Blog of the Morning Calm

I am alive, honest.

2006-08-15T01:09:00.000+09:00

Hello, I haven't blogged in a while. I would feel bad about it except this is the Korea Blog and - well, I am no longer in Korea. If you didn't catch all my adventures, you can click onto the archives and catch up.

I am settling down in Northern Virginia nicely. Right now we are staying with some friends of the family until we can move into our own place. Even though I have been here now for a week and a half, I am still blown away anytime anyone mentions housing costs. Can you believe people are willing to pay $400,000 for a one bedroom condo?!? I don't even want to talk about real bonifide houses!

I am still on the job market, but have some interesting interviews coming up. So that makes me stay sane. We also discovered we live really close to the Manassas Battlefield, so I can hardly wait to go there. I am thinking if I should start another Blog, but I don't know how thrilled you would be if I took pictures of my food from Don Pablo's or Cracker Barrel as you might have been about the Korean food. So now I am going to stick with my knitting blog. I may add my running adventures in there too... since I have taken up running again. I'll probably add some battlefield pictures too. So if you want to stay posted - check up on me at my other blog www.yuknitwit.blogspot.com

And just to add one last picture...
Here is a picture of my family from when we went to Connecticut. I have no idea if they want their identities put out there, but you know who Harland and I are. I will protect the names of the innocent. The not-so-innocent is Beaujoulais - he is the white dog near the center. Just kidding, he is a good dog.

So Good Luck everyone, Thanks for sharing in my Korean Adventure.
Rock On!

Quick blog from LA

2006-07-23T00:08:00.000+09:00

Hi Folks here are some picctures from our trip in LA. I really wish we had more time here to spend with Harland's family (so that I could get to know them rather than just meeting them!) and to do some more touristy things. But here are some photos. I have to make this quick because I only have the time it takes for Harland to shave to post since we have to leave for the airport soon.

Here is our family. I don't have time to list everyone. I think you can find me pretty easy (hint I'm on the left side).

Here are some pictures from Hollywood BLVD. We only had time to go to Grauman's chinese theare. It was really cool and we went inside to see superman. The inside was beautiful.

more pictures from paradise

2006-07-18T05:27:00.000+09:00

This is us in Paradise!!

Unfortunately we have to leave paradise tomorrow but here are some pictures from our trip so far!! This is of course nowhere near all the great pictures I have but it will have to do! We are on our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center today so that will be the bulk of our day. It apparently has an authentic luau from he 16th century - so we will see how that is!

Pictures from Pearl Harbor:
The Bowfin Submarine

The Arizona Memorial taken from The Missouri Battleship (see the oil slick from the Arizona?)

The Arizona and Missouri taken from high powered binoculars from the Bowfin

Sunsets

Beaches:
Waikiki Beach

North Shore Beach

Romantic dinner at Hy's

Rainbow

still in paradise

2006-07-15T04:44:00.000+09:00

Just FYI I am not sure when I will post again, don't worry about me if I don't post everyday. Internet per day is a little bit pricy here, so I will likely not have internet everyday. :)
Today we are trying to go see the Arizona!
Loves all around to you!

Before I hit the hay!!

2006-07-14T15:14:00.000+09:00

Okay all of these pictures look like they came out of a brochure, but I took them. How cool is that?!? We did not do much today in Hawaii. We needed sunglasses, flipflops, etc. So we actually went shopping. Also I went to the dentist. (long story, don't ask). Anyway, here are some cool pictures.

Coral on the beach

Sunset - unfortunately it rained a bit in my sunset! So unfair!

The view of our hotel from across the harbor.

The view from our hotel room when we got back.

Hawaii - here we are!

2006-07-14T09:17:00.000+09:00

Not much time to chit chat. You see I am in paradise and ee need to go get some food. But here is proof that I am safe and sound in Hawaii. Yay! Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

Hello From Japan!!

2006-07-13T15:40:00.000+09:00

I am in the Narita Airport waiting for our flight to Hawaii and Harland decided to buy some internet access time. So here I am!! I just bought some postcards and a spoon for the ol' collection. I wish we could stay in Japan for a little bit, it seems sad that 4 hours in an airport really doesn't count but I count my stay in Iceland on my list of places I have been so I guess this counts too (kindof). If only I was independantly wealthy then I could go everywhere I wanted and have enough time to do it all!!

Harland took this picture of me blogging and one of the departures list (note: our plane isn't even on the departures list yet since we have so much time). I don't think we'll find anything more fun in the airport than this. So these very will likely be my only pictures from Japan unless I get some on the plane on the way out. I had the camera packed away in the overhead bin (stupid!) on the way in.

Well I will post when we hit Hawaii!!

Two for One

2006-07-12T22:53:00.000+09:00

Well I decided to add another post today because I don't know when I will be able to post again or what day it will be or what time of day it will be or anything since I will be crossing time zones like they are standing still. Which really they aren't since the earth rotates and all. (can you tell it is 10:50 at night? I am getting punchy!)

Anyway, I was thinking of all the great people I met and made friends with here in Korea. Lucky for me they are military and/or military spouses so I am pretty sure at one point or another we will meet up again. That is the one cool thing about military folks.

But this last week was a whirlwind of dinners and lunches. Here are a few shots from my camera...

This is a shot of Andy, Charles, and Harland at a Galbi place. Missing are Pete (sadly out in the field) and Jason (working a shift at the SDO office).

Here is shot of Kym, me and Lenka. We all went out to a great restaurant that grilled some nice shaved beef.

Here is a shot of Shelia (from the Red Cross) and me in front of the golf course. Missing is Sandy who took the picture and who was very sneaky and not photographed.

And here is one of Harland me and Tyler and Mike at Marty's.

Rain Rain, Go Away!

2006-07-12T16:19:00.000+09:00

Well, it has been pouring since before I got up this morning. We are in Seoul and are just waiting until tomorrow when we head to Hawaii for some much needed R&R. There was a Typhoon that passed through, although I am not sure if this is associated with it - or if this is part of monsoon season - either way it is just a lot of rain.

So here is a series of pictures I call...

"Last Bus Trip in the Rain"
The Casey Bus Terminal

The Dongduchoen River

Some Kimchi Pots

School Kids on Their Way Home

Palace Gate

Cell Phone Pics Unloaded

2006-07-09T21:09:00.000+09:00

Okay so since all of our things are packed, and there is no internet access from our room here at the Casey Lodge, I thought I would show you some pictures from my cell phone. I had to e-mail them to myself anyway since my cell phone will get turned off tomorrow. (sad but true)

So Dad requested some silly sign pictures (since in the picture from my birthday post with Harland at Kraze burger you can see in the background "no, microwave. no, can opener. no, MSG") so some of these are just plain silly. You have been warned. These are just things I had to capture and did not have my real camera with me.

First we will just start with a subway picture. There is nothing really funny about this but just so you can see what the subway looks like. I was bored because we were going on a long trip - all along the blue line. We went from Uijongbu (north of Seoul) to Osan (below Seoul) all via subway. It took about two hours... maybe a little more.

Now here is a sign at the Songtan Station (in Osan). I really need to blow this up and remind myself everyday not to rush.

Here is some squid. This is at the movie theater. You can snack on squid while catching a flick. I have not tried this kind, but dried squid isn't so bad. Just like any kind of dried fish. I think this one might be heated since it is in a lighted cabinet. I am not positive one that. One thing I like about the movies is the "love combo" which is what Harland and I get which is a large caarmel popcorn and two drinks. Reasonably priced at 5,000 won, it is way cheaper than US theater prices.

This - I have no idea what a Dica is. Of course this is very immature but Harland and I got a kick out of it. Armymen love a good Dica joke.

And here is my favorite. "Close". A lot of resturaunts and businesses have "Close" signs. My favorite one is "Keep Door Close". I don't have a picture of it though... What are you supposed to do? Take it with you to keep it close?

The movers came, and went!

2006-07-08T09:18:00.000+09:00

Well step one out of 1,000,000 is done. The movers came yesterday and they moved all of our stuff out of the barracks. Accidently they left behind my lids for my pots so I will have to mail them today. WHoops. Other than that things went smoothly. Hopefully nothing will break in the move. We shall see.

So today we have to clean the barracks (yuck!) and tomorrow the apartment. After that then we can relax and visit with friends. Then on Thursday we are out of this country and moving on to Hawaii for some R&R.

I'll still have e-mail during our adventures, so feel free to e-mail me. I will try and post some more pictures as well, but while I am here at the Casey Lodge I don't think I will be able to. I do have some more Korean Pictures I would like to post so keep checking.

Rock on!

Osan and beyond

2006-07-06T16:56:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone! Here are a few pictures from our trip to Osan. We didn't take that many, so this is really all I got! There's one here for for each my parents!

Here is a picture of a sunset (for Mom).

Here is one of a A-10 Thunderbolt (for Dad). These are also called warthogs, and I believe they fly by my parents house often!

Here is a furniture store. I thought it was fun.

And here is the "beyond" picture. I got these pictures framed yesterday here in Dongduchoen. I bought the black and white ones in Seoul and Lenka gave me the green one for my birthday. But the real exciting news?!? It cost me about 35 bucks to have them all framed. ALL OF THEM - NOT EACH!! I hate to think how much that would have cost me in the states!! WOW! Anyway if you are ever in Donduchoen, shoot me an e-mail and I will give you directions to the best frame store ever!

Happy Birthday!

2006-07-05T17:03:00.000+09:00

Thank you to all that sent me birthday e-mails and e-cards! (and one person even went as far as to send a real live card! You know who you are SDC!). Thanks a bunch!! Someone special (KB) even blogged about my birthday and baked me a cake! Take a look at it here! Yowzah! How lucky am I to have friends and family like you all?!?!

Harland and I went to Seoul for my actual birthday and stayed in a really nice hotel at the COEX Mall. Here are two views. The temple was to our left and the river was straight out.

Although I suspect my husband had an alterior motive since the COEX has a huge theater and this came out on my birthday!

WE also went a little "Kraze" and ate at Kraze Burgers which is really yummy (albeit expensive).

It was a good time. I have some pictures to share from Osan as well, but I will save those for later in the week.

Anyway, thanks for the well wishes and to those who have read the news today, yes I know N. Korea sent off some missles to celebrate 4th of July, but don't worry about me. Everything is fine here. I even bought yarn today. If you want to see some of my Korean Market pictures from today ... click on this!!

Party people!!

2006-06-25T19:53:00.000+09:00

On Saturday my friend Lenka hosted a party on her roof for all the people who are leaving soon. It was a good time! Lots of great food. And when Lenka and I were preparing the food we were drinking champagne all day. Now, that is the way to get ready for a party!

Here are some of the appetizers, prosciutto and melon, some smoked salmon and cheese and tomato+mozerella+basil. Also I made some guacamole. I tried something new by adding sun dried tomatoes and it was quite a hit. I made guac out of 5 avacadoes (which is a lot but there were 18 people coming) and there was none left over. So I recommend adding some sun dried tomatoes.

The main dish was pork ternderloin and chicken grilled. It was excellent. I don't know if I have ever had pork grilled this way before I met Lenka, but now I don't wish for it any other way. Here are Dan and Lenka.

Here is a picture of my place from Lenka's roof... My building is on the righthand side. I am only two buildings down from her.

Anyway, it was a beautiful night, once the sun went down it was cool. There was even a slight breeze.

Now here is one thing that is so odd about Korea. Almost every Christian church has a large red neon cross on the top. To me, it looks so eerie. I am not sure how the tradition started. But there were over 16 crosses that we counted from the roof top. I finally got a picture of them, they usually blur quite a bit when I take a picutre so I never had one to show y'all before.

moving, missles and other fun stuff

2006-06-23T20:43:00.000+09:00

So yes, I do know there is a ginormous missle in North Korea. No, I did not see it when I was at the DMZ. But thanks to those who sent me e-mail on the subject!!

So yeah, things are I guess a little more tense than normal here. Well, maybe not things. I'm more tense than normal here. :)

And why? Because I haven't posted on this blog in a long time!! And why is that?! because I have been super busy. And not the pretty kind of busy where I take pictures and post them. Sorry. I have just been trying to locate an apartment, find a job, figure out what to pack and what to ship, see my new friends before I have to leave, and shop. And to be honest, I don't feel I have had enough time to do any of these things! Oh well. That is the way it goes everytime you move (and I should know!).

But I do have some pictures to post. Here is a statue at the 3rd tunnel near the DMZ. It is a sculpture representing the two Koreas coming together.

Peace, Love and Happiness to all.

Rick!

2006-06-16T12:54:00.000+09:00

Sorry to interupt this DMZ tour. Some of you may know Rick from my stories of a penpal I started writing to in 2002 when he was stationed in Afghanistan. Some of you know him as the guy I bet shirts with for Wisconsin-Auburn bowl games (we're 1-1 right now). But however you might have heard about him, I finally got to meet Rick last evening. (now if you would have told me back in 2002 that I would meet my penpal in Korea 4 years later, I would not have believed you).

So once again - I was proved the world is indeed small. Rick was here to plan some training activites for the Wisconsin National Guard. He was down at Seoul for 5 days. So last night Harland and took the bus and subway down to Seoul to meet up with Rick and another Wisconsian, Mike. We had a good time, and Rick is even cooler in person than via letter.

