Here is one of the millions of towers around here. This one is downtown by the lake. It just went on and on forever. Since Korea is only so big they've had to build up instead of out. Can you imagine hiking groceris up 30 floors or more?? Some of the older towers don't have elevators. Oh, and tonight Kareem took me out for dinner, we had to drive downtown and guess who is building towers here?? THE DONALD!! Yeah, that's right! Donald Trump. You just can't hide from that guy!

Sarahs mask

Here is the mask that Sarah made today...I think she may have talent!! cute cute cute!

Festival by the Lake.

There was a festival downtown today. Lauren was out with a friend so we loaded up the car with Anthonie and Sarah...notice the bling in a certain 17 year olds ear?? I'm pickin and choosin my battles here ladies... :) Since he has the bling it is obvious that I gave in on this one. SIGH, he is so darn cute!








The festival was at the lake. There is a sidewalk all around the lake and it is always filled! with people. Here, under the bridge, old men meet each day to gamble with cards...lest you wonder where the police are and why they are allowing the gambling to happen notice the next picture...








The guys with the glowing white stripes on their shirts are the police...they are sitting next to the gamblers...eating chicken! hahahahaha Our hero's!












This little picture has nothing to do with the festival..I just thought it was a neat little bit of info. There are a ton of little restaurants that serve fish. You pick your fish out of the tank and a sweet little lady WHACKS IT ON THE GROUND TO KILL IT! Then if you haven't run screaming down the street said sweet little lady will cook it for you. Which Nemo do ya want??









Back to the festival...here are some dancers and singers in traditional wear.











Down the street at another booth there was an artist set up. You could pick out a paper mache't (sp) mask and paint it. Here is what hers looked like.....













This is what mine was supposed to look like...at least closely resemble..........












And here is the finished product. I think they kinda look the same. :)















Here is my sweet little boo-bear doing her mask. Hers turned out really good. The look she is giving is disbelief because when the Korean people saw two Americans painting faces they ran over with (no lie!) cameras!! We were stars for about 10 minutes. One man even came with a video recorder to tape the phenomenon. Sarah kept her head down and her shy mamma smiled her biggest smile, waved at one and all, and said onyosayoh (hello!) about a thousand times. She is letting me know I have embarrassed her to no end but I do not care cause I saw my 15 minutes and grabbed it with both hands!!


Member' a certain little bug I ate?? This is not a bug it is something...well I'm not sure what it is. There was a booth where they were making it and giving out samples. I ran over to get some, took a picture of it and tasted just a teensy tiny smidgen. Nope, didn't like that either. I threw it away. Right by the garbage can were two old men. They were probably 80 if they were a day. They laughed when they saw me taste it and throw it away then they said in pretty good engrish...we ruv you! hahahahahaha I love this place!

The adventure continues

Went to the market again today. I went with Jen from downstairs. The great thing about her is that she will go anywhere and do anything...love that!
I got some great pictures of what a market looks like here. I'll explain the pictures as best I can....just about no one speaks English!



This is one of the many garlic vendors. You will never have to worry about running into Dracula here!











God forbid you get any food that isn't spicey! These huge bags are filled with hot peppers and these little ladies are cutting off the tips before they sell them. This is one of 85 million pepper vendors. (give or take a million) There was enough in just this one market to supply a small country for the next millenium.










As you are walking through the market you may decide to have lunch. Here you go....pig skin and intestine. Yummy! I told you I know why they are so skinny here!!!!








This all looked like tree bark. I guess if you will eat pig skin bark isn't much of a stretch. Don't forget your ruffage!










I am sure that this lady was trying to convince us that yes, we really do like squid and octopus and we must buy some now! We walked away..quickly.








Just in case that small country runs out of peppers...here are some more. The weekend is coming up so I'm sure there will be more adventures to report on (see bug adventure below). Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

I ATE THE BUG!!!

