Double Date

We went on a double date with one of Joe's KATUSA's, Chun, and his girlfriend, Jeeyeong!

They took us to the Village of Traditional Korean Houses, kinda of like their version of the Jamestown Settlement. It had tons of traditional Korean houses with pretty little pathways, trees, and streams weaving throughout.

Just like at Jamestown, they have all the doors of the houses open and you can look inside and see the typical furniture and layout of their homes. They had weavers sitting in booths working on mats and other useful things they would create, such as shoes, baskets, dolls or egg holders.

They also had a bunch of traditional Korean games set up that we played!! Rolling big metal hoops like at Williamsburg, only with a hooked metal rod instead of a wooden stick, tossing poles into small jars from a distance, whipping tops to make them spin, and a board game that you use big wooden logs to throw into the air as dice! They also had a time capsul!

I don't remember when it was created, but they put a lot of common things from that time period into it, along with some gifts for the future generations. They will open it 1,000 years after it was burried. It has been gaurded for a long time but is now on display here. The items will be given to a museum once it has been opened. Pretty cool, huh?!?

At the entrance they had these...

We had fun. =)

We also got snacks from a street vendor - fish on a stick, woven strips like teriyaki finger steaks, and fish cakes, kinda like waffels in the shape of fish, but kinda like a doughnut, filled with either custard or a sweet bean paste. They were FANTASTIC! =)

Then we went shopping in some famous Korean retail stores, along with Forever 21 (and we saw H&M!), and had a delish dinner of Korean chicken and pasta. Mmmm! I can't wait for our next double date!!!! =) xoxox

Sleepover!!!

Speaking of my sweet friend, Jessie...


We had a sweet sleepover!! =)

(For those of you who don't know, Jessie and I went to elementary school, church, and high school together - and now we've reunited in South Korea of all places!! We played volleyball together and were in all the church and school plays together too! She's here teaching 6th grade at GCS, a Christian Korean school only an hour away from me!)

So, she met me at Seoul Station and then we had dinner together at Ali Baba - an exotic Middle Eastern restaurant with the most fantastic lamb chops I've ever eaten!



Then we went to The Coffee Bean and had green tea lottes and cheesecake with the young woman she's tutoring. Mmmmm. After that we went back to her place and did facials (we're such girls! teeheehee! =).
The next morning she took me to the Express Bus Terminal where we went shopping in the underground mall!! It was awesome! We had lunch and splurged on gelato too!

Then we went back to her place to drop off our goodies, and had dinner at a little Korean restaurant right by her apt. Yum! Then we went to the Korean market right across the street and got some yummy local favorites to snack on. She was even sweet enough to take me back to my subway line in Seoul Station so I was sure to find my way home. =)

I had such a great time!!! So happy to have a friend from the states here, and so happy that it's her! Can't wait to get together again next month! xoxox

We've Got MAIL!

So my sweet friend Jessie always does a post on her blog whenever someone sends her mail, and I love it! So I'm copying, and sending a shout-out to my MOMMY!!! =)

(Yeah, she's up on the roof - she's that kind of fun.)

She's allowed us to use her and Dad's address as our forwarding one until we got our own over here, and has been nice enough to take the time to sort all the mail that comes to her house for us, throw out the junk, and send us the good stuff! Yay Mom!! So, here are picks of what we've gotten so far...

The first one is turned sideways and I don't know why and can't fix it - sorry. I think my favorite things were all the personal letters from people I love, and COSMO!! =) Oh, and my unaccompanied baggage. Yeah, that definitely tops the list. Thanks Mommy!!! =) xoxox

My favorite thing about President Obama

Just finished our taxes...so free, so quick, so easy! We only have to file 1 federal and 1 state this year!!! And we get to use H&R Block online for free because we're in the military!! They were awesome. Highly recommend them, BTW. (And we're getting quiet a hefty refund - Cha-ching! =) This may seem normal to most, but being in the military, doing taxes is a nightmare...and I actually truly enjoy doing my own taxes.

See, last year I had to create a married filing jointly federal return that we actually filed. Then, because state taxes take information from federal forms, I had to create 2 married filing separately federal forms that we didn't actually file, but just used to input information onto our separate state forms. (Tally is 3 federal forms so far, for those losing count.)

Then I had to file two separate state forms - one for Joe in PA, because that is where he enlisted in the Army - and one for me in VA, because that is where we were living at the time.

Soooo, I had to do 5 tax forms last year, but only file 3. Annoying is an understatement.

But, check out http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Web/20092342.htm to see how our President made tax season SOOOOOO much easier for military families! Yay!!! =)

xoxox

Daylight Savings Time

Did you know...

"Although South Korea does not currently observe Daylight Saving Time, the country did adhere to DST from 1948 to 1951, 1955 to 1960, and 1987 to 1988." (taken from http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/g.html)

and...