First stop - Insa-dong.
Here we are after eating a lot. Sorry the picture is blurry. We had some Bulgogi, some Bipimbap, some seafood pancake, some kimchi, and some soup. Also Rick tried out some Korean beer - Cass (slogan, "the sound of vitality") and the rest of us had some Soju. Rick tried it, but some people just don't like the rubbing alchohal aftertaste... I don't know why...

There was a little tea shop outside of the resturaunt and so while we did not have any tea, we did take a picture of it - because it is so pretty and they have birdies.

Also there are a lot of red these days - in honor of the korean Soccer Team.

After that we headed to Namdaemun to do some shopping. It is one of the larger markets. I had negotiated 10 dollars off a bag, but I decided against buying it. I may go back there to get it another day. The guys were looking for items for their loved ones back home.

(hey Dad, don't those peppers look yummy?)

And then we wound back to the Dragon Hill Lodge for a beer and some more talk. Here is another blurry picture of us before I left. we need to get a camera that behaves better in low light situtations.

DMZ part 2

2006-06-12T20:55:00.000+09:00

Okay on with our tour.
Today we are going to visit the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) Building. This is where meetings are conducted in an unfriendly atmosphere.
The line goes through the middle of the building, on the table going left to right you can see some microphones in the center of the table. These record 24 hours a day. They also mark the line in the building.

Here is another shot of the same table.

There is the cement line outside the window as well.

Don't tell anyone but I went past the line for about 2 minutes to take a picture. Harland did not.

The next picture is of the flags of countries that participate in the UNC. There used to be a shelf with little actual flags on it. But then one day a North Korean went over there during a meeting, took down the US flag and polished his shoes with it. Now there is a plaque instead.

This next picture is interesting. This is a shot of the door on the North Side. See to your left how the wall has a white spot and so does the door? Well, there is an interesting reason. The white comes from the paint being rubbed off. Why? Because everyday they lock and unlock this door. And apparently the North Koreans used to try and pull the person locking (or unlocking) the door through the door. So now two people have to lock the door. One at the door and the other one holds the other guy while bracing himself on the wall. Before I went to the DMZ I didn't really realize things were still this intense. But they are. South Koreans talk about reunification all the time... but after seeing this, I think it is still a long time coming.

The DMZ

2006-06-11T17:45:00.000+09:00

Well, we finally made it to the DMZ. It was a terribly rainy day (and it looks like more rain is on the way today.. But it is almost monsoon season). Anyway, it was very interesting and anyone who comes to Korea should go on a tour to the DMZ.

It may take me a few days to share all these pictures with you, because I want to write a lot about the history in here as well. You'll learn whether you want to or not!!

The first place we went to was the UNCSF-JSA or the United Nations Command Security Force - Joint Security Area at Camp Bonifas. Remember the name Bonifas, as sometime this week I'll mentioning it again. The JSA straddles the military Demarcation Line. I'll show you the line in my pictures.

Now once we went through all the briefings and everything, we hopped on a bus and went through some pretty tough security areas which we were not allowed to take pictures. But I have to say I saw more mine fields than I ever care to. Then we went to the peace house (pictures of that tomorrow) and then we got to see the line. All the blue colored buildings are the UNC buildings and the silver buildings are the ones owned by the North Koreans. Here is an example. Each of these buildings is cut in half by the Demarcation line.

Here are some more pictures of the guards. The American MP gave us the tour. Now if you look in between the buildings, you see that cement line? That is the demarcation line.

Notice you can see people cleaning the steps on the other side (North Koreans!) and they had a guard that obviously doesn't think we're much of anything since he had his back to us the whole time. There is a lot of psychological stuff going on still up there.

Our guide said sometimes the N. Koreans go into this tower and make threatening gestures at the south side.

Also the southside has a tower, here it is... I think they are positioned directly across from one another.

Also if you look at the pictures above and see that the big building across the way has three stories and the top one looks different? It is because when the southside built a new building the North Koreans didn't want a smaller building so they added an extra story. There is nothing on that 3rd floor.

But that is not the most crazy thing I heard about (or saw in action) while I was there. I'll tell you more as the week goes on.

And here is a picture of me, it felt weird to smile in this picture... Here I am smiling in a place that is very tense and weird... Anyway...

Oh and if you want to see a map of where I went...

JUNE PACKAGES

2006-06-08T17:17:00.000+09:00

I just wanted to remind everyone that we are leaving Kore on July 13th. Which means, please do not send me any birthday packages, or even cards for I am not sure they will arrive on time. Sometimes packages take a week, but a lot of times they take 3 weeks or 8 weeks for no known reason. So please save anything you might want to send to give to me when you see me next or send it to my parents house. thanks. Birthday e-mails work just as well. Or even a comment on the blog (does anyone even read this anymore?)

Cheese!

2006-06-08T16:56:00.000+09:00

Well, I just have to share some good news, I have eaten cheese three times in the last week and not gotten sick! It is all due to a new lactose intolerant pill that I have been using. It is pretty expensive, but so worth it if you are craving some cheese!! I had some powdered parm. on my spaghetti (which I would love to have some real parm. But I'm in Korea, y'all - they don't have any!) and some cheddar/jack shredded mix on bean burritos twice. I haven't eaten a whole lot of cheese (like say some pizza or something) but this is a promising trend. (since velveeta was making me sick and we all know how little cheese is in THAT!).

So that is cool. I look forward to coming to the States and having some Camembert or some shaved Parmesan with some salad. Or maybe even a slice or two of legendary Birdsboro meatball pizza. yum. Tell Dantes (or whatever it is called now) to be ready.

Other than the excitement of dairy, the Red Cross Station manager arrived incountry last evening and was in the office this morning. And so that is very cool... We won't be so stressed out with only two people (and 1 of them a part time volunteer!!).

Harland and I have some possible exciting plans coming up. I won't spoil the surprise. Anyway - happy weekend! And if you see Rebecca and Jason on the 10th - wish them a happy 5th anniversary. If you see my Uncle John on the 10th, tell him happy birthday! If you see Brig and Troy on the 11th wish them a happy 1st anniversary. I won't likely see any of them, unfortunately, but there should be a lot of celebrating out there this weekend.

Now - here are some shots of the landscaping around the Dragon Hill Lodge... A little bit of beauty. You can tell "haze" season has started over here. Now I regret not getting more clear mountain shots. Oh well. Today it massively poured for a few hours which reminds me that monsoon season is on its way.

More pictures!!

2006-06-06T22:28:00.000+09:00

Tonight when I was at the gym, I saw a clip of a hockey game. I think maybe perhaps Bruins(?) as I am not up on hockey playoffs this year... Anyway in the crowd was a MAN WEARING A WHALERS JERSEY!!
How cool was that?! Are the whalers coming back? Is this guy just playing it cool? Please do fill me in! I miss the Whalers!!!

On a more somber gym note, I need to get back into shape. I am trying to run a 5K on my birthday. Well not a race, mind you - just me running 5K for fun. I hope I can find some fun runs in the DC area when I get over there. Maybe I should start a running blog?? I'll be lost without two blogs to update!! Anyway I weigh more now than I ever have which is quite depressing. But with running back on my plate it is a start in the right direction. Maybe when I get back to the states I'll go back to being vegetarian... I was a lot thinner when I was running and eating veggies. It is almost impossible to be a vegetarian in Korea... Everything has meat in it at restaurants.

Anyway - after all this babble (see what a glimpse of the Whalers do to me?) here are some pictures!! I call this collection "taken from a bus window":

rice patties...

a study of a guardrail, some bushes, apartments and a mountain.

P.S. Isn't it weird that when I spellcheck here in Blogger... it does not recognize the word "blog"? A little ironic.

mondays (bah!)

2006-06-05T18:20:00.000+09:00

Hello! Everyone at work today must have forgotten to do laundry, and only had "crankypants" clean - because that is what they were wearing!! It must be a monday. Plus I had two icky things happen that annoyed me (and I am in a pretty good mood). 1. I spilled my soda and fries onto the floor at the PX at dinnertime while a soldier Harland knows watched (d'oh!) and 2. I had to tink (that's knit backwards... those knitting people are pretty funny) about 6 rows of my newest sock to get rid of a mistake.

Harland is down in Seoul taking care of our friend Charles who had 4 wisdom teeth pulled today (ouchies). So I will be all alone (boo!).

But that means - extra time to knit and blog! (yay!!)

So here are some pictures from the other weekend. The first is a picture of a sunset out of the hotel room.

These next pictures are of the riversides of the main river in Seoul. It is a pretty big river. I will have to get more facts for you on exact measurements. It takes a long time to cross. One of the coolest things about Korea is on the river floodplains on both sides, there are parks where you can bike/walk/play basketball/play soccer/rollerskate/etc. They have these on almost every river. We should have more public space like this in the United States. Also if you are so inclined you can plant gardens alongside the rivers. I will try to tkae pictures of the gardens near here another day.

2006-06-02T18:15:00.000+09:00

Well, I got this from Susan, who got it from another blogging friend - funny how fun blogging is, really... anyway, I am happy to see my time south of the mason-Dixon hasn't completley changed my linguistics. (Hey y'all I have been there since 1999!!)

Your Linguistic Profile::

55% General American English

25% Yankee

10% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I also made Harland take it.

Your Linguistic Profile::

70% General American English

15% Yankee

5% Dixie

5% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Take the quiz and let me know!! Of course I was disappionted they didn't ask about lunchkettles (lunchboxes) macadem (pavement) and padiddles (cars without one headlight working). But such is life.

Anyway - birthday month so there are roses!!!

It's Wednesday (again!)

2006-05-31T22:04:00.000+09:00

Funny How Wednesdays come once a week and all.
Well, have been rather busy - worked at ACAP all last week. Then this weekend I went to dinner with Tyler and some of our friends. We also sang a few songs at notabong (remember the hotel like karaoke rooms?) then on Saturday Tyler and I went shopping (hey everyone I have someone to Shop with!!!) and I think I spent about 5 bucks. Nothing too outlandish anyway!!

Then Sunday we went over to my friend Lenka's for a dinner party, and there were four couples... It was very nice to be at a dinner party. We ate some really good food (Lenka and Dan grilled these awesome shrimp which somehow re-wired my brain and I now like shrimp. I even ate some at a restaurant on Tuesday night too for dinner, I know, can you believe it?!?) and we drank a lot. I had some really amazing liquor from the Czech Republic made from plums. Pretty cool stuff. Somehow we all ended up going to notabong again. Twice in a weekend is a little much for me, but what can you do?? Then Monday Harland and I went to visit Seoul. We pretty much stayed in the hotel (ahem, eating jellybeans and watching movies, Hi Mom and Dad!!) and we ate at the restaurants in the hotel. The Dragon Hill Hotel has some great places to eat.

We also went to see the Davinci Code, well, we wanted to actually see X-Man3, but even though they say they released it here, it isn't coming to theaters until June 15. DaVinci Code was kinda lame, so much for the summer blockbuster it was supposed to be. But it was even less fun for us, since the characters speak French and Latin often in the film (and did I hear some Italian maybe?) and the subtitles were all in Hangul. D'oh! Teach us to see an American film in Korea!

So anyway, here are some pictures.

Here is a sunset from Camp Casey from Friday...

Here is a picture of some movie posters, including DaVinci Code.

It's Wednesday!

2006-05-24T20:39:00.000+09:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit - yesterday and today I spent the bulk of the days trolling the websites for jobs. Haven't really found a WHOLE lot of jobs that fit me well, but I have applied to some anyway. (hey if you are reading this, are hiring people, in the DC, Tampa, or Chicago areas and need someone who has excellent communication skills - let me know).

Harland has been hard at work planning our summer. If you haven't seen our travel itinerary - it is pretty extensive. It looks like this ----> Hawaii, Los Angeles, Dayton, Birdsboro, Manchester, DC - all in three weeks. Of course DC could really be Chicago or somewhere else Harland finds a job. We will see... won't we?

Today I met a guy named Michael Schmitz. We had quite the talk about our names. He was clearing through ACAP and so there was a lot of "Here's your form, Schmitz", "Thank you, Schmitzer". Ahhh it was fun. He's from Kansas. Really, meeting him was one of the fun-est points of the day.

Did I mention my friend Tyler is here now? Hey Ty(if you're reading this)!! She is lots of fun and it is sooooo good to have a friend here. We'll probably start having sleepovers soon and eat lots of M&Ms and do each other's hair. Well, maybe not... but I finally have someone to watch girly movies with. Yeah Tyler! Three cheers for Tyler everyone!

And so - because I know the great (and possibly only) attraction people have to reading my blog is the pictures... here is a picture from the art museum, it is a picture of a buddhist temple bell from back in the day.

Blah.

2006-05-22T20:04:00.000+09:00

So not much really going on. I am in a contest for knitting blogs, it is called the amazing lace. So I spent a lot of time on my blog over there tonight. If you are interested there is a Korean totem pole and a picture of my lace and me stuck in Seoul traffic. I don't think it will win, it isn't as creative as I would like. Blogger is hard to deal with when you want to do something other than stick with the format and you are not really all that familiar with HTML code.

