Sunday Snow!

Christie and I took this picture on our way to church Sunday morning. Isn't the world beautiful?

Laura's Bachlorette Party!

Sunday night Christie and I hosted Laura's bachlorette party! It was a really fun time. We dressed Laura up all crazy, and I did her make-up (the theme was PINK by the way), and then we took her out and dragged her all over the neighborhood. It was hilarious! Laura gets married on December 30th, and I will be a bridesmaid! I am so excited! It will be a first for me! Anyhow, here are pics!

Snow Fight!

So, after we left Kevin's, we went norebanging with the Korean guys from the pub. On the way to the place, we all got into a snow fight! Please keep in mind folks that I am in stockings, a skirt, and very high heels! And I didn't fall ONCE! After the snow fight, we went to the norebang, where I was seranaded by not one, but TWO Korean boys! It was hilarious! Here are some pics!

I got a sweater!

So, Saturday night, Christie, Jillian, Kenton and I all went out to dinner, and then we went to our favorite neighborhood bar, Mr. Yu's! It is owned by our friend Kevin, and we love going there! It started snowing a little after we got there, and I was very excited and kept running to the window to look at it coming down. This one Korean guy at a table by us must have thought I was hilarious or something, cause he went downstairs and made me a snowball! Seriously! He brought it up and gave it to me! It was so cute! Anyhow, there was also this big group of Korean guys drinking there and they pretty much kept to themselves, so we ignored them. Then, this very drunk older gentleman at another table picked a fight with this cutie-pie little Korean guy wearing glasses and a pink sweater. It was so silly. Anyways, after the old man left, the little guy kept apologizing to us for causing a disturbance, and bought us a pitcher of beer. So we started talking to the group, and it was pretty hilarious. So, I then proceeded to tell the guy how much I liked his sweater, and that pink was my favorite color. He promptly stripped out of it, and offered it to me...I turned it down for about 2 seconds, and then I graciously allowed him to put it on me! LOL! It was awesome! Here is a fun slideshow of the bar scene!

Rockin' the DeathLung!

So, as many of you have heard already, because I am a big baby and can't help whining about it, I have pneumonia. Well, I am actually already getting better...but I had chest X-rays taken and blood drawn, so "poor baby" comments are still totally appropriate! Anyhow, because Korea has this crazy idea that you should go to work, even when you are dying, I have been having to go about my life as usual...even though an entire alien race of litle green men has come up out of my lungs. The point being? for the past two days, I have gotten to rock a "DeathLung Mask!" Yes! A MASK! Here is a pic for those of you who don't believe me!



Now, before you feel too bad, I shouold probably tell you that people here wear them all the time, and I am actually getting less stares with it on, than usual, cause it covers my face and no one can see I am foreign at first glance! Whoo-pee! Anyhow...I figured ya'll would get a nice little laugh out of that! Hopefully I will be all better soon! I am tired of being sick! Later-taters!

The First Snow!

So Seoul had its first snow! I was so excited! Here is video! I know...I am rediculous! And please, forgive my voice...I have had a cold for almost a month now, and so sound very nasal! LOL!

Snack Time With My Little Men!

Here are some fun shots of my kids...there are a few of Sophia and my K-5s and K-7s, but totally check out my little K-6s...they are the best and are "sharing" their snack time with us! LOL! Also, watch the video...they are so happy!

Thanksgiving in Korea!

So, I actually did have a Thanksgiving dinner! I know many of you wondered about that. My church did a big dinner at Yongsan Army Base, so I got my Turkey and fixins! It was delicious! Plus, in the two weeks prior, my friends and I (mostly me, though) devoured two pumpkin pies from CostCo! They made my whole month of November! Christie and I took Laura and Jillian with us, and we all had a great time! Here are some pictures from dinner!

Couple of things I forgot...

