a wonderful time! I can't wait to go back! I would love to see it in the Fall! We only saw one other American family there. It wasn't crowded at all. If you get the chance to come to Korea... you really ought to check this place out!

How to make Kimbap (Gimbap) aka Korean Sushi

2009-08-19T06:09:00.017-07:00

My dear, Korean friend, Yoona, called me this afternoon and asked if I was available this evening. She had gone to the store and bought all the ingredients necessary to make kimbap. I had asked her to teach me how to make it about 3 weeks ago and we just hadn't had the opportunity to get together yet to do it. I had dinner thought out... sorta, but this would be much better. What a nice surprise! She told me to go ahead and make up the rice (lightly salted) and she would be over in about an hour. I made 4 servings of rice and threw a little salt in... I wasn't sure how much to add, so I guessed. When she got here she pulled out a package of dried seaweed (sometimes called laver) which is roasted, but not seasoned, a package of imitation crab, and a cucumber. She cut up the cucumber into little sticks. Then she diced the crab and mixed it with a bit of mayo.

She laid a sheet of the seaweed down (with the prettier side facing the counter)

and covered most of the surface of the seaweed with a thin layer of warm rice. Too much rice and the whole thing will just taste like rice. If you think the rice needs more salt, I suppose you could throw a little on in this step.

Then she laid the cucumber sticks and the crab on top of the rice. I cheated and used a big cucumber stick and a long slice of crab (with a little mayo spread on it) on the rice.

Tightly roll the seaweed like a jelly roll.

Lay the roll seam-side down and let it rest and "glue" itself together.

Cut into coins. Eat right away, or wrap in tinfoil and refrigerate. It will keep for a day or two before the rice dries out too much to be enjoyable. You can also use cheese, eggs (hard-boiled or fried), ham, tuna, avocado, carrots, pickled radish or whatever suits your fancy.

Home Plus

2009-08-18T21:41:00.008-07:00

My friend, Yoona, called me up today and asked if I had time to run to Home Plus. It is a shopping center something like WalMart. So the Nature Girl and I took the subway with Yoona to Uijeongbu, and then took a bus to Home Plus. The area around there is filled with familiar names and many places to shop. Home Plus was pretty cool. The grocery floor had people in several different departments giving samples of the food and drink products. The Nature Girl was able to try some fried squid and she liked it! Many of the stores like this also have a child care area where you can pay to leave your child there so they can play and you can shop in peace. It was a neat place to check out.

Check out the Dunkin Dounts on the bottom left corner.

Home Plus center

Check out the Swiss Miss, Hersheys, Quick, and other familiar US product names in Korean stores

The Nature Girl enjoying her fried squid!

Buildings filled with stores just across the street

Dongdaemun Shopping

2009-08-17T19:04:00.004-07:00

Vikki and Melina

I went with my next-door neighbor a few weeks ago to Dongdeamun, but the fabric shops were all closed. We wandered around the shopping areas, but we had both been hoping to get into the fabric market. So I was wanting to go back when the stores were open. I met an army wife online named Melina a while back. She just got to Korea 2 weeks ago and she wanted to go and see the sites. I decided to take her to Dongdaemun on Saturday so I could look for some thread and get a better look at the fabric market and to show her the shopping center(s) there. I knew she would love it! I also invited my Korean friend, Yoona to go with us. We got down there and headed straight to the fabric market. It is a seamstress' heaven! Floor after floor filled with everything you could ever need to sew with and a bunch of cool things you didn't even know you could get. There is a floor dedicated to thread, yarn and string, one for knits, one for notions, one for basic cottons, and so on. If you like to sew, you need to come to Korea! I was able to buy the threads I was looking for and then some (9 spools of serger threads for just under $12) and bought 4 yards of 1" elastic for about $4.50. From there, we walked over to the Doosan Tower and Migliore Mall. The malls hold several stories of fashion shopping and food. We grabbed lunch and continued shopping. Yoona and I headed to the stationary and toy store streets and Melina stayed by the malls. Yoona and I browsed for a bit and then called to see if Melina was ready to head home... she was having so much fun, she wanted to stay til nightfall to see the area all lit up. So Yoona and I headed back home. It was a great day... now, I still need to find a day when I can go back alone to browse at my leisure all the great fabrics! I think I only have one friend who could tolerate a whole day surrounded by fabrics, and unfortunately she doesn't live here. Come on over, Colleen!

This whole building houses the fabric market and it continues underground, too

Just one shop of many selling thread

Fabric swatches showing just one vendor's merchandise

Buttons, snaps, buckles and more... a whole floor of it!

Dress forms for sale

Yoona and I

The Doosan Tower and Migliore Mall

These building are filled with more fashion shopping!