It is a blah day. The Red Cross was hectic today and a little stressful. I guess that is the way it goes somedays. Also it has been pouring since about 10am. Here is a picture of today's dreariness. You can't even see the top of the small mountain. You can barely see the bottom of it. Yuck.

I also have had a lot of computer problems today. My computer wouldn't send Red Cross e-mails today and it also was spazzing out on the other Red Cross programs. Then I came home and got frustrated with this computer! They certainly know how to gang up on us. Current score: Computers 2, Jessica 0. Whew. Such a day.

Most of you know my cousin was supposed to be here, but unfortunately Bobby couldn't come. I think that might have added to my bad day too. Not that hanging out in soggy Dongducheon is the pinnacle of fun-ness... But I think he would have liked it. I am hoping he'll be able to come next month instead, so cross your fingers (and toes if you're able) for me. I really like it here in Korea and would love to share it with someone. I don't think I am ready to leave yet... And it looks like we are out of here July 13th. I know Harland is tired of being here, but I could stay here for a couple of years and be happy. Sigh.

spring

2006-05-18T16:53:00.000+09:00

Okay here are some pictures from last week when we went to Seoul. It was sunny and clear - probably something we won't see very often once the haze season starts (or maybe it already has!).

Not much to report - been working at ACAP.
This is a picture of Seoul Tower

Here are some flower pictures.

Here is a picture from the hotel room:

And this is a picture taken of a park on a rooftop!
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This one's for Susan (Korean Museum)

2006-05-15T17:06:00.000+09:00

My dear friend Susan makes the most beautiful pottery. If she was here right now she might try and protest, but I am here to tell you it is beautiful. Susan had a birthday on Saturday (Say it with me, Happy Birthday!!). I have not been very good about putting birthdays in my blog. I had high hopes I would be up to speed on *something* that has to do with birthdays... But I am not.

I am terrible about birthdays. I don't know why. People tend to remember mine because I start reminding them over a month in advance and then tell them every time I see them. (BTW, my birthday is coming up at the end of June). For some reason, no one else seems to do this unless they are 8 or younger. Probably I am around 8 mentally. :)

Anyhoo... When I went to the Korean museum I saw many beautiful pottery arts. Here are two of my favorites. The bird one is one of the earliest Korean Pottery from like back in the Stone age. Literally. The other one I am unsure of when it was made but I think in the 1400s when Celadon was popular. And I thought dearly of Susan and her pots.

National Museum of Korea

2006-05-14T20:51:00.000+09:00

Last weekend we went to the National Museum of Korea.
I took some pictures - because they actually let you! (no flash, of course).

This weekend seemed to fly by. I have no idea how. We rented all kinds of movies and only got to watch one. How does that happen? I don't know. But it was really relaxing. I wish I had more weekend. Oh well. I did finish the second sock to the orange one. You can see the pair of them over on my knitting site.

Anyway - here is the outside of the museum - it is pretty.

And here is one of the crowns... it weighs a lot. I forget what the exact weight was, but I certainly don't think I would like that on my head for any length of time. Looks beautiful, though.

helicopter pictures

2006-05-12T17:55:00.000+09:00

Harland went in a helicopter the other day with the General. So here are some pictures (as promised) from the trip. I am also going to briefly mention that I wish I could go in a helicopter someday and go so often that I no longer thought it was cool (like he now does). Working at the Red Cross and ACAP is a lot less glamorous.

So here you go. I don't have a lot of comments because I don't know the area well enough to tell you what various landmarks are.

Happy weekend y'all.

And this is why I need some allergy medicine (which has not yet been restocked) look at this big cloud of pollen. No - it is not smoke. no - it is not chinese yellow dust. It is TREE POLLEN.

what a day!

2006-05-10T18:09:00.000+09:00

Whew I am wiped out! First take a look at this article. Be sure to read it all the way through!

Okay enough fun - I am tired. I think it is because I ran out of allergy medicine and they have none at the PX except for Benedryl which if I took it - would only make me more tired. Whew. That PX seems to never have what I need. Remember when we had no forks? No sets of silverware? Not hot pads? well now they have moved on to run out of other stuff - like fans and allergy medicine.

It is going to rain... very dark outside. I know I said I was going to post about H's helicopter ride... but I am too tired. I need to take a nap before he comes home.
(yes I realize it is already 6:15pm... but I need a nap in the worst way.)

To pooped to blog properly

2006-05-09T18:15:00.000+09:00

Friends, I am just too tired today to post a real message. It took me hours (about 4) to post my resume to two jobs. I don't even feel like looking at this computer anymore. Or any computer.

I'll be sure to post tomorrow. Since Harland is the General's Aide now, he gets to fly in helicoters sometimes... So he took some pictures that are wicked cool. I will post them tomorrow.

But for now? I think a good book.

(and for AMY, MOM and SUSAN your packages are now officially in the mail and officially on thier tardy way).

Part 6 - the night parade

2006-05-08T06:50:00.000+09:00

Well I had a really nice weekend. Friday we went to a really nice barbeque restaurant in the middle of nowhere called "Beaver's". It was a really nice night - not too warm or cold. There were still some blossoming trees around... and we sat outside on the porch. Because it is in the middle of nowhere, there is a great view or hills and farms. We had American style pork barbeque, baked potatoes, pasta salad, corn, and cole slaw. All very tasty. It was a dinner for Abigail who is leaving here for Iraq (she is in the Red Cross). So Later on I will have some pictures of that for you... they are nighttime cell phone pictures so they aren't the best.

We went to Seoul (in the pouring rain) saturday afternoon. It poured from friday night at 10 until about 5pm on saturday. And it isn't even monsoon season yet. But yesterday was beautiful and clear. We stayed in a different part of Seoul called Kang-num and it was neat to hang out in a different area. We also saw Mission Impossible 3. We have been dying to see an American Movie in A REAL MOVIE THEATER... and so it was okay. Koreans don't always get American humor so there were a couple of times we snickered and no one else (in the sold out theater) laughed. It was a huge theater and in Korea you get assigned seats. we had terrible seats - second row... but that is because we only bought our tickets 3 hours in advance (hey - it was saturday night!)

But enough blabbing - you're probably only here to see some parade pictures anyway. :)

part 5 - happy birthday buddha

2006-05-05T06:50:00.000+09:00

Today is officially Buddha's burthday. His birthday changes every year because it goes by a lunar calendar. And the lantern parade is always the sunday before. I am afraid I will have to postpone the lantern parade until sunday, unless I have some spare time magically appear.

Anyway, the pictures for today are a diverse lot.

First up - lunch.
We had a very lovely lunch in Insa-dong... I don't remember the name of the restaurant. It was a very nice atmosphere, they had a little courtyard with bamboo and they served our meal very fast.
We had a ton of food, but what I took picture of was the chigae (soup) the kimchi (lots of pickled side dishes) and the pancake which had green onions and mussles inside.

Then we took a little trip over to the COEX mall. It is huge and I think we were only in about 10 percent of it. We were hoping for a good movie, but there were none in English that we wanted to see. And it was very very crowded. Crowded in Asia is way different than crowded anywhere else. So we abandoned that plan and got a snack and watched this:

kids playing indoor virtual soccer. They were having a blast and I think that this could be the future of home enertainment for kids. Hey kids why don't you go downstairs and play some soccer while I read this book? Wear out your kids easily!

when we returned from COEX Mall, we participated in some more street sights and sounds... we even saw a mime in a segway.

here is me...

and here is Harland giddy in anticipation of the parade. Isn't he just adorable?

And finally just so that you can sleep at night I will give you one parade picture. Here is a lantern made to look like buddha.

part 4- more of the fair

2006-05-03T17:52:00.000+09:00

So when you are cooking dinner for a military man, you never know if he'll be home to eat it. I'm just sayin' is all.

Anyway - more photos from last weekend. Don't worry there are plenty more where these came from. Depending on what we do this weekend, these might go into next week! Wow!

1st up today - Fan Dance pictures. This is a very traditional, beautiful dance that Korean women are known for.

Here are some pictures of some traditional weaving and basket making.

And this little guy turned his head as I was trying to snap the shot. He's like the Philly Fanatic combined with a Chinese New Year Dragon.

part 3- mini parade

2006-05-02T17:06:00.000+09:00

During the day there was a little mini parade that had traditional Korean costumes, instruments, and dancers. I am not sure if "parade" is really what you would call it since there was only this one dance troupe/band... but here are some pictures from it. It was interesting and well, very loud.

part 2 - the street festival

2006-05-01T18:53:00.000+09:00

Today I will show you some of the booths set up at the day festival. There were probably 50 booths set up at the festival - most were different buddhist groups in the area. I got several pamphlets for English speaking temples and classes handed to me (how did they know I speak English?)

All kidding aside, there were a lot of neat goings on during the lotus flower festival. Please ask any questions you may have, I will try to answer them. One question I had in my head was "I saw the lotus flowers in July, so why the Lotus Flower Festival in May? There are no lotus flowers, things are barely green!" Well, that is because Buddha is represented by the Lotus Flower for several reasons... 1. the lotus flower grows out of the mud, yet it is not sullied by the muck it grows in 2. according to buddhism there is a lot of suffering in our lives and we can grow above it, like the flower 3. tradition has it that his mother had a dream of a white elephant with lotus flowers on it's tusks when she was pregnant.

Okay, The first picture I have is of some lanterns outside a building. I do not know what this building is, it is not the main temple. I actually did not take pictures of the main temple because it was so crowded... (and I have pictures of it from last winter). This building has a lot of lanterns that have prayers attached.

This next picture is a close-up of some lanterns that were strung along the streets. You can notice some of the lanterns are in the shape of Lotus Flowers.

There were a lot of arts and crafts going on. These people were smashing azaleas into cloth with spoons. You can do this to any kind of muslin cloth and it should stay even through washings. I heard about people doing this with pansies in the US. I would like to try it one day when I have some time and want to annoy whoever lives near me. (taptaptaptap).

Not only were there crafts, but dances as well. Here is a group of women dancers.

Here is a clothes tent, besides the fact i thought the name was kind of funny (who wants difficult Korean clothes?) you can see the clothes on the right are orange. This is a very traditional cloth dye made from persimmons. We saw a lot of that on Jejudo last year.

And Lastly, people always have the image of the secluded temple on a mountain somewhere (and there are plenty of those here in Korea) but really they are hip and with it...

part 1- Gyeongbok Palace

2006-05-01T06:09:00.000+09:00

Good morning. I got up before 6am so I could begin posting about my Sunday. That is how exciting my Sunday was!! Harland and I took a bus trip down to Seoul because there was the Lotus Lantern Festival. This festival is a celebration about Buddhism because it is always celebrated the sunday night before Buddha's birthday. I had heard alot about the festival and how beautiful it was. A friend of mine, Karyn, chartered a bus to take us from Casey directly to the area of the festival which was really nice. This bus driver knew his stuff because it only took us an hour and 10 minutes to get to Seoul. Usually it Takes 2 hours and 40 minutes on the other busses. So this in itself was a delight.

(reminder, you can click on each picture to see a larger version of the picture. I have these set as pretty small pictures because the uploading time is less, so clicking on them doesn't make them huge, but it does make them bigger)

Not only was there the Lotus Lantern Festival, but there was a culture festival going on one street over. So that was really neat. We also took the Subway over to the COEX mall (which is the biggest mall I have ever seen) for a change of scenery and to sit down for a minute. But we made sure that we got back in time for the Lantern Parade which is supposed to be one of the coolest sights around. We couldn't stay for the whole thing, as we had to meet the bus way before it was over so we could get back by 11pm. It really was one of the best days I have had here.

We took 170 photos. Now I haven't gone through them and deleted the blurry ones (hey, the night shots were hard to get with our camera, I will tell you that!) But that is still a lot of pictures so this will take at least a week to give you an idea of all the things we saw.

So first off I will show you the pictures we took outside of the Gyeongbok Palace. This is where our bus dropped us off and we left from. We did not pay to go into the palace because we went there at New Year's a year ago. But they were having some special events too, which was neat. it was not a very nice day when we started out, but by the late afternoon it was sunny and clear. So these pictures are a little hazy because of the weather.

Okay, first picture is a picture of the exit gate at the palace. The azaleas were out in full bloom this weekend... it was very pretty to walk near the parks. I should have taken more azalea pictures, but I didn't.

Here is a shot of a demonstration of some kind of martial arts. I regret I don't know what this is called. There were no signs/announcements for this.

There was also a TaeKwonDo demonstration. I love the picture of the guy in mid air. They were jumping over all the kids to kick a piece of paper at the end. Everyone made the jump, but I think only one kicked out the paper.

In this shot, if you look closely, you can see an upside down person - they would flip and tyr to break the board.

This is a picture of a Palace Drummer. You can tell he is a part of the Military Band because of his jacket. They call the jacket the "heavenly wings coat".

Here is a picture of the main Palace gate. This is where they have the changing of the guards (which I have not yet seen). You can see the modern buildings next to it. The Palace is directly in Seoul.

This is the last photo for today. This is outside the Palace grounds. I took this shot from the bus, so I guess it should have been first. Anyway, above the Picasso advertisement you can see what looks like a billboard on top of the building. But it is really a television. In this area of Seoul, there are televisions on top of a lot of buildings. I think it is pretty neat.
Stay tuned for tomorrow... I'll show you some day pictures from the festival.

