Say no to haircuts

Did you know that while we are in Korea the military men are not allowed to get a haircut at any barbershop off post??? In America when we see a spinning light on a pole we think "old school" shave and a haircut; not so in Korea. In Korea if you see a spinning light pole at a barber shop it means they offer a "happy ending" with your haircut! Apparently you get your haircut down stairs and then head upstairs to the waiting women. I thought this was too bizare for words. There is a barber shop like this around the corner from where we are (they are EVERYWHERE), but I have yet to ever see anyone go in or come out.

Empty Boxes

Transportation brought all of our things to us on Monday. We were all so excited, but we had forgotten what a pain it is to unpack all of our stuff. I had the movers go ahead and unpack my kitchen stuff for me (they always use the most paper for the kitchen stuff). Jason took the day off so we opened, emptied, and broke down as many boxes as we could (the movers take the trash away) before the movers were done. I could have had them unpack everything, but it is way more trouble than it is worth. Just as we got into a good rhythm Jason's phone rings, and I'll be damned if they aren't calling him into work. He helps me until the movers finish and then they all head out the door. Yeah me! I get to unpack everything AND deal with two children. Bless his heart, Jackson unpacked his entire room and organized it all by himself. He really did an amazing job of it! I unpacked Marley's room and organized it which seemed to keep her busy. The movers left me a phone number so that I could call them when I was done unpacking and they could come get the rest of the boxes. I spent Monday and Tuesday unpacking every box (nothing is in its place, but it is out of the boxes) so that I could have them get these boxes and get them out of my house. The entire spare room was floor to ceiling cardboard boxes, so I was excited when the movers picked it all up Tuesday afternoon. I never realized how many little decorations I had until I saw them all on top of, and underneath, my table! Hopefully we will have the entire house finished by the end of the weekend. I would take pictures, but I had to sacrifice my camera batteries so that Jackson could play the Wii.

Best Dinner

Last night our family decided that we wanted to go out to eat. On the base that we live on there is nothing, but about 1/2 mile away there is another base with a restaurant. We set off on our walk to the other base excited about getting dinner. On the way we stopped at a few Korean shops and looked around. Unfortunately, once we got to the restaurant we noticed that they were closed on the weekends. Bummer! Instead of catching a cab we decided to walk around the city and see if we could find somewhere to eat. Finally we settled on a little place where they did not speak any English. It is really cool here because no matter how nice the restaurant is they all have picture menus of their food. I have no idea what to call what we ordered, but OMG it was all fabulous! Jason and I picked an appetizer dish with a multitude of different things on it. There were bacon wrapped veggies, grilled garlic cloves, beef, chicken, and even tiny octopus all on these little skewers and a few different sauces for dipping. I did not like the octopus, but I did at least try it. We also ordered two other plates that ended up being Korean chicken wings and like a sesame chicken. Marley only ate the french fries, but the rest of us could not get enough of everything else. We all said that it was the best meal we have ever eaten at a restaurant and it probably cost us a total of 20 dollars. Sufficiently full, we headed out for the walk home. At first the maze of streets and crowded shops really freaked me out and made me feel claustrophobic, but I am really starting to love this place. The jumble of stores are completely random. There will be a nail shop next to a place selling puppies next to a small grocery store next to a junk yard. There is no rhyme or reason to it. On the way home we stopped into a place that sold blankets. It was so cool. Here in Korea instead of rugs they use these mats. The top side is either a beautiful print fabric or a very soft plush fabric sewn onto a bottom fabric that has little rubber things that grip the floor (kind of like the bottoms of feety pajamas for toddlers). They were so neat that we had to have them for the bedrooms. What a cool way to solve the problem of having linoleum throughout the house. I decided to wait on the ones for my room until we get our stuff, but we went ahead and got ones for the kids. Jackson, of course, got a solid red plush one and Marley got a solid pink plush one. The best part about the whole thing was that it cost me a total of $30. The kids love them and I cannot wait to go back and get some for my room!