Who said washing dishes isn't fun?

2009-08-16T07:39:00.004-07:00

The Nature Girl has been especially sweet and affectionate lately and it is just so sweet. She has been coming up to me, out of the blue, and saying,"I love you, mommy". It just melts your heart. Tonight my husband was washing dishes (which he usually does after dinner... bless him!) and the Nature Girl came running up and said,"May I help you daddy?" He said sure and she grabbed her stool and climbed up next to him. She asked him for some soap to start washing a ladle. The next thing I heard was her sweet little voice asking him, "Daddy, will you please share the sink?" He was crowding her and she wanted a spot to work, too. How cute is that?

Then the Artist came up and wanted to help, too. They started arguing!!! Arguing about who GOT to wash dishes! I wonder how long that will be a problem in our house! LOL! I love my girls!

A Tough Goodbye

2009-08-14T06:36:00.007-07:00

Today was the last day of summer camp. The parents were invited to come and watch the kids sing songs, perform skits and have lunch with the campers. The kids put on a really cute show. There were still several hours left after they finished, so the Nature Girl and I headed home. We hung out at home until we got a call from my husband telling me he was done working for the day and was hoping for a ride home. Since I had heard that the counselors would be leaving the area at 8:00pm that day, I wanted to grab something for dinner for them. The Nature Girl and I grabbed Korean pizza, ran over to get my husband and then headed over to pick up the Artist. I was about 10 minutes late and I was feeling badly thinking that the counselors were stuck there having to watch my daughter when they needed to get packed up and on a bus in just a few hours. I was not prepared for the scene I walked into... Kids were trickling out of the building crying. One of them stopped to tell me that my daughter was in there crying and so was everyone else. The campers and counselors were having a tough time saying goodbye. The Artist was sobbing standing next to Miss Rainbow and she was crying, too. Kids everywhere had tissues. The counselors were signing shirts and arms and bracelets and passing out their email addresses. Everyone was lingering, unwilling to have the camp come to an end. Ms. Rainbow came up and thanked me for my help over the past 2 months and I almost started crying! When we were heading out to the car, the Artist said, " This is my first 'Last day of camp'. I have only had a first day of camp." She was so upset. Poor thing.
Thank you Mr. Monsoon and Ms Rainbow! You two have really touched our family's life and we wish you both the best. Thanks for letting the Nature Girl and I join you for swimming and field trips. We had a blast!

The Artist and Miss Rainbow

Mommy and the Nature Girl grabbing lunch

The Artist grabbing lunch

The Artist and Zay with Mr. Monsoon and Miss Rainbow

Camp Casey Camp Adventure

Campers with Miss Rainbow

Campers with Mr. Monsoon

Little Pink Skirts

2009-08-13T05:21:00.005-07:00

When I was a little girl, I had a nightgown that had a big pink ruffle at the bottom. For some reason, that nightgown was still with me when I got to Korea. I decided to put this relic to use and make some skirts for the girls out of it. I had to do some piecing to make the skirts long enough, but I found I could make 3 skirts out of the material I had. So I made a skirt for each of my girls and one for Hiyoung (a little Korean girl who is friends with my girls). The girls loved them and they looked adorable, but I only got pictures of the Nature Girl in her skirt.

COEX Aquarium

2009-08-11T06:05:00.005-07:00

I was excited when the Artist's summer camp changed plans for their weekly field trip from The Children's Museum to the COEX Aquarium. Not sure why, they both sound like great field trips, but I had heard about the aquarium and I wanted to see it. We were bused down to Seoul, stopped at a Buddhist temple (they said to kill time), grabbed lunch and then went into the mall where the aquarium is housed. It was so cool! They had some really great displays. It was very well done and many of the names were in English, though the descriptions usually were not. My girls have made some great friends at camp, so they spent most of the trip hanging out with them. I actually had trouble catching them for pictures. There were a lot of people at the aquarium that day, so I would love to go back again another time that may not be so busy. Besides, I didn't get to check out the mall while we were there and I glimpsed a few stores that I wanted to get a better look at. Aug 5, 2009

Camp Adventure Kids

The Artist

The Nature Girl

Mr. Monsoon (one of our counselors)

Leafy Sea Dragon

Korean Drivers License

2009-07-29T17:18:00.002-07:00

I have to take a drivers test here in Korea before I can get permission to drive here. So I had to track down a drivers manual in English (not as easy as you would think), and then study, take 3 different kinds of info with me down to the testing office and take the test. When I got down there, they had a pretest for you to take with 5 questions on it. They told me that if I missed even one question on the pretest, that I couldn't even take the actual test, and that I needed to watch out for question #5. So I started out quite nervous to say the least. For any of you coming over, make sure you know what the regs are for insurance (hint, hint). So I asked a question of one of the Korean gentlemen in the office and he helped me figure out the answer. I would have had no trouble answering any of the questions, except that I was under the impression that it had trick questions on it. So I was able to take the test and I passed!!!! Yeah!!! I finally have permission to drive! My dh is going to be away for a few days and now I can at least get groceries home without lugging them on the train or having to pay almost $5 for a taxi ride home.