Just slightly different

2006-04-28T17:18:00.000+09:00

So I was walking along today... and suddenly had to stop and back up. Was that a white dandelion I just saw? And sure enough it was. With a yellow center. Like it was trying to be a daisy or something. Pretty neat.

It is pretty dreary out. I can not tell if it is dusty or just going to rain. I guess we will see. Here is a cell phone pic of the dandelion.

Stay tuned to this blog, there should be some awesome pictures up here on monday if everything goes well this weekend. There is a lantern festival and it is supposed to be really really neat. One woman I know said when she went last year it was the coolest sights she has ever seen in Asia, and she lived in several Asian countries.

Happy Wednesday!

2006-04-26T17:40:00.000+09:00

well, again not much to report. It has been threatening rain all day - but yet, it has not rained, how odd!

I made a bulletin board today at the Red Cross. I know that isn't really exciting, but here is a picture!! The notes are from a banquet they had and the notes have little Red Cross facts. Abigail had come up with a musical theme for the banquet. I wasn't there since it was before I joined up with the red cross. But the multi colored background was all me. Ha!!

Well that is all today!
Jessica

How to tell I am American

2006-04-25T18:55:00.000+09:00

Okay, today I was really tired because I didn't sleep well. So I went to get some of this:

Whee we have starbucks! well, not really we have a place that will make their coffee.

Also I saw these weird flowers over the weekend. Don't they look fake? Well they aren't.

Here is some dust. The Korea Herald (newpaper) said this week's storm is the worst since 1992. Wow. Ick! No wonder everyone is feeling ill.

And on a more cheerful note... here is some mountain flowers! I don't know if these are cherry trees or what.

Cheers.

The sheep are shorn

2006-04-24T19:54:00.002+09:00

Hello, not much to report here. We are having another yellow dust storm and are advised to stay indoors and shut windows. My eyes are burning a little bit. Dad was asking what it was like and it is very hard to describe and I can't really take a picture of the yellow dust... except if you want to see my windowsill... it is covered in the ick.

Anyway it is like a very cloudy, foggy day. Except you can see the sun and your shadow and if you look directly above you can see blue sky. It is a little eerie. Kinda like if you were in cartoon land and everyone was having a bad day except you (hence your little pocket of sunshine).

Anyway, people have said that the yellow dust is a lot worse this year.

Harland got a haircut yesterday. He said "no skin" but I think the woman only heard the skin part.
Don't laugh like I did.

:)

Rain, Rain, go away

2006-04-18T18:53:00.000+09:00

Well it has been Weird Weather here in Camp Casey. The cherry blossom pictures sure do deceive - they make it look warm and lovely here. In fact, yesterday I saw SNOW FLURRIES on the way to work (it was 36 degrees at lunchtime) and today we have had massive scary thunderstorms all day. You know - Alabama style thunderstorms. The kind you DO NOT want to go outside in and each lightning strike is so loud it could defribilate a heart attack victim.

So that is what is new here. I am ashamed to admit I have not finished the other orange sock (to go with the one I showed off on here). I of course, in typical Jessica style, have started a new sock. This one is a real sock, made of sock yarn.

But I won't bore you with the details in case you are a person who does not like knitting.
(for all of you who do, check it out on my other blog

But since I feel weird leaving you all without a picture so here is my attempt at a cool close up of my sock in progress!

Cherry Blossoms

2006-04-16T16:51:00.000+09:00

It is cherry blossom time here in Camp Casey. We were planning on going to Seoul, to see the blossoms there - but Harland has gotten a pretty nasty cold, and now I am coming down with it (gotta love being married!) and so we decided against it. But here are some pictures I took today on the way to the grocery store.

There are cherry trees lining the main roads here on Camp Casey - so everywhere you look, there is a line of white. It is especially nice riding the bus through the trees. Also I noticed that there was a lot of spring green splotches on the mountains, it looks like the tree leaves might be coming in!! Here's to spring!

And also - Happy Easter. A friend gave me some camouflage eggs to fill will Jelly beans. And, well, I couldn't find a basket, so tuperware had to suffice. :)

Friday Night

2006-04-15T13:01:00.000+09:00

(warning, all pictures taken with cell phone so the quality is not the best)

Hello! Harland and his friends Charles and Pete let me tag a long for a night out. We went to a restaurant in "New City". New City is an area of Dongduchoen that has recently been built and it has a lot of places to eat and go drinking. There are some American type places too (Pizza Hut, Dunkin' Donuts, and Baskin Robbins). BTW, is Drew Barrymore in ads for Baskin Robbins over there? Because she is all over the place here. Just wondering.

Anyway we went to a Korean restaurant and this is what we had: Talkkalbi

It is a very spicy mix of cabbage, chicken, yams, mint leaves, and rice dumplings all cooked in this huge stone pot. We also had some cold buckwheat noodle soup (mulkuksoo). It was pretty good even though I admit I was quite the skeptic. I wasn't sure I would like noodles in ice cold soup (it literally has ice in it). You know I'll try anything at least once and it was very tasty.

You can also see there is a bottle of Soju and a small glass of soju in front of me. It is hard to describe it, it is a little like vodka. That is the closest drink I can come up with. There is a lot of Korean culture surrounding Soju. You shouldn't ever pour your own, And usually I think if someone makes a toast you have to drink it. Anyway, Pete and I mostly drank the soju because Charles doesn't like it, and Harland can not drink due to the TB meds.

Anyway after dinner and a stop at Dunkin Donuts for Charles and Harland, we ended up going to "miller time" a bar that specializes in, well, miller products. A few icehouses later and suddenly this sounded like a good idea:

going to a karaoke place.

Now in the US usually there is just one Karaoke machine in a bar somewhere... but in Korea they have Karoke places. You walk in and it is like a hotel. You get a room and it has karaoke in there and you sing with your friends.

here is a picture of Harland and Charles picking out a song:

Here is a picture of Harland singing. I think to Radiohead's "Creep".

Anyway, that was my night.
Hope your Friday is just as fun!!

Pictures of a spring day

2006-04-11T20:01:00.000+09:00

Well I do not have much to write but today was beautiful. The dust storm was over and it was a really clear day today. The mountains really looked fabulous (these same mountains we literally could not see through the dust fri-sunday, it was the worst dust storm I have seen here). And some flowers popped out. The first few pictures are of a Pink Magnolia tree, which appear in some Korean Poetry (not this particualr tree, of course). Then there are some Mountain shots, and I wrap up with a purple bush (I do not know what it is) highlighted with some forsythias in the background.

Cell phone pictures

2006-04-09T11:43:00.000+09:00

Well, Not much oging on this weekend - another icky dust storm so we didn't want to go out of doors much so we didn't go to Seoul.

But there are some signs of spring here at Camp Casey - I saw this outside of the PX:

And I got to spend time with a dog this weekend as a friend went to Seoul and I got to watch over her dog.
Here is a picture, he is a fabulous dog.

snack attack

2006-04-06T19:19:00.000+09:00

Okay these are the last set of pictures from Seoul... Maybe we will go this weekend and see the cherry blossoms if they are out. Of course if we do I will let you know!

Here is Harland in the "Express Bus Terminal" we were not taking a bus (I know - mindblowing really). The subway and the bus terminal are in one building that also contains the Shinsegae department store and a mall. It links up to the JW Marriot as well. It is quite a crazy set up, and it is a busy place. I should have taken a picture of some clowns making animal ballooons but the camera was in the backpack at that moment. Anyway we decided to get a snack at the JW Marriot's cafe and coffee place. Harland got cinnamon bun.

I got this:

It is a delicious buttery roll that has a slightly sweet bean paste in the middle. (warning: do not give this type of bun to Susan or Harland. They do not like them.) I like them alot. I really like the rice balls with this type of bean paste in the middle but I do not know where to buy them.

Out a window...

2006-04-05T14:53:00.000+09:00

Well here is another installation of the weekend trip to Seoul Keep in mind it was rainy most of the time we were there... until we were close to Camp Casey (of course!).

Here is us in the hotel before going to dinner. Aren't we cute?

Here is a view from our hotel window. I am interested in what is being built in the pit (see left hand side of picture) across the way.

Here are some shiny buildings in Uijongbu. Korea, especially near Seoul, has a lot of shiny buildings. They're so pretty when the sun is out. I took this picture out of the bus window. We actually had a decent driver on the way back on Sunday. Usually I will do anything to get out of taking a bus, because the drivers are just on this side of sanity. This guy actually honked when he was running the red lights so no one would pull out in front of us. And he didn't stop as suddenly as some at the bus stops.

This is a grand opening for something. I don't know what the business is. It must be a very profitable one since there are so many flower baskets. Usually a grand opening will have one, maybe two here in Dongduchoen. So this must be something really cool. Also taken out of the bus window.

It is hard for me to explain to y'all back home what the apartment buildings in Korea usually look like (I am lucky mine is so small). This reminds me of the movie Bladerunner a bit. Almost all of the urban Korean population live in apartment buildings, and the majority of them all live in buildings like this. I think the field in front had either rice or wheat in it and has been cut - getting ready for spring!

The Subway!

2006-04-04T15:08:00.000+09:00

Here are some shots of the subway (which made me look like a tourist, and embarrassed Harland a little, so you better enjoy these!).

I wanted to take Harland's picture, but he insisted he should make it look like an action shot. Don't let him fool you, he isn't really pointing to anything. He's pointing to the wall behind the tracks. I think this is at Yaksu Station.

Here is a picture of a subway train coming. They move rather fast, hence why it is all a blur. This is a different station than the picture of Harland.

Not that anyone really uses these unless the station is extremely crowded... Here are some waiting lines. The people getting off the train get off in the middle, the people waiting to get on the train get on either side of the people coming off. If you look carefully at the picture above you can see the black arrows pointing in both directions. In this next picture you can tell which way we are supposed to go with the same type of black arrow. Only really busy stations seem to have the blue waiting lines. They are certainly needed during rush hour.

Here is a mural in one of the stations (Itaewon Station) as you leave the station. All along these stairs are different murals, but this one of the subway is my favorite.

The station at Noksapyeong decorated for spring with some Azaleas. Sorry it is blurry, but when I took the picture with a flash it was too dark and you couldn't see the colors of the flowers.

Well, Hope you enjoyed a mini tour of the subway!

Spring has Sprung in Seoul

2006-04-03T15:15:00.000+09:00

As you may have read in yesterday's post, Harland and I went to Seoul this past weekend. I am going to try and spread the photos over a few days so there is something neat and exciting each day. Today I have for you two photos we took in between the rain showers. Seoul is a bit ahead of Camp Casey weather wise and flower wise. So while there is no hint of green up here yet, down there they have some actual signs of spring! Lucky them!

Here is Harland in front of some forsythia bushes. This is on the main street from the Subway to Yongsan Garrison. We went to the PX there to look for some new reading material. As you can imagine, they have a lot more down there than we do here. Their PX is huge - like a walmart.

Here is me sitting on the side of the sidewalk in front of my favorite flower. Since daffodils only happen for a short time each year, I was pretty excited I got to see some.

Look at my blog tomorrow for some shots of the subway!

This blog's gonna get exciting!

2006-04-02T21:51:00.000+09:00

Well hello, Harland and I are freshly back from Seoul. We went for the weekend and we had a good time despite the rain (of course it poured the whole time we were travelling, but upon arrival back to Camp Casey the sun came out).

Anyway, I embarrassed Harland by taking a lot of pictures when we were outside of the hotel. And before you start commenting on how we're still in the honeymoon phase (which I don't deny) we also ate ourselves silly with a gourmet buffet and enjoyed the hotel's huge fitness pool (it had 8 lanes) saunas (your choice of dry or steam) and whirlpool.

We're calling it our belated anniversary and valentine's day rolled into one. But it was nice to sleep on a featherbed with a down comforter and no one to be loud in the hall to wake us up. I also enjoyed a bath which I haven't had since i got here (ewww! I took showers, I promise).

Anyway, it is about an hour past our bedtime, so I will post some pictures over the next few days. I just didn't want you to think I was ingnoring y'all.

A bit of new stuff

2006-03-30T14:31:00.000+09:00

Hi Everyone!
All kinds of things going on here. One thing is... I am now an official volunteer of the American Red Cross. I went to the meeting today and have an official card and everything. In related news, I finished my first sock. How is this related you ask?

Here's how (a WWII era Red Cross Poster)

Here's my sock. If you want to see more pictures of it (I know you do!) you can go to my knitting blog Just click here!

And also for those of you who enjoy snow pictures, it must've flurried all night. By the time I went out this morning at 9am, there was only snow in the mountains and in shadows. By the time I came back to the room after the Red Cross meeting, there was even less snow on the mountains so i did not take the camera out. Here are two pictures from my cell phone, though from 9am.

Have a great weekend!!

An interesting day!

2006-03-29T14:35:00.000+09:00

Let me step back here a second and tell you a little bit about yesterday first.

Okay yesterday I was planning on taking some pictures of the village but the weather did not co-operate with me. It was really cold and windy and there were even some snow flurries. Actually most of the day there were snow flurries... But no actual snow on the ground (disappointing all of you who want more snow pictures). Anyway, I didn't really feel like walking really far since it was so cold.

