Today's the Day

We are moving into our new apartment this morning.  We walked through it on Friday and it's awesome. We're gonna fill it up with free government issued furniture and it's gonna be the best. Once we get our internet there the blog'll be up and running again! 

Seoul Grand Park Zoo & New Friends

Line 4 to Seoul Grand Park.  We've got this subway thing down!  Nevermind the fact that, as Nate says, "it's the easiest thing in the world."

Rowdy boys are a concern to the locals.

I don't know who the Sedowicks are, but their mural sure is lovely.

Baby turtle Asher.  Awwwww.

Frankie's gotta keep her new scar out of the sun for 8 months.  If you find a little hat that doesn't have a picture of Dora on it, send it my way would ya?

At the Dolphin & Sealion show ala Sea World.  Ignore the fact that I neglected to photograph said dolphins.  Or any zoo animals for that matter. 

We ventured to the zoo with some new friends we made at the hotel.  Our first trip there was fun, but exhausting.  The Seoul Grand Park is huge and the zoo is probably a mile or so into it.  We didn't know a tram ran to and from the entrance so we hiked the kids in on the sunniest day we've had yet.  We had time to see  about four exhibits and the dolphin show, before the kids declared themselves exhausted and refused to walk any further.

We went back a couple days later with Nate and Nat (yes, I sometimes get their names confused, and yes, they hate it), and this time we did everything right.  We rode the tram to the entrance.  Bought tickets to the sky-lift and were air lifted to the top of the zoo where we worked our way down through the animals.

Our favorites were the enormous Stellar Sealions, a pacing Siberian Tiger, the baby animal nursery, and the goofy Orangutans.  I've got a feeling the zoo will become a favorite Saturday afternoon destination.  We love Korea!

Oooooh Barracuda

 Jensie made the swim team!  She's a Yongsan Barracuda.  

Practice starts at 5:30 am.  Everyday.
Her first morning she said "When it swims it feels like I'm flying!"

then she said "and I pretend I'm really playing Quidditch."

which explains why she kept bumping into the lane dividers and forgot about her kick-board.
This Saturday is her first meet.  She's swimming the 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke.  Hurray!

Out and About

Street food- cheap and delicious (and hopefully, maybe, gluten-free).

Nothing like a refreshing bottle of "sweat" on a hot day.  We thought it was water but it's really Gatorade.  Like, old school style.  Sick.

Too-spicy-to-eat rice noodles, sweet bean dumplings, more dumplings, and dumplings.

Live snail face cream.  Yes!  Emily Keele and I invented this in the 5th grade, but I can't remember what we called it. I wanna say Jeempa-Ju but that's not right.  Jeempa-Ju is oatmeal with chopped up spaghetti noodles.  Anyway, we were robbed!

I don't know what this is, but you can buy it in the subway.

Sitting on the floor at little teeny tables.  Hurray!

Our first day here someone told us "Korean food is great if you eat a lot of meat.  Are you big meat eaters?"  My response?  "We are now!"

Meat.  Its' what's for dinner.

A friend took us to this awesome restaurant the other night.  We walked there in the pouring rain and arrived in time for the dinner rush.  When it was our turn to be seated I was a little disgusted to have to take off my shoes and go inside.  Everything seemed wet and germy.  Don't worry, I got over myself.  We sat on the floor and piled our grills high with a little bit of almost everything.  The family sitting next to us was grilling long chords of intestine.  We're working our way up to that.  It was delicious!  Bean paste might be my new favorite food.

Everything else about Korea is just as cool.  Folks here are enamored with our kids.  Asher learned to say "hello" in Korean and has perfected his bow.  He's darling on the subway and people flock to him.  He bows to everyone and they all touch his face and bow and laugh.  The subways are easy to navigate and a great way to get around.  We sold our cars before we came and plan to use public transportation to get around.  Nate occasionally gets called into work at odd hours though, so we may buy a little "hoopdi" to have on hand for emergencies.

School doesn't start until the end of August so we still have lots of time to explore.  Seoul is so big we could probably see something new every weekend and still not see it all.

Yesterday we found out we'll be living in Army housing about 20 mins away from main post (Yongsan).  We'll probably move in sometime around August 1. They don't have any empty apartments to show right now though so we don't know what our new place will look like.  We walked around the neighborhood and there are two nice playgrounds and a great pool.  We can walk out the front gate right into a busy shopping district and there's a shuttle that will run us to Yongsan anytime we need.  It's gonna be a blast.

I can't think of much else to say so here a few random facts about Korea so far.

• Watermelons cost as much as $20!  They're on sale at the commissary for $16.  Whoo!
• Crocs are taking over the world--seriously about 1 of every 5 people are wearing Crocs.  Not just ugly ones either.  Peep toe crocs, crocs heels, crocs boots.  I want some.
• Red foods are hot, white foods are not.  Pretty easy, except there's no way to to tell how hot something red will be...
• There are over 2,000 different kinds of Kim-Chi.  So far my favorites are radish and cucumber.  
• They eat raw octopus.  We've been warned several times to eat it carefully because the suckers on their squirmy tentacles can stick to your throat when you swallow and choke you.
• Um, I already ran out of facts.

Three Little Monkeys Jumpin' on the [Hotel] Bed

One fell off and . . .

We got a lot done today.  Picked up our ration cards, checked out the commissary (they don't sell gluten-free bread, boo), and rushed the baby to the ER.  Good thing we'd picked up new cell phones too.  iPhones are about worth their weight in gold.  Frankie played Scoops 'til she could be seen and YouTube distracted her while the doc stitched her up.