Bugs

This morning I was sitting outside drinking my coffee and watching the rain when Jackson came outside to tell me that there was a bug in his room. I still blame my mother for making that boy scared of bugs! When Jackson was three we lived in Dallas for a year and I vividly remember Mimi shrieking at a bug (causing Jackson to shriek at the bug) and both my dad and I told her to stop because she was teaching him to be afraid. Funny how children pick up on that stuff and it stays with them. I immediately put down my coffee, put on my shoes, and followed him to his room. After five minutes of searching I decided the bug was gone and told him to tell me when he saw it again. I started back to get my coffee and could feel the stare on my back. I turned to find him giving me a very pitiful look. He informs me that he will not be able to go back in his room until we (meaning me) find and kill the bug. DAMN IT!!! All I wanted was to enjoy my coffee and a little peace and quiet before Marley wakes up and instead I get to play hide-and-go-seek with a bug. Once I was back in Jackson's room I started to move furniture looking for this thing. Again, I am just not seeing it. Finally I hear a squeal and turn to find him doing the "Kill it kill it" dance and point. OMG he was right, this thing was HUGE! Who ever said, "Everything is bigger in Texas" has never been to Korea. The bugs over here are on crack! The ants are the size of a thumbnail. The dragonflies are as big as a child's hand. It is crazy how big the bugs are over here. Ok, so I did join Jackson in his bug dance for a second. Once I regained my composure I quickly stepped on the bug, cleaned it up with a paper towel, and disposed of it in the trash. Thank you, thank you, thank you........wave to the crowd and exit stage left.

Water Rations

Yesterday we got a note on our door that they will be working on the water tower that supplies water to our housing. We are not allowed to drink the water (but we can shower) until August 1st. Lovely. Each day we all get to walk across the base to collect our allotted water bottle rations. Fun fun fun! Can you guess who gets to lug all that water back across the base and up two flight of stairs????? That's right, me! It would not be so awful, but Marley walks at the speed of smell. Oh well, it gives us something to do each day and I am sure going to get my exercise.

I registered Jackson for school today. He has a new student orientation on August 28th that we are both looking forward to. I made sure to give them copies of his perfect score on the reading part of the TAKS test and the paper that shows he only missed two on the math portion. I gave them copies of his intelligence tests and acceptance into TAG. If they try to give me any crap about putting him in the accelerated class I am going to have to throw a fit!

While we were at the school I confirmed the fact that they do offer a specials program that includes music, art, and Korean culture. His last school did not offer art and I really think that is a shame.

I found a place around the corner that does Tae Kwon Do and a few other martial arts that I need to check out next week. Korea is the birthplace of Tae Kwon Do (Uncle Scott has a black belt in it) and I really want him to have an awesome teacher.

Movies

It has been pretty boring around here the last couple of days. We have been to the DVD place like three times to buy more movies. I love these DVD places, everything is $5 (including copies of movies that are still in theaters). The children and I have been chilling and watching movies while Jason continues to inprocess at work. Jason passed his Korean drivers license test today, so now we can buy a car. Tomorrow, after transportation brings all his military stuff that we shipped, we will head over to the other post to look at used cars. Around here you are able to find good used cars for between $500 and $1500. We have our fingers crossed that we can find a reliable car pretty soon so that Jason can get to and from work everyday. Now that he has his licence I can finally take my test to get one too. Eventually we will find me a hoopty to drive around so that the kids and I can stop riding the bus and taking taxis everywhere. I cannot tell you how much I miss my car. I miss the freedom that it provides. It is sad when you are out of bread and milk and you spend 20 minutes debating (with yourself) how necessary they really are. The bus is terribly inconvenient since it only runs every hour, and taxis can get expensive.

Pictures of our house

This is the living room and the furniture that they provide. Sorry about the clutter, but every time I clean somehow everything gets messed up again. The messy trolls love to play at my house, but the clean ones never seem to show up.

This is the dinning room. It is also the first thing you see when you walk in the door. That is a china cabinet and another display cabinet that we are given to use during our stay.

