City Lights

Merry Christmas from Seoul, Korea.  Wishing you a bright and joyful season.

Riding Shotgun

Koreans do not like to "ride shotgun" in cars.  My co-workers regulary hold the back seat door open for me when ever we are driving on errands.  Yesterday, I drove my realtor and my landlady to sign the lease papers for my apartment.  They both eagerly climbed into the back seat and left the front passenger empty.  That would never happen with my family and in fact I'm calling shotgun now, for when I come to visit over Christmas.

Lantern Festival

These are paper lanterns, larger than life size. We walked along the river, amazed and enthralled.


I'm so sorry that I am not a better photographer. But this is just enough to tease and tempt you into coming and visiting.

Carving

This is the first time that I have seen people carve fruit for Halloween but when the commissary only has a couple of pumpkins... you have to get creative for the Young Adult activities.

The Beautiful Beach

Observing US holidays in Korea means that you get a few Mondays off when everyone else has to work. (Of course, everything in Seoul is closed on Monday because the department stores, museums and attractions are open all weekend. It's a catch 22.)
The glitter you see on the horizon is the water. There was probably about a mile of mud before it. The tides in Incheon are huge. And the mud is full of shells so it's not something that you want to be walking through barefoot.
This is the beach that a lady sent us too after telling us that the others in the area were too muddy. But as you can tell, there was no one else on the beach with us.

Hmm...

McDonalds delivery... not something that you would see in the states. On the other hand I have yet to see a drive thru window.

Learning and Exploring

Megan and I have been taking turns show each other the sights and tastes of Korea. One of my favorite outings was just to the Korean grocery store. She walked me down every aisle and explain what things were and gave them the thumbs up or thumbs down. Brilliant!


We also have gone to our fair share of museums! I love exploring the history and the art. There was one artist, Whang Inkie, who recreated various famous paintings... like van Gogh's Starry Night in legos.
My kitchen is the cleanest it has been in months and look at the lovely vase I bought at Icheon.
I love these shelves and the pottery wasn't bad either!
Leek pancakes are an excellent way to eat your vegetables!

Visitors

The hike up the mountain was definitely worth the dazingly light display of a panoramic view of Seoul.

It's great to have family come to visit and even better when they speak Korean! Everyone has been so shocked to have a white girl talking to them...

Summer Reading

Summer Reading is over, the balloons left with the children and the posters are all down. (Granted there are no pictures of children here, but when you have to entertain 60+ kids a week, you have no time to grab the camera.)
I miss the kids. I miss the silly games and picking books to recommend each week. This week I did penny relay races with the older kids. The under 7 group just practiced balancing pennies on various body parts while walking across the room. 100 pennies, 30 minutes of entertainment and laughter. The best dollar, I've spent this week.
I won't have survived without my two Summer Hires. These girls were great and very willing to jump in and help with the crafts and craziness.

My New Favorite

I watched the 25th Ann. Les Mis Concert and they did this song as an encore. I love it and have watched it over and over this week.




If that doesn't work try this link http://youtu.be/wcbe4gSoef8

A look at Seoul

Here's a great time lapse of Seoul that I found on http://vimeo.com/23402375.

Seoul Time Lapse 2011 from Oh Choong Young on Vimeo.

Dad's Visit

Dad stopped by for a visit on the way home from a business trip to western China.

It was great to spend time with him, show him my fabulous life... where I work, live and worship. He was a very good sport as I dragged him to my various activities. And he enjoyed my GPS just a little to much. (It's Korean and the English translations are just a little off. For example: every time you approach a large intersection it says, "Approaching danger zone." And it beeps at you if you go just one km over the speed limit. My favorite is when you are in bumper to bumper traffic, it announces that "You are in a parking violation zone.")

Note to self

Check to see if the car is in park when you can't start it. It's way more embarrassing to call a tow truck for a stupid mistake like that in Korean. (Mostly because you have to get a translator involved too.)

Quirks of Korea

You have to love the fact that there are photo zones in Korea.

And they were right, it was an excellent place to take a picture of the Korean War Museum.

Cherry Blossoms

Okay, so I two weeks late, but last month the cherry blossoms were everywhere. It was fun to walk in the wind, because it looked like snow and smelled like heaven.

Specially Delivery

My car won't start, so I called the Roadside assistance number and they sent a guy on a motorcycle with a battery to come jump start the car. It was pretty awesome.

Move over Princess Leia

You are not the only one who can send a message with R2D2.

Outside of my apartment

Spring is here and they turned on water and fountains all around my apartment, so let me take you on a tour.
This orange piece in the front is a teeter totter that you stand on. Lots of fun!

Gyeongbok Palace

Originally built in the 1300s, the Japanese razed it in the early 1900s. Today they are rebuilding it and it is open to the public. I went on a brief tour with a group from base.
Right in the middle of Seoul, so from some angles you catch the high rises that have been built around it.
The details are what make it amazing. The five colors represent safety and power and are only allowed on royal palaces and temples.
State receptions and dinners were hosted here at the Pavilion.
Main palace throne room. Unlike European palaces, this should more be described as a complex because there are multiple buildings instead of just one big mega-building that houses everything.
What's the advantage of having smaller buildings? Central heating. Yes, the Koreans had central heating under their floors in the 1300s.
My camera skills are not doing justice to the magnificence and attention to detail that they built into this palace. So you will have to come and see it for yourself.

With the push of a button...

I moved into my new apartment yesterday and my realitor gave me 8 remotes to make my life "easier." Air conditioning, lights, tv, cable, laundry rack... I'm just glad that the toilet doesn't have a remote!

Girls Night Out

Aida was just as fabulous in Korean... if just a little harder to understand. I can't wait to get my shipment and listen to it again in English. It was a Broadway worthy production, I forsee many more musicals in my future.

Korean barbaque cooked at the table. It was called Gumbai and lots of fun to cook and eat.

Missing you!

Bob, I see reminders of you all over. Koreans love onions. You will fit right in. I'm serious, there have been onions in every Korean meal that I've had... multiple varieties in each meal.
Onions, the gift that keeps giving.

More Options

Time to go shoe shopping. All the apartments that I looked at had closets like these.
These toilets are seriously high tech... I'm afraid that I will start WWW3 just by pressing a button.

I love the details in this apartment. They are the reason that it is the most expensive.
All the apartments that I love have great views. I just have to pick the view that I want.
Do I want to be closer to downtown and further from the base?



I looked at apartments with 3 realitors and they all took me to a new complex that is just openning.