I am a little nervous to be driving with the Korean people. It seems like most of the driving laws are "optional" and I haven't seen the police enforce any driving laws around here... they are usually out to either direct traffic or to respond to a call of some kind. I think I have only seen one person pulled over, and with the way they drive around here, there should be a car pulled over all day, every day on every block. I have been in taxis where they run red lights and other taxis where we sit at a light and watch people pass us on both sides to run the red light for the whole duration of the red light! It is crazy! I am brave enough to drive here locally in my area, it is more of a small town, but I am not brave enough to try to leave the area. For one, I can't read the signs and two, I would have no idea how to get to the place I wanted to go! The streets aren't marked here like they are in the states, so I don't know how anyone finds anything here. For now, wish me luck!

My first real Korean restaurant

2009-07-22T22:32:00.002-07:00

Today, the Nature Girl and I went out to lunch with a sweet Korean lady named Ray. We met at the train station one day about 3 weeks ago. She was the first Korean girl my age that spoke with me. Her English is fair (my Korean was nonexistent at that time) and we had a chance to talk for a little while that day. I offered to pay for lunch if she would like to take me to an authentic Korean restaurant. Up until now, our schedules have just never worked out. So today was the first chance I have had to see her since we met. We went to a “famous” Korean restaurant in New City near the train station. Ray ordered for us and we had dakgalbi and naengmuen. The dakgalbi consisted of chicken, sweet potatoes, rice cakes and was VERY hot and spicy… it burned my mouth and made me gulp water…. I felt much better when I saw Ray “suffering” from the spices, too. :) We had a good time. The naengmuen is a cold dish with rice noodles, pears, hard-boiled egg and cucumber. It was very good and was not spicy. There were some dishes on the side that I sampled, but did not catch the names of all of them. The meal was a real treat, and by the end of it, my tastebuds had gone into shock from all of the spices and I could eat the spicy chicken with no trouble. Ray and I made plans to get together again soon. She is a great gal and I am so glad we met!

Stopped for a quick photo shoot before lunch

A neat heart sculpture

The "famous" Korean restaurant

Dakgalbi

Naengmuen

So tired

2009-07-21T22:02:00.003-07:00

The Nature Girl and I hung out and she helped me around the house today while her sister was at camp. She helped me "fold" laundry, practiced touching her nose and rode her bike around the playground. Then she went with me to post to pick up the Artist from camp. I would not have called it a exhausting day, but my little one must have thought so... she fell asleep... at the dinner table... without eating! Poor thing! LOL!

Helping with the laundry

I can touch my nose

Sleeping is more important than eating

That can't be comfortable

Locks of Love

2009-07-18T06:01:00.008-07:00

I am so proud of my little baby girl. She wanted to give her hair to Locks of Love. Her hair has been growing for about 3 years. Both her and I have been wanting to cut her hair for awhile... at least since Dec. My mom wanted me to wait until after my brother's wedding in June so her hair would still be long. And, of course, she did look sweet with a french braid crown. So today we finally had the opportunity to cut her hair. We cut about 12 inches off. She looks adorable! I love the look on her! Great job, baby!

Dongdaemun

2009-07-16T21:20:00.003-07:00

I went on a "field trip" with a bunch of ladies to one of the biggest markets in South Korea. The train ride there took about an hour and we never had to switch trains, so no confusion in getting there. The group I was with was going to buy fabric for some upcoming sewing classes. Since I shipped a bunch of fabric with my HHG, I didn't buy any. I was mostly going to look around and see what was there for future reference. Unfortunately, it was raining when we got there, so we only ventured into one mall. I met a sweet gal in the group named, Lady, from the Philippines. We wandered around with the other ladies and had lunch together. I really enjoyed the trip and I can't wait to go again with a friend and preferably... without children.

Commonly known as Dongdaemun is a prominent landmark in central Seoul, South Korea. The Korean name "Dongdaemun" means "Great East Gate," and it was so named because it was the major eastern gate in the circular wall surrounding ancient Seoul during the Joseon Dynasty, and is situated on the eastern end of Jongno ("Bell Street").

Dongdaemun Market is located near Dongdaemun of which it takes its name. It is the largest shopping center in South Korea. In total the market has 26 shopping malls situated over 10 blocks, 30,000 speciality shops, and 50,000 manufacturers. The market sells goods ranging from just about everything but notably silks, clothes, shoes and leather goods, sporting goods, plumbing and electronics, office supplies, toys and food areas specializing in Korean cuisine.