This is our front door on the right and the left is the smaller of our two storage closets. the other one is a deep walk in closet.

Here are the pictures of the kitchen. Yes, the washer and dryer are in the kitchen. We are also responsible for recycling all of our stuff.

Marley and Jackson each have desks, twin beds, a nightstand, and a chest of drawers.

This is the master bedroom. The pictures don't show it, but there is quite a lot of space.

This is the master bathroom. I have no idea why they have a shower head with no shower, but we think it is funny. It is like the whole bathroom was meant to be used as a shower. there is tile on the floor and a drain by the toilet. Your guess is as good as mine!

this is a picture of the balcony we have. they are basically a sun room with a sliding glass and screen door for fresh air. I would say they are about 3x8.

Fabric Market

Yesterday one of the ladies here took me to a fabric market. OMG it was amazing. We are talking three story warehouse filled with 10x10 stalls of vendors. Each vendor had fabric stacked everywhere. It was awesome! The fabric was amazing quality and I swear I literally did a happy dance every time someone told me a price. I got 4 yards of fabric, 4 pillow forms, and paid a lady to make the pillows (zipper and all) all for about 20 dollars. Last time I recovered my couch it cost me about $500 (that was doing it myself), this time I bet I can do it for under $100. Oh when my embroidery and sewing machine get here Jason is going to be in trouble.

Burnt Hair

We finally are in our new house and have internet again! The houses at Camp George are set up in 5 story buildings with 4 condos on each floor. We are on the 2nd floor and were lucky enough to get a 4 bedroom 1 1/2 bath style home. I think it is around 1650 sq ft of space (bigger than our house in Killeen). Each condo has a glassed in porch with sliding glass doors that open to the outside for fresh air. The condos are definitely older, but pretty standard as far as military housing is concerned. The kids are pretty happy with their new rooms and I love that I have a craft room for all my stuff. I am working on pictures of the house, but I have to declutter first.

Wednesday was our first day in the new place and we were all pretty excited. Since there was already furniture (and we borrowed kitchen stuff) I decided that the children and I would head to the PX (military walmart without the groceries) to get some things that we would need. We get home and I light the candle that I have just purchased so that the house will smell nice when Jason gets home. Now that I finally have a moment to myself I head to the bathroom. The kids are playing so this should be safe right?? Wrong! As soon as I sit down I hear Marley calling for me. I ignore her. She continues to get louder and louder and finally starts yelling, "hot mommy, too hot mommy." I run down the hall with my pants around my ankles only to be smacked in the face by the smell of burnt hair. I look over in the corner and there is my daughter with ashes all in her hair. I immediately check for any burns on her body and she is fine. I was able to piece together that she had crawled up on top of my dining room table and decided she was going to blow out the candle and instead caught a small portion of her hair on fire. Lovely. Off comes her clothing and I throw her into the bath. After washing her hair I am finally able to assess the damage. From what I can see she must have only singed the little fine hairs that stick out of the side of her head, so no real damage. My whole point in lighting the candle was to have a nice fragrance in the air when Jason came home, instead he came home to the smell of burnt hair. Gotta love toddlers, turn your back for a minute and they are tearing something up.