Well, just for you my loyal readers...I ate the bug I was telling you about earlier. I went to the market with my friend, Jen. On the way out we saw a vendor selling the bugs. I asked her if I could try one and before I could run off and change my mind she had speared two of the little buggers. By then we had a small crowd so I knew I was in it. What's a girl to do?? I have friends and family who are trusting me to experience all of Korea...I ate the bugs! Yep! I put those little babies in my mouth and chewed. You know what??? It tasted just like salty bug guts! yep! And do you think I couldn't tell it was a bug...nope! I could tell. AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was not good! hahahahaha Jen made sure I had water. She's a good friend! :) By the way...she did not try the bug. There are some things friends just don't do for friends! hahahaha

grocery day

Here is a funny story. Me and the Hooptie (my car) took a trip to the grocery store today. It was my big shopping time so she was fully loaded by the time I got home. I took the first load up in the elevator and ran downstairs to get the second. There were two Korean workers by the car. They asked me if I had more groceries to carry up. I said yes. They then proceeded to take the rest of the stuff out of the car and carry it to the elevator. Now loving adventure like I do my first thought was not, "hey I don't know these guys...they could be murderers...don't let them in the house." Nope. My first thought was "hey this is great! Let's invite them in! And get the purse out to give them money for their trouble!" After much bowing and hand shaking they left. My guardian angel is right now petitioning for a new person to watch cause I am to much trouble. When my friend Jen came over to ask if I could go get plants with her guess who we saw when we walked offbase enjoying a drink??? Yep! My guys! Again more bowing and saying thank you. Life is good here!! More updates and adventures to follow! :)

ole 2010

For those of you wondering what the cars look like out here I thought I'd post my little hooptie. Yep, all the cars are called hoopties if they aren't brought from the states. Here is my little 2010. Now shhhh, we haven't told her that she is a hooptie...we told her she was a corvette that could go like the wind!

This is our wonderful courtyard. You can have barbeques here or a party if you only have 4 friends. This is as good as it gets too. :) It's a good thing I am a simple woman!

This is a shot of "home" for the next two years. We live on the 3rd floor. Before you get all proud of me and think that I walk up all those stairs..we have an elevator. The elevator and I are close friends! Especially on grocery day.

Here is my hardworking man and his dog...I thought the saying was "a boy and his dog." :) Makes me smile!

We finally got to go to our first market. Seumoon (So-Moon) is about 15 minutes from the base. It's a huge outdoor/indoor market. This is the sign you walk under to get to the street. Markets are set up different here. You have a large street that you walk down and all the alleys open up into more shopping. There were thousands upon thousands of booths. You could get anything there! If you're really hungry then you would love a popular Korean snack.....

COCKROACH BELLIES!!!!!!!!! Yep this folks is cockroach bellies. The boxes that you see are hollow and you fill them with as many as you can eat. The lady will come along and tip the box into a bag and give you a toothpick...can't forget the toothpick. Then you just stab one of these babies and you're all set. All the little kids were walking around eating them. I might've gagged just a little! Not to be outdone was this booth 5 doors down.

Here is an octopus. Need I say any more. She had a bunch of them all arranged really pretty in baskets like this one. You just grab what you want, pay her, and then you are off. This is why Korean woman are so skinny. If all you can eat are roach bellies and whole octopus you'd be skinny too. While we were standing there a man came up and started touching Sarah's hair and it freaked her out a little so we left. They have this thing here about my girls and their hair. THEY LOVE IT AND CAN'T WALK BY AND NOT TOUCH IT. There aren't being freaks they just truly love the texture of Lauren's hair and they find Sarah adorable. Now trying to explain that to the girls is a whole nother story.

Here is one of the many kimche stands. There are tons of them here! They eat this stuff by the gallon! Honestly, it doesn't smell as bad as I thought it would. I think you get used to it pretty quick. This is how they sell it...all open and right on the street. Can you say USDA!