Walls of fabric everywhere

They sell it by the yard

A shop that makes Hanboks.

Hanbok is the traditional Korean dress. It is often characterized by vibrant colors and simple lines without pockets. Although the term literally means "Korean clothing", hanbok today often refers specifically to hanbok of Joseon Dynasty and is worn as semi-formal or formal wear during traditional festivals and celebrations.

A shop selling traditional Korean dress for children. They are just beautiful.

Herb Land

2009-07-16T04:18:00.003-07:00

The Nature Girl and I were able to join the Artist on her field trip to Herb Land with Camp Adventure. The campers from our post went to the neighboring post and picked up their campers so they could go on their field trip together. It was a fun day with crafts, bubbles, plants, animals and friends. The girls made candles and a sand art picture, saw a greenhouse filled with plants, had a picnic surrounded by ladybugs and got to feed a bunch of sheep. The Nature Girl, of course, loved all the bugs and the sheep. The Artist was thrilled to have crafts and she jumped right in. The girls had a great time. I am so glad we went! I especially love the picture I caught of the Nature Girl with the sheep. It captured her perfectly!

Welcome to Herb Land

Check out these big bubbles

Craft Time

If that's not my Nature Girl, I don't know what is!

Rainy Day Fun

2009-07-08T11:35:00.008-07:00

When I heard that Korea gets about 49 inches of rain a year, I decided that we needed raincoats and boots. I found rain boots in AZ, but I had trouble finding raincoats. While we were in NY, I finally found them. The girls were so excited about their new apparel that I had to promise them that they could play in the rain with them one day. Well, the Artist never forgets anything. So, every time it rained, she kept after me begging to go play in the rain with her new gear. Today, I finally caved. It is raining outside and my girls want to go play. What do you expect? They've grown up in AZ. So, I got the girls dressed in their new raincoats & boots and gave them their umbrellas and let them run around in the rain for a bit. The Nature Girl found a water-logged bug and kept her eye on him more than anything. The Artist just played on the playground equipment without a care in the world. I can only imagine what the Koreans who saw us must have thought of those "strange Americans" playing in the rain.

The girls can't wait to go play in their
new coats and boots in the rain

Umbrellas up

Even in the rain, she can't help but watch bugs

Wet or dry, merry-go-rounds are fun!

Camp Adventure

2009-07-03T07:47:00.005-07:00

When we got to Korea, The Artist was having trouble getting settled. She had spent 6 weeks saying goodbye to many friends and family members. I wasn't sure how I was going to help her get through the heartache of moving and missing her friends. I checked out a magazine put out by MWR (Morale, Welfare & Recreation) to see what was going on in the local area and found Camp Adventure. It is nine 1-week camps with arts and crafts, games, field trips, bowling and swimming for 40 hours a week. It sounded like the perfect opportunity to help my daughter get settled. We weren't able to get her in until the 3rd week and she just loved it. It was the solution she needed to finally feel settled and at home. She had a great time with the other kids and the counselors, Mr. Monsoon and Ms. Rainbow. And she can't wait to go back again! She went to a beach in Korea this week. The family was invited to join the kids, but the Nature Girl and I didn't... wished we would have, but I needed to get some things done around the house. I'm still trying to get moved in. Maybe next time.

Our First Korean Train Ride

2009-06-25T18:07:00.006-07:00

Since the girls and I will be needing to use the train to get back and forth from post, I figured we would give it a whirl on a day that it didn't matter if I got on the wrong train. I was so confused looking at all the writing in Hangul on the ticket machines trying to buy our ticket. A kind, Korean gentleman helped me buy my ticket. Another Korean man directed me to an elevator to reach the tracks. When I got upstairs, I was sure that I was in the wrong place since I was the only one on that side of the tracks. I went back downstairs and 2 sweet, older Korean ladies offered, in their broken English, to help me get where I was going. The trip went well and we are on our way!

Outside the train station

Inside the train station

The Artist and the Nature Girl

2009-06-25T11:35:00.001-07:00

When I started my blog, I had some concerns with whether I should include my children's names in the posts. I really didn't want to and after talking with some other parents, decided that I wouldn't. But to constantly be referring to them as the "oldest" and "youngest" just got tiresome. A friend of mine gave her children nicknames in her blog and I really liked the idea. So from now on, my eldest daughter will be referred to as the "Artist" and my younger daughter will be referred to as the "Nature Girl". The names match their personalities and will add to the fun of the blog as you see those characteristics come to light in my posts.

Our first week and our new apartment!