A couple of things I forgot to mention in the previous post:

The picture of the memorial to the soldiers killed trying to cut down a tree; here is some further explanation...The blue pagoda building was originally a gaurd post, and the soldiers line of sight was blocked by this massive tree, so they took a group of three civilian workers and eight soldiers out to cut the tree down one day. They were met by approximately 30 NK soldiers, and were attacked. They were grossly outnumbered, and the NK soldiers massacred them with axes...Yeah. Pretty fricking grissly...so they put this memorial in the exact place of the tree. The commander of the unit, who was killed, was named Boniface, hence the name Camp Boniface. The blue building, as I said, marks the Southern side of the Bridge of No Return, which is where an exchange of prisoners took place after the war. The soldiers were allowed to walk across the bridge to the side of their choice, but they could never return to the country they were departing from.

Another thing I should have explained further...the soldier that is facing the builing where it looks lie he is peeing...he is actually only half exposed to the other side. They do this so that they make smaller targets for gunfire, and so that, if they are struck by a bullet, it is only on the side of their body, and therefore, less likely to be fatal. Scary, huh?

I also completely forgot to mention "Freedom Village," the South's version of "Propoganda Village" in the North. No, propoganda is not played all day long, but it is a symbol in and of itself. The people that live here farm land within the DMZ, under heavy military guard. They have government permission and endorsement to live here, as they are direct decendents of the people who lived in the original village before the war. They are exempt from the mandatory military service, and their land and income is tax-free. Women can marry into the village, but men cannot, because of the exemption from military duty, which is a compulsory two years in South Korea. The villagers have to be inside the village by nightfall, must be inside their homes with lights off and all windows and doors secured by midnight, and must live in the village a minimum of 8 months out of the year, to maintain their residency status. The village is patrolled nightly by a contingent of soldiers, both American and ROK.

Final thing I forgot to explain...the flag flying above "Propoganda Village." Sometime back, a flag pole totalling 100 meters in height was donated to "Freedom Village" and was considerably taller than the one in "PV." The North Korean Government promptly erected a flag pole totalling 160 meters in "PV." The flag that flies on this flag pole is 30 meters long and weighs and estimated 600 lbs. When it was first erected, it took upwards of 30 men to raise the flag, and had to be taken down in severe weather as its own weight would cause the tower to topple. Later a motor was installed to raise the enormous flag. It is currently the tallest flag pole in the world.

The DMZ!

Wow! Can I say that again? Wow! What an incredible trip and experience this was! I had the most amazing time, and mad props to the USO for putting together such a great tour! We visited Camp Boniface, the JSA (Joint Security Area), The Dora Observatory, the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, and of course the DMZ (demilitarized zone). It was about an hour and 15 minute bus ride from Seoul, which is nice to know, so, in case of invasion from the North, I have a little over an hour to get the heck out of the city! But anyways, there was super tight security getting in, and a ton of soldiers, both ROK (Republic of Korea), and American forces. We were met by our DMZ official tour guide, a Sgt. Bisnett (who was from Bisbee AZ--small world, huh?), at the gate, and he escorted us to Ballinger Hall inside Camp Boniface, for a 15 minute briefing on the history and current status of the DMZ, given by our other guide, another Sgt. (He wasn't as cute, so I forgot his name!) After the briefing, we piled onto buses provided by the military, and drove up to the actual DMZ and the JSA. As we drove, we were not allowed to take pictures, which sucked because we passed anti-tank walls, mine fields, and lots of soldiers with guns and other fun stuff! But then we got up to the JSA, and things became even more surreal. There were ROK soldiers everywhere, and they were all armed to the teeth, and wore these crazy dark aviator glasses, and many of them stood in the Tae Kwon Do first readiness postion. They looked fierce! We were told this was the intention, as they were constantly being observed by the NK soldiers, and therefore put on the most intimidating postures possible! I laughed at first, but then realized that this actually made sense, and in a situation as serious as this one, it was probably very neccessary. As we walked out of the main JSA building, we stood on the stairs of the building, and looked across at the Northern side. From here, we could see a single NK soldier standing on the top of the stairs for the reciprocal NK building to the one we were standing on. We were also told that in the darkened window to the left of the soldier, there was another NK soldier fully armed and wathcing us with binoculars. Can I just say that this was a totally cool feeling to know that someone was scoping us with 'nocs? Kind of gave ya crazy goosebumps. Anyhow, the JSA included several blue shack-type buildings, which had been hastily built when the Armistice talks began. These buildings rested on the actual border line between the North and the South, being half in one, and half in the other. Between the buildings, the line was shown with concrete slabs. Inside the buildings, a table rested in the middle, with speakers for the translators, and a small flag indicating the exact border line. Inside the building that we entered, there were two ROK soldiers, both in a readiness position, and at full alert. They did not move, nor seem to shift their gaze. We were told not to touch them or attempt to walk behind them. They were both black belts in Tae Kwon Do, and their force was the most intelligent of all the soldiers in the ROK army...basically, they were the best of the best. They were incredibly impressive.