Here is a neat guy. When you go to park in a parking garage they have these characters that are in uniform and directing traffic, and they direct with flaire! We think they must go to school to learn all that they do. This guy had a girl partner who was talking in a microphone to all the cars. At first we thought they were robots because they are so precise in their movements but nope...they are people.

Yes...I found the place where dreams are made! Can you hear the angelic choir singing?? STARBUCKS!!! And let me tell you coffee drinkers they don't do things half way here. You get your coffee in a cup! No matter what kind of drink you get. I went here with some friends the other day and we got gifts! The man came over and asked if we were just visiting and we told him that we live here. He ran in the back and came out with two cups for each of us. HOW AWESOME! If you order a naughty (a pastry laden with fat for those of you not in the know) they present it to you as you are sitting down feeling like royalty. It is on a try under a very pretty napkin. I am never leaving here! This is another reason why. Here is one of the hundreds of fabric vendors. I thought I saw something shiny and fabulous looking down an alley so we walked over and it opened up into utopia. There was fabric every which way you looked. I even found batting!!!

All in all a good time was had by everyone. We went home broke and tired. IT WAS GREAT!!!

Made in Korea

Here is my first quilt made in Korea! I just finished the quilt top. I still have to back it and quilt it all together but I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. All of the fabrics in it I got at the fabric mart. Its leaves and pumpkins. My friend Jen is on the left. She lives right downstairs. The one on the right lives in our building as well and was in the right place at the right time. Happy Quilting to my P.H.A.T quarter sistas!!

Anthonie is now officially 17!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AUGH!!!!!!!!! Not to sure how I feel about that. He wanted to go to a place called Shanghai Grill. It is a chinese food place that is Americanized. Thank God!!! Even though we love going out and trying new things sometimes you just want a taste of home. When the owner found out that it was his birthday he brought him fried spring rolls as a gift. Here is "Big Poppa" trying to horn in on the action.

He got his just deserts when he ate a clam that had a hot pepper hidden in it. WAITER!!! WATER!!!!








Here is the crew eating. That's Sal..we are claiming him on our taxes next year! haha

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause! Here is the first piece of furniture we bought. I LOVE IT!!! We found the cutest korean lady...MS. Lee. She has THE BEST prices and every time I go to see her she runs up to me with a hug. LOVE HER! I plan on being her number one customer while we are here. Only two years...SIGH...so little time and so much to get!!

This is all the food you get when you go out to eat. (compliments of my friend Jen!) You have a main meat dish that is on a table grill and the rest are all "sides." The sides are free. I tried some of it and survived. Each time I try to get a little braver and try the other stuff.
As you can see I love the salad! Even the dressing is good though I'm not sure what it is...hahahahaha.
There is also a picture of the fabric mart. (thanks Jen!!) This is only a small corner of the 3rd floor. There are three floors of just bolts and bolts of fabric. When I first walked in I felt the Heavens open and the angels sing! Lucky lucky me!!

This is two of Ant's buddies. James is the one on the left and Sal is on the right. Love them!!!

1st posting.

Hi friends and family!! I got a great idea from a friend of mine (thanks Jen!!!) to start a family blog of our time here in Korea. Now when you miss me (and that better be alot!) you can see what we are up to. Already we've climbed a mountain (whew!) gotten into a car crash (me!) eaten food that I swear looked like worms and shopped til we dropped. So come on this adventure with us...I promise it will be good. I'll post all of our travels with photos so everyone can see how wonderful Korea is. This has become home in such a short time so I am truly blessed.
Here here are our first pictures. It is the view right outside our living room balcony. The 1st one is of the rooftops that I can look at every morning. There is a family who lives in one of the apartments that hangs out laundry all the time. I love watching them! There is another guy who has a garden up there and he trims his plants all the time...we watch each other. I think they are as fascinated with us as we are of them. The 2nd picture is our gate. We can watch all the comings and the goings. Yep...life is full!
I'll write more later. This weekend we are climbing another mountain to see the giant Buddah. It's a long hike and I plan to lose at least 4 pounds that day! haha bye!