2009-06-20T11:35:00.002-07:00

Daddy and the girls at the airport

The girls were so happy to see their daddy after being separated for 3 long months. We took a 2 hour bus ride from the airport to the army post. We were able to stay in the lodging there on post for our first week. The housing office would not allow us to move into our apartment until beds and a fridge were in the place.

So Friday, a week after our arrival, we finally got keys to our new home! And what a home it is! My husband and I do have the same definition of "big" :) I love this place! I believe it is the nicest place I have ever lived in! I have a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 "Western" bathrooms (which means that they look like stuff back in the states) with a jacuzzi tub in the master bath, an enormous kitchen with tons of cupboard space, a master bedroom twice the size of any other bedroom I have ever had with one whole wall that is nothing but storage closets! and a vanity area with 3 more closets!

The realtor had to explain so much to us about how the different appliances worked because they do things so differently here. They have an oven/microwave combination unit! How cool is that? The floors are how they heat their homes, so we needed to be shown how to turn that off when we don’t need it. You can select which rack gets washed in the dishwashers! You don’t have a hot water tank here… you turn the heater on to get it and it comes out HOT… but when you aren’t using it, you turn it off to save gas. They have washing machines that also dry your clothes! (but unfortunately we didn’t get one). Our loaner furniture came on Friday, too. They brought the beds, table and chairs, a refrigerator, a dresser, night stands, lamps, a coffee table, end tables and a washer and a dryer. They were supposed to bring us a desk and a couch, but they were out of them, so we are sitting on the floor. Since we have lawn chairs and folding tables coming in our household goods (HHG) on Monday, we aren’t really worried about it. At least we have a place to sleep.

Now the rent amount will kill you... 1,700,000 Won... which equals about $1,350 +/- in dollars plus utilities! I was very nervous to get into such a "pricey" place, but my husband was already in an agreement on the place, there was no getting out of it... but I have to say, I love it! There are both Koreans and Americans living here, so we will get to make all kinds of new friends. The neighborhood is clean and quiet... except for those 2 roosters that live somewhere nearby. We are close to the train station so we can get back and forth to post easily. It is such a nice place! Our household goods (HHG) will be arriving Monday, so that means that all our important (lol) possessions will be here then. Yeah!

Master Bath

Kitchen and dining area

More Kitchen Cabinets

Master Bedroom

Wall of Storage Closets in Master Bedroom

Living Room

Girls Room

Did I mention that they have a playground on the premises?

We have arrived!

2009-06-11T19:11:00.017-07:00

We have arrived in Korea!

After 2 days and 19 1/2 hours on an airplane with 2 small children, our flight(s) are finally over! I am sitting at the airport at 6:20pm (5:20am Eastern time) waiting for my husband to arrive. I have no phone number to call and no way to make it anywhere by myself with 4 suitcases, 2 army duffles, 3 carry-ons, 2 computer cases, 2 purses and one small stroller. I was under the impression that he would be here around the time I got through customs, but he is nowhere to be found and I have no way to contact him. The next bus going to the post is coming in an hour. I already bought tickets... but do I jump on the bus if my husband is not here? Probably not. Then he would be here and I would be somewhere else, but still lost with nowhere to go and definitely no way to get there. At least here at the airport I have the baggage cart to move our bags with.

My DH told me that he found us an apartment. 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, and a large kitchen. I guess we will see if we both share the same definition of "large" :) I was IMing a gal on a message board I am a part of and she thinks my DH may have found an apartment in her building! How cool would that be?

The girls and I are definitely ready for bed. Actually, I just want to be alone for about 24 hours to get myself together. I have hit sensory-overload. I need some down time.

Doesn't she look cute all ready to go be a world traveler?

The little one didn't want to leave grandma... and grandma didn't want her to leave, either.

North Carolina

2009-05-18T20:26:00.010-07:00

The drive to NC was pretty. It seems that NC, like TX cares to plant flowers along the roadsides to make the scenery more attractive for those stuck driving the highways. My dear friend, Jenn, was kind enough to let us stay at her place for a few days. Poor Jenn seemed to have nothing but car problems while I was there, but at least she was not alone as we drug one car after the other to the garage! When the guys are away, it seems like nothing but trouble follows. It was nice just to do the mundane stuff of hanging out, grocery shopping and staying up all night talking... it was relaxing and fun. And, oh, the fun the kids had! My girls just loved hanging out with Jenn's kids! They have missed each other since Jenn and her family moved away more than a year ago.

Now, my eldest is not fond of dogs, especially ones that are taller than her knees, so she kept her distance from Jenn's boxer for most of our visit. But, by the end of our visit, she had finally warmed up to the pup. My youngest on the other hand, is VERY fond of all living things. She had a blast playing with the dog and the cat and chasing squirrels out in the yard.