Last night I got a call from my boss who asked me if I wanted to be a teacher's assistant for the day because they need one at the Donduchoen American Community School. I said Okay, although I am not really sure why... Because we all know how much I like kids. But, I thought, "how hard could it be since teacher's assistant doesn't sound so bad, I just have to help them with work or whatever."

So I got there this morning and it turns out that I really am not an assistant. I am a substitute for 23 kids ranging in the age of 11-18. Which was interesting. It is a two room school. I was hanging out with the older kids. The only lessons I was given was spelling, grammar, and vocab. The rest of the time they were supposed to work quietly amongst themselves. Yeah, right.

But no one was injured, and they have 1.5 hours for lunch, and it really wasn't all that bad. I could do it again. Just not tomorrow.

Whew.

And, thanks to Uncle Buddy and Ed Packard for revamping my picture from Guam. Both of you had the same idea. I guess I had better not post any more pictures unless they're perfect! :) Just kidding.

Off I go to unwind.

a quick hit of wit

2006-03-27T11:08:00.000+09:00

Okay, so my dear Dad sent me the link to this really funny website called Overheard In New York You should go there and read it, it is hilarious. This is a website where people send in crazy conversations they overhear in New York City.

Anyway, one of the first ones on there made me laugh.

As you all know I love eggs. Especially out. And I always order mine "over hard" which many people give me odd looks for (and usually this results in me getting eggs over easy, sometimes over medium, but I digress).

Anyway, I have a feeling I would like to go to breakfast with this guy.

Waiter: How would you like your eggs?
Guy: Can I get two eggs scrambled, one sunny side up?
Waiter: Um...I...Um...I don't...
Guy: Whatever. Give me three scrambled eggs. God.

--Ben Ash Delicatessen, 7th Avenue

As much as I like variety I never have thought to order my eggs that way!
Some may call him a diva, but I say he's brilliant!

Snacks and dinner

2006-03-25T19:03:00.000+09:00

Hello! It is American food day here on Blog of the Morning Calm. First I have to share with you something I find odd. I buy our food at the commissary (so far, not odd). None of the food is marked "export". I think this is because technically it is still on American soil. Well none of the food except for Lay's brand chips. Isn't that odd? Why only the chips? Here is an example.

The second part of this is that I have a recipe for extremely easy chicken. I made it up myself. But I wanted to share only because it is so easy I can hardly believe it.

This is what you will need for 2 people:
1/2 jar favorite spaghetti sauce
2 chicken breasts (can be frozen even)
1/2 bag of washed fresh spinach
any other uncooked veggies you may have
2 servings of pasta or rice (cook this while chicken is cooking)

Okay so throw half of the jar of spaghetti sauce into an 8X8 glass dish. Place half a bag of spinach on top. Add 1/4 cup water. Mix all together. If other veggies, add these (today I added some leftover fresh zucchini) place chicken on top. Leave uncovered and place into preheated oven. If frozen, cook at 375F for 50 minutes. If fresh cook 30 minutes or until done.

Serve over pasta. Enjoy. Approx. 350-400 calories per person (pasta included).

I made this up the other week when we had some frozen chicken, spinach and spaghetti sauce. I didn't realize you could actually cook frozen chicken right from the freezer, but our bag of frozen breasts says you can. Who knew? Not me!! I guess that is why some one else is writing the labels on the bag. This is so great to make when you forget to thaw out your chickens or if you feel like making a lazy Saturday dinner.

Just sayin' is all.
Happy dinner.

Friday's over, the weekend is here!

2006-03-24T18:54:00.000+09:00

Well I must admit I do not have much to report today. The most exciting thing I did all day was learn how to knit with 4 needles at once (see my knitting blog if interested!) The link is one the side over there <-------.

Anyway, I promised some pictures... so here is one that is a close up of the outside of a palace. Isn't it beautiful?

And here is a picture of us in Guam from last summer. This one was on Harland's computer so it was not in the picture album.

Cheers and happy weekend!!

whoops, has it been almost a week?

2006-03-23T12:33:00.000+09:00

Sorry, I strayed from the blog. Not that I am sure anyone out there is reading it anymore. But to those of you who are, I appreciate it and love you for it. :) Anyway, I strayed for two reasons - 1.being that I was working and 2.the fact that when not working Harland has been using the computer for job searches.

If anyone is looking for a software engineer who knows a lot about Army stuff... let me know. :)

Not much to really reaport... sadly. I promise though to take some pictures tomorrow and post them on the blog.
I tired to upload some today but blogger is acting weird and is not working.

still life of a good night

2006-03-16T14:16:00.000+09:00

Okay so This is my picture for today (once again food related!). I call this photograph "a good night" because what could be better than a bottle of the most expensive wine in the commisary (9 bucks) and a dish of just out of the oven lemon squares? They are cooling off next to the window. Pretty soon I won't be able to do this when the bugs come out. Don't worry - this isn't my entire dinner, I am making Chicken Piccatta as well.

which reminds me, hey Dad, can you mail me some thin wire so I can fix my screen or knit it a patch? See, I knew knitting would come in useful for things other than yarn!! There is no wire here in the PX to fix it.

So I have to say that Margaret Fitch-Hauser was the inspiration of these lemon squares. (Somewhere Margaret is scratching her head in wonderment). I had a dream the other day that Brigitta, Debra, Margaret and I were all going to a Listening Convention in South Dakota. Anyway, long story short - We had to sleep in Tichenor's basement because our plane was delayed and in my dream Margaret made lemon squares to cheer us up. So not only do I think often of the dear people of Auburn, apparently I dream about them too.

By the way - if you have been trying to reach me at my old Auburn e-mail, I can not seem to access it anymore. It won't let me. So please e-mail me at my yahoo address. thanks!

This week's forecast...Yellow Dust

2006-03-14T13:20:00.000+09:00

Weather in March is always odd... the freak blizzard that may occur in the North East... the tornadoes that may occur in Alabama... the day it is finally warm to hang out at the beach in Florida in your swimsuit... the day that the yellow dust starts to come from China...

The yellow dust from China? On Sunday it looked really eerie outside. I asked Harland if he knew if Korea had tornadoes because the sky was a weird tint of yellow... but the weather report had only partly sunny skies!

Then on Monday when I was walking (in the bitter cold and wind, thank you) I noticed all the cars were covered in dust. I just thought it was the wind kicking up the ever-present grey dust. But no. We are getting dust from the Gobi Dessert in China.

This is the weather report for today from the Arirang News' website (the english TV station). This is a direct quote.

"Strange day today.
Conditions were just not what we would have liked. First of all, it was cold. Second of all, it was dry. Almost no relative humidity and last but not least there were parts of Korea that were affected by the Chinese dust from the Gobi desert.
It definately wasn't the best day.
Some good news, tomorrow it wont be as cold as it was today."

Now I don't know how you feel about weather, but whenever the news people say something's strange, it can not be good.

Here is a webpage with photos of the yellow dust from 2001.CLICK HERE TO SEE

But really all I know is that the dust is sand particles from the Gobi desert with some pollution mixed in, so it is not a good thing to breathe and many people get respiratory infections from it. I have spoken to several people who say this dust storm wasn't that bad and there will probably be more in the next month or two. They were surprised it was this early in the year. hmmm. So i am certainly glad I stayed in on Sunday and most of the day yesterday.

Today is pretty clear so no worries.
Have a happy dust-free day!

The Dining Out

2006-03-11T09:54:00.000+09:00

Well the dining out was not half bad! Here is a wonderful picture of us under the fabulous barrack lighting. We're ready to go!

First there was cocktail hour, which was at the Warrior Club (some of you may remember this is the only place with a decent salad but they have terrible bread). Here is a picture of my friend (and co-worker) Lenka and me.

Once we were finished hobnobbing we went to the gym, which was decorated with the various insignias of the branches in the "Iron Brigade". Here is an overall shot.

Here is a picture of Harland at the table, and one of me.

Here is a photo of the coins we received for going to the dining out. (Since we had two it was easy to show both sides. Also I made a little bag to hold my money and ID card).

And here is a group shot of some of the people in 2-9. I think it is pretty funny all of us wives wore black. I guess you can never go wrong with Black.

Anyway, despite not wearing a formal gown, I had a really nice time. It was good to get out and get dressed up, hear a few speeches, etc. I enjoyed hearing a lot of the histories of the Iron Brigade. Plus we won a doorprise which was a gift certificate to a local pub/eatery... so that was exciting.

The Shawl is done

2006-03-09T20:53:00.000+09:00

Whew. One thing done. I can now sleep in peace. Click here

Now I only have about 6 errands to run before 4pm tomorrow.
We have a mandatory cocktail hour at 6, dinner at 7pm.

I am anxious because I have never been to one of these things, and I have had two answers to the question "what is the dining out like" one is "oh it is really funny if you're drunk" and "I hate going to these kind of things". No one has really told me what it will be like.

I'll give you a report.
Jessica

hello there!

2006-03-09T13:44:00.000+09:00

Today was nice, I had plenty of time to surf the web and look at a lot of other people's blogs that I have been terribly neglecting. I apologize that I have been in my own world. The Army computers at work will let me check e-mail, but they close off a lot of personal websites, and I have been a slacker at using the computer at home. Now that I am at home and not working...

(Jets are flying overhead, hard to think this second)

Okay, where was I... oh yes... so I apologize to everyone whose site I have not visited in a while. If I do that again send me a nasty e-mail and remind me. We all know I can be flaky.

And if you e-mailed me and I didn't answer, please e-mail me again. Usually I am pretty good with e-mail, but I can sometimes hit a wrong key and delete something and think I have answered it.

To the people who sent me real mail recently... I don't know what is up with the mailroom. Several people have claimed to have sent something to me (be it letter, package, envelope, what have you) and it has not yet gotten to me, yet. The mail has been slow the past two weeks. Strangely enough the things we ordered online have gotten to us very quickly. So I have no idea what is going on with letters from friends. I will make sure I will e-mail you when we get things so you know.

Harland has been looking at jobs. He has posted his resume to what seems like 1 million sites, and has applied to countless jobs. He spends every night slaving away on the computer, poor kid. He has very few bites, I assume because the time he can start working is so far away. He went to a job workshop this week and revamped his resume so that is good. I am sure things will start to look up.

I am still working on the shawl. I am starting to worry that it looks HOMEmade rather than the HANDmade look I was going for. I'm too far in to start something new, though. I don't really know what everyone else is wearing and I am worried I will look like a ragamuffin. I have heard some are wearing prom dress like dresses which I didn't have time to get made. I have a long dress and that is just going to have to do.

Can I catch the flu by tomorrow night?

another day off, are you jealous yet?

2006-03-08T19:05:00.000+09:00

Anyway, today I had another day. I knitted some more on the shawl and I met Harland for lunch. I also tried to open a bank account and I tried to get paid, but those were less sucessful attempts.

I did work out and I jogged 2 miles (add your applause and encouragement to my comments to help get me to three miles soon). At the gym there is this Korean guy (100% Korean, not Korean American) and he has arms the size of LL.Cool J's. He must be taking something, I mean Asian's don't just bulk up from hitting the gym a few times a week, is all I'm saying.

Anyway, back to the bank account... I can't get one until my husband comes with me. Ugh. I understand when he has to be there regarding Army stuff (like for my ration control plate and gas mask) but for a bank account? For a bank of america bank account? I mean really. It just makes me mad. Lucky for me I have a loving husband... but what if I wanted to save up to get away or something. My friends who work in Domestic Abuse... does this seem right to you?

So I guess we will try and get an account later. I want to get one because my job hasn't put me into the direct deposit system yet. And I don't want my paycheck getting lost in the mail. Not that I have a check, as I alluded to earlier... my paperwork got messed up and I won't be getting paid until monday (boo!). I tell you what... when I work for a company that gets all my paywork in, without messing it up, I will work with them forever... I haven't had one yet.

Sorry this is a complainy e-mail... tomorrow will be better!!!

Hope everyone is doing well. Drop me an e-mail or two.

my first day off!

2006-03-07T16:33:00.000+09:00

Well today was my first day off work and it was exciting. Today I went to a Korean Hospital. not for me (breathe sigh of relief here) but for a friend's child who had some kind of mouth infection. Poor kid. I went to a yarn store today too (yarn is expensive over here) and if you are interested in that I am going to direct you to my knitting blog click here!!.

Also I saw Eric "the Lego guy" on TV today!!! He was on Ripley's Believe It Or Not. I think this must've already played on US TV, a long time ago - but he made it to the Armed Forces Network today at noon. I was very happy to see a face I knew (I know that guy, I used to drink coffee in the same place as him when I graded papers at Taylor's Bakery! I saw the Mona Lisa he did HANGING. I had to tell everyone seated at the table at least 3 times). My only brush with celebrity.

So it was a pretty exciting day off. Also some jets were playing tag over the base for about an hour, that was (LOUD) like a free air show. Very fun day all in all. Now, if you'll excuse me I have less than 3 days to knit up a shawl so I had better get cracking.