Final Destination

I cannot tell you how happy we all were to be checking out of the Dragon Hill Lodge yesterday. I also have to give Jason his props for buying those luggage dollies, they were worth their weight in gold yesterday. We were able to get two huge duffel bags onto each of them which made all the difference in the world. After we checked out of the hotel and drug all our luggage up a huge hill, the Army put us on a bus with a few other soldiers and we headed out for the Seoul train station to catch the bullet train. Once we get to the train station we see that we have to take an escalator up to get to the actual station. Normally this would not have been a problem, but leave it to me and my family to find one. Let me give you a mental picture here: Jason has a HUGE military duffel bag on his back, a large military backpack on his front, a very large golf bag (with all kinds of crap in it) on his shoulder, and he is dragging a luggage dolly with two duffel bags. I have a very heavy backpack on my back, my purse (anyone who knows me knows this is heavy), a bag with all the crap for the children, and Marley (who I swear is the laziest child) on my hip. Jackson has a light backpack and is dragging the other luggage dolly. After about 20 feet Jackson has flipped the luggage dolly 5 times and I have decided that he is an idiot and can in no way maneuver this thing up an escalator. I then add this to my list of crap to drag and we head to get on. Mind you I have completely forgotten about the laws of gravity at this point. Just as the escalator starts to go from flat to steps I realize I do not have the luggage dolly tilted toward me. The dolly proceeds to start falling down the escalator and the baby and I are following suit. Gotta love solders, cause one of them caught me mid fall and I was able to right myself and the luggage. Finally off the escalator and we are able to relax and wait for our train. Poor Marley spent the better part of that hour fending off Koreans who wanted to touch her. Some of the other soldiers with us were teasing that we should start charging admission. The bullet train was pretty cool. We made it from the middle of the country to very close to the coast in 1 hour. Yeah and Marley slept the whole way!! Our escort took us straight to the housing office and we found out that our place would be ready this morning. As soon as the children get up we will be headed over to pick up our keys and see our new place. I will send post pics tomorrow.

Observations

My family and I have not done much in the last few days other than play on the playground (during intermittent dry spells) and swim at the pool because of all the rain here in Korea. While I was talking to my mother this morning I told her that I was at a loss for something interesting to say on my blog. She pointed out that she was interested in my interactions with the Korean people, and thought that others would be interested too. Though we have only been here a week, I have come to believe that the Korean people are the most polite, good natured people on the planet. Everyone smiles and seems to genuinely care that you are having a nice day. The women are fascinated with Marley and her hair. They want to touch her and I hate that she gives them all the stink-eye.

I have noticed that the Korean people dress differently than Americans. In Korea it is common practice for people to dress up for everything, including a hike in the parks. The majority of the women wear high heals and men wear slacks and a tie. When we were at the Korean Folk Museum there were women in cocktail dresses and heals taking in the sights. If I could have found a way to take their picture without offending them I would have.

While we were shopping in Itaewon the other day we were stopped by a Korean woman and a group of children. Each of the children were carrying paper and pencils and seemed to be on a type of scavenger hunt. The lady asked me if the children could as me a few questions and I said yes. The littlest of the girls looks at me and asks me where I am from, what Korean food I like to eat, and do I speak any Korean. I answered her and her teacher told her what I said. As they walked off Jason and I both looked at each other and commented on what a great way for those kids to practice their English.

Last night the kids and I were outside the hotel and a Korean man and his family past us on their way to their car. He stopped and came back to talk to me. I could tell as he started to talk that he knew very little English, but his question was important enough to him to try to ask anyway. The man pointed to the flag and said, "why down?" He wanted to know why the American flag was at half mast. In as basic English as I could I told him that soldiers had died in Afghanistan. He thanked me and went to explain to his family what I had told him. I was so moved to know that they are as interested in learning about us as we are about them.

Korean Folk Village

Saturday we decided to take the kids on the Seoul City Bus Tour. This is a 2 hour bus ride that stops at 30 of the popular sites to see in Seoul, South Korea. We knew going into this that there was no way in hell the children would behave for all 30 stops, so we played it safe and chose the 2 stops we wanted to see the most. First we stopped at the Itaewon Market. This is a series of narrow streets with shops everywhere. There are 2nd floor shops and street shops and even basement shops. Each shop is extremely small and overflowing with merchandise. I was on the hunt for a well-made knockoff purse, while Jason sniffed out athletic jerseys and golf clubs. Neither of us found what we were after, but there was no way Jason was leaving empty handed. After about an hour Jason stumbled across a shop owner with luggage dollies he has to have. In Korea nothing on the economy has a set price. All shop owners expect you to haggle for deals and they always offer you the best deal as you are walking out the door. Ok, so Jason and I have haggled this guy down from 70,000 won for 2 dollies to 55,000 won. Right here, right here is where we completely messed up. Jason looks at me and says, "Lets save our won and use American money." (Koreans love American money because the exchange rate is pretty good right now.) I agree, and without thinking Jason hands the guy 50 dollars. The man smiles and hands us our new luggage dollies (which are probably crap, but they are now our crap). It takes us all of 3 steps out the door before we realize we have just given the shop owner way too much money. 55,000 won is roughly 40 dollars. We ended up paying the man 10 dollars to teach us a lesson we will never forget. Kicking ourselves, we make our way back to the bus stop to continue our tour.