While we were there, my eldest saw Jenn knitting a prayer shawl and asked her if she would make one for her stuffed bear so he wouldn't be cold on the airplane flight to Korea. I didn't know what to make of my daughter asking for a gift like that, but Jenn thought that she had asked so sweetly, that she found some yarn laying around and got right to knitting up a little blanket for a stuffed bear named, Pete. What a blessing to have such wonderful friends!

It was sad to drive away that morning... my oldest daughter is having trouble saying goodbye to loved ones every few days as we move from one house to another traveling across the country. We still have several more stops to go before we get to Korea... I pray she will be alright.

Jenn working on my eldest's blanket with
my future cat, Lucky, and my youngest

My eldest with the pup and
her stuffed animal, Pete

Our kids

Welcome to Alabama

2009-05-12T21:05:00.001-07:00

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous going to Alabama. I have watched "Sweet Home Alabama"... it says you should "need a passport to go down here". What's a good old Yankee girl supposed to think? Well, it wasn't anything near as strange as I had imagined... at least not where I was in Dothan. Must be the military influence there has straightened them out (lol). My mother-in-law (MIL) kindly put us up in a hotel nearby. The girls and I had a great time hanging out with my MIL and my brother-in-law (BIL), Dan, the whole time. We saw my MIL's horses and went to a horse show. We had a cookout at Dan's house. He is great at grilling. My eldest was always quick to ask for a piggy-back ride like she had from daddy. Uncle Dan just loved hanging out and spoiling those two girls. On Mother's Day, my MIL took us all down to St Andrews State Park in Panama City, Florida to see the Gulf beach. It was beautiful down there. Small waves, white beaches, sea shells to be gathered and admired. There was also an inlet there that provided sheltered and shallow swimming for the little ones. It was wonderful! After church that evening, we all went out to eat at Ryan's Buffet. My MIL was just so tickled that we had come to Alabama to spend Mother's Day weekend with her. On our last day in AL, we went to a nursing home to see my MIL's sister who had a stroke a number of years ago. Doris was has a limited vocabulary, but it was even more limited that day due to how excited she was to finally get to meet her two little great-nieces. All she could say was, "Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!" It was such a sweet visit and I am so glad that we had the time to go see her. That evening we had dinner at my MIL's house... first time I have ever seen the place. It was a cute cottage down by a lake in the woods. My girls went outside after dark and collected frogs and may have even loved a few to death. We looked at old pictures and just enjoyed each other's company. I am so glad that we ventured into wilds of Alabama!

Uncle Dan, the girls and my MIL
with the girl showing the horse

Uncle Dan coloring with the girls

The girls on the beach at
St Andrews State Park

Uncle Dan and my eldest in the
waves of the Gulf of Mexico

Me, my MIL, the girls and
Uncle Dan (my BIL)

My youngest listening to the
ocean in a shell at grandma's

Uncle Dan and the girls

Traveling to Alabama

2009-05-09T22:47:00.003-07:00

Well, we drove from Texas to Alabama in two days. The traffic in Houston is so bad... I spent hours white-knuckled in stop-n-go traffic. When the girls asked to stop for a break to stretch, I was glad to take a break from the traffic. We pulled over about 50 meters from the ocean, and there the girls found some shells to entertain them for a few minutes. We grabbed dinner at Ihop and got back on the road. We had barely crossed the border into Louisiana when we decided to get a room for the night. The next day we decided to stop in Gulfport, MS to stretch our legs and check out the Gulf coast for the first time in our lives. The waves were nice and gentle. Of course the girls loved it and I thought it was pretty nice myself. We spent about 45 minutes on the beach and got back on the road and got to Alabama around 9:30 at night. The hotel my mother-in-law booked for us did not have internet access. Since I only had that night to talk to my husband before he was gone on a training exercise for a week, I asked her if she would mind if I switched hotels to one that had internet access. I felt so bad having to ask that of my MIL since she had gone through so much trouble to find us a place close to her house. So we ended up staying at a Holiday Inn up the road and were even given a room upgrade... the manager on duty wanted to bless us by giving us a larger room on the 1st floor so I wasn't leaving my kids several times to go unload the car and drag things to the second floor. Just so you know, the military discount in Alabama is also higher than the AAA discount. Not a bad thing for those of us in the military. But because the cost of the room was a bit higher at the H.I., we only stayed there for one night.