 She's one tough cookie.  Didn't cry a bit.  Just got a little squinty when they turned on the overhead light.

She's pretty proud of the blood on her shirt.

Three stitches later + a pack of princess stickers = good as new!

Jetlag: The Next Chapter

Our bright-eyed monsters were up at 4 am ready for a snack.  Frankie shouted happily "I can't believe we get to eat in the middle of the night!"  They're watching Disney channel in Korean and eating popcorn in bed.  Nate's in the background singing "Party in the U.S.A."  Just thought you'd like to know.

Annyeonghaseyo/Hello!

View of Yongsan from our hotel room

We made it!  I'm so tired. Jetlaaaaaaaaaag. The flight was uneventful. I watched five movies on the way to Japan. "The Adjustment Bureau" was a total let down.  Whatevs. I felt irritated not being able to understand anything the woman was announcing over the airport intercom.  Then I remembered a) I'd better get used to it and b) I need to learn her language.  Ha!

We're staying in an enormous Army hotel called the Dragon Hill Lodge.  This place is like a small city. There are at least three restaurants, several fast food joints--Pizza Hut, Subway, two huge playgrounds, a bank, a couple of pools, and a small grocery store. The rooms aren't bad, just typical hotel rooms.  Cable TV and bedspreads that give me the heebee-jeebees.  We'll be here anywhere from 10-60 days while we wait for permanent housing to open up.

It's the middle of "Monsoon Season" and it's gray and rainy out but the weather's nice and warm.  My hair is getting bigger by the minute.  Frankie's curls are awesome.  People exaggerated Seoul's "lack of nature."  There are trees everywhere.  From what I've seen, which is very little I know, it's quite pretty and looks a lot like Taiwan.

Nate started briefings and in-processing stuff this morning. He'll be done in about an hour and then we are going to get on the bus that runs on post and explore a bit. I guess there is a black-market here for American goods sold at the commissary (I think mostly things like cigarettes and vodka) so we can't go grocery shopping without ration cards and new IDs. Ration cards are first on the agenda so we can stock up on gluten-free stuff. Until then the kids will have to live on ice-cream and French fries.  I'm sure they're really upset about it.

It's so weird that we live here!

You Still Reading This?

We don't have a computer to use regularly here and I can't figure out how to upload any pictures.  We're off to Korea in THREE short days. In the meantime it's family, hiking, swimming, sleeping in, and drinking up that cool mountain air.  Thanks for stickin' around.  See you in Seoul! !!  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  !!!!! (That sentence can not have too many exclamation points.)

He Makes Me Laugh

::ashley thalman photography::

Bluesy

Today, on Father's Day, I'm missing the best dad I know.  Best man I know if you want to get technical.  I sure am lucky.  Love you Natey.  Really, really.

"Mr. Mac" Barwick you come in a close second.  I watch you with your kids, Matt, and am proud to know you.  Happy Father's Day.

                                                     -------------------------------------------

My kids and their cousins are piled into a mini-winnie on their way to Oregon to spend a week with Grandi and Papa.  I couldn't fall asleep last night I was so lonely.  Jensie gave me extra hugs and kisses before they left. I noticed again how beautiful she is.

                                                      -------------------------------------------

Night before last Frankie tried every trick in the book to avoid having to go to sleep. She was hungry, thirsty, lost her blankie, had to go potty, and just wasn't tired.  I told her to "stay in bed" and shut the door. She started crying but I decided to ignore her. I heard Asher sneak out of the room and down the hallway, where he found me at the computer writing to Nate.  

"Um, Mom?"  he said. "I'm not trying to lie to you, but, um, Frankie just threw up all over her sleeping bag."

Good grief.  I believe you son!

I found Frankie, cupped hands full of vomit, glaring as I knelt by her side.  "You didn't bring me a bowl in time."

Oops.  In my defense, she hadn't asked for one.  Cross my heart.

                                                       -------------------------------------------

Family dinners are a big deal around here.  On a good night we seat 22.  Sunday, when we'd all gathered around the table, an apprehensive Asher blurted "My mom is crazy!  She stabbed Jensie with a needle over and over.  Jensie was gonna pass out."

*Silence*

"Asher, do you mean the other day when I used a needle to get a splinter out of Jensie's toe?"  I asked, nervously.  "When I was very slow and calm and Jensie said it didn't hurt at all?"

"Yeah."  he said, and began to cry.

Whew.  We turned again to our plates and I did my best to comfort my Trypanophobic wee one. 

Later that night I needed to run outside to grab something I'd left in the car.  Asher asked if he could come with me.  When we stepped onto the porch, however, Asher seemed surprised by the chilly blast of cold mountain air--typical of June evenings in the high desert.  

"It's too cold for me." he cried.

"Well run and get your sweatshirt," I advised.

"I don't want to." he said.

"Ok, then just be cold."

With a panicked look Asher turned to Bonnie and my step-brother who stood nearby. "She just told me to be cold." he shrieked. "I told you she was crazy. She makes terrible choices!" 

Asher.  Sweet, sensitive, anxious Asher.  I will miss you and your sisters so.  

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

Nate and our friend Stephen pose with the official Miss America car.

Family Tree

Sometimes "cheesy" is the best!

Made It!

All right folks we're here and now.  Chillin' with the fam while Nate finishes up his course in San An Tone.  Check out the pjs Gramma Bonnie made Asher.

Complete with scarf and hankie!
Freakin' rad.

From the Sticky South to the Wild West

Salt Lake City here we come!

City Market Fountains

 Hot and Hungry

My kids are always so pleasant in public!

Time to cool off!