So, after we left the JSA, we took the military buses up towards the actual DMZ and border line. From here, we were surrounded by Communist North Korea on three sides, because the DMZ curves and is not straight. It was amazing. There was a watch tower that NK soldiers were watching us from and you could see all kinds of military buildings. We also had a nice view of "Propaganda Village." This is a small city on the NK side of the border, that was dubbed "Propaganda Village" because they used to play Kim Jong Il propoganda 12 to 16 hours a day over loud speakers. The tour guide told us that they used to be able to hear it at night at camp Boniface, and Johnny told me that when he was stationed here a few years ago, and took the tour, he heard it as well. Crazy, huh?

After this, we went to the Dora Observatory, where we could look through scopes and see approximately 17 kilometers into NK. I was so excited, because not only did I get to see actual NK soldiers, armed and moving about their gaurd post, looking back at me through binnoculars, I saw some dude riding a bike...it was just so random, and normal, ya know?

Lastly we visited the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. I'm not going to go into its history too much, as you would learn more to look it up yourself, but the short of it is that South Korea found the tunnels after a series of drilling searches, just as the North Koreans was past the actual border, in South Korea. We walked down a half mile, 80 (I may be exaggerating a little, but it was hello-steep) degree angled ramp, hunched over for another long strech, and finally came to a creepy little cement door, right at the the border. We could see the the holes where the drills had gone, and the blast marks from the dynamite. It was crazy, but totally cool! Anyhow, I then had to walk back up that fricking ramp, proceeded to almost have a heart attack, then sat in the fresh air for a while, listening to Sly and the Family Stone. It was a fantastic trip. Here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy!

The Everland Blog!

So, this past Saturday Christie, Jillian, and I went to Everland. It is this knock-off Disney Land that Koreans go ape over. It was actually really fun except for...it was wicked cold, there were way too many fricking people, and everything that was supposedly representing the "culture" of America was so incredily stereotypical, it was ridiculous. Ok...imagine you just walked into the WORST chinese food restraunt a po-dunk midwestern town has to offer. Now imagine the horribly gaudy chintz that would provide the decor for such a place. Take that level of gaudiness, and color over every stereotype of America that you can think of--from cowboys and indians to circus performances...ok, you now have an idea of the level of stereotyping that went into Everland's representation of "western culture!" It was almost too hilarious to be insulting! Almost...But other than that...it was really fun! Here are some slideshows of pictures, as well as some video! Hope you enjoy! And make sure you pay particular attention to my new FAVORITE accessory! Don't fear the Pink Bear!

The Park itself! EVERLAND

Some shots from the day!

The super-fun spinning ride! So much fun!

And now a short video demonstrating the fun!



So, this next part is great...I conquered and tamed the rare and elusive Giant Panda!

Here is video proof of my "Wild Animal Tamer" skills! I'm like the next Jack Hannah! LOL!



And for the final touch, we closed the night out at our neighborhood bar, and our friend Jiro went and bought us Pepero (it was Pepero day...which is kind of like Valentine's Day, only the boys give the girls these chocolate covered biscuits). When we got there, Jiro and his friend snuck out of the bar, to the local store on the corner and bought us Pepero! It was so sweet!