Texas Roadside Flowers

Road-side stop in Houston, Texas

Girls crashed at hotel in Louisiana

Collecting Shells in
Gulfport, Mississippi

A few tips... based on my experiences

2009-05-07T09:06:00.002-07:00

When you live in Arizona, you pretty much wear sandals or flip flops all the time. In Sierra Vista, you will find mosquitoes, but mostly during May-August. For the most part, it is not the kind of place where all the local bugs are out to get you and make a meal of you... too harsh of an environment. That, and I really didn't spend that much time outside. Texas is green and beautiful... but if you are going outside and plan to be walking through the grass, you need to wear shoes and socks. The fire ants are always looking for someone to bite... they are very aggressive. We also found that sitting in the flowers for a quick photo can get you all bit up too, by little bugs called thrips. I couldn't figure out why my girls were so upset to be sitting in the flowers getting their picture taken. Well, they were getting bit by bugs that are almost too tiny to see. I was fortunate to get these two cute shots, though.

While I was in Texas, I had a wonderful time visiting with friends. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to visit everyone I wanted to see nor did I get to spend as much time as I would have liked with the people I did see.

My Thoughts on Texas

2009-04-30T23:38:00.001-07:00

Now, I know everything is relative... it just depends on what you are comparing something to. I have been living in AZ for almost 4 years (yikes). I am from the Northeast. AZ is dry, brown, DEAD. There is not much to look at 9-10 months out of the year. The other 2-3 months of the year, it actually "rains" once in awhile... if you want to call it that. They get a whopping 14 inches of rain a year with most of it falling in July and August... they actually have the nerve to call it monsoon season! Texas gets about 32 inches a year and I believe most of it falls in April-May. As I got closer to Fort Hood, it was beautiful! There was grass that God watered, beautiful wildflowers along the roadsides, rivers worth building a bridge over... in a word... LIFE! I actually felt like I was coming home. I was so excited to get into Texas and see that I had not missed the bluebonnets entirely. I even found a whole field of them between Oakalla and Burnette. I stopped with the girls several times to take pictures. I was thrilled to see Life! I never really fit in AZ. I couldn't get past the fact that the place is so dry and brown. I had to beg anything green to grow... unless it was a cactus... a plant that I don't particularly like. A plant that can bite back is really not a nice plant.
Now, in reference to things being relative, I will be heading to PA and NY in the next few weeks... the town where my dad lives in PA gets about 44 inches of rain a year and the town where my mom lives gets about 42 inches of rain per year. So, when I leave this green land and head North, I will most likely find Texas to be a bit scraggly compared to PA and NY. But, it is all relative. For now, I am feeling "at home" in Texas.

Thank you

2009-04-29T22:03:00.001-07:00

For watching my kids while I got things done...
Jeannie
Alexi
Janet
Whitney
Cynthia
Celeste
Shelly
Shila
For helping me clean and get ready to move...
Jeannie
Kelsey
Raymond
David
Shelly
Janet and David
Sandy
Alexi and Matthew
6 awesome Marines
John
Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to get out of here as quickly as I did. Thank you! If I forgot anyone, please forgive me, I mean no offense. My mind is not what it used to be after these past few weeks!

Whew!

2009-04-29T10:24:00.001-07:00

WOW! I thought I would never get out of Arizona! I cleaned and worked and painted and cleaned for a week. Now, my house was not that dirty, but the list that the property management company gave me and the work that just plain needed done and the OCD issues that I have made it last that long! I wasn't able to just say, "that's good enough" or "I don't care". It just is so hard to find those words in me. The lady from property management came and looked at the house and said that the house looked great and that most of her owners don't put that much work into their homes. Wait a minute... you mean I could have left with a sweep and a mop???? I would have happily done so if I thought I could get away with it.

But that's not all... I spent the next whole day sorting through all the stuff that had been in my house that the packers hadn't taken away... about 3 vanloads full! I had to pack some of it to mail and some of it to actually get the privilege of driving around the country with me. I mailed about 18 boxes to Korea (don't ask how much that cost) and 3 boxes to my mom (of things she wanted to have back when my girls were done with them). Your postage rates shouldn't be going up again any time soon!

I finally pulled out of town around 11:30 am. We stopped and grabbed McD's and took a potty break and got going again. We are now halfway to Fort Hood, Texas. The girls were just great on the trip. They only had one opportunity to stretch their legs during the 430 miles of road. They sure were troopers! And tomorrow, we should get to see my dear friends, Melissa and Colleen! I can't wait! I sure do miss them! Fort Hood, here we come!

Will it ever end?

2009-04-23T21:52:00.004-07:00

I have cleaning to do, painting, address changes, records to pick up, stuff to get rid of, utilities to shut off... the list just goes on and on! I have been so busy, that I sit down for just a minute to rest after I put the girls to bed and the next thing I know, it is 3:00 in the morning! Just a few more days til I turn over the keys. I decided to stay here in AZ over the weekend because I will never get everything done otherwise. This is a lot of work, but fortunately, I have good friends who have been helping me watch the girls so I can get things done. Well, I am off to paint the closet and start priming the bathroom (which was school bus yellow). Hopefully I can even get some sleep tonight. I figure once I get on the road, I can sleep to my heart's content... and I probably will!