Cheers!

what you see, isn't always what you get

2006-03-04T20:18:00.000+09:00

Well today is a reminder that you should not judge a book by its cover. We bought some bread today at the local bread shop, called Paris Baguette. We bought a Baguette. I was excited because the only bread I have had since coming over here has been wonderbread texas toast style (think wonderbread but twice as thick... makes great frenchtoast). The bread of the baguette is good, and the shopkeeper threw in some whipped butter... or not. it was actually whipped cream! And the funny thing is the baguette has parsley and garlic on it! Yum, nothing like sweet whipped cream on garlic bread. I have notice that there a lot of look alike food items here in Korea. SOmetimes a baked potato will have whipped cream, or a cracker served with cheese will have sugar on it. They look similar... but are not the same.

Tonight we went to the Italian place that opened up right outside of the gate. I guess it was okay. The koreans like to add sugar to tomato sauce, so it is a little sweet for my taste. I also had grilled chicken with my spaghetti and it looked beautiful, a nice brown color... until I tasted a bite and the brown coloring was not from roasted perfection, but from the fact they seasoned it with cinnamon. It didn't taste bad, but it certainly was a surprise.

Other than that we didn't go to Seoul. There is some kind of transportation strike going on. But I did take a few pictures today... from my cell phone so when you enlarge them they won't be as clear...

the bread and sweet vanilla flavored whipped cream.

Some Hanboks (traditional fancy Korean dresses) in a shop window near second market.

One of the street food stands cooking up pancakes. On the table in front are some homegrown (extreamly huge!!!) mushrooms.

more snow!!

2006-03-01T19:04:00.000+09:00

Well, it snowed again last night/this morning. Now that it is 7pm, most of it melted during the day - except in the shadows and on the ice. It probably will get a little slick tonight if it freezes... which it probably will. I am glad I am staying indoors and starting on my new knitting project.

Here are some pictures of the snow this morning on the way to work.

This is the building across the way from the ACAP center. It is some barracks for the inprocessing soldiers. Can you stand the excitement? But I have a soft spot for the symbol of 2 ID, so this makes me happy anyway. 2ID, Second to none!

This other picture is of the bus stop near to where I work. I have actually never stood at this particular bus stop because the bus from Camp Casey to Camp Mobile is inconvenient to my work schedule. So I get off at gate 1 in Casey and walk over to Mobile. Most people do that anyway.

Well, besides my new knitting project (just killing time until some yarn gets here in the mail to make Christmas and Hanuakah presents) Harland has a new video game called Command and Conquer Generals. I think he'll get to play a game tonight with his buddy across the hall. They play the games together against the computer while each of them are in their respective rooms. Oh well, as long as it keeps them off the streets!!

I won, I won!

2006-02-28T06:54:00.000+09:00

In honor the father from "A Christmas Story", who just recently passed away... "I won, I won, it is a major award!" It's not coming tonight, though. :)

Well okay so it isn't really a major award for me either, but I did win something. In my internet travels into the knitting world, I came across Vogue's Knit 1 blog site. You can go visit it right here. My knitting pal Sean turned me on to the magazine.

Anyway, I entered a contest on a whim and I won a little knitting bag that you can take with you when you travel (convienent, no?). I am excited because when I get it, I will be able to take my knitting on the subway or bus when we go to Seoul. If you want to know what it looks like, go over to this site.

It is a good morning when you wake up at 5am and realize you got something cool. I can hardly wait for it to get to me!!

is something wrong with this picture?

2006-02-27T19:11:00.000+09:00

This is the vending machine near where I work. Hmmm. Wasn't this banned?

Anyway, Not much is new today. Had a fairly uneventful day at work. I like my office. I like helping people get ready to leave the Army. I went to the gym today and had a good workout, it is nice to go with my new friend Lenka. She is originally from the Czech Republic and we are about the same age. Her husband is alot like Harland and they even trained at Benning at the same time, even though they never ran into each other. Without her here it wouldn't be half as fun. I am actually sad that next week I don't work, so that means I probably won't see her much.

I am eagerly awaiting some yarn in the mail so I can work on Amy H's and my cousin Lisa's Christmas presents. Yeah, I know it is february, but you gotta start early if you want to make your good friends and family homemade presents. After those two presents, comes one for my mother in law, Wendy... then my cousin Jim's. After that... well after that I have to do some more research to see what to make people.

Well I have to go look up a word in the dictionary for Harland...
Hope all is well!

You'll probably never hear me say this again...

2006-02-26T19:28:00.000+09:00

but tonight I was craving beef, so Harland and I went out and had ourselves a heck of a dinner. We finally used the money Grandpa gave us for Christmas to go out to eat. I don't know exactly how much we ate, but we ate a ton of food. There was kalbi, salad, coleslaw (korean style), radishes, cucumber kimchi, regular kimchi, kimchi pancakes, spinach kimchi, and bean sprouts. Whew. I seriously have no idea how we ate it all. It was so incredibly yummy. I think I ate over a steak's worth of beef. Good thing I have started working out again!!

We now have a bed and a dresser in our apartment so soon we will be actually staying there on occasion. :) Plus we have Korean TV there and so today we watched Shrek on Korean TV. What I like is when they play American movies, they put the subtitles in Korean so we get to hear the original sound. One funny thing was on the channel called "super action" they were playing the movie Home Alone. That isn't exactly what I think of when I think of an action movie.

I haven't written much lately, because I was sick. All I did last week was go to work, come home and eat and then clean up and go to bed. It was a very boring schedule. I am feeling a lot better now and only have a cough. I think next weekend (March 4,5th) we will be going to Seoul so I should have some really good pictures to post all next week. This week I am not sure how much time I will have to write again because I'll be working all week. After this week I will only work a few days here and there so I will have more time to blog.

I mentioned going to the gym, I am working on getting back into running. I have a plan adding on small bits of running to walking everyweek and in 8 weeks I should be running back up to speed. I'll keep you posted on how it is going, that way you'll keep me honest and I'll feel guilty if I slack off. Harland has me lifting weights too. That I am less fond of.

Here is another picture of food. Remember a few weeks ago when I ate some triangular things? Well, I said I would post a picture of "normal" kimbap. So here is the picture of the normal kimbap. This one is a little different because it has spam in it instead of cooked beef. But this entire plate only costs 3 bucks, which is amazing. It is a lot of food.

Some people out there are giving me some flack about all the food pictures, but they are really easy to get. Food is a nice, colorful, willing to pose subject for photography. :)

And I didn't mention it earlier, but my AUNT PATTY and my friend EDDY PACKARD both had recent birthdays. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Well off I go to wind down for another week at work!

my 1st hat!

2006-02-18T18:12:00.000+09:00

I just want to share my excitement. I may not have gotten out of my PJs in over 48 hours. I may have to blow my nose once every 3.5 minutes. But this morning I started my first hat and I finished it not long after. While Harland was job searching I was knitting away.

Here is a picture of the hat. If you are interested in knowing more, you can go to my brand new blog - www.yuknitwit.blogspot.com and read all about it.

Also here is a close up picture of one of the roses Harland gave me. We have been messing around with the extreme close up. We need to get a tripod though, 'cause it is a little blurry.

Have a fun weekend, I'm going to take a nap.

Sorry it has been a few days....

2006-02-15T19:49:00.000+09:00

Sorry it has been a few days since I have written here! On Monday, after work, we went to the movie showing on base. It was Underworld: The Evolution. Basically your werewolves vs. Vampires with a beautiful lady fighting. If you liked the last one, you'll like this one. I don't think I have to specify whether it was Harland or me that wanted to see it. :)

Tuesday of course was Valentine's Day. Elena always calls it Single's Awareness Day because everyone can tell who's single. I wasn't expecting to make much of Valentine's Day because Harland has been in the field... But Harland surprised me with some roses and a cute little Camp Casey bear (my first Cmp. Casey souvenir!) We also went out to dinner to a very fancy restaurant here in Donduchoen. It was a Tokk Kalbi restaurant which means it serves a special kind of Kalbi that is all chopped up while it cooks. There is also somehow some rice cake in it, which is how it gets it's name (tokk is rice cake). It was really nice and it was interesting to me because I have never had it. Unfortunately, our dinner was spent with me eating in silence while Harland was alternately yelling or being yelled at on the phone. The usual night around here.

The restaurant was pretty, there is a little courtyard in the stairwell with rocks and plants. It looks like an outdoor garden indoors. Also the doors were made out of some really beautiful wood, and I wish I had brought my camera. Inside you had your choice of tables or Korean style tables. They also had some rooms where you could be closed off, if you had a group of people.

Today was interesting - I got fingerprinted. Finally after doing the dishes tonight I can start to see my skin tone again. All day I was black from the second joint on each finger. Pretty funny. I wish I had a picture of that too. :)

well that is it, I am tired! Here is a non-food picture for you all to see. If you're anti-valentine, I am sorry.

More food - Yakimandu!

2006-02-12T20:57:00.000+09:00

Okay friends...
Sorry it is another food post, although I really have no idea what I'll post tomorrow! Tomorrow I will be starting my new part-time substitution job which will be full time for the next three weeks. I am excited to work with Lenka one of my new friends I have recently met.

Okay I posted a while back that I had manduraymon soup. It was spicy with dumplings and raymon noodles. Well the old awesome food site I had sent you to is having picture hosting problems... So I guess it is up to me to show you some mandu.

Yakimandu is when the mandu are fried. This is usually a side dish or an appetizer or a snack.
Mandu are very thin skined dumplings and they contain a mixtre of pork, leeks, cellophane noodles, and spices. There is usually a lot of blackpepper involved.

Here is a bunch of mandu on a plate, you can see that they are about 2 inches long and half an inch thick.

Here is a closer up picture of one split in half.

and here is another picture. I tried to make this one closer up, but the camera refused to co-operate with me.

Happy Birthday Amy!

2006-02-11T19:18:00.000+09:00

I know I usually don't post on Saturdays, but today is Ames' birthday! I wish I could celebrate with her, but alas I am a long way away and I have a really bad cold. Blah!

Anyway, Amy is the best, if you didn't already know. She has been like my sister since she first visited me back in 2000! People have even accused us of sounding like each other, which I don't believe. She is one of the most kindest, sweetest people on earth. And that doesn't sound like me at all.

But anyway, Happy Birthday Amy! I think this is the first time I actually remembered your birthday and got it on the correct day! Most of you know how terrible I am with birthday dates.

This is the only picture I have on the computer of us! Oh well!
Love us, Love our hats!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! BTW, Amy, Tell me how 29 is, so I know when I hit it in June.

My favorite, Kimchee Chigae

2006-02-09T14:58:00.000+09:00

Okay another food post. People who are not into food, I am sorry. I just love food so much, and Korean food is very good. This is my favorite korean dish of all time. It is a kimchee stew. It can be made in different varieties... but the basics are kimchi, tofu, and a tiny bit of garlicy pork (which I admit I usually pick out because it is usally some kind of tendon-y meat and even though I am not a vegetarian anymore, I still can't handle chewy meat products). Sometimes it has beef instead of pork. And if you buy it on post like this one, it has hotdog slices in it too. Sometimes it has slices of rice dumplings in it. It really depends on the maker and what they feel like throwing in.

Kimchi Chigae is not for the faint of heart. It is very spicy and will clear all traces of a cold out of your sinuses. Also people have been saying kimchi and sauerkraut reduce your chances of contracting the avain flu, so it is extreamly good for your health - just like 1,000s of Korean Grandmothers have been saying for centuries. Anyway it is yummy and I could eat it everyday.

Here is a picture of the Chigae (Chigae by the way means stew so you may see it attached to other words like Dobu Chigae - which is Tofu Stew)

Kimchee Chigae also always comes with a bunch of rice. You can dump the rice into the stew for quite a culinary delight! I try not to add in all my rice right at the beginning so that when my mouth is burning later on I can add new rice that won't be as spicy as the stuff that has been siting in the soup. Also there are some sides of kimchi. Because this is a take out place, the kimchi doesn't change a whole lot. This one (going clockwise starting on the top left) is bean sprouts (my fav), regular cabbage, radish, and fish.

You'll see that there are several different ways to spell things: Kimchee can be spelled with two e's, or as kimchi with an i. You will also see chigae spelled chiggae, chijjae, or chijae.
As long as it sounds the same, it is the same. :)
Cheers!

Samgak Kimbap

2006-02-08T19:57:00.000+09:00

Well since I wasn't up to much today I thought I would share another food lesson with y'all today.

Samgak Kimbap is not something you'd publicly admit to saying was your favorite Korean food. After all - the only place to buy it is at a convenience store. As Susan puts it "It would be like saying your favorite American food is a ham sandwich from 7-11". They have Samgak Kimbap in Japan too, although the Japanese call it onigiri. (Susan or Naoe, tell me if I am wrong here).

Harland and I call them triangles because for a long time we had no idea what they were called. You can usually buy one for 700 won. That's 70 cents, folks! If you are really hungry you can buy two. Sometimes they come in packs of two. I like them, but they are really mostly salted seaweed and rice. There is a little bit of paste in the middle. Now because my Korean language skills are dubious at best, I never know what will be in the middle of my samgak kimbap. It's always a fun surprise! I wasn't very hungry the day I got this one (these pictures were taken last week) and I think this one may have been pork or chicken based. Usually if I am really hungry I'll get two different ones for variety.