OK...so I hope you enjoyed all the picture fun! Post lots of comments about my fabulousness!

An Adventurous Weekend: Part 1

So, I had a really fun weekend! I am breaking it into three parts...LOL! This first part is of mine and Christie's trip to World Cup Stadium! The morning of the day we visited it, USA beat Canada in the Queen Peace Cup. So the flags of the nations were still up, and we were very excited to get pics of our respective flags! Isn't the stadium amazing? It was really cool beacue it was all opened and we were able to just wander through. The grass was so green!

An Adventurous Weekend: Part 2

After we wandered around the stadium for awhile, we trekked over to World Cup Stadium Park! It is so big, you have to take shuttles to the different parts (there are like 4 parks in total). The one that we were closest to, and really wanted to see was, unfortunately (or, if you are me, thankfully) closing just as we approached. Check out the stairs you have to climb to get to the actual park, and all of the people. So I took some shots on the way out, instead!

An Adventurous Weekend: Part 3

On Sunday, after service, Christie and I went bowling with some freinds from our church. We then hopped the subway to Yeoinaru and rode bicycles along the Han river! Mine was pink, of course! Took some beautiful shots of the water and the city! Enjoy!

Me Teaching!

This is one of my little K-5's (4year olds), Alli. We are reading "A Party." She is a little giggle box usually, and laughs all through class. I was a little sad that she didn't smile here, but she was sick this day.


Another K-5, Chelsey. Also reading...Isn't she adorable? She is my little "princess!" Total girly-girl!


My third K-5, Tara. She has the cutest curly hair...


One of my K-7's (6 years old), Calvin. Aren't we cute doing our little chant?

Another K-7, Eric. What is up with my hair? This kid is adorable, and gives me kisses all the time when he comes to class!

Joshi, my "problem" child. He has some behavioural issues, but he is so smart. And he is just so sweet. Except that he has an unwholesome fascination with my boobs, and grabs them several times a week when I am least expecting it! Kind of creepy...


My only girl in my K-7 class, Kelly. She is incredibly smart, and blows the three boys out of the water. She is also a little instigator, and gets the boys all riled up on a regular basis...what a clever girl!

Olympic Park

So a few weekends back, Christie, Katie, Sophia, and I all went for a little jaunt about Seoul, and ended up at Olympic park. Here are some pics of the adventure! LOL!



Here is Christie, with Sophia on her back, and Katie flashing "hello's!"


Funny name for an English school, huh?



Um, yeah, that is really a chalk outline. They do that here!


Look how tall Christie is...or how short Katie and Sophia are! LOL!


This church was pretty cool looking...like from a cartoon or something.


Awwww Sophia!


Happy Katie! She is always smiling. I adore her cheer!


Korea's National Flower


OK, so I know it is actually a thumb, but I thought it was funnier as a toe. Just as a weird random statue!


A shot without my ugly old foot!


Flags in Olympic Park...they went around in this huge semi-circle, all the nations.


Here we are playing peek-a-boo behind the flags!


The ladies, posing "Olympic" style!


This was a view from a walkway at Olympic Park. Isn't it gorgeous?


We stumbled upon some Chinese Acrobats in the park. I was simply amazed at what these children were capable of. There is video down further.


Can YOU do that? LOL!


Some video of the acrobats...listen to our rather funny running commentary if you have speakers! Especially at the end of this first clip...we sound like a bunch of adjumas (old women)!