The Orders are in!!!

2009-04-21T22:40:00.004-07:00

I was so relived on Sunday night when I got an email from my husband saying that the orders for our deferred travel were in! We have been waiting 1 1/2 months for them. I had been planning to call the office where they issue plane tickets for the military and their family and have them get our plane tickets for us to fly to Korea in May. If I flew in May, I would miss my brother's wedding and that would not have been good. Now, I can drive cross-country and visit friends and family and be in my brother's wedding in June!. I am so excited! It will be like a vacation to spend 1 1/2 months traveling and visiting. I can't wait! Maybe I'll visit YOU!

The beginning

2009-04-19T22:17:00.005-07:00

Okay, let's start at the beginning of our current story...
Back in Oct 2008, my husband came down on orders for Korea. He would be gone for 1 year without his family (known as a hardship tour) or he could request an extension (for 2 years) and apply for command sponsorship (which means that his family could go with him). We talked about it and decided to seek command sponsorship from the army. In Jan 2009, we got word that we got CS and we could go with him!

Well, back in April 2008, my brother's fiance asked if our girls and I would be in their wedding. We said yes, of course. When we heard we were going to Korea, we thought it would not be a big deal for the girls and I to stay behind and attend the wedding. My DH (dear husband) would need to report for duty in March 2009, so he would be unable to attend the wedding. So, after my DH got to Korea, he went through channels to request that the girls and I get orders allowing us to defer our travel. The way that the original orders were written out, we needed to be on a plane heading to Korea within 60 days of my DH leaving the U.S. I would stay behind and sort things for the movers, secure our home with a property management company and drive up to NY for the wedding. Little did we know what an ordeal all of this would be.

DH arrived in Korea, and for 3 weeks, he didn't know where he would be stationed. Once he got to his final duty station, he put in his request for deferred travel. We waited.... and waited.... and waited. I finally told my husband that I would be going in to the office on Monday and having the army issue us plane tickets so we could fly out of the states in early May. If we didn't fly in the allotted time frame that the army had given us, they would not pick up the tab for the tickets... a $3,000 tab for the 3 of us! Since we don't have an extra $3,000 just sitting around doing nothing, we can't afford to thumb our noses at the army and miss our window. But how sad to have to miss my little brother's wedding!

But on top of this bit of stress, I have my own issues here at the house to deal with. I have been an army wife for 18 years now. I have moved 9 times in my married life. I have never had a move like this! This has been the hardest move so far. The army has only authorized us to move 2,750 lbs to Korea. They suggest that you don't bring furniture because they either furnish the apartments, or the Korean landlords furnish the apartments. You just bring whatever necessities you think you will need... clothes, toys, kitchen stuff, computers... your day-to-day items that you can't live without. The rest of the items will be placed into storage and you will not see them or have access to them for the duration of the tour in Korea. Oh, and you cannot have packed any liquids, candles, batteries or light bulbs.

I had to divide up all our belongings into what we NEED and WANT in Korea and WHAT WE CAN LIVE WITHOUT. We need our home school supplies, our clothes, our computers. I want my Close to my Heart stuff... it is my home-based business, I want my pots and pans and kitchen appliances, DVDs and music, kids' toys. Everything else had to be set aside so a different group of movers could come on a different day to pack up the items that would go into storage. I had packers in my home for 4 days straight! The packers that came for our Korea stuff told me that my items would be over the weight allowance alloted for Korea. That night, I jumped on a scale with every item they had packed and my total told me that they were right! I hadn't even picked out everything that I wanted them to pack yet and I was already over-weight! I pulled out a few boxes here and there (my girlfriends told me I could send them media mail... little did we know that they don't have media mail outside the U.S.), and added a few more that I wanted to ship. I finally had to let go and be okay with what was shipping and mail the rest of the items I wanted in Korea.

After the Korean packers were done, I proceeded to sort out what needed to stay with me for the drive, and what would go into storage. These packers packed each item to within an inch of it's life! They would take 2 books off the bookshelf and wrap them up in paper and place them in a box! What a waste of time and materials. These guys told me I was over-weight, too! No wonder with that much paper and cardboard.

On top of the sorting I had to do, I also had to interview 4 property management companies, landscape the front and side yard, paint the outside trim and several rooms inside, make numerous repairs around the house, hire a carpet cleaner and lawn maintenance crew and clean the house all while taking care of 2 small girls. Whew! What a handful!

And that is where this story begins...