One of the coolest things about samgak kimbap is how it is packaged. I'll take you through the process. First, here is one ready to be opened!

Next you peel the center strip away. It is similar to the strip on a package of gum. Rip!

Then you pull the plastic away from each side. This is really an ingenious way of packaging. The seaweed does not touch the rice, therefore, the seaweed is not soggy after sitting in a fridge for a while! I don't know how long these things sit there (and I would rather not, thank you) but anyone who has every tried to take sushi home knows seaweed gets soggy in no time. Here is a picture of the wrapper taken away from one of the sides.

And here is the samgak kimbap after I have taken a bite! Yum! Sometimes the fillings are just very salty, but most of the time they are very spicy. This one was spicy and it had something chewy like beans, Yummers!

Maybe some of you have heard about kimbap - it is like a sushi roll but Koreans usually have cooked beef, radish, egg, and cucumber in them. Sometimes they have tuna in them. The ones here on base have spam in them. One day soon I'll order some and take a picture so you can compare the triangular kind to the "real" kind.

Snow, Snow, Snow!!!

2006-02-07T13:33:00.000+09:00

(Remember - you can view any of these thumbnails as a large picture, simply by clicking on the image.)

This morning I woke up, opened my window and this is what I saw!

Then as I walked to the bus stop - this was the view to my right:

As I left Camp Casey I noticed that the Statue looked a little cold!

I took a picture of the mural on the side of Camp Casey's wall as I walked down the street.

Here is the red bridge that I will see on my way to my new work over near Camp Mobile.

Here is a picture of "American Alley" or the alley right next to Camp Casey where all the GIs go drinking. It is litterally a row of bars and nightclubs. I have never been into any of these places, but even here looks pretty tranquil covered in snow.

And here is a man sweeping the sidewalk. I don't think many people here have snow shovels, I only saw one person shoveling the walk... everyone else used a broom or salt to melt it. They have not plowed the roads here either, which makes for interesting bus trips. I am glad I don't have to go out the rest of the day!

Harland's gone

2006-02-06T18:46:00.000+09:00

Harland just left for the field a few minutes ago. He will be out for an exercise until next monday - so it is a week of boredom for me. Today was pretty eventful, though, so I guess that makes up for it. Right now I am microwaving a frozen dinner, which is less exciting.

So today I had an appointment with the ACAP office - they are the people who help soldiers transition into civilian life. I met a woman who worked there, and she told me they are looking for someone to hire as a "firebrigader" which means I am like a substitute. I'll come in when other people int he office are sick or on vacation. It isn't very steady work, but it seems up my alley (I'll be helping soldiers write resumes, and I used to teach resume writing) and so it won't be something I'll have to learn quickly.

The cool thing is someone will go on vacation next monday and be gone for three weeks - so for a while it will be like I have a job! So that is nice, it will give me a little extra spending money.

I am kinda glad to ahve a job like this because that means I can still travel and such on my own.

So that is exciting. Today is also exciting because I got a few packages in the mail. One was some things I ordered to complete my secret susan project (SSP). So that is cool. Once she receives it I will post a picture of it. It won't be for a while though. I also got a package from susan and it had in it the coolest gadget I have seen in years. Crafty and Scrapbook friends, perk up you ears (well eyes) - she got me a sticker making machine. Any piece of paper can now become a sticker AND be scrapbook safe. The possibilities are endless! ENDLESS!

So the only blight of the day is that I am eating my microwave dinner in front of the computer with no husband around.

So send me lots of e-mails this week, folks!

Dinner at the Beef and Mushroom Place

2006-02-03T09:19:00.000+09:00

It is currently 3 degrees outside. Just FYI.

Okay I don't have any pictures... but man was the food good. There are three courses at the beef and muchroom place. The first course was my favorite... it was the actual beef and mushrooms. I can not tell you what kind of mushrooms there were - there were about 4 different kinds. They were so pretty. I will take my camera next time for sure! I was told they actually grow the mushrooms there at the restaurant. And there was thinly sliced beef... it was even thinner than roast beef from Arby's.

I guess I should back up a little here... Okay when you get to the restaurant, there are small tables (low to the ground of course, one has a little leather mat to sit on). In the center of each table is a little stove that has a stone plate that has about a 2 inch lip around it. When you arrive, the waitress adds some special broth (very yummy and garlicy). When that starts to boil she comes back with a huge platter of the sliced beef and beautiful mushrooms.

So then you cook your beef and mushrooms on the hot stone. The beef cooked really fast since it was sliced so thin. There was also some onions and garlic on the platter that you can add. It was incredibly yummy. I could get up right now, at 9am, and eat some more.

Okay so then after you cook all your beef and mushrooms (one has to do it in several batches or the beef will burn onto the bottom). Then the second course coomes out. They scrap most of the mushrooms and tiny flakes of beef out of the pot and place it in a bowl (so you can snack later I guess). Then they add rice, kimchi, and some toasted seaweed laver (thin sheets of seaweed like in a sushi roll). And you stir that in the pot. It was yummy too.

There were also some dishes of kimchee - the usual cabbage kind, some garlic stems with some hot pepper sauce, radishes, cabbage in mayonaise, and a cabbage salad with a horsradish sauce (every person got an individual serving of the salad). I think there also was a seaweed kimchee too... but it was pretty far away from me, and it was the thick slimy kind that is really chewy and I find hard to eat in big pieces.

Then the last course came - it was udon noodle soup! After we ate the stirfied rice, and the stuck on pieces were starting to get really stuck on, they removed the stone plate and replaced it with a stone bowl. In the bowl was a soup. When that started to boil, we added the udon noodles. I guess the speciality or bargin of the restaurant is that it advertises that you can eat a sackful of noodles if you want. So if you want more noodles, they are free for the asking. I am not sure how anyone could eat that much after the rest of the dinner. Anyway the soup was really spicy. It had some clams in it as well.

After the soup - there was soda, or coffee. One could also get some icecream if one wished. It was fabulous and I really want to take Harland there. Best part was - it was 6 dollars a person.

Meeting the wives was nice - i can't tell you how great it was to talk to some females! They are all very nice and friendly and I actually can't wait until i see them again next week! I was nervous because I had a bad "meeting the wives" experience once and that is why I never got involved at Ft. Benning. But this was really nice!

The inside of the apartment

2006-02-02T16:39:00.000+09:00

Hey Everyone... Here are some pictures of our apartment inside.
I found out you can click on any of the pictures to make it bigger... and since I had so many... I made these a little smaller.

If you missed the post on what the outside looks like, check it out HERE.

Okay, so here are the shots...
Here is the livingroom. You can notice the front balcony straight ahead and some frosted doors to the left. I wonder what could be behind those doors?

Over here you see the ugly chairs. They swivel though, which is a plus. And they are ok for comfort. Also you can see a closer up image of the front balcony.

And now behind those doors... the couch! It is a fun little room and for some reason it is my favorite room in the apartment. I think it is the novelty that you can shut the doors off.

Then here is a boring picture of our empty bedrooms. We have two.

And here is my very pink kitchen. I have to say, though I love the sink like crazy. I used it today to clean the fridge shelves and it is very cool. I love the faucet wand, the two sinks and the rack off to the right. See the black thing on the left? that is our gas stove. it has two burners, and no oven... so no Turkey dinners here.

Here is a picture of the bathroom, which may be considered indecent, but, hey you are getting the full tour. What you can't really tell is that this is our shower. you'll notice that the sink is right next to it... that's right... the shower is built right into the room! No pesky tubs or shower doors here! This is very common in Korea, and I have stayed in a few hotels that were set up like this as well.

So that is the tour, folks! Thanks for visiting. Tonight I get to meet the wives... I'll tell you how that goes tomorrow. it has been a long day - there was an alert this morning at 4am, and Harland says he has to work late as well. Poor kid.

Busy Day today

2006-02-01T19:22:00.000+09:00

Well today was pretty busy, as the title suggests. Harland and I moved furniture and the fridge into the apartment. unfortunatly the space aged looking furniture was broken... so now we have a lovely orange and purple leather couch (yes you heard that right), two spinny chairs, and a fridge. We need to buy a bed - the bed in the old place was pretty gross.

So that was exciting. I also walked around 2nd market today. I didn't bring the camera, so no pictures. I forgot about my camera phone... and that takes such small pictures I am not sure how they'd post here anyway. I promise next time I am in 2nd Market, I will take some pictures.

I bought us some bowls. They're pretty ugly, but they are melamine. You remember - the plastic your highschool dished were made of? Very fun indeed, even if they have sheesy flowers on them.

I also bought us some real spoons and chopsticks. Some of you may not know this, but Koreans use the hardest kind of chopsticks there are to use. They are metal and very thin. I do not have time to post a picture of them tonight because Harland needs the computer in a minute, but check this same post tomorrow and I'll post a picture of them... I promise.

And here it is! In this photo I have some Chinese style chopsticks (blunt ends) and some shiny Korean chopsticks! See how thin they are? The are also flat, whereas the Chinese style ones are either square or round.

Also we went out to dinner after we moved the furniture (actually after Harland and the adashee moved the furniture). we went to "happy wok" an American style Chinese food place. I admit I was very skeptical. But I was proven wrong - it was fantastic! And they gave us a discount because we only had 12,000 won on us, so that is all they charged us. It was very good, we had the spicy sesame chicken. YUM. The only weird thing was that there was corn in the fried rice. But hey, what's a little corn? Tyler, tell Mike to go try it.

Also I am going into the apartment tomorrow and I will take some pictures of the inside. Well, that is all I have time for tonight!

still no job, no apt!

2006-01-31T15:34:00.000+09:00

Well, Technically we'll be moving things into the apartment tonight. So we'll have an apartment soon. But as for the jobs - none yet. I'm going to call some people tomorrow about some leads.

Our landlady is very nice and is letting us move furniture from one of her furnished apartments into our unfurnished one. Yeah! And she says she even has a TV that she will loan us. She is the sweetest!

I got a cell phone today and so have been spending oodles of time playing around with it. It is an incredibly cute, small, black and shiny phone. It has lots of different sounds, games, pictures, features, etc. Korean phones really kick butt. It is way cooler than my US phone. And it takes pictures which is fun. The pictures are not really all that good, I got one of the less expensive phones so it has no flash.

The thing I like best about it, is when you flip it shut, it has these cute sounding Korean kids saying something and giggling. I could wear it out, it is so cute. I'll have to ask someone who speaks Korean about what they are saying.

Anyway - that is really all that is new so far today! On Thursday I am going out to dinner with some of the other wives in town. It will be a "mushroom and beef" restaurant. I really do not know what that means, but I'll have a special friday edition of my blog (to make up for the fact I absolutely had nothing to post yesterday!) and I will tell you all about it.

It snowed a tiny bit this morning and was all melted by noon. I didn't get a picture of it. It looks cloudy out right now, so maybe it will snow again... although I hope not when we are moving stuff.

Hope all is well with you!
Jessica

apartment and a job?

2006-01-26T20:16:00.000+09:00

Well tonight we finally signed paperwork for the apartment and that was cool. They are still finishing up painitng it. We get to move in on Saturday. I also looked for job/volunteer oppurtunities today and I have learned of a job that you tutor English over the phone. i know - it sounds wacky but the pay sounds good and it's part time work - which is also good. So we'll see how that pans out.

That's all the news fit to print today - sorry no pictures of the inside of the apartment since they were still paining tonight. I'll take some this weekend. Cheers!

On the Flip Side

2006-01-25T15:13:00.000+09:00

Okay, Okay, I have gotten quite a bit of mail regarding the barracks. No I do not live with 40 men in one big room with bunkbeds like in Forest Gump, Hair, or other Hollywood film engaging in an Army theme. Those types of barracks are largely reserved for things like basic training, field exercises or other such short time training. Totally not at all where I am. So here is a picture of the side of the building I live in. For sure, it isn't much. I blurred out the number in case anyone here cares. It's like a two story dorm. We live on the top floor.

It's very exciting, I know. The room is actually about the same size as my dormroom at Millersville, and this place has the bonus of being painted tan and not pink. (Amy knows what I am talking about here). There is a kitchenette on the one side of the room. It is what I call shabby chic. I mean look at the back wall. It's painted a nice calming green color, instead of tan. And the painter decided the he couldn't be held to painting a straight line in the corners, which I take as a bold statement that his creativity can't be contained. And the cabinet beneath the sink is jauntily askew making the place seem less severe with its straight lines. Okay well, maybe not. It's just a crappy paintjob where they were too lazy to try and paint back there, and the cabinet's all busted... but I think the first description just sounds nicer.

And as for this last picture, it is just a picture of a Korean Pear. It's pretty ugly on the outside, but it is so incredibly tasty and juicy. And I don't even like most regular pears. They usually have Asian Pears in the grocery, but I have never had one so tasty. And it was huge - about 6 inches in diameter. It's the small things, folks, that entertain me. And so thus I have entertained you.

Rock on...

Bibimbap and Japchaebap

2006-01-24T13:04:00.000+09:00

Upper left hand corner, Bipimbap

Upper righthand corner, Kimchi

Lower bottom, JapChaeBap.