Fall in Seoul

Sun-straining clouds, a breeze covers me, the chill of fall wraps me in its sharp arms. The sky rises, and then falls, looming ever closer, dropping from the heavens, I can almost touch it. I can taste it, the smell of it permeates my mind...Fall in the East, winter fast approaching, and I spin round and round, reveling in the coolness and crispness of the air. The skyscraping apartment towers, that always seem to be reaching so high to touch that which they were built to span the distance too, are floating magestically, not now having to reach for the sky. I think it must be God's favorite time of year, as never are his heavenly lands closer, than in the late months of September and October. All things good and beautiful on earth are at their fullest, right before the long sleep of winter...the ripest of their yearly time. Lushness, mixed with the coming frigid...so beautiful, brittle, but magnificent. It will snap any moment, and I appreciate this strange fragility, as I know it is all too quickly vanished, beneath snow and ice, and then it is gone, as the next time you see life, it will be new. The Fall, as death fast approaches; it is as if life defies that which is inevitable, throwing its most beautiful aspects out in an overwhelming display of the brilliance that is only shown in moderation the rest of the year...as though this effort will stun death into halting its ever-patient advance. Death does not stop, but you know that it appreciates that which life has sent to try and distract it. Fall, the end of the old, a neccessary passing for the creation of new life, but the old life makes you feel so rich, as you see what it is fully capable of being. The colors, the scents, the textures, all in the air, floating around you, filling the space between earth and heaven, combining the two, and being, momentarily, a unifier of the two.

Holy Crap! I Left My Apartment & Went Outside!

So, I actually left my apartment this weekend, and went out into the city! LOL! Yes, my homebody tendancies have been controlling me for the past two months, but, like everyone says, I should experience this place while I am here. Plus, I needed an adapter for the cordless phone Johnny brought me! LOL! Here are a couple of fun pics from the walk to the subway...these are all around Seokchon Hosu; the lake I live by!






Then, we took the subway to TechnoMart (huge store with a pleathora of different vendors all selling the same thing), and here is a picture of that behamouth! (It is the blue buiding.)



After we left TechnoMart, Johnny thought we should walk down and see the river, which we crossed directly before our subway stop getting to TechnoMart. So, I said ok, and we started walking, looking for a way down to the river. Check out these insane apartment buildings we passed!



A mile later, we still hadn't managed to find a way down, and we were at the Olympic Bridge. That is supposedly the Olympic Torch, from when the Olympic Games were here in Korea. And I took a quick shot of a couple of darling little Korean soldiers who walked past us going onto the bridge.





Here, Johnny says, "Let's walk across it!" He looks so proud of the idea, that I can't bear to tell him that I am really not a "walker," so I say "OK!"



So off we go. This f-ing bridge goes on FOREVER! It traverses the width of the Han River, so it is pretty cool to watch the ships, and we can see the other bridge, the one we came across on the subway on, so I feel like I have come very far. I got a nice close-up of the torch part too!




And then I see Lotte Castle, and realize how much farther I have to go. (The two matching gold buildings off in the distance...If you scroll back up and look at the second picture I posted, the one of the balloons, you will see part of it in the background...just to give oyu an idea of how far I have gone on foot!)



Freaking Hell! Anyways, we keep walking across and finally get to the other side, and then Johnny says, "Let's keep going. We are almost there!" Now, I absolutely adore this man, but seriously, I feel like my feet are about to jump off the bottoms of my legs and kick my own ass! Yes, they were that angry! So, I felt as though I must assert myself here and said, "Ok baby. If you want to!" Ahahahaha! I know, I am a sucker for a cute smile!



LONG story short, I lasted for an hour and a half before I sat down on a subway vent and said, "Get a cab, I am not going another step!" He was very sweet about it, and kept telling me how proud he was that I had gone so far (we had walked between 4 and 5 miles, over an hour and a half period) and promised me food and a nap when we got back to the apartment! This made me less grouchy, and a bit more philosophical about the whole situation. It had been a very nice walk, I had gotten some lovely pictures of the city, and I had gotten some exercise and fresh air. All in all, not a bad Saturday...

Now Sunday evening, when my leg muscles were on fire, I was ready to kill someone, but that is another story! LOL!

Addendum: The gentleman shown in this post no longer (as of 11/3) holds the coveted position of "My Boyfriend!" No, I am not heartbroken, and it was a fairly civil break. So, those of you who are secretly in love with me, and pine for my wonderfulness daily/hourly/continuously, you will be thrilled to know I am back in the single saddle! LOL!