Next stop, The National Folk Museum of Korea on the grounds of the Gyeongbok Palace. I have to say, this was such an amazing experience for all of us. The museum chronicles how noble and common families lived and worked through out their history. The intricate details and elaborate colors in everything astounded us all. We spent the better part of the day marveling at all the exhibits and taking pictures of the buildings. This is definitely a stop that I would recommend to anyone visiting the Seoul area.

More Pics From Our Hotel

Dinner Theater

Friday evenings in July the Dragon Hill Lodge offers a free traditional Korean performance in the lobby. We were lucky enough to get to sit 5 feet from one of Korea's most famous opera singer and to hear her perform 2 beautiful songs. I was so impressed with how both Jackson and Marley sat and listened the entire time, Jackson held his ears for the crescendo, but I will pretend I did not see that part.

Blah

I have officially run out of things to entertain the children in and around this hotel. I am starting to believe that our government should use this as a new form of torture. Lock the offender in a room with a screaming toddler and a moody tween for a week and I swear they will tell you anything you want! I GIVE! It is finally starting to hit me that this is not going to be over any time soon. This time of transition is pretty lonely. I know it will be better once we get settled, but Tuesday is taking an eternity to get here. I miss my friends. The kids miss their friends. Jason is gone most of the day in classes, which I am sure are very boring, but I swear I am going to smack him if he compares it to being as stressful as my day one more time! I miss having my own personal space. I miss the children having their own personal space and staying out of mine. If I never have to watch another cartoon again for the rest of my life it would be too soon. I miss my car. What I wouldn't give to be able to go where I want and when I want. Hell, at this point I would settle for just knowing where the heck I want to go. Cell phone, I miss you the most of all. Without you I am forced to actually watch the children on the playground instead of engaging in the sweet gossip I cherish so much. Tuesday, if you can hear me, I am on my knees begging you to hurry up and get here!

Oops

Ok, so yesterday I almost had my first panic attack! The day started out normal. We all got up and had breakfast and Jason left for his classes. Since the kids and I had explored the hotel for the last couple days, I decided that we would find something else to do on the base. I had heard that there was a "Family Fun Park" with mini golf and batting cages. Normally I would leave the outdoor fun to Jason (let's just face it, I would much rather stay where the air conditioning is), but I decided to go for the Mom of the Year Award and take the kids to this park. Jason had been told that we were not supposed to leave the base without permission while they are still get us all processed into the system. With this in mind, I checked the map of the base that I had been given very carefully and verified that the "Family Fun Park" was indeed within the base walls. Ok, so here is where my panic attack starts. I take the children and we head down to the taxi stand at the hotel we are staying at. I tell the driver "please take us to the Family Fun Park." He responds, "Family Park yes" and we are off. After about 5 minutes I notice that we are getting close to one of the gates that leads off-post and I am starting to get nervous. I reconfirm my destination and he again acts like he understands. Next thing I know, we are outside the gate and headed into downtown Seoul. Now I am sick to my stomach and freaking out that we are not going to be able to get back onto the post. The cab driver proceeds to drop us off at the "Yongsan Family Park" which in next to the Korean National Museum. For some reason I convince myself that I must have read the map wrong. We get out of the car and it quickly becomes obvious that this is just a botanical garden and not something the kids are going to be very interested in. At this point, I am freaking out, but decide to make the most of this situation and we head for the museum. I take the children and we walk through the children's museum and then head to a cab stand to take us back to the hotel. Once we get into a cab it is very clear that the driver knows about as much English and I know Korean. We begin a polite game of charades in order to communicate my destination. After a few minutes of this I finally pull my map of the base out of my purse and he figures out where I am headed. We are off. Now he knows where I want to go, but apparently he has no clue how to get there. We end up stopping for directions from 3 different police men and making a circle around the whole base before finally ending up at the gate that is closest to the hotel. The guard at the gate then tells me that the cab will have to let us off there since he is not allowed onto the base. Ok, now I am getting ready to find out whether I am going to be able to get onto the base or not. My heart is beating out of my chest for the few seconds it takes before he asks for passports and military ID. WE ARE GOOD TO GO!!!! I can finally relax because we are on the base when it hits me that I have no idea where the hotel is from the gate. Just then a British gentleman pulls up to the gate and the gate guard asks him if he will give us a ride to the hotel. Apparently the rule about not getting into cars with strangers went right out the window, because I threw the kids in the car and we were off. This sweet man drops me and the children off at our hotel just in time to run into Jason who is on his lunch break. I relay the story to him and he finds the whole thing hysterical, which pisses me off. He eventually stops laughing and tells me he is proud of me for controlling my panic and making the best out of the situation.