Bipimbap is a lot of different kinds of veggies and kimchi over rice with an egg. Traditionally it is made in a stone bowl and it is all sizzling. Because this is takeout, it isn't quite the same.

The kimchi today was (starting in the upper left hand corner, going clockwise) - mung beans, regular cabbage kimchi, some kind of tough root kimchi, and some fish kimchi.

JapChaeBap is a noodle dish with rice. It had some onion, beef, cabbage, carrot and a lot of black pepper. It looks really greasy in this picture, but that is just because I didn't remove the plastic wrap off the top before I took the shot. Whoops. I clearly am not a professional photographer.

A Quick Tour in Pictures

2006-01-23T15:03:00.000+09:00

Here are a few pictures of the apartment...

This first picture is a picture of the entire building. Our apartment will be on the bottom right hand corner. Being on the bottom floor doesn't really concern me except for when Harland will be out in the field. But it is a nice neighborhood, the landlady lives directly above us... so really it should be fine.

Here is a closer look at the apartment.

This is taken down the street from our building - you can see it on the right hand side of the street. If I walked past the apartment going in this direction - the main drag of the village is about a block and a half away.

This picture is of a window at an art school for children. It is on the same block as the apartment. I love the pictures of the "girl with a pearl earring" and when we were looking for apartments this window caught my eye and I knew I would want to come back and take a photo. Little did I know I'd end up living so close by!!

Well that is really all that there is to say about the apartment. It is a nice place and close to the main gate. It was really cold walking around out there today, I think I will go and make some hot tea! Harland has a meeting tonight at 5 so I'll have to watch a movie or something to kill some time. Happy monday!

Living Quarters

2006-01-22T19:22:00.000+09:00

Well it looks like we may have found and Apartment today. We meet again with the Landlady on Wednesday. It is an interesting layout - it has two bedrooms and a parlor room and a living room and kitchenette. I'll take pictures once we rent it. Maybe I'll try and get an outside shot tomorrow. I haven't figured out the downloading process with Harland's camera yet... so that is why I haven't had any pictures on here. The apartment is pretty close to the base - about a 7-10 minute walk.

It was freezing cold today. Whew! The river even froze up between yesterday and today! It was partially frozen, but now it is completely covered except for the area where the tanks cross.

Other than the search for apartments (the one we toured yesterday was really quite dumpy and gross) we haven't really done much other than laundry.

As Harland said - looks like we've settled into married life - we're boring.
Ha!

Just wasting time...

2006-01-19T14:39:00.000+09:00

Well today was rather uneventful. I read e-mails (finally) and caught up with most of them. Then I went to lunch with H. and some of his buddies. We went to the Katusa Snack Bar (well one of them) and this is the one I had not been to before.
A KATUSA is a Korean soldier who works with American soldiers on base. At the very beginning of the KATUSA program in 1950 these men were usually the people that were left behind in cities and then joined to fight with the Americans and they had no English skills or fighting skills. The program was almost scrapped in the mid 1950s because it seemed to hinder the US troops. But Katusas have come a long way, every young man between the ages of 20 and 25 have to serve 2 years in the military. Some of them choose to take a special (and hard) test to try and become a KATUSA. It is a very competative program. If you want to learn more, I am linking an article that tells about a KATUSA's day. It is written by a Korean Student. Watch out if you are reading it to kids, skip the section called "A special(?) thing an ordinary Korean KATUSA can suffer.." That part isn't G rated. this is the article

Anyway - back to the Katusa Snack Bar - this one seems to have more on the menu than the other one. I had some ManduRaymon, and it was pretty good. probably most of you have had raymon noodles at some point in your life (I ate a lot of them in college and grad school). Well it was better than the buy 10 for a buck variety... and it had mandu in it. Mandu are dumplings. I am not sure what is exactly in them - they have a green herb that is rather tasty. I like mandu a lot. usually they are fried - but when you get them in soup they are steamed. Anyway - I couldn't eat it all - so H. got the rest. He's good for eating my leftovers. This person has an awesome mandu website if you want to know more! It even has some up close pictures so you can see what I ate today!

I just finished putting the brownies in the oven, I am going to surprise Harland with them. I also have something cooking up in the crockpot. I just thought I would try the crockpot out before I start a job that way I know it works okay and everything. I'm cooking spansih rice and chicken. I'll let you know how it comes out - it is a new recipe. Well, look at me be a good housewife. Well, barrackwife, anyway.

Can't take me anywhere

2006-01-18T15:39:00.000+09:00

So today was a very exciting day - I got my Temporary Ration Control Plate (which is actually not a plate at all but some paper) and so that means I can now shop at the commisary and the PX without Harland. Whee. I admit the power went straight to my head and I bought some cooking oil and some baking powder so I can make pancakes in the morning.

I then decided to celebrate even more (I can't explain how exciting the RCP is!) and went out into the town and bought some things for the place. Two forks, and some utensils. As hard as a time I gave Harland about not buying forks, when we went to the PX yesterday to buy pots/pans/etc. they actually had no forks and no hot pads to take stuff out of the oven with. Isn't that weird? You can buy all kinds of ceraminc plates, all kinds of everything... but not that. Anyway - so I bought some forks and stuff at a favorite place of mine called hansmart. It mostly is a kitchen stuff store but you can also buy fake samari swords, and megaphones and other very odd things that do not seem to belong.

Then I went to my most favorite of all stores in Korea - Morning Glory. It is a stationary store. I always have the best time in there. But today i had a little less fun. I dropped a pen and it broke. And then the woman took away my coat. I guess my coat could be the only explaination on why I might drop something, who knows. I was carrying my coat in my left hand and I had the stuff in my right hand... but I guess it made sense to her. It was only about 80 cents in US money, so it wasn't a biggie, I just bought that one and a second one. Along with something very fun for my Susan. Hee hee. And it's so fun, it is refillable. And it is not a pen!

And so that is my sad tale of the broken pen. Actually I was more embarrassed than anything. I bought a soda today from my first Korean vending machine but I accidently pushed the wrong button and out came Mt. Dew rather than the Chilsung (it is similar to a combination of sprite and gingerale, I love Chilsung!) that I wanted. The weird thing about the Mt. Dew is that it said "Original American Style Taste" in big letters on the side. I don't know what that means... it did indeed taste like the Mt. Dew that I know. Maybe they had a different version over here once?

I may never know.
Cheers.

Hi Honey - I'm home!

2006-01-16T11:54:00.000+09:00

Hi friends!! I am here in Harland's barracks. It is not as nice as the ones he was staying in this summer, but this one has an extra perk of a real stove and oven. I arrived yesterday at 6pm Korean time. It was a very nice flight - except that we were delayed on the runway in ATL due to weather. So that meant an hour tacked on to an already long flight. The best part of the flight? There was an empty seat in between me and the girl in the aisle, so we could spread out.

Harland (bless his heart) just cooked me dinner - spaghetti. And now I'm eating it with a spoon because even though he has lived here over a year he hasn't bought a fork. I guess I get to go shopping!!

Even though I am picking on him, I have to say he is the best husband - he had a rose for me when I got out of customs and we stayed in a really nice hotel last night. So despite the lack of suitable flatware, he's fantastic.

Well, I am pretty tired, I didn't sleep all that much last night or get to nap today. I hope you are all doing well, and I hope you have a good long weekend. Remember - I'm 14 hours ahead of you East Coasters and 15 ahead of those in AL. I'll write more soon!!

Almost there!

2006-01-05T11:33:00.000+09:00

Hello! Only a week and a day before I start my travels to Korea. I am excited. A little bit nervous. And very anxious to see Harland!!

I just got back from CT. My relatives live there and it is nice to see them, but because of bad weather and busy schedules I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked. My cousin Lisa's child, Nicky, is very cute. Big beautiful brown eyes. And very smart. He helped me hand out the Christmas presents AND threw away all the trash. He's only a small fry - 18 months and he can do all that!

Now if someone could promise me I'd have a cute kid, with a laugh that makes me laugh, and he/she will clean for me... I'd have a kid in a second. Hear that Harland?

It also snowed in Connecticut while I was there - but not as much as what the weather people were predicting. Boo! I wish I could have made a snowman. But I did get to shovel on New Year's Eve! At least I got to muck around in snow a little bit.

So that has been my time up North. Hope all of you have had nice relaxing moments with your families as well. I'll be back on e-mail again so feel free to shoot me some mail. I may write on here again before I go to Korea, but when I get there, I will post so you don't have to worry about me.

Good luck to those of you who have to start the semester next monday! May all your students be merry and bright.

Happy Holidays!

2005-12-28T08:15:00.000+09:00

Hello Friends! I am in PA with the folks for the holiday season! Christmas was nice and relaxing. I got a brand new purple (think bright) coat that will keep me warm in Korea. I'll take a picture of it soon enough, I am sure. It has been pretty warm here in PA, today I didn't even wear a coat when I went outside. It was almost 50!

It has been pretty uneventful here. I have been working on two scarves. One for Harland (don't worry - he already knows about it) and one for Amy. And today I bought more yarn for a project for Susan (I can't say any more than that since she's always on here reading this and her project is top secret). So that is what is between me and boredom.

It sure is a nice change of pace from the last few days of moving!! That was the worst. If it wasn't for Susan, Brig, Troy and John F. I would have been in serious trouble.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, or are currentlly having a wonderful Hannakah or Kwanza. And I am sure we are all looking forward to the new year! I certainly am - less than 3 more weeks until I see Harland! Wheeeeeeee!

walking in winter white

2005-12-17T04:18:00.000+09:00

Well, not the kind that they have in Pennsylvania right now. I just finally finished all my shredding for the last 3 years. Yikes. Who knew it would add up to so much? But anyway - one more thing done on the "big list of tasks"!

Only about 500 more to go! This weekend will be the last packing weekend, and then all I have to do is take in the car on Monday.
Whew.

The Date Is Set!

2005-12-15T05:08:00.000+09:00

Okay - Harland bought the plane ticket from the on base travel agency! Looks like I am leaving on the 13th of January. Please don't remind me that it is friday the 13th. Luckily Koreans think the number 4 is bad luck, so really 13 is a fine day to travel on a KOREAN airline. (That is my theory and I am sticking to it) I will arrive around 7pm Korean time on the 14th. Don't expect me to post on here until that monday.

The only drag is I have to fly from Philly to ATL before heading to Korea. That makes for one long day since I never seem to sleep well on planes. This time I am debating on taking Tylenol PM. If you have tried that, let me know. I never took Benedryl because that always dries up my sinuses and I already get pretty dehydrated on planes.

I'm also going to take some knitting, so that is cool. It'll keep me busy if I have already seen the inflight movies (which is very likely since I have seen a lot of movies this fall). Anyway - having tickets makes this trip seem real. Like it actually will happen.

Well off to pack up my office! Cheers!

Just for you

2005-12-08T02:26:00.000+09:00

I thought I would try and post a picture to satisfy those who keep checking back on my blog.

If you are checking out this blog before I go to Korea, I say "yeah to you!" You're awesome for keeping up on it. Your reward is a picture from Gyeonbokgung Palace. Gyeongbokgung was the main palace during the Josen Dynasty (which occured from 1392-1910).

The Gyeonghoeru pavilion is where official banquets were held and is pictured above. When I was there the water was iced over. I borrowed this picture from Teresa, my sister-in-law.
If you are interested in seeing more of the palace, here is a website that has some pretty pictures.

I am getting a lot more excited about going on my trip - soon the semester will be over and I will be on my way (or on my way to being on my way!!) I re-read my journal from when I went over last winter, and that just perked me up. Lately I have been a little down from the stress of packing up - so it nice to be getting excited again!

not quite there yet...

2005-11-30T06:19:00.000+09:00

Okay, so Korea is called "The Land of the Morning Calm". That is why my blog name is so incredibly clever. (So if you didn't know, now you are clued in)

Harland is still "out in the field" - so no plane ticket yet. Which of course means there is no date yet on when I am actually going to be in Korea and get this blog into full swing. But it is coming, folks. I can feel it.

Since you came to visit this blog, I have to say more than just "I have a clever title, honest" and "no news on when I am going over there yet". I don't want you to have wasted your time checking out the site.

Some friends have asked if I know the Korean language. I know very little. Enough to say: hello, thank you, I would like some kimchi, etc. But not enough to really hold a conversation. I really hope to learn more when I am over there.

One thing that is interesting about Korean is the written language, called Hangeul. It is really easy to learn to read Korean. They have 24 letters and so it is not like one has to memorize thousands of characters like in Chinese and Japanese.

If you are interested in learning more (and I recommend it, it is very interesting) here are a few links for you to explore:

This article has info on the history and pronunciation of hangeul.
http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=G0702

If you are interested in learning Korean, here is an awesome website.
http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/

Well that is all I have time for now, I gotta continue packing!

Coming Soon!

2005-11-16T08:41:00.000+09:00

I will be posting my own journey in Korea as well as cool cultural tidbits I pick up - right here in this very Blog!

I will not be arriving in Korea until the middle of January, so obviously there will not be very many postings here until my plane arrives. So bookmark this site and then check back in the middle of January. (Once I know the exact date I will post it). Sometimes this site needs to be "refreshed" to see new entries, so if you come back in mid January and only see this blog entry, hit the refresh button on your browser.

Cheers!