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.