Day Two

Yesterday was our first full day at the Dragon Hill Lodge on Yongsan Garrison. The facilities and restaurants here are all really nice, but the rooms don't look any different than any other hotel I have ever stayed at. The worst part is, the Army is basically paying $290 a night for us to stay here. Hell for $290 a night I could get a suite at the Bellagio in Vegas! Oh well, like the saying goes: "It is not the right way or the wrong way, it is the Army way!" Right now we are being told that we will be here until the 14th and then we will be getting on a bullet train to Daegu. I think this sounds pretty neat. I have always wanted to ride on a bullet train. Once we arrive in Daegu we will find out whether we get our housing immediately or whether we will be put up in a hotel until it is ready. Since we got here Jason has been in mandatory classes from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. He swears he is bored to tears, but I would gladly trade places with him. I am stuck doing my normal job as a mother in a room the size of a closet. I took the kids yesterday and we explored the hotel and pretty much ran out of things to entertain them in about 2 hours. The coolest part about this hotel is the playground. It is MASSIVE. It is like 5 McDonald's playlands put together and towering up to three levels for the big kids, an area for smaller children with more tunnels and plastic playhouses than you can count, a half basketball court, and a meditation area. Our room overlooks this area and I made sure I took a picture of it. This kids both had a wonderful time on it. Today I think we will explore more of the base and see what all we can find to do. I read that they have something called the Family Fun Park, so we will see what that is all about.

Jet Lag

I have to say that I am very proud of myself and my children. We all survived the 14 hour plane ride to Korea without any major problems. I never have any problems with Jackson, but I was very concerned with Marley since she is 2 1/2 and that age is terrible even when not on a plane. We started out our trip at the DFW airport USO in the international terminal. Now the international terminal USO is much smaller than the regular one, but I could not have been more impressed. We were overwhelmed with all the complimentary food and drinks they provided. The gentleman that worked there even put a Disney movie on for the kids to watch. After we loaded up on goodies, we all headed out to the plane. From the time we got on that plane to the time we left I was completely blown away at the fabulous service we received on Korean Airlines. We were offered fruit and juice every two hours, the meals were wonderful, the two alcoholic beverages that we consumed were free, and there were no screaming babies (including mine)! Once we landed we breezed through immigration and customs. The only miserable part was the fact that we landed at one end of the airport and the meeting place for the military shuttles was at the other end of the airport (i swear it was a mile walk with all our crap). Once we got to the military shuttle check in we only had to wait 30 minutes before we were all on a bus and on our way to the Dragonhill Lodge. We hit a few speed bumps at the Dragonhill, but we are working them out (we hope) today. Well we are off to explore a little bit.