"Talks To Reintroduce Daylight Saving Time: South Korea’s federal government will bring back daylight saving time as early as May 2010 as part of its green growth policy...The South Korean government reviewed reports on daylight saving time before it decided to reintroduce the schedule to the nation. The idea of bringing back daylight saving time is part of an attempt to stimulate green growth, which is one of the government’s key economic policies. It also plans to encourage greater bicycle use and lower carbon emissions as part of the green growth plan." (taken from http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/south-korea-daylight-saving.html)

Who knew you could just switch back and forth like that??

Soooo, for those of you who call or video chat, we're now only 13 hours ahead of you, for now at least.

I feel 1 hour closer already, don't you? =)
xoxox

movers

we live in a highrise apt. as do most well off koreans in the city. the way they move people in and out is facinating though!! i've seen this before a few times but hadn't taken pictures yet. basically they park the moving truck right under your apt., shoot a ramp up the side of the building, load a flat with a bunch of your stuff, and up it goes! i suppose with the layout of the place it makes sense, since we have complete walls of sliding glass doors, but i'd be nervous stuff would fall off 10 floors up! i guess they've gotten pretty good at it, but i'm not walking close by one of these bad boys! xoxox

luncheon

yesterday joe and i went out with one of the KATUSA's (Korean Augmentation To the United States Army) in his squad for a traditional korean meal. i wish i had brought my camera!!! it was awesome!

in korean culture it is polite to remove your shoes before entering anyones home. we take off our shoes before coming in our own home, the cable guys and the gas meter reader all took of their shoes before entering our home, and apparently in some restaurants it is polite to remove your shoes as well! so, we left our shoes on the shelves by the door and sat down on two mats on the floor around a low table with a heating element in the middle.

we had what joe's soldier called the korean version of potato soup! this was no ordinary potato soup though, let me tell you. =) it was very tasty, and they were nice and even made it less spicy than normal for me. koreans usually eat food family style, so we were each given a bowl of rice, and another bowl that we were served soup in from the large bowl in the center.

the soup consisted mainly of the broth, which was really good, along with lots of large brussel sprouts. it also had a few potato slices, four large portions of very tender pork ribs, shrimp with their heads and eyes still on and looking at me, some other small shiny fishies with their heads on and eyes still looking at me as well, clams, oysters, spinach, small octopus' and mushrooms.

these mushrooms were crazy!! they grow them in glass jars at the restaurant, and cut off the tops right at the table and into the soup!

and the octopus' were cut up with scissors and added to the soup in front of us as well. i ate a leg. but in with a mouth full of brussel sprouts and you couldn't even tell. but i knew. i knew...

i wasn't served and didn't ask for any of the little fishies, clams or oysters, but i did get to snap a head and some legs off a shrimp, so that was fun and exciting.

they also served kim chee on the side, as well as carrots and onions (i thought it was a green bean and ate the whole thing - mid chew joe's soldier was like, "that's really spicy..." =). there was also a red paste they use like mayo that was spicy but really tasty as well!

after lunch joe's soldier treated us to green tea lattes. they are a big thing here. it's basically green tea with milk and sugar added. it was different, but i really liked it.

and now for the twilight part of our day - we found out joe and joe's soldier have the same birthday, AND joe's soldier's girlfriend and i have the same birthday!!!! we checked ID's and everything! what are the odds that different couples have the same birthdays, that they are from different sides of the planet, and that they actually meet one day?!!?! we are destined to be friends. =) and we all prayed before the meal and found out we're all Christians too! Crazy. our minds are still reeling from the whole birthday thing....

xoxox

history lesson

on friday joe and i visited The War Memorial of Korea. it was amazing! it covered korea's 5,000 year history in such a detailed yet easy to follow way using paintings, movies, artifacts, and more small-scale and life-size dioramas than i've ever seen! it was facinating!! i took a ton of pictures, and i'll post those on our shutterfly, but i just had to talk about it here. look it up on the internet, and if you're planning on visiting us, plan on spending a day there. it was unreal. i firmly believe you should not be allowed to visit korea without learning about the enduring spirit of their people. xoxox

temples!

there are a lot of temples here and they are absolutely gorgeous!!! they are painted so intricately and with such bright colors...i can't wait to go explore one up close. here's pictures of one i took while we were driving through the city of yongsan. xoxox

laundry day

there is something reassuring about doing things countless others have done before you. like hanging laundry. i think about all of the housewives that have come before me, have done what i am doing, and i am at peace.

xoxox

sun on my mountain!

looking out our living room wall of a window, i get an awesome view of this big guy. i can tell the weather by what he looks like, and this day...this day was beautiful. =) xoxox